Hidden Talents

matter.” She put her hand on his arm. “Do you still feel like you're turning into a ghost?”
    “No.” He set the jewelry case back down on the table. The little figures began to jiggle as the waltz started. “I feel very much alive these days.” He smiled faintly. “I haven't felt this alive in years. And it's all because of you.”
    He reached for Serenity and pulled her into his arms. The explosive passion in him inundated her. She was caught up by the tide of masculine energy and power. It swept her away on a great wave of surging excitement.
    “ Caleb .”
    “You can't even imagine how good this feels. How good my name sounds when you say it like that.” Caleb feel back against the sofa cushions, taking Serenity with him. “How good it is to want a woman as much as I want you.”
    “I'm glad you want me.” Serenity sprawled across his bare chest and twisted her hands in his hair. The urgency in him unlocked a tumultuous need deep within her. She was hot and breathless with it.
    Caleb kissed her hungrily on the mouth. The kiss grew deeper, until she was shuddering in response. Then his lips slid down to her throat. He yanked at the sash of her robe. When the garment fell open, he slid his hands inside, pushed the hem of her nightgown to her waist and cupped her buttocks. His fingers sank eagerly into her skin, squeezing gently.
    Serenity sucked in her breath. She felt his leg shift beneath her. He raised his knee. The rough fabric of his jeans slid along the inside of her thighs, burning her skin, opening her to his touch. The bulge of his confined erection throbbed against her belly.
    “You're so wet, I can feel the dampness right through my jeans,” Caleb muttered. “I want you now. Before I lose my mind.”
    She smiled down at him.
    He sat up abruptly, picked her up in his arms and rolled to his feet beside the sofa. Serenity kissed his shoulder and threaded her fingers through the hair on his chest.
    Caleb rounded the arm of the sofa and took two strides toward the hall. He stopped, groaning. “Hell, I'm not going to make it as far as the bedroom.”
    He set Serenity on her feet. She could barely stand. She braced herself against the back of the sofa, a hand on either side of herself, seeking support. Metal scraped on metal, the sound of a zipper being lowered.
    She pushed hair out of her eyes and was instantly riveted by the sight of Caleb's heavily aroused body. He already had the foil packet open. In a matter of seconds he was ready for her.
    “I want to be inside you.” His voice was a harsh whisper. His gaze was stark with sensual hunger.
    He crowded close, moving between her legs. He wrapped his hands around her waist and lifted her. Serenity gasped and clutched the back of the sofa more tightly. He held her eyes in an unbreakable bond as he drove himself deeply into her.
    Serenity arched and cried out softly as he became a part of her. Her head fell back. He kissed her throat, tightened his grip on her hips and began to move within her. The urgency in him fueled her own need. She felt the fantastic curling sensation grip her lower body. Instinctively she clenched herself around him. Her nails dug into the fabric of the sofa.
    “Put your legs around me,” Caleb muttered against her throat. “Hold on tight. Yes. Just like that. Like that, oh, God, yes .” He shifted one hand to the small. throbbing bud between her legs.
    She screamed softly as the small convulsions began.
    Caleb went rigid as his climax tore through him an instant later. Serenity felt his body shudder again and again.
    Somewhere in the distance she heard the strains of a waltz.
    Closer now. So very close.

    A long time later Caleb stirred on the sofa. He frowned, aware that the room had grown colder. He ought to get up and stoke the wood stove, he thought. Better yet, he probably should get Serenity and himself into bed beneath a pile of quilts. They were both going to freeze if they stayed here on the sofa much longer.
    He felt her wriggle on top of him. One sleek leg slipped between his thighs. A plump little nipple moved against his chest. Caleb smiled. On second thought, he decided, there wasn't much chance of either of them freezing. The heat that they generated together was enough to power a large chunk of the Northwest in the middle of winter.
    Damn, but he felt good after making love to Serenity. There was nothing else in the world that felt as good as this .
    “Caleb?”
    “Yeah?” He speared his