"Rose. Wake up." I groaned, rolling over on my side.
"Sleep….time…" I said, drowsily. I heard a laugh, and the next thing I knew someone's lips were kissing mine. Someone's very warm and soft lips. I opened my eyes, just a little bit. And smiled. "Morning, Adrian."
He smiled too. "Morning, Rose. Pretty sweet way to wake up, huh?"
I sat up, ruffling my hair. I almost made some snappy comment about better things, but I stopped myself. Instead, I just smiled a bit more and said, "Yeah."
This seemed to have pleased Adrian immensely. He smiled even more then tackled me on the bed. Even though I was definitely stronger than him, I submitted, letting him lie on top of me. He looked at me for a moment, before speaking. "I think it's personally a pretty great way to wake up." He leaned down even closer, so his face was only inches from mine. "Then again, I can think of even better ways to start my mornings."
"Really? I can't think of any at the moment," I teased.
He smiled again before kissing me on the forehead, then the cheek, then the nose, then right under my jaw. "Hmm, let me think." He kissed my collarbone, my shoulder, and then he raised his face to mine again. His lips were so close.
"Still, nothing's coming to mind," I said, as I lifted my face to his. Our lips met, moving together. Kissing Adrian was amazing. He was a great kisser.
He cradled my face in his hands, landing a few more gentle kisses. Then he rolled off me. I sat up again. "Why were you up so early, by the way? Normally I practically have to dump water on your head to wake you up," I asked, as I got out of bed to get dressed.
"You have dumped water on my head before!" he exclaimed, teasing me. Though it was true. One time, we'd had to get up early for a breakfast, and I hadn't been able to get him up. So I'd dumped water on his head. It had proven effective. "I was up early because a certain someone snores."
I snorted, and threw a pillow at him. "I don't snore."
He threw it back. "Yes, you do.
"Don't."
"Do."
"Don't."
"Fine. Tonight I will record said snoring, and prove to you once and for all that, yes, you do snore."
"Good luck getting a tape recorder near my face. Even in my sleep, I'm deadly."
"Yes, you are. And we need to get ready. It's almost 10."
Shit. I looked at the clock. Sure enough, it was 9:40. We had promised to meet Lissa at 10. Even though she was insane to think that both Adrian and I would be truly functioning at that time. If we had it our way, the day wouldn't start until, well, late. Sleeping in is good for your health, I've been told.
"Okay, we should get ready. I think I have my clothes here somewhere." I began looking around. God, the room was a mess. Adrian's clothes were scattered haphazardly around, the sheets were falling of the bed, and my clothes were nowhere to be found. Then I saw one thing. My shirt. Great, now if I could just find some clothing items to cover my lower half, everything would be better in the world.
"Where's my pants?" I asked.
"Oh, the greatest question of all. A question we mere mortals have struggled with for many years. The question that has determined history." Adrian smirked as he said this. I looked over at him.
"There they are. You're sitting on them. Throw them over here." He did. I caught them with all the grace of a guardian. I put them on, then began to run out the door. I needed to get ready. I turned to Adrian to give him a short goodbye kiss, but he caught me by surprise. He caught me face and kissed me for a full minute.
When we pulled away, I asked, "What was that for?"
"Just because."
I laughed, turning. "See you in a few." I walked out the door, giddy with happiness.
I quickly showered and threw some clothes. I found one shoe, but couldn't find the other. I searched throughout my room, starting to get just a bit frustrated. I heard a knock on my door, and went to open it. Adrian. He gave me one of his winning smiles before speaking. "Are you looking for something, my dear Rose?"
"Yeah, I am. How did you know…" My question trailed off. I knew where my shoe was now. "Give it here."
He smiled even more. "Why, I have no clue what you're talking about. I just happened to walk by your door, and though I'd pay a visit and also-" He never got to finish his thought because I jumped at him. He caught me, and my legs twined around his torso. "Where is it?"
"Right here." He held it up in one hand, and I jumped down, motioning to grab it. "Wait. I think that I need something first."
I smiled at him. "Don't you always?" I stepped forward, wrapped my arms around his neck, and kissed him. The kiss was just deepening when I jumped back and grabbed the shoe. I slipped it on, and said, "Okay, let's go."
"No 'Thank you, Adrian' for walking so far just to deliver a piece of footwear?"
I rolled my eyes. "Thank you, Adrian, for performing some sort of physical activity."
He laughed, and put his arm around my waist. "You're welcome, little dhampir."
"How did my one shoe end up all the in your room, by the way?"
He immediately formed an expression of complete innocence. "I haven't the slightest idea."
I laughed. We started walking towards the exit. Then stopped to let someone in. Adrian was whispering something into my ear, and I was giggling happily as we waited for this person to go through the door. I saw it was a few people. One guardian. Then another. And then-crap. My giggling abruptly stopped.
It was Dimitri.