Suguri insisted on giving Klaus a thorough physical as soon as he returned to the compound. Klaus was rather chuffed at this and maintained an infuriating smile throughout the entire check-up.

'Trying to find something the other docs didn't, doc?' He winced as Suguri's cold hands gingerly felt his ribs. 'Or did you just want an excuse to touch me?'

'You're lucky,' said Suguri, having tuned him out completely.

From near the doorway, Taki looked up.

'I don't know how you keep getting out of these close scrapes,' Suguri muttered almost to himself. He straightened and rolled his sleeves back down. 'If the impact had been any closer to the centre of your body, your ribcage would have been completely crushed.'

'Yeah, that's what they said at the hospital,' said Klaus carelessly. He thought about Lieutenant Shigeki Ota. He thought about sixteen out of fifty men who didn't make it. Two crushed ribs was nothing. A bad joke. 'So I can get out of this brace now, right?'

If there was ever a person whom the Gods would personally salvage from the direst of situations, Hans had said in his slow, measured way. It would be Captain Wolfstadt.

In place of the relief he rationally knew he should be feeling, Taki was beginning to nurse a very specific form of anxiety. Surely, after this incident at the very least, Klaus had used up all his divine favour.

Suguri hesitated.

'You… you should be able to move without it. But I wouldn't recommend it for another –'

'Thank God.'

Using his good hand, Klaus undid the latch on the metal brace wrapped around his torso. It creaked open and Klaus tried to wedge it out from beneath the sling encasing his left arm. Suguri reluctantly helped.

'The sling can come off soon too, right?'

'Absolutely not. The bullet fractured the bone. It'll be out of commission for another few weeks at least.'

'You're no fun, doc.'

'And in fact, I'd recommend that you come back every few days so I can check it's healing properly.'

Klaus raised his eyebrows. Suguri was as serious as ever and his face gave nothing away.

It seemed like a fairly standard request from an army doctor and yet Klaus couldn't help reading volumes into it. Had something changed in the way Suguri saw him? If anything, after he and Taki had been caught in that damning situation in Taki's bedroom, Klaus expected only fresh waves of coldness from the guy. The newfound concern, brusque and cold though it seemed, was unexpected. Almost nice.

'Really, now, I'm starting to think you're coming onto me.'

Suguri's face didn't budge.

'Not everything is a joke, Captain.'

Words that were immediately undermined by Klaus' throaty chuckle.

'Can he fight?'

Both Klaus and Suguri turned to Taki, who was staring at the floor near Klaus' feet.

'Not for a while, Taki-sama,' Suguri replied.

Klaus started. 'Now, hang on a minute –'

'He can move about. Barely. But getting on a bike, actually engaging in combat… that's out of the question.'

'I don't –'

'Any more pressure on his body and he may end up bedridden for who knows how long.'

'Okay, wait,' Klaus interjected again, trying hard to backpedal. He recognised the look on Taki's face. 'I know how it looks. But it's not as bad as all that. One hand's all I need to ride my bike. And I just need my teeth to pull the pin from grenades. Hell, that's how I did it even when I had both hands.'

Taki looked entirely unconvinced.

Suguri tried again. 'You'll be in too much pain to effectively take part in any strenuous –'

'Oh, come on, you can give me some of the good stuff for the pain, right?'

Klaus realised his mistake as soon as he spoke. There was a dark flash of eyes from the doorway.

'I… Taki, I didn't mean –'

'Regenwalde has asked to see us,' Taki interrupted, his voice cold. 'He insisted that we both be there. We ought to go now, if you're feeling up to it.'

Klaus made one or two more sounds before giving up.

'Sure. Whatever.'

He got to his feet with barely a wince. He even stretched and arched his back a little. Showing off, Suguri thought with tired disdain. He handed Klaus his shirt without a word.

Taki looked away as Klaus pulled it on. He'd seen beyond the bruises, he realised with a guilty flush. He'd seen the strength of his core. The skin and muscles. He'd felt an unmistakable wave of something. Something very close to desire. Something to be expelled as soon as it reared, like the first spots of mould.

He walked out of the office.

Unaware of this private battle, Klaus threw his coat on one-handed and followed.

Taki stopped so suddenly Klaus nearly ran into him.

'Second-lieutenant Suguri,' he said over his shoulder. 'If Klaus comes to you for morphine or any other painkillers, you will need my express approval before administering it.'

Suguri was somewhat taken aback by the unusual order. When no explanation seemed imminent, he nodded.

There was only one thing Suguri had managed to understand after everything he'd seen; as long as Klaus von Wolfstadt was alive and well, Taki would be too.

'Yes, sir.'


It was a familiar sight to behold; the young commander strolling across the compound with his knight in tow. Even those whose mistrust of the foreigner had not abated felt somewhat more at ease, though they couldn't explain it to themselves if they tried.

Enough days had passed that Klaus only felt minimal pain in his left side when he walked. Ribs were a piece of cake. His arm, though. His arm sometimes kept him up at night. No need for the young master to know that.

He kept his right hand in his pocket and his eyes on the back of Taki's head.

'Was that really necessary?'

A short pause.

'Yes,' was Taki's curt reply.

'I missed you.'

A hot flare of surprise and embarrassment. Taki battened it down as best as he could. How was it that Klaus could still catch him off guard after all this time?

They didn't speak again for minutes.

The midday sun struggled to make any impression under the new chill of autumn. The world seemed poised, Taki thought. Ready for the final struggle. Even the birds seemed to warn them of it as they darted about the sky in little groups.

When they reached a junction, Klaus automatically turned towards the holding cells and was surprised to see Taki heading the other way.

'I thought we were seeing Regenwalde?'

'He's been moved. I can't vouch for the safety of the cells anymore since he was shot.'

'Where is he now?'

'In the main building. Second storey.'

Klaus frowned. 'He's in your building?'

'Yes. Under guards that I've personally appointed.'

'So he's upgraded from prison to the goddamn presidential suite? How'd he swing that?'

'Hans didn't ask for anything. In fact, he was happy to remain in the cell. I insisted.'

Hans, is it? Klaus thought with a surge of jealousy he didn't even bother to fight. I was gone a month and already we're out with the first names.

'When do I get upgraded?' He tried to keep his tone playful. Mask jealousy with jealousy, he thought.

He caught a glimpse of Taki's eyes in profile.

'Are you not happy with your accommodation?'

Klaus sighed dramatically. 'I like my shed just fine. It's just such a long walk to your room and back in the middle of the night.'

He was quite satisfied with the redness that touched Taki's ears.


He was also satisfied to see that Hans' presidential suite was actually a glorified closet. In fact, he was almost sure it was simply a large walk-in that had been revamped as a cell.

One of the two guards flanking the door let them through and closed the door after them. Hans Regenwalde was seated by a small desk on which maps and charts were spread. He glanced up.

In addition to the desk, there was only a thin, well-made bed. The room was small, whitewashed and bare. Its only redeeming feature was a single window, narrow but tall, that overlooked the western side of the compound and the tree-rimmed slopes beyond.

A better view, was what Taki had thought before he ordered for that specific walk-in to be refitted. He didn't know why he had been so compelled by something Hans had said in passing. Given Klaus' reaction to the situation in general, he was glad no one would ever be the wiser.

'Klaus,' said Hans evenly. 'It's good to see you.'

Klaus couldn't return the gesture with any degree of honesty so he remained silent. Taki picked up on it. The atmosphere couldn't be more different from the one they'd just left in Suguri's office.

The bandage around Hans' head had been removed. Clear grey eyes observed them from beneath the russet fringe. His hair was thick and short in a way that set off his thin, Roman features. Even in his colourless prison attire, he managed to exude a certain wellness. Strength. Klaus was suddenly very conscious of his sling.

Hans turned fully in his chair to face them.

'I was just telling Taki that it was -'

'That's Taki-sama to you,' Klaus interrupted.

There was a short, disbelieving silence. Taki looked at Klaus, wondering if he'd heard right. It was like Hasebe had momentarily stepped into Klaus' body. If Taki had been in any way inclined, he might have let slip an incredulous smile.

'Of course,' said Hans slowly, who was under no similar restraint. His smile, though, was entirely without mirth. 'My apologies. I was just telling Taki-sama that it was most unfortunate for one of his foreigners to come out of the medical wing just in time for another to go in. So it's great to see you've made a speedy recovery.'

One of Taki's foreigners? Arrogant piece of –

Taki noticed the balled fist at Klaus' side and swiftly said, 'You asked to see us?'

Hans, smile still lingering, turned to the charts.

'Yes.'

Taki felt a spur of hope. 'Have you worked out something about the Alliance attack?'

At that, Hans hesitated, which was a rare sight.

'Yes and no.'

He moved a long hand to the topmost chart almost absentmindedly. Taki waited with bated breath. Klaus almost rolled his eyes.

'I think I know how to help you win this last battle,' he said quietly. 'At least, I can know.'

'What does that mean?'

'From the reports and intelligence you've given me -' (Klaus tensed. How much had Taki trusted this guy?) '- I'm almost certain I know the commander who will be leading the offensive. Ruttgenstein. He's notorious. The Alliance will want someone like that for their last stand.'

From beneath the charts, he slid out a few of his own neat notes written in pencil. With a small jolt, Klaus recognised that agonisingly precise script from his school days.

After meeting both their gazes for long enough to give them adequate warning, Hans stood up slowly and moved aside, indicating that Taki have a look. Klaus tried to keep still as Taki approached him. There's a window right there, he reminded himself. A tall window for the tall bastard. One false move and he'll have all the fresh air he wants.

As they talked strategy over the small desk, Klaus found himself wondering why Hans had even wanted him there in the first place.

'I worked directly under Ruttgenstein for a time. He has three main strategies and he uses one of the three without fail in every one of his campaigns because they've always worked.'

'How do you know which one he'll use?'

'I don't know yet. I'll need to see him drop a few hints early on. The angle of attack. The choice of deployment. Numbers in the front line offensives.'

'But… but we can't know that until he attacks.'

'I know.'

Klaus felt his skin prickle. He suddenly wanted Taki to step away from the desk.

As though reading his mind, Hans moved away from Taki towards the window. He threw a dispassionate gaze over the compound and turned back to them. It's like he thinks he's on stage, Klaus thought derisively, his guard still very much up. He wondered what had happened to the shy kid who'd been beaten up by the soccer field.

'I need to be on the front lines to see it,' said Hans.

Yeah, right, thought Klaus.

Absolutely not, thought Taki.

'I know what you're both thinking.' Hans held his hands behind his back. 'And I know the full import of what I'm asking. So I won't sugar-coat it.'

Again, for a moment, he appeared hesitant.

'You know, it seems outlandish,' he said, his voice suddenly introspective. 'But in reality… it's quite simple.'

The words, the way he spoke them, suddenly sparked a memory in both Taki and Klaus.

He kept speaking. Slowly and deliberately.

'Take me with you –'

'No,' said Klaus before he could stop himself.

Hans flicked his eyes from Klaus back to Taki.

'You just have to make me –'

'Shut up, right now.' Something awful had started to bubble up in Klaus. Something angry. Desperate.

'Klaus…'

But Taki was unnerved as well. He didn't know which of them to look at.

Take me with you, Klaus had said, his hair flattened by the rain. It's simple. You just have to make me yours. The train had waited beside them for Taki to make the decision that changed both their lives.

The tiny room managed to hold a ringing silence that was heavier than itself.

'Taki,' said Hans, eyes now unmovingly on the commander. 'Taki-sama. I wanted you both to be here to hear my request. It only seemed fitting to ask you in the presence of the one whom you consider to be your current knight.'

'Hans, shut your fucking mouth.' He wanted to leap over the bed that was in his way and hold Hans up by the scruff of his neck. 'You don't know what you're saying.'

'Anyone who knows me will tell you I'm not at all prone to emotional actions or gestures,' said Hans, his coolness providing a stark counterpoint to Klaus' building rage. 'You and I are quite alike in that way. So I hope you understand how much it means when I say, Commander, that I truly feel I can follow you to the ends of the Earth.'

'Hans, I swear to God…' Klaus took a few steps forward, ribs shooting in pain from the abrupt movement. Taki instinctively held out a hand to stop him.

'I didn't even know such a… a sentiment… a feeling, I suppose, was possible,' said Hans, faltering again in a way that was completely out of character. Taki was at a loss. Hans' face and posture were still composed, as were the words themselves, but there was a breadth of emotion there that he was apparently struggling to contain. Emotion that occasionally leaked through. 'Until I heard about Klaus' defection. What he did for you. And after I started learning about you, you've been the only thing on my mind. Even more so after we met in person.'

Taki, wide-eyed, felt the heat rise to his face. Klaus, thankfully, was too busy glaring at Hans to notice. He appeared almost too stunned to move.

Hans took advantage of the lull to continue.

'I don't know how, but it appears to have slipped past the attention of everyone, including your own country. But I can see it. You and everything you stand for. You're the beacon of hope for our nations. For peace.'

Taki noticed in a way that was both peripheral and strangely focused that the trees beyond the window were evenly divided between those which were turning brown and those that held onto summer's green. How, he wondered, do the trees decide when to turn?

'With both of us behind you,' Hans said, his voice returning now to its careful, determined pitch. 'With both myself and Klaus by your side… you can win the war for your people.'

He hadn't said the words. Not exactly. But he didn't need to. Klaus suddenly remembered that he'd wanted to slam the bastard up against the wall, hard enough to give him another concussion.

Taki, however, was quick off the mark. He barred the space between the desk and the bed so Klaus would have to forcibly push him out of the way to get past. It was like stopping a coursing river at a bottleneck, Taki thought.

He could feel Hans' gaze on his back as he tried to steady Klaus.

'Stand down,' he ordered as firmly as he could.

'Taki –'

'Let me handle it.'

Klaus looked at him for what felt like the first time. It always took him a moment, he realised, to remember he was standing beside Taki Reizen. The commander had been winning battles since long before he'd arrived on the scene. He willed his pulse to settle.

Still holding up a hand before Klaus, Taki turned to look at Hans. The gaze was returned almost as coolly as ever, with only the smallest hint of self-consciousness.

Taki struggled to filter through the myriad of questions.

'Why?' he said finally. 'Why are you offering yourself like this?'

Another ephemeral glance at Klaus. Did you ask him that question when he did the same? Taki could almost hear the words and prayed he wouldn't ask.

He didn't.

'It's exactly as I've told you before, Commander. I envy Klaus, I envy the purpose he found, more than I can say. I've spent my whole life without one and I think I found it. In you. It sounds suspicious and sudden, I'm sure, but –'

'I'm not kidding, Hans,' warned Klaus in a low, shaking voice. 'If you don't shut up, I will vault over this bed and kill you where you stand.'

The threat hung in the air like a separate being.

'I found something I believe in,' Hans finished smoothly, without a trace of fear in his voice. He directed his final remark at Taki alone.


Animal imagery again. Klaus' mind was filled with it. He was the uncontrollable dog, frothing at the mouth and livid, and Taki was the small black cat and Hans was the glittering snake slithering around its paws. Every instinct in him had told him to kill the snake. At least hurt it. Remind it that it had no place here. That its place was far away. Far in the past.

And instead, still frothing at the mouth and livid, he'd obediently followed Taki out of that glorified closet and out of the building.

He'd never felt it before. This trembling anger. Streaked through with red-hot jealousy. Not even when bullets glanced off the wall near Taki's head did he feel so powerless. How the fuck… How the blue, blinding fuck had Hans known to say those words? Almost those exact words...

Taki's head was swimming in them too. Take me with you. It's simple. You just have to make me- With a start, he realised he couldn't be sure anymore if he was hearing Hans' words or Klaus'.

You just have to make me yours.

There. That voice definitely belonged to Klaus.

Taki turned. The look on Klaus' face was strange. Somewhat frightening. It made his heart pound.

Origami, Klaus thought. When he'd first noticed Hans Regenwalde, the guy had been folding origami under the table. How the hell had it come to this?

He suddenly felt lightheaded. The sensation nearly made him laugh.

'Klaus?'

Taki had stopped. His voice brought him back. A little. The lightheadedness was less light than he'd initially thought.

'I…'

'Are you okay? What's wrong?'

A throbbing, coursing pain suddenly radiated from the wound in his arm. It had been trying to attract his attention for a while, Klaus realised, but he'd ignored it. And so it had borrowed some blood from his brain to try to fix itself. Right. Caught up now.

'I'm fine.'

'No, you're not. We're going to the infirmary.'

'Just so Suguri can feel me up again? I'll pass.'

'Klaus –'

'I'll just…' He took a deep breath, his head careening a bit, and tried to gather his bearings. The courtyard was nearby. So his room was too. 'I'll just take a quick nap. Won't be long.' He smiled thinly. 'Don't go… don't go making anyone else your knight while I'm sleeping, though. Okay?'

Taki's heart hammered again. It was typical enough for Klaus to make light of the situation but his words managed to cut them both. Everything had taken on a surreal, disquieting shade.

He walked with Klaus through the courtyard.


Taki had hesitated before sliding the needle into Klaus' shoulder. But the shuddering exhales had worried him, as had the sweat that started to stand out more prominently on Klaus' face. And so, after Klaus pointed at a discreet cube-like bag in the corner, Taki wordlessly retrieved one of the last few remaining vials and set up the syringe.

In the end, he was more relieved than guilty when Klaus settled back against the bedhead with a happy sigh.

As the sweet liquid relief flooded his veins, Klaus opened an eye. Taki had pulled a chair by the bed and was watching him closely. A view Klaus could get used to.

'You're not,' he said blearily, trying to piece an important thought together. 'You're not going to, are you?'

'To what?'

'Do what he asked.'

Taki put the syringe on the bedside table. His palms, he realised, had been sweating.

'Of course not.'

But even as he said it, he felt a squirm of guilt.

With a feeling like a sheet of ice breaking off and sliding into the ocean, he was beginning to see that he would need Hans' help. Especially with Klaus out of action in the immediate future.

'We can defeat Ruttgenstein if we know which strategy he'll use. He's never had someone fight against him who knows him so well. It'll be like defusing a live bomb.'

That was what mattered. Strategy. Planning. Winning. Everything else… things about knighthood and pledges and purpose. None of that mattered; certainly not as much as winning.

None of that mattered.

He stared at Klaus' sling. Klaus' huge body stretched out on the bed. Klaus' eyelids lowering.

A familiar, dangerous feeling. He wiped his palms on his coat.

'I'll let you sleep.'

He'd barely risen from the chair when he felt Klaus' eyes on him. There was an unfamiliar look in them that made Taki freeze. He almost held his breath.

'Did anything happen?' Klaus asked out of nowhere. His tone had a new, strange edge to it Taki hadn't heard before.

'What?'

'Did Hans try anything? While I was gone?'

'What… what do you mean try anything?' But Taki knew what he meant. He averted his eyes and instantly gave himself away.

Klaus felt something seize him by the windpipe. He sat up far too quickly.

'I'll kill him.'

'No –' Taki sighed in exasperation, that sense of unreality descending again. 'Don't be ridiculous. Of course he didn't.'

Klaus searched his face through the morphine haze. He was telling the truth.

'What makes you think he would?' asked Taki suddenly with a frown.

The light swung on Klaus and he closed his eyes. A slight grimace.

'He's a snake.'

The tone, the words. Again, all unfamiliar.

A small impasse followed. Klaus sat on the edge of his bed and Taki stood over him, his mouth set in a hard line, mind running over the unsettling, staccato rhythm of their dialogue, wondering what on Earth was going on.

Then Klaus glanced up. His face was familiar again. Heavy jaw. Devilish eyes. A crooked grin.

'Didn't you say you were leaving?'

Taki knew that smirk. Entirely unexpectedly, he felt a rush of relief. Comfort, almost. Then Klaus pulled him forward.


'You said yes,' Klaus said into his neck, breathing him in. He could never get used to that unreal scent. 'Last time. Before Suguri caught us.'

Taki needed a few seconds to notice his hands were instinctively trying to push Klaus away. Then he felt lips on his neck. Stubble. Teeth. He shivered and Klaus pulled him closer, pressing him between his legs.

'Can I assume the yes is still valid?' Hearing his own words, Klaus chuckled. 'I don't think I would have made much of a lawyer.'

He didn't expect the slender hand on the back of his neck, the fingers grasping just a little.

'Klaus…'

It was Klaus' turn to hold his breath.

I missed you, he had said so casually and with so much meaning.

When Klaus pulled back to look at him, Taki felt overwhelmed again. How could he possibly reply in any way that was fitting? In a way that could do justice to the billowing slate cloud that surrounded him during the month of Klaus' absence? That would still allow something of Taki to remain even after he said it, so everything he had promised to his people and his country would be intact?

'I'm… I'm glad you're safe,' he said eventually, frustrated at the stiffness and smallness of his own voice. 'And that you came back.'

Klaus blinked. Taki's cheeks were flushed. Eyes somewhere on Klaus' right shoulder.

He kissed him then, one large hand holding Taki's face, the other being squeezed between them in the sling. Glittering, slithering snakes suddenly seemed like a vague memory.

Klaus kissed Taki's top lip then his bottom one, pulling gently with his teeth, thrusting his tongue back into his mouth. Taki's breathing became steadily more laboured and the hand on his neck was tighter. He wondered if that was Taki's cock pressing through both their clothes. He knew his was already pushing against the front of his pants, aching for release. The pain and the morphine and Taki's scent were almost too much. He pulled back, head reeling again.

'I don't know how you do this to me,' he murmured. 'Every time. I always come so close to losing my mind.'

Taki took in an unsteady breath and looked down at him quizzically. He wondered if it was the morphine talking.


Klaus watched, dazed, as Taki helped take his coat off. He'd struggled one handed with the buttons and so Taki, with such obvious hesitation that Klaus could almost hear his mind whirring, had reached up to help. The coat fell to the floor.

He pulled Taki onto his lap and rolled them over onto the bed. There, his one-handedness continued to beguile him.

'Of all times to go and get shot in the arm.'

Taki watched, lips parted, eyelids heavy, as Klaus pulled off all his clothes. When Taki was naked, he ran his right hand slowly up Taki's thigh, the edge of his thumb brushing his stiff cock, up his abdomen and chest. Warm, huge and calloused.

The hand was gone and Klaus hovered above him, trying to unclasp his own belt. Again, with hesitation written into his every move, Taki took the buckle and strap in both his hands and undid it slowly.

Their eyes met. Breathing heavily, Taki blushed.

'Taki,' Klaus groaned. 'Don't look at me like that. I won't be able to control a damn thing I do.'

On the last word, he grasped Taki's cock. Smothered Taki's cry with a kiss.

Time came to Taki erratically. In bursts. In long-drawn moments when Klaus bent low to suck his cock. In frenzied surges as his climax built. And then it, time that is, ceased to exist completely when he came.

He opened his eyes, almost certain he could hear echoes of his own moans, and then felt Klaus's fingers near his hole. He gasped sharply.

Klaus worked carefully and pushed Taki's semen from his mouth in a few gentle bursts. Taki's back arched, his eyes bulging at the sensation.

'Can you feel that? That's your own come inside you.' Klaus slipped in two fingers, revelling in the heat and pressure, massaging him deeply. He straightened and took in the sight of Taki's clenched fists and mussed hair. He exhaled and tried to rein himself back.

'We're going to do it right this time.'


Again, time and space were warped. There was only Klaus. His voice and his hand.

'That's three fingers now.' His words came in deep, reverberating waves, enough to send Taki close to the edge a second time. 'I could fit my whole fist in here.'

'Don't!' Taki gasped suddenly.

Klaus chuckled. 'I had something better in mind.'

He crawled forwards, cursing his sling, and pulled Taki's legs around his hips. His cock rubbed back and forth over Taki's hole. Taki shivered again and held his breath. Klaus prayed to old gods and new that no one would knock on the door.


Not long afterwards, Taki's head and body were suddenly full to bursting. He held onto Klaus' shoulders, his moans taking on a life of their own. Above him, Klaus braced himself, head hung low enough that his forehead touched the bed.

Inside Taki at long last, he was now trying his absolute damndest not to move.

Two minutes, he told himself. To help, he summoned visions from last time. The blood and stifled sobs and unconsciousness. Here they were now, back in Klaus' little shed, and he was going to do right. Two fucking minutes. You can do that much, Wolfstadt. Pull it together.

'Amazing,' he grunted, his voice sounding tortured. 'That pulsing and squeezing you're doing. That might be enough to make me come. Are you doing it on purpose?'

Taki squirmed. Panted.

'Klaus..!'

There was a subtle yet definitive movement of Taki's hips. Upwards. Almost as though… But Klaus reined himself in again.

'Not yet,' he said, hardly daring to believe it. 'A little longer, okay?'

Finally, after he felt sure the two minutes were up, Klaus pulled out excruciatingly slowly. About halfway.

Taki braced and squeezed his eyes shut.

'Look at me,' Klaus said.

As soon as Taki's eyes opened, he barrelled in. Taki's breath left his body.


After a few shallow thrusts, Klaus used the entire length of his cock, plunging deep. He tried to angle it so he could hit Taki's sweet spot, drinking in the steady, desperate moans coming from beneath him. Since no one had knocked on the door, he now prayed that he wouldn't wake up.

Less than a minute since he started moving, Taki turned his head mutely to the side, flushed and shivering. Klaus felt a surge of anxiety, wondering whether he was going to see a repeat of last time. Then he realised.

'You came again? Already?'

It was a line Klaus kept on standby in order to tease and humiliate. Now he was genuinely shocked. He hadn't even touched Taki's cock. He felt Taki's climax pulsing, milking his cock in the tightest grip imaginable.

Growling, he sucked at Taki's collarbone hard enough to leave a mark and make him whimper.

'I wanted to fuck you for hours, but at this rate…'

He kissed him again, paced himself with another few short jabs and let himself get pulled into Taki's stare, one that was both focused on him and misted over with lust. His hair was drenched in sweat, plastered over his right eye and Klaus' pillow.

What remaining control Klaus had was thrown to the winds. He flipped Taki over and started hammering.

Taki yelled out his name in a strangled cry.

Since no one had knocked on the door and he hadn't been woken up, Klaus now prayed that Taki wouldn't say the word that would end it all. He drove himself into Taki's small, pale body, feeling it give way.

'Feels good doesn't it?' he said through gritted teeth. 'Being fucked hard?'

'Ugh, Klaus! Ah!'

Between thrusts: 'I wonder… if there'll ever come a day… when you admit that.'

To his delight, he felt the familiar tightening and shivering as Taki clenched the sheets.

That was when he heard it.

'No…'

Klaus panted and fought hard with himself. He almost slowed down. Was he really capable of stopping now?

Then he heard Taki say to himself, almost in despair, 'Not again.'

With a relieved grin, Klaus reached for Taki's cock.

'It's okay, Taki. Come for me again. Come hard.'

Taki saw the blanket beneath him become dotted by his own tears. The only thing he knew was that they were not tears of pain. There was simply no room for anything in his body anymore; not breath or tears or come. He was completely filled with Klaus.

His ass suddenly clamped down so tight it was almost painful for Klaus. Taki gasped and bucked beneath him. And then Klaus couldn't hold back.

'Shit, I'm going to come. I'm going to fill you up, Taki.'

He pulled Taki's hair back roughly and thrust so deep he could swear he hit a wall. At the very last moment, a glittering black snake flashed across his mind. He imagined, not for the first time, Hans driving his cock into Taki.

Taki felt him gush. He finally felt the pain.

He also heard, right before Klaus came, the words squeezed out in a ragged whisper by his ear. 'You're mine. Be only mine.'


Taki collapsed onto his stomach, curling away from his own mess on the blanket.

Klaus lay on his back, his mind filled now with pain, morphine and utter bliss. It had been the best sex of his life.

He wondered whether delayed gratification had anything to do with it. Simple, he thought. Hold back for a full year and a half. Intersperse with a few disastrous incidents that are far beyond borderline rape. Prove your loyalty by nearly dying a handful of times. Then you're good to go.

He finally looked down at Taki's face. Tears still hung around the corners of his eyes. His beautiful pale body was contorted and spent. Klaus felt a tingle in his deflating cock. He wanted to hold him. With no agenda whatsoever; just for the closeness.

'We made a real mess of the sheets,' he said. 'We should get under them.'

Real smooth, he thought.

But Taki wearily lifted himself and Klaus, sending a last word of thanks to gods old and new, slipped the blanket over them.

After he pulled Taki against his chest, again surprised at the lack of resistance, Klaus let his hand travel over Taki's hip. He touched the firm flesh of his ass and slipped the tip of his finger into him.

'That's both you and me in there.'

Humiliation. Like a sliver of glass.

'Don't.'

They both heard the familiar tone.

Klaus felt abashed. Then grateful that it was the first time he'd heard it.

Pressed close against him, Taki ached. Parts of him still pulsed. He felt the strange sensation like he was staggering his way down a steep incline, worried about hitting the ground. He breathed in the scent of Klaus' skin and sweat and felt it all immediately in Klaus' one touch. The shame of it. The uncleanliness. He tried to get up but Klaus, without even trying to catch his eye, pulled him back.

'Just a few more minutes, okay? Please?'


As sleep crept over Klaus, his breath gently disturbing the top of Taki's hair, snippets of thoughts chased one another in his mind, each unfinished.

It felt good, didn't it? I know it did. I could feel it did. So why don't you admit –

This is what sex is supposed to be like. Not last time. I'm so sorry for what happened last –

This is what sex is supposed to be like. It's not wrong or immoral or dirty. If we both –

We love each other. I know you can never say it but I know… at least, I think –

I love you. I love you so much it physically hurts and then it makes me want to hurt you to show you how much –

And then a thought came to him fully formed.

I don't pretend to empathise. But I've thought about it and I think I understand. What's holding you back. This place. This uniform. Your duty. Your family. They've all told you to fear this. But this is good.

This is love.

Please love me.