Michael’s hands slide from Lee’s face back into to her hair, his eyes falling nearly closed. When her lips leave his, he kisses her again, still gently closed-mouthed but warm and lingering.
“I need to,” he says, face nuzzled to hers. “It’s physical, in my body, I need to say it. Like when you stub your toe and you have to say ow.”
The thought crosses his mind that it feels like a transmission in a way—but he turns from that thought as soon as it occurs, shuts it out and locks the door behind it. Usually he's not able to do that so easily, but tonight, surely, he can be different from all other nights.