Flash

away and leave her hanging in midair.
    But she realized very quickly that she had underestimated the magician. Just when she thought she could not stand the sensual torment another instant, Jasper reached down to find the tightly swollen bud. He pressed it up and back.
    Olivia did scream then. All thought of thin cabin walls and the possibility that someone might be walking past outside in the corridor was forgotten in the flash fire of her release.
    Jasper sealed her mouth with his, trapping her cries in his own throat.
    She returned the favor when he surged against her one last time, every muscle rigid.

    "You were wrong," Olivia said a short while later.
    Jasper watched the moonlight through the porthole. He felt drowsy and deeply satiated. All he wanted to do at that moment was drift off to sleep with Olivia's derriere nestled against his groin.
    He yawned. "What was I wrong about?"
    "Your timing is actually very, very good when it comes to this kind of thing." She breathed deeply. "Fantastic, in fact."
    Jasper smiled into the darkness.

    He opened one eye when he felt Olivia edge out from under his arm. "Where are you going?"
    "It's four-thirty." She sat up on the side of the rumpled bed and reached for her glasses. "I want to take a quick shower and change my clothes before I go back to work."
    He opened the other eye. He had been right. She really did have a great back. He liked the elegant way her spine connected to the curve of her buttocks.
    "You didn't get any rest," he said.
    She went to the small closet to take down some clothes. "I told you, I'll crash when I get home today."
    He folded his hands behind his head. "When are we going to talk about the blackmail problem?"
    She whirled quickly to face him, gripping her fresh clothing in front of her like a shield. "You don't give up, do you?"
    "I'll admit this is the best thing that's happened to me in a very long time." Satisfaction rippled through him again as he breathed in the scents of the bed. "But it did not bring on total amnesia. We've still got a problem."
    "I told you, I need to think about things." She stepped through the narrow door of the tiny bath. "I'll call you."
    The door closed firmly behind her nicely curved rear. The sound of the shower cut off further conversation.
    "Oh, no, you don't, lady," Jasper said very softly.
    He got to his feet and crossed the room. He opened the door of the bath and stood in the entrance. Steamy vapor swirled around him.
    He could see the outline of Olivia's body behind the white curtain. He forced himself to concentrate on more important things.
    "I will call you," he said.
    "What?" She stuck her head around the curtain. Her hair was bundled up in a makeshift turban fashioned from a towel. "I didn't hear you."
    "I said, I'll give you a call. Tomorrow." He propped one shoulder against the door and admired the way the towel turban enhanced her regal cheekbones. "There's no use talking to you today. You're running on adrenaline and caffeine."
    She blinked. "Your point?"
    "My point," he said with grave precision, "is that there's no way that you can think clearly and logically about something as serious as blackmail and extortion until you get some rest. Go home after we dock. Get a good night's sleep tonight."
    She smiled a little too brightly. "That's exactly what I plan to do."
    "Then we'll talk." He straightened away from the door frame and walked back into the bedroom.
    "Jasper—"
    He pretended that he could not hear her over the noise of the running water.
    Olivia emerged from the bath a few minutes later. She said nothing as she dressed in a flurry of activity.
    When she was finished she flung open the door.
    "Bye," she said with brittle good cheer.
    And then she was gone.
    When the cabin door closed behind her, Jasper made use of the facilities. He caught sight of his own face in the steamy mirror and grimaced at the stubble. His razor was in his cabin, together with the change of clothes he had brought with him.
    He glanced at his watch. It was barely five A.M. He could probably make it back to his own room without arousing any curiosity. If he did run into a fellow passenger, he could always claim that he had partied all night and had never made it to bed.
    He put on the wrinkled white tuxedo shirt and black trousers, grabbed his jacket and tie, and headed for the door.
    He saw Andy Andrews as soon as he stepped out into the hall.
    Damn
. This was no coincidence. The reporter had obviously staked out