Phoenix didn't often sleep shirtless of an evening, but he had recently taken to stripping down his top half over the past couple of days. He had started to say that he was waking up through the course of the night from a burning sensation through his body, and that removing his shirt had been a somewhat effective way to cool his body down just enough for him to at least get a restless sleep. The overheating was a direct result of accumulated stress, which had been plaguing his psyche over the past few weeks, particularly over the last three days.

His current trial seemed almost impossible for him to win, since the evidence against the defendant was almost fool-proof. The chances against him winning the precious "Not Guilty" verdict seemed too far out of his reach, but something about his client made him refuse to give in. He believed he was innocent, despite the odds against the both of them. Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth had been putting Mr Wright through the ringer on this case and showed no sign of slowing down, which meant he and Maya were left to slog through paperwork and evidence in the office each night in a desperate bid to find that lead which would give them their much-needed turnabout.

Maya had taken these opportunities to study Phoenix in a way that she never thought she would have been able to. Normally at the end of each day, the two of them would part their separate ways to their own homes for rest and meet back in the office each morning, but due to how difficult the trial had been, she decided to crash at the office with her spiky haired senior; although recently his hair hadn't had the same lustre it normally had.

She had taken it upon herself to watch over him as a pseudo night guard, dipping into sleep for a few hours at a time before forcing herself to stay awake in parts just to make sure he was okay. Even though her days in court were almost as taxing to her as they were to Nick from channelling her older sister Mia at times to help him win the case, she felt this overall desire to help him out a lot more. Maya was sure that there was something she could do to help her friend relax, but she wasn't quite sure exactly what that was yet.

She eyed Phoenix as he slept; watching his chest rise and fall with shallow breaths. He finally succumbed to the seduction of sleep; one hand under his face and the other lay dangling off the edge of the supple red lounge. Her eyes lingered just below his collar bone, drinking in a patch of moonlight illuminating his bare chest, smiling a little at the knowledge that, despite his years, it seemed like he was unable to grow any chest hair. It was cute in a way, which gave him an appearance of perpetual youth. Maya let her eyes fall lower across his body, admiring a soft outline of abs peeking lightly through his skin. Despite not being of an athletic nature, Phoenix was in good shape and sported a fair muscle tone, which normally was hidden underneath the pressed form of his royal blue suit he wore on a daily basis. Maya let her smile grow more, feeling content at being able to see these small secrets of his body that lay across from her, where she couldn't help but bite her lip at the thought at what else he could be hiding underneath the rest of his clothes. Maybe he had a tattoo? Maybe he has scars as a result of school yard scuffles? Maybe he was concealing a satisfying girth to his-

She shook her head before contemplating that thought any further and felt her cheeks blush in the night. It was no secret that Maya adored him more than most other people but even she knew there was a line that shouldn't be crossed. Office romances weren't known to work out in people's favour but, as she sank under a small blanket she had pulled from one of the cabinets, she couldn't help but wonder how it would feel to crawl into those toned arms and curl into a small ball against his chest and listen to his heartbeat. That, disappointingly, would only be a fantasy and she tried to push any further feelings out of her mind as she sank beneath the comforting warmth. Nick needed her more than ever tomorrow, and she would need all the energy she could muster to bring to the day.

'What a day!' Phoenix sighed, as he flopped down onto his lounge at Wright & Co Offices late in the afternoon. He kicked off his shoes and propped his feet up on the table and leaned his head on the back of the lounge. His fingers pinched his nose as he sighed, while Maya sagged into the lounge next to him with her arms sprawled out.

'That Edgeworth sure didn't making any of that easy for me,' Phoenix griped as he let his hand fall to his side, landing less than an inch to her left hand. 'Although, I can't believe the witness made such an error in her testimony. I almost overlooked it,' he laughed with an exhausted sigh.

Maya was too busy trying to stop her heart as she felt it catch in her throat. She'd give anything to just move her hand over and take his in hers and hold it. Silently, she was comparing the size difference between them and thinking how much hers would be swallowed up in his palm. She was distracted by these thoughts that she barely heard what he was saying.

'Maya? Are you okay?'

'O-oh...umm,' Maya stammered shaking her head lightly and facing him with a small forced smile. 'Y-yeah, it was lucky you noticed it. You really gave them a good shock and I can't believe all of it wound up getting you that acquittal!'

Phoenix rubbed the back of his head and smiled wearily.

'It certainly was a close call. These last few days have made me so stressed out. I'm looking forward to doing nothing tonight.'

Maya continued to stare at the other hand on the lounge when it suddenly occurred to her what she could do. It was unorthodox, but after last night, she couldn't help but be distracted by her own primal instincts. If she wanted any chance at success, she had to act now, regardless of the hammering in her chest from her heart. She may have been tired, but her body ached in other areas that called for satisfaction.

'Hey Nick...' Maya started, pulling herself upright into a seated position. 'Would you mind if I practiced a little Kurain training on you?' she probed slyly, desperately hiding a smirk.

'It's a relaxation method. I promise it won't hurt.'

'Uhh, well...' Phoenix stammered, a hint of worry crossing over his eyes. 'If you promise it won't hurt. What are you going to do?'

'It's an old tradition,' she said, shifting closer to him and taking one of his legs off the table and pulling it into her lap. She began to remove his sock when he curled his leg back away from her.

'Maya,' he warned. 'What exactly are you going to do?'

She giggled a bit and took his foot back into her lap and slid his sock off quickly.

'It's called... a foot rub!' she smiled, running her long fingers across his with expertise.

At first he twitched his foot from a slight tickle, but he then sank further into lounge and let her pamper him, giving off little exasperated moans as she pushed and prodded the stress out of his soles. His sounds were unintentionally sultry, which made a fresh crop of goosebumps rise over her skin. This was a good start for her and if she was lucky, maybe he would moan more but for other reasons.

Maya's slender fingers pushed and prodded over his foot, before moving to the next. She made no attempt to put his socks back on, intentionally refraining from putting any article of clothing back on him. It was slow progress, but progress nonetheless, and even this manual labour gave her a feeling of satisfaction. Despite her true intentions, she was helping him in a way, and that gave her a simple glow of happiness.

Even though he had doubted her earlier, Phoenix was enjoying the small treat his assistant was giving him, and he let his eyes close in content. They snapped back open though, when her fingers had moved up from his feet and into the opening of his pants leg.

'Hey!' he gasped, trying to pull his leg away, but her arm was too far in to slip out of the fabric and he ended up pulling her across the lounge towards him. Her face landed a foot away from his crotch and both of them turned a bright red.

'M-Maya...what are you doing?' he asked nervously, fully aware what he had just made happen.

'I-I was trying to give your legs a massage too...' Maya responded with a quiver in her voice. She had thought that she would gradually make her way up his body to his 'special area', but Phoenix had managed to make her bypass most of the travel. 'You spend so long standing up in court... I thought it might be a nice treat...'

Both of them locked eyes with each other and their faces turned a deeper shade of red, as Maya slowly took her hand out.

'Maya, you don't have to do this for me.' Phoenix said, breaking the eye contact. 'I'm meant to be the one that looks after you. I promised Mia-'

'Nick, you've done plenty for me!' Maya blurted out, sitting up again and subtly shifting closer to him in the process. 'I can't thank you enough for everything you've done for me thus far, and I know that at some point, you're going to save my life again. Please-'

Maya leaned over so she was as close to Phoenix as she could get and put her hand on his shoulder.

'-Please, Nick, let me do something nice for you.'

Maya pulled herself closer to him and pressed her lips to his. In the process, her other hand grazed up his crotch before bringing it up behind his head. She had closed her eyes, while Phoenix's pulled wide. The whole moment had taken him by surprise, but he soon found himself melting into the soft embrace and how delicate her lips felt against his own, forcing his eyes to close. His body recoiled as her hand grazed him; a rush of endorphins flooding through his being and his heart skipped a beat. He hadn't given much thought to Maya in sexual way, but as he felt her so close to him and her curves pressing into his body, suddenly the idea was much more enticing to him than he had ever realised.

Maya felt his warm hands run down her back to her waist and felt him pull her closer as his tongue requested entrance to her mouth. She wilfully gave way and she felt her eyes roll back behind her lids as they both began to explore every inch of each other; tongues rolling over each other as they felt their hearts start to speed and a sense of urgency brewing. Maya lifted her legs and straddled herself over his hips and he lowered his hands to squeeze her rear. She let out a small squeak of surprise but she didn't break contact. Instead, her fingers found their way to his suit buttons and started to undo them, pushing his jacket back over and down his shoulders. Phoenix broke his grip momentarily to take his jacket off before returning to hold the small medium.

He slowly caressed her body before bringing his hands up to her breasts; his thumbs gliding over her nipples lightly causing them to stiffen and peek through her yukata. She let out a small sigh at his touch, causing her fingers to work in a flurry to take his shirt and tie off. Her insides felt like someone had let off a load of fire crackers in her stomach, and it was becoming increasingly more difficult for her to concentrate. Maya craved to know how he felt as her nether regions began to quiver and ache with anticipation.

Phoenix's hands had pushed her yukata down now exposing her breasts in the amber glow of the setting sun; small and perky, the sight of them made an animalistic desire flood through his body; a need to throw her down and take her this very moment, but the gentleman side of him reminded him that she needed to be treated with some delicacy and, above all, respect. However, this insatiable lust didn't stop him from breaking their lip-lock to begin kissing the crook of her neck and nipping it lightly. Maya must have put some sort of vanilla lotion on her skin earlier because there was a subtle twang to her skin that made his cravings grow tenfold, all the while he let his hands grope over her breasts softly and relishing the moans coming from her mouth in response.

In a blur, clothing littered the floor as their bodies continued to intertwine. Maya's hands found their way south and began stroking along Phoenix's member, which grew rigid with her strokes. When Maya had pulled down his dark underwear, her eyes had grown wide and made her face flush from shock at the sight of him. Only slightly above average, but a healthy size regardless, pieces of her wondered just how he managed to hide any of it in those tight suit pants every day.

'You've been holding out on me, Nick,' she whispered, kissing him below his jaw line as she pumped him, smiling at the way his body was bucking in response.

'M-M...Ma-...ah, I-,' he groaned, unable to string a coherent sentence together. His breathing had quickened and his breathing hitched as he tried to speak.

'Shh,' Maya cooed, slowing the pace of her strokes. 'Just relax, Nick.'

'I-I...I can't...' Phoenix gasped, taking her hands away so he could breathe. 'I can't relax...I want you.'

He picked her up suddenly and grabbed the blanket from the other lounge that Maya had used the previous night. He threw it on the ground and kicked it as flat as he could, before dropping to his knees and laying her in front of him. He normally coiffed hair had become loose and fell in a light tangle around her face, framing it seductively. He kissed her and pushed her knees apart with one of his, face flushed from the heat of their embrace and a blush from the thought of taking Maya as his partner. At times he had day dreamed about a moment like this with her, but actually going through with it, well that was a different story.

'Are you sure you want to do this?' he asked, clarifying her consent.

'Nick, I've wanted this moment to happen for so long.' Maya breathed, linking her arms around his neck and tousling his hair. It was surprisingly much softer than it looked.

'Just relax...'

Phoenix flashed a sweet smile at her before kissing her softly again. He pulled her hips close and lined himself up for entry. Carefully, he pushed himself into her sweet spot, feeling her shiver as he slipped in and he let out a hum in return. She was as tight as he imagined her to be, but her body had given her adequate natural lubricant which made the whole process easy.

As Phoenix started to buck his hips into her rhythmically, Maya's body had waves of pleasure roll through her every being.

'This is it!' she thought, her body undulating at his touch and the way he felt inside of her. 'I can't believe it's happening! I can't believe how good this feels...'

As Phoenix began to thrust faster into Maya, both of their breathing grew rapid and harsh as they began to draw to a climax. Phoenix's small grunts and hitched moans triggered Maya's lust and attraction to him to grow, spurring her along with the feel of his shaft dipping in and out repeatedly to reach the tipping point.

'Phoenix...!' Maya sighed, as the feeling of pure ecstasy washed over her body. Hearing her breathe his name caused Phoenix to climax himself, but he pulled out of her quickly; his fluid shooting out without objection and narrowly avoiding landing on her naked form. Panting, he rolled over next to her and lay beside her on his back; dewy from sweat and exhausted from the culmination of the day. However, the pent up stress he had accumulated over the passing days had simply evaporated, and he felt invigorated by a healthy glow.

They lay there for a small moment, watching the last few rays of the afternoon sun disappear into the inky threshold of the night sky; watching as handfuls of stars began to twinkle into life like a handful of silver glitter stuck to a velvety darkness. Phoenix put his arm around Maya and pulled her close, fingers playing softly in her dark hair before the two of them let out a collective sigh. Maya then began to giggle.

'What's so funny?' he questioned, his steel grey eyes blinking owlishly. For a moment, he thought that there was something funny about his love-making skills.

'It's just,' Maya said through small giggles. 'I don't think this is entirely was sis meant when she told you to look after me.'

'No, I guess not.' Phoenix laughed lightly, scratching the side of his face with his index finger. 'But you know, Maya, I need to tell you something.'

'What is it?'

'There isn't a thing in this world I wouldn't do for you. I wouldn't be half the person, half the lawyer I am, if I didn't have you standing next to me in court, or being with me the way you are. And I think...'

Phoenix trailed off, before looking her square in the eye.

'...I think I may just love you.'

Maya's heart swelled at those words, and a light spring of tears filled her eyes.

'Oh Nick,' she said, wrapping her arm across his torso and squeezing him into a hug. 'I've loved you for such a long time. You make me so happy.'

Phoenix hugged her back tightly before groping around for his suit jacket and throwing it over her to keep her warm. It covered most of her body just from his height alone and he smiled at how cute she looked underneath it. He pulled his underwear over his hips before curling up next to her again in a warm embrace as they both dozed off into sleep.

Phoenix had a solid sleep the entire night and didn't once complain of needing to cool down in the process. After all, as Maya had said, all he needed to do just relax.