Black Dawn

by Cristin Harber

  It didn’t matter.

  His hands ran over her shirt, pulling it over her head even as she tried to glue her ear to the pillow. “Love that body. All mine. Don’t make me take what I need.”

  “No, Matt.”

  Bacon jumped on the bed, snarling, and Matt grabbed her. He threw her again, but this time out the door, which he closed with a slam.

  “Said I was sleeping, baby.”

  “Are you trying to make me mad?” He crawled into bed. “Let’s go.”

  Lexi swallowed her dread. It would hurt. God, it was disgusting. Him panting, breathing, sweating. But it was so much faster. I’m done. This is the last time. She’d make it through the night then figure things out. How would she leave when she had been wormed away from family and friends?

  She tried to redirect him. “Did you have fun tonight?”

  His fingers pinched her side, making her yelp. “Sound like I want to talk?”

  Tears seeped silently down her cheeks as he yanked down her underwear. With her T-shirt shoved up, her fiancé crawled on top of her, breathing smoky-liquor stank into her face.

  “I really don’t—”

  His hand covered her mouth, and his other hand jammed between her legs. She couldn’t hide her tears as she sobbed. Matt never even slowed a beat.

  CHAPTER SIX

  The sun poured into Lexi’s bedroom, failing to shine away the darkness that hung over her. But it was a new day, and she would be gone by the end of it. But she needed to clear her head and couldn’t stand to be around Matt while he got ready to go to the gun range.

  He sat at the breakfast table, striking matches and blowing them out.

  “Any more coffee?” he asked.

  “Nope.”

  He struck a match and dropped it where Bacon lay on the floor, and he cackled. “Dumb dog doesn’t know to move.”

  “Don’t do that!”

  “Put another pot on. Maybe I won’t have to.” He lit a match and dropped it. It fizzled out before it hit Bacon’s fur. “Think she’d eat a lit match? Eats everything else.”

  Lexi’s pulse pounded in her neck. “Don’t hurt her.”

  He closed the matches and tossed them on the table. “I’d never hurt that dog.” But his tone said he’d hurt Bacon just to stick it to her.

  For the next two hours, she kept an eye on her dog and fiancé. Her anxiety built, and she needed to blow off steam. Bacon was asleep, hidden in a pile of clothes in the closet, and could only be found if one was listening for fat doggy snores. Matt was zoned out on the couch before he went out around lunch. She had just enough time to get outside, stretch her legs, and think through her day’s plans. For as much Matt lorded over her, he never cared when she ran—her assumption being that he thought she was staying fit and attractive for him. It was one of the few times his narcissism worked in her favor.

  “I’m going to go for a run,” she said.

  He eyed her as if he didn’t trust her, which was smart because she was done. But her runs were nothing new. “Go burn off your breakfast, peaches. I think I’ll keep Bacon by my side until you return.”

  They stared at each other until she nodded. He wouldn’t hurt Bacon for no reason. She’d done nothing to encourage him to hurt the puppy, and she wouldn’t be gone long. The chances that Bacon woke up and came downstairs or that Matt stopped watching sports long enough to do something to her dog were next to nil.

  Lexi tied her running shoes and took off. As the slap, slap, slap of her soles picked up its pace, her mind numbed. Her limbs stretched, and she ate ground, pushing herself in the cool winter’s morning. For a brief moment, she forgot about planning, about forced sex and threats against her dog. But it all came back when she eased out of a hard sprint and into a jog.

  What if Matt did do something to Bacon while she was out—just because he was mean? Doubting her decision to leave, Lexi turned back toward hell to check on Bacon. She rounded the sidewalk, running, pushing herself until she couldn’t remember last night. Or the last year. Or any of her decisions that had gotten her to this point. She used to be strong, confident… but now? The sound of her running shoes pounding was her only companion, the only one that knew how deep she was in.

  The always-present stomachache tightened as she neared their street. As soon as she hit the driveway, her quiet self would take over. She was a thousand times more distant, more lost, and just… smaller today than she was last night.

  She rounded the last bend in the road and saw Matt’s truck—and Parker’s Range Rover. Relief bloomed in her lungs, followed by something that made her a little dizzy. She’d hoped to see him tomorrow, but this was almost too much. It was as if her savior had shown up, even though he had no idea she’d cast him in the role. How and why she’d mentally latched onto him made no sense. Looks and smarts were something to appreciate, but hoping that he would somehow help her… that didn’t matter because Parker was there.

  It had to be a sign. Or something. She needed to leave. Or keep running. Never stop and turn back. Except she was drawn to Parker—and couldn’t leave Bacon with Matt. God. Parker had never shown an inkling of a flirtation toward her. Lord knew she didn’t dare look at another man for too long, and certainly not Parker, who was all mysterious cool guy. Big and handsome, almost like out of a movie.

  How were those two even friends? Even if it was a friendship that stemmed from back in the day. Then again, no one knew who Matt had become. No one would believe her. Matt had said that once, but he was right. He was brassy and ballsy, a guy’s guy, not an abuser. No way would he hit his woman. No way…

  Except he did.

  She bounced on the toes of her running shoes. Why couldn’t she run away? Right now. Leave everything behind. Shadow would get her money and help her get a new life. She didn’t need to pack a bag, but all of her notebooks—a diary of every time she should’ve left written in detail—her journals with her work, what she didn’t keep online was still inside, and obviously, she wouldn’t leave her dog. Matt would kill the poor girl. He said so all the time.

  Lexi rubbed her temples and gulped a breath before turning up her driveway. She could smile at her fiancé, be cordial to Parker, and not give Matt anything to be jealous or crazy over. But if he knew what was in her head… then she’d be dead.

  A couple yards away, the door opened, and she looked up. Parker. Oh… he wore a form-fitting Henley painted across his defined chest. It highlighted the thickness of his biceps and taper of his waist, and he wore jeans that, even from a distance, curved over his backside—and his front side—in a manner that was sinful. Every part of that man looked muscled. Even his strong neck and stout jaw shouted that he was utter male perfection.

  Her mouth watered and her breath froze, a spellbinding contradiction that only served to remind her that he might have been the sexiest man she’d ever seen.

  “Hey, Lex,” he said in that bottom-of-the-canyon voice that made her shiver. The door closed behind him, separating him from all that she hated inside that house.

  Her cheeks felt flushed, but that was okay since she’d been running in forty degree weather. As he casually downed the stairs, his powerful thighs stole the show, and her lungs boycotted normal breaths. Again, she could blame that on exercising in the cold. But what she could say and what was the truth… those were two very different things.

  “Hey.” She waved, averting her eyes in case Matt saw her.

  Parker walked toward her from the landing. “Didn’t know you were around.”

  Warily, she cast her gaze up. “Out running.”

  He stepped closer. If they both extended their arms, their fingertips might touch. A round of shivers ran down her back.

  His eyes narrowed almost immediately, as though he could sense her concern. “You doing okay, sweetheart?”

  Panic set in, and she took one enormous, probably obvious, step back. “Yeah. Of course.”

  He stepped forward, his blue eyes studying her in a way that made her want to c
ry for help. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”

  “I, um—”

  Matt pushed the door open behind Parker. “Hey, peaches, get inside. You’re going to freeze that sweet ass off.”

  She cringed and cast her eyes down, embarrassed that Matt had spoken like that in front of Parker. “Okay.”

  Matt jumbled down the stairs and smacked her butt harder than he needed to, not that he needed to at all, as he passed. “We’re headed out. Be back later.”

  He was leaving her alone? Now? She was getting out! But she didn’t react when she heard Matt open his truck and turn over the engine. When she finally glanced up, Parker still stood there, his jaw tight, the tendons in his neck prevalent.

  Oh, heaven help her. A woman could fall in love with that kind of intense focus. But instead, she fought the pull of his navy eyes and glanced over his shoulder at Matt, whose distrustful gaze was on her.

  Matt got out of his truck. “There are a couple dogs that hang down at GUNS. Think I’ll take your mutt with me.”

  “What?” She spun, terrified of what that meant.

  He smiled as if he knew her afternoon plans. “Think she’d get some exercise running around. It’ll be good for her.”

  Lexi watched Matt hustle inside and come back with a squirming, snapping Bacon. “Please be careful with her.”

  “’Course.” Then he tossed her in the second row of the dual cab.

  Her throat stung, worry alarming her.

  “You sure you’re good, Lex?” Parker pushed again, taking another step closer.

  Her eyes flicked from him to the window where Bacon pressed her snout, then went back to Parker.

  He tilted her head. “Dog’ll be fine at the range. Don’t worry about that.”

  “Okay,” she whispered.

  “I promise, sweetheart.”

  His trustworthy voice was like a hug. She liked that he called her sweetheart, that he called her Lex. But Parker had no idea. Or did he? He watched her for seconds too long, and without a doubt, Lexi knew Matt would be pissed even if she hadn’t done anything to warrant the reaction.

  Resigned to the fact that when she left, she might not see Parker again, she ignored the concern on his face and faked a smile that was sad-but-practiced. “Always.”

  Just another lie. Even as her heart reached out to Parker, Lexi walked into her house without so much as a good-bye so she could grab her laptop, wait for Bacon to return, and disappear.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Five hours with the same thing on his brain: Lexi Dare. Shit. Parker had spent hours at GUNS with Matt, hitting targets and checking on new spec ops weapons that were for retail sale. The dog that Matt insisted was called Fatso stuck close to Parker the whole time. Even now, the poor thing sawed logs in the backseat.

  None of his afternoon had cleared his mind, and as they pulled out of GUNS’s parking lot, Parker rubbed his jaw, unable to ignore the unspoken plea on Lexi’s face. His gut instinct screamed that something had been wrong this morning, and it wasn’t the first time his sixth sense had been on fire when it came to Lex. But earlier, without saying a word, she’d confirmed it.

  He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he drove Matt’s truck back. Matt getting loaded on beer he’d snuck in and running through rounds wasn’t on the approved activities list at GUNS, and Parker had ended things before Matt got them thrown out. It wasn’t news that Matt was an asshole, but he was an asshole that everyone got on with. More or less. His drinking thing was getting out of control, and if Parker wasn’t concerned before today, he was now, after Matt had turned a day at the range into a BYOB activity. Was that what had caused the look on Lexi’s face? The less-than-subtle changes Parker had noticed for months?

  The hollow look on her face, when she hadn’t always looked like that, ate at him. That, and there was the distance in her icy blue eyes, almost as if their shine had dulled. Except today when he’d walked up to her, shoving his hands into his pockets to keep them off her. At that moment, those icy blues shined.

  The girl was gorgeous. He’d thought about her more than he should, her delicate face always hanging in the periphery of his mind. Her blond hair always looked sexy-tousled, as if she’d been up to no good, and it framed her fair skin and pink lips like a not-so-innocent frame. She was sweet and sexy, quiet but funny. Everything about her was incredible—also off-limits.

  Parker clung to the wheel as though he were wringing her fiancé’s neck. She was too good for Matt. Really, too good for anyone Parker knew. But how would he know that? They just had an innate connection he couldn’t shake. He tried to concentrate on the road, on relaxing and blowing off steam after coming home from a Titan op that had almost gone bad.

  “Ha.” Matt threw his drunk head back. “Did you hear Sugar’s pregnant?”

  Parker didn’t like Matt’s condescending tone. “Yup.”

  “Jared Westin as a father. Fuck me.”

  Parker shrugged, wondering if he still felt needled because of Lexi or because of Matt questioning Sugar and Jared as parents. “The man already has a daughter. I’m not sure what you’re getting at.”

  “Adopted,” Matt scoffed.

  “Same thing.” But what he wanted to say was so the fuck what. Parker had wanted to be adopted when he was a kid. That lost feeling ate at him while growing up with guys like Matt, who had the same folks picking him up from school every day, same people to go home to every night. But nope, not Parker. He’d been stuck in the system, bouncing all over their damn county until he finally took control of his future—education and the Marines. He’d been smart, smarter than any single person he’d ever met. He’d made a plan, worked it, and it had paid off, though he couldn’t seem to let go of Matt. Old friends, like habits, died hard?

  “Jared with kids? Shit, I can’t see it.”

  “Jesus, man, you don’t even know the guy that well.” Bashing anyone in Titan should be an instant sayonara—except he wasn’t quite ready to lose the glimpses of Lexi. “What’s it to you if they have kids or not?”

  His irritation intensified. Maybe Parker needed to unload a few more magazines if for no other reason than to have something in his hands that wouldn’t get him in trouble. He ignored Matt’s jackass ramblings, thankful when they finally pulled into the driveway.

  Parker’s eyes tracked to the spot where Lexi had stood, looking so gone, then he twisted to see the sleeping dog named Fatso. “Everything all good with you and Lex?”

  Matt’s hands bunched. “Yeah. Of course.”

  Almost word for word what Lexi had said. Parker tapped his thigh. What the hell was his problem? Butting in when nothing needed saying. Addressing something he could sense but couldn’t see—that wasn’t his thing. Parker dealt with black-and-white facts, not this ache of the unknown ricocheting in his chest.

  Matt pushed open the passenger door, grabbing Fatso roughly, as Parker slid the truck into park.

  “You coming in?” Matt slurred, dropping the pug, who ran toward the door.

  “Yeah.” Because Parker still couldn’t get rid of the sense that something was off with Lexi. “I told Sugar I’d pass something along to Lex.”

  Matt’s eyes narrowed. “She’s out.”

  “Oh, right. Just tell her it’s something about a fundraiser.” For adopted kids, asshole. “Sugar said Lex might be interested.”

  He nodded. “I’ll tell her.”

  “Catch you and Lex at Winters’s tomorrow? Sugar can just tell her herself.” Parker grabbed his gear bag from the back of the truck.

  Matt stood, frozen and staring at the street. A car parked two driveways down pulled out onto the road.

  “Everything okay?” Parker’s eyes narrowed as he tried to ascertain what the problem was.

  Matt continued to stare down the road. “Did that guy look like some nerd boy to you?”

  “That car?”

  Matt nodded.

  “Didn’t see him. Looked like a neighbor driving off. Why?”

&nbs
p; “Thought I’d seen him before.” Matt bristled. “Never mind. Nothing.” He gave Parker a chin lift and hustled inside, letting the door slam shut.

  “Jesus, dude.” Paranoia much?

  All day long, all Parker had heard was excuses. Why Matt’s bosses were crappy, why the jobs he’d left were shitty. The whole world was up on his ass and concurrently trying to take him down. Listening to all of that bullshit was draining, though the day was still young. Parker needed to get a burger and make a quick run by Titan HQ to see what was going on. Work didn’t stop because he was off site. His hands slid over the back pockets of his jeans and came up empty. No keys. He’d left them and his wallet in Matt’s truck when he’d opted to take his buddy’s keys and drive them back.

  He dropped his head back then let go of his gear bag and made his way back to Matt’s truck. Locked. Great. This was getting better and better. Parker headed to the front door. He was too tired to deal with another round of Matt Pindon bullshit.

  Bounding up the stairs, he knocked and pushed the familiar door open as the dog yapped from inside. “Hey, man. Need your keys to open—”

  Lexi was against the wall with Matt’s hand wrapped around her throat. He was inches away from her face, and she was crying, shaking her head, and kicking as if she was treading water but losing the battle.

  “Matt! Fuck, man.” Parker ran in and grabbed his shoulder, dragging him back.

  Matt spun, sputtering with beer on his breath from earlier. “Not your business. Out.”

  She dropped to the floor, her hands covering her neck, and gasped as though she were a fish out of water, desperately trying to find stasis again.

  Matt stomped, swinging at the dog. The dog looked at Parker as if Fatso was turning over the keys to Lexi’s safety then scampered up the stairs.

  “Man, my keys are in your truck, asshole.” Parker lasered in on her. “Lex, you—”

  “Get out!” Matt pushed Parker with both hands.

  “Enough of this shit.” Parker wrapped an arm around Matt’s neck and pushed him into a chokehold. He counted down and gave Matt’s neck a hard squeeze before tossing him to the floor. “Lex, go outside.”