You guys are great! I'm absolutely loving the reviews. I swear I get a rush from reading them. I'm a huge review whore! Keep 'em coming! Here's another chapter. Enjoy!
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Rated T.


Last night was magic.

And what's even more magical is the feeling of oneness you receive when lying in bed next to the one you love. I was currently doing this exact thing.

Dimitri and I made love for the first time ever, and when we were done we made use of the bed (besides what we already did in it) and fell asleep, wrapped in each other's arms. He didn't even care if he was supposed to be walking the school grounds in the morning. And I didn't care that I was supposed to be in class in a few hours. All we cared about - all we wanted - was each other.

Right now, I was lying awake, watching Dimitri sleep peacefully, his guard down and his face free of any hard lines. There's something about a person so normally stoic and battle-ready that it seems almost shocking when you see them carefree and relaxed. It's almost like you forget they're even a person . . . like you forget they have a life outside of being a strict, badass guardian. And on Dimitri, it was purely sexy.

I ran my fingers along his bare chest, cautious not to be too gentle or too rough. I didn't want him to wake up.

"Oh," I sighed. "What now?" I wish I had an answer to that. Before last night, we had been dancing circles around each other, so careful not to let our emotions override us. We didn't want anyone to find out about this - Queen Bitch Tatiana would've surely had us reassigned to separate us. I mean really; a guardian falling in love with another guardian? And even possibly - insert gasp here - getting married just like the Badicas' guardian? Absolute scandal. That was almost as bad as a Moroi and dhampir getting together. Not to mention the fact that I'm still a student and Dimitri is still my instructor. No, Kirova wouldn't even stand for that.

But now we still didn't have an answer. All of the walls of hesitation and held-back feelings finally came down between Dimitri and I, and yet we still don't know what to do about us, and we were in even deeper.

I let out another long-suffering sigh. I was glad we had finally let our feelings run loose, but I was still so confused. And I couldn't even ask my best friend for support.

Suddenly, a thought came to mind.

Sitting up and wrapping the blanket around myself, I nudged Dimitri gently.

He groaned. "Мама, я не готов получить вверх пока."

My mouth fell open and I stared at him in shock for what must've been a long time. And then I laughed. For a long time.

"Dimitri! Wake up!"

Dimitri groggily opened his eyes, frowning lightly at me. When he saw me laughing, he sat up as well, stretching and looking at me like I was a madwoman.

When I finally quieted down, he looked at me for a while longer, as if making sure I was finished.

I grinned at him. "Morning, Comrade."

He watched me some more before speaking. "Are you alright, Roza?"

I laughed. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, but you just said something really funny when I tried to wake you up."

He cast a wary glance at me. "What did I say?"

"Well, you said . . . actually, I don't know what the hell you said because you said it in Russian."

He smiled. "Ah, okay. I'm curious; can you try to repeat what I said?"

I attempted severely broken Russian as I relayed what he had muttered at me.

Dimitri laughed when I was finished. And laughed. And laughed. Is this what I was doing?

I frowned. "Hey, don't make fun of me - you know I don't know Russian."

He chuckled at my expression. "No, no, I'm not laughing at you. You actually repeated what I said pretty well. Well, at least I think I did. If what you told me is correct, I just said 'Mama, I'm not ready to get up yet.' Which is exactly what I told my mother every morning when she woke me up." I watched a smile and a far-off look grow on his face.

"You miss them, don't you?" I mused.

"Hm?" He looked back at me, the distant gaze gone, but the smile still there.

"I asked if you missed them. Your family."

He took my hand in his, tracing the lines on my palm with his finger. "Yes, I do. I think about them every day. Sometimes I wish I could go visit them."

I didn't know what to say to that, so I stayed silent, instead just observing his features - the strong, proud nose; high masculine cheekbones; soft and smooth lips.

"Of course I would take you with me," he continued. "Mama would love to meet you. It would be a great surprise, yes, but she'd treat you just like you were a part of the family. And my sisters would love you."

I grinned. "I'd like that."

He looked back up at me, smiling too. "I knew you would . . . Roza, why did you even wake me up in the first place? It's early."

It was such an abrupt turn in conversation that I had to take a moment to gather my thoughts. "Oh, it's about us. And Lissa."

"Lissa?" he asked. His face was a big question mark.

"Yeah. I never told anyone about us, about our feelings toward each other, and now that we've taken things this far, well . . . if Lissa ever found out she'd be heartbroken."

Dimitri nodded. "Yes, she would be."

I met his eyes. "So . . . do you think I can tell her?"

He met my gaze with a level one of his own. "Yes. She's your best friend, Rose. You guys have a bond that runs deeper than any I've ever seen, and I'm not just speaking of the psychic one. You can trust her. And she'll probably already be upset that you haven't told her about us a long time ago. You don't want to make it any worse."

I smiled. "You and your insane Zen lessons. . . ."

He laughed. "Come on, Roza. I have work in a few hours, and you have class. People are still asleep so we should leave as soon as possible to avoid unnecessary attention."

We got up and dressed as quickly as possible. I felt an excited thrill run through me every time I thought about telling Lissa. I also realized with a jolt that I had been keeping so much from her, more than I've ever thought before. And that made me feel horrible. But, I thought, I was going to tell her everything very soon. That was what mattered.

As we were walking out the door of the cabin, Dimitri stopped me. "I keep forgetting to ask - why were you in the gym so early in the morning yesterday?"

A slow grin spread across my face as I remembered that day's events. "I had a dream and I couldn't sleep. Fighting with you always makes me feel better, so I went to the gym to try and work it out. And then you showed up."

Dimitri smiled. "Can I ask what the dream was about?"

"Nothing we haven't already done."

"Oh. I see."

I laughed. "So what were you doing there?"

His smile grew. "I had a dream."


So now Lissa will finally find out. I took the advice I was given and added another chapter. If I'm lucky I can get another one up tonight! Aren't I being the best little uploader? Pleaseeeee review! Love ya guys!
xoxo,
Ryan