Broken Promises

Chapter Five

Frank shifted slightly in his sleep, turning onto his side, and felt a hand begin to move from his knee slowly……. agonizingly slowly……up his thigh. He sighed contentedly as a sexy smile graced his lips. He neither hindered nor helped the hand in its slow progression. He simply waited to feel where it would go next.

Her touch was light, teasingly so, as she continued her journey. As she slowly reached his upper thigh, she was pleased to feel that he wore nothing underneath the sheet that covered him. A stroke of luck that would aid her seduction. She paused briefly when she reached his hipbone, her fingertips drawing lazy, feather light circles on his skin. She felt him shudder slightly next to her and she smiled in response.

Laying her palm flat against his warm skin, she moved her hand toward the center of his abdomen. In response, he unconsciously leaned a little further back toward her, giving her even better access. Her hand moved leisurely back and forth just above his pubic hair. She didn't need to look to know that even now his body was responding to her touch. Such a simple thing really…..a tender caress in just the right spot, fanning a slowly smoldering flame.

As she pressed herself up against his back, she could feel the quickened beating of his heart and the shallow breaths that quickly filled his lungs. She smiled knowing that he was now totally under her control.

Her hand soon changed direction as she weaved her fingers into the dark, curly hair surrounding his now swelling manhood. She let the hair run through her fingers much like she would with the hair on his head. Sensing his impatience, her hand continued its descent as it finally came to rest on his already throbbing shaft. A slight hiss escaped his lips as her hand wrapped around him.

Stilling at first, she seemed content to just hold him, squeezing him lightly now and again just for good measure. Another sound came from him. Something akin to a stifled groan. Chuckling to herself, she began her final assault.

Slowly, ever so slowly, her hand traveled the length of him. Up and down….from base to tip, she continued her deliberate torture. On and on she continued, her hand at first tightening its grip and then easing back to barely feather light touches, pausing now and again to swirl a finger across his engorged tip. The effect was utterly devastating and painfully arousing.

On and on she continued, knowing that he wouldn't be able to continue much longer, but not yet willing to give him over to his release. Her touch lightened as she moved her body even closer to his and chose this exact moment to trigger the ultimate response that she was eagerly waiting for.

While she brushed her aroused nipples across his strong back, she leaned forward and licked the most sensitive part of his neck, just behind his ear. As she did this, her hand began its assault anew, her movements now strong and forceful.

Frank groaned loudly, completely caught off guard by her latest maneuver. He was so incredibly close to his orgasm, but desperately didn't want it to end this way. He needed to be buried deep within her, to bring her to the brink of ecstasy along with him.

Quicker than he thought he could move, he pulled her hand off his now rock hard shaft and turned over in order to imbed himself between her eagerly parted legs. With no warning at all, he entered her, burying himself to the hilt, and both cried out at the sudden intrusion. He stilled immediately, trying to maintain the minute control that he had remaining. His eyes closed tightly, his head buried against her shoulder, his breath came in ragged gasps. After what seemed like ages he began to move within her tight, slick chamber. Soon after, unfortunately, he began to feel himself spiraling closer and closer to oblivion, and he was utterly helpless to stop it.

On and on he pounded into her, her legs now tightly wrapped around him, her hips meeting him thrust for thrust. He knew he wouldn't last much longer, and luckily he also sensed that she wouldn't either as her nails dug almost painfully into his backside, silently urging him on.

Just as he neared his climax, he raised his head in order to look into her face as she joined him in ecstasy. Framing her face with his hands, he looked into her deep brown eyes, "Lucia……….." he barely whispered, her name offered as a prayer.

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Jerking awake, Frank sat up as quickly as his trembling body would allow. His eyes darted around his bedroom, trying to discern his whereabouts. For the first few seconds, the room was unknown to him, but as the fragments of the dream began to fade, he soon realized that he was in his bed back in Virginia.

Closing his eyes tightly, he hung his head and tried to calm his still sexually charged body. The dream had been so real. The woman….her touch…..even her face had seemed so familiar….so….he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Was it someone he had known before, but had somehow forgotten? He didn't know for sure, but one thing he was painfully aware of was that he now had a throbbing erection and a guilty conscience.

He sat up more fully on the bed and ran both of his hands through his hair in frustration. He tried to shake away the lingering remnants of the dream, but he was finding it to be a nearly impossible task. He wondered absently if he'd spoken in his sleep, and if he did, he thanked God that Laura wasn't in the room to hear him.

He looked over at the clock and saw that it was almost 8AM. Laura undoubtedly had been up for over an hour or more and had thoughtfully let him sleep longer.

As if she knew that he'd been thinking about her, the bedroom door opened slowly and Laura peeked inside. She smiled warmly at him when she saw that he was already awake.

"Hey, sleepy head. We were starting to think that you were going to spend the whole day in bed," she informed him as she came closer and sat on the edge of the bed next to him.

The moment he saw her in the doorway, he immediately felt guilty for whatever had happened in his dream. He knew it was ridiculous. Why should he feel guilty? It was a dream, nothing more, but for some reason, he was having a hard time convincing himself of that.

When Laura sat down next to him, she immediately noticed the tenseness in his posture, the slight flush on his cheeks and the light sheen of perspiration that still clung to his body. "Hey…..are you all right?" she asked him, suddenly concerned for his welfare. "You're not getting sick, are you?" She raised her hand in order to check to see if he had a fever, but when she did so, he visibly pulled back away from her.

"Frank? What is it?" her brow furrowing in concern.

"It….it's nothing. Just a bad dream. That's all," he informed her, trying to convince himself more than her.

"A dream? Do you want to talk about it?" she inquired, easily slipping into psychiatrist mode.

Frank shook his head. "No. Actually…..I'm having a hard time remembering it now." Liar! You remember every touch…every sensation…..every movement of the woman's hand, lips, tongue…..

Laura immediately sensed that he wasn't exactly telling her the truth, but decided to drop it because more than likely it had to do with this upcoming mission. "Are you sure? Maybe if you….."

"It's nothing, Laura. It was just a dream," he said a little more sternly than he had intended.

She frowned at him for a second before rising from the bed and walking to the door. Pausing there she turned to look at her husband once more. He sat on the bed, the sheets haphazardly wrapped around his waist, and almost looked like he was avoiding her gaze. "The kids are just finishing up breakfast. Do you want me to make you anything?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

"No….no thank you. I think I'm going to get a shower first."

"Ok….we'll probably be outside when you finish." She saw him nod his head before she left the room, still puzzled by his reactions to her presence.

Frank sighed raggedly after she closed the door and left him alone. He ran both of his hands through his hair and then clasped them at the back of his neck. While the after effects of the dream still held him, he'd considered for more than a few seconds grabbing Laura and making love to her in order to relieve his sexual frustration, but somehow doing that would have been like cheating. Cheating on which woman? Shaking his head vigorously, he rose from the bed on slightly unsteady legs and made his way toward the bathroom. A long hot shower, that's what he needed.

After turning the water on and adjusting the temperature, Frank stepped into the shower stall and let the water cascade over his body. He leaned against the cold tile wall and just allowed the water to work its magic on him. After several minutes, however, it became apparent that the plan wasn't working. His body was still as tight and rigid as it had been when he'd bolted awake. God damn it! Maybe I'd better make it a cold shower instead!

Sighing in aggravation, he knew there was only one way to alleviate the situation. Leaning into the shower spray, one arm stretched out supporting himself against the wall, he wrapped his hand around his still painfully stiff member and worked at achieving his own release.

It had been quite a while since he'd had to resort to such measures. The last time had been well over a year ago, during a long separation from his wife due to work. He pictured her now, as he always did, pretending it were her hand touching him….caressing him…urging him toward his completion. He hung his head, letting the shower's spray play across his muscular back, as his hand worked his engorged shaft. On and on he went, his climax teetering on the edge but not plunging him into its satisfying depths.

Even more frustrated than when he'd begun, his movements became almost spastic and violent in nature. The fact that he couldn't achieve this orgasm gnawed away at his psyche and he refused to give up.

Suddenly….from out of nowhere……an image floated into his head. Everything else around him stilled and seemed to disappear. A woman….long, dark flowing hair….ruby red lips and caramel colored eyes. It was the lips that he couldn't tear his eyes away from. They were soft….ripe….sensual. He watched in disembodied fascination as this dark goddess knelt before him, her eyes briefly tilting to meet his own, as an erotic smile graced her luscious lips. Her tongue briefly snaked out and brushed against the head of his swollen shaft. He moaned at the simple gesture, his head falling back on his shoulders, his eyes shutting out everything but the feel of her.

When nothing else happened, he reluctantly opened his eyes once more and looked down at the woman at his feet. The second she had his attention, she slowly took him into her mouth. He groaned in pleasurable agony as he watched those ruby lips devour his eager member. He tried to close his eyes once more, but she instantly stilled her movements. Her meaning was clear, she wanted him to watch as she pleasured him, so he complied with her silent demands.

Her actions were unhurried as she swirled her tongue around his swollen head. Slowly he could feel the pressure building inside of him as he continued to watch her sensual onslaught. Never in his life had he ever seen anything so erotic…..so arousing, and he soon found himself hurtling toward the edge of his release. His hips thrust of their own accord as he felt himself release his seed into her willing mouth. On and on it went, his climax devastating and utterly satisfying. As his body's convulsions slowly stilled, this dark beauty rose from her kneeling position and looked into his slightly glazed eyes, she whispered, "Ahora... usted pertenece a mí." [Now….you belong to me.]

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For the second time in less than an hour, Frank snapped out of a dreamlike vision. Again the disorientation lingered as his surroundings became clearer. He could once again feel the cold tile beneath his hand, the warm water pelting his back and shoulders. What the hell is happening to me?!? He almost felt sick….nauseous and completely sexually satisfied all at the same time. The combination was thoroughly disturbing, to say the least.

A thousand questions weighed down his weary mind. Was this dream woman someone he'd known before? He'd called her by a name earlier……what it was, he couldn't quite remember. She'd said something to him in Spanish. He'd understood her well enough at the time, but was having difficulty recalling that bit of information just minutes later. Why could he not climax thinking about his wife, but he could dreaming about some stranger? Or was she a stranger? Was this a dream or a memory of something from the past? So many questions and no answers.

Even though he was standing in the middle of a shower, he suddenly felt filthy. He grabbed the soap and washcloth and scrubbed his skin, vainly trying to wash away the remnants of whatever vision had haunted him. Nearly a half hour and several layers of skin later, Frank finally stepped out of the shower.

Wandering into the bedroom, he grabbed some clean clothes and almost roughly pulled them on. His mood was foul and he knew he needed to snap out of it, and quickly. As he went to exit the room, he caught sight of himself in the mirror. Something was different. He couldn't place what it was. Was his hair getting too long? Did his goatee need trimming? Had he put on a couple of extra pounds? Lost a couple?

He shook his head. Whatever it was, it eluded him and bothered him immensely. He quickly turned and finally opened the door. Once in the hallway, he noticed that the house was eerily quiet, and then he remembered that Laura had said that she'd be outside with the kids.

Making his way to the kitchen, he looked out through the back window and saw his family enjoying a wonderful Spring day. Laura was pushing Alicia on one of the swings while Christopher climbed up the monkey bars. He smiled in spite of his bad mood as he watched them. No matter how bad anything else in his life was, Laura and the children always lifted his spirits and made him whole again.

It was just a dream, Frank. It meant nothing. Even now, you can't remember all of the details. It's fading just like all dreams do. If it was a memory, don't you think you'd be able to recall it for more than five seconds? It all made sense. He reassured himself that it was all due to the stress of his current situation. He was going to be reentering a life that he thought he'd left behind well over a decade ago.

Once again turning his attention to his family, the smile returned to his face. He never in his life could have imagined loving so completely. Not before he'd met Laura and she'd given him these two beautiful children. Three actually…..don't forget Michael. Of course, he would never forget his oldest son. The child that had been so cruelly taken from them due to cancer. Sighing sadly, although still smiling, he made his way toward the back door. A few more hours of play and then he'd finally tell his two precious children that he'd have to leave them. Walking outside, he approached Laura and the kids.

"Daddy!" Alicia squealed at him, her hair flying in her face as she swung back and forth.

"Hey princess….are you having fun on the swing?' he asked back, although it was obvious from her smile that she was.

"Uh huh…..push me Daddy!" she requested.

Frank moved over to take Laura's position. When he passed his wife, she gave him a questioning look while she intently studied his face. She could tell that the remnants of whatever had happened earlier were still there, but he seemed to be calmer, more composed than when she'd seen him earlier. He smiled at her, trying to let her know that everything was all right, but somehow, the smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

She moved away from him and joined Christopher at the jungle gym. While she kept an eye on her son, she secretly kept watching Frank out of the corner of her eyes. She sensed something was still wrong and wondered absently if she should say anything else to him. In the end, she chose not to, believing that whatever was bothering him more than likely had to do with the task that he found himself with this afternoon….telling the kids that he'd be leaving them.

After a half hour or so of play, Frank picked up Alicia and approached Laura and Christopher. "We're going to go inside for a little while and read," he informed them, all the while looking at Laura and praying that she got his real message. He wanted to tell the kids one at a time, instead of together. Alicia would be first. Although he didn't relish the idea of telling his little girl that she wouldn't see him for quite a while, he still knew this would be easier than telling Christopher all the reasons for why he was leaving.

Laura understood his motives perfectly and nodded almost solemnly. As he passed by her, she reached out and briefly grabbed his hand, momentarily halting him. She simply looked in his eyes when he turned toward her. She let him know without a single spoken word how much she loved him. Frank smiled once again, but this time it was sincere although tinged with sadness. He squeezed her hand quickly and then released her as he continued his journey into the house, his daughter securely tucked in his strong arms.

Once inside, he carried Alicia upstairs to her room. Sitting down in the rocking chair, he placed her on his lap and took a few moments just to look at her. In so many ways she looked like him. The dark wavy hair, dimples, the full lower lip, but she had her mother's brilliant green eyes and understanding nature.

Alicia looked at her father quizzically. He said they were going to read a book, but he hadn't picked anything out yet. "Daddy…..read me Babar." Her current favorite book was called The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant. Although she'd had it read to her well over fifty times, she couldn't get enough of it.

"In a minute, honey. Daddy has something to talk to you about."

"Ok, Daddy," she replied with a smile.

Frank smiled back at his daughter and wrestled with himself about where to start. How could he make a 4 year old understand? "Baby, you know how sometimes we don't see grandma for a long time….like when she takes a trip back to Italy to see her family there?"

"Uh huh."

"Well……Daddy has to go away for awhile, too. Just like grandma does sometimes." He waited to see Alicia's reaction before continuing. She looked at him with her little eyebrow's furrowed, trying to understand what he was telling her.

"Where are you going?" she asked with great concern.

"Far away, princess……far away."

"Can I come with you?" she asked, a twinkle of light in her eyes.

"No, baby. You'll have to stay here with mommy and Christopher."

He saw her eyes start to well up with tears and her lips begin to tremble. "I don't want you to go away."

Frank felt like his heart was breaking as he watched the first tear roll down her cheek. "I know honey. I don't want to go away, but I have to." He held her in his strong arms as her tears began to overtake her. "It'll be OK, baby……I promise. Sshhhhh…….it's OK," he whispered to her over and over as she continued to cry through her hiccups.

"No, Daddy……no……don't go, please??" she asked with her head buried against his chest.

"I have to, honey. I'm sorry……I have to go," he told her as his own eyes welled with tears.

She suddenly pulled back from him and said, "I….I don't want you……to go away. Michael…went away too…….please Daddy! Please…..don't go!" She then threw her arms around his neck and clung to him as if he were going to disappear from right in front of her.

Frank closed his eyes, took a deep breath and held on to his little girl as tightly as he could. He'd never even considered how she viewed Michael's death. She'd been so young when it happened and for all intents and purposes, she truly didn't remember him, but what she did know was that when he left, her mommy , daddy and brother were sad. And now she thought that he was leaving just like Michael had. He waited a little longer, giving her time to cry herself out a bit. When he heard her sobs lessen and felt her grip around his neck weaken a bit, he slowly eased her away from his embrace so that he could look at her.

He wiped the remaining tears from her round cheeks and brushed her hair away from her face. "Baby……Daddy's not going away forever. I promise. I'll be gone for awhile, but I promise that I'll be back."

She continued to hiccup and her breath caught every time she inhaled deeply. Her eyes were downcast almost as if she were afraid to look at him. He placed his fingers under her chin and raised her face up so that he could see her. "I promise, Alicia…….I promise. I'll be back before you know it. You'll see, but I promise that I'll be back."

She wiped away her tears with the back of her hand and looked very seriously into Frank's eyes. "Are you sure I can't come with you?" she asked one last time, a glimmer of hope still in her eyes.

"I'm sure, baby. I wish that you could, believe me. I wish that you and mommy and Christopher could all come with me, but you can't. I have to go away because of work, and as soon as I'm done, I'll come straight home."

Alicia looked down at her hands as if she was considering something very important, before saying anything further. "Will you read me a story when you get back?"

For some reason her simple request, nearly broke his heart. At this age, all she wanted was for him to spend time with her. No demands……no manipulations…..just simple love and caring. It took everything he had to hold down the emotions threatening to overflow from within him.

"Yes, princess. I promise that when I get back, I'll read you a story…..I'll tuck you into bed……I'll push you on the swing……whatever you want."

"Ok, Daddy," she said, still sniffing. She leaned back against his chest and played with the front of his shirt. "I love you, Daddy."

Frank looked at the ceiling and took a trembling breath before answering. "I love you too, baby…..I love you too," he told her barely above a whisper.

He held her in his arms for fifteen or twenty minutes more as they quietly rocked together. He kept expecting her to ask other questions, maybe to even start crying again, but after a time he realized that she'd fallen asleep. Probably from crying so hard. He waited a little while longer before picking her up and carefully placing her on her bed. Kneeling down next to her, he simply gazed at her, thankful that God had given him such a wondrous gift. A short while later, he left her room, quietly closing the door behind him.

Once out in the hall, he leaned against the wall, closed his eyes and hung his head. Telling Alicia had almost killed him. How was he supposed to tell his son what was going to happen? Alicia was still too young to be concerned with all of the details, but Christopher was very bright and old enough to know when something wasn't right. Knowing that he was only putting off the inevitable, he slowly made his way downstairs.

He walked into the kitchen and saw Laura and Christopher sitting on the back porch together, sipping on what looked to be lemonade. Taking a deep breath, he opened the screen door to join them.

Laura immediately looked at Frank trying to gauge how his talk with Alicia went. It took her all of about a second and a half to see the hurt and anguish in his eyes. He couldn't hide it from her, even if he wanted to.

"Hey Dad……will you pitch some balls to me so I can practice my batting?" Christopher asked eagerly since baseball was now officially his newest obsession.

Frank glanced at Laura before answering, "How about if we do that a bit later. There's something I want to talk to you about first."

As if on cue, Laura rose from her place on the porch step and started for the back door. "Where's Alicia?" she asked Frank softly as she passed him.

"She's asleep up in her room. I think……she wore herself out," he explained to her without saying too much.

Laura nodded in understanding. "Do you want me to stay?" she asked him, looking into his eyes as she did so.

Frank considered it for a second, but he knew if he asked her to stay, it would be for purely selfish reasons. "No….why don't you check on Alicia." She nodded and entered the house, leaving Frank and Christopher alone.

Frank sat down where Laura had been just seconds ago. Christopher had a baseball in his hands and was tossing it into the air and catching it, over and over again. When Frank didn't say anything after a few moments, Christopher looked in his direction expectantly.

Frank turned and looked at his son, and just as he'd done with Alicia, he gazed at him and marveled at how his son was so like him and Laura all at the same time. Christopher had Laura's fairer coloring, her light blond hair, but he had his brown eyes and the same dimples when he smiled. He smiled thoughtfully at his son, when he sensed that the boy was becoming confused by his silence.

"Christopher…….I know I promised you a lot of things about this summer. Swim lessons, a fishing trip……..but I'm afraid I won't be able to do those things."

"Why not?" his son asked simply.

Frank sighed before continuing. "I've been given a new assignment. I'll be leaving next week, and I'm not sure when I'll be back."

Christopher remembered the days when his father used to work in Chicago. Although he didn't like that he was gone for days at a time, he knew that it wouldn't last for too long. He didn't understand how this would be any different. "How long will you be gone?" he asked with great concern.

"I'm not sure," Frank answered truthfully. "It could be quite awhile. Maybe….maybe the whole summer…..maybe longer."

Christopher stared at Frank, his eyes widened, his mouth open in something akin to shock. "All summer?!?"

"I'm afraid so. I know……" Christopher interrupted him before he could continue.

"But you promised! You said that when we moved here it would be different! You said….."

"I know what I said!" Frank nearly shouted back. "I'm sorry, Christopher. I truly am, but this is my job….."

"I don't care about your job!" Christopher yelled back, suddenly standing and confronting Frank. "You promised! After Mom got hurt, you said that you wanted to be home more! You said that's why we were leaving Chicago! So why did we leave there, if you were just going to go away again?!?"

"Christopher….sometimes we have to do things we don't want to do. That's just the way it is. I don't want to take this assignment, but I have no choice," Frank tried to explain as well as he could.

"I don't care!" Christopher shouted back at him. "I don't want you to leave! You promised!" he repeated again, trying to keep himself from crying like his baby sister always did.

"Christopher……" Frank tried once more, fighting to remain calm himself.

"No!! I hate you! I wish we'd never left Chicago! I hate you!!" Christopher screamed at his father as he ran in the house.

Frank sighed raggedly and buried his face in his hands. He knew that his son didn't mean what he'd said, but the words stung nonetheless. He wouldn't have blamed him if he really did hate him. He'd been uprooted twice now, forced to leave behind any friends that he'd managed to make all because of forces beyond his control.

It was all so unfair. Christopher and Alicia were losing there father for an undetermined amount of time……Laura would have to do without the husband who'd sworn that he'd be there for them everyday……..and he was being forced to leave behind everything that he held near and dear to his heart in order to be a pawn for the CIA once more.

Frank sighed once more and looked at his son's abandoned baseball. Oh Christopher……I wish we hadn't left Chicago too.

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