| no catch , mjj | ✓

☆ - 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦.

warning: some mature content!

Michael closes what little distance stands between him and Leigh-Anne as he skims his nose over her throat. Her breathing is ragged, and she can't help but notice the way his forearms lightly tremble near both sides of her face.

'God, is this really happening?' Sure, she's fantasized about it. How could you not with a man like Michael? He's just sizzling hot.

But it'd always been just that. Just a fantasy. And whenever she'd wake up from those hot and steamy dreams, she'd feel unsatisfied. In reality, at the time, she was only his best friend.

But now, there's absolutely no denying what he wants.

A nervous tremble rocks through Leigh-Anne now herself, and she sways into Michael. "We should stop... and talk about this," she whimpers, feeling something hot unravel low inside her.

Why is she trying to give him a reason to stop? She doesn't want him to stop.

Right now, all she wants to do is to obliterate the space that's still faintly between them, consequences be damned.

Michael slides back a bit and cups Lei's face in his hands, holding her so tenderly that it seems to be like complete odds with the intensity burning in his cocoa eyes. "Do you want me, Leigh-Anne?" is all he asks.

Now she can lie all she wants, but her body is bound to give her away. 'Why can't I let go?' she asks herself. Because if she's going to go for anyone, why not Michael?

'Because you'll just fall in love with him all over again, and then he'll walk away, just like he said he would. Just like he does with every other girl who ends up in bed with him,' her subconscious retorts.

Michael isn't some random stranger, though. He has a permanent place etched in Leigh-Anne's heart. If this goes badly—if she loses him—the pain potentially being caused in the end will be unfixable. He hasn't really promised her anything here, other than tonight as a whole. In fact, he's reassured her that it won't be anything more.

This isn't about him being unable to resist her or being in love with her. This is Michael doing what he always does—taking care of Leigh-Anne. He's erasing the pain she's been feeling, no matter the cost.

It should've made the decision to go to Sudan easier, but it didn't. It just... hurts. It's taken her years to get over Michael, ever since they were teens.

Can she do it again?

"Lei?" Michael brings Leigh-Anne back to reality. He slides his thumbs down her neck and rests them gently over her pulse, which is beating wildly with the force of her want. His touch burns a path that goes nearly bone-deep as it brushes over her soul and awakens emotions she hasn't allowed herself to feel for a long time.