"You're seriously that scared?" he inquired, but with a hint of amusement in his voice.
Curled up in a tiny ball beneath our mountains of blankets, I was petrified. Truly petrified that our electric had gone out.
Jay stared at me in disbelief, shaking his head and holding up our oversized top comforter to stare down at me. "I can't see you, but I know you're down there. You're being a big baby."
"I'm afraid of the dark," I whined, trying to tug the blanket back down. "I hate not having electric."
"It's darker down there," he laughed.
"I feel safe," I yelled back, feeling like he was a hundred miles away because I couldn't see him.
"Want me to tell you a story?" he laughed, reaching down and patting my head.
"Sure," I tried to relax some. I was safe with Jay, even if we had no electric and it was pitch black.
Jay laughed and stretched out in the bed, careful to avoid hitting me. "Alright, my story is dirty, so prepare yourself."
Buried under the blankets, I smirked.
"Picture yourself laying on a beach, backing in the glory of the warm sun. You're wearing your silver bikini, the one that barely covers your breasts. You sip from your cold Corona, and feel as though you're staring in a commercial. This makes you turn to smile at me. I smile back, understanding your comfort in that moment. It's bright and warm and the sand comforts your body as you lay there. Realizing that I have the perfect opportunity, I lean over and kiss you. Gently at first, then more and more aggressively. My tongue is tasting you, running over your tongue barbell. As you whirl with the sensations, I reach over and quickly tug off that tiny little, silver bikini top. You gasp at the air on your exposed breasts. So beautiful, those breasts. I want to take your nipple and swirl my tongue around it endlessly, but I my tongue will not leave your mouth. No. So instead, I pinch you softly with my thumb and forefinger. You're excited, your senses piqued by this moment here on the beach."
"Jay?" I whisper, reaching up and tugging on his hand. "Come down here with me."
He complies and appears underneath the blankets, his eyes the only noticeable portion of his body in the dark cavern of blankets. He grins. "I want to taste you. I roll onto you, in the sand. I know that when this is all said and done, we'll be a mess. We'll have particles of sand in crevices where sand has no right to be. But that's the price we'll pay."
I interrupted him, pushing my lips to his face. I was lucky, his lips met mine in a heated meld. He tasted of vanilla and coffee and sweet, sugar-coated Rice Krispies. I had to laugh at this, had to laugh that, even in a blackout, Jay would find a way to his blessed coffee. That was Jay: Starbucks or die. He'd always been that way. He always tasted like coffee. I welcomed that taste, wanted to swallow it- and him- down forever and feel safe. Jay was so, deliciously safe.
"So you don't want to hear the story?" he questioned, pulling away for a second to lick his lips.