Before the Dawn(73)

She blinked. Her eyes were a dark brown, and a faint spatter of freckles dotted her nose. "Heather? I haven't heard from Heather in ages, not since she left town to meet up with her boyfriend." She nibbled her lower lip. "Is...is everything all right with her? I mean, she and her boyfriend are okay, aren't they?"

Boyfriend. "Do you mind if I come inside?" he asked her. "Because we need to talk."

* * *

THEY WERE SHOWERING TOGETHER. The water beat down on Dawn as she stood beneath the spray. The lights were on in the bathroom. Tucker's hands were sliding along her back. He was seeing all of her.

No hiding, not anymore.

She turned toward him and his fingers feathered over her left shoulder, lightly caressing the three rose tattoos that were there. Tattoos that would forever remind her of the friend she'd lost. As if she needed any reminder.

But it wasn't her scars that she focused on right then. It was his. The small white scars that she'd seen before on his chest. His arms. His back.

She leaned forward and pressed soft kisses to his scars, those closest to her.

"Dawn." His hold on her shoulder tightened. "You don't have to-"

She kissed another small scar. It wasn't about what she had to do. It was about what she wanted to do. And she wanted to do everything, with him.

The water kept pouring onto them. "How old were you?" she asked.

Because those marks looked so very old.

"Five...the first time. It was right after my mom was buried."

Her heart ached for him.

"Fifteen...the last time."

Such a long, long time to suffer abuse. What did that long-term abuse do to a person?

Did it make Jason into a monster?

She looked up at Tucker's face.

What did it make you into, Tucker? What did it do to you?

His face seemed to harden as he stared at her, as if he could see the questions in her mind. Jaw locking, he reached out and turned off the flow of water with a hard jerk of his hand.


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The water dripped down Dawn's body, sliding over her skin. Goose bumps rose on her arms as she stared at him.

"There won't be any going back." His voice was low and deep.

"Back is the last place I want to go." She turned from him and slipped from the shower. Dawn grabbed one of the towels and dried off quickly, but...she didn't cover herself when she was done. She let the towel drop to the floor. She was nervous, her knees nearly shaking, but she stood there before him. Not hiding. She wasn't going to hide.

She could do this.

He climbed from the shower, too, but his movements were slower. With his gaze on her, he toweled off. That hot, bright stare moved over every inch of her, and she felt it like a touch on her skin.

They'd had sex-hot, powerful sex. She shouldn't want him again.

She did.

More, she wanted to do so many things to him. Dawn wanted to knock down the last of the walls that held her back. She turned and went into her room, knowing he'd follow. When she entered that bedroom, her hand went instinctively to the light switch, but she caught herself.

Not now. Won't do it again.

She stood by the side of the bed.

He came up behind her. His hands curled around her waist and he pulled her back against his body. His mouth went to her neck, right on that sweet spot where her neck curved into her shoulder, where she was so sensitive that the touch of his lips had her nipples tightening.

One hand slid between her legs. Right between her folds. Then his fingers were pushing into her and her head tipped back against his shoulder. She knew she could come, just like that, with his fingers in her, with him behind her.

But she wanted something else. "Tucker..." She swallowed because her voice was so husky. "Get...get on the bed."

His fingers thrust into her once more, then his hand slid back, making a moan come from her lips.

He let her go. Her breath was coming too fast as she watched him slide onto the bed. His cock thrust toward her, full and swollen, bigger than her wrist. He lay down on that bed, put his hands behind his head, and his stare came back to her.

Not just hot now. Scorching.

"What do you need from me?" His voice was low, rough, and she knew he understood.

There were other lines she had to cross.

It's what I need from myself. Dawn eased onto the bed. She straddled his hips, staring down at him. 

"Who do you see?" His hands were still behind his head. A deliberate move, she knew, one designed to make her feel safer. That was what Tucker always did. He tried to make her feel safe.

"I see you." She bent and pressed more kisses to those scars. So many of them. Scars that had changed a boy.