Business Makes Strange Bedfellows

by E. E. Ottoman

  "The bedroom is through there." Vi pointed to a door on the far side of the sitting room. "You can take off your soiled clothes and use my dressing gown. I'll call down for some bathwater."

  "There's someone in this place that will draw you a bath at this time of night?" Gert's hands were already going to unfasten her cuffs even as she spoke, though, and Vi gave her a smile with a flash of fangs.

  "Generally speaking, the owner likes to keep me happy."

  The bedroom was small, dominated by a very large bed with a large wardrobe facing it, a washbasin on one side, a nightstand with an oil lamp burning on it, and a stack of leather-bound books. The room looked a little strange without windows, but it was also cozy.

  She pulled off her soiled clothes and pulled on the heavy men's dressing gown hanging on the back of the door. Vi most likely also wished to get out of her wet clothes, so Gert pulled open the door and stepped back out into the sitting room without lingering. Vi had shed her jacket and waistcoat and rolled up her shirtsleeves. She smiled and looped one long arm around Gert's waist, pulling her close.

  "Your bath is ready." Vi bent to kiss along Gert's jaw and then lower, trailing small kisses down her neck. The fingers of her other hand slid into the dressing gown, and Gert gasped when Vi's fingertips skimmed across the side of one breast.

  "Your shirt is damp." She tried to push herself out of Vi's grasp, but Vi hung on. "And I need to take a bath before we start anything."

  "Yes." Vi kissed her right under her ear. "And I need to change into dry clothes as well."

  She bit lightly at Gert's ear, not with her sharp fangs, but her blunter human teeth. Gert gasped at the slight sting, pushing herself forward into Vi. She let her hands roam across Vi's shoulder and chest, feeling the shape of Vi's small breast under the damp cloth of her shirt.

  "Go bathe." Vi let her go and took a step back. "Before we get carried away."

  Nodding a little jerkily, she watched as Vi headed towards her bedroom and shut the door. She turned towards the bathtub that had been set up at the far end of the sitting room, just close enough to the fire to stay warm and filled with steaming water. She let the dressing gown drop from her shoulders and stepped into the hot water. A tiny sigh escaped her, as she let herself just lie in the water and soak for a minute or so before reaching for the soap and washcloth. She washed herself carefully, unsure of what they would be doing for the rest of the evening, but prepared nonetheless.

  The idea that Vi might bite her and seriously hurt her entered her mind, and she considered it as she let herself relax back into the water. Vi, by her nature, was a dangerous being, and so the danger would always be there. Yet Vi had done nothing to make her think she was in any real danger.

  She pulled herself out of the bathtub and dried herself off before slipping her robe back on and curling by the fire. Vi pushed back open the door after a minute or two and walked over to sit beside her on the hearthrug.

  "Will it hurt again?" Gert asked.

  "Yes." Vi pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "But I won't draw it out, or toy with you unnecessarily, I promise."

  "Thank you." She turned towards her and leaned in, pressing her lips briefly against Vi's before pulling away to look at her. Vi's blonde hair was tousled, and her complexion was pale with that hint of grey just starting to show under her eyes and along her cheeks. Running her fingers along the side of Vi's face, she leaned in again. Their lips met, this time with more intent, and Vi's hand came up to cup the back of her head as she surged forward into the kiss. Vi's lips opened under hers, and she leaned back, lowering them both down onto the rug, with Gert on top. The kiss was a fierce press and clash of lips, and Vi pushed the dressing gown away.

  "I want to bite you here." Vi's voice was breathless when they drew apart, and she pressed her fingers against fragile skin and clavicle. "But I also want to watch your eyes while I do it. So maybe here." Vi's fingers formed a loose bracelet around Gert's wrist.

  "My eyes?" She bent to kiss along Vi's jaw, and Vi bent her leg slightly. "Why?"

  "I enjoy the feeling of connection." Vi shifted under her touch, rocking up against her, and Gert felt the heat blossom in her stomach and begin to spread downwards. "I enjoy watching the moment when you accept the pain of it."

  "I..." She didn't really know what to say to that, only that it made heat pool in her belly. "All right."

  Vi pulled her close and kissed her again. One hand ran up her front to cup one of her breasts. Vi rolled Gert's nipple between her fingers, pressing and then squeezing lightly.

  She broke away from the kiss with a gasp. "Harder."

  Vi's eyes narrowed and she squeezed hard enough to make Gert cry out.

  "Better?"

  Nodding, she rocked down on Vi's leg, pressing her chest into Vi's touch at the same time. The heat had spread from her belly to form a deep throb between her legs. Vi's other hand slid down her back to cup her ass, and her fingers moved to the other nipple. She braced both hands against Vi's shoulders as she rocked between the dual sensations of pressure against the need between her thighs and the sting of the pleasure-pain as Vi pinched and pulled at sensitive flesh.

  "Here." Vi put both hands on her waist, rolling them so that Gert was lying on her back. "Wait here for a moment." Vi kissed her quickly on the lips and then stood.

  "Where are you going?" Gert pushed herself up onto her elbows.

  "To get something." Vi smiled at her and then turned towards the bedroom.

  Vi was back a few moments later carrying a cloth-wrapped bundle that she dropped on the rug before settling over Gert and kissing her again. Their tongues fought, and Vi bit at her lips, not enough to draw blood, but just enough to sting. One of her hands drifted down her body to press into the inside of her thighs. She gasped into Vi's mouth and twisted, spreading her legs and trying to make Vi's hand get closer to where she wanted it.

  "Yes, please, yes."

  Vi's hand circled up the lushness of her thigh, and then her fingers were stroking across the wet folds of Gert's cunt. Vi's fingers rubbed across the erect little nub of her clit, causing Gert to shove her hips forward onto Vi's hands.

  "Yes! God, yes... Harder, more!"

  Vi's eyes were half-lidded, her lips slightly parted, and the palest of flushes crossed the tops of her cheeks. She leaned over Gert, supporting her own weight with one hand while the other moved between Gert's spread thighs. She clutched at Vi's shoulders hard enough that her nails dug into them. Vi would probably have marks against that too-pale skin, and the thought sent heat shooting down directly between her thighs where Vi's hand still worked. She dug her nails in deeper and then reached her arms back, letting her nails drag and scratch across the linen-covered line of Vi's back.

  Vi hissed, eyes darkening and rolled them both until they lay side by side. Her fingers left Gert's clit and two slid down to enter her, pushing into her cunt, making her back arch again, making her gasp. Vi pushed two fingers of her other hand against her lips and into her mouth to stroke along her tongue. She closed her lips around Vi's fingers, sucking hard, feeling her muscles contract and tighten around the fingers buried inside of her.

  "You like that?" Vi pulled her fingers free of her mouth. "Would you like me to put something larger inside of you? Here..." She let her fingers move in a lazy thrust. "Or..." She turned her hand, the pad of her thumb pressing against her other hole, stroking sensitive skin there.

  They both stilled, staring at each other. Desire ripped through Gert almost painful in its intensity. "Yes," she almost forcing the words out, her cunt pulsed around Vi's fingers, her body beyond ready. "I want you to put it inside me there too."

  Vi slid her fingers free and sat back on her knees reaching for the bundle she'd taken out of the bedroom. She pushed herself up on her elbows to watch Vi unwrap the long glass phallus and bottle of slick. Her stomach flipped with excitement and nerves just looking at it. She'd taken such toys into both her cunt and her ass before, b
ut never with someone else there to witness. It was not something that was supposed to be done; she'd always known that. The love between two women was supposed to be a sweet, pure thing, about friendship, long talks, and secret kisses. Not this, with a woman she'd known for so short a time, in the middle of the sitting room, with a toy about to be put up her ass.

  No, this was fucking.

  God, finally!

  She shifted against the rug, spreading her legs and canting her hips, trying to fight the urge to touch herself at the thought. She rubbed her hand across her chest, feeling the weight of her breasts and pinching at first one and then the other of her nipples, which were already almost painfully sensitive.

  "Push your hips up." Vi put the small jar and the toy aside, hands gripping her thighs to spread her legs further apart. "Have you done this before?"

  Cheeks heating further, she nodded.

  "Good." Vi bent at the waist, and then cool wetness touched her clit, causing her to cry out, back arching off the floor. Vi licked a slow path up her cunt and then circled the tip of her tongue around her clit again. Slick fingers stroked across the tight circle of muscles and then pressed inside, back out across the tight skin that separated her cunt from her ass, and then back to circle her hole again. Vi's lips and tongue made slow drags and then tight circles against hot, wet skin. She stared at the ceiling, trying to get enough air into her lungs to keep herself from going lightheaded.

  Wiping one hand across her mouth, Vi sat back on her heels. The tip of the toy was cool against Gert's slick, hot skin. She tensed for a moment in anticipation and then relaxed. Vi pushed into her body slowly, and she pushed back against the slight drag and burn of it, loving the way it made her feel stretched, full, and pushed just to the edge of endurance. The feel of the toy inside of her hole made her cunt throb and the muscles of her thighs tense.

  "So beautiful." Vi sat back when the toy was all the way in, the flared end pressed against the cheeks of her ass, and just looked. "Makes me want to fuck you here, too." Vi's fingers pressed against Gert's hot cunt, and she moaned. "Maybe next time." Vi smiled and then bent again, mouth finding sensitive flesh to lick and suckle. Her head thrashed, the pleasure crashing past the point where she thought she could come and heading towards painful in its intensity. She felt her ass clench around the toy, which only made the feeling of Vi's mouth and tongue stroking across her cunt and probing into her that much more vivid and overwhelming.

  Her release was like a pressure building low in her belly, radiating out to her ass and cunt. She moved her hips trying to both push and pull away from the dual sensations of pleasure. She balled both hands into fists and pressed them against the floor.

  "I'm going to come... Oh God..."

  The peak, when it took her, was almost less intense than the buildup had been, but such a relief. Her whole body clenched tight, muscles straining, cunt throbbing in waves, ass bearing down on the length inside. She collapsed back onto the rug feeling limp and tired, but completely sated.

  She was dimly aware of Vi pulling away and then fingers easing the toy out of her, and she whimpered a little at the small amount of pleasure that the feeling caused.

  "Gertrude." Vi was leaning over her, and there was a note of desperation in her voice. "I am going to bite you now. I need..."

  She nodded vaguely, and Vi's hand was on her arm, lifting her hand up, and then there was pain. She gasped, the pleasure-induced fog burned away by the feeling of Vi's fangs sinking into her wrist. She had hoped it would hurt less than the last time, but it still felt like being stabbed by long needles, enough so it brought tears to the corners of her eyes. She fought them back and concentrated on Vi's face.

  Vi's eyes slid closed as her mouth worked at Gert's wrist. She held herself up over her body with one arm, the other holding her lower arm in place. Vi's eyes opened finally, an intense blue. She moaned against her skin, hips moving in small jerky thrusts as she swallowed. Her hand slid down Vi's body to press against her thighs, and Vi thrust against it, rubbing against the palm of her hand. She pressed up against Vi's cunt, feeling the heat and wetness even through her trousers. Vi whimpered, sucking hard enough to make Gert wince.

  "Come for me." She bent one leg up, pressing hard between Vi's legs, and Vi rutted against it. She pulled free of Gert's wrist, letting it fall to the rug, and surged forward to press her mouth against Gert's neck.

  "My God, you taste..." There was a growl tinting Vi's words but also a level of need that made heat flare inside of Gert. She should have been afraid, she thought, but she wasn't.

  Vi's fangs bit into her neck, sending hot pain down her shoulder and chest, and she held on to Vi hard enough that she was sure Vi would have marks. She pushed her thigh up against Vi's cunt with force. Vi cried out, the sound muffled against her skin, and shook all over.

  When Vi stopped shaking, she pulled away from Gert's neck, licking up the blood dripping down to her shoulder until it slowed and stopped. Vi reached for her wrist, licking away the blood there as well.

  Gert shifted against the rug, feeling sticky and sore all over. "I think I need another bath."

  Vi pushed herself onto her elbows. "Go into the bedroom and use the basin to make yourself more comfortable, and I'll arrange more water to be brought up."

  For a minute, she thought about arguing that it was the dark hours of the morning by now, but she was tired, stiff, and covered in bodily fluids. So instead, she nodded and stood, picking up the dressing gown and draping it over her shoulders before heading back to the bedroom. She was a little lightheaded, but not as much as she'd expected. Vi must have not taken that much blood after all.

  When she returned to the sitting room after a perfunctory clean at the basin, the bathtub was once more filled with steaming water. Vi reclined on the settee, eyes on the fire, and after a brief hesitation, she let the dressing down gown fall from her shoulders again and climbed into the hot water.

  "I did some research about your kind," She offered after a few minutes of silence between them. "Most of what I found was of not much use, but I did notice there was one area in which there was no information, useful or not."

  "Oh?" Vi looked over at her, and Gert let herself sink deeper into the water.

  "No one seems to have written about how vampires are made."

  Vi was silence for so long Gert began to think she was not going to answer at all, but finally, she sighed and stood. Vi walked over to a wooden cabinet and opened it, removing a cut glass decanter filled with what appeared to be brandy and pouring some into a tumbler.

  "Last time I checked, the lore made it seem as if vampires are old things," Vi said. "That they have always existed since time immemorial, but it is not true. At least not with the sort of vampire that I am. Perhaps there have always been creatures that came back from the dead to feast upon the blood of the living, yes, but what I am is exclusively a modern creation. You asked how vampires are made; the truth is they are made through science."

  Gert sat up slowly in the bath. "What?"

  "Creating a vampire is a form of reanimation, such as what you and other practitioners of galvanism are attempting to do." Vi turned back, setting the tumbler on the corner of the writing desk by the fire. "What you do is drain the blood from someone while they're still alive and store it in airtight containers, and then replace the blood with an alchemic liquid and let the body sit for forty-eight hours before re-administering a portion of the original blood. The body, it…" She hesitated for a moment and looked away, one hand rising to cover her mouth before balling into a fist. "It changes, a metamorphosis of sorts. That is how vampires are created. All it takes is some very specific specialized alchemic knowledge, a great deal of expensive equipment, and the willingness to murder in the name of science."

  Vi settled back onto the settee. Gert tried to wrap her mind around what she'd just been told. She reached for the tumbler and took a sip of what turned out to be very good brandy, and then a larger gulp.

  A horr
ible idea struck her, and she turned towards Vi. "Do the scientists at Columbia University know?" Did one of them do this? lay unspoken between them.

  "No." Vi shook her head.

  "Thank God." She took another sip of the brandy before climbing out of the tub. She pulled the dressing gown back on and then went to sit beside Vi on the settee. "Is that what happened to you?"

  "Yes." Vi's gaze was back on the fire, although it was obvious that she wasn't seeing it. "Long ago now." She shook herself. "And what is done is done."

  Gert backed to the fireplace and stood looking down at the flames. Someone had beaten her to it, discovered the secret to reanimation, even it if had meant paying the highest price possible. Her hands clenched at her side. All these years, and she'd been so close.

  "Gert." Vi's cool hands closed around her shoulders. "Are you all right?"

  "I am fine." She tried to force a smile and turned to nestle back into Vi's arms. The bitterness of disappointment still lingered on her lips, though.

  Vi bent and kissed her sweetly before drawing her back to sit on the settee." As far I am concerned you have fulfilled your debt to me. You may go any time you wish, if that's what is worrying you."

  "It's not." She reached up impulsively and cupped Vi's face. "I want to stay."

  Vi's gaze seemed to search her face, and she looked like she wanted to say something else but stopped herself. She only kissed her again, this time with more passion, which Gert gladly returned.

  *~*~*

  The first thing she did when she returned to her own apartment in the early hours of the morning was go to her study and lock herself in.

  She unlocked the cabinet in which she kept all her notes and charts and spread them out across her desk. The sun slowly rose outside her study window as she checked and rechecked her work. By the time Marion knocked on the door and asked if she wanted breakfast brought to her, she was sure. Through the use of electricity and alchemic elixirs, she would be able to reanimate enough essential organs to create a whole new form of life.