Page 81 of Mason

“So, what now?” she asked, trying to suss out his intentions.

“Now you finish your meal, and then we get to know each other.”

She stopped chewing. Get to know each other? She took several big gulps of her drink.

“I’ve been waiting all week, JoJo, and now we have as much time as we need to learn all about each other.”

“I…” She swallowed the food and blinked. Her head was getting a little fuzzy.

“I thought you might be a bit nervous, so I added a little something to your drink.”

He drugged her.

She shook her head and bent over.

“JoJo?”

“Dizzy,” she whispered and took the nail out of her shirt pocket, her hair hiding the movement.

He came over and squatted, forcing her to look at him. “You shouldn’t be dizzy. A little drowsy, but not dizzy.”

“I always get dizzy when you drug me.”

“Maybe you’re allergic.” His hand cupped her cheek. “I don’t want you to feel bad, baby, just more relaxed.”

Shit, shit, shit.

He moved closer, his lips coming toward her, and her eyes drooped closed. No. She couldn’t fall out now. Not now when he was in the perfect position.

She let her head loll to the side, and he grinned. “There you go. Aren’t you feeling better, baby?”

She gripped the nail like she would her key walking to her car late at night. Right between her index and middle finger, her thumb on the head so she could drive it deep.

She raised her head and looked down into his eyes. They were ablaze with madness. And intent.

He was going to rape her, and she wasn’t going to let him.

She’d be damned if she’d let him.

Without giving him any warning, she raised her hand just out of his line of sight and brought it down with all the force she could right into his neck.

He didn’t scream, but he did rear back and fall, his hand coming up to cup the wound on his neck. Then he grinned. “You do want to be punished, don’t you, JoJo?”

Jo ran. She jumped out of the chair and ran for the back door. It was closer, and she stood a better chance of escaping before he got to his feet. She managed to unlock it and made it to the porch before his hands gripped her hair and yanked her back.

“Oh, no, you don’t, baby.” His lips were right by her ear. “You have to pay for that.”

She stomped his foot and knocked her head into his. She saw stars but managed to get free, and she took off in the snow. The cold bit at her exposed skin, her wet hair stiffening in the icy temperature.

“JoJo, you’re only going to make yourself sick.”

Yes, she was. As she ran, she stuck her finger down her throat and forced herself to throw up. It landed on her, but she didn’t care. She had to get the drugs out of her system before they really did knock her out. She was drowsy and a little dizzy, though whether the dizziness was from the drugs or the hit to her head, she didn’t know.

She made it as far as the bottom of the driveway before he caught her again. They went tumbling when he tackled her, and when they stopped, he straddled her right there in the snow, grinning like an idiot.

“Feisty. I like it.”

Then he hauled off and hit her so hard she blacked out for a few seconds. When she came to, his face was coming toward her, and she reacted without thinking. She still had the nail in a death grip, and she stabbed toward his oncoming head.

---