o o o
Kaname opened his eyes. The limestone cave swiftly filled his vision in the dark. The sound of water on rocks came within earshot. Power pulsated in his legs, flickering electricity in taut palms that rested on the cold surface of the tablet. His brows furrowed from the sudden and instant knowledge that he was alone. Drawing upright from the hard stone, he gripped his temple, sensing blood rush to his head as breath escaped his lips. He scoured the space where he woke up alone. His senses penetrated the walls of the cave, outside. Seven clan members guarded the entrance. The head of the village was busily wrapping more medicine for him. Across the road, the entourage unloaded their caravan. Hundreds of human samurai currently marched toward the Kurenai clan. Over the water ridges of the hill, down slippery slopes of waterfall sat the Hiou clan, comfortably over the boulder. The only hope of the monarchy lay in the spurned hands of the Kuruizaki-hime. He felt air flutter past his fangs, the sigh morphed over the walls of the space. He stepped out of the secluded portion of the cave, his eyes feasting on the light piercing the darkness. She stood directly in the narrow strip of white dust, moonlight faded her dark hair and clothes in silver, making her ethereal and unreachable. Kaname watched grimly. He began to approach Yuki, noting a pair of spy-butterflies leap from her fingers and round into the opening.
"Your fiancé will be touched if he knew how much you think about him," Kaname remarked out of the shadows. His pale yukata glowed mercurial silver in the faint but clear moonlight.
"He deserves to know I am alright," Yuki gaped thirstily at the stunning pureblood.
Kaname tilted his head, long fingers brushed her warm cheek. Her eyes closed from the disarming, doting touch that tore her wariness in a flight of shivers. "Such a beautiful face." He whispered, slipping an arm around her narrow waist. "Did you write to him how you love it when I hold you?"
Yuki opened her eyes, blushing from the laughter in her left ear.
o o o
The Kuran clan was a patriarchy, and no question the monarchy inherited the same intergenerational beliefs. The male head of the household and clan decided on affairs, and it'd worked excellently for thousands of years. On the eve of debating Juuri Kuran's so-called punishment for violating the clan's beliefs, Shigeu hesitated for he did not want to react impulsively or emotionally. He delegated the matter be handled by his mother, Fumiko Kuran. She was calmer, wiser and emotionally intelligent. Juuri would never disobey the adored and loved Kuran great queen. He searched the pureblood monarch for a long time. Her features were never exaggerated or held a tremble of old age. It was clear he inherited his mother's jet-black long silk hair. Her red age-defiant eyes were narrowed and formidable to maintain eye contact with. Shigeu sighed in his chair and raised the glass of Water of Life toward the practiced and rehearsed woman, the former Kuran queen.
Fumiko sank in a lounging chair and relaxed an arm along her long thigh. Her gaze steered toward the terrace of her quarters. "I come from a time half-purebloods were common, but if they hadn't caused trouble, we wouldn't face the situation today." She remarked tiredly, weeding for energy in a long drawn out breath. "Your father wanted to leave a peaceful monarchy in your hands. Hadn't it been for the war between Hunters and Purebloods, his wish would've come true."
"Every king faces his own disaster," Shigeu murmured and swigged his drink in two gulps. He hissed from the stark blandness of artificial blood tablets. The chonin population had waned over the last months, and it wouldn't be mindful to request blood donations from the weak, tortured humans. "I also wish to leave a peaceful monarchy for Kaname."
"I told you not to antagonize Kaname." Fumiko snapped.
Shigeu braved an expression of lucid surrender and nodded, "I assure you, I did not."
"Do you not know your son? Pushing Yuki off a cliff is certifiably antagonistic in his book." Fumiko irritatingly sliced, shaking her head at the ominous situation breached in Kuran history.
Shigeu scowled, "I know he protects her, but he must be loyal to the king, his father. He should've told me she was Juuri's daughter."
The grandmother blinked away from the enraged father. "I knew and I didn't tell you."
The king promptly slammed the cup on the end table and rounded toward his mother. "What is wrong with our family?" Shigeu demanded.
"The rule annihilating aristocrat vampires is no longer mandatory. The threat presented at the time of the rule is now nonexistent. Yuki is not after your position or power, I don't see why her death brings about any sort of honorary reparation to the Kuran being that she is half Kuran, half Juuri. How can I turn on Juuri's daughter? She is part of my bloodline as she is part of yours, it's equivalent to killing your own child, Shigeu."
"When the rule was put in place, it was decided Kurans would never alter or annul it." He said.
Fumiko regarded the consternated pureblood, "And do you think Kaname will follow this rule?"
"He has some growing up to do." Shigeu grumbled and began concocting another drink.
"The predecessor bows in the favor of the successor in the interest of the monarchy. If you force the rule, Kaname won't stand for it. I'm afraid he'll rebel in the near future. Is it worth losing your son, the sole heir we have?"
Shigeu ceased his movements over the glass aloofly and stared at the peeling layers of blood tablets mixing in the Water of Life. "What's done is done. Juuri has to learn from her mistake. I don't want to imprison her or starve her like our ancestors have done to our disobedient family members before. I hoped you'd give her a lenient and tolerating punishment."
Fumiko bobbed her head like the noble great grandmother queen she was, "Separating or harming our family members is not in my code of conduct. I'll take the matter off your hands, Shigeu, and reason with Juuri. I don't want to nurture fear and hatred in her heart. She'll carry it for eternity and do worse. But I also have to punish you."
Shigeu whirled in astound at the declaration. "Me?"
"King or not, I bore you, and I was responsible for raising you. How dare you kill Juuri's child?" Fumiko heatedly growled, "You dare hurt Juuri deeply under the disguise of law?"
"It's not that I don't sympathize, Juuri knows better. It's despicable and unbelievable."
"Your sister had an affair with a noble-blood vampire," Fumiko somberly whispered, "You remember it tore her to watch her child die. She vowed never to reawaken from her slumber afterward. I resent repeating history, that's why I'm punishing you. Go and succumb to Kaname's wish and mend your relationship."
"Don't be absurd." Shigeu spat irately.
"I will talk to Juuri and ask for forgiveness."
Shigeu was already regretting delegating the task to his mother. He frowned darkly, "She knew about the consequences of her acts and pretended the child did not exist."
"Yes, Shigeu," Fumiko wisely dipped her head low, "A mother losing her child is unforgettable, a terrifying life-event for a human or vampire. If Hanako lost Kaname, she would not be the same."
o o o
Juuri gaped at her reflection in the stream. Blood tears silently dropped in the flow, colluding with the minerals and soil. The stream circulated into the wide, outreaching ocean. She sighed dismally, bubbling with another urge to scream and cry but the effect would not alleviate her misery, guilt, shame, and fear. She wanted Haruka and Yuki to live free of the monarchical haunt that claimed her dreams, desires, and her vivacity for over six thousand years. When she'd acquired the slightest bit of happiness, she was possessively protective of it and did not share, or utter a syllable to the world. Noble Haruka would not be condemned, and Yuki could follow her heart exactly as she wanted and became an outstanding vampire. She held onto the ideas for years, hoping for the best. As it seemed decent to reacquaint with Haruka, she was not surprised by his gelid reaction, but she was relieved he did not prevent her from meeting Yuki. Birthing a child and raising a child was two very different things, Juuri was only a channel through which Yuki weaseled into the human world, and Haruka had been the one to shed blood and tears over the girl.
She hadn't witnessed Yuki's tantrums or appalling traits like Haruka, Kaien, and Zero had. Suddenly it was extremely too late—too late to mourn, be afraid, and sunder in a pile of self-contempt over losing her child. She might not have been close to Yuki, but realizing she was no longer alive was an anguish, nonetheless. Juuri folded her arms over her knees and bent her tearful face, sobbing.
Haruka glanced over the shoulder at the sound, again. He bundled the reins and set it on the saddle before maneuvering down the slope of the bank and knelt next to the pureblood. "We can't tarry here, the Kurenai nest is waiting for us. I have to get you to safety. I'll go meet the kin—"
"To face your punishment," Juuri sniffed, nodding, "You have quite the plan there, Haruka."
Pity lined his gentle crimson eyes, he curled a long arm around her smaller shoulders and nudged her against him, enough to rest his cheek on her burgundy hair, "Juuri, we've been running from our fate for too long. I ask you to look after my house in Kurashiki."
Juuri tipped her head back to regard his somber chiseled countenance. His long cheeks and nose were filtered by dark hair in the gusty wind. "The Tsunamasa estate?"
"I planned to create a flower garden in Kurashiki, but I'd be happy if you took over the project in my stead." Haruka proposed.
Juuri teared, her lips quivered and rigidly averted, "I can't go to the house that holds memories of our love, and with you not around it will be a form of torture. My dream was to let Yuki and you live happily without conflict. I never should've left the palace."
Haruka blinked, "You wanted to leave the palace for hundreds of years. What a stroke of luck we met on your first time away from home."
"Luck?" Juuri scoffed, "You never forgave me for breaking your heart and abandoning Yuki, how do you call that luck?"
Haruka smiled warmly, his hand rubbed down her arm gently, "For you, it might've been thirst for adventure. They say you are the 'blaze of the sun', Juuri. Your fiery spirit is one of a kind. I was lucky to have met, loved, and created a child with you. We didn't run out of love, that's why it's a stroke of luck."
Juuri wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. "Run away, Haruka. Don't do what he says!" She cried.
Haruka smiled in her hair and held her tightly as she resumed sobbing. Light flashed between his lashes, the noble and astute vampire stiffened in automatic poise. His eyes narrowed on the contorting form swallowing the wind above their heads. An expert and thought-out arm protruded midair to grasp the flutter of air and light. Haruka lowered the arm to inspect it beneath his nose. Juuri had noticed him tense and pulled out of the embrace. She turned to spy the wriggling creature in the middle of his palm.
"A butterfly," She remarked at the springing lavender wings. Next to her, Haruka vocalized an incoherent sound. Juuri glanced him over cautiously, "What is it?"
His eyes had widened and his heart beat erratically. Haruka stared determinedly at the spy-creature. "Yuki has the essence of light, this is her butterfly."
Juuri shot out of his arms incredulously. She gaped at the consciously stern vampire lord. "Could it be?" She couldn't mouth the right words or fathom the possibility.
Haruka's gentle eyes had hardened with chilling fortitude. He stood up quietly and brushed his clothes in a relaxed and diligent manner. Resolutely, he turned and peered into her large pleading eyes. "Yes, the butterfly was created a few hours ago, it is exactly as we think."
Relief, delight, and happiness shimmered across Juuri's eyes. She gasped, teared, and erupted into sobs all over again.
"We need to get to the nest as soon as possible to get more answers. I heard the crowned prince was with her. Looks like I'm in debt to him once more."
Juuri wiped her tears against her sleeves, "Yes, yes, Kaname got to her on time without the king's knowing! Of course, it was Kaname. He won't let her die. We've got to leave right away—" She darted up the slope and shrieked for the hunters.
The silver-haired and blond hunter glared at the screaming pureblood from their horses. "We're in earshot, why are you yelling?" Zero folded his arms.
"Because I have the happiest news!" Juuri opened her arms and galloped toward Kaien.
The hunter was returning the illegal blood wine Yuki imposed on Zero when she lunged him around the shoulders. He stiffened, red-faced and wide-eyed. "Ju-Juuri?" Kaien blinked, once again, a flushing school-boy.
"Yuki is alive!"
Zero's pale face colored with energy, his eyes shimmered from elation. "H-how do you know?"
Haruka had merged behind Juuri who had been rigorously squeezing Kaien's oxygen. He held out the hand with the butterfly. "Recognize this?"
Zero peered at the fluttering spy-creature knowingly, "That's-" He gasped unevenly and began nodding edgily. "It is her."
o o o
Kaname rested his chin on her shoulder. The heat of her skin enveloped him in a sunny-rose scent. His lips caressed the bridge between her shoulder and neck, brushing in her ear, "He loves you, he needs to know how to arouse you." A hot tongue slipped down warm skin, he kissed the soft but supple shape of her shoulder.
Yuki shivered to her toes and attempted to shake Kaname off, but the curling arm on her waist pressed her back to him.
"If you spend 500 years married to him in name only, what do you suppose I will do?" He nuzzled the swift pulse in her neck, brushing hair out of the way. His hand mysteriously slipped under the jacket, caressing her ribs and the underside of her breasts.
Her eyes squirmed shut in unfulfilled pleasure. His hand wove over her breasts, brushing feathery caresses, a sensuous trickle, and a perfect supplication for more. Yuki erratically trembled in his arms. The stolen hand slipped around her right breast, swirling her nipple and cupped her firmly. A roving tongue crawled on her collarbone.
How does he know my innermost groveling secrets?
Her vision teared on the white reflections in the water, darting around limestone, "You'll be king," Yuki gasped.
Kaname turned her around. His lips exposing a view of white fangs that lazily knitted the skin around her throat. He shifted his head to inspect her billowing breath. Her eyes fought to open and her lips were tightly clipped between fangs, restraining her mews. "I'm not interested in role play and winning people with power. I'll do it if necessary. But if you wanted, Yuki," He unbundled the knot of her jacket, unfurling her bare before his eyes. She retreated a step, then two.
I can't look away from this man.
Red eyes beamed into hers, the farther she retreated, the closer Kaname advanced. She was drawn to the undeniable longing in his gaze and quivered desperately. The arm wedged comfortably around her waist, hoisted her against him the second she backed in the dresser. He caressed her trembling lips, finding his own winding in a knowing smile. Her blushing cheeks and round eyes were adorable yet enticing. Draped against him and divested of self-control, she froze in breathless realization at his mercy. She couldn't flee, couldn't turn away or dodge Kaname. Yet she did not twitch or scamper out of reach fearfully or in warning, and instead, Yuki shivered deliriously, excitedly, ticking with anticipation and yearning for his touch, for the haunt in his loving stare, layered and mysterious than she'd ever realized. He was not rough, a simple caress around her breast, fingers dangled playfully around her nipple and seeking lips brushed the right side of her throat. Her breathing choked from the mere and justified heat of his mouth. Eyes heavily falling shut in succumb, Yuki understood she had no form of power left in her body. She could choose to stay or push him away like she'd always done, never moving forward. Vocalizing their different blood-status only induced war, hatred, and division. She'd utilized her indoctrinated beliefs to support her distance around purebloods. The first and only, Kaname sliced through, sundering her beliefs to dust. She did not want to avoid the feelings nestled in her blood—their blood. Her legs had given away, simply being draped on the edge of the dresser, tucked against Kaname's marvelous chest sent a delightful sensation down her back, directly at the point of his fist propelling her to him. His tongue glided on her pulse, decorating it with his potent saliva. The same saliva that healed her wounds and saved her life one too many times.
Kaname raised his lips to her right ear, feeling Yuki rein a gasp from the unexpected and innocent move, "We could be free to belong to each other for eternity." He mouthed on the ring of her ear.
She didn't only shiver, but turned her heady gaze to search for reverberating laughter or a tease. What she found was not Kaname's wolfish smirk, but a hungry promise on his dear life, if not fulfilled, he would die. Her eyes widened at the unfurling depths of crimson-black, a simultaneous spell and a plea.
Yuki felt her breath give out for the last time, a blood-tear fleshed from her left eye, stinging on hot skin. Kaname lipped the cascading tear, sipping on the running blood and kissed the residue from her cheek. Her heart twisted inside her chest, and a fist shakily clamped on his shoulder. What she saw in Kaname's eyes was his truth—he wanted an eternity, the idea was a possibility, not probability, a reality like the very moment, not an illusion of days gone with a half-pureblood huntress, ruminating as a seven-hundred-year old pureblood because he was bored.
Fingers interweaved between her thick brown hair, notched at the back of her neck. Yuki felt herself being tugged in a fierce motion. His lips planted firmly on hers, undoing her gasps with a relieving sigh of bliss as soon as his tongue locked with hers. Fire chiseled her bones, contorting in steams of moistened desire, pelting in a storm of smoke through her mind. She couldn't feel the dresser, sense the cold cave, or the sound of water splashing in the distance over her shoulder. Moonlight bounced on his back, pale strips of light rippled against her closing eyes. He roved the corners of her mouth in gasping, relentless hunt, unearthing her unconscious, unspoken desires in a seamless errand of the tongue. Yuki heaved in his kiss, his securing grip shifted to the back of her neck, drawing chills across her shoulders from the move. Her tongue swept against his sharp fangs, loving the texture of his burrowing tongue. The warm arm unwound and slipped down her ribs.
Yuki reflexively coiled from the tickling sensation and whipped her mouth away, gasping for life, for oxygen. Kaname dipped his mouth down her throat, relishing in the sun-rose skin meeting his tongue. She arched into him unknowingly, lost in the amorous track of Kaname's fingers. His tongue resumed across her collarbone. It was an instant, but she could distinguish the sensation of fangs pricking the canvas of her chest, right above her left breast. Kaname bit enough to draw blood. Yuki nervously flinched from the cut, however, the ongoing slurping of blood entering his mouth released another dangerous and alluring awareness she hadn't accounted for in her life. Being drunk by Kaname heightened her want for him. Her tearing red-brown eyes whirled at the sound of Kaname sipping her blood. His energizing tongue sealed the cut, lapping over her nipple. Her gasps doubled. Only until she felt his fingers scoop the flesh of her inner left thigh, she bit her lip from screaming. Her large eyes dizzily closed under the scurrying trek of fingers, parting the rest of the jacket to reach between her thighs. Kaname wrestled with himself when heard her moan. The sound left his blood roaring. His fangs traced anxiously into her throat, pinching deep to taste the sweetness of her excitement. She didn't wince from the bite this time. Her blood beat readily beneath the skin, willing and wanting. Her fingers combed his silk hair, urging Kaname to deepen the bite. Her blood was his anyway. There was no fear, no doubt, or resentment. The wall of ice around her heart thawed as if never were. Every idea implanted about purebloods released into sparks of dusts. She wiped her eyes against his yukata, removing the negative crusts left behind from years of misunderstanding.
His tongue stroked the open wound, lapping over the oozing thick blood. Yuki tasted sweeter than the blood of the palace, the Water of Life, able of satiating him with each lick. He could howl to the heavens her blood was the finest, richest, worthy and quenching of his eternal life.
She sighed at his nips. Kaname observed her through half-lidded eyes. "You haven't seen the face you make when I drink from you," He tugged her face toward the mirror on the dresser. "Take a look, Yuki."
Blurred eyes focused on their reflection. His warm long fingers slipped between the soft, wet feminine lips between her thighs. Yuki gasped feverishly, her red-brown eyes twinkled with lust. Her lips contorted in moans and her hips gyrated on Kaname's smooth fingers. Dipping inside her silkily, Kaname felt her thighs clench reflexively. He licked her throat and she relaxed in seconds, her thighs parted with ease. Her hips met his moving fingers rhythmically, loving his thorough and uninterrupted caress. Yuki chewed her bottom lip with a fang. Her ears ringing from the sound of her screeching heart, the blood drooling down her chest, and Kaname's sensuous tongue lancing against hot skin between possessive kisses. She would've never guessed Kaname was a man of copious skills. Between the multitude of lyrical sweet vows and teasing, she was briefly given an example on the mountain of his sensuality through kisses. It did not in the slightest prepare her for this. His fingers were incredible, and his tongue—Yuki blanked from the sensation of fangs digging into her throat. Her sweet, hot blood squeezed between his lips, down his chin. Yuki blinked at their reflection, the rapture on her face, the wiles of her moving hips. Her fingers were clenched his hair and pulled him down. Kaname turned her face back and kissed her. His tongue had lapped her blood, she tasted her own sweetness, unable to shake off the tinge of lust and fearless exaltation rising in her body, mind, and heart.
His crimson eyes flashed knowingly through narrow eyelids. Kaname kissed down her wet throat, feeling her tremble upon reaching her thighs. She shook her head raggedly, but he licked her moistened lips and stroked her core with a loving tongue. Yuki cried out in shocked pleasure. Her nails flared into claws, crumpling his hair in warning. Sweet was her blood, so was the evident excitement filling Kaname's mouth. He probed inside Yuki insistently, sensing her hips quiver, and her gasps became frequent. Kaname firmly situated her thighs on his shoulders, nudging her hips carefully on the dresser and sucked gently. She yipped from the tickling sensation of his fangs but sighed lustily from his ravenous tongue, slipping as deep as her lips allowed. Yuki squirmed her eyes shut, her blanched fingers roamed Kaname's scalp in an urgent rhythm.
Her nectar rimmed his mouth. Kaname felt her squirm demandingly, letting the syrup of her pleasure lace his tongue and throat. He ran his tongue around and inside of Yuki. His fingers teased her clit and her hips buckled. Her moans sharp and raspy but Kaname did not cease despite her trembles and jerking movements, she was riled up, her nectar streaming on his lapping tongue. He teased until she screamed tearfully. Her fingers fleeing his hair to grip the dresser. Her hips convulsed against his mouth. His masterful tongue continued reaching for the nectarous syrup. Her arousal was inebriating that she resumed pulsing, filling Kaname's mouth with her sweet delicacy. He held her firmly, tasting her ultimate throes, not wasting a drop. She made a sobbing shriek as she came a second time, an eruption she hadn't expected until the last minute. Yuki grabbed Kaname's shoulders. Her hips quivering under her as tears trickled down her cheeks, in his hair. His tongue merely continued, undisturbed and determined. Kaname brushed her clit, feeling the blood pulse against his fingers. His tongue worked up her syrup in a rigorous rake up her clit, her loins, waist and sternum. Finally reaching her sweaty throat, Kaname sighed against her ear. Her legs dangled around his hips. The jacket hanging off her bare back and her breasts pressed softly on him. Kaname kissed her nipples, hearing Yuki squeeze her eyes shut and gasp from the brief but diverting encounter of fangs. He scooped the panting, disoriented half-pureblood and stalked toward the stoned tablet. Yuki nervously sat up on her elbows once he laid her down. Her gaze transfixed with inhuman desire for the bending pureblood. He crawled over her, seizing her gasping lips, fingers clenched her hair. Her hands snuck inside his yukata to feel warm smooth skin, caressing down his neck and pecks.
Kaname spied at her perspiring face after he pulled away from the kiss. His fingers gently massaged the back of her head. Yuki searched his loving, crimson eyes. If he asked her for anything, she could not deny him. She would not. Kaname knew that. He smirked at her desperate expression. " 'I had a strange dream.' " He purred against her lips, "A lewd woman made a move on me."
She tensed, "You were awake?"
Kaname nuzzled her, "You took care of me. I wanted to spoil you."
This was his idea of spoiling. She'd lost count of the number of kisses, and licks. Oh, the fingering. He had skillful fingers. She could not regard them in the same manner henceforth. Kaname smirked, his breath fanned her face as a result. Yuki felt his heart nudge slightly fast against her palm inside of the yukata.
His heart skipped a beat.
Her eyes widened in fascination. She misunderstood purebloods did not care for sentiments. Kaname often drew unrealistic lines to distract her and she hadn't considered it held any significance to him. He admitted not long ago eternal creatures, especially purebloods celebrated falling in love rarely, if ever. The act jeopardized a pureblood's will and happiness who often were surrounded by death. Mourning friends, acquaintances, colleagues, family members, or strangers. One would be better off living free of complex connections, but it didn't mean it was any less lonely. A living creature, vampire or human, desired friends, family, or a sense of connection with another living being. The innate need could not be erased. No wonder purebloods committed suicides or went into slumber.
" 'Stay with me forever then you won't have to worry.' "
Did he believe he was prone to a solitary existence regardless of his forefathers and great ancestors marrying and having children? Did his fear come from an irrepressible wound he unconsciously adopted? Purebloods were often alone, but all of them held prominent statuses that required them to have families for the sake of the bloodline. It was not as lonely as it sounded, and yet Kaname seemed to hint a tragedy waiting specifically for him. Yuki didn't want to believe in the idea of his living a sad eternity. It was hard enough knowing she caused him to gamble his future and inherit the throne to help save her. To point, she refused to see him sad for any reason, ever.
Fear and worry clutched her like a sharp vice, stealing her breath. She raised a soft hand to caress his cheek. His dark eyes narrowed in instant understanding as a tear rolled out of the corner of her eye. Kaname leaned forward to brush the tear with his mouth. Yuki scrunched her eyes tight and slipped her hand through his lustrous hair.
"I wanted to help you recuperate and promised to watch over until you did," Yuki whispered.
Kaname peered down at her and blinked, "I can't heal if you sneak out of my arms to send messages to your fiancé," He charged, "You're supposed to keep me warm."
Yuki snapped her eyes open to find an appeased smirk outlining his gorgeous satin lips. The lips had kissed her exquisitely, deftly and with a precision to excite and enliven her secret desires. She wasn't aware how he was intricately skilled in the department or how he knew her sensual and decadent wants without asking about it. Come to think of it, it was mysterious and enlightening. She hungrily licked her lips and gulped. Maybe he could give her another round.
His brows elevated from the reaction. "This is not a one-time thing."
Her eyes widened at the determined snatch of words slithering between long pureblood fangs. Yuki retracted the hand from his hair and shyly curled it on her chest. "You'll keep taking advantage of me?" Her heart hammered greedily.
"It's too late to act coy," Kaname imparted, a shiver of laughter fanned his voice, "It was I, who was taken advantage of."
"A kiss is nothing. You're always making me promise you my eternity, I took my compensation for watching you sleep. I'm much more lenient than you are."
Kaname traced her stubborn chin, tipping down until their foreheads touched, he whispered, "An eternity with me will be good for you, since you love it when I kiss you."
She breathed fast against the silk heat of his lips. "I've been stir crazy. Try to be understanding, Ouji."
Kaname laughed against her parting lips, "Don't think you can con me without consequences." He pulled her hands off her chest and flattened them on the surface of the tablet.
"I swear I wasn't." Yuki claimed, and unbeknownst to herself, whimpered from the sealing kiss and sensual tongue swirling inside her mouth. Her hands shifted in a tight wrestle to touch the pureblood, but he fastened her fingers and locked them in place.
His mouth chiseled a hot white line of ecstasy down her throat, between her breasts. Her eyes doubled in pleasure and the sight of the cave smoked into flashing splinters of amber. His tongue slipped down her bellybutton, into her feminine lips. She moaned instantaneously as his tongue probed her thoroughly. Her vision teared and the fastened hands escaped to clamp his head.
o o o
Takuma couldn't adjust to the standards of the Hiou. She'd sequestered him kindly in her quarters, fed and dressed him, albeit, the how-to and the why was a derivative of inner frustration. Ai provided him with succulently delicious food, but her taste in clothing was unsatisfying and lacking. In his regard, he felt like a chimp in a circus show, queued to take the stage. The hakama was transparent like that which her servants wore and he was aridly shirtless. To the pureblood, the fact was a joy.
"Takuma," Ai ran her fingers down his chest, sighing at his exasperated scowl, "Why do you need it when you have a perfect body?"
His green eyes flashed in warning, "Stop touching me."
Ai looped her arms around his shoulders, "You don't mean that."
Takuma attempted to break out of the embrace, but the act was futile as soon as he remembered his hands had been tied. He glared at the thirsty-eyed pureblood, "How long do you plan to keep me like this?"
"I'm doing it for you own good," Ai caressed his right cheek followed by the left cheek, "Gosh, your skin is beautiful."
He retreated a step, which allowed the required space to collect his thoughts as much as his dignity. "I appreciate your helping me stay in secret but you don't need to resort to cheap tricks. I'm waiting for Kaname, I won't run before his arrival."
"I know you won't run away, you're loyal to the crowned prince. It makes me envious," Ai sighed listlessly, "My servants only know to fall at my feet and beckon at my call. They won't stay with me unless they have a reason. You yearn to stay with him because you love him." She tilted her head and grinned cheekily, "Loving a pureblood is rewarding, you know very well."
Takuma turned his head away from her deliriously shimmering pink-red eyes. "Kaname would never dress me like an animal, not even for entertainment purposes. We are not blood related by any means, but we are like brothers."
"I assure you are not entertainment," Ai squeezed him delightfully around the torso, "I revel at the sight of your sexiness, Takuma. Don't you know purebloods reward generously when we're pleased?"
He stiffened a little reluctantly, "How do you mean?"
Ai leaned on her tiptoes to vow, "I want to give you all of my love."
Takuma nudged her back expertly by a twist of the shoulders. "Your silly illusions will cost lives. I don't want to die and leave Ka—"
"Is the crowned prince all you ever think about?" Ai inquired dolefully.
He answered without a blink in a heartbeat. "I'm all he has."
Ai grinned, "That'll change after we're done."
Takuma backed into the wall behind, a frown awry as a thunderstorm forged in his sunny countenance. "We mustn't break the echelon system, it protects vampires from each other."
"I don't care about rules," Ai cradled her hands around his neck, nudging him toward her waiting pink lips, "All I care about is you giving me all of your love, Takuma." Zestfully, Ai yanked Takuma down.
He balked in the fiery kiss, feeling her tongue clamber inside his mouth. Her fangs merely lingered on his lips, a sinful tease of darkness, but her sweet saliva went on saturating him. He balanced against the wall, freezing against the sensual curve of hips and soft breasts. Her long hair swished down her graceful, long back. Some strayed on his shoulder delicately, and the hint of cherry blossoms notched distinctly at the back of his throat that he could've sworn he stood in a cherry blossom meadow. Ai nibbled his bottom lip, as he gasped and shivered simultaneously.
Her pink-red eyes passionately seized him. Her mouth curled in sultry demand. Takuma suddenly sank to the floor, speechless and wide eyed.
She began to unravel the belt of her robe but paused at the look of overwhelm and uncertainty clouding his emerald eyes. Ai dropped her hands and straightened her shoulders. She bent forward gracefully, tilting her shoulder toward him and purred, "I'll be right back. You should prepare yourself."
Takuma blinked at the pureblood retreating behind the doors. He fumbled around to untie the ropes vigorously. He had to flee. She'd play with him, skin him, and eat him alive. The lioness was too dangerous for a water snake like him.
Outside of the doors, Ai came to a stop and secured the bow knot of her belt. She could hear his attempts to unwind free but she was not going to let such a delicious creature slip out of her hands so soon. She licked her lips eagerly and reconnected with the sample of his saliva. Her claws excitedly spiked, but she quelled her desire, and carnal hunger for the time being and allowed herself a moment to take a deep, clearing breath before she ambled toward the main corridor of the Hiou residence. She reached her mother's quarters after a thirteen-minute walk through courtyards and connecting lanes of pagoda buildings. The servants quickly unlocked the main doors and she wandered past the large inner courtyard of the quarters.
More servants appeared and bowed as Ai proceeded toward the larger doors crossing into the West garden. Her mother was lounging on the grass, a tray of sake, cups, and the familiar outline of her shinsengumi came into view. He dropped into a bow at the sight of her and departed by backing away from the approaching pureblood.
Ai leisurely scanned her yawning mother admiring the cherry blossoms cascading from the branches and raining over her slender form on the grass. "Mother, I've come to make an important announcement. I'd appreciate it if you took it to heart and did not get in my way."
Shizuka narrowed her eyes without looking, an elegant white hand channeled a cup on the tray and brought it gently to her lips in silent harmony.
Despite the lack of welcome and greeting, Ai didn't bristle with anger or question. Her mother was a quiet pureblood, she did not like contemplations and conversations, but if she was in opposition to something, she could be monstrous. Although, Ai should be concerned about her well-being for crossing her mother, she was brave and did not fear the Kuruizaki-hime.
"I've found the man I'm going to run away and makes babies with." Ai asseverated.
The cherry blossoms resumed to snow upon the matriarch of the Hiou clan, lounging in mute observation.
"We won't live by the rules of the nation's echelon or what the so-called pureblood king says," Ai continued, "It's important I marry the person I love."
" 'Love?' " Shizuka drawled cautiously.
"I want to have an eternal love. You don't have to worry, we'll leave discreetly."
" 'Eternal?' "
Ai nodded, "I won't settle for anything less. I need to be in love and be loved."
"Ai," Shizuka sighed, her ruby eyes danced upon her daughter finally, "What would your father think if he were alive?"
"He would shut me down because he didn't have a romantic feeling in his body."
Shizuka did not dispute the statement, she credited with a nod as she placed the cup on the tray next to the sake. "You want to abandon the Hiou clan for love?"
"You have plenty of time to make several more babies with step father."
"The Hiou crest must go to a pureblood. I'd love to have more children, but it wouldn't be fair to take away the opportunity to inherit the crest because they won't be pureblood." Shizuka quietly relayed.
Ai scowled at her mother, "You want me to give up love for a crest?"
"I want you to care for the crest as much as you care about romance. What do you know about love, about men, about being loved by a man?" Her mother demanded. "Your servants are obliged to stay with you and fulfill your basest inclinations. You cannot occupy a person's heart by ordering them or forcing your love on them, Ai. If you leave our mountain, the world will destroy your fantasies of love, and the man you're coveting will abandon you for it wasn't love in the first place."
"I won't give up, he can grow to love me." Ai retaliated.
Shizuka smiled at the fluttering cherry blossoms on the grass, "He's an Ichijo, isn't he?"
Ai felt her blood freeze but did not show the reaction, she shrugged instead. "What if he is?"
"Don't you know about the bond between Kuran and Ichijo?" Shizuka recalled, "A Kuran will fulfill any wish of an Ichijo. There's no need to speak of the love between them. You're different, you're a Hiou. Your love will continue to be misunderstood by the likes."
"The grudge between you and the king is in the past," Ai rebuked, "I don't have to recreate history. If tomorrow the crowned prince walks through our gates, I won't spurn him. I'll demand he give me the Ichijo."
Shizuka drew in the scent of the flowers and closed her eyes slowly, "Be careful of the Kuran, Ai. You haven't met the royal family or you wouldn't speak in a carefree manner. The Ichijo won't be distracted by your affections."
Ai clenched her jaw.
"How long before the crowned prince comes?" Shizuka inquired.
"You knew about it?" Ai distantly murmured.
"Spy-creatures have amassed in the region. The war isn't over but the king won't accept defeat. He can't face me and needs help. So, he chose to send his heir to beg." Shizuka summed disdainfully.
"For the general wellbeing of all creatures, we should help." Ai confessed.
"I agree," Shizuka whispered, nodding her head peacefully, "But there's something the royal family needs to consider before we give in."
"And that is?" Ai waited.
Shizuka glanced at her and smiled politely, her fangs did not show and the emotion did not bathe her deep-set eyes. "Respect the Hiou clan."
o o o
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