Dark of Night

by T. F. Walsh

  “I never thought of that. I like having the TV in my bedroom for company.”

  “To each their own.” He kissed her nose. “I like having certain company in my bedroom, but unfortunately there’s a dress code.”

  “There is?”

  “Yup. No dresses. I’ll take this off for you.” He slid her dress up her body and over her head. “Oh yeah,” he said as his eyes burned over her lacy bra and thong. “This definitely measures up to my dress code.”

  Lu stepped forward, reaching out to undress him and he grabbed her hands. “Oh no. First I just get to look. Turn around.”

  She turned, feeling embarrassed by his intense expression. He stopped her half way and kneeled down to kiss her exposed butt. One hand slid up the front of her leg to stroke the lace between her thighs. His other hand was following the thin strip of material that ran down her behind. “A whole new playground,” he murmured.

  “Um … ?”

  “No. You don’t get any say here. You look this good, I get first dibs.”

  “Oh really?” Lu chuckled at the childish term.

  “You’re right. I guess I shouldn’t be so selfish. Sorry.” Byron stood up, picked her up, and placed her in the middle of his big bed. He stared at her a moment then murmured, “The stuff that dreams are made of.” Byron stripped off his clothes and edged onto the bed.

  Lu’s mouth watered at the sight of his toned body stretching out beside her. The fact that he seemed unaware of how good he looked, only added to his appeal.

  “Now, where was I?” Byron asked as he propped himself up on his elbow to look at her.

  “If you want to go and check map quest, I’ll wait,” Lu offered.

  “Thanks. I think I’ll find my way.”

  “Typical male,” Lu huffed. “Now may I — ?”

  “No.” His fingers lightly skimmed over her torso and she could feel her nipples stand up at attention. He groaned and bent over to suck a taut nipple through the flimsy fabric. Lu closed her eyes and felt the warmth of his mouth pulse through her body. His hand slid to tempt the moist heat between her legs. The gentle strokes over and around the thong frustrated her as she tilted her hips for more contact.

  Byron slid one leg over her and straddled her thighs leaning down to kiss her lips. He slowly trailed his lips down her body and Lu held her breath when he reached her underwear. She was already so close to the edge, it felt as if he need only breathe on her to send her over. He pressed his mouth against the damp fabric and Lu’s body jumped in response.

  “Hmm, you like that?” He shifted the thong aside and licked her, his tongue but a whisper on her sensitive flesh.

  “Please,” Lu begged. “More.”

  This time he stroked her with his fingertip a little harder. Lu groaned when he stopped. He slid the thong down her legs and dropped it off the bed. Then he spread her thighs apart. His tongue again, this time circling her bud. He pressed his fingers inside and Lu felt the rhythm he was building within her. She was so close. Her entire body froze in anticipation. His fingers increased the tempo. Then his mouth was suddenly sucking and pulling and —

  “Oh, God!” Lu clapped her hand over mouth as the scream ripped out of her. Her body crunched up in a violent series of shudders until she fell back onto the pillow gasping for air.

  He crawled back up the bed and pulled her into his embrace, gently stroking her back. She felt his breath on her temple as she regained control.

  “Mmm.” She curled up to his body sliding one leg over his thigh. “That’s so nice. She ran her fingertips over his chest and then slowly let her fingers drift lower. The muscles on his abdomen twitched under her touch. She slid her leg the rest of the way over his body and straddled his legs sitting up to remove her bra. Sliding down his body, she let her breasts and belly caress his hard abs.

  She paused to rub his erection in her cleavage enjoying the hardness encased in sensitive, smooth skin. She glanced up to see his eyes boring into her with rapt attention.

  Lu licked delicately at the crown of his penis. A quiet moan from above told her she was on the right track. She spread her lips over the top and slid her mouth down his shaft. Slowly up again and she released him.

  “You like that?” she murmured blowing cooling breaths on his wet skin. A grunt and his clenching fists were his answer. With a smile she descended on him again, using her tongue to apply extra pressure. He thrust into her mouth and then seemed to control himself to see what else she might do.

  She’d never enjoyed going down on Paul; he’d demanded it and then complained she was lacking in skill. But exploring Byron’s body was actually fun. She could feel his responses and encouragement. She enjoyed the power as she taunted him with long strokes of her tongue and fingers. A little suction and his whole body would tense up in anticipation. Lu was almost sorry when he gently tugged her up his body.

  With a sigh, she straddled his hips and began to lower herself around him.

  “No, I need — ” His voice was raspy as he reached out toward the bedside table.

  Lu bent down to kiss his lips then whispered, “I’m on the pill.”

  “Thank God!” With a groan he speared himself into her. His hot latex-free skin felt so good deep inside her. He put his hands on her hips helping her find the right rhythm. He slid one hand between their bodies and stroked her until she was teetering on the edge of sanity.

  “Now,” she gasped, pulling him in even deeper as her orgasm took over all sensations.

  “Fuck, Lu. Yes!” The guttural yell seemed to come straight from his gut as he thrust his last strokes into her. She drooped unceremoniously back onto him, her own body still shuddering in aftershock. Limp as a duvet, she molded around his every muscle and bone. After she caught her breath, she propped herself on her elbows and tried to roll off him.

  “Don’t go. Please stay this way.” His arms tugged her back down. “I want to be in you, under you, forever.” Soft kisses to her hair punctuated his every request.

  “Me too. I just didn’t want to be too heavy.”

  “Not possible.” His fingers were gently playing in her curls. “I love you, Lu.”

  “Huh?” Her head shot up bumping his chin. “Sorry.”

  He rubbed his jaw and laughed. She could feel the gentle undulations of his diaphragm. “I didn’t mean to shock you. We can pretend I didn’t say it.”

  “No.” Lu looked into his face. “Say it again.”

  “I love you.” Byron pulled her face to his for a kiss. “And no, it’s not just the mind-blowing sex talking.” His eyes searched hers.

  “Um … I think I’m in love with you.” Lu grimaced. She sounded so wimpy. “I mean, I’m obsessed with you, in lust with you, and in fucking awe of you. I just, um …”

  “I guess that’ll have to do.” Byron kissed her. “For now.”

  “Sorry.” Lu slid herself off him. “I’ll be right back.”

  Half running to the bathroom, Lu tried to process what had just happened. The most incredible man she’d ever met was in love with her. Fucking wow! But was she in love? How do you know? She certainly felt more for him than she ever had for anyone else. But love was such a huge word.

  After cleaning up, she looked at her face in the mirror. Reflected back, her face looked pale and a little wild-eyed. She realized the problem; he wouldn’t love her when he really got to know her.

  Lu shook her head at her foolishness and quickly rubbed some toothpaste on her teeth with her finger. God, next thing she knew she’d be signing up for some self-help discovery class to get in touch with her inner child. It was just too soon to be in love. It was a lovely concept, but she’d wait and see if he still loved her in a month. She ran her fingers through her tangled curls to tame them and then headed back to the bedroom. There was a warm light now emanating from the bedside la
mp.

  Byron lifted the covers for her to slide under. “Don’t go anywhere.” He strode back the way she’d come, his heels thumping on the carpeted floor.

  Lu grabbed the rails at the top of his big brass bed and stretched out her spine. She should go home. It was still too early in their relationship for him to wake up to her baggy eyes, sheet wrinkled face, and the cursed morning breath. Really, was there ever a good time for a lover to see that? And how come guys don’t seem to get sheet wrinkles? Maybe their skin was less impressionable.

  She watched Byron walk into the bedroom, his eyes immediately catching hers as if afraid that she might’ve disappeared. He crawled under the covers and enveloped her in a hug. His skin was cooler and felt fresh under the warm blankets.

  “Will you stay the night?”

  “Do you want me to?” Oh shit, she should’ve just said no. Eyes, skin, breath, not to mention early work.

  “Yeah. I’ll make you breakfast.” He curved perfectly around her body pulling her back to rest against his chest. “I’ll even let you choose which side of the bed you want.”

  “Hmm, I’m used to sleeping in the middle.”

  “Don’t push it,” he warned her with a grin, then followed up with a kiss. “I’ll set the alarm. What time do you need to be out?”

  Lu watched him sit up and fiddle with the clock on the table. Well, hell. “Let’s see. Up, breakfast, drive, walk of shame, shower, dress, and go. Is quarter of six too early?”

  “Nope. If it helps, you can shower here and borrow some sweats for your trip home?”

  “Thanks. Not that I know many of my neighbors, but …”

  Byron turned to her, “Preference to side?”

  “I’m good. You?”

  “Yup.” He put his arm over her. “Just wake me if you get too hot or squished. Or if you get horny.” He kissed her shoulder. “Especially if you get horny.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” Lu rolled onto her side so she could cuddle her back into his chest. She could feel his erection reawakening and gently nudging her backside. She pulled his hand up to her lips. “Goodnight, Byron.”

  CHAPTER 13

  Lu tried to wipe the crazy smile off her face as she pulled into the fire hall lot. Facing Reynolds with an “I just had the best morning sex of my life” grin was probably not in her best interests. But God, had she ever! She’d wondered if Byron had meant it about waking him, but sure enough he was already halfway there.

  Walking into the hall, Lu concentrated on concealing her joy. The guys were starting to congregate in the common area for the shift report. A quick glance revealed Reynolds leaning against the windowsill across the room. His back stiffened, then he turned to face her, a tentative smile hovering on his lips. He nodded to her and Lu returned the gesture. She wasn’t sure what they were acknowledging: truce or mutual distrust.

  Marcus was preparing to give the night report. He glanced over at Lu.

  “Oh good, you’re here, Lu. The computer’s been fritzed for two days now. Wanna take a look?”

  “Sure.” Yeah! Something to do that wasn’t cleaning.

  Marcus looked at his list and continued, “We’re almost out of coffee, TP, and Comet. Ace, can’t you get Laurel Ann to deliver?”

  “You mean she’s still holdin’ out on ya, buddy?” Red stage-whispered from the table. Laughter erupted but quickly stopped at Reynolds’s look of disapproval.

  Lu was surprised to see Ace actually blush at the joke. Man, he’s got it bad. Or perhaps he’s thinking about morning sex, too …

  Marcus wrapped up his report and the night crew slowly left with their loud exuberance. People moped and groaned about how long the fourteen-hour night shifts were, but then they seemed to take ages milling about before actually leaving. Probably since no one, other than their fellow workers, was on the same energy cycle as they were. Most civilians didn’t have that all wired up and nowhere to go problem at eight o’clock in the morning.

  Lu grabbed a coffee, waved at Ace and Red, and ran upstairs to work on the computer. It took a few minutes to boot up and then Lu found the problem. Fixing it was another matter. She played around for a bit to see if there was another way to disable the virus. Downstairs she heard Red and Ace arguing over their fantasy baseball teams. Back in Springfield, she’d tried to get into sports to fit in with her coworkers, but it hadn’t helped. Aside from Gary, her old captain, mostly they’d ignored her. Here they seemed to appreciate her more. Now both Ace and Marcus were asking for her advice when it came to their girlfriends, and no one questioned her status as computer-goddess. Maybe you had to just keep moving until you found your place …

  A call at 13:00 had been a “senior down and can’t get up” call. Red and Ace had easily lifted the man off the floor into his wheelchair. The man’s wife had chattered away in some strange language, and they’d all smiled and nodded. Luckily dispatch had a translator so they knew going in what was needed. As they left, the woman pressed a small paper bag into Red’s hand. Lu wondered if it was money, which was strictly verboten, but then it turned out to be some sort of fried dough-things rolled in sugar. Ace tried one and said it wasn’t bad. He put the rest in the fridge at the hall. Probably destined to be next week’s “something died in the fridge” mystery.

  Lu was sitting back at the computer when her phone buzzed. Seeing the call display, she carefully checked there was no one lurking behind her.

  Lu smiled as she answered her phone, “Hey there, cutie.”

  “Ooops, let me get you off speaker-phone.” Byron quickly cut in.

  “What?”

  “Kidding. Hey there cutie, yourself.” He chuckled. “How’s your day going?”

  “Better now. Actually it’s just like my old job at Compu-Shack. Here I am back doing computer diagnostics. How about you?”

  “Same old. We’re trying to pick up that kid we caught at the last fire for questioning again.”

  “Really?” Lu’s stomach clenched. By now Kaitlynn had probably told her boyfriend all about Lu.

  “Shouldn’t be difficult to find him. I’m sure he can give us something — ”

  “Were there any traceable numbers on the hydroponics equipment at the new site?” Lu interrupted.

  “I’m more interested in the kid at this point. The pop tart that bailed him out was pretty interesting, too.”

  “Huh?” Lu’s brain froze then suddenly melted and let loose a tidal wave of understanding. Oh God! He meant Kaitlynn! What did he mean interesting? Had he talked to Kaitlynn?

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t bug you with my work shit. I’ll be off a little later tonight, about nine. Some stupid dog-and-pony show for a bunch of French diplomats. I think the mayor’s angling for an exchange shopping trip for his wife.”

  “Dog-and-pony show?”

  “You know — a company show-and-tell event.”

  “Oh.”

  “Can you come over tonight?”

  “Are you asking me out to play?” Lu teased.

  “Uh-huh.” His voice was a low growl that set her body tingling with anticipation.

  “Okay. But Thursday night I’m busy,” she reminded him.

  “Doing what?”

  “Working. Some of us do that for a living, you know.”

  “I’ll let you off this time — Hey, gotta go. See you tonight, love.” The phone went silent.

  Lu stared at the receiver for a moment, a smile hovering on her lips. What a guy. With a sigh, she went back to the computer. She jumped when she heard Ace’s voice from the doorway.

  “Hey, Lu.” Ace shifted from one foot to the other. “How’s the computer coming?”

  “I’m getting it. Someone downloaded a virus.”

  “Can you tell who?” Ace asked. “Probably that college kid. He was playing a bunch of new
games when it went down.”

  “That’s likely.” She turned back to look at him. “So what’s up?”

  He looked at his shoes. “Laurel Ann wants to meet my friends.” His mouth turned down with the admission.

  “That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah, but …” Ace looked at her hopefully then blurted, “Want to come to dinner some night?”

  “Oh … um, sure.” Lu smiled. “That’d be fun.”

  “Thanks.” Ace heaved a sigh of relief. “I didn’t want to invite any of the other guys. Who knows what they’d say?”

  “Let me know when,” Lu told him.

  “Tuesday,” he said.

  “Tuesday is fine,” she said.

  She watched him edge out the door, his mission accomplished.

  After a couple of hours of tinkering, she got to the root of the virus. Man, this one had a lot of tentacles. She patiently went through each app and drive and deleted the offending intruder. It was slow, but if you missed any then next thing you knew they would start regenerating. Hackers were always getting better with their malware. Reynolds had poked his head in the computer room once then left without saying anything. Lu didn’t know whether she should feel relieved or worried. At six she listened to Ace give the outgoing report and she received a cheer for fixing the computer.

  So this was what it was supposed to feel like, being part of a team. She was now Ace’s official friend. Her coworkers actually appreciated her efforts. And now she was driving over to spend the evening at her lover’s house. Damn, life was good. Lionel Ritchie’s “Hello” came on the radio and Lu turned it up.

  Lu stopped as she heard herself singing, “I love you …”

  Fuck. No. She couldn’t risk getting any more emotionally entangled with Byron. Eventually he would find out her fire secrets and break up with her. She needed at least the appearance of distance between Byron and her heart.

  • • •

  Two nights later, Lu was getting ready for work at Byron’s place, and trying to find her hairbrush. “You know, it’s a helluva lot easier getting ready at my place,” she said.