Still Mine by Mary Wine Read Free Book Online Page A

as a child, he’d refused to leave any project alone until he finished it. His mother had nearly torn her hair out a few times. But she wasn’t the only one. More than one teacher had marched him to the principal’s door when he took their science projects to levels they’d never imagined. But it burned like a volcano inside him. That need to question and experiment. Valda answered a lot of his needs, granting him the funding and the permission to follow his thoughts. It wasn’t free though. His mind was a vault of classified facts. But he consoled himself with the knowledge that no one’s life was fair. You did what you had to. He had counted himself lucky to have snared a job that he enjoyed.
    Tonight he was sick of it. Pounding through his head was fatigue. And need. His project wasn’t what was on his mind. Sifting through calculations didn’t entice him.
    Staring at the photo in his hand, he felt his cock thicken. “Hate me if you can, baby.”
    But they were going to be face-to-face again.

    Chapter Three
    Jo slowly tightened her grip once again to stop her hands from shaking. The constant vibration of the Hummer made her shoulder burn more with each mile that dropped behind them. The vehicles were built for rugged terrain, not for the comfort of their passengers. The mild pain medication she had consumed just after dinner had long since lost its effect on her injured body.
    At the moment, Jo would have gratefully taken refuge in unconsciousness, but her brain refused to lower its defenses enough to allow her to slip away from conscious thought. Her instinct for survival demanded she remain alert enough to make use of any opportunity that might present itself. A precious few moments of inattention would be all she needed to place something as simple as a phone call, to leave a marker someone might follow. She wasn’t willing to give up, even if the odds were growing taller and harder to avoid as the hours passed. Little details, like road names and interstate numbers, were breadcrumbs she could use to reclaim her life. She just prayed her body would respond with enough strength should that chance arise.
    Tilting her head slightly, Jo looked out the small window mounted in the door of the Hummer. A slight glow of light was visible somewhere in the distance. They had been enclosed in darkness for so long that her eyes were drawn to the light like a beacon.
    The driver finally broke the long silence as he conversed with some sort of security control. The man uttered several lines of numbers. Nothing that made sense to her. The driver spoke it like a second language. The lights in front of them grew brighter until the vehicle was bathed in light as bright as high noon. A heavily armed gate opened to admit them. They drove through a corridor of steel and barbed wire before facing another gate. The one behind them closed and red lights flickered in some kind of warning before a siren chirped out. The gate in front of them opened and the driver drove through before it closed tightly behind them.
    Thirty seconds later the driver pulled his Hummer to a stop. Her companions exited the Hummer while she fumbled with her seat belt. Her fingers refused to stop shaking enough to depress the stiff latch on the safety restraint.
    Jo ordered her hands to perform the simple task and the clasp finally snapped open. It took precious amounts of her dwindling strength to step out of the Hummer.
    The grip on her biceps was renewed as the giant appeared right beside her the second her feet touched the blacktop. He tugged her forward by her left arm.
    “This way, ma’am.” The movement was far from rough. However the sharp tug and pull across her shoulder sent a spasm of pain through her torso. Her body shuddered with the effort of containing the pain and not moaning like a lightweight.
    Her captor tilted his head and considered her momentarily. There was an unmistakable question in the man’s eyes. Jo perversely refused to provide