Hey people! Sorry for the late update. It really worried me when I only got 5 reviews for the last chapter; the least out of all chapters. Thinking there must be something wrong with my writing I decided to spend more time on this chapter. In truth, I was a little scared to add another chapter... Anyways, hope you enjoy this one instead x

Illicit Thoughts

Flowers; the key to courtship. Roses; a symbolism of love and beauty. A thick wave of perfume filled Rukia's room as she eyed over all the flowers dotted around her. The entire room was bombarded with a wide range of colours. The flowers were everywhere in vases, in bouquets and arranged in bunches. Even the most cold hearted woman would be affected in some way by the overwhelming sight. Rukia was absolutely shocked. Her hand shook from the surprise desperately trying to read the note in it.

My dearest, Rukia,

Rose are red, violets are blue.

All I think of is you.

Your kindess; your beauty shines brighter than our moon.

Soon our love will bloom.

Eternally yours,

Byakuya.

He was unsure as to what colour she preferred so he practically went with all of them. A key to the colours was also explained on the back of the note.

Red = the burning passion and desire you stir within me

White = the purity of my devotion to you

Pink = great happiness you bring me and I wish to give you

Lavender = the enchanting beauty you hold

Yellow = your friendship is such a joy to me over the many years

Her eyes led to the red petals scattered all over her silk bed sheets. Desire and passion. On her bed. She shivered slightly. A warm fuzzy wave soared through her body. Heat crept over her face as she re-lived their kiss. In fact, she thought about it every day. It caused her so many sleepless nights.

Why did he kiss me? No, why did I kiss him?

Her heart began to race again at the thought of those soft lips and his tongue dancing with hers. For those few seconds she had lost all her senses for the taste of his blood. The blood of a Kuchiki was the purest of all purebloods. They were the first ever vampires created. Nobody could resist such taste. Nobody. It was also the key to divine power. Only after a few drops of Byakuya's blood, Rukia could already feel her powers multiplying.

Why did I...? Does that mean I...fancy him?

She even surprised herself for kissing him back. It didn't feel weird despite him being her best friend. Of course, she had fallen for him many years ago. He had a perfect complexion, chiselled body, deep somewhat seductive voice, tall and strong frame and silky smooth long black hair. To put it simply, he was really good looking. His cool, sometimes arrogant attitude added to his appeal. Even Rukia couldn't deny it. Byakuya was hot. But she fell for him mainly because how close they grew. He treated her in a special way compared to all the other female vampires. It made her feel so warm inside. But she convinced herself he only saw her as a sister. She presumed he would never return her feelings so just remained silent locking all those feelings deep down. She feared it would ruin their friendship. Now, all those feelings were itching to awaken once again.

Why would he like me of all people anyway?

She looked over to her mirror on her vanity top. Sure, she had dazzling eyes, perfect youthful complexion, thick glossy shoulder length black hair flicking out at the ends, and a slim figure with silky smooth skin. But, like most women, she saw many flaws in herself and magnified them. She greatly wished to be a few more inches taller. Her body could do with more curves. The sight of her own reflection caused her to frown.

On many occasions, she told herself she was not worthy of Byakuya. She always thought that he deserved a drop dead gorgeous vampire for a wife to match his good looks; his status. She would be of strong pureblood with incredible powers possibly even another Kuchiki. It was common for purebloods to intermarry to keep the bloodline strong. Rukia sighed.

I'm none of those...

Although she was a head-strong girl, every girl had their doubts on their own appearance. A little insecurity slept in every female. Rukia, like most women, failed to see how beautiful she really was.

Her eyes tore away from mirror and caught the sight of the picture frame next to it. It was a photo of her, Hisana and Ulquiorra. They were still little children posing around a park. The three were close with each other. It was a sad day for both of them when they lost Hisana. You could say Ulqiorra suffered more than Rukia. From that day onwards, Ulquiorra promised to always be there for her. He couldn't bear losing someone close to him again. It was only natural that they grew even closer. He placed her at top priority. Each night, he would check if she was alright. Then, he would give her a quick kiss on her forehead before leaving her room. It was as if he became her guardian angel. He loved her. She knew it. It was obvious. It was obvious to everyone. She closed her eyes and sighed again. Things just got complicated.

What do I do? What do I want?

BE-BEEP. BE-BEEP

A text message was sent to her phone. Rukia sighed again after reading it.

Things just got even more complicated...

Byakuya stretched out on his dark blue silk bed sheets. His arms were folded behind his head. It was near midday and all vampires slept during the day. However, he was still wide awake. Little over 20 hours had passed since the flowers were delivered to Rukia's room. Yet there was no response from her. He waited patiently for her to find him in his room. But as hours after hours passed by he was disappointed each time. Rukia filled his entire thoughts. He just couldn't rest' couldn't sleep. Every part of him wanted to find her but he didn't want to place more pressure on her. He wasn't going to demand an answer from her. A young love is fragile. Thinking back, he thought he may have rushed things a little by kissing her so suddenly. It was totally unlike his character. He usually stayed calm at everything. But the thought of her being with another man, losing her to someone else made him lose control of himself. He just had to let her know how he felt. He remembered the look on her face afterwards.

Was she upset with me? Was she angry?

He promised himself to take things slower so he didn't approach her. He waited for her to find him but she never did so he sent her flowers to coax a reaction. His heart ached to know how she felt; how she felt for him.

What was her reaction when she saw the roses? What did she think? What is she doing now?

His mind wondered around trying hard to picture Rukia. A little chuckle escaped him at the thought of her on the bed of roses he arranged. An ocean of red petals clothed her naked creamy skin. The sweet perfume wrapped around her delicious body. His mouth watered. Her hands pushed away the flowers as she cupped her own breasts and gently stroking them; squeezed them. One of her hands travelled southwards. Byakuya licked his lips as he imagined her pushing her finger in and out of her womanhood.

Rukia...

His body was tensing up as his thoughts of her became more passionate. The fire within him burned higher so he opened his evening kimono and tugged at his underwear. His mind only focussed on Rukia as he began to pleasure himself. Every day, he would do this. He knew he shouldn't but the thoughts of her got so much he just couldn't stop himself from these acts. Awarding himself a little harmless fantasy didn't hurt anyone. He imagined it was Rukia's hand stroking along his length. Her softl hand continued to jerk at him as he moaned.

'Uh..' Byakuya whimpered.

A moment later she removed her hand from his member only to replace it with a little lick at the tip. The thoughts of Rukia's hot tongue sliding up and down his length ever so slowly made him moan and pulled at his throbbing hardness more urgently.

His sensations soared higher through his dirty fantasy. Rukia's silky wet tongue began to lick faster at his member like she was eating a lollipop.

Eat me, oh...

His mind nearly exploded when she suddenly took him entirely in her mouth. His toes curled up while his hand pumped himself faster and faster imagining Rukia's head was bobbing up and down faster and faster sucking on his member.

'Ah,' he groaned as he climaxed.

He panted heavily as he rode out his orgasm. He was completely spent. Each day his fantasies of Rukia got more and more passionate. It first started off just picturing her naked. Then he would imagine her pleasuring herself. Now that wasn't enough he involved himself in the naughty thoughts. It was mirroring his growing lust. He wanted her. He wanted her body. He wanted his and her body to mould into one. Soon, his fantasies would not be enough to feed his hunger.

Rukia, I want you so bad...

BE-BEEP. BE-BEEP

Rukia's phone continued to go off. For the past few days she had resisted in seeing Ichigo. Although she was happy that her teacher could live on in Ichigo's image in a sense, that was enough. She didn't have to see him. It was comforting enough to know that he was well. But a deep sadness enveloped her whenever she remembered he was her enemy. She prayed that they would never have to cross paths.

As long as I stay away from that everything would be fine...right?

BRING-BRING. BRING-BRING.

Ichigo noticed her absence. She spent every day with him but she had not showed up for the fifth day. He called her; messaged her every day in order to find out more: -

1. Hey midget, where are you? Ishida's licking my butt here!

2. Hey, when are you coming? Sorry I called you a midget. You know I don't mean it, right? Well maybe I do lol. Are you going to help me train today? Even Master's asking for you.

3. Why aren't you returning my calls? Did I say sometime; do something to upset you? Let me know you're safe when you get this message, ok?

4. Oi, pick up the damn phone!

5. Rukia, has something happened? I'm really worried about you. Give me a call ASAP

Now he was calling her again. Rukia signed and decided to turn off her phone completely. His constant messages were starting to break her resolve. The sight of all the roses in her room was also distracting her from sleep. She thought maybe some fresh air around the gardens would do her good but as soon as she opened the door she found a tall figure already next to it.

'Rukia-sama.'

'Renji?'

She lifted her eyebrows in mild surprise. Mixed-bloods were not really supposed to be around the purebloods' bed chambers unless it was on specific orders or due to something important. She noted the little tense expression on his face.

'Renji, how many times have I told you not to use the honorific suffix with me?'

'Sorry, Rukia.' He hesitated.

'What's wrong, Renji? Is there something I can help you with?'

Rukia didn't pay too much heed to the different class of purebloods and mixed-bloods. To her, they were all vampires. Vampires should look out for one another. It was like different teams working for the same company. The main thing was to act in the best interests of the company. Everyone worked to protect the entire vampire empire. Plus, she and Renji grew up together. She was rather fond him. They often fought and argued like siblings when they were young. Then they grew apart when they were adults. He distanced himself from her because she was a pureblood. He knew his place. The distance between them was big.

'Eh, I was wondering if I could have a word.'

'Yeah, sure,' she remembered all the flowers inside. 'Let's go out for a bit.'

'No!' She looked up at his sudden gasp. 'I mean... Could we talk in your room where it's private?'

Something was up. She could tell. He sweated easily when he was nervous and he was rubbing the back of his head. He always did that when he was hiding something. For years he couldn't mask this weakness. This red-headed dobe was so easy to read.

'What's going on?'

'Nothing!' He knew he answered that too quickly for it to be convincing.

'Listen, pineapple head, I'll ask you one last time, WHAT'S GOING ON?' He recognised the violent nature within Rukia.

'Never mind!' He turned around desperately trying to runaway but Rukia hooked her finger under his collar forcing him to stay.

'Going somewhere?'

'Eh...'

Renji continued to sweat and had no time to react as she pushed him to the ground and sat on him. He howled as she pulled at both sides of his cheeks.

'Rukia, you idiot! Get off me! Oi, oi!' He screamed when she pulled his long spiky red ponytail.

'Renji, tell me NOW.'

She yanked his hair again. The pain was unbearable. He was paranoid he was starting to go bald and used tattoos to cover up the bald spots. Now Rukia was threatening to pull out more of his hair.

'Ulquiorra-sama asked...'

'Huh?' she gasped at the name accidently pulling at Renji's hair at the same time.

'What did you say?'

'Ow-ow-ow! Rukia, please stop!'

'Renji!' She applied more pressure on her grip.

'Ulquiorra-sama told me to prevent you from leaving the mansion.' She relaxed her hold making Renji breathe a sigh of relief.

'Why would he do that?'

'I don't know,' he said as he collapsed his face onto the floor.

'Renji...' she pulled at his ear this time.

'Okay-okay! He heard that Urahara Kisuke was training an apprentice...' Rukia gasped and let go of Renji.

Ichigo!

'Said he was going to take care of him. Whatever that meant.'

In a quick flash she stood up and started to run. She knew exactly what he meant. It meant he was going to kill him. She ran faster and ignored Renji shouting after her. As a mixed-blood, there was no way that he could outrun her.

Ichigo... Please let me make it in time...

Ichigo dialled the number but all he got was voicemail again. He was lying on his back in the training field. He spent hours there but he didn't manage to do any training since he spent most of his time worrying over Rukia. He huffed and tossed his phone somewhere in the grass. He barely knew this girl but couldn't seem to get rid of these thoughts of her. Maybe it was because she saved him. There was this indescribable connection with her.

'Rukia, where are you?' he asked while he stared at the sky.

He was so lost in his thoughts he only managed to spot a big ball of green light firing towards him at the very last minute. He swung his sword in front of him to stop the attack. His inner energy flared out of his body into what looked like a black fire. He was slowly getting pushed back and his heels started to sink into the soil.

'Cero?'

Ichigo recognised the power. He read about it in one of Kisuke's research journals. Cero was a power used only by vampires. It is a build up of concentrated inner power shaped like a ball. The stronger the person is the greater the power.

The cero's power was too great and cut through Ichigo's powers exploding into him shredding his t-shirt entirely and burning his chest. The powerful impact threw Ichigo onto the floor several feet away. He lied on his stomach struggling to see a blurry figure approaching him.

'Vampire...?'

He coughed sharply. The pain was smothering him; choking him. His sword was blown away from him in the explosion but he could barely lift a finger anyway. Dust flew around everywhere making it even harder to see. A talk figure in white robes walked calmly towards Ichigo. He took his time fully aware that Ichigo was in no fit state to move.

A pair of black shoes stopped near him. Ichigo craned his neck forcing his head to look up towards his attacker. Ulquiorra's black cropped hair blew gently in the wind. He kept a cold exterior but his deep green eyes were piercing Ichigo full with threat. Ichigo groaned in pain.

How can a vampire have so much power even in daylight?

Ulquiorra stared down at Ichigo. For Rukia, he ignored the rules. For Rukia, he risked being under the burning sun. He wasn't going to let this man endanger Rukia. He wasn't going to let this man come between him and Rukia. This man was weak and ugly. This man was nothing compared to him.

Impudent human

Ulquiorra began to gather energy to form another cero in his palm. He was right in front of Ichigo. Such a close range hit would cause great destruction but still he wanted to create a big cero. The anger within him spurred him on. He wanted this man to suffer great pain. He wanted to kill this man. He raised his cero ready to aim at Ichigo.

'This ends here, soul reaper.'

A sudden light flashed past. The green cero erupted and blew a mushroom cloud of dust and soil up into the air. Ulquiorra glided back away from the explosion but he knew instantly that something was off. He recognised the energy.

Rukia...

Just before the cero reached Ichigo, Rukia used shunpo to flash step them both out of the firing range. She picked Ichigo up swiftly and placed him onto the grass a few feet away from the explosion.

Thank goodness I made it just in time

Burns, cuts and bruises covered his chest. No doubt his muscles and lungs also suffered from the first cero. He had already passed out so Rukia decided to feed him some of her blood just enough for him to recover a little.

A familiar sweetness lingered on the tip of his tongue. He remembered the taste from before but he wasn't exactly sure when. Slowly, he managed to open his eyes. Images were slightly blurry but those kind eyes only belonged to one person.

'Rukia...' He pushed himself to sit up but winced in pain.

'Don't move, you idiot! You're badly injured!' He rested on his back again. The sheer excitement of seeing her again showed in his smile.

'I feel better already.'

The shuffling of some footsteps caught the attention of Rukia. She stood up waiting for Ulquiorra. What was she to do? She could never turn against Ulquiorra but could she just stand there and let Ichigo die? Her brain twisted in knots unsure of her resolve. Her heart grew nervous the closer he approached them.

'Rukia run! He's a vampire!' Ichigo shouted.

He sat up and began to panic. Although he could hardly move he didn't want any harm to come to her. He'd rather sacrifice himself so she could run to somewhere safe.

'Haven't you noticed? So is she,' Ulquiorra retorted.

'Huh?' Ichigo gasped.

'What did you say?' He turned towards Rukia then back to Ulquiorra. Complete shock painted over his face.

'Rukia is a pureblood vampire . Belonging to the third most powerful bloodline. A beast in human form that feeds on blood for energy.' Ichigo shivered at the thought.

'A monster that will kill a human without hesitation just for a meal; to quench a thirst,' Ulquiorra continued. Rukia knew he was saying those words deliberately to provoke Ichigo.

'lt-'

'Is it true?' Ichigo interrupted quietly.

He looked calm but he couldn't bear to look at her. He knew the answer already. It was her blood he could taste. That was the connection between him and her. Her blood allowed him to regenerate quickly. But deep down he wished it wasn't true. Rukia closed her eyes unable to mutter the words.

He'll hate me for this

'Tell me!' he shouted.

The silent treatment she gave him was pure agony. She jumped slightly at the sudden rage. Her eyes were wide with shock still remaining silent.

'Rukia, tell him who you are.' Was it an encouragement or an order from Ulquiorra? It was hard to tell. Most probably a bit of both.

'It... itoko-san...' she looked to the floor.

'What!' Ichigo gasped. 'He's... he's your...cousin?' Ulquiorra walked up to Rukia pulling her close to him shielding her away from Ichigo.

'She is my fiancée. Stay away from her...'

Ooh a cliffee! So the mystery relationship between Ulquiorra and Rukia is finally revealed! What do you think of it? What do you think of the chapter? Let me know.

I'll be spending extra time on training as I'm doing a charity run next Sunday but hopefully I'll find some time to write. Wish me luck!

All reviews welcomed. Ja x