JК
Danse Macabre :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 48 из 427I wasn't thinking that men I loved were watching. I saw nothing but his face, felt nothing but the strength of his hands on my face, his arm trailing down my back, his hand gliding down my body. The inside of my head was peaceful, full of a soft, rushing sound, like water as it spills along some peaceful shore. I wasn't the one who fought free of the mind games, it was Thomas who spoiled it. His hand slid down, down, and found the gun at the small of my back. It made him hesitate. Made him stumble as if his magic had legs to be tripped by a misplaced stone.
I pulled back from him, saw the uncertainty on his face. He was still handsome, and the compulsion to touch him was still there whispering through my head, but his eyes were wide, his face uncertain. He looked fresh and new and untried, like someone who had never hugged someone and found her wearing a gun.
The sound of the surf pulled away, and I could hear the murmuring in the room. People wondering what to do, whether they should interfere.
«That's a gun,» he said, in a voice as uncertain as his face.
I nodded. I had gone back to being flat-footed on my heels, no more tiptoe, no more helping him seduce me with his mother's magic, or his own.
He'd actually missed the big knife down my spine, because he hadn't come to the midline of my body until low on my back. But it was a big weapon to miss. Baby, he was a baby. And I'd have said that if he'd been twenty-seven instead of seventeen. Baby not in years, but in my world. You don't miss a knife as long as a forearm, not and live, not for long. Not in my world.
I gazed up into his face. The black was beginning to drain away, showing the hazel of his human eyes. He was the son of a master vampire and a siren, but where he lived was a gentler, kinder place than my life. I would leave him to that gentleness.
I drew out of his arms, completely. «Go back and sit down, Thomas.»
He hesitated and looked at his mother. She was watching me, not him. Watching me with those black eyes. There was a considering look on her face, as if she wasn't sure what she thought of the show.
«Do as Anita says, Thomas,» she said, at last.
He went back to the love seat, to sit beside his brother. It left Thea and me staring at each other.
«He hesitated only for a moment,» she said, «yet, it was enough.»
«It's not his power,» I said, «not yet. It's yours. You loaned him enough power to roll me.»
She made a gesture that was almost a shrug, but her hands went out in a wide gesture.
I pulled back from him, saw the uncertainty on his face. He was still handsome, and the compulsion to touch him was still there whispering through my head, but his eyes were wide, his face uncertain. He looked fresh and new and untried, like someone who had never hugged someone and found her wearing a gun.
The sound of the surf pulled away, and I could hear the murmuring in the room. People wondering what to do, whether they should interfere.
«That's a gun,» he said, in a voice as uncertain as his face.
I nodded. I had gone back to being flat-footed on my heels, no more tiptoe, no more helping him seduce me with his mother's magic, or his own.
He'd actually missed the big knife down my spine, because he hadn't come to the midline of my body until low on my back. But it was a big weapon to miss. Baby, he was a baby. And I'd have said that if he'd been twenty-seven instead of seventeen. Baby not in years, but in my world. You don't miss a knife as long as a forearm, not and live, not for long. Not in my world.
I gazed up into his face. The black was beginning to drain away, showing the hazel of his human eyes. He was the son of a master vampire and a siren, but where he lived was a gentler, kinder place than my life. I would leave him to that gentleness.
I drew out of his arms, completely. «Go back and sit down, Thomas.»
He hesitated and looked at his mother. She was watching me, not him. Watching me with those black eyes. There was a considering look on her face, as if she wasn't sure what she thought of the show.
«Do as Anita says, Thomas,» she said, at last.
He went back to the love seat, to sit beside his brother. It left Thea and me staring at each other.
«He hesitated only for a moment,» she said, «yet, it was enough.»
«It's not his power,» I said, «not yet. It's yours. You loaned him enough power to roll me.»
She made a gesture that was almost a shrug, but her hands went out in a wide gesture.