Disclaimer- I don't own Vampire Knight

Chapter 14

Selfish Desires

The remainder of the drive to the Gothic styled mansion that was surrounded by rose gardens and beautiful green willow trees was silent, Reina was lost in her own world as she stared out of the car window and the aura she was giving off told the others in the car, Hanabusa, Kain and Ruka to leave her be and not disturb her. As the cars pulled to a stop before the mansion, the door Reina was beside opened and a pale hand reached in to help her from the vehicle. She took the hand with a small sardonic snort as her pink lips twisted upwards ever so slightly.

"Thank you, Zero," she offered to the silver haired young man that helped her from the car. He was dressed in nice dark wash jeans and a beige button up shirt that was left open over a sky blue shirt.

His only response to her was a muffled grunt as Hanabusa stepped out of the car, a stubborn look on his face and Reina's coat in his arms.

"What are you doing here?" Hanabusa snottily asked Zero as he stepped up to Reina to offer her coat. Instead, he wound up squeaking in fear and jumping back in surprise when both Zero and Reina gave him looks that clearly said they weren't in the mood for his attitude.

"I'll show you to your room," Zero grumbled to Reina, shoving his hands in his pockets and stalking away from her.

Reina followed after Zero, not caring about the looks she was getting from the other vampires or Kaname.

"R-Reina glared at me," Hanabusa pouted.

Kain clapped his cousin on the shoulder in an attempt to console the discouraged, spoiled noble. "It's your own fault, you don't know when to keep quiet," he pointed out, making Hanabusa sink even further into his own world of despair, which disappeared quickly when Shiki and Rima walked up to them, both chewing on sticks of chocolate pocky.

"Where'd you get that?" He asked curiously.

Shiki shrugged and Rima was left to answer the question. "It was in your coat pocket, it fell out when we were leaving the restaurant."

"You stole my pocky," he shouted angrily.

"We didn't steal it. You lost it," Rima replied.

"Well give it back," he demanded stubbornly.

Rima shrugged, reaching into Shiki's coat pocket and pulling out a long red pocky box and handing it the blond.

"Thank you," Hanabusa said stiffly, stomping off towards the mansion.

"How long do you think it'll take him to realize it's empty?" Shiki asked boredly before yawning lazily.

"Hey, it's empty!" Came a disgruntled shout from inside the mansion.

"I'd say he figured it out," the pig tailed red head answered, looping her arm with Shiki's so they could lean on each other as they made their own way inside.

Kain shook his head with a sigh, noticing that Ruka was giving him a strange in the process he looked down at her and asked, "What?"

"Nothing, but he's your cousin."

"Don't remind me," Kain mumbled.

"So what did he do this time?" Zero asked as he sat in an old fashioned bright red upholstered chair in the room he had led Reina to.

Reina took a moment to settle herself onto a fairly small brown leather couch with wood accents on the feet and arms before answering the question. "I don't know what you're talking about," she replied casually, smiling as she leaned back and folded her arms over her chest.

Zero tweaked a brow at her, the rest of his face remaining as blank as usual. "Really, so there was no reason why Kuran was in the other car even though his stench is all over you?"

Her eyes instantly narrowed at the lavender eyed vampire across from her, her aura becoming mixed with anger. "If I reek so badly, then perhaps you should leave," she growled.

"No."

"Then what do you want?"

Silence fell over the room for a moment, the only sound was of the wind sighing through the old windowsill.

"Did he hurt you?" Zero asked and though he asked calmly, his hands had fisted in his lap and his voice was on the verge of cracking with anger.

"No," Reina answered after taking a brief second to study Zero. "He merely got too close for comfort, he's learned his lesson though."

"Good."

"The talks with the Association, are they really willing to begin a reform?" Reina inquired.

Zero nodded, leaning his cheek onto his closed fist. "Yeah. Cross will be acting as the head of the Association for now, but all decisions must first be finalized and approved by other members of the Association."

"And what's your roll in all of this?"

He looked her squarely in the eye as he replied monotonously, "To watch over everything and everyone involved and take whatever actions need to be taken to protect both sides."

"Interesting," Reina mused. "Is that all?"

"No. I'm to begin preparations for becoming the next Association president and so I need to have thorough knowledge of the arrangement that will be made between the two races."

"This just keeps getting more and more interesting. A vampire as the head of the society that kills vampires, how... ironic."

"I'm the strongest Hunter, regardless of the fact that I'm not human," Zero replied.

"So you plan on remaining a Hunter?" Reina asked.

"That's what I am."

"No, it's how you were raised and it's what your family has called themselves for generations. You are no longer just a simple, human Hunter. You're a former human that has been turned into a vampire and who has the blood of several different purebloods flowing through your veins so that you won't go insane as most former humans would. Then again, the Hunters aren't fully human either, long ago they ate a vampire to inherit some of their power and all Hunter families still have some of that blood lingering in their own."

"I won't turn away from my family. I am a Hunter before I'm a vampire," Zero stated with an almost icy edge to his voice.

Reina smiled brightly, lightening the dark atmosphere that had settled over them. "Well, at least you're determined."

Sighing and rolling his eyes at the sudden change in her attitude, Zero decided to let her be her annoying self and change the topic. "So if all Kuran did was get too close, why are you so upset still? Why do you always look so surprised when I pick up on how you're feeling, I'm a vampire and we have a bond after all."

"True, I guess I shouldn't be surprised," she said, letting her eyes move from Zero to stare at her hands in her lap. The smile had fallen from her face and she was exuding confusion and hurt in waves. "I fell asleep on the way here and I had a dream. It was such a nice dream at first. I was with Takuma and it was like things had never changed and he had never...never.. He said he would kill Emiko and me. It was so real, I was so happy until he uttered those words and I woke up. I know it was just a dream, but that's the second one I've had in which the Takuma I knew and love morphed into some twisted version of himself. It's frightening and it hurts so much to see him in such a horrifying way when he's not like that, he's kind and loving and-"

"And he would never hurt you or Emiko," Zero cut in.

Reina's eyes widened, letting the tears that had filled them spill from the sapphire pools that looked up at Zero with surprise.

"That person would never hurt you, he would have killed himself before even thinking of harming you. It was just a dream," Zero said.

She smiled halfheartedly, remembering that the young man in front of her was capable of being supportive and caring in his own way. "It was just a dream," she repeated.

"It's been a whole week, Kaname," Reina said harshly as she entered his room without so much as a knock, slamming the door behind her. "One week and not a single thing has been decided, I have a daughter I'd like to return to. This was only supposed to take a few days."

"I'm sorry to be inconveniencing you so much, but if we want peace between our two worlds then we have to be patient," Kaname replied, striding out of his own personal bathroom in nothing but a pair of black slacks that sat precariously low on his slim hips.

Determined to be angry with him or not, Reina couldn't help but admire the beauty of the handsome man before her and when she realized the strange look he was giving her, she clenched her jaw and tore her eyes away from him. "I want to go home," she said stiffly.

"Soon."

"That isn't good enough," she snapped. "I am not needed here, but I am needed at home. I'm leaving tomorrow morning, I'll make all the arrangements myself."

"That won't be necessary," Kaname replied before she had the chance to stalk from the room. "No one is to leave until the terms have been set, this place is secret as is the contents of the meeting. I'm afraid that you can't leave until this is finished."

"And if I do?"

"Then it's likely that I will ruin every chance we have at peace to make sure that no Hunter lays a single finger on you." His tone was ripe with the depth of just how serious he was and it made Reina pause by the door. "I'm sorry, Reina."

She shook her head and took a deep breath, saddened by the fact she wouldn't be returning home as soon as she had wanted. "You're always sorry, Kaname" she said softly as she opened his door and left his room.

Reina shivered as another chill wind blew the hair of her ponytail around her face and tickled her neck. Not wanting to be under the same roof as Kaname, she had taken to wandering around the immaculate gardens of the grounds. She had settled herself on a marble bench that looked over a small patch of well kept red roses and a bubbling three tiered fountain, she was watching the plants sway in the wind and listening to the serene sound of the fountain and ignoring everything else.

She glanced up when she felt Zero approaching her, he was dressed for the weather in brown leather boots, jeans and a long brown trench coat that Reina was quite positive was the same one that was usually worn with the Cross Academy uniform during the winter. His light hair was being tossed around in the wind, but he seemed unaffected by it as he approached her.

"You're going to freeze if you sit out here much longer," he told her as he took a seat beside her.

"I think I'll live," she replied blandly.

"Then why are you shivering?"

"Was there something you wanted, Zero?" She asked with little emotion as she turned her sapphire eyes to meet his.

"You fought again, with Kuran," he said.

She sighed, but nodded.

"You don't like being mad at him, do you? You can't stand having to force yourself to hate him, so why do you do it?"

"I'm not forcing myself."

One of his eyebrows rose challengingly.

"I'm not," she repeated heatedly. "And what does it matter to you? You loathe that bastard more than I do."

"True, but that's only because you don't hate him. You've never been able to, you've said so yourself."

"Is there a reason for your sudden interest in how I treat Kaname?" Reina inquired coldly, shivering as another gust of wind blew through the garden. Unlike Zero, she wasn't dressed for the weather, she was in beige slacks and a blue turtleneck, but she had no coat.

Standing up, Zero undid the buttons of his coat, shrugging out of it and tossing it over Reina's shoulders, ignoring her attempt at an icy glare as he did so. "If you care about him then why not stop acting so harsh towards him?"

"Because I don't want to. I may not hate him, but I have no intention of relenting. He's brought this upon himself, it's time he saw that there are consequences to his actions and that I'm not the same forgiving little girl he thinks I am. I won't let him have his way this time, I won't forgive him for leaving me alone again." She slid her arms into the sleeves of the coat, grateful for the extra warmth it provided as yet another icy wind blew through the grounds.

"Then stop looking so regretful every time the two of you fight," Zero pointed out.

"So I do look regretful, hm? I think it's because Takuma would be stuck in the middle of our feud if he were here and I hated doing that to him, we caused so much trouble for him. He's the only reason I kept forgiving Kaname before, but now he's gone and though I feel badly knowing that Takuma would want Kaname and I to fix things between us, I just don't want to this time. It makes me feel a little guilty," she admitted letting a small forlorn chuckle escape her.

"Come on," Zero said, standing up from the bench and holding his hand out to her.

"I'd like to stay out-"

"It's freezing out here and pureblood or not, you keep shivering," he pointed out, he sounded almost as if he were scolding her. "It's also going to snow soon and the storms here can be quite bad, it would be safer inside."

When Reina made no attempt to take his outstretched hand, he sighed and rolled his eyes. "You brought this on yourself." Without another word, he leaned down and hoisted her onto his shoulder.

"Zero," she squeaked in surprise as she was slung onto his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "What are you doing, put me down!"

"Shut up, you're loud," he grumbled, turning around and heading through the maze of rose gardens and towards the mansion.

"Dammit, Zero, put me down this instant," Reina demanded, drumming her fists against his back only to be ignored.

"You can hit me all you want, but I'm not putting you down. Besides, it's not like it hurts."

"Why you," she growled.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're cute when you're angry," Zero asked casually, ignoring the fact that Reina was still pounding on his back and growling.

"As a matter of fact yes," she snapped. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"It's entertaining, not scary," he shrugged, making Reina squeal when she thought that she was going to fall.

Huffing stubbornly, Reina settled for stopping her struggles, it wasn't going to get her anywhere and she knew it. "Are you going to put me down?" She asked grumpily after a few moments of silence.

"Nope."

"Fine." She grunted, it was proving to be rather difficult to be upset with Zero when she could only see his back and the path that they had come from. With a final huff, she resolved to stay silent and sulk for the rest of the ride, until something dawned on her and she cocked her head to the side thoughtfully. "Did you say the word cute?" She asked curiously.

"You're slow, aren't you?" He mumbled.

She started giggling uncontrollably. "It's just that..you're the fearsome Zero Kiryu.. and you said the word cute."

"Shut up," he grumbled.

She ignored him and continued to giggle until she was rather suddenly dropped onto the ground, landing unceremoniously on her butt. "Ow," she winced, looking up at Zero and trying to pout until she saw the annoyed look on his face and started snickering again.

"If you're just going to keep laughing, I'm going to leave you alone here."

"I was alone in the first place," she pointed out.

"You're right, but you didn't have a coat then, so give that back then I'll leave."

"You're being mean."

"On second thought, I'll get the coat later, you're annoying," Zero said before turning on his heel and walking away.

Leaping from the ground, Reina sped after Zero, happily jumping onto his back and grinning at the annoyed glare she got as she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.

"Do I look like a horse to you?"

"Nope, but since there aren't any horses available, I suppose you'll have to do," Reina replied.

"Would you get off me?"

"Ask nicely."

He grunted.

"Fine," she sighed, stepping off of his back. "But now you have to race me, if I win you get to cook me dinner, I'm hungry." With a wink, she took off towards the house. "Oh, and you get to cook for Hana too, whatever he wants."

Growling, Zero charged after her, he had no intention of catering to the spoiled noble vampire's every whim, he'd seen how much the blond was capable of eating in one sitting when he had decided to run away from the Moon dorms for a day while Reina and the others had been in a meeting with the Council discussing the death of Shizuka Hio.

"You cheated," Zero accused as he ran up to the door of the mansion where Reina was already standing, waiting for him and looking as if she hadn't just sprinted through the maze of the gardens.

"Maybe a little," she replied proudly. "So about that dinner- Hey! Zero!" She called after the silver haired boy who had opened the door and was stalking into the house, ignoring her. "You brought this on yourself then."

Zero grunted when Reina jumped onto his back again and being that he had no desire to talk to her, he gave her an unwilling piggy back ride through the halls.

"Where are we going?" Reina asked.

"Hn."

"That's not an answer. So I'll ask again. Where are we going?"

"Why are you so annoying?"

"Because it's fun. So where are we-"

"You're hungry, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"We're going to the kitchen."

"Really? You're going to cook, for me?"

"That was the deal, wasn't it?"

"Well the deal was you'd make whatever Hana wanted for the both of us," Reina replied.

She was again graced with the infamous Zero grunt and no verbal response.

"What are you doing to Reina-sama?!"

Reina winced as Hanabusa shouted at Zero as he came out of one of the doorways further up the hall.

"Quiet down, Hana," Reina scolded lightly as the blond ran towards them and glared at Zero. "He didn't have much choice in the matter. I decided I didn't feel like walking and so I volunteered Zero to be my legs. I also volunteered him to make me dinner, so if you'll excuse us we'll be on our way."

Hanabusa looked less than pleased with Reina's plans and sulked grumpily as Zero walked past him.

"I thought I was cooking whatever he wanted?" Zero asked.

"No, I just figured that you wouldn't take me seriously unless I threatened you somehow," she replied, leaning her chin on to his shoulder and smiling lopsidedly at the look Zero gave her. "Besides," she sighed. "As much as I love Hana, I need some time away from everyone. I've been surrounded for so long that I forgot how nice it is to just be alone. In this case I'm not alone, but unlike the others, you don't make me feel so...watched."

"If it bothers you that much, ask them to leave."

She heaved another sigh. "I would, but Emiko has grown so attached to them, especially Hana and oddly enough, Shiki. Though it seems contradictory, I don't mind the company, I just wish I didn't always feel as if they were there just to protect me and nothing else."

"We're here," Zero said after a moment and coming to a halt.

Reina hummed and looked up at the spotless kitchen and its modern stainless steel appliances.

"I can't cook with you on my back, you know," he said pointedly.

"Oh, right." Removing herself from Zero's back so that he could move freely about the kitchen.

"So what do you want?"

"I don't know to be honest, are you hungry?"

He shrugged.

"Well, do you have something you really want or are good at making? I'm not picky," Reina said taking a seat on one of several stools that were sitting around a tall table off to the side.

While Zero gathered a variety of ingredients and put two pots on the stove, Reina watched him curiously her chin in the palm of her hand.

"Let me guess, you've never cooked anything before, have you?" Zero asked as he glanced at her over his shoulder.

She shook her head. "Spoiled pureblood, remember?"

"I never forgot," he snorted. "Anyway, come here, you can help."

"What?" She asked squeakily, blinking at him and lifting her chin from her hand.

"If I have to cook for you, you can at least help."

"Can't I just offer to do the dishes and have someone else do them?"

"No, now come here," Zero repeated.

Slipping off the stool, she made her way towards Zero who was now setting out two cutting boards and moving the vegetables around.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked.

"Help cut up the vegetables."

When she only stared at him and didn't make any attempt at moving, he rolled his eyes and stepped up beside her. He grabbed a knife and a few carrots, setting the carrots on the cutting board, he began chopping them up into even sized slices. Reina watched and when he turned to her and held the knife out to her, she was fairly certain that the task she had been given was easy enough.

She was wrong.

Apparently there was a correct way to hold the knife and the vegetables you were cutting. She didn't know either and when she succeeded in slicing rather large and odd shaped pieces of carrots before stopping to look at them oddly because she had no idea how Zero had made it look so easy, she was surprised when he sighed and went to stand behind her. One of his hands adjusted her hold on the knife and the other reached around her to show her how to hold the vegetables.

"Like this," he told her before lifting her hand and rocking the knife in a single place while pushing the carrots forward and keeping her knuckles and fingers out of the way of the sharp blade.

Reina swallowed at the closeness of Zero's body. He was firmly pressed against her back and she could smell the scent of his skin and hear his heart beat, but the most distracting thing was the way his heart beat had sped up just a little in response to being so near to her. It was this distraction that caused her to slice the tip of her finger after pushing the chopped carrots off to the side to be used later. With a small wince, she dropped the knife onto the cutting board and raised her finger to her lips, she had drawn blood and wanted to get rid of the scent as quickly as possible so that no one would come running thinking something had happened to her.

"Are you alright?" Zero asked her, stepping away from her so that she could turn around and taking her hand.

"You've changed. You used to not be able to control yourself around blood, but you're not even tense."

"I've been able to take the tablets ever since," he paused, his aura becoming lost in a sea of anger and hatred. "Here," he grunted, pulling her towards the sink.

"You may have learned to control the urges, but that doesn't change the fact that you want it, does it?" Reina asked before Zero had the chance to turn the water on and rinse the blood from her hand.

He glanced back at her, but only to scowl at her and not speak.

"If you want it, then take it," she said, holding her hand up to him as blood dripped down her finger and palm. "It'll go to waste otherwise."

At first, he made no attempt to move, but after staring at her for several long seconds, he carefully grasped her thin wrist and small hand before dragging his tongue over her palm and finger to gather up the blood that had leaked from the cut she had inflicted upon herself. Reina swallowed as his lips closed over the small wound and he sucked on her finger, his eyes closing as the small amount of her blood he had consumed hit his tongue.

Being that she was a pureblood the cut had already begun to heal and when Zero removed the digit from his mouth there was no hint that it had ever been there in the first place. He kept her hand in his grasp though, pushing the sleeve of her shirt up with one hand while the other lightly held her wrist. She knew what he was intending to do and it made her heart flutter in her chest and her breathing pick up pace ever so slightly.

"Wait," she said as Zero neared her exposed wrist with every intention of biting her. When he looked up at her, she swallowed. In many ways she felt guilty for what she was doing, she was giving her blood to a man that wasn't Takuma, but then she remembered he had never taken her blood nor would he ever take it in the future. She was no longer engaged, promised to one man for the rest of her long life and she saw no harm in giving some of her blood to a man who had willingly protected her and had even given up his own blood for her in the past. "Not here," she said, grabbing onto one of the hands that grasped her arm, she led Zero away from the sink and into the first door that she came across. It just so happened that they wound up in the mansion's large walk in refrigerator, she thought about leading him elsewhere, but she figured there was no point. The refrigerator was ideal, though it was cold and their breaths were coming out as little puffs of white fog, it was sealed very well and it was highly unlikely that anyone would be able to smell her blood from outside of the extremely well insulated space.

"You're not going to regret this, are you?" Zero questioned as they stepped into the cooler and the door shut them inside. She was standing with her back to him, her hand still loosely holding his. He stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, she tensed slightly, but quickly relaxed and shook her head.

"No, I won't regret this."

Keeping one hand on her waist, Zero used his other to pull the fabric of her turtleneck out of the way.

"Here," Reina said, slipping from his grasp and before he could even say anything, she was pulling the blue shirt over her head. She had on a thin white satin and lace camisole and the straps of her blue and white lace bra were visible on her pale shoulders. She dropped the turtleneck on to a box of apples and stepped towards Zero. "Is that better?" She asked, flicking some stray strands of her ponytail over her shoulder and tilting her head so that her neck was easily accessible.

There was no point in even trying to talk, he wouldn't have been able to form words anyway at that point. So he let his body take over, all the while struggling to keep himself in line as he stepped towards her, his arms wrapping around her slim body and crushing her to his chest. One of his hands managed to find it's way to the back of her neck where he supported her head as he dipped down, his nose brushing against her chilled skin before his tongue ran over her neck, his fangs beginning to elongate as the beast inside of him demanded her blood.

He barely managed to contain a groan as his teeth sunk into her neck and her hands grasped onto him as the initial pain of being bitten washed over her. The delicate sweet and slightly fruity taste of her blood was more addictive than any drug, one taste and there was no way you would ever want to quit drinking it.

"Ah, Zero," Reina whispered, her tiny hands grasping onto his shirt as she grimaced. His hands had tightened their hold on her and he was beginning to take too much, she could feel her knees growing weak and her vision starting to swim.

Hearing his name from her lips did not make him want to stop, but he had heard the pleading and note of pain in her voice and retracted his fangs from her neck. He kept her in his hold though, breathing heavily as he rested his forehead on her shoulder.

"Zero?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you," he said, lifting his head from her shoulder and wiping the little blood he had spilled from his chin. "You should put your shirt back on."

"Right," she replied, reaching for the discarded clothing and pulling it back on. As she pulled it over her head she saw that Zero had turned away from her and was about to leave. "Wait," she called, lunging forward to grab onto his arm.

"What?" He asked dully, not even bothering to look at her.

"I-I'm sorry, I-"

"Don't worry about it," he tried to shake her off, but her grip only tightened.

"Stop," she half-shouted as he tried to walk away from her again. "It wasn't you that hurt me, I hurt you, again. I'm sorry. I didn't think about your feelings for me when I offered you my blood, or maybe I did and just didn't care. I-"

"I said don't worry about it and I've told you before that if all you wanted from me was for me to protect you, then that's all I would do."

"You did say that, but that's not all you want from me. I-"

"You said yourself that we're from two very different worlds and that it was time I started to learn that regardless of your feelings or mine, that would never change. You are a pureblood and I'm just a low level vampire that was once human, even if you had interest in me, I'm not worthy of you."

She grasped his arm tighter, her head falling onto his back as she recalled the conversation she had had with Ken several months prior when Zero was staying at her manor. He had heard her words to the other pureblood. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, I just need to learn my place," he jerked his arm from her grasp and opened the large metal door. "I'm sorry for forgetting it," he said over his shoulder, glancing at her and noticing the tears in her eyes. "Why are you crying, it's the truth, isn't it? The words were from your mouth, weren't they?"

She lowered her head and blinked her eyes to let her tears drop to the floor. "Yes, but-"

"You don't need to explain, I under-"

"No, you don't understand," Reina cut in. "I said those words and I'm sorry they hurt you, that wasn't my intention." Her chin dropped into her chest. "It's just... I miss him, I miss Takuma and I had every intention of pushing everyone away so that I would never have to feel that sort of loss again. I was trying to act my part as the indifferent pureblood so that no one would want to get close to me or attach themselves to me. I'd rather be alone than have to feel that pain ever again. You have lost everything that was precious to you, you should understand."

"You're right, I do understand, but I'm not as selfish as you," he answered.

She gasped, her eyes widening at his statement.

"You said your intention wasn't to hurt me, but at the time you didn't care if you hurt me or anyone else. I can understand that, you're right, but that doesn't change the fact that what you said was true. I'm just an abomination and you're a pureblood who is highly respected and revered. I can deal with that, you deserve someone better than me anyways, I just don't like being used for your entertainment."

"I haven't-"

"You have. Earlier in the garden, jumping onto my back and then racing me. That was for your-"

"No," she interrupted loudly. "That wasn't for my entertainment. I was enjoying myself because you were giving me an opportunity to be playful and silly and I've been so caught up being an adult that I haven't been able to just... let go of everything else and just have fun. I wasn't using you," she concluded she in a low whisper.

Zero took a moment to look over her and he heaved a sigh, running his hand through his long hair as he collected his thoughts. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you upset. I guess it was me being selfish, part of me wanted you to feel bad for rejecting me and another part just couldn't stand to be near you, it was becoming a little overwhelming."

"Overwhelming?" She asked, not understanding his meaning until he gave her an odd look and tweaked his brow at her. "Oh," she gasped, realization dawning on her. He had wanted more than her blood, he had wanted her body, it made sense, the drinking of someone's blood was meant to be a very sensual and romantic act, it was natural that a vampire would became aroused if he deeply cared for the person he was drinking from. She felt her cheeks burn at the realization.

"You know for as smart as vampires are supposed to be with their superior learning skills, you have a tendency to be very slow."

"I'm not slow," she protested sulkily.

"Come on, you can at least finish helping me chop the vegetables before you start sulking."

"Fine," she huffed, stepping out of the cooler and trying to seem indignant, but failing when her head swam and she wobbled on her feet.

Zero caught her easily, his hands first steadying her before sweeping her off of her feet and into his arms.

"Sorry, I'm fine, just-"

"You're not fine," he countered, walking back towards the kitchen. "You shouldn't have offered your blood when you've been starving yourself, you knew I wouldn't turn it down."

"So this is all my fault? Gee, thanks for the guilt trip," Reina mumbled sarcastically.

"That's not-"

Looking up at Zero's face to see why he had stopped talking and walking so suddenly, Reina's eyes widened and her head snapped towards the door that led into the kitchen. The two of them had been so caught up in their bickering that they had failed to realize that Kaname was now in the kitchen, leaning against the white wall near the door. How she had overlooked his presence, she didn't know because he was releasing such an ominous feeling despite the calm and cool way he was looking at them. The air almost seemed suffocating and Reina could almost see the blackness of his well hidden anger rolling off his skin.

"Didn't I warn you of what would happen if you touched her again..."