I didn't attend my next class.
After Lys fed from me in front of the entire Hall of Crimson Arts, my body refused to move. My legs trembled, my throat ached where her fangs had pierced me, and my chest burned with something far too warm to be fear.
I didn't understand why her bite felt like… more than pain. Like heat. Like intimacy.
The nurse had said I only needed rest. But how could I rest when her touch still lingered on my skin?
"Airi~"
A voice suddenly lilted through the room like a teasing wind.
I looked up just as the door slammed open without warning, and a streak of flame-red hair entered like a storm. Rena.
Rena Harugane. The academy's fire-hearted wild child, self-proclaimed delinquent, and the second girl to ever touch me like she owned me.
"What are you doing all cooped up in here, little rosebud?" Rena grinned, kicking the door closed behind her and tossing her jacket onto the floor like she lived here. "Playing helpless damsel again?"
My mouth opened, but no sound came out.
"I saw what happened in class," she added, voice dropping lower. "That was pretty bold of Lys."
"She… asked first," I muttered, my voice embarrassingly weak.
"Oh, sure. Real romantic. 'May I sip your blood in front of everyone and mark you like property?'" She stalked toward me, every movement like a flickering flame. "Tch. She thinks being polite makes her better than me."
I shrank slightly into the sheets as Rena stopped beside the bed, her eyes narrowing.
"She didn't even drink enough," Rena said, squatting down to my level. "You're still way too flushed. I can tell."
My heart skipped. "H-How… can you tell?"
She leaned in. "Because your scent's still all over this room. It's sweet. Sticky. Addicting." Her voice dropped to a near-whisper. "Like you're asking to be bitten."
I froze.
"W-Wait, Rena-san—"
"'Rena-chan' is fine," she interrupted with a smirk. "Or you can call me 'Onee-sama' if you're feeling cute."
I wanted to disappear.
"C'mon, Airi," she murmured, brushing a strand of hair from my face. "Don't tell me you're letting only Lys take bites. That's not fair. I've wanted to taste you since the first day."
She reached out slowly, her fingers brushing against my wrist.
I should have pulled away.
I didn't.
She raised my hand to her lips and kissed the pulse there. My breath caught. Then she looked up at me, her eyes glowing faintly orange.
"I'm not like Lys," Rena whispered. "I won't ask permission if I know you want it."
Her mouth brushed my wrist again, and I gasped as her fangs gently grazed the skin—but didn't break it.
"I won't take it today," she said finally, letting go of my hand. "But just so you know…"
She stood and leaned over me, her face inches from mine.
"The next time you moan when someone bites you, it better be because I'm the one doing it."
My face turned scarlet.
And then she was gone—just as quickly as she came. Like a flame vanishing into smoke.
I sat there for a long time afterward, my hand pressed to my chest, trying to calm the chaos in my heart.
This school…
This academy full of vampire girls…
Every one of them wanted something from me.
And no matter how much I tried to hide it—
Some part of me wanted to be taken.
Next Chapter Preview:
Airi begins her first official class in "Bloodrose Etiquette"—a subject where touching is expected, and submission is graded. But the quiet girl seated behind her might just be the most dangerous of all: the silent, silver-eyed girl no one dares approach… except Airi.