Hard Roads by Lily White Read Free Book Online

again.”
    Wordlessly, she did as she was told, the stains on her cheeks still obvious from where her previous tears had traveled.
    Kneeling down beside the bed, I untied her before locking the fingers of both my hands around her wrist. “Okay, babe, I’m going to pull your arm out to your side. I need you to relax your shoulder. Once that happens, the muscles will help me push the ball back into the socket. I’m not going to lie to you. It’s going to hurt like a bitch. But once we have it in, the pain should stop. It’ll ache, but I think you’re a big enough girl to handle that.”
    Her lips puckered as she blew out air, nodding her head and closing her eyes to indicate she was ready. I moved quickly and with a somewhat loud ‘pop’, her shoulder was back in.
    Her scream, however, was absolutely ear-piercing.
    Instinctively, I put my hand over her mouth to quiet her, but when I let go of her wrist, she ripped her arm from my other hand and rolled over into a fetal position, cradling her arm to her chest. I wasn’t sure if she was crying or not, but she stopped screaming and that was good enough for me.
    “Want something to kill the pain?”
    I never expected her to answer. She was too stubborn for that. So, you can imagine my surprise when she rolled back over, her eyes pleading for something that would take the edge off after what I’d just done.
    My eyes flicked to the bottle of Jack Daniels on the desk. I didn’t want to give it up, but the woman needed it. My shoulder had been popped in a few too many times for my liking over the course of my life and I knew how much of a son of a bitch it was on the pain scale.
    Taking a few steps across the dirty ass carpet, I swiped it up with my hand, the liquid sloshing up into the neck when I turned back to hand it over. Her nose wrinkled.
    “No. That’s alright.”
    My eyes burned holes into her face. “I’m not sure if you noticed, sweetheart, but this isn’t exactly a hospital that we’re in. Your options are to suck it up and deal with it or drink this.”

Chapter Six
    ~ Holly ~
    He stared at me with eyes that matched the alcohol he was handing me. They were both bad for me for two very different reasons, but added together they were lethal. I was already injured, already weak from the lack of food and water combined with the heat I’d endured on the ride. My shoulder felt like it was on fire and my lip throbbed from where he’d bitten me. My head still hurt from having been tackled to the ground when he first took me and I was tired.
    The last thing I needed at this point was alcohol, especially not in the company of a man who had already proven he had no problems hurting me.
    “No. Seriously. I’m fine. I hate whiskey.” I lied. The truth was, I could down that whole bottle and be perfectly content with life, but I knew better than to get trashed around psychopaths, which this guy clearly was.
    A sly smirk curled the corner of his lips. “Is that so?”
    “Yeah.” Rolling back towards the door, I intentionally turned away from him. I was angry at him for holding me and angry at myself for letting it happen. I should have screamed my fucking head off in that parking lot. So fucking what if I would have been killed. It would have been better than this.
    “It’s time to pay up, Munch.”
    My stomach turned at that stupid fucking name. While staring at the door, I imagined jumping up and running. Just going as fast as I fucking could and hoping I could reach help before he could shoot me. As soon as the thought touched my mind, I stilled, every muscle in my body preparing for a fight. My heart knocked heavily against my chest and I felt on edge, instantly on alert and ready to do something incredibly stupid.
    But what other choice did I have?
    Before my brain could even process my thoughts, I jumped up from the bed, not giving a shit that it felt like lightning tore through my shoulder. I practically flew over the few feet there were between the bed