"Lisa Tuttle - Sangre" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tuttle Lisa)

Sangre
Lisa Tuttle
Glenda stepped out of the shower and stopped before the mirror. Her hair looped
up and confined beneath a shower cap left her long neck bare and made her eyes
look larger and darker.
"You look Spanish," Steve said.
She didn't turn, but continued staring at herself in the mirror, her beautiful face
impassive.
He put his hands on her wet shoulders, bent his head to kiss her neck.
"Dry me," she said.
He picked up a towel and patted her reverently, tenderly dry. She reached up and
pulled off the cap and let her hair tumble, a flow of honey and brown, to her waist.
He caught his breath.
"When is checkout?" she asked.
"Noon."
Now she turned to face him. "And then what? After we leave an hour from now,
then what?"
"Anything you want. I'll take you to lunch anywhere you say, and then we'll have
time to do a little shopping before you have to be at the airport. Anything you want."
His eyes pleaded with her.
"Anything you want," she mimicked. Her face contorted in anger; she gave the
towel he still held a jerk and wrapped it around herself. "How can you?"
"GlendaтАФ"
"I'm not talking about today! I'm talking about what after today? When I come
back, do we just pretend it never happened? Do we just forget about us? How can
you take me out and screw me, and then go tripping home to my mother? And what
is this trip to Spain thing? Can't you handle it any more? Mother getting suspicious?"
"Darling, don't. Of course I don't want you out of the way. I love you. And I love
your mother. Believe me, this is as hard for meтАФ"
"Oh, sure it is. Just tell me this: why should I be the one to lose? What happens to
me after you marry my mother?"
"Sweetheart, try to understandтАж"
"Oh, yes, I'm the one who has to understand, and Mother's the one who doesn't
suspect. Just how long do you think that's going to last?"
"In time," he said, straining for patience, for the sound of wisdom in his voice, "in
time I hope weтАж the three of usтАж can work something out. But this is very difficult.
You, you're young, while people like your mother and myself are very much
shackled by the old morality; you can accept relationships that areтАж more freeтАж
and in time, maybe after your mother and I are married, the three of us canтАж" He
faltered and stopped. Her expression mocked him.
"I never lied to you," he said, suddenly defensive, suddenly angrily sure that he
was making a fool of himself. "You knew what you were getting into; you knew who
I was when you became my mistressтАФ"
"Mistress." She said the word with loathing, and he caught the steely glint of
hatred in her eyes. He tried to recoup but before he could speak she shook her head
impatiently and let the towel drop.
"Well," she said. "We've still got an hour."


Debbie opened her mouth and desperately forced a yawn as the plane began to