"George R. R. Martin - WC 4 - Aces Abroad" - читать интересную книгу автора (Martin George R R)

Chrysalis liked it when men paid attention to her, sometimes too much.
Sometimes, she realized, she conducted her affairs for all the wrong reasons.
Even Brennan (Yeoman, she reminded herself, Yeoman. She had to remember that she
wasn't supposed to know his real name) had become her lover because she'd forced
herself on him. It was, she supposed, the sense of power that she liked, the


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control she had when she made men come to her. But making men make love to her
body was also, she recognized with her habit of relentless self-scrutiny,
another way to punish a revulsed world. But Brennan (Yeoman, damnit) had never
been revulsed. He had never made her turn out the lights before kissing her, and
he had always made love with his eyes open and watching her heart beat, her
lungs bellow, her breath catch behind tightly clenched teeth....
Ray's foot moved under the table, touching hers, drawing her back from thoughts
of the past, of what was over. She smiled a lazy smile at him, gleaming teeth
set in a gleaming skull. There was something about Ray that was unsettling. He
talked too loud, he smiled too much, and some part of him, his hands or his feet
or his mouth, was always in motion. He had a reputation for violence. Not that
she had anything against violence as long as it wasn't directed at her. For
goodness's sake, even she'd lost track of all the men Yeoman had sent to their
reward since, his arrival in the city. But, paradoxically, Brennan wasn't a
violent man. Ray, according to his reputation, had a habit of running amuck.
Compared to Brennan, he was a self-centered bore. She wondered if she'd be
comparing all the men she would know to her archer, and she felt a rush of
annoyance, and regret.
"I doubt that you'd have the skill to transport me to the dreariest shithole in
the poorest part of Jokertown, dear boy, let alone paradise."
Peregrine squelched a twitchy smile and looked away. Chrysalis felt Billy's foot
move away as he fixed her with a hard, dangerous stare. He was about to say
something vicious when Dr. Tachyon interrupted by flopping into the empty chair
next to Peregrine. Ray shot Chrysalis a look that told her the remark wouldn't
be forgotten.
"My,dear." Tachyon bowed over Peregrine's hand, kissed it, and nodded greetings
to everyone else. It was common knowledge that he was hot over the glamorous
flyer, but then, Chrysalis reflected, most men were. Tachyon, however, was
self-confident enough to be determined in his pursuit, and thickheaded enough
not to call it off, even after numerous polite rebuffs on Peregrine's part.
"How was the meeting with Dr. Tessier?" Peregrine asked, removing her hand
delicately from Tachyon's grasp when he showed no inclination of letting it go
on his own.
Tachyon frowned, whether in disappointment at Peregrine's continuing coolness or
in remembrance of his visit to the Haitian hospital, Chrysalis couldn't tell.
"Dreadful," he murmured, "simply dreadful." He caught the eye of a waiter and
gestured him over. "Bring me something cool, with lots of rum in it." He looked
around the table. "Anyone else?"
Chrysalis tinged a red-painted fingernail-it looked like a rose petal floating
on bone against her empty cordial glass. "Yes. And more, um?"