"Anthony,.Piers.-.Mute (2)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Anthony Susan)

Knot nodded soberly. Actually, any threat to an auditor would create enormous mischief. His question had been an expression of petulance rather than any real threat, and she knew it. She could play with him as she wished, with virtual impunity. That was exactly what she seemed inclined to do.

"You can have it," she said, handing him the disk.

Yes, she was playing with him. She was cocksure. Bye and bye, in his own fashion, he would play with her. She was not dealing with an ordinary patsy, this time. Her experience on other worlds gave her confidence that was not necessarily warranted.

The route, as he had warned, was devious and difficult. The leadmuter was supposed to be an enclave secret, and was hidden well out of the way. They had to climb a rocky escarpment, wedge through a thick tangle of brush, and wade through a cold stream.

"You're right,"-Finesse said. "I would have been better off without clothes."

"Except for the brambles," he agreed. "It grows easier once we pass the brushland. Then you may take off your clothes if you wish to."

"I may. la this terrain comfortable for the leadmuter?"

"No. Fortunately he doesn't have to experience it. He works in a cave."

"I didn't know this was cave country."

"It isn't, according to your geography,"

"You rather fascinate me."

"Mutual, I'm sure."

She turned her sweetly tousled face toward him, brushing a tress out of her eyes. "I have given you every opportunity, but you haven't taken advantage of me yet. Are you normally this slow, or are you unconscionably shy?"

"I wouldn't want that alarm to bleep."

"You have charge of it!" she protested, her bosom heaving enticingly.

"A voice-activated.device keyed to your voice? I only hold it; I don't control it."

"But you left it the other side of the river."

Knot patted his pockets. "I must have dropped it!"

"That was the most gentle drop I ever watched. Were you afraid of breaking it?"

She was one hideously perceptive female! He had not spied her watching him. "Some of these things go off when broken," he admitted. "That could have been awkward."

"So you were setting me upЧbut you haven't made your move. Or did I miss it?"

"These things do take time."

"You must have remarkably easygoing reflexes."

"The flesh is willing, but the spirit is cautious."

"You don't trust me," she complained.