"Laurell K. Hamilton - Anita Blake 12 - Incubus Dreams" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hamilton Laurell K)

was my food, and I hated the fact that anyone was my food. I fed off Micah, too,
but he was my partner, my boyfriend, and he was dominant enough to say no if he
wanted to. Nathaniel wanted me to take him, wanted to belong to me, and I didn’t
know what to do about it. Months from now the ardeur would be under control and
I wouldn’t need a pomme de sang. What would Nathaniel do when I didn’t need
him anymore?
I drew back from the kiss and watched Nathaniel’s face shine at me the way
Jessica Arnet’s face had shone at him. I wasn’t in love with Nathaniel, but staring up
into that happy, handsome face, I was afraid that I couldn’t say the same for him. I
was using him. Not for sex, but for food. He was food, just food, but even as I
thought it, I knew it was partly a lie. You don’t fall in love with your steak, because it
can’t hold you, can’t press warm lips in the bend of your neck, and whisper,
“Thank you,” as it glides down the hallway in the charcoal gray slacks that fit its ass
like a second skin and spill roomy over the thighs that you happen to know are even
lovelier out of the pants than in. When I turned to the next smiling person in line, I
caught Detective Jessica Arnet giving me a look. It wasn’t an entirely friendly look.
Great, just great.




2
«^»
The Halloween Theme continued into the reception hall. Orange and black crepe
paper streamers dangled everywhere; cardboard skeletons, rubber bats, and paper
ghosts floated overhead. There was a fake spiderweb against one wall big enough to
hang someone from. The table centerpieces were realistic looking jack-o-lanterns
with flickering electric grins. The fake skeletons were long enough to be a hazard to
anyone much taller than I was. Which meant most guests were having the tops of
their hair brushed by little cardboard skeleton toes. Unfortunately, Tammy was 5’8”
without heels, with heels she got her veil tangled with the decorations. The
bridesmaids finally got Tammy’s veil unhooked from the skeletal toes, but it ruined
the entrance for the bride and groom. If Tammy had wanted the decorations safe for
the tall people, she shouldn’t have left it to Larry and his brothers. There wasn’t a
one of them over 5’6”. Don’t blame me. Groomsman or not, I hadn’t helped
decorate the hall. It was not my fault.
There were other things that I was going to get blamed for, but they weren’t my
fault either. Well, mostly not my fault.
I’d escorted Jessica Arnet into the room. She hadn’t smiled at me as I led her into
the room. She’d looked way too serious. When Tammy’s veil was safely secure
once more, Jessica had gone to the table where Micah and Nathaniel were sitting.
She’d leaned into Nathaniel, and when I say leaned, I mean it. Like leaned on him, so
that the line of her body touched his shoulder and arm. It was bold and discreet at
the same time. If I hadn’t been watching for it, I might not have realized what she
was doing. She spoke quietly to him. He finally shook his head, and she turned and
wove her way through the small tables full of guests. She took the last empty seat at
the long table where the wedding party was trapped. The last empty chair was beside
me. We got to sit down in the order we’d entered. Goody.
In the middle of the toasts, after Larry’s brother had made the groom blush, but
before the parents had had their turns, Jessica leaned over close enough that her