Jedidiah abhorred chaos, so a young sprite with riotous red curls and a dog twice her size didn’t fit into his well-ordered world. Or did she?
My Savanna
By Brandy Golden
Copyright 3/20/08
The sun twinkled off his gold cuff link as Jedidiah raised his coffee cup to his firm lips to greet the morning sun in his daily ritual. A ritual that set well with him, coordinated his day, and just all around gave him the start he needed to a busy schedule. It rarely varied.
He surveyed his surroundings, the sweeping green lawn off his back patio, the well-ordered flower beds filled with crocuses and tulips announcing the arrival of spring. He stood in the middle of his rounded brick patio with the white wrought iron furniture and watched the sun coming up in a glorious blaze of orange and pink hues.
From the tips of his shiny black Italian loafers to the top of his jet-black hair, Jedidiah Taversham was a very particular man. He liked things just so in his world and he went out of his way to make sure they were. Money was no object.
The only thing missing in Jedidiah’s life was Savanna…his Savanna.
With a smile curling his well-shaped lips he pictured her there in the middle of the expansive lawn. She was wearing a white dress, her ankles daintily crossed, and her long dark tresses lying over her breast. Her hat was also white, a beautiful sun hat with a long silk scarf, maybe even a few daisies on the brim. But her smile was what captured his attention. It was a beatific smile, so calm and serene, so cool on the surface, yet hiding fire and passion beneath. Her eyes were dark pools, pools a man could drown in and her lips were upturned, waiting for his touch. He could almost hear her laughter tinkling on the wind like elusive elfin music, enthralling him, bringing him to her.
Oh, of course, her name wasn’t Savanna; that was just an image. Savanna was a term used to describe the sort of woman you see in meadows, walking through flowers, etc. It was his kind of woman; a soft, gentle, and loving woman. It didn’t matter what her name would be, he just knew what she would be like. And she would be savanna-like! And Jedidiah always got what he wanted; it was just the way things were in his well-ordered world.
Being caught up in his pleasant musings, he failed to register the commotion on the other side of his clipped hedges. The hedges surrounded his English entire backyard and protected his flower beds. He had spent many blissful hours planting his bulbs and getting the special flowers imported from Holland to create the mass profusion that was beginning before him.
It was Easter time, the time of beautiful spring flowers galore and Jedidiah had plans. Plans to put the lady whom he hoped was going to be his Savanna in the middle of that expanse, surrounded by those flowers. Her name was Tabitha Clentam and she was just the way he pictured his woman would be. So far she was the physical personification of the requirements he had in mind, all was lacking was the green lawn and flowers test.
He could have been a first-class gardener, but again, Jedidiah was a very particular man. He liked to be a part of everything in his world and as a result, he did some of his own work himself. Not that he didn’t have a gardener; he did…several in fact. He just liked to get his executive hands dirty now and then and relish the feel of soil between his lean fingers. He loved to see his tulips swaying in the early spring breezes, their colorful heads tall and elegant. A lot like his savanna-like woman! He loved tulips in all shades, from delicate lavenders and pinks all the way up to the deep reds and dark purples. They were a veritable feast of passion and colors, holding their courtly heads above the other spring flowers, dipping and swaying as if bowing to the lowly crocuses and daffodils that were paying them homage.
The sound edging along the back perimeter of his thoughts intruded suddenly upon his frontal senses, shattering the peace and serenity of the morning like fingernails on a chalkboard. He recognized the deep baying of an animal, more importantly, a dog. A big dog by the sound of it.
Jedidiah liked dogs, he even had a dog. But Lacey was kept well away from his neat rows of flowers. Not that she would dig in them, oh no. Lacey was a lady and like everything else in his world, she was well behaved.
So it was a matter of great consternation and horror when the massive St Bernard suddenly leaped his hedge and landed in his bed of tulips, followed by a young lad with wildly tousled red curls.
The dog was trailing a leash and totally delighted at being chased. He barked and woofed as he spun into the middle of the backyard and dodged his would-be captor. The great animal stopped, went down on its front legs, and lifted its buttocks in the air, its huge fantail waving ferociously. The long pink tongue dangled between rows of sharp teeth that seemed to smile at the young lad as he panted his pleasure and played the game of runaway pooch and catch me if you can.
Jedidiah choked on his coffee. What part of hell had these two sprung from? Indignant, shocked, and gasping for breath, he coughed and set the coffee cup down on the wrought iron table. He sprinted towards the pair like a racehorse shooting out of the starting gate. With any luck, perhaps he could minimize the damages that were already glaringly obvious in his prize tulips.
“Bo, stop,” commanded the young lad, reaching for the leash and missing. Bo was too quick for him and Jedidiah wasn’t sure how the little fellow would even hold onto the brute once he caught him. Talk about a mismatched pair!
Just as Jedidiah himself reached for the leash, the massive canine leaped across the lawn and ran through the tulip bed on the other side! He groaned in despair, anger beginning to claw at his throat. His prize tulips were taking a terrible beating! He’d like to beat something…or someone. He chased the redheaded lad across the lawn as the boy chased the dog. Something about the set of those hips didn’t look so boyish up close and he suddenly realized that it wasn’t a boy at all, but a young woman. Even more ridiculous! How was someone the size of a sprite supposed to control a monster like that?
“Bo, I’m going to kill you,” shrieked the young woman.
Jedidiah’s lips thinned at yet another incongruity. Like this young woman could even get her hands around the dog’s throat. He, on the other hand, was a different matter. At this point in time, he could cheerfully throttle the animal with his bare hands and paddle her pert behind until she couldn’t sit for a week.
“I’ll get him,” Jedidiah yelled at the sprite as his long strides quickly passed her and brought him into foot-stomping distance of the leash. And stomp he did…right on the end of it. His six-foot four-inch frame, coupled with two hundred and twenty pounds of outraged male brought the St. Bernard to an instant halt. It gave him great satisfaction to see the dog’s head whipped backward and his body do a half flip in the air as his flower mangling flight was abruptly canceled.
“Don’t hurt him!” The sprite whipped past him to kneel beside the slightly stunned animal, crooning softly to him and petting his ears.
“Hurt him? I’m going to shoot him,” thundered Jedidiah, his brown eyes flashing molten fire. “What in the devil are you doing here in my yard with that monstrosity? There’s no way you can control a beast like that. And just look what he’s done to my flower beds. That animal’s a menace!”
Once the young woman turned to face him, Jedidiah’s breath caught in his throat. He stared at the perfect porcelain skin and sapphire blue eyes that were spitting fury. Her lips were as perfect as lips could be and the color of one of his prize rose tulips. They were made for kissing and he felt a previously unfelt hunger just looking at them. The wild and unruly curls were shining in the sun like a fiery halo, but this was no angel before him. He pushed down the insane desire to grab her, spank her, and then kiss her, in that order. He shook his head to clear it. Where in the hell were these out-of-control urges coming from? He’d never felt so motivated by a woman in his heretofore well-ordered existence.
“He’s just a baby and he needs more training,” she protested fiercely. “It’s not his fault that he ran through your dumb flowers!”
“Dumb flowers?” Jedidiah was incredulous. “Those aren’t dumb flowers; they are expensive, imported varieties, and this…this excuse for a canine has ruined several of them!” He picked up the leash and held it firmly, determined not to be outdone by the tongue-hanging beast. No way was it getting away from him.
“You don’t have to be so rough with him,” snapped the girl, trying to take the leash from his hand.
“Oh no, you don’t,” he replied. “Just lead the way to the kennel and I’ll make sure he gets in it. Your job will be to make sure he never returns. And who is your father? I intend to collect remuneration for the damages.”
The girl hesitated and looked almost sheepish before she lifted her chin. “I don’t live with my parents; I live here on the estate in one of the gardener’s cottages. I just moved in this morning.”
“You’re kidding!” Jedidiah was thunderstruck. He knew James was hiring a new assistant, but this slip of a girl? He’d have to have a word with the man; his common sense must have gone overseas.
“No, I’m not kidding,” she replied defensively. She turned and led the way towards the opening in the hedge.
“Consider yourself fired then.” No way was he letting her near his flower beds, not with this monstrosity in tow.
The neat figure stopped so abruptly that Jedidiah almost ran over her. She looked up at him, her eyes wide pools of despair.
“Please…I’ll…I’ll find a way to pay for the damages, but I can’t lose this job. I really need it. Take it out of my wages if you have to, just please give me a chance.”
Even as he opened his mouth to deny her, he found he couldn’t. That alone irritated him. He wasn’t a man to second guess his decisions but this little sprite seemed to have the oddest effect on him. He cleared his throat.
“What are your credentials? Do you have any experience? How old are you?” The questions came in rapid-fire as he conducted an impromptu interview.
“I’m twenty-five, I helped my parents in their nursery when I was growing up and I graduated with a degree in horticulture,” she shot back at him.
“If that’s all true, then why did you call my flowers dumb?”
She blushed. “Because I was angry. Your flowers aren’t dumb, they’re lovely and I’m sorry Bo caused so much damage. I’ll do my best to repair it as soon as he’s contained.”
She continued to lead the way while Jedidiah watched her small bottom sway back and forth in front of him. Of course, he knew where the cottage was but it was very pleasant to follow her, very pleasant indeed. He knew she was American from her accent and he found he had a million questions he wanted to ask her.
Her jeans weren’t very tight but he could tell she had a very shapely bottom as her hips undulated back and forth, stretching the material in all the strategic spots when she moved. She had on a dark green, long-sleeved shirt that was not tucked in and her small waist was revealed when she twisted sideways to look up at him. An intriguing package and well put together from what he could gather beneath the baggy clothes. She couldn’t have been more than five foot and a few inches. Tiny compared to his stature. He found himself wanting to see more. He made a split decision.
“I’ll let you stay, but on probation, and under one condition.”
“Name it,” she said eagerly. “I’ll do whatever you say.”
“I’m going to take the damages out of your backside.” He watched as the implications struck home and her pupils dilated, her eyes opening wide.
“W…what?”
They were at the cottage by this time and she had turned to face him, doubt and shock written all over her expressive face.
“You heard me; I’m going to spank you.”
“Spank me?” She echoed. She sounded shell-shocked and Jedidiah wondered if she had ever been spanked before. He nodded assertively and then turned to the dog run where the door was standing open. He left her to mull it over while he incarcerated the lively Bo and shut the gate securely. When he turned, she was still standing where he left her, staring at him in obvious disbelief.
“Y…you can’t do that!”
“I assure you I can.”
“I won’t let you,” she cried.
“Then I’m afraid you are terminated, young lady.” He turned towards the path.
“Wait!”
Jedidiah turned back to watch in fascination as a pink tongue slipped out and moistened her lips.
“W…when?”
He arched an eyebrow. “When what?”
“When do you want to…to do it?”
“No time like the present,” he pointed out. He didn’t believe in wasting time once his mind was made up about something..
His heart beat a little faster as her face finally fell in defeat. He wasn’t sure why it seemed important that he punish her in this way, but it did. He was outraged that she would own such an animal that she obviously couldn’t control and doubly outraged at the loss of his prize flowers. She needed to be taught a lesson and a good spanking would make him feel a lot better. He tamped down the thought that perhaps he just wanted to see if her skin was porcelain all over. That would be traitorous to his Savanna! No, this was all about punishment…a well-deserved punishment!
Liar, his conscious shouted.
Briskly he stepped forward and held his hand out. He waited for her to put her small hand in his, a sign that she was ready and willing to submit. He almost felt sorry for her as he watched the struggle on her face. Everyone knew how independent young women were these days and the play of emotions was fascinating. But Jedidiah was as old-fashioned as he was well ordered and he intended that his future savanna would submit to his punishments when he felt they were warranted. She was no exception.
Finally, he saw her last resistance crumble and she placed her small hand in his with a sigh of defeat. Her lips trembled and she looked up at him, her face defiant even in submission. She was heartbreakingly lovely and he felt a real twinge of consciousness. What was he doing? Tabitha was going to be here for lunch. They were going to stroll about his grounds and he was going to spank her for the first time. She didn’t know that but that was his plan, so what was he doing with this sprite?
Tabitha’s image kept slipping away as he watched the girl’s lips tremble. Her small intakes of breath were doing something to his libido that he wasn’t used to experiencing. He found his head lowering involuntarily towards those moistened petals. He was unprepared for the jolt of desire that shafted through his body when his mouth touched hers and yet he couldn’t pull away. It was if another force was driving him, one he could barely control. She wasn’t even helping on her part and she seemed to be as helpless in the grip of whatever was overcoming them as he was.
“What’s your name?” He finally whispered against the sweetness of her mouth. Somehow he had lifted her up around his waist, his arms beneath her small behind so he could reach her lips. He was unprepared for her response.
“Savanna.”
Like a douse of cold water, the name fell from her lips and he instantly dropped her to the ground in disbelief.
“Savanna?” He croaked.
She nodded, the dreamy expression still on her face as he held her shoulders in his firm grip.
Jedidiah turned and strode away, leaving her gaping after him. When he reached his patio he began to pace back and forth. Savanna? It couldn’t be! There was nothing savanna-like about this girl. She was the total antithesis of all his dreams and yet…she touched him in a way that no woman ever had.
“Savanna,” he muttered, running his hands distractedly through his dark hair. “How can she be a savanna? She doesn’t look like one; she doesn’t even act like one.”
Although he was ever the practical man, Jedidiah still had the odd quirk of believing that certain things were fated to be. And having a pure stranger drop into his backyard that was reserved for his future woman was making him stop and think. Plus his reaction to her. Bloody hell, it all had to mean something!
“You’ve fallen in love, idiot.” That was his conscious speaking.
Out loud Jedidiah refuted it. “No, I haven’t, that’s impossible! She is nothing like the woman of my dreams, nothing at all. There is nothing tall and elegant about her, nothing dark and cool. She is all wild curls and…and…passion on the surface. I bet she doesn’t even own a white dress or a sun hat.”
He could have sworn he heard a wicked chuckle in the back of his mind and he wondered if his mind was playing tricks on him. He stared out over the expanse of his manicured green lawn and tried to picture Savanna sitting in the middle of it. Try as he might he couldn’t focus on the miniature whirlwind sitting elegantly in a white dress with a filmy scarf trailing down her breasts. She didn’t even have long smooth hair for bloody sake!
His emotions fried, Jedidiah strode back to the cottage. She was nowhere in sight so he assumed she must be inside. He knocked on the door and waited impatiently for her to answer. When she did, he could see the apprehension still there and the lump in her throat as she gulped. So she thought he had come to finish what he had started, did she? Well, she was right!
“All right, let’s get this over with,” he said briskly, pushing the door aside and stepping in past her. He headed straight for the kitchen table and whipped out a straight-backed chair.
“Come over here!”
She bit that delicious lip furtively but took a tentative step towards him. “Can’t we settle this some other way?” She pleaded, holding her hands out towards him.
“No, we cannot. Now stop stalling and get over here.” His voice was implacable and he could see in her eyes that she knew there was no getting out of it. With a sigh, she dragged her feet as she slowly approached him. He could see her breasts heaving in dreaded anticipation beneath the green shirt and he wondered if they were as rounded as they looked through the soft material.
“Jeans down, please!”
She gasped. “No, not like that!”
“Of course like that,” he replied briskly. “I always spank on a bare bottom. Depending on what your knickers are like, I may allow you to leave them on, but I’m not promising anything.”
She stamped her foot then, anger flaring as a blush crept up her delicate throat. “You’re a bully, that’s what you are. It isn’t enough that I’ve agreed to let you beat me, now you want to be a pervert and do it without clothes!”
“Nonsense,” replied Jedidiah. “All spankings are given on bare skin so the spanker knows the condition of the bottom at all times. Nothing perverted about that. Now are we going to proceed or do you start packing?”
He gave no quarter. He watched her face fall again and her eyes mist over as she realized she really had no choice. Her fingers trembled on the snap of her jeans as she flipped it open and moved the zipper down. Then she looked at the floor as she slipped the jeans down over her rounded hips and down to her knees. She hobbled forward to take his outstretched hand and allow herself to be pulled to his right side.
Jedidiah was all business and wasted no time in guiding her over the broad platform of his hard thighs and positioning her in place. He was delighted to see that the sunny yellow knickers she had revealed were actually one of those new-fangled thongs. It left the soft pale expanse of her buttocks beautifully revealed. He couldn’t resist running his palm over the smooth mounds of flesh before lifting his arm to bring it crashing down on the outer cheek.
“Aiieeee!”
Her squeals were music to his ears as his determined hand bounced from cheek to cheek, leaving palm and fingerprints in its fiery wake. Blossoms of roses soon appeared and he paused to admire the flowery view. He also noticed the darker-looking damp spot on the thong that disappeared between the delicious crevice of her inner thighs. There was no doubt she was experiencing some of the same feelings he was. The bulge in his own pants was becoming uncomfortably hard as his erection strained against its cloth enclosure. The thought pleased him immensely.
“Are we d…done yet?” Her question came in a stifled sob, followed by broken gasps as if she couldn’t quite catch her breath. Jedidiah wondered if it was from the pain or from his exploring palm as it caressed the hot skin and his fingers where they dipped between her silky thighs.
“Not quite,” he replied firmly. “I have to be sure you’ve learned your lesson.”
“I’ve learned my lesson, really I have,” she cried, her words ending on a shriek as his hand snapped into her already burning skin once again. Her legs kicked up as if attached to two threads and try as she might, she couldn’t seem to keep them down.
Jedidiah didn’t let that deter him though, he just looped one long leg over both of hers and pinned them in place to secure the target area. Then she really went wild. She bucked and wiggled trying to get away from the raining fusillade of spanks, but all to no avail. At last she collapsed across his thigh, sobs escaping her throat in breathless profusion.
“I’m sorry,” she yelled in defeat. “I won’t let it happen again, I promise! Please stop, you’re killing me!”
Of course, he knew that was a fib. His experience with his younger sisters and a few errant girlfriends before this told him that. But he finished up with a flurry of hard slaps and then pulled her up to sit on his knee. She tried to get up but he held her down.
“Now then, what makes you think you can control that monster of a dog?”
She looked pitifully up at him and his heart softened at the sight of her tear-washed eyes. He almost felt like a heartless beast himself. Almost, but not quite. After all, his beautiful flowers had been sacrificed to that dog.
“He’s not normally any trouble,” she replied, scrunching up her nose as she wiggled on his knee. “Ohhh…that hurt!”
He sighed and shook his head. “I’m sure he isn’t, not as long as you keep him locked up. But if he gets into my flower beds again, you know what will happen.”
“Yes, sir,” she said huskily. “I’m sorry, I’ll do my best to take care of him and repair the damage.”
Jedidiah didn’t know if it was the sir or the sweet submissive tone, but what was left of his doubts evaporated like water on a hot patio. He was hooked! He swooped down to take her mouth in a demanding kiss…and she responded wholeheartedly.
Briefly, a slight feeling of guilt made him think of Tabitha. Then he thought of the way her head had turned coolly to the side yesterday when he had tried to kiss her. It had intrigued him then, now it just seemed cold compared to the vibrant passion of Savanna. He dismissed Tabitha from his thoughts and plied his fingers into the red mass of shining curls in his arms.
When they broke apart she shyly laid her head on his chest. He ran his left palm up the length of pale thighs before him.
“Do you have a white Easter dress, Savanna? With a white hat and long silky ties?”
She looked eagerly up at him. “No, but I have a buttercup yellow tank dress I just bought for Easter. No hat though, I don’t wear hats. Unless it’s a boy’s cap when I’m gardening.”
He pictured her on his lawn, the yellow sheath baring her arms and her ankles daintily crossed where her slim legs were folded beneath her. Her glorious mass of curls would be shining in the sunlight as she leaned back on one arm and smiled at him.
His Savanna!
“Perfect,” he murmured throatily as his long fingers trailed their way up the expanse of her pale throat. “Just perfect.”
Jedidiah smiled.
The End
Happy Easter, my friends! Enjoy your weekend!
Hugs, Brandy
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