Hard to Hate You // Michael Langdon

Part XVII - Regrets

Holy.  Shit.

I look over at Michael's body next to mine and press my face into my hands.  God, how could I be so stupid?  He's the fucking Antichrist, yet I slept with him.  Not to mention that I still have very mixed feelings about him, especially considering the fact that I thought he hated me up until last night.  Even then, I doubt he would hesitate to kill me if I turned on him.

Not to mention that the Halloween ball is only in three days, meaning that we have a few days to figure out our plan.

Wait a minute... shit, I completely forgot about mine and Michael's competition.  Today's the last day of that.  But who even knows if we're competing anymore.  Obviously, a lot has happened since we began the competition.

The last time I checked, it was 2-1, me winning.  Since then I've mind-controlled Venable to make her punish Gallant, told Coco the false rumor about Mead, and caused a scene in front of the whole outpost when Mead tried to take me to the interrogation room.  Michael has broken me out of interrogation, confronted Mead, and pulled his little stunt with my dress.  That puts us at 5-4, me still in the lead.

Michael rolls over in bed to face me.  "You're thinking intensely," he observes.

I quickly stand up and grab my corset from the foot of the bed.  "Last night was a mistake," I state as I throw it on.

"You and I both know that's a lie," he rolls his eyes as he sits up.

"No, it is not.  Your father clearly meant for us to be allies, not lovers!" I scoff, doing my best to quickly tie the corset.

"And you've said it a million times; he was wrong to make us allies."

"Which only makes this," I motion between us, "Even more wrong."  I ignore my terrible job at tying the corset and walk over to my dress lying in the middle of the room.

"Well, it certainly didn't feel wrong to me," he states as he stands up.  "And I'm sure it didn't feel wrong to you either."

I roll my eyes as I step into my dress.  "Michael, carnal pleasure happens to be in your realm of expertise, considering your lineage and all."

While I'm working at putting my dress on, Michael walks toward me. I keep my back to him, doing my best to ignore him. That is, until I feel his body press against mine from behind. His right hand grabs mine to stop me from tying my dress back on while his left hand rests on my left shoulder. My breath hitches in my throat, and I don't need to see him to know that he's smirking at that. "Now, Valentina, I know that you enjoyed yourself last night. Why fight against something that feels so good?"

His left hand moves toward my neck, his fingers finding the tender spots where bruises are beginning to form. 

"Michael, it's a-" I gasp as he puts the slightest bit of pressure on the bruises. "-moral... issue." I'm clearly struggling to keep it together, and he knows that.

As he applies more pressure to the point where I feel pain, my body instinctively arches toward his touch. "Your words say one thing, but your body says another."

"My body betrays me."

"Your body knows what's best for you. Start listening to it."

I close my eyes and take a deep breath, using all my willpower not to cave here and now.

Michael chuckles from behind me. "What is it that you're fighting against? We both want this. Just give in."

I open my eyes and take one step forward. I turn to Michael, and he releases me. "This is textbook temptation. The shit they teach you in Sunday school."