I couldn't fight it any longer. I needed to touch that book, to savor the pleasure it brought me. I convinced myself I would just take a peak and run out of there. Nobody would see me, and I would see the book. I hurriedly grabbed my coat and raced out of my apartment to the library. The back entrance was deserted, and I opened the door and stuck my head inside. I could hear Marvin and Miss Hamish's voices echo down the hall, but the softness of the sounds told me they were at the front desk. I slunk inside, softly closed the door behind me, and tiptoed down the hall to Miss Hamish's office.
The office door lay open and I crept over to the Lost box. On the top was the book, my book. It stared back at me with its empty face, but I swear there was a smile in the creases of that animal skin. I reach out to it, but hesitate. My fingers hovered over the binding as I was wracked by inner turmoil. My mind screamed at me to run, to flee from this strange, unexplainable thing, while my body screamed for the opposite. The carnal desires within me won out, and I grasped the book in my hand. I gasped when I experienced the same tingling sensation as before, and as before the warmth flowed into me from the blank cover.
My pleasure was interrupted by a noise behind me. I was both furious and frightened at the interruption, but I grabbed the book and ducked beneath the desk. I clutched the book against my chest, and was awash in its lustful warmth. I leaned back against the desk and closed my eyes as the fire rolled over me like a hundred hands. It massaged every part of my flesh with invisible fingers and pressed against my sensitive clit with the soft insistence of a lover.
I bit my lip to keep from groaning as I saw Miss Hamish's feet enter the room and walk up to a nearby bookshelf. The sensual heat slipped and slid across my tingling, aching body as my mind screamed at me to stop this insanity. I needed to reveal myself to Hamish and tell her what I was doing. I needed to burn this book before something bad happened. I needed to-
-I needed to do a lot of things, but my own lust brushed aside reason and replaced it with desire. I knew I wanted-no, needed the book, and to hell with what my mind told me. Hamish didn't stay too long in her office, and in a minute I was alone. I slunk out from beneath the desk covered in sweat and gasping for air. My shivering hands tightly gripped the book and I raced out of the library before I was spotted. I didn't stop running until I got to the safety of my apartment where I could enjoy my precious new toy.
Chapter 4
I slammed the apartment door behind me and leaned against the entrance. My heart raced and my body shuddered, but it wasn't from the exercise. It was from the book still clutched against me. Its heat was addicting, and I was an eager addict. I stumbled to the couch, plopped down on a cushion, and set the book on my lap. The cover was as plain as always, but when I opened the front my eyes gazed on a brilliant sheet of golden light. Its intensity nearly blinded me, but my lust forced me to stare at it. I ran my hand over the warm page and marveled at the heat that didn't burn the paper. It was a miracle, like the Burning Bush from the Bible.
And it was mine. All mine. I giggled and hugged the book to myself. I didn't need anybody else, not when I had this book. It would be my sole companion, my friend, my lover. I know what I thought was insane, but that's how I felt. I couldn't live without it, but I could live without my boring, pointless life.
"Where did you come from?" I whispered to my bright companion.
That's when things went horribly wrong. The light inside the book faltered and the glow lessened. I gasped and put the book back on the table with the cover open. Before my eyes the brilliance shrank into the page. I clawed at the paper, desperate to save this little bit of paradise on earth. Nothing worked. The glow faded to nothing, and the heat with it. My mouth dropped open and I slid onto my knees in disbelief. My drug, my one chance at happiness, died in front of me. I cried. I know it's stupid, but I suddenly felt so alone that all I could do was sob into my hands.
It was nearly midnight when I stood on my shaky legs and stumbled into my bedroom with the book clutched beneath one arm. I gently put the book on my nightstand, dressed in my pajama bottoms and shirt, and slipped into bed. I turned to I lay with my face toward the book and a shuddering sigh wracked my body. Time ticked on, and I don't know how or when I went to sleep. I only know that at some point during the night my severe disappointment created a weird, hopeful dream for me.
The dream started with a sound. It was a soft rustling that turned out to be my sheets. I felt them slowly slip off me and I opened my eyes in time to see them fall off the foot of the bed. Under normal circumstances I would have screamed and ran, but this was a dream. At least, that's what it felt like. My body was sluggish and slow to my demands, and my eyes felt so heavy I could hardly keep them open.
Something on my left caught my attention, and I lolled my head that way to see a sliver of golden light on the nightstand. The light spilled out from the book and down onto the floor where it created a pool of brilliance. Out of the pool came small, serpentine tributaries that slithered beneath my bed. I should have been afraid. I should have dashed off the bed and ran out of the room. I should have done a lot of things, but the only thing I did was bask in the faint glow from the book. The weak light enveloped me in a splendor of heat that made my lethargic body ache for more.
My call was answered when I noticed something slither onto the foot of the bed. It was a smooth, golden tentacle, and it glided over to one of my feet. It wrapped itself around my ankle and pressed my leg into the bed. The tentacle was joined by another that slunk over my other foot and grasped my ankle. I was pinned, but unafraid. The tentacles were hot to the touch and their glow sent chills of pleasure up my legs.
Then more golden tentacles slithered onto the bed on either side of me. They latched onto my arms, and pulled my them above my head so I lay stretched across the entire bed. Only then did fear arise within me, but it was soon quashed by the sensual glow from those golden tentacles. The things pulled more of their slender bodies onto the bed and rubbed themselves against my clothes and bare skin. I gasped at the pleasure they excited within me with each stroke of their bodies against my naked skin.
Smaller tentacles slithered out of the main trunks and slid over the thin cloth of my pajamas. They dove beneath the collar of my shirt and touched my heaving breasts. I gasped and squirmed, but the larger tentacles held me firmly to the bed while their babies explored more of me. The little things grew more bold as they took hold of my shirt and pulled it over my head. The sleeves glided through the larger tentacles as though they were made of golden air, and my shirt was tossed aside. My white bra was revealed to the golden glow of the tentacles and the bright, nearly blinding light from the book.
The book on the nightstand pulsed with a life that beat in rhythm with my heart as my breath came out in quick gasps. The small tendrils slithered over my naked stomach, and each touch was like a thousand fingers heating my flesh and mind with desire. I arched my back and pushed my bra-covered breasts into the air. They understood my silent plea and soon my bra clasp was opened and the straps were pulled up my arms. That joined the shirt and the small tendrils hovered over my swollen, heaving breasts. I squirmed and moaned, impatient for touches as they admired me.
Then they dove down and took my breasts in their soft, slender bodies. They massaged and squeezed my mounds with such tender intensity that my underwear was soaked and my body was on fire. A few of the tiny tentacles slipped down and grabbed the elastic waist of my pants. They pulled the pants down, along with my wet underwear. I lay naked on the bed covers, a squirming mass of need and frustration.
The tendrils slipped into the coarse hair between my thighs and teasingly touched the sensitive nub buried in those short hairs. I thrust my hips up and a large tendril wrapped around my waist and pinned my middle to the bed, staying my impatience but not my lust. It reached a feverish pitch when the small tendrils slithered into my hot, wet center. I glanced down at the penetrating creature, and both watched and felt as the tiny tendril fattened itself and push
ed against my walls.
I leaned back my head and groaned as it filled me. Then it pulled out and thrust back in with such a fluid motion that I already felt the tremblings of orgasm. The tendril penetrated me in teasingly slow movements, and I reveled in the feel of its smooth walls against mine. My hips jerked and bucked to join in the dance, but the heavy trunk kept my hips pinned to the bed. The thing had full control of me, and it wasn't willing to let go.
The tendril slowly quickened its thrusts and I gasped for breath as the heat inside me consumed my soul. My body lay on the sheets covered in sweat and horribly tense. I ached for the end, and yet despised it. The creature kept up its terribly delicious quickening momentum and waves of sensual delight tingled from my hot core. I squirmed and shrieked as the orgasm washed over me in endless tides of wonderful orgasm.
My eyes popped open, and I cried out in my sleep and jerked up to a sitting position. My mind tried to come to grips with where I was and what happened. The bed covers lay on the floor at the end of the bed, but I still wore my pajamas. I whipped my head over to the book, and there was no sign of any light or the alluring tentacles. It was as if it had all been one wonderful, seductive dream. My soaked underwear and pajama bottoms told me it had felt real enough to get me seriously aroused. I cleaned myself up in the bathroom and returned to bed feeling exhausted, but with a strange, soothing calmness inside of me.
It was as though all my daily worries had been brushed aside and only the joy of life was left. I pulled my covers back onto the bed, snuggled beneath them, and slipped into a deep, dreamless sleep.
Chapter 5
I woke up the next day feeling refreshed and chipper. My wonderful dream filled me with a sense of hope for my dreary life and a boldness that wanted to grasp the world and make it mine. I sat up, stretched and smiled at the radiant noon-hour sunlight that drifted in my room. The heat from the sun reminded me of my precious stolen item, and even the sight of the inanimate book on my nightstand couldn't dim my good mood. I picked it up and held it against myself, hoping but not expecting a reaction.
Nothing happened, of course, but that was fine. Even though my courage with self-gratification didn't go past eating a chocolate bar, I was still happy with all those wonderfully lustful memories. I put the book back on the nightstand, hopped out of bed and dressed for class. There was a bright smile on my face all the way to my first class, and that's when the day started going to hell. Not because I was going to class, which was bad enough, but because of the two idiots I met on the way; Justin and Austin. Seeing them made me wish I'd requested earlier classes. No self-respecting bully would be up at eight in the morning harassing their victims.
I had a class on the second floor of the History building, and the pair blocked the stairs. There was an elevator, but just my luck it was broken. I ducked my head down and imagined myself invisible so I could creep past them unnoticed. Unfortunately, they didn't have much imaginations and spotted me before I'd walked halfway across the foyer. Austin grinned and sauntered toward me while Justin stayed near the stairs. "Good morning, sunshine," he greeted me. Apparently even he could tell I was more chipper than yesterday.
"It was, but I just saw two things that nearly made me lose my breakfast," I quipped. And I was a little bolder.
The boys didn't take kindly to the bolder part. Justin stepped away from the stairs and cracked his fists together, and Austin sneered at me. "You got a tongue on you today," he commented. "How about I do something about that?"
My courage was fading fast as the pair of them closed in on me, but I still had some spunk left. "How about you do something by getting out of here?" I challenged.
"What's going on here?" a voice spoke up. We all turned to see a man stride toward us from the door that led to the teachers' offices. He was tall, about six foot, with a muscular frame and short, jet-black hair that fell over his brow in all the right places. His eyes were almost as dark as his hair, and he had a strange, crooked smile on his face. I'd seen him around a few times and guessed he was a teacher, though pretty young since he hardly looked older than me. It was fortunate he was tall and strong looking because Justin and Austin didn't appreciate his interference.
"We're not doing nothing," Justin sullenly replied.
"Then go someplace else and do something," the man ordered.
Like most bullies the boys were cowards at heart and scurried out of the building. I breathed a sigh of relief and turned to my savior to find him staring at me with a deep, intense gaze. This member of the faculty took my breath and mental faculties away from me. I felt a flicker of heat rise within me, but tamped it down. No sense getting a crush on a professor that cute, not when I probably had to get in a mile-long line just to clean his erasers. "U-um, thanks for helping me out," I stuttered.
He smiled and bowed his head. "My pleasure, but you might want stand up for yourself next time."
I frowned. Unwanted advice was, well, unwanted. "I wasn't doing that bad," I argued.
He nodded down at my waist. "Your hands are shaking, and even they could see there was fear in your eyes," he commented.
I shoved my hands into my coat pocket, and sullenly mourned the death of my perfect morning. "I would've been fine. Those idiots don't go much farther than bullying," I told him.
"But some day they might, and you'll be their target," he insisted.
I raised an eyebrow. "Why me?" I wondered.
The man chuckled, and looked me up and down. "Because, if you don't mind my saying, you're not that bad looking."
A blush rose to my cheeks and he went up a few notches in my esteem. Unfortunately, the hands of the clock in the lobby went around more than a few notches, and showed I was late for class. "Oh crap! I have to get going," I told him as I whisked by the man to the stairs. "Thanks for the help!" I called over my shoulder.
"Any time," he called back.
Classes were uneventful, and by the time I walked over to the library for my four o'clock to ten shift my mood had improved. That is, until I put away my bag and cellphone, and was cornered by Miss Hamish in the back maze.
"Leslie, can I speak with you?" she requested.
I felt the color drain from my face as I recalled the book I'd swiped. It'd been found missing and I was the prime suspect. "Sure thing," I choked out.
I followed Hamish to her office where the Lost box sat under her desk, a silent witness to my crime. Hamish closed the door behind us and turned to me with pursed lips. Her voice was barely above a whisper and her stern eyes penetrated my very soul. "Marvin told me something very alarming, and said you knew something about it."
I gulped so loud it echoed in my apartment. The jig was up. My thievery was revealed. "Maybe?" I squeaked.
She raised an eyebrow. "Maybe? He said you found the piece of paper in the drop slot books."
I blinked. "Huh?" was my only reply.
"Marvin told me you found a piece of paper in the drop slot pile yesterday with the location of a book on the fifth floor," she explained to me. "He took a look at the collection up there and found a book missing off the shelf exactly where the directions said it would be."
"Oh! The paper! Oh, right! Yeah, I found that." I giggled and my hands fidgeted in front of me. "I thought you were talking about something else."
Her eyebrows crashed down and she gave me a careful examination. "What something else?" Hamish wondered.
I shrugged and shook my head. It was almost impossible not to look at the tell-tale Lost box at my feet. "Just about-um, just about how I was acting yesterday. I'm really sorry about that." And a lot of other things, but not sorry enough to return that book. Not when it promised pleasures I couldn't even imagine.
Hamish smiled and waved aside my apology. "That's fine, Leslie, I'm sure you were just having an off-day. What we should be focusing on right now is that missing book."
"What's the title?" I asked her.
"That's part of the problem. The title isn't in our database."
"
It never got put in?" I wondered.
She shook her head. "No, it was deleted. Worse yet, we can't find its title in the old card catalog because the whole catalog has been misplaced in the basement." She sighed and shrugged. "I wouldn't even be sure there was a book on the shelf, but the dust has been disturbed."
"So an unsolved mystery?" I chimed in.
"I'm afraid so," Hamish replied. She sounded tired. "I just hope the book wasn't one of the rarer copies we have in our collection." Hamish plopped herself down in her chair and shook her head. "Well, I shouldn't keep either of us from the books."
I nervously laughed. "Yeah, they're practically screaming at us to be shelved."
"And Marvin wants some reprieve from keeping the front desk. He's been at it since two," Hamish told me.
"Sure thing." I hated front desk as much as any person, but I was just glad for a quick excuse out of there. I hurried over to the door, but the conversation wasn't quite finished.
"Oh, there's one more thing I wanted to ask you," Hamish spoke up. I stiffened and waited for it. It came. "I can't find that book in the Lost box. The one that was dropped off yesterday in the book slot. You haven't happened to have seen it today, have you?"
I cringed, managed a shaky smile, and turned to her. "Didn't you put it in the box after I left?" It wasn't a lie so much as a question that ignored her own question.
"Yes, but I just can't seem to find it."
"Maybe it fell out?" I suggested.
The head librarian looked me over with a careful eye, but sighed and nodded. "Yes, that might be it. I just hope it's found before the owner comes for it."
"You think someone really lost it? Maybe they left it to the library?" I wondered.
Miss Hamish shrugged. "It's possible, but for safety's sake it would be nice to have that back in the box." She gave me a pointed look. "I hope I'll find it by the end of this week." Today was Tuesday.
I noticed the creases of suspicion around her eyes and her tense hands at her sides. They weren't enough to convince me to give up my best chance at happiness, or at least a good time. "Yeah, hopefully it'll be found," I replied.