Her fingers stilled. Turning over at last, he propped himself over her. "Don't stop speaking to me now," he said, not sure he could cope if he had to do this over again. His male ego was already bruised and battered.
"It's so hard to say." Her voice was a whisper. "The only thing I need is your patience."
"Slow, honey? Is that what you want?"
Her hands moved between them to press softly against his chest. "Yes."
He traced patterns across the delicate skin of her neck, aching for her. "Do you really want me, Vicki?"
He needed the answer to that blunt question, even if the wrong answer could wound him beyond repair. As he finished speaking, he shifted subtly, letting her feel his arousal against her thigh. He wanted her, had always wanted her. No other woman could do this to him.
She gasped. "Caleb." Her skin flushed hot against his fingertips and she put both hands on his shoulders. He thought for a second that she was going to push him away and his heart plummeted. Then her fingers curved and she tugged him closer. "How can you always do this to me? We've been together for five years."
"Do what to you?" Fascinated by the way her body was melting to accommodate his, he could hardly speak.
Another silence, but this time it was filled with the heat of their hunger. "Needy, hot … starving for you."
Six
C aleb's breath rushed out of him. Unable to form words, he used touch to tell her how he felt. Sliding his hand down, he spread his fingers over her belly, indulging himself as he'd wanted to do since forever. Soon, this barely curved plane would round and he'd explore that change day by sweet day without worrying that his embrace was unwelcome or unwanted.
Something hot and beautiful sparked inside his heart at the thought of the tiny life hidden inside his wife's body. A life that had been so determined to be born it had circumvented all their precautions. He was already proud of their kid's stubbornness."It feels like the first time," Vicki whispered.
He leaned down. "For both of us." Their mouths met.
Sweet temptation.
That was what she'd always tasted like. The sweetest, most luscious of temptations. Except now, there was an edge to the taste of her, a spicy bite. His body grew heavy with need, captivated by this woman who was half stranger and so sexy, he thought he might die from the intensity of the desire riding him.
Then her hands began moving hesitantly down his chest, caressing him through the hair there. After so many years of hunger, he could scarcely bear the almost painful pleasure. When she began to circle her fingers around his nipples, his breath grew jagged, the sound harsh in the intimate silence.
"Caleb?" Breaking the kiss, she stilled.
"Don't stop, Vicki. I've waited years for your touch." He let her see his need, let her see the things he'd hidden from her, too damn proud to make himself vulnerable.
"Will you … will you tell me if I do something that I shouldn't?"
Her courage amazed him. "I swear to you I will never be turned off by anything you do in this bed."
Her body shuddered. "It almost killed me not to … " Her fingers began to move again, stroking and petting and learning. "So many times I wanted to tell you but then I'd think that ladies weren't supposed to discuss sex, that it would turn you from me. How could I have been so stupid?"
"Hush." He kissed her. "You were worried and inexperienced, and I'm not the easiest of men to talk to. Forget the past-from now on it's you and me in this bed, no lies, no regrets."
"No regrets." Those slender fingers slid down to caress his abdomen, his waist, his back.
Trying to find the strength to let her explore him as she needed to do, he reclaimed her lips. And drowned in the feel of her, in the exquisite lushness of the sensuality she'd released from bondage. Her kiss promised the same ecstasy it always had. But this time his body thrummed with the knowledge that the promise would be fulfilled if only he was patient.
Delicate hands stroked his back before returning to his chest. He wanted to demand a more intimate touch, something he'd never asked of her, but even enslaved by passion, he knew she had to make that decision on her own. He was utterly at her mercy. She could heal him or break him.
Her hand brushed past his navel.
"Lower," he grit out, unable to stay silent. "Sorry."
She kissed his jaw. "No. I want you to tell me. I need you to."
He was having trouble thinking with her hand where it was. Then one of her fingers plucked at the waistband of his boxers and he groaned, "Lower, honey." His voice was so rough, he barely understood himself.
"Like this?"
Shudders racked him as her fingers slipped under the waistband to carefully grasp his erection. Burying his face in her neck, he tried to breathe as she began to stroke him slow and hard. He fisted the sheets in his hands, refusing to bruise her by crushing her skin in a grip gone feral.
Under his chest, her breasts were soft, her nipples beautifully pebbled even through her pajama top, but he was too blinded by unexpected pleasure to pay homage to them. Shocked by the fury of the fire arcing through him, he had no choice but to surrender. And in that moment, Caleb did something he hadn't done in five years of marriage. He lost control.
The climax hit him hard and fast, a knockout punch that left him a heavy weight on her, drained, heart racing at a thousand miles an hour. "I'm sorry," he rasped when he could speak.
To his surprise, she kissed his neck and said, "Do you really want me that much?" Her free hand lifted to brush sweat-damp hair off his forehead.
"I've always wanted you." The single reason he'd never before surrendered so completely was because the wanting had seemed one-sided. That painful knowledge had always blunted his physical pleasure. He'd gone to her bed but part of him had stayed separate, trying to protect himself from the hurt he knew would come.
"I want to please you again," she whispered, nuzzling his throat. "I want to feel you wanting me. I need to know that you like it when I … when I let go." She swallowed and he felt the movement. "I can't quite convince myself that it's okay to be like this with you."
He sucked in a breath when he realized she was still holding him intimately. "Sweetheart, believe me, I'd love to oblige you but I'm thirty-four years old. I don't recover quite so fast anymore."
Her hand began to stroke and squeeze, while her lips trailed along the edge of his jaw. "Please, Caleb?"
He'd taught his body to be satisfied with barely a taste when he wanted to gorge. About to tell her it would take time no matter how much he wanted to indulge her, he felt his body roar to life. She began placing suckling kisses on his neck as her free hand played over his chest.
"I want to give you … " he began.
Her hand tightened a fraction, sending shock waves over his body. "You've given me enough pleasure for two lifetimes. I owe you. Let me, Caleb, honey. Let me." The last was a sensual plea.
He didn't stand a chance.
When he woke the next morning, Vicki was gone from the bed but he could hear her singing in the kitchen. Grinning, he got up, feeling like a teenager. They hadn't made love last night but he wasn't complaining. It would come.If he was patient.
Caleb had never been much good at patience but damn if he wasn't going to win a gold medal in it this time around. He was still grinning as he ducked into the shower. Fifteen minutes later, he finished putting on his tie and walked into the kitchen.
Vicki was at the stove, flipping pancakes. He loved pancakes but she usually only made them on weekends. Coming up behind her, he slipped his arms around her waist and kissed her neck. "Good morning."
She went bright red as she mumbled "Good morning." Turning off the stove, she put the pancakes on a plate.
He knew that part of her had to be worried about what they'd done last night, whether she'd acted the right way or not. Knowing that something was okay, and accepting it were two different things. "I'm looking forward to being patient tonight."
"Caleb Callaghan!" Whirling around in his arms, she met his laughing gaze. "Don't you tease me about this."
"Why not?"
"Because I made you pancakes."
Unable to resist, he kissed her. Her hands wrapped around his waist. They were still a little hesitant but they were there. And her mouth … her mouth was pure temptation. He kissed her with every ounce of passion in him.