The ride to Lehigh wasn't long, seeing as how it was so close to Court. Plus the whole state of Pennsylvania only took a few hours to drive through. Even that might be pushing it.

Dimitri drove, as always, while Christian sat in the front passenger seat. I sat in the back with Lissa and the rest of our luggage. Classic guardian seating, blah blah blah.

My hand toyed with the sun protecter on the window. "Is there a reason I never get to drive?"

Dimitri sighed in the front and Christian laughed.

"Because we don't want to die," Christian said, smugly.

"Oh, ha-ha-ha. But seriously, I'm not the worst driver ever," I defended as I looked at everyone.

"But you're not the best driver either," Dimitri, the love of my life, the one who is supposed to be on my side, said in a quiet voice. The car erupted in laughter, except for me.

I kicked the back of his seat for good measure.

We pulled up to the move-in area crowded with other cars and yellow t-shirts, and my stomach jumped. Was I seriously nervous to go to college? Its not like I was even here to enjoy it. I was a Guardian. I was here for Lissa.

They come first.

And yet…I felt butterflies.

Lissa grabbed my hand and squeezed. I could tell she was nervous too, which meant I had to be extra careful about her stress levels. She was worried. I could see it in her eyes. How could we explain if someone started seeing things that weren't there because of a spirit tantrum or if they magically got a taste of her healing?

"We'll deal with it if it comes to that," I had said. Now looking at all of these innocent teenagers, I really hoped it never came to that.

Dimitri and Christian both got out of the van and I followed soon after, walking around to Lissa's door and holding out a hand for her. She was frozen, staring into the chaos ahead of her with fearful eyes. She turned to me and it was like I could see right into her head again. Her insecurities, her worries, and fears played rampantly across her face.

"Rose…" Her fingers started twitching toward her wrist, yearning to scratch at the delicate raised lines. "Rose, I don't know if-"

"Hey," I gently nudged. "You can do this. And remember what I said. If it comes to that."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. And just like that, she gathered herself. Her regalness seeped to the top as she shoved aside her doubts and took my hand. I squeezed it reassuringly and she shot me a grateful smile.

It wasn't a particularly sunny day, but the sun was trying to peek out from behind the clouds in little spots. The sunlight wouldn't kill Lissa, but it would irritate her.

And now was not the time for her to be irritated.

I tucked into Dimitri's side as we neared the entrance to the large building where a number of college kids in yellow t-shirts were waving their hands excitedly. Dimitri's arm snuck around my shoulders, emitting a calming heat that I could feel through my shirt. My heart fluttered and I smiled, sniffing the familiar smell of his aftershave and leather duster. He kissed the top of my head lovingly.

It was so rare we could be like this, like an actual couple. There were no guardians or Moroi around to judge us; no Court to guard. Just us.

God, I was going to miss it.

"You'll come visit often, right?" I said into his side.

He squeezed his arm tighter around me as we kept walking. "As often as I can. And you know those two can hardly ever be apart." He nodded toward Lissa and Christian up ahead walking hand in hand.

"Thats true," I sighed. "Its just…I feel like we just got together and now we have to be apart again."

His hand rubbed soothingly over my arm. "I know, Roza. I know."

My head leaned against his chest as we neared the over-eager people by the doors.

"Welcome to Mountaintop Campus!" one of them shouted, shoving a yellow pamphlet into my arms unwillingly. I looked down at the bold letters.

A Beautiful Setting For Boundless Possibilities

"Dimitri, get me out of here."

He laughed at my words and steered me towards our friends. Lissa was talking animatedly to the woman behind a white table and I nudged her shoulder with mine to get her attention.

"Hey, you," I said.

She beamed at me and replied with a printed name tag on her blouse.

A young woman looked up from behind the table. "Name please?"

"Rosemarie Hathaway."

"Oh," she smiled. "Thats actually going to be at the table right there. The sign F through I."

I stared at her, confused for a second, before I noted that her table had a sign with A—D on it.

"Ah. Check-in. Right. Thank you," I said to the woman and walked to the described table while Dimitri stayed with Lissa and Christian.

I gave the lady my name and she highlighted it, giving my a stack of pages in a yellow folder. "Welcome to Lehigh!"

Lissa wanted to go to everything.

So we went to the bookstore. We did the tour. We did the info sessions and open houses. By the time lunch came around, my folder held at least thirty trees worth of paper. Not to mention, I was starving.

As I munched on my burger, Lissa looked at the schedule for the remainder of the day. "So we have our next thing at 2:15 and its 11:30 now. I think we have enough time to move our stuff into the dorm room. We probably wont get to finish because we have to go to our residence hall meeting—"

"Ugh can we just skip it?" I said around my bite of burger.

"No," Lissa answered. "This afternoon is all the stuff thats mandatory."

I stopped chewing. "Wait. You mean to tell me that everything we just did was not mandatory?"

"Technically, no," Lissa said sheepishly, her cheeks heating slightly. "But it was all stuff I wanted to go to."

"Liss!"

"I'm sorry!" she blurted. "I knew if I told you then you wouldn't want to go!"

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to center myself. The old me would have lashed out because of the spirit darkness, and I'm sure it was still there, lingering on the edge of my aura, but it was so much easier to control now. "Its okay. I'm not mad. See?" I opened my eyes and smiled. "I'm fine."

"You sure? 'Cause you looked like you were about to explode," Sparky said. "And thats coming from me, so you know its true."

"Yes, Christian. I'm fine." I bit another section of my burger to prove it. "Okay Lissa. Whats next?"

The dorm was a nice size. It was like a mini-double suite with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, and a mini kitchenette. I let Lissa pick which side she wanted as I lugged our boxes into the little living room.

Dimitri started to put my boxes into the bedroom on the right as I started to unpack the one labeled "Decorations."

It was all very tedious and took forever, but our beds were made and our closets were full of clothes before we headed off to the meeting.

Dimitri stuck out like a sour thumb standing in the back of the meeting as the Head RA described the rules. I could hardly listen to him, and Lissa was taking notes anyway. No, I was too busy noticing every freshman girl find a reason to turn around and look at my 6'7 hunk of Russian.

When the meeting finished we were sent to our Orientation spot, which took forever. Then we met our Orientation Leader, which took forever. Then it was dinner.

"This is the day that never ends," I complained for the hundredth time.

"Just a couple more things!" Lissa urged.

I groaned, long and loud, as I forced my feet to move back to the dorm to finish up. "Liss, I can only do one more thing. Not a couple, but one more. Okay?"

She sighed playfully. "Alright. We'll finish the dorm room and then say goodbye to our men."

"What?! Already?!" My hands groped Dimitri's fingers desperately. "It can't be time!"

Lissa's smile softened as she looked at Christian. "I don't want them to go either, but we've got to let them go sometime."

The rest of the trudge back to the dorm passed in silence. The air was heavy with sadness as the four of us finished up decorating and customizing the rooms.

Dimitri gripped my chin and raised my head, kissing my lips softly, as I placed the last pair of shoes in the cubby.

"I'll miss you," I whispered, running my fingers through the tie on his ponytail and pulling it down. His soft hair fell forward and brushed against my face.

"I'll miss you too, Roza."

I rose on my tiptoes and pulled his face down to meet mine. His lips slanted over mine, deepening the kiss, and I felt desire start to pool low in my stomach. My arms moved from the sides of his face to twist around the back of his neck as my fingers slipped through his thick hair.

His hands gripped my waist firmly and tugged me forward, pulling me in so we were molded together. I could feel the hard outline of his form against my chest and I arched my back into him. His hands fisted my shirt, exposing my lower back to the chill of the room, before moving to grab my ass.

There was no doubt about it; Dimitri was an ass man. He loved grabbing it any chance he got, which wasn't as often as either of us liked.

His hand shot out and shut my bedroom door behind me. The door was hard against my back, but I didn't mind at all as Dimitri slid his arms slowly under my thighs and lifted me, pushing me against it.

His lips moved down my jaw, nibbling and licking a path down the contours of my neck until they reached the hallow between my collarbones. My chest arched into him helplessly as I moaned. He watched, fascinated as my cleavage grew more pronounced with each breath.

"Dimitri, please…" My hands pulled at his head, lowering it to my breasts wantonly. His tongue started to lavish the visible skin and I knocked my head back against the door. He moved us away and sat me down gently on the edge of the bed. I restlessly tugged at the hem of my shirt, but stilled as Dimitri clicked his tongue.

"Let me do it." His voice oozed sex and I felt my lower muscles clench at the sound of it.

"Okay," I whispered. Only this man could leave me in such a mess. My fingertips curled into my new comforter as his hot fingers trailed from my ankles to the outside of my thighs and my breath hitched as he lowered his mouth to kiss the top of each leg. As he lifted my shirt he let his fingernails drag across my flesh, leaving goosebumps in their wake.

I stayed still as he released the clasp on my bra and pushed the straps down each shoulder, but I had to move when he leaned to kiss me. My hands pawed at his clothed chest and I eagerly pushed my newly freed chest at him, but he pulled back with a smirk.

"Put your hands back on the bed."

"Why?"

"Just…humor me."

I did as he said and waited as he slower started to lower his head. My hands started to twitch against the covers as he hovered over my chest, just breathing on my skin. "You're going so fucking slow," I growled.

"Thats the point," he chuckled.

"Well, I'm glad you find this amu—" I gasped as his hot tongue swiped just once over my nipple, causing a shooting sensation to my groin. He repeated the process on the other side, blowing gently after.

"Oh, are you done now?" he teased.

I glared at him, but he only chuckled and placed his hands on top of mine, pushing them into the mattress as he fully latched onto my nipples. My hips jerked up as he continued swirling his tongue and I bit my lip to stop the loud noise in the back of my throat.

The pressure of his hands increased as he sensed me trying to pull them out from under his. I was getting desperate, gyrating against the covers to get some kind of friction, and I needed my hands.

"Dimitri, I need to touch you."

With those words he let me go and I brought my hands to cradle the back of his head while his thumbs tucked into the waistband of my leggings. Down they went, underwear and all, as I wiggled backward onto the bed.

Dimitri tore off the duster and his shirt in record time, along with his bottoms, and fell on top of me. Our lips twisted together as we molded our bodies, embracing in the warmth of each others skin. His fingertips were cold as they traced the outline of my waist and I shivered, nipping at his bottom lip.

I could feel the outline of him pushing impatiently against my stomach and I grinned. Twisting my hips, I nudged him and opened my legs wider. He groaned as he lined himself up, pushing barely the tip in before retreating. I pulled at his hips, urging him to go in me. He started to push past my folds when I froze.

"Wait."

He immediately stopped. "Rose, whats wrong?"

I tapped at his shoulder as I said, "Get up for a second." He leaned up and then off as I started pulling at the comforter, yanking it off the bed. Dimitri looked at me for a second before smiling like an idiot.

"What?" I said defensively. "Its brand new. Plus I can't wash it."

"How adult of you."

I grabbed his arm and swung him back onto the bed, rubbing myself onto the hardness between his legs as I straddled him. "Wanna see me do something even more adult?" I offered suggestively, grinding down against his erection. He sucked in air past his teeth.

"Da."

I sunk down onto him, slowly, taking my time until I was full. Dimitri groaned and closed his eyes as I started the process all over again. "You're going too fucking slow," he growled, shoving my words back at me.

"Thats the point," I smirked. He groaned again as I slowly started to pick up the pace. His hands gripped at his hair as I rocked forward and then they settled on my hips. His fingers pressed into my flesh, helping my move back and forth. My breath caught in my throat as he shallowly thrusted up to meet me.

"Hands down on the bed," I teased, a hint of steel creeping into my voice. Dimitri chuckled darkly as I tossed his own command back at him, splaying his hands wide across the full sized bed.

"This is what you get for using Russian on me," I smirked and leaned forward, bracing my arms on either side of his head.

"It was one word," he groaned. His hands balled into fists as I started to ride him in earnest.

"And?" I pushed. My hips pushed down in a particular way that made my see stars for a moment.

Suddenly Dimitri sat up, grabbing handfuls of my ass and kissing the underside of my jaw. "And I don't think the punishment fits the crime." His teeth bit hard into my neck and I gasped, right on the cusp of pleasure and pain, as our hips started to move faster.

I started to feel the tightening in my lower stomach and my breath caught. "Keep going," I said. "Keep going, keep going, keep going!" With each stroke, the pressure built inside of me until suddenly it burst. I yelled out as the spasms shook my legs and my fingernails dug into Dimitri's shoulders. He stilled under me and groaned into my neck, kissing the skin tenderly before pulling out of me.

When I felt able, I let go of his shoulders and fell back onto the sheets. The bed dipped as he fell next to me, grabbing my hand and entwining our fingers.

"Well now I really don't want you to go," I joked. His chest move with his laugh and he pulled my hand onto his chest, examining each of my fingers with a soft kiss.

"I'll be back soon." His voice was soft and sweet. It caused a lump in the back of my throat and I nodded.

"I know."

He kissed the tip of my nose and then my lips. "I love you, my Roza."

I smiled to myself as I bumped my nose against his.

"I love you, too."