Opened Up

by Eva Moore

  Her shirt hung from her shoulders, open but still covering most of her torso. He waited on his knees for her to decide. Did she dare to bare herself to him? When she tried to look away, he followed her, compelling her to look him in the eye.

  “I see you. I’ve always seen you. And what I see keeps getting better and better. Do you trust me?”

  Every nerve ending crackled, begging for his touch, and every doubt had burned away in the heat of the fire he’d kindled deep within her. She did trust him, and she found her courage in his story. She could take what she wanted and give what she could, and she would be safe in his arms. In answer to the question lingering in the silence between them, she shrugged her shoulders, letting the shirt fall behind her, and nodded.

  “Show me.”

  She had expected him to pounce, unleashing his desire, but he surprised her yet again with his restraint. With both hands he framed her face and kissed her gently, insistently, until she was drowning in him.

  She tugged her skirt up to her waist and wrapped her legs around his hips, pulling him with her as she leaned back on the bed. He followed, bringing his delicious weight on top of her. She rocked her hips up, needing to ease the ache against his hard length, and he gasped and rolled to his side, breaking the kiss.

  “Be careful.” He reached behind her and unsnapped her bra. “Or this will be over too quickly. I have wanted you for too long.”

  He tossed it aside and marveled at her. There was no other word to describe the wonder in his eyes.

  “How could you think I would not like to see you?”

  He bent his head to kiss her freed breasts, and she answered on a shaky exhale. “Those aren’t the problem.”

  He deliberately held up a hand to silence her protests. She rolled to face him and he dropped that hand to her hip, impatiently pushing her bunched skirt down her legs. She inched back on the bed to help and to gain a little distance, but he rejoined her immediately. Nearly naked and lying on his bed, she felt strangely calm. Her nerves were suffocating beneath the blanket of desire he’d woven. He pressed a hand against her sternum, and she dropped onto her back before pushing up on her elbows to watch him.

  “Now let’s see here.” He grinned evilly, and Sofia couldn’t suppress a shiver. He ran his gaze over every inch of her exposed flesh, raising chills, and then soothing them with his warm hands and wet lips. “I was right.”

  She was so caught up in her own reaction that she had lost the thread of the conversation.

  “Right about what?”

  “There’s not a single thing I see that I don’t love.”

  His playful tone sparked her own to life. When was the last time she’d felt relaxed enough to tease a man in bed? Too long. She was done being passive and afraid. This was a man she could trust. This was a man she could be herself with.

  “I wish I could say the same, but I haven’t seen all of you yet.” She raised an eyebrow and looked at his offending pants.

  He grinned and tugged them off, kicking his feet free. His impressive erection strained against his boxer briefs, begging to be freed. He rolled toward her, intent on covering her bare body with his own. But Sofia wanted to enjoy the view. She’d been too afraid the last time they’d been together, but tonight she would be brave. He hadn’t run away screaming yet. She playfully pushed his chest, and he leaned back.

  “I’ll show you mine, if you’ll show me yours.” She slid her fingers under the last scrap of lace covering her and sat up to tug it off.

  His hands trembled gratifyingly as he traced from her thighs to her knees before spreading them, revealing her to his gaze.

  “Sofia.” Her name was all he managed to whisper before his lips were busy doing something else entirely. Her eyes fluttered closed as he licked and loved her most intimate folds, afraid that the visual of him going down on her would push her over the edge too quickly. When he added his rough, thick fingers to the assault on her senses, even her closed eyes couldn’t save her and over the edge she went, shaking and clenching her thighs around his head. When the tremors stopped and her limbs went limp, he rose quickly and drew in a deep breath.

  “Dios mio, Sofia.” He stripped off his underwear with fierce determination.

  She wanted him to slow down so she could enjoy the revelation of his body as well. She wanted to hold him in her hand and see if he tasted as good as she thought he would. But she couldn’t find the energy or the words to object through her post-climax haze. Next time. What a tempting thought…

  “Sofia.” Her spinning thoughts stilled as he pressed the full length of his body against hers, setting off a chain reaction of trembling nerve endings.

  “Hmm?”

  He grinned at her sleepy response, and she mirrored his expression. Wrapping her legs around his bare waist, gripping her ass with his strong hands, he pressed her into the bed. As he rocked his hard length against her still throbbing pussy, he muttered a curse and a question.

  Words? Did he honestly think words were an option?

  She let her head fall back on a groan, but he didn’t stop talking. Forcing her brain back into commission was hard, but so was he and he wasn’t moving inside her yet, so she did her best to pay attention.

  “Sofia, look at me, angel.” She opened her eyes and her heart followed on his next words. “Let me love you. Say yes.”

  She managed a nod and a whispered, “Yes.”

  Finally.

  He was nearly shaking with simultaneous relief and need. After so many years of watching and waiting, he was finally going to be with her. He’d earned every minute of this pleasure, and he was determined to remember every sweet second.

  He’d been nervous earlier, revealing the well-kept secret of his crush, but she’d needed his words, his reassurance. He was helpless in the face of her need. Bringing her to climax almost had him shooting in his underwear like the goddamn boy who’d loved her first.

  He pulled the blankets down and scooted her back until her head was on his pillow. He hoped he’d smell her hair there later. The sight of her naked and grinning in his bed made his heart clutch uncomfortably in his chest. His cock twitched in agreement. She was his. At last.

  He grabbed a condom from his bedside table and climbed back into bed beside her. Even just touching side to side was threatening his control. He kissed her lips gently, reveling in her sleepy, sated response. She opened for him so sweetly. While she was relaxed, he took the opportunity to run his hands over every curve, committing her architecture to sensory memory. Neck, shoulder, collarbone, sternum, breasts, waist, belly, hips. Every place he touched her was beautiful to him, and he was determined to show her. He considered it a battle won when she didn’t flinch until he reached her still sensitive pussy, breaking the kiss with a gasp.

  “Oh, yes, Adrian. More.” She tugged at his shoulders, and he let her pull him where she needed him.

  His weight pressed her into the bed and her greedy hands on his ass were urging him to take what he so desperately wanted. What they both needed. “Hold on.”

  “I am.” She flexed her fingers, her nails sending sharp spurs of pain straight through his ass to his cock, twitching his hips forward so the length of his hard shaft stroked over her clit. The pleasure was intense and reminded him why he needed to slow down a second.

  “I mean, wait. I need to cover up.”

  “Don’t tell me I’m not the only one with body issues,” she teased. She ran her hands possessively up his back, and he enjoyed the chill running down his spine.

  He could think of nothing he’d rather do than stay naked around her permanently. But he had to protect them. He pulled out of her arms and snagged the condom off the bed. “I meant this, smart-ass.” He wiggled the foil packet between his fingers.

  “Oh…right. Okay, I guess I can wait for that, but hurry up already. Talky, talky, talky.”

  He couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed in the middle of sex, but he loved that he could with Sofia. She was still ch
uckling when he slid his latex-covered cock into her sweet pussy. He could feel every giggle and gasp gripping him, guiding him deeper until he was fully sheathed.

  And then the time for laughter had passed.

  “Sofia. You feel so fucking good.”

  He tried. God help him, he tried. To go slow. To bring her back to the peak. To keep a firm grip on his sanity. But when she pulled her knees up to grip his ribs, moaning and rocking her hips to his rhythm, taking him as deep as he could go, any hope of restraint disappeared.

  His need for her rode him hard. He pistoned his hips, slapping his thighs against her ass with every thrust. He knew his hands were gripping her shoulders too hard, but the thought of letting her go was obscene. She arched up, and he took her breast into his mouth, suckling hard, and sent her over the edge once again. Feeling her orgasm clenching around his cock was more than enough to send him chasing her over that cliff into oblivion.

  When he came back into himself, he realized he was crushing her. He levered up on his forearms so he could see her face. “You okay?”

  “I’m fine.” The way she said it, with a laugh tickling the back of her throat, made him grin.

  “Fine, huh? You know, a wise woman once told me that fine is never fine when a woman says it.” He nudged forward with his hips, still buried inside her, on every repetition of the f-word.

  “Then maybe you should try again. Practice makes perfect.”

  He chuckled into the crook where her neck met her shoulder and nipped her lightly. “A very wise woman, indeed.”

  When he pulled away and rose from the bed, she groaned and rolled after him. He disposed of the condom and turned back, committing the image of her draped across his bed, sated and sleepy, to memory. Those old art dudes knew what they were doing. She belonged framed in a museum, just like this. A goddamned masterpiece.

  He tucked his arms behind her shoulders and beneath her knees, and lifted her to his chest. She wrapped an arm around his neck and burrowed in.

  “Where are you taking me?”

  “I believe I mentioned needing a bed and a shower.”

  “That sounds just fine.”

  Chapter 21

  Sofia sat in the hard wooden chair at the café and squirmed. She was sore in all the best places, and feeling a little raw from Adrian’s stubble during their shower adventure. It was a miracle no one had drowned. He’d given her two more orgasms and a renewed appreciation for the pleasures her body could provide. For the first time in years, she was aware of her body without a lick of shame. She smirked and replayed the way he’d knelt and hooked her leg over his shoulder while leaning her back under the spray. The combination of steaming hot water and his wicked tongue flowing over her clit had been mind-blowing. By the time he relented and let her go down on him, she’d lost all finesse, caught up in raw passion. She made him come all over her chest and enjoyed every second of cleaning up again. Even now, the mere memories were making her tingle.

  So when her mom came up behind her and dropped a hand on her shoulder, Sofia leaped from her chair and blushed beet red as her mother laughed.

  “Whoa! Easy. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  Sofia leaned in and kissed her mother on the cheek before gesturing to the chair next to hers.

  “I was daydreaming.” And what a fine dream it was. “Can I get your latte?”

  “No, darling. I’ll have a mocha, please.”

  “You look lovely today. What’s the occasion?”

  Josephine Valenti never dressed up without good reason. After years in the construction offices, jeans and flannels were practically her uniform. There were certain constants in Sofia’s world. Her mother wore flannel, made a mean red sauce, and always drank skim lattes before lunch. So this polished version of her mother, complete with makeup and jewelry and ordering mochas, was cause for question.

  “I don’t need a reason to do the things that make me feel good. No time like the present.”

  “That’s true.” Sofia dutifully ordered a mocha for her mother and an Americano for herself. While her mother, still slender at sixty, could afford the calories of a mocha splurge, Sofia could not. As of this morning, she was taking back her life and going on a diet. She’d even gone so far as to clear out her chocolate drawer at work. It was killing her slowly. No one ever died from chocolate withdrawal, she reminded herself sternly. But man, that mocha smelled divine.

  She set the tempting cup in front of her mother, who smiled and drank deeply.

  “So, how’ve you been, Mom? You haven’t come around the office lately to catch up.”

  “I’m not giving that place one more minute of my life.” The smile dropped from her mother’s face. The vehemence behind that statement set Sofia back in her chair. Her mother had certainly been more and more withdrawn from the business since Gabe’s death, but she still popped in from time to time just to check up on things. Looking back, it had been a good six months since her mother had casually dropped by.

  “Well, the pilot has finished filming. The Shahs loved their new home.”

  “That’s nice, dear.” Josephine took a sip of her coffee and checked her phone.

  That was it? That’s nice, dear? Sofia had spent the last month juggling the job her mother had dropped in her lap on top of this huge project. The casual disinterest felt like a slap in the face. Her mother looked up at her silence and Sofia’s shock must’ve shown on her face, because Jo quickly followed up.

  “You know what I mean. I’m sure it was challenging, and I’m glad it’s done now. I didn’t know how you were going to juggle everything. But honestly, I hope the show doesn’t get picked up.”

  Sensing that she was stepping through a minefield of conversational topics, Sofia tried to pick a new path. Adrian was the topic on the tip of her tongue. She couldn’t get him out of her head or her heart. Anytime she started dating someone new, her mom was the first to know. It felt strange that things had progressed so far without her mother’s counsel. She should ask about bringing him to dinner Friday. Adrian had never been to a family dinner before, and she was nervous about how it would go. But with him by her side, Sofia felt she could handle her family’s questions. Sofia wanted Adrian to be as welcome at her family table as she’d felt in Graciela’s kitchen. Maybe they could get everyone together for a talk about the proposal. It was worth a shot.

  “Are we still on for family dinner next Friday?”

  “Yes.” Jo had gone back to tapping on her phone. Who on earth was she texting? Since when did her mom text?

  “Can I bring Adrian along?”

  Jo sighed and turned her phone over. “I wish we didn’t have to bring business to the table, but I suppose it’s fine.”

  “It’s not business, Ma. I’m seeing him.”

  Another awkward pause filled the space between them, accompanied by a searching and faintly pitying look from her mother. Ouch. Sofia rubbed a hand across her heart to ease the pinch. What was she seeing? Her daughter playing Icarus and reaching too close to the sun? Did she just assume Sofia wouldn’t be able to hold the attention of a guy like Adrian? Or was it the opposite, more of a “no guy is good enough for my daughter” thing? Adrian was a guy who worked in construction. Did she hold that against him? That couldn’t be it. For goodness’ sake, she’d married Dad, and she’d known Adrian for twelve years. He was a good guy, and Jo liked him. So, Option A: Sofia wasn’t “enough” for him.

  Her mother’s unspoken critique flowed like rancid oil through her mind, coating every good thought with thick, sticky shame. Of course she wasn’t good enough for a man like Adrian. Just look at him. Gorgeous, brave, successful. Everything Sofia wasn’t. And whose fault was that? Her own, but she resented the fact that her mother had walked away and let the business fall into Sofia’s lap. If she hadn’t been stuck behind that desk for three years, maybe she’d have more to bring to the table. Pain and frustration pummeled her in waves and threatened to pull her under into the deep world of self-doubt and shame.
She cast about, looking for a lifeline. Her mother might not approve, but Sofia wasn’t going to let that sway her from her mission today. She’d told her siblings she’d find out what was going on between their parents. There would be time to tend her wounds later.

  “So what have you been up to lately?”

  “I’ve joined a group for older adults that plans outings to local sites of interest. It has been so fun! We got in for a tour of Moffett Field and the Rosicrucian Museum. We even helped prune back the roses at the San Jose Rose Garden. I’ve learned so much!”

  For the first time since she arrived, her mother seemed like her old self, excited and full of energy. Sofia hadn’t realized how long that sparkle had been missing until it showed up full force today. She was glad to see her parents finally starting to pull out of the grieving spiral. Maybe there was no need to worry about them not speaking. Dad was probably blowing things out of proportion again.

  “Did Dad like being put to work on his day off?” Sofia could picture his gruff grumbling about pruning being Enzo’s job.

  Jo didn’t look up from her mocha where she flicked the lid with her thumb. “He didn’t come. He was too busy.”

  Sofia rocked back in her chair. Damn. But if Dad wasn’t on set and he wasn’t home with Mom, where was he spending his days?

  Her mother picked up her phone and started tapping again. “In fact, I’m heading out for a tour of the Winchester Mystery House in a little bit, so I’m afraid I can’t stay long.”

  “Oh. That’s okay. I just missed catching up with you.” Sofia couldn’t help but resent whoever was on the other side of that text for taking her mother’s attention. She wasn’t a toddler who needed mommy all the time, but she sure felt like throwing a tantrum. She needed her mother’s support and enthusiasm, not a casual brush-off in favor of a haunted house. Everything about this felt wrong.

  “You’re so sweet. How are things outside work?”

  Finally, a bit of interest in her life. But how to answer that after her earlier silence? Adrian had been a large part of her life outside work. How could she explain any of that to her mother who clearly thought she was playing out of her league?