Secrets in the Marriage Bed by Nalini Singh Page A

She arched up and made no protest when he laid her out on the white tile of the kitchen floor, protecting her bare bottom by cupping it in his hands as he raised her to his lips. “Mercy,” he said, as her scent ensnared him once more. But mercy was the last thing he wanted.
    Victoria gave herself up to Caleb. He’d tried to love her this way at the start but she’d frozen, terrified of the passion that had begun to boil in her blood. Nothing he’d said or done had soothed. So he’d never asked that of her again.
    A whimper escaped her throat as he suckled at her flesh, sending her nerves screaming. The muscles on her abdomen grew painfully taut as she closed her eyes to fight the building explosion. It was too much. She wouldn’t survive.
    “Let go,” Caleb whispered, and she felt his hair brush her stomach as he pushed her dress farther up and kissed her navel. His kisses began trailing back down and this time, he wasn’t playing. “Please let go.”
    It was the rough please that broke through the last of her reticence. With a soft scream, she felt her back lift off the floor as she let him overwhelm her senses. Behind her closed eyelids, lights exploded in a thousand colors. She couldn’t stand the extremity of the pleasure, couldn’t bear it.
    Gasping, she tried to tell Caleb but he was already there, taking her lips in a kiss that gave her even more pleasure and yet also gifted her with the strength to ride the firestorm. Last night he’d been patient, so beautifully patient, but today he was asking her to hold up her end of the bargain, to give him the passion she’d withheld for so long. Lost in the hunger of his kiss, she could do nothing else but surrender.

    When she finally blinked her eyes open, she found herself being carried to the bedroom. “Now you want a bed,” she managed to tease.
    Desire clouding his eyes, he grinned. “I didn’t want to give you bruises. I’m feeling energetic.”
    “Caleb!” It was impossible to contain her laughter in the face of the unusual spark of mischief in his eyes.
    He set her down gently on the bed. “I love your laugh.” It was a quiet declaration.
    Stunned, she held out her hands. He kept surprising her. Just when she thought she knew all she could about him, he came up with something so tender it broke her heart into a thousand pieces. “I miss you.”
    Holding her gaze, he shucked his sweatpants and got into bed beside her, one big hand stroking down her thigh as he bent his head to place a kiss on the exposed skin of her throat. Her dress was light but it felt too confining. When she wiggled, he raised his head. “What’s the matter?”
    “I want to take off this dress.” She blushed. It was silly to blush after everything they’d done together but she’d always been shy about undressing in front of Caleb.
    His eyes skimmed over her body. “I want to see you take it off.” It was a challenge, but more than that, it was a request.
    There was nothing she wanted more than to give him what he needed. But as Caleb himself had said, the habits of a lifetime couldn’t be so easily forgotten. She wasn’t some bold temptress; she was a woman accustomed to holding back.
    Biting her lower lip, she pushed at his chest until he moved aside. In his eyes she saw nothing but patience. Once she was on her knees, she smoothed the dress over her thighs, feeling the heels of her feet against the bare skin of her buttocks. “Caleb?”
    He spoke from behind her. “Yeah?”
    “You have to keep helping me. Okay?” It was becoming easier each time she asked, because she was starting to learn that Caleb wouldn’t deny her requests. Unlike the people who’d shaped her childhood, he’d never ignore her needs and tell her to toughen up.
    “Always.” He moved around until he was kneeling in front of her. “Close your eyes.”
    She let her lashes flutter shut. Then she lifted her fingers to the back zipper of her dress. Caleb’s arms came around her as he