The office was dark and small, tall bookshelves on each side wall crowding the wooden desk in the middle. There was a window directly behind the chair, curtains drawn and hiding the storm raging outside. The rain and thunder had been quieter in the hallway, but Candace didn’t notice until they came back with a vengeance in here.
“Sit down.” Weston said and motioned to a high back leather chair opposite the desk. After a moment of hesitation, Candace slipped her shoulder bag to the floor next to her chair and sunk down to sit, watching as the librarian came closer to fiddle with the items on her already meticulously organized desk.
A laptop, notebook, glasses case and pencil holder all found themselves moved to the edges, before she smoothed her hand across the now barren surface in the middle.
Candace saw no family pictures, which was encouraging. No wedding ring, either, though she noticed that as soon as Weston checked her out the first time.
She had just enough time to give one last look to her arse before Weston turned around and leaned the arse in question against her table, her hands moving to cross under her breasts as she looked down at Candace.
There was a break in that motion when she caught Candace staring, but Candace only leaned back in her chair, daring Weston to comment on it. In fact, anything Weston might say right now Candace was more than ready to hear.
“Ms. Kane.” She said, voice perfectly level, as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening. Reaching to the side toward the desk lamp, she turned it on. The light was gentle and muted, with a greenish tint to it, but it was still a welcome change from the semi-darkness. Plus, anything that let her study her newest object of interest was more than fine in Candace’s book. “As I’m sure you’ve noticed, I take my job very seriously.” Weston started and Candace immediately had to fight off a smirk.
“I’ll say.” She muttered to herself while crossing her legs but she wasn’t quiet enough. Even worse, when Weston lifted a perfectly groomed eyebrow at her words, Candace felt a thrill rush through her instead of embarrassment. She’d been surprised and caught off guard a few minutes ago in the library, but now she’d had a moment to think, to settle.
“Excuse me?” Weston asked, and Candace waited a moment before responding, eager to tease. How could she not? This woman was far too wound up; Candace would never forgive herself if she didn’t at least prod a little.
“I just mean that this isn’t my first time being overdue.” She started, but the librarian interrupted her with an eye roll.
“I’m shocked.” She supplied drily but Candace wasn’t about to be deterred so easily.
“I’ve even received a few stern glances in my time, though none quite as stern as yours.” She winked to the librarian who looked at her blankly. Tough crowd. Good thing Candace had sass to spare. “But this is the first time I’ve been called into an office about to receive a tongue lashing.” She finished smugly, voice dipping lower suggestively at the end of that sentence, fully expecting to score a hit. Maybe even receive a blush in return.
When all she got was a twitch of Weston’s mouth, Candace started to suspect she was dealing with a higher caliber tease. Now, she was truly getting intrigued.
“You’re about to receive much more, Ms. Kane.” Weston drawled and if Candace thought her own voice was suggestive earlier then this was downright dripping with innuendo. Her mouth fell open before she could help herself but the librarian wasn’t done speaking yet. “Especially since you just freely admitted to being a serial offender. Ms. Kane, I know you’re new here, but you will learn that I will not be as lenient with you as some of my colleagues were, apparently. This is my domain. You will obey my rules.”
Candace’s mouth was still open. She nodded absentmindedly in response, though her thoughts were flying at light speed through her head.
What was happening here? What was fucking happening?
When she sat down, she was sure she was about to get a lecture about punctuality from a hot, very likely gay librarian. A very anal one, sure, but that could be fun as well. The really buttoned up, repressed people were always the most delicious to tease.
Librarians were usually this sort. Candace loved books, treated them with utmost care, but most librarians really took it to the next level. Honestly, she was a week late returning these book, ten days tops. But with the unpacking after the move, she felt like this time she had a decent excuse.
Somehow she didn’t think this woman would take that excuse as valid, considering the way she looked down at Candace even now, like she’d committed a serious offense. Maybe she ran this library like a well-oiled machine usually? Maybe another patron waited with bated breath for the romance novels Candace returned today?
That still didn’t explain all the gay subtext Candace was receiving left and right. It was hot, of course, but still very unusual.
With a start, Candace realized she’d been silent for too long. She coughed before responding, having no idea what was about to come out of her mouth. It wasn’t an exactly new situation for her, but this particular librarian seemed to have a knack for keeping her unbalanced.
“Right, well…” She started, buying herself some time. “I certainly wouldn’t want to be an annoyance. Ignoring a mishap here and there, I’m usually much better with this sort of thing, I promise.” Returning books on time and responding to vague, possible come-ons both falling into that category. “I’m sorry if I caused any trouble.”
The librarian smiled for the first time in the evening, her eyes sparking once as her chin tilted forward. Apparently somewhere in her ramble Candace managed to strike a chord with her and holy crap–a frown didn’t detract from the woman’s attractiveness at all but this predatory smile kicked her straight into sexy-as-hell territory.
“And since you’re so remorseful, you’ll accept any punishment I see fit?” Weston asked, expression suspiciously neutral. Again, it didn’t seem like she was talking about a fine, but the alternative was too ridiculous to consider, so Candace wouldn’t waste any brainpower on it. Squirming in her seat, she nodded noncommittally, feeling increasingly out of her depth.
“Good.” The librarian purred before sliding to the side of the desk. Planting her hands on the top she scooted to sit imperiously on it, legs crossing in a languid motion. Candace couldn’t help but follow the motion, swallowing thickly when she saw the librarian’s skirt slide a bit upwards, revealing a hint of stockinged lower thigh. She was still staring when Weston spoke again. “Stand up.”
Candace blinked but pushed off her chair slowly.
Was she about to be sent away? Were they done? Perhaps Weston needed a few days to think of a suitable punishment for such an unforgivable crime of forgetting to return a couple of books to the damn library.
She rose to her full height and despite the fact that the librarian was now looking up at her, she still felt at a disadvantage. Weston’s stare was firm, unwavering and Candace returned it fully, refusing to be cowed. She may be confused, but she wasn’t about to back down from a challenge.
“Take off your coat.” Weston said and Candace blinked again, her mouth opening in surprise for the second time that evening.
What. The hell. Was. Happening?!
“Excuse me?” She asked, voice now a bit high pitched, exposing her shock. Not that she could blame herself.
“You heard me.” Weston responded simply, as if she’d just asked her how her day was or commented on the weather. And that was before she moved her eyes from Candace’s to her chest, as if expecting her to jump to obeying her any second now.
Candace was floored. Mind spinning, she tried really hard not to jump to conclusions. Instead, she decided to perhaps diffuse a situation with a bit of humor until she could get her bearings.
“And why would I do that, Ms. Weston?” She demanded, making sure to infuse her tone with as much false bravado as she could muster at the moment. “So you can send me back into the rain half naked? Is pneumonia my atonement? Or do you just plan to dish
out a bit of corporal punishment. Maybe cane me for my grave misconduct?” Okay, that perhaps wasn’t her best attempt ever at humor, but in her defense she was pretty sure her night was about to get more interesting than she ever could have hoped.
“Of course not. I’m not that cruel.” The librarian lifted one of her hands in the air, waving her remarks away nonchalantly with her long fingers. “Ms. Kane, I aim to spank you, that’s all.”
Candace couldn’t help it.
She laughed.
The sound burst through the small office, rich and heartfelt, but as the librarian continued to look at her blankly, completely unamused, it took a sudden turn for the screechy before Candace cut it off. Even silence was preferable to what soon became forced croaking.
She couldn’t have heard her right. She just couldn’t.
The librarian couldn’t have meant it. Even with those intense eyes and the way she was licking her lower lip while fixing Candace with yet another bold once-over.
“This is a prank, right?” Candace tried again, voice still hoarse with surprise. And a hint of something else she wouldn’t dare examine. Not yet, anyway. She shifted on her feet, thighs squeezing together under Weston’s watchful eye. “I’m being filmed right now and you’re about to tell me I’m gonna end up on Youtube tomorrow.” She could see the title now ‘Horny lesbian fooled into getting spanked by a hot librarian!’
Wait, of course that wouldn’t be the title. Not unless she was actually considering going with this sham. Which of course, Candace wasn’t. She just wasn’t.
“I’m not into exhibitionism.” Weston said simply, another one of those predatory smiles stretching her lips and this time Candace couldn’t help but take in a very deep, very audible gasp.
No, it couldn’t have been a prank. This woman was a local, a small town librarian. Filming this would mean exposing her as well, and she doubted people like that old lady would take such a thing lightly. Which left only one possibility.
She was serious.
This woman just threatened to spank her and she was fucking serious.
And fine, perhaps Candace was no angel. She’s been around the block a few times, had a few relationships. Some of them not vanilla by any means. She may have even taken home a couple of strangers in her early twenties. But this was brazen as hell even by her standards.
Was this librarian a perv who did this sort of thing regularly? Just lying in wait until moderately attractive people stepped over the line before spanking them silly?
No, that couldn’t be it either or this library would be jam packed with people even during the storm.
Perhaps she just had a supreme gaydar and managed to suss Candace out just by looking at her, marking her for a sort of woman who’d be down with this sort of thing? Which, ok, that was a fair assessment.
Or maybe Candace was letting herself get distracted by details because she still couldn’t quite comprehend what was happening.
“You want me to…”, she started before drifting off. She had no idea how to word the sentence without sounding ridiculous even to her own ears. How did the librarian muster it? Just suggest such a thing to a perfect stranger without a hint of shame?
Speaking of shame, shouldn’t Candace be storming away in a fit of offended rage right now, never to return? Shouldn’t any normal woman do just that?
The thing was, Candace never thought of herself as particularly normal.
Even now, she had to know more. Her feet stayed put.
“Take off your coat.” The librarian said, still looking perfectly composed. Her calm demeanor only made Candace more jittery. She knew she was treading already established waters but she couldn’t stop repeating ‘this woman is serious’ over and over in her head. “And then I want you to come over here,” The librarian started again, reaching out with her hand to stroke the middle of her desk with her fingers. “And bend over my desk right here.”
Candace swallowed again. “Where you will then–”
“Spank you, yes.” Weston supplied and Candace started nodding vehemently, as if this was all perfectly normal library visit stuff. She couldn’t let the librarian be alone in the complete delusion, could she?
Biting her lip, she shot a look to the still open office door. She could leave right now. Tell this intense librarian that she can go fuck herself and just leave. Yes, she could reject this admittedly gorgeous woman and tell her she wasn’t interested in whatever she was offering but…
Even in her rattled state, the idea seemed unappealing to Candace. She could leave but it would very likely mean she’d never get a second chance. And how many times do you get propositioned like this in your life?
It wasn’t like Candace never considered something like this before.
And considering the time she spent in libraries, she definitely had a few librarian fantasies of her own. Perhaps that’s what Weston sniffed out tonight. A pair of similarly inclined women who could have some good, wholesome fun.
Or perhaps Weston was used to women falling all over themselves to cater to her every whim. Looking at her now, patient and regal and completely confident, drinking in Candace’s every expression, that possibility was equally valid.
Candace thought back to her new apartment, cold and dark and still overrun with boxes even after a week of unpacking. All that awaited her there was her computer, work and some frozen pizza.
Shit.
You only live once, right?
Shit .
Taking a big steadying breath, Candace lifted her hands and slipped the coat off her shoulders in a quick motion, locking gazes with the librarian just in time to catch a suppressed grin spreading over her smug features. Even that looked sexy, damn her. “Fuck it.” She said eloquently when her coat hit her chair behind her, shrugging once to cover up her nervousness.
Without speaking, the librarian just repeated her motion from before, drawing the tips of her fingers over the desk surface.
Right. Time to put up or shut up.
Or to put out more likely, but Candace wouldn’t say no to that either at the moment. How far she’d fallen in such a short time. To think that just half an hour ago she thought she’d take a short trip to the library before settling in for a nice quiet, lonely evening at her new home.
She stumbled forward, as if her feet were not quite caught up to her decision, but she reached the desk a bit too soon for her liking anyway. The librarian was watching her like a hawk and Candace threw her a short look before huffing out a resigned breath and leaning forward to place her palms on the surface.
As soon as she landed she felt absolutely ridiculous. Here she was, a grown woman on the cusp of her thirties, pushed to bend over just by a few stern words and a pretty face. And a mouthwatering body. And a very well-fitted pencil skirt. And fuck-me heels and glasses and stock–
She was losing track of her point. Which was that she made this way too easy for the damn temptress sitting next to her. Picking up someone might have been fine years ago, but this was different. It felt different being bent over like this without even touching her partner at all.
“Lower.” The librarian said, and Candace sunk to her elbows out of habit now before she cursed inwardly. She did it again! Something was off with her tonight but whatever it was it ended now.
No reason she couldn’t make things a bit more fun, now was there?
Planting her elbows firmly into the table, Candace spread her knees and feet as well, making sure she could maintain her position for a long time. She doubted that the librarian would be done with her quickly but that didn’t worry her much. What did worry her was the fact that she was starting to feel excited about the prospect. Perhaps excited was too strong of a word.
Mildly interested. There we go.
“Good girl.” The librarian whispered and Candace had to fight off the urge to roll her eyes. Was this woman serious? As if Candace cared about her approval one bit.
Before she could decide if she should say that out loud, th
e librarian rose from the table, and Candace followed her with her eyes as far as she could before she seemed to stop straight behind Candace. Silence stretched for a few moments, making Candace’s whole back tingle.
The librarian was just standing there, evaluating her. It made her seem naked, exposed even though she only removed her coat so far. The open doors just enhanced the effect, making the hair on the back of her neck rise in protest.
Feeling a bit disgusted by her own reaction, Candace arched her back, her ass lifting a bit in the air as if in offering to the librarian.
“Are you gonna spank me, oh Head Librarian, or stare at me some more?” She turned her head to the side to underline her point but the lamp blinded her, allowing her to catch the outline of the librarian but not her expression. It was disorienting, having nothing to clue her in on what the woman was thinking. She was almost grateful when Weston spoke after a moment, though her voice was as cold as ever.
“Eyes forward.” She ordered and then took a step closer, heels clicking on the floor and revealing her position even before she placed a warm palm on Candace’s lower back. The motion still made Candace twitch, though Weston’s hand was warm and gentle. “Eager are we? But first, I want you to repeat your words to me. Green for go, red for stop.” The librarian asked and dragged her hand a bit lower, until she was brushing Candace’s belt.
“Words?” Candace croaked out, distracted by Weston’s hand traveling to her hip before her mind stuttered to a realization. Right, of course, safe words were common practice in these types of situations. The fact that the librarian offered them meant she was probably about to do more than spanking which Candace already agreed to, but she couldn't think about that now, no matter how promising the thought. They'd barely begun and her breath was already getting heavier, her lungs hard to fill. "Green for go, red for stop. Got it."
Fine or Punishment (Twist of Fate Book 1) Page 2
