Page 16 of Thwack!

And so he not only waited to bring his books back until they were overdue, but he lingered around the circulation desk until Beau relieved the nice lady librarian.

“I’ve been very bad,” he suggested as Beau handled the books with crisp precision.

“After promising that you wouldn’t be,” Beau said with an arched eyebrow. “If you’re trying to enrich the library, you can make a donation to our Friends of the Library fund.”

“I don’t have any money anyway,” he said carelessly. “For the fine or whatever.”

“I see.” Beau crossed his arms over his chest. “We do have a relief fund you can apply to, if you need financial assistance.”

Abel hadn’t meant to imply that he needed financial assistance. “Oh, I can pay the fine. I just didn’t bring any money.”

“And yet you promised you would be good for it.”

“I know.” He grinned, which caused Beau’s features to settle into even harder lines. “I was wondering if there was a penalty besides the fine.”

“There is not,” Beau said decisively. “Good day, Mr. Ridgeway.” He held out his hand to take the books from the customer behind Abel, and Abel slouched off to the side to make room for her.

Well, that had been a waste. Beau wasn’t picking up on Abel’s dirty hints at all. Beau just thought he was rude and ungrateful. He glanced back at Beau, sorry now that he’d been so difficult, only to find Beau watching him. Beau looked away quickly, but he’d definitely been staring. Maybe at Abel’s ass.

Abel kept checking as he roamed the stacks, making a point of appearing engrossed in a book and then peering out of the corner of his eye to see what Beau was up to. And what Beau was always up to was watching him. Then the nice lady librarian came back from her break and Beau went away.

Abel sighed and turned his attention to finding something new to read for real, but his mind kept trying to figure out how to get Beau angry enough to act. Then he saw it. The New and Popular table. For most books, you got three weeks with a renewal period of another three weeks if needed, but these books were limited to fourteen days with no renewal because so many people wanted to read them.

It would be impolite of him to borrow one of these and then not return it on time. That was probably the sort of thing that really pissed librarians off. So he went over to the table and grabbed not just one, but two, of the books, which was the max you were allowed to borrow from this table. He hardly even knew what the books were, but whatever they were, they were exactly what he needed.

He waited as long as he dared before returning them, guilt over hoarding two new and popular books warring with excitement over how angry Beau would be with him, how disapproving his expression might get and how frigidly formal his words. Could Abel hope for more?

He slunk into the library with the books hidden in a reusable tote, as if overdue books were contraband, then lurked at the magazine rack until Beau came to the front and logged into one of the computers. He spotted Abel immediately, his gaze already frosty as if he’d been monitoring Abel’s checkouts and knew he was overdue. Abel was so enjoying Beau’s harsh scrutiny that he didn’t immediately go up to the circulation desk, and as the minutes ticked by, Beau’s attention became both more overt and more annoyed.

Abel’s cock stiffened and his breath grew shallow. This was foreplay of a most exquisite sort, but if he didn’t make a move soon, the lady librarian’s break would end and Beau would disappear to wherever he kept himself when he wasn’t working the front desk. Abel edged toward the velvet ropes marking the line, dragging his feet like a recalcitrant child who’d been summoned to the principal’s office, peering through his lashes at the hard set of Beau’s mouth and eyes. Even Beau’s bow tie seemed stiffer than usual.

“I’m afraid—” Abel started.

“I’m well aware of your transgressions,” Beau interrupted. He checked in Abel’s books with precise, controlled movements, somehow never taking his eyes off Abel as he did it. Abel’s skin heated, his face flushed, and his cock was practically leaking.

“I’ve been inconsiderate.”

“Indeed.”

“Really awfully bad.”

“As I said, I’m fully aware of the nature and extent of your transgressions.”

“So you’re mad, I guess.” Abel dragged one toe back and forth across the tile floor. “You’d probably like to, I don’t know, punish me.”

“Did you intentionally return these books late, Mr. Ridgeway?”

“Um.” He wasn’t sure what the best answer was here. He didn’t want Beau to hate him.

“I see,” Beau said as if could see straight into the depths of Abel’s twisted soul. “Then you had better come with me.” He placed a placard pointing to the next station in front of his computer and turned on his heel to walk away from the semi-circular desk toward the back of the library. Abel scurried after him.

“Where are we going?” he asked breathlessly. Wherever it was, he was on board with it.

“To my office.”

Beau had an office?

Oh no, Abel thought, as they arrived at a closed door bearing the inscription “Cecil Beaumont, Head Librarian.” Beau wasn’t just Beau, a librarian. Beau was Mr. Beaumont, Head Librarian. And Abel had pissed him off. What if he was about to get a banishment instead of a sexual thrill? He needed the library. Suddenly he wished he hadn’t pushed Beau so far.