What rubbish!
He might have never raised a hand to her but there were other ways of causing pain and he'd been guilty of most of them. Every day and night that he hadn't been there when she'd needed him, he'd hurt her. And as for keeping her safe? What did Vicki do at night when storms blew the fuses? He'd never come home to find her waiting for him to fix things, hadn't even thought about it before now. But the answer was clear. She'd gone outside to the old-fashioned fuse box of their villa and done it herself.
What else did she do that he didn't know about? What else had she learned not to rely on him for? It was no longer enough that she'd agreed not to leave him, not when he'd glimpsed the fire she'd tried to contain her entire lifetime.
He was fascinated by the woman she'd revealed and he needed her, all of her. It was just starting to dawn on him that maybe more had been lost in those five years than Victoria's girlhood innocence.
* * *
Vicki woke the second Caleb slipped into bed beside her. She never really slept deeply until he was home, worrying about him on a subconscious level. Smiling, she snuggled into his warm body and started to drift back to sleep. She was aware that he was holding her tight, that there was something different about the intent in his body but she was too sleepy to figure out what.
"Vicki?" Kisses fell on her neck.
They felt so good that she cuddled closer. "Hmm?"
A big hand smoothed up her leg, bare under the rugby jersey she'd commandeered again. She shivered and the shadows of sleep started to fade. "Caleb?"
He answered by sliding that hand up her body until he cupped her breast. With a gasp, she came wide awake, belatedly aware that Caleb was naked beside her, his arousal pressed against her hip. Her first reaction was to freeze, to try to analyze what he was doing to her, to attempt to manage her reaction.
As if he knew exactly what was going through her mind, he whispered, "Do what you did last time."
Any hope of control evaporated at that request. She moved to run her hand down his body. Before she could, he tugged at the jersey and she raised her arms. A second later, he'd thrown the jersey aside and she was pressed against his heated skin, her fine-lace panties the only barrier between them.
"I can't touch you if you hold me like this," she whispered, acutely aware of the delicious roughness of his chest hair against her nipples, so sensitive these days.
"Why don't I have a turn instead?" He bit gently at her lower lip. Stroking his hand down her body, he lifted one leg and put it over his hip, leaving her scandalously open.
Fear clawed at her. Not fear of his loving, but of her own reactions. What if she let him down again?
"Stop thinking." One hand lay flat on her back, while the other moved between them.
"I can't help it." She was excruciatingly aware of the direction his hand was heading in. A second later, he slipped under the waistband of her panties to cup her intimately. She stilled, shocked at the riot of emotion within her.
"Tell me what you feel."
It was too hard to think, speak and keep her body under control at the same time. She bit down on her lower lip, trying not to let her breathing turn ragged.
"You know what I feel?" Caleb asked, spreading his fingers and starting to stroke her most delicate flesh. "I feel you hot and wet against my fingers, so silky soft and welcoming. I feel your body crying out for mine."
* * *
Eight
« ^ »
Vicki's mind was a buzz of sensation and sound. Caleb had never talked to her so explicitly before. He'd hardly talked at all when they'd made love. To her shock, she found she loved hearing his husky words, loved discovering another layer to his sexuality. Without her being aware of it, her body had softened against his as she concentrated on what he was saying.
"I think these pretty breasts of yours have gotten bigger." He shifted, without removing his hand from between her legs, until she lay on her back with him on her left. Pulling out the arm he had under her head, he propped himself up. "I'm going to turn on the light."
"No," she whispered. "Caleb, I can't…"
"I just want to see if I'm right about your breasts, sweetheart." The soft light of the bedside lamp hit her eyes. She blinked rapidly.
When she focused again, her throat dried up as her eyes went to that hand, stroking her so languidly that she felt herself melting. It was the slowest of seductions and she was starting to lose herself to it.
"They are," he whispered, leaning down to flick his tongue across one nipple.
She whimpered.
"Aren't they?"
The words spilled out of her. "They've swollen some." He bit at the underside of her breast gently. "Does that hurt?"
"No." It felt good, so good. She wanted to ask him to do it again but she'd spent too much of her life remaining silent. A good child should be seen, not heard. A good wife should accede to her husband's requests but demand nothing herself.
"Do you want me to do it again?" he asked, holding out the temptation.
She fought back the voices of the past and reached for the promise of tomorrow. "Yes. Oh, yes."
He repeated the gesture on her other breast, murmuring, "I like the way you taste." Between her legs, his thumb found the small nub that could lead to exquisite pleasure. "What do you like? This?" He pressed his thumb hard. "Or this?" He rubbed his thumb in circles, then stopped. "You have to respond, honey." Slowly, he began to slide his hand out.
Desperate, she used one of her own hands to push him back down. Their eyes met and there was such sexual heat in his that she felt burned. Under her hand, he began to move again.
"This?" he asked again. "Or this?"
Their interlocking gaze was the most intimate thing she'd ever experienced. Running her tongue around a mouth gone dry, she nodded.
"Uh-uh." He shook his head. "You have to speak."
"Caleb," she begged.
"I promise you I'll like it." It was a lover's reassurance and a man's demand in one. "The way I liked it when you used your hands on me."
The words wouldn't come but she knew he wasn't going to go easy on her tonight. She had to ask for her pleasure. Instead of speaking, she moved her hand on his, showing him the movement that pleased her.
A slow smile spread across his face. "I'll allow that answer." Leaning down, he bit at her lip again. She arched up to further the kiss but he shook his head. "No kisses for you. You have to show me how you feel with the rest of your body. I promise I'll be endlessly patient."
She was dying, her breath coming out in pants. His fingers were driving her crazy. Taking her hand away from on top of his, she grabbed hold of one muscular arm. Her body was sheened in sweat but it was the heat in Caleb's eyes that she couldn't get enough of. He'd never looked at her this way in bed.
Tonight he was speaking to her with far more than his mouth. And she liked what she was hearing. She tried to kiss him again but he shook his head, staying frustratingly out of reach. Always before, she'd used her kiss to convey everything she felt but now she didn't have that outlet. Combined with the way he was touching her, it was pulling her remaining shreds of control to pieces. She dug her fingernails into his arms as her body arched toward him, seeking more.
One finger began to slide into her. "This?" His breath was hot against her ear. "Or this?" A second finger nudged at the swollen entrance to her body.
She pushed down against him, squeezing his body with the thigh she had thrown over his waist. He heard and rewarded her by pushing those two fingers deep into her again and again. She felt the edge of something beautiful on the horizon but he stopped before she could reach it.
"Caleb, please. Please." It was the first time in her life she'd begged for anything in bed. Part of her froze in shock at her own audacity, but the rest of her was too busy trying not to shatter as Caleb gave her exactly what she'd asked for.
Unable to kiss him, unable to release the wild sexuality riding her any other way, she screamed, her entire frame shaking with the shooting arcs of an orgasm so intense she thought she was going to black out.
She was barely aware of Caleb taking off her panties at last. When he rose up over her, she let him wrap her other leg around his waist. To her surprise, he didn't make any other move, waiting until she opened her eyes and focused on him.
His face was taut with sexual need but there was something very much like satisfaction in the curve of his mouth. "Time for round two."
Her eyes widened. She felt him nudge at her with his arousal but he didn't penetrate. Swallowing, she pushed her pelvis up, trying to entice him as she never had before. The tip of him lodged in her but despite her wordless plea, he wouldn't deepen the penetration.