Chapter 1

It was ten o'clock in the morning when Penelope Hart saw the package. She and Joan were heading for their favorite table in the library's breakroom.

"Hey, girl, looks like somebody's got a birthday," Joan said. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Penny joined her at the table looking at the gift, wrapped in expensive silver paper. "It can't be for me. It's not my birthday."

Joan picked the box up and shook it. Something inside rattled. "It's got your name on it, Penny."

Penny grabbed the box from her, smiling. "Then hand it over, please. I wonder who would leave this here?" The box was flat and square. Her name was printed on the tag in a crisp hand. Was it a book? As a librarian, people were always giving her books. She tore it open, to see something red nestled inside. A ping-pong paddle! How odd, she didn't play ping-pong. Lifting it out, she saw that it was bigger than that and covered in red leather, a little padded. She turned it over in her hand showing it to Joan, who giggled. "What on earth is this?"

Joan pulled a sheet of paper out of the box. "There's a verse, Penny. 'How should librarians be spanked--hard and often! Will you cry when I paddle you? Weeping tears of sweet submission before I make you come? Soon. X'."

Penny gasped, her cheeks flaming along with her bottom. She buttoned the top button on her prim white blouse, tucking an errant wisp of her strawberry-blonde hair behind her ear. How could anyone mistake her for a loose woman?

Joan grinned. "Why didn't you tell me you were getting some nookie, girlfriend?"

"I'm not ... I don't." Oh lord, her panties were getting damp.

"Yeah. That's right, your last date was Paul, the thirty-second man," Joan said, sympathetically. "This means you've got a secret admirer, Penny."

"A secret sadist, you mean." She flipped the paddle over. "The stamp on the handle says Missy's House of B & D."

"That's short for bondage and discipline, Penny. Mr. X wants to tie you up and spank you."

Penny's cheeks flamed redder, her bottom tightened, at the word spank. She ran her hand over the smooth leather. "As if I would let him."

"I do," Joan admitted, with a giggle.

"What?" Penny gaped up at Joan, noting the twinkle in her brown eyes.

"Every year on my birthday, for sure," she said, taking a deep breath. "The first year it happened, we got in a fight. I was being a bitch."

Penny grinned, refraining from comment. Her pal could be hell on wheels.

"Anyway, Doug got really pissed, pulled me over his knee, and paddled my ass--hard. I screamed, I cried, I bit him, but he wouldn't stop, and the strangest thing happened. I started to get really turned on, you know, wet down there. Well, after he spanked me, he gave me the screwing of my life. I could hardly walk, to say nothing of sit down, the next day."

Penny blushed, she could just picture Doug, a burly auto mechanic, paddling Joan's round bottom. Now some man wanted to do the same thing to her, a little frisson of fear and excitement zinged through her. Shooting an embarrassed glance at grouchy Mrs. Bates, the returns clerk who was passing through the breakroom, she hoped they hadn't been overheard.

"Nothing but sluts and hooligans," Mrs. Bates muttered to herself.

Penny and Joan both burst out laughing, earning a scowl from portly Mr. Powel, the day manager, who manned the check out desk out front. "Shh."

Biting their lips, they subsided.

"Oh, crap, keep it down," Joan muttered, adding nervously, "Here comes Vlad."

Tensing, Penny looked up. Victor Deveroux was indeed coming their way, here early for the board meeting, she decided. She took in his raven black hair, piercing blue eyes and dark suit, her heart skipping a beat. He was handsome, rich, austere, and way out of her league. Joan, of course, had dubbed him Vlad--the vampire. Penny saw his gaze light on the paddle she held. One of his raven dark brows arched in surprise, and she thought she saw his sensual mouth twitch in amusement. Blushing, she slipped the paddle under the table, letting it rest on her lap.

He nodded. "Ladies."

Penny felt her pulse race. Was he going to comment, or reprimand her? But he passed on by without another word. She stood up, tossing her cool cup of coffee down the drain, she didn't need the caffeine buzz today. "Back to work." She walked to her desk, and slipped the paddle into the bottom drawer, then locked it.

"So, you're not going to the cops with exhibit A," Joan said, with a smile.

"And say what, some anonymous sex maniac wants to spank me?" she said, trying to act casual. "I'll just forget about it."

"Right," Joan said, laughing.

The next two days went by normally. Then going to her desk after lunch, Penny saw the next package.

"Oh," Joan squealed. "Open it. I can't wait to see what he sent."

"I can," Penny said, with trepidation. Did she want to get turned on again? It seemed so naughty. Cautiously ripping off the blue wrapping paper, she opened the box, and gasped. Shiny silver handcuffs nestled inside. She pulled them out, shivering. They were lined with soft fleece. And there was something else in the box, black leather. She pulled it out--a blindfold. Her knees were rubbery, and her panties damp again. She sagged into the nearest chair, saying, "Oh, my."

Joan started reading, "'You will call me master when we meet. You will beg sweetly for my pleasures, and my punishment. Devotedly, X'." Joan fanned her face with the letter. "Hot stuff."

"Kinky stuff," Penny protested, weakly. She wasn't that kind of girl. Heck, she'd only had sex a few times, and she hadn't found it all that satisfying. If this 'X' thought he could turn her into some kind of sex slave, he had his work cut out for him.

"Same thing. Hey, he sent sweets for the sweet." Joan pulled a red lollypop out of the box, and handed it to her.

Penny blushed. It was shaped like an erect penis. She took the gifts and put them in the drawer with the paddle, not that she meant to ever meet him.