Hidden Talents

you?”
    Serenity nodded. “We were very close for a while. Two and a half years, in fact. And then one day he knew that he was going to be all right again. He realized that he could go back to the life that was waiting for him in Seattle. So he left.”
    “Why didn't he take you with him?”
    She smiled gently. “You don't understand. I was never meant to go with him. I always knew that. So did he. Our two and a half years together was a special time for both of us. A time of learning and healing and growing. It was a good time, but it wasn't meant to last. He was from the outside world, you see.”
    “And during that whole two and a half years with him you never had an orgasm?” Caleb sounded dazed. “That's hard to believe.”
    “We tried many times,” Serenity admitted. She knew she was blushing, and was thankful he couldn't see the color in her cheeks. “But Stewart had a problem.”
    “A problem?”
    “It was all psychological, you understand. Not physical. Caused by his guilt and sorrow, I imagine.”
    “Hold on a minute here.” Caleb narrowed his eyes and studied her intently. “Are you trying to tell me that you spent two and a half years of your life with a man who couldn't get an erection?”
    “Sex isn't everything in a relationship,” Serenity said severely.
    “Yeah, sure, right. Two and a half years with a man who couldn't make love to you properly? Christ, that's incredible.” Caleb glowered at her. “So why didn't he do what I just did? Even an impotent man could have managed to give you some satisfaction that way.”
    Serenity shrugged. “Every time we were together we were both so worried about him that I guess I couldn't relax and enjoy myself. It was no big deal.”
    “That's a matter of opinion.”
    She frowned. “It was my relationship and I didn't mind. I was happy.”
    “Probably because you didn't know what you were missing,” Caleb muttered.
    “As Quinton says, we are all capable of finding contentment on many different planes of existence. We just have to be open to discovering the peace within ourselves.”
    “Sure. So what happened to this wonderful relationship that transcended sex?”
    “I told you, one day Stewart realized that he was going to be all right. He also knew that his sex life was going to be normal again.”
    “You mean he was finally able to get an erection, so he split?” Caleb asked dryly.
    “That's a rather crude way of putting it, but basically that's what happened. We both realized that he would be leaving Witt's End once he was healed. Stewart was a very kind man and he did what he thought was best.”
    “Kind? You think he was being kind? ” Caleb stared at her. “He sounds like a self-centered SOB. He used you to comfort him until he could get a hard-on again and then he left town.”
    “He didn't think it would be fair to make love to me and then leave for good. I knew it was time to let him go. So that was that.”
    “No offense, Serenity, but between this Bartlett character and what you told me about Radburn, I have to say that you've had some damn strange relationships.”
    “Speaking of relationships,” Serenity said eagerly, “I've been thinking. Maybe I was wrong earlier. Maybe this is the right time for us.”
    “No. You were right earlier.” Caleb exhaled deeply. Then he eased her off his lap and stood up in the tub. Water poured off of his sleek, powerful body as he went up the steps. He reached for a towel.
    “Caleb?” She watched the play of light and shadow on his wet, glistening flanks.
    He smiled in the shadows. “It's late. I've got to get some sleep tonight. I'm supposed to do product analysis tomorrow, remember?”
    “Yes, I know, but I want to explain something.”
    “There's nothing more to explain. Not tonight. I told you to trust me.”
    “I know.” She watched wistfully as he got dressed. He was lean and hard and so enthrallingly male. She ached just looking at him. “You're out to prove something here, aren't you?”
    “Yeah, I guess so.”
    “I was afraid of that.” She got reluctantly out of the tub and picked up a fluffy towel.
    Neither of them said another word as they finished getting dressed.
    Caleb paused long enough at the front door to kiss Serenity one last time. And then he went out into the night with a flashlight.
    She watched through the window for a while, and then she drifted down the hall to her bed.
    A few minutes later, hovering on the verge of sleep, she could have sworn