Teacher Knows Best

This is a closed thread, but open to anyone who wants to watch.

"I don't understand what's wrong with me," Alexandra burst out, eyes still red from the storm of tears that she'd been weeping when she first knocked on her mentor's office door. He had let her in and spent the last fifteen minutes trying to calm her down and encouraged her to take the cup of tea which even now she held in both hands, clasped to her chest like a safety vest.

Alexandra never cried.

Since arriving at Loyola University as an undergraduate, Alexandra Harding was nothing so much as a force of nature. She first met her mentor as a freshman student in one of his classes and while the others were intent on making friends and rushing for their favorite Greek houses, she quickly became known as the most vocal member of her class. It wasn't that she was some kind of savant and she made her fair share of mistakes, but she never made the same one twice and soaked up knowledge from her tutors like a sponge.

Something in that struck a chord with her professor, and over the course of a semester's worth of discussions after class he picked up about her situation that he quietly put her name forward for the Juanita de Carlos Scholarship. With the added financial security, Alex became a familiar sight around campus even during the holidays, for she didn't have much of a family home to return to. In place of her distant parents, her professor became her friend, and in time her mentor; her lodestone in the complicated academic environment. In contrast, he found himself feeling almost paternal towards her half the time. The rest of the time he felt much like he was attempting to steer a wild stampede, as her determination, drive and endless energy often led the dynamo to show up her less dedicated fellow students.

Unfortunately this extended to her private relationships as well; while the auburn-haired petite young woman was undoubtedly attractive and moved with an unconscious grace, the same confidence and focus that drew the male students on campus to the young media student eventually drove them away as well. Alex never let that bother her though - or never owned to it anyway - but her mentor could tell there was something eating at her, and every time she went through a breakup it took longer before the spark returned to her dark eyes. Still, it was her first year as a graduate student now and this was the first time he had ever seen her cry.

"Why do I always seem to draw the kind of man who doesn't want to stick around? Josh said he understood how important my course was to me. I trusted him to know how much work he needs to do; but everything he said was about how he felt he was the only one in the relationship, and how he needed something more. Am I that cold and un, unfeeling?"

Her eyes glistened suspiciously and she dropped her gaze, staring intently down into her tea as if all the secrets of the universe were inside. Control, control Alexandra. Pull yourself together girl.

Professor Michaels sat behind his desk his hands tented before his face as he listened Alexandra. He could feel a lump in his throat as he watched the tears streak down her flawless cheeks. He resisted the urge to rise from his chair and take her into his arms and comfort Alex as if she were a lost little girl. Yet in some ways that was exactly what Miss Alexandra Harding was an adorable lost little girl.

"I don't understand what's wrong with me,"

From those first days when she was a freshman Alex had strived to excel, to be, as much as the situation allowed, to be in control. A psychologist would describe Miss Alexandra Harding as a type “A” personality. Yet Alex took it to the extreme, well that at least was the opinion of her peers. But always being in control came with an emotional cost.

“As far as I can see Miss Harding there is nothing wrong with you. You’re a very attractive young woman, intelligent, witty, and very accomplished.”

Michaels always called Alex Miss Harding when he really wanted her to pay attention to what he was about to say. In some ways it was reinforcing their former relationship of Professor and student.

"Why do I always seem to draw the kind of man who doesn't want to stick around? Josh said he understood how important my course was to me. I trusted him to know how much work he needs to do; but everything he said was about how he felt he was the only one in the relationship, and how he needed something more. Am I that cold and un, unfeeling?"

Alex sobbed the tears streaming down her cheeks now. There was something in the way she demurely dropped her gaze to stare intently down into her tea as it the tea leaves would give her the answers she sought. Michaels could see Alex’s lips moving as if she were repeating a mantra. There was only one silent word he could clearly make out.

Control

“Alexandra do you ever get frustrated with having to be in control at all times?”
He lifted her chin with a single finger. His cool gray eyes met her dark eyes as he asked the question.

“Don’t you wish………that in one area of your life someone else was in control, someone else was responsible to make the decision and you could just relax?”

The question hung in the air between them, waiting for an answer.

Ok Alex; breathe, just breathe.

Moving her tea cup aside, she pressed her hand to her chest in between her breasts and managed to gradually slow her breathing.

“Alexandra do you ever get frustrated with having to be in control at all times?”

She felt his fingertip lift her chin, and looked up to meet the familiar reassuring look in his eyes. This wasn't the first time Professor Michaels had helped her or given her that look, and he'd never let her down before.

“Don’t you wish………that in one area of your life someone else was in control, someone else was responsible to make the decision and you could just relax?”

Dark eyes widened, and for an instant a look of wistful longing came over her face - but then she shook her head and pushed the idea away. Instead she took a long drink from her tea cup, letting the warmth sink into her body and restore some of her... control.

"No, I-" she began, then stopped as she met Professor Michaels' eyes. Years ago he'd promised she could tell him anything and he would help as much as he could and never ever judge, so long as she never lied to him - or to herself. She had vowed as much, and even though it was hard she couldn't bring herself to break it now.

"I... guess I do, Prof. It would be wonderful to be able to hand over one part of my life for someone else to manage, but I can't. Every time I've trusted someone with an important part of my life, they let me down. I know the other students say I'm OCD, even my friends joke that I'm a control freak but it's not like I want to be that way."

Talking about this seemed to help, her chin was beginning to draw up as she started to give herself more credit. Whatever her failings in her relationships or her trust issues, she knew that she could do almost anything she put her mind to so long as she wanted it badly enough. It was what came naturally to her, a constant restless energy that kept her in constant motion, never keeping still for long. It was a running gag in school that the best way to drive her utterly nuts would be to tie her to a chair for an hour and force her to keep still.

"I just know that if something is important to me - like my future - then I have to put in the work to make it the way I want it to be. The way I need it to be." She took another sip of her tea, and quirked the tiniest of smiles though a sadness lingered in her eyes. "Someone else might get it wrong."

It was clear to professor Michaels that this was more than Alex’s periodical periods of self doubts. Never in the time that he had known her, had this hard driving young lady ever made the same mistake twice. With one very glaring exception, her personal life, and relationships. His hands remained tented before his face, his gray eyes, studied Alex and he carefully listened to not only what Alex said, but what she did not say.

"No, I-"

Michaels saw Alex’s eyes widen the look of wistful longing that came over her serious young face before she had hastily started to answer his question. And for a moment, just the blink of an eye, she was just a young girl and her face was so adorably angelic. Then Alex set her jaw her eyes demurely dropped from his before she continued.

"I... guess I do, Prof…….

Professor Michaels breathe a silent sigh of relief. Alex had kept her word never to lie to him. He knew how close she had come to breaking that promise just now.

……….It would be wonderful to be able to hand over one part of my life for someone else to manage, but I can't. Every time I've trusted someone with an important part of my life, they let me down. I know the other students say I'm OCD, even my friends joke that I'm a control freak but it's not like I want to be that way."

He could see that talking honestly with someone she respected helped Alex relax, he could see the sparkle return to her eyes, though a bit shyly, she raised her stunningly beautiful to his. Alex was visually more relaxed as she continued.

"I just know that if something is important to me - like my future - then I have to put in the work to make it the way I want it to be. The way I need it to be."

Not for the first time Michaels’ wished that he was not Alexandra Harding, mentor , her trusted friend, for once more he clearly saw what her problem was. In reality it was twofold she had been dating young men her own age or close to it and they were professionally and sexually threatened by her dynamic driving personality. The second problem was, Michaels knew, that Miss Alexandra Harding was a submissive and could never fully giver herself to someone she did not respect, or to someone who could not match and dominate her driving personality.

“Alex I am going to tell you something you probably won’t believe. I believe sexually you’re a submissive.”

He held up his hand to silence the protest that he knew was about to spring to her lips.

“I have a friend who may be able to help you sort out your problem.”

He wrote down the name and address of an old friend Professor David Claude Tougas.

“Please Alex at least call him talk to him.”

Professor Michaels had a complicated expression on his face, and Alexandra found herself watching him intently. She wasn't sure when she'd started seeing him as a father figure, or why. Maybe because (unlike her actual Dad) he could be relied on; all day he was either in the classroom or his office, and the last two years she'd even had his mobile number in case she needed to ask for advice out of hours. If she had ever really seen him as a man she might have recognized something in him that she couldn't find in her young boyfriends, but instead she saw him as Prof Michaels, her wise older friend. Even if she had seen him that way she might not have dared; he lost his wife ten years ago, but none of the confident extrovert friends in her graduate program had ever known him to date. Maybe he was an extremely private man.

“Alex I am going to tell you something you probably won’t believe. I believe sexually you’re a submissive.”

Her jaw dropped and she leaned forward to object as energy surged back into her toned form, but her words were cut off by his raised hand. Her mouth shut with a snap and she gave him a fulminating glance.

“I have a friend who may be able to help you sort out your problem.”

He wrote a name and address down on a sheet of paper from the monogrammed notepad he kept on his desk. David somebody, she took it instinctively but had other concerns on her mind.

“Please Alex at least call him talk to him.”

"I, what, but, Prof," she spluttered, speechless at first. "I'm not submissive, how can you say that? I'm always the one organizing the group assignments, taking the lead in discussion. I have two undergraduate tutorial slots!"

To her a submissive was a pathetic girl with no control of her life, desperate for a man to tell her what to do and to take care of her. Wasn't that everything the feminist movement was fighting against? That sort of thing wasn't supposed to happen any more, and the women who let themselves be led into that life were letting down their whole gender. In contrast Alex was almost defiantly independent, never asking anyone for help if she could possibly manage on her own, no matter how heavy the workload might get. The sole exception to that was before her, and now he was accusing her of being, of being submissive? How could her mentor even think she could be one of those women?

The shock and denial clear on her face, she finally asked the other question boiling up in her mind, with another glance at the note.

"And anyway, how could this, this Professor Tougas, help me? Could he fix me so I stop attracting the wrong kinds of men and driving off the right ones?"

“Alex you are the most competent young lady it has ever been my privilege to know. But that is in your studies and I have no doubts will be the same in your professional life as well.”

Michaels took her hands, seeming very small in his stronger more calloused ones. Looking up into his calm grey eyes, she felt reassured by the parallels to so many times before when she came to him for advice. And had he ever led her wrong? No. Sometimes, a lot of the time it had meant extra work or not taking the easy path but it had always proven to be the right choice, at least for her. So now, when she was feeling more unsettled than ever before should she really be rejecting his words out of hand?

“The sexual submission of a woman to a man Alex has nothing to do with weak dependent women who will become some boy’s punching bag just to have a man in her life or some shrinking violet that needs a man to tell her what to do twenty four hours a day seven days a week. Actually most submissives I have known Alex have been dynamic young women just like you. Woman that are successes in their chosen field, but desire that, they need that, in one portion of their lives they can relinquish control and just relax and enjoy Alex. And what better way to relax then enjoy Alex then when you are having sex.”

Alex was definitely not used to discussing her defective sex life with her mentor, and this was the farthest they'd been from academia in all the time she'd known him. But... his words did make sense in a way, and the certainty in his eyes spoke of the same long experience and knowledge that had supported her over the years. She didn't want to do this. She really didn't want to do this, but she was sick of feeling gutted every time another boy decided he wanted someone who would spend all day mooning around after him instead of living her own life. Truth be known this sexual submission he advocated sounded an awful lot like just that - but he said that other young women like her found happiness and enjoyment in just this, without sacrificing their dynamism or their ambitions.

"But... does it have to be sex?" she asked. "Isn't there another part of my life I could give up control of instead?"

Sex for her had always been a very private thing, to be shared with her boyfriend when they were both in the right mood; it seemed like she was in a kind of surreal dream to be talking about it right in the open like this. To go up to a complete stranger - a friend of her mentor's - and ask... she shuddered visibly, closing her eyes for a moment and returning her attention to her murky tea.

"I mean, what would I even say? 'Hi, you don't know me but Professor Michaels says you can help me relinquish control of my sex life?' That is what you're saying, isn't it? Who is this," she glanced down at the note again, "Professor David Claude Tougas? What do you think he can do for me, why would he help me and... are you sure Prof? Really?"

The petite young woman looked searchingly into his eyes once more, trying to see through the windows to his soul. Was he really sure this was the right path for her to take? And why?

"But... does it have to be sex?" she asked. "Isn't there another part of my life I could give up control of instead?"

Michaels laughing grey eyes smiled into Alex’s soft dark eyes a smile bowed his lips.

“Miss Alexandra Harding I just can’t see you surrendering any control at all when it comes to your studies or your post grad projects…..”

His voice was light almost teasing as he asked her the question yet there was a serious underlying note to that very pointed question as well.

“………..can you Alex?”

Once more he gave her clasped hands a fatherly squeeze. Slowly the light teasing tone vanished from Michaels’s voice and his grey eyes also became very serious while he listened to Alex almost flippant response.

"I mean, what would I even say? "Hi, you don't know me but Professor Michaels says you can help me relinquish control of my sex life?' That is what you're saying, isn't it? Who is this,"

she glanced down at the note again,

"Professor David Claude Tougas? What do you think he can do for me, why would he help me and... are you sure Prof? Really?"

“First Alex you are a success in every aspect of your life with one notable exception! So yes it does, I fear, have to be sex Miss .”

Professor Michaels was being very serious now and his concern for Alex and her happiness was quite evident.

"Professor David Claude Tougas is one of my oldest and dearest friends Alex and one of the kindest men you could ever meet. His field is ancient history so the two of you would not be butting heads academically. He also has a Master’s in physiology as well.”

Michaels let Alex’s hands slip from his and he felt a pronounced ach in his heart.

“Call Alex……..what do you have to lose?”

Peter Michaels watched Alex go. Such a sad, lost little girl in so many ways he thought himself. Slowly almost reluctantly he picked up the phone and dialed his friend’s number.

“David its Peter……….I need to ask you a favor…………Now just listen to me before you answer………..”

“Call Alex……..what do you have to lose?”

Closing the office door behind her, the question echoed around her mind as she strode down the corridor at her customary pace. On most days she would be dodging and weaving through whole crowds of taller students - the undergraduate boys often simply didn't believe that the short brown-eyed girl with the heart-shaped face wasn't another freshman sweetie to charm and seduce until they found themselves in one of her tutorials - but Joshua had at least had the class to wait to speak to her face to face before he bruised her heart and sent her reeling back to campus. Bruised, not broken? Her eyes anywhere but where she was, she almost ran down an Asian exchange student going through the doors and out into the blessed coolness of the night air.

She was heart-sore, but though it was a painful reminder of her failures in keeping a man, on reflection she wasn't sure if she'd ever truly loved him. Maybe she could have, but she had never allowed herself to fall for him, or to love him. Was that her mistake? Had she never fully committed to them, like he said? Or was that something in her recognizing the end unconsciously long before it came, and trying to protect herself? She couldn't be sure, but on her way home she found herself eyeing the men she came across with open suspicion, particularly the hot young guys all too used to female adulation. It didn't matter that they themselves hadn't done anything to her, it was more what they represented that goaded her hostility.

What did she have to lose? All the way home the turned that thought over in her mind, and again later as she methodically collected every stray sock, t-shirt and pair of boxers he had left at her apartment, bundled them all up with his weird vegie smoothie mix and tossed it in the trash where it belonged. It wasn't as though her love life could be going any worse, and though she tried to keep it separate from her work and her studies, she could feel it draining her drive to succeed and dimming her sparkle. Maybe the Prof was right; she couldn't see how it would help, but if there was even the slightest chance that his friend could help to fix the blight on her life, then surely she had to try? It wasn't as though she couldn't leave if she wanted to, and nobody else had to know. It wasn't as though she was too afraid... was she?

Getting to that point took her hours, and she was lying sleepless in her bed at half past two when she finally made up her mind. Staring up at the darkness, it seemed like an easy question after all; she'd never backed fearfully away from the unknown before, and she wouldn't start now. Alex wouldn't let Josh, or anyone, do that to her, or to erode her trust in Professor Michaels' advice and she would speak with his friend come the morning.

Her mind made up, she turned over and slipped easily into sleep.

The next morning she took a closer look at the note her mentor had written, and smiled wryly to herself; part of her had hoped to phone the Prof's friend and question him carefully about what he thought he could do for her long before she thought about going to visit him, but all she had was a name and address. Michaels was nothing if not smart, and he clearly knew the way she thought, very well. With no choice but to speak with him face-to-face or step back from her decision, there was no choice really, was there? Tying her flowing auburn hair back into a high pony tail that spilled midway down her back, she set off across town to the address she'd been given - a single-story brownstone house out in the suburbs, on a large plot of its own land.

Sparing hardly a moment to look the house and garage over from the outside, Alexandra walked swiftly through the gate, down the path and pressed the recessed button beside the door. As she waited, she made a quick check on her appearance - first impressions counted! Her hair was still back and neat, tied tightly enough to defy the light breeze. She wore a deep blue vest and close-fitting black business slacks, along with a matching jacket and low-heeled boots. She had a few effects in a small tan bag slung over one shoulder, but just the essentials and when she heard footsteps approach from within the house she looked up and gave the man a sharp smile once the door opened.

"Hi, I'm Alex Davies. Professor Michaels suggested I come and speak with you, Professor Tougas. Is now a good time, or would you prefer I come back later?"

Professor David Claude Tougas was only half listening this old friend Peter Michaels. Once he had hesitently asked ……….I need to ask you a favor…………Now just listen to me before you answer………..” he knew what he wanted. Peter wanted him to take on a fledging submissive.

It had been quite some time sense he had taken on a sub , taken on the task of training a young beauty. That very thought gave Tougas pause, young beauty. for that is what attracted him initially youth and beauty but something more as well. Something he found as sensual as the girl’s appearance, an active creative mind which he also found so very seductive. His last little sub had been quite a disappointment. Oh she was a cute little thing but she was always cooing Master and debasing herself falling to her knees at his approach. Oh she had all the outward trappings of a submissive but it was if she were playing a silly little bedroom game and it was a effort, like drawing teeth, to get her to tell him what tempted her, what she longed for, what taboos she had in the sexual realm but merely parroted your will Master. She had looked so heart broken when he had let her go, well actually sent her packing. Yes it had been a long time sense he had, had a truly submissive young beauty to train, one that knew her self-worth.

He gave a distracted little snort as his attention was called back to Peter as he said.

……just meet her David………she doubts that she is a submissive…….and her mind Dave…..

That peeked his interest and he listened a little closer.

“……….I am not sure Peter…”

“Just meet with her, nothing say you have to take her on if you find she is not a match.”

“Ok, ok I’ll see her Peter.”

Tougas hung up a wry smile bowing his lips, Peter ever the romantic. He pushed the thought from his mind and doubted that he would ever hear from Miss Alexandra Harding. Besides what would an attractive young grad student want with a stogy old Professor of Ancient History, and Physiology.
David Tougas was muttering to himself as he answered the door. As usual he was dressed in a pair of lodan green wool slacks a pale grey silk shirt and a loose fitting sweater.

“Yes can I help you young lady?”

"Hi, I'm Alex Harding Professor Michaels suggested I come and speak with you, Professor Tougas. Is now a good time, or would you prefer I come back later?"

“Come in Miss Harding.”

Tougas held the door open for the young auburn haired beauty. Subconsciously he began to evaluate her. She had a sense of style. The way she had drawn her lustrous auburn hair back in a sassy high pony tail accentuated the sensual bow of her slender neck. She wore a deep blue vest and close-fitting black business slacks, along with a matching jacket and low-heeled boots. The boots brought a little smile to his lips, he did love a girl in boots. Tougas ushered the stunning young beauty into his front parlor. He took a seat after letting Alex sit in a comfy overstuffed chair. The room was dark rich and had a very Edwardian feel to it. It was all leather chairs and polished hard wood, the floors were covered by thick oriental rugs, and it was defiantly a man’s room.

“ So Peter called to say you might be stopping by Miss Harding, what can I do to help you?”

The ball was in Alex’s court and David was purposely making this interview difficult, almost forcing the young beauty to ask for what she wanted or at least what her Mentor wanted.

“Tea or coffee Miss Handing?

“Come in Miss Harding.”

Alex wasn't sure what she'd expected, but it wasn't this. In green slacks, grey silk shirt and loose sweater, Professor David Tougas looked like nothing out of her vague mental image of BDSM. No black leather, none of the demands or challenges she'd built herself up to resist. In fact he looked nothing so much as... an older professor like her own mentor, precisely the sort of man he might keep a long term friendship with that stretched over the years. Maybe Prof Michaels hadn't meant exactly what she thought he had? She'd been pretty shaken at the time, and had naturally feared the worst. Maybe he hadn't meant that he should give herself up to his friend at all, and was simply recommending that she speak to his friend to ask his advice? That actually made a lot more sense than what she'd been imagining.

Calm down Alex, she told herself, following her host while lost in abstraction. On another level she was mentally noting the different salient details of his home - and his appearance. Truth be known, he didn't look all that impressive in his slightly shabby chic; there was something in his jaw, and hints of the rugged body he must have had in his youth showing through his sweater and vest. She twined her auburn locks around her fingers as she considered the way he moved through his house - a very manly house, untouched by most female ornamentation. It wasn't until she was sitting carefully on the edge of the overstuffed chair in Tougas' front parlor that her gaze reached his eyes, and she realized that he had been studying her perhaps just as much as she him. She crossed her left leg over her right, and looked down a little uncomfortable - but David was in no mood to allow her to regain her calm it seemed.

“So Peter called to say you might be stopping by Miss Harding, what can I do to help you? Tea or coffee Miss Harding?"

"Tea please, Professor. Oolong for preference, but anything is fine."

He may be intent on not making this any easier for her than he had to, but she just knew she would feel more collected with a hot cup between her hands. She was here, she'd done it, but how to come to the point as to why she was here when she wasn't completely sure herself? By the time he returned she'd at least decided on how she would start it, but she was taking enough of a leap into the unknown that she knew she had no idea where it would end up leading her.

"Thank you so much. I've been having some trouble with my relationships recently; they never seem to last, and..." She looks down at her hands, finding this even harder than she expected. She didn't like admitting her mistakes or her vulnerability to anyone, least of all a stranger even if her mentor trusted him. "...and Prof Michaels thinks the problem is who I'm with, and that I can never seem to respect them. He seems to think the problem might be that I'm submissive, but..." Her shrug eloquently suggests that she isn't at all sure he's right, while still respecting him as a close friend; a hard ask for a fluid shoulder movement, but her flexible trim frame is up to the challenge.

"He seemed to think that you were the person to talk to. Tell me Professor Tougas, can you give me any advice on how to get my love life in order?"

Even discussing this, her cheeks heat subtly but she manages to hold her composure together and nothing in her eyes or posture gives away how hard she finds it to ask for help on something as central to her as this.

David Claude Tougas was a man that never appeared to stare at you, but his eyes missed nothing without ever appearing to look at you. He noticed how Alex crossed her left ankle over her ankle, and demurely lowered her eyes, a little uncomfortable blush tinged the young girl’s cheeks a most delightful shade of pink. Even before Tougas asked Tea or coffee Miss Handing? All his questions had been answered and he had to reluctantly agree with Peter that Miss Alexandra Harding was in fact a submissive.

“Tea it is then Miss Harding “

Excusing himself Tougas went to prepare her tea. Fifteen minutes later he returned with a pot of Oolong. Her eyes had rose to meet his as she,

"Thank you so much. I've been having some trouble with my relationships recently; they never seem to last, and..."

Yet as the stunning young beaauty continued to speak she demurely lowered her gaze from his once more. Tougas smiled to himself as the self assured dynamic young woman slowly disappeared and a very shy little girl took her place.

. "...and Prof Michaels thinks the problem is who I'm with, and that I can never seem to respect them. He seems to think the problem might be that I'm submissive, but..."

Like a lost little girl so unsure of herself Alex gave a silent little shrug that silently spoke volumes not only that she disagreed with her Mentors evaluation but so much more that she could ever realize. David watched as she screwed up her courage to continue he smiled at her in for a shilling, in for a pound expression that graced her serious young face.

"He seemed to think that you were the person to talk to. Tell me Professor Tougas, can you give me any advice on how to get my love life in order?"

Tougas tented his hands before his face, his forehead pressed to his finger tips, as if in deep thought while he silently counted to 100 to himself. Slowly his eyes rose to meet Alex’s.

“I do believe Peter is quite correct Miss Harding, you are a submissive, and you can never have a successful sexual relationship with a man who cannot respect and are willing to obey Miss Harding.”

David Tougas saw the flash of disbelief in the young beauty’s soft eyes, he saw her moist rip lips as if to speak and he simply sat forward and softly pressed a single finger to her lips to still her protest.

“A submissive is not a weak cling girl Miss Harding. She is nothing like what you see on the internet. No most true submissive are very competent, successful young woman, much like yourself Alex what physiology would define as a type A personality.………. may I call you Alex…Miss Harding?”

His eyes softly smiled into hers as he continued.

“Second the relationship between a Dom and is sub is built on trust Alex and trust takes time my dear. Their relationship is a symbiotic one she serves her Master with her body and her agile mind and wicked little imagination. He in turn meets all her physical and emotional needs.”

Tougas sat forward in his chair and took both of her hands in his he held her delicate hand lightly between his.

“I am sure you have questions Alex.”

Alex watched Tougas as he thought on her problems, finding herself strangely gratified by the seriousness with which he seems to be considering her problems. What was wrong with her? She'd thought all of this over at home, or she thought she had. She would be confident, she would be eloquent and she would explain the confused hurt in her heart and head and he would tell her how to fix her thinking and be happy and find a man who wouldn't just blame her for his own flaws and leave her.

When he lifted his eyes once more her animated face and eyes lit up with a hopeful smile. She leaned forward in her seat, willing him to know, to have a solution or a useful course of action for her to take.

“I do believe Peter is quite correct Miss Harding, you are a submissive, and you can never have a successful sexual relationship with a man who you cannot respect and aren't willing to obey, Miss Harding.”

Wait, what? That couldn't possibly be true, she was nothing like that and she opened her mouth to protest vehemently - only to stop with rounded eyes when Peter's friend leaned forward and pressed his fingertip square across her parted lips. "I-" was all she got out before he effectively silenced her. It wasn't that she couldn't speak - it was only a fingertip after all, and she could easily pull back - but that she couldn't quite believe he'd done it. Well that, and the expression of complete certainty on his face that of course she will be silent and listen.

And so, part-taken aback and part-bemused, she does.

“A submissive is not a weak cling girl Miss Harding. She is nothing like what you see on the internet. No most true submissive are very competent, successful young woman, much like yourself Alex what physiology would define as a type A personality.………. may I call you Alex…Miss Harding?”

If submissive meant that, and not her earlier impression of a self-owned pathetic appendage to a man, dependent on him to make all her decisions then... well, she didn't know that she was one, but she was able to consider the possibility. And Peter and Tougas each seemed so very sure! The image of a very competent, successful young woman who just had special needs in a relationship felt right to her in a way, as the other repelled and frightened her. He smiled encouragingly at her and pulled his fingertip away from her lips. She passed the tip of her tongue across them, throat suddenly dry and simply nodded in reply.

“Second the relationship between a Dom and is sub is built on trust Alex and trust takes time my dear. Their relationship is a symbiotic one she serves her Master with her body and her agile mind and wicked little imagination. He in turn meets all her physical and emotional needs. I am sure you have questions, Alex.”

He sat forward in his chair and took her hands in between his; larger, stronger, with interesting callouses as testament to years of hard work with his hands. When had he worked with his hands? Wasn't he a Professor like Peter? What in his academic life had led him to be as strong as this, or taught him to seize a woman's attention as completely as that? As she considered his words, she found she couldn't look away, even as she rediscovered her voice.

"I have... some," she began. "You're right that I'd been thinking of a submissive as being something very... other to what you describe, and it was that other that I knew couldn't be me, nothing to do with me. Someone like that wouldn't have lost Joshua, if only because she would have devoted herself to serving him and wouldn't have challenged him in any way." Her expression and twisted lips showed exactly what she thought of the idea.

"The other thing is, both you and Peter seem so sure that that's what I am. I mean, that I'm a submissive." There, she said it. "I've known the Prof for years and he's always been a good friend to me, but if he's seen this thing in me then I suppose it's possible, even though I don't see it. But you've only known me a few minutes, and you can see it already," she marveled, still a bit stunned by the revelation. "How can you tell? And how can I tell for myself?"

She thought for a moment, a complicated stew of emotions flashing across her face in turn. "And... if it is right, what does that mean for me? I'm not sure it makes it any easier for me to find the right sort of man for me. How am I supposed to find someone like that if I can't even find a boyfriend - and why would he take me if somehow I did?" Very confident in so very many areas of her life, the repeated painful breakups have left young Alex increasingly unsure in the world of romance and sex.

Tougas smiled to himself when Miss Alexandra Harding did not pull away from the finger he placed on her soft moist ripe lips but merely stammered ”I… then demurely fell silent. Her lips pressed to his finger tip until he let it slide from them. Again he smiled to himself as the tip of her little pink tongue slid across the sensual bow of her lip, the unconscious little maidenly blush that kissed her cheeks. He quietly explained the true relationship between a Dom and his sub and was pleased that far from sitting stiff backed in her chair young Miss Harding was leaning forward on the edge of her chair. Nor did she pull her hands from between his as he asked if she had any questions.

"I have... some,"

A hesitant little pause as this dynamic young beauty seemed to be a bit unsure of herself.

"You're right that I'd been thinking of a submissive as being something very... other than what you describe, and it was that other that I knew couldn't be me, nothing to do with me. Someone like that wouldn't have lost Joshua, if only because she would have devoted herself to serving him and wouldn't have challenged him in any way.’

He could see from Alex’s expression she still had doubts and was still unconvinced, and yet still willing to listen.

"The other thing is, both you and Peter seem so sure that that's what I am. I mean, that I'm a submissive."

There was a little sigh of relief as that word that so frightened her slipped from her moist ripe lips submissive. H could see the relief in her gorgeous young body as if visibly relaxed. She said it.

"I've known the Prof for years and he's always been a good friend to me, but if he's seen this thing in me then I suppose it's possible, even though I don't see it. But you've only known me a few minutes, and you can see it already,"

The more Alex spoke the more she turned the idea over in her agile young mind as if examining a problem at work the more relaxed she became

"How can you tell? And how can I tell for myself?"


Tougas decided hot to answer Alex’s question directly but instead as one of his own.


“Do you trust Professor Michaels miss Harding? Has he ever lied to you or has he ever misled you in the past.?”

Tougas stilled her hands between his, his Voice was deep darkly sensual, lost somewhere between a base and a baritone and seductively felt as well as heard.


"And... if it is right, what does that mean for me? I'm not sure it makes it any easier for me to find the right sort of man for me. How am I supposed to find someone like that if I can't even find a boyfriend - and why would he take me if somehow I did?"

He could hear the sorrow, and the longing in the stunning young girl’s voice. He could see the unshed tears shimmering in Alex’s soft eyes. At that moment this dynamic and very capable young woman was nothing more than a lost frightened little girl.

David Tougas leaned forward and gathered her into the security of his arms. He let her head rest on his shoulder as she wept bitter tears of loss and frustration.

An hour perhaps tow passed before Alex tears came to a sniffling end.

“Well Alex seeing your love life is out of control shall we try a little experiment?”

Tougas paused the young beauty still nestled in the cruxes of his arm.


“You do trust me don’t you Miss Harding?”

There was a subtitle shift from the familiar Alec to the much more formal Miss Harding.


“Miss Hading stand and remove your clothing my dear.”

Tougas’s voice was strong, confident, and commanding as if asking this gorgeous young creature to stand before him and remove her clothing was the most natural thing in the world to do.