Encounter with a Bookseller

This story was written for the 750 Word Project 2024, below this line are exactly 750 words:

'Can I help?' he asked.

She looked at him with a slight frown. 'That's a very good question. Although perhaps not for the reason you might think.'

'Oh?'

She glanced around at the shelf upon shelf of books. 'I take it that, as a bookseller, you are pretty well read.'

'Umm... reasonably.'

'Then perhaps you can set me straight. Is it can I help? Or should it be may I help?'

He smiled. 'Can tends to suggest ability,' he said. 'What is possible. Whereas may tends to suggest permission. But I'm not sure that many people worry about such distinctions these days. The terms have become almost interchangeable. A little like less and fewer. A shame really.

She nodded.

'So...,' he said, 'can I help? And, if I can, then may I? Is there something in particular that you are looking for?'

'There is,' she said. 'Sex.'

He allowed himself a little smile. 'Sex?'

'Yes. Sex,' she confirmed.

He nodded. 'And are you thinking fiction or non-fiction?'

'Perhaps something for the mind.' And she tapped her temple with the elegant middle and ring fingers of her left hand. She was wearing a wedding ring. Gold. With an incised pattern.

'Erotica,' he said. 'Yes. The erotica section is opposite the romance section. Although one might argue that they can sometimes amount to the same thing. Sometimes. But by no means always.' And then he said: 'And were you looking for something to... umm... read to yourself? Or are you seeking something that can be enjoyed à deux?'

'I'm thinking solo,' she said. 'But I could be persuaded.'

He smiled. 'Let's see what we can find,' he suggested. And he led the way to some shelves near the back of the shop. The shelves were labelled Adult Entertainment. 'At this end,' he said, waving a hand to his left, 'mainly pictorial. And at this end,' (and he swept right with his right hand) 'mainly words.'

'Words, I think,' she said. 'Although I am not averse to the odd naughty picture.'

He nodded. 'And are you thinking slow burn?'

'Umm... no... not really. I suppose I was rather hoping for something reasonably... well... instant. Although not entirely instant.'

Again he nodded. 'Not instant. But not something that requires you to wade through a hundred pages of scene setting before you experience the first tingle?'

She smiled. 'A little anticipation can sometimes be rewarding.'

'Indeed. But not to the point where you have forgotten what it was that you were anticipating?'

'Exactly.'

'Hmm.' The bookseller scanned the shelves and then he carefully removed a slim volume from between its two more robust shelf mates. 'What Molly Bloom Did Next,' he said. And then he extracted two more slim volumes. 'Let's go and audition these three, shall we?' And he led the way to a door marked PRIVATE.

The room beyond the door was like a miniature version of the kind of library that one might find in a grand country house. There was soft music. And, as well as the shelves of books, there was a fine display of framed bookplates. Many of them erotic. There were also two large leather chairs. 'Make yourself comfortable,' he said.

She settled back into one of the chairs and the bookseller handed her one of the books he had selected for her. 'Nice chair,' she said.

'Oh, it gets better,' he promised. And then he adjusted the light so that the room was in semi-darkness -- except for a soft pool of light falling on the book she was holding.

'Let us begin,' he said.

Was it her imagination? Or was the chair beginning to 'reshape' itself?

The chair extended, lifting her shapely legs. It also caused them to spread slightly. 'Gosh,' she said.

'Gosh?'

She smiled and opened the book.

She was still only on the second page when a hidden trapdoor opened in the arm of the chair and a stuffed leather snake began to emerge. 'Interesting,' she said. As she watched, the snake headed for her spread knees and then began slithering, seductively up her inner thigh.

'You may continue to read,' the bookseller told her. 'The snake is very well trained.'

'To do exactly what?' she asked.

'To enhance your experience.'

The chair caused her legs to spread further. And the snake began to nuzzle the taut gusset of her knickers. 'I do hope your snake doesn't bite,' she said.

The bookseller shook his head. He also took out his cock. His now-growing cock.