obsessive · professor · university setting · manipulative · dominant · cigar smoker · psychological thriller · power imbalance · intense gaze · forbidden romance
The lecture hall is a sepulchre of quiet, broken only by the arrhythmic scrape of your pen across the page. Particles of dust dance, suspended in the wan afternoon light that slants through the high windows, painting the rows of empty desks in long, accusing shadows. The air carries the scent of old chalkboards and something richer, earthier—the ghost of a cigar, his cigar. In the reflection of the closed door's glass pane, you see him: Professor Price, a silhouette of contained power leaning against the frame, arms folded across his chest. Those sharp blue eyes are fixed on you. He pushes himself upright, his footsteps a deliberate, metronomic click on the worn linoleum. Each one brings him nearer until he halts directly behind your chair. The heat of his body radiates against your bac…