Read Business Makes Strange Bedfellows for Free Online

them and Vi pulled open the door.
    "Will you ride with me?" Once seated inside the carriage she turned to look back at Vi.
    Vi shook her head. "I think not. You are too much of a temptation, my dear. I believe a walk will be better for the both of us."
    Something hot settled low in Gert's stomach. She might not have liked the way Vi handled business sometimes, but the fact that she wanted her was undeniable. She licked her lips, watching the way Vi's eyes followed the movement.
    "Are you sure?"
    Faster than a human could move, Vi was halfway in the carriage and very, very close. Close enough to feel Vi's breath ghost against her lips. "Are you making me an offer, Dr. Bower? Because your business is not yet complete."
    "Maybe I am." Vi's lips were very close; would they be warm, or as cool as the rest of Vi?
    "We're on the street." Vi's gaze was firmly on Gert's lips, though. "People are watching. I wouldn't want to be inappropriate."
    "This close to me," so close in fact but still not close enough, "you're already far from what is considered acceptable for polite company."
    Vi's eyes darkened, and for a moment it seemed as though Vi would get into the carriage with her.
    Vi's fingers traced across Gert's bottom lip so that she could taste the soft leather of Vi's gloves. She bit down carefully at Vi's fingertips, the leather taste becoming stronger on her tongue as she did so. Vi hissed and pressed forward, her other hand coming up to clamp around Gert's jaw, holding her in place with surprising force.
    "You need to go home and get some sleep," Vi finally said, voice distinctly rougher than before. "I will be in touch about the final stages of this case soon." Vi leaned forward still bringing them even closer together. She wondered just how scandalous they must look like to the passersby and flushed hotter at the very idea. "When our business is done, I will have you." There was a growl behind the words, and a promise.
    Then Vi pulled away, stepping back onto the pavement, and shut the door of the carriage.
    After watching from the window of the cab until Vi was out of sight she collapsed back against the seat. Her face was hot, and her breathing uneven.
    "Oh, Gertrude." She pressed her fingers against her overheated cheeks. "What are you doing?"
    *~*~*
    She shouldn't be doing this research—Gert knew that. That wasn't stopping her from drawing up charts and making sketches in one of her scientific notebooks as she sat at her desk. She'd already reanimated most vital organs, but perhaps she'd want fresh ones. Reanimating the skin would be hardest of all; maybe the best way would be to do it in strips. The creature would need to be smaller than the average person, as she didn't think she'd be able to reanimate enough flesh and muscle for a fully grown human. That meant the skeleton was going to pose its own problems. Although this was all academic, she reminded herself sternly. She was not actually going to build such a being. Of course she wasn't.
    With a sigh, she leaned back in her chair, pulling her tie free and letting it coil on the desktop beside her papers. A cup of tea was also among the drawings and notes, and she picked it up and absently took a sip, finding it cold.
    If she were to create new life, how would she provide for it? What kind of world would she be bringing into? Not a world that would accept a creature made from parts of the dead, that was for certain. So what right did she have to bring forth this being, knowing full well that it would only know hatred and rejection? Just so she could play God or satisfy a scientific curiosity? Besides, what was there to guarantee that this new life would not end up being just as much of a bloodthirsty monster as the abomination she and Vi hunted?
    There were too many issues, too much at stake. She could not seriously contemplate it. Yet she was and she knew it. It would certainly prove to all those fools at Columbia University that a 'lady scientist' was nothing to