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“Stop staring at him, girl, it’s completely useless!” A whisper came to her through the veil of her daydream. “The whole class already knows about your crush on Mr. Cold!”
Marinette was in the middle of devouring with her eyes his long fingers, that were skillfully playing with a laser pointer while said mister explained something probably smart and definitely invaluable for her successful business future. She didn’t know what exactly, of course, she was way too absorbed in figuring out whether those fingers could just as deftly caress, find sensitive places on her body and deprive her of peace, just like his presence did to her mind...
Her friend’s whisper made her wake up from her sweet oblivion and Marinette felt her cheeks flush, as if she were a schoolgirl again and was caught in the act of ogling her crush. And even if it wasn’t so far-fetched, and very close to reality even, her fantasies about her young professor usually went much further than the naive romantic dreams that she used to entertain herself with at school.
“Do you think he noticed as well?” She asked, half-worried, half-hoping.
“He?” Alya snorted, as if this one word already contained the answer to the question. “He is a cold fish, Mari, I told you already. He is unable to notice anything regarding human emotions.”
“Maybe he’s just good at hiding it...” Marinette muttered defensively, frowning.
They met at the beginning of the semester on this very university course that they both took, Alya — for her future journalistic career, Marinette — to understand the entrepreneurial part of developing her brand. Alya immediately fell into her soul, as if they had been friends all their lives, and since then they were inseparable, as much as they could at least, so her words mattered to Marinette even if she didn’t want her friend to be right.
The journalist’s face softened to show concern. “I know that you really like him, Mari,” she said quietly, “That’s why I made some inquiries about him.” In response to the surprise on Marinette’s face, she spread her hands, as if reminding that she was a journalist at heart and nothing could be done about it. “So I can say that you’re not the first one who was... interested in him, but with all the women—and the occasional men—who tried to hit on him, he was always cold. I was also told that he isn’t married or anything like that, so I don’t think it’s about his boundless devotion to anyone either. He’s just cold, that’s it.”
Marinette didn’t want to give up the hope that the man would notice her, though, so she tried to reason, turning the facts in her favor. “This just shows that he is more picky than most men I know, Alya,” she suggested. “Surely he simply rejected students because, well, they were his students. But our last Business Philosophy class is next week, and then there’s only the exam left, so I was thinking...”
Her friend looked at her with almost pity in her eyes. “You’ve got it really bad, don’t you, girl?” She asked with a sigh. “But I must disappoint you, because according to my data, the students weren’t the only ones who tried to ask him out. Although he is only a few years older than us, some university staff have also approached him, so you better understand in advance that he simply lacks any empathy and emotion and hardly deserves your attention.”
Marinette sighed and turned her gaze to the tall blond, unexpectedly meeting with a pair of stern green eyes looking straight at her. She suddenly realized that the audience was quiet and wasn’t sure when he stopped talking. Could he have heard what Alya and her were talking about? she thought with horror. But no, it was unlikely, even with the silence in the room, her friend spoke very quietly. Right?
“I see you have finally finished your discussion of today’s topic with Miss Césaire, Miss Dupain-Cheng. So you wouldn’t mind sharing with us your invaluable opinion on this matter.” His voice seemed even and calm, but Marinette could swear that some kind of emotion was shining in his eyes — sarcasm, or something softer, like… teasing? Unfortunately, Marinette didn’t have time to figure out what exactly, because everyone around was silent, waiting for her answer, and she didn’t quite remember what topic he taught today.
She actually took this course only on recommendation, because its name sounded like something non-practical, but some of her friends were delighted after taking the course last year and highly recommended that she take it as well. Marinette was grateful to them, if only because for a whole six months she could stare with impunity at this gorgeous man with a model appearance and in impeccable suits, which she dreamed of thoroughly crumpling while pulling them off…
Marinette took a quick glance behind him at the screen with the presentation that Professor Fathom showed them before. Compromises and their consequences. Right. He was strictly against compromise, she remembered in hindsight, but why exactly? She couldn’t remember… Probably while he was explaining it, she was mentally pulling off his pants while kneeling right there, near his desk...
“I support your opinion, Professor,” she began, knowing that it wouldn’t be enough, because he always demanded from students to make their own arguments, and she didn’t have time to think about them. It was much more interesting to ponder whether his dick would be as long and elegant as those wonderful fingers of his and how it would feel on her tongue, how long she would have to suck it until his impregnable façade collapsed and Felix—yes, in her fantasies she called him by his given name—would start moaning and begging her not to stop...
“But to be honest, I don’t fully understand your position,” she continued, knowing that asking questions was the only salvation, because he encouraged dialogue and reasoning, so he’ll accept unproven disagreement better than unsupported agreement with him. “You said that by agreeing to work with people who don’t share our principles, we’re compromising and betraying our own standards.” This was the only thing she remembered before plunging into her dreams. “But what prevents me from taking on a client who, say, is not very pleasant to me personally. I’ll only need to meet with them a couple of times for measurements and fittings, isn’t it better to endure this and have a more complete portfolio than not to have a client at all?”
The man was looking at her with attentive silence, and Marinette thought that she probably picked something out of context and blurted out something stupid, and now he would make fun of her in front of the entire audience, when he finally spoke. “It’s all in your head, Miss Dupain-Cheng. This means that by compromising in the example you gave and working with clients whom you have to ‘endure’, you reinforce a certain limitation in your mind.” He turned his gaze to Alya. “What limitation, Miss Césaire?”
“Hmm,” The journalist muttered, not at all confused by the shift in his attention. “Am I limiting myself to always working with clients who are unpleasant to me?” She suggested.
“Not quite,” the teacher responded. “And even if so, in this context I wouldn’t be particularly concerned about it, because if you choose to make money by making yourself uncomfortable, that’s your decision. But we’re here to build your internal business philosophy that removes restrictions on potential income, so the other limitation here will be much more important.”
His gaze returned to Marinette. “When you make such a compromise, your subconscious believes that there are not enough clients in the world for you, since you have to work with people who are unpleasant to you. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be taking clients that you have to “endure”, knowing that there will always be enough of the ones you like. And as we already know from the previous topics, your mind...” He fell silent, raising his eyebrows, which meant that she had to continue the conclusion for him.
“...will unconsciously look for situations in which I won’t have enough clients, so as to satisfy my internal restrictions. This will limit my earning potential. I myself will limit my potential income,” she summed up without being prompted to. “And all because I compromise my principles.”
If Alya hadn’t just convinced her that Felix was a completely insensitive creature, having previously conducted a special journalistic investigation of his personal life, Marinette would have decided that the new sparkle in his eyes expressed approval and satisfaction, but her friend tried so hard to protect her feelings that she just couldn’t afford to continue mistaking about him...
As it was, the teacher only nodded slightly — the highest praise that could be expected from him and turned to the other students. “Now, Mr. Delisle, give me an example of how making a compromise business decision can lead to a loss.”
Marinette tuned out the student’s answer, deciding that it was unlikely that Felix would pay attention to her again, even if he noticed that she had stopped listening and was watching him. She had to stop this in any case, Marinette reminded herself. But the fact that the course was ending soon and she would no longer have the opportunity to see him regularly only made her more stubborn on using the opportunity to fall into her dreams again, despite all her friend’s warnings.
*
“Miss Dupain-Cheng,” a familiar voice called and Marinette turned around, almost dropping her cup. She was just leaving the coffee shop where she usually bought coffee in the morning when the incredible thing happened: right on the street she was called out by none other than her young professor, Felix Fathom.
His appearance here was completely unexpected, considering that it was early in the morning and especially considering that he lived in another part of the city, and she knew about this not at all thanks to her stalker tendencies…
“Can I kidnap you for a few minutes?” The man asked as he came closer.
It seemed to her again that there was some special sparkle in his eyes, and no matter how hard she tried to convince herself that she was wrong, especially after her friend’s warning, Marinette couldn’t stop hoping that her crush had some chance... But the last lesson of the course was yesterday and she would only see him for certain at the exam, so nothing could dissuade her from taking advantage of the unexpectedly given couple of minutes with him. Especially alone. And especially that he approached her himself.
“Of course...” Marinette muttered, feeling her cheeks burn from the very fact that he was looking at her. “I was about to walk to the university. Are you going there as well?”
“No,” he answered, instantly raising in her mind questions about how he even ended up on her street. “But I can accompany you if you’re in a hurry. I was hoping to catch you here.”
Marinette blinked at him in confusion, digesting his words. “How did you know that I would be here, Professor?” She asked carefully. Although something warmed in her chest at the thought that he had arrived here especially for her, Marinette didn’t understand how he knew where exactly she could be found.
A mischievous smirk that she had never seen before played on his lips, as if all this time a little naughty boy had been hiding in the serious man and now he looked outside to meet her. “Felix, please,” he corrected her, “We’re not in class. Besides, I’m no longer your teacher. As for…”
“How come you’re not my teacher?...” Marinette exhaled, restlessly going over what could have happened: maybe he quit? Maybe someone else will take the exam? Maybe he will never appear at the university again and for some reason decided to personally say goodbye to her forever?...
“Very simple,” Felix answered with a softness in his voice, which was also not characteristic of him, at least in his lectures. “I closed the exam in absentia for several students based on their high-quality oral answers during the course, and you’re one of them. I’ve already submitted the results to the faculty after yesterday’s lesson.” He explained, and, well, it was unexpected, and very likely not only for her, because everyone considered him strict and probably didn’t realize that their discussions in class would somehow affect the exam.
Felix (had she really just gotten the official right to call him by his name?!) engaged students in interesting discussions, and despite all his rigor, it was these conversations that helped her master the content of the course despite all her distractions and daydreams.
“As for how I knew you would be here, Miss Dupain-Cheng,” he began again.
“Marinette,” she corrected him quietly.
“Marinette,” he repeated in a soft, low voice that sent shivers down her spine. “You rent an apartment in that building over there,” he pointed out, “So you can walk to the university, and you buy coffee at this coffee shop every morning, so I assumed today would be no exception.”
Marinette again found herself speechless, because she couldn’t explain to herself how he knew all this about her. Unless…
“Yes,” he confirmed, as if reading her thoughts, a smirk playing on his lips again. “We share stalker tendencies. But I dare to assume that it is not the only thing that unites us.”
Marinette swallowed, not quite allowing herself to believe that he was hinting at what she thought he was hinting at, and that his interest in her was strong enough to... But… he was here, right? Standing right in front of her, so maybe...
“What else unites us?...” She asked and licked her dry lips in anticipation of his answer.
Felix followed the movement of her tongue and raised his gaze to her eyes, and now something very alive and very hot was undoubtedly burning in them, completely inconsistent with the image of a cold fish that developed around him at the university. Moreover, the longer those burning eyes looked at her, the more it seemed to Marinette that she would burn herself, right here, from just this gaze.
The man took a step towards her and stopped at a distance that wasn’t quite appropriate for a student and a professor, but that probably didn’t matter anymore. “Maybe it’s what we both think about when we see each other, Marinette,” he said, his eyes darkening with... desire? Could he mean that he dreamed about her the same way she dreamed about him?
Marinette swallowed. “And what would it be, F-felix...?” she asked, stuttering from the way the passion in his eyes resonated throughout her whole body.
Felix moved even closer so that there was almost no distance between them. “I better show you,” he whispered, pulling her towards him by the waist.
He leaned in and froze next to her face, his breath tingling with hers, forcing her body to surrender to his invasion before it even began. Then his lips touched hers faintly, as if playing with a whirlpool that could drag him to the bottom at any moment, and when he finally kissed her, she vaguely realized that his hesitation was justified because she was caught in the same whirlpool and instantly drowned in it.
His kiss was soft but demanding, confident and teasing—foreplay and torture in one mix—and Marinette’s head was spinning despite the fact that his tongue hadn’t even touched hers. He held her so tenderly, like something precious, but so tightly, like something he wasn’t going to let go of anymore, and those arms seemed to her the place where she was always supposed to be, no matter what and despite everything.
In this short kiss, full of tenderness and passion—like a teaser, or sampler for future pleasures—it was as if she managed to see everything that was waiting for her in his strong hands, and this something was wonderful, much better than what she dreamed of while sitting in his classes.
Did he dream about the same?
Marinette pulled back slightly and looked into his face, a face that no longer wore an emotionless mask. “So you knew that I wanted you all this time?”
“Yes,” he answered calmly, as if that one word hadn’t turned her whole world upside down.
“And you waited until the semester was over for this,” she said rather than asked, nodding between them.
“Yes,” he confirmed nonetheless.
“And you’ve known where I live for a long time,” she reasoned, only now beginning to understand all the implications.
“Yes,” he repeated. “Like I said, we share some tendencies.”
“Then why didn’t you come after your last class at my course yesterday?” Marinette demanded, trying not to sound offended. Yesterday they could have had the whole evening together, and today she had a whole day of classes ahead of her and she didn’t know how to survive it, knowing that after them he could be waiting for her! “You already knew about the exam and which students passed it in absentia, right?” she guessed.
“I did.” Felix confirmed, “But if I had come to your house last night and we were alone, I’m afraid that I wouldn’t be able to control myself,” he admitted, and her lower abdomen responded with a spasm to the heat with which he gave her this confession. Because that’s what he meant, right? “And I didn’t want you to misunderstand me.”
Marinette frowned. “How else could I understand you?”
“You might have thought that I wanted you in my bed,” he explained, confusing her even more.
“And you don’t really want me that way?..” She suggested doubtfully.
Felix pressed his groin against her thigh and she felt his hardness pointing into her. “I hope this answers your question.” He said with complete seriousness. “But I want more, Marinette. Much more than that. Therefore, no matter how much I want you and no matter how long I wait for it, I can wait a little longer and court you properly, because you deserve the best and I intend to give it to you.”
Marinette closed her eyes and dropped her face onto his chest, wrapping herself in his scent, which before she could only catch on the sly. She allowed herself to enjoy his closeness for a few seconds then pulled away again, throwing her head back to look into his eyes. “So it’s a date, then?”
“It’s a date,” he agreed with a sparkle in his eyes that she saw from the very beginning, and which for some reason others didn’t notice. Or ignored? It doesn’t matter. The main thing is that she was the one for whom he took off his cold mask.
“Today after my lessons.” She stated. “And then you take me home.”
“Absolutely.”
“Alright.” Marinette smiled, already planning how she would lure him to her apartment to seduce him.
Felix may have had an iron will and an impeccable ability to control his emotions, but she was just a woman who had wanted this man for a long time, so she intended to get what she wanted, and soon. He had taught her to live without compromise, after all, so now she only needed to test how cold and impeccable his control really was.