Chapter 11

Shelby and Noel finished their meal, making little more than small talk. When they were finished, he looked at her as if to say, "What now?"

"How about we check out the library?" Shelby asked. "Maybe we can find out more about what's going on?" And she needed a little time just to be focused on something other than sex or food for a while. It was so hot, so intense, it was getting hard to remember it wasn't real. She needed to step back and take a breath. When this weekend was over, she'd have to go back to her ordinary accountant's life and she'd still have to face Noel at the office every day. Having a wild fling with him was one thing, but she had to be careful not to let herself fall in love - all the way at least. Unfortunately, she was already more than halfway there.

"Sounds good." He stood, immediately moving to pull her chair back for her. "I suppose we can assume the dishes will be taken care of."

She nodded. "Probably as soon as we leave the room."

The library was as stunning as she remembered it, with a warm fire in the brick hearth, plush sofas, a big wooden desk and bookcases reaching to the ceiling. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She even loved the smell of books. This was a place she could get lost in for days. She looked at Noel and saw a similar expression of appreciation on his face and her heart tumbled just a little bit more. How could she resist a man who loved books as much as she did?

"So, where do we start?"

She smiled back at the wry humor in his tone. "Wherever we want, I guess. It's not like we have anything else to do."

Noel lifted one eyebrow and lowered his eyelids. "Oh, I can think of a few ideas, but they'll wait."

Shelby had to force herself to breathe as a bolt of lust shot all the way down her spine. "I'll - umm - start with the desk. You can figure out if the books are arranged in any sort of specific order. How's that?"

"Okay." He shot her a wicked grin before turning to the nearest shelf. "For now."

Shelby gulped and made her way to the desk, fully aware that her drawers were split at the crotch. All he'd have to do was bend her over one of those sofas, unbutton his trousers and...

Stop! Save that for later. Sinking into the swivel chair, she spared a moment to be glad it was wood, so her dampness wouldn't leave any telltale stains.

She had no idea exactly what they were looking for and she suspected Noel didn't either. They both seemed to believe that they'd be transported back to the real world on Christmas Eve. The magic didn't seem to be out to harm them in any way. So they weren't trying to find a way home. More information about why, maybe. That certainly couldn't hurt. Noel she understood - the village had been his family heirloom after all. But why had it chosen her to send with him? Was it really because he'd been fighting the same attraction she'd been suffering? She wished she could believe that.

"Seems to be some general split between fiction and nonfiction," he announced from the other side of the big room. "Fiction's on that side, everything else is over here. I've found sections on botany, biographies and archaeology so far, so I guess it's more or less alphabetical. Let's see what we can find in M for magic."

Get to work, girl! Shelby started opening desk drawers. Bottles of ink, quill pens and stacks of paper. No big surprise.

"Huh. There's actually a pretty big section. You need a book on spells for gardening? Or how about one titled Weather Magicks? There's even one for love charms and a volume on breaking hexes. Nothing about magical Christmas decorations so far."

"Try looking under 'Holiday'," she suggested. "This has something to do with your family, remember."

"Good thinking." He moved again and Shelby went back to searching the desk.

Paperclips. Scissors and a jar of wheat-pasted shoe polish and a shoe brush. Lamp oil and matches. A household account book that covered the years 1850-1860 and another from 1860-1870. She set those aside to look at later and kept searching. In the final drawer, she found a stack of postcards, neatly tied up with a red satin ribbon.

"Found it," Noel called. "The History of Holiday House." He pulled out the slim, leather-bound volume and moved over to one of the couches. Glancing up at Shelby, he saw the bundle in her hand as she untied the ribbon. "What did you find?"

Shelby flushed. "A large collection of dirty postcards. Apparently your Victorian ancestors were anything but prudes."

Noel patted the seat beside him. "Bring those over here. As soon as we've caught up on our history, we can check them out. I've heard about Victorian erotica, but I haven't seen much of it firsthand."

Shelby hadn't either, but just from the few she'd flipped through so far, it wasn't much different from modern porn, except for the clothes and settings. Her pussy tingled just thinking about looking at them with Noel. Maybe they could even act a few scenes out. Now that would be fun.

She curled up on the sofa, her shoulder leaning against his as he opened the book about the house. On the first page was a photograph of the house, exactly as it was now, except there was a horse and carriage parked in front. "Well, this is definitely it," she said.

Noel nodded and started flipping through chapters. "Built in 1840," he murmured. "On the site of an even older home. Lots of details about the family..." He flipped past several more sections to the last chapter. "In 1899, it was decided that a railroad would be built across the property where the house stood, so the house was set to be demolished."

"Maybe that's why they built the replica," Shelby offered. "To remember the house after it was gone."

"No, I think it gets even stranger," Noel replied. "The family convened at Midsummer and a great spell was cast. In the morning, the local paper reported that the house had been quickly and quietly demolished overnight. Not a single brick or board was ever found."

"So you're saying your ancestors managed to somehow shrink the house?"

Noel shrugged. "I don't know. That seems to be the suggestion. It goes on to say that a close copy of the house was built on family property a little farther out of town, which is probably the one my grandparents still live in."

"O-o-okay. I suppose if magic could zap us here from Charleston it could shrink a house. Why the hell not?"

Noel shook his head and closed the book. "I'm thinking I need to go spend some time with my grandparents. There's a lot more to the family history than I ever suspected."