Before the Dawn(74)

Changed a man.

She followed that trail down his chest. He'd tensed beneath her.

"Baby, be careful... When your mouth is on me, my control doesn't last."

She didn't need it to last. That was another of her tests-not for him, but for herself. To see what she did when he really let go.

Her hands curled around his cock and it jerked against her fingers. Her breath sighed out as she bent toward him, moving her body so that her mouth came close to the head of his arousal.

"Dawn." If possible, his voice was even darker. "Baby..."

She licked him. Licked him, kissed him, took that length into her mouth and thought only of him. She thought of the pleasure they gave each other. Of the way her body ignited for his. Of the way he made her feel, the way-

He'd moved in a flash. He was above her, pinning her beneath him to the mattress. His cock was at the entrance to her body, his eyes glittered. Savage desire. His touch wasn't careful. He wasn't careful.

"Need fucking in you."

"And I need you." His bare cock pushed at the entrance to her body. His control was disintegrating, and she still wasn't afraid. His face was savage in his need, and she still saw only him. "I'm on the pill. I'm clean. I. Want. You."

His pupils stretched, filling his gaze. "Clean, too. Fuck-"

And he drove into her, a rough, deep thrust that lifted her off the bed. There was no holding back then, not for either of them. Her nails clawed down his back. She didn't even think about the stitches in his arm. His hands bit into her skin.

His cock drove in and out of her. She slammed up to meet him, fighting for the release.

No fear.

He kissed a hot path down her neck.

She started to scream when she came, but Dawn locked her lips together, fighting to hold back the sound. Fighting to make the pleasure last and last.

He erupted inside of her, and his release just made her climax stronger. Her head tipped back. He held her tight.

And she wasn't afraid.

She wouldn't be afraid. Not of him. Not ever again.

* * *

"HEATHER'S DEAD?" CATHERINE shook her head. "I... Are you sure?"

"I'm afraid that I am." He always hated telling the news to friends and family. He was better at working the killers, not dealing with the victims. Their pain was too stark, too heavy to carry.

Catherine seemed to collapse into her chair. Silent tears trickled down her cheeks. "I am such a bitch."

Bowen frowned at her.

"I didn't even call her...didn't call to check on her. She left, and I just... I kept right on going with my life." She started to rock back and forth in her seat, a move that he didn't even think she was aware of making. He'd seen it before, an unconscious, comforting rock that victims made. "She was my roommate for a year, and I didn't even think about checking on her after she left. God." Her eyes squeezed shut. "I thought she was happy! I mean...she was always talking about her guy, how strong and smart he was and..." Her words just trailed away.


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"I'd like the name of her boyfriend, Ms. Peters."

Her eyes opened. "Aren't you guys supposed to keep people safe?"

"We try, ma'am. We try very hard." Sometimes, we just don't succeed. It was the failures that haunted him.

"Then how did this happen?" Another tear leaked down her cheek. "Why didn't he keep her safe?"

"I'm not sure that I follow..."

"Her boyfriend! He was freaking FBI! She rushed down to New Orleans to meet him after he finished up a big case in Alabama."

Bowen stiffened.

"Why didn't he keep her safe?"

* * *

"SHIT, BABY, I hurt you." Tucker's voice was gruff as his index finger lightly touched her lip. "You're bleeding."

And the sight of that blood tore him up. Her busted lip. He should have been more careful. Damn it. He-

"I don't know that you did it." Her hand caught his wrist. "I think I bit my lip right before I came."

His heart slammed into his chest.

"I was trying to be quiet."

"You don't have to be quiet."

But she gave a sexy, husky laugh. "Trust me, I do. If your FBI buddies are close, I didn't want them hearing me."

He hated the sight of that blood on her lips. Tucker hurried into the bathroom and came back with a warm cloth. He dotted it against her mouth.

"You always took care of me."

He stared into her eyes.

"That was one of the things I liked so much about you. The way you'd surprise me at lunch. Or bring me my favorite energy drink when I was pulling an all-nighter at school." Her lips curved. "You brought me something every time we had a date. Books. Wine. Roses-"