Light of Dawn Ch. 04

A hiccup interrupted the kiss.

"There's nothing to be afraid of Little Red."

Again, Dawn felt like a child.

"I have a cure for hiccups; it's an absolute miracle." Liza slowly opened the last few buttons of Dawn's top, exposing the pale skin of her belly.

Liza kissed the bared navel, pushing her wet tongue into the shallow divot.

Dawn sucked in a savage breath and held it as Liza slathered her belly with sloppy kisses.

"I guess it worked, huh?" Liza asked, grinning up lasciviously.

***

"You look a bit flustered," Tara commented, as Dawn stumbled through the front door. "Was Jeff washing his car without a shirt again?"

"Don't start in on Jeff. You promised you wouldn't." Jenny's full cheeks drooped in a frown. Ordinarily it was Dawn who would discourage Tara's comments but the three minute make-out session in Liza's car had left her mind a bit numb. "Pizza is on the counter, soda is in the fridge," Jenny said, leaning against the left arm of the sofa.

Like a zombie, Dawn staggered to the kitchen.It was nothing. The kiss meant nothing. The thought played over and over like a malfunctioning record. Kissing Liza felt so much different than kissing a guy. Whether better or worse, she couldn't decide; she just knew it was different. She plated a fat slice of triple cheese pizza and a garlic breadstick, then grabbed a can of soda from the fridge.

She sat on the middle cushion of the overstuffed sofa, flanked by her two best friends. Tara, to her right, was the baby of the group (although 'barely legal' was the term the teeny tiny girl preferred), while Jenny, to the left, looked enough like Dawn's plump older sister that they were often confused as such.

"Good?" Tara asked, as Dawn took a huge first bite of pizza. Dawn nodded. A string of cheese dangled to her chin. Despite Tara's small stature, she was outgoing and feisty, an unashamed tomboy who spent most of her time playing field hockey and soccer, and she had the body to prove it. Tara was captain of the girl's soccer team at Curtis High. Her considerable talents had netted scholarship offers from some prestigious universities.

They watched television for over an hour, screaming the correct answers at the dimwitted contestants of a new primetime game show. One contestant, a flat-topped lug in a Michigan State sweatshirt, was particularly clueless. "I don't believe it!" Tara laughed. "He doesn't know what language they speak in New Zealand.New Zealish?!" Dawn and Jenny both giggled.

"Don't make fun," Jenny said, "the poor guy is hopeless."

"Could you imagine if Jeff was on this show?" Tara asked. "The guy who cheated his way to a D average. His test scores are still legendary at Curtis High."

Dawn stretched her legs, slamming her heels against the coffee table. "Jeff isn't dumb." His poor grades were the result of a lack of focus, not a lack of intelligence. At least that's what she always believed.

"You're right. If grades are any indication he's borderline retarded. D, F, D, F, his report cards read like some kind of binary code for morons." Tara giggled at her own words while Jenny scowled disapprovingly.

Dawn's blood roiled. Unable to handle Tara's laughter, she hopped off the couch. "Stop it! He's not stupid!"He's cold and conceited, disingenuous and manipulative but he isn't stupid. "He's my brother, and I love him."

"Dawn, I didn't mean..." Tara's apology petered out. Her eyes went wide. Jeff stood in the kitchen entryway, nibbling a garlic breadstick.

He winked at Dawn, quickening her heartbeat. He took another bite of pizza and savagely chewed. "How's it going, Jenny?" The plump girl simply blushed and waved. "Hey, Tara. Are you eighteen yet?" It was the same half-serious greeting he had given Tara since she was a flat-chested preteen. This time she could answer yes. Her eighteenth birthday was last week. "I hope Dawn got you a nice present."

The blond pixie squirmed on the sofa cushion. Whether she thought him stupid or not, Tara desired Jeff Kramer as much as any other woman. "She did, but it wasn't what I really wanted." She had asked Dawn for a night with Jeff but had to settle for the charcoal hoodie she wore.

"Well, maybe next year." Jeff smirked at the girls one last time before ducking into the kitchen.

When he was out of earshot Tara released an exaggerated moan. "How can you stand it?" she asked. "Having someone so perfect around the house would drive me totally insane."

He put her through a weekend of Hell, capping it off by abandoning her at school, now he waltzes in acting all flirty and charming as if nothing was amiss. If that didn't drive Dawn insane nothing would. "Jeff's not so great. Everyone thinks he is, but he's not."

"Do you have freckles on your brain, too?" Tara asked. She wiggled out of the charcoal gray hoodie and smoothed the sweaty t-shirt over her modest chest. "He's hot and talented and one of these days he's going to be rich."

"That doesn't make him a good person."

"You don't have to be a good person when you look like him," Tara said.

"So Jeff gets a free pass because he's nice to look at?" Sometimes her friends seemed every bit as shallow as her brother.

"It's nice to do a lot more thanlook at him," Tara grinned before adding, "according to Jenny." A savage red flush appeared on Jenny's plump cheeks. That didn't stop Tara. "Go on, girl. You might as well tell Dawn your hot little story." Jenny remained silent, prompting Tara to grab a sofa pillow and smack the plump girl's chest. "Don't get all shy. She's going to find out, eventually." Tara smirked. "At first she wouldn't shut up about it."

Jenny cleared her throat. She gripped her long auburn hair in her fists and tugged. It was a nervous habit she had exhibited since preschool. "I'm sorry, Dawn. I'm so sorry." Dawn was intrigued. Whathad Jenny done? "I needed to use your computer to burn a CD," Jenny mumbled, "you weren't home so Jeff let me in." She looked like she could either burst out laughing or break down crying at any moment. "We...we did some things."

Did some things? Jenny was the sweetest, shiest girl Dawn had ever known. "Jenny, you didn't!?" Her friend went a shade redder, revealing that she had. "Tell me you didn't do it in my room." The thought of Jenny's thick thighs coiled around Jeff's skinny waist made Dawn hot and cold at the same time.

"No, not in your bed--I mean we started there but we finished in his room."

"Yeah and then you did it in the hallway, the shower and the kitchen." Tara laughed so hard that snot dribbled out of her little, pug nose. "I've been throwing myself at Jeff for years, with nothing to show. Chubby gets it four times in one morning. Where's the justice in that?"

***

It was wrong. He hated it but was powerless to change. The whole school, heck the entire state was in love with Jeff Kramer. Men idolized him, women worshipped him. Yet, when it came to his own family he was practically a pariah.

Jeff grabbed a slice of cold pizza from the refrigerator.Yuck, cheese. What do those girls have against meat? Jeff snickered as he chewed. Jenny seemed to like sausage just fine. She practically begged for it by the end of their three hour marathon fuck. Beneath that enormous chest, big, bashful Jenny had a powerful set of lungs on her.

The memory of Jenny's plump breasts and silver dollar nipples caused a predictable reaction. With all of his experience Jeff had never been with a woman who had such generous curves. The way those curves wiggled and bounced was almost hypnotic.

He wondered if the girls were spending the night. Probably not, he reasoned; it was Monday. Too bad, Jenny would surely have been willing for a repeat of their previous liaison.

Even Tara looked halfway good. The tiny blond had finally begun maturing. While still as flat-chested as a tackling dummy, her butt had grown enticingly round. Jeff opened the refrigerator, passing over the remains of last weekend's twelve-pack in favor of a diet cola. There were few liquids Jeff found more repulsive than diet cola but he figured he'd drank enough beer at O'Malley's Pub.

His stomach grumbled, demanding real food not girly fodder. Jeff hunted through the fridge and the pantry in vain. His idiot father hadn't been to the grocery store in ages.

There was a time when he couldn't step through the front door without being welcomed by the scent of something sweet or savory warming in the oven. Meat loafs, spaghetti red, pan fried chicken, while no one would confuse the meals for gourmet cuisine, dinners were delicious just the same. Mom was a tremendous cook. She was tremendous at a lot of things.

He remembered how Mom always told him how great he was, not just at sports, at everything. Even when he brought home less than stellar report cards, Mom never failed to make him feel special. She never missed his games, not even once. She was always in the bleachers, oftentimes with Dawn nestled beside her.

He missed Mom more than he ever admitted. She was the one person who never judged, never even raised her voice.

Jeff remembered the time he smashed the antique tea set she used to keep on the dining room table. He was young, only seven or eight but he knew better. By tossing a ball in the house he was breaking one of Mom's golden rules. A wild throw sent the foam football skidding across the table. Mom rushed downstairs as soon as it happened. She cried when she saw the pile of shattered china that had once been a family heirloom. Jeff cried too (it was okay to cry back then). She had never lost her cool before, had never struck him, but this time he was sure she would. When she reached down for him Jeff sensed a forthcoming blow; whether it would be a slap or a swat on the fanny or worse, he didn't know. Instincts took over and he flinched. Fresh tears flooded her eyes. Mom never hit him, not then and not ever. She held him close and kissed his cheek, then whispered how much she loved him.

Even when she was mad or hurt or sick, Mom never did anything but love.

Poor Mom. Apparently, she had been the glue. When Mom died the whole family fell to pieces. He and Dad drifted apart while Dawn withdrew, morphing from a bubbly ray of sunshine to an introverted bookworm.

Losing any respect for his father a long time ago, Jeff was resigned to the fact that their relationship was unsalvageable. Now his relationship with his Dawn was forever altered. She defended him in front of her friends. She had even said she loved him but loving him wasn't the same as forgiving him. He was her brother, after all. Shehad to love him.

Jeff found a loaf of stale white bread in the pantry. He squeezed the bag of bread; the crust was rock hard. Good enough for sandwiches, assuming the expired lunchmeat in the deli drawer hadn't evolved an intelligence.

"Put that bread away. It's disgusting." Dawn padded into the kitchen on bare feet. She wrenched the bread from his hand and tossed it in the garbage.So it's not springtime fresh. Would you prefer me to starve? "There's plenty of food in the pantry." She wouldn't look at him but at least they were talking. At least he had that.

She opened the pantry and dug through the shelves, removing a box of angel hair pasta and a can of garlic-basil tomato sauce. "See, food." She placed the items on the counter.

"Dry pasta and canned tomatoes aren't food. They're ingredients."

She rolled her pretty green eyes. "The spaghetti will be ready in half an hour." Dawn crouched under the counter and pulled a saucepan from the cupboard. She filled it with cold water and balanced it on the electric range. Scavenging a yellow onion, she set to work peeling and chopping.

"I'm glad you're not mad."

Dawn turned around, gripping the hilt of the gleaming chef's knife. "I am insanely mad." She held the blade out. "I would like nothing better than to carve the word pig on your chest." Jeff breathed a sigh of relief, glad that she hadn't threatened castration. Her freckled nose scrunched tight as she turned back to the onion. She grunted with each slice through the pungent bulb. A pathetic whimper escaped her mouth.

The last thing he needed was to see her to cry. "You would feel better if you forgave me."

"Stop it! Stop it!" She plunged the point of the knife into the wooden cutting board. "You abandoned me, miles from home. Do you have any idea what almost happened?"

She was being ridiculous. As long as her last name was Kramer life at Choteau would be a breeze. "I said I was sorry."

"No you didn't!" Her voice was shrill. Fortunately, her friends didn't check on the commotion; Tara and Jenny were well acclimated to Kramer family spats. "You never apologized, not once." He started to protest but her voice cut his down. "You made an excuse about being drunk... and you...and you called me a slut." Despite her efforts to hide them, the tears came.

"Iam sorry, Dawn. I never meant to do something so...so..."Wrong? When he touched her velvety skin it felt anything but wrong.Nasty? No, there wasn't a single thing about the adorable redhead that could be considered nasty.Confusing? Jeff bridged the distance between them. She turned her head and looked up at him. Her eyes were red and wet. "Don't cry," he said.

She used the back of her wrist to mop the tears from her freckled cheek. "It's from the onion, stupid."

Jeff touched her shoulder. She winced and smacked the side of her hand against his forearm, connecting with the deep gash received in Saturday's game. A searing pain climbed his arm. A dark red splotch formed on the cloth bandage as blood wept through the stitches.

The pain was enormous, shooting up his arm like hot needles. Dawn muttered apologies as Jeff swallowed back every expletive he could think of.

He wondered why she had struck him? Was it because he touched her shoulder? Was she that afraid of him? Catching him completely off guard, she took his long arm in her tiny hands. She studied him with gloriously green eyes before pressing her lips to his bare arm, kissing the bruised skin beside the bandage.

The pain melted to a tingle. "Mom used to do that," he said. Every bruise and every cut, Mom would kiss and make better.

"I remember." She smiled. It was an amazing, dimpled smile, so familiar. Jeff stepped closer, cupping her freckled cheeks with his hands. The innocent smile she wore disappeared. In it's place was an entirely different kind of look. The tingle moved from his arm to his crotch. He gritted his teeth as he tried to will the erection away. Useless. The proximity to her supple curves urged Jeff's body to react the way any man's would. It would be so easy, he realized. One little kiss on the mouth and he could repeat their encounter in the tunnel. She was more than willing to fulfill his basest desires. The realization startled him. Was that what he wanted?

Unsure of what he wanted, unsure of what he was even doing, Jeff slipped a hand to Dawn's back and pulled her closer. Her breath drifted through his shirt. It was so warm. She was so warm.One kiss and she's yours. One kiss and she's yours. One kiss... His eyes closed the moment their lips touched. His heart slammed inside his chest.This is insane. You're Jeff Kramer. You could have any woman you want. His hands slid up her back, massaging her tense muscles.Stop it! Stop touching her! She's your kid sister for Christ's sake. He ignored the shrill voice of reason and let his hands wander to her front side. He cupped her plump, firm breasts. Not as huge as Jenny's, they were perfect for her petite body. Perfect for Jeff too; they seemed to have been molded to fit his palms.

Their lips smacked as she pulled away. "Jeff, we can't." She was absolutely right but he kept his eyes closed and his lips puckered just in case she changed her mind. He kissed her fingers as they touched his mouth. "It's too dangerous." It was beyond dangerous. Two lives were on the verge of implosion.

To be continued...

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