The Librarian and the Dom [Club Libertine 2] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Diane Leyne

  It was hard to estimate her height from his prone position, especially since she was hunched like she was used to minimizing her height. He stood up. Five ten, maybe five eleven. Perfect.

  He smiled at the shock on her face. He could tell that she didn’t expect him to be so tall. Or broad. He grinned at her, trying not to be so intimidating. In the club, his size was an asset. Bumping into a strange woman after dark on the streets of the big city, his size could be intimidating.

  He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

  “Hi, I’m Jake Hughes.” He held his hand out, and she took it. From her expression, it was clear she regretted it immediately.

  “Lindy McNeil.” She immediately tugged her hand away.

  Jake was tempted to hold on tight. If she was his, she wouldn’t be hunching over trying to disguise her magnificent size. And she wouldn’t be pulling her hand away from her Master or trying to get off his lap until he was ready to let her up. Although, he thought grinning, he did enjoy the squirming.

  The grin must have made her nervous. She squatted down, gathering up the books and jamming them into the box. He did the only thing he could. He helped, gathering up a few of the books that had tumbled the farthest and tucking them into the box. Then he picked it up.

  “Where do you want it?”

  “Oh, I can take it from here. It’s not too heavy for me.”

  “I didn’t say it was. But I would like to do this for you, and since I landed on the bottom, I think I have the right to carry your box for you. Now, where do you want me to take it?”

  She looked embarrassed again, and then she pointed.

  “That’s my car, there.”

  He turned and saw a light-colored Prius. How on earth did she fit into it comfortably? He certainly wouldn’t fit. And he’d never be able to fuck her in it. They’d have to use his truck.

  But he was getting ahead of himself. He had to get her to go out with him first. He watched her walk to the car, enjoying how her butt looked in the baggy sweatpants she was wearing, but it wasn’t easy. He’d have to get her some tight yoga pants. They would make her butt look even better.

  She unlocked the hatchback and pulled it up. And then she stood there waiting for him. That was good. She’d followed his instructions. He wondered if she was submissive in the bedroom. Maybe he was getting ahead of himself, but this was the first woman to attract his attention since Maria, and he wasn’t going to let her get away without at least trying to get to know her better.

  “Is it too late to ask if you want to have coffee with me?”

  She jumped, shocked, apparently, at the question.

  She looked at him, then walked around to the driver’s side, and he opened the door for her. She slid in, and he stood in the open doorway.

  “I have to get these books to the community center. It closes it twenty minutes, and I can’t be late.”

  “Tomorrow then?”

  “I have to work.”

  “Here?” He indicated the library she’d just exited. “What time’s your morning break?”

  “Ten.”

  “See you then, Lindy.” He stepped back and closed the car door. The he walked to the sidewalk and watched her drive away.

  His step, when he continued walking, was lighter. He looked up and smiled. “Thank you, Maria.”

  Chapter Three

  Lindy drove away so abruptly that she almost sideswiped another car. The frantic honking brought her back to reality. She drove the three blocks to the community center. It only took a moment to grab the box from her trunk and drop it off. She just got there in time. The gray-haired office manager was just about to leave, but his eyes lit up when he saw Lindy and her box of books. He stopped to take the box and set it inside the door before he locked it behind him, walking back to the parking lot with her.

  “The kids will love the books. Maybe you can stop by on the weekend and read a couple of stories to the junior group.”

  “I’ll try to make it, Mr. Anthony. I love reading to the kids. Well, sorry, can’t stay. Have to go. You know how it is.” She was almost babbling, and she knew it, but she couldn’t stop. “Well, glad to drop off the books, you know, help the kids start off right. Well, this is my car. I’ve got to go. My best to Mrs. Anthony.”

  She got in the car and leaned her head down against the steering wheel as the friendly recreation center manager walked briskly toward his own car. She sighed and leaned back. She thought she might have scared the kindly old man. He loved the kids, and she collected as many books as she could for them.

  And now he probably thought she was losing her mind. Maybe she was. First she landed on top of a complete stranger who tried to help her when she fell, and then she more or less ground her butt into his crotch trying to get off him. Her face flamed when she remembered the feel of sitting in his lap. He was a big man. That was her first impression. He actually made her feel small, almost dainty. It was quite disconcerting. She was used to being taller than most of the boys and ungainly when she wasn’t actually playing sports. It was funny how she could trip walking across a room and then make a three-point jump shot at the buzzer.

  Even her own mother used to call her a “big girl” and tut-tut over her. It didn’t help that her younger sister Cindy was beautiful and dainty and everything Lindy wanted to be. Cindy was five foot four, not short, but definitely able to wear high heels to show off her perfect legs. And Cindy was a size two without even trying. Lindy had to watch every bite and work out four or five times a week just to maintain her size twelve figure, which probably wasn’t that far off the charts for a woman who was five ten, but it meant she was bigger than the norm, or at least the norm that most men seemed to be looking for.

  So it was a very strange experience to feel small and protected when he had jumped to her rescue. If only she hadn’t landed on him like that. Although it was flattering when she felt his hardness under her. He felt...big. But then that just flustered her more. She wasn’t used to expressions of interest from men, even if it was probably just a physiological reflex from having a woman in his lap and nothing to do with her in particular. Especially when he made that joke about enjoying her squirming in his lap.

  He’d helped her up and then just sat there, watching her for a moment. He was beautiful, with long, dark hair that curled at the nape and lighter eyes. It was hard to tell the color in the streetlights, but they looked...kind. And they crinkled nicely at the corners when he smiled.

  And then he had stood up and she took in just how big he was. He was tall and broad, and for once she didn’t feel like a “big girl.” And when he held out his hand and introduced herself, she’d noticed how her hand was swallowed up by his much larger one. She’d looked at his hand holding hers, and she’d tugged it away in fear as a jolt of physical awareness shot through her.

  He’d smiled, and she’d felt it to the pit of her stomach. But she had ruthless tamped it down as she tugged her hand away. She wasn’t the type of woman that men went for, except maybe to join them on a co-ed softball team. She played a damned good second base. She wasn’t going to set herself up for disappointment.

  But he did ask her what time she had a break in the morning. Was he really going to come by the library? Oh, my god. What if he did? What if he didn’t? What would she wear? Maybe she should shave her legs?

  All the way home, which wasn’t all that far, she kept telling herself not to be silly. He wasn’t coming by tomorrow, and if he did, it wasn’t a date or anything. Or if it was, he had a librarian fetish and wanted her to read to him and spank him or something.

  She fretted all the way home. She told herself not to get her hopes up even as she took a shower and carefully shaved her legs and washed her hair.

  She went to bed telling herself she was an idiot to be so excited, but when she fell asleep, she dreamed of falling into his arms again, but this time, he kissed her.

  Chapter Four

  Lindy was humming as she went to work. She dr
essed extra carefully, telling herself that she had been dressing down too much lately, and wore her favorite sweater with the low-cut neckline, and the creamy light cotton blend showed off her naturally rosy complexion. She teamed it with a pair of well-cut pants and midheeled ankle boots. She wanted to wear a skirt, but she had to be able to sit on the floor with the kids for reading hour in the afternoon, and a skirt just wasn’t practical.

  The morning seemed to crawl by. Was ten o’clock ever going to come? She must have looked at the clock every five minutes and then every three minutes and then once it his ten and there was no sign of him, she looked every minute until 10:10 a.m., and then she stomped to the staff lounge and made herself a cup of tea, all the while berating herself for getting her hopes up.

  She sipped the tea, slowly, willing herself to relax and get over it. She’d known he really wasn’t going to show up. She was an idiot. She was thirty-three years old and had been destined to be an “old maid,” to quote her very own mother. She didn’t have strange men pursuing her. That was something that happened to her sister. Cindy was blonde and petite and beautiful and no one really noticed Lindy when Cindy was around.

  Lindy was the “mature” one, the responsible one. She was never late for anything or blew off an obligation to have fun or ever did anything on impulse ever, because it might inconvenience someone else.

  At 10:25 a.m. she rinsed her cup and stopped by the ladies’ room and was just going to go back out onto the library floor when in bustled Mrs. Markinson, all atwitter. Mrs. Markinson was the stereotypical picture of a librarian with her hair in a bun that always seemed to be about to fall down and big glasses and a frumpy, ill-fitting dress. But she was also the kindest person that Lindy knew. She had raised four sons and treated Lindy like the daughter she always wanted.

  So when Mrs. Markinson ran up to her, all breathless and her bun actually collapsing, Lindy was worried.

  “Edna, what’s wrong?”

  “Lindy, there is the most amazing man at the front desk, and he’s asking for you. He said to tell you he will grovel if you’ll still have coffee with him. The elevator in his building ‘conked out again,’ and he was stuck for almost half an hour. And he didn’t have your number, so he couldn’t call to tell you he was running late.” She looked at Lindy enquiringly. “He’s a very handsome young man. And a very large one,” she added approvingly.

  Lindy felt her heart jump in her chest, and a very unfamiliar flutter much lower. He was here. He was really here. All of a sudden, her mouth went dry, and she couldn’t answer Mrs. Markinson. She looked at her friend, stricken. Edna knew all about her dating challenges.

  “Is he a friend of yours? You should go have coffee with him, Lindy. He looks like he ran the whole way here and definitely needs to rehydrate. In fact, I think it’s your civic duty to buy him a Gatorade or whatever it is those athletic types drink after a workout.”

  “But–but my break is over.”

  “Break, shmake. You never take your full break and always come back from lunch early. I think just this once we can survive without you. In fact, after coffee, if you should decide to have an early lunch, I’ll understand. In fact, if you don’t have lunch with him, I’ll be very disappointed. I’m expecting you to come back with some interesting gossip about your love life. Finally. I’ve been very happily married to Mr. Markinson for thirty-five years, so I’m dying to live vicariously through you. So go have fun.”

  “But I barely know him. I only met him last night. I was locking up and carrying a box and tripped and fell on him, and he’s a stranger. I can’t have coffee with a stranger. Besides, it’s your turn for a break.”

  “Turn schmurn. I’m giving you my break and I expect a full report afterward. At my age, you have to live vicariously.”

  “Edna!”

  “Take a chance, Lindy. It’s only coffee, not a life commitment or even sex. Although, if a man like that came here looking for me, I’d be seriously temped to rock his world, as the kids say. I’ll be very disappointed if you come back and don’t at least tell me that you’ve kissed him. Although, if you come back and tell me all about your nooner…”

  “Edna!” she repeated, half-outraged and half-amused, Lindy hugged her friend. Edna was right. What harm was there in coffee? She grabbed her purse and threw the strap over her shoulder, and then she smoothed her hands down over her pants. Her palms were clammy. She looked at Edna, excitement mixing with fear. Edna laughed and gave her a push.

  “Go. Have fun. And if you get the chance, jump his bones,” she shouted as Lindy went through the door.

  Oh my god. He was standing there, just outside the door. His expression changed from anxious, to pleased when he saw her, to amused when he heard Edna’s words. Linda realized she had two options. One, she could sink into the floor and die of mortification, or two, she could see the humor in it and laugh. She saw his face and picked door number two.

  His smile grew broader as he reached out and gave her a big hug, nearly lifting her off the ground.

  “Sorry, but since you’ve already been in my lap, I figured we’d progressed past the polite handshake.”

  “You mean since I nearly squashed you.” She laughed as they walked out the front door. “I’m just not used to being picked up like that. I’ve always been the ‘big girl.’” She used air quotes.

  He stopped so abruptly she bumped into him as she followed him down the stairs. He turned back to her, and with her one step up, they were almost eye to eye.

  “You will not put yourself or your body down, do you hear me? I will not allow it. I think you are perfect, just the way you are. The last thing a guy my size wants is a woman who is going to break in two when he squeezes her tight. If I hear you put your body down again or refer to yourself as a ‘big girl’ in that tone one more time, I’m going to put you over my knee and spank you like the child you are being.”

  She looked at him, her eyes open wide. His enigmatic black eyes stared back. He looked deadly serious.

  “But I weigh…”

  “Honey, I bench-press four hundred pounds. I could lift you with one arm.”

  She just looked at him skeptically, until he reached out one big arm and hitched her over his shoulder, giving her a quick swat on the ass with another.

  “I told you not to insult your body. I can see we are going to have to do some major work on both your self-image and your listening skills.

  “In the meantime, where do you want to go? It’s almost eleven, so we can do an early lunch. Your friend Edna told me you liked fajitas at the Mexican cafe around the corner.”

  He descended the last couple of steps and then started walking toward the cafe.

  She tapped him on the back, and then she slapped him on the back, and then she tried kicking, but he spanked her again and she stopped. This was embarrassing enough without an undignified struggle. And, if she was honest with herself, she kind of liked the feeling of his big hands on her behind. The smacks didn’t really hurt. There was more of a tingle that seemed to go directly to the pit of her stomach or even lower, causing a stirring of desire. Damn Edna for putting the idea of a nooner into her mind. All she could think about was him running his hands over her bottom again, and maybe moving higher.

  “Look, Jake. Can you please let me down now? I promise, no more putting down my body. Really,” she pleaded with him.

  He stopped and sighed in an exaggerated manner. But he put her down.

  “Now I hope you remember in the future to listen to me.” He looked down at her with a mock stern look on his face, and her stomach did another back flip. She couldn’t help herself from grinning at him. He grinned back and held out his hand. She put her hand in his big one, and together they walked down the street. “Where do you want to eat?”

  “How about the Sunshine Grill? Do you know it?” she asked.

  “I do, and it sounds perfect.”

  Chapter Five

  She couldn’t believe how time flew. He ordered a burge
r, fries, and a salad. She was just going to order a salad until he gave her one of those looks, and she ended up ordering a burger as well. They both stuck to soft drinks, but by the time the meal was over, she felt a bit drunk. Or maybe giddy was the right word. He was smart and funny and attentive. But he didn’t overwhelm her either. He had persuaded her to add a burger, but he didn’t try to force fries on her. Although he did smile when she stole a couple of his.

  She was surprised at how much they had in common. The both went to the University of Washington but six years apart. She, of course, studied library science and had her master’s. He had a master’s in computer engineering. He was a consultant who worked out of his home and worked a few evenings helping out some buddies. The both liked to read thrillers and mystery novels and owned the same e-reader, and they both loved action movies and thought The Avengers was brilliant and it was about time Joss Whedon got recognized for his directorial brilliance.

  Neither of them had traveled much, but both had been skiing in Banff and both wanted to visit the Atlantis Hotel in Nassau after seeing the Dubai location on The Amazing Race, the one reality show neither missed.

  In fact, it was the best first date of her life, until it was time for the bill. Since he “rescued” her the night before, she insisted on paying, but he grabbed the bill because the skanky server who’d been flirting with him all throughout their meal put it down by his hand, but not before opening the little folder the bill was in and ostentatiously adding her cell number to the bill and giving him a fresh Diet Coke, even though he still had half a glass left while Lindy was down to a few lonely ice cubes.

  Jake laughed as he grabbed the bill and pulled it out of her reach. Not to give up, Lindy grabbed for it and only succeeded in spilling his fresh drink all over his white polo shirt and down the front of his jeans.