8/9/2019 Lust in the Library (WWE, 10/31/12, flash fiction)

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Lust in the Library (WWE, 10/31/12, flash fiction)

Prompt: Write a three act flash fiction story (1000 words or less). The first act is the setup: describe

time, place, lead character(s). The second act introduces the problem and/or bad guy and the herostruggles. The third act is the resolution: hero overcomes great odds and defeats his problem or he

is defeated. The three-act structure boils down to 1. Setup; 2. Conflict; 3. Resolution.

They had known each other for a long while, their families' familiar with one another. What their

parents did not know was that they shared the same love for books. They never would have

approved. Her own parents often said that ladies never spoke of possessing or claiming that they

were the least bit clever.

On Sundays, my partner in crime, Louis Valentine Beaumont, son to a rather wealthy Earl joined me

in our sanctuary, the library in the home of his Aunt Beatrice. We avidly read the various tomes;poetry first, sonnets, ballads and epic love stories.

Louis claimed that his aunt was quite mad, not in the sense that she lacked a brain, but the fact that

she had radical ideals about ladies. Beatrice, he quoted as saying, "Ladies should be seen, heard and

appreciated for the intelligent beings that they are."

Luckily for her, Louis agreed with his aunt. He never shared his views to his overbearing parents

who would have scorned him for such drivel.

For months, they had met in Beatrice's home, once a week, voraciously seeking knowledge and

culture from books. The secret, if it were to get out, would ruin them. Not that they had ever done

anything scandalous, they were rather close chums.

His brown hair often stuck out at the ends. The round spectacles on his nose continually slipped

from their sharp perch, his blunt forefinger pushing them back into place. Louis's eyes reminded her

of pools of caramel candies. The clothes he wore were not fashionable; they consisted of browns,

blacks and sometimes yellow.

She wore either plum, peach or on special occasions; red. Her spectacles were nondescript and

rather large. Her eyes were too beady, too gray to be pretty. And her hair had splashes of red and

brown, never retaining curls of any sort.

Louis frowned.

She gazed at him wearily. "Whatever is the matter friend?"

He replaced the Chaucer tome to its proper slot on the shelf before facing her. "I am worried about

my future Penelope."

She nibbled on her fingernail, a habit she developed a long time ago and never stopped. "Why are

 you worried? You have your life mapped out. Your father is an Earl and you shall marry well."

Louis rolled his eyes. "You know I don't give a fig for titles and what that entails. I worry that I will

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be forced into marrying a lady that I do not want."

She grimaced. "I understand. As a lady, and the daughter of a Viscount, I have been marketed as it

were, no one has purchased thus far, but there is still time."

Giving him a grin, she tried lightening the moment.

Louis chuckled, shaking his head at her. He paced to the other side of the room, running his hands

over an author's name on the spine. She knew that when he absentmindedly ran his hand over

objects that he was thinking things through.

She wondered if he would do the same for a lover, if his hand wandered, explored, navigating every

terrain and crevice of her body. Shaking her head hard, she chastised herself for having such an

inappropriate thought about her dear friend. Her body shuddered she saw an image of him touching

her in the most intimate of places.

Louis did not know her disturbing thoughts when he turned back to her, blowing out his breath. "I

am becoming rather maudlin aren't I? I should be grateful that I am not a pauper. I have access to

books, wardrobe and a large choice of brides. Everyone is not so lucky."

She intoned, "No, we are not all so lucky."

Louis chose a book, walking over to her. Opening it to the first page, he said, "Read this, it should

calm my nerves."

Getting into the scenes, she read Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, her emotions becoming involved,

her inflections coinciding with Juliet's sorrow, Romeo's ultimate demise and by the time she finished

with the play, she had to see what was in the depths of Louis's eyes.

Her chest heaved, all of her secret desires on display. Louis must have read her emotions clearly. A 

glaze went over his eyes, his lips curving slightly.

Fingertips to her chin, he raised her face, she went along willingly, carried on a cloud of feeling that

she could not quite name.

His mouth on hers brought her earlier shivers to a full body shudder of delight. She wanted the

sensation to go on forever. Curving her arms along his back, her lips pressed hard, thinking that she

could not get close enough to him.

Louis backed her into the library shelf, his tongue sliding along her lip. She allowed him entrance

inside her mouth, sending numerous shocking sensations throughout her limbs. He tipped her head

at the proper angle, their passion soaring out of control. What transpired next had no rational basis

that she could cling to or have explanation for.

Louis whispered in her ear that she had been his first, after they lay panting on the floor of the

library afterward, her skirt rucked up above her waist and his breeches shoved down his thighs. He

kissed her mouth with his thumb pressed to her cheek.

They covered themselves decently after that. He blushed, which made her laugh after what they had

done.

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Brushing a loose strand of hair from her face, his words were shaky. "Penelope, will you marry me?"

She nodded, for he had ruined her and she really did not have any other marital prospects. They

would rub along well together. "Of course I will Louis."

(939 words)