19 comments/  238316 views/  60 favorites

Light of Dawn Ch. 01

By: Mused



The T-Bird revved it's engines. A flash of yellow metal and the squeal of tires on asphalt announced the arrival of Choteau University's star quarterback to everyone on campus. Jeff backed into his personal parking space, a space actually reserved for one of the history professors.

We stopped moving. We finally stopped moving! The car had indeed come to a halt, permitting the redheaded girl in the passenger seat to gorge her lungs with much needed breaths, breaths she had been denied while Jeff navigated the interstate. Fortunately for Dawn, she was blessed with the same healthy lungs that contributed to her father's and brother's athletic successes. 

Thirty minutes on the interstate playing the automotive equivalent of leapfrog was enough to fray anyone's nerves, anyone but Jeff. While she gasped for air he fiddled with the radio, turning the dial from station to station, receiving nothing but static. He thumped the dial with his forefinger a few times then shook his head. He muttered something about picking up a new part at the auto shop on the way home. 

Dawn wasn't looking forward to the ride home. Thirty more minutes of stunt-driver Jeff and she was bound to black out and gash her head on the dashboard. Spurting blood all over her big brother's restored Ford Thunderbird would definitely remove her from his list of favorite people and end their little agreement. 

Riding shotgun with Jeff may have been like a time trial but it was far better than the alternative: Daddy. Her father was undoubtedly hurt when his little Sunshine begged her way out of the family minivan and into Jeff's Thunderbird. She hated the look of disappointment on his face but visions of Daddy as the chauffeur, coating her cheeks with kisses, were the stuff of nightmares. She loved her father; he was the most wonderful man on earth, but sometimes he could be such a...well, such a father.

Jeff shifted the Thunderbird to park, stomping on the gas pedal for one final rev of the engine before stripping the key from the ignition. 

A circle of young women swooped on the vintage Thunderbird. At the center was a slender bottle blond. "If it isn't Choteau University's stud of a quarterback in the very tanned flesh." The blonde's southern drawl was comically thick. "Summer sure was kind to you, Jeff." She shined a mouthful of enormous white teeth. "We all just about died when they put you on the cover of that football magazine."

How had anyone seen the magazine? Dawn wondered. Jeff had purchased so many copies for his own collection that the magazine should have been sold out everywhere.

"I showed that magazine to my mama. I told her that's the handsome face that put Choteau University on the map."

Jeff removed his sunglasses. His eyes appreciated her lean body while his ears appreciated her garish southern accent. "Liza, babe, why don't we put all the flirting to bed this year?" Jeff unwrapped his fingers from the steering wheel and touched the girl's bronzed arm. "I want you want me. We're both seniors and come spring I am outta here, degree or not."

"Jeff Kramer, you just aren't accustomed to the word no, are you? You know I'm not that kind of girl." The blond wormed her upper body through the open window and smirked at Dawn. "Besides, you wouldn't want your new girlfriend to get jealous. What a pretty little thing, and lordy if she don't look young. I see you done made strawberry your flavor of the month," the blond offered Dawn a wink that was positively wicked, "or is this one cherry?"

"Oh God, Liza! Don't be gross. That's my kid sister, Dawn."

Liza's eyes and mouth opened wide at the revelation. Dawn fidgeted in the passenger seat, squirming under the gaze of the blond and her friends. "Dawn. What a perfect name. She looks sweet as sunshine with all that pretty red hair." Dawn winced at the mention of Sunshine; it was the pet name shackled to her since before preschool, a name she hated.

"Speaking of hair, what happened to yours?" Jeff combed his fingers through Liza's bleached blond hair, exposing brunette roots. "Don't tell me the sun did this."

Liza pulled the hair from his grip and smacked his shoulder. "It was a dare from one of my girlfriends in Myrtle Beach. You know how we girls love to experiment."

"I do. You experimenting with your friends is a recurring fantasy of mine." He earned giggles from most of the girls. Liza backed away from the car, back to the safety of her circle of friends as Jeff emerged from the yellow car. He was like a social butterfly, breaking free from his cocoon and spreading his wings for all to see. He called a few of the women by name, offering winks to the lucky and friendly little touches to the luckier.

The way Jeff flirted was effortless. It was like he had been put on earth for the sole purpose of charming women. Words flowed from his lips like melted butter and the women absorbed every syllable. He let them soak, no doubt debating which morsels he would devour first. With no shortage of willing victims Jeff was sure to have a busy year.

A tilt of his mouth and an arch of his dark eyebrows were the only tools he needed to transform a group of mature college women into a massive puddle of swooning little girls. Why didn't he hold a raffle? Five dollars a ticket and the winning female could spread her legs for Jeff Kramer. He would make a fortune. 

Dawn knew a plethora of girls and women who would pay any price to spread their legs for Jeff. Many were her own friends. At a sleepover last year, a gathering of a dozen or so girls, her best friend Jenny had been the first to open Dawn's eyes. During an aimless session of truth or dare the question of favorite masturbation aid was asked. Jenny admitted to using newspaper clippings of Jeff. The other girls giggled fiercely before one by one confessing their own impure thoughts about Jeff.

Jenny, Amy, Blair, Kathy and the others had no shortage of graphic fantasies. It was odd to discover that her closest friends in the entire world dreamed of performing every sex act imaginable on her big brother. Dawn blushed hardest when Tara, the tiny slip of a tomboy, likened Jeff to a male Helen of Troy. She quipped that his was the face that launched a thousand fingers. Dawn wanted to disappear that night, especially after Tara jestingly accused Dawn of using her own fingers as a surrogate Jeff. The other girls cackled like a pack of hyenas while Dawn vehemently denied the accusation. 

Tara's words still made Dawn uncomfortable, even now as she followed in the wake of Jeff and his cadre of female 'friends.' Unlike the girls at the sleepover, the women in Liza's group thoroughly ignored Dawn, reserving their complete attentions for Jeff. More women linked up with the circle, gravitating towards her brother. Men (well, boys compared to Jeff) were also present. They jockeyed to be first to offer Jeff a slap of the hand or a word of encouragement. It seemed that the males of Choteau University also worshipped at the altar of Jeff.

His teammates, hulking brutes who were easy to spot, occasionally passed by. They smacked Jeff's back hard and called him awful four-letter words, the twenty-first century equivalent of an 'atta boy. 

Forget class, Dawn was getting her education upon the shaggy bluegrass of the commons. It seemed like the entire student body had shown up, each waiting for a turn to personally thank Jeff Kramer for existing. No wonder he had such a swelled head. 

If only someone would notice the lone redheaded girl drifting aimlessly in the sea of churning hormones. No one did. That was the first moment she desperately missed her group of friends. Blair was pedaling across Europe, Amy and Kathy were away at distant colleges, Jenny had taken a job at her mother's bakery and Tara was still in high school. 

She would need to make some new friends, a job complicated by the brand of Jeff Kramer's sister. Everyone would be nice to her, some nauseatingly so. What easier way to gain popularity than by getting close to Jeff Kramer's kid sister? Guys and girls alike would be seeking her out, buying her lunch and inviting her to parties, all in the hopes that some sort of inherited Kramer magic had been passed to Dawn. Won't they be surprised?

Jeff stood tall among the circle. His arm draped Liza's shoulder. He was the one who filled the high school trophy case. He was the one who put obscure Choteau University in the national spotlight. He was the one who courted every passing record in collegiate football history. Compared to her brother, Dawn was painfully ordinary.

She would have happily wrapped herself in the anonymity that came from mediocrity if not for the athletic department of her old high school. During the past four years her last name was transformed from an afterthought, something she scribbled as part of her signature, to a vile and bitter curse. "Dawn Kramer," the coaches always said, "you wouldn't happen to be related to Jeff Kramer?" "Yes, he's my brother," she would answer. They'd look at her with stars in their eyes, dreaming of medals and trophies and significant raises.

Athleticism was supposed to be a Kramer family birthright. After all, the athletic gene had been passed from her father, a former pro baseball player, to Jeff, a soon-to-be pro football player. In theory Dawn should be a natural, a theory she disproved time and again. During four years of high school she embarrassed herself, (and in no particular order) the girls' volleyball, basketball and softball teams. The exact words of her freshman softball coach still echoed in her head, "You're no Jeff Kramer." Coach was right. Even as a fourteen year old string bean of a girl crying in the locker room until her eyes burned, she knew Coach was right.

She couldn't run; she couldn't catch; she couldn't throw. There wasn't much Dawn could do on the field or the court except tie her long red hair in a ponytail and look cute in shorts. It took four years of public humiliations to convince the district that she was no Jeff Kramer, just one of the many reasons why she had grown to hate him so.

"Brat, why are you hanging around?" Brought out of her thoughts, she realized he was watching her; they were all watching her. "Get your little butt to class. I can handle the cheerleaders. Lord knows I've had plenty of practice." Jeff's voice was perpetually unflinching and unconcerned. It was another reason she hated him. He turned to one of the girls; she was a carbon copy of Liza, they were all carbon copies of Liza. The poor girl giggled and swooned as Jeff removed his sunglasses, exposing a pair of deceptively soft green eyes. 

Shamed into isolation, Dawn drifted across the campus for a while. Avoiding the paved walks, she let the unclipped grass tickle the sides of her feet through her leather sandals. She ended up in the University store, writing a check for an off-white Choteau U sweatshirt and a scarlet book bag. The clerk, a thick-lashed girl who probably spent each night fantasizing about Jeff, asked for her ID. "Kramer. Are you related to Jeff Kramer?" The girl at the register tapped the name printed on the drivers license. 

Dawn nodded her head mechanically. She recited her unwanted motto, "yes, he's my brother."

"God, you're so lucky. If I lived under the same roof as Jeff Kramer I would just die!" Dawn wanted to tell the girl to do it anyway, but instead she smiled and nodded politely. She took the shirt and the receipt and huffed out of the little store.

After her first class Dawn happened upon Jeff as he chatted away with some dark-skinned girl on the commons. The lithe latina deserved credit; her short skirt and long legs commanded Jeff's attention better than any professor ever could. She was tall with an exotic complexion and skinny as a stick, the very antithesis of Dawn.

Claire Kramer's Celtic ancestry had put an indelible stamp on her daughter's appearance. Fiery red hair and an abundance of freckles had always limited Dawn to the classification of pretty or far worse, cute. Cute is what her friends call her, Daddy too. Occasionally one of the boys who asked her out would ramble on about how hot she was, but the estimations of horny high school boys were dubious at best. Again she cursed Jeff. He was blessed with flawless skin that could actually tan and a head of hair darker than sin, while Dawn was locked in perpetual Howdy Doody Time.

Jeff proved he was no amateur when it came to public displays of affection. He kissed the tip of the dark-skinned girl's prominent nose. He dragged a large hand across her long brown legs. Dawn followed the path of the hand to the girl's scandalous hemline and sighed. Why don't I have the courage to show a little more skin?

The baby-doll t-shirt and short cherry red shorts, both with the Choteau U logo, had caught her attention in the University store. While not as slutty as the skirt worn by Jeff's new friend, it was the type of outfit that would grab the attention she suddenly (and desperately) wanted.

She hurried to the store as fast as her clumsy legs would carry her. The time had come, she decided, to throw off the label of Jeff Kramer's cute little sister.

***

A safe distance from the history building, Jeff profaned his professor. He strung together every cussword in existence; once the supply was exhausted he made up a slew of new ones. Dr. Miller, that sadist in a tweed jacket, had ended the very first day of class with an assignment, an assignment due the following Monday. Practice and various social commitments didn't leave Jeff with much time for studying. Fortunately, he had Ronnie.

Ronnie Dance was on the commons, pacing around the university's landmark fountain, a cement pool center-pieced with a bronze statue of the school's founder, Bertrand Choteau, rising from the mists like a mutton-chopped Poseidon. Ronnie nervously puffed on the end of a filtered cigarette. His eyes darted over the crowds of passing students.

Jeff idled next to Ronnie, grabbing the back of the younger man's checked oxford shirt. "Ronnie, old buddy." They were anything but. Ronnie was a favorite tool of Jeff's, a tool used to pass three straight years of American History. "I have a proposal for you. I need a paper written on the social connotations of reconstruction in the South; problem is, I have practice and meetings all week and a game on Saturday. The paper is due next Monday so---"

"So you need a little help," Ronnie finished, a puff of smoke accompanying his words.

Jeff didn't answer. He had bothered to harvest a trio of books from the school library, books he thrust into Ronnie's arms.

"What about my, uh, my payment." Ronnie asked, smoothing the timid edge from his voice. "I mean, do we still have the same deal from last year?"

Some people were so pathetic. "You still have trouble finding dates?" Jeff asked. 

Ronnie turned red as he stuffed the books in his backpack. "The girls you send my way are of a significantly higher quality."

"I have good taste, no denying that. Did you have a certain girl in mind?"

Ronnie nodded. "The one you were talking to this morning."

"Liza?" Jeff asked. "Out of your league, Ronnie, in more ways than one."

"No, not Liza. I meant the cute redhead. The one who rode in with you. I would write you an entire dissertation for a chance at her hot little ass."

"Dawn?!" The name escaped Jeff's mouth in a shout. "You want a piece of my kid sister?" 

Ronnie took a few swift steps backwards. He stumbled over a pipe connected to the fountain's filtration system and dropped to the grass. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "Oh God, I'm so sorry! I didn't know she was...I'm sorry. Don't get angry." He scrambled to his feet. 

"I'm not angry." He truly wasn't. He was more amused than anything. Jeff ran his fingers through his hair as a smirk crept across his face. "I didn't really expect anyone to come sniffing around my sister."

"No sniffing." Ronnie made a motion to cross his heart. "I'm a gentleman."

Jeff knew better. This was college, there were no gentlemen here. Fortunately, he didn't need a gentleman. He needed gullible old Ronnie to write the paper. "You can pick Dawn up Friday at eight." Ronnie started to leave but a snap from Jeff's fingers stopped him. "You've got a shot with my kid sister; this paper better be up to our standards."

Ronnie nodded. He assured Jeff at least a B before dashing off.

Jeff checked his watch and noticed the hour. He reached in the basin of the fountain and splashed a handful of cool water on his sweltering face before rushing to the parking lot. He was met by a surprise. Seated on the hood of his yellow Thunderbird was a vision of loveliness. Her back was draped with a silky, fiery mane of hair. Each shimmering red strand hung limply from her scalp, draping over her shoulders and across her back, decorating her body like tinsel.

The woman's upper body was lovely but the lower body was absolutely breathtaking. Smooth, shapely legs curled across the metal hood, marking a seductive path to the most incredible ass he had ever seen. Until that moment Jeff had never really considered himself an ass man but the way the girl's perfectly formed butt stretched the pair of cherry red, knit shorts was enough to convert him. Jeff felt like falling to his knees and thanking God. It was obvious that some sort of divine intervention had put that gorgeous creature on the hood of his car. He only hoped she looked half as good from the front as she did from the back. "Hey baby, wanna go for a ride?" he asked.

The girl turned around, her mouth agape. By then, Jeff's face must have mirrored her own. It was his kid sister. How disgusting. "Dawn, what the hell are you doing here?!"

"I'm waiting for my inconsiderate brother." Dawn huffed and climbed off the hood. Her butt looked just as good standing as it did reclining. "He seems to have forgotten my ride home."

Jeff peeled his eyes from those shorts, that butt. "Whatever." He didn't feel like bickering with his gross little sister, even if she wasn't so gross anymore. He opened the door for her just as a green convertible crawled by. It's occupants, a foursome of male students, catcalled as Dawn crawled inside the yellow Thunderbird. Jeff glared at the convertible's driver, giving silent warning, then started for home. 

At the very first stoplight Jeff's vision wandered to the passenger seat where those smooth, creamy legs were crossed so femininely. A honking horn and his sister's soft voice brought him back to reality. "Jeff, the light won't turn any greener."

His face burned as she giggled. Jeff extended his middle finger from the open window, holding the digit high so the car behind him could get a good look. He stepped on the gas. "I hope you're not doing anything Friday," he said.

She considered the question for a moment. "I don't have any plans. Why?"

"I got you a date."

"A date? You mean a blind date?" Her voice raised, "Jeff, I don't need help meeting men."

He glanced at her short red shorts and long white legs and silently agreed. "This guy thinks you're really cute and he wants to hook up. How often does something like this happen to someone like you?"

"More often than you think, apparently." She folded her freckled arms over her chest. 

"Dawn, that's not what I meant."

"What's his name?"

"Ronnie..." Jeff thumbed the steering wheel, digging into his memory for the second half of Ronnie's name.

"Oh God, you don't even know the guy's last name. At least tell me what he looks like."

"He looks like...a guy."

"Like a guy?!" she asked. Her gaze burned his cheek. "Could you be just a little more specific. Is he cute?"

"He's a guy Dawn. We all look alike."

"Jeff, you definitely do not all look alike. Someone who spends so much time in front of the mirror should know that."


Light of Dawn Ch. 01



"I'm doing you a big favor here. You've hooked up with a senior on your first day of college. You have no idea what this will do for your reputation." She seemed to perk up, unaware that the senior in question was little more than a human cheat sheet.

"You know most guys would be horrified if their little sister got a reputation for hooking up with seniors."

"I'm not most guys."

"Lucky for me," she said, leaning her head against the window. "So what's in it for you?"

"Excuse me?"

"What possible reason would you have for setting me up with some senior guy, or any guy for that matter, unless you were promised something in return." She brushed off his feigned innocence. "I know you, Jeff. I know you don't do anything nice for anyone unless it benefits you. So what were you promised?"

She did know him, a hell of a lot better than he knew her. "A history paper."

"A history paper? You're pimping your little sister out for a history paper?!" She sighed. "The disgusting part is you're so much more intelligent than you pretend to be." Jeff groaned. He hated little girl lecture time. "If you would have taken your grades more seriously in high school you could have earned a scholarship to a real university. Instead you end up cheating your way through some no-name degree factory like Choteau."

Choteau may have been a small school with big financial woes but it was far from a degree factory. "Sure, I could have studied hard and went to Princeton or Yale or Florida State," Jeff admitted, "but where would that leave you? Waiting around in the parking lot for Daddy."

"I'm so lucky to have been born your sister," she said, sticking out her little pink tongue. 

"Don't ever forget it." 

After a few seconds of quiet she continued, "you can do better. I know you can."

"I can," he agreed, "but as long as I can throw a football I don't have to."

"So that's your plan? Coast through the rest of your life playing the dumb jock. It's so pathetic how lazy you are. What if you get hurt, what if you don't make it to the pros? So many---"

"Drop it, alright?" Jeff put enough force behind his words to silence her. The thought of him getting moral guidance from an eighteen year old kid was ridiculous. When would she understand? He wasn't in the market for a new mother.

He merged onto the interstate, accelerating to pass a tractor trailer. Jeff chanced a peek at Dawn. Her bloodless fingers curled around the strap of her seatbelt. Muscles in her arms and legs, normally concealed beneath a layer of soft skin and flesh, tensed as he accelerated, relaxed as he slowed.

A rural landscape replaced the sprawling college town. For the next twenty miles the road seemed to disappear as Jeff navigated an amber sea of corn and wheat. Dawn's arms flexed as she worked the stiff crank that opened the passenger window. With a groan that begged for lubrication, a gap in the window appeared. A breeze of sweet scented air seeped into the cab, teasing her long hair. Another revolution of the crank opened the window further. A gush of warm air poured into the cab. Her red locks whipped fiercely, rippling like wildfire.

"Can I drive tomorrow?" she asked, her voice barely audible over the rush of air.

"Hell no," he barked. "You think I'd let a chick drive my car? The deal was for your little ass to ride in the passenger seat at all times."

Dawn covered her mouth to intercept a giggle. "What about that other place you wanted my little ass to ride?" Silence was his answer. One little comment would haunt him forever.

Dawn yawned and stretched her back and arms. She propped her legs on the dash. Creamy and smooth, every inch of those legs begged for attention, attention he would have willingly given had they been attached to any other girl. 

Dawn kicked off her sandals. The leather soles slid off the dash, thumping against the floor. She stretched her legs and wiggled her little pink toes. Another yawn parted her lips. Jeff gripped the wheel tighter. Her naked legs were sure to leave smears on the immaculate vinyl. "I waxed the interior yesterday," he said.

"I waxed my legs yesterday," she countered. For some strange reason that piece of information made his cheeks warm.

"Get your damn feet off of the dash." He seized her baby-smooth calves and forced each foot to the floor. Jeff cursed under his breath. Their arrangement was doomed. Dawn would be riding with Dad by the end of the week.

***

The Thunderbird pulled into the driveway at six. Daddy was waiting outside the garage. "Sunshine!" Vince Kramer hugged his little girl before she could escape the seatbelt. He held the door for her as she climbed out. "Tell me all about your first day as a college girl."

He was crazy about Dawn. She was the infallible ray of sunshine that lit his life. "It was amazing Daddy," she lied. Dawn had found college strikingly similar to high school, except on a larger, slightly less rigid, scale. "My Literature professor was really nice. We talked for twenty minutes after class." She was rather proud of that fact. Sixty students in one class and she had impressed Professor James the first day.

"You didn't make a good impression because you're special, Sunshine. You made an impression because your shorts barely cover your ass." Ice and fire were equally mixed into Jeff's insult. "Maybe tomorrow you can forget the bra and go for a spot on the dean's list." 

"That is not the way you talk to a lady, especially not your sister." 

"And you're such an expert on women. What is this your twelfth year without a date?" 

Daddy ignored Jeff's insult. His eyes passed over Dawn's outfit, rapidly appraising the short shorts and baby doll t-shirt. "I think you look cute."

Dawn wanted to groan (she really did) but Daddy meant no malice. No matter how bold her choice of clothing, she would always be his little girl.

Jeff and Daddy had nothing more to say to one another. Once again the two weren't speaking. It seemed like they were never speaking. She had grown used to the silence. The house grew colder and lonelier each day but she preferred the tense peace to the unbearable shouting matches the two men had regularly engaged in. 

Dawn wished her family could go back to the way it was when Mom was still around, when everyone got along, but Jeff and Daddy were both too proud (stubborn actually). Their fights, while never physical, were terrible things to witness. Daddy had a short fuse where Jeff was concerned and her handsome brother was capable of saying some truly ugly things when provoked. There were no awful words tonight, just that lonely silence. Jeff never came in for dinner. Dawn shouted his name from the garage door, calling him once the frozen pizzas had been crisped but Jeff opted to ignore her. Remaining outside until well after dark, he fiddled with the radio dial in his car.

That stupid car. She rued the day Daddy had brought it home from the charity auction. It was supposed to be a peace offering, a way for Daddy to get close to Jeff as they spent their weekends restoring the vintage auto. That was the idea anyway. Daddy soon found out that the only thing worse than living with Jeff was working with Jeff.

So that's how it was. If he wasn't at school or on a football field or on a hot date he was under the hood of that car. It was his turtle shell, the place where he could hide from the world, more specifically hide from his family. He was incapable of loving anyone the way he loved that hunk of lifeless steel. Maybe that's his problem.

To be continued...

Thanks for reading the first chapter of my second novella. I hope to have a new chapter up every week. Be sure to rate the story by clicking on 1-5 below. And don't be shy about leaving public comments and/or sending me private messages.



Light of Dawn Ch. 02



Dawn's second day of college was strikingly similar to the first; the morning began with a harrowing car ride, followed by boring lectures, interspersed with multiple confirmations that she was indeed Jeff Kramer's kid sister. The day might have been an exact replay of the previous if not for the evening football practice.

Dawn found herself stranded in the bleachers of Jackson Field while the coaches drilled a hopelessly out of sync army across the battered turf. She tucked herself amongst a crowd of young women who, judging by their conversations, were either current or prospective girlfriends of the young men on the football team. 

Dawn thumbed through her English Literature textbook, a massive volume that barely fit on her lap. She skimmed over the first chapter's discussion of Ivanhoe. Unfortunately for the Anglo-Saxons and their Norman conquerors, she had read the classic novel twice before. There was little need to feel bored, however. The neighboring girls' catty remarks were as interesting as anything Sir Walter Scott had ever conceived.

"Number 64 is mine," one of the girls said.

"He's cute, if you're into that big boned thing," another joked.

"Oh he's big boned alright," the first girl bragged, holding the palm of her hands a good ten inches apart, "and he knows how to use it." They all snickered.

Dawn glanced at the field. 64 was hard to miss. The entire offensive line was huge but 64, Hayden Burt, towered over them all.

"Number twelve is more my style," the second girl remarked. 

"Jeff Kramer? Oh God, that boy is hot!" The first girl said. The others practically groaned in agreement.

Dawn's eyes left the book again. The school's golden boy was appropriately dressed in a bright yellow jersey, a stark contrast to the other Choteau Knights who were clad in the standard issue scarlet and pewter uniforms. The message sent by the yellow jersey was clear: the other players were not allowed to breathe on Jeff Kramer, let alone touch him.

Jeff's long skinny legs carried him three yards backward. He stopped, planted his humongous feet, then stepped forward. His left arm snapped forward sending an arcing pass downfield. The ball spiraled upwards, defying gravity as it sliced through the night sky on an unstoppable path to it's intended receiver. Finally losing momentum, the ball plummeted back to earth; it landed with a plastic thud, ricocheting off the pads of number 80, then bounced on the grass. Muscles peeked through Jeff's tanned skin as he clenched his fists. 

Quarterbacks are supposed to get upset when their receivers drop perfect passes; they're supposed to kick the turf and spit and cuss. Not Jeff. He calmly unfastened the chinstrap and slipped off his helmet. He trotted around the field, his sweat sodden black hair glowing auburn beneath the floodlights as he ignored the receiver's apologies.

He had never worn his hair so long. Shaggy strands of red-hued ebony meandered halfway down his neck. The style was bold and untamed. It suited him.

Dawn retreated back to the book, back to Norman England, where there were fewer sweaty men to distract her. She skipped ahead, flipping through the pages like a speed reader, pausing when she reached an illustration of Rebecca nursing Ivanhoe back to health. Dawn recalled what had puzzled her so much the first time she had read the novel. How could Ivanhoe be such a dope? How could he choose Rowena, a girl so familiar and boring, over the beautiful, exotic Rebecca?

Jeff's voice commanded her attention. "Coach is letting practice out early." Dawn glanced at the swollen moon before checking her wristwatch. This is early? "I need a few minutes to clean up." 

She lowered her book long enough to nod but Jeff was already trotting off the field. The white of his pants had soaked through with sweat; she could see the lines where the elastic straps of his jock hugged the backs of his wiry thighs. If she really concentrated she knew she would see a hint of his tanned, naked skin beneath the damp uniform.

"What I wouldn't give to be in Red's place." Number 64's girlfriend thought she was whispering but Dawn heard every word.

"She must be keeping him happy," the second girl said. "He drives her to school and treats her like a princess. Who'd have guessed a little thing like that would be woman enough to domesticate Jeff Kramer?"

Dawn flushed pink at the talk, feeling a little embarrassed and a lot flattered. Being considered in the same league as the senior quarterback was quite an ego boost for the freshman, even if he was her jerk of a brother.

"They are most certainly not an item. At least I hope not." A third girl interjected herself in the conversation, a girl with a drawl as thick and sweet as a jug of sorghum. "The kid is his little, baby sister." The bleacher bowed beneath Dawn's rear as Liza Jennings sat beside her. "Hey there, remember me Little Red?"

She smiled shyly at Liza, the bleached blond cheerleader her brother practically worshipped. "D...Dawn. My name is Dawn."

"I remember," Liza assured. "I could never forget my sweet little Sunshine." The southern girl beamed a set of large, white teeth. "You know what? You really are his sister. I had my doubts on account of he's such a big boy and you're about the tiniest thing but I can see it, plain as rain." What did Liza see? If there was one person on the planet who was Dawn's polar opposite it was her big brother. The only resemblance she had ever noticed was the dark red shadings almost lost amongst the darkness of his coal black hair. "You have Jeff's eyes, greener than a bay tree in summertime." True, the siblings' eyes were a similar shade of green, but green eyes were common enough. 

"How long have you been friends with Jeff?"

"Friends? Oh, we've been the best of buddies ever since my first day on campus. I was a shy little teenager, like you, and Jeff was making his second go as a freshman. He stalked me for more than a week before he finally caught me out on the commons." 

Dawn imagined Jeff lurking amongst the towering oaks on the commons, picking and choosing his prey from the herds of ripe freshman flesh. She could also imagine why he chose Liza. She was the most fit person Dawn had ever seen. She must work out all-day everyday, there was no other way to have a body like hers.

"He asked me out about a million times before I finally convinced him my interests lay elsewhere." 

Liza glanced at the emptying field. Dawn followed the cheerleader's eyes to the lanky form of her brother. He loomed large, even at the mouth of the service tunnel fifty yards away. He peeled the saturated yellow jersey over his head then waited as one of the equipment managers removed his shoulder pads. Free of the restrictive weight, Jeff grabbed an insulated bottle and squeezed the liquid contents over his head and neck. He was too far away for precise details but Dawn could imagine the icy drops of water fanning out across his long, lean torso, cooling his sweltering skin.

"I don't really go for Jeff's type," Liza said, "but he is nice to look at." Dawn nodded without meaning to. The blond girl's laugh made her feel foolish. After a few moments Jeff disappeared, swallowed by the stadium tunnel as he headed for the locker room. "Don't feel bad, Little Red. You aren't the first girl to have less than pure thoughts about Jeff Kramer." Dawn shifted on the bleacher. She hoped he wouldn't be long.

"I'm only teasing." Liza squeezed Dawn's kneecap, tensing the redheaded girl. "Gosh, but you're a jumpy little thing. You should relax, Red, acclimate your body to college life. There's no better place to acclimate than at one of Beth Appleby's parties. She just so happens to be one of my closest girlfriends and there just so happens to be a party scheduled for Friday if you're interested."

A college party, Dawn was fascinated by the prospect. She remembered her commitment to Jeff: the date he'd arranged with his friend Ronnie. "I can't, not Friday, I...I have a date." 

"So bring him along. On the off-chance he seems reluctant just say there'll be plenty of beer. Works on the guys every time, or so they tell me."

Dawn stuttered. "I don't really know anyone."

"You'll have your date," Liza said, "and of course I'll be there." Dawn sputtered noncommittally. "Don't forget Jeff, it wouldn't be a party without your stud of a brother. Red, sweetheart, not many freshmen get invited to Beth's get-togethers. Being seen would do wonders for your reputation." 

Reputation was the magic word. A reputation as something other than Jeff Kramer's little sister seemed like the most important thing in the world. She accepted the invitation, further warming to the sweet talking southerner. The two young women chatted about school for a while; it seemed Liza was on a name basis with two of Dawn's professors. The conversation shifted to Jeff, a subject where they both had plenty to say.

The fifteen minutes stretched forever while the unforgiving bleachers gave Dawn a numb backside. Liza had long since departed when Dawn abandoned the other girls to wander across the field, coaxing feeling back to the tingling flesh by massaging her butt through the stiff new pair of tinted jeans. 

The retreat to a more conservative wardrobe was due in no small part to the cruel comments Jeff had made yesterday. He had accused Dawn of using her body to influence her professors. Did he know she cried when she buried the red knit short shorts deep within her closet? Did he care? She doubted it.

After more than an hour in the locker room Jeff stormed out of the tunnel. He plodded across the field, kicking and tearing loose sod with the toes of his sneakers. He mumbled cusswords with each step.

"You said a few minutes." Dawn huffed; it was difficult to keep pace with his enormous stride.

"That's what I thought, but Coach chose tonight for his annual sermon. Give back to your community; help those less fortunate. Someone should give him a shovel to clean up all the horseshit he splattered in there. If that fat dinosaur thinks I'm going to spend my Friday night in some lame ass hospital---"

"Hospital?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah, he wants the team to waste the night at County General signing autographs in the children's ward. You should have heard the fat bastard. To hear him talk, signing a football is all you need to do to cure some bald kid's cancer."

She froze. "Jeff! How could you be so...selfish?" There were a few stronger adjectives she wanted to use.

"To Hell with Coach and to Hell with that fucking hospital." He kicked the grass field, the toe of his sneaker tore up a huge chunk of sod. "Handshakes and smiles won't do a damn bit of good once the chemo and radiation fail."

"It helps to know someone cares," Dawn said.

"It didn't help Mom." 

No, nothing could help Mom. The cancer had spread past her ovaries, advancing too fast to be treated. Jeff groaned. He tugged at the reddish ends of his dark black hair. "I sacrifice. I work my ass off at practice and I smile for the Goddamned cameras even when I feel like shit. What more do you people expect from me?"

More, she thought. It was only one Friday. He couldn't spare one Friday to make some poor, sick child feel special? Volunteers had made Mom feel better in her final weeks. For a moment Dawn remembered the boy Jeff had once been, never an angel, but nothing like the self-centered monster that stood before her. She wondered, and not for the first time, just what kind of a man her big brother had become.

Several minutes passed on the car ride home before Dawn found the gumption to speak. "I talked to your friend, Liza. She invited me to a party on Friday."

"Beth's party?" Jeff sounded more than a little surprised.

Dawn nodded. "She said she really wants to see me there." 

"I'll bet she does." His voice was tinged with cynicism. 

"She seems really nice."

"She's a sweetheart. It's just..." Jeff trailed off. He watched the road while she waited for him to finish his thought. "She's gay."

She knew her brother was petty and vindictive but to peg a nice girl like Liza as a lesbian just because he couldn't get into her panties was awful. "Jeff, that's a horrible thing to say about someone." 

"A horrible--Dawn, I'm not kidding around. She's a lesbo, a dyke, a carpet sampler."

"So she doesn't melt every time you look at her, that doesn't make her gay."

"Be serious, Sunshine."

He was right. Most every girl melted for Jeff, whether they wanted to admit it or not. Those who didn't had to be either blind or gay. "Even if she is...," she couldn't even say lesbian, "it's no big deal." At least it shouldn't be a big deal. Truth be told, to a sheltered suburbanite like Dawn, Liza's orientation was a very big deal. She didn't want to seem like an ogre so she dipped into a supply of politically-correct clichés. "It doesn't make her a bad person."

"No, not like a criminal or anything, just unattainable, even to someone like me." He stabbed a finger into the soft flesh of her upper arm. The finger slid from the sleeve of her cotton top across bare skin, raising a trail of goosebumps amongst the freckles. Dawn wanted to melt right then. Had he not seemed so repugnant, she would have.

"Just remember Sunshine, you're not at Brownie summer camp. This is college. The people here come in all shapes, sizes and colors. Some are going to be gay. Others will be paragons of heterosexuality," he used a pair of thumbs to indicate himself. "Welcome to Choteau University, a wonderland of diversity."

Friday night, Jeff lived up to his word. He snubbed his coach and the hospital in favor of Beth Appleby's party.

Dawn dropped her lipstick on the counter and emitted a frustrated squeak when she heard his Thunderbird roar to life outside. She was angry because there would be no repercussions. No one would utter a critical word. The athletic department would take no action. Heaven forbid he be disciplined or suspended. The Choteau Knights couldn't fill a single row of bleachers, let alone a whole stadium, without their left-handed savior.

He'll show up for the game Saturday afternoon, haggard and hung over. Trumpets will play and his subjects will cheer while handshakes and high fives spread among the stadium like some kind of Jeff-induced plague. Jeff the disease, Jeff the cure, it makes no difference to the alumni as long as Choteau's star quarterback graces the field with his presence. Sometimes Dawn wondered if she was the only person on campus who saw Jeff for the pathetic human being he truly was.

The weather had turned warm again so Dawn was forced to raid the summer attire she had buried deep within the closet. After much internal debate she settled on a candy striped polo and denim skirt. The skirt fell to mid-thigh and the striped top hugged her form just right. She liked what she saw in the mirror: innocent, yet almost sexy.

Ronnie arrived a breath before eight. Standing well under six feet tall with pensive gray eyes, he was cute in a bookish sort of way but nothing spectacular. Since turning fifteen it seemed like she had gone out with a succession of Ronnies. Apparently short and bookish was Dawn's type. What were you expecting, she asked herself, someone like Jeff?

Ronnie squirmed under Daddy's watch for half an hour while she dabbed her face with makeup and perfume and then it was off to the party. During the drive she tried talking about the weather, school, etc. but Ronnie had trouble stringing words together. He replied to each attempt at small talk with a dumb grin and an uh-huh.

Dawn shifted in the seat of Ronnie's dilapidated van, mussing her short blue skirt. His eyes bugged at the unintended flash of her bare thigh and they nearly veered off the road. The van skidded to a halt on the gravely shoulder. 

Ronnie pieced together an apology then reached into his pocket for a pack of filtered cigarettes. He didn't talk again but at least the dumb grin was gone. She cracked a window and endured the smoke as they rode the rest of the way in silence.

They arrived at the Appleby home, a stately brick structure in the historic part of town. Urban development had resulted in street after street of beautiful late-Victorian homes, all restored to their original splendor. That's why a raucous college party, replete with junky cars parked crookedly on the lawn, seemed so out of place. Loudspeakers and an earth pulsing subwoofer rattled the windows of the van. She couldn't tell if the music was pop, rock or hip hop. From outside it sounded like a succession of tooth-shaking thumps. 

Once inside she made a final attempt to converse with Ronnie but her words were swallowed by the noise and rowdy atmosphere. Ronnie's lips actually moved but it was no use. Dawn pointed to her ears and shook her head apologetically.

After five more frustrating minutes Ronnie abandoned her for an easy looking, heavy set girl. Strange, Dawn thought, I'm not my type's type. She snagged a half-cooled beer from a galvanized tub of melted ice and drank it down. Then she had another. Her ears gradually adjusted to the music, a mix of rock and rap, enabling her to talk with the other guests. Too bad she didn't know anyone. The few friends Dawn had made at Choteau were fellow freshmen, and freshmen were a rare commodity at this particular party.

Dawn felt a grumble in her stomach. Earlier she had seen a guy balancing a tower of greasy pizza boxes. She wondered if any slices were left. As she turned for the kitchen a tall, untidy slacker blocked her path. He handed her a red plastic cup filled with a fizzy purple liquid. "Little girls can get into big trouble at these parties," he said. "I'm Jason but I let beautiful women, like you, call me Jase." 

Blond hair tumbled carelessly over his forehead. The clothes seemed straight from a garage sale. Nothing matched. His floral camp shirt looked like a melted rainbow; the only color left off the rayon atrocity was the day-glow green of his nylon basketball shorts; his shoes were different brands, different styles and different colors and he only had one ratty sock. Even his eyes were mismatched. The left eye was earthy brown, while the right seemed to glow violet. 

Dawn offered her first name only. She figured the cute guy didn't need to know she was a Kramer just yet. She reached to shake. Jase seized her extended hand and planted a swift kiss on the backs of her fingers. His warm saliva made her knuckles tingle. Hot and a gentleman, how lucky can I get?

"I've seen you around campus." She apparently had an admirer. "You read most of the time but I've seen you toss coins in the fountain." 

She glowed red. Someone had noticed her childish habit. "I...I make wishes," she admitted. 

"I do too." He took her wrist and lifted the red cup towards her mouth. Not knowing any better she took a few robust sips. The liquid tasted like bitter grape Kool-aid. She was no stranger to alcohol but the strong liquor mixed into the purple drink burned it's way down her throat. She coughed, hacking up violet tinted spittle. Jase rubbed her back as the cough subsided. Wiping her mouth, she grinned dumbly.

"You want to make one of my wishes come true?" he asked. When Dawn nodded he handed the cup back. She took a longer swig. The liquid didn't affect her as much the second time. Nothing affected her as much.

The cup flew from her grip. It splattered to the floor. Purple liquor washed across the hardwood, soaking into a jute area rug. Liza wedged herself between Dawn and Jase. The angry cheerleader flapped her arms, squawking like a mother hen. After a moment Liza's words became coherent. "Keep away from her, Jason. Do you have any idea who this kid is?" The confrontation drew the eyes of a few guests sober enough to pay attention. "Dawn Kramer, as in Jeff Kramer's little sister. Unless you want a football cleat lodged up your rectum, I suggest you take your fucking roofies and leave."




Light of Dawn Ch. 02



Jase stammered. He denied slipping any drugs in Dawn's drink but Liza was unappeasable. His eyes grew wide and he dashed for the door, pursued by a dark-skinned blur. One of Jeff's teammates had heard the commotion, coming to Dawn's rescue.

Liza pried open the redheaded girl's eyelids. "You're not feeling weak are you, Little Red? Dizzy?" Dawn shook her head no. "That fucking Jason."

The bright overhead lights stung Dawn's eyes. She squinted to see. "He seemed like a nice guy," she said, blinking moisture back into her eyes.

"Nice!? Jason Riley makes your brother look like a choir boy." Liza took Dawn by the hand and led her to the front porch. It was quieter outside. The pounding stereo was still prevalent but the only potential eavesdropper was hunched over the wrought iron railing, puking her dinner into an azalea bush. "Red, that nice guy would have raped you." 

Any tipsiness faded away. Rape is a very sobering word. 

"Jason Riley is the biggest piece of sleaze on campus. Him and his damn pills!" The girl near the azalea bush lurched with a few dry heaves before rising. She checked her makeup in a compact mirror before stepping back inside. "He gets away with it, too, because the Riley's are loaded. His parents are Choteau alumni, so are his brothers. They donate all kind of money to the school. Dean Larson wouldn't dare raise a finger against Jason Riley. One of these days it will change." Her voice went cold. "One of these days it will be his ass that gets raped."

Dawn felt unwelcome tears on her face. Even the wildest of high school party she could remember seemed positively sleepy compared to this deafening orgy. "I want to go home."

"I know." Liza wrapped her arms around Dawn, comforting the frightened redhead. 

"Ronnie, he..." Dawn sniffed a deep breath. A ride home with Ronnie seemed unlikely. She only had one option.

"Come back inside. I'll help you find Jeff." Not Jeff, please not Jeff. If she dragged him away from the party he would never forgive her. 

Liza took Dawn's hand, guiding her back inside. Minutes ago the party had seemed lighthearted, brimming with potential friends. Now it seemed like hell on earth, a chaotic mélange of drunks, users and rapists. Total strangers watched her stumble behind Liza. She followed the blond girl like a frightened baby duck. Together, they climbed a carpeted flight of stairs, wriggling past couples in varying stages of lovemaking. They passed dark doors, closed and locked, behind which escaped urgent moans and the creaks of bedsprings. Liza led Dawn to a closed door at the end of the hallway. Unlike the other rooms, a halo of light glowed beneath the door crack.

"The master bedroom." Liza answered the question before it was asked. She guided Dawn inside. "Don't worry, Little Red; it's completely off limits. You're gonna be safe from all those animals." She closed the door behind them.

At last Dawn felt some semblance of comfort. A meticulously made king sized bed dominated the floor. Framed family pictures and other knickknacks covered the oak furniture. It could have been the bedroom of anyone's parents.

Liza led Dawn to the edge of the bed. They sat beside one another on the plush pillowtop mattress. "I really appreciate---" Dawn's kudos were interrupted by a nervous hiccup. Followed by another and another. It was an annoying habit she had developed long ago. "I appreciate...hic...your help."

Liza ran her manicured fingernails across the side of Dawn's face, freeing a strand of long red hair from her tear-streaked cheek. "That's what friends are for, Red." The blonde's smile twisted into a frown. "Now, tell me what type of man would abandon a sweet little thing like you at her first college party?"

"It's not really Ronnie's fault---"

"Oh, it's Ronnie's fault alright. Jason's too. They're both assholes." There was a hint of fire in Liza's eyes, like she was the one who had almost been raped. "They're all assholes, every last one, but it's that damned brother of yours who deserves the blame."

Jeff? How can she possibly blame him? Jeff had been absent the whole evening. 

"He should be keeping creeps like Jason and Ronnie away from his pretty little sister." Dawn was reluctant to blame the ruinous evening on her brother but it was nice to hear that Jeff's anemic fraternal instincts had finally been noticed. "Don't worry about a thing, Little Red. I'll find Jeff and we can have a go at him together." Liza patted Dawn's bare knee and winked conspiratorially. The blond disappeared, leaving Dawn all alone. 

For the next twenty minutes she experienced little beside the pounding of music through her head. Once there were ominous footsteps in the hallway. Closer they came, closer still, until an unfamiliar voice shouted a warning that the master bedroom was off limits. A raspy voice offered an apology, echoed by the drunken slurs of his female companion. A few minutes later the door pushed open... 

...revealing Liza. "Sorry, Red, but that brother of yours is slippery as a mudcat." Liza sat on the bed. She handed Dawn a plastic red cup. "Don't worry. It's only beer, a little something for those jittery nerves. I think it's light beer, so your pretty little figure has nothing to fear."

Dawn sniffed the amber liquid and took a sip. Lukewarm beer, now that she could handle.

"Seems my old buddy, Jeff, disappeared with a female friend. His car is still on the lawn so he's either up here in one of the bedrooms being naughty or down in the basement being really naughty."

"The basement?" Dawn asked. She licked beer foam from her lips. "What happens in the basement?"

"More like what doesn't happen. Girls get passed around like joints down there. Trust me, Little Red; you want no part of the basement."

Dawn nodded, gazing into the bottom of the cup. "Thanks, Liza. I'm not sure what I'd do without you."

"You'd probably be down in the basement, getting plugged at both ends." 

Dawn laughed nervously. She placed the empty red cup on the dresser. Liza shifted on the bed seating herself closer. "Feelin' better, Little Red?"

"Yeah." A trickle of sweat danced down the back of Dawn's neck. "I'm kind of warm, though."

Liza used her hands to fan Dawn's flushed face. "You can run the air conditioner full tilt in this old house but it still gets awful stuffy up here." Liza moved closer, molding herself to the redheaded girl's body. A second trickle of sweat descended Dawn's cheek. 

Liza undid the first button on the redheaded girl's polo shirt. She pursed her lips together and blew a stream of cool air on Dawn's neck. 

The second and third button of the polo shirt surrendered. Her muscles relaxed. Dawn breathed more freely as the collar of her striped polo spread open. Soft, warm fingertips brushed her neck and shoulders. Liza's well manicured fingernails traced the curve of Dawn's jaw, traced her throat and traced the hard, yet delicate, collarbone. 

Dawn tilted her head back as Liza's lips met her own. They were soft and plump, warm like feather pillows. She had never experienced such a kiss. Making out with boyfriends had always seemed so involved, so competitive. With Liza kissing was slow and graceful, two mouths dancing. The blonde's tongue took the lead, teasing it's way through her lips. Dawn's own tongue was less experienced, less skilled; it had no recourse but to follow.

The hem of her striped polo slowly raised. Before she could protest, Dawn found herself de-bloused. Expert fingers went to work caressing her midsection, teasing all the way to the hem of her skirt. The touches were carefully placed, strumming the cage of her ribs, dipping into her navel. They teased; they taunted; they hinted at naughtier ways they could be put to use. 

Then Liza stopped, causing Dawn to unintentionally whine at the break in contact. 

For a moment the blond sat still. She studied the rise and fall of Dawn's chest, particularly the pale, sparsely freckled flesh packed into the cups of her black bra. "Dawn may I?" Liza asked, ever the polite southern belle. 

Dawn's head was filled with sea water. She could barely hold it up as she nodded consent. Liza liberated Dawn's breasts from the nylon prison. She cupped them, rubbing and squeezing the supple flesh while the nipples swelled and stiffened.

The blond surrendered her hold after only a minute of petting. Dawn used her own freckled hands to cover her bare breasts, an act that was unintentionally stimulating. Fingers crept under her denim skirt, parting the stiff blue material to brush against soft thighs and even softer cotton panties. Liza swiped the crotch of the panties, tracing the groove of Dawn's pussy through the thin black cotton. By then the panties were sticky and swampy. Did Liza feel it? She had to. 

Liza explored the panty clad mound, retracing the outline of Dawn's slit. She pinched a few fiery pubic hairs, stragglers that had wandered through the material of the redheaded girl's bikini panties. Dawn bit her lip. Liza knew just where to touch. Her talents spoke of much experience in the field of pleasuring other girls.

Other girls? It was like suddenly waking from a dream. Hot fire coursed through Dawn's body as she realized what was happening--almost happening. "Stop." Despite a racing pulse and throbbing head, Dawn's voice remained surprisingly calm. She didn't threaten or demand. Liza had, after all, saved her from a terrifying situation. Dawn's hands felt heavy as iron but she managed to take hold of Liza's wrists and gently remove them from beneath her skirt.

The room spun, first in one direction, then the other. Dawn massaged her throbbing temples. She mumbled constantly that she liked guys. It was true. Before tonight she had never been attracted to another girl. Liza cooed soothing words and put her arm around Dawn's naked back. Was she being nice? Was she being gay? The redheaded girl wasn't sure anymore.

Dawn curled into a tight ball, burying her face in her palms. The bed trembled as she cried into the puffy, mauve comforter. She felt dizzy. If the world didn't stop spinning so fast she was sure to be sick. She closed her eyes and slowed her breath, fighting the disorienting spell of the alcohol. 

With the sobs came the hiccups. "Hic," she wanted to go home; "Hic," she wanted her Daddy. Dawn had never felt so immature and pathetic in her life. There she was crying on the bed like a little girl while the adults enjoyed their party.

Warmth spread across Dawn's shivering body as Liza draped her with the spare quilt. "Shush," Liza bade. A final hiccup escaped Dawn's throat. "Jeff'll be here in a little bit." Liza kissed the top of Dawn's red head. "He'll make everything better, Little Red. You'll see."

She believed Liza because she believed in Jeff. He was her big brother and tonight he would act the part. He would protect her. He really would make everything better. 

***

The door pushed open, flooding the bedroom with pulsing music. Jeff had never been permitted access to the master bedroom before. The bedroom of Beth Appleby's perpetually absent parents was completely off-limits to party guests, forbidden to all but Liza Jennings and Beth herself.

Minutes ago he had been on the backyard patio stoking the fire in a heavy clay chimera while Beth, the party's tiny, raven-haired hostess, clung to his side stoking a fire of her own. She begged him to carry her upstairs to her own bedroom and enjoy the pleasures of her near-miniature body. This was not virgin territory. He had explored Beth a few times in the past, a past he looked forward to reliving.

Jeff wrapped his arm around Beth's tiny waist and led her to the sliding glass patio door. That was where he heard the first whisper. Liza was looking for him. The news had come from Ronnie, who had long since abandoned Dawn in favor of a whale of a girl. Ronnie was more than a little drunk so Jeff needed to confirm the rumor. He abandoned Beth to search for Hayden; he didn't search long. Hayden was easy to spot, even in the crowded kitchen.

Hayden Burt was an offensive lineman. With a head shaved bald and a gut that could eclipse the sun, he was a shameless, oaf of a man. That gut of his was put to good use draining beer from an enormous sun-tea pitcher. A dozen generic frat boy types watched entranced as Hayden sucked on the spigot. He drained the pitcher half way, released his lips from the spigot, then burped mightily. Hayden gritted his teeth, snarling victoriously, as he wiped the ring of beer foam from his mouth with the sleeve of a pizza stained shirt.

Jeff asked Hayden about Liza. The big man offered a slurred confirmation of the rumor. He swore that Liza Jennings, the beautiful yet unattainable cheerleader, had sequestered herself in the forbidden master bedroom. She was upstairs, half drunk and fully naked. She was waiting for Jeff.

Hayden may not have been the most reliable of sources but he was right about Liza. Jeff found her (fully clothed, unfortunately) atop the king-sized bed in the master bedroom. She wasn't alone. A second girl was present, her body hidden, swaddled in a patchwork quilt.

"A new toy?" Jeff asked, motioning with his chin towards the body under the quilt.

Liza nodded. A seductive smile curled her plump lips. "The prettiest little doll I've ever seen." Liza's syrupy voice was thicker and sweeter than usual.

Jeff eyed the mystery girl curiously, precious little of her body was displayed, only two very small, very white feet. A chipped lavender lacquer ornamented the toenails. Not much to go on, but if feet were any kind of indication the girl seemed cute.

Liza tugged the bottom of the quilt. She exposed the girl's ankles as well as the lower halves of two pale and shapely calves. "Parties are dangerous places for little dolls," Liza said. "They can get lost, or stolen, or broken. Lucky for you I take care of my toys." Liza pushed the quilt completely off the bed.

The girl's skirt was a disheveled mess. The denim had risen up, exposing long, creamy legs and just a hint of damp black panties. She wore a polo, a traditionally masculine shirt made ultra-feminine by candy-colored stripes and barely-there sleeves. A tangled mass of flame red hair blanketed her face and shoulders, obscuring her identity. 

The mystery girl stirred; she yawned and stretched those cute little feet. A timid hiccup escaped her mouth. He may not have recognized the feet or the hair but he would have known that hiccup anywhere. Two pairs of matching green eyes met. The girl's hands rushed to cover her flushed face. She stifled a second hiccup. His kid sister was the mystery girl. Jeff Kramer rocked on his heels. He felt the desire to bolt, a desire that because of his lust for Liza Jennings he savagely suppressed. 

Liza captured his clammy hand and bade him to stay. "You want me, Jeff. You've wanted me forever." He had, since the moment he first set eyes on her. "I want your pretty little sister." Liza relinquished Jeff's hand. She kissed Dawn's freckled neck. The redheaded girl's eyes rolled inside her head, a mixed reaction of pleasure and shame. "And unless I'm mistaken there's someone Little Red wants." She kissed the side of Dawn's neck and stuffed her fingers down the front of the redheaded girl's black panties. Dawn gasped and chewed her lip as Liza toyed with her sex.

Liza rolled the thin black fabric of the panties over Dawn's shapely hips and butt. By lamplight his sister's most private area was a sight to behold. Liza's long, manicured fingernails combed through the healthy coat of orange and red hairs adorning Dawn's demure, pink slit. The fingers briefly dredged the length of Dawn's slit. They came away sparkling with moisture. She sniffed the glistening fingers and, one by one, took each digit between her lips. She sucked her fingers clean. Once that was done she licked her palm, front and back, collecting every last drop of Dawn's moisture. 

Jeff's erection lurched painfully against the fly of his jeans. His new cotton boxer briefs would be baptized with semen if the tease continued much longer.

"Red. Tell him, Red." The blonde's whispers were soft and husky. She kissed Dawn's cheek, tasting the freckled skin with her tongue. She slipped both hands beneath the redhead's striped polo. The hands wriggled like spiders beneath the fabric. They settled over the swell of Dawn's breasts. "Tell your big brother what you want."

Dawn hissed as Liza squeezed the pert mounds. "Jeff," she said through gritted teeth, "I want you, Jeff." Was she crazy, confused or just drunk? The siblings' matching green eyes met for the briefest moment. Dawn bit her swollen bottom lip. She recognized the magnitude of her confession. Her seminude body went completely boneless, like she wanted to melt into the covers.

Liza slowly lifted the hem of Dawn's polo, replacing each brightly colored horizontal stripe with an inch of pale and freckled skin. The divot of her navel, the curves of her breasts, the pink nipples puckered from arousal and fear, his kid sister was bared before his eyes.

Jeff took a long denied breath. Dark floaters obscured his vision. For a moment he realized just how drunk he was. His knees buckled. He took an awkward step back. There was a gasp, followed by his sister's timid question of concern, "are you alright." After a few deep breaths his awareness returned. The floaters disappeared, replaced by the sight of Dawn's pert, pink-tipped breasts between the pads of Liza's pinching fingers.

Strangely, he thought of Beth. He and Beth should be off somewhere doing nasty, filthy things to one another's bodies. While sex with the tiny raven-hair was never short on kink, a night chained to the oak headboard in Beth's room seemed downright wholesome compared to what Liza offered. 

He had wanted Liza for so long. To wrap her strong, muscular legs around his waist and fuck her until they both collapsed had been his purpose for almost four years. She was a beautiful ball of energy. The exemplary cheerleader, who (tonight at least) offered unfettered access to the wonders of her body. Jeff could be the man who bedded Liza Jennings, an accomplishment no one else could boast. This, above all else, would solidify his legend at Choteau. There was one very big catch. Dawn.

He studied the blushing goddess before him. She was a graceful melding of crimson and cream. Try as he might, Jeff couldn't reconcile the reality of Dawn the woman with memories of the freckle-faced little girl he had grown up with. When had she changed so much?

Jeff slowly undressed. Dawn gasped as each button on his cream and taupe shirt came unfastened. His upper body was bare beneath the shirt, save for the modest gold chain that hung limply from his long neck. For some reason the stuffy air felt cool on his skin. The smattering of dark black hairs on his chest and lower stomach raised. 

His fingers trembled as he touched his belt. Undressing proved more difficult than he anticipated. Anxiety, insecurity and other alien emotions forced hesitation. This isn't right. This is the type of thing that will send you to Hell. Had the third part of the threesome been any other girl on the planet he would not have hesitated a moment. He would have been balls deep in one or the other by now.

Liza reached out with her left hand. She grabbed Jeff's thick belt, working the leather free from the buckle. She grasped the metal buckle and with one quick motion the belt whizzed through the denim loops. She pinched the tiny bronzed zipper of his jeans. Liza teased his fly open with her left hand while her right parted the tender folds of Dawn's pussy. Dawn's pussy. Jeff's dick poked free from his boxers. It snaked through the opening of his jeans, pointing obscenely at his kid sister. 




Light of Dawn Ch. 02



Dawn cringed. She tried to look away but couldn't.

Liza smiled approvingly. She removed her hand from Dawn's sex and reached for Jeff's penis, smearing the head with his sister's juices. Once lubricated, she squeezed the shaft and started a slow stroking motion. Jeff groaned. Despite her orientation, Liza had gained some experience with dicks, or maybe it was experience with objects shaped like dicks. 

She leaned forward, running her pink tongue across the head of his penis. She collected Dawn's pussy juice from the soft skin of his dick along with a pearly drop of his precum. She smacked her lips and smiled. "I do believe two Kramers taste even better than one."

Liza pulled off his jeans and boxers in one motion, crumpling them to the floor. She opened wide, inhaling his dick with her warm, wet mouth. The pleasure was so sudden. The things she could do with her tongue were amazing. She assaulted his dick, pressing it hard against the roof of her mouth. She moaned and hummed as she sucked. The vibrations sent tingles to his balls. For the first time in his life Jeff understood why they called it oral sex.

Jeff weakly pumped his hips. Cum roiled inside his body. Liza grabbed the cheeks of his ass, spreading them apart. She forced him to pump harder. He did, forcing more of his dick inside her mouth. The head of his penis nudged the back of her throat. That was too much for Jeff. Cum erupted in massive squirts.

After the final ejaculation Liza pulled free. Opaque, gooey liquid filled her mouth; it dribbled from her plump lips. She swallowed, then smiled. A blond lesbian cheerleader who sucks dick and swallows, Liza Jennings embodied the fantasies of every horny man on the planet.

Liza bent to place a final kiss on Jeff's penis. A string of cum shimmered in the light, a temporary bridge from his penis' slit to her lips. The blonde's attention shifted to Dawn.

Watching her big brother receive the greatest blowjob of his life had apparently affected her. Her green eyes were wide and glazed. Her hands were huddled over her crotch. Dawn gnawed her lip and sucked in a breath. His kid sister was masturbating, he realized, teasing her erect clitoris with the pad of her thumb.

Liza leaned over and kissed Dawn. His cum was still on her breath; it was still on her lips. Dawn accepted the kiss, melting against Liza's mouth.

He felt weak again. The combination of too much alcohol and too much sexual stimulation turned his legs to jelly. He straddled the corner of the bed trying to sit as close to Liza as possible while maintaining a safe distance from Dawn. It was a tricky balancing act. He touched Liza's back only to collide with Dawn's own hand. He reached for the soft, warm place beneath Liza's skirt but Dawn's pale thigh blocked the way. The two young women were a tangle of flesh; touch one and you've touched them both. After a while Jeff conceded defeat. He resigned himself to the role of spectator. 

Liza reached for the redheaded girl's pussy. She shooed Dawn's busy fingers and replaced them with her own. Dawn grunted at the contact. The index finger of her left hand teased Dawn's clit, while the index finger of the right snuck inside the redheaded girl's tunnel. She must have been exceptionally tight. Liza seemed to take forever in sinking to the first knuckle. Dawn grunted again. Sensations of pain and pleasure coaxed some very sour words from Dawn's usually sweet mouth.

After a long, steady session of manual manipulation Liza bowed close to Dawn's pussy, allowing her tongue to relieve her fingers. 

While she feasted on the dewy pink petals of Dawn's womanhood. Jeff hiked the hem of Liza's short skirt over her hips. Two strong thighs and a tight little ass were revealed in all their glory. She wore no panties. The only mar on her golden brown skin was a snow white tan line in the shape of thong underwear. He touched the skin of her bottom, tracing the tan line. His thumb passed through the crevice of Liza's ass, grazing the little pucker of her anus on it's way towards the intended target.

Her pussy lips were clean shaven. Only a triangle of clipped black pubic hairs remained. It seemed she spent as much time primping the southern hemisphere as she did the north. He cupped her entire pussy with his hand. The heat and moisture radiating from the furrow felt like heaven against his palm.

He extended a long finger and inserted himself deep into her vagina. It went in easier than he expected. Liza had no trace of a cherry, making Jeff very envious of the girl and the dildo that had taken that honor.

Liza removed her lips from Dawn's pussy long enough to shout, "Oh God!" She took a deep breath then reburied herself between Dawn's white legs.

She really does have great legs, he thought. His memory flashed a picture from earlier in the week when those same legs were curled on the hood of his Thunderbird. They looked even nicer now, wrapped around Liza Jennings' sexy blond head. Were she anyone but his sister, he might want those legs wrapped around him. With that thought Jeff thrust his finger harder than he meant to.

"Oh, fuck!" Liza raised her head and screamed. Her pussy clamped on his finger. It furiously milked and sucked.

"Oh fuck," a higher pitched voice echoed. Dawn tensed. Her freckled face twisted with lust. Her knees bent and her hips wriggled on top of the bed. She's cumming. Jeff's cheeks felt like fire. His kid sister was cumming.

Liza stroked Dawn's clit while the redheaded girl tensed. A stream of clear liquid erupted from Dawn's hole. Liza giggled. "Little Red, I would never have pegged you for a squirter."

Watching Dawn cum with Liza between her legs was almost too much for him. His dick was painfully hard. He needed sex like he'd never needed it before. Liza was still on her hands and knees between Dawn's legs. The position raised her tight butt before him. The way it wiggled was too tantalizing to resist so Jeff didn't. He positioned himself behind her. The head of his dick nudged the entrance to her moist tunnel. 

Liza yanked his penis from her pussy. She spun and slapped him on the cheek. "What the Hell?!" He rubbed his stinging cheek.

"Sorry, stud." She grabbed his penis and rubbed the sensitive head against her short, prickly pubic hair. "This don't go there. If you want pussy you're gonna have to get it from Little Red."

Jeff stated what should have been obvious. "She's my sister."

"I know." There was an evil glint in Liza's eye. "That's what makes it so hot." She pressed her lips against his. 

Liza's mouth tasted amazing, like lemons, like spices, like pussy. Dawn's pussy, he realized. He pulled away from the kiss and smacked his lips. Strange. There was nothing special to the flavor. Dawn's juices tasted no different than the countless other girls he'd sampled. Maybe that's why he found it so strange. His kid sister didn't taste like gumdrops or cotton candy. She tasted like any other girl.

Jeff kissed and licked Liza's chin, collecting every last dribble of Dawn's juice. After the last drop had been consumed he pulled away and smiled.

"There's no better time. It can be a drunken mistake. A secret the two of you share for the rest of your lives." Liza grabbed his penis and gave it a slow stroke. "She'll let you. Your little, baby sister will take every last inch. She'll take it like a woman." 

He looked at Dawn. There was fear in his kid sister's green eyes. Something else, too. "We can't--" Liza's fingers covered his lips. 

"Little Red, would it be alright if your big brother fucks you?" Liza's sweet southern accent made the question sound all the more obscene. Dawn's mouth clamped shut. For a moment she squirmed under Liza's and Jeff's scrutiny. She closed her eyes, as if deep in thought, then finally mouthed her answer. Yes.

The door pounded. His knees buckled and he almost slid off the bed. Dawn wrapped her arms around Liza's waist, squeaking and hiccupping as a frantic voice called through the door. Jeff felt strangely hurt that she had turned to Liza for protection and not him. 

The voice called again, shouting louder. It was Beth's girlish voice. "Liza! The party's over. A guy got sick, real sick. An ambulance is coming." Someone must have overdosed, not unprecedented at Beth's parties. "Everyone has to go."

"Can't we stay just a bit longer? We were just getting to the fun part." Liza's voice was uncharacteristically curt, a product of sexual frustration.

"No. Get your girlfriend dressed and get out." Liza lowered her skirt, covering her nudity as Jeff and Dawn redressed in silence.

Jeff Kramer had never been so conflicted in his life. On the one hand he'd been saved. Sex with Dawn would have been the worst mistake of his life. On the other he felt like something had slipped from his grasp, something important. He had no idea why he felt that way but he knew it was an opportunity that may never come again.

To be continued... 



Light of Dawn Ch. 03



Dawn moved like a geriatric, hobbling to the toilet to empty her gut. She paid for the previous night's indiscretions over and over. Her first college party had been a disaster. Alcohol, fear and Liza Jenning's Sapphic advances had conspired to fog her normally sound judgment. Drunk out of her mind, Dawn had surrendered to Liza's touch. Worse than all that, she'd admitted her most terrible secret, the secret she'd harbored since puberty. She was no different than any other girl; she wanted Jeff. 

She wanted her own brother and now he knew. Since high school she had been teased and taunted by her girlfriends about what they wanted to do with Jeff. Some even teased about what she wanted to do, brother or not. Who wouldn't want Jeff? While no one would confuse his lanky body for Michelangelo's David, there was something undeniably sexy about confidence and Jeff had a surplus of confidence.

The nausea was compounded by a relentless throbbing in her head. It felt like a hot poker was wedged behind her eyes. She was incredibly sick for hours, tracing a path from the bed to the toilet and back. One trip she found the bathroom door locked. Swallowing the sick taste in her mouth, she waited as Jeff flushed and washed. 

He emerged from the bathroom, grinning as he brushed the dark hair from his eyes. Jeff's smile was so wicked; it made the bile rise in her throat. She didn't make it to the toilet. Fortunately, it was the last time she would throw up so there wasn't much of a mess to clean.

Once her stomach settled she eased her way to the kitchen. Dawn wanted nothing to do with food but Daddy and Jeff would be down soon and breakfast was one of the many responsibilities she had taken upon herself as of late. She found a box of buttermilk waffles in the freezer and toasted them, two at a time. Jeff was the first to arrive in the kitchen. After sniffing the air he gave her another wicked smile.

He suffered no ill effects from the party nor from the alcohol he'd consumed; the fact that he devoured half a waffle in one bite testified to that. The party was a blur to Dawn. She remembered her date with Ronnie and that he'd abandoned her soon after their arrival. Whatever attraction the senior had had for her was dissolved the moment he found easier quarry. She remembered Jase Riley, the tall, untidy slacker whom she'd thought so sweet. He was anything but. The strange purple drink he'd given her had been laced with a drug that ravaged her body and wrecked her inhibitions. She remembered being naked with Liza and Jeff. The threesome never quite made it off the ground but the other woman had brought her to an orgasm. On top of all that, Dawn had glimpsed the holy grail of every horny girl on campus. She had seen Jeff Kramer naked.

She wondered if last night was on his mind at all. Had Daddy not been so swift to join them, she would have asked.

"I talked to the AD yesterday," Jeff said to no one and everyone. "The scouts have been telling him that I should get drafted in the third round, the second if I get lucky," he gave a wink that turned Dawn's stomach anew, "and I always get lucky." He sliced a triangle from the waffle on his plate and dipped it in maple syrup. "One pro contract will pay me more money than you'll make in your entire life." He may have been looking at her but the jab was directed at Daddy. Twenty-three years was long enough for Jeff to make bragging an art.

"Too bad the university won't let you major in Jeff Kramer," she said. "It's the only subject that seems to interest you." With each word the pain behind her eyes grew worse. She forked her own waffle, a black ringed thing that had spent too much time in the toaster.

"Too bad," he echoed. "I bet there'd be a ton of hot women in that class." 

Sex. It was the one and only activity he put ahead of football (that and self-admiration). Each week he had a new companion. Tall, short, blond, brunette, it didn't matter to Jeff as long as she was easy. Of course, to say his girlfriends were all sluts was not really accurate. Jeff was beautiful, in so far as it was possible for a man to be beautiful, and he had a way of charming females. Intelligent, otherwise mature females would turn into gooey little puddles to spend an evening on his arm. Considering all the women he'd been with, it's a miracle he hadn't caught some kind of penis rotting disease.

"What do you plan on doing with all of that wealth?" Daddy hid behind the folded façade of the morning paper.

"Buy a brand new house. Mansion, shack, it doesn't matter, as long as I get the hell away from you." Jeff chewed savagely and swallowed. "Then, I don't know... I'll probably spend the rest on women or myself." More than likely he would spend it on himself.

Daddy folded the paper. He shook his head, a sure sign that it was lecture time. "When I got my first contract from Minnesota I invested half the money with a brokerage firm. The interest is paying for your educations."

"This is paying for my education." Jeff lifted his left arm and peeled back the sleeve of his undershirt. He flexed an almost nonexistent bicep.

"You know what makes me sick, Jeff? Gifted kids like your sister are forced to pay their own way while brainless jocks get the free rides." 

Jeff smirked. "Maybe if you had been a better baseball player you could have sent your little Sunshine to a better school." Dawn shrank in her seat. Why was she always dragged into their arguments?

"When I played ball there were only a few millionaires." She wished Daddy would shut up. Playing Jeff's game was a mistake. "I always made enough to provide for my family."

"Yes, and what luxurious surroundings you've provided." The house was old, and in a deteriorating part of town. "The wonderful shag carpet has fed generations of gypsy moths, the roof is the envy of Swiss cheese farmers, and the basement is perfumed by the lovely scent of backed up plumbing because your gifted little Sunshine flushed used tampons down the toilet when she was twelve."

Daddy took a sip of coffee and placed the mug back on the table. He tried to match Jeff's eerie calmness but it was impossible. "You think it's easy, Jeff? You think it's easy doing it all alone? Believe it or not, one of these days you're going to want a family of your own, a wife, kids. You have no idea how much I'm going to pity them." He gathered the paper and started reading again.

Jeff showed no overt signs of being upset but Dawn could feel his anger. It was an ugly, living thing. Let it go. Please Jeff, just let it go. 

"Every waking hour I wish it had been you and not her."

Daddy crushed the paper in his fists. Dawn covered her gaping mouth; she had never seen him so upset. Daddy's eyes looked wild, like some kind of wounded animal's. He wanted to hurt Jeff, that was plain to see but there was something else, something undeniably sad. He rose from the chair and slammed the newspaper on top of the syrupy plate. "I wish," Daddy's eyes were hard but his voice was soft, "I wish it had been me too." Regardless of what either wished, it was Mom's place at the kitchen table that sat empty. 

As Daddy tossed a few sticky pages in the trash, Jeff seemed to be on the verge of saying something. You really hurt Daddy. Apologize, you big dummy. It never occurred to her that the reason Jeff said such awful things because Daddy's words hurt just as much. 

Daddy poured a cup of coffee and sat back down at the table. Dawn glanced at her own plate and felt her stomach gurgle. After three bites of waffle she felt ready to puke all over the breakfast table. Jeff was certainly suffering no ill consequences. He wolfed his own plate of toaster waffles then attacked the microwave sausages. 

Perhaps it would take many more years to become as acclimated to college life as Jeff. "How do you do it?" she asked.

Jeff pulled the fork from between his lips and gave her a puzzled look. "I chew and then I swallow. It's actually quite easy. Let me show you." He reached his long arm across the kitchen table and speared Dawn's partially eaten waffle, stuffing the entire thing in his mouth.

"I know how to eat, dummy. I meant the party." Mentioning last night in front of their father turned Jeff's cheeks pink. "I've been half-dead all morning. How do you survive those insane parties every weekend?"

"It takes talent," he said. "You did alright for yourself. That guy you were with seemed pretty cool."

"Guy, what guy? Ronnie?" Daddy looked away from the salvaged remains of his paper for a moment.

"No, not Ronnie. Our slutty little Sunshine hooked up with another guy at the party. I didn't catch the name but he looked vaguely familiar."

Dawn was sure her face would give the secret away. In the light of day she couldn't believe what had almost happened. She had nearly given herself to Jeff, her body, her virginity, maybe even more. All because of a few too many drinks. Jeff was drunk too. She knew he was. She had smelled the stink on his breath. And his long legs, usually strong and sure, were weak and wobbly when he stripped.

"Don't talk about your sister that way."

"I was only kidding," Jeff said in that patronizing voice that suggested he wasn't. He looked at Dawn and smirked. "We both know how innocent and pure our little Sunshine is. She's the last person on earth who would ever let some strange man into her panties."

Dawn squirmed in her chair as she remembered the feeling of another woman's tongue on her nether lips. 

Jeff cleared his throat. "The school gave me two great tickets and field passes for the game this afternoon." He had talked about little more than the game against Northern Tech for days.

"I have to be in Minneapolis this afternoon." Daddy didn't even look up from his paper, he just rustled the pages and sipped his coffee.

Daddy had mentioned something about a team reunion up in Minneapolis, the twentieth anniversary of something or other but she had not thought much of it. He was always taking off for reunions and conventions; it was another source of income.

"The game is going to be on cable. I'll set the collegiate passing record before halftime." Jeff tried to explain but his father would not budge. "How is it going to look if you're not there?"

"It's going to look like I honor my commitments." Daddy's words stung Jeff hard, just as they were meant to.

"So you're going to humiliate me in front of the entire country because I quit your stupid baseball team." He stabbed the waffle with his fork. The same old argument was about to be replayed.

"It was your high school's baseball team." His father grunted to control his anger.

"That you just happened to manage; that you cajoled me into playing for. You've raised holy hell ever since I pulled out to concentrate on football, a move that worked out pretty well, by the way. It was five years ago. You can't let anything go. That's why you're a lonely, pathetic, miserable old man. Most fathers would be happy or, God forbid, even proud if their son accomplished a fraction of the things I have."

"Junior." Daddy's voice was quiet. "I am proud."

This time it was Jeff whose eyes went wild. Few things could set Jeff's temper off, none quicker than a reminder that he was by law, Vincent Jeffrey Kramer Jr. "You're proud of your little angel over there." He wadded his napkin and pitched it at Dawn. "Proud of yourself. And why shouldn't you be proud? Vince Kramer the great ballplayer who spent eight years in the minor leagues. The one time you got called up to the big leagues there were too many injuries to send you back down; you rode the bench all the way to the World Series. Enjoy you're weekend in Minnesota, just remember this one little phrase, you're going to be hearing an awful lot of it: Vince who?" Jeff was proficient at pressing his father's buttons; he had just mashed his palm over all of them. "I'd call you a has been but face facts, you're a never was." 

"Get the hell out of my kitchen." Daddy jerked out of his seat. "...if you want to remain in my home for much longer, I advise you to go up to your room and lock the Goddamned door."

"I have a game, asshole." Jeff abandoned the table and stormed outside.

Once Jeff was gone Daddy kicked the leg of the table with a great deal of force, toppling the half empty juice glass beside her plate. Orange liquid spilled everywhere; soaking her napkin and his paper it dribbled over the side of the table. "I'm sorry, Sunshine. I'm so sorry." Daddy rushed to the counter and tore a wad of paper towels from the roll. He dabbed at the juice for a moment then cringed and reached for his temples. "Another headache," he grunted. "Do we have any aspirin?" he asked. 

The medicine cabinet had been neglected as of late. "Jeff keeps Tylenol in his room. I can get some."

"No! My flight doesn't leave until two. I think I'll just lie down for a while." He plodded away like a zombie, leaving Dawn to clean up the mess. She always cleaned up the messes--at least she tried to. 

Dawn glanced at the scoreboard, thirty minutes until kickoff. She waded through a sea of humanity, flashing the field pass strung around her neck any time security regarded her with an inquisitive eye. Both teams were strewn across the field, contorting themselves with stretches and calisthenics. The Choteau Knights were adorned in their home colors: scarlet jerseys with pewter pants and helmets, while the Northern Tech Cowboys dressed all in white.

Jeff wasn't hard to find. She followed the trail of television and audio cables to the spot where he tossed guided missiles in the direction of his receivers. A halo of journalists and pro scouts looked on with interest. She had never seen so many cameras in one place; every one was trained on Jeff. She hoped they'd brought wide angled lenses, it was the only way his swelled head would ever fit into frame. 

Phrases like "exceptional vision" and "outstanding arm-strength" were bandied about by the newspapermen as they scribbled into little notebooks. The pro scouts were a paranoid lot, all whispers and murmurs. They held most of their hushed conversations with cell phones and tape recorders, occasionally chatting with reporters and coaches but not with each other.

He put on an impressive show. One positive that could always be said of Jeff was that he never disappointed. The veins in his hand and wrist tightened as he squeezed the pimpled brown football. He cocked his arm and launched a tight spiral forty yards to a receiver.

Dawn watched her brother, not where she was going, and as a result bumped into a man holding a notepad. "Pardon me, Miss," he paused to read her pass. "Miss Kramer, hey you wouldn't be related---"

"Yes he's my brother." Her voice sounded no less mechanical than the whirring cameras focused on Jeff.

The reporter exhaled. "Look at all those cameras." She did. There had to be at least two dozen video cameras and twice as many still cameras. "It's not every day that someone breaks the passing record. Heck of an accomplishment. Has he been acting different lately?" Different? "Has he been more anxious than usual?"

She chuckled. The thought of her brother sweating or trembling or doing any of the things a normal human being would do under the same circumstances was silly. "Jeff doesn't get nervous about anything." 

The man scribbled in his notepad. "Everyone gets nervous. Some are better at hiding it." The nattily dressed man tucked the disposable pen behind his ear. He watched Jeff make another perfect throw. The blue plastic pen stood out against the slicked back salt and pepper of his hair. "He really is spectacular. You must be proud. Your dad must be proud too."

What's not to be proud of, Dawn thought.

"I knew your father pretty well when I worked in St. Paul. He invited a bunch of us reporters and our families over for a barbecue every summer. Our boys used to play Ninja Turtles, and you, I don't even think you were born yet. Vinnie Kramer was a heck of a ballplayer, probably could have been better if he'd sacrificed more. He never went down south for winter ball and he wasn't the type who stayed in the gym night and day. Family always came first with Vinnie. You kids and your mom were more important to him than anything else.

"Too bad he only made the big league team that one year. He could have been something special." He gave Dawn a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Where is old Vinnie? I haven't seen the goat in ages."

Her chest ached. "He couldn't make it, other commitments."

"It's a shame he has to miss all the hoopla. Junior must be pretty disappointed without Dad around." She nodded. "Well, he still has you to cheer him on."

Dawn excused herself.

The cameramen, reporters and scouts scattered as Jeff's warm up came to an end. He grabbed a white towel and a bottle of Gatorade before retreating to one of Jackson Field's cavernous service tunnels. Sometimes, she almost felt sorry for him. He was under such constant pressure. A normal man would have buckled long ago but not Jeff; he was far from normal. Some are better at hiding it. She followed him into the tunnel.

The service tunnel was a dimly lit corridor packed with overstocked concessions. Pallets filled with enormous jars of hot dog condiments, envelopes of drink mixes and a mountain of prepackaged buns clogged the entrance but further back the way was clear. That's where Jeff had gone. Dawn called his name; her tiny voice bounced on the concrete walls.

Jeff almost dropped his Gatorade when he saw her. "Dawn?" He actually sounded glad to see her. "You came." No matter how conflicted she felt over the previous night, not being there for her big brother was never an option. He glanced behind her, waiting for a glimpse of Daddy that wouldn't come. She bit her lower lip until he got the message. "Just you, huh?"

"I found the tickets in the trash," she admitted. Jeff grumbled a few cusswords and slung his bottle hard against the concrete wall. It ricocheted, grazing the top of Dawn's head. Displays of emotion were an uncommon occurrence for Jeff. "Jesus, Jeff!" Drops of dampness moistened her red hair. "I only wanted to talk."

He eyed her suspiciously. "Talk about what?"

Her head drooped. She was about to make a huge mistake. "Last night."

His eyes grew gigantic. He could kid about last night at breakfast, but it was clear that he didn't want to talk about it. "Nothing happened, Sunshine. You got drunk and I took you home. Whatever you think happened is all in your little head."

"Don't say that Jeff; something happened. I was drunk. You were too but---"

"Of course I was drunk. I was wasted out of my fucking mind. Do you think I would have touched you if I wasn't?"

Dawn felt the sting of tears in her eyes. She sniffled.

Jeff looked at her and sighed. "Last night got way out of hand. We did some pretty fucked up stuff." Dawn silently agreed; Licking a sibling's reproductive juices from a third party's mouth was pretty fucked up. "I never meant for it to go so far. Liza and I... I would do anything to get into her panties and she knows it."

A mistake, a drunken mistake. How could it be anything but? He was only interested in Liza, not me. Dawn felt like an iron bar had been placed on her chest. Weren't those the words Dawn longed to hear, that it was a lust for Liza Jennings that prompted him to touch his own sister and nothing else?

The iron bar grew heavier; it grew hot. How many at the party watched her go into the bedroom with Liza? How many saw Jeff follow not long after? They had to know what was happening behind the locked door. The same thing was happening behind every door in Beth Appleby's house. 

Dawn reassessed the looks a handsome frat boy had given her in the parking lot minutes ago. The reporter she'd spoken to, the one who'd been friends with Daddy, what had he scribbled in his notepad? What if it had been a story about the siblings' incestuous romp with the blond cheerleader.




Light of Dawn Ch. 03



Dawn collapsed against the concrete wall, gasping for stubborn breaths. "Liza, she...she might tell." The words came out as whispers.

"Don't worry about Liza," he said, "the girl may be kinky, but she's also my friend."

Was he legitimately unconcerned or was he being the quarterback who never worried about anything? "What if someone tells?" Dawn asked. "Oh my God, what if Daddy finds out?"

Jeff scowled. "Who cares what that dinosaur thinks?"

"He's our Dad."

"He's a petty, selfish old man. The sooner he's out of your life, the better. What he did to Mom..." Jeff went suddenly silent. He seized an enormous mayonnaise jar from the pyramid of concessions and hurled it against the concrete wall where it exploded into a million pieces. 

"One game, Dawn, he couldn't put his Goddamned pride aside for one game!"

She had never seen him so upset. His cool and confident veneer had dissolved; the results frightened her. "Please, don't be so angry." He tipped over a rack of hot dog buns; bread and plastic and metal crashed to the floor. He would hurt himself if he didn't stop. She touched his forearm. His tan skin was slick. What little muscle he had flexed involuntarily at the contact. 

Dawn offered an innocent smile to go with the innocent touch. Last night she had behaved anyway but innocent. She had let another girl go down on her, not just any girl but Liza Jennings, the beautiful blond cheerleader Jeff had chased for years. At Liza's behest, Dawn had almost had sex with her own brother. She was drunk, but Dawn was still coherent enough to grasp what was happening. He had almost taken her innocence. She would have let him.

"Dawn," he took her freckled cheeks in his hands. He was rough and gentle at the same time. Was this the way he touched his slutty girlfriends? She wondered. "No matter what you think, I would never hurt you." Faking compassion was quite a feat; for a moment she almost believed him.

His eyes were keyed on her own. She couldn't stand his gaze. Wrenching her cheeks from his fingers, she tried to get away. "Sunshine, don't." He took her hands and squeezed firmly. 

Like a fool, she went to him, pressing close to his body, letting his arms curl around her slim waist. Easing her further into the service tunnel, he led her further into darkness. 

He caressed Dawn's bare arm. Her skin was icy in some places, smoldering in others. She wanted this but at the same time she was so unfathomably scared. "The team is probably looking for you," she said. He didn't reply. He was far too busy raising goosebumps amongst the freckles on her arm. "And all those reporters---" The words were cut off by Jeff's lips.

This is what Hell tastes like, she thought, like Jeff's sweet, wet lips. Dawn broke free from the kiss and protested a moment. Her breath was ragged and her voice strained. She fell silent when he pulled her closer. The more they kissed the less she struggled. A whine escaped her nose when his tongue forced it's way past her lips. She accepted him into her mouth, shyly touching his tongue with her own. His fingers raced along her body. It was as if his left and right hand were competing Jules Verne-style to see who would be first to traverse her curves.

He reached beneath the tartan skirt emblazoned with the school logo and squeezed her panty clad butt. She moaned as his fingers moved southward and touched the spot between her legs. 

She pulled away from the kiss. "Jeff, we can't---" He tried to kiss away her protest but she stepped away and slapped his face, hard. "Jeff, I'm sorry," she said. She touched his cheek. "I didn't mean to---"

He kissed her with force, invading her mouth with his tongue. She was sure he could taste the mint of her toothpaste. He turned Dawn around, pressing her against the painted cement wall. He flipped up the back of her skirt and tugged down the yellow panties. He caressed the naked cheeks of her butt with one hand while he worked down the waistband of his warm-up sweats with the other. She struggled between his body and the wall, trying to squirm free. She was not unwilling (on the contrary, she wanted him so bad it hurt) but this wasn't the right place, wasn't the right time.

She could hear the plodding hulks doing their warm-ups outside of the tunnel. She also heard the clicking and whirring of cameras. "Please Jeff, stop." She repeated those words a few times. They must have sounded foreign to his ears. Women never told Jeff Kramer to stop. 

"Come on Sunshine; you know you want to." He leaned down, parting crimson hair to kiss the back of her neck. Jeff bunched the top under her arms. He traced the sparse covering of freckles that dotted the alabaster skin of her back. "You can have what all of your little girlfriends dream about, what you dream about," he whispered.

Jeff pulled his jock down, freeing his erection. She took a deep breath as his fingers cupped her mound. He rubbed his palm over the silky orange curls of her bush. She didn't shave down there, sometimes she trimmed it when she expected to wear a bathing suit but that never happened in the fall. Does he like them shaved? He hadn't complained the previous night. 

Rubbing her nether lips, he savored the dew as it leaked onto his hand. "You're wet," he hissed. "Your sexy little body wants it."

He trailed kisses across her neck and both shoulders. "I could make you feel so good, little angel. Tell me that you want it. Show me."

She grunted and spread her legs. She grabbed his wrist and forced his large hand to rub her pussy harder. She submitted, if not in words than in actions.

He curled a finger and dipped it inside her warm tunnel, sinking to the first knuckle. She was tight; she knew she was. Like any normal young woman she masturbated, but any experimental penetrations had been limited to her own slender fingers. His free hand went beneath her top to squeeze a dangling breast. Soft, pliable flesh overflowed his palm. 

She flinched when the hardness of his dick brushed against her butt. The topside of his shaft settled between her butt cheeks; as it sawed through the soft furrow Jeff's back stiffened and he moaned. For a moment she thought he would shoot his load right there. After a few seconds pause he resumed motions. The head of his dick worked lower. It rubbed against her pussy, sending bolts of electricity throughout her body. The lips of her vagina slathered his penis with wet, oily kisses, eventually parting enough for him to enter her body. 

He rocked his hips forward. Sharp cries poured from her mouth as he slid his dick into her virgin tunnel, burrowing, ravaging, until he reached the fleshy membrane that testified to her chastity. "Please, Jeff stop." Her words were half whispered, half mumbled. He pretended not to hear her and nudged her virginity. She gasped. "You're hurting me, Jeff. Take it out."

"Dude, what's going on in here?" A loud voice echoed in the tunnel. The siblings froze. Someone had discovered them.

Sammie Jones, one of Jeff's teammates, stood at the entrance to the tunnel. He took a few steps inside, avoiding the broken glass and splattered mayonnaise. He squinted into the dimness. "Oh hell, Jeff! I didn't know you were in here."

Dawn buried her head with her arms. 

"What's up Sammie." Jeff's voice was perfectly calm.

"A little pre-game activity?" Sammie asked. 

"Let's say it's a new way to warm up." If anyone was capable of remaining cool under any circumstances, even after getting caught with his dick up his own sister's pussy, it was Jeff Kramer. Sammie took another step towards the rutting couple. Jeff hunched over, smothering her small body with his own. He was, no doubt, far more interested in protecting her identity than protecting her modesty. 

"All right QB, don't take too long because Coach is going crazy trying to find you. He thinks one of the pro scouts already grabbed your touchdown passing ass." Sammie left the tunnel with a very large grin on his face.

Jeff remained frozen, his penis still nestled in the outer extremities of Dawn's warm furrow. It felt so good in there, so undeniably good. A spasm contracted her tunnel, then another and another. Her pussy walls clenched and sucked on the spongy head of his dick. Breathy little whines escaped her mouth as the orgasm hijacked her body.

The ministrations of her internal muscles pushed Jeff over the edge as well. He pulled out of her warm pussy and nestled his dick between her butt cheeks. The underside of his shaft stroked the pale mounds of flesh a few times before his seed erupted. String after pearly string of cum settled across the skin of her lower back; the last few drips oozed into the crack of her butt. 

Their orgasms passed. She stopped squirming and went quiet. A breeze whistled through the tunnel. Goosebumps formed all over her body.

Jeff touched the greasy, white mess he had made on his kid sister's skin and stumbled backwards. He stuffed his penis back in his sweatpants while Dawn covered her butt with the plaid skirt. Wet spots, his rapidly cooling seed, soaked through the pleated fabric. 

Salty droplets rolled out of her jade eyes, splashing on the dusty floor of the tunnel. Without a word Jeff vanished. Dawn collapsed to the hard ground and sobbed savagely into her palms. Once alone the hiccups were impossible to stop; they seized control of her body.

She pulled her panties beneath her skirt, feeling sick as Jeff's sperm stuck to the cotton. Resting her head against the wall, she tried to rationalize what had happened. She had orgasmed on her own brother's penis. She felt base and worthless, like a common whore.

To be continued...

Don't forget to vote and/or comment. 



Light of Dawn Ch. 04



He had never played poorer, not in junior high, not in high school, not in college. One game into the football season found Jeff in an unaccustomed position, average. That was the headline of the local paper: Average Performance by Kramer Results in Choteau Loss. Saturday's loss marked the end of the school's three year winning streak; for the first time Jeff's golden boy status was tarnished.

"I didn't see you in the bleachers," Jeff said. Dawn didn't reply. She shifted as much as the Thunderbird's seatbelt would allow. Turning towards the passenger window, she watched the passing farmlands. "Were you sitting with friends? Dawn?..."

Idiot! Can't you tell when I'm ignoring you? She glanced at him for just a moment. Ugly yellow bruises mottled the tan skin of his arms. A fat, cloth band-aid covered his lanky forearm, hiding a nasty gash that had demanded six stitches to close. 

Jeff toed the gas pedal and gingerly shifted gears on his pride and joy, the painstakingly restored vintage yellow Thunderbird. The accumulated injuries caused him to move with the speed and grace of an octogenenarian. She wanted to feel sorry for him in spite of everything that happened but her brother was not an easy man to pity. Dawn folded her arms and leaned her cheek against the window. 

The preceding weekend had altered her world. Uncomfortable memories now played on an endless loop. Thinking about what she had done with Liza and Jeff at the party was scary but the thought of what she and Jeff had done Saturday morning alone in the dark service tunnel beneath Jackson Field was absolutely horrifying.

Was it rape if he never forced her? Was it rape if she wanted it more than anything in the world? Probably not, she still had her cherry so it was debatable whether they'd had actual sex or not. Still, it was incest, something horribly out of character for Dawn, something illegal. Their relationship had never been the healthiest but now it was permanently altered, all because she couldn't say no.

Avoiding him over the weekend had been easy enough. She hadn't stayed for the game, of course. According to the newspaper accounts Jeff had taken a battering. The Northern Tech defense treated him like a human tent stake, driving his skinny body to the ground repeatedly. Injuries and exhaustion caused him to spend Sunday hidden in his room. He never even made it downstairs for dinner.

What was odd was that he had been sore after other games yet managed to behave socially. Maybe he was avoiding her. No, Dawn decided, that would have required Jeff Kramer to be a normal person with normal feelings; she definitely knew that was not the case. 

Avoiding her brother forever would have been fine with Dawn had Monday and the realities of a new school week left her any choice. She glanced a green highway sign as the Thunderbird raced down the interstate. Choteau was the next exit, seven more excruciating miles. Melting into the anonymity of campus had never sounded so good; she longed to escape his glare, if only until evening.

Once they reached the campus she was out of the seat and out of the door before Jeff had even set the parking brake.

She struggled hard to concentrate during the first two classes but her brain wouldn't cooperate. Even English Lit failed to hold her attention. Professor James babbled on and on about this and that, text and subtext, while Dawn closed her eyes and remembered how soft and sensuous Liza's hands had felt when they explored her naked body. She remembered that Jeff had appreciated Liza's touch as well, his hard penis attested to that. 

The sight of her brother's naked body was something she would never forget. True, Jeff was a few pounds short of perfection but he looked far better than anything she had ever seen. When he first touched her she thought her heart would stop. 

Her heart had stopped in the tunnel; she was sure of it. When he touched her...when she touched him. One of Jeff's teammates, Willie Thompson, had walked in on them, unknowingly preserving her virginity. Hymen or not, Dawn decided it essentially was sex. With Jeff.

Tara and Jenny would have been so jealous if they ever found out. Her two best friends were among Jeff's staunchest admirers. They had lusted after his long, lean body ever since they were old enough to lust.

By the end of the day Dawn had relived the weekend again and again. The memories provided a constant heat on her skin, coaxing a gallon of sweat from her body. She retreated to the fountain in the center of the commons. It was a place she often went to toss pennies and make childish wishes. It was a good place to think; this time she hoped the peaceful sounds of flowing water would help her forget.

Spray settled on her clothes mixing with the sweat. She remembered the way Jeff had expertly touched her body. How his hot, wet tongue had probed her mouth. For a moment she wished she had responded differently. She wished she had been more welcoming to his tongue's explorations. She wished she had done some exploration of her own. Red heat spread across her body, tinting her freckled skin from chest to scalp.

Bending over the cement pool Dawn dipped two fingers in the icy cool water. She spread the moisture across her neck watching the bronze face of the school's founder glare at her. The dead, metallic eyes bore into her soul. For a moment she feared the statue at the center of the fountain spray might spring to life, Bertrand Choteau's mutton-chopped visage giving name to her sin.

Incest.

She reached in her pocket and extracted two shiny copper pennies. Two pennies meant two wishes. She tossed the first penny, wishing she'd spent the entire weekend at home. Aside from Jeff's arguments with Daddy, nothing bad ever happened at home.

She pinched the second penny between thumb and forefinger. The second wish was much more difficult to make. Since his first touch at the party, it had bounced around in her head. The final penny splashed through the surface of the shallow pool. As it fluttered to the mosaic tile bottom she gave silent voice to her desire.

"Dawn?" Her shoulders flinched the moment he called her name. Jeff shattered what little peace she had found beside the running water. Time to face reality; time to face the fact that the most beautiful man on the planet was also the most dangerous. "Look at me, Dawn. Please." She fumbled through her empty pocket for another coin, desperate to undo the second wish. "We need to talk." Without a hint of urgency or regret, his voice was every bit as cool and fluid as the pool of water. If he had a conscience it wasn't putting up much of a fight.

"You can't ignore me forever." She could try. "Come on, Sunshine. I'm trying to be a nice guy." No, you're pretending to be a nice guy. "Fine, keep staring into space, just listen. I was drunk out of my fucking mind at that party and I would have done anything Liza asked. And you...I know you're my kid sister but you looked...you looked so..." His explanation petered out. Alert the media, Jeff Kramer was actually at a loss for words.

Dawn didn't respond. She couldn't. Friday night he had been drunk when he touched her and even then it was all for Liza's sake. For some reason those facts weren't nearly as comforting as they should have been. A tear squeezed between her clenched eyelids and splashed into the water as he explained Friday night away. But why had he touched her Saturday? Why had he fucked her like one of his generic whores inside the service tunnel at Jackson Field?

"Please talk to me," Jeff said. "Tell me it's alright or tell me to go to Hell. Stop pretending like I don't exist." And surrender my only weapon? Years of observing her brother's fights with Daddy had taught Dawn an important lesson. Ignoring Jeff was pretty much the only way to crack through his thick shell. Love him or hate him, Jeff didn't care as long as you acknowledged his relevance. The only way she could hurt him was by ignoring the adorable way his voice cracked while he pretended to be hurt or by occupying her eyes with something other than his lean, handsome body. She desperately wanted to hurt him.

After a moment of silence his voice raised. "Fine! If you're going to pout like a little brat go right ahead. I'm through feeling guilty. You were the one dyking it up with Liza. You were the one acting like a total slut in the tunnel, practically begging for it!"

Crossing her arms, she willed the tears away. 

"I felt it. You were wet for me, Sunshine, so stop pretending to hate me. Talk to me, damn it!" She wouldn't, not now, maybe not ever again. He groaned; it was a frustrated, agonized groan. "You better look for a new way home because I don't want any more to do with you."

Tears splashed freely into the fountain once he stomped away. She allowed herself to cry, sobbing and shivering under the spray until a renewed breeze made the chill unbearable. She stepped back, bumping into a tall, rangy object. A big hand draped her slim shoulder. Dawn was unready to face her brother. Nevertheless, she turned to do just that. "Jeff..."

Jase Riley gripped her shoulder firmly, smashing any hopes of running. Dawn was surprised at the frailty of her voice as she begged to be let go.

"Shhhh " Jase put a finger to his lips. "I won't hurt you." His fingers dug into her flesh. "I'm not like your asshole brother; I would never make you cry." He smeared a tear across her cheek. His fingers were sticky; Dawn didn't want to know why.

When they first met, Jase had seemed to be no more than an attractive male admirer, a cute guy who offered her something to drink at the party. She later discovered the purple drink he put to her lips was laced with a date rape drug culled from his parents' pharmaceuticals warehouse. Had Liza not happened along in time, there was no telling what might have happened. Nevertheless, the incident was a bitter first taste of the darker side of college life.

Shiny copper glinted briefly on the bottom of the fountain. In case it wasn't too late to amend her wish, she prayed Jase Riley would get what he deserved. 

A struggle to break free from his grip, prompted Jase to wrap his free arm around her waist. At such close proximity Dawn saw the true Jase Riley. How could she have ever thought him handsome? Away from the party, the music, and the beer, his tangled mop of blond hair was greasy and filthy. His cracked, peeling lips spread into an incomplete smile, gaping where a bottom front tooth had been knocked free. His right cheek was cratered with dozens of acne scars. She wondered how could such trash could share the same gene pool as Choteau University's wealthiest patrons.

Each time she struggled he squeezed her shoulder tighter, hurting her more. "Stop squirming. I only want to talk. I've been trying to work up the courage all day." He must have stalked her, waiting to catch her alone. 

Dawn glanced around the commons, searching for someone, anyone. Most everyone had vacated the area. A few students loitered outside the University store but they were too far away to realize what was going on. Jase's mismatched eyes, one muddy brown and the other an unnatural violet, drifted southward. He shamelessly ogled her chest. With manners as ugly as his face it was little wonder he had to drug girls. "I saw you make another wish. Did it come true?"

It will if you break your neck. 

"The silent treatment? Oh come on, Dawn. You were a little Charlie Chatterbox at the party. Nothing's changed since then." Could he really be so stupid? Everything had changed. He traced a finger across her jaw. "You really are beautiful; you know that?" Dawn turned her head. She didn't want to look at his ugly face. "Little wonder someone would go to so much trouble just to get inside your panties." He reached under her skirt and patted her on the butt.

Dawn stiffened, then whirled in an attempt to break free. "Keep your hands off of me, asshole. I swear I'll go to the campus police and---"

"And what, tell them I slipped something into your drink? You know how many girls have gone to the cops with that story?" She didn't answer. "A lot! And you know how many of them were believed?" He pretended to count on his fingers. "None."

"They'll believe me," Dawn said.

"They won't." His arrogance was repugnant. "You know why they won't? Because, my last name can beat up your last name. Long after your shitty brother and his shitty records are forgotten, Choteau University will still be cashing my family's checks."

Dawn grunted as she twisted in his grip. She kicked at the air as Jase lifted her from the ground. He was so big, as tall as Jeff and twice as broad. She had never felt so small or helpless as she did in his arms. He brushed her freckled cheek, dragging his sticky fingers down her neck and over the swell of her breasts.

Liza appeared, seemingly from nowhere. "Jason Riley, you disgusting piece of shit! Get away from her!" Jase dropped Dawn, prompting the blond cheerleader to slam into the much larger male. She caught him off-balance, knocking him off his feet and into the water.

"Jesus Christ, Liza!" Jase sputtered in the knee-deep pool. He climbed out of the fountain, utterly drenched with cold water. Liza rushed him again, driving the toe of her black pump into his shin. Jase dropped to one knee. "You crazy little cunt!" he groaned, rubbing his sore leg.

"Keep away from my little friend or I swear I'll hunt you down, rip off your balls and cram them down your eye sockets." Liza's grisly threat didn't seem to work. Jase struggled to his feet.

Flicking his wrist, he splattered water on the blonde's creamy cashmere sweater "We were only talking," Jase said. More water streamed from his clothes as he took a soggy step towards them.

"Don't you come near, or else." Liza wagged her finger in warning. Unless the blond was hiding a karate black belt beneath her short denim skirt there was very little she could do to dissuade the much larger man. "So help me God, I'll tell Jeff Kramer what you tried to do to his little, baby sister."

Jase traded his scowl for an ugly, gape-toothed smile. He clucked his tongue. "You are one stupid little cunt eater; you know that?" He reached a soggy finger to touch the point of Liza's chin. She slapped it away. "Dawn knows better. She knows big brother won't protect her; he won't make the bad men go away. When it comes to bad men, Jeff Kramer is the worst of them all." He winked at Dawn. "I'll catch you later, beautiful." Jase sloshed away, a trail of soggy drips marking his path.

Ronnie, Jase and Jeff, maybe she had become some kind of magnet, polarized to attract rotten men. Dawn sniffled and rubbed her sore shoulder. Her fair skin was prone to bruising and Jase's rough treatment was sure to birth a nasty, purple mark.

"Poor kid," Liza's fingers joined Dawn's own in working the tender flesh. "I never meant for you to get mixed up with that asshole. Let's find that brother of yours."

Liza walked Dawn to the parking lot. The redheaded girl was not surprised to see that her brother had carried out his threat. "I don't believe this!" Liza spat. The yellow Thunderbird was long gone, a puddle of leaked oil remained in it's place. "What kind of man drives off and leaves his little, baby sister?" 

The kind of man in newspapers and on magazine covers. The kind of man every woman fantasizes about.

Liza offered a ride home, rescuing Dawn from the ignominy of calling Daddy.

Somehow, being near Liza didn't affect Dawn the same way as being near Jeff. A strange fact considering Liza had not only been an active participant in the weekends indiscretions, she had been the instigator. Liza had been the first to touch and lick Dawn's most private places, places no one else had ever even seen. Despite the pleasure reaped from the Sapphic experimentation, there was no love just raw sexuality. With Jeff it had been completely different. The sexuality was still there (it was there in force) but there was also a strong undercurrent of love. He was her brother after all.

"Has Jeff always been such a dick?" Liza asked. Sometimes it seemed that way, but Jeff had been a very different person once. "I know he's your brother, and you probably love him no matter what but it doesn't change the fact that he's a grade-A, major league dick." Dawn didn't argue; she couldn't. 

Liza wasn't a maniac behind the wheel, so the drive home took twice as long as it did with Jeff. The yellow Thunderbird was conspicuously absent from the Kramers' driveway; in it's place was a dented silver station wagon. "Looks like you've got company," Liza said.

It was the second Monday of the month. So shaken by the events of the weekend, she had completely forgotten about TV night. "Jenny and Tara, they're my two best friends. We're afraid of drifting apart, now that high school is over, so we get together every other Monday for pizza and TV."

"Sounds sweet. I miss my old friends back in Myrtle Beach. Especially Erica." Liza sighed. Her eyes lost focus; after a moments silence she came back. "Home seems so far away. Anymore, it seems like I only make it back for summer break."

Dawn made a bold decision. "Would you like to stay? We always order too much pizza and there's plenty of room around the TV. You'd like Tara and Jenny."

"I'm sure I would, especially if they're as cute as you." Liza smiled. Her features were so soft and pleasant, like something out of an old magazine. 

"You'll stay?" 

"Sorry, Red." Liza shook her head. "I can't. Not tonight."

Dawn nodded, feeling incredibly stupid. How could she be so presumptuous? Someone like Liza must have had a million better places to be. "Oh, okay, maybe some other time."

"Definitely some other time." Liza smiled sweetly. "I like you, Dawn. I like you a lot."

"I like you too."

Liza smiled a sad sort of smile and touched Dawn's hair. "Such a sweet kid." Dawn slumped against the seat; even Liza saw her as little more than a child. "Do you hate me for taking advantage of you?"

"You didn't---"

"Yes, I did. You were drunk and alone and utterly lost." And scared, don't forget scared. "You're Jeff's little, baby sister. I wanted to protect you, to keep creeps like Jason Riley away." She touched Dawn's hair again. "Sorry, Little Red, I'm not being completely honest. I wanted you. I wanted you like I'd never wanted anyone else." Dawn blushed, she had never been wanted before.

Liza laughed and snorted. "You must think I'm some kind of weirdo perv." She made a motion to cross her heart, "I swear I don't have an incest fetish. It was just some weird feeling I had. I mean, who doesn't get all puddly for Jeff Kramer; even I'm not immune." 

"He loves you," Dawn blurted, knowing full well it was a stupid thing to say. Anyone with eyes could see the enormous flame Jeff carried for the blond cheerleader.

Liza looked less than surprised by the revelation. "That's because I don't bore him."

"Bore him?"

Liza's bright eyes dimmed for a just a moment. "Something an old girlfriend told me once. I've..." Liza swallowed. "I've been with a lot of girls but she was the only one...the only one I ever felt anything for." She chuckled. "Wouldn't you know that damn brother of yours had to steal her away from me. Then after less than a week he dumped her because and I quote 'she bored him'."

How cruel and cold and so utterly like Jeff. "Sorry, I know how he can be." She did, better than anyone. Dawn grasped the door handle, hesitating for a moment. She leaned over and impulsively kissed the blond girl's cheek.

Liza smiled, touching the spot Dawn had kissed. "Little Red, you are just the sweetest thing." Liza returned the kiss brushing her lips against the redhead's freckled cheek. The kiss traveled to the side of Dawn's mouth, then directly over her lips. Liza's tongue delved Dawn's mouth.




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 than look 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. What had 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. She had 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.

"I am 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...

The tease ends next chapter. Remember to vote/comment. You can do both anonymously if you wish.



Light of Dawn Ch. 05



A geography test early the next morning forced Tara to bow out of TV night prematurely, leaving Dawn and Jenny alone on the sofa. They lounged for a little while, watching the first few minutes of the Monday night news. Onscreen, the silver haired anchorman teased a story about a major drug bust before jumping to commercial.

The screen disappeared with an abrupt flash. 

Jenny had commandeered the remote. "What's going on with you?" she asked. Dawn failed to immediately answer. "Don't try lying. I know there's something going on. The way Jeff looked at you was so...weird."

"He just--he knows how to get under my skin sometimes." And under my clothes.

"It's more than that." Dawn and her plump, freckled best friend were so much alike; trying to hide her troubles was foolish. "When I told you about Jeff having sex with me you looked like you did when your hamster died."

"He's my brother and you're my best friend. Picturing the two of you together is more than a little weird." Dawn pictured them anyway. The sofa felt sweaty beneath her thighs. "What was it like?" The queer look with which Jenny responded made Dawn's cheeks burn. "Was he gentle or rough?"

Jenny's own cheeks went red. "Both," she confessed. "He was so big down there. Not huge, like dirty magazine huge or anything, but big enough." She giggled like a little girl. "It was so good, Dawn. So good I can't describe it. I would do anything to be with him again."

Jenny was no virgin; nevertheless, giving such detail was decidedly out of character for the plump girl. "God, you're starting to sound like Tara," Dawn said, adding a nervous laugh.

"You're starting to act like her." Jenny's brow furrowed, shrinking a set of eyes that were already too small for her face. "I saw you." The words stopped Dawn's heart. Why had she been so careless. Kissing her own brother was bad enough but doing it in the kitchen while her best friends were in the very next room was insane. "Who was she?"

She? Jenny had seen her kiss Liza and not Jeff. Is that better or worse? 

"Do you love her or something?" Jenny sounded more confused than concerned. "Are you a lesbian?"

"No," Dawn said. "God no. I like guys. She's just a friend."

"A friend? Is that what you and Tara do when I'm not around." Dawn grabbed a pillow and smacked Jenny's plump chest. That Jenny could still tease was a good sign. Her friend would not pry further.

TV night was resumed long enough to finish the news, then it was Jenny's turn to retire. Working at her mother's bakery had transformed her from a notoriously late riser. As she was fond of saying, "blueberry muffins won't bake themselves."

With her friends gone, all that remained was the cleanup. Dawn quietly climbed the stairs. She padded to Jeff's bedroom, her bare feet leaving small prints in the creamy shag carpet. She tapped on the door and waited. She heard him move around, shifting papers. The door unlocked with a click clack. 

He smirked when he saw her. "Couldn't keep away?" He was tall and handsome and so hard to ignore, somehow she did, stepping inside without a word. The dinner plate, encrusted with dried pasta sauce, teetered on the edge of the computer desk; the dirty fork rested on the mouse pad. This is all I came for, she told herself, just the dishes. She pitched an empty soda can in the waste basket. 

"You don't need to clean up for me, Mom." She hated it when he talked to her in his arrogant quarterback voice.

"I hope the spaghetti wasn't too awful." She tapped the fork against the plate, freeing red flakes of dried tomato sauce.

He quickly responded. "Actually, it was great. You're great--a great cook, I mean." The flattery was unwarranted; her cooking skills were extremely limited. Still, it was an uncharacteristically sweet thing for him to say.

Sitting at the desk, Jeff thumbed through a stack of crumpled papers. He squinted at the flat panel computer screen and tapped the backspace key several times. Dawn sat the plate on the bed and leaned over his shoulder.

"What are these?" she asked, taking one of the papers.

"Notes." He answered as if she'd just asked the stupidest question in the world. She squinted at the paper and saw that the notes were in his own handwriting. Jeff took notes in class? He never takes notes. "What is this word?" he asked, handing her a second page, "I smudged it with my pen." 

The marks looked more like cat scratches than letters but she recognized the word. "Emancipation. You spelled it wrong, though. There should only be one M."

"Oh." Jeff reclaimed the page and resumed typing. "I guess spell check was invented for dummies like me."

"You're not dumb." While handing the paper back she touched his arm, causing them both to flinch. His skin was almost amber. She had forgotten how bruised Saturday's game had left him. "Let me get you your Tylenol."

"No! I...I don't need that shit."

"How about an ice pack?"

He tilted his head back to answer, his nose grazing her neck. "No, I think I'll soak in the hot tub for a while." Being so close to his body was almost intoxicating. Dawn remembered what had happened the last time she'd been intoxicated. Gathering the plate, she started for the door. "I'll still be out there after Dad goes to sleep." 

She wondered if that was an invitation.

***

Jeff popped the top on another beer. The aluminum can opened with a foamy hiss. He loved the sound; it almost drowned the ranting of his pathetic father. They had had another shouting match about commitment and responsibility, the type of nonsense a perpetually absent father had no business lecturing about. Fortunately, Dawn had not ratted him out for abandoning her at school, shaving at least forty-five minutes off the lecture.

He counted the empty beer cans pitched over the side of the hot tub: two. How many did I have at O'Malley's? He wasn't sure but it was more than two.

While the alcohol numbed his brain, the warm, churning water of the hot tub did the same for his tender body. He had planned on setting the collegiate passing record the previous Saturday in front of a cable television audience. Unfortunately, his offensive line decided to take the afternoon off. The result was a sixty minute thrashing at the hands of the Northern Tech defense, battering Jeff's body as well as his reputation.

The school's three year undefeated streak came to an inglorious halt and Jeff's professional aspirations received a serious setback. The pro scouts would back off for a while, at least until after the next game when he was sure to set the passing record.

Jeff reached for the hot tub remote and lowered the intensity of the jets. From his vantage point he had a perfect view of Dawn's bedroom. The blinds were drawn, a yellow light filtering through the slits. The light flickered once, then disappeared.

She's not coming, he realized. He felt stupid for thinking she would. She was Dawn, his kid sister; a wink and a smile wouldn't bend her to his will. Waiting any longer was pointless. He slapped the surface of the water, sending a wave to the red brick patio.

Rising from the hot tub, the pain returned to every joint in his body. Each movement was a jolt, earning a string of whispered curses that almost caused him to miss the whoosh of the sliding glass patio door as it opened.

She had dressed in a shimmering, emerald bathing suit, a formfitting Lycra one piece cut enticingly low, offering a hint of pale cleavage; a snow white bath towel wrapped her waist. 

A tug on the fluffy towel sent it plunging to her ankles, revealing the span of her legs. She stood only a few inches taller than five feet, such a small girl for such long, perfect legs.

She was graceful in her shyness. Each timid movement created a series of hypnotic motions amongst her pretty curves. When she noticed him wet and dripping on the patio she stopped and nibbled her bottom lip. "You're going in." She hadn't phrased it as a question, just a statement of fact.

"No," he assured her, "I'm not going anywhere." The pain temporarily left his body, allowing him to leap over the side of the hot tub. He slipped and slid and splashed in the water. Finally gaining his bearings, he settled into a molded fiberglass seat.

Dawn was more graceful. She climbed in slowly, slipping waist deep into the tepid water. Submerging, her magnificent body disappeared a curve at a time until only the very red crown of her head remained above the churning water.

As she rose, rivulets of moisture raced down her body. She looked like a goddess, a redheaded Aphrodite. Taking the seat directly across from Jeff, she leaned against the padded headrest. She closed her eyes and sighed as the churning water went to work teasing her muscles.

He propelled himself across the hot tub, taking the seat next to her. She opened her eyes and smiled. Wasting no time, Jeff kissed the tip of her chin. "You shouldn't," she squeaked. Her attention was locked on the dark window directly below her own, their father's window.

"But you knew I would." He kissed her soft, freckled cheek. "That's why you came." She sighed softly, then pushed at his chest to slip away. There was nowhere to go in the eight person hot tub so she waded an abbreviated circuit and returned to him. Catching her around the waist, his long arms wrapped her like a python. 

She wriggled in a token effort to escape before taking a seat on his lap. He was stone hard and she undoubtedly felt grinding against her pretty little bottom through the swimsuits. Dawn rested her head against his naked chest and sighed. She kissed his moist skin, delivering loving pecks, over and over and over.

"This is so wrong," she whispered. He silently agreed. "Why are we doing it; why does it feel so good?"

He couldn't answer. Despite being with many, many women, the sensations he experienced with his sister on his lap were completely alien. 

She looked up at him, her green eyes glowing with fear and lust. He wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her as close as possible. Groaning deep in his throat, he rubbed his stiff penis against her mound. She made an adorable noise, like a mewling kitten. 

This time it was Jeff who watched their father's dark window. He smirked. Look at your little Sunshine now. Look how bad she wants it. She's no better than any other slut I've fucked. But somewhere inside (deep down inside, past the cold and cocky shell that had insulated him for so many years) he knew she was better. Earlier that evening when she had told her friends she loved him, she had meant it. True, she was speaking only of the love a sister feels for her brother but it was more than Jeff had gotten from any other woman. He had been wanted, desired, even craved. Never loved.

Her lips tickled as they crept up his neck. She paused at his mouth, her tongue brushing past his lips. He pulled away momentarily, unable to believe she'd been so bold. "I'm sorry," she apologized. As she started to wriggle away, he gripped the soft cheeks of her butt, blocking the retreat. Kissing her long and deep, his tongue delved into her mouth.

The wonderful friction from his erect penis rubbing the mound of her pussy would have been sufficient to bring him off, but he wanted more. He wanted everything.

He tugged the Lycra suit away from her crotch. Beneath, the fine red hairs were soft and soggy. His finger parted her nether lips, eliciting a sharp gasp. He gently probed, exploring places in her sex while his tongue explored places in her mouth.

He was careful with his finger, sensitive not only to her comfort but to the preservation of the thin membrane of her purity. There was little doubt her virginity would be torn by night's end but not by his finger. After several minutes of stimulation Dawn pulled free from his mouth and cringed. She huffed and she hissed and she clamped her shapely thighs around his left wrist. Her little body bucked as she rode out what had to have been the greatest orgasm of her life.

Once the gyrations in her hips ceased Dawn rested her head on his shoulder. Her warm breath tickled his neck; her wet hair draped his chest. "That was--" She was out of breath. "That was--"

"I know." He stroked her back and kissed the top of her pretty red head. His left hand was still in the warm, fleshy vise formed by her clenched thighs. "Coach will be pretty pissed if I don't get my throwing arm back." She sighed and reluctantly parted her legs.

She giggled, much like the girl she was. She looked at the and the arm that had brought her so much pleasure and frowned. "You got your stitches wet." Jeff didn't care, as long as he got her pussy wet and ready.

A lamp illuminated the darkness behind their father's curtains. Dawn fidgeted when she saw it. "Relax, he's just using the bathroom." He kissed her neck. "You know how iffy the old dinosaur's prostate is."

"Quit, Jeff. He'll see." 

Jeff couldn't quit. The water had turned Dawn's brilliant emerald swimsuit a dark shade of olive. The thin layer of wet Lycra failed to hide the erect morsels atop the impressive mounds of her breasts. 

Taking the left nipple between his lips, he sucked through the wet fabric. She gasped and pushed him away. "Stop it! I don't want Daddy to see us."

Jeff wasn't sure he could say the same. He wanted to humiliate his father; he wanted to take everything Vince Kramer held dear and there was nothing on earth more dear to Old Vinnie than his little Sunshine. 

He kissed her freckled shoulder, her arm, her wrist, tasting skin and salt and water, blind to everything except lust and revenge. He wanted to make life miserable for his father, but this? Pushing the apprehension aside, he decided his conscience wouldn't rule, not when he was so close to having her. 

She worked free from his grip. "Stop it! I'm not like those whores you date!"

"Oh, yes you are." He wrapped his arms around her waist and spun, pinning her against the wall of the hot tub. She gasped as their wet bodies smacked together. A wave of warm water splashed over the walls, splattering the patio beneath. The chill of night assaulted the half of Jeff's body above water, raising the sparse hairs on his chest. 

The cool air effected Dawn, as well. Her nipples poked his chest, drawing lazy lines against his wet skin as she breathed.

Reaching between her legs, Jeff hunted for the warmth he needed to reclaim. She clenched her thighs, denying access she had freely given moments before. Undeterred, Jeff lowered his wet trunks. Beneath the water his dick was steel as it rubbed the tight crevice formed by her clenched thighs. 

Dawn's green eyes widened as she realized what part of his anatomy had touched her. 

She was his. Even through the haze of the alcohol he knew it was true. Propriety dictated that she put up a struggle but the lust, the surrender, they were written in her pretty green eyes. 

He was stunned when she shoved hard against his chest and slapped his cheek with a wet smack. It was the second time she'd struck him in three days. The blow cut through the haze. "What the Hell is wrong with you?!" he asked.

Showing her back to him, Dawn attempted to retreat from the hot tub. Jeff gripped her arm near the elbow and dragged her back in the water. "Fucking tease! You were crawling all over me. You can't turn into some Goddamned prude just 'cause you think Daddy is watching!" She demanded he let her go. His grip was light and her skin wet; she had no difficulty slipping free. 

As she scurried away, his attention was locked on the seat of her swimsuit and the way her pert little butt stretched the emerald fabric. A part of him was relieved that the encounter had progressed no farther. Another part had an entirely different reaction. You're giving that up?

Dripping and alone, Jeff used the hot tub's remote to still the maelstrom of bubbles. On his way in he gathered the white towel from the patio. It was the towel from her bath, damp and cold. He put it to his nose and filled his lungs with the scent of soap, shampoo, and woman. He decided to deliver it to her. Maybe he would even apologize. Maybe.

He didn't knock. That's probably why he found her with the wet suit halfway down her thighs. Jeff stared for a moment. He had seen naked girls before, dozens upon dozens, but none had ever looked like Dawn. She was a vision of purity, from the swollen pink nipples that capped her freckled breasts to the damp red flames between her legs.

He wanted her. He wanted everything she represented: the sweetness, the goodness. Being too aggressive wouldn't work; he found that out in the hot tub. Fortunately, when it came to seducing women, Jeff Kramer had a surplus of weapons.

Flipping the towel to her, Jeff turned his head, giving Dawn a moment to cover her beautiful body. When he looked back she was still naked, the towel crumpled at her toes. Did his shy kid sister actually want him to look? Her face was an unreadable mask.

Jeff's pulse quickened. Each heartbeat resounded in his chest, a muffled thump-thump that rattled his core.

For the first time he noticed the crimson marks that marred the delicate skin of her shoulder, bruises in the shape of a large, clumsy hand. Apparently, he'd been too rough with her. He felt like such an ass. She wilted a bit when he first approached, but did not attempt to block his touch. Far from it, she hissed as his fingers contacted the sore, swollen skin of her shoulder. 

"Make it better," she begged. A single manicured fingernail roamed his chest, raising goosebumps as it traced tiny circles around his nipple. Jeff swallowed hard before gently kissing her bruised shoulder. Dawn released a long, sensuous breath. 

He touched her chest, manipulating the delicate flesh. She was so soft, so amazingly soft. "We don't have to." He had spoken the same words to every female he'd ever claimed; he had never meant it before.

"I want to," she said, kissing him. "I've wanted to forever." She timidly glanced at her bed. It looked warm and inviting. As odd as it sounds, Jeff Kramer had made love in very few beds. He never brought dates home with Dad and Dawn around and the opportunity to be with a woman at her own home or dorm was a rare luxury.

Sweet little Dawn's first time, it was such a special occasion. He felt like carrying her, but knew his rubbery legs would never cooperate. Instead he took her by the hand, threading their fingers together. 

The comforter was a splash of springtime color: daisy white, grassy green, soon to be spotted by cherry red. The very thought of taking her right there, on her own bed, made his pulse race and his wobbly legs even wobblier. Right away, Dawn demonstrated her inexperience. She had no idea what she was supposed to do; laying on the bed, she stretched her arms and legs out wide, looking more like a child trying to make a snow angel than a woman about to make love. The innocence was endearing. 

He sat on the end of the bed and took one of her tiny feet in his hands. She arched her back as he massaged from heel to ball, and cooed when he kissed the pad of her big toe. "Touch yourself," he said, slowly lowering her foot.

Dawn's fingers trembled as she reached between her legs. Parting the tight outer lips, she revealed the glistening pink folds within. Her mouth opened in a silent oh with the first bit of contact. There was a time when he had considered his kid sister the least sexual person on earth. No longer, with her pale, perfect body laid bare before him and the scent of female arousal a lingering perfume, she seemed the very definition of sex. Best of all, she was willing to do whatever he asked. The prospects were absolutely mind boggling.

Rubbing her forefinger along her wet, pink slit, she sought the emerging nub of her clitoris. Relieving her own fingers, Jeff reached to touch the tiny nub. She oohed at the contact. For a moment her pale skin blushed hot pink, the same shade as the petals of her beautiful pussy.




Light of Dawn Ch. 05



Despite a wealth of sexual experiences, foreplay was not an art Jeff had perfected. Other than a few clumsy attempts at cunnilingus, foreplay had consisted of the girl sucking his dick to rigidity. Despite the lack of experience he seemed to be doing okay. If the high-pitched moans that escaped her mouth were any indication he was doing more than okay. Arching her back, Dawn lifted her butt from the bedspread. He seized her pale butt cheeks and leaned close, touching his tongue to her hot pink folds. 

He lapped hungrily, salivating as her flavor flooded his mouth. Propping her legs over his shoulders, he ground his nose against downy red pubic hairs, breathing in Dawn's spicy essence. His hands, not to be outdone, explored the peaks and valleys of her snow white curves, paying extra-close attention to her soft, swollen breasts. 

She was so wonderful. The taste, smell and delicateness of her curvy little body gave pause to wonder why he had waited so long to have her. Sweetly, sensually, she groaned his name as his tongue delved deeper, becoming as much a part of her body as his own. Dawn's butt clenched tight and the muscles in her thighs contracted. Her legs fell from his shoulders; her feet scrunched, the toes digging into the colorful bedspread. 

Her pussy fluttered around his feasting tongue, desperately attempting to milk the slippery invader. As Jeff pulled back, a squirt of warm moisture doused his nose. The liquid dripped to his mouth and chin. Some of it dribbled between his lips. The taste was unmistakably Dawn, like the juices he had lapped from her pussy but more concentrated.

While she slowly descended from her sexual peak, he delivered slight kisses to the soft skin of her inner thigh. A casual brush of his steel-hard penis against her flexing calf was the recipe for eruption. Thick, warm globs of cum spurted into already soggy swim trunks. The orgasm hijacked his body. From the tips of his toes to the muscles behind his eyebrows, he felt the effects everywhere.

She spread her thighs wider, inviting an encore. "That was... That was..." Dawn's voice failed her. 

It was amazing; the semen clinging to the inside of his swimming trunks attested to that. With a final kiss to the soggy, pink flesh, he abandoned Dawn's pussy and crawled forward to lie beside her. She was so much smaller than he was; the tips of her toes barely reached his knobby knees. 

He had slept with Beth Appleby, an even tinier woman, on numerous occasions. Practice with her and a handful of other petite females had taught him an important lesson, sex would only be comfortable if he proceeded slowly.

"Sunshine, are you ready?" He had little success tempering the enthusiasm in his voice. He repeated himself when she did not immediately answer.

"No," her bottom lip quivered, "but I want to, so bad." He placed a hand on her abdomen; the muscles there tightened and her arms flinched. If they were to find any enjoyment from sex she would need to relax. 

He kissed her ear and shushed away her doubts. "You'll be fine. I would never hurt you." Her body stopped trembling; she seemed to believe him. Tilting her freckled face towards him, she smiled and delivered a sugary sweet kiss to his lips.

He could do nothing to quell his own doubts, brought about by less-than-honorable intentions. Sex with Dawn would be the ultimate revenge on his father. Of course, Old Vince would never find out (not from Jeff) but the fact would be a particularly sharp dagger he could silently bury in his father's back every time they argued.

Was revenge on his father the only reason? As he caressed the expanse of snowy skin dotted by tiny brown freckles the answer came easy. He needed her, needed to be loved if only for one night. The next morning what was left of their sibling relationship would surely crumble into dust. True, they had already crossed boundaries most brothers and sisters would never cross but real, honest-to-goodness sex was different. Their lives could never be the same. For a moment Jeff hesitated.

A small hand snaked through the baggy leg of his swim trunks, wrapping around his semi-rigid penis. His doubts died then and there. She wants it, he realized, and if she wants it, I want it.

Grasping his hard dick, she made a clumsy attempt to bring him off. He removed her hand from his penis. It was impossible to fully appreciate the ministrations of her warm hand while wearing cold, soggy shorts; taking a moment, he undressed before inviting her hand to return. She resumed her quick strokes. 

As his dick warmed a second orgasm approach. As much as he wanted to bathe Dawn's fingers with cum, his plans for her were more ambitious. "It's time," he said. Dawn relinquished her grip.

Jeff took his place, kneeling between her legs. After she nodded consent he placed the head of his penis against her unyielding entrance. 

He had lied when he promised to never hurt her. She was a virgin; the first time would hurt a great deal. Jeff paused, giving her every outlet for retreat. "I can take it," she murmured. "I'm a tough girl." She had guessed the reason for his hesitation. No surprise there, Dawn knew him better than anyone.

She grunted when he pushed in the first fraction of an inch. After her body adjusted itself to the strange new visitor, he pushed forward a little bit more. Dawn forced a few cusswords through gritted teeth as her insides stretched to accommodate Jeff's seven skinny inches. He was prepared to back off when, again, Dawn read his mind. "Don't." Grabbing his butt, she held him in place for emphasis. "It's starting to feel good."

It won't feel good when it rips through your cherry, Jeff wanted to say, it will feel like I'm tearing you apart. He bit his tongue and sank another fraction of an inch. Both exhaled when he pressed against the barrier. 

With one good, firm thrust her virginity was gone. She could have other sex partners but none would ever claim her cherry, not boyfriends, not a husbands, not anyone. The fleshy barrier proved to be no barrier at all as his dick slid as far inside as possible.

Tears filled Dawn's green eyes as the limits of her toughness were severely tested. A bead of snot dribbled from her nose. Jeff collected it with the back of his wrist before smearing it off on the comforter. She hissed, no doubt fighting the urge to break down. To her credit she didn't weep. In fact, her face was devoid of any sour emotion.

They stayed perfectly still for a good long while. Jeff was terrified to move, terrified he would hurt her again. He hoped the pain in her loins would stop but for all he knew she might take days to heal. Despite a wealth of sexual experience, he knew very little about the inner workings of the female body.

"Feel better?" She nodded but he didn't believe her. As a test he delicately moved his hips. Her mouth opened wide and she bucked her hips a little in return. That convinced him. The pain was gone, or at least was not so great as to deny pleasure.

He moved his hips again, gingerly extracting his penis from her tight tunnel, then just as slowly reinserting. She liked it, a lot. Her legs wrapped the back of his thighs while her long fingernails caressed his chest. Jeff stilled, taking a moment to enjoy the feeling of her naked breasts against his chest and the wet warmth of their union.

Dawn pushed against him, her body language begging him to continue. Any inexperience on her own part was remedied by the fact that she was an eager student, eager to learn and eager to please. Quickening the pace, he buried his penis deeper. Dawn squeaked as their most private areas mashed together. 

Gazing lovingly at her body, Jeff was almost hypnotized by the jiggling of her breasts. He wanted to pause a moment to nurse at the swollen nipples but was unwilling to disrupt the harmony of their movements.

She craned her neck upwards, stretching to kiss him. Their lips met for only a moment before she threw her head back, sinking violently into the feather pillow. Her body writhed beneath his. Twisting and arching, stretching and shifting, her freckly body contorted into dozens of awkward positions, the way his sometimes did when he cramped after a game.

When she finally settled down Jeff noticed the light sheen and pinkish hue that covered her skin. The glow of a satisfied woman, he realized. He stilled his hips for just a moment and admired the view. She rested her hands behind her head and closed her eyes contentedly. For a moment he thought she might doze off.

"Should I stop?" he asked.

Her glorious green eyes shot open. She brushed the shaggy bangs from his forehead before asking, "are you finished?" He shook his head no. "You can finish. It's alright."

"In you?" She had no idea what he meant. "Should I finish in you; are you safe?"

"N...no. I don't think so." Jeff sighed as he resumed his motions. Of course she wasn't on the pill. What need would Daddy's little Sunshine have for birth control? 

A few more strokes were all Jeff needed. Extracting his dick from her pussy, he delivered jets of semen to the smooth skin of her belly. Some of the gooey, translucent liquid collected in the red curls of her pubic mound. She didn't seem to mind. Nothing seemed to bother Dawn as she rolled on her side and snuggled against his chest.

He discovered something new about his kid sister; she snored, louder than he would have expected. He chuckled. It was undeniably cute that such a tiny woman could saw such massive logs. Draping an arm over her naked body, he nuzzled her vibrant red hair.  

In the serene minutes that followed, Jeff no longer cared about lust or revenge or the harsh realities that would arrive the following morning; he only cared about the tiny redhead clinging to his side. It felt strange to care so much about someone other than himself. 

To be continued...  

Please be sure to vote and or comment. Whether favorable or critical, your opinions are extremely important to me.



Light of Dawn Ch. 06



Just a word of warning. The final scene in this chapter contains implied violence and at least one scene of nonconsentual sexual contact. The acts are neither glorified nor overly described. "Light of Dawn" is not and never will be a NC/Reluctance story; the scene, however, is crucial to this part of the storyline. 

Light from the morning sun preempted Dawn's dreams. Blinking awake, she watched dust motes dance before the open blinds; flickering white then gold, they drifted in lazy, crazy patterns. 

As she rubbed heavy eyelids with the back of her arm, an enormous object shifted beside her. She froze as a stubbly cheek brushed her shoulder. If Daddy happened along and found a man in her bed (let alone this man) life as she knew it was over. Never again could she be Daddy's infallible little Sunshine. 

Fortunately, the clock beside the bed read five-thirty A.M., a bit too early for Daddy to be up and about. Jeff rolled onto his back and snorted. Gangly legs kicked at the already disheveled bed covers; he was having some sort of rough and tumble football dream, she supposed. In sleep he smiled so innocently, looking more like a schoolboy than the smirking star quarterback at the center of his own universe. 

Warmth climbed Dawn's spine as she remembered the ways he had touched her. His voice had been soft, his kisses even softer. They had made such glorious love. Brother and sister, it was supposed to be wrong, yet it had felt anything but. 

She had dreamed about their brief but blissful union, reliving the most remarkable night in her nineteen years of life again and again. She wondered if Jeff had similar dreams. If the contented look on his handsome face was any indication, he had. He kicked again; his arms flailed a bit. Using the soft feather pillow to cushion her back, Dawn propped against the headboard, content to watch him sleep. 

The comforter lowered a bit, revealing his nakedness. With the heat in her loins cooled by the previous night's passion, the light of the morning sun provided a startling epiphany; he was far too thin. 

Despite an impressive list of athletic accomplishments Jeff's shoulders remained more bony than brawny; his arms were puny things. He should take better care of himself. His diet was horrendous; as far as he was concerned, if it wasn't fast and it wasn't junk then it wasn't food. Even worse was the alcohol. College guys and beer were synonymous but Jeff took the old cliché to dangerous extremes. 

She touched his abdomen and traced ribs that shouldn't have been so visible. How did this happen? Where most of his teammates spent hours conditioning themselves in the gym, Jeff drifted from one wild party to the next. Too much alcohol and too much sex, it was a wonder he could function from one day to the next.

He was so lost without Mom, Daddy was too. Dawn tried her best to fill the void. She cooked; she cleaned; she tried to keep peace between the two most important men in her life. Unfortunately, she wasn't Mom. She lacked Mom's talent to hold everything together.

She cleared the shaggy bangs from his forehead. He snorted and yawned then turned towards her. He tilted his mouth, showing her the same smirk he wore after winning the really big games.

In a way she felt sorry for him. He was so distant from everyone, all alone on planet Quarterback. Sure, he had plenty of admirers but the few real friends he had were the worst of influences. Jeff never drank before Choteau; now it seemed he never stopped. The women were just as bad. They were far more interested in being seen with Jeff Kramer than actually being with him. So many had merely used him for pleasure, popularity or both. Those sluts aren't good enough for you, Jeff. Why can't you figure that out. The thought that next occurred was an odd one, maybe no one will ever love you the way I do.

He could be a real jerk sometimes; refusing to visit the children's hospital with the rest of his team proved that. Some of the things he's said to Daddy (and to her) were vile and horrible, even though he never really meant them. Sometimes finding a shred of decency in her big brother seemed impossible but she knew that deep inside he was still the little boy who watched stoically as his mommy wasted away from ovarian cancer. Jeff could hide a lot of things behind an arrogant veneer but he couldn't hide that. 

In one way he and Daddy were exactly alike. Neither had ever recovered from Mom's death. Dawn had been so young at the time, remembering her more as the nice lady who lived at the hospital than as her mother. Jeff was different. He was ten years old when Mom died, old enough to appreciate the loss, old enough to feel every aspect of the pain.

The funeral was the thing Dawn most remembered about her mother. The somber but pretty organ music, the rainbow light that filtered in through the stained glass windows of their church, and the sweet smell of white calla lilies had been indelibly burned into her young brain. She remembered that Jeff had never cried and Daddy had never stopped. Dawn had cried, but only because she would miss the nice lady and all of the nice people at the hospital.

A hand on her breast brought Dawn back to the present. Jeff kneaded the pliant flesh, squeezing softly. "Sleep well?" he asked. She brushed the bangs from his forehead and nodded. The hair immediately fell back in place, covering his mossy green eyes. Another inch or two and his dark brown locks would touch his shoulders. She wished he would get a haircut, if only to placate Daddy.

Dawn yawned. She sat up and stretched, examining the bed. The covers were halfway on the floor. "Sorry," he said. "I don't have much experience sharing beds."

She snickered. "How many girls have you fed that bologna?"

There was that smirk again. She preferred the sweet schoolboy smile but the smirk was undeniably sexy. "The girls I normally sleep with...they're not necessarily the type I want to wake up beside." Is he trying to say that I am? 

It was all so surreal. Dawn wondered if she was still dreaming. His warm, naked body and the crusty stains on the bed sheets were real enough. Morning had indeed come. She had crossed the monumental threshold from girlhood to womanhood. Her friends would have been so envious, not that she would ever tell them.

Dawn rose, doing her best to primp the bed with him lying there. Jeff cleared his throat and gave her a queer look. Without realizing it, she had passed the night every bit as naked as he. A blush swept across her freckled skin. She searched for a robe or a shirt, anything to hide her nakedness.

"Don't cover up. You're too beautiful," he whispered. Another line he used on dozens of girls; she felt no need to dress so it must work. He stretched his long, lanky (and beautiful in it's own right) body before glancing at the digital alarm clock beside the bed. He groaned theatrically. "Why does it have to be morning? I should just skip class today, tell them I've got a headache or rickets or something."

So should I. We could repeat last night over and over and over. 

What was she thinking? No matter how exhilarating losing her virginity had been, he was still Jeff, still her brother. She needed to get dressed and get away from him as soon as possible. She rifled through her dresser, weeding out coal gray panties and an old high school t-shirt.

Disentangling his legs from the covers, Jeff crawled out of bed. The dark hairs surrounding his limp penis had the same vibrant, red highlights as the hair on his head. The swim trunks he'd abandoned on her floor the night before were almost dry; she begged him to put them on. 

"Let's play hooky, Sunshine." He wrapped his arms around her waist and dragged her towards the bed. She felt his naked penis stiffen against her lower back. "Dad has to sub for an English class. We'll have the house to ourselves until five o' clock."

He kissed the crook of her neck. For a moment she was almost tempted; that was before the reality of the situation smacked her in the face. Brother. The word was tattooed across his forehead. Brother, brother, brother. B-R-O-T-H-E-R, that hideous, seven-letter word was scribbled over every inch of his lean, naked body.

Turning away, she shielded her eyes and begged him to dress.

She whined when he grabbed her by the shoulder. The flesh was still tender where Jase Riley had manhandled her. After gaining the courage to reopen her eyes, she found that he had donned the damp, blue swim trunks. 

Disappointment was plain on his face. Disappointment and something else. Was it hurt? Impossible, nothing hurt Jeff Kramer. Yet he stumbled over his words, "I thought--I thought last night---"

"Last night never should have happened. As far as I'm concerned it didn't. The tunnel, Jeff--the party--it was all wrong. We were wrong."

He frowned pathetically. "I can't pretend it didn't happen, Sunshine. It was too good." It was beyond good; that didn't change the fact that it was incest. He brushed her bare arm with the backs of his fingers, raising an army of goosebumps. "We're adults. We can have fun as long as no one finds out." He squeezed her breasts through the tee.

She almost stumbled into the dresser. "We can't be together like this! We just can't." She thought of Daddy, her friends, Tara and Jenny, and how devastating it would be if they ever found out. Plopping on the bed, Dawn covered her face with her palms.

The mattress bowed as Jeff sat beside her. "Why are you doing this to me? One minute we kiss like long lost lovers, the next you can't stand to look at me." He wasn't acting. The confusion in his voice was real. He was hurt when he had no right to be. 

Couldn't he see that she was right. They couldn't be together, not ever again. 

"Last night was the most amazing night of my life." She allowed herself a brief flash of pride at his words. "I have nothing to compare it with. You were awesome. We were awesome." More of that pesky pride. "I can't just file it away as some ill-advised experiment. This feeling I have...this insane feeling, what if it's...what if it's..."

He wouldn't say it so she did. "Love?" 

Flashing a cocky grin, he reverted to quarterback mode. "You said it, not me."

"It's not love. It can't be." She was sure of it; wasn't he? "I'm not...I'm not in love with you."

He grimaced as if she'd punched him in the gut. "For Christ's sake, Dawn, I'm not in love with you either."

It was settled then. They weren't in love. Most of the time she hardly even liked him. Of course, that fact wouldn't bleach the bloodstains from her sheets.

Breakfast was more tense than usual. Dawn stood before the range, scrambling eggs and crisping bacon, wondering the entire time if Daddy's eyes were scrutinizing her. Did he notice the funny pink hue that seemed to tint her skin; did he notice the peculiar way the soreness between her legs had her moving? Daddy kept silent; unfortunately, Jeff did not.

"Jesus Christ, Dawn, you've been cooking since you were twelve years old. In seven years you can't learn to crack an egg?" She watched him pick at his plate of scrambled eggs, plucking flecks of eggshell.

Sitting at the table, Dawn sipped her orange juice, ignoring Jeff's comment; she only wished Daddy had done the same. "If you're such a gourmet, why don't you ever make breakfast?"

"I'd rather go back to when you provided all the meals. I do so miss the square pizzas embezzled from the high school cafeteria. And do they still make the mashed potatoes with the gravy that looks like snot?"

Daddy made a production of wolfing down his scrambled eggs, shells and all. "Don't listen to your brother, Sunshine. Breakfast was wonderful."

Jeff gnawed a piece of blackened bacon. He gave her the quarterback smirk, the smirk that let her know he was about to say something wicked. "Take some cooking classes if you ever want to hold on to a man, Sunshine, or pray that you're really, really good in bed."



By the end of the week Dawn's life had recovered close to normal. Jeff was his regular self, paying her little heed at home, even less on campus. No more touches, no more schoolboy smiles, he reserved his full romantic attentions for Liza Jennings and her cadre of cheerleaders.

Normalcy changed Friday evening when Dawn received an unexpected visit from Jenny. Her plump best friend was dressed in pinstriped charcoal slacks and a cloudy purple top; her gingery hair looked fresh and clean and she wore more makeup than was her habit. 

"Hey, Jen." Dawn smiled cordially. "I have Tara on the phone. Want to say hi?" She handed her the small cordless handset. Without a word Jenny switched off the phone and beamed. Jenny's teeth were small and round; when she was especially happy they looked like little pearls.

"This is the most amazing day of my life! It's like winning ten different lotteries at once." Dawn's curiosity peaked. "He asked me out, Dawn. He actually asked me out!" Though Jenny giggled and bounced like a little girl, her heavy breasts undulated in a decidedly adult fashion.

Jeff sauntered down the stairs, wearing a pair of loose fitting jeans. His feet were bare, as was his chest. If Dawn's heart fluttered then Jenny's must have stopped. "You're early," he said with a frown. A sexy wink revealed his disappointment was mock. "Eager is good." His long legs carried him back up the stairs.

Her brother was dating her best friend. "Isn't it amazing?" Jenny giggled again. Dawn had to admit that it was; it was also extremely confusing.

***

Jeff tried to suppress a chuckle as he tossed on an old t-shirt. If only he'd had a camera. The face Dawn made, a pathetic pouting frown, was priceless. He hoped it meant she was hurt. He wanted to hurt his kid sister the way she had hurt him.

Several days had passed since their night together (and the morning after when he had stupidly opened his heart). She had shown no regards for his feelings, so he would show no regard for hers. He would use Jenny any way he needed to for as long as necessary. Necessary for what?

He slipped his lanky arms into a faded denim shirt before checking his appearance in the mirror. His stubble coated jaw screamed for a shave. Shaggy dark hair fell halfway to his shoulders, grown for no other reason than to irritate his father. The left leg of his jeans was frayed with a hole large enough to fit a football through. Scratching at a scab on his exposed knee, Jeff gave his twin a shrug. Normally, he dressed up for dates, nice clothes, expensive cologne. Such extravagance was not necessary for Jenny. He could dress in a burlap sack with grape jelly smeared all over his face and Jenny would still be thrilled by his presence.

Giggles drifted up the stairs, the sounds of two little girls gossiping on the couch. Jenny was older than Dawn but only by three or four months. Nineteen, still a kid. Is that too young? That they had already had sex made his apprehension seem a bit ridiculous.

She was downstairs waiting for him, her plump legs crossed. She wasn't beautiful, not in the classic sense, but she was cute in her way. She had freckles (though not as many as Dawn) and dimples (though not as defined as Dawn's). Gingery-brown hair framed a plump, grinning face. Her eyes were small, her nose too; even her ears seemed undersized on her chubby face. She and Dawn were the same age but Jenny looked older, more weary of the world. She lacked Dawn's wide-eyed innocence.

Jeff wanted to smack his forehead but restrained. He couldn't compare every woman to Dawn. Who could possibly compete?

Whatever traits Jenny lacked were more than compensated by the size of her chest. She was enormous, an early bloomer who never stopped growing. Speculating on a cup size was impossible, but she was definitely buying her bras from the full-figured catalogs.

Dawn sat beside Jenny, offering a supportive squeeze to the plump girl's knee. He had hoped to see more conflict from his kid sister, to see her pretty green eyes burn wild with jealousy. Unfortunately for Jeff, there wasn't a wild, jealous bone in Dawn's body. She sweetly bade Jenny good night and good luck.

***

Dawn soaked in the bathtub, cleaning her long red hair with strawberry scented shampoo. After scrubbing herself with a soapy turquoise washrag, she ran the slippery bar of soap directly over her naked body. Paying close attention to the matted hairs of her pussy, she washed and rewashed the last desperately clinging vestiges of her brother's crusty dried cum.

Jeff's smell, whether real or imagined, seemed to linger on her freckled skin. Where daily showers had failed, she hoped a long soak in the bathtub would succeed. 

Climbing out of the tub, Dawn wondered if she would ever feel clean again. She wrapped her crimson hair in a white bath towel and covered her body with a chunky terry robe. She passed Daddy in the hallway. When he smiled and called her 'His Little Sunshine' she felt like turning back for another bath.

Daddy cherished her more than anything else and she had betrayed him by doing the worst thing in the world with the worst person in the world. No, she reminded herself, Jeff isn't bad. He just needs someone to love him.

She dressed in a ratty old t-shirt, one with disintegrating stitching and two very noticeable holes under the arms. Company was the last thing she expected so her appearance wasn't crucial. As she slipped into cotton panties and a soft pair of knit pajama bottoms, she wondered what her brother and Jenny were up to. Probably doing something disgusting. Dawn picked up the phone and thought to dial Tara but remembered her friend had to study for a retest.

Feeling utterly bored, she mined her nightstand for the romance novel borrowed from Tara. The cover featured a half-naked cowboy with impressive pecs embracing an Indian maiden with impressive pecs of her own. The novel was trash, absolute smut, as was to be expected from any novel in Tara's personal collection.

Grabbing the book and a creased bookmark Dawn headed for the back porch. She turned on the porch light, lit the stump of a citronella candle and settled into the weathered cushions of the loveseat glider. Whether warm sunny days or sparkling starlit nights, there was no better place to read. Autumn frosts had yet to harm Mom's garden so the sweet smell of tea roses still lingered in the evening breeze. 

The garden, like every other part of the Kramer home, had fallen into disrepair in recent years. The bushes were wildly overgrown; and the chrysanthemums, whose varying shades of amber and scarlet were once an autumn highlight, were so choked with weeds they ceased to bloom.

For the umpteenth time Dawn considered what it would take to restore luster to Mom's beloved rose garden; Mom's tools were locked safely away in the shed; she could borrow a book on gardening from the library, purchase a bag of compost, some mulch. Dawn shook her head in disgust. What's the use. I would just make a mess of things. I always make a mess of things.

Filing the garden away as a lost cause, she flipped open the romance novel and started to read. A few pages in she had to admit that the novel was pretty hot, even if the story about brawny, clean-shaven cowpokes was ridiculously contrived. The sex scenes seemed more vibrant than they ever had before; Dawn suspected that her recent experiences were filling the gaps in her imagination. 

More than once the story's tall, handsome cowboy grew taller and more handsome. And more than once the Indian maiden sprouted freckles and red hair. Her fingers crept towards the junction between her legs, slipping through the waistband of her pajama bottoms. That's enough stimulation for one night. She set the book on her lap. 




Light of Dawn Ch. 06



The soreness of her taken virginity had receded enough for intimate contact but mental hurdles remained. Sexual pleasure, even self derived, seemed unconscionably filthy to her; a unique phenomenon considering she'd never had any objections to the occasional masturbation session before.

On the other side of the brick paved patio the hot tub sat eerily silent. Jeff had looked so happy when she joined him, so eager. For one brief moment he was the brother she remembered, the little boy who seemed to have died with Mom. 

Her memories lingered on what they had done in the hot tub, later on her bed. The bliss of waking next to a warm, male body, wrapped in his sinewy arms, was a sensation like no other. Why had such filthy, wrong things felt so right, she wondered. Her hand crept towards the waistband once more.

There was a low, slow wolf's whistle. "Catching up on your reading?" The masculine voice startled her back to reality.

***

Jeff drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. The entire evening had built to this moment. First they dined at an Italian restaurant, supposedly casual, though the prices certainly weren't. Second they saw a movie; Jeff had ceded the choice to Jenny so he was tortured to a glacially paced period piece about the life of Queen Victoria. Jenny had been warm to him all night but after the movie she really heated up. In the theatre concourse, on display for everyone to see, she practically fed him her tongue. By the time they found the privacy of the Thunderbird only a lack of protection delayed the inevitable.

The streetlights were uncomfortably bright in the drugstore parking lot. The automatic door slid open as Jenny emerged from the store, her pink face flushed a bright red. He pulled the car to the curb, figuring she would need her energy for later.

"They price checked these stupid things." She tossed the box of Trojans on Jeff's lap.

He rolled his eyes. "I told you we don't need them. My timing is impeccable."

"Girls get pregnant doing the pullout thing. I don't care how good your timing is; you're not getting inside without protection."

Great, a pussy with a dress code. Jeff dimmed the headlights as he pulled into Corrigan Park. The parking area adjacent the softball field was renowned county-wide as the perfect place to cap a date. Few halogen lamps were functional, bathing the park with inconsistent light. Perhaps the city was derelict in it's duty to replace malfunctioning lamps or perhaps some horny teenagers had once tampered with the fuse box to create the perfect makeout spot; whatever the case, the overabundant shadows were sufficient to conceal any car, even the yellowest of Thunderbirds.

Since it was a Thursday night, Jeff didn't have to worry about half-dressed kiddies fumbling around in foggy vans. That was just fine; the only horny teenager that interested him was the plump nineteen year old breathing heavily in the passenger seat. Balancing the box of latex condoms on the dash, he invited Jenny to the back. Once relocated, he escaped the denim shirt and slipped the faded tee over his head. Jenny emitted a sharp gasp as his naked torso came into view. He unzipped his jeans, pausing a moment to peek at his date's progress.

Jenny shimmied out of her tight shirt, revealing two massive breasts wedged into the cups of a jet black bra. Long, silken hair hung over those magnificent tits in curly waves. With hips every bit as substantial as her bust and a bit of bulge around her waist, Jenny was chubbier than he preferred but her size hadn't proved a hindrance the first time he ravaged her body.

He unbuttoned her slacks, rolling the pinstriped material over her plump butt and thick thighs. She unfastened the bra, an invitation to suckle at her huge pink nipples. The areola were the size of silver dollars, tasting both salty and sweet. Content at her breast, Jeff nursed like an infant; had Jenny not seized the initiative he might have remained there for hours.

Grabbing the waist of his black boxer briefs, she violently tugged them down. "Oh God," she moaned as his rigid penis sprang free. Taking Jeff's penis in her hand, she tenderly caressed it from the base of the shaft to the sensitive head. He throbbed and swelled from the treatment. A drop of precum squeezed from the slit, a sample of the torrent to come.

Sliding out of her panties, Jenny revealed her most private area. She had shaved since the last time, leaving a strip of dark brown hair over the naked lips. Jeff felt a twinge of disappointment. Odd, considering he had never held a preference for natural bushes before seeing Dawn's.

Jeff cupped his hands over Jenny's breasts as they kissed. Slowly, the two descended to a horizontal position on the rear bench seat. She stopped the kiss. "Don't forget," she breathed, "protection."

Jeff's long arm reached for the box of Trojans on the dash. He unwrapped a foil packet and rolled the condom over his erect dick. She gritted her teeth and closed her eyes while he rubbed his latex sheathed cock across the naked lips of her pussy. She was wet, combine that with the lubricated condom and entry was easy.

Plunging deep, Jeff buried the entire seven inches of his penis with very little resistance. She exhaled as their groins pressed together. What little pubic hair she retained mingled with his. The looseness of her vaginal walls was significant; evidently, she had stayed busy since their first time. 

Being a bit overweight, Jenny had fallen into the same trap as so many girls. Low self-esteem fueled by a perceived flaw made her feel like she had to put out or risk being alone. Jeff had taken advantage of many such girls, Dana with the braces, Acne scar Anna, and Tina from the broken home, to name a few.

Dumb kid, she doesn't know that love is more than sex, more than someone pretty to cling to in public and say, 'look at me, I'm not pathetic and lonely'. Love is a private, personal thing; it's lying in bed next to a girl who kicks and snores and keeps you awake half the night, yet still you think she is the most wonderful person in the world.

Thinking about hopeless love only added a fresh layer of ice to Jeff's heart. Soft, hard, romantic, kinky; girls like Jenny don't care. They'll take dick any way they have to, as long as they can brag about you to their friends. He sped the motion of his hips.

"It kind of hurts," she grunted.

"Don't worry, you're protected." He slammed her hard, crashing their groins together. Her thighs rippled around his thin waist. She opened her eyes wide and moaned. Whether it hurt or not, she loved it.

Looking at her round, freckled cheeks, he locked in on the sparkling, almost jade, irises of her eyes. They were nearly perfect, glittering with lust and if he concentrated hard enough, a perverse kind of love. He slowed his thrusts, feeling a sudden need to make her more comfortable. He couldn't stand to hurt her. She was special; he loved her.

Jenny moaned his name, her husky voice nearly ruining the illusion. The thin layer of latex slid along with his cock as it plunged into her warm tunnel. "Oh God," he said. She moaned his name repeatedly as an orgasm neared. She had a throaty, sultry voice, sexy but entirely wrong. Desperate to silence the moans, he clamped his hand over her mouth. Burying his face against the pillows of her breasts, he filled his mouth with soft flesh. Jets of sperm fired from his penis, filling the condom with sticky liquid. As the final shot neared, he lifted his head and shouted, "Dawn! Oh God, Dawn!"

His hips stilled. Feeling a sharp pain on his palm, he quickly removed it from Jenny's mouth.

Cradling his left hand, Jeff saw the teeth marks freshly impressed on his palm. "You bit my God damned throwing hand!" He clenched his sore hand into a fist and held it to his chest.

"You almost suffocated me, pervert." Jenny's large chest heaved as her lungs gorged.

Jeff slammed his bleeding hand against the front seat headrest, smearing droplets of blood across the immaculate black leather. "You were making too much damned noise. I had to shut you up."

"I made too much noise?!" She wore a mask of severe indignation. "You're the sick fuck who screamed his sister's name." Jeff blinked and swallowed. Before he could offer a lame denial she continued, "you did, Jeff. You screamed 'Dawn'. I heard you. Why? Are the two of you---"

He was quick to deny. "Don't be ridiculous. She's my disgusting kid sister. I would never touch her, not if my life depended on it." Each lie made his heart ache.

She would hear no explanations. "Take me home." She slid back into her black lace undergarments and reached for her slacks.

"It's only because the two of you are so much alike. You look alike and act alike." You certainly don't fuck alike. He tried to explain away but she repeated her request to be taken home. He did, without another word. 

Dates weren't supposed to end in disaster for Jeff Kramer. He was the cool, calm quarterback, always in control. His life had changed so much in such a short amount of time. And all because of Dawn.

***

What was he doing in her own backyard? She tried to climb off of the glider but he grabbed her and unceremoniously shoved her back into the padded seat. Jase Riley sat beside her, wrapping his long right arm around her slender neck.

He rocked the squeaky glider a few times and sighed. "Just you and me kid, under the stars. Stop struggling; you're only making it worse." He applied a pseudo-headlock. "Sweet little, Dawn," he cooed, "you're so pretty. You know that? The prettiest girl at Choteau." His smile gaped where a bottom tooth should have been and his breath reeked of alcohol and something else. Was it vomit? She didn't want to find out.

"Get away from me." She grunted and drove her elbow into his ribs. With an oof he doubled over and clutched his side. 

Breaking free from the chokehold, she attempted to run. Jase grabbed her leg before she could escape and yanked her off-balance. The brick-paved patio rushed up to slam her small body. She braced herself as best she could, earning scrapes to her hands and chin. The knees of her delicate knit pajama bottoms were torn in the fall; blood from her knees seeped into the fabric. Dawn attempted to yell for Daddy but she had been knocked breathless.

He rolled Dawn on her back and climbed astride, showing those ugly teeth.

"Daddy!" Her scream came out a whisper.

"Daddy?" His laugh was every bit as ugly as his smile, as his soul. "Daddy won't be home for a very long time." There was something troubling about his confidence. "The police were called out to Curtis High." The police? She grew even more frightened. "Seems two of your Daddy's star student athletes were caught with some very naughty pills in their lockers." 

Jase laughed again. "What kind of a world do we live in where high school kids can get their hands on Flunitrazepam? I mean, you can't even get it in this country unless you have access to some kind of clinical laboratory." There was no question that Jase had been responsible for providing the drugs, as well as tipping the police.

He kissed her neck and her bleeding chin. His saliva made slimy puddles on her skin. He bit at the tender flesh of her breasts through the t-shirt, gnashing a nipple between his teeth. "I've wanted this for so long, Dawn, ever since I first laid eyes on you." He grabbed the neck of the old t-shirt and pulled roughly, tearing open the weathered fabric. "Look at you. Look at those tits." His erection ground obscenely against her thigh.

He tugged down the waistband of her pajama bottoms and stared lecherously at her naked crotch. "Look at those flames." The way he licked his lips made her sick. "No wonder they call you Sunshine."

She tried to scream, scream so loud the neighbors would hear, but he clamped his hand over her mouth. "No one's going to help you, Dawn, not Daddy and not your dyke girlfriend. It's just you and me."

Dawn clawed at the ground, desperate to worm free. One of the bricks that paved the patio wiggled beneath her hand. She touched it; it wiggled again. For the first time she was actually thankful for Daddy's lapsed yard maintenance. Prying the pavestone with her fingernails, she swung it savagely, aiming for Jase's ugly face.

He caught her arm and tore the brick from her grip. "I thought you were supposed to be clever. Professor James certainly thinks so. Or maybe he's just being nice to you so you'll wear those short little shorts you had on the first day. Sweet, innocent Dawn had no idea her horny old professor studied those little, white legs all through class. 

"You should have seen him stare at your ass as you left. I thought the old bastard's eyes would roll right out of his head and follow you home. I'll bet he's not the only professor you've given a hard time. Hmmm. Maybe you really are smart. You give them boners; they give you A's."

She gathered saliva on her tongue and spit in his face. He pressed the brick against her cheek. It was warm and rough. "I should smash your face right now. Would you like that? You wouldn't look so pretty if I smashed your perfect little skull."

For a moment she wished he would do it. Bleeding to death would have been better than lying beneath him, feeling his erection, tasting his breath. He slid the brick along her face and over her chest, ending up at the junction between her legs. Her thin pajama bottoms afforded no protection as he forced the brick against her crotch. Tears streamed down her cheeks as he probed her nether lips with the rough corner. "Do you know what would happen if I shoved this brick up your tight little cunt? It would fuck you up, Dawn, shred your insides. Forget about having any cute redheaded babies."

She struggled to breathe. His giant palm covered more than her mouth. It obscured her nostrils; she was smothering. He must have realized it, because he slowly raised his palm from her face. The brick was still against her groin, pressed to the tender flesh. "I'll let you breathe; but you have to promise to be a good girl. Are you a good girl?" Dawn nodded, drawing air through her mouth. "Good. I'm tired of fucking sluts like your friend Liza."

"Liza would never---" Jase covered her mouth and forced her head back. The back of Dawn's skull struck the patio. Her head throbbed; her vision dimmed. She prayed so that she might lose consciousness, sparing her from suffering through the inevitable.

"That's right, I fucked Liza, your dyke, cheerleader girlfriend. As a matter of fact, she gave me a little souvenir." He forced a pair of dirty panties against Dawn's nose. The fabric was inundated with an unmistakable feminine aroma. It served as a sort of smelling salt, restoring her proper senses.

"I rode her for an hour. She told me everything about you. Where you live, where your Daddy works, even what turns you on." He leaned close to her ear, so close she almost choked on the stench of his breath. "I never would have guessed you were so kinky."

Oh God, does he know about Jeff? "You're lying! Liza would never tell you anything. She would never touch you!"

"Because she's such a wonderful person, blah, blah, blah. Don't be so naïve, Dawn. Who do you think turned me on to you? Who do you think promised me a good fuck if I scared the shit out of you?" 

There was no way he was telling the truth. 

"Come on, Sunshine. Your dyke buddy is always around to save you from big, bad Jase. Coincidence?" He glanced left, then right. "Except, I don't see her now. I don't see anyone other than you and me." Tears streamed down her freckled cheeks. Dawn refused to feel betrayed because she knew he was lying. "Liza had her fun with you; now it's my turn." He tossed the brick aside. It crashed into the garden, tearing leaf, stem and blossom from Mom's tea roses.

"No, never! I won't let you fucking touch me!" 

"Think not?" Grabbing Dawn's hips, Jase forcefully rolled her onto her stomach. She gasped when his pelvis pressed against her butt. "You would be surprised how far a girl would go to avoid a dick up her asshole."

Her pajama bottoms lowered. More tears fell as the cruel night air touched her bare skin. "What about you, beautiful? How far would you go?" His fingers pried her cheeks apart.

"Please don't. Oh God!" When he touched his thumb to her puckered hole she felt the bile well in her throat.

"We don't have to do this, you know." She heard his cargo pants unzip, felt his hard penis touch her skin. "There are other ways we can be together."

"I'm a virgin," she heard herself say, as if the lie would make any difference to him.

"Why does that not surprise me?" He rolled her on her back. "I'm not really in the mood for cherry, tonight. Wouldn't want to get bloodstains on Daddy's beautiful patio." He had her sit up. His drooling dickhead touched her mouth. 

Taking it between her lips, she gagged on the disgusting precum that covered the head. Quickly recovering, she took the first two disgusting inches in her mouth. 

"That's my good girl." He grunted as she inexpertly sucked. When finished, he made her swallow every disgusting drop. "Not bad," he said, stuffing his messy dick back in his pants, "for a first time."

She spat the foul taste from her mouth, vowing there would never be a second time. "I don't want you to ever come near me!"

His mismatched eyes darkened. They were hard as stone. "I'll come near you whenever I want. As of tonight you are my property. You stupid cunts are all alike; you think that ugly thing between your legs gives you all the power." He grabbed her around the waist and jerked her off the patio. Her feet met the ground for just an instant before she was hoisted over his shoulder. She struggled to break free from his grip. "This is power, Dawn. I could do anything I want to you. I could carry you inside and fuck your asshole raw, or I could drop you on your pretty little head and spill your brains all over the patio."

At least if she was dead she would never have to see his ugly face again. 

Gently, she was lowered to the ground. "Sunshine," he hissed. "You aren't thinking about telling on me, are you? 'Cause it would be a real shame if something bad happened to someone you love. Suppose they find out those roofies came from Daddy's office?" 


She tried to control her emotion. Willing the anger away, she answered. "No one would ever believe it. Daddy---"

"Oh Daddy, Daddy, Daddy. He's so perfect just like his little daughter. What about your friends, Dawn? The tiny one and the cow. Do they know what college boys do to little girls?" She wouldn't be intimidated; she refused to be intimidated. "You're a tough little nutshell; I'll give you that. But there has to be someone you want to protect." The smile that split his face was the most loathsome she'd ever seen.

"I can hurt him, Dawn. I have customers on his team, friends." He was lying; he had to be lying. "What if a three hundred pound lineman accidentally fell into his spindly little legs? Imagine the damage it would do. 

"Another promising young athlete's career snuffed out. No screaming fans, no pro money, just another dumb jock who got hurt. All because Little Sister couldn't keep her mouth shut."

After a moment she found her voice. "I won't tell."

He patted her red head. "Didn't think you would."

To be continued...

Don't forget to vote. Your feedback is what keeps me going. Good or bad, I want to hear it.



Light of Dawn Ch. 07



Home at last, Dawn limped to the kitchen and devoured a large chunk of angel food cake. The clock on the microwave glowed Three A.M., four hours past curfew. Her father was in the living room, snoring on the sofa as a scratchy, black-and-white western played on TV. Daddy was concerned about her. He never said as much, because he trusted Dawn's judgment in every matter, yet she saw how the worry lines multiplied on his forehead each day.

Dawn fondly remembered the person she had been only a few weeks prior, the sheltered, suburbanite girl who never skipped class and never stayed out past Daddy's curfew.

After turning off the television, Dawn gingerly bent to kiss her Daddy's forehead. 

Red welts studded her butt and upper thighs, a painful testament to Jase Riley's cruelty. Insulting him had been stupid, no matter how right it felt at the time. Jase's stoner friends all hooted like baboons when she called him a pig for squeezing her breasts. He was a pig, otherwise he wouldn't have sent his disgusting hand under her shirt in front of so many people. After pinning her against the sofa, Jase raised her skirt and lowered her panties, beating Dawn's pale skin purple with the wire handle of a flyswatter. Each blow was more savage than the last; it was a miracle she hadn't bled. Dawn learned her lesson. She wouldn't insult him--not until she healed a little bit.

Climbing the steps to her room was near impossible, each little movement wrought agonizing pain. Gathering a few clothes from her dresser drawers Dawn headed for the bathroom, desperate to feel clean again.

Warm needles rained from the showerhead. Her own soapy fingers were excruciating, each touch a hornet's sting to the ravaged flesh. Although being with Jase Riley was Hell, she had no choice but to endure every disgusting moment. She loved Jeff. As imperfect as he was, he was the only brother she would ever have and her failure to cooperate with Jase Riley would endanger the professional football career Jeff so coveted.

Dawn shut off the water and wrung her turquoise washrag. She felt as clean as possible, considering the circumstances. Using a hand towel, she wiped the steam from the mirror above the sink. The reflection that stared back was a stranger's.

Never had Dawn been more disturbed by her own appearance. Each flaw (and in her eyes there were many) made her stomach lurch. What little luster had once ornamented her pale skin faded to a sickly white. The freckles which ranged over most of her body seemed a disease. Her womanly curves, which had once seemed normal and healthy, made her feel bloated like a whale. She was ugly, anyone with eyes could tell, yet Jase promised to take her to the Midtown strip club on Saturday night.

The club was holding an amateur night competition, five hundred dollars in prizes to the winner. The thought of exposing her fat, ugly body to so many people chilled the blood in her veins. Protests that she had no chance of competing were moot. Jase had already bribed the club's owner an amount significantly higher than five hundred dollars, assuring her easy victory.

Dressed in an extra-long tee, she padded down the hallway with the intent of grabbing another nibble from the kitchen. No matter how often she ate, her stomach wouldn't stop complaining. 

She peeked into Jeff's room. The desk lamp cast a lonely beam of light, painting the walls with unmoving shadows. Asleep on the bed, Jeff's long legs were spread and his hands folded across his stomach. A week prior, right on campus in front of God and everyone, he had walked up to her and asked if she was in any sort of trouble. It was the first time he had ever treated her like a human being in front of other human beings. Usually, she was just the kid sister, an annoying inconvenience to be taxied to school and forgotten. I lied,Jeff. The closer she moved to the bed the more prevalent his soft, steady breath became. I am in so much trouble and I don't know what to do.

His right arm moved, tumbling over the side of the bed. The left arm remained tucked close to his body, as if desperate to avoid the lonely half of the queen-sized bed. A slight smile and contented sigh were evidence that his dreams were sweet. Dawn longed for sweet dreams. Or no dreams at all. Anything would be better than the nightmare her life had become. 

Unsure of what she was doing, Dawn slipped beneath the covers. Warmth enveloped her as she moved closer to his body. Inhaling a heady, masculine scent, her pulse beat just a bit faster. No longer feeling adrift, she scooted close to his body. As the hem of the long t-shirt rode up, usually supple Egyptian cotton bed sheets felt like sandpaper to her welted thighs. Jeff's skinny arm moved, grazing the floor before sleepily draping her hip. His touch wrought pure agony, yet Dawn felt safer and more secure than she had in a very long time; she had found an island of sanity in a decidedly insane world. 

Hovering her fingers over his mouth, Dawn bathed in the warmth of his breath. She wanted to touch him, to feel the contours of his handsome face, to place her hand on his chest and feel the beat of his heart. She didn't dare. Suffering a severe blow to the sternum, he had been carted off the football field the previous Saturday. Capillaries had been obliterated by a linebacker's helmet, painting Jeff's thin chest a disturbing hue of bluish-purple.

Wearing an ice pack for much of the week, Jeff gritted his teeth and fought through the long, agonizing days. To his credit, he never once complained about the pain. He was a beanpole, prima donna and oftentimes impossible to live with, but his toughness could never be questioned. And all the years Jeff seemed so cold and distant, that was just his way of coping with pain, with sadness, with loneliness and with the immense pressures that came from being who he was.

The enigma of Jeff Kramer finally seemed solved. He has to be cold as steel; it's the only way he can be strong as steel. For so long it had seemed like her big brother was lost but the little boy, who watched stoically as the dual poisons of chemotherapy and radiation withered his mother, had never left; he was the son who humiliated the father he secretly worshipped; he was the star quarterback, the big man on campus trapped in an endless cycle of loneliness; and he was the man she had freely given her virginity.

Reflexively, she reached to brush the shaggy bangs from his forehead, contacting warm skin only. He'd recently gotten that long overdue haircut. The barber had cropped Jeff's dark hair extremely short, leaving just enough to comb. The coppery red highlights were that much more striking amongst the expanse of dark brown.

Jeff stirred at her touch but didn't immediately wake. Mumbling something that might have been her name, his long body shifted on the mattress. She reached to turn out the light, before resuming the gentle strokes across his forehead. His eyes lazily batted open. Groping blindly for the stranger who had invaded his sleep, his fingers grazed the tips of her breasts. 

He jerked his hand away like it had been burned. "Dawn?" he whispered, "What are you doing in here? You have to get out." One of his massive legs pressed against her hip, firmly nudging her towards the edge of the bed. "Get out."

She touched him beneath the covers, squeezing his penis through the knit boxer briefs. Worming through the fly, her fingers found the firming column of flesh. He swelled in her grip, his protests fading to submissive grunts. What she was doing was wrong, but for a few moments at least, she wanted to forget about Jase Riley. She wanted to be touched by a man and not feel repulsed. "I need you." She didn't bother whispering. Daddy was impossible to wake so late at night.

Leaning forward, she kissed him on the lips; for the briefest of moments his tongue met hers. Her pussy secreted warm moisture, desperate to feel the caress of a man as beautiful as Jeff. 

Strong arms exerted pressure on her shoulder, pushing her away. He said the cruelest thing as she slipped over the edge of the bed. "I don't need you." Her back arched in shock as she smacked against the hard floor. Her legs screamed with pain; she was sure she felt the first trickle of blood from an exploded welt dribble down her leg. 

The lamp clicked on; Jeff squinted as his eyes adjusted to the light. A splash of purple dominated his thin chest. Even more bruises and some very nasty looking scrapes covered his arms. He looked so frail, not at all like the smirking star quarterback in all the newspaper clippings.

"Where were you?" When she didn't answer he rubbed his temples and moaned. "For God's sake, Dawn, it's after 3 AM. Were you at Alpha House again?"

Oh God, he knows! The men at Alpha House were among Jase Riley's best customers. At a recent beer bash, Jase had forced her to give handjobs to the entire fraternity.

"Tell me it's not true, Dawn. Tell me!" She felt so small, huddled on the floor while his enormously lanky body cast it's shadow over her. When she didn't respond he gave a disgusted grunt. "What happened to you, Sunshine? What happened to my sweet kid sister?" He looked at her, but only for a moment. 

"Jeff, it's not like---"

Gripping her wrists, he yanked her from the floor, flung her body to the bed, and pinned it with his own; she was no more than a doll in his arms. Jeff's eyes were wild with jealous anger, his face almost ugly. For a moment he looked more like twisted Jase Riley than her handsome big brother. "Where were you, Dawn? Tell me where the fuck you were." His voice was an even mix of anger and disappointment, fire and ice.

She stared up helplessly. If only he understood the lengths she went to protect him. If not for her he could be lying in some hospital bed, his college career over, his professional aspirations dead. She knew all too well that Jase Riley's threats were not idle; he could hurt Jeff, would hurt Jeff.

Jeff kissed her, savagely devouring her lips. Beneath a v-neck undershirt he wore only a pair of powder blue boxer briefs, no buffer at all when his hard penis lurched against her body. Whether he thought her some kind of slut or not, it was clear he still wanted her.

"They can have you but I can't?" It was both agony and ecstasy when he spread her thighs apart. The heat between her legs intensified in anticipation of their inevitable union. Jeff's thumb rubbed the length of her slit, parting her lips, distributing the moisture to her fleshy, pink petals. Over and over he rubbed, seemingly stalling. Didn't he know how badly she needed him, how badly she wanted to erase the memory of Jase Riley and every other disgusting man she'd been forced to touch?

Warm wet drops splashed against her cheek. His tears mingled with her own, streaking the side of her face. She had never seen him cry before, not even when he was little. His penis fell limp as he relinquished her wrists. After rolling off her body, he unleashed a primal scream into the pillow and smacked the iron bedpost with the side of his fist; he smacked it again and again, so hard she feared he might break the bed, a bone or both.

Dawn gingerly sat up, watching in subdued amazement. After fighting so long and so hard to dam his emotions they were pouring out in a savage torrent. She was frightened; Jeff was, after all, so much larger than her. She felt a sudden desire to be far away from him.

His hand found her lap, stopping the attempt to flee. "Don't leave me." He rested his head against her bare thighs, rubbing the velvet skin with his rough cheek. He kissed her thigh sweetly. "I know you can't love me but please...don't hate me. Other guys, they'll hurt you. I---," he yawned, "I won't hurt you. I love you."

To fear him was silly. At his core Jeff was just a little boy so terribly lost without his mother. As he tugged the hem of her nightshirt, she raised her sore butt so he could undress her. His head moved from her lap to her stomach. Gently, he kissed the shallow divot of her navel, leaving behind a puddle of cooling saliva. From her stomach he moved to her chest, alternately suckling the fat, pink nipples with wet, satisfied pops. She closed her eyes and cradled him against the soft swell of her right breast.

In concert with the stimulation of her breasts, he invaded the elastic waistband of her cotton panties. He relinquished her swollen nipple with a pop. "I don't want to be this person," he said, "I don't want it to hurt." He combed the damp red hairs of her pussy.

"It's okay to hurt," she said, "and it's okay to feel, to love."

"Is it okay to love you?" he asked; the hope was transparent. They both knew there was only one way in which he was permitted to love her. They could be brother and sister, never anything more. 

When he kissed her again she moaned into his mouth. Dawn ignored the burning pain on the backs of her thighs as his weight pressed her against the bed. She opened her legs as his penis contacted her most private area. 

She sighed as Jeff entered, pleased that Jase Riley would never have her like this. Jase could use her hand and her mouth, someday he might even rape her pussy but he would never feel her caress, would never hear her whispered encouragement. She hoped some day that some man might be worth her attention, but for now there was only Jeff. She loved him so much, more than she had a right to.

His penis, skinny like the rest of him, moved excruciatingly slow. Having only been invaded twice before, both times by Jeff, her vaginal walls were tight and unyielding; she was glad he ceded to her comfort.

After what seemed like forever, his groin finally made contact with her own. As his dark brown pubic hair mingled with her bright orange, he gazed at her with love such as she had never seen before. I would suffer anything for you, she wanted to tell him. Instead she gasped, and dug her fingernails into the meatless cheeks of his butt.

Her head tipped back, arching her neck as he began gentle rocking motions. The entire bed shifted along with their bodies, the iron posts smacking the wall. With each thrust her body screamed out in agony. Because of the welts she couldn't meet his hips, couldn't wrap his waist with her legs, he was left to do all the work. Jeff's motions became less graceful. His hips jerked and his handsome face contorted with pleasure.

"I'm going to cum," he said through gritted teeth.

"I want it." The words had come from Dawn's very own mouth, yet she could hardly fathom them.

From the look on Jeff's face he had found the request no easier to process. "But you might..." Halfway through the protest he shot, sending the first sticky jet of semen deep within her body. With the second ejaculation came second thoughts. By the third shot Jeff had extracted himself, finishing on the skin of her belly. The damage conceivably done, he collapsed on the mattress beside her.

Dawn hadn't experienced an orgasm. She didn't need to; the simple act of lying beside her big brother, the warmth of his fluids on and in her body, ascended her soul to a plateau higher than any mere orgasm ever could.

Utterly spent, she listened as Jeff's breathing steadied then slowed. Drifting away, he reclaimed the sweet dreams that had eluded her for so long.

***

Using the sleeve of his denim shirt, Jeff wiped slick sweat from his brow. Despite a million better options, he had spent the entire day in the backyard, taking care of the chores his father long neglected. It wasn't easy work and the deep bruise on his chest made certain movements particularly uncomfortable. 

After clipping the grass, cleaning the hot tub and weeding the rose garden, Jeff figured he'd earned a break. Sinking into the glider, he stretched his long legs across the patio. He rested his heel in the outline of a missing brick and surveyed his work. Despite the day's efforts, the backyard was holding up about as well as the rest of the family. The vegetable garden, onetime producer of the carrots, cabbages and cauliflowers that were the bane of a thousand family dinners, was gone, torn out in favor of the hot tub. The leafy privet hedge, once spanning the entire perimeter of the Kramer property, was reduced to a single scrubby bush. Even more tragic was the fate of the once lush, green back lawn; it had been conquered by the monstrous pave-stone patio, installed specifically to give Old Vinnie Kramer, "less lawn to mow."

As he often did, Jeff thought of Mom. She loved working in the yard, planning entire weekends around turning earth and sowing seeds, cutting grass and grooming shrubs. Man's work, she would kid, but who else would do it with Dad constantly on the road?

Jeff brushed a clump of dirt from his jeans and sighed. He wondered what she would think if she was sitting up there on one of those clouds watching his sorry existence like some kind of melodramatic picture show. Would she still love me no matter what? Could she?

His throwing arm was revered among the alumni, his attitude the envy of classmates, his body, though not chiseled from stone, was coveted by females. Revered, envied, coveted, they weren't the same as loved or even liked.

He used to constantly receive calls from Hayden and the other guys. "Jeff," they would say, "you have got to check out the party at (insert name)'s. (Insert girl's name) is drunk as shit and she's showing everyone her (insert body part)." Lately, Jeff responded to such calls with a sigh and a noncommittal maybe, before turning to his desk to study or read or look over the next week's game plan. The calls were sure to peter out before too much longer. Except when he was in pads, Jeff hardly even spoke to Hayden or the guys anymore.

The ladies still paid him heed, but each time Jeff found himself attracted to a new blond or brunette he invariably compared them to an incomparable little redhead.

Isn't that a joke? The star quarterback, the man destined to make millions in the pros, the man who could have any woman on campus, pines for his kid sister. He refused to admit that he loved her. Being an emotionless jock, he was not equipped to deal with the mind numbing depression that resulted from hopeless love.

He hated feeling helpless; that's why he almost lost control--it had to be. For all his poorer qualities, Jeff was not a violent person. Something snapped when he was with Dawn the night before. He could have hurt her, in his clumsy rage he probably did. The way he pinned her to the bed, grinding the obscene bulge of his erection against her tiny, trembling body, was completely barbaric.

All the money and all the fame that came with a pro contract, would it change who he was or the way he felt? Would the short skirts and long legs prowling the nightclubs ever interest him, or would he be haunted by one pale, perfect body for the rest of his life? He knew the answer; every morning when he woke up segregated to one lonely side of the bed he was reminded.

Things never should have gone so far; that was the ultimate truth. If he had shown any kind of self-control that first night, when Liza Jennings offered Dawn's body as substitute for her own, his life would still be normal--at least as normal as possible. He was wrong to touch her, wrong to seduce and make love to her and now he paid the price. Every time he looked at her he paid the price.

She had seemed especially vibrant and beautiful at breakfast, her skin awash with the luster of a sexually satisfied woman. Her fiery red hair had been pinned behind her ears, showing off her warm, freckled face to glorious effect. Despite a chill in the morning air, she chose to wear short little shorts beneath a denim jacket. She had to be freezing, he thought, as he drove her to school. Being so close to those pale legs without being able to touch them, to warm them, almost drove him mad.




Light of Dawn Ch. 07



Maybe it was a blessing that they were seeing less and less of each other. Almost all of her evenings were spent away from home. Using the pretense of studying, she packed up a few textbooks and drove Dad's van over to Jenny's or Tara's or God-knows-where. 

She stayed out later and later, sometimes past midnight. Dad was programmed to believe his little Sunshine was beyond suspicion; she was his sweet, virginal daughter, incapable of dishonesty. The gullible old fool would have had a brain hemorrhage if he'd heard just one of the rumors that taunted Jeff daily. Rumors about Alpha House, Beth Appleby's basement and the disgusting Jason Riley.

"Need a Band-aid?" His father's intrusion caused Jeff's long legs to stiffen. Vince Kramer set a tall glass of ice water beside the glider.

Jeff looked at his thumb. Blood trickled down the tanned skin where he'd cut himself on a rose thorn. "I'll survive." He put the thumb to his lips and tasted the tang of blood.

Vince surveyed the garden and the freshly mown yard. "How much do I owe you?" He opened his wallet and removed a pair of twenty dollar bills.

"No, Dad, I don't want any of your money."

"Come on Jeff, you saved me a lot of work."

"I wasn't doing you any favors." Jeff didn't attempt to mask the disgust in his voice. "I got tired of watching Mom's yard turn to shit. How the Hell did this end up in the roses?" A brick, somehow dislodged from the patio, had done substantial damage to Mom's delicate tea roses. "If it was that damn Dustin..." Dustin was the ten year old boy next door. Whether rooting in the dirt, begging to swim in the hot tub or nursing a serious crush on Dawn, he was a constant presence in the backyard; he was also the most destructive, obnoxious little boy who had ever walked the earth. I'm gonna tear him apart, Jeff thought, clenching his fist, I'm going to rip each skinny little limb from his skinny little body.

Vince Kramer must have sensed his son's building anger. "Don't start trouble with the neighbors."

Jeff rolled his eyes. His father had to be the stupidest person on earth. He wouldn't hurt the kid, just instill a little fear of the Almighty.

Vince pulled a few mangled stems from the rose bush, deftly avoiding the thorns. "You know, there was a time when you broke more than girl's hearts."

Clever, Dad, very clever. "Would you be talking about my childhood? That's funny, because I remember breaking and laughing and playing and doing all the other stuff a kid does. Dawn remembers, and if Mom were alive, she'd remember too. You see, they were there, Dad. I know they were there. Every weekend, when Little Vince Junior would take off his Pop Warner helmet and scan the bleachers for his family, he saw them. The problem was Vince Junior wasn't looking for them."

His father plopped down on the glider, shaking his head. "Why do you have to make everything so difficult?" 

Difficult? For once Jeff was not being argumentative; he had opened his heart, an annoying habit acquired from Dawn.

"I'm not a good father. I'm scum; I'm trash. Is that what you want to hear?" His father's voice was surprisingly subdued. Usually they were screaming profanities at one another by this point in the conversation. "It's a miracle that one of you turned out alright." Jeff was shocked, not at his father's words so much as the way those words effected him. Jeff Kramer wasn't supposed to have feelings to hurt.

"Junior, I'm sorry. I didn't--"

The apology came too late. "Don't ever call me that. My name is Jeff; my name will always be Jeff; and if you weren't such an arrogant, egotistical prick-bastard my name would have always been Jeff!" His eyes bulged and his pulse raced. 

"I'm sorry I didn't turn out like your precious little daughter. Sweet, innocent Dawn. She's fucking half the school but that's alright. As far as Daddy's concerned, she's perfect in every way." Jeff saw how his words wounded. A smirk lifted the corner of his mouth. "The way you let her get away with it all, sometimes I think she's fucking you, too."

Jeff never saw his father's fist; he felt the effects, though, felt his head snap back, felt his body crumple to the patio and the blood rush from his nose.

Too shocked to even consider retaliating, Jeff gripped his nose and his mouth, holding back the flow of blood.

"Why do you hate me, Jeff?"

Dark family secrets are often called skeletons in the closet. The secret Jeff and his father shared would be better represented as a reeking, decomposing corpse. "You know why. You know what you did to Mom." Even after so many years, it was still a jolt to think that his dad, the man he worshipped, the man he was named for, had been capable of doing something so awful.

At the time Jeff was blissfully unaware of trouble at home. Dad was a good man (when he was around) who loved his family. And Mom, Mom was an angel. Jeff only heard his parents fight the one time, but it was a massive blowup. 

Late one night, Jeff stumbled out of bed for a drink of water. He saw Dad packing a suitcase. Maybe, Jeff's young brain reasoned, Dad was getting called up to the Major Leagues again. Then he saw the way Mom cried, the way she threw shoes and picture frames and anything else she could reach. She screamed words like infidelity and divorce, words that were not in a nine-year-old vocabulary.

Dad was gone the next morning and the one after that. Mom fell into a funk. She didn't eat or sleep the entire time. It was difficult for Jeff to watch the most warm and vibrant person in the world suffer so much, while he, a useless little kid, could offer no comfort.

When Dad finally did come home it seemed like everything fell back to normal in a hurry. Mom and Dad were happy again, giving one another disgusting kisses when they thought they were alone and making funny noises late at night behind the locked door of their bedroom. Jeff had no idea how close his family came to splintering. He didn't care. Mom, Dad, Dawn and him would be together forever; that was all that mattered.

For whatever reason, Vince confessed the details of his infidelity to Jeff only days after Mom's funeral. The saddest time in a ten-year-old boy's life was compounded exponentially as he lost not only his beloved mother but his father, his hero.

For more than a decade, Jeff struggled with the confession. Sometimes it was so hard to hold his tongue. Whether it was when he and Vince butted heads over sports and school or when Dawn droned on about how wonderful a man her Daddy was, Jeff wanted to unburden himself. He never did. Shallow and vindictive as he was, Jeff envied Dawn and the innocent way she hero-worshipped her Daddy. After taking so much from her, he couldn't take that.

Vince sighed. "It was a mistake, Jeff, one I have to live with forever. I tried to make it right."

"Only after she told you she was sick."

"The cancer was terminal; she knew it but I deluded myself into thinking that God would intervene. How could He let someone so good and sweet like your mother die so young. If became when. When she got better and when she came home. I wanted to take a family vacation, a real one, not a bus ride to watch me play in some Triple-A ballpark. I wanted to quit baseball, find work close to home so we could be together every night; I wanted another baby, we both did, but she was too weak..."

"Why did you tell me!?" They were intended to be Jeff's last words on the matter. Jeff wiped at his face. The blood from his nose wasn't so bad and the pain kept tears from forming.

"I fell apart; the whole world fell apart--but not you. You were like a rock. My little boy, more man than I could ever be--it was too heavy a burden to carry all by myself."

Jeff remembered what sitting in the funeral home had been like, watching friends, family and people he'd never seen before file in to view Mom's casket. "Don't cry, don't ever cry," Grandpa Lou had said. His sentiments were reinforced by Uncle William, "Your Daddy needs you to be strong, Dawn does too." Did they not realize he was a little boy who suddenly had no mother? 

He found that the only way to be strong for his Dad, strong for Dawn was to convince himself he didn't care. Cold logic was his comfort. So what if she's dead. We all have to die eventually. Besides, it's not like crying will bring her back. His heart slowed a little; the knots in his juvenile muscles unwound. His insides turned to stone, cold and hard but strong and enduring.

"She forgave me, Son. Me, the most loathsome human being on the planet. I only wish you could forgive me too."

Jeff would never forgive his father, not in a hundred billion years.

"Dawn's an adult now; she deserves to know." His father's words chased away the murmurs of the organ and the sobbing of mourners. Knowledge that her precious Daddy was a cheater would alter Dawn's life forever. "I'm so afraid I'll lose her the way I did you."

Jeff gathered the tools and went inside to tend his bloodied nose, unable to decide if he hated his father more or less.



The hot tub felt especially soothing to his weary body. Churning water massaged the stiffness from his exhausted muscles but did little to soothe his bruised and battered chest. Silence was broken by the electronic chime of the telephone. Wrapping a towel around his lean waist, he answered, dripping his way back inside the house.

"Man, what the fuck's wrong with you?" It was Willie Thompson, Jeff's favorite receiver and just about the only guy who ever called anymore. "Beth is throwin' the craziest bash of the year and your skinny butt is sitting at home?" Jeff faintly distinguished the drunken whoops of Hayden Burt over the din of the party. 

Beth Appleby's chaotic parties were once a staple of Jeff's social life. Music, beer and women, they were his holy trinity. Not so very long ago, the notion that Jeff would be soaking his Friday night away in the hot tub because of excessive yard work would have seemed ludicrous. "Sorry Will, I'm beat." Back muscles burned as he struggled to find a comfortable position on the sofa.

Willie laughed. "I'll bet you're sorry--sorry you missed Liza. She looks incredible and she's been asking about you." 

Closing his eyes, Jeff pictured the sexy, blond cheerleader. For so long Liza had seemed the embodiment of female perfection, the yin to his yang. She was a tease but not a malevolent one; Liza was, in fact, the closest thing to a real friend he had ever known at Choteau.

Jeff was never one to believe in déjà vu but the circumstances gave pause for thought. He first touched Dawn because of Liza, hoping it would prove to the blond the depths of his lust. Maybe, just maybe, Liza held the cure. If he could go to her, if he could see her flawless face and hear her syrupy voice he could be the quarterback again, Choteau's lanky god with the cheerleading goddess at his side. At the very least he might forget about Dawn for one night, forget about hopeless love.

To be continued...

I want to thank everyone who has made it this far, especially those of you who take the time to vote, comment, and e-mail. Your comments and opinions are what keep me going.

And special thanks to Chargergirl for her thoughts on this and future chapters.



Light of Dawn Ch. 08



Thanks to Chargergirl for all her help.

The Victorian painted lady did not seem quite so large as it once had. The music, while loud, was not ear popping, and the guests not nearly as rowdy. Because of Jase, Beth Appleby's orgiastic parties had come to seem almost tame.

Fighting her way to the porch, Dawn tried to ignore the attention her skimpy clothes garnered. She held the buttoned denim jacket close to her body, wishing there was some way she could cover her naked legs. Purple bruises mottled the backs of her thighs, made even more prominent because the bright red shorts fit tighter than before. She was fat and bruised, yet despite her ugliness, men hungrily stared.

"There's my Sunshine." She hated it when Jase Riley called her Sunshine, hated it when he showed his ugly teeth in a sorry-looking smile.

"You're late," she said. 

Jase had promised to go easy on her, just a little dancing and some private time upstairs in one of the locked bedrooms. She wanted the night over with even though she loathed the thought of being with him sexually. He leaned down to kiss her freckled cheek as if he was a regular guy kissing his regular girl hello.

There was another couple on the Appleby's sprawling front porch, making out with little abandon. Parting lips for a moment, they regarded Jase distastefully and looked at Dawn with what might have been pity, might have been disgust.

Assessing her body for a moment, Jase's mismatched eyes lingered on Dawn's pale, bloodless legs. "You look hot." She felt anything but. Per Jase's instructions, she had worn the skimpiest outfit in her closet: ultra-short cherry red shorts, and a t-shirt that hadn't fit properly since junior year of high school. A dark denim jacket, the only defense against autumn's chill, compensated for the summer slanted garments. 

"Lose the jacket, Sunshine. There's no point of having a smoking hot girlfriend if she doesn't show off." She was cold. Didn't he understand? Her hesitation made him angry. "Lose the fucking jacket!" She unbuttoned the jacket and folded it under her arm. Jase seized the scrap of denim and discarded it in the azalea bushes beside the porch. "Great legs, Sunshine, but those tits--I mean, wow." He pinched her cold-stiffened nipples through the thin t-shirt.

Glancing at the couple making out on the porch, he moistened his cracked lips. "How's that cute little butt feeling?" He tried to rub her, but she pushed him away. The welts from the previous night's assault had receded, leaving swaths of tender purple flesh in their wake.

He took her by the forearm and led her away from the porch. They stopped on the side of the house. There the only witnesses were the carefully manicured hedges. "I don't like hurting you," he pinched her sore bottom hard, squeezing the ravaged flesh, "but you're my property now. If I want to touch you, I touch you. If I want to stick my hand so far up your twat you bleed, that's what I do."

She would have spit in his face had they not been alone.

"Are you going to be a good girl tonight?" he asked. "Good. I like it when my Sunshine cooperates. Alpha House likes it too, remember?"

She did. After masturbating a dozen strangers, Jase Riley had violated her mouth with his disgusting dick. "You looked so hot with cum all over your freckly little body. I should have popped you right there." He grabbed the waistband of her cherry red shorts and tugged, peeking at her underclothes. His face soured. "These aren't the panties I bought you."

"These are comfortable." She had chosen plain white cotton, not out of defiance, but because Jase's gift of form-hugging satin bikini panties felt like murder to her bruised and welted backside.

He snapped the waist of the shorts against her belly and ruffled his greasy blond hair in mock exasperation. "Do you think I care if you're comfortable? All I want is for my sexy little girlfriend to show off her sexy little ass without ugly grandma's panties getting in the goddamned way." He sighed, as if supremely disappointed in her. "Take them off. I didn't stutter, little girl. Take those God damned panties off!"

Her eyes widened. After scanning the darkened windows for any observers, she stepped out of the knit shorts, then lowered the cotton panties. Indian summer was officially over. The wind that assaulted Dawn's nakedness was cold and unforgiving. Her teeth clicked together as she tried to shield herself and redress at the same time.

Jase whistled low and slow as her pale skin pinked from the cold. Forcing her hand away, he revealed the fuzzy, orange hair of her pussy. "I told you to shave it."

"I trimmed it."

"Trimming doesn't cut it." He smiled at his pun for the briefest of moments. "I want to see your pussy, not a rusty little brillo pad. Next time it better be gone."

She slipped back into the shorts; the material grated her tender skin. "It will be...It will be, next time." Next time? Was that it? Was she resigned to be his plaything forever? 

"Don't ever forget I can hurt him, really hurt him." Jase had vowed to see her big brother seriously injured if at any time she failed to cooperate. He took no small pleasure in constantly reminding her. 

He smacked her nearly bare backside. It hurt excruciatingly, but she didn't even flinch. Seizing her by the arm, Jase marched inside. "Where's your dyke girlfriend?" he grumbled. 

Dawn shrugged; she hadn't seen Liza since the party began. Keeping tabs on any one person was impossible within the human sea. 

"I'll find the little cunt. Maybe we can have a threesome. I'll bet you'd like that, bent over, slurping pussy while I fuck you like a bitch dog." She shrugged again. "Get some beer, I'll meet you upstairs." After an ugly scowl he was gone.

Headed for the kitchen, she elbowed past gyrating couples, ignoring the hands that accidentally brushed her scantily clad body. Dawn felt the boom-boom-thump of the subwoofers through the thin soles of her canvas sneakers. After deftly avoiding the sprawl of feet and arms, Dawn tripped on another girl's discarded shoe. She stumbled the last few steps into the kitchen.

The Applebys had spent ten thousand dollars remodeling and modernizing the kitchen. Slate tile warmed by an electric heating element ran the length of the floor, abutting fine oak cabinetry on one side of the kitchen, stainless steel appliances on the other. A plentiful supply of beer was spread across the expansive granite countertops. Three Styrofoam coolers stuffed with aluminum cans, a pair of tapped kegs, and a curiously out of place bottle of red wine had been generously provided. Beth Appleby's bankcard had certainly received a workout at the liquor store.

Against the counter, drinking a glass of ice water, was Jeff. Willie Thompson was with him, sucking on a beer and swaying to the persistent beat. Her brother appeared far less entertained than did his friend. Jeff narrowed his eyes when he noticed Dawn. He made some comment to Willie and took a sip of water. Willie departed, leaving the siblings relatively alone.

Jeff's enormous stride closed the distance between them. Communicating some type of male authority with his posture, he hovered over Dawn, as if to remind her how much larger he was. Jase often tried the same tactic. "Why are you dressed like that?" Jeff eyed the length of her scantily clad body.

Shrugging, she circled around him, plunging her arms into a cooler full of frigid water. She fished out two cans of light beer. Jase would be unhappy with light beer, but it was all Beth had stocked. 

Jeff produced a pristine white dishtowel and dabbed the beads of moisture from her numb arms. "Are you here alone?" he asked.

"No," she answered, "I came with a friend."

His eyes narrowed, boring into her soul. "Who?" 

Her fingers grew numb. The beer cans were ice-cold, so she set them on the counter. 

"What's his name? I have a right to know."

She forced herself to sound indignant. "You ignore me your entire life and now, just because we've messed around a few times, you think you have the right to act like my jealous boyfriend!" She needed to sound convincing; Jase Riley must remain her problem, not Jeff's.

Exacerbated, Jeff's fingers went to his temples, the way Daddy's sometimes did. "You don't belong here," he said.

"I don't belong?!" Even under the circumstances, she found his choice of words particularly patronizing. He was only trying to protect her in his own clumsy way--but did he have to sound so smug? "Where do I belong, back home with Daddy? I'm not a little girl anymore. Living vicariously through books and friends doesn't do it for me. I want a life, a real life." The little girl who longed to experience her brother's world hadn't reckoned on men like Jase Riley.

Jeff waved his arms helplessly. "There is nothing real about this place. The girls out there aren't like you. They'll do anything to get a reputation, and the guys will do anything to give them one. You're better than that, better than them."

"Better than you?" she asked.

"You are so much better than me. I'm scum, Dawn. I really am."

She noticed the fresh bruise forming below his left eye and flecks of dried blood in his nostrils. "How did this happen?" He winced when she touched the yellowing skin. Jeff worked his jaw for a moment, as if rehearsing some lie with which to answer her. "Have you been fighting?"

"No, it was just an accident, messing around with the guys, errant elbow, that sort of thing." 

Not accepting his explanation, she fished a cube of ice from the cooler and held it to his cheek. The warmth from his skin canceled the cold. "You don't have to defend my honor." 

He sighed. It was like there was something he desperately wanted to tell her, but couldn't. Jeff took her small hand in his very large one. Their combined heat reduced the ice cube to a puddle in seconds. If only he knew she loved him and would do anything to protect him. "Are you coming home or not?" Defeat weighed down his voice; he knew the answer before he asked.

Dawn's shoulders sagged. "Make sure Daddy doesn't wait up for me." Cradling the two cans of beer, she melted into the throng. For a while, he followed her red head as it bobbed between the tightly packed bodies in the living room. Determined as he was, the wall of humanity proved impenetrable.

***

A tug at his arm halted Jeff's advance. "Come on, quarterback. Let's dance." Liza shouted; it was the only way to be heard. Even with the woman he'd crushed on for three and a half years holding his arm, his focus remained on Dawn. "Outside." Liza would not be ignored.

They found a measure of privacy, just off the front porch. While Liza wrapped his waist, Jeff's hands found their way to her hips. She was slim and fit as a cheerleader should be, yet her hips had that unmistakable woman's shape. The music from inside was muffled by the Victorian home's brick walls but was still very much discernable. A private dance with Liza Jennings, a short time ago the scenario would have been the very embodiment of his deepest fantasy. Now, however, it felt hollow.

"Together at last." Liza's words were soft as wool and just as warm, yet hers was not the voice he longed to hear. "Jeff, honey, are you listening to me?" He nodded. She had been talking for quite some time; as for what she was saying, he had no idea. "Good." Her cheek pressed his shirt, resting against his bruised chest. "You know, sometimes I wish I was a normal girl with normal feelings. Life would be so much easier."

He eyed her curiously. From the flare of her hips to her small, firm breasts, the blonde's every last feature screamed normal girl. He told her so.

She chuckled sadly. "Oh, no I'm not. If I was normal, I'd a set the hook in you a long time ago. I know you're not the little house, picket fence, pushing the stroller around the neighborhood type of guy, but can you imagine how perfect we would be." 

Actually, he couldn't. A life with Liza could never be perfect. There was only one perfect. As she shuddered against him Jeff struggled to find something comforting to say. Usually, he was the guy who caused tears, not the guy who stopped them. "Guy or girl, one of these days you're going to make someone happy."

She touched his cheek, tracing the contours of his face the way Dawn sometimes did. "Jeff, if I wasn't the way I am and you weren't---"

"A complete asshole." Liza grinned at his words. Self-deprecating humor was not something he practiced. 

"I would have said self-involved." She giggled. "Why can't you be like this all the time?" she asked.

"Would it make you feel bad about being a lesbian?" He was kidding; he hoped she knew.

"Believe you me; Mama does plenty to make me feel bad about that." Her mother was an old-fashioned southern belle, a complete church rat, the type of biddy who spent Tuesday night at bible study and Sunday afternoon in the church basement sipping iced tea and swapping gossip. "Don't get me wrong, Mama and me are the best of friends, but last summer the woman almost drove me goofy. Not a day went by that she didn't try to force-feed me some neighbor boy.

"I want to tell her the truth, but at the same time I don't want to lose her." She pressed her cheek harder against his shirt, aggravating the bruise on his sternum. "Whoever said: 'The truth shall set you free.' never met my Mama." She chuckled nervously before drawing in a breath. "Did you ever have a secret, Jeff, an awful secret you didn't think you could tell anyone?"

Jeff swallowed and nodded.

"She's in trouble, and it's all my fault." 

Liza made a most unexpected confession. He couldn't believe it, at first he didn't. Sweet Liza Jennings, the woman who had been his very best friend at Choteau had done the unthinkable. She had used Dawn to get back at Jeff, and all because he stole one of Liza's girlfriends. Now Dawn was in trouble with Jase Riley of all people, the one man at Choteau University with more pull than anyone, even Jeff.

"What am I supposed to do?" Jeff backed away from Liza and paced the porch. "I mean, I know what I should do but what can I do?" It wasn't fair. He had worked for five whole years (nine counting high school) earning awards, trophies, records, and a full scholarship. He would be drafted into the NFL and make millions of dollars. He couldn't just pitch his entire life in the trash like it was a used Kleenex.

Liza grabbed his shirt. He tried to turn away, but she forced him to look at her. "What can you do? What the Hell do you mean? Go save your little baby sister. Play the hero." When he continued to stall she ratcheted the urgency in her voice. "You don't know Jason Riley the way I do. He could be doing anything to her right now. Anything!"

Play hero. Jeff didn't share Liza's moral clarity. His fists tightened and slacked, tightened and slacked. Was it so hard for her to understand? He wasn't the hero type.

***

Dawn gazed through the French doors, past the moonlit balcony to the yard below. All manner of vehicles were parked in the street and on the grass. Standing out amongst them all was the vintage Yellow Thunderbird straddling the curb. Jeff was so close, just downstairs, yet he might as well have been on another planet.

Jase was seated on the edge of the mattress. With one long swig he finished the first can of beer. He wiped foam from his mouth with the sleeve of a torn dress shirt and asked her if she wanted a sip from the second can. She declined, knowing better than to drink anything Jase Riley offered. Between swigs he described everything he planned to do to her in explicit detail.

Dawn's heart beat steadily faster as the inevitable approached. He had used her hands and mouth for pleasure countless times, all along promising that it was only a matter of time before he wanted the rest. The only thing that had saved her thus far were claims that she was a virgin. Once he found out that was not true there was no telling what he might do.

The mattress springs squeaked as they decompressed. His footsteps resounded on the hardwood floor, going silent as he crossed the Persian accent rug that ran the middle of the bedroom. She closed her eyes as his arms wrapped her waist. Jase was tall and his arms long. If she kept her eyes clenched maybe it could feel like it was with Jeff.

His awful breath assaulted her nostrils, ruining the illusion. He proceeded to nip the side of her neck. He cupped her braless breasts and squeezed as hard as he liked. Jase showed little regard for her comfort. 

"You're hurting me." Dawn wriggled to escape his embrace.

"No." Again Jase squeezed the soft flesh of her breasts, even harder than before. "You'll know when I'm hurting you, little girl."

Jase flung Dawn's petite body to the surface of the master bed. She caught herself and rolled over the side. Her heels slammed against the hardwood floor, sending arrows of pain up her legs. She stumbled a step backwards before colliding with the floor. Jase hopped on the bed, using the mattress to propel himself next to her. His foot pressed her abdomen, but she wriggled free before his weight could pin her. As she crawled, he swatted her battered backside with his enormous foot. She crashed into the oak dresser. The Appleby's family pictures and knickknacks rained down on her. The corner of a silver picture frame sliced through the sleeve of her shirt, drawing blood from the pale skin beneath.

Jase grabbed her ankle. Trying to pacify her, he only succeeded in yanking the white canvas sneaker from her foot. She was small and scared but wouldn't be so quick to submit. Her bare foot smacked against his leg. His hold was more firm the second time. With one sweaty hand, he grabbed her calf. The other hand grabbed her long red hair. He pulled her to him, almost yanking the hair from her scalp in the process. Forcing his obscene erection against the swell of her bruised butt, he made her endure a series of suggestive grinds. 

Jase shoved her forward. She smacked chest-first into the heavy oak dresser. When he tried to trap her against the dresser she aimed her knee for his crotch. Jase pinched his long legs together, blocking the attempted blow. That ugly, gaping smile appeared. "That's what I like about you, Dawn. Other girls cower, they beg, but not you. You don't wait around for some knight in gold armor to save you." Catching her by the forearm, he squeezed without mercy.

After shoving her to the bed, Jase's hands invaded her shorts, rubbing at her dry slit. "What's the matter? Can't get wet for me? I'll bet if your dyke girlfriend was here you'd be soaked. Too bad she's off fucking your big brother." He must have seen something in her eyes. "Look at you. I've never seen you so pissed. Kind of makes a guy wonder; are you jealous of Big Brother or jealous of Liza?"

His calloused middle finger burrowed into her tunnel, past the spot where her hymen should have been. The base of his finger met her fiery pubic hairs. Jase frowned when he realized he'd been deceived. "You slut! You filthy, lying slut! Whose dick was up here?" He twisted his dry, callused finger, causing Dawn's back to arch in agony. "Was it plastic? Did your dyke buddy break you in with her strap-on?"

"I've never done anything--"

He twisted his finger again. Her body was forced to lubricate itself against the invading digit. "If you don't tell the truth I'll take you down to the basement. You know what happens in the basement, don't you?" She had heard stories about the basement, stories of drugs, depravity, and gangbangs. She wasn't keen to find out whether those stories were true or not. "I could be good to you, little girl, make you come and come and come." His finger slowly extracted from her vagina. He held the warm, sticky digit to her mouth. She knew what was expected. Her tongue darted out for a taste. Jase shoved his finger in her mouth, forcing it down her throat. She gagged, fighting the reflex to vomit. "I can also make Alpha House look like Sesame Street."




Light of Dawn Ch. 08



Dawn wanted to bite down, wanted to bite his disgusting finger off at the knuckle so she could spit it in his ugly face. He must have read her mind.

Yanking his finger from her mouth, Jase reached for the gilded hand mirror resting on the oak dresser. He forced her to look at her own reflection. "Take a good look, you stupid cunt. Little Dawn, everyone loves her. Everyone thinks she's so Goddamned cute. You're not going to look so cute after tonight." He struck the mirror against her cheek. Just a slap, but it was a promise of the pain to come. As he raised the mirror again, Dawn prepared to endure the second blow. She would endure anything if it meant Jeff's safety.

A series of rapid knocks rattled the door. Then a voice, the most wonderful voice she had ever heard. "Dawn, are you in there? Are you alright?" Jase smothered her mouth with one hand and calmly replaced the mirror with the other. "Open the door!" Wood cracked as Jeff flung what little mass he had against the heavy door. It must have been murder to his bruised body. Again and again the doorjamb rattled. Whether it would be Jeff or the door, one had to give.

Accompanied by a final crack and two large splinters, the master bedroom door finally conceded.

Uncovering Dawn's mouth, Jase casually sat up. His hands came together in slow, theatrical applause. "Look who it is Dawn; it's your big brother. Sorry, Jeff, no threesome tonight, and before you ask, yeah, Liza told me all about your little adventure with her and Baby Sis. You are one sick fuck; you know that?"

"I'm taking her home, Jason." Jase sneered at the use of his full name.

Dawn started to get up, but Jase shoved her down hard. Jeff didn't react. He remained the cool, calm quarterback. "See, Sunshine, Jeff isn't so dumb." Squeezing Dawn's bare leg, he rumbled with disingenuous laughter. "I mean, the only reason he's at Choteau is because of the athletic scholarship named for my poor, dead grandpa." 

An altercation with Jase would cost Jeff his scholarship, cost him his spot on the team, cost him any hope of making millions of dollars in professional football. Dawn knew it was too much to sacrifice for anyone, especially someone as insignificant as her.

"I'm taking her home." Jeff's voice was firm. He took a step towards the bed, but Jase shoved him. Jeff stumbled. Unable to retain his balance, he landed on his backside.

"I thought you only shove women around." Jeff was afraid; otherwise, he wouldn't have acted so calm and cocky. The accumulated injuries significantly slowed his movements, but he managed to regain his feet. Still following the nonviolent path, Jeff extended his hand to Dawn. Jase slapped the hand away and then slapped Jeff's handsome face.

Not wanting to see her brother hurt, Dawn tried to diffuse the situation. "I want to stay." She couldn't have sounded very convincing. 

Jase faced down her brother. "You heard her; the little slut wants it real bad." To his credit Jeff didn't back down, no matter how much she sensed he wanted to. "I can make you leave. You do know that?" They were both huge but Jase was thicker, more substantial. Jeff looked like he was constructed from willow sticks in comparison.

Jeff's fists clenched then just as quickly unclenched. The look he gave Dawn was of pure defeat. 

"That's what I thought." Turning to the bed, Jase started unbuttoning his shirt. "I'll let you know how good she is, maybe send you some pictures."

Jeff's first punch was wild; his enormous fist flew past Jase's head. 

Jase caught him in the gut with an elbow. Jeff staggered, clutching his mid-section. Jase seized the opportunity by slamming his knee into Jeff's side. Her brother grabbed his ribs then crumpled to the hardwood floor.

"God, Liza was right; you are stupid." Partygoers passed by the broken door, watching dumbly as Jeff struggled to his feet. He took a step but tripped on one of the finely woven Persian carpets that crisscrossed the room. Jeff launched an off-balance jab, easily deflected. Jase Riley's fist connected with the bridge of Jeff's nose. As Jeff dipped to a knee, Jase clubbed the back of his head. 

Blood gushed from Jeff's nose, drenching the supple accent carpet. She could hear his wet, raspy breath.

Jase struck what was surely the deciding blow by driving his shoe into Jeff's badly bruised sternum. The injury from Saturday's football game was still purple, swollen, and obviously a vulnerable spot. Jeff opened his mouth in a breathless oh. Sinking to his stomach, a single lanky arm was all that propped him from the floor.

"Mr. Star Quarterback," Jase said with no shortage of disgust, "Baby Sister's big hero. She protected you. Did you know that? I took her to Alpha House. You should have seen the little slut, jacking and sucking. I could have told her to fuck every guy raw. She would have done it as long as I promised not to hurt you." Blood was spattered everywhere, on the carpet, on the bedspread, and on the toe of Jase Riley's shoe. Jase scowled, then kicked Jeff's valuable left arm. The crack the kick produced was sickening. 

Jeff slammed face-first to the floor.

"Your such an idiot, Jeff. Look at your sister, look at the bruises, the welts. If I could do that to a cute, sweet little thing like Dawn just imagine what I could do to a piece of shit like you. Your career is over, everything is over." Jase loomed over Jeff, prodding her brother with the toe of his bloody shoe, "and all because of this red-headed slut?" 

Jase glared with his mismatched eyes. His foot found the back of Jeff's neck, near the base of the skull. He pressed the sole of his shoe against Jeff's vertebrae. An ocean of warm red blood flowing from his nose, Jeff lay motionless, making no effort to defend himself. "What do you think, Sunshine? Is his goosey neck as brittle as it looks?"

A hiccup shook Dawn's body. Cold fear gripped her, locking her muscles. She chased the debilitating fear away, willing strength and courage. She remembered how brave Jeff had been when their mother died. He had been brave for so long. She could be brave this one time, for him.

Jase lowered his eyes long enough. 

Sucking in a breath, she flung herself onto his back. The muscles of Jase's powerful back flexed, making her feel weak and insignificant. Nevertheless, she wrapped his waist with her legs and locked his neck with her right arm, refusing to let go. Her left hand attacked, scraping and gouging his eyes and face with five meticulously manicured fingernails. The nail of her ring finger tore, causing excruciating pain. She didn't yield. Ribbons of blood flowed across his face as she repeatedly gouged and tore at his ugly flesh.

Jase sputtered and cussed. Stumbling forward, he bucked Dawn from his back. Somersaulting through the air, she collided with the French doors. Glass and mullions cracked with the impact; the latch gave way, spilling her onto the balcony.

Dozens of scratches and one very nasty gash wept blood on Jase's cheeks. One eye was red and watering, the other completely closed. She was amazed she had inflicted so much damage.

Her left ankle screamed with pain. She tried to move but couldn't. Her ankle was sprained, at the very least. Using the wooden railing, she pulled herself to a standing position. She couldn't put weight on the ankle, couldn't escape.

Dawn looked for a flowerpot, an umbrella, anything that could be used as a weapon. She found nothing save a cast iron umbrella stand that was far too heavy to wield. She was trapped.

"You shouldn't be out here, Dawn. It isn't safe. Do you know what a fall from the second story would do to a pretty little girl like you?"

He was only trying to frighten her. Jase Riley was a piece of scum, but he wasn't so psychotic that he would murder her at a party with two hundred witnesses. Balling her tiny hands into fists, Dawn postured for a fight.

"Stupid little bitch." After pretending to laugh, he collected a glob of blood from his cheek and wiped it on her tee. "I think you need another lesson---" Jase's face twisted. As Jase stumbled forward, she saw Jeff's long, skinny arms wrapped around his waist.

After tackling Jase against the rail, her brother delivered a savage flurry of slaps, punches and elbows to Jase Riley's bloody face. Propped over the wooden railing, Jase spat blood and bits of teeth over the side. Raising his foot as if to defend himself, Jase delivered the sole of his enormous shoe to Dawn's chest. She was knocked to the balcony deck, breathless.

Jase's final act of violence seemed to drive Jeff over the edge. He repeatedly drove his fists into Jase's ribs. Breathing hard, he sprayed Jase Riley with the blood from his broken nose. Jase's resistance was non-existent when Jeff grabbed his legs.

"You mother fucker," Jeff spat. He struggled to lift Jase's lower half. "You are never going to hurt her again," he spat a mouthful of his own blood, "never going to hurt anyone." Only then did Dawn realize Jeff's intentions. He hoisted Jase Riley's limp body in a bid to pitch him off the balcony.

She had never seen such rage from anyone, let alone her icy big brother. She was stunned it was even possible. "Jeff! God, no!" Dawn recovered her voice. "Please, stop it. You're not him." It was the truth. Jeff was obnoxious, self-centered, sometimes even cruel, but that was only a small part of him. He was also sweet, loyal and braver than any person she had ever known. He was not like Jase Riley; he would never be like Jase Riley.

Jeff seemed to relax a bit. Her words had been exactly what he needed to hear. Jase's words were not. "Do it, Jeff," Jase wheezed. "Send me to Hell. I'll bet your Mama could use a good fuck."

Jeff released Jase Riley's legs.

Jase thudded against the deck of the balcony. After coughing a final mouthful of blood he lost consciousness.

Police sirens echoed from the interstate. The party was already thinning out. Without really realizing how she got there, Dawn was in Jeff's lanky arms. Blood gushed from his nose, and his eyes were a bit cloudy. Jeff's legs unsteadied. After a moment, he collapsed.

***

His nose was broken, the bicep of his throwing arm torn. Four deep bone bruises had been strategically distributed across his body, making movement exceedingly painful. Jeff hobbled out of the adjustable hospital bed. A tiny, uncomfortable-looking cot lay disheveled beside his own bed. Dawn had slept there all night. She refused to leave when the doctors poked and prodded, refused to leave when the campus police interviewed him for their bogus investigation, and refused to leave when Coach came by to tell him he was off the team.

Jeff hobbled to the cramped bathroom to empty his tickling bladder; as he did, Coach's words echoed in his head: "You're a good kid and a great player, but this type of situation is out of my hands." Coach didn't need to elaborate. Four members of the Riley's extended family sat on Choteau University's board of trustees. Jeff had been expelled from college and banned from ever setting foot on campus; all because he did the right thing.

Dawn's pink, freckled cheeks had grown steadily pinker throughout Coach's visit. She was angry that the school would stand so steadfastly behind Jase Riley, though not surprised. She controlled that anger well, graciously offering Coach thanks for his visit, and thanks for delivering Jeff's gym bag and the contents of his locker.

Four more wins would have led to an unprecedented fourth straight championship for the Choteau Knights, punching Jeff's ticket to the NFL. Jeff climbed back in bed. Willie Thompson, Hayden Burt and the rest of the team knew of his fate by now. Most of the guys were at the previous night's party. They had seen him draped between Dawn and Liza, bleeding over everything. None of the guys offered to help as the two small women dragged him to the emergency room; none came by the hospital to see if he was okay.

He hated hospitals. This one most of all. County General was where he had spent so much time while Mom slowly wasted from cancer. Knowing every bone white corridor by heart, he could still shut his eyes and retrace every step from the cancer ward to the heart ward to the maternity ward and back.

The nurse came in to check his blood pressure. She had been doing that often, wrapping the cuff around his skinny right arm and pumping it tight so tight he lost feeling; it drove Jeff crazy. Dawn had almost flown off the handle when the nurse woke him up at 5 A.M. to check his blood pressure.

"Where is Dawn?" Jeff's voice was dry and thick. The nurse filled a paper cup with cold water and pressed it to his lips.

"Your father came by to see you while you were asleep. He and Dawn went for a walk." The nurse stared at her watch as the cuff filled with air.

"Dad---" He tried to sit up too quickly. The pain medication had left him woozy.

The nurse placed a surprisingly strong hand on Jeff's chest and forced him back down. "Don't worry about him. You need to rest. Besides, your little Dawn would kill me if I let anything happen to you." Dawn had remained so devotedly by his side that the older woman assumed they were a couple. Just about everyone at the hospital assumed that.

"Normal." The Velcro hissed as she tore the cuff open. "You have a blood test coming up this afternoon. If everything goes right you'll be sleeping in your own bed tonight."

"And you won't be alone, either." Dawn stepped back into the room, carrying a tray of food.

"Uh-oh," the nurse said. "Sounds like you're gonna need all your strength tonight." After patting his cheek, she gathered her equipment and departed.

Dawn sat the tray on the bed and speared a fat green bean with the fork. She offered the bean to Jeff; it was mushy from being overcooked. "Pretty bad, isn't it?" Dawn's pretty little mouth curved in a frown. "The meatloaf won't taste any better." She was right. He had somehow wound up with the heel of the meatloaf. It was crispy, black, and every bit as disgusting as it looked.

"I can't eat this crap." He spit the bite of meatloaf in a napkin. Climbing out of bed, he said, "Come on." His bare feet hit the cold floor once again. Jeff felt his ungainly body tip, but Dawn was there to hold him upright.

"What are you doing?" Dawn's wide eyes darted to the doorway. She was scared to death that the nurse would see him out of bed without permission.

"Real food. Cafeteria." His head throbbed with the first few steps. The loss of blood, in addition to the pain medication he had been given, gravely effected Jeff's equilibrium. On rubbery legs he began the journey to the cafeteria, supporting himself on his much smaller sister's shoulder.

He struggled with the back of his hospital gown. The only gown that stretched low enough to cover his nakedness was an extra-extra-large that hung copiously from his narrow body.

After walking a short distance, Jeff's head spun and his stomach lurched. His body needed more time to recover. The cafeteria was on the second floor, between the cancer ward and the children's ward. They sold sandwiches, chips, and sodas. The sandwiches were made up early in the morning and were kept refrigerated for lunch and dinner.

They meandered through the halls of the pediatric ward, a place that had frightened Jeff severely when he was a boy. He remembered wandering the same halls at nine years old and seeing a much younger child wrapped in a plastic oxygen tent. There were other children with tubes running out of their noses and throats.

When they reached the cafeteria, Dawn helped him to a table. She ordered lunch, carrying back a tray with two sandwiches. She looked slightly flustered. "I ordered you tuna salad, but they gave me turkey salad." She slammed the cold sandwich on the table. "I know how much you hate turkey. I'll take it back."

"No it's alright," Jeff said, taking the sandwich and unwrapping the cellophane. The bread felt cold between his fingers. His stomach purred hungrily. "This is fine." He took a bite. It was quite good, actually. He couldn't imagine what he ever had against turkey. His sister smiled and let out a slight giggle. "What?" he asked between mouthfuls.

"I was just thinking about Thanksgivings at Grandma's when we were little. Dad always had to force feed you Grandma's food." She laughed; it was contagious. "You wouldn't eat the stuffing or the potatoes and gravy. You thought they had turkey juice in them."

Jeff chuckled softly. "I guess maybe I was a little eccentric." He tried to remember his grandma's face, but for some reason he kept picturing his mother. Dawn's giggles slowed to an abrupt halt. There was something strange about what she had just said, something about Dad. Dad? She never called their father anything but Daddy.

As Dawn swallowed her first bite of sandwich a tear fell down her cheek. She tried to hide it by turning away.

"You and Dad talked?" He felt his heart beat faster when she nodded. "Oh God, what did he tell you?" Dawn sniffled into her napkin. She didn't need to answer. Old Vinnie Kramer had been stupid enough to dredge up the past, stupid enough to confess his infidelity.

"How could he..." She caught a tear with her forearm. "How could anyone...?"

How could anyone cheat on someone as wonderful as Mom? Jeff had asked himself the same question a hundred million times. Vince Kramer was indefensible; yet, Jeff tried for Dawn's sake. "One time I helped Mom spread a bag of cow manure over the rose garden. It smelled disgusting, and looked even worse. I asked her why we were ruining the garden. You know what she told me?" Dawn shook her head no. "She said the prettiest flowers grow from the ugliest dirt."

With all of the Hell in their lives, Dawn and her Daddy had somehow cultivated a healthy and beautiful parent-child relationship, one that Jeff envied. Things would be tense for a while, but Dawn was the type of person who could forgive anyone for anything. She was so much like their mother that way.

"I wish..." Dawn's bottom lip quivered a bit. "I wish I could have known her better." She had been so young when their mother passed. Jeff's memories of Mom had hazed over the years, Dawn's disappeared altogether.

One thing he remembered clearly was how Mom would lift Dawn onto the hospital bed despite her obvious weakness. They would sing "You Are My Sunshine." That was how his kid sister had gained her nickname.

God, how he missed Mom. And yet, he saw bits and pieces of her every day. When Dawn burned waffles in the toaster, he saw Mom. When Dawn needled him about eating right, exercising, and not staying out so late, he saw Mom too. When Dawn smiled at him, her freckled cheeks dimpling, sometimes he saw Mom, but usually he saw Dawn, the beautiful young woman who made him want to be a better person. True, he had thorns; he would always have thorns, but there was something worthwhile there too, something only Dawn had seen.

With lunch a memory, Jeff and Dawn headed back for his room. He didn't need her shoulder anymore, but still moved slowly through the corridors.

The path ahead was blocked by a little boy dressed in pajamas and a blue bathrobe. Thin and frail, the boy couldn't have been more than six. In his arm he clutched a football.

"Hi," Dawn said. She leaned close to the boy. "What's your name?"

"Tyler," the boy said. His eyes were fixed upwards on Jeff, but darted to Dawn's freckled face every once in a while.

She kneeled down to get face-to-face with the boy. "That's a nice football you have, Tyler." Her fingers ran over the bumpy pigskin. "You even had it signed."

Tyler nodded. He handed the ball to Dawn, who handed it to Jeff. Silver letters covered one side of the ball. Jeff read the names of his teammates--ex-teammates. "The Knights gave it to me. They all came to the hospital and signed balls." The boy pointed to the names of the guys who had seemed particularly friendly. "Nurse Debbie told me you play football."




Light of Dawn Ch. 08



"I... I used to," Jeff said. Dawn touched his arm as he faltered.

"That's what I want to do. My dad said he'll teach me how if I get better."

If. Jeff could see patches of skin amongst the child's reddish-blond hair.

After Dawn explained that Jeff was not only a Choteau Knight, he was also the star quarterback, Tyler was more than eager to add one more signature to his ball. They even tossed it around a bit, before the nurses discovered Jeff was out of bed. When he saw the smile on the little boy's face and the way he clutched the football all the tighter, Jeff knew that Dawn had been right all along. Kindness might not cure cancer, but it helps to know someone cares.

"I talked to Liza," Dawn said as they reached Jeff's room. "I think she's in love with you." Dawn started to make the cot, but Jeff stopped her. He thread their fingers and guided her to his bed.

"Did you tell her it was too late, that I was already in love with the prettiest girl at Choteau?" 

Dawn's freckled cheeks went pink so he kissed each one. He kissed her lips. She plopped on the bed and he plopped next to her. Placing his hand on her clenching stomach, he kissed her mouth. The room had no door. Anyone could walk in at any moment: the nurse, the doctor, Liza, Dad. Still, they kissed.

Dawn whined against his lips and felt the tent raising beneath the thin hospital gown. As lost in the moment as he was, Jeff realized they were not home yet. She breathed heavily after the kiss ended. They held one another, presenting as innocent a picture as two adults lying in bed were capable of.

"Jeff?" He hadn't realized he was dozing until she spoke his name. He blinked to force coherency. She touched his face, tracing every bruised contour. When she reached his reset nose she lightly rubbed the red knot that had formed.

Unless he had plastic surgery the knot would remain there forever. It wasn't so bad, kind of like a battle scar. It would be a constant reminder of everything he'd sacrificed, and for whom he'd sacrificed it.

"Jeff, I'm sorry." Her soft green eyes were damp. "I'm so sorry." His big hands found the small of her back. He pulled her close and kissed the crown of her red head. "You lost everything because of me."

He touched her chin and forced her to look at his bruised face. "I gave up everything for you." He pronounced the last two words carefully, so there would be no doubt. The corner of his mouth lifted in a quarterback's smirk. "Just don't ask me to do it again."

Dawn tickled his ribs and smiled that irresistible dimpled smile. She kissed him again, and this time they didn't stop until the nurse returned, cleared her throat, and announced that Jeff was free to go home.

The End

For those of you that read and enjoyed Light of Dawn, the story does not end here. Light of Dusk, the four chapter sequel, will be posted to Literotica very soon.

Please rate my story below. As always your comments are encouraged.