Her last words were heartbreakingly quiet and he felt them in the core of his soul. Outside she was smiling and perhaps even laughing, but in her heart, Vicki was crying. Today she'd surrendered her last hopes and accepted that Danica wouldn't ever be able to give her what she needed. Acceptance didn't mean the pain was any less.
"Never," he whispered, his voice husky from the knot of emotion choking his throat. "I wouldn't go when you asked me to. Why would I leave voluntarily?"
Thirteen
V icki curled in bed, thinking over the words Caleb had said to her as they sat on the couch. Next to her, he was fast asleep. She'd set the alarm to ring in a few hours so he could return to work, but she couldn't sleep.
For the first time in her life, she was with someone who, quite simply, was too damn stubborn to walk away from her. Some women might have found that kind of possessive commitment daunting, but it was exactly what she needed. When she'd tried to divorce Caleb, she'd hoped to garner his attention, but she hadn't understood the depths to which he'd go to keep the promise he'd made to her on their wedding day.To love, honor and cherish. For always.
The extent of his loyalty humbled her. Her darling Caleb would be her rock, no matter what life threw at them. It was okay to take risks and open her heart and her body fully to him.
After all these years, the four-year-old girl inside her was smiling. She still felt a little bruised but was healed enough to take the next step.
Getting up out of Caleb's arms, she walked quietly to the dresser and pulled out the lingerie she'd bought today. It was time to start showing her husband what he meant to her. He'd done so much for her and yet expected so little in return.
He'd been abandoned the same way she had and needed as much care and tenderness. The difference was, he'd never allow himself to break down as she'd done countless times, never allow himself to cry or ask for tenderness. She could accept that. It was simply the man he was. But it meant she had to read between the lines where his emotional needs were concerned.
A smile curved her lips-these days she was having no trouble reading Caleb, in bed or out … because her husband trusted her. She had every intention of treasuring that gift, starting now. Tonight she'd give him the tenderness he'd never accept in any other context, show him that she was his in every way.
Slipping out of her pj's, she shimmied into the panties and camisole. There, she thought, feeling a mixture of nervousness and joy. That will surprise him when he wakes. She only hoped he'd understand what she was trying to say. Fighting a shiver, she crawled into bed next to Caleb's warm body. He grumbled in his sleep then cuddled her close.
Caleb woke though the alarm hadn't gone off. Staring at the clock, he realized it was an hour before he had to be up. Yawning, he was about to close his eyes when he registered the texture beneath his palm. Satin. Soft and silky and very touchable. He frowned. He'd been tired when he'd gone to bed but he was sure Vicki had been in her pj's. Carefully, he switched on the bedside light.Vicki was on her back, her head on one of his arms while his other arm lay across her stomach. Raising the one on her stomach, he lifted away the blanket to have a look, and froze.
These were not Vicki's old pj's.
Unable to do anything else, he bared her completely. She complained in her sleep so he started stroking her upper thighs, gentling her as he took in the delectable sight of his wife's body showcased by satin and lace. The panties were cut high on her thighs, the lace edging the legs meeting the lace of the waistband. In sleep, the camisole had rucked up, exposing a strip of skin on her taut stomach that he couldn't help running his finger over.
"Caleb," she moaned, sounding more than half asleep.
He let his eyes wander up and almost begged for mercy. The left strap had fallen half off, exposing the creamy curve of one breast while the other remained primly covered. What did Vicki think she was doing? He was supposed to be concentrating on saving the Maxwell deal, not drowning in a river of hunger.
One hand on her thigh, he leaned over to drop a kiss on the bared skin of her breast. His stubble rubbed across her skin. She made a sleepy sound and one hand rose to tangle in his hair, keeping him where he was. Delighted, he tugged at the fallen strap until her breast popped free completely and he breathed a sigh of appreciation.
Stroking his hand up her body, he took her nipple between his fingertips and plucked at it, teasing her fully awake. She shifted and he moved enough to slide one hair-roughened thigh between her smooth ones. Rubbing his thumb over her nipple, he felt her hand clench in his hair.
"Caleb, what … ?"
"These aren't your pj's," he accused, without looking up from his task. He released her nipple from his fingers only to take it between his teeth. She gasped.
"I wanted to … um … " She gasped again as he let go of the nipple, scraping it with his teeth. "Caleb."
"You wanted to what?" he prompted, cupping her breast in his hand.
"To surprise you." The roughness of desire colored her tone.
He pressed a kiss to her breastbone and rose to look at her. "Why?"
She blushed. "Because I wanted … "
"What?" He dipped his head to play with her other nipple through the satin of her top.
In his hair, her fingers spread and then clenched again. He licked and laved until the hard little bud was completely defined against the satin. "Tell me what you wanted."
"Do I have to say it?" It was a husky plea that succeeded in capturing his full attention. The second his eyes met hers, he knew. His wife had worn this because she'd wanted to make love. She'd made the first move in her own deliberate way. He'd had no part in seducing her to this point, hadn't even asked for a kiss.
Slowly, he shook his head, almost scared to face the hope bursting to life inside him. "Not this time." Then he grinned, as the hope broke its bonds and shot through his bloodstream like white fire. "We've got years, and I kind of like your way of asking."
Her blush deepened and under his hand, he felt her skin heat up. Looking down, he groaned at the sight of her flushed breast cupped in his palm. The image was rawly sexual and something primitive in him rejoiced. His wife. His woman. His lover.
At last, she was his lover in every sense. Not only accepting but also demanding. And it wasn't just her body she was giving him. The emotions in her eyes were so powerful, he could barely believe it was his composed Victoria in his arms. He still needed to hear the words, needed to see her lips shape them into sound.
If she never said those words, it would hurt but it wouldn't destroy, not when she was willing to show him how much he meant to her in other ways. He kissed his way down to her stomach and along the band of skin exposed by the camisole he'd pushed up. The fingers in his hair tugged.
"Caleb, honey."
He raised his head to glance at her. "Hmm?"
"I want a kiss." Her cheeks were red but the heat wasn't from a blush. The glittering fever in her eyes spoke of something else entirely.
He gave her what she'd asked for. Never would he deny her anything in bed except in sensual play. Vicki's kiss was a stroke of his senses, wild and uninhibited. As she kissed him, she wrapped one leg around his waist and bent the other so that he was cradled against her. The heat passed effortlessly through the satin of her panties and the cotton of his briefs, the most intimate of caresses.
He groaned his pleasure into her mouth, more than willing to let her be the aggressor in this intimacy of lips. Vicki could kiss like no other woman on earth. She put her soul into each glide of the tongue, each sensual bite of the lip until he felt kissed by her whole body.
No one else had ever lavished such pleasure on him.
When she ended the kiss, he gladly let her press him to the bed and straddle his body. She ran her fingers down his chest, through the rough darkness of the hair there. The look in her eyes was hotly sensual, distinctly proprietary.
"What are you doing?" He wasn't complaining. Having his wife's half-naked body for his private viewing pleasure was one of his favorite fantasies.
"Looking at you." She slid the remaining strap of her camisole down her arm. For the first time in their married life there was no shyness in her.
He held his breath as her action bared both breasts. "Vicki."
With a very female smile, she drew the straps off her hands and let the camisole bunch around her waist. Above him, she was a symphony of cream and pink, luscious and tempting. When he ran his hands to her back and pushed gently, she leaned over to let him taste her breasts.