Sophia
The next morning, she woke up tangled in a hot man and smiled to herself when she remembered what had happened between her and Luca.
She had waited so long to be with Luca that she wasn’t sure she’d ever want to go back to her old life.
Now that she had had a taste of him, she wanted more—she wanted everything with him, and he seemed to want the same.
“I have an idea,” he whispered from behind her. He pressed his erection onto her hip, making her giggle.
“I’m beginning to think that you have a one-track mind,” she teased.
“Okay, I have an idea for after we do my first idea,” he breathed, kissing his way down her neck from behind. “How about I take you to Aurora’s bakery, and we can grab something sweet for breakfast?”
She hummed her approval, and he rolled her over to rest on top of him.
“I’d like that,” she said, straddling his cock.
She could get used to waking up this way every morning, and when Luca slipped inside of her, she couldn’t help but take what she needed from him, riding him until she found her release.
It was heady knowing that she had so much power over him as she watched Luca lose himself deep inside of her.
Sophia collapsed on top of him, and he chuckled, wrapping his arms around her body. “So, donuts,” she whispered against his neck.
“Yep, she has plenty of those, but we'd better get moving. If Rocco and Tony get there first, there won’t be many left. Those two can pack away the donuts.”
“You guys can eat sweets and still look like you do?” she asked. “Now, I’m jealous.”
“We pay for it at the gym. That’s why I try to stay away from Aurora’s bakery. She likes to feed us, and our trainer, Jonesy, gets pretty pissed when he finds out that we’ve spent our mornings eating pure sugar and carbs.
“Well, I can be ready in ten,” she said, rolling out of bed. He swatted her ass, making her yelp, on her way to the bathroom, and she couldn’t help but smile. Yeah, she could get used to waking up with Luca every morning.
An hour later, Sophia found herself standing inside Aurora’s bakery, breathing in warm sugar and butter and something sweet that felt dangerously close to comfort. The place was bright and cozy, all pastel tiles and glass cases filled with pastries that looked almost too pretty to eat—almost.
Aurora smiled and waved to them as they sat in the corner of the bakery.
She disappeared into the back to grab something for a customer.
When she reappeared with her pad of paper and a pencil, Sophia couldn’t help her excitement.
Maybe it was silly that she was looking forward to donuts, but it had been some time since she had allowed herself to eat anything like that.
She usually avoided sugar to keep from having to go to the gym.
Plus, money was usually tight, so luxuries like pastries weren’t high on her list of things to purchase at the grocery store.
Luca walked over to the display case and leaned over it, scanning the options like he was choosing a fight strategy. “Boston cream,” he said decisively. “Always my favorite.”
Sophia smiled. “Of course you’d be loyal to a pastry.”
“Consistency is important,” he replied, deadpan.
Aurora giggled and winked at Sophia. “You need to be careful with him. He’s serious about his desserts. I guess it’s because the guys don’t get many of them, so when they do, they go hog wild. Jonesy’s pretty strict about what they can and cannot eat.”
They returned to their little booth in the corner of the room, and Sophia ordered coffee while Luca stuck with water.
Sitting there together felt both normal and foreign at the same time.
It had been so long since she had seen him that she never imagined that they’d be sitting in a bakery, holding hands, getting ready to eat donuts together.
Aurora brought them their order and apologized for being so busy, promising to check on them as soon as possible.
Luca smiled and told her to take her time as he grabbed the Boston cream donut from the plate that she set in front of him.
He took a bite of the pastry as cream oozed out onto his thumb.
He lifted his hand to his mouth and licked it clean, and Sophia felt as though she might swallow her damn tongue.
How could he even make eating a donut seem sexy?
He smiled over at her, and she knew that he was putting on a show for her, but she didn’t care.
He raised the donut to his lips again, and this time, instead of taking a bite, he dipped his tongue into the hole full of cream and moaned.
Sophia’s breath caught, and she knew that she shouldn’t watch, but she couldn’t help herself.
It was ridiculous. Completely ridiculous.
It was just a donut. A stupid, perfect donut.
But the way his tongue moved, the way his jaw flexed, and the quiet satisfaction in his expression, sent heat curling low in her stomach.
The only thing Sophia could think about was what she wanted Luca to do to her with that tongue, and from the dirty glint in his eye, he knew exactly what she was thinking.
She shifted in her seat, suddenly very aware of how close he was sitting to her. His knee brushed hers under the table, and she let out a low moan. His forearms flexed when he reached for another bite, and she couldn’t take her eyes off him.
“You okay?” Luca asked, glancing at her. He knew what he was doing to her, and he also knew that she wasn’t okay.
“I’m fine,” she squeaked, a little too quickly. She took a sip of her coffee to give her hands something to do. “I was just thinking,” she lied.
“Dangerous pastime,” he teased. She laughed, but her gaze betrayed her, drifting back to his mouth when he took another bite.
This time, a bit of cream caught at the corner of his lips.
He wiped it away with the back of his thumb.
Sophia swallowed hard. God help her, if he kept this game up, her girl parts just might explode.
Aurora came back over, standing at their table. “You two look cozy.”
Sophia felt her cheeks heat. “We’re just having breakfast.”
“Sure you are,” Aurora said, grinning from ear to ear.
Luca choked on a laugh, shaking his head at Aurora. “Ignore her. She lives to stir the pot.”
Aurora straightened. “I observe the truth. And the truth is,” she said, glancing between them, “you two have enough sexual tension to power the ovens for a week.” Sophia nearly dropped her coffee.
She wanted to crawl under the table and hide, but there was no use in that.
Aurora was right. Finally giving in to what she was feeling for Luca amped up her sexual desires for him.
Luca just smirked, slow and dangerous, his eyes flicking back to Sophia. “Is that so?”
She held his gaze, heart pounding. “Yep,” Aurora said. She walked away laughing, leaving them alone again. The air between them felt thicker now—charged, alive, and impossible to ignore.
Sophia leaned back in her chair, studying him. “You know,” she said softly, “watching you eat Boston cream donuts might be more distracting than I expected.”
His eyebrow lifted. “Yeah? How so?” he asked. He knew exactly what he was doing, but he wasn’t about to admit that to her.
“Yeah,” Sophia breathed. “And you know exactly what you’re doing.”
He smiled then—not teasing, not playful—but warm and intent.
“Good to know that I can get under your skin, the way that you do mine.” She wanted to ask him how she got under his skin, but he picked up his donut and finished it, making her forget her question.
Sitting there in the glow of the bakery, surrounded by sugar and heat and the promise of something more, Sophia realized one thing very clearly.
What was happening between the two of them wasn’t just attraction anymore.
Sure, they had sexual chemistry. They had proved that a few times last night, and even this morning.
What they had between them was bigger than sexual attraction, though.
They were building something—just the two of them, and that was all that mattered right now.
They left the bakery and picked up a few groceries from the store so that she could prepare a nice dinner for them.
Luca insisted that they needed to keep their guard up, but he also wanted her to feel free to live her life.
That was a fine line to walk since she couldn’t fully do so.
She had given up her home to move in with Luca and was even banished from work until her stalker could be caught.
As soon as they got back to his place, she made up the excuse of having a headache and went up to Luca’s bedroom.
Honestly, she was feeling overwhelmed. From meeting Luca’s friends, who he considered family, to going out on a breakfast date with him this morning.
Spending the night naked in his bed felt right to her, but she worried that they were rushing things by introducing her to his friends.
What would happen when Luca got tired of her damsel-in-distress life and left her on the next street corner?
She already liked Aurora, but having to give up her new friend would be easy compared to having to give up Luca.
She was in love with him, whether she wanted to be or not.
Sophia felt Luca before she saw him. The room shifted the moment he stepped inside, the air thickening with everything they hadn’t said and everything they’d been holding back.
She looked up from where she sat on the edge of the bed, her heart stumbling when their eyes met.
There was no teasing in his gaze tonight. No careful distance—only certainty.
“You okay?” he asked quietly.
She nodded, even though her chest felt too tight. “I am now.”
He crossed the room in three long strides and stopped in front of her, hands hovering like he was afraid to touch her without permission.
The restraint in him undid her more than anything else ever could.
She didn’t want his restraint. She wanted all of him, even the rough edges that she had come to love so much when they were just kids living in the same foster home.
Sophia stood, closing the last inches between the two of them herself.
When his hands finally settled on her waist, she inhaled sharply.
It felt like coming home every time he touched her.
Being in his arms felt like safety wrapped in heat and strength.
She pressed her forehead to his chest, breathing him in, letting the steady beat of his heart calm the storm inside her.
“Tell me what’s going on, honey,” he ordered. Bossy Luca used to piss her off when she was younger, but now, she craved his bossiness.
“I don’t want to lose you,” she whispered, deciding to give him her complete honesty.
“You won’t,” Luca said immediately, his voice rough.
“Not now, not ever. I promise that I’m not going anywhere, honey.
” He tipped her chin up, giving her time to pull away, but she didn’t.
Instead, she rose onto her toes and kissed him first. It was soft and tentative, as if she were testing the truth of what this was.
Luca groaned low in his throat, his restraint finally snapping.
He kissed her back with everything he’d been holding in, hands sliding into her hair, pulling her closer until there was no space left for doubt.
Sophia melted into him, and the world narrowed to heat and longing.
She loved the way that his touch made her feel wanted—chosen.
When he guided her back toward the bed, she went willingly, her heart racing but unafraid.
Every movement was slow, deliberate, and filled with care that made her chest ache.
Luca hovered over her, brushing his thumb across her cheek, his gaze searching her face one last time.
“Tell me if you want me to stop.” The last thing that she wanted was for him to stop.
She was hoping that they were past him asking permission, but she knew that was just Luca’s way.
He’d always make sure that she was with him, one hundred percent.
She reached for him, pulling him down, making her answer clear without words. Luca quickly closed the door softly behind them, shutting out the world—and for the first time in a long time, Sophia let herself believe she was exactly where she belonged.
Sophia felt the shift in the air the second Luca touched her.
His hands were warm and steady at her waist, but there was nothing gentle about the way his thumbs flexed into her flesh, like he was fighting the instinct to pull her closer—harder.
Her breath caught, a quiet sound she didn’t mean to make, and his eyes darkened at the proof that she felt this as deeply as he did.
“You’re shaking,” he murmured.
“Then stop looking at me like that,” she whispered back, even as she leaned into him.
He didn’t stop. If anything, his gaze grew heavier, hotter, like he was memorizing her.
When he kissed her again, it wasn’t tentative this time.
It was slow, deep, and unhurried. It was the kind of kiss that made her toes curl and her knees weaken.
His mouth moved against her lips with intention, like he was telling her exactly what he wanted without saying a word.
Sophia’s hands slid up his chest, feeling muscle and heat beneath her palms. She tugged at his shirt, impatient now, and the low sound he made against her mouth sent a rush straight through her.
His mouth traced along her jaw, her throat, lingering just long enough to make her arch beneath him. Every touch was deliberate—claiming without rushing, building instead of taking. Sophia’s pulse raced, her body responding to him in ways she hadn’t let herself feel in far too long.
“Luca,” she breathed, not even sure what she was asking for.
His lips paused against her skin. His forehead rested against hers, their breaths mingling.
“I’ve got you,” he said softly. “I won’t hurt you.
” That was all it took for her to find the strength that she needed to take everything that he wanted to give to her.
She was finally going to be brave, and she knew that Luca wouldn’t let her fail.
Sophia wrapped her legs around him, pulling him closer, and the sound he made then was pure need. His control finally cracked—not in a way that scared her, but in a way that made her feel chosen, wanted, and safe.
The world faded to heat and whispered words and the slow, delicious loss of time. And for once, Sophia didn’t think about what came next. She only knew that whatever this was—was real, and she wasn’t running from it anymore.