Rafe hesitated. "Theo Willis."
For a few seconds, Orchid could not even get her mouth closed, let alone speak. When she finally overcame her dumbfounded reaction, she slammed the glass of moontree brandy down with such force that several drops splashed on the table.
"That's impossible," she declared.
"It's what Brizo believes."
"Why didn't you say anything earlier?" Orchid leaped to her feet "You let Morgan and me blather on about Theo all evening and you never once mentioned that he was a suspect"
"Be reasonable, Orchid. I didn't know the name of the person for whom you and Morgan wanted to hold your little wake until we got to the Volcano Club. By then, it was too late. I couldn't say anything in front of Morgan. This is a highly confidential case."
"That's no excuse. You should have said something earlier."
"I wanted to lay out the whole case before I did that I knew it would upset you to learn that a friend was involved."
"I'm not upset, I'm pissed off." She leveled a finger at him. "What's more, I've got a big clue for you, Mr Investigator. You're headed down a dead-end bail if you think that Theo Willis was a thief. He was a trifle wacko, but he was not dishonest"
"All I'm saying at this point is that Brizo thinks he was involved in this thing."
"I refuse to believe that Theo stole that artifact And I'm certainly not going to help you prove that he did."
"Orchid, wait—"
"I quit Find yourself another prism. I'm going to call a cab. And then I'm going to call another private investigator."
"What the hell for?"
"To help me prove that Theo didn't steal that relic." She stalked to the massive, Later Expansion period table and snatched up the phone. "I'm going to dear his name."
"Damn it—" Rafe started toward her.
"Don't come near me." She punched out the number of the cab company she routinely used. Then she turned quickly, holding up a hand to ward him off. "Stay, back."
His eyes darkened. "Stop giving me orders as if I were a cat-dog."
She felt the heat suffuse her face a second time. "I never meant—"
"Yes, you did." He snatched the phone out of her hand and slammed it back down into the cradle. "Calm down and listen to me. You can't walk out now."
"Watch me."
"I'm the one who's been hired to solve this case. If you really want to prove that Theo Willis did not steal that artifact, working with me is the most efficient way to do it."
His logic brought her up short. She drummed her fingers on the table, thinking quickly.
"I hate to admit it, but you've got a point," she said finally.
His jaw tightened. His expression was stark. "There's another reason why I want you to work with me on this case."
"Yeah, I know. You want me because I'm the best prism you've ever had."
"Because I want you. Period." His hands closed around her shoulders. "The only question I have at the moment is, do you want me?"
She stared at him, stunned, into silence by the dark flames of sexual desire that leaped in his eyes. An answering heat stirred deep within her.
"Oh, my," she whispered. "So you feel it, too."
"If you're talking about what happens when we link, yes. I feel it. That's not a problem."
"It's not?"
"I could deal with that, if there wasn't anything more to it."
She could not look away from his intent face. "What is the problem?"
"The problem," he said very deliberately, "is that I go on wanting you after we cut off the focus link."
She was very close to him now. The heat of his body pulsed against her, drawing her nearer. "I see. That is a problem, isn't it?"
"I need to know if you have the same problem."
She drew an unsteady breath, violently aware of the sudden, exhilarating rush of her own pulse. "I'm sure it's just a superficial sort of thing. Some kind of weird, lingering after effect of the link."
"Think so?"
The flash of icy amusement in his eyes annoyed her.
"Well, it's not as if we have anything in common," she said.
"Don't," he said, "remind me."
He brought her up hard against his chest, wrapped one hand around the back of her head, and kissed her. A deep, hard, fiercely urgent kiss.
A driving thrill of need washed over her.
"Just call me superficial." She wrapped her arms around Rafe's neck.
It felt so right. Excitement and need rose within her. It shouldn't feel this good, but it did.
Rafe's low, hoarse groan induced a delicious, fluttery sensation in the pit of her stomach. He tightened his hold on her. She felt his hand close over her breast. The heat of his palm seeped through the fabric of her T-shirt She sensed his pleasure when he discovered that she wore no bra. His satisfaction increased her own desire in some crazily synergistic fashion.
The contours of his heavily aroused body pressed against her. She could not get close enough to him.
Without warning, just when everything seemed to be going along quite nicely, she felt herself float up off the ground. She gasped and clung more tightly to Rafe. Surely the passion he was generating could not have triggered an illusion on the metaphysical plane. She was excited, but not that excited.
Admittedly there was a dreamlike quality to Rafe's kiss, but she was not hallucinating.
The world shifted around her.
She squeezed her eyes more tightly together. She was okay. Awake. Not dreaming.
So why the dazed sensation?
She opened her eyes part way, seeking to steady herself with a view of the solid, stable room.
There was nothing reassuring about the sight of the old-fashioned jelly-ice candles in the wall sconce spinning past her field of vision.
Before she could sort it all out she felt herself falling. Slowly, gently, she floated downward until she became aware of the thick rug beneath her.
It finally dawned on her that Rafe had swung her off her feet and lowered her to the carpet.
Laughter bubbled through her.
He came down on top of her, crushing her into the thick rug. He braced himself on his elbows. His eyes burned.
"Want to share the joke?" he muttered against her throat.
"If there's a joke, it's on me." She framed his face with her hands and pulled his mouth back down to hers. "I never dreamed it could feel like this."
He uttered a low, hoarse, hungry groan. His mouth closed over hers again. He wedged one leg between her thighs and pushed his hands up under the hem of her T-shirt.
She was fumbling with the edge of his pullover, trying to get her hands underneath it, when a measure of sanity returned. What was she doing? It was all happening much too quickly.
"Rafe. I'm not sure this is a good idea. It's too soon. We barely know each other. A superficial kiss is one thing. Superficial sex is something else."
"You may be right." Desire gleamed in his eyes. It was echoed in the faint curve of his mouth. "Maybe it will seem like a better idea if we do it this way."
She felt the familiar questing probe of his psychic talent seeking a prism. Automatically she responded. On the metaphysical plane a crystal clear prism took shape. Rafe eased power through it with seductive skill.
This time the accompanying flare of sexual awareness was so intense Orchid could not think. She could not even breathe. She felt as if she had just plunged over a waterfall.
And then she understood what Rafe was trying to do. Outrage slammed through her, dousing a good measure of the passion.
"Oh, no you don't, Stonebraker." She pushed against his looming shoulders as she tried to break off the psychic connection. "Stop it right now. Damned if I'll let you use a focus link to seduce me."
"No, wait," he whispered. "Don't let go. Please."
Out on the psychic plane Rafe caged the prism she had created with shimmering bands of raw power.
Orchid was horrified to realize that she could not break the link. If she had not heard the tales from her friends at Psynergy, Inc., she would not have believed that it was possible to do what Rafe was doing.