This time I would be prepared for what happened.
I needed to do this for my research, for science. I had an obligation to see this human trial through.
Everything would be fine.
I drank the vial of blood-like liquid.
Yes, everything would be fine.
I just needed to stay away from Catherine…
CHAPTER7
HYDE
Irolled my shoulders as I looked down in distaste. The impeccable suit I had taken great pains to purchase last night from Gieves & Hawkes, one of the finest tailors in London, was a wrinkled mess.
I scowled as I smoothed down the ruined silk tie. The man was a heathen.
Surveying the empty laboratory, I reached for the half-empty cup of cold coffee and drank it to wet my dry mouth. I grimaced. Instant. I should have known. What kind of man doesn’t insist on freshly ground coffee? A heathen who didn’t know how to enjoy the finer things in life.
Fortunately, I’d had the foresight to purchase a second suit. Striding over to the nearby closet I opened the door and lifted the garment bag off the hook. After changing into the clean suit, I felt more myself.
Adjusting the sterling silver cufflinks I had also managed to acquire last night, I strolled over to the inventory cabinet. As I was determining if there was any more benzoylecgonine for me to steal and sell on the black market for some ready cash, the laboratory door swung open.
Catherine walked in. “I’m sorry. I think I left my glasses here.”
I picked up the small wire-framed glasses. I crushed them in my hand and dropped them to the floor. “I’m afraid I don’t see them.”
She walked several steps forward. Her voice was thin and hesitant. “Dr. Jekyll, is that you?”
I licked my lips as I watched the gentle sway of her hips as she walked. She had a beautiful hourglass shape, only heightened by the short black dress she wore. “No, I’m afraid he’s left.”
She blushed, the color animating her already pretty features. “I’m sorry. You look very similar.”
“Brothers.” I held out my hand. “I’m Edward Hyde.”
She placed her small hand in mine. I squeezed my fingers around hers, refusing to let go.
She gave her hand a slight tug before nervously saying, “Henry hasn’t mentioned a brother.”
I leaned in, inhaling the floral scent of her perfume. “Same mother, different fathers. I’m not exactly legitimate. All a bit of a scandal I’m afraid. Henry doesn’t like to talk about it.”
Her blush deepened as she once again tried to pull her hand free. This time I allowed it.
She gave me a wide berth as she rounded the lab table to search the top of the file cabinet where I had found her glasses. “I’m sure I left them here. I’m not quite blind as a bat without them, but I do need them.”
She stepped on the bent and twisted frames of her glasses, crushing the lenses. “Oh, no!”
I came up behind her. Wrapping my arm around her waist, I ran the fingertips of my left hand down her bare arm. My voice was soft and low as I asked, “What can you see without them?”
Her stomach tightened under my palm as she gasped. She inhaled a shaky breath before whispering, “I can still see faces and shapes, they’re just a little fuzzy.”
Leaning down, I allowed the heat of my breath to caress her bare neck as I entwined my fingers with hers. “You make me feel like a thief.”
Her breath fluttered. “Why?”
I lifted her hand to my lips and kissed her fingertips. “Because I am permitted to steal glances at your serene beauty without you even knowing.”