Outage (Finale)

Be cool. Do not say anything stupid. Do not make him feel uncomfortable. AND FOR FUCK'S SAKE, JESSE HOLCOMB, DON'T FUCK THIS UP.

Suitably pep talked, she made a third mad dash from her car to his front door. He answered the door before she even took her finger off the doorbell. This made her smile for some reason.

"Come in," Luke told her. "You're just in time for a fascinating documentary on the Goliath birdeater."

God, he was adorable. He was in sweatpants and a t-shirt, and his hair was disheveled. He had his horn-rimmed glasses on. She loved his glasses. She loved a lot of things.

"Thank you so much for letting me do this," she said. "I just couldn't bear the thought of all this stuff going to waste."

"It's no problem," he said somewhat gracelessly. "My refrigerator is your refrigerator."

She unloaded her groceries while they made small talk about the weather. She was slowly losing the hope that something else was going to happen. She was going to put her cucumbers and avocados in his refrigerator, and then she'd leave. This was not the way she imagined things.

When she put the last bean burrito in the freezer, he came up behind her and said, "Would you like to stay for the documentary? Maybe we could have a few of those beers you just brought me."

She smiled. This was more like it.

They sat closer than necessary on his suede sofa. For forty-five minutes, she actually found herself captivated by the world of the Goliath birdeater spider. Well, that and her present company. She could smell him. She could feel the heat that was surrounding them like a summer blanket. It was so uncomfortable, yet so arousing at the same time. If something didn't happen before they were supposed to be back at work in 6 hours, she'd have to go home and find her long lost vibrator to ease the tension.

Right before the documentary came back from commercial, a loud clap of thunder boomed across the bayou, a bolt of lightning exploded from the sky, and Luke's power went out. They both groaned, and then chuckled. Luke's townhouse was instantly pitch black. Even though it was still only 6:00 in the evening, his house was made to be as dark as possible during the day. Shades on every window closed out the sun. Even though he could easily pull the shade back and enjoy the evening dusk, he didn't move. And she didn't ask him why.

"Well, there goes that idea," Jesse said.

"Indeed," Luke added. "Hold on, I'll get a flashlight. We'll figure something out here."

But he didn't get up. Instead, he scooted closer to her. It was pitch black now in his and Jesse couldn't see a thing, but she felt his movement. She felt the static in the air. And she felt the feelings he was trying desperately to hide from her.

He was close to her now, so close. She scooted closer. They met in the middle. Luke put his hand on her face, and she leaned into it. There were so many things to say, and yet none of them seemed important now. It was not the time to talk; it was only time to feel.

The moment he kissed her, time stopped. She stopped counting in seconds and minutes and hours, and only felt in light touches, kisses, moans. He was a great kisser, not that she ever thought he wouldn't be. She knew he would. He ran his fingers through her hair. Her scalp tingled. And so did other things.

And then in the darkness that was caused by a power outage, a power struggle began. In the darkness, Jesse tried to be in control. She tried to control the force of the kisses. She tried to touch him before he could touch her. She wanted him to feel just like she did, and did her best to make sure of that. This was how it always had been in her relationships, and none of the men she'd been with (all four of them) had ever complained. Jesse liked to be in control, and started to panic when she wasn't.

Sensing this, Luke grabbed her hands when she started to take his shirt off.

"Jess," he whispered in her ear. She moaned in spite of herself. "Relax. I know you want to be in control, but let me take over. Let me be the one who gives you pleasure. Let me make it up to you."

"Make what up to me?" She whispered back.

"Everything," he said. His breath was tickling her ear, causing every cell and every membrane in her body to rave in ecstasy. "The past three years. Give me the chance to show you what you've given me, what I've never allowed myself to give back."

"I can't. I can't...let go. I can't let you..." He silenced her with a kiss.

"Trust me," he said simply. "Please."

So she did. She relaxed in his arms and let him show her unending pleasures; feelings she never allowed herself to feel before. Lips on a nipple, fingers raking her moist slit, his tongue on her earlobe...she was his, and she wanted to be.

Eventually, he led her to his bedroom. She held onto him, enjoying her dependence on him. She knew in the light of the day something like that would mortify her; make her feel powerless. But here, here in the darkness, in his arms...it made her feel amazing.

Before they got to his bed, they undressed each other. Then he laid her down and touched her with alternating amounts of pressure. Once he figured out she liked it with just enough roughness to make it interesting, he went to work. While he gently licked an earlobe, he also pinched a nipple. Jesse's loud moan indicated that she was enjoying the combination of touches. Soon, he had two fingers inside her, in and out, up and down, in and out again. She bucked against his knuckles, having an intense orgasm that shook her entire body. Eventually the power came back on, but his power never faltered.

"That's just the beginning," he said. And he was right.

By the time his tongue met her clitoris, she lost count of all the orgasms that coursed through her. And when he finally entered her, hard and ready to give her something no one ever bothered to give her, he whispered to her, "I mean it, Jess. This is the beginning. Every day is going to be like this. We've both waited so long for it, and now we never have to wait ever again."

Jesse smiled as he took her, and gasped at the manner in which her body was reacting to his. If this was what giving up power felt like, she wished the power in her apartment had gone off long before this godforsaken night.