Paired Objective: Matched Desire, Book 2 Read Online Free

the midst of the terror at hearing the aliens howling, she also thought the men looked pretty damn good from behind.
    Then the plane began to rattle. Her first assumption was that the Barks had found them and were trying to tear the metal apart to get to them. After a stunned moment, she realized they were bumping across the field, building up speed for takeoff. The world tilted as they became airborne. Then it tilted again, and Cam grunted. On the dash, an alarm shrilled briefly.
    “Sniper got us in the wing,” he said over his shoulder. If he meant that explanation to be somehow soothing, he’d missed his mark completely.
    They plummeted for a moment before recovering. Abby’s stomach clawed its way up her throat. She held tight to the seat, gouging the upholstery with her fingernails in exchange for not screaming her head off. If they dropped again, though, she was going to scream. Loudly. She wasn’t going to go gentle into that good night.
    When they straightened out over the Potomac—how long had it been since she’d seen water?—Cam sighed. “We’re good now, but they shot through one of the batteries. Other one’s still working, but we’ve only got half the juice we need to get back to Chicago.”
    “What he means is that we’ll need to find somewhere to land and charge up again,” Russ supplied. “Big issue is we only have two hours of electricity and another eight till dawn.”
    “And a bounty on our heads, knowing how those senators operate,” Abby said.
    “Oh yeah. I bet we’re worth a pretty penny.” Russ reached for the radio. “Gonna touch base quickly.”
    “Go for it.” Cam pulled back the yoke, and her stomach lurched as they gained altitude.
    “Russell and Cameron 03656, over.”
    “Command here. Request veiled report.”
    “Objective met. Delayed by at least twenty-four. Over and out.”
    “Roger that, 03656, stay safe. Over and out.”
    Abby blinked in admiration. They’d conveyed all necessary information without spelling it out. The senators had people monitoring the radio bands, both to keep track of what the real government was doing and to waylay unsuspecting travelers who used the waves to communicate. The Shadow Feds weren’t above common banditry, especially when it netted them food and luxuries—and more servants, in some cases. They always had their collective eye out for young, nubile women and strong men who could be put to manual labor.
    “Russ?” she asked, trying out the first man’s nickname. His dark head immediately swung around. This close up, she could see that his eyes were definitely blue, a dark cobalt that made for a striking combination with his black hair.
    “Everything all right back there?”
    She nodded. “I was wondering if my weight affected our potential range.”
    “Not by more than about three minutes,” Cam replied, while Russ’s gaze softened.
    “Yeah, you’re fine. We got you. Want me to get that chain off?”
    “Please,” she whispered. The mere thought of being free made her throat thicken. Stupid emotions. She raised her legs, propping them on the Twin’s lap. It was an awkward angle for her, but it made it easy for him to work. He brought out a small, chisel-like tool and hit a button on its side. It whirred, cutting through the light chain as if it were a piece of Grammie’s signature lemon drizzle cake.
    “Going to have to leave the manacles for now, unfortunately,” Russ said. “I’ll need specialist equipment to get through those—the bastards welded them on without a lock. They weren’t ever going to let you go, Abigail.”
    “Abby,” she corrected, and withdrew her legs to sit huddled up in the backseat. She hadn’t figured what the lack of locks meant. She eyed the manacles in dismay. They’d become all too familiar to her.
    A slight tilt of her head allowed her to look out the window. She couldn’t see much beyond dim fields and what was possibly an abandoned town. There were large dark forms