Annie turned and left quickly, always glad to get out of the room where he spanked her. She felt nervous as she fumbled for a light switch and entered Jack's bedroom. He'd brought her here last week when she had collapsed after her spanking, but it seemed quite different to enter his room now, of her own accord. Annie looked around anxiously as she crossed to the bureau, feeling as if she shouldn't be in here.
The bureau had three top drawers, and Annie stood nervously for a moment, looking at them. Had he said which drawer? Or had he just said top drawer? Annie knew she should be quick but she didn't want him to think she was rooting around in his private drawers. She turned around quickly, thinking of going back and asking him, then changed her mind. She didn't want to go back in there without the item he had told her to bring. Her anxiety level was rising rapidly.
Annie turned back to the bureau and pulled open the left hand drawer. When she saw it filled with neatly folded socks and underwear, she closed it again quickly and opened the middle drawer. This one seemed to contain athletic wear, tee shirts and running shorts and such, all neatly arranged, and Annie closed it as well. She hoped the item she was looking for would be in the last drawer. She didn't want to have to go digging through his things if he had put it underneath his clothes.
When Annie opened the right hand drawer, she felt a quick moment of relief to spy a paddle lying in plain sight, in an open box. Her relief quickly changed to trepidation, however, as she got a closer look at the paddle. Although she hadn't really thought about it, when Jack had sent her for the paddle, she had been expecting it to be a wooden paddle, but she could see immediately that it was made of leather.
The sight of the leather paddle sent a shiver through her. She didn't know why a leather paddle seemed so much scarier to her than a wooden one, but it was. She could hardly force herself to reach into the drawer and take the paddle out of the box, where it nestled in a bed of tissue paper.
She never knew what Jack had spanked her with in the lab, but the wooden ruler he had used last week had hurt plenty. Now, here was an implement specifically designed to smack a naughty bottom, and she could only imagine how much better it would be at doing that job.
As Annie lifted the paddle out of its box, her apprehension increased. Its solid feel, careful stitching, and well-balanced grip proclaimed that it was a finely crafted tool, designed to get the job done right. She stood frozen to the spot, staring at the paddle in her hand, until she heard Jack's voice calling in from the other room.
"Annie?"
"Coming!" Annie snapped out of her reverie quickly and turned to hurry back. When she got back to the study, she saw that Jack had come to the door to see what was keeping her. He took the paddle from her, took her by the hand, and led her over to the chair that he had moved to the middle of the room.
Annie couldn't take her eyes off the paddle as Jack set it on the floor next to him. Even when he reached up and undid the snap on her jeans, Annie couldn't tear her eyes away from the finely crafted leather object that was about to make its impression on her. She felt him unzip her zipper and then lower her jeans to her ankles. She stepped out of them without even hearing the words he was saying. It was only when she felt him lowering her panties, her attention snapped back to Jack.
"And learn to say no when someone is pressuring you to do something you shouldn't," he was saying.
Annie blushed with embarrassment as she stepped out of her panties and quickly got into position as Jack guided her across his lap. The paddle was on the floor, only inches from her face, and she knew that, in just a few minutes, Jack would pick it up and start spanking her with it. She wasn't in such a hurry to get her spanking over with, anymore. In fact, she now wanted to postpone it for as long as possible.
But Jack was scolding her again and asking her a question, "Do you remember signing those forms when you first came to work for me, stating that you understood and agreed to follow the university regulations, regarding lab animals?"
"Y-yes, sir." Annie's guilt came crashing back, reminding her of why she was getting spanked.
"And did you keep your word about following those regulations?"
"No, sir." Somehow, the guilt made the spanking easier to bear. She was ready for it again.
"Why not?"
"I-I…" Annie didn't know what to say. There wasn't any excuse for what she had done. The guilt was so strong that Annie almost looked forward to the spanking now.
As if he knew what she wanted, Jack's hand came down on Annie's upturned bottom, smacking it sharply with his palm. "Because you let someone talk you into doing something you shouldn't have done, didn't you?"
"Yes, sir," Annie whispered. "I'm so sorry."
Jack smacked her left cheek, turning it a light shade of pink. "And what are you going to do the next time someone tries to talk you into doing something you know you shouldn't do?"
"Ahh, I'm going to say no," Annie replied, as Jack smacked her right cheek just as sharply.
"That's right." Jack started the spanking in earnest now, warming her up with his hand before using the paddle on her. He spanked slowly but smartly, very gradually increasing the intensity. He spanked her from mid-cheek all the way down to the very tops of her thighs, paying special attention to that sensitive spot where her thighs met her bottom.
Annie absorbed each swat with almost a feeling of relief. The spanking hurt, and it bordered on being unbearable, but Jack seemed to sense her limit and just managed to keep her on the edge of it. As the spanking progressed and her tolerance increased, the swats seemed to fall a little harder, always keeping her right at her limit and just going the tiniest bit beyond it, pushing her further, further, slowly further.
Annie found her breathing falling into the rhythm of the slow spanks. She would take a deep breath between spanks, hold it while the blow landed, and then let out her breath as she absorbed the sting of the swat. Her narrow focus of attention let in nothing but the spanking and her breathing in response.
Annie felt as if she was in some sort of trance. Her entire field of vision consisted of the paddle on the floor, a few inches from her face, and her entire feeling of consciousness focused on absorbing and accepting the throbbing burn in her bottom as she breathed with the rhythm of the spanking.
Breathe, spank, sting. Breathe, spank, sting. It seemed the whole world had shrunk to this.
When Jack finally broke the rhythm and slowed the spanks to a stop, Annie had no idea how much time had passed – minutes, hours, days or weeks. Jack lifted the paddle that lay near her head and her field of vision changed, but she was still in the same trance-like state she had been in during her warm up spanking.
How many times had he spanked her? Fifty? Five hundred? Numbers seemed to have no meaning. Was she relieved he had stopped? Disappointed? In the state she was in, she couldn't think clearly enough to tell. All things seemed equally true.
She could hear Jack talking to her, his voice low and hypnotic. She was vaguely relieved he wasn't demanding any response from her. She could understand what he was saying, but she didn't feel capable of replying. His words flowed over her like warm water.
She felt him lift the paddle and felt the shock of the smack when it landed on her already tender bottom. The sting was all she had feared it would be, but rather than knocking her out of her trance, it seemed to lead her even more deeply into it. Her bottom burned intensely, but the intensity seemed only to fuel the trance even more.
As the paddle descended repeatedly, the fire in her bottom felt to Annie as if it might consume her, but instead, it seemed to consume all of her guilt. All of the bad things she had done, all the university regulations she had broken, seemed to burn away in the fire created by the paddle. Annie didn't even know she was crying until she saw the tears start to fall on the floor below her.
When Jack finally laid the paddle aside, Annie didn't move. He gathered her in his arms and carried her to his bed as he had last week. Although her face was wet with tears, she mad
e no sound, except to speak a single word.
"Jack," she croaked as he set her on top of the bedspread and pulled the extra quilt up around her. Jack settled in next to her and held her as she snuggled against him, much the way she had last week, when he had brought her here after her spanking.
Her eyes closed and her breathing was slow and regular, as if she had already fallen asleep. Last week, Jack had been frightened by her convulsive sobbing and then sleeping, but this week, he was prepared that she might want to sleep afterwards, and he allowed himself to enjoy holding her while she slept.
* * *
In fact, Jack was pleased to have these few precious moments to hold Annie and reflect on the spanking he had just given her. The entire time he was spanking her, he had felt completely in tune with her, as if he could feel what she was feeling and knew exactly what she needed. He had never, in his life, had an experience where he had felt quite so in sync with another person, and he was glad to have some time to think about what had just happened. It was a profound and moving experience to be that deeply in touch with another person, and he wanted to savor the memory of it.
After about fifteen minutes, Annie stretched her whole body like a cat before opening her eyes, just as she had done last week after her nap. Jack smiled to himself, pleased to know this intimate little detail about her.
Annie opened her eyes and blinked.
"Jack," she said softly as her gaze fell on him.
"So, you told me you never nap," he teased gently.
Annie sat up, pulling the quilt around her as she did. She was not nearly as dazed as she had been after her nap the previous week, and this time, she was well aware of her stinging bottom and her lack of clothing.
"Jack, would you bring me my clothes? Please?" Annie was blushing as she tucked the quilt more tightly around her.
Jack had hoped to spend a little more time holding her and talking about what they had just experienced, but he could see, immediately, she would never be comfortable enough to talk until she was dressed again.
"Sure," he replied with a quick smile. "Then let's have dinner. I'm starving."
Chapter 14
By the time Annie got downstairs, Jack had set the table and was bringing out a large bowl of sesame noodles. He told Annie to have a seat, and when he brought in the soup, he grinned at her reaction.
"It's gingered pumpkin," he said, setting her bowl in front of her with a flourish. He had added a dollop of cream to the center then swirled it into a spiral pattern, garnished with a sprig of cilantro.
As Annie dug into the food eagerly, he told her about the online sites he had visited to find vegetarian recipes. He had made a list of ingredients and stopped at the gourmet food store on his way home.
"I had a little extra time because the pool was closed due to the storm, so I got to talking with the girl who worked there. She told me I could find some better recipes in the cookbooks they sold, so I bought those, too. She helped me pick these recipes instead of the ones I was going to make and then helped me gather all the ingredients I needed. She must have spent at least an hour helping me, but she was right. These recipes were a great choice."
Annie was surprised that Jack had gone to all that trouble to buy vegetarian cookbooks and ingredients for her, but she was not at all surprised the girl at the grocery store had spent her whole afternoon helping Jack. He probably didn't even notice that she'd been flirting with him. Annie knew she was being ridiculous to feel jealous, but she couldn't help it.
Dinner was excellent, though, and Annie tried to distract herself from her jealous thoughts and her stinging bottom by concentrating on the food. She enjoyed the gingered pumpkin soup so much, she just wanted to fill up on soup and forget the sesame noodles, but once she tasted the noodles, she was glad she had given them a chance, too. Good thing she was so hungry. She wanted second helpings of both.
She remembered how hungry she had been last week, and she almost stuck her foot in her mouth and blurted out some inane comment about how hungry a spanking seemed to make her. She caught herself just in time and quickly shoved an entire roll in her mouth at once, to stop any embarrassing comments from leaking out.
Annie thought maybe she had better steer the conversation onto work-related topics. If they were talking about research and the lab, she shouldn't be as likely to humiliate herself. She asked Jack if he had read the journal article on guanfacine by Rajita Singh and her colleagues at Yale that had just come out yesterday. Annie talked at length about the impact the article had on the research they were doing in Jack's lab and asked him a series of questions about the molecular cascading mechanisms by which guanfacine affected regional cerebral blood flow in the prefrontal cortex.
They continued talking about guanfacine and comparing it to other centrally acting alpha2A-adrenergic receptor agonists throughout dinner and while they cleaned up, afterward. Jack began to feel slightly frustrated. Every time he tried to steer the conversation to a more personal level so that he could broach the topic of his feelings toward her, Annie popped up with another question about myelination or dopaminergic receptors.
* * *
Jack even started to wonder if it was deliberate. Did she sense that he wanted to discuss moving their relationship toward a more intimate level so she intentionally changed the subject every time they got close?
Maybe the setting wasn't right. Cleaning up the kitchen was not very romantic. Perhaps Annie would be more receptive if they lit a fire and relaxed in front of it like last week.
Jack finished wiping down the counters and headed for the living room to open the flue in the fireplace. He had just started stacking the kindling when, suddenly, they heard a loud clanking and scraping sound, coming from outside.
Annie ran to the window and looked out at the flashing amber light. "The snow plow just came by. The street should be much more drivable now. Maybe we should go while we can. It's still coming down hard and the street will be impassible again soon."
Jack's heart sank. He didn't want her to leave now. But she was right. He should get her home while he could. She would probably be extremely upset if she were stuck here for the night. What would she tell her roommates? She had told Jack repeatedly that she was a terrible liar, and he had seen the evidence of that himself. She wouldn't be able to lie to them and say she was somewhere else. And if she told them she was at his house, they might jump to conclusions. They might assume she was having an affair with him, and if she had to work hard at convincing them she wasn't, she might never want to come over again. It was highly unlikely she would want to develop a more intimate relationship with him, after that. Disappointed, he decided he had no option but to take her home.
Annie was still peering out the window. "Although…" she continued worriedly. "I hope we can get the car out. You do have a snowplow or a snow blower or something to clear your driveway, right?"
Jack hurried to the window and looked out over her head. He could see, right away, what she was getting at. The snowplow that had cleared the street had thrown up a towering barrier of snow at the end of his driveway. There was no way his car could drive through that.
"Shit!" In his panic, Jack forgot all about his promise to Annie not to swear in front of her. How was he going to get through that huge snowbank?
"You do have a snowplow or someone who will come to plow you out, right?" Annie repeated anxiously.
"I've got a contract with a guy who comes and plows the driveway for me, but he just comes in the mornings. He works nights, plowing for the city, and then plows driveways to earn a little extra cash, when he finishes. I won't even be able to reach him until after seven a.m." Jack's voice became muffled as he entered the closet, and he reappeared, pulling on his jacket and hat. He fished his gloves out of his pocket as he headed toward the garage in an agitated state.
"Oh!" Annie followed him to the door. Her voice was hesitant as she asked, "So what are we going to do?"
"Don't worry, I'll take care of it." J
ack hit the button to open the garage door, but the drifted snow piled against it prevented it from opening.
"Shit!" Jack repeated in frustration. Belatedly, he remembered his promise. He glanced quickly at Annie. "Sorry!"
"That's okay," Annie called as he rushed out the little side door of the garage into the storm. He sure seemed upset. She chewed her lip as he closed the door behind him, then she went back to the closet and got her coat and boots on to help. She had stuffed her scarf and mittens into her hat when she arrived, so consequently, none of them had a chance to dry. She pulled the soggy items on, anyway, and headed outside to help.
Jack was at the end of the driveway where it met the street. He had a shovel and was attacking the snow pile with a frenzy while Sam ran back and forth, barking. The problem that was apparent to Annie immediately was that the shovel was made of flimsy plastic and had little effect on the frozen icy snow.
The temperature had dropped at least fifteen degrees since the afternoon, and all the wet slushy snow had frozen hard. This wasn't the first time the snowplow had been by since Jack had gotten home. The hard-packed chunks plowed into the driveway earlier had frozen into an impenetrable mass, covered with more ice chunks deposited by the most recent pass of the snowplow – Jack's flimsy plastic shovel merely scraped ineffectively across the frozen bank, not even making a dent in the icy barrier.
The ferocity of his assault on the snow bank took her aback slightly. He was more upset than she had realized and seemed extremely anxious to get her home immediately.
"I think you need a metal shovel." Annie's voice was cautious in the face of his feverish battery on the offending snow pile.
"I. Don't know. If I. Have one." Jack punctuated each phrase with a tremendous thrust of the shovel, trying futilely to make some headway in the impenetrable mass. He stopped and wiped the falling snow off his face. "I just use this one to clear the porch and steps."
Submitting To Her Professor Page 14
