The sun was beginning its descent, lowering bloodred rays along the buildings of Twilight Town. A tall, red-haired man waited on the ledge of the clock tower in the center of the city, cloaked in a black full-length coat studded with silver accoutrements with his legs, encased in black knee-high boots, hanging over the ledge and one heel kicking out a rhythm anxiously against the stone beneath him, impatiently waiting. She had never before been late to their sunset rendezvous. After an eternity, he heard a soft step behind him and began to turn around in his seat, a smirk lifting the corner of his lips and a keen sense of relief flooding through his muscles at the sound. He opened his mouth to greet her when she spoke firmly, voice sweet, tender, and so very appealingly sensual to him,
"Stay where you are, Axel. Do not move."
"I thought you would not make it, Hakumei," he duly did not continue the motion, obeying her request to stay turned toward the sunset. The female in question leaned against one of the pillars, directly behind the man. He could hear her soft breathing behind him and made to turn once more, wanting to see her, as though to be certain that she truly was there, that his longing for her had not made an illusion of her presence. She made a soft noise of reprisal in her throat and he stopped, turning his brilliant green eyes on the sunset again.
Hakumei remained in her relaxed pose, bloodred hair streaming in a thick braid down to her knees. It was tied with a red silk ribbon, at least an inch thick to hold back the substantial flow. If it had not been braided, it would have trailed in a train behind her feet as she walked. Her eyes sparkled in the sun's retreating rays, the color of newly cut fire opals. Thick, dark lashes surrounded them, adding further to the sensuous gaze she watched the sun with, though she paid Axel one eye to be certain that he remained turned away from her. She was about a head shorter than him when he stood, fairly petite in size all over and tiny by the standards of the other members of the Organization XIII. The sky began to darken above them, the sun dipping down to hide once more behind the horizon and taking with it a surprising amount of light. He finally got to his feet and stood there on the brink of the clock tower, tensing his muscles and waiting, on edge and anxious for her to allow him to turn around. He heard her heels click softly against the stone as she stepped forward. He began to turn once more, but this time her hands stopped him, her fingers wrapping around his forearms to halt him once more. He glanced down at her hands, feeling a sudden thrill as he noticed that she was wearing bright red silk gloves.
"What's the occasion?" His tone was thick with amusement and something much deeper down, something she quite easily recognized. A tiny smirk quirked the edge of her lips at the sound, relishing for an instant that she had put the note there. After a moment, she took one further step toward him, pressing her body up against his back. He stiffened for a long second as he took a trice to understand just what she had done. He leaned back against her easily after the puzzlement had passed, awaiting her response and for her to continue.
"I would like to try something a little different on a day as special as this one." She could practically feel his face furrow a little, and knew he did not understand her meaning. Time ran differently for them that spent most of their lives in a place that did not exist, and the day of the year was as important as the happenings in the next world. Hakumei leaned up to kiss the back of his neck, nosing her way through the spikes of his hair to reach his pale skin. Small shivers ran down his spine and once more he made to turn and look at her, a move which was once again arrested by her hands.
"Ah ah ah," she breathed against his neck, sending gooseflesh skittering down his arms and causing a heat to begin building in his loins, "You may not turn unless I say you may."
"Alright, Mistress," Axel said quietly, mirth lining his tone, "but will you tell me the occasion?"
Hakumei did not answer at once, laying another soft kiss on the back of his neck in place of words. She felt him tremble lightly beneath her gentle caress, remembering just how sensitive his neck was. One hand lifted from its place on his forearm and rose to his forehead, tracing along his hairline and behind his ear to toy with his hair, gently shifting the spikes aside so that she could touch the pads of her fingers, hidden in their gloves, to his scalp. She heard his lips part and could almost see his eyes lower to half-mast as she began to massage in slow circles. After a few moments, she raised the other hand to repeat her motions on the other side of his head. She continued kissing the back of his neck and the activity of her fingertips did not cease. A very soft noise emitted from his throat as she persisted in the soft movement of her hands. He ceased attempting to turn around to see her, too engrossed in the sensations her fingers were making on his scalp.
"Today is a lover's holiday," she finally murmured in his ear, carrying on her preoccupation with his scalp. He was very relaxed against her, nearly limp on his feet as she rubbed away his cares. Her hands began to lower, massaging his neck muscles and finally moving to his upper back, kneading through the thick coat and clothing he wore beneath it. He finally managed to catch his breath long enough to reply to her statement, managing to strengthen his voice so he did not sound weak.
"Is that so?"
Hakumei's hands continued lowering, applying gentle pressure along his spine and the muscles beneath his skin to find his waist. Axel jumped slightly as her hands circled around, resting on the lower part of his abdomen, just above where he most wished her skilled fingers would begin to manipulate. Her hands finally stilled, and he made a deep-throated sound of protest in response. One last time he made to turn, with more conviction, and at last she stepped back from him and allowed him to do so, making no move to halt his progress. His sharp inhale was all she needed to hear to know that on this night, for once, everything she wished for would go perfectly smoothly.
The darkening of twilight surrounding the pair at the top of the clock tower could not diminish the vibrant red of the silken dress Hakumei had donned for the occasion. It hugged her curves tightly, nearly carving out a heart with her breasts and waist. There were no straps on the dress, adding to the illusion it created. The red gloves he had seen rose to nearly her shoulders, creating the addition of sleeves. The gown flared somewhat at the hips, flowing easily to her mid-calves, where it ended jaggedly, showing off the tall stiletto heels that laced in the same color of silk as her hair tie to halfway up her legs. Her toenails were painted the same vivid crimson, as were her eyes and lips. They accentuated the natural color of her eyes, seeming to cause actual flames to dance within as she gazed on Axel in the light that remained after the setting sun.
After many long moments, he still could not find the words to voice his thoughts, and he realized he had been staring at her with his mouth open, so instead he smirked to cover his lack of speech. Hakumei gestured around her, including most of the stonework that surrounded them on the balcony. When Axel had managed to tear his eyes from her to see what she was indicating with the movement of her hand, he noticed a circle of thick, tall cherry-colored candles set all along the balcony they habitually watched the sun from. How had he missed them when he had arrived for the setting of the great fireball?
"Do you think you might set the mood for the eve, oh Flurry of Dancing Flames?"
With a snap of his fingers, the candles flickered instantly to life, causing a wash of thick, wavering golden light to pool behind the pair. It beat back the stars, the only illumination now left in the sky, and she smiled. Axel immediately felt weak in the knees. Her smile could knock out an army of lesser men than he, though he did manage to keep his feet. Stepping forward once more, Hakumei reached once hand around his neck, the other gently resting on his taut stomach. He instantly complied, bending down slightly to meet her lips with an unprecedented fervor that she had counted on from him. His passions were strong, and when Axel wanted something, he would not stop until it was in his possession. Hakumei intended to use that passion to her advantage on this night, wanting more than anything to extend the scant time she had with her red-haired companion. Easily enough for her wishes, Hakumei was one of the few things that he did strongly want.
With a gentle tug on a spike of hair at the back of his neck, Hakumei pulled Axel deeper into the circle of candlelight, towards an indentation in the stonework of the tower that created a makeshift seat. Earlier she had placed a crimson cushion on the stone specifically for this purpose, and she gently maneuvered her partner into a seated position, pulling away when he had relaxed into it. He seemed mildly confused as she removed herself from his embrace, and his grip tightened on her shoulders when her lips left his. Once again, she smiled that glorious smile and he released her, knowing there was more to come. She had not kept him waiting to simply leave him sitting at the top of the tower washed in the flickering glow of half a hundred candles and nothing to show for it but red wax and the scent of arousal.
Hakumei stepped backwards so she was just outside of his arm's reach, just under three feet away, and leaned against the stone pillar there. When he made to stand and go to her again, she shook her head and made a gesture of refusal with her hands, causing him to lean back once more into his improvised chair. As soon as he was settled, her hips shifted slightly, just enough to catch his attention. The moment she felt his gaze shift down to her waist, they moved once more, seeming of their own accord. Instantly, he was captivated, watching the hypnotic swaying of her hips to a tune that only she could hear. After a moment of simply weaving her hips from side to side, her arms raised above her head, pressing against the surface of the pillar as though pinioned. All the while, her hips did not cease to twist. Her audience, captivated, stilled to watch her movements with eager enthusiasm, to which she responded by moving a little away from the pillar she had begun against, her whole body seeming to unfurl as she gave more of herself into the dance she spun for him. As he made to move again, she froze, stopped moving completely. Her eyes were not on him, but she waited until her Axel had stopped moving and leaned back again before she began to move any more.
Slowly, so slowly, she continued to move toward him, continuing to move her hips and her arms in gentle, suggestive swaying that appealed to him more than even her fingertips had done only minutes ago. He leaned back against the stone, lacing his hands behind his neck to watch her, not making to touch her again. Hakumei stepped lightly, curling and spinning her hips until she was just in front of him. Gently, she spread her legs and lowered herself onto his lap, the dress hiking a little higher on her thighs to allow her the movement. Shock registered on his features as her hips continued their circling. He could feel heat through the coat, and he instinctively knew she was not wearing undergarments. An eager stiffness infused his manhood at the thought of what awaited him beneath that dress as soon as he could manage to take it off of her beguiling form, of how she would sound when he dominated her, felt the source of that luscious heat…
Axel had not noticed that her hips had stopped their moving, so captivated was he by the thought of what he would do to her. She leaned forward, wrapping her hands around his neck and pressing her lips aggressively to his, once again pulling his wandering attention to the present occupation at hand. He took the change in stride, seeking her lips with his own equally reckless abandon. Their kiss was fierce, aflame with raw desire repressed among the others and even between the two of them when they were alone. Finally, this was his and no one could stop him from having it. His arms had encircled her in his lap, almost crushing her to him in a kind of possessive embrace. When finally she had to pull back from his lips to breathe, she looked into his eyes as she moved, staring at those beloved emeralds and seeing the lust taking over, darkening them to put the gems into shadow. He leaned his forehead against hers, lowering his lips and simply inhaling her scent for a moment, steadying himself. He had all night to take what she was offering, and he intended to make as much time as he needed to before she left his embrace and took that beautiful fire with her.
"I have been alone with you for many sunsets now, Axel," she murmured to him, "and still I have not been able to give you the one thing you most desire. For that, I am so very sorry, and I sincerely hope that you will accept what I can give you, small as it is."
Axel brought his gaze up to look at her again, stunned that she could possibly have known that the one thing he had wanted in all the time they had been ascending the clock tower was one more sunset with Roxas. She stood, feeling the sensations she had been trying to elicit, trying to fan the embers into a fire, instantly burst into ash and float away on the breeze. Tears glittered in the back of her eyes and she stood, moving away from him now, giving him her back for the first time that night. Perhaps the tryst she had desired was never meant to be. She would, however, treasure her moments in his arms, no matter how fleeting… Hakumei heard him move behind her and turned when he began to speak. Her lips parted as she found him kneeling on the stonework, his hands clasped together in a gesture begging her forgiveness.
"Hakumei, I have enjoyed every single sunset I have watched with you by my side."
The full meaning of his words hit her squarely in the chest, and she did not try to step away as he moved forward on his knees to wrap his arms around her waist, burying his face into her middle. His grip was tight and certain, and she knew in a flash she had not ruined everything after all. As his hands began seeking up her back, she surrendered easily, speaking no more. The pair moved back into the candlelight, and he considerately moved the cushion to the stone balcony before gently forcing her to lie down, making sure that her head was comfortably on the pillow before he reached for her again. Gentle fingers trailed down her body, skimming over her form and sending small shivers down her spine, causing her breath to catch. Eventually he reached her legs and began to untie the stays on her shoes, gently unwinding them and slipping them off of her feet. Laying the heels to the side where they would not bother them, he returned to her, lying along her side. She reached for him and he kissed her, taking care not to let his body roll onto hers just yet.
Slowly, so very slowly, Axel lowered the hand he was not using to prop himself up onto her breast. She watched the movement with her eyes, anticipating his touch so sharply that when he did make contact with her she nearly gasped. He moved his fingers slowly, fondling and discovering the shape beneath the gown. After a few moments, his fingers slid to the side of the dress, where the zipper was hidden in the seam, and slid it down. This was going to take all night…
Hours later, when the candles had burned down to leave pools of wax and the stars above watched with cold jealousy in their icy light, Axel finally looked down at Hakumei, lying naked atop her beneath his coat. She had begun shivering sometime after their third round, and he had not wanted her to be cold. Her fire had warmed him deliciously from within. Sweat beaded the stray hair that had been freed from her braid to her forehead, and he knew his own spikes had hardly stood up well to their exertions of the evening. Hakumei was smiling that heart-stopping smile, and he knew then and there just how much he wanted to remain with her, as they were, in each other's arms.
"You aren't too cold, are you, Hakumei?"
"I could stand a little longer, as long as you can keep me warm."
"Good. I'm just getting started."
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Disclaimer: Axel, Twilight Town, Organization XIII, Roxas, and all related paraphernalia belong to Disney and SquareEnix companies. Hakumei, however, is my creation, and as such she belongs solely to me.
From the Author: Hey there to all my fans, reviewers, Axel fangirls… Kingdom Hearts players! This took me a while, eh? I wanted to go into more detail, but with FF's restrictions on content I was unable to complete the story as I would have liked. If I find a way to post it elsewhere for fuller content (and a steamier Axel) I will let you know. I hope it was a worthy addition.
Now, I'm sure you're wondering about the girl in this story. Hakumei plays a pivotal role in the Kingdom Hearts fanfiction I am working on right now, and this was a good chance for me to introduce her character to you. Let me know what you think about her, as she will play a big part in my writings for Kingdom Hearts.
Well, that's all for now. And reviewers, be constructive. It's been a while.