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.
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."