25. In The Stacks
In The Stacks
MACKLIN
The head librarian helps us compile a list of some books we can refer to for an initial consultation.
Twenty minutes after we split from Becks and Gen, Talia and I push an empty book cart past our table on our way to the section where we should find most of the books we’re going to need.
My brother and my ex are sitting close to each other this time, paging through a few hardback art books.
“Back so soon?” Becks calls out, with a scowl that’s directed mostly at me.
“Not quite.” I can’t help but grin. “The books we need are all in the very back over there. That’s where we’re headed. See you in a few.”
That grin is still lingering on my face when I follow Talia to the back of the room.
She stops at the end of the section we’re in. “Ok so the first book is by Pliny the Elder, Natural History. There it is. Up there. Always on the top shelf.”
“Let me get it,” I offer. “For now, you can be the brain and I can be the brawn. Call ‘em out and I’ll grab them.”
“That’s one of the advantages of having a tall boyfriend.” She giggles. “If I had been alone, I would have needed a ladder.”
“Happy to serve.” I wink. “Did you see how pissed Becks was when I argued with him about who should help you?”
Talia looks unsure. “I did. I wonder if that was because he wanted to work with me or rather because he didn’t want to work with Gen.”
“Oh, it’s definitely because he wanted to work with you. He’s been staring at you since the second we got here. Every time he’s in the same room, my brother’s eyes are on you.”
“Do you really think so?”
I nod. “One hundred percent. What?” I ask when she looks at me like she’s about to say something.
“Nothing. I was just wondering something. If I want to get Becks’s attention, it might have been a good idea to get me and Becker to work together.”
She’s probably right. I thought about that too, but I didn’t want to. I wanted to work with Talia. But I’m too scared to admit that. “Nah, it’s too soon. You have his attention, but we need to make him work for yours. It’s the only way he’ll make a move. If he thinks he’s about to lose you to me.”
“Ok.”
Thankfully, Talia doesn’t question my opinion. It isn’t completely false. Becks has always been indecisive, and I know seeing Talia with me will really push him to act on what he wants. And if he wants Talia, he better be serious about her. Because I am.
“Macklin?” She smiles.
“Yeah?”
She points at the shelf right before the top one. “The book, please? Pliny?”
“Oh yeah. Sorry.” I pass her the book she wanted. “What else?”
“Isidore of Seville.” She instructs. “It should be right… there. And then we need one by Apicius, De Re Culinaria (On The Subject Of Cooking). The last one is called Geoponica, but the original is in Greek. We need the book with the translated text next to the original. That should be everything for now.”
The books we gathered are thick and heavy, all in hardback editions. “I don’t think we really need the cart,” I muse. “I can carry those.”
Talia is intent on perusing the inside of the last book I handed her.
“Hmm,” she’s following the text with one finger. “The garum was also called liquamen. Here it gives a description of how it was made. I wish we had gotten the bread or the cheese. I think we got the worst recipe in history.”
Curious, I step closer to her. Positioning myself behind her, I look at the book over her shoulder while she reads.
“What is called liquamen is thus made: the intestines of fish are thrown into a vessel, and are salted; and small fish, especially atherinae, or small mullets, or maenae, or lycostomi, or any small fish, are all salted in the same manner; and they are seasoned in the sun, and frequently turned; and when they have been seasoned in the heat, the garum is thus taken from them. A small basket of close texture is laid in the vessel filled with the small fish already mentioned, and the garum will flow into the basket; and they take up what has been percolated through the basket, which is called liquamen; and the remainder of the feculence is made into allec.”
She scrunches her nose. “From what the book says, it’ll take at least a couple of days for the fermentation process.
So this sauce is fish guts with some herbs left to ferment and basically rot in the sun.
And the fluid that oozes from the fish guts is the sauce.
But they also ate the actual paste that was left.
Spread over all sorts of food. It doesn’t sound very appealing. ”
“No, it doesn’t.” I agree. “But you know what’s incredibly appealing?” I lower my head to whisper in her ear.
Talia turns so that she can look at me, effectively trapping herself between my body and one of the bookshelves. “No. What?”
“You.” My voice comes out like a low rasp. “You’re appealing and smell delicious. And that little skirt you have on? It has been driving me crazy from the moment I picked you up to come here.”
“Yeah?” she whispers, her eyes locked on mine.
“Fuck, yeah.” I murmur, brushing my lips over hers.
And this is the thing with Talia. I’ve spent two years looking at her from afar when wanting her was out of the question, even when Gen and I were on one of our breaks.
I just knew she could never be just a fling or a rebound.
Then the summer was messy, and I couldn’t drag Talia into that.
But that never stopped me from wanting her against all reason. Against all common sense.
Now that we’re getting closer, it’s like that ironclad control I had on my desire for her has snapped and the dam has broken. I can’t control myself and every brush of lips, every casual touch has the potential of turning into a blazing inferno.
The second my lips touch hers, I’m a goner. I can’t just lift my head and walk back to our table.
I increase the pressure, and Talia parts her lips for me.
She gasps into my mouth when our tongues touch, and I press her against the bookshelf. My hands are everywhere. Cupping her tits, squeezing her ass while I keep devouring her mouth.
Talia doesn’t just take it. She palms my erection through my jeans and my cock pulses on the brink of exploding in my pants. Right here, in the middle of the ancient history section of our campus main library.
Within moments, we’re both breathing hard. We know we should stop, but I, for one, am incapable of doing so.
I grab the back of her thigh, hiking her against my hip and grinding into her, wishing we were in my room rather than at the library.
Talia groans, holding onto my neck and pressing herself harder against me. The sensation is delicious, but it’s far from enough.
She nips at my bottom lip, as breathless and frustrated as I feel. “Macklin.” She moans.
The slight sting caused by her teeth goes straight to my cock and I fucking snap. I lose even the last ounce of control that I was hanging onto like a fucking lifeline.
If I didn’t know that Talia hasn’t done this before, I’d just push her panties to the side and slide home. Right here, against all these dusty history books that haven’t been touched for years.
Talia deserves more than a quickie in a public place for her first time.
I know I’m gonna have the worst case of blue balls of my entire life, but this doesn’t mean I can’t do anything for my girl.
My fingers sneak under her pleated skirt and move her panties to the side. She’s soaked.
“Fuck, baby.” I growl against her ear as my fingers brush against the smooth skin of her pussy. “I love how wet you get for me.”
“Macklin,” she chokes out. “We… we can’t here. What if we get caught?”
I turn my head for just a second, checking behind me. The sudden movement I catch in my peripheral vision does nothing to stop me from putting my plan into action.
“It’s ok, baby.” I whisper. “This is the most hidden corner in the building. If we’re quiet, no one will see us. Except Becks.”
Talia tenses up for a second. “Becks?” She whispers.
“He’s right there.” I make sure to keep my voice as quiet as possible. “He can’t really see exactly what we’re doing, but he followed us. It means that our plan is working.”
When my fingers brush against her clit, I swallow her moan with a hot, deep kiss.
She’s so wet that my fingers glide easily over her sleek skin as I rub her most sensitive spot.
It doesn’t take long to send her over the edge. Her body goes slack as she trembles, hiding her face in the crook of my neck. My skin muffles her moans, and I keep touching her until I feel her muscles tense up again. It’s a sign that now it’s too much.
I give her a second to come down from her high.
“You’re so fucking beautiful.” I murmur when she lifts her head to look at me.
“I can’t believe we just did this.” She whispers, her eyes as big as saucers.
I kiss her again, savoring the softness of her lips. “Did it thrill you knowing that he was watching?” My voice is barely above a whisper.
“A little.” She admits. “But it felt good because it was you, Macklin.”
That reassures the part of me that knows that I’m playing with fire.
I grab the stack of books we need. “Let’s get back to the table. I’m gonna go ahead.”
She nods. “I’ll be right there. Just making sure my clothes are back in place.” Her hand disappears under her skirt to fix her panties.
I’m so hard it hurts. I don’t want to push my luck too much, though. We might be deep in the stacks, but you never know.
As I turn the corner out of our little secluded nook, I walk right into Becks. “Watch it.” I bite out, striding past him.
He doesn’t follow me. He stays there, undoubtedly waiting for Talia.
I almost turn on my heels, suddenly worried. What if Becks makes his move now and Talia ends our deal to be with him?
When I proposed this arrangement to Talia, I was banking on my brother’s notorious inability to take risks.
It’s what’s been hindering him on the ice too, preventing him from being great rather than just good.
What if he throws his caution to the wind, the one time I was counting on it?