Secrets in the Marriage Bed by Nalini Singh Page B

helped her lower the fastening. She breathed in the warm, masculine scent of him and allowed her body to soften in pleasure. She’d come this far and was now tempted to push forward.
    Caleb pulled away once the zipper was open and she knew what he was waiting for. Her husband wanted to see her undress in front of him. For most husbands and wives, it was an intimacy they took for granted. But for Caleb and Vicki it was so much more. Eyes still closed, she slid the straps down her arms and off her fingertips.
    “You’re wearing a bra.” Caleb’s voice was a caress in the darkness of her mind.
    Not seeing him watching her made this easier. And yet, it turned the mood from hot to scorching. “They’re starting to ache if I don’t.”
    A fingertip traced the lace edges of her bra, shocking her with unexpected pleasure. “I like seeing you in satin and lace.”
    Her breath rushed out of her. Satin and lace. She’d never have guessed that her tough, practical husband would enjoy such a thing. “Shall I…?”
    “Yes.”
    Reaching back, she undid the hooks and started to slide the straps down. Suddenly struck by remnants of her inhibitions, she stopped, far too aware of the dress pooled around her waist and the man watching her.
    “I’ll wait forever if you need me to.”
    How did he know exactly what to say to melt every one of her defenses? With a deep breath, she pulled off the bra and dropped it on the bed. Feeling more naked than she ever had before, she sat in place, listening, waiting, anticipating.
    But nothing could have prepared her for the hot rush of Caleb’s mouth on her breast. She cried out as he wrapped his hands around her waist and bent his head. The raw silk of his hair moving against her flesh clashed wildly with the scrape of his unshaven jaw and the tug of his teeth.
    With her eyes closed, she was drowning in the sensations. She wanted to luxuriate in them. Her hands clenching in his hair, she lifted her lashes and found herself lost. Now she could see what she’d only felt—the golden heat of Caleb’s skin, the sheen of wetness on her breasts as he moved his attention from one to the other, the utter pleasure on his face.
    Tugging his head up, she tried to claim his lips in a kiss. When he wouldn’t cooperate, she made a frustrated sound and uncurled her legs to grip him around the waist, her arms tight around his neck. She got her kiss. It had been a last desperate attempt to find some sort of anchor and it failed miserably as Caleb took merciless advantage of her wide-open position.
    Pushing his hands under the bunched-up sundress, he started to slide her down onto him. She gasped. They’d never made love this way before—it felt as if he was invading her, going so far that she shuddered. “Too deep.”
    “Are you sure?” He paused and started to suckle at her neck.
    She rocked toward him and felt him tense. Inside her body, he seemed to grow impossibly harder. Fascinated, she rocked again. This time, his hands tightened on her waist and he raised his head. “Vicki.” Grit out between clenched teeth, it was almost a growl.
    She’d never made him sound that way. Suddenly he wasn’t too deep. He was perfectly, wonderfully deep. Putting her hands on his shoulders, she held his gaze and pushed down. He groaned and his head dropped back, the tendons on his neck standing out in stark relief.
    Scared by her own temerity but having starved for this moment, she started to move. Her fear of doing something wrong was nothing compared to the need she had to bring Caleb to the brink of ecstasy. She’d spent her marriage thinking she’d failed in bed with her virile husband. No way was she going to let this opportunity pass.
    “Slow down.” He buried his face in her neck, but didn’t attempt to stop her quickening rhythm.
    Taking her cue from his body, not his words, she did the opposite. His shoulder muscles tensed and untensed repeatedly as he ran his hands up and down her body. She could