AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm not so sure about this but whatever. It's short. Feedback's appreciated. :)

Vampire Knight © Hino Matsuri.

She left him snarled up in rumpled vanilla-scented sheets; breathless, flaxen hair tangled, eyes listless.

Blood trickled down his neck, creating little tracks down his chest. It hit the collar of his open shirt and spread like wildfire, red overtaking white. Lifting a hand, his fingertips brushed swollen lips. His swollen lips. He ran his tongue over them, hating himself for relishing in the lingering bitterness of chocolate.

His resolve had slipped.

Sunlight seeped in through the windowpane exposed by drawn curtains—her doing, of course. He felt it burning through his closed lids. He groaned softly.

"Time to get up, Takuma-kun."

An imperative part of her morning ritual: hurting him, teasing him, taunting him, anything to put him on edge.

"Though I appreciate you waking me up each and every morning, Sara-san, I'm quite certain there are gentler and less painful ways of doing it," said Takuma, shielding his face from the overwhelming brightness.

She released the curtain, allowing him to see her move towards his bed. "You'll get used to it," she said, lips twisting into a small smile.

His teeth clenched as slender fingers traced his jaw line. The very same fingers that had sunken deep into his chest, threatening to tear out his heart.

"Tell me, Takuma-kun..." A soft gasp escaped his lips when she nestled herself in his lap, pressing herself against him. She moved without hurry, acting around the Noble-class vampire like a patient lover, though she was far from patient. He felt her hot breath in his ear, "...Do you fear me?"

The slender fingers found their way into his shirt, brushing over the scar, making his skin tingle and prickle with heat. "Sara-san?" he breathed, gazing at her through half-lidded eyes, emerald orbs searching for her true intentions. She'd often insist that he drink her blood. He would refuse every time. He resisted the urge, as tiring as it was.

Sara giggled in his ear, sending shivers down his spine, raising hairs on the back of his neck. "You're much too tense, Takuma-kun," she whispered.

He was tired, weary of it all. There it was, that little voice in the back of his head, whispering to him: Why are you resisting?

"Sa—" He was cut off when lips captured his own, kissing him, teasing and taunting. His fingers curled tightly around bed sheets by his sides, and almost against his will his eyes fluttered shut, submitting to her.

Yes, why was he resisting again?

Sara let out a hum of satisfaction; he could feel her twisted smile against his mouth. A low moan erupted from his lips when she rocked her hips against his, her giggles filling his head once again. Letting her do as she pleased with him to this extent, he was most certainly giving up.

Takuma felt her wandering hands on his heated skin, and then her nails raking his shoulders, drawing blood. She stroked his cheek as he cried out in pain, as always, smiling maliciously. Emerald eyes focused on her beautiful face, so close to his own, gasping for breath.

"You poor child," she crooned, tilting her head to run her tongue along the bleeding lacerations, making her way to what she truly wanted. Takuma flinched when teeth and tongue grazed the clammy skin above his jugular vein. Squeezing his eyes shut, he waited for the fangs to sink into his neck.

He was just so tired.