Pira by Piers Anthony

Author:Piers Anthony [Anthony, Piers]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: eXcessica Publishing

6

Acorn

The next call came, and the next. They handled them all, staying mostly anonymous as far as the public was concerned. It was really better that the bad guys not know how their weapons could be quietly nullified from a distance; they were not on guard against that.

A year passed. They were allowed to return home for a week's “vacation,” though they were still on call. Pira kissed Orion passionately in the car, then jumped out and ran gladly to her mother's arms. He smiled, and drove to his own home. They had agreed to be apart this week, both feeling that such a break could be instructive. “You can date some real girls,” Pira had teased him. “And maybe do the last thing with them.”

“The place of excrement,” he agreed, making a wry face.

“Make them wash it first.”

And lo, next day a former college girlfriend called. She was Tina, smart, pretty, educated, motivated, and clearly quite ready to take it to the next level. She had her own apartment, where he visited her; there would be no barriers.

“You were the best of my passing boyfriends,” she said candidly, tossing her blond tresses in the way he remembered. “Now I'm looking to settle down.”

“I—have a job now,” he said.

“That you can't talk about,” she agreed. “I've heard the rumors. Must be important. Like being a secret agent.”

He smiled. “Maybe.”

She stretched, showing off her figure. “Are you on the social market?”

“Not really.”

She frowned; that evidently was not the response she had been fishing for. “Tell me about Pira.”

Caught by surprise, he answered before he thought. “I love her.”

Tina nodded. “So she's the one. Sex?”

“She's a child!”

“Who will soon be a woman. Sixteen is not considered childhood.”

“No sex,” he said tightly.

“I'd marry you in a moment, Orion, but it's clear you're taken. I wish you the best. But if you're interested in a passing dalliance for old times...” Her eyes flicked toward the bedroom.

Would he be smarter to take her up on it? He wasn't sure. Pira had given him leave, in her fashion, but did he really want to?

“Answer enough,” she said, reading his hesitation.

The date continued, but the promise of it was gone. He regretted that, in a manner; Tina was completely worthy, and he should have given her more of a chance.

Next day he went to see Pira; he couldn't stay away. “She's in the tub,” Manta said. She was as beautiful as ever. “I'm sure she'd welcome you if you cared to join her there.”

“She would,” he agreed. “We've had joint baths before.”

“Mercilessly teasing each other. She'll be out soon. Meanwhile we can chat.”

“Okay.” He wasn't sure what she had in mind.

“Pira's grown a magnitude in a year. They gave her a standardized test and she passed it without effort. She can discourse on math, literature, and all day on William Butler Yeats, and she's not nearly so shy as she was. So she has passed 11th grade in fine form. You have been phenomenally good for her.”

“She applies herself,”

“As if you had nothing to do with it.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.