𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐄 || j. daniel atlas

𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍

A YEAR LATER

Alena stared at the phone on her bedside table, waiting for the alarm to go off. What little sleep she had been able to get the night before, had been disturbed, sometimes by the anxiety over what was to follow that day, sometimes by the tossing of the man who slept beside her.

He had settled with his arms wrapped securely around her waist, her back pressed against his chest. It was comfortable, familiar, but from then on, Alena hadn't been able to settle herself.

She let the first minute of her alarm song play out before reaching over to turn it off. Throwing off the covers, she pried the arms from her waist and made to stand, much to her bedmate's displeasure. He reached out and hooked his little finger around the lace of her underwear, pulling her back onto the bed.

"Danny!" she squealed. "I have-"

"A very big day at work today, I know."

"I need to get out of bed!"

"Can't you stay just a little longer?" Daniel whined.

Alena shifted to face him, laying a hand on his t-shirt. Daniel traced a finger over her forehead, to move her hair out over her eyes, and smiled down at her. "I can't," she said. "Not today. It's too important, and I want to get there early." Alena tried to push herself up again.

"It's six o'clock," Daniel groaned, attempting to pull the covers back over them.

Alena kicked the covers away, throwing her leg over the magician's thin frame to straddle his hips. She took hold of both his wrists, pinned them to the pillow at either side of his head, and stared down into his bewildered gaze. "I'm getting out of bed," she said sternly.

Daniel licked his lips and swallowed, trailing his gaze over the navy, satin button-up that Alena wore over her bare chest and underwear. "That shirt looks good on you."

Alena raised an eyebrow and released Daniel's wrists. "It's the one you wore in Vegas, isn't it?" He nodded. She lifted one side of the collar to her nose and inhaled. "Still smells of egotistical control freak."

"That's because you're wearing it."

At this, Alena gently ground down on Daniel's hips. He tried to stifle a sound, his hands immediately coming to rest at the tops of her thighs, giving them a little squeeze.

"I miss when you wore suits," she mused, deliberately ignoring the pitiful way Daniel pursed his lips.

"Do you miss the hair too?" he managed to say.

"Hmm..." Alena put a finger to her lip, setting her full weight on Daniel's hips. "I can give or take the hair. But the suits, I definitely miss." She paused. "Fortunately, I get to go to work where I can stare at men in suits all day long."

Daniel pressed down on her thighs and bucked his hips upwards, knocking the breath from Alena's lungs. She fixed him with a murderous glare. "That's it. You aren't allowed to call me for two weeks." Slapping away his hands away, she lifted herself up and off the bed.

"So, you'll call me this time?"

Alena threw a smirk over her shoulder. "You disgust me...and I'm keeping the shirt," she said, and closed the en suite door behind her.

She opened the bathroom cabinet, browsing the top shelf for her face wash, hair brush, and a little pouch of hair accessories. After washing her face and doing her best to rub last night's mascara from under her eyes, Alena set to work twisting up her hair and pinning it in place. When she came out of the bathroom, Daniel was out of bed, now dressed in plaid pyjama bottoms and absentmindedly shuffling a deck of cards. Alena allowed herself a small, solitary smile and went to sit on the floor in front of the mirror.