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Title: Dangerously Intimate
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Hannibal Lecter/Will Graham
Fandom: Hannibal
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,112
Author's Note: Sequel to "Forbidden Kiss."
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Hannibal Lecter or Will Graham, unfortunately, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

Will drew back from the kiss, staring at Hannibal with wide blue eyes.

"Wh-why did you do that?" he finally asked, unable to stop his voice from trembling. His senses were whirling, spinning, out of control.

Hannibal was still holding him; they were so close that he could feel the other man's heartbeat against his own. This was a situation that he hadn't expected to be in.

This felt dangerously intimate, as though anything could happen between them. This had been something that he had only dreamed of, and then had pushed aside as being impossible. This couldn't be happening, Will told himself, that inner voice almost frantic.

Was he dreaming? He had to be. This couldn't be happening. This wasn't real. In another few moments, he would wake up in his own bed, drenched in sweat, breathing heavily.

But it was real. He was standing here in the circle of Hannibal's arms -- and he had just been thoroughly kissed, so much so that his lips still tingled.

It didn't seem possible -- and yet it had happened.

What did Hannibal feel for him, if anything? Did this man want him? Was that kiss, this embrace, just a prelude to what else might happen tonight?

No, nothing else would happen. He was sure of that. Hannibal would give him time to get used to this sudden shift in their relationship, to ponder it.

And Will was sure that Hannibal would do the same thing himself. The other man was nothing if not cautious -- he'd seen that caution before. Hannibal wasn't simply going to jump into something head first without weighing the options and being sure that he was doing the right thing.

He didn't think that the man who was holding onto him so tightly was simply going to throw his ingrained caution to the winds and let himself be carried away by passion.

Was that what this was? Passion? Simple desire, and nothing more? He didn't want to believe that. He wanted to think that he meant something to Hannibal.

The man's next words proved that fact. "Will, there is something far more intimate building between us than simply the roles of patient and psychiatrist," Hannibal said, his voice very soft and husky. "Even more than friendship. I believe that there is .... a component of desire there."

Will couldn't speak, couldn't even move. He wanted to say something, to tell Hannibal that he was right, to nod his head in agreement. But he was frozen in place.

How had Hannibal known what he felt? He had never let it show -- at least, he thought he hadn't. He'd been so careful to keep that desire hidden.

He had even tried to hide it from himself.

But his feelings could no longer be hidden. He wanted Hannibal, wanted to be with him. He wanted more than the friendship they currently shared.

Being Hannibal's patient, even being his friend and colleague, wasn't enough for him. He should have known that it wouldn't be enough. There had been an intense spark between them,

Will didn't know why he felt so drawn to this man; it had been a mystery to him from the beginning. He couldn't put a name to what he felt, other than knowing that it was a fierce, primal desire that came from somewhere deep within him. It was attraction, plain and simple.

Though he was sure that nothing about his feelings for Hannibal could be labeled as simple. Everything that he felt was complicated, tied up in knots.

Still, he owed it to himself to explore those feelings, didn't he? If he didn't, then he would spend the rest of his life regretting it and wondering what might have been.

He'd done that in the past. He wouldn't do it yet again.

He had felt this intimacy between them from the first time they had met. He had been touched in some place deep within himself, a place that no one else had ever found.

Why did it have to be this man? Despite the desire that flowed between them, despite the intimacy they shared, Will felt a sense of danger, of foreboding.

"I-I can't think about this," Will stammered, shaking his head. "Not tonight, Hannibal. It's too soon. I can't just jump into this without thinking about it. It's a big decision for me to make." He knew that he was babbling, but he had to get away from here, away from this man, to clear his head.

He knew what he wanted, but he couldn't just take a leap of faith. He had to turn it over in his head, to know that he was doing what was good for him, not just what he wanted.

He had to put some distance between them. They were dangerously intimate now, dangerously close, and his self-control was far too close to the breaking point.

Hannibal's arms fell away from Will, and he nodded.

"All right, Will," he said, his voice still soft. "If this is how you feel, then I'll give you time. But be warned. I will not wait forever. And I am not a man who is used to being denied."

Will nodding, gulping as he moved away from the other man. He felt dizzy, disoriented. He needed to get away from here, to his own home where he could think clearly behind locked doors, away from the rest of the world. He had to be able to think about what Hannibal had said.

But he already knew what the outcome would be, as surely as he knew his own name. He could say that he had to think, but really, he'd already made up his mind.

Of the choices presented to him, he would choose Hannibal.

He really had no choice about that, did he? Because in spite of the dangerous intimacy that they had developed, he was excited by their closeness, aroused by it.

He would follow those feelings to see where they might lead.

Will took a deep, shuddering breath as he turned toward the door. "Good night, Hannibal," he said, letting himself out of the house and walking to his car on trembling legs.

It was a long drive home, and he had a lot to think about.

***