-- Chapter 12 - Wanting more --

“Yuuki! Over here!”

Yuuki swung around, shiny auburn strands of hair sticking damply to her forehead and neck, ball tightly clasped in her hands. She threw the ball over to Yori who then tossed it to another of her teammates. She tossed it high into the net – score! Yuuki cheered and clapped along with the others.

It was a hot summer’s day and the Day Class students were having a physical education session, the boys playing basketball and the girls netball.

The ball went to the other team now and Yuuki, her attention wandering for a moment, glanced over to the opposite end of the large school field where the boys were. She could see a tall lean figure, silvery hair glinting in the sun as he dribbled past his opponents, his vampire abilities lending him grace and speed as he jumped up and slam-dunked the ball into the basket. Wow… she thought. It must be nice to be able to move like that…

“Oi, Yuuki!” Yori’s voice next to her ear made her jump. “Oh, er, sorry…” she said, wondering if she’d failed to catch a ball. She swiped at the sweat on her forehead, already longing to have the game over so that she could enjoy a cool shower, even though there was more than half an hour of play to go.

A shout from the other end of the field drew her attention again. The basketball game had stopped; two guys were down on the ground, one sitting and the other one flat on his back. The one sitting down had silvery hair. A tingle of warning rippled through Yuuki; there’d better not be any injuries with blood… not when her fellow School Prefect was around. Automatically, she started walking towards them.

Yuuki, we haven’t finished yet!” Yori’s exasperated tones reached her and she half turned around. “Sorry, er, prefect duties…” she answered vaguely, ignoring her friend’s disbelieving “What, now?!”

All the boys were now crowding around the fallen players and Yuuki broke into a sprint, flying across the field. She skidded to a stop upon reaching them and pushed her way through the circle of rather sweaty male bodies. Dropping to her knees beside Zero, she asked quickly “Zero, are you hurt?”

Before he could answer, the boy still lying on the ground said feebly “C’mon Yuuki, I’m the injured one here… not Zero-kun. He pushed me, you know…”

“No, he did not…” replied Yuuki automatically, her large chocolate eyes daring the boy to say more. It didn’t matter even if Zero did push him, she would never admit it. She swung back to Zero and found him gazing at her with that look in his eyes. The one that said he was happy inside that she was on his side although you couldn’t tell that unless you knew him very, very well. There was something else in the eyes though - the amethyst irises were slowly turning crimson.

“Zero?” she whispered urgently. “Where’s the…”

He nodded at the other player’s elbow then closed his eyes, nostrils dilating. His breathing had speeded up a little, starting to sound more laboured and Yuuki placed a comforting hand on his shoulder as she swung again towards the other guy. He’d gashed his elbow somehow and a trickle of dark red blood was slowly making its way down his arm as he sat up, assisted by the other guys. There was a cut on his knee as well, and Yuuki knew Zero had to get out of there. Now. Before anyone else saw his symptoms.

Reverting automatically to School Prefect mode, she ignored the Physical Education teacher who was hovering around uselessly and ordered two burly guys to help their injured friend to the infirmary. Bending low, she whispered in Zero’s ear “Go to your room, I’ll be there shortly.”

Then she raised her voice. “Oh Zero, could you please run on ahead and inform the school nurse that we have an injured student?” She helped to pull him to his feet at the same time.

“Hey, I can do that…” offered one of the boys, helpfully. Yuuki rounded on him at once. “No, you will not!” He backed down immediately. “OK, Yuuki, you don’t have to bite my head off you know…”

Yuuki ignored him. “Go!” she said to Zero.

- o -

Ten minutes later, Yuuki tapped on Zero’s door lightly before opening it. He was sitting at his desk, resting his head on one hand, looking out of the window.

“Zero? It’s OK, we’ve taken the other guy to the infirmary and the others have continued playing…”

He turned to look at her and Yuuki, seeing the bloodlust still present in his eyes, turned to close the door, locking it before she belatedly realised she shouldn’t. Her hand still hovering indecisively next to the deadbolt, she hesitated.

“Leave it”

Yuuki turned back to Zero. “But…”

“Father’s gone out this afternoon, or have you forgotten?”

Yuuki gave a slight toss of her head to hide the fact that she had forgotten. Zero stood up, folding his arms across his chest, lips pressed tightly together.

Yuuki frowned at him. “Zero, don’t tell me you’re going to be stubborn about this…”

He looked down at the floor. “I already took from you the day before yesterday, I wasn’t going to – well, not so soon anyway…”

Yuuki’s expression softened. “I know, Zero… but these things happen” as he continued to look down, she added softly “It’s not your fault”

He lifted his head to raise an eyebrow at her. “It isn’t?”

Yuuki smiled as she walked over to him. “No, it isn’t. Now, let’s do it before our next class starts, OK?”

Zero’s shoulders relaxed and a small smile played on his lips. “What would I do without you, Yuuki…?” he murmured softly, reaching out to clasp her small hand in his larger one.

Yuuki smiled back at him. “Oh, I don’t know…" she said innocently. "But there’s always Father…” She grinned at the look of disgust on Zero’s face.

After a moment, she looked around. “Well, where shall we -” she began but broke off as Zero stood up and placed his hands on her shoulders, pulling her closer and pressing her down onto his desk chair. She complied, large eyes widening further as he knelt in front of her, as though he were a subject paying homage to his Queen…

Yuuki shook off the rather fanciful notion. Some Queen she looked; she was dressed in the school’s sports uniform for girls – a white collared T-shirt embossed with the school logo in front and the words “Cross Academy” at the back, teamed with black skirt-shorts - and she was damp and sticky with perspiration from the netball practice. Zero was also still in his sports T-shirt, paired with black colored shorts.

Zero moved closer, then paused, eyeing her collar. “You might want to take that off…” he murmured hopefully.

With Zero kneeling on the floor, Yuuki was the slightly taller one now and she looked down suspiciously at him, giving him a ‘What, we’re back to this again?' look. She noticed the teasing glint almost, but not quite, obscured by the crimson hue in his eyes.

“Yeah, you wish…”

“C’mon, Yuuki… it’s not like you’re not wearing anything underneath this time…”

Yuuki gasped. Oh, so now she was supposed to strip every time he wanted to drink her blood, was it? Someone was getting just a little too overly familiar… Perhaps she should start wearing one of her tank tops under her school shirt everyday, just in case that same someone had an urge to drink as and when he just felt like it…

Zero was still looking at her, reading her thoughts. Obviously, Yuuki had forgotten the fact that she had asked him to drink her blood in the first place... “Do you have a better suggestion?” he asked, unable now to keep his lips from twitching.

“Yes - I could change my shirt…” Yuuki tossed back at him, getting ready to stand up.

Zero’s face fell just a little before he recovered swiftly. “But you haven’t showered yet…” he countered, resisting the urge to stop Yuuki as she half stood up.

“Well, I – ” Yuuki broke off and bit her lip as Zero grinned. A moment later, her irritation vanished. Seeing Zero smile always made her want to do the same and she now sighed, settling back down and tossing her head just a little. “All right…” Since the Chairman wasn’t around anyway...

Zero’s mouth went dry from anticipation.

“First, turn around”

“What? Why?”

Yuuki stared at Zero. “Turn around” she repeated slowly, drawing a small horizontal circle in the air with her index finger to emphasise her point.

A little disappointed, Zero turned his back on her.

Yuuki eyed him suspiciously for five seconds then grasped the hem of her T-shirt and pulled it over her head.

“OK, you can turn around now…”

Yuuki was holding her damp T-shirt against her chest for the scant protection it offered. Zero bent forward, grasping her upper arms lightly and burrowing his face in the warm skin of Yuuki’s neck, seeking the pulse that had speeded up at the base of her throat. The puncture marks he’d made two days ago had closed up but the scabs had not fallen off yet and he licked the area apologetically, knowing he was going to create more.

Yuuki tasted… intoxicating, thought Zero. The faint salty tang of her sweat accentuated how sweet she tasted and he ran his tongue from the base of her throat, past her jaw line, to her earlobe, wanting more. Yuuki shivered helplessly and placed her hands on his shoulders instinctively, causing the T-shirt to drop unheeded to her lap.

“Erm, Zero…?”

He laved both sides of her throat and neck again and again, unable to get enough of her scent and the way she tasted.

Yuuki shivered again, pushing at his shoulders. “Zero, what are you doing? Just drink already…!”

Zero ignored her, licking the back of one small perfectly shaped ear before sucking her earlobe gently into his mouth, something he’d been longing to do since the night of the dance a couple of months back, when her ears had been adorned with small dangling crystal ear rings.

Yuuki inhaled sharply, slender fingers digging into his shoulders. “Will you stop it! I’m sweating…!”

“I know… I am too…” murmured Zero absently, his arms tightening around her now.

Yuuki shrieked suddenly, jerking aside as a warm wet tongue suddenly thrust right into her ear. Gosh, that felt… that felt…

Face flaming, she pushed harder at his shoulders “Stop tasting me!” she said crossly, embarrassed beyond words at the way Zero seemed to be… enjoying… the taste of her perspiration. There had to be something… rather… indecent about this, right? she wondered to herself.

“Go on, hurry up” she urged then inhaled as his fangs finally broke her skin before his warm lips closed around the fresh wounds, sucking at her blood and swallowing it.

Yuuki, eyes closing, threaded the fingers of one hand through the silky silver wet hair at the back of his neck, her other hand moving soothingly over the equally damp material covering his back. He pressed closer, long fingers clutching tightly on the back of her sports bra as he continued drinking from her.

Long moments later, Zero stopped and drew back slightly, his tongue licking at her wounds and around it. His breathing has slowed down from the warm puffs of breath Yuuki could feel on her neck. “Are you OK?” he asked quietly against her neck.

Yuuki opened her eyes. “I’m OK, Zero…” she murmured. He pulled back a little to look at her and her gaze dropped to his blood stained lips. She grabbed a tissue from the box on his desk and handed it to him silently. Zero licked his lips before swiping the tissue over it. “Thanks, Yuuki” he whispered, his amethyst eyes dark and vulnerable as ever after he drank from her.

“You’re welcome” she whispered back. He leaned back more and released his hold on the back of her bra, accidentally unclasping it at the same time. Yuuki felt her bra loosen and a strap slipped off a pale shoulder as Zero’s hand brushed past it, exposing one side.

Yuuki looked down and groaned inwardly – not again! She knew she shouldn’t have taken off her T-shirt - quickly, she grabbed it from her lap.

Zero froze in place, eyes widening as he focused on the creamy pale swell of flesh only inches away from his nose. Almost without thinking, Zero’s long fingers closed unerringly over Yuuki’s wrists as she moved to cover herself, pinning her arms behind her back, leaving her exposed and vulnerable to his searing gaze. He bent his head closer.

“Z-Zero…?” quavered Yuuki, staring down at the silver head close to her body. He was so close she could feel his ragged breath on her skin. Her own breath was coming in short little gasps but she didn’t struggle… almost fascinated in spite of herself. Yuuki held her breath now, eyes dilating. What did Zero think he was going to do? Was he – was he going to touch her again…? No, he wouldn’t, right? I mean, he shouldn't, really...

He did.

Yuuki's breath blew out in a surprised rush as Zero’s tongue darted out to lick the soft pink nipple so temptingly close to him. It hardened immediately against his warm wet tongue. Encouraged, senses reeling, he licked the hardened nipple again and again, then closed his lips around it gently. Yuuki inhaled sharply, arms twisting helplessly in his grasp as he sucked her into his mouth. His tongue rasped against her and she arched her back helplessly, moaning softly. Her response only encouraged him more and he sucked her harder and deeper into his mouth, feeling like he could never get enough of her.

Letting go of her wrists now, Zero wrapped his arms around Yuuki, pulling her closer to him. Quite unable to think any rational thoughts beyond what she was feeling, her eyes closing, her head falling back, Yuuki entwined shaking fingers in his hair, holding him to her as he continued to lavish attention on her breast, finally releasing it from his mouth to drop little kisses on the creamy swell of flesh surrounding her swollen nipple. Desire pounded inside him and he knew, he could sense and even smell the fact that Yuuki didn’t want him to stop either… His hand moved to the other strap of her bra to slip it over her shoulder, he wanted to see and taste the other…

The school bell rang suddenly, signaling the end of physical education class when students would head back to their dorms to shower and change. Even though the sound was somewhat distant, it was enough to make them break apart, breathing heavily. Darkened amethyst eyes looked up into wide confused brown ones.

Quickly, Yuuki pulled away and looked around wildly. “The bell, we – we have to go…” she murmured. She turned back to look at Zero, inhaling sharply at the sight of one long fingered hand reaching out to touch her exposed breast.

Deeply mortified at what had just happened, Yuuki slapped his hand away, shielding herself with her other hand. “Don’t touch me, you… you… pervert!” she hissed. Zero blinked in surprise, rocking back on his heels as Yuuki got up, grabbing her T-shirt and holding it in front of her for belated protection. She stood up and brushing past Zero, ran to the door on none too steady legs and unlocked it quickly. “I - I’m going to shower!” she threw over her shoulder and escaped, her voice sounding more than a little panicked.

Zero gulped deep breaths, still staring at the open door. Dear God, what just happened? Had he gotten too carried away?

Having grabbed her towel, a fresh change of underwear and her uniform, all held tightly against her chest, Yuuki made for the bathroom, deliberately not thinking. In the bathroom, she stripped off her loosely hanging bra and stared at her flushed reflection in the mirror above the sink. It was large enough to allow her to see her breasts and how one nipple was swollen and slightly reddened, the creamy soft skin surrounding it bore slight patches of red courtesy of the almost invisible boyish whiskers on Zero’s upper lip. Compared to the pristine condition of her other breast, it looked…

She groaned mentally, unable to stop feeling that hot mouth and tongue lavishing attention on her. Her cheeks flamed even more. Stop it! she thought desperately, burying her face in her hands.

Suddenly remembering she still had classes to go to, Yuuki whirled away from the mirror, shedding the rest of her clothes and stepping into the shower. She shampooed her hair and showered quickly before drying herself and donning fresh underwear and her school shirt and black skirt. Rubbing at her hair, she stepped out of the bathroom and down the corridor, still debating whether to knock on Zero’s door on the way as she usually did, unable to face him at the moment. She was saved from having to make up her mind on this when she saw Zero leaning on the wall outside his door. He’d already stripped off his T-shirt, towel slung around his shoulders, his school uniform on one arm.

“Yuuki…”

Yuuki ignored his pointed look and the slight pleading note she thought she heard in his tone. “Go take your shower, you’ll be late” she said shortly, despite the fact there were at least twenty minutes more before the next class started, the longer time enabling all students to have a chance at the dorm showers.

“Wait for me then…” he murmured before swinging around towards the bathroom. Yuuki turned around, sticking her tongue out at his back, glaring at him for a moment. Not likely, mister…

Back in her room, she stuck a band aid on the fresh wounds and ran a comb through her wet hair. After tucking in her skirt and pulling on her socks and shoes with almost frantic haste, she pulled on her school jacket and opened her room door at the same time, intending to escape to class before Zero could finish his shower. She couldn’t face him, not right now…

Only to find he was already striding down the corridor towards her, fresh from his shower, school shirt unbuttoned and hanging loose over his black trousers. Rubbing at his wet hair with the towel, he grabbed Yuuki’s arm with his other hand as she took a quick step backwards and pulled her into his room, nudging the door shut with a bare foot.

“I said to wait for me…” he muttered, slanting a glance down at her as she pursed her lips, folding her arms over her chest and leaning against the door, color flaring in her cheeks again. Zero threw the towel down carelessly onto his desk and finished buttoning his shirt, sucking in his already flat stomach to tuck the ends of the shirt into his trousers. He ran his fingers carelessly through his hair and knelt down to pull on his socks and shoes. Finally, Zero draped his school jacket on one arm, grabbed his half knotted tie on his desk and slipped it over his head.

“Come on…” he said quietly, walking towards the door. Yuuki didn’t wait, she turned and pulled open the door, walking quickly back down the corridor and through the dining room, heading towards the living room that led out to the main entrance. Zero caught up with her easily, pushing up the knot of his tie snugly under shirt collar and pulling on his jacket as they walked silently.

Yuuki bit her lip, staring straight ahead and wondering what to say and why she should say anything at all – after all, she wasn’t the one who’d kissed…

No, that wasn’t right… although she was still hotly embarrassed at what had happened earlier, she couldn’t honestly blame Zero entirely. After all, she’d hardly pushed him away, had she? Not to mention pulling him even closer and moaning like a… like a… Cheeks flaming again, she exhaled sharply, still looking straight ahead. And he’d also forgotten to hold her close to him like he inevitably did after each time after he drank her blood. Well, he didn’t have a chance to, since she’d pushed… But it always made her feel… special… cherished and he’d promised he’d always do that, right? Oh, OK, so she had pulled away and hightailed it out of his room but that was because… because he had – here she inhaled deeply and cut off her disjointed thoughts short again, scowling. Calm down, Yuuki… she scolded herself.

Zero glanced down at her flushed cheeks. He could hear her agitated breathing and knew she was still thinking about what had happened. He didn’t want them to go to class like this, especially when she was still mad at him.

As they walked through the living room and past a short corridor that led to the Chairman’s study, Zero suddenly stopped and pulled Yuuki down the corridor. Opening the study door, he peeped inside then pulled Yuuki in, closing the door behind her.

“Zero, we’ll be late for class” said Yuuki, bewildered at his sudden action.

He glanced at his watch. “No, we won’t.” He leaned back against the door and sighed, shoving both hands in his trouser pockets. “I want to say something… and I want to do something” he confessed, holding her gaze with his own.

Yuuki sniffed a little, shoulders tense. She folded her arms folded her chest and looked fixedly at the packed bookcase that stood against the wall on her right instead of at Zero.

“I’m sorry…”

Eyes widening at the unexpected apology, Yuuki swung back to look at him. “You – you are?” she asked, surprised.

One broad shoulder hunched. “Well, not really…” he admitted honestly. Ignoring her indignant gasp, he quickly added “But I didn’t mean to make you angry with me. Truly.”

He saw the tense set of Yuuki’s shoulders relax slowly and breathed a sigh of relief. “Well…” she said tentatively, her arms falling back to her sides.

“Although… you liked that, didn’t you?” The words slipped out before Zero could stop himself and he groaned inwardly as Yuuki inhaled sharply once more, eyes narrowing and her arms moving to her hips. She muttered something unintelligible under her breath, shook her head then brushed past him and reached for the doorknob, uncaring that he was still leaning against the door.

“Yuuki, wait…” Long fingers grasped her upper arms, stopping her in her tracks in front of him.

Yuuki twisted ineffectually. “No - let me go!” she hissed, still staring at the door instead of at Zero. His lips almost twitched at the sight of Yuuki, wide eyes sparking with temper and color high in her cheeks. “You don’t have to answer that question, you know..?” he said softly, even though the enchanting blush pretty much gave her away.

She paused, irresolute for a moment and Zero took the opportunity to pull her close to him. “And this is what I forgot to do…” he said. Yuuki uttered a small indignamt snort and placed her hands on his chest, preventing him from pulling her fully against him. “Oh no, you don't! Let me go, Zero!” She started hitting him with her small fists. "Now!"

Zero ignored her punches even though they weren’t exactly painless. As Yuuki continued to pummel him, he added coaxingly “Please, Yuuki…”

Yuuki stopped her physical abuse and glared mutinously up at him.

“Please…?” Zero gave her his best smile – the one that started in his amethyst eyes and traveled down to tease awake the dimple in his cheek before journeying inwards to tilt up his lips.

Yuuki glared at him a moment longer and sniffed. Then she closed her eyes and sighed before sliding both hands down Zero's shirt and around his back, under his still unbuttoned jacket. His body quivered slightly at her unintentional caress as he sighed in relief, resting his chin on her still wet hair and pulling her closer against him.

Yuuki burrowed her face against the soft cotton of his shirt and sighed in return. “You know I can't stay mad at you for long, don't you…” she whispered reluctantly.

Zero smiled into her hair, sensing a "Yeah, I know" comment wasn't wise at this point in time. “I'm glad...” he said softly instead, wondering if he was ever going to make any headway with Yuuki when she still thought of him as a friend and adopted brother. He wasn’t sure how Yuuki thought about all those… ‘situations’ they’d had.

After a moment, Yuuki stirred. “I really like how you hold me like this, Zero” she said softly even though she’d said it before. More than once, probably…

Zero tightened his arms around her in response. “I know... and I like holding you like this even more than you do” he said huskily. Yuuki smiled a little even though he had said it before… and more than once too. “Really?” she whispered, still wanting to be further reassured.

“Really, Yuuki” he said.

The final warning bell sounded and they broke apart reluctantly.

“Let’s go…” Zero looked down at her, his face serious again. He waited until Yuuki smiled before he allowed himself to.

“Yeah…”

Out in the main entrance, Yuuki broke into a run, the tense moment forgotten. “Race you, Zero!” she called back happily. Relieved he hadn’t taken enough from Yuuki to make her dizzy, and even more relieved that she was no longer angry with him, Zero lengthened his stride but slowed down once he’d caught up with her.

Reaching the classrooms, they joined the throng of laughing and chattering students as they entered the classroom for their next lesson.

-- End --