Once Bitten *On Hiatus*

𝕱𝖎𝖋𝖙𝖞

• 𝓜𝓪𝓮 •

Lucifer may have been a tyrant, but I wasn't sure how Kite thought his father was any better. Threatening to just hand me over to Zero like I was some sort of play thing? What the fuck kind of high horse did he believe he was on? And did he seriously come to Kite's office just to say that shit?

I didn't want Zero's dad to become the ruler, but I sure as hell didn't want Titus in that spot either.

I probably shouldn't have said half the things I did to him. In all actuality, I probably should have kept my mouth shut until he deemed it necessary to leave. I didn't win any brownie points by talking back to him, but honestly, what else should I have done? I was so sick of being treated like an object because I was a human. I wasn't a pet, or something to be owned. I couldn't just be given over like some sort of possession.

"Mae," Kite warned.

I glared at him. "If you tell me to relax, I'll kick your balls off your body."

He flinched. "No. You just need to be careful."

Be careful, my ass. I was so done being careful with the fucking monsters that lived in this shit hole of a world. Fuck them. Fuck their need for control. Fuck their-

"Mae!" Kite shook me. I hadn't even noticed him walk over, let alone reach out to touch me. His hands held my arms tight enough to where I wouldn't be able to move, but loose enough that he wouldn't leave a bruise.

"Breathe," he said. "Please. I don't have to be a mind reader to know what you're thinking. And I hate to be the one to say it, but you're only human. I couldn't even harm him, even if I wanted to."

"Could Seraph," I asked.

He blinked, but he didn't really look taken aback by the question. It just looked like he hadn't thought about whether or not the other vampire could do any damage. But the fact that he didn't seem offended by the question brought up more questions in my mind.

Did Kite even like his dad? Or was he where he was out of obligation?

"I'm not sure," he said finally.

I tilted my head back to look up at him, seeing for the first time how beautiful he really was. I'd always thought of him as attractive - all vampires were in their own way - but I didn't allow myself to truly look at him. To take in his features.

There were bright gold flecks sprinkled within his dark brown eyes. He had a very light dusting of freckles over his cheeks and nose that you'd only be able to see if you were up close. His skin was so smooth.

A bit of his strawberry blonde hair hung in front of his eyes, which scanned my face like mine had been doing to his. And those freckled cheeks were tinged with a light shade of pink.

When his eyes fell on mine again, he didn't pull away when he realized I caught him.

"Do you hate me," he asked quietly. Almost like he didn't want to hear my response. "For what I've done? For how I've treated you?"

The question took me by surprise, and honestly, I wasn't sure how to answer. At first, absolutely. I hated the fact that he brought me back from my freedom in the worst way possible. Made me think that I was his and only his, something he owned and didn't want anyone's hands on.

But the more I understood, the more that hatred faded. Could I trust all vampires? No. I couldn't. But could I trust him? I thought I could.

I shook my head.

Everything he did was to protect me. I saw that now. Him coming to get me wasn't so that he could steal me from my freedom. It was so that I didn't have a fate worse than what I could ever experience in South District. The words he spoke was not for me, but for the others listening. So that nothing he said got back to his dad, and in turn didn't come back to hurt me.

If he would have said something when his dad was in the room with us...what exactly would have happened?

His eyes softened, and I could see the moment he wanted to kiss me. His eyes lowered to my lips for just the briefest of seconds before he looked back into my eyes.

I glanced sideways, noting with some surprise that Noah and Luca were gone. I hadn't even realized they left.

"Mae," Kite whispered.

I looked back at him, my breath stuttering to a halt in my chest when I saw his eyes. How they changed.

They were no longer full of his normal ire he wore for the humans and vampires of South District. They were full of a kind of...adoration as he looked down at me. But that adoration was mixed with something else.

Need.

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice just above a whisper. "For everything. For everything that has happened, and for everything that will happen in the future. For the things I have said, and for what I will have to say. And you don't have to forgive me. I don't expect it. But I just don't want you to hate me."

I reached up and brushed that piece of hair from his eye. "I don't hate you. I did. But I don't anymore."

He was fighting with himself. I could see it in his eyes and the way his hands twitched on my arms. He didn't know whether to pull away or pull me closer.

I grabbed a handful of his hair and the noise he made had my entire body flushing with heat.

He looked away, and I forced his head to the side, making him look at me. His eyes were heavy-lidded as he stared down at me, forcing himself to maintain eye contact.

"What do you want," I asked.

His eyebrows furrowed. "I don't know what you mean."

I stared at him like he was stupid.

"I wanted to kiss you," he mumbled.

I smiled slightly. "Good boy. That wasn't so hard."

It had been said as a joke. But his eyes widened at the words.

"Now, Kite," I teased. "Don't tell me the big bad macho face of South District is a little bit submissive?"

He narrowed his eyes, then pulled me close to him and kissed me. His lips molded against mine with absolutely no hesitation as his arms crushed me against his body. His tongue ran across the seam of my lips and I opened to him, tasting him as our tongues danced against each other. I grabbed another handful of his hair and he whimpered.

I groaned, and as soon as I went to touch him, he pulled away quickly. He turned away from me just in time for someone to knock at his door.

The door that was completely unlocked.

"We aren't done," I whispered.

He glanced at me from over his shoulder, his eyes still hot on my body and his lips slightly swollen. "No. We aren't."