"Charlaine Harris - Dancers in the Dark" - читать интересную книгу автора (Harris Charlaine)

The dark-haired taller vampire, who was wearing biking shorts and a ragged, sleeveless T-shirt,
came to stand in front of Rue. He was very handsome, very exotic, with golden skin and smooth
short hair. Rue guessed he was of Eurasian heritage; there was a hint of a slant to his dark eyes.
He smiled down at her. But there was something in his look she didn't trust, and she always paid
attention to that feeling… at least, now she did. After a quick scan of his face, she kept her eyes
focused on his collarbone.


Rue had never touched a vampire. Where she came from, a smallish town in Tennessee, you
never saw anything so exotic. If you wanted to see a vampire (just like if you wanted to go to the
zoo), you had to visit the city. The idea of touching a dead person made Rue queasy. She would
have been happy to turn on her heel and walk right out of the room, but that option wasn't open.
Her savings had run out. Her rent was due. Her phone bill was imminent. She had no insurance.
She heard her mother's voice in her head, reminding her, "Put some steel in that spine, honey."
Good advice. Too bad her mother hadn't followed it herself.


Sylvia popped the disk in the CD player, and Rue put one hand on Thompson's shoulder,
extended the other in his grasp. His hands were cool and dry. This partner would never have
sweaty palms. She tried to suppress her shiver. You don't have to like a guy to dance with him,
she advised herself. The music was an almost generic dance tune. They began with a simple two-
step, then a box step. The music accelerated into swing, progressed to jitterbug.


Rue found she could almost forget her partner was a vampire. Thompson could really dance. And
he was so strong! He could lift her with ease, swing her, toss her over his head, roll her across his
back. She felt light as a feather. But she hadn't mistaken the gleam in his eyes. Even while they
were dancing, his hands traveled over more of her body than they should. She'd had enough
experience with men more than enough experience to predict the way their partnership would go,
if it began like this.


The music came to an end. He watched her chest move up and down from the exercise. He wasn't
even winded. Of course, she reminded herself, Thompson didn't need to breathe. The vampire
bowed to Rue, his eyes dancing over her body. "A pleasure," he said. To her surprise, his voice
purely American.


She nodded back.


"Excellent," Sylvia said. "You two look good together. Thompson, Julie, you can go now, if you
want." The blonde and Thompson didn't seem to want. They both sat down on the floor, backs to
one of the huge mirrors that lined the room. "Now dance with Sean O'Rourke, our Irish
aristocrat," Sylvia told her. "He needs a new partner, too." Rue must have looked anxious,
because the older woman laughed and said, "Sean's partner got engaged and left the city.
Thompson's finished med school and started her residency. Sean?" .