Secrets in the Marriage Bed by Nalini Singh

down to curve over her pert bottom, covered by the soft fabric of her knee-length sundress—with the sun streaming brightly through the kitchen skylight, it was more than warm enough. “We don’t want to lose our momentum.”
    She swallowed and he realized that he hadn’t made love to her in the middle of the day for years. That was about to change. His erection was fierce and demanding. He wanted to be inside her, feeling her squeeze him as he moved slow and deep. Maybe he could get her to speak to him as she had last night—with her hands and the sensually explicit movements of her body. Or maybe she’d finally trust him enough to talk about far darker things.
    As if she could read the images in his mind, those eyes got even bigger. “You look like you want to devour me.”
    “I do.” He glanced past her shoulder to the window above the sink, which looked out over their small side yard and into their neighbor’s property, a scandalous idea coming to him. It would shock Vicki’s socks off but he was starting to understand that she’d always been far more gutsy than he’d given her credit for.
    It was time to stop backing off and start showing her who he really was, start demanding things from her that he needed, sexually and emotionally. Before she could begin to suspect anything, he misdirected her attention by the simple expedient of kissing her.
    “Mmm.” She purred into his mouth, giving her all to the kiss as she always did.
    Squeezing her bottom, he let her play with him, let her kiss him the way she wanted. He loved Vicki’s kisses, especially the way she put her soul into every brush of lips and tongue. When she broke the kiss to caress his jaw with her lips, he made his move.
    Kissing her neck, he turned her until she faced the window. Then he pushed her just a little. She instinctively braced herself against the edge of the counter, her gaze looking through the window above the sink and into the yard. He stroked her bottom, kissed her nape and grinned.
    “Caleb,” she whispered. “I need you.” It was her way of telling him to get them out of the kitchen and into the privacy of their bedroom. But Caleb wanted to play.
    Out of the corner of his eye, he saw their neighbor’s back door open and someone step onto the patio. Before he could be spotted, he knelt down behind Vicki and slipped his hands under her dress to pull down her panties. Startled, she almost turned but her attention was caught by Bill, their middle-aged neighbor.
    She waved in greeting before hissing, “What are you doing? Bill—”
    “Can’t see me,” he completed. “Pretend you’re doing the dishes.”
    “While you do what?” She stepped out of her lace panties even while she protested.
    Breathing in the scent of her, Caleb pushed up her dress, flattened one hand on her belly and tasted her like he’d been wanting to do since forever. From the first stroke, he knew he was a goner. She gave a soft shout and her whole body shuddered. “Caleb, I can’t—”
    “Sh.” He blew a breath against her sensitive flesh. “Don’t give away the game.” Knowing he was being a merciless tease, he flicked his tongue along her exposed flesh, then nipped gently with his teeth. Her thighs trembled as the addictive flavor of her settled on his tongue and in his mind. This wasn’t something he was going to get enough of, ever. Certainly it wasn’t something he wanted to rush. The delight of her had to be savored.
    Her breathing was jerky and he knew she was having trouble maintaining control. “Caleb—” Her sentence ended in an abrupt sob as he slid his tongue inside her. Her whole body started to shake.
    Giving her a moment’s relief, he pulled out and nipped at her bottom. “Is he looking your way?”
    “No.” She crumpled into his arms. “I’m going to kill you.”
    “First let me finish what I started.” His fingers slid into her sweet flesh, stroking. “I want to taste you some more.”
    All her breath left her.