Author Notes: This is my first yaoi fanfic of two of the most gorgeous guys in Vampire Knight - Kaname Kuran & Zero Kiriyu.

Warning: Yaoi lemon - need I say more? Please DON'T read if you are underage. Please also DON'T read if you are not into male/male pairing…

Pre-requisite: Although not strictly necessary, this one-shot will definitely make more sense and hopefully be a lot more enjoyable if you are familiar with (and a fan of) Blackened Wing's excellent VK fanfic Crimson Door. She's made each scene and each character in every single chapter of Crimson Door come vividly alive for me. This, her other wonderful fanfic Trust Me, and some subsequent comments have inspired me to write this one-shot. Hence, the characters and personalities of Kaname & Zero here are completely based on Crimson Door. And if you feel that they're not, then the fault is completely mine.

Disclaimer: The honour of owning Vampire Knight belongs to Matsuri Hino. This one-shot is also not related to any of Blackened Wing's other equally excellent fanfics. Zero and Kaname in this one-shot are also not related to my other VK fanfic with m/f pairings. LOL, otherwise that version of Zero would kill me for sure...!

Summary: Kaname and Zero attend a party together, but Zero is behaving a little strangely and Kaname doesn't know why.

-- Chapter Start --

Kaname circulated the room, exchanging brief and polite greetings with the other vampire nobles. He was used to the general deference and respect the inhabitants of the vampire world accorded him, and he now fielded the compliments of his peers with his usual grace.

Every few minutes, he would glance around the room, automatically looking for that familiar head of silvery hair. Zero could normally be found standing next to the walls of whichever ballroom or mansion they were at, nursing a drink and not bothering to speak with anybody. And the other vampire nobles usually stayed away from Zero as well, knowing he was a Level D vampire, and therefore, below them. Only the fact that he'd arrived at the party with Kaname Kuran, the revered pureblood, kept them from being openly rude or offensive towards Zero.

Kaname turned around a few minutes later and caught Zero's eyes on him – again. There was that look – the indecipherable one Kaname couldn't quite place. The look hungry, but soft… and although it made a familiar fire start in the pureblood's body, it also touched him deeply somewhere in his heart.

When Zero saw Kaname was looking back at him, he started very slightly and looked away quickly, causing the latter to frown a little.

- o -

"Zero – you all right?" asked Kaname as he shrugged off his brown leather overcoat, throwing it carelessly onto the expensive leather sofa of his luxuriously appointed penthouse apartment. He dug in his pockets and removed his car keys, wallet and mobile phone, dropping each item on the dark glass topped side table that stood against the wall a few steps away from the sofa.

Kaname glanced into the mirror attached to the side table. Zero was standing at the floor length curtains at the windows. They were drawn but he was holding one side open, leaning on the wall and looking out at the magnificent view of the city lights below.

"Hey," Kaname crossed the room, pulling off his dinner jacket as he went. Now, standing just behind Zero, he reached out and relieved his lover of his outer and inner jackets. Zero didn't move or give any indication that he'd heard Kaname or felt what he was doing. Kaname removed the bow tie from Zero's shirt, tossing it on the floor, then closed his arms around the ex-human's waist from behind and nuzzled the back of his neck.

He frowned a little – the boy's body was trembling ever so slightly and Kaname could feel again, that slight nagging in the bond they shared. Something was troubling Zero and he was getting a little worried. Kaname started to turn Zero around to face him, but the ex-human was quicker. He jerked around suddenly and had caught Kaname in a fierce, possessive and almost desperate kiss before the latter knew what had happened. But a second later, Kaname was returning the kiss warmly, the palm of one hand flat on the wall next to Zero's head and the other around his waist, pulling him closer. He didn't object to this at all…

A few moments later and Kaname was rocking his hips against Zero, aware of both their arousals and feeling the familiar fire singing through his veins, burning him up. He wanted Zero badly. Now.

Lips still locked together, they managed to make it to the large bed in the master bedroom, both tumbling onto the rumpled red silk sheets still with their clothes on, but shirts unbuttoned. Kaname tumbled Zero beneath him, urgent hands unbuttoning his trousers and slipping them down his hips. Zero kicked them off and returned the favour, sliding Kaname's trousers down and caressing the slim hips above his at the same time, making the pureblood growl into his mouth as the kiss deepened and grew more desperate.

Kaname was blindly reaching for the tube of lube he'd left on his bedside table when Zero's hands clamped onto his upper arms, and his knees caught his lover around the hips. The pureblood found himself tumbling back onto the pillows, with Zero on top. Kaname was slightly surprised and a little amused as well. Apparently, Zero had had enough of being at the receiving end for now. Well, he'd indulge his lover in a short while, but first – the pureblood hadn't had enough of Zero, and his body was burning with the urge to possess and claim him again.

Zero felt the warm body beneath him tense up and knew Kaname was going to reverse their positions again. Normally, he wouldn't have minded - it was how it usually ended up anyway… but not this time. "No – Kaname, don't!" His urgent words made the pureblood pause for a moment, wondering if it was because Zero was still sore from their previous encounter a few hours ago before they had reluctantly dragged themselves out of bed to dress for the party. But it couldn't have – Kaname had not been as rough or urgent as compared to other times and Zero had not looked or behaved like it'd hurt.

Kaname looked into Zero's silvery amethyst eyes, tinged slightly now with red. "Why not?" he asked. Softly. Curiously.

Zero looked like he was about to say something, then hesitated and shook his head. He placed his hands on either side of the dark head on the pillow, then bent down. Zero started nibbling at the sensitive bite area on Kaname's neck, making the pureblood hiss in pleasure. Without looking, Zero reached for his lover's hands one at a time, placing them on either side of Kaname's head. He continued to kiss and nip at Kaname's pale skin, trailing sweet fire down the pureblood's heaving chest and flat stomach. The pureblood got the idea that Zero didn't want him to take control this time so feeling a bit reluctant, and at the same time intrigued, he let his hands lie limply beside his head, his breathing growing more agitated as Zero moved lower down his body, kneeling between his lover's legs.

Kaname sucked in his breath as Zero's lips neared his groin – was Zero going to…? They'd never gone for this before. Somehow, it seemed… much too intimate, and so far they'd only used their hands to pleasure each other, unaccountably shying away from using their lips, even though Kaname had wanted to. On more than one occasion, actually…

The pureblood's thoughts splintered when Zero's hot mouth found him and he arched his hips helplessly into that willing mouth, feeling his entire length encompassed in liquid heat as Zero took him in deep.

"Ze-Zero?" panted Kaname. "Oh… oh God!" he groaned. Damn, where had Zero learned to do this? he wondered distractedly, his fingers now gripping the silk sheets beneath him, dark curls sliding on the matching silk covered pillow beneath his head.

Zero appeared not to have heard him but as Kaname pushed himself up onto his elbows, reaching for him, the ex-human stopped, spearing Kaname with a fierce look. "Don't move," he hissed. Kaname saw the passionately fiery eyes and the glint of fangs between his lover's moist parted lips and he sank down onto the pillows, deliciously lost in this aggressive side of Zero, so at odds with the loving, almost tender ministrations of his aching flesh as Zero dipped his head again.

Kaname's fingers and bare toes knotted tightly in the silk sheets and soon he was bucking helplessly against that hot mouth, lightly grazing fangs driving him crazy. He wanted Zero to stop, no – he didn't want him to stop, but he should, Kaname was nearing the brink of completion and if Zero didn't stop now, he was going to do something very, very embarrassing… like losing control completely.

He released a fistful of red silk and reached for the silver head between his trembling thighs. "Zero, please," he begged hoarsely. "I – I can't hold… on… much longer…"

The wicked tongue and fangs paused in their painfully erotic torture as Zero lifted his head to look back at him. The ex-human took a moment to enjoy the tempting picture his lover made, panting, gleaming chest heaving, dark curls damp with perspiration, cheeks flushed, eyes glazed with intense pleasure. "I know," Zero said softly, seeing the dark eyes widen with surprise and confusion before bending his head once more.

Kaname exhaled sharply as his lover's lips and fangs found him again. Zero… wanted this? he thought before he couldn't think anymore. Kaname tensed up as the rasping motions of Zero's tongue tumbled him over the edge into scorching, blissful release and he cried out sharply, shuddering, fingers gripping the silk sheets beneath him, head flung back, slim hips arched high. Zero didn't cease until he had wrung out every last bit of shivering response and helpless cries from Kaname's release and taken it all in, leaving his lover trembling on the bed, drenched in perspiration, sated and exhausted. Kaname could hardly think. Damn – that – that had been…

After a while, the pureblood opened his eyes dazedly, his breathing slowing down. He'd half expected Zero to have taken him then, while he was helpless in the throes of ecstasy – hell, he'd have welcomed that for sure - or even snuggled up beside him… but Zero didn't do either action.

The silver haired vampire was sitting on the bed beside Kaname's legs, with his knees drawn up, and his back facing the pureblood. His chin was on his arms which were resting on his knees. Concerned, Kaname pushed up on his elbow. Zero started a little as he felt the mattress shift and the whispered rustle of the sheets but he didn't look around. "You all right?" he asked softly, making Kaname frown. Shouldn't he be asking him that?

His warm fingers touched Zero's upper arm but the ex-human quickly scooted to the side of the bed and stood up. "I – I have to go now," he muttered distractedly as he started scooping up his discarded clothes. The pureblood was beside him in seconds, catching at Zero's arm and swinging him around. The ex-human was still staring down at the shirt in his hand, and Kaname noticed that his ears had turned slightly pink. He was surprised and rather… touched… actually, when he realised that Zero was suddenly… shy.

Kaname's graceful fingers under Zero's chin forced the boy to look up at him. Zero's gaze was uncertain… almost frightened, and Kaname found himself at a sudden loss as to what to say. There was a sudden awkwardness between them now, at odds with the incredibly intimate act that had just taken place. The pureblood was suddenly reminded of how Zero had been looking at him all throughout the party earlier. And now this…

Kaname was silent as he thought of what to say, not wanting to say anything wrong, feeling there was now something very, very fragile hovering between them. Something that could so easily be destroyed by a careless word or gesture.

Before he could say anything, Zero tried to twist away. "Kaname, let me go," he protested. But Kaname simply tightened his grip on his lover's arm. "No – Zero, wait."

There was that vulnerable look in Zero's eyes again, and for some reason, it made Kaname's chest hurt. He didn't like to see Zero looking like that. Still at a loss as to what to say, Kaname simply leaned in and kissed Zero. Gently. Coaxing open those full lips, still lightly flushed from his earlier exertions. And reeling in shocked surprise at the distinct taste of his own release on Zero's lips and tongue.

Zero kissed him back. Passionately. Desperately. And although Kaname badly wanted to reciprocate, feeling the familiar passion building again, he couldn't let this go. Pulling back, he placed his hands on Zero's shoulders and looked into those eyes. Suddenly, it hit him. What Zero was feeling. What he'd tried to show just now, and why he was now feeling so unaccountably shy now…

"Say it," he urged Zero softly. The silver eyes flickered with shock. Immediately, Zero shook his head mutely. "Say it, Zero," urged Kaname, resisting the urge to shake the boy in front of him.

Zero looked away, exhaling. "There's nothing to say," he murmured before swallowing.

Kaname's throat ached. What if he was wrong? What if he continued to push Zero and it drove him away instead? But he was very sure now… he couldn't possibly be wrong. Not this time…

"Nothing to say?" he echoed softly, turning Zero to face him again. "It's not nothing, Zero. Loving me is not nothing."

The silvery amethyst eyes widened. Then Zero took a deep, shuddering breath, flushing bright pink. "You always know, don't you," he muttered. He inhaled again. "OK, Kaname - yes, I love you, you damn insufferable – "

Kaname's lips cut him off with a warm kiss. When they parted, the pureblood was smiling a very soft and tender smile at Zero. "There – was that so difficult to say?" he teased. Surprisingly, Zero didn't look mollified at this. He looked away again. "What are you going to do?" he asked quietly.

Kaname smiled, wolfishly, this time. "What am I going to do? I'm going to carry you back to bed and make love to you till we both can't walk, that's what I'm going to do!" He reached for Zero but the ex-human took a step back, eyeing him warily and making the pureblood pause.

"No – Kaname, I mean what are you going to do?" he asked again. Kaname frowned – was this a new form of twenty questions?

Zero saw that Kaname didn't understand his question but he didn't know how to rephrase it any better. He was feeling so damn vulnerable now and regretting he'd acted on his instincts earlier. If he hadn't, they wouldn't be having this awkward conversation now, and he could continue to pretend he didn't have any real feelings for this charismatic, domineering and annoying pureblood who had him completely under his spell.

Kaname was silent, reading the myriad of emotions showing in those beautiful eyes as Zero battled silently with himself. Then the pureblood spoke. "I'm not going to throw your love away, if that's what you mean, Zero." The sudden burst of emotion blazing in those eyes told Kaname he'd caught the ex-human's exact meaning. He continued to hold Zero's eyes with his dark compelling gaze. "I'm not going to squander what you feel for me, I'm not going to treat it lightly, or ever take it for granted," Kaname continued, and the sincerity in his voice and in his eyes held Zero completely mesmerised.

"I – I don't know," said Zero, almost in a whisper, looking like he desperately wanted to believe what Kaname was saying and knowing he shouldn't, at the same time.

Kaname's hands tightened on Zero's shoulders. Maybe it was time he said some things as well… He inhaled deeply, "Zero – I want to look at you, and know that you have my blood in your body. I want to see you, and tell myself I know exactly how you smell - your hair, your neck, your body, every inch of you. I want to talk to you, and realise we will go back together and end up sleeping next to each other, in the same bed. I want to stare at you, and know that no one knows you like I do. I want to feel that no one has ever affected you, or touched you in the way I have… and always will."

Zero was looking at him, torn between drinking up his words and the somewhat adverse effect they also showed. "I have a word for all that, Kaname, and it's called 'possession," he said, gently sarcastic, not wanting his lover to know how much the words meant to him. Because he wanted the exact same things. Every last one of them.

Kaname smiled a little. "Is it?" he asked. "Then what about this - I also want you to think the exact same things about me. Every last one of them. I want you to look at me and know that your blood is flowing in my body. I want you to know my scent like no other. I want you to know that we will leave every damn function and party we go to together, and end up sleeping in the same bed. I want you to know that nobody has ever affected me the way you have, that nobody has ever touched me the way you have. The way I want only you to -"Kaname stopped, realising he'd come very, very close to a confession of his own.

Zero was staring at him, dazed. Then he blinked. "Say it," he said softly.

Kaname backed up a step. "I already said too much," he muttered wryly. It was he who looked away this time. "I should get some sleep..."

Zero's hands clamping around his upper arms swung him back. The silver eyes were blazing with emotion now. "Say it, Kaname!" he insisted.

Kaname looked at him a little uncertainly. "You know," he murmured softly.

Zero continued to stare at him. Yes… I think I know. But I need to hear it. I need to hear it from your own lips.

Kaname still hesitated – it was his turn to look uncertain now and Zero's hands moved up from his shoulders to the sides of his face, fingers sliding through the soft dark waves. "Loving me is not nothing, Kaname," he said, echoing his lover's words earlier. The pureblood's eyes closed for a moment, then he opened them again and chuckled softly and ruefully.

"Yes, Zero – I love you," he finally confessed. Then, as Zero's lips parted softly in surprise, Kaname asked in return "So what you are going to do about it, hmm?" the teasing note in his voice belying the sudden and intense uncertainty in his dark eyes.

Zero continued to stare at him.

Kaname couldn't let it go. "Now that you know you're holding my heart, Zero, what are you going to do with it?" he asked. Needing to know.

A very small smile touched Zero's lips and he shook his head a little dazedly. "I - I didn't realise I was," he said softly.

A similar smile ghosted on Kaname's lips. "For some time, actually," he admitted. "So, what are you going to do with it?" he softly prompted Zero yet again.

Zero stared back at him steadily, even though his heart was pounding hard enough to burst out of his chest. "Care for it… the same as how you would care for mine," he returned finally. The words were sure and confident but the tone was not.

Kaname smiled. "And I will, as best I can," he said softly, and the promise in his warm dark eyes made Zero's throat close up. "Kaname, I will too," he promised huskily. And then Kaname was kissing him, and Zero was kissing him back. There was no more need for words. Not now. Zero didn't even protest as Kaname swept him up in his arms and placed him back on the rumpled silk sheets, not breaking the kiss.

This time, Kaname entwined his fingers with Zero's as he started to trail a line of fiery kisses from the ex-human's lips down his trembling body towards his aching groin.

"Ka-Kaname? You – you don't have to," said Zero, panting softly. He'd done it earlier not because he'd been coerced, or because he'd wanted Kaname to return the favour, but because simply, he'd wanted to. He'd wanted to adore his pureblood prince.

The fiery red eyes looked back at him. "Shut up, Zero. I've wanted to do this for a long time." As Zero's lips parted in surprise, Kaname reached up and kissed him. Then, he shifted down again and this time, Zero was the one moaning in his throat and squirming on the sheets. A few tormenting and shivering minutes later and Zero was begging Kaname to slow down but the pureblood paused only long enough to say "I don't intend to," before applying himself again ruthlessly, swallowing every last bit of Zero's devastatingly mind bending release.

He gave them both a moment to relax, but Zero was still weak and shivering from delicious aftershocks of pleasure when Kaname reached for the lube again.

Seconds later, he bent over Zero, placing one hand on the silk pillow beside the ex-human's head to hold his weight and his other hand slowly and teasingly preparing Zero for his possession. Kaname's skillful fingers probed all the ultra sensitive spots he knew Zero had, driving him crazy and making him writhe under the spell of the pureblood's caresses, trembling and moaning deep in his throat. He wanted - he wanted Kaname to possess him. Now.

"Ka-Kaname… ahh, please… enough," he begged, his pleas disjointed, his body heaving. And still the pureblood shook his head and smiled. "Not just yet," he murmured, a warm and tender light glowing in his eyes as he looked down upon his lover. Even though he ached to obey Zero and bury himself in the tempting body beneath him… no, not yet. Shuddering against the fire burning him up, his heart slamming in his chest, Kaname continued to tease and torment Zero, the latter's breathless groans filling the pureblood with fierce triumph.

At length, when Zero couldn't even speak coherently anymore, Kaname closed his other hand around Zero's aching and straining flesh and stroked him firmly as he bent down and kissed the ex-human's flushed lips, tinged with blood from where he had caught them with his fangs in his delirium.

Kaname rocked his hips forward, finally taking Zero. First, with a gentleness that made the ex-human inhale softly with surprise, then with a thoroughness that left him breathless. Shivering helplessly, Zero cried out and bucked hard against Kaname, hardly breathing as the pureblood's motions quickened, sending both of them sliding back and forth on the warm silk sheets of the bed. This time, Kaname's hand on Zero's aching flesh ensured they found release at the same time, their helpless cries mingling in the air before they collapsed back onto the sheets, panting heavily, chests heaving.

"I – I love you, you arrogant jerk," panted Zero, trapped underneath the pureblood, his hands sweeping up and down the perspiration slicked planes of Kaname's smooth back.

"I love you back, you stubborn idiot," returned Kaname just as breathlessly, before seeking Zero's lips in another heated kiss. Then he rolled to his side and pulled Zero close to his chest, wrapping his arms around his completely exhausted lover.

-- Chapter End --