Orchid by Jayne Castle Read Free Book Online Page A

incredible.”
    She smiled to herself. The urge to show off overwhelmed common sense. She was an ice-prism, after all. One who rarely got to exercise the full range of her unique abilities.
    You think this is good? she thought. Watch this.
    She studied the nuances of Rafe’s strat-talent, noting the rhythms of the waves, the subtle differences in hues, the texture of his surging power.
    Using the exquisite control she wielded over her own psychic energy, she made minute adjustments in the focus. A gentle alteration here, a slight sharpening of power there…
    The prism glittered as she went to work on its myriad crystal facets. When she was finished the metaphysical construct was so brilliantly clear that it seemed to glow with the light of an inner sun.
    She heard Rafe groan. He drew in a deep, shuddering breath as he watched his powerful talent focused with preternatural clarity and precision. It was the kind of elemental sound he might make in the moment of sexual release, Orchid thought, fascinated. An answering rush of sensual heat flooded her stomach.
    This was ridiculous. She took a couple of meta-zen-syn breaths to regain her self-control.
    “It’s as if you made that prism just for me,” Rafe whispered.
    “I did.”
    “A perfect focus.”
    “I told you, I’m an ice-prism.”
    “So it really is true … I never realized—” He broke off abruptly.
    Orchid took a couple more controlled breaths and called on an old meta-zen-syn mantra. Balance and harmony, she chanted silently to herself. Balance and harmony was the key. The last thing she wanted to do was make a fool out of herself in front of Clementine’s most exclusive client.
    She had not felt anything that even remotely resembled physical attraction when she had focused for Calvin Hyde three years ago. All she had experienced on that occasion was complete and utter revulsion.
    So why the sudden rush of yearning when she focused for Rafe?
    Even now, in the midst of the crisis, she was aware of a passionate sense of intimacy, a wistful need for something more, something she could not describe. After her first focus assignment with him she had assured herself that the bizarre side effects of the focus link would disappear when she grew accustomed to working with his unusual talent.
    But familiarity was definitely not leading to boredom or even to the customary, emotionally neutral state that defined the usual focus link.
    “I’d rather not spend the rest of the night here,” she said briskly. “Got any ideas of where the crypto-talent installed the second exit?”
    “I’m a strat-talent, remember? I can find things.”
    “Even in the dark?”
    “Especially in the dark. Why do you think I prefer to work at night?”

Chapter
2
 
    “Well? Did you find the seam you thought would be there?” Orchid’s voice held a crisp edge of urgency.
    “Yes.” Rafe ran his fingertips along the wall. His focus-heightened sense of touch assured him that it was more than the place where two strips of steel had been joined. He could feel the faint trace of escaping air. “It’s here. Right where I thought it would be.”
    “You’re kidding?” A cautious relief bubbled in the words. “You actually found it?”
    It occurred to him that she had not been terribly optimistic about his chances of locating the second exit. “Nice to know I had your confidence all along.”
    “Yes, well, I didn’t mean to imply that I doubted your ability, it’s just that—”
    “Forget it.”
    “I’ve insulted you, haven’t I?”
    “I’ll get over it.”
    “I’m glad to hear that,” she said. “But you’ve got to admit, I had cause to be concerned. It’s impossible to see my own hand in front of my face. The odds against your finding a hidden door were pretty dismal.”
    “No, they weren’t. The odds were pretty damn good that I would locate it. Anything a crypto-talent can hide, I ought to be able to find.”
    The gallery was as dark as the inside of a