A/N: WOW! 1 third of the way through. *sighs* I don't know whether to be relieved or annoyed. :P Worlds is also coming! Promise! Calls for continuations are being (slowly) answered ^^. Thanks to all readers, reviewers, faves, alerts, betas. And Happy Anniversary to InLuvWidVan! 1 year YOSH! :P

Enjoy! ALSO: the snippet at the end of each one shot is COMPLETELY SEPARATE from the main theme, ok? ^^

Bites in the Library

The music blasted into her disinterested ear drums, though her mouth moved in time with the words, her main focus the textbook she was taking notes from. Made even harder especially with the air conditioning failing spectacularly as it was.

Not that she wanted or needed a hero.

Allen Schezar definitely fitted the knight on a fiery steed criteria, as was he extremely good looking and a perfect gentleman, aside from his incapacity for monogamy. But he bored her to tears. On a purely aesthetic basis she could appreciate him, but that was it. Hang a portrait painting of him in front of her and she would admire the lighting and his fine cheek bones. But if you put her in a locked room with him, Hitomi would find herself lusting for a good mystery novel rather than a sweaty encounter with him.

Anyway Allen could never hold a candle to –

No, she wasn't going to think of the arrogant prick who had tossed her aside exactly 42 days ago. Not that Hitomi was counting. Nor was she implying that there had been anything more than a platonic bond between her and the scaly bastard who had told her to go home and play with her fellow humans. Granted she had almost, almost been killed by the attack in the library that had caused a campus wide investigation. But he had saved her, so she didn't understand why he had been so indignant and so, so inhuman.

He wasn't human though. Therein lay Hitomi's problem.

Her world had suddenly sped up when she had caught a vampire taking bites out of a librarian's neck after she had woken up at 11 pm in the university library and tried to sneak out of the closed building. Grateful for her grandmother's overactive imagination, she threw the most powerful ofudas she had in her backpack and purified a bottle of water, tossing that into his eyes. The crimson eyed bastard escaped and Hitomi had spent two weeks staying at the library late 'for a project', as she told her grandmother.

She waited for the vampire's return.

It took three infusions of venom to turn a victim into a fellow vampire, and Hitomi didn't want a seemingly innocent librarian sneaking up on napping students and destroying their lives. She told herself she was fulfilling her duty as a miko in training to protect the innocent around her. A more cynical part of her retorted that she was bored by Allen's ever increasingly medieval attempts to woo her, and Yukari's passion at getting completely trashed every Friday night and having to be escorted back to the shrine and watched over as she slept. Her quest to find and destroy the vampire gave her a change of pace.

It had been on the night before reading week that she met him. Hitomi found her iPod blaring at full blast helped her stay awake, as well as the songs that she had borrowed from Merle, which apparently was music but sounded more like manic screaming to her. At the enraged cry of what sounded like the lead singer of the Abaharaki, Hitomi shot up from her textbook pillow. Grateful the book was relatively new, she wiped the drool off the page and turned the volume down as her heart started to race.

After having researched Vampires more thoroughly than Bella Swan ever bothered to, Hitomi knew about the call they used. Grabbing the bottle of water by her side, her hand warmed briefly as the water instantly became free of any pollution. She stood up slowly, trying her best to walk lethargically in the direction of the melodic but oddly depressing call. She listened out for any other feet moving, if the librarian was around, she would sprint inhumanly fast towards it, incapable of moving away after being bitten once.

Hitomi stopped suddenly as the noise ceased. Her hand tightened around the bottle, loosening the cap, trying to remember the direction and how loud the call had been. She would have to act fast if the librarian had already got entangled with the vampire again. Twice bitten and the woman would be catatonic if the rite was completed.

She inhaled as deeply and as quietly as she could before walking towards the stairs and turning left towards the reading rooms. Her feet stopped before the rest of her as she heard a choking noise to her right, against the far wall and she started towards the source as fast as possible.

The cap fell to the ground and the water hit its mark as the hiss of the vampire skin rang out, burned from the purified water. But what surprised her was the tall dark haired man who stared at her unblinkingly with drenched black hair and t shirt. Hitomi was at a loss from the situation but the man turned back to the vampire, increasing his grip around the vampire's neck.

Any hold on the situation fell away as Hitomi listened to the dark haired man growl,

"I've told you before Dilandau. Stay away from universities. Keep to the sick and the depraved idiots that want to become your kind." Her mouth dropped as the man let go of the silver haired teenager who glared at his captor, the ethereal skin of his face inflaming from her action, and his pointed teeth bared,

"Save the lecture Van­-sama. I'll keep out of your way as long as you keep the miko out of mine."

Hitomi blinked in shock at the vampire's words. How the hell had he known she was a miko? Granted, she had thrown ofudas at him, but plenty of superstitious people asked for them from her grandmother. Even Yukari had one on the back of her mirror. And he couldn't know she had purified the water herself, holy water was freely available at the University chapel. But before anything could be said, done or explained to the baffled miko, the vampire sped past her and jumped out an open window. Leaving her behind with the mysterious man.

It still stung to remember their conversation. Not that he had ever gotten any friendlier towards her, but Van had ordered her to get her things and leave. She hadn't argued once as he had escorted her out of the building and to her home. After the events of the past few weeks, Hitomi felt she had kept a relatively calm head. But as her grandmother had invited the stranger in and thanked him for saving her life, she had been miffed. When her grandmother then asked politely why her granddaughter was walked home by a draconian, Hitomi lost all grip on reality.

It had been a week later when Hitomi had found the librarian slumped against a photocopier covered in blood that the stranger turned up again. She had turned as the door closed shut and found her gaze locking with garnet eyes that critically gazed back at her, her fingers pressed against the neck of the librarian, just above the glistening puncture wounds. She had asked, distressed.

"Why hasn't she…why isn't she—"

"—A vampire?" he had replied instantly, sloping over without any air of worry, as he bent down beside her and sniffed the air, "Because whoever did this has no control over their bloodlust. They drained her of all her blood. It wasn't Dilandau, he's never this messy."

His words struck her like an electric shock and Hitomi stared at him, demanding.

"Messy? How the hell can you be so calm when an innocent woman has been killed so brutally?!"

She could still recall the twisted smirk on his face,

"Innocent? She heard the call and knew what was coming. She could have fought it off or taken herself out of the city. But she wanted it. Doesn't sound innocent to me." She found herself completely out of her depth from the first vampire attack to the casual conversation in front of a dead body. It seemed the man next to her was far more impassive as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her away from the woman lifelessly slumped in a halo of her own vitreous fluid.

She allowed herself to be pulled out of the room, but he still kept a grip on her wrist.

"Did you touch anything else?" He demanded. "Any other part of her? Anything else in the room?" Hitomi was in too much shock to reply caustically and could only ramble.

"I felt for a pulse, I didn't know what to do. Should we call an ambulance? Is the vampire going to—"

"—You think too much. And shouldn't you be more worried about yourself? When they find the body, if your fingerprints are in the room, do you think the police will see you as innocent?"

Startled by the brutality of his words she felt numb as she thought back and said the door had been opened and she had only reached for a pulse. She watched him nod and once again escort her back to her table and then out of the library, away from the cameras and to the shrine. Yet again, Hitomi's grandmother had invited the mythical being into their house for tea and seafood.

They never ate seafood, except for takeout. Hitomi had claimed nausea and gone to bed, her thoughts revolving round the dead woman in the library and the man downstairs.

Or rather the half man, half dragon. Words from Dryden's mythology textbook danced a conga line in her memory as she recalled the legendary race of creatures that resulted from dragons taking human form. They could manipulate the elements, were stronger and faster than humans, had better senses, and like their reptilian counterparts were extremely virile. Hitomi threw a pillow at her door for thinking such idiocy and was grateful that she not only escaped any suspicion when the campus janitor discovered the Librarian's body the next day but didn't see him either.

She wasn't so sure on how to feel at the lack of Van sightings. She had realised the startling truth to the danger of fighting vampires and other creatures. She wasn't Buffy by any means. And the bruises on her wrist had lasted for weeks, good thing it had been an unusually cold January.

Two months had passed Van free and Hitomi felt a new zest for life. She went to nightclubs with Yukari and got drunk enough to feel relaxed and laugh when Yukari fell off a barstool. She attended protests with Merle and felt that animal cruelty did need to be stopped. She even allowed Allen to take her out for tea – only as friends – but she was acting normal. The idea of monsters in the dark and creatures in the shadows were simply stories.

But in her normality, she had noticed a change in herself, and she wasn't sure whether it was good, bad or unhealthy to relate it to him. She had reached the point where watching Yukari exchange saliva with Amano-sempai stopped irritating her and made her want someone. She had even thought of accepting Allen's invitation for dinner.

Eventually she came to the moderately satisfying conclusion that Van wasn't a student at Pallas U after checking the directory more than once, but had merely followed the first vampire and waited for the conclusion then left. She had never seen anyone with messy black hair and eyes that were strangely serpent like in an oddly alluring way on campus.

But it seemed the Gods really were against her. Coming out of the main building, she had inhaled in relief at the breeze on the irritatingly hot March afternoon and tugged her hoodie off, deciding to set off for an ice cream when she stopped. The quad grass was covered with lazing students sprawled over the main square. Yet in the shadiest part of the quadrangle, only a few students hovered on the edges.

Baffled, Hitomi squinted and felt her stomach flip as she noticed a man with messy black hair resting against a tree, the immediate space around him devoid of anyone else. She had no idea what possessed her to do it, but she stepped onto the grass and strode towards him. She stumbled as she reached the shade and realized why he was the only one occupying the deliciously cool area.

The ki pulsing from him was positively lethal, no wonder people were staying away from him, though some stared, irritated as if sensing it, others giggling at the hot guy with no shirt dozing under a tree.

Hitomi didn't know whether it was the textbooks she had read on his kind or just her imagination but she watched as he breathed in and how it seemed just like a serpent flicking it's tongue in the air, tasting for danger. His eyes opened from his apparently false slumber and she stopped, staring as his lazy gaze surveyed her. It didn't make her turn and run, she forced herself to ignore the colossal force he emanated and the whispers from people watching. Her heart rate sped as she sat next to him and pulled out a water bottle, sipping slowly then pulling a face at its temperature.

A hand curled round the bottle, fingers a hair's breadth away from hers as the water chilled to a perfect degree. Hitomi blinked at the water then at the garnet gaze that seemed to watch her as if she were a mildly interesting docudrama. She muttered her thanks distortedly and gulped down the refreshingly cold water, sighing happily.

The other students seemed to lose interest as they hadn't started fighting or groping and she found her voice.

"Why are you here?"

"Worried?" he murmured, seemingly affected by the heat and only capable of one word answers.

"No. Curious. You're not a student here."

"No thank you for giving you cold water? I guess it's true that your generation really are rude and ungrateful."

He had watched her face, a small smirk lingering in his gaze as she gasped, then spluttered.

"What?! How old are—? I mean thank you."

"No problem." He responded devoid of sentiment and Hitomi itched to ask him why he was back. Drinking her water, she thought slowly on how best to engage the draconian in conversation. Their genetic ancestors were notoriously mysterious and slippery in many ways. If the man didn't want to talk how could she get him to?

"You're hot." He had muttered after a stomach-gnawingly long silence and she had flushed appropriately, aware of his real meaning and feeling her insides twist at the other connotation. Before she could reply and try to instigate conversation, the leaves above her fluttered gently and Hitomi felt cool air brush past her. Despite everything she had read, from the most mundane tales to the outright alarming she was still completely taken aback.

"Did you just create a breeze?" her brain felt like melting as he shrugged coolly,

"It's not that hard."

"But you're…you're…"

"A draconian, Kanzaki-san? Yes, I believe your grandmother disclosed that revelation the second she laid sight of me. But she is a powerful miko. Is she training you?"

Her brain did melt, in sheer anger at how the insufferable bastard had let her stew in discomfort before starting a conversation all on his own.

Hitomi had missed her afternoon lecture, staying under the tree sharing snippets of conversation with the mythical being beside her. It had taken her three refills to realise she had drank three times the capacity of her bottle before turning to gape at him. Questions about him were ignored, questions about her were answered quickly and with no detail. He had said briefly as the sun started to sink that he sensed a dangerous presence on campus before getting up and strolling off, raising a hand in departure to her.

Their unlikely partnership formed after another late night in the library which Hitomi had purposely done to finish an essay without distraction. She had spotted him around the campus from time to time, strolling along and had found herself incapable of doing anything. But just as the essay was finished, Hitomi froze in shock. A melodic sound rang out amongst the shelves and her shoulders tightened in worry. She had no water bottle this time but prayed the ofudas would be enough.

As she got up from her chair and turned, she had to hold in a shriek as Van stood inches away from her, a finger on his lips. Jerking his head in the direction the sound came from, Hitomi nodded and smiled as he passed her a bottle of water, his fingers brushing over hers as she took it. The noise grew louder and sharper as they ascended the stairs, then nothing. The silence resonated uncomfortably for her as they searched the floor and found no trace of blood or owners.

Once more Van took her back to her desk and then escorted her home. He still remained stoic, but Hitomi managed to keep a conversation going with his one word replies. He accepted tea, and this time she stayed with her grandmother and fabled guest. Not that Van spoke any more with her grandmother's presence.

Over the next months Hitomi found herself growing comfortable in his presence, preparing ofudas and various herbs that were agonizing to succubi, sprites and vampires. It was still hard to adapt to his sudden appearance at her side in the library or walking around campus late at night when they both sensed something afoul. She realized one day with irony that decanting necromancers of their evil had become second nature.

Even when Van mentioned that he had sensed a siren on campus Hitomi had joked she had a friend who fit the description as men seemed to fall at her feet. He had laughed for the first time she noted and she felt that maybe they were progressing. Into what she didn't particularly examine, but she felt thankful for meeting him. Not that she was desperate for putting herself into danger, but the idea of keeping the students safe from evils other than drugs and alcohol made her pray in gratitude to whichever god had aligned their paths.

He had startled her a few times, appearing in daylight and walking over to her. He definitely was more striking in daylight she thought as both Yukari and Merle had stared captivated at him whilst he enquired after her grandmother. She bit back a smile recalling when he had tapped her shoulder in a queue for a barbeque. Allen had been heatedly debating with her over the upcoming elections and she had turned, surprised and happy to see him. Van had exchanged pleasantries and said he would see her in the library later that week.

But it was the outright glare on Allen's face that made her grin broadly, encouraged by the devious smirk on the draconian's face.

And it had all come crumbling down.

They had met in the library, the Friday after his bumping into her and Allen. He had worn a smirk on his face and asked tauntingly who Allen was. Hitomi had mock punched his arm, aware it wouldn't hurt him in the slightest. They had seemed relaxed, she making notes for an upcoming lecture and he reading an ancient text on tides which he scoffed at on occasion. The conversation rose and fell, but she felt that there was an undercurrent she wasn't entirely sure of. Looking up, she found him staring at her unabashedly.

Her gaze shot back to her notes and blushed as he exhaled loudly. His gaze seemed reminiscent of one Amano wore when Yukari wore her leather knee high boots. Though it seemed far deeper, inhuman. Before she could feel any more nervous or uncomfortable, a song echoed the corridors of the empty library. Both jumping to their feet, they raced towards the vampiric call they both chillingly remembered from months previous.

Despite their many successes together, there had been a spate of disappearances on campus. The four victims were of both genders—3 women and 1 man, the time between them insignificant. And yet every time Hitomi and Van heard the disturbing call it would stop before they reached the source. And every time they scoured the floor they would find no hint of anyone being bitten, taken, fought with or kidnapped. Van never smelt any blood, nor noticing the presence of the victim as he would just sense they were the only two in the library.

So the force they ran with weighed heavily on both as Van grabbed her hand and pulled her with him, his speed becoming faster than anything she had ever accomplished on her High School track team.

Hitomi groaned in recollection of what had followed, angry at her iPod's psychic Shuffle ability.

Van had wrapped his arms round her waist and jumped off one balcony down to the floor below. Giving her no time to adjust he had pulled her in the direction of the noise. Coming to a rapid halt Hitomi peered round Van at the blonde female teenager who leered hungrily at both of them. Spots of blood decorated her white t shirt and Hitomi shuddered at the way the vampire stared at her. Van took only a second before racing towards the girl who stepped out of the way and sent a kick to his side, knocking him off balance.

Hitomi watched in confusion as the impossibly strong being was thrown aside by a measly vampire. Nausea rose up in her throat as the girl stalked towards her and Hitomi panicked in that split second, realizing she had no water and no ofudas. The girl's voice grated on Hitomi, her skin prickling as the girl spoke quietly and mockingly.

"Not up to your usual standard Dragon? I wonder why? Does the girl know?" Hitomi gasped at the jarring noise of the vampire's laugh unable to move as she stalked towards her.

"Can you really protect her? Does she know what the biggest threat to her is? Or are you really that stupid?"

She knew it wasn't her vision blurring as she stood rooted to the spot, only to feel a pair of slender arms coil round her and squeeze painfully, the shock of blonde hair in her face taunting,

"This is for Dilandau." The pressure in her lungs made her knees shake and Hitomi felt something rise in her. Something she was entirely unsure of and incapable of controlling. A scream echoed, Hitomi left unsure of whom it had come from as she looked up from her knees, the white spots behind her eyes blurring then fading.

Even now, Hitomi couldn't bear to think of what she had witnessed.

The vampire's skin had burnt, hissing as if she had thrown acid on her. Her jaw muscles were stripped bare and bleeding, the girl torn between pain and the taste of her own blood. That wasn't keeping Hitomi awake at night though. The sight of Van pulling out her scarred, grey heart and the girl crumbling to ash brought it to her mind. It was the gaze he gave her when he turned to her.

She still shivered, feeling sick remembering how she had knelt, staring at him and the inhuman lust on his face. It terrified her but some part of her wanted to go to him, an incomprehensible urge to move towards him. He had seen it, his expression growing heated and then turning to a stone mask as he told her to leave. Hitomi had struggled to her feet gingerly, gripping a table for support, trying to gather courage to speak amidst the pain of her chest.

Everything ended as he told her to leave. To go back to her human friends and stop playing with things she couldn't control.

She was truly disgusted with herself.

She had counted the days she had gone without seeing him. As if she had been a junkie to him. But it wasn't like that. He may have been better looking than any Freid popstar but theirs was a meeting of minds. Her head smacked against the textbook on Asturian ecosystems and she put her pen down, wiping her sweaty palms on her loose peasant dress.

Hitomi had not acted in anyway like a fangirl or jilted girlfriend. He had told her to run off, so she had. In some respects anyway. She had changed floors to study on, left the library in time for the 6 pm news, and focused on real life. She hadn't gotten trashed with Yukari, thinking it would mess up her karma and she had no sorrows to drink away. She had even gone out on two dates with Allen, against her better judgement as he was now incorrigibly smug.

But when she had heard rumours of singing in the library, she had decided to investigate. It went round campus that late at night a voice could be heard singing in the library, a haunting melody. Hauntingly beautiful. But no one had found the cause of it. Dryden, the mythology major had scoffed and put it down to a late April Fool's. Hitomi knew better.

She hadn't thrown her entire life away to find out what it was. But she had spent six nights late at the library, telling herself she needed the notes for lectures and revision. If anything she was proud of herself for not setting up camp in the library. After all, the vampires had been dealt with. So in all likelihood, he would be long gone. She hadn't wondered if she would bump into him, the possibility was minute if he didn't want to see her.

Despite all this pride, Hitomi was keenly aware that each night she had been in the library she hadn't heard a thing. And it bothered her.

Was the creature aware of her? Worried? Hiding from her? Hitomi rubbed her eyes on this, the seventh night she was in the library, still in curfew as it stayed open until 2 am coming up to exams. Not that anyone else was this desperate to revise one month before exams.

Yawning, she stirred at an irritating crackling sound and realized that maybe she wasn't the only geek in the Library. But something felt off in the air. Ever since she had purified a vampire, something her grandmother had not stopped mentioning in pride, her senses felt keener. And the sensation she was getting wasn't from the broken air conditioning. Her ever trusty bottle of water and ofuda/bottle wrapper stayed in reach as she closed her eyes and tried to feel her way round the library.

Her eyes snapped open as the crackling sound grew louder. It definitely wasn't a mobile phone. Nor was it a vampire's call. So what was it? A necromancer's staff? Sprites? Not that she felt capable of stuffing them in a jar again without help. Two different sets of ki felt their way towards her and Hitomi turned sharply as the nearest, more familiar one gripped her arm and spun her round.

She fell dumb in shock at him. Van stood directly in front of her, the moon behind him—as if on purpose—only augmenting the difference between him and human males. And he was staring at her like a starving dragon.

"Van."

"Hey." He murmured, sending a shiver down her back and Hitomi felt completely out of control and unsure of herself. The sleepy part of her mind told her to go with the flow and the idea didn't seem all that daunting as he stepped towards her stopping only inches from her.

She looked up into his eyes and felt more than any other occasion overwhelmed by his gaze. He was impossible to read, but the itch of her bare thighs pressed together let her know how she was reacting to him.

"What are you doing here?"

"Protecting you." Any haze of attraction dribbled away as she glared at him.

"What the hell do you mean?" only to stiffen in shock as his arms wrapped round her torso, pulling her flush against his chest. The crushed feeling of her breasts heightened whatever she sensed, overcoming the sting of discomfort.

His mouth descended, blowing delectably cool air against her neck and ear as he whispered, "You have no idea..." Hitomi lost her ability to speak at the extremely strange way he was behaving, flinching in surprise and slight arousal as she murmured, her own voice quietening,

"Did you just lick my neck?"

If she was attempting to sound irate, it came out all wrong as he only replied with an, "Mmm," dropping open mouthed kisses from the tip of her ear down to the base of her neck.

"Van," she gasped as his hands slid from her back, round her waist to pull her hips flush against his, then walking her backwards so her thighs pressed against an empty table, his mouth marking her collarbone.

"Why?" she managed to articulate, mingling with a moan, arching against him as his denim clad knee slid between her bare thighs, her dress hitching up to an inappropriate height.

Her hemline lost her attention as her over-stimulated nerves felt the brush of his fingers along the inside of her thigh. Somewhere between her sudden lustful haze and the sheer confusion of Van's turbulent change in personality, a reflex sprung to action. Her thighs clamped together as best they could with his knee between them and his hand sliding over her thigh, moving towards the top hem of her panties.

"Van." She growled in fuming shock at his actions, unable to control her body's response to him as her hips rose towards him, shuddering as he bit the underside of her neck. He pulled back and she could only stare at the dazzling man in front of her, her body suddenly aching for his touch.

Confusion only grew as he smiled regretfully at her, his voice no longer silky and seductive but unsure and lost, embarrassingly causing the ache to flare more so in her. "I can't help myself. I told myself I would stay away from you but I couldn't. Especially not now, not tonight."

Hitomi found the courage and adrenaline to stare at him, no doubt heatedly but her bewilderment was apparent as he bent down again to nuzzle the other side of her neglected neck, murmuring between kisses, "Heightened senses…not always a blessing…I can smell blood…yours."

She blushed furiously and muttered mortified,

"My peri… that was three weeks ago," unconsciously turning away from him, giving him better access to her skin. Her hands gripped his shoulders, a cry tore from her throat as he sucked on her pulse, nipping achingly up to her ear and then across the exposed collarbone from her dress.

"Exactly." He breathed, giving her goosebumps shivers, "You're in the middle of your cycle. At your peak. Your most fertile state. Newly reached." A jolt ran from her neck down her spine as Van ground his hips against hers, his face inches away from her, "Your scent is nothing I've experienced before. Add to the fact you're untouched…"

His words brought Hitomi back to the situation as he groaned from her nails digging into his arms, his eyes devouring the bare skin that the fallen straps of her dress had exposed. She was practically engaging in foreplay with a Draconian who admitted to being aroused at her fertility and her virginity. There was no way she was going to let Van screw her into a table because he was in heat. Or rather he was affected by her being in heat.

Her mouth opened to berate him and tell him to fuck off but the words passed to his mouth as he kissed her. The sensations overloaded on her as his mouth, fingers, thighs, and hips combined to enthral her. Not that Hitomi had any problems reciprocating as her fingers slid into his mess of hair, pressing her body into his as he leaned against her, making every inch of skin count.

In the distance she heard a clock strike but she wasn't Cinderella and the man ravishing her wasn't Prince Charming. She had moved onto the desk, allowing his legs between hers, locking her ankles around his back as they moved against each other, gasping and moaning as hands touched and teased. Her hand slid under his shirt, revering his well defined muscles she had been itching to reach along his back, rippling against her touch.

Hitomi no longer cared if she did lose her virginity jacked up on hormones to Van, who wasn't completely human. Part of her revelled at the possibility of inhuman stamina but something shattered her desiring haze.

Pulling her mouth from being plundered by his, Hitomi whipped round, sheeted in sweat, gasping for breath and feeling nervous. Not only by the fact they were now horizontal. That sound again came crashing down on her ears and she winced. Her fingers were laced with his and forced above her head, as he bent down to kiss her again, muttering.

"Ignore it. Think of me. Only of me."

His eyes were the key. If she wanted to remember that Van definitely wasn't human, then she knew to look in his eyes. As she was at that very moment his gaze told her everything she needed to know, him looking down at her as his hands gripped her thighs. Momentarily though, her back suddenly arching into the desk underneath her as his fingers slid over her dress and then beneath it, kisses planted on the underside of her knee.

Hitomi had a feeling this was a bad idea.

"If you're embarrassed…" Hell yes she was embarrassed. By the gods he shouldn't have been anywhere near her or she near him but how could she stop him? Did she want to? "…close your eyes."

Ornate text sprung to the hazed forefront of her mind, "In the act of mating or claiming a mate, Draconians mark their claim on an intimate part of their intended." She had no time to ask herself whether it was perverse to be turned on by such a thing as his teeth nipped further up the inside of her thigh, increasing in force.

She had no clue how she managed it, but Hitomi shifted her weight, forcing him upright as she sat up, placing a hand over his mouth. Dazed by him and confused, she murmured, "What is that?"

"Don't listen to it. Damn siren." She met his gaze, still breathing heavily and asked,

"That? That awful sound is a siren? It sounds horrific." Van gave her no time to react as he slammed his lips over hers, kissing her with a force that definitely felt unearthly.

Once again Hitomi felt entirely out of her depth as he pulled back, smiling so fondly at her adding to her overwhelmed daze. There was no awareness to be embarrassed at her blush, her entire focus on Van.

"You don't want to go to him?"

"Him?" her reverie wavering at the revelation she turned to the source of the noise. Siren or not, it unnerved her and yet she sensed something to the sound. It was some form of call, and it was targeting someone. Targeting her.

Her hands shot out and held Van's shoulders away from her. "We need to find the siren."

"No," came the forced, almost desperate response as Hitomi managed to get out of his grip and walk a few shaky steps. Not that her speed was enough as his arms bolted round her, her uncomfortably warm back pulled firmly against his chest.

"Van!" she hissed in anger then surprise as he distracted her with his mouth on her neck. She flinched at the sudden sensation of his teeth teasingly scraping her neck, inhuman teeth.

Hitomi managed to turn round and watched, stunned as his canines had somehow elongated. Something rippled between her thighs and she wondered if she could be called a sadist by feeling drawn to his inhuman features. She leaned into him, enchanted, up to his lips as he pulled her off the ground, groaning at the friction between them. Mindless bliss was snatched again as the awful noise grew louder, deafening her.

Pulling away from Van, she managed to turn and gasped in shock.

"Allen?"

Theme 22: Blood

Words: 6,085

Cleaning blood that dripped down his arm, Hitomi sighed as any thought of being alone in the King's bedroom failed to emerge, her entire focus on the gash he had sustained.

"You fought with Allen again didn't you?"

"Sparred." He muttered back, looking out his window, attempting to be nonchalant. Hitomi knew exactly why they had sparred and wasn't happy.

"I pity Allen." She watched his posture tense, conscious of his ignorance to her feelings. She smiled mischievously as she continued, "You let him do this. Gods know how badly injured he is."

Apparently her meaning was still lost on him. Gathering her courage she finished tying the bandage, watching with narrowed eyes as the centre of it blossomed red only a second later. She was glad he was looking out the window still as she bent down and pressed her lips to the bare skin above it, now free from spatter, holding her nerve as she let them linger on the skin, exhaling slowly as she moved away to look him in the eye.

"A Mystic Moon custom. It should make the injury better."

Thanks go to:

Doctor Kiba – Yep Allen can't touch this! And thanks!

Laka

Sora Sings – Yes definitely! Van/Hitomi FTW! (that's the only txt spk I actually like ^^)

Tanwen Whitefire – Thanks! Glad you liked both.

KyriaHitomi – It was, wasn't it? *giggles* But a good April Fool nonetheless.

thepinkmartini – Wasn't Merle great as a cat? And once again Love for Varie. We should start a club!

Lil' Dinky - *huggles for the long review* And I like your idea about Van. Who knows what will happen.

Chibimimi - :D Thank you! And yes there will be one ;)

Jav-chan – Demands. Demands. Don't I answer them? Kidnap sequel huh? We shall see. Here's part one anyway of Bites ;)

lesamoureux – Apologies if I scarred you into thinking it was Allen *shudders.* And apologies to your boyfriend. Remember, Van's only imaginary *cries and swallows bottle of tranquilizers*

emmarick – Thank you! Yeah I would like full-length for some, but I'm either too lazy or don't have enough ideas

omgshoes – Cheers! There is a possibility of a follow up of B&B. And yes LOVE for Pushing Daisies! Another shot will be based on another episode ^^

effervesence – Thank you! And some will have continuations. Promise! :D

jen313j

ChiKa YuMe