"I see."
"Other issues, like hangovers, aside, Mom always made it clear that having the daughter of a Guild Council member get drunk in public would be very embarrassing for Dad." She winked. "Guild image thing, you know."
"Belonging to a high-ranking Guild family has put a lot of pressure on you over the years, hasn't it?"
"Yep. Want to hear a little secret?"
"Sure."
"Before I met you, I had made up my mind that I was going to marry outside the Guild, no matter what everyone thought."
"Is that so?"
"Yep." She noticed that they were on the path that meandered through the waterfalls. She held out a hand to let water splash on her palm. "I'd been plotting my escape ever since I was a teenager. That's why you never had to worry about me running off with Palmer Frazier or anyone else on your dumb Council."
"But you changed your mind when you met me?"
"Thought you were different."
"What do you think about me now?" he asked.
"You're definitely different," she said. "But in a different way than I first thought. If you see what I mean."
"Not sure that I do," he said.
"Me, either," she confessed.
Outside the nightclub, the streets were still busy. The lights of the cars and taxis were reflected in the veil of fog. Elly took several deep breaths in an attempt to clear her head. After a while she abandoned the effort as futile.
When Cooper bundled her into the front seat of the Spectrum, she collapsed with a small sigh of relief and closed her eyes.
"So," Cooper said, climbing in beside her on the driver's side. "I've been wondering about something."
"What's that?" she mumbled, half-asleep.
"Did your panties ever dry out?"
"Don't know. Haven't checked."
He gave a low, sexy laugh and pulled away from the curb. "What do you mean? Can't you feel them?"
"Nope."
"Too far gone on those Emerald Ghosts to figure out whether or not your underwear is still damp?"
"Nope. Can't tell if my panties ever got dry because they're in my purse."
"Your purse. What the hell are they doing there?"
"Took 'em off when I went to the ladies' room because they were sort of uncomfortable, and I was afraid that if I sat down in them, they might create a potentially embarrassing spot on the back of my skirt, which happens to be rather expensive."
"You were sitting there in that little scrap of a skirt without any panties on while you downed those Emerald Ghosts?" he demanded.
He sounded outraged to the depths of his Guild boss soul, she thought.
She smiled and snuggled into a more comfortable position in the seat. "Not exactly the sort of behavior you expect from a proper Guild boss wife, is it? Told you I did you a favor when I canceled our engagement."
*****
FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER COOPER PARKED IN THE FOG-bound alley behind St. Clair's Herbal Emporium. He was still waging a private internal struggle between hot lust and masculine outrage. He couldn't get the vision of Elly sitting in the booth without any panties on out of his head.
He went around to the passenger side and opened the door. She was sound asleep. She did not stir when he hauled her out and settled her over one shoulder.
He secured her with a hand high up on her thighs and immediately regretted the move. In her present position, the hem of her minuscule skirt was all the way up to the bottom of her sweetly rounded buttocks. His fingers were only inches away from the cleft between her legs. And she wasn't wearing any panties.
He managed to get the door of the shop open and carried Elly inside without banging her head.
When he rezzed the light he saw Rose watching him from one of the workbenches. The dust bunny blinked her blue eyes a couple of times and bounced up and down in agitation.
"She's okay," Cooper said. "One too many Emerald Ghosts."
He extended his arm. Rose scampered up his sleeve to his free shoulder.
He walked to the stairs. Pausing there, he adjusted Elly's weight, and assessed the climb.
"A Guild boss has gotta do what a Guild boss has gotta do," he announced to Rose.
He started up the stairs.
At the top he stopped to take a couple of deep breaths.
"She's heavier than she looks," he informed Rose. "Probably all muscle."
He got his burden into the darkened bedroom and dumped her carefully onto the quilts. Rose hopped down beside Elly and nuzzled her chin.
Elly opened her eyes and patted Rose reassuringly. Then she gave Cooper a dreamy smile.
"Thanks for carrying me up the stairs," she said. "Not sure I could have made it on my own tonight."
"You're welcome," he said. "I needed the exercise."
He leaned down and removed first one flashy little high heel and then the other.
Elly yawned. "No need to undress me. Just throw a quilt over me."
"It's no trouble," he said, letting one palm glide up the curve of her leg.
"Go away," she ordered. "I don't think you could handle the shock of seeing me without my panties."
"Guild bosses are sturdier than you might expect," he said hopefully.
She reached for the edge of the quilt and tugged it over herself. "Good night, Cooper."
He smiled and reluctantly went to the doorway. "Good night, Elly."
"By the way, remind me to tell you what I noticed when I went to the ladies' room tonight."
"Does it involve underwear?"
"No," she murmured, nestling deeper into the pillow. "Psi energy. The kind given off by those psi-bright herbs that Bertha found down in the catacombs. But real intense."
"What?" He started back toward the bed. "Are you telling me you can pick up psi from plants?"
"I know, it's weird."
"Elly-"
She wagged a finger at him. "Big, dark family secret. The amber in my earrings is tuned. Promise me you won't tell anyone."
"Wait a second, Elly. Stay with me here. What were you saying about sensing herbs like those that Bertha found?"
"Bunch of 'em, I think. Enough to give off quite a buzz." She yawned. "Stored somewhere in that hallway just beyond the ladies' room at the club."
She closed her eyes and went to sleep.
Cooper watched her for a long moment, aware of the deep, restless need that prowled through him.
After a while he went back out into the alley to retrieve his duffel bag from the trunk of his car.
On the way back up the stairs it occurred to him that he had neglected to tell Elly that he had checked out of his hotel earlier that day.
"Have to remember to mention it to her in the morning," he said to Rose.
Chapter 19
SHE AWOKE TO A NAGGING HEADACHE AND A FAMILIAR little psi buzz. A small paw gently patted her cheek.
Elly opened her eyes and looked at Rose, huddled beside her on the pillow. The dust bunny had a fresh green flower clutched in one paw.
"You went out last night after we brought you home, didn't you?" Elly asked, taking the flower.
Rose bounced up and down.
"Thanks. It's beautiful. But I gotta tell you, every time you show up with one of these, I get very nervous. Promise me you're not stealing them?"
Rose chortled happily, pleased that the gift had been accepted with proper appreciation.
Out in the kitchen a cupboard door closed.
Elly jackknifed into a sitting position. The movement allowed the quilt to fall to her waist. She looked down and saw that she was still wearing the dress she had put on to go out for the evening. A deep sense of unease gripped her.
Cautiously she peeked beneath the edge of the quilt. The skirt of the expensive cocktail dress was sadly crumpled. The hem had been pushed up almost to her waist. She noticed that she was not wearing any underwear.