THE LIBRARIAN
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Valentine Michaels has just taken a vow of celibacy. Adrian Grey
intends to take full advantage of that vow to re-create his relationship with
Val.
Val is at a crossroads in his life. A college dropout, he's gone
as far as he can in his career as a cosmetologist, owning his own style salon.
He no longer finds satisfaction in it, though he's put years into proving to
his bigoted parents that a college degree and the veneer of straightness aren't
the only roads to success. They'd turned their backs on him, and he proved he
didn't need them to make it.
His love life is no better than his working life. His
relationships always start with a bang and fizzle into boredom, or worse,
anger.
EXTENDED EXCERPT
Prologue
His hand drifted toward the cell phone on his night table, and
he picked it up. He stared down at the little device, the latest technology
available. His parents had bought it and brought it up to him with his clean
laundry last Sunday. They'd been so proud of it, Dad explaining all the neat
features of the phone, Mom insisting on snapping a few pictures of him with it.
He tried to turn his attention back to his book and the test
that loomed, but thoughts of what Val might be doing, and who he might be doing
it with, kept intruding. They hadn't made any commitments, but he and Val had shared
a bed for the past week, and he'd known he loved Val since October, when he'd
kissed his blue-haired roommate for the first time. A spontaneous, awkward,
drunk kiss during a dorm Halloween party, neither he nor Val had mentioned it
when they sobered up the next day, though Adrian
treasured the memory as the most wonderful kiss he'd ever experienced.
That had been a month ago, and in the last few weeks Val had
broken up with his boyfriend, and Adrian
secretly thrilled to hold his friend and offer support. One thing had led to
another, one fumbling kiss to a caress, the caress to sex. From that night on,
they had slept here together, exploring and learning each other's bodies,
wants, and desires.
But this morning, Val had mumbled something about not
waiting up for him. Adrian ,
too busy rushing to get ready for class and his upcoming exam, paid Val little
attention. Now he wished he had. It might have saved him this anxious, sharp
pain in his stomach, the heaviness of his heart. Events were scheduled all over
campus. He had no chance of finding Val at any of them. Pep rallies, concerts,
lectures, study groups. He wouldn't even recognize any of Val's punky friends
if he ran into them.
The thump of feet in the hallway stopping outside their door
drew his attention. His gaze fastened on the door and he heard the click of Val's
key in the lock as the knob turned. The sight of his roommate's flushed cheeks,
plump, red, kiss-swollen lips, and crazily mussed blue hair sent his heart
plummeting and his stomach churning. He swallowed to keep from throwing up, and
forced himself to speak.
"Where have you been?" Adrian cringed at the whiny need in his voice.
Val's head turned in slow, languid fashion and Adrian flinched. Fuck. He tried the word out inside his
head, ignoring the heat along his cheekbones. His mother would freak if he ever
said it out loud. It fit though. He knew that look. Val had just that look when
he came. When Adrian
sucked his cock, or stroked him to orgasm, he looked exactly like that: sated,
flushed, and happy. But Adrian
hadn't put that look there tonight.
Val's eyes lit up when he saw Adrian
watching him, and he stumbled forward to collapse in a heap across the neatly
folded quilt Adrian 's
grandma had hand stitched for him as a graduation gift. "I'm in love."
He moaned, twisting onto his side gingerly to face Adrian .
Val nodded, his eyes drifting closed dreamily. "He's so
awesome, Adrian .
He's on the football team. Blond hair, blue eyes, the broadest shoulders..."
Voice trailing dreamily away, Val's own blue-eyed gaze snapped up and locked on
Adrian 's. "And
man, he's got skills. I've never felt like that before."
Chapter
One
Impatiently, Val flipped his powder-blue locks over his
shoulder, tapping the little whisk broom against the counter where his supplies
were arranged neatly. "Derek, you left me standing around at Paul's for an
hour, a place I totally hate by the way, without even a phone call to say you
weren't coming, and then I walk past you playing ball in the park with your
friends on the way back here. I'm not overreacting!"
He ran a swift eye over his supplies. Scissors, combs, spray bottle with water,
gel, mousse, Everything seemed in order. While he prepared his workstation, he
listened with half an ear to the deep voice on the other end of the phone,
trying to explain or rationalize or whatever, but he wasn't into hearing what
Derek had to say. The guy was an immature jerk who put his own wants ahead of
everything, even if it meant leaving Val standing in a group of young college
kids he barely knew, in a bar he usually avoided like the plague. He'd gone to
the party in the first place for Derek. Being stood up while doing something so
selfless just pissed him off. Just once in a relationship, Val wanted to find a
guy who put him first, who loved him more than sports, friends, and all the
other temptations the wicked world offered. "Just forget it, Derek. You
don't get it. It's not just last night; it's the whole last few months."
More rumbling and babbling in his ear. He ran a dust cloth
over the client's chair and then adjusted its height. Prepping his station at
the salon was second nature and required little of his attention. Kind of like
listening to Derek. Why the fuck do I
listen to this shit? Derek had all the emotional understanding of a two-ton
truck. Cute as hell, but clueless about what would melt Val's heart. In fact,
Derek might accurately be called a little dense altogether. A little consideration,
a romantic gesture or two, would go a long way. Hell, an apology instead of an
excuse would probably have gotten him a second chance even this morning. Eh. Who are you kidding? Derek is a symptom,
not the illness itself. "Fuck off, Derek. It's over. Do me a favor and
lose my number, okay?"
Flipping the phone shut, he shoved it into the pocket of his
smock and busied himself cleaning up his workspace. A quick spray of glass
cleaner to the mirror, a swipe or two with a rag and he was done. Done with Derek,
done with men, done with romance and love and sex, and fuck it all. He could be
celibate. Masturbation didn't count as sex, did it? He'd need something if he
wasn't getting any.
"Hey, Smurfette, your professor is here."
It happened. Just like that. Ted's sarcastic statement,
delivered in his superior nasal twang, made Val's vow of celibacy probably the
shortest in history. He put down the small whisk broom he'd been using to clean
up his already spotless workstation and dusted his hands off on his powder-blue
smock. The smock he had chosen deliberately to match his hair this morning because
it highlighted his eyes and skin tone, even though he knew wearing it would
invite Ted to make Smurf comparisons,. He'd only just made the solemn promise
to himself to take a break from men and get his head screwed on straight before
venturing back into the dating arena. He'd been celibate for all of five
minutes maybe, if you didn't count the previous six days when he could have had
sex if he wanted to with Derek, but he hadn't because he didn't. Want to, that
is.
He'd almost forgotten about his regular ten fifteen
appointment with Adrian Grey. Val shook his head. He knew better than that. That
would be a lie and Valentine Michaels knew better than to lie. He did it so
very badly. He could never completely forget about Adrian . They'd been friends for nearly ten
years, since they were roommates in the dorm freshman year at NCU. Heck, for a
few brief days, they'd been something more than friends, even. Though he didn't
usually primp like this for his exes.
Adrian Grey, though hot as hell, exemplified everything Val
was not looking for in a man. Where Val liked big, muscular men who towered
over him, Adrian was only an inch or so taller than he was. Val preferred
blonds, but Adrian
wore his straight black hair cut long enough to curl under his jawline in front
and curved higher in back to meet the university library's requirement that all
male employees wear their hair above the collar. The wire-rim glasses he wore
on a fine rope around his neck gave him a distracted air of intelligence and
emphasized the almost delicate aspect of his refined features. His jawline was
smooth and silky, whereas Val preferred the sexy appeal of rough, two-day
stubble.
Everything about Adrian
said successful, young professional. Adrian
was solid, dependable, and reliable. All those -able words that no one had ever applied to Val. There was
intelligence in those blue eyes, and humor in the tilt of that rosy mouth, and
sexy didn't begin to describe his lean, firmly muscled body.
"He's a librarian, you ass," he snapped at Ted. "And
he's not my type." Type or not, Val found himself checking out his hair in
the mirror, adjusting the powdery blue strands as he bit then licked his lips. Ah,
well, he was a beautician, wasn't he? He had to look good, even for the clients
who didn't want something creative in their personal look. Surreptitiously he
breathed on his hand, checking his breath, and swiped his lips with a tube of
clear gloss he pulled from the pocket of his smock. And, he reasoned triumphantly,
he could appreciate beauty where he saw it for the exact same reason! And Adrian was beautiful in
his geeky way.
He looked up and met Adrian 's
eyes in the mirror as the other man strode to the reception desk to receive his
share of the crap that Ted dished out without prejudice. Mmm. That blue oxford really brings out the sparkle in Adrian
"Come on back, I'm all ready for you." You have no idea how ready, he snickered
inside as he spun the chair and waved Adrian
to sit.
He always chatted away while trimming Adrian . It wasn't like he needed to
concentrate in order to trim Adrian 's
hair into the same style he'd been wearing for the past six years. He rolled
his eyes. Another thing about Adrian that was so
not his type: Adrian
resisted change. He even used the same fucking cell phone he'd had in college. Val
used to try to convince Adrian to try a new cut
once in a while, but Adrian
liked what he liked and refused all offers to dye, cut or curl his hair into
something other than the style he already wore. The chat kept him distracted
from the heat of Adrian 's
body and the enticing scent of his cologne. It prevented his imagination from
running away with him. In the past, the conversation had served as a reminder
to himself that Adrian
was off-limits.
Gesturing slightly with his scissors and comb, he asked,
already knowing what the answer would be, "So, are you going to let me cut
this in a different style for you today?"
As expected, Adrian
simply shook his head and seated himself in the waiting chair.
"So," Adrian
said, when Val found himself tongue-tied for the first time in their long
history of Friday morning haircuts, "what's new in your life? Or should I
say, who's new in your life? Ted just told me you broke up with Derek."
Val flushed. Was that really the impression he'd given of
himself? He came off as the kind of guy who couldn't last a week without a
lover?
A bit hurt, he snapped, "What? Like I always have to
have a boyfriend? There's no one right now. After that dumb shit Derek, I'm taking
a break from men for a while."
"Sorry. Just what exactly do you mean by taking a break
from men?" The other man seemed bewildered for some reason.
"I mean," he declared dramatically, tossing his
head, "I've taken a vow of celibacy. I'm swearing off men, drama, and
love."
Val gasped. "Oh, that was uncalled for! I'm not exactly
heartbroken, just reevaluating where I stand on some issues. I'm tired of
leading such a messy life. I need to figure myself out before I get involved
with anyone else."
"I'm sorry." Adrian
apologized. "I shouldn't tease you. It's just that I've known you since we
were freshmen at the university, and ever since then, for ten years, you've
always had a boyfriend—usually some muscle-bound, superhero jock-type."
Sighing, Val stilled his hands and met Adrian 's eyes in the mirror. There was
sympathy in the blue depths, but more, there lurked something indecipherable
that he hadn't seen before. "It's not just Derek, Adrian ." He confessed in a low voice. "It's
all of it. Everything. The shop bores me. The bars and clubs are filled with
younger and younger people every time I go, and I'm like a babysitter, or God
forbid, my mother. Have you heard that crap they call music now?" He shook
his head and went back to trimming fractions of hair from silky black locks and
brushing strays from the blue oxford collar. Finished, he put aside the tools
of his trade.
Val stared as the other man turned and left the salon,
brushing stray hairs from his shirt as he did so. Down, boy. He glared at his cock where it arched up beneath the
buttons of his 501s. He's not your type,
remember? No amount of lecturing could convince his dick though. Maybe type
was one of the things he'd need to reevaluate. He tossed the number in the
trash, almost hoping Adrian
would see him do it. Like he needed it. He'd had that phone number memorized
for ten years. Not that he used it. Who needed a phone call when Adrian arrived every Friday,
regular as clockwork? Slowly he wandered to the front of the shop, past Ted in
his black, horn-rimmed glasses and bleach-splattered clothing, and on out the
door, starting as he realized he was following Adrian .
Chapter
Two
He'd sensed Val's interest in him today, for the first time
in years, despite his avowals of abstinence. A vague sensation of heat had
radiated from Val and he had absorbed it like a sponge.
He now had a distinct advantage in the waiting game he'd
been playing with Val since freshman year. Years' worth of chatty confessions
about what Val liked and didn't like in a lover would guide his own courtship. And
the other man had just cleared the field for him with his intention to stay out
of the dating scene. A Val who wasn't even looking to hook up, didn't have
someone waiting on the side, and seemed strangely vulnerable, was a Val that Adrian could work with,
not like the flip, sexually confident, blindly selfish Val he'd been friends
with all these years.
Behind Val he noted the For Lease sign on the building next
door. How simple a solution to Val's problem was that? If he was bored with his
business, then he could always lease the shop next door and expand. A full-service
salon with tanning booths, piercing studio and a permanent makeup artist...Yes.
This would make an excellent segue into another meeting with Val. And...he
could always offer to help. That would allow them to spend even more time
together. He'd painted his fair share of rooms out on the small-town, Colorado ranch his
parents owned.
Still in a reverie, he pulled the gray sedan out into the
minimal flow of traffic and headed back down the street to the university. His
job in the archives of the business library was interesting and had great
potential for upward movement. He enjoyed it. It also gave him ample time to do
his research, write his articles, and contemplate which Ph.D. program he wanted
into. He'd finally decided, narrowing the options down to three, and sent in
his applications a few months ago. He looked forward to the challenges
furthering his education would bring. The lull in activity, no articles
contracted, no application or research to deal with, left him with a down
period. For a while, anyway. It also provided him with ample time to
contemplate the direction of his seduction.
Pulling into his parking space in the reserved employee lot
behind the library, he shut off the engine and grabbed his planner. He printed
a neat list on the page dated for today, underneath the notation for his
haircut. He snorted when he saw it. Every Monday morning he wrote that
appointment in for Friday morning in ink. Not that he needed the reminder to go
get his hair cut. It was just the permanence of the ink and the sight of Val's
name. It grounded him throughout the week to know that he had that to look
forward to.
He relied on that appointment with a ferocity that almost
scared him sometimes. He knew exactly how each appointment would go, and they
played and replayed in his mind during the days between appointments. Ted would
announce his arrival; Val would offer to cut his hair differently. He would
refuse. He shook his head, enjoying the sensual slide of silky hair across his
cheek. Every Friday he refused and Val hadn't even the slightest idea why. He
seemed to forget that he had designed this cut expressly for Adrian when he'd accepted his job in the
university library years ago.
He hadn't realized what Val had done until he'd finished and
handed him the mirror. His black hair had been left slightly longer around his
face and cut to the university's above-the-collar requirement in back. The cut
fulfilled the university's demands, but it also acknowledged the deep-seated,
seldom-seen need to express himself that led Adrian to grow his hair long in the first
place.
Like he'd ever let Val take back that gift! He'd keep the
cut until he got to keep the man.
Speaking of which, he needed to plan. He needed to keep Val
off balance, keep him interested like he'd been this morning, to show him the Adrian he'd grown into instead of the Adrian he used to be.
And who, he asked
himself, do you want Val to see? The
lovesick fool who's pined over a man he couldn't have for ten years? No. Not so
much that Adrian
The conversations he'd been gritting his teeth through for
years gave him all the information he needed to do just that.
He reached for his cell phone to call his mom, but
remembered just in time. Couldn't do that anymore. When would he remember that?
He picked up the phone, the same one his parents had bought him years ago.
Everyone, and by everyone he meant Val and Phil, told him he should replace it
with a newer model, one with apps, and Internet access, and a whole lot of
other foolishness. He always laughed them off with a "why fix what isn't
broken" speech, but while in the past that had been the truth, now this phone
had something no newer, more modern phone would ever have.
It had been chosen for him by his parents, and they'd been
so excited about it. But beyond that, he flipped the phone open and scrolled
through messages before finding the one he wanted. The phone was like a voice
from beyond the grave for him. Those messages he'd dutifully saved years ago
were his connection to his mom and dad, who'd been gone now for over three
years. Three years ago, on their way to see him, bringing him clean laundry and
home-cooked meals for his freezer, their vehicle had been run off the road by a
car full of drunken college boys on their way home from a football game.
His mother's sweet, loving voice chattered away in his ear. "Tell
Val we enjoyed meeting him, and you keep me posted on how things work out with
that boy! Dad and I love you. Take care!"
"I will, Mom. I love you too," he whispered into
the phone, responding as always as though he were talking to her in the flesh. After
carefully hitting resave to extend the life of the message once again, he
folded the phone and slipped it into his pocket, patting the pocket to make
sure it was secure. He'd need it to call the flower shop, where he would find
the perfect single bloom to send to Val. Something exotic and vibrant that was
not a rose or a daisy. He remembered Val's snide comments about boyfriends of
the past who'd sent flowers.
His mother would be pleased if he and Val managed to get it
right this time around. She'd always liked his roommate, and even counseled him
to be patient and maintain his friendship with Val after that night years ago. For
years, on many a Saturday morning in the old ranch house kitchen, he poured his
heartaches and fancies into her ear, telling her the things he wanted to tell
Val, absorbing her love and comfort in return.
Now, he had the opportunity he'd been so patiently waiting
for, the chance his mother had assured him would one day arrive, and he
intended to make the most of it.
REVIEWS
· Sensual Reads 4.5 Stars Fantastic heroes, some amazing loving and a happy ending are the answers you can find in The Librarian by Lee Brazil. -Reviewed by Elise
· Coffee Beans and Love Scenes 4 cups I loved Adrian
· MM Good Book Reviews – 5Hearts "... one of the best seductions ever written. Adrian Adrian Adrian
· Black Raven's Reviews 5 Ravens and a Recommended Read The Librarian is the exact opposite of a m/m romance with a quick pick-up at a bar that is love at first sight. Instead, Lee Brazil offers the story of men who have known one another for many years, and the time has come for them to either be able to work through issues from the past, or move on, permanently... The themes of unconditional love, consistency and perseverance are beautifully developed in The Librarian. -Reviewed by Lea
· Two Lips Reviews 5 Kisses -The Librarian by Lee Brazil is a story of friendship, love, and learning to understand yourself. Val has a long journey in this book; he has to go from being a self-centered person, to actually growing up and learning to think of others...You can feel that Adrian
