Shaye
With Nyx being summoned and nothing else scheduled for the day, I decide to mosey through Magika Grammata to find Atlas' office. He's holding office hours for students since he's been absent the last month. I'm sure he's busy, but I don't intend to stay long. Just long enough to give him a kiss and see exactly what his office looks like. I've fantasized about what mischief we could get ourselves wrapped up in across his desk since he was first assigned to be one of my professors.
Now that seems a bit silly since we sleep in the same bed, but then again. He might be open to the possibility of a forbidden place.
At the end of the hall, I find a golden plaque screwed into the arched wooden door.
Professor Harland.
I knock, hoping he's not with a student.
"Come in," Atlas' voice bellows from the other side of the door.
I turn the knob and push the door open but stop dead in my tracks. Standing in the threshold, I pause and take a moment to drink in him and his office.
There are three arched windows overlooking another wintery day in Tronovia behind his mahogany desk. On the left and right side of the room from the floor to the ceiling there are books on matching mahogany shelves. A lit fireplace crackles and roars beneath a marble mantle with what I can only assume is one of Atlas' paintings hanging above.
Atlas is absentmindedly pouring over paperwork, his hair dips across his forehead as he concentrates.
When the stretch of silence has gone too long for comfort, Atlas finally tears his eyes from his desk and glances up at the door. The seriousness marring his face instantly fades into a familiar grin that heats my belly. He reclines in his leather armchair, his fingers twisting his pen.
"Well, hello," he coos. "I didn't expect to see you this morning."
"And who were you expecting?" I tease, stepping inside when he motions me forward and close the door behind me.
"Naturally, I'm expecting panicked first years who have countless questions since I've been absent the last month." His mouth quirks in one corner, eyeing me head to toe.
"Should I come back later, Professor Harland?"
My formality causes him to tilt his head to the side, and I know there are probably dozens of dirty thoughts flooding his head.
"You have a quizzical look," I press, enjoying the forbidden flirtation. "Something on your mind?"
In true Atlas fashion, he mulls over his next words carefully. His eyes darken and with a blink, switch from green to violet. "I'm wondering why you haven't locked the door yet."
I smile. Professor Harland wants to play. I lock the door and press my back to it. Motioning with a lazy hand, I say, "So, this is the infamous office."
Atlas sets his pen down and drops his hands to his lap, swiveling his chair left to right. "I wouldn't say it's infamous. It's just a professor's office. Nothing exciting in here."
"You're in here," I clasp my hands behind my back. "I'd say that's exciting enough."
The cut of my blouse shows off my cleavage, and I clock the exact moment he notices. He swallows and I watch the bob of his throat in girlish delight. "Feel free to come closer."
I fight the urge to make my way directly for him, instead taking a turnabout the room, dragging my fingertips along the bookshelves. "You know, I've wondered what your office looks like for quite some time."
"Is that so?"
I nod, swinging my hips with each step. "It's just as I imagined it would be."
His jaw clenches. Atlas' restraint is as admirable as it is annoying. "Why has it taken you so long to visit then?"
"Well, that's when I hated you so – "
Atlas' laugh echoes through the room. "Be truthful. You've never hated me,Strenlys."
"I did hate you," I argue.
"You mistake your unwanted attraction for me as hatred," his voice is low and seductive and damn, he's right. "We both know you've never hated me, just as I have never hated you."
