As Collins opened his door, Jonas looked skyward, though he couldn’t see anything. The reflex to look was automatic, especially now that he had some hope that his vision was returning.
“It appears the worst of the storm has passed, sir,” Collins confirmed. “But the blackout is quite widespread and has not been rectified.”
“Where are we?” he asked.
“It’s a restaurant called Noir,” Tessa said.
“I’ve heard of it,” Jonas said. “They serve meals in complete darkness. The waitstaff is blind, as is the owner,” he said, unsure how he felt about that. “But how can they be open during a blackout?”
“A lot of the businesses have back-up generators, especially restaurants, since they need to keep food cold,” Tessa elaborated. “Though I imagine they might have a limited menu tonight.”
“That makes sense.”
He guessed Tessa was trying to make him feel more comfortable, which wasn’t at all necessary. He’d be just as happy going back to her place and finding something to eat there—preferably naked.
She stepped up close to him, and he could still detect the scents of sex on her skin, his soap mixing with her flowery scent. It was so sensual, he didn’t want anything to break the mood.
“I’ve heard such great things about it, I thought it would be…interesting,” she said, sounding unsure. “One of the things about Noir is being able to understand what it’s like to be blind. I want to understand how you’re experiencing the world right now, Jonas, but if it bothers you, we can go somewhere else.”
Taking his hand in hers, she absently rubbed her thumb over his knuckles, waiting for his answer.
“I’ve eaten all my meals in the dark for the last month, but I’m still curious about the place,” he said. “It’ll be fun,” he offered gamely.
They walked in and followed their server’s instructions to follow the handrail along the wall of the dark hallway to the back dining room, where a private table had been reserved for them.
“You are two brave souls to venture out tonight. We had dozens of cancellations, understandably,” the server said.
Jonas heard Tessa’s surprised gasp, and felt her stop beside him.
“Tessa?”
“Sorry. There’s not so much as a slant of light in here. It’s so black…it feels like it swallows you,” she said, and her fingers closed around his a little more tightly.
“We don’t have to stay,” he said.
“No, I’m fine. I was just thrown by how dark it is, stupid as that sounds, especially since we’ve spent all night in the dark.”
“Not stupid at all,” the server interrupted. “People often have that initial response to complete dark. Though you may turn off the lights at night, most places still have degrees of light twenty-four hours a day, whether from the moon, streetlights, night-lights, et cetera. So the experience of complete darkness can be quite startling,” he explained kindly.
“You’re right. I never thought about it that way,” Tessa confessed, sounding more relaxed.
“But you learn to use your other senses, and you learn to trust the people around you. You’ll see,” he said, and led them to a table, seating them next to each other.
“Being in the dark can be a revelation. You start to know each other in a new way, to find out things even about people you thought you knew well.”
As they settled into their seats, the waiter offered a short history of the restaurant.
“Dinners in total darkness started, as far as we know, as early as the nineteenth century. In the 1990s, Europeans began experimenting with dark dining, dark bars and similar events. The Paul Guinot Foundation, a French organization for the blind, came up with the idea of dinners in total darkness called Le gout du noir or ‘Taste of darkness.’”
“That’s fascinating,” Tessa responded. “But how is the food prepared?”
Jonas admitted that he, too, had initially thought it was only a marketing angle, and had no idea of the history of the place.
“Our cooks are able to see, along with minimal other staff,” the waiter assured them before asking if they had any questions. He also cautioned them to stay at their tables, to keep the area where he walked clear before he left.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Jonas asked, leaning in close to find her neck, nuzzling it.
He was concerned about how disoriented and fearful she’d sounded when they’d walked into the room, so he made sure he kept touching as they sat in the dark. Though it was not all for her benefit, he had to admit.
Now that he’d had her, he was even more needful to be with her again. Soon.
“I’m okay now. It’s very…shocking. I walked into this room and it hit me how awful it must be to live in complete darkness all the time,” she said.
He squeezed her hand. “Well, this has been a good reminder that I’ve spent a lot of time feeling sorry for myself when other people have spent every day without their sight and go on with their lives just fine.”
“That wasn’t my intention, not at all,” she rushed to say, and he shushed her.
“I know it wasn’t. But I think when I lost my sight, my first reaction was to feel like this was only happening to me. The waiter, and being here, reminded me otherwise,” he said with a sigh, regretting his own attitude over the last month.
He, at least, had the return of his vision to look forward to. Others never would have that. It was humbling.
“I’m sure my brothers would confirm I’ve been a huge pain in the ass,” he said with a smile, but then turned serious.
“I think you’re being too hard on yourself,” she chastised.
She leaned in, intending to kiss his cheek, but ended up kissing his shoulder instead, making them both laugh.
“Obviously my coordination in the dark needs some work,” she said ruefully, finding his face with her hands and offering another kiss.
“You were doing just fine in the subway car,” he said huskily as the door opened again, their waiter returning with drinks and appetizers.
“Maybe later we can find a blindfold,” she said in a suggestive tone. “One thing is for sure, your other senses really do take over when you don’t rely on your sight. Everything is so…intense.”
Jonas agreed. If there was one word for what was happening between him and Tessa, it was intense.
7
1:00 a.m.
“OHHH…THAT’S WONDERFUL,” Tessa said with a sigh as Jonas found her lips with his fingers, letting her nibble a piece of the rich cheese that the waiter had delivered to their table. This had very possibly been the best meal of her life.
Though at first it was awkward, the waiter’s prediction had come true: as each course was served, they became more proficient at handling their food using their other senses, and even trusted each other’s coordination enough to feed each other.
Tessa knew that she trusted Jonas with her life. She had, literally, on several occasions. She hoped their experiences together were helping him to trust her more, too. He seemed to have relaxed toward her since their conversation in the car, and since making love.
A shiver ran over her skin. She couldn’t wait to get him alone again.
Tessa absorbed the experience of dark eating full-on. This was definitely something she wanted to do again. After she let go of her sense of disorientation and fear of the complete dark, she found she could manage more easily.
She wondered if Jonas would want to come back here after his sight returned. She wasn’t sure how she would feel about that in his shoes.
What she was finding entertaining and enlightening might be a bad reminder of what he went through. There was still a huge difference between spending a few hours in the dark and being blind. She knew she could walk out of the room and have her sight back. Jonas, and others who had lost their vision, didn’t have that luxury.
Though another part of her wondered if people who relied on their vision weren’t the ones who missed out. Being in
the dark demanded such focus that it enriched as much as it denied.
“So tell me something that you could only tell me in the dark,” he said.
She paused. “I can’t think of anything.”
“Really? A secret that you never told, a fantasy that you are too shy to share in the light of day? Isn’t that what blackouts, airplanes and dark restaurants are for?” he joked, but she knew he was serious, too.
Her heart beat a little faster at the idea, and the seductive tone of his voice.
“Maybe,” she said, unsure.
“Tell me.”
Tessa couldn’t believe she was so nervous. She wasn’t shy, in fact, she was often the one who initiated sex with her partners. But there was one thing…she had never told anyone. She didn’t know if Jonas would be okay with it. What if he thought she was demented?
“The problem with sharing secrets in the dark is that we have to go out into the light at some point,” she said, thinking twice.
“Tell me, Tessa,” he said again, stroking her hand with his thumb.
Sparks lit along her skin and she almost expected to see them light up in the dark.
“Okay. There is one fantasy I’ve often had…”
“Mmm-hmm.” His hand was on her thigh, rubbing lightly there now, and she had a hard time focusing.
“I’d like to have someone watch me have sex.”
His hand stopped. “What do you mean exactly?”
“I’d like to perform for a lover. You know, just have you, for instance, sit back and watch. Maybe I could use a vibrator, my hand or some other toys, but I’d love to feel free enough with someone to do that, to know that they could enjoy just staying back and watching me pleasure myself,” she said, her voice catching. She was getting turned on just talking about it, but also felt embarrassed admitting it.
“I can’t imagine anyone saying no to that,” he said, his own voice a little rough.
“Men don’t want to think women can find pleasure without them. It’s a dent to their egos, I guess,” she said.
“Not mine. I could do that. If you want, I want to do that,” he said, his hand rubbing her leg again, moving higher. “When I have my eyes back, I mean. Just say the word.”
She was incredibly turned on by sharing that with him, and by the prospect of being able to do it. But as he buried his face in her neck, she pushed him back.
“Your turn.”
He took a breath. “Right. I don’t suppose I can get away with the standard guy fantasy of two women, right?”
She laughed. “I know you can be more creative than that.”
“I don’t know. I have always been a pretty traditional kind of guy in bed. What you did to me on the train…that was about as kinky as I have ever gotten.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
“So is there anything you’ve ever thought you’d like to do? You know, the thing you can only share in the dark?”
She put her hand on his thigh now, mimicking his motion on hers earlier.
“You are evil,” he said.
“Tell me.”
“Okay. I’ve never done it, but I think I’d like to try…”
Tessa realized she was actually holding her breath.
“Maybe being tied up,” he said. “and tying up my partner in return.”
“Bondage?”
“Yeah,” he said softly. “I’ve never trusted anyone enough to allow myself to be completely at their whim. To let them do whatever they wanted to me. For them to be completely in control. No pain or anything like that…or maybe just a little,” he said in a tone that tantalized her. “And hopefully they could trust me in the same way.”
Tessa took a deep breath to try to slow down her speeding heart.
“I could so do that,” she said, enjoying the image of Jonas bound to her bed. “I mean, if you ever thought, you know, if you wanted me to—”
She stopped, realizing she had dug her nails into his thigh. When she pulled her hand away, her fingers brushed his cock, hard and testing the looseness of the scrubs.
“I’ll go find our waiter to see if he can bring a check,” she said quickly.
He got up, too, and as she turned on her heel, she bumped into the chair and stumbled forward.
Amazingly, Jonas was there, his strong hands closing on her upper arms, steadying her and then pulling her in to hold her close.
“Hey, careful.”
“Good catch,” she said, linking her arms around his neck.
“Mmm,” he said, kissing her.
“We all go through life stumbling around in the dark, Jonas, looking for something to grab on to that makes sense. You and I, we seem to keep bumping into each other. We fit.”
He pulled her against him, fitting her to him tightly as he deepened the kiss. She didn’t resist, letting him take his fill, and getting hers in return. But for all the desire and passion between them, she couldn’t help but think there was something else Jonas hadn’t told her. Some other secret that stayed between them in the dark.
ELY SNUCK THE KEYS out of Chloe’s pocket as he pressed her against the doorjamb, her arms locked around his neck, their kisses even hungrier after their backseat encounter.
She was gorgeous, he thought, sliding the key effortlessly into the lock and opening the door without missing a beat, getting them inside where they could dispose of soaking-wet clothes and he could take his time with her.
“You have great hand-eye coordination,” she said against his mouth.
“I was very motivated to get that door open and get us inside,” he responded as he deftly undid the buttons on her wet blouse.
“I wasn’t talking about opening the door,” she rejoined, nibbling at his bottom lip, making him laugh and groan at the same time.
She tried the light switch on the wall, but apparently the power was still out.
He felt…light. For the first time in recent memory.
“I’m glad you stuck to your old habits,” he said, thankful he’d gone to the bar and that she had walked in.
“Me, too,” she whispered, lifting a hand to his face, running her fingers over the stubble of his jaw. “Let me get out of these clothes—”
“My thinking exactly,” he interrupted.
She laughed, and he liked how it infused her entire expression with warmth. Her laugh reverberated through her entire body, the cool, distant reporter erased, a vibrant, passionate woman revealed.
He’d known there was magic between them before, but he’d been too raw then, too fresh from his return to be good for anyone. He hadn’t been ready for more then, but he was now.
“How about we get dry, have a glass of wine…take our time,” she said, leaning in to kiss him again. “No need to rush.”
He nodded, sighing. “You’re right. There’s time,” he agreed.
It was a luxury he was still getting used to. Time had seemed to stop in Afghanistan, and since then, it was punctuated by the start and stop of various jobs where he’d experienced things that often made him acutely aware of how time often ran out.
He didn’t want to waste any more of his.
They walked into her bedroom, and he watched as she moved around the room, lighting several candles set on dressers and tables. The warm light revealed ultrafeminine decor that he only vaguely remembered, taking in the thick, old-fashioned quilt of cream and roses, the ornate, Victorian lamps and lacy curtains. It spoke to the old-fashioned, traditional woman who lived beneath the image of the hardened career woman.
The space was so feminine it made him feel too big and cumbersome, like if he moved, he’d break something. Classic bull in a china shop. At the same time, he liked it very much. She was different than the other women he knew in a way that spoke to him.
“You’re quiet,” she said, stripping down to the black bra and panties that took his attention away from the room altogether.
She had an amazing body, all legs, curves and delectable soft spots he loved to e
xplore and hadn’t gotten nearly enough of. The soft, flickering candlelight completed the fantasy.
He grinned, shucking his shirt, liking the way she looked at him when he did so. “Just taking in the room, and you,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows at her and making her laugh.
“You’re different now,” she said, watching him closely.
He shrugged. “Not really.”
“You were so closed off back then. I know that interview was torture for you,” she said.
“I was still adjusting. It’s disorienting, being in the desert one day and back here the next, surrounded by people who all want something from you.”
“You never said much, even during our night together.”
He didn’t remember that. He remembered touching her and losing himself in what she’d offered him. But now he realized how selfish he’d been.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t myself then. I should have walked away when you asked me back to your place, but—”
He’d needed the comfort, but more than that, something about her had beckoned him. Something about Chloe had given him what he needed, which was way more than sex, even though he didn’t recognize it at the time.
“I’m glad you didn’t. I only wish you hadn’t walked away after,” she said. “Are you going to walk away again now? Am I going to wake up in the morning to find you gone again?”
“No,” he said simply, the word his promise.
“Okay,” she said, accepting it.
She put on her robe, and then grabbed another one from the closet, handing it to him.
He took the garment, staring at it for a moment. It was definitely a guy’s, and that bothered him for a second. He looked up to see her staring at him, one eyebrow arched.
“What? Did you think that I didn’t sleep with anyone for three years, just waiting for you to come back?” she asked, smiling, though there was no barb in the question.
He took a breath. “No, not that. Hell, I didn’t even really know I was looking for you again until tonight…or maybe I knew it all along, since I got down here in Norfolk. I was reading your articles…you’re still an amazing journalist,” he said, and saw pleasure bloom in her expression. “An amazing woman.”
Mine Until Morning Page 11