2

The fasten seatbelt sign went out and we both undid our belts and I was in his arms once again. I could barely breathe I was so happy to be in his arms, and I almost forgot that we weren't alone. That is until someone walked down the aisle toward our seats. The person stopped at Dimitri's seat and cleared her throat. I looked up into my mother's brown eyes.

"Mom, what are you doing here? You weren't at the trial. How did you get on Abe's plane?" Could this day get any weirder? Maybe this was all a dream and I was going to wake up soon. Although some parts I would rather not wake up from.

"I tried to get to the Royal Court as soon as I heard that they accused you of the Queen's murder, but I couldn't get there in time for the hearing they held it so quickly. So Abe had me meet you all here. My plane arrived about five minutes before you made it here on the helicopter."

Dimitri being polite as always looked up at my mother and said, "You two need to talk. Janine, please take my seat and I will go see if Abe needs anything from me."

My mother put a hand on Dimitri's shoulder before he could even think about moving. "I will have nothing of the sort. There will be plenty of time for talking tomorrow. I want you two to just enjoy each other tonight," she said with a knowing smile.

I seriously must be dreaming. I pinched my arm as hard as I could. Ouch! Nope. I am awake. I looked up again trying to gain an understanding of this new side of my mother that I had never seen before. I mean we made some strides into forging our relationship the last time we were together, but this new side I didn't understand.

"Honestly, Rose, you look like you have never seen me before!" she said with disbelief lacing every word.

Wow, I guess that was written all over my face. I really need to work on my guardian blank face. "I haven't. Who are you and what have you done with my mother?" I replied before I could think it through completely.

She simply sighed and shook her head. "Honestly Rose, I just couldn't believe how blind I have been. I should have known something was going on with you two. I blamed you for behavior with other boys that you weren't even engaged in. I said things that in retrospect would hurt you without realizing they hurt, because I have been oblivious about who you really are. Your behavior over the last few months makes much more sense now that your father explained your relationship with Dimitri and shared some of what happened in Baia."

I was trying to make her feel better when I said, "Of course you shouldn't have known Mom. Dimitri and I had to keep it a secret until after graduation. Don't blame yourself." I was surprised though that my father kept everything that had happened in Russia a secret until now. My parents had seen each other at my graduation. He could have easily shared with her then, but obviously he didn't. That upped my trust factor with Abe a little.

"Well, if it makes any of this better, I wanted to tell you two that I approve. Have fun tonight kids, because tomorrow is going to be all work." And with that she walked away.

"And here you were more afraid of my mother finding out about us than you were of…" I faltered realizing what I was about to say. The last thing I wanted to do was remind Dimitri of the day he became a Strigoi.

He looked at me and finished my sentence. "… fighting the Strigoi that day back at St. Vladimir's. Rose, we need to be able to talk about all that has happened without worrying that we are hurting each other. It is the only way we can move on in our relationship."

We just started to get lost in each other again when another shadow loomed over us. This time we looked up to see Tasha Ozera beaming at us. She looked beautiful, with her ebony hair styled loosely around her smiling face. "Dimka, I am so glad to have you home and well."

"I am glad to be home. Tasha, I need to thank you for making my rescue a possibility. If it wasn't for you teaching Christian how to use his magic defensively and being a role model to Lissa, I may not be here at all." Dimitri said thankfully reaching out to squeeze her hand.

Tasha winked in my direction. "And Dimka? Thank God you finally gave in to that stubborn Russian pride and admitted you love this woman!" She was so happy for us and our- not so secret anymore - relationship that she beamed at the two of us. She bent and gave us each a peck on the cheek and then scooted off down the aisle back to her seat.

I hadn't expected that from Tasha. After all she had been interested in Dimitri as more than a friend and a guardian. Last winter she had asked him to be her guardian and made it clear that the opportunity came with 'benefits', which included children, because Tasha was Moroi. Dimitri politely turned her down without explanation. He couldn't tell her the reason was that he loved me.

Finally alone again, or as alone as two people can get on a small private jet, Dimitri and I started exploring each other's mouths with our tongues. If I thought our lips touching were electric, this was like a nuclear explosion inside my body. My hands started to explore Dimitri's muscled chest and his hands were sliding under my shirt and up the bare skin of my back.

"Get a room." Abe whispered his head just inches from mine and Dimitri's. We almost smacked heads with him, we separated so quickly. We were so engrossed in each other we hadn't heard him sneaking up.

Abe stood and crooked his finger, motioning us to follow him toward the back of the plane. We passed through a curtain into the steward's area. Abe stopped at a door on the other side and took out a key and unlocked it.

The door swung open revealing a small room with a large bed inside. There were a few dimly lit wall sconces on either side of the bed and a comfy black leather arm chair in the corner. The bed was opulently decorated with a crimson velvet duvet and overloaded with black satin pillows.

I rolled my eyes and looked at Abe. "I don't even want to know why you have a bedroom on your jet. You are such a ladies' man, Zmey."

Abe brushed my comment away. "There are new clothes for you to put on…later of course… hanging in the closet. I will have the stewardess knock fifteen minutes before we land to give you time to get ready." He chuckled to himself as he walked back toward the seating area.

Dimitri and I couldn't move fast enough. We were through the door and had it relocked in about two seconds flat. It was very quiet and very romantic in this little room. Truthfully, anywhere at this moment in time would have been romantic, as long as the two of us were together.

I saw a small stereo built into the wall and flipped on the power switch. The radio was playing some soft rock from the 80's, but it was better than country music, so I left it on. Dimitri came up behind me and wrapped his hands around my waist folding me into the warmth of his body. He slid my hair to one side and laid a gentle trail of kisses down the side of my neck. Luckily it was the opposite side from Adrian's bite mark.

The music in the background reminded me of that day in the training room when I had made fun of Dimitri listening to an old Prince song. I teased that this song may be new in Russia, but here it's old. I thought Siberia was an arctic wasteland, but I learned when I went to Siberia that they weren't ten years behind the U.S. on the music scene or in anything else, and it definitely wasn't a wasteland. I would have to remember to share that with Dimitri later, when I filled him in on my trip to visit his family. I had already told him of my visit when he held me prisoner, but I am not sure my stories meant the same to Strigoi Dimitri as it would for him now.

"Oh my God Dimitri, did you contact your family yet?" I blurted unexpectedly.

He stopped kissing my neck. "Rose, we are alone in this romantic room and you are suddenly thinking of my family. Can we talk about all the other women in my life tomorrow and just focus on you right now?" He chided as his hands found the hem of my shirt and lifted it over my head. His soft kisses started at my lips and left a trail of heated flesh down my throat and to the top of my lacy black bra. Dimitri dispatched the bra by unhooking the back with one hand while his other hand, his mouth and his tongue explored the treasures hidden underneath.

I couldn't remember what we were just talking about, but I knew that he had just asked me something. "Mmmm. Mmmm" I mumbled hoping that was the right answer, but I didn't think it mattered anymore.

My hands found Dimitri's shirt and I nearly ripped the cotton fabric with the force I used to pull it over his head. He didn't complain. He lowered me gently to the bed and took off my shoes and socks and then my pants. I had on lacy black underwear to match the bra and he stopped to admire how sexy I looked in nothing but them. He kicked off his own shoes and I was already unbuttoning his slacks and easing them down his legs toward the floor. He slipped them off and then with one last appreciative look removed the black lace undies from my body.

His hands started slowly caressing every inch of my legs, sliding up my calves, my knees, my thighs. I hungered for his caress to touch between my legs and quench my desire, but they moved on to my hips, my waist, up to my shoulders and finally came to rest on either side of my face. He kissed me gently on the lips and then he gazed at me. Our eyes met and I could feel the passion and the fire burning through them and directly into my soul.

This was only our second time together and Dimitri was as gentle and loving as our first time, but as our desire increased I think we were both too hungry to be as slow and careful with each other. We were lost in the emotion and the passion, never letting go of each other until we heard the warning knock, alerting us that we had just fifteen minutes until we landed.

There was a small round airplane window on the wall above the bed and I could see morning light streaming in through the curtains. I was under the covers lying in Dimitri's arms, where I had no doubts I could stay forever, when a thought crossed my mind.

I sighed, "I have only had sex twice in my life and I already joined the Mile High Club."

Dimitri laughed, but it seemed it was more a laugh of relief than laughing at my observation.

"What's wrong?" I said gently. This was a newer fragile Dimitri and I wanted to make sure he was okay. I mean psychologically, he had been through quite a lot recently. Physically, believe me I knew he was more than okay. What we had just done in this room, our very own love nest was both physically and emotionally draining.

"It's just…nothing….never mind." He whispered, not very convincingly, kissing the side of my face.

I refused to let it go of course. "No, we are not doing this. You can tell me anything. You have to trust me after all we have seen and been through. Didn't you just give me this same speech an hour ago?" I challenged.

"I…well…I do trust you. I just don't have any right to question you about things that happened when we weren't together." He replied quietly.

"Ask anything." I said as openly and inviting as I could.

"Well, when you came into the coffee shop with the bite marks on your neck…I assumed that you and Adrian-"

"No, we didn't." I interrupted. Okay, now to explain this in a way that doesn't hurt too much. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt Dimitri. "Honestly?"

"Yes of course honestly." Dimitri replied.

I sighed. "After I left the church I was so hurt that I went back to my room and cried myself to sleep." Dimitri reached out and stroked my hair. I knew that upset him, but as I looked at him his expression urged me to continue. I took a deep breath and looked across the room. "Later Adrian came looking for me." I paused again giving myself the courage to continue. "I think I was trying to prove something to myself, and well, to you too, but I didn't have sex with him. I just let him bite me and he spent the night." It was probably better not to bring up the fact that the only reason we didn't have sex was lack of protection.

"Rose, you had every right to be with Adrian. He was your boyfriend. He took care of you when I couldn't. I all but threw you into his arms." his voice broke and his words were laced with sadness. His hand found mine and brought it up to his mouth. He placed a gentle kiss upon my palm and then brought it to his heart.

I turned onto my side and my lips found his. I wanted to reassure him with my kisses. I put all my love into the kiss and willed it to travel down and heal his fragile soul. As our kisses heated up, threatening to reawaken the recently quenched passion, reality took hold and we both knew we had to get ready to leave the plane.

It was very difficult to leave the safety of his arms, especially with our futures now so unclear. After all we were both fugitives. Dimitri had still been under guard, though not in jail, when I escaped.

What will tomorrow bring? When can we be together like this again? Dimitri must have been feeling the same uncertainties, because he reached for me and pulled me back to him. "Roza, nothing can keep us apart anymore. Nothing. I promise."

I hugged him and nodded my head, afraid that if spoke or I thought about it too much, I might start to cry again. I reluctantly got out of the bed. Crossing the small room I found the closet.

Hanging inside was a sleeveless white silk designer dress from Dulce & Gabbana. It was beautiful and elegantly simple, and more expensive than my entire wardrobe combined. There was a glittering gold Jimmy Choo clutch and looking down I saw a box containing the most exquisite silver thong sandals adorned with small gold rosettes. They only had a one inch heel, which meant I wouldn't kill myself trying to walk in them.

"Oh my God! These are Manolo Blahnik's!" I squealed excitedly. Dimitri came over to see my clothes and get his own. He had a black Armani suit with a black tie and a white silk shirt that matched my dress. The shoes were black Italian leather loafers.

"Um. Does this stuff look like wedding attire to you?"

Dimitri gave everything a second glance with that new thought in his head. "It sure looks that way to me." He shrugged. "I wonder what Abe has up his sleeve?"