Delivered (The Monster Trilogy Book 3) Read Free Page A

killed her, she was determined to cause them some form of pain before they did.
    The Range Rover jolted to a halt, and she heard the beep of some kind of electronics, and then a low hum.
    What the hell is that?
    “Welcome to your new home, ladies,” Rodriguez called over his shoulder.
    Home? At least it meant they weren’t about to be buried in the desert. Not yet, anyway.
    The vehicle got moving again and Lily risked lifting her head enough to peer out of the window. They passed through a set of massive, solid metal gates which were still rolling back even as they drove through. That’s what the hum is, she realized. Electric gates. Beyond the gates were tall, stone walls, the same color as the desert sand. The gates were also painted the same orangey color. If the property was viewed from a distance, it would blend into the background. Perhaps that was exactly the point—Rodriguez didn’t want anyone spotting the place, from the road or sky. She’d bet any money the roof of the building was the same color again.
    Lily tried to get Jess’s attention again. “We’re here,” she whispered. “They’re going to get us out of the vehicle now.”
    She didn’t respond, but when Jess blinked, a tear slipped down her cheek. Lily wished her hands weren’t tied. Even though she normally hated to touch people, right at that moment all she wanted to do was reach out and pull the other woman into a hug.

 
     
    Monster (Present Day)
     
     
     
     
     
    He’d lost a lot of blood. Perhaps too much.
    Monster thought he was still in the vehicle driven by one of Rodriguez’s men, but he couldn’t be sure. He didn’t know if it was the same Range Rover he’d first been put into, or if he’d been moved while unconscious. He also had no idea how long he’d been in it, or where they were going.
    His grip on the outside world was coming to him in fits and starts. He felt like he was dreaming, or had a fever, and he wasn’t quite sure which parts of what he was hearing and seeing were real, and which came from a dream. At one point, Lily’s face appeared above him, and she smiled down at him, her fingers resting lightly on his cheek. He reached for her, sheer relief flooding through him. She’d managed to get away from Rodriguez and find him, but then his eyes slipped shut and she vanished from view. When he opened them again—an undeterminable amount of time later—she was gone. With a heart crushing certainty, he knew she’d never been there in the first place.
    His shoulder throbbed and burned, a pulsing wave that encapsulated his whole body. The bullet must still be lodged inside his body somewhere, and from the heat spreading from the area, he assumed it would end up infected—if he didn’t die from blood loss first. Before now, he’d never realized it was possible to have one part of your body searing hot, while the rest felt ice cold.
    He couldn’t afford to die, if only for Lily’s sake. If he died, no one would ever save her from Rodriguez. That she was already in the hands of the other man killed him inside. The thought of Rodriguez touching her, of him tearing off her clothes, and forcing his cock inside her while she screamed and fought him caused a fire inside Monster which made him forget his equally burning shoulder. He tortured himself with the thought of the other man’s mouth on her skin, his tongue leaving trails of saliva across her. Would Rodriguez go down on her, and taste her? Would he love eating her as much as Monster did? Then the worst thought of all occurred to him, the one that teased and tortured his frazzled brain …
    Would Lily enjoy it?
    He couldn’t think like that. Just because Rodriguez had the looks of an Arabian prince, and was rich, and powerful, not to mention had the type of charisma that could make anyone do as he asked, didn’t mean Lily would fall for him. He’d taken her hostage, after all.
    That voice came again …
    Just like you did, and she fell for you.
    What