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The next thing she knew, he was there, his hands finding her in the dark.
The scent of sweet-smelling lavender and sage lotion on her skin rose between them as he helped her up and over to the sofa. As he sat down with her, he didn’t let go.
She’d dabbed some patchouli oil on her pulse points earlier in the day. The sweet, earthy scent was traditionally one used in erotic ceremony, and connected historically to sensual practice. Right now, combined with the humidity in the room and Jonas’s manly scent, it was a heady mix.
Or maybe it was the way one of his hands lingered on her back, and the other on her wrist. The storm raged outside, but Tessa hardly noticed.
“I shouldn’t be here,” he said.
“And yet here you are.”
She saw the green light in the tense posture of his body, as if he was using every muscle he had to hold himself back.
Time stopped. The world outside the window was invisible, everything was swallowed by the storm. It was only the two of them, here, alone, and suddenly nothing else mattered.
“Jonas,” she whispered, but it was all he allowed her to say before his mouth was on hers, and they fell back to the soft cushions of the sofa, forgetting everything else.
4
7:00 p.m.
JONAS KNEW HE was playing a dangerous game, but when he had Tessa in his arms, her scent intoxicating him, he couldn’t stay away.
He didn’t ask for this. If James hadn’t called, he wouldn’t even be here. But he was, and being this close to Tessa without touching her was proving impossible. It had been a mistake of grand proportions to accept this job from James, but it was too late now.
He wanted her more than he wanted his next breath, and in one move, he slipped off the thin tank she’d put on, and pressed her bare flesh to his. They both groaned as she twined her arms around his neck.
“You’re not dressed,” she said, rubbing her mouth against his collarbone.
“Not completely, no,” he said, absorbing the sensation of her soft skin and pebbled nipples pressing against his chest, almost making him think he was dreaming again. “I was interrupted by you wrecking your apartment.”
“Good timing on my part, then,” she said, offering her mouth to him. His hands drifted up and wove themselves into her hair, but alarms went off in his head.
What did she mean? Did she fall on purpose? Was Tessa playing games again?
He deepened the kiss, realizing he didn’t care.
“You feel good,” he said, though it was a radical understatement.
“You, too,” she whispered.
The kiss went on and on, and he pressed his erection against her belly with a groan. He ran his hands and lips over her everywhere, committing every curve and shallow of her form to memory. Rolling her nipples between his fingers, he liked when she cried out, gasping in pleasure, and he did it again.
Her responses to him, at least, were real, and that’s all that mattered to him right then.
Jonas gently pushed her breasts together and sucked in both tender nubs at once, feeling her entire body tremble under his. He’d always been one to enjoy sex with the lights on, but his blindness made everything more intense, and this was no exception.
She ran her hands down his chest, unzipping his jeans. He sucked in a sharp breath when her hand closed around him, stroking lightly, running her thumb over the broad crown of his cock.
“You’re killing me, Tessa,” he managed to choke out.
“I haven’t even started. There are so many things I’ve thought about doing to you,” she said on a whisper, sliding downward so that she could taste him, taking his length into her mouth. Jonas took a deep breath then released it, letting her do whatever she wanted.
He set his hand gently on the back of her head, holding her there for a long moment as she drew on him. Not sure he’d last much longer, he pulled her back up against him and, quickly, silently, slid the bottoms she wore off, and then the slight, silky panties, as well. He lay over her, his shoulders nudging at the insides of her knees.
Oh, yeah, his body hummed.
Tracing a line down from her navel to the slick, hot flesh of her sex, he spread her wider, and only wished he could see. She arched, wanting more, quivering.
He flicked his tongue lightly against her clit. He relished the hot, womanly taste and abandoned the light touch to go deeper, rolling his tongue around her, parting her folds and seeking the ways to make her cry out. He had no idea how long he stayed there, the intimate kiss pleasing and arousing him as much as it seemed to please and arouse her.
She bucked her hips against him, but he held her in place, one climax triggering another until she was left spent and panting beneath him.
“Jonas,” she said his name on a breath, the satisfaction evident in her voice.
Masculine pride suffused him, inciting the urge to take her and please her even more deeply. For the first time in weeks, he didn’t feel at a disadvantage. He moved up, he planted his hands on either side of her shoulders, holding back.
“I don’t have protection, sweetheart,” he said. “Do you have anything here?”
She paused and then moaned one of frustration.
“No, and I don’t take birth control. I’m healthy, but I don’t want to risk other consequences.”
He agreed, and backed away, though his body tensed in objection. So close. Like his dream coming true, much to his frustration, except that she’d stayed with him this time.
Tessa pushed up, her arm linking around his neck, pulling him in for a kiss.
“There’s a twenty-four-hour drugstore two blocks down. I’ll go. It will just take five minutes,” she said, already scrambling up to grab her clothes.
“Careful where you step,” he warned, remembering the broken glass. “You can’t go out in this storm,” he added, and she chuckled, a low, sexy sound he liked. A lot.
“Jonas, I would walk through fire to make this happen. A little rain is nothing.”
As much as he agreed, he couldn’t let her do it. He was here to keep her safe.
“It’s dark out. There are fallen wires, looters, it’s a blackout,” he elaborated.
“I’m sure it will be—”
Her cell phone rang then, and then again.
“Are you going to answer that?” he asked.
He heard her grab the phone.
“Hello, Kate?” Tessa said, and there was clear concern in her tone as she turned away to talk.
The wind rattled the windows a bit. Jonas sat back, trying to breathe evenly, letting his body relax, if that was possible. He was hard and aching. It seemed he was doomed to never have Tessa.
Served him right, he supposed. He never should have taken this job in the first place, and since he did, he really had to try harder not to cave so easily to his desire. But when he was with Tessa, it was hard to think of anything else, especially when the world was so dark, and they were here all alone.
She came back to where he sat, done with her call. He could sense the change in her mood, and his own heat waned.
“Everything all right?”
“Remember my friend Kate? The pharmacy has canceled deliveries tonight and she’s almost out of insulin. She doesn’t have anyone else. She’s also blind, so can’t go herself, and can’t reach her neighbor. I have to go get the meds and take them to her. I shouldn’t be too long. Maybe an hour. I can get our other … supplies, too.”
“It’s too risky, Tessa. There has to be some other way,” he said. “Call 911.”
“They won’t consider it an emergency. She’s fine now, she just needs another shot by bedtime. And you’re not my bodyguard anymore, Jonas,” she said, obviously bristling at his bossy tone. “You can’t really tell me to stay or go.”
Of course, she had no idea he was actually there to keep close, to keep an eye on her. Which meant he only had one choice.
“I don’t think—” he started to object.
“Listen, I’m going. She needs me. If you want, you can come with me.”
“How? There are no taxis.”
“We’ll take the trains.”
“They may have shut down several routes in the power outage,” he argued.
“I’m sure it will be fine. Even back in 2003, in the big East Coast blackout, only a few train routes were affected. It’s probably our best chance.”
He sighed. Tessa had her mind made up. “Where does Kate live?”
“Lena Street, in Germantown.”
“Okay, we can take the subway north, and figure out how to go from there.”
“That’s how I’ve gone before,” she agreed.
He didn’t see that he had any other choice, though Jonas had a bad feeling about it. This was not a night to be out in the city.
Still, he admired her concern about the elderly woman. Jonas had promised James Rose that he would stick close by Tessa, and he planned to keep that promise. He wasn’t sure how much help he could be to her, a blind man traversing in a city during a blackout, but he guessed he was about to find out.
Norfolk, Virginia
ELY BERRINGER CLICKED his phone off, shoving it in his pocket as he finished his beer in two deep swallows. He pushed his glass forward for a refill. The wind howled outside, but it didn’t seem to bother the bar patrons, most of them from the nearby naval shipyards. They paid the flickering lights little mind as they watched a game on the big screen in the corner, probably having been through far worse out at sea.
Ely had finished his assignment, guarding a bank executive who had been receiving death threats for the last few weeks. The FBI had arrested the perpetrators, a group of thieves who had had significant success getting inside vaults by threatening the lives and families of the employees who had access.
Ely admired the single-mom bank exec who’d had enough spine to finally step up and contact law enforcement. Several others before her had caved to the threats, and one of those had been killed during the resulting heist. Berringer had been brought in on protective detail in collaboration with the feds. It was a first for their small company, and a big step forward.
Now it was over, but he was stuck in Norfolk for tonight, riding out the storm. The bar was a place he used to visit often. He didn’t recognize anyone here now, but there was someone he was looking out for.
She was late tonight. Maybe the storm had her hunkered down elsewhere, but he hoped not. Human beings were tied to their rituals, and Chloe Roberts’s had always been to come to this particular bar on a Thursday night for a drink before heading home.
He hadn’t seen or spoken with her in three years, since she’d interviewed him upon his return from Afghanistan and his award of the Navy Cross. The interview had been a chore—Ely didn’t care for publicizing his accomplishments—but the brass had insisted, said it would be good for recruitment.
The night following the interview, however, had been much more satisfying.
He’d hung out with Chloe for a few weeks, while he was in Norfolk, but realized too late that he’d read her all wrong. She came off as a modern, career-focused woman, the kind of woman you could spend a few nights or a few weeks with, but who had no expectations of more.
In truth, she came from a large family herself, he discovered, and she wanted the whole package: a husband, kids, the white-picket fence. He didn’t realize that she had set her sights on him for the prize.
Ely hadn’t made any promises, and they’d parted ways more or less amicably. More on his side, less on hers.
He straightened as he saw her come in, her trench coat soaked, her umbrella bent all to hell. She struggled with it for a few minutes before throwing it into the corner in frustration.
Looking up, her normally well-styled red hair was wild from the wind, and she froze as her eyes met his. He nodded in acknowledgment, indicating the open seat by his. She didn’t move for a moment, looking unsure. A couple folks called out greetings, and she broke the stare, returning the hellos.
The removal of the traditional trench coat she always wore revealed the same bombshell body he’d enjoyed three years before. She hung her coat on the rack by the door and strolled over, her composure taking the place of her surprise at seeing him.
“Ely,” she said with something that almost approached affection, leaning in to kiss his cheek before taking a seat. “What brings you here?” she asked.
She didn’t need to order, the bartender delivered bourbon on the rocks for her without being asked. Ely knew it was top-of-the-line whiskey, and that on a normal evening she would nurse that one glass for two hours while poring over her notes.
It was the same way she made love, he remembered all too clearly. Slow, thorough and with the utmost attention to detail.
Some things really didn’t change, much like the rise in his blood pressure, and below his beltline, at the sight of her generous breasts underneath the dark blue silk blouse she wore.
Maybe this was ill-advised, but he hadn’t felt like spending tonight with a stranger, even if all they did was have a drink.
He was hoping for more.
“Just finished a job, and any port in a storm,” he said, then winced at his poor choice of words. She didn’t seem to take offense.
“It’s a bad one out there, but not the worst I’ve seen,” she said, holding her glass to full lips that needed no coloring. He’d always loved that she didn’t wear lipstick. He hated the stuff. “So you’re working with your brothers now?”
“Yeah, personal security. How’d you know?”
She smiled at him, her eyes sparkling. Stupid question. She was one of the best news reporters in Hampton Roads, and she knew a lot about everything, and everyone, between here and the District.
“I’d hoped you’d be here tonight,” he said bluntly, meeting her bright blue eyes, and also appreciating the way her damp curls clung to her cheeks.
“Really?” she said, looking away. “Why’s that?”
He smiled and took another sip from his beer, shaking his head. “Just finished a job that reminded me about how crazy stuff can be out there. I don’t know. I guess I wanted to spend some time with a friend,” he replied somewhat truthfully.
“Friends? Is that what we were?” Her tone was somehow humorous, skeptical and suspicious all at the same time.
“I hope so,” he responded, and decided to cut to the heart of it. “When jobs are done, the intense ones, sometimes it’s like …”
“Hitting a wall? Like go-go-go then full stop?” she supplied.
“Yeah,” he said. He knew she’d understand. “You’re on a constant adrenaline trip for weeks, not unlike combat in some ways. Then it just ends, and while that’s good, I—”
