All Chapters of Driven Hearts: Driven by Desire: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

"Help!" Riley screamed into the stifling blackness, tears streaming down her cheeks.She knew she should preserve the precious fluid, but it wouldn't matter if she was going to die anyway. She'd been hallucinating and cooking for what felt like ages in the hot, dark trunk. She banged on the lid and yelled until she was exhausted and weak once more. She took another desperate gulp of water and pinched herself in an attempt to keep her eyes open. She knew she couldn't pass out again. She might not wake up.Her moronic husband (did Shank really force her to marry him?!) was going to accidentally murder her before he got them to where they were going. She moaned and clutched her aching stomach. She hadn't eaten since the day before. Maybe longer. Fuck, she had no idea how much time had passed since Shank had blown the shit out of her and Soloman's kitchen and stolen her right out of the house. She didn't know how much more punishment her body could withstand."Please... Soloman... find me,

She slept like an angel.Her body was spread out in the trunk like an angel with her arms stretched wide like wings. Even her chest barely moved with her breaths. So ethereal. So beautiful.Shank reached in and lifted her easily from the trunk. She remained limp in his arms. He was sorry to see tear tracks down her cheeks. She must have been sad to wake up in the trunk. He had heard her screams, which is how he knew she was better off in there. He couldn't have her distracting him while he was driving.She just needed more angel dust. Then she could belong to him like she was always meant to. He should have taken her years ago, before that fucking mobster came sniffing around. Instead, he'd gone back to his gang and given them the years they'd demanded. Bided his time until he was free. Until his angel called him home.He watched the swell of her breasts as they moved slowly and pressed against the frayed fabric of her wedding dress. He frowned. The fabric was torn along the edge,

Her eyes flared open wide. Had she said Soloman's name out loud? She hadn't realized. Tears trickled once more and her chest heaved in reaction. Though Shank had been horribly brutal in his treatment of her, he hadn't been deliberately violent until now. What had she unleashed? Should she apologize?She closed her eyes, wishing the oblivion would float back to her. She could feel the drug in her system, but adrenaline was also coursing through her bloodstream forcing her to awareness. Shank shoved her torn dress out of the way and ran his hand up her bare thigh toward her panty-less pussy. She flinched back and closed her knees, only to curve her spine further against the sweaty hardness of his chest.She whimpered and opened her eyes. A gun lay on the night table next to the bed. If she leaned forward on her hands and knees, it would be within reach. Was it real? Or was it a drug induced hallucination, like the Soloman that had left her in Shank's greedy hands. She could feel Shank'

Agony.Fire.Unquenchable thirst.Is this what his angel had felt when he'd locked her in this very same trunk? Slowly creeping death as his lungs burned up from heat and lack of oxygen. Maybe he deserved this horrific end. He had no idea this is what he'd condemned her to. He thought he was keeping her quiet.He'd lost count of how many times they'd pulled him from the slow baking death. The beatings in between. Violent, bloody, crushing. They made sure to break his bones, hurt him as much as they could without actually killing him. He laughed through the pain. He was fucking psychotic Shank. He could withstand anything and survive. He'd taken a bullet to the guts from the love of his life and survived. He would smile in the face of this slow burning death from her satanic lover.The lid of his own trunk lifted and the demonic visage of Soloman Hart looked down at him for what he immediately recognized was the last time. It wasn't a look of rage or even one of satisfaction on the

3 months later.Riley stood with her back to him watching the sun set over the Pacific Ocean. She was waist deep in the water, allowing the gentle waves to lick against her tanned body. Dark chocolate hair was pulled high on her head in a ponytail. Her arms were wrapped protectively around herself. He could see her black chipped nails splayed against the skin of her back on either side. The thin black strap of her bikini halter trailed down between the angel's wings of her tattoo. She was so fucking beautiful it made him ache deep inside.He wanted to smile, but he couldn't. Eventually they would get there. But for now, his chest ached too much at how serious his gorgeous girl had become. He almost always knew to find her outdoors at this time of day when he came home from work. Claustrophobia was probably the biggest side effect to her ordeal. He calmly dealt with it by clearing out the local pharmacy of all their sunscreen so she could spend as much time outdoors as she needed. She