"K. D. Wentworth - Embians" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wentworth K D)

Shayna lifts sweat-soaked hair off her neck, impatient for the next display. "I
think they're arguing. He's ready for her, has been for hours, but she's playing
coy."

"How do you know it's mixed pair?" Mae asks, calmly sensible as always. "Other
teams have documented male to male pairings, as well as female to female." From
the first moment they met at the university funding this study, Mae reminded
Shayna of a redwood that has stood for a thousand years and is no longer capable
of surprise or wonder. "They're acting on instinct," Mae says. "When the time is
right, they'll come together."

Come together. Such a pale expression for the incandescent union of embian or
human. Shayna's fingers tighten until the blind's wires cut into her skin.

Impossible blue-black hovering on the edge of ultra-violet. Shot through with
sparkles of green. Expands...expands. Flash of red.

Darkness...darkness...darkness.

Shayna's pulse leaps, settles into the alien rhythm of the lights. She turns to
Mae. "He's dying for her, and she's laughing, climbing just out of reach."

"Quit projecting." Mae's voice is curt, impatient. She leans away from the damp,
sweaty touch of Shayna's thigh.

Muted green. Swirls of magenta.

Pale rose. Pool of lavender.

Darkness.

Compromise, thought Shayna. One relents, so the other bides his time. In the
end, they will find a way to understand each other.

Olive.

Lime.

Darkness.

Red, Shayna thinks, fountains of orange-gold. White so hot it would burn you to
ashes.

Glimmering pure green.

Darkness... darkness...darkness.
The minutes pass, stretch into tens. Night hangs over the rain forest like a
suffocating black shroud. After an hour, Mae exhales and clicks off the
night-cam. "I think that's it for now. We might as well pack it in."