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.
Instinct and the self-defense tenets of meta-zen-syn took over. She stopped trying to resist. Instead, she sent more of her own power out onto the psychic plane. Swiftly she manipulated the facets of the prism, altering the focus until the energy waves scattered. It was as if they were refracted through a thousand glittering mirrors. Power ricocheted aimlessly across the psychic plane.
'What the hell?' Rafe's stunned surprise came through on both the physical and metaphysical planes. 'What are you doing?'
'What do you think you're doing?' she retorted.
'Damn. I'm sorry.' Rafe's reflexes on the metaphysical plane were even faster than they were in the physical world. He cut the flow of talent with devastating suddenness. 'I'm sorry. Oh, shit, I never meant—'
Orchid quickly dissolved the prism. She watched warily as Rafe slowly sat up beside her. She did not know what to expect from him. He did not look angry or baffled or shocked.
He looked deeply mortified. A dull red stained his high cheekbones. Chagrin, embarrassment, and humiliation blazed in his eyes. There was something else there, too, she realized. Fear?
Why should Rafe be afraid?
'I'm sorry,' he said again. He put out a hand as if to touch her and then withdrew it. 'That was very . . . primitive of me, wasn't it?'
Relief flooded through Orchid. She suddenly understood the fear she had glimpsed in his eyes. 'Hey, don't worry about it. I'm used to that kind of thing.'
He blinked. 'You are?'
'Sure. I write about psychic vampires all the time, remember?'
'I am not a vampire.'
The tightly leashed fury in him brought her up short. She sat up slowly. 'No, of course you're not. It's okay. I was only making a joke.'
'I fail to see any humor in the situation.'
'It might not be the funniest thing that's ever happened to me, but it certainly isn't the end of the world, either.'
'Orchid, listen to me. I swear I never meant to do what I did.'
'Lighten up, Stonebraker.' She patted his knee. 'You got a little carried away with the first prism who could focus your full range of power. No big deal. Next time you'll know what to expect. You won't go off the deep end a second time. You've got too much control for that.'
His jaw was rigid. 'I did not get carried away because of the focus link.'
'No?'
'I got carried away because I didn't want to lose—' He broke off. 'Forget it.'
'I will,' she assured him. And knew that she was lying through her teeth. She would never forget that kiss as long as she lived. 'It was just a kiss that got a little out of hand. Probably happens all the time, right?'
He watched her closely. Dark curiosity lit his gaze first. It was followed by a flash of satisfaction.
He knew that she was lying.
Impossible. He couldn't be reading her mind. Strat-talents were not human lie-detectors, she reminded herself.
'You're wrong, you know,' he said quietly. 'That kind of thing does not happen very much to me. What about you?'
'Uh, no.' She cleared her throat. 'No, it doesn't happen much to me, either.'
She held her breath, afraid he would pursue the point with the sort of single-minded intensity he applied to his investigation work.
But to her euphoric relief, he changed the topic.
'I knew you could create a near-perfect focus,' Rafe said. 'But I didn't realize you could manipulate it in a negative as well as a positive way. Before tonight, I would have said that what you just did was impossible.'
Chapter 6
Orchid was suddenly mildly embarrassed. 'It's not that weird, you know. I have a friend named Zinnia who can manipulate the prism she projects to some extent. She can twist it. When that happens any power flowing through it is also twisted in a way that's painful for the talent'
'You did a hell of a lot more than twist the focus. You manipulated each individual facet of the prism.'
'Yes.'
'It's incredible.'
'I'm glad you're impressed,' she muttered.
Rafe shoved his fingers through his hair. His eyes were wary. 'I didn't mean to jump your prism the way I did.'
'I know.'
'I didn't even realize I could jump a prism in that way,' he admitted. 'Didn't think it was possible.'
