He didn't tug as hard with his teeth as he might have before, aware that her breasts had become more sensitive. Her soft cry of pleasure had him pulling her down enough that he could suckle more of her flesh into his mouth. For long minutes, he alternated between breasts, licking, sucking, laving.
"Wait." She pushed at him until he was flat on his back again, looking up at her.
"Come back," he ordered, his fingers slipping in under the waistband of her panties to stroke her bottom. Her breasts were marked from his caresses, shining wet in the light. The sight was so erotic that he was having a very hard time controlling his arousal.
Instead of obeying, she ran her hands to the waistband of his briefs and slid one inside. Breathing became a lost art. He could barely see through the screaming need tearing through him. Then those slender fingers tightened and his entire body bucked toward her. He managed to keep his eyes open and on her. What he saw stunned him.
Desire lay heavy on her face and her lips were half parted as she breathed in soft gasps. When he groaned, she gave a soft cry. His pleasure fed hers, making him feel more male than he'd ever felt before. "Now, Vicki."
She didn't argue, pulling his briefs down to set his erection free. When she would have moved to take off her panties, he held her in place and, with one hand, simply pushed aside the fabric to bare her.
"Caleb." Her voice held equal measures of shock and hunger.
"Slowly, slowly." He held her back when she would have pushed down hard, not wanting her to hurt herself in spite of the way he craved the silken heat of her body. "That's it, sweetheart. Yeah … just like that." Watching her take him in was so mind-blowing, he had to grit his teeth to stave off his climax.
She arched her back and cried out as she buried him fully within her. She looked like a pagan goddess, a sensual siren far removed from the cool woman he'd once had in his bed.
And then there was no more time to think. She started moving on him in a desperate way that betrayed her own approaching climax. No force on earth could have kept Caleb from shattering moments later, undone by the sensual creature who'd ridden him to ecstasy. He heard Vicki's cry as he went over the edge, a short scream that was worth everything to him.
Ten days after the dinner party that had given him breathing room, Caleb walked out of a highly confidential meeting. He was exhausted but exhilarated. It was almost seven in the evening when he returned to the office but his entire staff was present when he walked in.The second he stepped out of the elevator, they took one look at him and screamed for joy. The deal had been saved and Callaghan & Associates had showed the business world that when the going got tough, they could step up to the challenge. Caleb knew that the display of grit would gain the firm several new clients as well as reassure their existing ones.
"Let's go celebrate!" someone shouted. There was an immediate round of applause, followed by a rapid discussion of where to go.
"What do you think about that new restaurant-bar on the waterfront?" Kent called out to him.
Caleb raised his hands. "Count me out. I'm heading home."
A chorus of disappointed cries met his words, until Kent winked and said, "Hey, come on now, guys. The man's crazy about his wife."
Caleb laughed along with them. "Enjoy yourselves-put it on the firm's account. Don't worry, I won't take it out of your bonuses."
"I love that word, bonus." One of the junior legal clerks did a little jig but Caleb knew his people had more than earned it. He wouldn't forget their dedication.
"Come on, let's get going. Have a good night, Caleb." Excited chatter flowed out of the elevators as they left. He waited until they'd gone before locking up and taking an elevator to the basement garage. He was in a rush to get home.
Because he was crazy about his wife.
Standing there surrounded by people who trusted and respected him, he'd come to the realization that this or any other success would mean nothing if Vicki wasn't there to share it with him. She was the only one who'd ever cared enough about him to be proud of his achievements, the only one who'd ever fought to protect him, the only one … she was, quite simply, the only one.
He could stop running, stop trying to prove himself to Max. The other man no longer mattered. Caleb felt no pain at the thought, just a kind of pity at the self-hatred that had driven Max to alienate a son who would have made him proud. That was too bad for Max but made no difference to Caleb's happiness, because it was rooted in far tougher soil and nurtured by far gentler hands.
He was ready to go home at last.
There was only one more thing he had to do before he left, one step he was finally equipped to take. Using his cell phone, he called Kent's mobile. "Can you meet me for five minutes?"
"Sure, we're not even halfway to the restaurant. I'll walk back up. Something wrong?"
"No." Caleb smiled. "Something's very right."
Caleb walked into the house after ten that night. Tonight of all nights, he hadn't wanted to be late, but fate had conspired against him.Vicki stepped out of her study, a smile on her face and a pale blue sweater on her slowly thickening body. "Did you get held up at the office?"
He shook his head. "A truck carrying chemicals overturned at one of the major intersections. Traffic was backed up everywhere." Putting his briefcase on the hall table, he pulled off his black wool coat.
Vicki walked over and took it from him. "I'm glad you're okay." She hung the coat in the closet then hugged him tight. "I missed you."
How had he gotten this lucky? Caleb wondered. "Yeah?"
"Yeah." Her smile grew. "I've been waiting to tell you something."
He pressed her closer, caught by the shining light in her eyes. "What?"
"I got the job. Even though it hasn't been a whole month, they said they want to hire me permanently!" She was almost bursting with excitement. "They were so impressed by that series of radio interviews I lined up that-"
Giving a whoop of delight, Caleb swept her off her feet and swung her around. When he stopped after several revolutions, she was laughing at him, her face flushed with happiness.
"I always knew no one could resist you."
Her grin softened into something unbearably tender. Putting both her hands on his cheeks, she kissed him before sliding down to stand in the circle of his arms. "No wonder I love you so much."
His heart stopped beating. "What did you say?" No one had ever told him that. He couldn't quite believe that Vicki, this woman he adored beyond life, had.
She moved until their faces were a breath away. "I said I love you, Caleb Callaghan. I love you madly, passionately and completely inappropriately. I'm only sorry it took me so long to screw up the guts to say it."
He searched for words to give her in return, trying to find the silver tongue that had led him to the top. "We saved the deal," was what came out.
"Eek! Caleb! Why didn't you say so?" Vicki thumped her fists against his chest. "Why didn't you call?"
"Because I wanted to hold you."
Her joy turned into a smile so lovely, he felt it to the core of his masculinity. "What's the matter?"
"I-I can't find the words."
"The words to say what?"
"How much you mean to me."
"Caleb, honey, I know. I know." She touched his face with a trembling hand. "I listen to you each time you touch me, I finally hear what you say."
It was at that moment that his heart broke wide open. "You are my everything," he whispered, pulling her into a tight embrace. "Don't you ever forget that, and don't you ever let me forget." Without her, he'd be lost, a hollow man with no heart and no soul.
Her arms wrapped around him, her face against his chest. "I'm through with being quiet," she said. "Start getting used to a mouthy wife."
He released her enough to look into her face. "You've been very good about the late nights and the lost weekends."
"The deal was important. I'm not unreasonable. I know your work will sometimes demand those sorts of hours from you. As long as it's not always, I can handle it and so can our child."
"Well, I'll be under far less work stress as of next month." He couldn't believe he'd done it but it felt so right, so perfect. "Callaghan & Associates is about to become Callaghan, Jacobs & Associates."