-- Chapter 6 - May I have this dance part 2 --

“Zero? Would you come with me for a minute?”

Zero looked up at Yuuki, a little surprised, then nodded briefly at the Day Dorm Leader, before swinging around to follow her. His longer stride enabled him to catch up with her easily and he glanced sideways at her but she didn’t say anything, just staring ahead as she walked quickly back from the Day Dorms to the main building that housed their own bedrooms.

Today was Saturday, the day of the much anticipated dance. There were no lessons today; the Day Class teachers knew their students were in no mood for studies anyway.

The Chairman had asked Zero to greet the caterers when they arrived and show them where to set up their equipment in order to start preparing the food for the dance that night.

Zero frowned and glanced at his watch as he followed Yuuki down the corridor. The caterers would be coming in an hour’s time and he wanted to get his chores sorted before then. What was Yuuki up to? He opened his mouth to ask her as he followed her down the corridor leading to their bedrooms.

“Yuuki? What’s this about –” he broke off as they neared her room and she grabbed his hand. Taking a quick look around, Yuuki opened her room door and hustled Zero inside, locking the door behind her.

“Hey, I’ve got my chores – “

“Shhh, this won’t take too long …” interrupted Yuuki, as she walked to her desk, shrugging out of her school uniform jacket at the same time. She dropped it on the back of her desk chair and started rolling up the right sleeve of her school shirt in a businesslike manner, looking up to see Zero regarding her with a puzzled look on his handsome face.

“The dance is tonight, Zero, you should drink my blood before then…”.

He blanched a little at her directness. “What? No, I’m fine…”

“Nonsense, I insist!” she said.

“No!” he returned, pressing his lips tightly together and staring stubbornly at her. I’m always taking from you… why do you still help me? he added silently, forgetting to mask the torment and self disgust in his eyes at the thought.

She saw his look and sighed softly. “You know I don’t mind, Zero…”

But I do… his eyes said stubbornly, making her sigh again.

“Zero, both the Day Class and Night Class students are attending the dance, we’ve got to be on our guard, you know that. And all the girls will be in evening dresses, not school uniforms” Even me, she thought, not that I’m going to tell him that…

“You know what that means, right?” she added, thinking bare necks and shoulders…

“It means you don’t trust me” Zero said evenly. It wasn’t a question. He crossed his arms, looking steadily at her.

Yuuki blinked. “Of course I trust you…” Zero stayed silent.

“I just don’t want you to suffer tonight…” she added, more gently.

Zero looked away. He had wondered about this evening since it had already been four days since the last time he’d taken from her… only… he wasn’t up to asking for it yet… I mean, what the hell did one vampire hunter turned vampire tell his regular victim anyway – Excuse me, do you have say, an hour of free time tonight, I would like to drink your blood then…?? Get real, Kiriyu…! She’s gonna get fed up of it one day, and where will you be then...?!

Yuuki looked at him, seeing the different emotions playing in his amethyst eyes. “Please do it, Zero…” she said softly and raised her right hand towards his face, inner wrist facing up, fingers softly curled. He blinked and focused on her hand, frowning a little. “I thought you preferred… from your neck?” he asked.

Yuuki blushed, remembering what happened the last time he drank from her wrist and had gotten rather carried away. “Well, if you must know, I’m wearing a … um, a collarless, um, dress tonight” she confessed reluctantly.

Zero knew instantly what she meant. His bite marks would be visible for everyone to see…

“Don’t tell me - you’ll also be wearing long gloves to go with the dress, right?” he drawled, shoving both hands into his trouser pockets, somewhat perversely enjoying the enchanting blush creeping up her cheeks.

“Well, no, but I am wearing a corsage on my wrist…” explained Yuuki ingeniously, blushing even more. She was surprised when he frowned again.

“Thought your little plan all out, have you?” he asked sardonically, shoving his hands deeper in his pockets, trying to ignore her hand and the sweet blood he could practically feel rushing through the tempting veins in her wrist. Zero was in fact feeling more than a little put out that she’d planned everything out then only thought it necessary to inform him... although he had to admit it was the most appropriate action to take … and cleverly thought out as well. Not that he was going to tell her that…

Seeing him just standing there, Yuuki sighed impatiently. She too, had a million things to do before the dance that night and she hadn’t even thought about how she going to do her hair…

She tossed her head. “All right then, if you’re not going to do it…” Whirling around, she took a step towards her desk. She rooted around in her sewing box and withdrew the small pair of scissors she kept there before swinging around, deliberately letting the sunlight streaming in from the window reflect off the shiny blades.

Three long strides quickly brought him over to her. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he hissed, grasping her right wrist tightly and wresting the scissors from her fingers. “Do you want to bleed to death? Idiot…!”

She stared at him mutely, feeling a small flare of triumph as he tossed the scissors back on her desk and sighed. ‘All right, all right, I’ll do it…”

Yuuki exhaled softly in relief – she had no intention of puncturing her own wrist with a pair of scissors anyway – and looked around for a suitable place for them both to sit. Finding none, she walked over to her bed and kicking off her shoes, sat down against the pillows, Zero forced to follow her since he was still grasping her wrist.

“Sit” she invited, patting the side of bed. He kicked off his shoes as well and sat down in the middle of the bed, shifting back until he was leaning back against the wall with his knees drawn up. Then he looked at her for a moment. “Yuuki…?”

“Just do it, Zero…!” He looked at her for a moment more, realising she would be seeing the... beast in him... for the second time. Slowly, he released her wrist to hold her right hand with his left, interlacing her fingers with his and bringing up her wrist to his mouth. His right hand supported her elbow and for a moment, she was touched that he thought of her comfort even now…

Zero’s eyes had already changed colour in anticipation, fangs growing out. He touched his lips to her inner wrist, drawing his tongue slowly over the soft skin, tasting her, breathing in the scent of her. Yuuki shivered, closing her eyes for a moment. Then she opened her eyes to see his lips draw back to reveal needle sharp fangs before he sank them into her wrist.

Ow… again she felt the dull pain travelling up her arm as her skin broke. Zero’s mouth started sucking at her blood, his lips unintentionally caressing her skin at the same time. She shivered again, causing him to look at her, seeing the guilt mixed with self-disgust in the crimson tinged eyes. Yuuki’s eyes softened at his look and careful not to jar her wrist, sat up slowly and knelt closer to him so that she could keep her arm more comfortably bent. She continued looking up at him, slightly fascinated, as he sucked at her wrist and swallowed her blood, keeping his gaze on her the whole time, a part of him registering the surprise he always felt at her acceptance of his blood sucking nature. Yuuki was… amazing… nothing seemed to faze her…

A couple of minutes later, he stopped – he shouldn’t drain her too much, what with the dance coming up tonight… Pulling his mouth away, he inhaled deeply to slow down his pulse before licking his lips clean of her blood. His tongue darted out to lap up a trickle of blood flowing down her arm before he pressed it gently to the twin wounds to stop the blood from welling up further.

He was getting better at it… mused Yuuki, there was a lot less blood spilt compared to the time when he’d first started. They both sat silently, even companionably on the bed after that, Yuuki beside Zero and leaning her left shoulder against his right arm, Zero licking her wrist clean and watching Yuuki squirm a little as his warm tongue glided over her skin. He looked surprisingly at home in her bed, lounging against the wall, silvery bangs falling over his eyes.

Raising her hand to his lips, he brushed a kiss across her knuckles. “Thank you, Yuuki” he said softly, looking intently into her eyes. Yuuki smiled, cheeks warming slowly. He started to release her hand, still watching her closely, and caught sight of the brief look of disappointment that flashed in her large brown eyes. She blinked when he pulled her hand towards him again.

“Cleaning up time...” he said, still looking at her. Much to her chagrin, Yuuki blushed deeper and bit her lip, looking both excited and apprehensive at what she knew was going to happen next. The dimple in Zero’s cheek appeared briefly as his lips tilted upwards just a little. He brought her hand closer to his mouth then paused, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Well...?” he asked, wanting, needing her to say the words.

Yuuki hesitated, knowing she should pull away but... not really wanting to. And she knew that he knew that as well, the... jerk! She scowled, knowing he was waiting for her to say the words. Like hell she will…

Tossing her head, Yuuki opened her mouth to say “Forget it!” and to her horror, the words that came out were completely different - “All right...”

Zero’s eyes widened slightly, as though he couldn’t believe what she’d said either. Then he smiled again.

Slowly, eyes still holding hers, he brought up her hand to his mouth. Yuuki held her breath in anticipation. Zero started with her right pinkie, kissing first the tip before sliding it into his mouth, his tongue sliding up and down her finger and causing all sorts of butterflies to erupt in her stomach. He nipped at the tip of her finger playfully, noting with satisfaction the way her breath hitched before using the tip of his tongue to sweep the ultra sensitive skin joining her pinkie to her ring finger. Finally, he slid it out slowly from his mouth, keeping his lips around it and finishing off with another moist kiss as her trembling finger left his warm wet mouth.

Enjoying her reaction, Zero raised an eyebrow at her. “How was that?” he asked, his voice husky and deep.

“Uh... it was...” stammered Yuuki, squirming a little. Ooohh...” she murmured and inhaled shakily, as he repeated the entire process with her ring finger.

Zero enjoyed himself thoroughly during the next few minutes, watching Yuuki squirm and hearing her breath hitch repeatedly in her throat as he ravished her fingers thoroughly, his lips and tongue lingering on the sensitive skin between her fingers and acquainting each finger with the warm wetness of his mouth and his wickedly caressing tongue.

She was shivering helplessly by the time he’d finished off with her thumb. Biting her lip, she tried to pull her trembling hand back “I – I think that’s e - enough…” but Zero’s warm fingers tightened on it. “I haven’t finished yet...” he said, almost grinning devilishly at the enchanting flush on Yuuki’s cheeks.

He started to trace wet circles on her soft palm and Yuuki closed her eyes again. As his tongue travelled slowly, sensuously over her hand, she inhaled one shaky breath after another, shifting about uncomfortably next to him. Drat that Zero, he knew her palm was sensitive...! And her wrist, too...!

When he finally stopped, Yuuki opened her eyes, feeling rather dazed, to see Zero licking his lips unconsciously. Her entire body was trembling and she knew he was aware of that as well. Swallowing past a dry throat, she licked her lips but froze when that action caused Zero to stare at her mouth with disturbing intensity. He hesitated, then started to bend towards her, his lips parting slightly.

Yuuki stayed where she was as he bent closer, feeling his warm breath on her cheeks. Surely he wasn’t going to...? But at the same time, she didn’t pull away, her own lips parting softly in anticipation.

His mouth only an inch away from hers, her eyes fluttered shut.

On the verge of claiming her lips, Zero stopped suddenly and grimaced – belatedly remembering what he’d been doing only minutes ago. He inhaled sharply, turning away and releasing her hand. Yuuki opened dazed eyes to see Zero shifting to the edge of her bed and standing up. He slipped into his shoes then glanced down at her, his look was once again inscrutable, his face expressionless. “Come on, let’s go…” he said.

Yuuki blinked at the sudden change in him. She was so sure he’d been about to kiss her… and she didn’t know why he stopped. And why was she feeling more disappointment than relief, for goodness’ sake – I mean, it wasn’t as if she wanted him to, right? After all, it would be kinda awkward to have her adopted brother kissing her on the lips, right?

Zero waited impatiently at the door as Yuuki got slowly off the bed, wearing a slight frown as she wore back her shoes, rolled down her sleeve and got into her jacket. Even before she reached him, he pulled open the door and walked out into the corridor. “I’m going to see the caterers now…” he threw at her over one shoulder.

“Sure…” said Yuuki softly, still looking at his tall figure, hands shoved deep in his trouser pockets as he strode off. Zero really was strange, she thought as she closed her room door. He was this close to kissing her, why’d he stop? Blowing out her breath, she shook her head. Enough thinking about Zero already, otherwise she’ll never get her chores done in time …

Zero rounded the corner then stopped abruptly, leaning against the wall and staring unseeingly in front of him. Dear God, what had he been about to do? Well, he knew what he’d been about to do… and Yuuki looked like she’d wanted him to… but – but what if she pulled away in disgust after that? After all, she’d just seen him drinking her blood, she’d seen the gleaming fangs that pierced her skin and the blood that stained his lips. And if they had kissed, what would she have thought of the taste of her own blood on his mouth? Sweet and intoxicating as it was to him, it would most likely revolt the hell out of her.

Besides, doesn’t she think of him as just a friend or as an annoying brother? She’d said it herself, hadn’t she? The words spoken rather innocently by Yuuki a couple of weeks ago in the café still haunted Zero. Despondently, he pushed off the wall and continued on his way, shoulders slumped, the light heartedness of a few minutes ago evaporating as he told himself he had no right to kiss Yuuki… not the way he truly wanted to. He was a disgusting blood sucking monster and not worthy of her at all… the words echoed endlessly in his mind.

Yuuki on the other hand didn’t think of the incident anymore as she hurried through her chores, stopped by the study to help the increasingly flustered Chairman to check through and tick off the completed items in his ever growing list in his notebook before finally escaping to her room to begin preparations for the evening. It was time people saw Yuuki Cross in a really nice dress for a change… and something even a little more revealing than the one Kaname-sempai had given her for the previous dance…

- o -

Zero put on a fresh school shirt and his uniform pants after his shower, still in a rather foul mood after the incident that morning. He didn’t have any dress clothes for the dance and he was damned if he’d let the Chairman rent him a tuxedo like he’d offered to. Honestly, just because he’d been desperate enough to drink from that man that one time, the Chairman had been all over him, expecting to be called ‘Father dear’ each time… Zero’s lip curled in derision – what was next, good morning hugs and good night kisses?! There was only one person in the world whom he wanted to give him those, and by God, it was not Chairman Cross!

Zero knew he was being unreasonable and childish but he was still unable to help himself. Here he was, going to the dance with no other reason than to torture himself for hours seeing Yuuki dancing with everyone else but him.

What an idiot.

Pulling on his jacket with angry, jerky movements, he left his room, closing the door behind him with more force than warranted.

Turning, he froze, stunned as Yuuki also closed her room door and turned to face him. She saw him and smiled, her eyes aglow with excitement. In an instant, anger & frustration melted off him, leaving him in awe and completely and achingly aware of Yuuki.

She was… beautiful, he thought. Little jewelled clips held freshly washed gleaming waves of auburn hair off the sides of her face, making her eyes appear even larger and more luminous than usual, cheeks flushed with anticipation. The pale gold silk of the evening dress made a perfect foil for her creamy pale almost translucent skin, the thin spaghetti straps baring her long slender neck, shoulders and arms. Slender but shapely legs under the knee length skirt appeared longer than usual, paired with gold heeled sandals that added a good three inches to her petite frame. She looked radiant… tempting… bloodlust stirred faintly within him at the sight of her bare neck and he knew once again she’d been right to corner him that morning to take the edge of his hunger.

“Yuuki… you look… just…” Zero said softly, words failing him and he shook his head rather helplessly. Silently, his eyes said what he could not and Yuuki smiled at him gratefully, needing the compliment to boost her own confidence. He continued to stare at her, his eyes travelling over her hair – had she curled it? - down one delicate perfectly shaped ear where a small dangling crystal winked at him, dipping further over a slender fragile collarbone to focus on the shadow visible above the V-shaped scalloped neckline and the twin graceful swells beneath it. Her creamy pale neck and shoulders seemed to glow in the yellow corridor light or was that the shimmer of gold dust? It didn’t matter, she was a goddess... He swallowed then blinked as Yuuki draped a matching yellow shawl around her shoulders.

Zero caught sight of the corsage on her right wrist and caught her slender fingers, bringing her hand closer to his face, catching a whiff of the perfume from the bunches of entwined yellow rosebuds encircling her wrist on a wide band of yellow satin ribbon. A long finger nudged the ribbon aside on her inner wrist, exposing the healing puncture wounds he’d made that morning. He ran the pad of his thumb lightly over the wounds then brought her wrist up to his mouth.

Yuuki let him, surprised that he still wanted to drink from her now… surely he’d taken enough this morning? After all, they were standing in the corridor for goodness’ sake… But he only pressed a gentle kiss onto the wounds, looking down at her with an unreadable expression in his eyes. Yuuki’s lips parted softly, ready tears springing to her eyes at his unexpected and tender gesture.

He almost dropped her hand on seeing the tears. “Hey, don’t cry!” he said quickly, slightly alarmed.

Yuuki shook her head, blinking away her tears. She smiled tremulously up at him. “I’m not crying, silly…” she said softly.

A tiny smile and a brief flash of Zero’s dimple showed, then he rearranged the ribbon over her wrist and released her hand. Swinging around and pushing his hands in his pockets again, he said “Let’s go then…” his voice huskier than usual.

-- To Be Continued --