Disclaimer: Mmm…Yaoi…I mean, I still don't own KH…

Roxas awoke a second time that day to find that it was twilight. The sun had already set below the horizon and a diffused light from the summer sun was making its last trace appearances in his room.

As though on que, before Roxas had even the chance to fully wake, the door opened then and in strode Axel, his movements like those of a large jungle cat. Taking care to light several of the oil lamps in the room (though Roxas failed to see how, or rather, with what he did this), the graceful vampire came to Roxas' bedside.

Tonight, he was decked out in the full regalia of a noble. His scarlet robes seemed to fall forever as they reached the ground, giving Axel the illusion that he was even taller, with a particularly elegant silhouette. Everywhere was complex, golden embroidery and Roxas could have sworn that those were little jewels and beads of real gold that dotted the cloth to compliment the designs. His hair was wild as ever and his green eyes sparkled like never before.

"Come 'round, Roxas," said Axel playfully, "Tonight is a most auspicious night!"

And then he moved too fast for Roxas to see and was on top of him, crimson fabric flying as he touched down on the bed, as lightly as a fallen feather. Leaning on his forearms to either side of Roxas, Axel leaned in until their noses touched, and then placed a chaste kiss on the youth's lips. And another. And then another, until he was littering his lips, his cheeks, his nose, his tightly shut eyes, with little kisses. He could hear Roxas heart pounding but the boy did nothing to resist. Axel pressed further, kissing Roxas' mouth fully now, allowing the smaller body to acclimate before asking permission with his tongue. Roxas did not fully understand, but tentatively parted his lips, allowing some instinct-like force to guide him. Axel obliged him gently. He moved his arms, meanwhile, into a position where he could stroke the petite blond's hair, running his fingers through it, knowingly beckoning Roxas to respond into the kiss.

But while Roxas had allowed Axel to enter his mouth, he kept his own tongue so far back that he was tempted to swallow it. His eyes were wide, pleading for some help with this thing that he had never done before. Axel was ever the gentle teacher, prodding carefully within the other, eventually drawing out a response from Roxas, however awkward and meek. The youth's virginal movements seemed to excite the vampire even more, for when he finally broke the kiss to let the boy breathe, as humans were wont to do, he nearly returned to continue right then. Instead, he continued onward, while the boy panted for breath, kissing his neck (to which Roxas instantly tensed, and with good reason) and further down (to which Roxas didn't know how to respond, whether to relax or to tense some more), past his collarbone where he began to loosen the cords holding the neckline of the nightdress together as he ran his hands down and moved in a southerly direction on Roxas body altogether.

Roxas thought he could tell where it was all leading, for to what other ends were such touches a means to? Even Roxas knew this. He panicked.

Say something! Anything…!

"W-What's your favorite color?"

Stupid, stupid, stupid! Ah!

Axel smirked inwardly but stopped his pursuit for the moment and moved back up Roxas' body. There, he settled himself between the youth's legs on his stomach and reached out to stroke the boy's face.

"Lapis Lazuli, I would think," he began breathily, his voice like wisps of air, as he gazed deeply into Roxas' eyes. "Or not," he changed his mind with a slight frown, tilting his head just slightly to the side, as though he studied a work of art and searched for the words to describe what he saw. "Lapis Lazuli is dull, compared to those lovely eyes; it doesn't reflect and is opaque—unlike them. Sapphire, perhaps? But what sapphire could compare to your sympathetic gaze, my dear Roxas? Were I to pluck one of those beautiful eyes and wear it on my finger, no wretched sapphire would ever compare. But never would I dare, for then it would soon decay and be lost forever. Or the blue, blue sky, when there are no clouds on the clearest day. Is it deep enough, however…"

Roxas shuddered. He did not know what to make of such compliments. Bizarre but beautiful they were, just like the one who had uttered them. Axel continued:

"And perhaps the sun is my other favorite color," he mused as he wove his fingers into Roxas' roughly chopped and tousled hair. "These golden filaments like flax, or the finest fibers of wheat, that suit so perfectly your eyes like stars suit night…"

Roxas was taken aback by this lavish praise, at a loss for words. He was sure his mouth was hanging open on its hinges if ever so slightly.

"Did my Roxas expect me to say 'red'?" said the vampire, his eyes now filled with shining mischief.

Roxas cheeks burned. There was something else he wanted to ask.

"Um…A-Axel, will you tell me about vampires?"

Axel wasn't the least bit surprised at this question. He had expected it sooner or later, and there were things Roxas deserved to have explained to him, after all.

"Certainly, Roxas," he said conversationally. "What would you like to know?"

Now that he had asked, Roxas wasn't sure what it was exactly what it was he wanted to know specifically. Where to start?

"Are you really three thousand years old?"

"Almost."

"Alright…can you fly?"

"Yes." Axel was amused when the boy's eyes grew in childish awe.

"Can you turn into a wolf?"

"No, but I can command one."

"Can all vampires read minds?"

"Only to an extent. I can hear your thoughts so well because we share a blood bond."

"What is a 'blood bond?'"

"It is…the thing that binds you to me. It forms when a vampire shares blood with a human. The strongest of these is the bond between a vampire and their Sire."

Roxas thought on this for a second. "Share…blood? But I never—"

"You did, Roxas. You just probably don't remember it. I fed you my blood to help heal you after I took too much."

Roxas' eyes went wide. His hand went to his mouth without him thinking of it. That strange, tingling taste on his lips…!

"Yes, the very one," the vampire supplied with a grin.

Roxas panicked. Sharing blood with a vampire meant…

"Am I a vampire now?!" he cried with eyes like saucers.

Axel stared at his outburst for a moment, and then burst out into laughter himself. He composed himself enough to say to Roxas:

"My, my! Such strange ideas about vampires you have, little Roxas! Be at ease. You may be bonded to me, but you are just as human as you were when I found you. Although in a much better condition, to be sure…The little draughts of my blood were only enough to revitalize you. But no, that is not how vampires are made. Though that question, I will save for another time."

The youth visibly relaxed and though his curiosity was peaked, he was contented just to know that he was still human.

"Right now, I'd like to show you off a bit to everyone at Court," finished Axel with a flash of teeth.

Huh?

Roxas went back to a state of perturbation. To what Court? A vampire Court? Like the king's Court?!

"What other Court would it possibly be, sweet Roxas?"

Roxas didn't want to meet the vampires' king. Ever. Terror seized his heart at the thought. He had been told numerous stories of this ruthless king, who was said to be a harbinger of death and destruction, conquering territory without mercy, and leaving a trail of gore over those lands that refused his conquest. A veritable monster he was said to be. And why was Axel smirking? Was Roxas to be the offering to the beastly ruler?

To make matters worse, with each further thought of Roxas' Axel would only laugh more animatedly, until Roxas wanted to cry.

Sensing the youth's distress, Axel moved off the bed and crossed to the other side, where he kneeled and took Roxas' cold and clammy hand in his colder one.

"No one will harm you, Roxas, I give you my word as…a creature of honor. I can guarantee it, but you will have to trust me, yes?"

Roxas nodded meekly, his eyes still wide with fear. At Roxas' acquiescence, Axel replaced his hand on the bed and proceeded to draw the covers back, leaving Roxas in only his nightdress. This he grasped the hem of and began raising it slowly over Roxas' feet, then ankles, then calves, but when he reached the boy's knees, Roxas grasped at the same hem to keep it from going any higher.

"N-No! What are you doing?!"

"Roxas," Axel spoke seriously now, "you said you would trust me, did you not? Now, this is the only way I can keep you safe. Please, trust me. I'll only have a taste, I promise."

A taste? Roxas was confused again. Nothing was making sense anymore.

But Axel used the boy's hesitation to quickly jerk the nightshirt up past his knees to barely cover his unmentionable parts, and pull a stretched out leg up at the knee, bending it into position slightly to the side to reveal the femoral artery. Axel himself wound around the shaking calf until his nose was almost touching the youth's inner thigh.

Roxas whimpered, but otherwise stayed still on his elbows, looking down his body and trying to understand what it was that the vampire would do.

"Lie back. Relax. Close your eyes….Roxas…"

Roxas obeyed quietly and let sensation wash over him, as Axel began to rub gently at his inner thigh. It was…pleasant, somehow.

Axel waited for the prime moment, when he felt the boy go limp at his ministrations, and promptly bit into the artery. He felt Roxas' body jump with the shock of it and heard him cry out as he fisted the sheets while his knuckles went white. One arm went around the soft thigh to keep it still while the other crept upwards…

Roxas saw stars as the vampire began to draw on his blood. Like the first time in the alley, the initial entry of his fangs seemed to burn through the petit blond, but this feeling was quickly replaced by a pleasurable coolness. Roxas felt like he was run through by two threads: one from the bite to his heart that tensed and released in time with the pull on his blood, and the other, from the punctures to his groin. Roxas sucked in a too fast, painful breath on account of the latter. He became faintly aware of the hand stroking him there. His eyes shot open but all he saw was red, red, red.

By then, Axel had already removed his fangs and was lapping at the twin punctures, cleaning off the last little remnants of blood off of the little thigh. Satisfied with his taste—no blood had ever tasted so good, at least none that he could recall—he moved his lips over the heated skin and up to join his hand at the apex of Roxas' legs. As his tongue began working on the little shaft, he took care to tease the slit at the top with his thumb, coaxing out a carnal moan from Roxas, who was beyond caring that such a thing was being done to him, as it overpowered even his rational thought. Deciding to step things up a bit, Axel moved his hand down to make room for his lips. Roxas bucked straight off the bed, arching his back, as he felt his organ enveloped by a wet, and so very, very hot enclosure. And then Axel began to suck, weaving his tongue around in intricate patterns on the underside as he engulfed the youth to the very base, Roxas' thin, curly golden down tickling his nose just slightly. Axel encouraged him gently, hands ghosting over his thighs, his stomach, his quickly rising and falling chest. The coil of pressure in Roxas' belly grew tighter and tighter until it suddenly released, as the youth gave forth in violent, erratic spasms a viscous white fluid, which the vampire accepted without hesitation, swallowing until the softening member was clean of all but his saliva.

Again, Roxas body went limp as he tried to regulate his breathing. He vaguely felt it as Axel replaced his nightdress down to his ankles again and the shift on the bed as he rose, then sat once more at Roxas' shoulders. From the bedside table he took a cloth and poured cool water on it from a polished silver pitcher, wiping the cloth over Roxas' furrowed brow, removing the fine sheen of sweat that had accumulated there. Roxas met his eyes and to him, the vampire looked truly feline at that moment, like a cat that had sipped of its milk and enjoyed it thoroughly. He then did something that Roxas didn't expect.

Axel raised his own finger to his mouth and bit down, creating a single puncture. He pressed this finger then to Roxas lips. The boy was hesitant and recoiled as much as his body would allow.

"Drink, Roxas. This is how I fed you the first time, as you slept," he urged gently.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Roxas slowly accepted the bloody finger offered to him into his mouth and began to pull at the vampire's blood, finding that it was, indeed, the taste of his lips when he awoke that morning. It was cool and seemed to calm his overheated body and its sweet tang, he found, was to his liking. He felt the tingle in his fingers and toes, like an aftershock to his recent orgasm.

Axel himself was caught between pain and ecstasy, in that very perfect place where the two combined. Roxas was nowhere near death now, so for once Axel would allow Roxas to feast upon his blood. Not that he would withhold it from him. It was just that tonight was a special night. Tonight, all of the eager vampires of the Court would be allowed to look upon his human for the first time. It had been over a week now and all sorts of gossip had been spreading, catching around the castle like fire. There were mixed opinions about Axel's keeping a human, something he hadn't done since…centuries ago. That incident had not ended well. Many remembered. Many were afraid it would happen once more, especially in the High Court, especially when the rumors of the boy's appearance had begun to spread. But Axel would have none of it; he had made it clear to the Court the night of Roxas' appearance. Tonight, Roxas would be filled with his blood and he with Roxas,' and together with Axel's scent all over Roxas after he had loved the boy, well…no one would contest who Roxas belonged to tonight. No one would dare touch him, knowing whose wrath they would incur. And all would know Axel's own intentions. Roxas was his.

The little wound was beginning to close and Axel took back his hand, apologizing by stroking Roxas' face with the other when the younger one whimpered at the loss.

Axel stood then. He turned and reached for Roxas, lifting him out of bed with an arm beneath his knees, the other supporting his back like a fragile thing that would break with just too strong a touch. He brought the little body to his chest, the nightshirt dangling far past his little feet, and Roxas wound his arms around the vampire's neck, snuggling for a moment in his warm velvet robes and soft long hair and a scent that Roxas was quickly discovering was unique to Axel.

Axel, Axel, Axel.

They were going somewhere then, out the door and down a long, long, long hallway awash with light and with ceilings so high that Roxas had to crane his neck, only to discover with great amazement that the ceilings were paintings. They passed many doors and took many turns. Roxas began to wonder what this huge place was. He had though he was being held in a nobles' estate house somewhere, but this…this was a palace! No noble had such a home as this, surely! Could it be…that they were already in the castle of the vampire king? Roxas couldn't imagine such a beautiful place belonging to a king of vampires. Not with chandeliers so magnificent and halls so bright.

But a thought kept nagging at Roxas, and it intensified by the minute, especially when they would pass the seldom maid or other servant in the many halls, who, as Axel passed, would bow or curtsy their lowest and drop their heads, uttering a quiet, "your Majesty." Axel didn't acknowledge this except with a growing grin.

Roxas stared up at him, still clinging to his neck. It couldn't be, could it?

But he had no time to wonder more, as Axel came to a stop before ornate double doors that began to open.