The Hash
Chapter 14: #Three #Library #TreasureHunt #Trick #Climax
She took a deep breath, and found her hands frozen. Was this another challenge from the hypnotist, or just her own nerves? Another breath, another effort, and the pages opened, shaking gently in front of her face. He’d said there was a clue in the book, she was sure of that, but where could it be? It couldn’t be in the text, surely? Eric had said that he knew people whose algorithms had created the text, but if he’d buried something for her in here, it must have got past a million other readers without being found. How could she find something that so many critics had missed?
Before she could give up, she flipped through the pages in search of anything that caught her eye. She could see the words, and she didn’t feel anything unusual. So it was only her own copy of the book that activated those triggers; that was a relief. But the words didn’t tell her anything useful, until she was about to give up and she saw a little strip of paper drift out from between two pages. It was the kind of paper roll that grocery receipts were printed on, cut off in a jagged line at either end. But there were no cryptic abbreviations of product names on this one, just a neat line of capital letters in red ink. “Mentor’s Magnum Opus”.
Jen stopped to think for a moment, which was hard enough already. Her mind was already filled with images of what kind of prize Eric might have cooked up for her, and picking up this book could conjure up fantasies of a two-lumberjack menage even without the suggestions in her mind. It would be so easy to let her mind dwell on those images, and to come back to this puzzle after she’d exhausted the demands of her body a little. But she knew that would never work, she’d just get carried away. She had to think about the challenge in front of her.
She looked at the slip of paper folded in her hand, and realised that there was more than one piece of writing on it. On the back was a second message, faint and brown. It said ‘STAND’ in the same neat handwriting. She hadn’t seen it before, and that made her wonder if it might be some kind of invisible ink rendered visible by the heat of her hands as she held it. That sounded like an interesting puzzle, that was for sure. She wondered how much effort he had put into this—especially given that he couldn’t have known before this morning that the hash would be in a library.
As she looked closer, she wasn’t sure if she could make out a citrus smell on the paper. And that was another clue. She remembered hearing that you could use lemon juice as an invisible ink, and that it turned brown when heated. So maybe that was what he’d done, but she wouldn’t have expected body heat to be enough to burn lemon.
Lemon! That was the hint. Eric had mentioned in a previous conversation—one of the ones she was allowed to remember fully—that one of his tutors at college had been Dr Gerard Lemman, one of the leaders in his field. Was she supposed to look for a book by Lemman? The invisible ink could just have been there to get her to notice the smell, which was itself an extra clue to help her with the first. She couldn’t be sure, but she could at least look for it.
She stood up and strode over to the psychology section, where the shelf numbers started with 0 or 1. Within that, of course, they were narrowed down by category. And this wasn’t the tidiest section of the library. There was a thin layer of dust in front of the books, most of which hadn’t been checked out since a weekly cleaning, she guessed. So if Eric had put a clue in a book this morning, she could scan along the rows until she saw gleaming, polished wood without any dust. It took her a minute or less, before she was pulling out a book that she’d need both hands to carry. Five hundred pages of letter-size paper, decorated in columns of newsprint text when she opened it. She couldn’t imagine ever reading such a detailed volume, but maybe that wasn’t the point. Could there be another note inside?
She lugged the tome over to the nearest desk, and opened it properly. She couldn’t just riffle the pages this time, because the book was far too large. She wouldn’t be able to hold it while she fanned the pages, so she would have to go through it chapter by chapter, turning over a bunch of pages and shaking them to dislodge any inserts. And hope that none of the library staff thought she was mistreating a valuable book.
The giant book wasn’t quite as intimidating as it might first have appeared, because every third or fourth page was an illustration. Pictures would take less time to read than the dense description,. But most of the diagrams were beyond Jen’s understanding, even. Pictures of people standing in different positions, with lines that might indicate a line of sight, or the focus of someone’s attention. Close-ups showing different parts of the eye. More complex diagrams showed more abstract concepts, like a graph of understanding against acceptance which seemed to show a hysteresis loop. It was clearly a book on mind control of some kind, but beyond that it was a complete mystery. This book wouldn’t affect her like the last one had.
Except that it did. When she saw a figure of a model standing in a fixed, robotic pose, she imagined herself frozen like that. Ready to receive instructions, ready to be programmed like a machine. She couldn’t stop thinking about all the things that Eric could make her do, and her breath slowly turned into a shallow panting as her mind filled with new ideas. Every image prompted something in her imagination, and the desire was almost more than she could stand. Twice she turned a page only to notice the fingers of her left hand tracing gentle lines up the inside of her thigh, lifting her skirt inch by inch without ever needing a conscious thought.
“Not yet,” she whimpered under her breath, and hoped her body would listen. She forced herself to grip the corners of a dry textbook on hypnosis with both hands, just turning the pages without letting her eyes dwell on erotic words like ‘influence’, ‘instinct’, or ‘control’. She knew she had to do this, and she knew she could do this. It was just like all the times in high school or in college she’d been studying, sharing notes with a guy, and fought to keep her mind on the text rather than imagining what he could do to her. Except this time, she knew for sure that she wouldn’t end the study date in disappointment.
She pressed her legs tight together, trying to draw her mind away from her arousal, but there was nothing else she could think of. Every time she shifted position, every tiny movement in her legs sent sparks of pleasure rushing up her spine, to burn away any thoughts of modesty.
It seemed a miracle when the slip of paper fell loose from the pages, and Jen’s other hand was only on her thigh. It was a miracle she’d held back so long, when she should be throwing her head back and moaning in delight, her fingers inside her as she thought about all the things Master could do to her, and how the people of the library would react to such an uncontrolled display. Maybe that was Master’s choice, though. He didn’t want her to get in trouble, so he could hold her back on the brink even when she couldn’t help herself.
She slammed the book closed, returned it to its shelf, and then read her next clue. She slid the chair back under its desk, hoping she hadn’t left any visible signs of her arousal but too ashamed to look. There would be a damp patch on the seat, she was sure, but there was nothing she could do about that now. She had to find the next clue.
She walked around to the arts section, nodding gratefully to the man holding the door open for her. The next book had to be here,. She was sure. This book she was looking for turned out to be on the bottom shelf. She went to kneel, and found that her legs wouldn’t obey. ‘STAND’, the instruction had said, and it seemed like she couldn’t disobey. That was another part of the treasure hunt. There had been an invisible message on the second clue too, she realised, but she couldn’t remember what the words had said. She would obey them, that much was certain.
She shook her head, trying to chase away the libidinous fantasies, but there wasn’t anything else for her thoughts to dwell on. She had to solve this treasure hunt, but it was almost like every step was making it harder to proceed. She looked down at the book, but she couldn’t kneel to pick it up. That left only one option, and she quickly glanced behind her to see if she could spot Eric watching. His gaze would ar least tell her she was in the right place. He wasn’t there, just a couple of student types browsing books on modern history, and beyond them a half glimpse of the staff at the counter.
Bending at the waist, she reached out for the book. She was acutely aware that if those two young men turned in her direction, they would probably be able to see up her skirt. She was glad for a moment that she was no longer wearing the frilly purple panties; those would have made it way too obvious to any observers that she wasn’t entirely oblivious to the show she was giving them. Like this, she could pretend that she was just bending to pick up a book, and anything that other people saw was pure coincidence.
She looked across the cover. The author’s name was the one she’d been looking for, and she knew she was on the right track. But she couldn’t have failed to notice, as soon as she glanced at the title, that this was a book on figure drawing. Or life drawing, which seemed like the most non-indicative title ever. Jen flipped open the cover, and confirmed in an instant that she was holding a book of nudes.
Some of them were just pictures, sketches like you might find in an anatomy textbook, or demonstrations of how to show muscle tone, poise, and dynamic tension. It was a book aimed at artists who wanted to draw the human figure in a wide variety of poses, and in the circumstances there was nothing wrong with having a vast number of naked or semi-naked illustrations to underline the points made in the text. But after a few pages Jen saw a full page picture of a bodybuilder, an impossibly muscular young man with every detail defined in sharp pen lines. This was one ripped model, if there was anyone who actually looked like the figure on the page.
The drawing was anatomically correct as well, and Jen found herself wondering what it would be like to be taken by a man like that. Strong hands on her shoulders, slamming into her hard and fast. It would be incredible.
‘No.’ she reminded herself, and then repeated the word out loud as if that would help her keep control any better: “No. I have to solve the treasure hunt.” She kept turning the pages, and tried not to think about all the artist’s impressions of man flesh she saw. Some of them were very, very hot, and she couldn’t help just dreaming for a few seconds, or a minute, with each one she looked at. But she forced herself to move on, sure that an incredible prize would be waiting for her when she found the last clue.
She put the book on a low stool, so her shaking hands wouldn’t keep moving the text as she tried to read it. She had to bend over again to read it, because there were no chairs here, but at least that guarded her from leaving a mark on the seat. She was acutely aware every second that she was showing off her underwear to anyone behind her, but she couldn’t give up over such a little thing. If they didn’t like it they could look away, and she was sure that anyone who cared would have seen far racier lingerie than her everyday cotton…
Jen shook her head, trying to clear away the thoughts from her head. Mental images of people staring at her, people she didn’t even know, and thinking what a slut she must be to show off her ass so blatantly. She could imagine it so clearly, and the humiliation building in her mind was turning her on more than she could cope with. She tried to remind herself that she didn’t have her sexy lingerie on now, that it could have been worse. Or that she’d have to solve this puzzle if she wanted it to be worse. She turned her attention back to the book, where she could swear she saw a sketch of a man with his cock in his hand as she flipped past the page. A guy like that, she wouldn’t mind him grabbing her hips and holding her down as she bent over like this; she could just imagine him pulling her panties aside and thrusting into her like a steam train, a powerful body that she couldn’t even think of refusing.
She had to calm down, if she wanted to be wearing the sexy lingerie, and to get the treat Master had planned. It wouldn’t be fair to the spectators to get too excited now. If they were taking the risk of staring up her skirt as she bent over, they deserved to see something more appealing than a damp patch on the…
Jen gasped, and the breath caught in her throat as she finished that thought.
Something more exotic than the red cotton panties she’d taken off and left in the car. Something more enticing than the lingerie she wasn’t wearing. She’d slipped out of the shimmery purple panties in the middle of the library, when Master said the magic words to make her obey. She wasn’t wearing any underwear now, and as the realisation settled in her mind she could only think about what ideas she’d given all those men, bending over in front of them to make sure they got a clear view of her bare pussy.
She couldn’t believe she’d done that. Couldn’t believe she hadn’t even realised. Had Master planned this? She couldn’t believe it, he was always too careful. She really couldn’t imagine him setting up something that could get her into trouble. He might make her fantasise about exposure, but he’d never make her actually do it unless he could be completely sure that nobody else was going to object.
This was all her own libido, which didn’t have so many safeguards. That didn’t make it any less terrifying, or less exciting. The fact that she’d given everyone a show without intending to, she couldn’t take that back just because it was her own fault. She couldn’t even bring herself to straighten up, because that would give anyone who was watching the clear signal that she had only just realised. It would be drawing attention to her foolishness, her arousal, and her helplessness.
She could just imagine the deputy librarian figuring out what the objective of her treasure hunt had been. He’d come up behind her while she stood here, bent double with her nose in a book. He’d put one hand on her hip and take her from behind, before she even knew what was happening. He must believe that was what she wanted, after her own behaviour had been so blatant. She imagined him being hung like the man in her art book; an incredible manhood coupled with great modesty; the kind of man who’d never need to boast or show off because he always knew he had it where it counted.
Jen’s fingers were on her clit now, the slightest touch sending shockwaves of pleasure through her body. She hadn’t meant to, but these thoughts were making her too horny to resist. She tried not to think about all the people watching her, but when she did it only aroused her more, and took away any chance at self control. She couldn’t stop. Couldn’t slow her breathing, couldn’t still her hands. She was still sticking her ass in the air, her stiff skirt giving everyone behind her a clear view, but now her hands were frantically kneading her flesh, pushing herself ever closer to the edge. When she thought about how the attention of so many people made her feel she simply couldn’t help herself.
Her fingers were inside her now, thrusting and probing, struggling to keep up with her frantic heartbeat. Her eyes closed, so she could see the circle of onlookers on in her mind, and her imagination populated the crowd with all the people from the books she’d been reading as well. Then she was bucking and moaning, screaming, stumbling until her knees came to rest on rough gravel, and it took every effort not to collapse to the ground completely.