The expression in his dark eyes was full of anguished sorrow as his gaze ran across her face and then down her body and back up again, as though searching for every mark, bruise, and cut that had been delivered to her. She knew he was thinking exactly the same as she had been—that he was so glad to see her alive, though he wished it could be in a different situation.
“Monster,” she gasped.
The blonde woman’s eyes widened at the name, but instead of laughing at Lily, as she thought she would, she turned to Monster. “I thought no one called you that anymore.”
Who was this woman? She seemed to know Monster from before, but he’d never mentioned her. Was she one of the women Monster used to have brought to the house before he’d met her? Stupidly, considering their situation, a flash of hot jealousy rose up inside her. That Monster had been with this stunningly gorgeous vision made Lily doubt herself and the way he felt for her. Crazy, that even after everything he’d done for her, her confidence could be knocked by simply seeing an ex, if that was what she really was.
“I let the people close to me call me that,” he said, a growl to his voice. “Don’t worry. You can still call me Merrick.”
She pouted. “But perhaps I like Monster. It sounds kind of … kinky.”
Lily’s jealous rage boiled. She couldn’t stop her mind from going to the image of those two together, of Monster pinning her down, perhaps his hand around her delicate throat, as he fucked her.
“Quit it, Sophia,” said Rodriguez. “This isn’t being done for your entertainment.”
She raised her eyebrows. “No? I’m the one who delivered him to you. I think I should get to have a little fun, too.”
“And you will, sweet sister, you will. But first we have some business to attend to.”
Sister? How could she be his sister? They looked nothing alike.
“Are you all right, Flower?” Monster asked.
She nodded. “I’m all right.”
He looked to Rodriguez. “I’ll kill you for laying a single finger on her.”
Rodriguez laughed. “I think we both know that’s not going to happen. You don’t exactly have the upper hand here, Merrick. I’d been willing to let you walk away before, to let you get on with your life and leave the lady with me, but you just couldn’t leave things alone. Now I have both of you, and I intend to spread the enjoyment I was having at getting to spend time with your … Flower … over the both of you.”
“Fuck you, Rodriguez.” Monster rocked in the seat he was tied to, trying to get to his feet. “If you so much as …”
“As what?” he interrupted, before he reached inside his jacket. Lily’s heart stopped as he pulled out a gun and pushed between the other men to stand at Lily’s side. “It’s okay, Luis,” he said to the man who’d had hold of Lily’s arm. “You can let her go now.” Rodriguez placed the barrel of the gun against Lily’s temple. The cold metal circle branded her skin, and she squeezed her eyes shut, her whole body tensed, wondering if these next few moments would be her last.
“Open your eyes, pet,” he said. “I’m not going to shoot you. Not yet, anyway, and not unless your old master does something stupid.”
Lily forced her eyes to open, and Rodriguez suddenly reached up with his other hand and caught her by the chin, his fingers digging into her jawbone. Then his mouth was over hers, mashing her lips against her teeth, before his tongue pushed hard into her mouth. He tasted of coffee, and held her firm as he kissed her, though Lily did nothing to kiss him back, knowing Monster was watching every second.
Rodriguez released her, a smile of triumph across his face. Still holding the gun to her head, he looked toward Monster. Monster’s fists were clenched, his face white with fury, making what remained of his birthmark stand out in stark contrast against the rest of his skin.
“See what I can do?” Rodriguez said. “Anything I damn well please. Try something stupid, and I’ll kill her. And the same goes for you, pet. Do anything silly and I’ll put a hole in his head.”
Lily hated the way Rodriguez was looking at her, but someone else caught her eye. The blonde woman was staring at her in a jealous hatred, a new expression to the smug one that had been on her face only moments before. Did she have feelings for Rodriguez? Had seeing him kiss her bothered her so much? Who the hell was this woman?
“Just leave her alone,” snarled Monster. “I swear to God …”
“Give it up, Merrick. You’re mine now, as much as the lovely Lily is. You need to take a breath and think carefully before you speak. As my pet has learned during her time here, any misdemeanors on your behalf will be punished on the one you care about.” His words must have reminded him of Jess and he turned to the man standing behind her. “Any sign of the girl?”
Lily glanced back as the other man, Luis, shook his head. “Not yet. We’ve done a quick search, but obviously other things have taken priority.” He looked pointedly at Monster.
“Of course. She can’t have gone far, and it’s not as though a little mouse like her can cause any trouble. Just leave her for the moment. We have other things to worry about.”
Lily didn’t think he was talking about her and Monster, so something else had come into play. She wondered if it had anything to do with the car that had been spotted, or had that vehicle been the one containing the blonde woman, Sophia, and Monster? But still his words played in her mind …
Worry about? What did he have to worry about?
Monster (Present Day)
Monster had never before experienced the sort of emotion he had when Flower had been brought into the room. Her cheek was visibly swollen, the bruise like a blue and green starburst across one side of her face. She walked as though she was in pain, hunched, her hand reaching for her back as she was hauled into the room by one arm. More than anything in the world, he wanted to pull her into his arms, kiss the cuts and bruises to make them better, and tell her everything would be all right, but that bastard Rodriguez and his men had overpowered him while he was still dazed and drugged from whatever Sophia had injected him with, and so now he was tied to a chair and powerless to either help Lily or fight back.
Rodriguez still stood with the gun pointed in Lily’s direction. It was his way of keeping Monster in line, though Monster wanted to tear the other man’s face off for kissing Lily the way he had. He doubted it was the first time the other man had kissed her, and the thought of Rodriguez’s hands on her lovely skin made him want to cut them off.
She looked to him and caught his eye. Their gazes locked and he could feel how she was trying to drum her thoughts into his mind, speaking to him without saying a word. Relax, be calm. We’re going to be all right.
Monster wished he could believe her. The thought of being at Rodriguez’s mercy made him want to end it himself. He wouldn’t be able to handle watching Rodriguez rape her, if that was what the other man had planned. He thought his heart would surely break from hatred, guilt, and jealousy.
He was furious with himself for trusting Sophia. He should have known better than to trust anyone who’d been involved with Rodriguez. He’d allowed his memory of the sweet young girl he’d barely known to cloud his judgment. None of them were the same people they’d been when they were children. Life was like the flow of water eroding a riverbed. Even if you couldn’t see it happening, that gradual pressure had the power to change a person completely.
“What of the two men Sophia reported?” Rodriguez said to the man who’d brought Lily into the room.
Monster’s stomach sank. The last thread of hope he’d had that Sophia might have been holding back on Rodriguez, that she might even be considering double-crossing him by not mentioning Sean and Chapman, snapped.
“No sign of them, boss. Sorry. I have a couple of guys patrolling the perimeter. The minute they come into view, they’re dead men.”
Monster knew Sean and Chapman wouldn’t have arrived as quickly as they’d planned with Sophia. It had been a risk he’d been willing to take, knowing a co
uple of guns would never be enough to break down the fortress Rodriguez had built around him. He was lucky Chapman was a man in the know, and was able to get his hands on certain types of ammunition and weapons when needed, but even if his supplier could travel to him, or meet him halfway, it would still take time, and time was something he felt they were rapidly running out of.
Again, he wondered, just how long had he been unconscious? He knew now his instincts that he’d been under for more than an hour were right. Sophia had told him she’d only give him a small dose so he wouldn’t stay down for long, but she must have been lying. A glimpse through the wooden blinds in the window revealed night had already fallen, and he had no idea how many more hours it was until morning.
“Good,” said Rodriguez. “If there’s no one else here to cause any trouble, I think it’s about time I had a little fun.” He looked to Monster. “These things really stress me out, Merrick. I don’t know about you, but when I get stressed, I like to do things to relieve that stress.”
He moved closer to Lily and reached out to run his fingers down her jaw. Lily’s head flinched back as though he’d struck her. “Now, now, pet. Don’t pretend you don’t like me touching you all of a sudden. I didn’t hear you complaining too much when I had you bent over a table doing kinky things with the cutlery.”
He turned to Merrick. “She was creaming all over me. You should have seen it …”
With a roar, Monster lunged again, willing to take the whole chair with him if he had to, but something jammed in the back of his skull. “Move again, and I’ll blow your fucking brains out.”
At this point, Monster was almost willing to take the risk—anything to stop the burning rush of jealousy and anger which scorched through his mind, body, and soul.
Lily was looking at him with sorrow in her eyes, tears trembling in their depths. She shook her head—the tiniest movement—but he knew what she was trying to tell him. She hadn’t had any choice. Rodriguez was using it against him now, and Monster was reacting in exactly the way he wanted.
“You don’t like me touching her, do you, Merrick?” he said, his eyes alight with curiosity. There was a manic energy about him, as though he would take whatever crazy idea jumped into his head, and just run with it. “Well, how about you be the one who does the touching? Come on, give us a show. Fuck my pet over this table, and let us all watch her come.”
“Fuck you!”
“What if I say that if you don’t make her come while we’re watching, then I’ll shoot her in the leg? Does that work for you?”
“You can’t make us do this.”
“Can’t I? I think you’re wrong, my friend. I think I can make you do whatever the hell I want you to. And right now I want a live sex show. Normally, I wouldn’t let another man touch what is mine, but these are exceptional circumstances, wouldn’t you agree?
Monster tried to keep his head, to think rationally when every instinct inside him wanted to go the other way. “What do you think you’re doing, Rodriguez? What the hell is this going to achieve?”
His lips twisted and then he said, “I want to see what it is that’s so special between the two of you that you would literally put your life at risk. Let’s see if it’s so special after a roomful of people have seen what’s so fucking … intimate … between you both.”
Rodriguez wasn’t seriously going to make him have sex with Lily while he and his goons were watching, was he? Monster’s thoughts went to Lily before himself, hating the idea of other men seeing her exposed and vulnerable in such a way. His jealousy reared its ugly head once more, but at least it wouldn’t be Rodriguez touching her. Rodriguez might be trying to debase and defile the special bond which existed between him and Flower, but things would be so much worse if it was Rodriguez having sex with her in front of both him, and all the other people in the room. He guessed the other man didn’t want to put himself on display in such a way.
“You’re sick in the head,” he said, finally, wishing there was something more he could say or do to make a difference, but he knew a losing battle when he saw one. His only hope was that Sean and Chapman would arrive before the degradation could begin.
Rodriguez didn’t bother to reply. Instead, he appeared to be considering something. A small V appeared between his dark brows and he pointed a finger. “What did my pet call you, Merrick? Monster, wasn’t it?”
Sophia joined in. “That was the name his father used to call him.”
Rodriguez smiled. “I like it. Has a good ring to it. I think we’ll call you Monster from now on.”
“I’m not the monster here,” he growled. “You are!”
“Now, now. No need for name calling. You got yourself into this situation, Monster. If you’d just left this all well alone, we wouldn’t be doing this now.”
“But you would still have Lily.”
“I will always have Lily. Right up until her last breath. She’s mine now, and it’s about time you accepted that fact.” He nodded to the man who’d brought Lily into the room, and jerked his head toward the table.
As though he was able to read Rodriguez’s mind, the other man shoved Lily forward until her hips hit the table top. With a hand between her shoulder blades, he pushed her forward, bending her over. He pinned her to the surface with one hand while he pulled the long skirt of her dress up, and yanked down her panties, hard enough to tear the material from her legs.
Lily gave a cry of shock, and probably pain from her injuries.
“Get the fuck off her,” Monster roared, standing from the chair he was tied to so the back legs lifted from the floor. He was tempted to swing the chair around and use it as a weapon, at least cause some damage to the bastard. But Rodriguez swung the muzzle of the gun around and pointed it at him, and he was reminded of the weapons behind him as well.
“Don’t even think about it. Play nicely, and I’ll let you both live. For the moment, at least.”
He jerked his head at one of the younger men in the room. “Untie him. He’s going to need to have use of his hands.”
“You sure, boss?” said the other man.
“Just keep a gun trained on him,” said Rodriguez, “and the other gun on my pet. If one of them knows the other one will be shot if they try something dumb, they’ll behave themselves.”
Rodriguez was right. Monster had no intention of trying anything while a firearm was pointed at Lily’s temple.
“What the hell have you got planned?” Monster demanded as the younger man worked at the bonds tying him to the chair. He was freed, and pushed to his feet.
“I told you. If you want to make her yours so badly, claim her, right here and now.”
Monster hesitated. “And then will you let us go?”
“Not a chance. But if you do it, I won’t shoot you.” He sounded like he was having fun.
Monster glanced at Lily splayed across the table, her naked backside and long legs exposed for everyone to see. Anger and hatred toward the men around him rose up inside him, but together with that was another emotion, one he didn’t even want to admit to himself.
Lust.
This was how he’d always taken his women himself. Just as Rodriguez was doing now, only he’d not held a gun at their head and had paid them what they were worth. That hadn’t stopped him using them and degrading them. It had only been his Flower who had changed all of that—simply finding someone he actually gave a shit about.
His cock stirred, but he couldn’t bring himself to grow aroused in this situation, not in the way that was needed.
“You can’t expect me to get a hard-on like this?”
“I suggest you do, or you’re going to pay.”
“No,” he said, resolutely. “I can’t do this. I won’t do this.”
“Then I’ll put a bullet in both of your kneecaps. Now get behind her and screw her like the bitch she is.”
Monster looked between Lily and Rodriguez. He couldn’t be a part of the sick game Rodriguez was playing, couldn’t hurt and de
grade Lily in this way. He needed to bide his time, to allow Sean and Chapman time to reach them. Except his time was running out, and Rodriguez wasn’t a patient man. What else could he do but go along with what the bastard wanted?
He had no other choice.
Sixteen
Lily fought against tears as she remained bent over the table, her skirt lifted over her hips and her underwear torn from her legs. She was humiliated that Monster should see her like this, and that all the other men’s eyes were trained on her most private parts. She was even more humiliated because of the other woman in the room, knowing how women like Sophia judged and criticized other females as though it were a hobby.
She glanced back over her shoulder to see Monster standing behind her. She’d never seen him so uncomfortable, his jaw rigid, lips thinned, nostrils flared. A muscle beside his left eye twitched, and his hands were balled into fists.
“I can’t do this,” he repeated.
“Do it, or I’ll shoot you.” Rodriguez’s anger was building too, his dark eyes burning with fury, his teeth bared in frustration.
Monster pressed his lips together and slowly shook his head.
“God damn it!” Rodriguez slammed his hand down on the table, a crack that made her jump, and then lifted the gun to point it back at Lily’s head. She gave a whimper of fear. “Do what you’re fucking told!”
Lily knew this had to come down to her. Even though she hated the idea of everyone watching, she’d already seen Rodriguez’s capability for violence, and she didn’t doubt that one of them—most probably Monster—would be shot if they didn’t perform in his little fantasy. She didn’t want to give Rodriguez what he wanted, but chances were he’d get it anyway. But Monster was saying he wasn’t able to do this physically, and she didn’t blame him. It wasn’t about him not being attracted to her or anything like that. It was the situation.
Delivered (The Monster Trilogy Book 3) Page 15