Chapter Eight

"Come with me," said Anderson. Meekly I stood and followed him to his office. Visions of leather straps and the cruel thin cane flashed through my mind, making me feel almost weak with desire, with fear, with arousal, with shame. The good girl that I was, I'd never seen Anderson's office before. I'd been expecting something frightening, perhaps with a rack of whips mounted on the wall. In reality it was merely an ordinary office, just like those that belonged to any of the other lecturers at St Martinas.

I sat in the chair in front of the desk, practically squirming with excitement now. I longed to touch myself, longed to feel the sting of the cane for the first ever time, to know what it was truly like to be punished. I was scared, of course, but the fear only made it that much better, that much more intense. Anderson sat opposite me and steepled his fingers. I waited for his judgement.

"Jane," he said at last. "You've got a good record. One of the best in fact. If I'm not mistaken this is, in fact, the first offence of any kind you've committed, correct?"

I nodded. "Yes, Sir."

Anderson considered me thoughtfully. "You know the normal punishment for this would be the cane? You understand me?"

"Yes Sir," I said again. Doubt was creeping in now. What did he mean 'the normal punishment'? Was he going to discipline me in some different way? What if he simply gave me a detention? Or lines? All of my effort would have been for nothing.

"I understand you're on a scholarship at this University."

"That's right," I said. "I am."

"Good. Well, in that case I'm going to give you a warning tonight." He leaned forward across the desk. "You're a good student, Jane. We all make mistakes, and if this turns out to be a one off you'll hear no more about it. If, on the other hand, you put so much as a foot wrong again you'll be out. You understand? Straight away, no questions asked, I'll pack you off home."

I nodded. "I understand." Inside of me I could feel the hot dark excitement dying out into disappointment and shame. Of course, I should have known it wouldn't be that easy to get what I wanted. I watched Anderson fill out my warning slip and file it away. There was no way now that I would ever be caned. If I broke any more rules he would simply send me home and that would be the end of it. It was so unfair.

In that moment I made a decision. If I wasn't drunk there was no way I would have said it. "Please Sir," I murmured. "I want to be caned."

Anderson stopped where he was and looked at me with piercing eyes. "Say that again," he said.

For a moment I wavered, but there was no going back now. "I want to be caned," I repeated, louder and more confident this time.

For a second or two Anderson simply stood there, then he gave a small laugh and sat down at the desk once more. He considered me for a long minute, and I felt every second of his gaze. I withered under it. When he did finally speak his voice was brisk and business-like. "Come back to my office at this time tomorrow night. You are dismissed for now."

I needed no further encouragement. I scurried from the office and up to my dormitory, where all the other girls were thankfully asleep. I crawled into bed, and slept.