Night & Day--A Time for Love Series Novella

by Bethany Lopez

  Once I was ready to beg, he replaced his thumb with his lips and sucked my nipple into the wet heat, his tongue and teeth driving me insane.

  “Micah,” I moaned, my hands coming to rest on his shoulders in order to steady myself.

  He moved to pay homage to my other breast as a free hand slid around my stomach to my back and dipped into the lace of my panties to grip my cheek firmly.

  I felt up his throat, loving the rough five-o’clock shadow against my smooth skin. As I reached his jaw, he stopped his worship of my breasts, turning his head slightly to gently kiss my palm.

  I dropped down, groaning when I was met with his hard length, and brushed my lips against him.

  It had been so long.

  So long since I felt his full lips against mine.

  I tilted my head and met his fervor. Our mouths fused, our hips bucked, and I wanted nothing more than to feel him inside me, filling me up as I drove us to the brink.

  “Fuck, Simone,” Micah managed when we came up for air.

  I was rocking against him, already close to release.

  “Shit, babe, I don’t have a condom,” Micah said, his breath coming out in pants. “I wasn’t lying when I said there’s been no one; I stopped carrying protection.”

  “I’m covered,” I assured him.

  “You sure?”

  “Mmmm-hmmm,” I breathed, still rubbing my clit against his cock.

  “Stand up, baby,” Micah said, his lips on my throat.

  When I did, he lifted his ass, undid his jeans, and slid them down just enough for his cock to spring free and my skin to meet his, rather than rough material.

  I felt Micah take his dick in his hand and hold it steady so I could slide down.

  I braced myself on his shoulders again and went so slowly, inch by inch, enjoying every stretch as I seated myself fully on him.

  We both let out little noises. Mine of relief, Micah’s a bit more strangled.

  Then I began to move.

  Micah’s hands captured my face and held it steady as he kissed up my throat and along my jaw, before claiming my lips.

  My senses were heightened in the dark.

  I could hear every slap of skin, every gasp, every sound of our kissing.

  His skin heated, and so did mine, and I could feel the dampness in the air as we worked up a sweat.

  The room smelled of sex, Micah’s cologne, and the faint hint of cardboard and booze.

  Somehow, it all came together to make the most erotic experience of my life.

  Micah put one hand on the small of my back and the other fisted in the back of my hair as I started to move faster, chasing the orgasm I could feel building.

  I moved up, losing most of him … teasing us both, before slamming back down and repeating the move.

  “Harder,” Micah whispered, his teeth scraping my lower lip and his fist tightening just enough to make me wild.

  I started moving faster. Tits bouncing, skin slapping, and I lost his mouth as I concentrated all of my attention on where we were joined. Micah bucked beneath me, but before I could worry about being unseated, the pleasure hit me.

  “Yes, Micah,” I cried, holding on tight as I rode it out.

  His hands came to my hips and he held me steady as he pounded into me from below and reached his own release.

  My forehead collapsed onto his shoulder as I struggled for breath, our bodies slick and sweet.

  “Jesus,” I managed when I could form a word.

  “You can say that again,” Micah replied.

  Ten

  Micah

  I felt fucking amazing.

  I don’t think I’d gone a year without sex since I lost my virginity at fifteen. In fact, I knew I hadn’t.

  I sat there, enjoying the euphoria, and the feel of Simone cuddled into my body.

  When she began to move, I protested, “Not yet.”

  She nuzzled into my neck and I was gone.

  Fuck!

  I put my arms around her and held her closer.

  “That was better than I remembered,” Simone murmured against my skin before I felt her lips brush it.

  “It really was,” I agreed.

  “My legs are beginning to cramp up,” Simone said, standing and separating herself from me.

  I felt the loss immediately, and somehow, a slight draft.

  Not wanting her to have to deal with my mess alone in the dark, I quickly took off my boots, jeans and boxers. I shoved grasped for her hand and shoved the boxers in them.

  “Here, I’d help, but I can’t see shit.”

  “Thanks,” she said softly.

  We both righted ourselves and, once I was done, I fumbled around on the ground for my phone.

  I pressed the button and saw it was at fifteen percent.

  “Do you need the flashlight?” I asked, worried that my phone wasn’t going to last as long as we needed it to.

  “No, I’m good, just about dressed.”

  I heard her yawn and knew after the long shift and fantastic sex, she was probably as exhausted as I was.

  “Here…”

  I turned on the flashlight long enough to lay my shirt on the cement and lay down on it. I knew it wasn’t going to give us any comfort, but would at least keep my head off of the unforgiving ground.

  Once I was on my back, I patted my chest and said, “Come here.”

  I could make out a smile on her face as she lowered herself to the ground.

  “Use me as your bed, your pillow … whatever you need,” I told her.

  Once she was settled with her head on my chest and at least half of her body resting on mine, I turned off the flashlight and wrapped my arms around her.

  “You good?” I asked, even though I knew she couldn’t be all that comfortable laying on the floor, even with me as a cushion.

  “Mmmm, yeah, I’m good,” Simone replied sleepily.

  I placed one hand on my stomach and the other caressed her bare shoulder.

  Luckily, it was warm enough in here to be borderline comfortable. I knew once the sun came up, that wouldn’t last long. Hopefully, the power outage would be fixed soon. Either that, or Big Mike would come in uncharacteristically early.

  Otherwise, things were bound to start looking down.

  As it was, I had to take a leak and was trying to think of anything else but that fact.

  I closed my eyes and listened to Simone’s breathing even out as she dozed off, and started to fall asleep myself.

  “What the fuck?”

  I startled awake to the sound of the door banging against the wall.

  Simone jumped up as if she’d been electrocuted and ran to the door.

  “Don’t let it close,” she said frantically, sighing loudly and spreading her arms wide like she was hugging the door.

  “Were you guys in here all night?” Big Mike asked, his head swinging from side to side as he looked from me to Simone and back.

  “Yeah,” I said, moaning slightly as I peeled myself off the hard floor. “I shut the door behind us, figuring I’d call Carlos to open it, then the blackout happened.”

  “Shit, that sucks, you guys okay?”

  I looked over at Simone, who was still hugging the door, and fought back a grin.

  “We survived,” I said lightly, hoping there was no lingering sex smell to give us away.

  “I have to go to the restroom,” Simone said, before hurrying off.

  I stooped to pick up my phone, noticed it was dead, and snatched my dirty boxers off the floor, shoving them in my back pocket, then grabbed the half-empty bottle of vodka.

  “Money’s over there for the bottle,” I told Big Mike, nodding to the cash sitting by the clipboard.

  “I don’t want your fucking money. Consider it payment for being locked in the damn storeroom overnight,” Big Mike said with a huff. “It’s a good thing I came down early to check on things, I hate to think of you guys being stuck in here longer than you were.”

  “No shit. Sle
eping on the floor was no picnic, but I hate to think what it woulda been like once we were in here for hours with no bathroom and no food.”

  “Sorry, Micah, it never occurred to me that anyone would be stuck here. I figured you all went home for the night. And, I couldn’t call…”

  Big Mike did look kind of busted up about it, so I assured him, “It’s all right. We came out of it okay. No harm, no foul.”

  “Is everything back to normal now?” I asked him as I headed for the exit, eager to see the outside of this room.

  “Yup, phones and lights are all back in working order.”

  “Great. I’m gonna go check on Simone and head home.”

  “Sounds good, and, Micah, you and Simone don’t worry about your shifts tonight, all right? I’ll have ‘em covered.”

  “Thanks, Mike,” I said, then went in search of Simone.

  Eleven

  Simone

  I ran.

  Yes, I knew it made me a big dumb chicken, but I didn’t go to the bathroom, even though I really needed to. No. I hurried into the office, grabbed my stuff, and hightailed it out of there.

  I was in my car and on my way to the apartment before either of them knew I was gone.

  It wasn’t that I was still mad at Micah, or even regretting what happened between us, because I wasn’t and I didn’t. It had been great. Better than great. Fantastic. And, I wanted to do it again, and again.

  But … I’d panicked.

  I’d woken up to Big Mike’s voice and realized the light was back on and the door was open.

  At first, I’d genuinely only been worried about that door not closing again.

  But then, I’d heard Micah and Big Mike talking and looked into the storage room where we’d spent the night.

  Two folding chairs, an opened bottle of booze, a cum-stained pair of boxers, and the two of us laid out on the floor. God, there’s no way Big Mike didn’t take one look in that room and know what we’d done.

  As far as Big Mike knew I’d always stuck to my policy about not fucking around with people at work. That went for customers, employees, vendors … anyone. And I had, other than the last time I’d hooked up with Micah.

  But, Big Mike didn’t know about that.

  He’d made me manager for crying out loud, and now I thought it was okay to fuck one of the employees?

  Not that that’s how I looked at Micah, but I feared that’s how Big Mike would see it.

  Bottom line, I’d freaked and worried about my job.

  Micah’s thoughts and feelings hadn’t even occurred to me until I’d parked in my spot at my building.

  Now I was sitting in my car feeling like the biggest bitch.

  What if he thought I’d left as some sort of payback? I hoped he didn’t. I hoped he knew I wasn’t petty and bitter enough to actually fuck him just so I could walk away and make him feel like shit.

  I grabbed my phone out of my bag and called his number.

  Straight to voicemail.

  Of course, I knew it was probably because his phone was dead after last night, but I couldn’t help that twinge of worry that he was pissed and avoiding me.

  “Shit!”

  A part of me wanted to start the car back up and go to his place.

  The rest of me knew I was exhausted, stinky, and needed to go upstairs to check on my cat.

  I felt like a total jerk for not thinking of her once during the blackout.

  “I’ll talk to him later … once his phone is recharged,” I muttered aloud as I walked up the stairs to my apartment.

  I barely had my key in the lock when I heard my cat complaining.

  “I’m coming, Princess,” I called out as I opened the door.

  I dropped my bag and keys on the glass table next to the door, and automatically locked it, before walking into the living room.

  My apartment was small, only a one-bedroom, but it was in a nice part of town, had lots of windows, and what I saved in rent, I’d used on home décor. I loved it. It was sexy, sleek, contemporary, and filled me with joy.

  My color scheme was cream and gray with red accents.

  I moved to the kitchen to give Princess fresh food and water. As soon as I opened the can, my fluffy white Persian jumped up on the counter and sauntered closer.

  “Hey, Princess, did you have a rough night without Mommy?”

  In response, she swatted her tail as she walked by me without even a glance, and started delicately eating her food.

  She kept eating while I pet her back and scratched her head.

  Once I was sure she was safe and happy, I left the kitchen and headed into the master.

  I passed my king bed, glancing at it longingly before crossing into the bathroom and turning the shower on high heat. I kicked off my sandals and pulled my unfortunate-smelling dress over my head and dropped it on the floor.

  A trip to the dry cleaner was necessary. But, first, a hot shower and a nap.

  Once I was scrubbed clean, with my hair back in a braid and my comfy clothes on, I went to get my phone and put it on the charger next to my bed so it could juice up while I slept.

  Before I could put it on the charger, I noticed I had notifications. So, I fell back onto my bed, phone in hand, and opened the lock screen. I had a few messages about the blackout, a couple people asking if we were going to be open that night, and a text from Big Mike.

  Like I told Micah, you have the night off. See you tomorrow.

  I felt a stab of guilt over being given the night off, then got over it and decided not to look the gift horse in the mouth.

  Especially since Big Mike never gave time off without some heavy-duty begging.

  Thanks. See you then.

  There was nothing from Micah, so I took a deep breath and pressed his name again. When it still went straight to voicemail, I told myself he was at home doing the same thing I was … getting cleaned up, charging his phone, and getting some rest.

  “I’ll call him as soon as I wake up from my nap,” I whispered as I turned to put my phone on the charger.

  I always thought that if you said something out loud, you were more apt to actually do it than if you simply thought it to yourself.

  So, with that vow out in the world, I got under my comforter and snuggled in. As I was drifting off, I felt Princess jump on the bed, always eager to take a nap with Mommy. With her curled up at my side, I quickly fell into a deep, hard sleep.

  Twelve

  Micah

  I wasn’t really surprised that she’d ran.

  Would it had been nice if she’d actually waited for me so we could leave together, maybe talk about what had happened? Yes.

  Luckily, one of the things I liked most about Simone was that she was unpredictable. A hard-ass at the best of times and insecure and vulnerable when she didn’t think anyone was looking.

  Well, she needed to realize that I was looking.

  I saw her. I knew her. And, I wasn’t letting her go.

  Unfortunately, Simone kept herself so far removed from anyone else, that I had no idea where she lived.

  She didn’t have parties, and as far as I knew, had never invited anyone over.

  I got that she was an independent and private person, but it really threw a wrench in my plans when I had to go home and charge my phone, rather than following her to her place.

  I let myself into the three-bedroom house in Henderson, where I lived with my roommate, Puck. As I walked in, I happened to get a whiff of myself and grimaced. Shit, I really need a shower.

  “Mickey, that you?” Puck called from the living room.

  I hated it when he called me Mickey, which was why he did.

  “Yeah,” I responded, trudging down the hall like I was walking through quicksand.

  I was beat.

  “Where the fuck you been all night? I figured with the blackout you woulda been home early. You get stuck somewhere?”

  I walked into the living room to see Puck sitting in one of the recliners wearing only ba
sketball shorts and drinking a beer.

  “Dude, you’re drinking already?”

  “Don’t judge. It was a crazy night. Plus, I don’t work tonight … It’s my weekend,” Puck said.

  He turned his head slightly, then did a double take.

  “You look like ass.”

  “No shit,” I replied. “I was locked in the storeroom all night with Simone.”

  That had Puck turning fully and giving me his undivided attention.

  “Re-a-l-ly?” he asked with a smirk, his voice sounding like Ace Ventura.

  “Shut up,” I said and started to walk away.

  “Shut up, huh? That means something happened. Tell Puck all about it.”

  I shook my head and kept walking.

  “I need a shower,” I called out and walked into my bedroom.

  It was one of the smaller bedrooms, Puck had the master, since it was his house, but it suited me just fine.

  “I’ll be waiting for some answers when you’re done,” he shot back.

  “Great, I’ll bring the ice cream, you bring the root beer,” I yelled sarcastically.

  Fucking Puck.

  Puck and I had met some years back. He used to play hockey in high school and college. Now he was an announcer for the Vegas Golden Knights. We met when he was at a private event at the club for one of the player’s birthdays and just hit it off.

  After knowing each other a year, he’d needed a roommate and asked if I was interested. Since I’d been living in a dingy apartment off of the strip, I was definitely interested. The fact that we got along only made the deal sweeter.

  As I washed the grime from the storeroom off of my body, I wondered if Simone was doing the same and instantly got hard.

  I took matters into my own hands with memories of last night bringing me to a quick completion.

  Feeling decidedly better, I dried off, threw on a pair of joggers, and went out into the living room. When I found it empty, with the TV still on, I wandered into the kitchen to find Puck filling up two mugs with ice cream, the root beer out on the counter.