One Step Closer (Erotic Romance) Book 1 (The DeLuca Brothers) (4 page)

Frank broke the kiss
as he moved his hands to palm her heavy breasts. “Beautiful,” he breathed. His thumbs brushed over the milk chocolate
nipples and Sofia gasped. Then he lowered his head to take one wrinkled nub
into his mouth and Sofia swore. While one hand played with her left breast,
Frank began to suckle at her right. Each draw of his mouth sent another jolt of
pleasure straight through Sofia and she squirmed. When he switched breasts,
Sofia made a sound she'd never made before, never realized she could make. She
could feel her panties growing wet as her entire body hummed with pleasure.
Frank scraped his teeth over Sofia's sensitive flesh and she cried out, a
mini-orgasm rocking her. She dug her nails into Frank's shoulders as her body
writhed beneath his ministrations.

“So responsive,”
Frank murmured against her flesh. “Can't wait to see what happens when I get to
the really sensitive part.”

He slid down her
body, his lips placing feather-light kisses across her stomach, then down to
her hips and over her thighs. He paused long enough to hook his fingers under
the elastic of her panties and slide them off, dropping them to the floor with
the rest of their clothes. He swore softly as he gazed down at her, his
expression hungry. He stretched out on the bed, his long legs hanging of the
edge.

Sofia fought the
urge to cover herself. She'd known she'd be naked, but she'd never expected
Frank to be so seriously studying her pussy. She'd kept her hair trimmed,
leaving only the thinnest layer of curls covering her and she felt more exposed
than she'd thought possible.

“You're so wet,”
Frank marveled.

Before Sofia could
think of how she was supposed to respond to that statement, Frank wrapped one
arm under her right thigh, pressed his left hand on her abdomen, and buried his
face in her cunt.

The instant Frank
ran his tongue from her entrance to her clit, Sofia understood why his hand was
on her stomach. He held her down as her hips tried to buck up to meet that
wonderful muscle doing such exquisite things to her. His lips wrapped around
her clit, pushing her over the edge she'd been walking and she wailed. But he didn't
stop there, instead gently caressing the swollen bundle of nerves with his
tongue until Sofia's cries turned into sobs and she was sure she couldn't
handle any more.

No one could feel
this much pleasure and survive, she was sure. She'd gotten herself off before,
and knew what her body was capable of, or at least, she'd thought she did. As
another wave of nearly painful pleasure rocked her body, she had to admit that
she didn't know as much as she'd thought. It was more than physical, she now
understood. It was the sight of Frank's head between her legs, the knowledge
that his mouth was on her most private of places, that when she kissed him
next, he would taste of her.

When she was certain
that her body would explode with too much sensation, he stopped and raised
himself up on his hands. His chin and lips glistened with her juices.
“I need to know now if you want to keep going or if
you want to stop here.”

He would, she
realized, stop without finding his own release. A wave of love washed over her
and she nodded. “I want you to make love
to me.”

Frank nodded, a look
of relief mingling with his desire. He maneuvered himself into position, using
one hand to hold himself steady. He locked eyes with Sofia as the tip of his
cock nudged at her entrance. She nodded again and he slid forward.

She could feel
herself stretching to accommodate him, her body welcoming the sensation. When
he stopped only part way inside, she understood why and smiled up at him,
letting Frank know that she was all right. When he still didn't move, his
internal conflict written on his face, Sofia slid her hand down over his back
to his firm ass. She flexed her fingers, her nails biting into his flesh. She
felt the muscles jump beneath her touch and then he snapped his hips forward.

A sharp pain went
through her and she cried out. It took the edge off of her pleasure, but it was
quickly replaced by a new feeling of fullness, of completeness. Frank rested
there, his expression one of concern, his cock fully sheathed in Sofia's pussy.
He waited, giving her a moment to adjust and let the pain subside. After a
minute, Sofia began to rock her hips, needing Frank to start moving. He pulled
back, taking just a few seconds to rest before pushing forward once more.

He moved slowly,
taking great care to use each stroke to his advantage. The first time his cock
brushed across Sofia's g-spot, her entire body shuddered and white spots danced
across her vision as something more intense than she'd ever known raced across
her nerves. Time seemed to stand still as the pair moved their bodies together,
finding that ancient rhythm that she knew only soul-mates could understand.
Sofia could feel the pressure building inside of her, something strong and wild
and light. Frank's pace began to increase, the sound of their mingled pants
loud in the room as their breathing increased.

“I love you,” his
breath became words. “I love you, Sofia.”

She couldn't reply,
too overwhelmed by what she was feeling. This was far beyond physical pleasure
and, as her climax neared, she felt that only now did she truly understand what
people meant when they talked about a couple 'becoming one flesh.'

“I need you to cum
for me,” Frank was nearly begging. “I need to feel you cum before I can.
Please, Sofia, cum for me.”

***

She had cum for him,
she remembered. It had been an explosion she'd never felt before or since, the
first forever etched in her mind. He'd climaxed shortly after and the memory of
his seed spurting inside her was something that still made her pussy throb. In
the five years they'd been together, they'd never used condoms. While neither
one were technically practicing Catholics, both had understood that their
families wouldn't have approved. Fortunately, because she'd been taking the
pill for other medical reasons, Sofia had been able to keep taking it without
feeling guilty and without any real disapproval. Besides, she wasn't truly
taking it for contraceptive reasons. That was just a side benefit.

The thought of that
little round container pulled Sofia the rest of the way out of the past, or at
least a little closer to the present. One of the reasons they'd liked their
arrangement had been the fact that it was known to be effective. If, of course,
it was remembered.

The familiar guilt
washed over her. Even after all these years, it was still there. She'd thought
she'd put it behind her. After all, she'd come up with a solution that had
worked for the past eight years. But still, it came forward, the memory of the
little round blue disc, the one with a filled spot that was supposed to be
empty. How could she explain that to Frank? He would think that she'd made it
all up to get to his money. Even back then he'd been worth enough that most
people would've thought what she'd done had been intentional.

The sound of the
front door opening made Sofia get to her feet. She hurried to the kitchen sink
and rinsed her face. She needed to get dinner started and an after-school snack
out. As she started pulling food from the refrigerator, she heard him come into
the house.

“Hey, I'm home,” a
cheerful voice came from the living room. A few moments later, a boy with coal
black hair and serious blue-violet eyes appeared in the kitchen. He smiled,
looking just like his father. “So, Mom, you'll never guess what happened at
school today.”

Frank stood on the
porch for several minutes even after the gate swung shut. He didn't feel the
bite of the wind as it cut through the backyard. He didn't hear his mother
calling after him, or his brothers talking in low voices even though, on some
level, his brain registered what was happening. All he could think of was how
close she'd been and that he'd missed her.

A car backfired down
the road, the sound jarring Frank back to reality. He forced himself to push
thoughts of Sofia from his mind and went back into the house. Whatever attempt
he'd made to forget about her was lost as soon as he saw the man sitting on the
couch next to Maria. Giovanni DeLuca hadn't aged as well as his cousins. His
black hair was thinning and he had the look of a muscular man who'd let himself
go. Part of Frank wondered if that had been a recent development or something
that had happened after the divorce.

“Frank,” Gio jumped
to his feet, his dark eyes darting every which way. “How're ya doing?”

Anxiety rippled off
of him in waves, and, in Frank's opinion, for good reason. Gio had never
disguised the fact that he'd always had a thing for Sofia, but he'd always
acted as if he'd never do anything about it because she was with Frank. When
he'd heard that Gio and Sofia were engaged, Frank had been just as mad at his
cousin as he had been at Sofia. At least, at first. As time wore on, Frank had
come to sympathize with Gio. After all, Gio'd had a crush on Sofia for years,
one that she'd never requited. Could Frank really blame him when, after all
that time, she had finally acknowledged him? It wasn't like Gio'd had someone
that he'd supposedly loved that should've taken some time to get over. Sofia's
betrayal was so much worse than Gio's weakness.

Frank smiled at Gio
and held out a hand. “I'm doing great,
Gio. How've you been?”

“Good, man, thanks,”
Gio remained standing as Maria announced that dinner was ready.

Gio visibly relaxed
as Frank motioned for Gio to join them in the dining room. Maria glanced at her
son, raising an eyebrow in question, but he didn't answer her unspoken inquiry,
instead focusing on Gio talking about his job at his father's auto-body shop.
He nodded in all of the right places, asked polite questions about his cousin's
life, all the while skirting around the very large elephant in the room. For
once, Anthony even kept his mouth shut and no one mentioned Sofia. After
several minutes of making banal small talk around a delicious meal, Frank
excused himself, claiming to need a refill for his drink.

Once in the kitchen,
he leaned against the counter and closed his eyes. He was trying, but even if
he wasn't angry at Gio anymore, the sight of his cousin was just a reminder of
all that had been lost. Even the food didn't taste as good as it should have.

“Francis,” Maria's
voice startled him.

“Ma,” Frank
straightened and hoped that the expression on his face was one of pleased
surprise. Judging by the fact that her lips were pressed together in a tight
line, he didn't think he'd succeeded.

“You're not as good
of a liar as you seem to think you are,” Maria got straight to the point. “Or
maybe I just know you better than most, because you may be fooling your cousin,
and maybe even your brothers, but you're not fooling me.”

“I don't know what
you mean,” Frank was intentionally evasive. He turned his back on his mother to
take a bottle of water from the fridge.

“Bullshit.”

Frank spun around,
his eyes wide. Had his mother, Maria DeLuca, the woman who'd once put him in a
headlock and washed his mouth out with soap for saying 'damn,' actually cursed?

“Ma?”

“You heard me,
Francis Russo DeLuca,” Maria crossed her arms and looked up at her son, the use
of his full name telling him as much as anything just how serious she was.

In that moment,
Frank saw every inch of steel that had given his mother the strength she'd
needed to raise him and his brothers on her own. Still, he played dumb.
“You're gonna have to help me out here, Ma. What are
you talking about?”

“You're still in
love with Sofia.” When Frank started to protest, Maria raised a hand. “Don't
bother. I saw the look on your face when you saw her. Your brothers might think
that you followed her because you're still upset and wanted to confront her,
but I know better. I know you're still in love with her.”

Frank started to
shake his head, to deny it, but Maria kept going.

“You need to go talk
to her, Francis.”

“I don't think
there's anything left for us to say to each other,” Frank managed to get a
sentence out. Something crossed Maria's face, a strange look, as if there were
something important he needed to know, but that she wasn't sure she should say.
“Unless you know different.”

“I know that you two
left things unsettled. You need closure. Both of you,” Maria's tone was firm,
leaving no room for questions.

Frank sighed,
suddenly weary. “I'll go see her.” Before
Maria could say anything, he clarified. “Tomorrow. I'll see her tomorrow. Right
now, I'm tired. I'm going to head into the city, find a hotel for the night.”

“You don't need to
do that,” Maria's voice and expression softened now that Frank had agreed to
see Sofia. “It's only Salvatore and me here. Your old room is still set up. You
can stay here and I'll make you breakfast before you go to see Sofia.”

Frank immediately
understood that his mother's offer was two-fold. She wanted him here because
they hadn't seen each other for a long time, but she also wanted to keep an eye
on him to make sure he followed through on his promise and didn't leave before
he did as he'd said.

“Ma, I have some
work I need to do.” The lie was out of his mouth before he'd realized he was
going to say it. “If I stay here, I'll be up all night talking to you and Sal,
and that'll mean I have to go back earlier than I'd planned because I'll be
behind.”

The skeptical look
Maria gave him said that she didn't believe him, but she didn't press the
issue. “All right, but you be back here
first thing in the morning. I'll be making your favorite breakfast.”

“Cinnamon rolls?”
Frank's lips curved upwards in a smile.

Maria chuckled.
“Of course.”

It was only after
Frank had said his good-byes and gotten back into his rental car that he
allowed himself to admit the real reason he hadn't wanted to stay the night at
the house. Every inch of the house was filled with memories of Sofia. He'd been
able to ignore them at first, but once he'd seen her, they'd all come rushing
back and he couldn't shut them out.

The time they'd
spent together as children, playing with his brothers.

Coming home from his
classes at NYU to find her reading a book to Sal or helping Maria cook dinner.

Her lips under his
for the first time.

Sneaking her
upstairs to his bedroom for a make-out session.

Watching a movie
together, huddled under a blanket in the dark, his hands beneath her clothes.

Making love to her
in his bed while the rest of the family was out.

Fucking her in the
shower after coming home from the gym to find her baby-sitting Sal.

Sending Sal outside
to play so Frank could bend Sofia over the couch.

Sofia sitting on his
lap at Christmas time while Sergio and Sal passed out presents, trying to
resist the urge to just take her upstairs right then.

Holding her in his
arms as she cried after hearing about her grandfather's death.

They flashed through
his mind, one right after the other, creating a virtual movie of moments he and
Sofia had spent together in that house. With them came a rush of emotions.
Betrayal. Hurt. Abandonment. Love.

His mother was
right, and Frank forced himself to acknowledge it. He'd been in love with Sofia
Bianchi since she was seventeen and, despite everything that had happened, he
was still in love with her. A part of him realized that he always would be. Now
he just had to decide what he was going to do about it.