I hated these lessons. I was convinced there was nothing more they could teach me but aside from that, if I was to be Lissa's guardian what did it matter if my history grades were a pass or not? It's not like I was going to college. I wanted

to be aguardian. I wanted to protect moroiand kill strigoi. It's what I was destined for, what I always wanted.

A hand grabbed my shoulder from behind but before I could react my back wasslammed against the wall of the empty hall. It was the middle of the moroi 'night' but daylight streamed through the windows behind my attacker.

Stan Alto was glaring at me, his hands were pressed into my shoulders to keep me against the wall. It was hard to tell what his actual age was. He had one of thoseageless faces that was onceyouthful but had been aged by all weather conditionsand
training and combat. Despite all of that he had a rather handsome face overall, the face of someone both gentle and cruel.

The observation took barely a second. "What the hell are you doing?!" I shoved against him and triedto keep my voice low to avoid waking up the whole dorm but my voice was still too loud. He didn't budge and I soon gave up lest either of us end
/up breaking something and waking everybody up.

"Quiet." Stan hissed. "You think you can just do whatever you want, don't you?" He spoke low but the venom in his voice was palpable.

"What?" I asked. His hands were hurting were hurting my shoulders and the wall was pressing into my spine but my adrenaline was high, my body tense so I barely felt it.

"Don't play dumb, girl." He said, his voice picking up volume. Hemoved closer toward me leaving barely half a foot of space between us. I noticed he smelled of sweat and cologne and the mixture would have been intoxicating had the context been different."You
play your games and run around like the world is at your feet, like you can control everything that goes on. I have the right mind to kick you out of my class."

I laughed, unable to help myself. "That's what this is about? My behaviour? Stan, you've always known what I've been like." I threw up my arms as a gesture of not caring, not easy to do with pinned shoulders and the close proximity. "Kick me outof
your class. It's not like I'm going to need it when I graduate anyway."

Surprisingly, Stan loosened his grip on my shoulders but didn't move them or step back. That's odd, I thought. "Maybe not but that doesn't mean you can prance around and do whatever you please."

A sudden and peculiar thought occurred to me but I pushed it aside instantly. It was a ridiculous idea.

"So..." I started, pretending not to find this strange. "Can I go to my dorm now?" I asked, moving to the left. Stan tightened his grip to keep me from going and this made me look up at him. My snarky attitude was replaced by one of curiosity.

"One more thing, Rose." His voice was softer now, quiet and that insane thought came back to me again, it was the part of me that wondered what it'd be like to kiss him. He was an asshole and he was rude but he was a good fighter and he kept fit. Somethingin
his sternness roused something in me. Maybe we had similarities that- No, I was being ridiculous. "You are an incredible pain in my ass, Hathaway but you are an incredible fighter." I waited but he said nothing else, just kept his eyes on mine
/with what looked like interest. Not interest like he wanted me but like he was seeing something different in me.

"What are you getting at, Alto? I'm tired." I tried my dismissive attitude. I really was tired.

Again, he didn't say anything and for a fleeting moment his eyes glanced at my mouth and that thought came back. Was he thinking what I thought he was thinking? This was odd by all means of the word which made me slightly uncomfortable so I tried a different
/tact. "See something you like?" I asked, flashing a grin at him. I saw him swallow and look toward my mouth again. However he stepped back then, taking a huge step away from me. Except I was intrigued now so I walked toward him and hesitantly put
/my hands toward his shoulders, placing them gently on his hard muscles. I looked at at where my hands were in slight astonishment, not expecting the thickness of muscles. I had known, of course, that he was strong since we all had the same training.

I looked up at him and realised that I had never really stopped thinking about kissing him. My hand moved of it's own accord to rest just behind Stan's neck. He didn't flinch, instead his handsfound my hips, pulled meclose until ourbodies

were pressing together against the glass.

I wasn't sure what was going through my mind when I leaned up and moved my lips close to Stan's. I was hesitant which was strange in itself but then I knew why. It was because I respected him. He was good at what he did, if strict and mean a lot of thetime
but I respected him regardless and I didn't want to make him badly of me, well, more than he usually did anyway.

However Stan had leaned down to me almost the exact same time I leaned to him and when we kissed it felt almost like a release, like maybe I had this locked up inside me for too long. This curiosity. What was it they said? Curiosity killed the cat but...but...I
could never remember that last part of that saying.

Stan pulled me closer and manoeuvred sothat I was pressed against the window. He snaked his hand up under my shirt and his warm, calloused hand made me gasp but he didn't stop. He held the back of my head with his other hand, kissing me like hecouldn't
get enough. It felt he was unleashing years worth of pent up lust all at once. My heart was soon hammering and I held him close to me, pulling his hips into mine without fully realising what I wanted. I was hardly a virgin but I was hardlyused
to having sex all the time either and the idea of doing it with Stan made my heart race even more.

"Rose." He murmured against my neck. There was an undertone to his voice which sounded like permission, or a warning, I couldn't tell. When I didn't respond he pulled his face back and said my name again.

We were both breathing heavily. Now I saw in his eyes what he was trying to express. It was both permission and a warning. I just nodded, not trusting my voice and pulled up two doors down to my room. I locked it behind me and we stood there facing eachother
for about 2 seconds before resuming kissing. Stan didn't waste any timein pulling me toward my bed. He pushed me down and followed suit, placing himself between my legs yet still managing to only keep half of his weight on me. He pulled my thigh
/up over his hip and then traced his hand up, sliding it over my ass and up under my shirt again. Except this time he pushed my bra up and out of the way to massage my breast. I gasped and then moaned as his touch did wonderful to the rest of me. Hekissed
between my neck and mouth all while teasing me but I wanted more.

I pushed myself up and Stan leaned back as a tugged my shirt off and I clipped my bra. He watched with hungry eyes as more of my naked flesh became visible. I wanted to take my jeans off too but Stan was in the way. Instead I leaned back on my elbowsand
looked at him expectantly, using my most seductive smile. Stan either got the message or was deciding on his own but he tugged my jeans and underwear off, leaving me completely naked before him. It was both strange and comfortable and totallyarousing
all at once and Stan undressed too. It felt like it took ages and eventually he was nestled between my legs again. His erection pressing into my wet core. I gasped, despite myself.

I pulled his head down to kiss him and gently grazed my nails over his back. He shivered slightly but gently pushed his length into me, painfully slowly. I moaned in both pleasure and pain. He must have been bigger than I thought. I shoved my hands intohair
and tugged, pushing my hips up into him. He kissed me fiercely again, growling into my mouth as he thrust his hips into. I repressed a moan but they kept escaping and Stan kept kissing me, probably hoping to keep my noise down. He slowed histhrusting
slightly and moved his hand to play with my nipple, squeezing, rubbing and then sucking. I arched my back, pushing my chest against his mouth. My hand in his softhair again. He pulled away and picked up his speed again. I arched my

back as he got faster, closing my eyes as pleasure filled me. I opened my eyes briefly to look at Stan and he was grinning, trying to thrust hard and fast and I was glad that my bed stayed silent. A loud moan escaped as my sudden climax hit. Stanput
his hand over my mouth to keep my quiet but my body shook with the instensity of it. It was like nothing I had ever felt and I let it consume me. But all too soon it faded away and pulled Stan close again. Kissing with everything I had.

Stan hadn't lost speed or strength in his thrusts and came soon after, letting out a loud moan of his own. We lay like that for a minute or two to catch our breath and then Stan leaned away. He smiled as he looked at me and I smiled back. "Still want
/to kick me out of your class, Alto?" I laughed and propped myselfup onto my elbows.

"And miss your snarky behaviour?" Was all he said in response and turned to get dressed. As I climbed under the covers he turned and gave me a knowing look, one full of meaning.

"I know." I told him and he left the room.