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neck. Caitlin rose from the rocker, her gaze trailing over Tick’s strong back. “You seemed edgy tonight.”
    “Yeah.” With his foot, Tick pushed the quilt toward the end of the bed. He curled both arms under the pillow and pulled it closer. “A little.”
    “I’m putting the baby down. I’ll be right back.”
    Tick’s only reply was a noncommittal grunt. She paused in the doorway and watched him a moment before taking the baby upstairs.
    Getting Lee settled didn’t take long, but Caitlin lingered over him. She didn’t know which was worse—that her husband only seemed to touch her when he had to or that he’d stopped talking to her. She stroked the soft back of Lee’s little hand. His fingers curled and flexed.
    She had no doubt that Tick was in full protective-male mode where she was concerned. While she loved the trait in the right time and place, at the moment, protection was the last thing she wanted from him. She wanted her husband back, all of him, from the man who confided in her and talked about everything with her, to the sweet, playful, often demanding lover who shared her nights. Since she’d always been a take-charge kind of personality…maybe it was time to take him back.
    Maybe once she forged that physical connection between them she could get him to open up about why Madeline Holton seemed to put him so on edge.
    Leaning down, she whispered a kiss over Lee’s brow. If she was lucky, this would be one of the nights when he chose to sleep through his middle-of-the-night feeding. She had distinctly naughty plans for his father.
    Downstairs, she cut off all the lights except the one over the kitchen sink. In the bedroom, the lamp glimmered on Tick’s bare skin. He remained where she’d left him, eyes closed, lashes fanned over his cheekbones. With a tug of desire kicking off within her, she pulled off the boot socks she always filched from him when winter made the hardwood floors too cool for comfort.
    “Tick.” She placed a knee on the mattress, swept her fingers across the small of his back, dipped them into the dimples at the base of his spine.
    “Mmm?” Sleep husked his voice, making the drawl a deep purr she felt all the way through her body. She shivered. God, she loved that voice, loved the way his murmur, before he even touched her, could make her ready and wet.
    “Tired?” She straddled his thighs, rubbing her thumbs along his spine, working the kinks out of the muscles. The warm resiliency of his flesh under her fingers shot tingles of awareness along her nerve endings.
    “Yeah.” He turned his head, resting his cheek on his arm, and a heavy sigh rumbled from him. She moved higher, stroking and massaging the tension from his body. “Lord, that feels good. Love your hands on me. Don’t stop.”
    “Don’t worry.” With her knees, she hugged his hips, the simple act of touching him sending sparky flashes of wanting through her. She ached, a heavy yearning settling low in her belly, flowing between her legs. It had been too long. “I won’t.”
    Under her touch, she felt the strain leave his long, lean frame. Memories cascaded through her mind, other nights when she’d done this, leaving him boneless and satisfied, until he turned into her, and they came together in a slow, easy coupling.
    Bending forward, she feathered her lips over his shoulder, his nape. His clean male scent infiltrated her senses, heightening the coiling desire building in her. She nuzzled his shoulder blade, smiling.
    “Tick.” She stroked her fingers down his rib cage, loving the texture and heat of his skin.
    A soft snore grumbled from his throat. Caitlin stilled, the desire dying a swift, hard death. She studied his face, relaxed in lines of deep slumber. With a strangled sigh, she straightened and slipped to his side. On her back, she stared at the ceiling, frustration curling through her. Another quiet snore and she dug her nails into the sheet.
    Damn it .

Chapter Three
    With her faded