One Step Closer (Erotic Romance) Book 1 (The DeLuca Brothers) (5 page)

Sofia tossed her
keys on to the counter and kicked off her sensible work shoes. She'd just finished
her shift in the oncology ward and had about an hour before Tommy got home. She
sighed as she padded up the stairs to her bedroom. As she walked, she stripped
off her scrubs and tossed them into her hamper. She had a few things to do
around the house, but the first thing she needed was a shower. She'd been
thrown up on twice that afternoon.

Fifteen minutes
later, she came back down the stairs, feeling much better. She loved her work
and never resented the patients for being ill, but being vomited on was never
fun. Now that she was clean, she could focus on the rest of the night. She'd
pulled her hair back into a sloppy ponytail and the still-wet locks soaked into
the back of her ratty t-shirt. She hadn't bothered with make-up and was wearing
her oldest pair of sweats to go with the Knicks shirt, but she was comfortable
and that was what mattered. It wasn't like she had anything planned for the
evening aside from dinner with her son and then maybe a game of cards or a
board game until it was time to put Tommy to bed. Then it would be some alone
time, maybe with a glass of wine and the toy she kept in the bottom drawer of
her nightstand. After the events of her last two days, she needed some stress
relief.

She was tidying up
the living room when someone knocked on the door. Her first thought was that
Tommy had forgotten his key, but a glance at the clock told her that she still
had at least a half hour before he'd be home. She sighed as she crossed to the
door. She wasn't fond of people who went door-to-door, but she understood the
need to make a living. She always tried to be polite.

“How can I...” the
words died in her mouth as she saw who was standing on the other side of the
doorway.

Frank didn't say a
word, didn't even offer a greeting. The expression on his face was as familiar
to Sofia as her own reflection. She had only the briefest of moments to
register it though before Frank's hands were cupping her face and he was
kissing her, his lips hard and demanding against hers. Her mouth opened in a
gasp and Frank slipped his tongue between her parted lips. He tasted the same,
a faint hint of beer and the spearmint gum he always chewed. Her body reacted
automatically to the familiarity and she moaned, her stomach tightening. The
sound seemed to spur Frank forward and his hands slid down her neck to her
arms.

Sofia was only dimly
aware that she and Frank were moving backwards into the living room. She heard
the door close and thought for a moment of how Tommy would be home soon. Then
Frank's hands were under her shirt, palms skimming over her bare skin, setting
it on fire, and the only thing she could think about was him.

Frank shoved a hand
down the front of Sofia's pants, easily moving under her panties as well. She
caught his bottom lip between her teeth, biting down as his fingers delved
between her folds. She was relatively dry and the friction was rough, but it
was exactly what she wanted, what she needed. Her clit throbbed as he stroked
it and she shivered as the first waves of pleasure washed over her. His kisses
were anything but gentle, instead all need and hunger and a primal desire that
Sofia could feel being matched in her own body. In that moment, it seemed as if
she'd never needed or wanted anyone or anything as much as she wanted the man
whose hands were on her.

The backs of her
legs hit against the edge of the couch and the pair tumbled onto the cushions,
mouths barely pausing in their near-frantic movements. Frank tugged the tie
from Sofia's hair, sending her wet waves spilling free over her shoulders. Her
hands were just as busy, yanking off Frank's shirt so she could run her hands
over the once familiar planes of his torso. His skin was just as soft as she
remembered, his chest and stomach as firmly muscled. He still gasped when she
ran her fingernails over his small, flat nipples, and she felt his hard length
press against her hip. Her pussy throbbed in remembrance.

As Frank's lips
moved from hers to worship at her jaw, Sofia knew what he wanted and tilted her
head, granting him access to her neck. His mouth moved over her skin, teeth
nipping and tongue soothing the sting. When he reached the collar of her shirt,
he growled in frustration, eliciting a chuckle from Sofia. The laughter quickly
died as Frank tore the worn material in two. Sofia had a split second to be mad
and then his hands and mouth were making their way across her collarbone and
over her cloth-covered breasts. He mouthed at the white cotton of her bra for a
moment before shoving it up over her breasts and attacking the soft flesh with
his mouth and hands. She arched her back, pushing her breasts towards him even
as her hands dropped to his pants.

He swore as she
cupped him through the denim of his jeans. She gave him a gentle squeeze before
her fingers went to work on the button and zipper. She needed to feel him in
her hand, to know that this was real, that he was real. She didn't bother
trying to remove his pants but took a page from his playbook and just went
straight for her prize. Her fingers closed around him and she smiled, immediately
beginning to stroke the hot flesh. Frank stilled above her, her marked flesh
falling from between his lips. His skin was so soft. She'd often marveled at
how something so hard could be so soft at the same time. When she was younger,
she'd wondered if it was something unique to Frank or if all men were like
that. When she'd married Gio, she'd come to understand that it was a
combination of both. Nothing, though, could compare to her first love. Frank's
cock was silk-covered steel and she let herself enjoy the feeling of him
swelling under her hand.

Frank pulled back
suddenly, the expression on his face fierce. He grabbed her around the waist
and flipped her so suddenly that she barely had time to catch herself on her
elbows. His hands were at the waistband of her sweats, tugging them and her
underwear down to her thighs. It was only as her skin was bared that she
understood what he was doing. Something low in her belly coiled tight and hot
as she realized that his need was as great as her own. She glanced over her
shoulder to see him shoving his pants down far enough to free his cock. It,
too, was just like she remembered, thick and long and perfect for reaching all
of those places deep inside her where she needed it.

She raised her ass
and parted her legs as best she could with her pants and underwear still around
her thighs. Frank wrapped one arm around her waist, holding her as his other
hand lined up his cock at her entrance. He paused, locking eyes with her. He
didn't speak, but she knew the question anyway. No matter how much he wanted
it, Frank would always leave the decision up to her. She nodded, knowing that
she wasn't quite prepared enough and not caring.

Frank buried himself
inside her with one strong thrust, a long, drawn-out groan escaping his lips as
he came to rest against her ass. Sofia drew a shuddering breath, every muscle
in her body quivering as a combination of pain and pleasure rocked her body.
She hadn't had anything other than a finger or two inside her for over two
years and, before that, it had been only Gio, and while he was a little above
average, he was nowhere near the size of his cousin. Frank began to thrust
before she was ready and she bit down on the throw pillow to muffle her cries.
Each stroke stretched her more, turning the almost-painful sensations into
pleasure as her body adjusted to the intrusion. Frank drove into her again and
again, the force of each thrust driving the air from her lungs, preventing her
from making any true sound. Then the arm at her waist shifted, allowing Frank's
hand to slide between her legs.

One light touch to
her clit and Sofia was cumming, her body shaking as her climax crashed into her
and over her and through her. She felt tears, hot and salty, spill over and
stream down her cheeks to wet the pillow she was screaming into. She'd
forgotten it could be this good. Things hadn't always been gentle and tender
between them, but no matter how they came together, there was always this sense
of merging, of working towards that place where they didn't know where one
ended and the other began. She could feel her body climbing towards that place,
building on her orgasm to reach even higher.

Frank continued to
rub her clit as he pounded into her, his arm quickly becoming the only thing
keeping her from falling on her face. His other hand slid from her hip as he
bent his body closer to her. His fingers danced across her belly up to where
her breasts swayed with the rhythm of his thrusts. He cupped one in his large
hand, his index finger and thumb rolling and tugging on her nipple until she
was cumming again, keening, every nerve in her body humming. As her pussy
clenched around him, his hips jerked once, twice and then his cock was pulsing
as he emptied himself inside her. Even as he came, joining her in ecstasy,
Sofia gave herself over completely to that moment, putting aside all that had
gone on between them and just letting themselves merge together, two parts of a
whole.

He turned them
slightly as they slumped down onto the couch so that he wasn't lying on top of
her, but he kept his arms around her waist. Sofia snuggled back against him,
feeling a sense of completeness that she hadn't felt in years. Even after he
withdrew from her and she felt the stickiness of their combined juices on her
inner thighs, she still felt that connection she'd been missing from her
relationship with Gio. It was still only Frank. It had only ever been him.

“By the way,” Frank
finally spoke. “Hi.”

Sofia laughed, a
truly joyful sound that bubbled up from deep inside her. After a moment, Frank
joined in, his deep rumble vibrating against her back. Frank pressed his lips
against her temple and Sofia let herself relax. She'd missed this. Not just the
sex, though she had missed that too, but the way they were with each other, the
way he'd always made her feel. Safe. Protected. Loved.

As she lay in his
arms, Sofia found herself daring to hope that this meant something more than
just fucking. That what she'd seen on Frank's face and felt in his kisses
hadn't just been a physical desire, but a rekindling of deeper feelings for
each other. Something that meant things were going to chance. Questions flooded
her mind. Could they put aside their past, move forward? Was it possible, after
all these years, after all they'd been through, that they could start again?
That, this time, things could be different? She knew it was dangerous to think
this way, that she would most likely end up being hurt again, but she couldn't
seem to stop herself, and, if she was completely honest, she didn't want to stop
herself from hoping. If this could be true, it would mean that she could have
everything she'd ever wanted.

Frank's fingers
traced lazy patterns on her stomach and Sofia was suddenly aware of how exposed
she was with her torn shirt, her bra pushed up over her breasts and her pants
and panties now around her knees. She glanced at the clock and sighed. For a
brief moment, she let herself entertain the idea of rolling over and kissing
him, of using her mouth to explore his body, to re-learn it. Taking his soft
shaft between her lips and loving on it until it swelled, full and ready. They
could undress, see each other once more, run their hands over curves and
planes. She could ride him then, set the pace to something slow and gentle,
draw out their pleasure until they were lost in bliss. They would sleep after,
curled around each other, their bodies entwined.

It was just a
fantasy, she knew. They didn't have the time for any of that. She had to get
up.

“Is something
wrong?” Frank asked.

Sofia knew that the concern
in his voice was about what they'd done, that he was afraid she was regretting
it, but she didn't know how to reassure him without telling him the real reason
she was disentangling herself from his arms. She tugged her bra back down over
her breasts, catching a glimpse of the purple, bruise-like marks Frank's mouth
had left.

“No,” she kept the
answer short. She stood, pulling up her pants. She grimaced at the feel of the
wet cotton against her skin, but she would need to offer an explanation if she changed
completely. What she did need, however, was a new shirt. “I'll be right back.”
She gestured towards her torn t-shirt and hurried upstairs.

A thousand thoughts
raced through her mind and she knew she didn't have much time to sort through
them. Part of her wanted to rush Frank out of the house before Tommy came home.
She didn't know what this meant for them, and she had Tommy to think about now.
It wasn't just her own happiness at stake anymore. Then there was the fact that
an introduction to Tommy was going to have to go one of two ways. She could
lie, tell Frank the same thing she'd let everyone else believe and hope that
he'd be willing to accept a child he believed was his cousin's son. Or, she
could tell him the truth. That, of course, meant confessing that she'd been
lying to everyone, including him, for the past eight years. The only person
besides her that knew the truth was Gio and he'd sworn never to tell. He'd
never treated Tommy as anything less than his own flesh and blood, so there was
also that. Tommy was a bright kid and knew enough to understand the difference
between a biological parent and the one who raised him, but if she told Frank
the truth, she'd have to tell Tommy as well.

It would be easier,
then, to just make Frank think that she had to go somewhere or do something
than it would be to introduce him to her son, but she couldn't deny that she
wanted them to meet. She wanted Frank to see the beautiful, intelligent,
wonderful boy that was his son. She knew that Gio would understand and she'd
make sure he'd still be a part of Tommy's life. He'd been a great father, but
she knew that not only did Tommy deserve to know where he came from, but Frank
deserved the truth as well. If only the truth wouldn't hurt so many people.
When she'd first decided to lie, she hadn't been thinking beyond the immediate
future and hadn't realized how much pain her choice could cause.