Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, but if I did, I'd make Axel my bitch.

Author's Note: Everyone seems extremely excited for this chapter, for some reason. It seems like everyone thinks there's gonna be some' getting' it on'….Well. You'll just have to see!

Chapter 10

"Kairi…" Axel took a tentative step forward.

"No!" She was still standing in the middle of the room, her face flushed and the blanket raised in front of her like a shield. "Get away from me!"

Her heart was beating very fast and the skin on her back and shoulders was uncomfortably warm. She had almost gotten stupid. Who knew? This all could just be part of his master plan.

Axel sighed, sitting down in the armchair she had vacated. He lowered his head, speaking through his hands. "Kairi, you have nowhere else to go."

"I'll find somewhere!" she hissed.

Looking up, Axel ran his fingers through his hair agitatedly. "Is there anything I could do to make you trust me? To make you stay here?"

Kairi snorted. "Short of letting me tie you up? Nothing."

Axel raised an eyebrow. His expression had changed from tired to interested. "Really? Would that pacify you?"

"Say what?" Kairi asked, confused.

"Tying me up. Would that make you stay?"

Kairi felt totally at a loss. "Are you serious? You'd really let me tie you up?"

Axel chuckled softly. "Why not? If that's the only way to make you stay…" He was looking more and more interested by the minute.

"Shit," Kairi muttered, catching on. "That's not what I meant."

Axel waved a hand airily, getting to his feet and heading into the back room. "Whatever, no shame in being into that stuff…" he called.

Kairi dumped the blanket onto the chair. She was suddenly feeling extremely stupid and extremely naïve and extremely embarrassed and extremely everything else she didn't have the mental capacity to name at the moment. She sincerely hoped Axel hadn't gotten the wrong idea.

Of course he got the wrong idea, she thought to herself. He's a guy, his mind lives in the gutter!

A few moments later, Axel emerged carrying a bundle of what seemed to be packing twine. He tossed it to Kairi.

"Sorry, couldn't find any rope. So…where do you want me?"

Kairi groaned audibly. "Hey, I didn't mean—."

"I know what you didn't mean," Axel said, still smiling widely. "Doesn't mean I can't joke around, does it?"

Kairi shrugged. Either way, she would most likely end up staying the night in a house that contained Axel. One scenario involved him being free to walk around (and do other things), while the other had him tied helplessly.

She knew which one she liked better.

"Fine," she said. "What should I use?"

Axel laughed again. He seemed to be enjoying himself way too much. "I guess you wouldn't want to use my bedpost?"

Kairi glared.

"Didn't think so." He pointed at a thin column that served as a support for the roof. "That'll work."

He went over and leaned against it languidly. Kairi picked up the twine, walking over to him awkwardly. She looped it around his wrist several times, and then around his waist. She managed to avoid eye contact throughout the entire process.

"There," she announced. She had tied him in such a way that he could sink to the floor if he wanted to, but standing up would be a chore. He didn't seem particularly put out by his current situation, however.

"What now?" he asked cheesily.

"Now I'm going to sleep," Kairi said.

"So soon?"

Kairi turned her back angrily. She didn't know what was pissing her off, but she felt really mad all of a sudden. She glanced over her shoulder at Axel.

"I'm right here," he said throatily. "Me, the person who dragged you out of your peaceful life, who threw you into this crazy stuff. Don't you hate me? Don't you want to hurt me?"

He sounds like he wants me to…Kairi thought, shivering slightly. Fucking masochist.

Axel had narrowed his eyes to slits. The small tattoos on his face were very obvious in the pale firelight. Kairi found her eyes traveling from the slope of his neck down to the tight abs revealed by the two open buttons at the bottom of his shirt. Goose bumps broke out over her arms and the fire suddenly seemed unbearably warm.

"Feel safe?"

"Huh?" Kairi squeaked.

"Do you feel safer with me tied up?"

"Not really," Kairi said, happy for something else to focus on. "I haven't felt safe for a long, long time."

"Since me."

"No," Kairi countered, frowning slightly. "It wasn't you. It's everything. The fact that the entire universe is crumbling down around our ears and there's nothing I can do about it."

Axel had turned his eyes to the firelight. "I could. There are things I could do, to save the world. But I don't." His face grew hard. "I'm too damn afraid to do anything."

"Afraid?"

Axel laughed deep in his throat. "I'm afraid of the Organization." He smiled faintly. "There I said it. I'm afraid of my own people, and I don't care about the Universe. I don't care about anything except getting what I want!"

"Me too."

"What?"

"I said…" Kairi swallowed. "I said I don't care. I don't know who you really are or what you guys want, and I don't really know anything about the universe. But I…I don't give a shit. All I want is to find Sora."

"Wow, you really care about the boy, don't you?" Axel shifted in his bonds, trying to get more comfortable. "It's incredible what you're willing to…Kairi, why are you crying?"

Kairi buried her face in her hands. She didn't want him to see, she couldn't let him see! Because there were tears running down her cheeks, thicker and faster than she had ever thought possible. All the strains of the impossible last few days were finally spilling over, leaving her a shuddering, defenseless mess.

Axel watched her from where he was tied. Her hair was covering her face, and she was refusing to look at him. He was feeling something in the pit of his stomach, something like sadness, something like compassion. But no. He was a Nobody. He didn't exist.

He had no heart.

But still, here he was, feeling himself ripped apart by the sadness of one young woman.

Wrenching his hands around, he slipped out of his bonds easily. Kairi may have been a girl of many talents, but bondage was definitely not one of them. The twine pooled at his feet and he stood for a moment, rubbing feeling back into his wrists.

Kairi's shoulders stiffened as he touched her. She looked up, wiping her puffy eyes. Axel didn't know what to say, so he just held her close to him. He didn't know how to comfort anyone. Hell, he didn't even know how to comfort himself.

And as much as he told himself he just wanted to make her stop crying, Axel felt his body rebelling. He skin was hot and his palms were sweating.

"God, Kairi…" he said, teeth clenched, "If there is a god…"

He could take her right here, and she wouldn't resist. He knew she wouldn't. Kairi needed comfort, and it didn't matter where it came from. It would be so easy, and she was so beautiful. Axel had never wanted anything so much in his entire existence.

He stood up suddenly, dragging her by the arms. She gasped, looking at him fiercely. Bending down slightly, he kissed her, letting his mouth open in a rush of heat. The two of them stumbled across the room, hitting the far wall with a thump.

The back room was cold and dark, and Axel's bed seemed to loom out of the dark to meet them. He ran his fingers through Kairi's silky hair. Her eyes were burning and there were already marks forming on her neck from where Axel had gotten a little too rough.

He was just trying to figure out the best way to get her extremely complicated clothes off, when he stopped.

Jumping up, he wiped his mouth and high-tailed out of the room, body crying out in protest. He slammed his way out into the chill evening air, his breath turning to a puff of steam with each fevered exhale.

He hated this so much! Why oh why did he have to feel? He let the cold wash over him, razing the feeling of her lips against his skin from his memory.