"Jeffrey Lord - Blade 17 - The Mountains of Brega" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lord Jeffery)

"Make yourself at home, Mr.тАФRichard. The brandy is in the cabinet over the refrigerator. I am going to
get out of this dress before I roast in it."
AsElizabeth had suggested, Blade went to the cupboard. The brandy was there, a Czech brand
Blade recognized as highly reputable. He poured out two glasses and cautiously sniffed at both of them.
Then he quickly scanned the kitchen. There were more places than he could count where a concealed
microphone or even a concealed lens might be lurking. He could never search them all, even if he wanted
to.
And Blade didn't want to. He didn't want to give any observers the idea that he was a trained
professional at this gameтАФwhich he had been for nearly twenty years. He wanted to let them think he
was a fat and unsuspecting fly that had blundered into their web. At least until the time came for them to
discover that they had blundered into his. He grinned.
The spider-versus-spider games of espionage had been his life so long that he could hardly help
enjoying it.
The kitchen window opened onto a rust-scarred iron fire escape. Blade looked up and down it as far
as he could without opening the window. He noticed that the window locked from the inside. That was
usual in this neighborhood. But the lock was openтАФnot usual in this neighborhood. With his eyes on the
kitchen door, he carefully flipped the lock closed. Anybody coming down the fire escape and expecting
an easy entrance through the kitchen window would get a surprise.
Blade picked up the two glasses of brandy, went back into the sitting room, and sat down on the
couch. As an afterthought, he took off his coat and tie and unbuttoned the collar of his hand-made silk
shirt. He didn't need anything in the coat, since he did not go armed inEngland . He hardly needed to, in
any caseтАФnot with a fourth dan black belt in karate.
The sound of bare feet on the carpet made him look up.Elizabeth had indeed taken off her dress, and
practically everything else she had been wearing. Now she wore a long, flowing nightdress, with
full-length sleeves and a high neck. It did not conceal very much, however, for it was semi-transparent.
Blade did not need to imagine whatElizabeth 's body was like any longer. It was a full-fleshed East
European body, a hearty young peasant girl's body. Large breasts thrust out the fabric of the nightdress,
and proportionately large nipples thrust out even farther as the breasts swayed.
Blade rose to his feet and held out his arms as she approached, with a broad grin on his face. He
would have worn that grin even if he had not found her attractive. But Blade was a man of large appetites
and a large capacity for pleasure. He had never been able to make love in a cool or detached manner.
Elizabethtook his hands, and a smile spread across her face, telling Blade that she knew exactly what
was on his mind. He hoped she didn't know what he was really thinkingтАФwhen would her confederates
make their move, if they were going to make one? And what kind of move would it be? Was this just a
blackmail effort, or were enemy agents really going to try a body-snatch on him?
Elizabethwas picking up her brandy glass, and Blade decided not to try answering those questions.
He took his own glass, raised it to clink with hers, and said, "Cheers."
She smiled. "To a good night's work," she said, and giggled. Then she drained the glass at one gulp.
Blade considered the nervous note in her giggle and the gulped brandy. She wasn't quite able to keep up
the air of cheerful sensuality that she was trying to projectтАФat least not without a quick drink. It was long
odds that this girl was an amateur, caught in something far beyond her depth. How and why? Another
question he wasn't going to answer now.
Blade emptied his own glass in five deliberate swallows and set it down on the arm of the couch. It
was good brandy; he had to admit that. Then his arms rose again, and reached out forElizabeth .
She was in them before he had them fully raised. A moment later her lips were clinging to his. Those
lips were wide open, but there was no warmth or wetness on them or in them. For a moment the sudden
shock of those lips against his almost killed Blade's desire. ThenElizabeth 's hands came up and locked
around the back of his neck. They drew his head forward and down, played in his chair, crept down
under his collar. One hand moved away from his neck and around to his throat. Slim but nimble fingers
undid the buttons of his shirt from the top down. Then they roamed over the muscle-layered chest and