Chapter Eleven:

I yelped when Ayato dug his fangs into my inner thigh, close to the gap between my legs, drawing my blood slower than normal. Subaru grumbled some sound, but I didn't have a second to wonder what he could have meant by it. My mind was racing like a live wire and my body felt both hot and cold, yet so weak. I could barely move. My body was cold, out from under the covers, but Ayato's fangs felt like hot iron on my skin and Subaru's mouth, now dropping below my neck to my chest, left a trail of heat on my skin. I had goosebumps all over my body. The two of them were mesmerizing, is every sense of the word.

The sudden warmth hit me as Subaru dropped his full body onto mine, holding his own weight, but every inch of his bare skin touched mine. He gave me a quick look before he slid inside me, without a warning. I quietly gasped, my mouth falling open as my body stiffened. He was hard. Very hard. He felt good inside me. But I just blushed and looked away from him, unsure how to react.

I felt Ayato crawl back up and soon his face was beside me. I turned to look him in the eye for only a moment before looking away, flustered again. I wasn't used to this kind of thing, and obviously, they had never done something like this either, but it seemed to come so naturally to them. I was envious of their confidence, to say the least.

"Oi… Pancake," he said, and I could tell he was smiling just from his voice. "If my little brother does anything you don't like, I'll rip his head off."

Aghast, I looked back at him, but he just just smirked and winked at me, making me blush again. And then, without warning, he ran the full length of his tongue up my face, from my jawline to my temple, just as Subaru moved his hips forward and back a few times. I gasped for air as I watched Ayato plop down beside me, his head in one hand as he continued to smirk. Why was he just laying there, watching me like that? Wasn't it weird for him? But he just kept his eyes on me, and every so often, they would glaze over a bright red, and glow for a moment in his excitement, before returning to normal. I managed to find a moment of relief to speak. Subaru was moving slowly still. I only felt him when he moved a little faster every now and again, so it was more like a massage when he was like this. But it was still embarrassing.

"H… How can you just lay there and…"

"Hmm?" And why wouldn't he take his eyes off my face for even a second?

"Yui," Subaru breathed, and when I turned to him, he put a finger to his lips. He then reached down and cupped my face in one hand. "If you don't want this, you don't have to."

"I want you to bond to me," I said quickly, and I meant it. And it wasn't the fact that he was already inside me. But, it was just… the way it was happening was unfamiliar. It felt so strange with Ayato in the room, clearly enjoying himself and quite happy with being a spectator.

"I'll never hurt you," he whispered.

"We'll never hurt you," Ayato quipped, and I actually laughed as Subaru threw him a displeased frown.

"I think… I think I love you. Both of you…" I whispered, wrapping my hands around the back of Subaru's neck as he came forward for another light thrust. I gasped slightly before continuing. "Is that… wrong of me… to say?"

Ayato smirked, "Well, it's a very human concept—"

"—No." Subaru glared at Ayato again for a moment before looking directly into my eyes. I wanted to look away, but I just couldn't. "Of course it's not… wrong." He paused. "I… care for you as well."

Now it was Ayato's turn to glare. His frown became tight across his face. "Tch. Just bond already."

"I will," Subaru replied breathily. "I can bond. It won't take long." But then he flinched, and he pulled out halfway, one eye closed in pain. I blinked a few times in worry, but he fixed his face and shook off whatever it was. For a second I could have swore that Ayato was chuckling at something.

"Ayato…" Subaru breathed. His face looked a little confused and… scared? I couldn't really tell. "Is this… is it painful?"

"Mhmmm." He chuckled again. "It varies for each of us, but it looks like it's going to hurt you way more than it hurt me. Should be a good show."

"Ayato!" I shouted, realizing that Subaru wasn't moving anymore. He was as still as a statue, and Ayato was enjoying watching his brother's caution. "If you're not going to say anything helpful, then get out." I frowned. Was this going to hurt Subaru? I remembered how it had been a little painful for Ayato near the end, but… I never even asked how bad it had been. For a moment, I felt very insensitive, but another thrust from Subaru brought me out of my own thoughts. He was back to moving slowly.

"Helpful?" He smiled and my frown deepened. That wasn't the response I'd been hoping for. "I can say something helpful." He rolled forward and put his lips by my ear. "Do you want me to bite you?" he whispered, and his cold breath made shivers run through my upper body, and Subaru let out a quiet moan. I didn't even know how to answer Ayato. "Or, do you want to bite me?"

In another second, he was upright, with his face only inches from mine. He closed the distance easily and brought his mouth onto mine and I jumped. Ayato was… kissing me? His tongue instantly went for my tiny fangs and without warning, the mind numbing sensation hit me. My body tightened and violent shivers hit me for a long moment. Subaru grunted when he felt my shivers resonate between my legs, and then he began rocking back and forth again, a little faster than before.

"Bite me," Ayato teased, parting our lips and baring his fangs playfully. "Make me submit to you… if you can, Pancake." He smirked, liking his own challenge, probably ten times more than I did, and that was saying something.

"Fine," I huffed, the word coming out louder as Subaru's thrusting knocked the wind from my lungs.

Ayato put his wrist to my lips and smirked. Without hesitation, I bit down, hard, and watched his face, unblinking, as he flinched, and then looked at me with what I could only assume was pride. It felt good to have him look at me that way, but it lasted only a moment as I took some of his blood into my mouth and swallowed, nearly gagging. I was a vampire now, but the taste of blood still made me reel.

Ayato's eyes immediately glowed a bright red as his arms gave out and his upper body and head smacked the mattress with a loud thump, and the moans that followed made me even weaker.

Subaru grunted and flinched, and he pulled out halfway again, stopping his movements. Ayato was in convulsions beside me from the blood sharing, but I nearly ignored him.

"Subaru… what's wrong?"

"Damn," he growled, gritting his teeth. "Are you sure you want this?"

"Yes, I'm sure… Why do you keep asking like that?"

"Because it fucking hurts!" he shouted suddenly, and I blinked. I didn't take it personal, seeing as he was frustrated in many ways, but more so sexually. But his outburst made me worry. "The last thing I need is for you to not be sure and then I get fucked for the rest of my life!"

"We can stop if you don't want to—"

"You think I don't want to?!"

"Stop!" Ayato shouted between convulsions. His body spasmed as he gritted his teeth. "Trust me, she wants this," he growled, and then cried out in pleasure or pain—it was hard to tell the difference sometimes, but I assumed pleasure from what happened the last time. "It feels good. Keep going."

My face turned a bright red at that, and even redder when Subaru nodded at his brother and began moving once again. I tightened and Ayato almost screamed, quickly flipping over onto his back with all his leftover strength and panting heavily from the effort it took. His chest rose and fell like it weighed over a ton, and Subaru seemed to be put at ease for whatever reason.

"Sorry," he breathed, looking at me. It took me a second to figure out what he'd said in his quiet breath. "For snapping at you," he added, and I smiled at him.

"I want you to bond to me. I really do."

There was a quick moment of silence and understanding before Subaru started to move again. He placed his open palms on either side of me and lifted half his body with a hard thrust. My mouth opened too wide for the sound that came out of me, and it stayed open as he pushed into me again. He leaned forward and dug himself through my insides, pushing slowly until he was at his hilt, watching my face closely the whole time. And when he was fully sheathed, he grunted and pushed even harder, until his eyes finally closed with a moan. Ayato shivered and it shook the bed.

This time, when he pulled out, he immediately slid back in, still slowly, but the motion never stopped as he pulled halfway out again and then leaned forward as he rocked himself back inside of me, holding himself there for a moment again, and pushing further when he already filled me up. I cried out. It felt good. It felt really good. But I felt like he was testing something. He kept staring, down at my stomach when he pushed farther inside, as if he was trying something for himself. He squeezed his eyes shut for a second and I placed a hand on the top of his head, shuffling his hair.

"Are you alright?" I whispered between breaths.

"Just get it over with," Ayato growled weakly. "You can have your fun next time."

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Nothing."

"Not nothing," Ayato whispered. "He's—ahh!"

Subaru shoved himself hard inside of me and I gasped at the same time as Ayato, both of us caught off guard.

"Idiot! What was that for—urrg!"

Subaru thrust again, and again, slowly getting harder and faster as Ayato's cries and moans began to match mine. He slammed into me a few more times before the three of us cried out together, but my eyes bolted open when Subaru's cry sounded a lot like pain, and in the next second, the bed cracked and something snapped. I yelped and looked to my left, Subaru's fist halfway through the mattress where Ayato's head had just been. The other vampire was panting on the floor beside the bed.

"Almost got me," he panted playfully.

"Shut up!" Subaru screamed. He started to pull out, but I pushed my legs together to hold him there. Of course, I didn't have that kind of strength to defy a vampire, but he glanced at me and stayed, thankfully getting the message that I didn't want him to stop.

"This… hurts you that much?" I asked, feeling slightly guilty. "Is there something I can do?"

"It's not your fault," Ayato breathed quickly, probably because he felt my guilt. "And no. It's a first-time thing. He just has to get through it."

Whenever I thought about these kinds of things in the past, I always imagined my first time being with someone as a magical experience. And although this was technically my second time, neither of them really felt that… magical. It wasn't like I regretted it in any way, and I did it because I loved Ayato. And I loved Subaru. But this felt wrong when he was in pain…

"Stop!" Ayato shouted, jumping up from the floor. Apparently his blood in my system was starting to wear off already. Was I doing something wrong? Something about all this felt… just wrong.

"Yui, stop!" He turned to Subaru and pushed him away. "Stop," he told his brother, and Subaru started to move away again. I didn't know what was going on, and usually I would side with Ayato when he thought something was wrong, but I couldn't do it this time. I glared at him and clenched my legs together again as Subaru tried to pull himself away. He stayed, but frowned.

"Ayato, leave." My voice was unwavering for once, and the yellow-eyed vampire's lips parted in surprise. He looked like he was about to protest, but I shook my head. "If you want to stay, go back on the floor, but don't talk." He slowly got off the bed, but crossed his arms and stared at me, narrowing his eyes a bit. But I had the feeling that I knew what the problem was. "This should be between me and Subaru. You being here is… distracting. I understand that you think like a vampire, and so you think that it's okay to… I don't know. I'm sorry, okay? But I don't… I don't even know what I'm trying to say." I lowered my head, looking away from both of them.

"Your human ideals make this an extremely personal act," Subaru said quietly, and I just nodded, keeping my gaze away from them. "It's not that it isn't personal to us. We just think of it differently. Just like taking blood is personal, I'm sure you've been sucked by more than one of us at the same time. Biting you is… just as erotic as mating. But I understand the difference to you."

"I'm not leaving you here with him when he can't even tell how you feel yet," Ayato grumbled.

"You didn't feel like that when we bonded. Remember?"

"Of course I remember. But now I'm here to keep you safe."

I almost laughed. "You don't have to do that at a time like this. If I'm hurt, I can just say something."

"I… don't like leaving your side when you bond with another," he frowned. "Leaving you now is wrong. If I try to walk away, every part of my body will scream at me to turn around and stay…"

His tone was saddening. It was as if he was begging to not be sent away… But it was uncomfortable to have him in my room now. But I couldn't send him away. Not when he was telling me how it would feel for him to leave. And I'd agreed to try and be more understanding with the way vampires did things. He'd promised me the same thing…

"All right… But please… I don't want to keep realizing that you're here. It's making me uneasy." And what was worse was that Subaru was in some kind of pain, and I had no idea how to help him. But I was beginning to understand what was going on a bit better. Ayato kept saying that he just had to get through it, so it was just part of the bonding process…? In a way, I didn't really feel like I was sleeping with him at all. It felt more like I was… helping him? Comforting him? I wasn't sure, but maybe that was more like what it felt to bond, rather than mate. What I had with Ayato, before Subaru came into my bedroom to join us… that would have been mating—intense, exciting… That would have been more like making love than bonding. It was weird to wrap my head around the concept of them as different things, but it was starting to make sense.

After a few more moments, Ayato nodded once and walked towards the window, opening the doors and stepping out onto the balcony.

"I'll just be out here," he said, cracking the glass doors behind him and leaning out against the white railing. The curtains moved with the gentle wind, making it hard to see him, which I guess was what I wanted. I felt a bit bad, but I brushed it aside and turned all my attention to Subaru. I smiled up at him, realizing that his face had a faint pink blush across it. And he still had beads of sweat on the sides of his face from before.

"Subaru," I whispered kindly, waiting for him to turn his face to look at me.

I reached up and cupped his face with both my hands, gently trying to pull him down. He obliged and leaned down, and when his mouth was close enough, I lifted my head to give him a hard kiss. Still holding himself up, he couldn't move his hands off the bed. I smirked a I pushed my tongue between his lips and ran it over his left fang. He tensed and I felt it between my legs as he stiffened down there. I ran my tongue over it again and he let out a quiet moan, his body shivering for a moment.

"I'm sorry this hurts you. I wish there was something I could do." He began to shake his head, but I didn't give him enough time to reply. "I want you to bond to me. I want it more than anything right now. I think if you just push through the pain, it'll just be over, and then…"

"I'll be bonded to you," he whispered back, closing his eyes and resting his forehead on mine. "I want that, too."

As I was about to try and come up with something more comforting to say to him, he moved his hips and started thrusting again. He lifted his forehead from mine, but kept his face close enough to reach his tongue out and run the tip of it roughly over my lips. I just breathed and closed my eyes, enjoying the moment. The way he moved was different than Ayato, which I could have guessed, but it was something else to feel it. With my eyes closed, I knew I'd be able to tell who was on top of me just by the way they moved, and it made me strangely happy.

I opened my eyes as soon as I heard him grunt, and stared straight up at his face as he shut his eyes and he teeth clenched. But this time he didn't stop or slow. I quickly moved my hands to his head and gently slid them around to wrap around his neck, pulling him a little closer. At first, he came closer, pushing his mouth into my neck for a light kiss, but then he bolted upright, careful not to pull my arms, but still in a rush. He opened one eye to look at me as he gritted his teeth, but he still didn't stop. Instead, as he grunt again in pain, he hit that spot inside me and I convulsed, my stomach muscles heaving. My hands instantly went for the sheets on either side of me and my nails dug into them as his pace actually quickened. He cried out in agony, and I matched him with a cry of pleasure. He was in a lot of pain. I could hear it in his screams. I could see it on his face as it contorted and his teeth grated against each other. But god, it felt so good and I didn't want him to stop.

He didn't let up, ramming himself harder and harder into that one spot, and I felt that feeling again.

"Subaru!" I cried out. My eyes squeezed shut and I screamed before my back lifted off the bed. My body shook and convulsed over and over again, and I knew I only had a few seconds left before it all hit me.

Subaru screamed as I cried out in ecstasy, feeling my entire body tighten and, after a few moments of shivering pleasure, release. Subaru jolted forward, his chest heavily hitting mine as he continued to thrust, a little slower now.

"Fuck!" he screamed again, and I grabbed him, holding him as tightly as I could, and then squeezing him harder as I felt his warmth pour into me. But even when it was over, he was still crying out. He didn't pull out of me after he finished, but his remained extremely still. It took him a moment before he flinched again and his right arm swung out, his fist colliding with the bed frame and cracking it in half. I yelped as the bed fell down an inch or two from the impact, but Subaru punched the bed again, this time to my left, through the mattress again, with another cry. I hugged him tighter, bringing one hand up to the back of his head and running my fingers through his hair, gently scratching his scalp with my nails.

"Shh," I hushed him involuntarily, closing my eyes and rubbing my hand against his back. His upper body flinched a few times, and for a second I thought he might have been crying…

"Fuck," he said again, softer, roughly pulling his hand out of the mattress. "Fuck…" He pulled out and repositioned himself, staying on top of me and hiding his face. I just continued brushing through his soft, white hair and letting him know I was with him. His breathing was staggered and sounded painful still. If I didn't stop myself from thinking about it too much, I probably would have cried for him in that moment.

"Fuck," he breathed and then swallowed hard, followed by more panting.

"Hey," I whispered. "Are you okay?"

He nodded. "I can feel you."

"Hm?" I tilted my head to the side. I knew what he meant, but he said it so flatly. I had been expecting something like Ayato's amazement, not nonchalant-ness. "Does it still hurt?" I asked.

"Why do you feel surprised?" he asked, and he pushed himself up to look at me. I took a deep breath and realized that his weight had been hindering my breath before. I was glad I hadn't noticed it. He looked me in the eye, waiting for an answer.

"Well… I guess because… maybe it just feels like the bonding part was… in the background of all that." I didn't know how to put it. I was surprised about a lot of things. And he was staring right at me…

"Sorry," he said softly, before resting his head on my chest and turning away from me again.

I was about to say something else, but he lifted his head up after only a few seconds. He didn't even look at me before he leaned up and dug his fangs into my lower neck. I gasped and put my hands against his chest, pushing against him. I couldn't move him, of course, and he drank from me. I noticed he was drinking faster than usual, but the sounds that came out of him made me squirm a bit. I heard him chuckle before pulling away.

"So you do like it," he smirked, looking up at me. "I've been wondering about that for a while now."

"Wondering… about… what?" I stammered.

"Whether or not you truly enjoy being bitten." He smirked. "It's a strange sensation for you, a mix of pain and pleasure, but you like it." He seemed to be in a much better condition now, and I wasn't in the mood to defend myself. It would have been hard to do when he could feel what I felt, anyway.

"Depends on how I feel," I added shyly.

"You liked it just now."

"Well, you're also laying naked on top of me and we just made lov—well… we just bonded."

"You were already bonded to me," he whispered in my ear. "I can feel that, too."

I didn't doubt that. I'd felt a strong connection to Subaru since the first time I spoke to him in this place, and I felt a bond with him even as a human.

"That's nice," he whispered, shifting himself up to lay down beside me. His head was above mine and he wrapped the blanket over us. "I can't tell exactly how you feel, but whatever it is, I like it."

"What do you mean you can't tell?" I asked. Wasn't he supposed to feel how I felt? Did something go wrong when he bonded? And what about all the pain he went though? What was that about—

"Shit," he said, jabbing me lightly with his elbow. "Cut that out." When my mind went blank for a moment, he cuddled up next to me, wrapping one arm over me and pressing his mouth into my hair. I felt him open his mouth and scratch his fangs against my scalp a few times. "Fuck, I'm tired," he whispered. I felt the silence creep up and stay there, and after a little while, his breathing turned long and steady. I smiled.

I heard the glass doors by the window creak open and then close, and a few seconds later, Ayato lifted up the blanket and crawled under the covers on my right, sandwiching me between the brothers. It didn't take me long to realize that he had undressed, and his cold skin hit me suddenly. I jumped and heard him snicker before wrapping an arm around my front and resting his head beside mine. It was almost too dark to see anything, but a flash of his glowing red eyes looking down at me told me where he was.

"Don't get too turned on now, Pancake. We can feel that, remember?" he teased. But I flushed, and I doubt he would have missed the fact that being between the two naked brothers was making me hot and damp at the same time.

Ayato's hand ran from my chest down to my stomach and I could feel him smirk against me, his lips on my forehead. He traced circles on my waist, slowly making his way downward with his middle finger. He was moving so gently that it almost tickled and I uncontrollably shivered.

Subaru immediately flipped to face me, and I watched his eyes glow red as he looked down at me, too. My eyes went wide when his fingers danced along my collarbone, heading downward as well. I was beginning to pant as Ayato's middle finger traced a half-circle into my hairs and paused for a moment there. I could still feel his smirk.

Subaru's hand fell over my breast, and his thumb gently ran over my nipple. I immediately moaned, and both my hands shot up to cover my mouth. They didn't try to move me, but Ayato's long finger slid between my legs and rubbed one slow circle there. I squirmed, and then Subaru grabbed my hands and took both my wrists into one hand, bringing it over my head as he crawled over me. I felt his tongue swipe my nipple and my chest lifted off the mattress as I let out another moan.

I felt Ayato move as the bed creaked, and he shoved his one knee between my legs, forcing them farther apart as he cupped me down there, squeezing in pulses for a minute or two before sliding a finger inside. I gasped, and as Ayato scratched his finger against that one fragile spot, Subaru bit down on the top of my breast, below the collarbone. I cried out with the pain, but Ayato shifted so that his mouth was all the way down by my waist. He dragged his fangs along the skin there, making me convulse as he slipped two more fingers in and Subaru sucked roughly at my chest, pausing every now and again to run his tongue and thumb over my nipples. He still held my hands, and the more I pulled to free myself, the easier it seemed to be for Subaru to hold me in place.

Ayato cupped his hand with three fingers inside me and jabbed quickly into me. I screamed at the first as he slowly backed out. I screamed with the second when he curled his fingers up inside me. And at the third jab, he kept going, hitting that delicious spot over and over, hard and fast. I screamed and cried and tried to worm my way out, but he had a hold on my legs and Subaru held down my top half. It didn't take long at all for the build-up to begin all over again, and I felt it the most when I had only a few seconds left. Ayato must have sensed it, because he immediately bit down on my side and drank as I came, shrieking as the pleasurable torment came to a blissful end. Subaru clamped his mouth over mine, and just as I thought I was getting a kiss, the taste of blood hit me and I coughed. At first I thought it was his, but he didn't flinch and I realized it must have been mine. I shuddered, coming down from the high. My body relaxed and I closed my eyes. Ayato released me just as I was beginning to feel the pain of his fangs on such a sensitive spot. Subaru released my wrists soon after, and I could feel sleep only an arm's length away. The two vampires curled up on either side of me, and before I knew it, everything was dark and peaceful.

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I woke to the sound of silence and crickets, as per the usual life at the Sakamaki mansion. Moonlight was just starting to show through the windows and I wondered what time it was. Certainly someone would have woken me up if I was going to be late for school, right?

I slowly turned my head to look for the brothers, and linked a few times when I saw them, standing by the door, their arms crossed and both of them staring at me like I was about to attack them. I stared back for a few moments, but neither of them wavered.

"Are you two—"

"Get up slowly, Yui," Subaru warned.

"Take it easy for a bit," Ayato frowned.

"What's… going on?" I asked, beginning to push myself into a sitting position. But before I could even put my elbow on the mattress, both brothers were at the bedside, their hands on each of my arms. "What's going on?" I asked again, a little more forceful.

But then it hit me—the tense and growing pain. Slowly, at first, but I felt it. And as soon as I got the hint from my sore muscles, I lifted the covers off my naked body and looked down. My eyes widened. I was covered in bruises and bite marks, and everything hurt. I didn't dare to move, as my body slowly brought on the pain as I became more and more awake.

But another thought was still tickling at the back of my mind.

"What time is it? I can't skip any more days of school. I can barely miss another class without having to retake the semester. I can't afford to take the day off." I frowned when Ayato didn't seem to care. He just shrugged at me.

"You still have a couple of hours," Subaru said flatly, as if asking about school had been childish of me. "You need to clean yourself," he then added, pulling the sheets the rest of the way off. I shuddered, half from the cool air and half from them staring at all of my pale flesh, now marred with black, blue and red marks everywhere.

"Wrap yourself in something," Ayato said, looking around the room.

"I have a robe hanging over the chair by the desk." It was a light pink robe—very fuzzy and one of my favorites. But I pursed my lips when he brought it over to me. The last thing I wanted to do was get it dirty or stained.

"Put it on," Subaru said. He crossed and then uncrossed his arms. "Here," he motioned, leaning over to help me up. Barely felt any pain from it, considering he lifted all my upper bod's weight with just one arm, but my muscles tightened and I tensed when I was finally upright. Ayato began wrapping the robe around my shoulders, not bothering to help me get my arms through the sleeves.

"Just hold it against yourself," he said, and in the next moment, I was in his arms, and halfway down the hall. Subaru was in our wake and the bathroom was in front of me in a matter of less than twenty seconds.

It took Ayato a few minutes to fill the tub after he set me down on the cold floor, still wrapped like a burrito in my pink robe. Subaru stood by, watching the floor. He was probably deep in thought from the way he barely blinked.

I heard the faucet turn off and Ayato was beside me, crouching down and tugging on the robe.

"Come on, Pancake. We don't have all day." His tone was kind, but I could tell he was still in a bit of a rush to get this over with. I just nodded and shrugged the robe off my shoulders, flinching a bit at the discomfort of moving. He lifted me up and placed me in the tub.

At first it stung, and I winced, but I became numb to it after only a few moments. In the water, I had time to analyze my condition. There were literally bite marks everywhere—on my calves, my thighs, my arms, my chest, and even one on my stomach from Ayato. And I couldn't see them, but I knew there were plenty more on my neck and collarbone. I could feel them sting every time the water grazed them, too. There were black and blue spots on my thighs, as well, and my breasts were darkened from all the squeezing and sucking. Brown and yellow hickies lined my collarbone, too. I didn't have to see them to remember, and no doubt there were some around my mouth. My lower lip even had a fang mark on it. How was I supposed to hide all that by the time school started in a couple hours? And being able to walk was another problem altogether.

When I looked up, Subaru wasn't in the room anymore, and Ayato was walking over to sit beside the tub. He smirked when he looked down at me, through the now musky water. I frowned in reply. Was this funny to him? I didn't want this. I didn't want to look like this…

"How… How am I supposed to go to class like this?" I whispered, more to myself, but wanting him to hear my worry, too.

"You're unhappy with me," he replied, and I just stared into the water. I wasn't necessarily unhappy, per say… It was just a shock to see my own body like this. It was worse than just being bitten. They were… just too strong. Maybe if I'd been born a vampire, then I wouldn't be so weak that they hurt me like this. It wasn't like last night hadn't felt amazing, but looking back on it, I remembered thinking for a split second that it hurt beneath all that bliss. And this was the result.

"I need to remember to hold back," he said.

That didn't make me feel better at all. I wasn't strong enough to satisfy him. Was that what he was trying to say? That my body was still that of a fragile human? Was I not what he wanted? And what if I never changed and I stayed this way forever and he was stuck with someone who would snap in half if he didn't always hold back…

"It's not like that…" he snickered, and I looked over at him. "I just need to watch where I bite, is all. And not to mention the fact that Subaru was starving. Half of us are, anyway." He smirked and I blinked a few times.

"Wait… what? What do you mean, they're starving?"

He tilted his head like the answer was obvious.

"Ayato, what do you mean?"

"You're our blood," he said, lifting an eyebrow. "Other than Subaru and I, because we were allowed to bond to you, have drank from you in quite a while. Especially since the Awakening. I know Shuu went out on his own the other night to grab a drink in town, and Kanato's been off wherever a few times this week. Not sure about Reiji, though… He's been on edge for a while now, so I assume he's been thirsty for at least a few days."

"Wait, you mean… they're not drinking blood? Won't they die?"

"Are you not listening? Did you get a bruise on you brain, too?" He tapped my head with his fist a few times and I pouted. He smirked. "I just said they're been going into town at night. It's a little different for us to just take your blood now that you're a vampire… or half vampire… or whatever you are."

"But…" I lowered my head, hiding my eyes as I let my hair fall into my face.

"What? Why are you embarrassed?"

"You said…" I could feel my face heating up a bit. "He went into town to get a drink?"

"Ouch…" Ayato frowned. "You're upset? Why?" He leaned closer to me when I didn't answer him, and brushed a lock of hair out of my face to look at me from below. He saw my face flush and I quickly turned away from him as I heard him laugh. "I get it. It's Shuu, right? You don't like the thought of him drinking from another girl."

I didn't respond. God, it was annoying to have him be able to feel his way around my inner thoughts. It sometimes felt like I had no privacy anymore. But on the other hand, it was nice to not have to say everything and risk it coming out the wrong way or being misinterpreted somehow.

"Don't worry, Pancake. He prefers you. We all do."

"That doesn't make me feel better," I mumbled, and then instantly regretted it. And I felt awful about this whole, vampire-mating thing again, too. Again, I just slept with Subaru and Ayato and I was having jealous thoughts about Shuu? What was wrong with me? Was I seriously thinking about jumping from one brother to another? I understood that I felt this way because I was no longer human… but so fast? I barely even talked to Subaru after last night. I didn't say a word to him about anything other than casual or necessary conversation. It felt more like a one-night stand to me… Although, I was positive that they all felt differently about it…

"I wish I could feel you the way you feel me? Can it ever be like that?"

"Hmm?" He lifted an eyebrow. "What do you mean? Like, you want to be a male?"

"I guess…"

"That would only get confusing. For large covens, the female is the one who matters most, so all her mates can feel her through the bond. But if you felt us, too… It would be overwhelming. Let's say you had a coven of thirty vampires. Then all their emotions would be flooding into you at all times, and then each of your mates would feel everything the other males were feeling, as well. It wouldn't make sense. We only need to feel you, not each other. Otherwise, when you're in trouble or in pain, it might become hard for us to pinpoint where you are or who we're feeling."

"… Oh…"

He sighed. "Hurry up and get clean. Mr. Attitude should be back soon with something for you to eat." He crouched up on his back legs and leaned over the side of the tub. "Here, let me help you. Try not to move so much. Subaru and I will do what we can for the bite marks when we're back in your room."

"Here," Subaru said, and I yelped. He was behind the tub and I never even heard him come back in. He was holding a juice box over my head and I tilted my head up to look at it. Ayato took it for me and held the straw to my lips. It was cranberry juice, for the loss of blood. Subaru bent down and leaned against the opposite side of the tub as Ayato, both of them watching me as I drank. They were awfully close…

"This shouldn't take long," Ayato said, handing the juice box to Subaru for him to hold and dunking a washcloth into the water. He lifted it up to run it over my shoulders. I winced, but he kept going. I drank small sips from the skinny straw every now and again as Ayato quickly cleaned my skin. I was surprised when he purposefully avoided both my chest and between my legs. And when he was finished, he handed me a clean washcloth and motioned for me to do those places by myself.

When I was finished, Subaru lifted me out of the tub and stood me up to dry me off before Ayato brought my robe over and he cradled me in his arms. I was back in my bedroom with them in less than thirty seconds. Well, it took me a moment, but I looked around and noticed my surroundings.

"This isn't my room…"

"You'll be staying in here from now on," Subaru said quickly, also pulling out a large tray of food and setting it at the end of the bed. "First of all, you need to eat something…" He lowered his head for a moment. "You're bed needs to be replaced. The mattress is torn in too many places and the frame is about to shatter. This room is also closer to mine, so you'll move in here for now."

"I told her we'd take care of the bites," Ayato said, pouting. "I wanted to leave my marks on you, Pancake. I want everyone to know that you're mine." He chuckled when I frowned at him and I turned just in time to see Subaru roll his eyes. I barely had any time to think about moving into a new room. It looked like Subaru had already moved most of my belongings into this new one, though.

"Just eat," Subaru commanded, crawling over me on the bed. He untied the front of the robe and flung it open, making me flush all over again. He eyed me up and down a few times before bringing his lips to my throat. I jumped when I felt his tongue run over what must have been a bite mark. And then he did it again. And again.

"What are you…?"

"Our saliva helps. I told you that," Ayato mentioned offhandedly. He grabbed some fruit off the tray of food and brought it to my mouth with a toothpick. I opened my mouth and took a small bite. "You like it when I feed you?" he asked playfully, and I felt my body get hot.

"Tch."

Subaru backed up for a moment and covered his mouth with one hand. He looked away from me.

"What's wrong?"

Ayato gently grabbed my chin and turned my head to face him. "You're turned on again, Pancake. But you're in no position for us to take you again." I flushed even harder and he smirked. Subaru stood up and put his back to me. I frowned, and regretted even having thoughts, as sadness went through my mind. He immediately turned back to me and I had to look away. I didn't want him to feel that…

"S… Sorry," I muttered.

He didn't say anything, but he crawled back onto the bed and continued licking at my wounds. Ayato fed me another piece of fruit before setting down the toothpick and starting on the fang marks all over my legs. Those were definitely his doing. Subaru stayed above my stomach, for the most part. The one that hurt the most was the one Ayato had put on my side. The puncture wounds were deep and he'd drank harder than usual from them. I could feel them burning inside, and as soon as I thought about it, Ayato moved to work on that bite for a while.

It must have been only a half hour since I woke up, so I had at least and hour and a half before school, still. And instead of being embarrassed like I thought I'd be… I simply decided to relax and enjoy this treatment. Their mouths on my body certainly made me feel physically better, for whatever reason. And I had the funny feeling that I would be refreshed and ready for school with plenty of time to spare…