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“Now where did Mrs. Potts put my glasses?” Belle muttered to herself as she bent down to check the shelves beneath the circulation desk. She could get through most of the day without them, but she needed them to organize the returned library books on the filling cart.
“There they are!” she said more loudly just as someone rang the bell. There was nothing worse than the sound of that bell ringing in her ears when she was already at the desk.
“How can I help you?” she asked the worst grad student she'd ever met. He was an utter ass but she had to pretend to be nice.
He leaned onto the counter and Belle took a deep breath.
He tossed his hair to the side, and she couldn’t help thinking he did it in slow motion on purpose. Because he looked like he had just walked off the cover of a god-damned romance novel and he knew it. Unfortunately, it made Belle a little weak in the knees.
“Mrs. Potts ordered some books for me,” he barked.
The sound of his impatient drumming on the counter irked her all the way into Mrs. Potts’ office. She took a deep breath before lugging the only stack of books on reserve and slamming them on the circulation desk.
She winced that she’d taken her frustrations out on poor, defenseless—and very rare—books. She peered up at the student in humility, but his sparkling smile reminded her how much she despised him and she rolled her eyes instead.
As she started scanning the books, she realized they were all books about the Arthurian legends, three written in Old French, another in Latin, and another in something close to German.
When she realized the books were all about the Arthurian legend—three written in Old French, another in Latin, and another in either Old or Early English—she looked at him with a little more respect this time. Though, she refused to let him know how much more interesting he’d just become. “Student ID?”
“Don’t you know who I am?”
Belle slid her glasses down over her nose and raised an eyebrow at him. “Student ID.”
He took a deep breath, then reluctantly took his wallet out of his pocket and slammed his ID on the counter instead of putting it in her outstretched hand.
Belle ignored his perfectly manicured nails and vintage Rolex watch with the leather band. She didn’t care that it looked like a 100-year-old family heirloom. But she couldn’t ignore the electric current that traveled straight to her groin when their fingers touched.
Not wanting to know if he felt it, too, she snapped the ID away from him and stood a little taller. His profile popped up on the computer screen when she scanned it, and she adjusted her glasses to hide her wave of panic.
He wasn't the obnoxious student she thought he was. Worse, he was Adam Prince, the Robby Benson Endowed Professor of Comparative Literature and Medieval Studies. He was the foremost authority on the Arthurian legend, and Belle had read every single one of his books.
He chuckled when she lowered her glasses to look at him again. Then he took his ID back and winked as he gathered the books—which Belle could barely manage with both arms—in one large hand before walking away.
As soon as he was out of sight, Belle lifted her glasses to rest on her head and rubbed her eyes. Then she blew away the stray piece of hair that only ever seemed to be in the way when she was annoyed, and folded her arms on the counter.
2 Weeks Later…
Belle hummed to herself absent-mindedly as she returned the books to the stacks. It was her favorite part of the day because she almost always found at least one book she hadn't read to take home and bring back the next day.
She was hanging onto a ladder and already a few pages into a book about gender and sexuality in European fairy tales, which she found next to the vacant slot for the book she was supposed to be filing away, when a booming voice below her said, “Excuse me.”
She slammed the book shut and rolled her eyes when she realized who it was. “What are you doing here, Professor Prince?”
His eyes squinted and he answered facetiously. “It’s a library, so I’m here to read. But your incessant caterwauling is making it hard to concentrate.”
Belle balled up a fist and rested it on her hip. “We’re closed.”
“Oh!” he said with widened eyes, almost apologetic, but not quite. “I hadn’t realized.”
Belle’s scowl relaxed into quiet reprobation.
“Well, anyway, I’ll just be back in the corner over there.”
“Beg pardon?” she started and prepared to dress him down as he deserved.
He pulled a book from the shelf and handed it to her. “This one’s out of place.”
She looked at the numbers on the spine and realized he was right. He had gotten to the end of the bookshelves when he said, “It’s Adam, by the way. Not ‘Professor’.”
Belle smiled with tightened lips so he wouldn’t know how much she liked the way he stood with his hand resting on a shelf above his head.
After an uncomfortable moment of silence, she hopped off the ladder and pushed her cart to the next aisle, humming louder than she had before.
As she rounded the corner with her cart, she noticed Adam evening out the spines so they were lined up next to each other.
She was going to say something to him, though she didn't know what, but he walked away without even looking at her. She rolled her eyes and smiled to herself. “Well, I guess there’s no harm letting him stay until I’m done shelving the rest of the books.”
1 Week Later…
Belle hadn’t seen Adam come into the library for a whole week, but her skin prickled every time the door opened or someone came out of the stacks. But on the day of his seminar, she took her cart of books around earlier than usual, hoping to avoid him.
Her heart raced at the faint tone of the bell even though Mrs. Potts had already given the seminar room key to one of Adam's grad students. It was probably some random student wanting to check out books, so Belle took her time, knowing Mrs. Potts would handle it.
But when Belle got back to the circulation desk, Mrs. Potts was nowhere to be found. There was a stack of books left on the counter—Adam’s books—and a single, long-stem rose laid on top of them.
Belle inhaled the rose and smiled before setting it aside opened the book with the cream-colored envelope tucked between the pages of one of the books. Her name was written on it so she opened it and examined the thick card embossed in dark blue and gold foil with the letters "AP," flanked by a gold flor de lis on each side. The only thing written on the card was a quote from Yvain, the Knight of the Lion, and the name of a restaurant and time.
He quoted medieval French poetry yet he couldn't even be bothered to sign with more than the first letter of his name! But that was nothing compared to his demanding her presence, even if he picked her favorite restaurant.
Deflated with disappointment and tossed the card and the rose in the trash.
“Of course!” Belle muttered to herself when she looked at the page he'd bookmarked with his card. It was the story about Calgrenant and love at first sight, the original source of the quote from the card.
She ran her finger down the page until she got to the part about Calgrenant's arrogance. "At least that's appropriate," she said under her breath. With a smirk, she set the book under the circulation desk so she could take it home that night.
Three Weeks Later…
“Have dinner with me,” Adam said from behind Belle.
She jumped as she turned towards him.
“Did I startle you?” he asked, more amused than apologetic.
“No,” she said, pushing him aside to get to her cart.
“No?”
Belle stopped her cart and turned around to face him again. “You probably haven’t heard that word before, but I would have thought a literature professor would at least know what it meant.”
“So I didn’t startle you?”
“No!”
“So, what time are you done here? I can wait or I can pick you up later.”
“What?”
"I'd really rather not meet there and risk getting stood up again. It's starting to make me look bad."
Belle squeezed her eyes and shook her head.
"If tonight doesn't work, I can make a reservation for tomorrow."
Belle let out a heavy sigh so she didn't yell. “You are the most arrogant man I’ve ever met!”
“Well, I have a lot to be proud of.”
“Ugh!”
She hoped he would take the hint when she sped away, but he caught up with her on another aisle.
After a glance over her shoulder, she ignored him and went back to putting the books away.
He stood there with his arms crossed, leaning against the bookshelf behind her. “If you’re not going to go out with me, you could at least tell me why. Or is it the restaurant? I thought you would like Old World French cuisine.”
She rolled her eyes and closed the book she had just picked up off the floor and snapped it shut.
“You haven’t asked me to go out with you.”
He chuckled as though she was flirting with him. “Is it the age thing? Does it bother you?”
“What!?”
“I can understand if you're just not into younger men.”
Belle’s face was red, and tiny beads of sweat formed at her hairline. “Just because you’re vain enough to worry about something so insignificant doesn’t mean I am!”
“I don’t! I mean, you’re easily…”
Belle pushed her cart as fast as she could, Adam rushing behind her. She finally stopped and gave him another chance—his last chance—to speak.
“Belle, you’re…” He took her glasses off and let them drop to her breast, hanging by the black lanyard around her neck.
Then he pushed her stubborn grayish-brown strand out of her face and cupped her cheeks. “You’re the most beautiful, sexiest woman I’ve ever met. And we belong together.”
“Because I’m beautiful?” she asked with a giggle. “Is that supposed to impress me?”
He scoffed when she pulled away from him. “I don’t understand why you’re being so impossible. Roses, poetry, compliments. What more do you want?”
Belle snorted a laugh and Adam’s face went blank. “Maybe you should try remembering that this is the 21st century and not 12th century.”
“Are you saying I'm sexist?”
“I don’t know. What does Chrétien de Troyes say?”
“Jesus, Belle, I just want to take you to dinner.”
She looked at him with pity because he didn’t get it. And he wasn’t going to get it. And she didn’t have the patience to teach him, so she went back to doing her job.
“Ok. Fine. Forget I asked.” He walked away and headed to his armchair, where he’d gather his things and never return.
She groaned before following after him. “But you didn’t ask, Adam, did you?”
He stopped in his tracks. “I asked you at least five times over the past few weeks.”
Belle shook her head and crossed her arms as she sauntered towards him. “That’s the problem, Adam. You never asked.”
Belle could see the wheels turning behind his eyes, then he smiled like he finally understood. “Very well, then. Belle, would you please have dinner with me?”
His eyes widened with surprise when she put her hand on his chest. “Yes, Adam, I’ll have dinner with you. Thank you for asking.”
Leather, musk, and vanilla filled her nose and relaxed her soul as they leaned into each other.
Belle stiffened, then ducked down with her hand over her head as a shield. “Cameras!”
She grabbed onto his wrist and whisked him to an alcove she’d caught many students making out in. Then she spun around and put her hands on his cheeks. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she waited.
“Can I kiss you now?”
She got on her tip-toes and, without answering, she brought his lips to hers.
|The room spun around them and Belle felt like she’d been transported to some faraway castle lost somewhere in time, a place where life went on all around them. She’d rather stay in the castle with Adam than do anything else. Every part of her wanted every part of him, and she realized he was right: they did belong together.
“Do you want to get out of here?” he asked through shallow breaths.
Belle didn’t answer, instead removing the glasses from around her neck and tossing them aside. Then removing the hair stick holding up her high bun. She shook her hair out and tousled it.
Adam smiled and stood up a little taller. “You’re not really a librarian, are you?”
Belle felt a flush, like she was a teenager, and tugged at the bottom of his sweater. He helped her get it over her head, then he balled it up and tossed it to the side.
She arched an eyebrow at him while she unbuttoned his shirt. “You’re welcome to check my credentials.”
“You’ve been a librarian here at Trousdale University for 19 years. Top 5% of your class at Universitet de Strasbourg, Master of Library Science from the Sorbonne, PhD in Library Science from Oxford. By the way your dissertation, ‘The Matter with the Matters: Problems and Solutions for Cataloguing the Matters of Britain, Latin and France,’ has been extremely helpful. I’m curious about something, though.”
She tugged at his shirt and squinted her eyes. “I think you already know too much about me.”
She ran a flat hand from his sculpted chest to the trail of hair from his belly button leading to his belt buckle. “You’re not really a professor, are you?”
He chuckled musically and ran his hand through his hair. Then he unbuckled the tiny brown belt holding down her blue cardigan. And while Belle unbuttoned the cardigan, Adam’s hands flew above hers to unbutton her white button-front shirt beneath the cardigan.
And when he slid his hands around her exposed ribcage to sink into the back of her pencil skirt, he whispered, “Not right now. Right now I am very much your student.”
Belle tensed up from self-consciousness. It had been so long since she’d been with anyone, and she wasn’t even sure she knew what she was doing back then.
“Hey, we don’t have to do this,” he said with a tender kiss on her cheek. “I’m following your lead.”
A surge of want filled Belle and she forgot about where they were and how wrong it was to be doing what they were doing. She twisted around him and guided him to one of the big armchairs she’d found him sitting in before, then she wedged her legs between his and leaned over him. His hands reached for her calves, then slowly ran warm hands over her stockings, setting her legs on fire.
She tried to be as generous with her kisses as he had been with his, though it was hard to focus while his hands roamed under her tweed skirt. And when he reached her bare upper thighs, he broke away from her lips in favor of her abdomen.
Belle brushed her hands through his hair, so much softer than she imagined, while his hands roamed still further north. He slobbered all over her stomach, and Belle cringed. “Adam?” she said, lifting his chin with an index finger.
She immediately regretted it because his skin reddened. “What?”
She pulled the sides of her shirt together and scowled at him.
He squeezed her butt and said, “I’m sorry. I’m just… Ugh… I’m so hungry right now. I’m sorry.”
Belle’s expression relaxed, and she didn’t exactly know how she ended up sitting on the armchair while he knelt in front of her.
He started at her ankle, seeding small kisses all the way up.
He pushed up her skirt before his mouth finally reached her skin. He sucked and playfully nipped, even gently gnawing. Then his head disappear under her skirt, and he surprised her with a kiss at her center.
“Oh!”
He moved his head, his hair adorably messed up. “What now?”
“I thought you said you were hungry.”
“I am!” he glared.
It suddenly dawned on Belle what he meant, and she prickled with shame. Then she squeezed her legs around his neck so he couldn't get back to what he was doing. “I’m not one of your undergrads begging for an A. So lose the attitude!”
He relaxed and said, “I’m sorry. I’m just so worked up right now. And, to be honest, it’s been a while since I’ve done this.”
Belle was shocked but she didn’t quite know what to say.
“And you’re so… I know you have a lot more experience than me.”
She wanted to comfort him; instead, she hid her compassion with sarcasm. “You? I’ve seen your students throw themselves at you. It’s almost embarrassing.”
“I’ve never been remotely interested in any of my students, not even my grad students. In fact, the only other person I’ve ever had feelings for was my thesis advisor. And it was not mutual.”
The words barely stuck in Belle’s ears from all the ringing.
“You’re special Belle. Will you let me show you?”
She hiked her skirt up to her hips and leaned back, and she let him pull her hips to the end of the seat.
He moved her underwear to the side and she felt a surge of warmth as soon as he touched his tongue to her center. But the feeling went away while his tongue treated her clit as it had her stomach. She held in a giggle because he really didn't know what he was doing. She realized she'd become absolutely smitten with him.
“Wait, Adam.” She was prepared to scold him if he barked at her again, but he didn’t.
“You taste so good. Do you like it?”
She offered a sweet smile as encouragement. Then she reached between her legs and showed him where it felt good.
“Right there?” he asked, pressing with his thumb to her clit.
She whimpered and he relieved the pressure before pressing harder. Then she locked her ankles together behind his head when he tried his tongue again. And he seemed to pay attention to every movement, every sigh, the strength of her hands gripping his hair, until she finally said, “Don’t stop… Adam, faster!”
Adam tightened his grip on her ass, and she tensed up, then relaxed into his mouth. He started to pull away and she said in a husky breath, “Keep going. You’re doing so good.”
He did exactly as she said until the room spun like she and Adam were dancing in their own private ballroom and she called out his name.
“Did I get an A?” he teased when she finally pulled her ankles apart.
She sat up and kissed him, her hands clutching the back of his head, then she fell onto his lap and showered his neck with kisses.
“A , actually.”
“See what happens when I have a good teacher?”
She gently pushed his shoulders to the floor and focused on his chest while he worked his knees out from under him. She scooted back to his thighs and unzipped her pants. She smiled when he poked out of his underwear, and when she touched him, he clenched his jaw and hissed.
Despite his hunger, he'd learned to be patient.
She licked her lips at the precum dripping over his head and took a long lick before popping it into her mouth. She pulled away, though, when he bucked into her.
“Adam!” she said sternly.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I’ll be good. Promise.”
Belle believed him, but she teased him anyway. “Have you ever been well-behaved for even one day in your life?”
“That’s not a fair question because I would have been good if you were there.”
Belle smiled as she crawled over him. And he wrapped his arms around her when she nuzzled his neck.
“It’s too late to go out to dinner now, but I can probably make you some eggs. You can stay over, and-”
“Adam,” Belle shook her head working her way out of his bear hug.
He squeezed her sides until she giggled. “Fine. Would you please come over so I can appreciate you even more?” He ran his fingers beneath the band of her already stretched-out bra when he said ‘appreciate,’ and it warmed Belle’s feverish skin.
She reached beneath her to hold onto him again.
“Please say ‘yes’,” he whined.
“Why don’t you let me appreciate you first, hmm?”
She lined him up at her entrance, and he said, “Yes…” Then his eyes opened wide. “Wait. I don’t have a condom.”
A corner of one of her lips drew up. “We don’t need one.”
His brow furrowed. “You’re on the pill?”
“Menopause, actually,” she said matter-of-factly.
Adam grew quiet, and she asked, “Does it bother you?”
He held on to her hips and lifted her skirt a little more so she could sink down. He giggled when he bottomed out. Then he twisted her hair around his fingers. “Of course, not. You’re perfect, Belle.”
The other corner of her mouth lifted. She pressed his chest and sat up, and his hands gripped her thighs.
“Belle…” he whined. “I’m so close, and you… are you almost…”
“Shh!” she teased. “We’re in a library.”
He smiled and said her name a little louder.
She moved his thumb to her clit and pressed as he had before. She almost didn’t recognize the husk in her voice when she said, “Make me come first.”
It didn’t take long for her vision to blur, and when she dug her nails into his chest he uttered her name in a beastly growl. All she could see was Adam’s ugly, twisted-up face punctuated by dark blue eyes and she couldn’t get enough of him. She milked him for everything he’d give her and she didn’t stop until his arms fell to the floor.
She took a moment to catch her breath, and admire the way his face had returned to handsome with his eyes closed, and that’s when she realized how special he really was. On the surface, he was an exceedingly handsome, entitled prick, but his still waters ran deep beneath. She collapsed onto his sweaty chest and traced circles on his shoulder.
He kissed her temple and said, “I’m still curious.”
“About what?” she sighed with feigned annoyance.
“What do you have against the Oxford comma?”
“Adam! What’s wrong with you!?” she asked playfully.
“I don’t know…” he teased. “But I really like it when you say my name like that. Maybe you should add the ‘Matter of Adam’ to your dissertation. ‘The Matter with the Matters: Problems and Solutions for Cataloguing the Matters of Britain, Latin, France,’ insert Oxford comma here, ‘and Adam.”
“There’s definitely a problem with Adam!” she giggled.
“I’d really like to hear more about your solutions. How will you catalog me?”
Adam gave Belle his sweater, and she closed her eyes as she let his warmth spill onto it. Then they stood and awkwardly dressed, though Belle didn’t bother putting her hair up.
“I think it’s going to take a long time to figure out all the solutions to the Matter of Adam.”
He raised an eyebrow. “I’ve got all the time in the world for you, Belle. And I have so many problems for you to solve!”
“That, I’m sure is true. But do you plan on making me work all night?” she asked as she put her glasses on.
He shook his head and he stopped her by the shoulders. “I can help you with the books. But then I’d actually like to learn more about the Matter of Belle.”
Her lips bowed into a smile and she arched a brow. “Keep that up, and I might just keep your Oxford comma!”