Sano had once told her that only mates could stimulate a male Vampire the way a simple drop of blood could. Kaoru forced herself to remain perfectly still -curbing the instinct to hit him with a bokken- having no desire to end up naked and under him.
That thought caused her blood to heat but turn her stiff with terror.
Kaoru licked her lips, cringing when the Battousai watched hungrily. His eyes spoke of a want she did not wish to awaken.
Leaning forward he took one more careful pull at the soft skin of her wrist before shooting her one of those taunting, amused looks that spoke of a game she did not understand. Shaking slightly she watched his form leave in a silent, sure footed way that left no doubts in her mind that she was in trouble.
Stifling a sob she felt a deep trembling - a calling of sorts-start somewhere in her blood; it rushed through her system with the speed that left her shaken. Kaoru gripped the sides of the counter top, unconcerned with her bleeding hand. She felt lightheaded and wondered at what exactly it was that caused her knees to feel like jelly.
It was worse when it simply stopped.
Kaoru closed her eyes and decided a bath was needed and an early night. This was too much. Her brain needed time to process the overload of information and feelings.
Kaoru shuddered. If the simple glide of his tongue on her palm was going to leave her feeling vulnerable, then she was terrified of what he could do otherwise.
For some reason, she just could not get the lingering touch of his mouth pushed out of her mind. The red haired Vampire was wreaking havoc on her senses and it was driving her insane.
It should have felt like a violation, everything he did was an invasion of her life, her home. It also appeared if the look in his eyes was anything to go on, her body was the next thing he was intent on having. He may have only wanted her for lustful reasons, but it still terrified her. The raw emotion that he showed; the need to dominate. She just could not figure out what about her was dark enough to need to be possessed.
~*~
His tongue was still tingling from the rich taste of her blood. The secrets her blood had told him. It had whispered to him, the way his vampire instincts churned at her own Vampire blood and the wish to take her; to meld her power to his. To mate with something that was only half of his potential. Snarling he stalked away from her and her rich, addicting blood.
Kenshin paused as he entered his room, a dark look crossing his face. Kaoru was not completely human; his blood was reacting to that, because it would never react to something as filthy as simple human blood.
This charge that was in her blood was racing through his veins and it was not something a human could give, and that was something that tantalizing.
What secrets, exactly, was his little pet hiding?
But even the fact that she was a possibly half-blood did nothing to curb the aching desire in his loins or to dampen his instincts.
He needed to kill something.
~*~
He sat in the filth that was a home by human's standards and licked the fresh blood from his lips. The house across from the Dojo was now empty and ready for his occupation.
He could keep a better eye for opportunity here, where their Ki would be easy to read. Easier to hide his presence the closer he was to the Battousai.
Reaching down he carefully cleaned his favorite dagger with his tongue, enjoying the now cool blood that ran down his throat and rolled around his tongue.
He would enjoy tasting this creature that so captivated the Battousai, enjoy stealing what innocence she had long before the Battousai could; before her warm body died in his arms.
Revenge would be his.
He would be able to possess and delight in the terrified screams of both pain and passion from the delightful creature so carefully hidden by the Dojo walls.
The Battousai would pay for the mistake of letting him live. He had been Shishio's best spy for a reason, and even now, he bore the facial scars from the Battousai's blade. He would return those scars for a pain that would haunt the Battousai for an eternity.
The Battousai may not have known that the blue-eyed half-ling was his mate, but he did.
The Battousai would never taste her first blood -her child's innocence- would never know it was he who brought her into woman hood, never know what it was like to have her body pliant under his with the changing.
A sinister smile crept across his face as he broke out into a sweat at the thought of her silky skin under his tongue and her writhing form under him.
Her blood as it stained the floor and her life Ki slowly flickering out as her heart pushed precious blood into his wanting mouth.
Slithering he moved as close to the window as he dared, waiting for the time that the Battousai would be far enough away from his gift and he could steal the precious creature that would die by his hands.
Battousai would not be able to track them if only he had enough time.
He would be patient.
~*~
Kenshin walked down the path that had been beaten into submission by endless numbers of filthy human steps. Humans had little concern for that which was trod under foot.
Looking towards the sky, he hid a sigh of impatience for the man and boy behind him. He did wonder, absently, why he had not killed them yet. Both were annoying and young, and he really couldn't think of a reason important enough to keep the two fools alive.
Except for the faint charge he could feel when Megumi and Sano where in the same room. Except for the spark of gift he saw in Yahiko's eyes, a gift that could be used for his advantage. It was disgusting when that sense of honor his Master had beat into him decided to rise to the surface. Perhaps he would kill his victim slowly to work some of the frustrations out.
Damn that girl to hell and back.
He was supposed to be thinking about the delightful feel of someone dying under his blade, the soft glide of steel through tendons. Not some stupid half-breed.
Kenshin snarled to himself as he thought about the thick coat of her blood on the back of his throat. The direct charge she had given his already impressive Ki, the addicting flavor that had his gums aching for more.
Almost like a.
"You precious human girl are not completely human." Kenshin mused out loud, as he walked, his bangs covering his moonlit eyes and the amusement it showed. Baiting them, at least, was something he could take vindictive pleasure out of. If he did not find some out lit for the growing anger in his system, he would go on a killing rampage.
A delightful idea but one that would have to wait; perhaps tomorrow night, there would be no moon and give him the perfect opportunity to test the effects she had on his blood. This meant that he would have to take another...polite...taste.
"Liar!" Yahiko accused his voice hot with denial and anger. He had almost forgotten about the riff raff behind him in his delightful thoughts.
Kenshin, expecting such a direct accusation laughed low at the direct refusal of such a truth. "I have tasted her blood youngling." Kenshin warned, his tone a low threat, husky with the underlying need for more of her thick, darkly desired blood. "And if you wish to live I would not question my words again, I am not simpleton a like your friend." He allowed a touch of power to echo in his words, and allowed himself a touch of amusement at the faint horror in the boys Ki.
"You bit her?" Both of the fools behind him snapped; a righteous indignation in their voices once they had processed his dark words.
"You fucking Bastard!" Sano hissed.
Kenshin turned then, his eyes lit with a dark fire. "No. Even if I had, it would be none of your concern. Do not take me for some simpleton whom you may question." His Ki pulsed once in warning, the darkness threatening to reach out and consume their life source.
Yahiko glared at the back of the Battousai's head, knowing there was nothing he could do to argue with the man. Hating it, because feeling inadequate was something he despised.
Yahiko jumped when Sano grasped the shoulder of younger man, and in his surprise he noted that if not for Sano then he would have crashed head long into the Battousai's back.
"Someone is at the Dojo." The Battousai mused, his Ki flaring darkly before he spun and simply disappeared from sight.
"There he fucking goes again." Sano hissed before taking after him, leaving Yahiko to follow.
"Damn." Yahiko swore before following wondering why his gift had not kicked in. "I hate him."
~*~
Kaoru watched the brush she was meticulously dragging through her dark locks as she thought over the last few days and the dark echo of whatever it was the Battousai held over her blood.
Kaoru looked curiously at her features in wonder; wishing to know what exactly it was that seemed to be drawing this vampire into staying.
A face that was pale and refused to tan, eyes dark as the storm darkened waves, a pert nose and high cheekbones. She supposed she held a degree of beauty, but nothing that could tempt something as dark as the Battousai, someone so perfect in his darkness and silky control over every situation. She was nothing more than a mere child to him.
She had seen the women that flitted around the Shadow World; She in all her curious beauty did not compare to some of the bold beauties she had seen. Women who had faces that where soft and gentle, not the strong jaw or stubborn chin she carried.
The only feature -in her own mind- that could be worth anything was her eyes. Her mother had once told her she had her father's families' small frame and hair but was gifted with her eyes. Kaoru remembered that her mother had held a faint haunted look but had always pushed it away as a child's fancy.
Kaoru sighed softly. Putting the brush down she propped her head up and moaned into her hands. Too much thinking brought on the tight stress knots that usually took a great amount of hot water and Sano's strong hands to work out.
Sighing as she propped her head on her hands, she noted the unnatural quite in the Dojo.
Megumi was sleeping in a room to her left, while Kenshin- now that he had told her his name she couldn't seem to think of him as simply the Battousai- Sano, and Yahiko had all went out to chase down a quick meal.
Kaoru shuddered at the thought of simply thinking as something living and breathing as nothing more than a walking buffet.
It left the place quite, and surprisingly defenseless. Yahiko had assured her that nothing would be stupid enough to attack this place since it practically reeked of the Battousai's touch.
Sano had muttered something about staking his claim with his Ki and by doing that wrapped the entire Dojo in a sort of warning.
However, Kaoru still held a hint of unease, wondering, perhaps, if Kenshin had underestimated his enemies. Nevertheless, Sano and Yahiko would not leave her completely defenseless.
Setting her brush down Kaoru hesitated when she heard the faintest sound of soft padding on wood. Feeling the alarm she had been feeling all night pull at her senses she stilled.
"Kamiya".
Kaoru turned in surprise; startled that someone would call her by her last name. Kenshin, she loathed to call him that but it was less intimidating than constantly referring him to him as the Battousai, would have said her name or called her little human. Sano or Yahiko would have called her by her first name.
Her body reflexively curled backwards. She raised her now properly bandaged hand to her throat -in a move of panic- and attempted to scream. Whoever it was moved as deceptively quick as Kenshin.
"No," the voice whispered in her ear, his tongue tracing the ridge even as he spoke, leaving her feeling very exposed. "Not this time. What the Battousai wants to claim, I shall claim first. With utmost delight". There was a faint undertone of madness to his voice and Kaoru strained to see the features of whoever it was.
The grip on her neck and mouth refused to allow for such movement.
She was roughly hauled up onto a shoulder. Even as he tore through the Dojo and then out of the courtyard Kaoru was screaming at the top of her lungs, knowing faintly that it was futile. Her struggles seemed to be useless, as she was easily overpowered.
However, even as she screamed Kaoru became aware of the faint echo, as if her screams where trailing behind her. It also seemed -in a faint sort of way- that she was moving at an incredibly slow pace as she struggled against whatever it was that was holding her.
Kaoru made a note of the river that raced by, and the trees that seemed to blend in together with the furious pace this vampire was setting. The cool and bloodless skin under her palms proved he was shadow.
However, even as she was bounced uncomfortably and twisted against his shoulders, beating against his back, she wondered at the seemingly alteration of time. Kaoru groaned when he shifted her, the breath being forced directly out of her lungs, leaving her a boneless weight on his shoulder.
Kaoru whimpered in pain when she was tossed onto an unforgiving dirt floor, unaware of how long she had been screaming. She was also unaware of how long she had been bouncing along the shoulders of this thing like a sack of potatoes and had no idea how far from Tokyo she was.
How far she was from the slimmest possible chance of escape. Kaoru mentally cursed herself for being so weak even as she raised her eyes to her captor.
"Well it seems that his greatest weakness is finally mine." Kaoru starred in horror, keenly aware of the sharp pressure in her mind, a trick she had seen Sano use once.
The last thing she remembered before her body blacked out was whomever it was coming at her was holding a thick coil of rope.
~*~
Megumi was waiting for them on the deck, her face ghostlike against the dark backdrop of the Dojo.
Yahiko looked around and couldn't see any sign of the Battousai. "Where is Kaoru?"
Megumi's lips thinned. "Someone took her."
Sano moved forward angrily. "What do you mean someone took her?"
Megumi rolled her eyes, crossing her arms and glaring down at Sano from the top step. "I mean she is no longer here. Someone else was here. They are both gone leaving to the evidence that Kaoru was taken somewhere if the screams I heard where any inclination of Kaoru's desire to go."
Sano growled. "Listen here bitch," Sano started threateningly.
"Stop harassing Megumi, Sano." The Battousai's cold voice whipped at him. "The Vampire's name is Jineh. Only he is gifted with a gift that could get him past my wards. Unfortunately his gift also allows him to be almost impossible to find unless he wants to be."
Yahiko paled. "You mean you can't find him?"
The Battousai glared at him, his eyes burning brightly with an anger that Yahiko had never seen before. "Yes." His voice was dark and sinister. "For now I cannot."
Yahiko swore violently, Sano echoing the words as their thoughts went to the dark haired women who was, at this moment, being held by a sadistic vampire.
"This is your entire fault." Yahiko hissed, pointing his finger dangerously at the Battousai. Part of him felt extremely guilty that his own gift of foresight had been unable to help, partly furious that the Battousai had done so little to protect Kaoru. It never occurred to Yahiko until much later that he had expected the Battousai to protect something he had threatened to kill on several occasions. "If you hadn't come here she wouldn't be in trouble."
Yahiko never saw the blow, just felt it jar his entire body by the way he crashed into a tree. He slid down the tree, his body refusing to move as the snapped bones took there time in mending.
When he managed to look up, he met the mocking gaze of Megumi. "Stupid youngling."
Sano walked over and helped Yahiko stand. "As angry as we all are Yahiko, getting yourself killed by the Battousai isn't going to help any. Besides I have a hunch."
Yahiko rubbed the back of his head and winced. "And that would be what?" His spine was killing him and he was not surprised at the idea of torn vertebrae.
"Well the Battousai went that way while you where dazed," He pointed toward the river, "Which means he might be able to partly track Kaoru. Which also means that he might be able to find her."
Yahiko frowned. "But Sano all he has done so far is threaten or throw her around, why should he really care about what is happening to her?"
Sano froze, his face tightening as the truth to Yahiko's question finally hit home. Truth that he had been fighting against for some time. "Do you remember what we said could kill the Battousai?"
Yahiko rolled his eyes. "What does that have to do with Kaoru?"
Sano gave him a hard look, turned, and walked off.
Yahiko froze when the meanings behind Sano's words echoed in his brain. The Battousai's comments on her not being human, his interest, Kaoru's reactions. Kaoru was the Battousai's mate, and she was in danger.
"Fuck."
He did not know which was worse, being in the snare of a corrupted Vampire, or being destined to mate the vilest of his kind.
'Oh Kaoru. Please be safe. From both of them.'
~*~
Kenshin moved along the bank, his eyes hard, and the hand on the hilt of his sword white with the pressure he was extending. If a Vampire master smith had not forged the sword, it would have shattered under his furious hold.
Someone had taken what he had clearly marked as his. Jineh, of all people, someone who knew far better than most; he knew not the touch what was his.
Kaoru was his. There was no mistaking the claiming his Ki and blood had already placed on her still mortal frame. There was no mistaking the reaction her vampire-touched blood had given.
Whether Kaoru liked it or not, his little pet was in fact owned by him. There was nothing she could do or say to get out of it, and he would claim her body simply because he wished it.
Jineh would die once he got his hands on him for touching what belonged to him. For touching something that his hands did not deserve to hold.
"Mine." Kenshin whispered, snarling when the wind echoed his words back at him. Allowing his eyes to slip into the killing mode he used when on hunt, he grinned displaying his long, elongated teeth.
'Mine.'
He was coming, and when he found Jineh, there was no god that could save his damned soul.
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