Before the Dawn(39)

He paced toward his room.

"Tucker..."

His shoulders stiffened.

"I want you."

He kept walking. The last time they'd tried to be together, the night had ended with her screams. He couldn't, wouldn't, do that again.

Because she'd looked at him as if he were the monster.

And she'd been right.

He shut the door and knew he needed one hell of a cold shower to get through the night.

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DAWN LAY IN the bed, the covers soft against her skin. She stared at the ceiling but she saw the past.

Tucker.

Her.

In bed.

"Baby, I want you so fucking much." His touch had been so light. His fingers had slid down her neck. "I need you."

Her heart had thundered in her chest. She needed him, too, but she hadn't spoken. His lips feathered over her throat and she couldn't help but stiffen. The wound had faded. Weeks had passed since the attack. She had a scar on her neck now, but...

As Tucker touched her so carefully, she couldn't help but think...

Jason put his hands on me there.

Tucker's fingers trailed after his lips and she had to squeeze her eyes closed.

Jason choked me there, just for fun. Just to show me that he could. He choked me, then he sliced me. Not deep enough to kill me. Just enough to forever mark me.

"Dawn? Dawn, look at me."

Her eyes had opened. All of the lights had been on in that room. A hotel room because they'd fled to escape the reporters. The crowd. Everyone else. People who just wouldn't let their story go.

At Tucker's command, Dawn looked just over his shoulder.

"At me."

Her gaze came to his. Jason stared back at her. Jason had Tucker's eyes. Jason had Tucker's face. She shivered.

"I would never hurt you."

No, Tucker wouldn't. Jason had lied. He'd lied.

Hadn't he?

Tucker had kissed her and tears slid from her eyes.

"Baby?" He had tried to pull back because this had happened before. He'd tried to touch her before and she'd lost herself to terror. Jason took this from me. He took us away.

He'd broken the bond she had with Tucker, just as he'd promised to do.

No, she couldn't let that happen. Her nails had bit into Tucker's skin as she'd held him tighter. "Stay." The only word she'd spoken to him. She could feel his arousal pressing against her. He'd taken off his shirt, kept on just his jeans. His skin was hot and his muscles were strong. He was powerful and-

Dangerous.

She had kissed him, wanting the passion that had been between them to flare once more. When she made love with Tucker, the rest of the world faded away. 

She had needed that. She needed their oblivion. She needed their pleasure. There was too much pain. Her stitches were gone but the jagged marks remained on her skin. The memories were burned into her soul and she needed something to numb them.

I need him. Tucker is what I need most.

So why did she fear him?

He had stripped her. Kissed her body. She trembled beneath him. She parted her legs for him. She shoved his jeans down.

"Baby, we can go slow..."

She turned her head away. That voice... Their voices were even similar. Dawn shook her head, frantic. She didn't want slow. Slow let her think too much. She'd wanted fast oblivion. She'd wanted the pleasure they'd had before. She'd wanted the life they'd had before. She wanted it all back.

But...it's gone. Jason took it away.

Tucker had moved between her legs. She felt the long, hard ridge of his arousal pressing against her.

"You're not ready." His words were a growl. "I don't want to hurt you."

No, she wasn't getting ready. Her body wasn't turned on because her mind was in chaos. But she needed this. Her nails bit even deeper into him and she arched her hips against him. Her head turned. Their eyes met-

Jason smiled.

"No!" Dawn shoved against Tucker, fear clawing at her. When he didn't let her go right away, she had screamed. She couldn't stop screaming when he touched her.

And that had been how it ended.

A tear slipped down her cheek as she stared up at the ceiling, coming back to the present. She'd fought for seven years to get her life back. To take control once more. And now a killer was back. A man who was trying to tear her world apart.

She couldn't let that happen. She couldn't be a victim again. She wouldn't let fear control her.

Not ever again.





  CHAPTER NINE

HE WASN'T ASLEEP. Tucker was in bed, staring up at the ceiling and trying not to think about just how close Dawn was to him.

When his door creaked open, every muscle in his body tensed. His gaze jerked toward that door and he saw her standing there, the light spilling behind her.