Annie got quite a shock when she turned the knob and entered the guest bedroom. It was freezing in there. It was at least ten degrees colder than it was in the hallway and maybe more. She couldn't quite see her breath in the room, but it felt almost cold enough to do so. The vents to the central heating must not have been opened, so this room was unheated.
Annie stepped quickly back into the warmer hallway. She had to go ask Jack to open the heating vents. She knocked on his bedroom door, but there was no answer. She knocked again, more loudly this time, but there was still no answer. She stood there indecisively for a moment, chewing her lip.
She couldn't just stand here all night. She was already chilled and was only going to get more so, standing out here in the hallway. She had left the door to the guestroom open, and she could feel the cold air seeping out from across the hall. Jack had told her to get him if she needed anything, so she should just gather up her courage and get him.
Jack hadn't closed his door all the way; he had left it open a crack. "Jack?" she called as she knocked again. When there was still no response, she put her hand on the door and pushed it open slowly, still calling Jack's name.
The room was empty, but she could hear running water and a buzzing sound coming from the master bath. He must be brushing his teeth. She didn't want him to come out and find her standing there in his room. What if he thought she was snooping? What if he wasn't dressed? She quickly stepped back into the hall, leaving his door open.
Annie moved slowly back to the guest room. Maybe it would be fine in there. She could just leave the door open and eventually it would warm up. She couldn't just prowl around the hallway all night. Once she was in the bed and under the covers, she should be able to get warm and fall asleep.
Annie took a deep breath and hurried across the room to the bed. The wooden floorboards felt like ice beneath her bare feet. She didn't even bother turning on the light switch; she could see well enough from the light coming in through the window. She threw back the blankets and jumped in between the sheets, then pulled the covers up over her head.
The sheets were as cold as the room was and sucked what little warmth remained in Annie's body right out of her. But that was not the worst of it. Annie quickly realized that the only covers were a sheet and a thin bedspread. There was no warm blanket on the bed at all!
Annie shivered in the bed, wracked with indecision. Should she get up and look for a warm blanket? There must be one here somewhere. But if she got up, she lost what little warmth she had from the sheet and bedspread and had to stand on that icy floor again. Her feet curled at the very thought. Maybe she could just stay in bed for a little while and then go look for a blanket when she warmed up a little?
If only she hadn't been so very cold for such a long time, wearing her wet clothes out in the storm to help Jack with the driveway, then standing around in nothing but a tee shirt, she might have been able to warm herself up with just the sheet and bedspread, even in that frigid room. But she had been cold for so long, her body seemed to have lost any reserves of warmth it might once have had. Annie waited and waited, but she couldn't seem to get any warmer lying in bed.
All right, she was going to have to bite the bullet and get out of bed and look around that cold room to see if she could find a warm blanket. She peeked her head out of the covers and looked around the room. There was a large bureau on the other side of the room and a wooden chest at the foot of the bed.
Annie felt her hopes rising. Jack kept an extra blanket on the wooden chest at the foot of the bed in his room. She knew, because he had pulled it around her last week, as well as earlier tonight, when he had put her on his bed. So there was a good chance there would be one in this chest, and she wouldn't even have to put her feet on the icy floor to find it. She crawled to the foot of the bed and awkwardly raised the lid to look into the chest.
Annie's heart sank. Christmas decorations filled the chest, but there was no sign of a blanket. Her shivering increased as the chill of the room penetrated her meager clothing.
Annie took a deep breath and slid off the bed. She gasped as her feet hit the cold floor but hurried across the room to check the bureau. She tried pulling her legs under her tee shirt one at a time, like a stork, but she just didn't have enough body heat to warm them. By the time Annie had determined that there were no blankets in either the bureau or the closet, her feet were numb from the cold.
Annie knew she couldn't stay in the icy guest room any longer. She had to go ask Jack for a warmer blanket. In fact, she knew there was that extra quilt at the foot of his bed that she had used just earlier tonight. If she could just get that and wrap herself up in it, she would feel so much better.
Shivering hard now, she padded silently out of her room and across the hall to Jack's. His door was still open, and she could see the outline of him, sleeping in his bed under his blankets. Should she wake him up, or should she just try and get the quilt she had used earlier without disturbing him?
* * *
Jack lay on his side, with his back to the open door. He was starting to realize that he wasn't going to get any sleep tonight. Although he usually slept well, the thought of Annie in the room across the hall was so arousing that he was wide-awake. She was so close and so enticing. But he was a gentleman and a self-disciplined one. He almost groaned in frustration.
Suddenly, Jack heard an odd clicking, clattering noise. He turned quickly and saw Annie, standing by the side of his bed.
"Annie!" Jack wondered if he was dreaming. Did she somehow know how much he wanted her? Was she coming to tell him she felt the same way?
"I n-need a b-blanket." The clicking sound he had heard was the sound of Annie's teeth chattering.
"There's no h-heat in my r-room, or b-blankets." Jack was out of his bed in one quick movement. He reached for Annie's arm and her skin was cold beneath his hand. She was shivering so violently, it was difficult for her talk.
"Oh, Annie, I'm so sorry! I should have checked the room." Jack could have kicked himself. How could he have let her get so cold? Why hadn't he checked to make sure the heat was on and there were blankets on the bed? He had been so distracted by the sight of Annie in his tee shirt and concentrating so hard on keeping his hands off her, he let her go to bed without checking to make sure she had what she needed.
"Here, get in my bed. I'll go sleep in there—"
"N-no, n-no, I c-can't take your b-bed!" But Jack had already scooped Annie up and deposited her in the spot he had just vacated.
* * *
Annie wanted to continue arguing, but the bed felt so good. There was a large warm area, where Jack's body heat had already warmed the sheets. Her body betrayed her by snuggling into that area to soak up every bit of warmth it could.
"I'll be right back." Jack turned on the light in the guest room, where he was shocked by how chilly the air was. He looked around for the heat registers and tried to remember what the landlady had told him about opening the vents. He had rented this house fully furnished from a classics professor who was on sabbatical, but this was the first time he had ever had to take care of his own place without a maintenance staff. He felt like an imbecile for allowing Annie to become so chilled.
He was still fuming at himself when he went back to check on Annie. Her teeth had stopped chattering and her shivering had subsided somewhat, but when she tried to argue with him about giving him his bed back, he put his foot down. He had done a piss-poor job of taking care of her so far, and he'd be damned if he was going to let her go back in that cold room tonight!
"Let me take the extra quilt here and I'll be f-fine, Jack. I'm not going to kick you out of your own b-bed." Annie threw back the covers and started to get out of bed, but Jack could see immediately how cold she still was. She was still shivering slightly and still covered with goose bumps.
"Here, Annie, let me warm you up first." Jack did not intend to let her sleep in the icy guest room. He thought maybe, if he got her thawed out a little, she might f
all asleep then he could just withdraw to the guest room without her noticing.
Before Annie could get the rest of the way out of bed, Jack scooped her up and lay down next to her. He had turned her so that she was facing away from him and wrapped his arms around her from behind. His head was right next to hers as they spooned together in the dark room.
"Jack, I shouldn't be in your bed. I mean, I…" Annie protested. She struggled to make her body move away from Jack.
"Don't worry, Annie. I won't touch you," Jack whispered in Annie's ear." I mean, I'll hold you to warm you up, but I promise not to do anything…inappropriate while I'm warming you up."
Annie felt herself flush with embarrassment at his words. Of course, she knew he wasn't going to do anything, well, sexual with her. She knew he wasn't attracted to her, and it was actually kind of embarrassing that she was protesting, as if he would really have any intention of doing anything inappropriate. If she kept up her protests, he might have to make it more explicit that he didn't view her that way, and that would be beyond awkward!
Annie thought she ought to leave, but his warm body felt so good next to hers. Some part of her objected, told her that she shouldn't be lying in bed with him like this, but her body had a mind of its own and snuggled even closer to him. Her frozen feet burrowed underneath his legs, and she pressed her back tightly against his chest. Almost immediately, her shivering died down, as his body seemed to absorb all the cold and tension from hers. She hadn't even realized how tightly clenched her shivering muscles had been until they started to relax in the warmth of his body heat.
Like food to someone who is starving or water to a man who was dying of thirst, the warmth of his embrace felt better to her than anything she could remember. I'll just stay here until I get warm, she told herself sleepily. It really isn't that much different from falling asleep on top of the blankets here earlier tonight. She knew that wasn't true – knew this felt different, more intimate, more…something. She was too sleepy to think about it clearly now. She would just let him warm her up a little and then go back to the guest bed.
Chapter 16
When Annie opened her eyes, she could see light coming in the window. This was disconcerting enough, as she was always up before dawn every day, but what really shocked her was to find herself still in Jack's arms, in the same position she had fallen asleep last night. Had she really slept the whole night without moving, spooning with Jack? Annie tried to hold perfectly still so she wouldn't disturb him, but her mind was racing.
She couldn't believe she had slept the whole night without awakening. She usually woke up several times during the night, often having trouble falling back asleep, and she always woke up before her alarm went off at five-thirty. Most mornings, as soon as she woke up, she started getting anxious about the day ahead, worrying about all the things that could go wrong, so she was never relaxed enough to fall back asleep. That's why she had volunteered for the early shift in the rat lab. She was up, anyway, so she might as well be doing something useful. Wasting time only led to more anxiety.
Last night, she had slept the entire night in Jack's arms, apparently without even moving. She could feel his body behind hers, breathing deeply in sleep. Suddenly, she realized that she had better get out of bed before he woke up and found her there. It would be quite awkward if he woke up and found her still in his bed, after she had told him she would only stay until she was warm and then go back to the guest bed.
Annie slipped quietly out from under Jack's arm and hurried out of the room without waking him up. She was used to getting up soundlessly so as not to awaken her roommate, Sonja, in the mornings, so she was silent as a mouse as she slipped into the hallway. By the time she had brushed her teeth in the guest bathroom, she was starting to feel a little chilly again, so she headed down to the laundry room to get her clothes. She thought she would feel a lot better after she had her own warm clothes back on instead of running around half-naked in just Jack's big shirt.
Annie was in for a disappointment when she got to the laundry room. She had put her clothes in the washer last night, but had not put them in the dryer. They were all still damp and couldn't be worn yet. Sighing, she put her jeans, panties, and shirt in the dryer. She didn't want to shrink her good sweater, so she laid it over a drying rack in the corner of the laundry room. She started to do the same thing with her bra, but suddenly felt worried that Jack might come in and see it hanging on the rack. That would be embarrassing. It would seem as if she had made herself so much at home that she was hanging her underwear around his house. She didn't really want to put it in the dryer, so she looked for a place to hang it to dry, where it wouldn't be so visible. Behind the washer, there were faucets connected to the hoses of the washing machine, and she thought, if she could reach back there, she could hang her bra over the faucet where it couldn't be seen. She squeezed herself between the wall and the washer and, with a little toss, hung up her bra there. The dryer was already beginning to throw off some heat, so she thought it should dry nicely.
She wanted to press herself against the warm humming dryer, but there was no place to sit in the laundry room, so after a few minutes, she went back into the kitchen. She wished she had a blanket to wrap around herself and almost laughed, realizing she was back to where she had been last night, chilly and wishing for a blanket. Well, maybe she could get that blanket she had gone to get from Jack's room last night. The quilt was still at the foot of his bed, and she wouldn't get cold if she had that to wrap around her.
She'd left the door to Jack's room open when she had gotten up, and she could see him now sleeping where she had left him. She tiptoed in and reached for the quilt, folded on the trunk at the foot of the bed, when his voice startled her so much, she jumped guiltily.
"Good morning," Jack said in a rumbling voice, heavy with sleep.
"I-I was just getting the quilt," Annie said. She was embarrassed that he had caught her sneaking around his bedroom. "I was cold and I didn't want to wake you up…"
"Then come on back in and let me warm you up again." Jack tossed back the covers and reached for Annie's hand.
"Oh, I-I shouldn't…"
"Come on, it worked great last night. Come on in." Jack gently pulled Annie close.
"Well, I…" Annie didn't think she should be getting back in bed with Jack. But, then again, it wasn't like she hadn't done it before. She let him reach up and guide her back into to the same position as he had put in her last night, with her back up against his chest, almost sitting on his lap, as he lay curled on his side.
His mouth was right near her ear, and he whispered, "When I woke up and you were gone, I was afraid it was all just a dream."
Annie didn't know what to make of that. What was he saying? "I-I just went to put my clothes in the dryer."
"You can stay warm here while they're drying," Jack mumbled sleepily.
Annie bit her lip. She knew she ought to get out of Jack's bed before he came fully awake. "I should probably get up and let you sleep. I can never fall back to sleep in the morning."
She felt Jack's body shake as he laughed softly. "You said that about napping, too, but you napped pretty well here, last week and last night."
Annie flushed with embarrassment, but she also felt herself relaxing in the warmth and comfort of Jack's arms. I'll just lie here quietly until he falls back to sleep, then I'll get back up. That way, I won't have to argue with him, she thought. She closed her eyes and waited for Jack to fall back to sleep.
* * *
Jack smiled to himself as he felt Annie drift off again. Her breathing slowed and became more regular until he recognized the signs that she had once again fallen asleep in his arms. Never fall back to sleep in the morning, hmm? he thought to himself as he pressed his face against her hair and breathed in the smell of her strawberry scented shampoo. Once again, he held himself perfectly still so as not to wake her.
He knew there was no chance he would fall back to sleep himself – and not just because
of the mild discomfort he felt from having his erection tucked between his legs so he wouldn't alarm her. He'd eventually managed to fall asleep in that position last night, and it was well worth it to hold her while she slept. The arousal he felt from holding her so close to him was enough to keep him awake, but his mind was also racing as he considered how to suggest that they make their current sleeping arrangement more permanent.
Annie slept for a good thirty minutes before waking with a stretch. She turned and looked at Jack with astonishment. "Did I fall back asleep? I never do that!"
"So you keep saying," Jack teased.
Annie flushed in embarrassment. "I never sleep all night in the same position, either," she murmured, ducking her head slightly.
"Oh, you didn't sleep all night in the same position," Jack corrected her.
Annie looked at Jack in surprise. "But…I was in the same position this morning as when we went to bed last night. I was like this…" Annie turned on her side with her back pressed to Jack's chest again.
"Yeah, that's how we went to sleep, but we didn't stay like that all night." Jacked bent his head down so he could speak softly into Annie's ear, "After a little while, my shoulder and arm started to fall asleep and get that pins and needles feeling, so I tried to move my arm out and go into the other bedroom." Jack wiggled the arm that was under Annie's head slightly, as if he was getting ready to slide it out from under her.
"When I tried to pull my arm out, you grabbed onto it like this." Jack used his arm that was over the top of Annie to take one of her hands and move it to his hand that he was trying to pull out from under her. "You grabbed on tight in your sleep and made these little moaning sounds of no…no. You wouldn't let me pull my arm out."
Annie was positively mortified! Had she really done such a thing? What must he think of her?
"I tried several times, but every time I tried to leave, you grabbed on and wouldn't let go," Jack continued. "Finally, I knew I had to roll over before I lost all the feeling in my arm, so I rolled us both over, like this."
Submitting To Her Professor Page 16
