Read Never Let Go for Free Online Page A

the top to her white jogging suit. Because she'd lost weight, it hung to midthigh. With one swift movement she grasped the loose garment, pulled it over her head, and let it fall to the floor.
    The silence held the kind of deceptive stillness found at the center of a hurricane. Stunned, Rucker let his eyes flicker down her body.
    "Look," she instructed, touching herself lightly. "My breasts weren't this big before, were they? The nipples weren't this dark." She walked to the floor lamp and stood within its circle of light. "See the blue veins just under the skin? They weren't like this before. Come closer and look."
    He closed the distance between them and stood within arm's reach, his eyes dark with concentration and his expression still showing astonishment.
    Dinah lifted one breast and drew a fingertip along the underside. "My breasts were even larger when I was pregnant. Now that they've shrunk a little, I have some stretch marks. See?"
    "No. You look like you could model for Playboy tomorrow." He added sardonically, "The 'Girls of the USSR' pictorial."
    "Look closer."
    His head cocked to one side, he bent forward until his face was only inches from her nipple. "Okay. I see a stretch mark."
    "Good."
    "And on my stomach, too." She touched a spot just above her dark, curly hair. "There. And there. You can see that my stomach isn't as tight as it used to be."
    "That's debatable."
    She sighed with dismay. "Touch it."
    He reached out and probed just beneath her navel. At his touch the brusque, objective mood changed; she inhaled softly and shut her eyes. "Stop. That's enough."
    Rucker drew back quickly, and when she looked up at him she saw by his eyes that the contact had affected him, too. "It's softer," he said in a gruff tone. "But not too soft."
    Dinah sat down in the recliner nearby. She began to stroke one of her breasts lightly, running her fingers from the top to the nipple, where she tugged a little. "If this doesn't prove what I've told you, then I'll give up."
    His eyes never left her hand's languid journey. He sank to his heels beside the chair. After a minute, several large drops of bluish-white liquid appeared at the end of her nipple.
    Dinah's hand shook as she slipped a forefinger under the drops and scooped them onto the tip. Her eyes met Rucker's. "Milk." she whispered. She held out her hand.
    He studied the fluid for several seconds. She moved her hand closer. "Taste it."
    His expression was somber. He frowned at her hand and she knew that his cynicism was warring with this evidence. Suddenly he leaned forward and took her fingertip between his lips.
    His mustache brushed her finger as he drew the milk away with a soft sucking motion. He sat back, studying her while he touched his tongue to his lips.
    His gaze went to her nipple. "Once you get it started, does it keep goin' without any help?"
    Dinah glanced down and saw that new milk had appeared on the nipple. "Oh. It sort of ... leaks. It won't continue unless a baby starts to nurse."
    Rucker put one blunt, calloused forefinger on her nipple and caught the new milk. He lifted the finger to his mouth and licked it, his expression so intense that she almost smiled.
    "Grade A," he said.
    "Naturally pasteurized. Full of vitamins. Already sterilized. Just the right temperature. Stores perfectly in two handy containers. Katie loves it."
    At the sound of that name his expression became bleak. He bent his head and ran a hand through his hair. They both sat in silent misery. When he looked up at her, his eyes were stern.
    "You had a baby. All right. You were probably sleepin' with Valdivia before you left me, so—"
    "I wasn't!"
    "There's no reason for me to take your word. Why should I believe that it's my baby or that it's safety depends on you gettin' back to South America?"
    Dinah gave him a worried, wistful look. "You'll have to trust me. Isn't it worth the risk?"
    After a moment of electric waiting, he said, "I can't trust you."
    Dinah groaned and covered her