Warning: there is more than a hint of violence in this part.
A/N: we come to what I visualised as a key scene in this story. I'm not sure if you'll agree with me.
Part Nine
.
"Mrs Smith, what can I do for you?" John evenly asked her; the only sign of his discomfort was a slight flaring of his nostrils when he spoke.
What was the matter with her?! This could not be happening; not now.
Donna was suddenly lost for words, and her loss of breath caused her to pant. "S-sorry. I erm… I knocked on the door, Dr Smith, but no one answered. I er… I was hoping for a quick word about…" She then held up his notebook in demonstration as she flailed. "There's a phrase…," she tried to continue.
"Very well. Clarkson, stand up," he ordered, and then marched towards her. Using his body, he backed her out of the room, into the corridor, and shut the door firmly behind them. "Are you alright?" he instantly whispered with concern, and reached out to take her hand. "There seems to be a problem. You are looking very flushed."
It's not a problem, it's more like a revelation, she wanted to tell him. "It's nothing," she waved off. "I just needed to ask you what these words are right here. I can't get any further until I know." She flashed him the relevant page.
"No, you do not seem well. Let me escort you back to our rooms," he kindly insisted. "I can feel your heart racing away."
Well he would, judging by the way he was holding her wrist possessively and masterfully. Do you think he'd be masterful and possessive with her? What was the matter with her?! She ought to be screaming at him for being a sadistic brute to that poor boy. Well, he'd have her full sympathy if she hadn't heard what the little guttersnipe had done to one of the other boys. As it turned out, he fully deserved it, but that wasn't her problem. The problem was currently standing in front of her and she didn't know how to control this one.
She swallowed nervously before answering, "Honestly, I'll be fine. You have work to do. Come up and see me lunchtime instead. Your little darlings might be running riot in there by now."
"They wouldn't dare," he confidently replied; and noticed a shiver go through her. "Donna, are you ailing with something?"
She shook her head to clear it of these thoughts. That tone in his voice should not be having this effect on her. Had he drugged her somehow when he had kissed her earlier? "I erm... I'm fine; more than fine. Just promise me you'll pop up later to see me," she almost begged. How could she make it clearer that she wanted him in private?
What was going on? She was acting very strange. "Very well, I promise," he swore, and kissed her hand. "Until later then." Goodness, he didn't want to leave her on her own like this, but as usual Donna knew her own mind. He smiled encouragingly at her and then swept back into the classroom. "Clarkson, you may sit down," he barked out and closed the door.
The quietness of the corridor seemed surreal. What the hell was that just then?! Donna stood crushing herself up against the wall, hoping to ground herself, protecting her from this sudden onslaught of feelings and cooling her ardour down. Wow! Why hadn't she noticed before? Seeing him wield a cane like that, it was so… hot! He really took control without batting an eyelid; the whole bumbling thing was obviously a façade when he was around her. Beneath that mild exterior was this potential sex god.
A hysterical giggle escaped her lips. Had she really thought that about the Doctor? Except he wasn't the Doctor to her anymore; he was John, and she had been mentally thinking of him in that way for days now, she realised. It had been John who had used that cane in such an authoritative manner; and she wanted him. She wanted him in a way that she had never thought imaginable; preferably naked and with that cane in his hand. Who would have thought she had such a fetish?! She was shocked at herself. It was like suddenly finding out you have a craving for olive flavoured chocolate; although I suppose that could happen when you are pregnant.
"Mrs Smith, are you unwell?" Joan's query came down the corridor when she spied Donna almost clinging to the wood panelling.
Relief flooded Donna when she saw it was Joan and not someone else, like the Headmaster. "Not really, thank you, Nurse Redfern," she confessed as Joan walked towards her. "But I would benefit from your company whilst drinking tea if that can be arranged."
"It can indeed," Joan replied in friendly tones. "Come with me."
It was only as she accompanied Joan that Donna realised that she hadn't learned what the elusive words in the notebook were. Never mind, he had promised to visit her lunchtime, so she had time to compose herself before he arrived within the next two hours or so.
"Mrs Smith!" an unwelcome voice called out down the corridor after Donna as she stepped out and left Joan to resume her work.
She turned to see Mr Baillie grinning inanely at her. Oh bugger! Did the man ever spend time in his own classroom? "Good morning, Mr Baillie," she politely greeted him. "Have you abandoned your garden sketches today? Your regular bench must miss you."
"Alas, dear lady, I have missed your company in the garden, so I came to seek you out," he admitted. Now any normal man would at least feign some modicum of decency, but there was an element about Mr Baillie that seemed rather proud of the fact he was deliberately seeking her out.
"I am sorry to hear that," she tried to sympathise as she continued to walk along the corridor towards their rooms. The bell was about to go and she really did not want to be caught in the middle of the main thoroughfare with him of all people. Especially if it meant having to walk closer to him to avoid being crushed by a bunch of schoolboys possibly on the lookout for a quick grope. "I was called into Nurse Redfern's office."
"Ah, Nurse Redfern," he noted absently. "She is a friend to many."
Now didn't that sound potentially catty? There was the hint of a slur in his tones.
They had reached the bottom step of the staircase by this point in the conversation, and the school bell rang, so half of Donna's attention was distracted for a second. "Do you not approve of Nurse Redfern, Mr Baillie?" she asked, at the ready to defend her dear friend Joan's honour.
Mr Baillie swept his gaze furtively around the vicinity, and then beckoned her nearer with a flex of his index finger. "If I may confide in you, Mrs Smith; Nurse Redfern was rather taken with me when I first arrived in this establishment, but I had to thwart her attentions," he confessed.
Really? In your dreams, mate! It was the other way around from what Joan had said; and Donna had found it easy to believe her. "How unfortunate for both parties concerned," she replied evenly. "Fortunately there is no one to annoy you in such a way now." She smiled her sweetest smile, hoping he'd would take the hint, and bugger off!
Alas he didn't. Instead he used the excuse of the turning staircase to move closer. "There is no annoyance at all, I assure you," he agreed with a smirk. "Unless you count the fact that you, Mrs Smith, will not allow me to even sketch you."
Anger flared through her at his verbal prod. She firmly told him, "I have told you, Mr Baillie that my husband does not approve." Then she stepped off the top of the stairs.
"And what about you, dear lady?" he asked as he joined her on the landing and edged closer still. "I am sure I can tempt you to reconsider," he carefully enunciated.
Her door was only five yards away now; if she could just get to the door and dive inside she was sure she could shake him off. "I assure you that my mind is made up, and if I pose for anyone it would only be for Dr Smith."
His voice dropped an octave as his hand reached out to touch her arm. "Such loyalty is a wonderful thing to behold, but we could easily meet in private somewhere, say the stables, and he need never know of our… tryst."
Surely he wasn't trying it on, not properly? She couldn't believe her ears! In milliseconds her hand twitched and…
SMACK!
"What was that for?!" he indignantly protested as he nursed his offended cheek.
Donna scowled at him. The git! "Why do you think, Mr Baillie? That line may work on gullible young women but it won't wash with me!" she told him sternly.
But it didn't work as she had planned.
"I like your fire, Donna. May I call you Donna? In return, you may call me Alfred when we are alone like this." He had pushed her up against a door and had clamped his hands around her upper arms, pinning her in place; preventing her from being able to raise a hand let alone slap him again. His unwelcome hot breath slobbered over her like a St Bernard with the flu as his lecherous tone continued. "You really are…"
Donna had shut her eyes tight as he had loomed nearer, not wanting to see him up close; but suddenly he had loosened his grip and she was free. What had happened? And then the answer was revealed; John had Mr Baillie held up by the throat!
"Keep away from my wife!" he spat out through gritted teeth. John then efficiently threw back his fist and punched Mr Baillie hard in the face.
Mr Baillie staggered away in shock. "I did not… I never…," he tried to excuse himself; but John merely stood glaring at him until he crept away back into the hole he had emerged from.
Oh my goodness! She thought John was magnificent as he stood controlling his angry panting! As he turned his steady gaze onto her, Donna blurted out, "You saved me, John. Thank you!"
"He was hurting you," he stated as though he needed to defend his actions.
"Nowhere near as much as he could have done," she gratefully consoled him, and rested her hands on his chest, needing to touch him. "You defended my honour, so I need to reward you," she shyly continued. "What would you like me to do?" Oh dear! Didn't that invite a dodgy answer from him?
John wrapped his arms around her waist, eagerly drawing her closer. "Spend the night with me," he huskily requested, "in my bed."
"For you, my knight in shining armour, anything," she whispered. Kiss me, she silently begged. "And bring your cane." Oops! Had she said that out loud?
What?! He pulled back to ask, "My cane? Why would you want me to bring my cane?"
D'uh! Because you look damned hot with it; because you make me want you to playfully threaten me with it; because I apparently have a strange kink that I never knew I had. And I keep thinking things I really shouldn't. "To frighten your nightmares away with, so that we won't be disturbed," she suggested.
A dainty furrow appeared on his brow. "For you I will," he vowed and then crushed her to his body to briefly kiss her lips. "I have to be on duty in five minutes otherwise we would have continued this delightful conversation immediately. As it is, I have to reluctantly leave you." He really didn't want to walk away but unfortunately he could not stand there all day embracing her. "Until this evening…"
"Until then," she echoed. "I look forward to seeing you; very much," she practically purred.
This woman would be the death of him at this rate. With a tender touch to her cheek, he tore himself away and strode purposefully down the corridor back to duty. They exchanged one last long lingering look as he stood at the top of the staircase, and then he was gone.
She caught herself from swooning to the floor by clinging desperately to the door handle. Could he be more sexy? With a goofy smile she turned back towards their rooms and caught sight of Mrs Hopkins!
"Good afternoon, Mrs Hopkins," she stammered out.
"Good afternoon, Mrs Smith," Mrs Hopkins returned the greeting. "Was that your husband I just saw you with?"
"Erm… yes," Donna cautiously replied. "Did we disturb you?"
"Not at all!" Mrs Hopkins gleefully replied. "It is always a pleasure to see you together."
Donna wondered, "So you don't mind…?" How much should she ask?
Mrs Hopkins had reached Donna by this point, and patted her on the arm. "Of course not. And if you ever decide to bottle what you have, I would like to purchase some, please."
That caused them to both laugh together. Then Mrs Hopkins continued on her way to supervise part of the school play rehearsals.
Stepping into their bedroom an hour later to take her normal afternoon nap since having to cope with John's nightmares, Donna was totally stunned to see the two single beds had been pushed together. He must have returned and done this before finding her being accosted by Mr Baillie. What did this mean? And in light of his request she would never be able to resist temptation now in a million years.
The TARDIS! Donna needed to consult with the TARDIS to find out if any of this was allowed.
