Authors Note:

Disclaimer: Mature scenes are placed in this chapter.

I also wanted to acknowledge a Guest review for the last chapter. I should have noted that the events of the previous two chapters overlap. The talk with Abe was written during Chapter 5 (Crimes) and in Rose's POV but I skipped over it in Chapter 6 (Conviction) with Dimitri's POV.

I did go back to the chapter and edit it slightly, fixing where it was skipped completely and added in snippets to acknowledge the conversation. I did not mix up any chapters; I simply overlapped them.

- RCap


Rose.

I was sprawled out naked underneath him. Feeling the slight pressure of his heavy body against mine as he trailed soft kisses along my jaw and then down my neck.

I arched my back, trying to touch more of him, brushing my hands over the bulging biceps that were placed either side of me, the muscles straining to keep his body from crushing mine.

I let my nails dig into the flesh, almost hard enough to draw blood. A low growl emitted from deep within him and vibrated through me. I gasped at the feeling and shifted so that I began trailing my hands down the warm tattooed flesh of his chest.

With lightning fast speed, he shifted back onto his knees, his thighs moving under my own and hitching my hips up and legs apart slightly. He snatched my wrists and captured them so that they were stilled above my head.

"It's my turn, Roza," he purred as his face came back into my vision.

His dark hair creating a veil around us as his lips brushed delicately over my cheekbone. I shivered at the contact and attempted to ground my hips into his own.

"Stay still Roza"

"Or what" I moaned provocatively as his lips restarted their track down my jaw.

"Otherwise I might have to restrain you," he growled against my neck, nibbling at the skin.

I pooled with heat at his words. The knot in my stomach was only getting tighter as he spoke and I tried to rub my thighs together in an attempt to create some sort of friction. He moved his thighs higher, pushing my legs even further apart and dispelling any possibility of relieving the building pressure.

"Please Dimitri" I moaned.

His lips began working their way over my collarbone and then into the valley of my breasts, placing a kiss in the center of my sternum but then bypassing my breasts all together.

Why? I wasn't sure. My generously sized breasts were the most enticing part of my body in my own opinion; it frustrated me that he didn't show them any attention.

But he kept moving downwards until he reached the point where my ribcage ended, looking up briefly before speaking.

"No touching Roza. If you do, I'll tie them up. Do you understand?"

I nodded, before letting my head hitting the pillow underneath me roughly.

"Tell me, Roza. Tell me you understand."

"I understand," I whimpered.

Releasing my wrists from his confines, his large hands began slowly moving down my forearms, touching every bit of skin he could. They continued down my arms and applied pressure as they wrapped around my ribs, his thumbs brushing over my nipples and causing me to buck up again in defiance.

It mustn't have been defiant enough. Dimitri didn't stop nor restrain me; he only continued his journey further down. When he hands were around the curve of my waist, his lips returned to the skin of my flat stomach. Placing descending kisses over the area and then further down to my abdomen.

The knot returned with a hungry fire as his hands disappeared behind between my inner thighs. His lips then trailing where his hands left. I pushed my head further back into the pillow and gripped the fabric of the sheets beside me tightly. God, he was driving me insane. The feel of his light stubble against the inside of my thighs was pleasurably uncomfortable but was alighting my desire in a rough way.

He continued to pepper my inner thighs with kisses, coming closer and closer until he made contact with my clit.

I gasped at the contact as the fire began to run through me furiously. For such a tough man, his kisses were soft and delicate. His tongue giving just the right amount of pressure to begin pushing me closer to the edge.

I had been so drunk on the pleasure that came with his lips that I didn't realize just how aroused I was.

"Do you know how good you taste Roza" Dimitri murmured as he lifted his head slightly.

I didn't have a chance to process nor answer his words before his lips had returned to me, more furious and electrifying than before. I bucked without control and he forced me back down roughly with one arm, leaving his splayed-out hand on my stomach in case I tried it again.

I gripped the sheets so tightly that I was scared I would rip them and as the familiar feeling in my abdomen began to creep in, my breathless gasps becoming loud moans.

Spots danced behind my eyes and sparks of ecstasy began flowing through my body as my orgasm loomed over me. My body wracking with pleasure as he-

I jerked upright in my bed, my breath coming out ragged and uneven. I brought my hand up to my chest, feeling the erratic pumping that was surely too fast to be healthy. I looked beside me, only to find the bed empty, the silk sheets cold and untampered with.

It had all been a dream.

I scrubbed my face harshly in my hands as I sighed, taking some deep breaths, and attempting to bring my heart rate and breathing under control.

The same pulsating from my dream was still present while awake, and I investigated the offending area. My fingers brushing up against my core and making me groan in frustration as I found the area slick and warm. Pulling on my silk robe, I tugged it tight and walked through the silent apartment and towards the bathroom.

I glanced at the clock placed above the fireplace and groaned again. For fucks sake, Three-thirty.

I slipped into the bathroom, flicked on the light, and stared at my reflection. My brown eyes were hung with dark circles from my interrupted sleep and my cheeks slightly puffy and red. I collected my hair behind my head and spun it, creating a twist and clamping the long tresses back. I splashed my face with water, gasping when the coldness attacked the heat of my cheeks. I also doused a cloth in warmer water and cleaned myself up.

These dreams were becoming a nuisance. They were becoming dreams that could make even the most accomplished working girl blush. I looked up and frowned at my reflection, annoyed at myself for getting so caught up in a man and letting him have control over my dreams.

I padded out of the bathroom and through the sitting area, making a beeline for the kitchen. I noticed Adrian's coat hanging over one of the dining chairs and scowled.

It had been a week since I told him that his and Sydney's secret wasn't so secret anymore, and they had taken that as the go-ahead to reveal their relationship.

Don't get me wrong, I was happy for them. But their newfound confidence as a couple was interrupting my own sex life.

Most morning this past week I woke up next to Dimitri, whether it was here or as of the past couple of days, his own apartment. We were still yet to actually have sex, and if the dreams I was having were any indication, it was fucking frustrating.

Anytime we got close, something interrupted us. Whether it was Sydney and Adrian making too much noise or as of most recently, a pair of drunk Russians.

If I weren't so sexually frustrated I would have found it all funny. But having two massive Russians burst into Dimitri's room when you have little to no clothing on becomes irritating, especially after the first three times. Of course, Ivan and Anton wouldn't only just barge through the door and interrupt us, but they would also yell at each other in Russian, actually scream is a probably a better word honestly. But the screaming would echo throughout the entire apartment and make any form of intimacy impossible.

I ran a glass under the cold-water tap before chugging the water greedily, the water easing some of the burn that was residing in my throat.

"What are you doing up Baby Vamp?"

I jumped and spun around to face the owner of the tired voice, unexcitedly finding a topless Adrian standing in my kitchen. His hair was messy and pointing in different directions and the moonlight coming through the open window gleamed off his taut chest. If I didn't see him as an older brother I would have found his half-nakedness extremely distracting and enticing.

"I had a…nightmare," I muttered, turning back towards the sink, and topped off my glass once again. I polished off the water and left the empty glass in the sink.

"Belikov not here to save you?" he chuckled and I smiled softly, "Where is he anyway? Doesn't he normally stay the night?"

I turned to face him, leaning back against the bench, and crossing my arms over my stomach protectively, "Yeah normally. It's Anton's birthday but so they are all out celebrating"

"How much trouble can six cocky Russians get into anyway?" Adrian scoffed, resting his hip against the counter opposite me.

I wasn't worried about the boys or Dimitri but Adrian's quip unsettled something in me. A surreal sense of envy against the women that would most likely be feigning for their attention, or more importantly, Dimitri's.

"Hopefully none…and they aren't cocky," I muttered looking at my feet.

"I'm just messing with you Baby Vamp" he chuckled before pushing away from the counter, "Come on let's get you into bed"

I smiled and followed him out of the kitchen, but as we passed the near the front door a monstrous bang of someone hitting the front door erupted, causing me to yelp and jump back. I looked up at Adrian who was wide-eyed and stunned as he stared at the door.

The banging continued, but within seconds whoever was behind the door began turning the knob.

"Adrian…" I whispered, "…did you and Sydney lock the door when you got home?"

My hands were beginning to shake and I could feel my heart starting to speed up.

"I-I don't remember Rose," he whispered.

We were both frozen in shock and even fear as the door clicked, and whoever was behind it began pushing it open.

Well, that answered my question. Definitely not locked.

My heart was thundering so loudly and violently I was afraid it would break through its bone cage, and the sound of my blood pumping in my ears was so loud that it was throwing me off. I tensed myself, ready to lunge at whoever was behind the door, hoping to catch them off guard.

But the heavily accented voice slurring my name stopped me dead in my tracks.

"Roza…"

Dimitri?

"You should really lock your door milaya" Dimitri muttered to himself as he stumbled into the apartment.

The guy barely fit through the doorframe on any normal day and his current drunken state only seemed to make it immensely more difficult for him.

A nervous laugh escaped my lips. He hadn't even noticed Adrian and I standing only a few steps away from him yet. My laugh alerted him of our presence and his head snapped up violently, a hint of anxiety in those big brown eyes of his, once he realized it was us they softened, and his lips broke out into a seductive smile.

"Roza, milaya…" he slurred before beginning to ramble in Russian, his words making no sense to either Adrian or myself.

I laughed again and walked towards him, wrapping an arm around his waist, and kicking the door closed with my foot. I shifted slightly so that I could lock the door, but Dimitri slumped slightly in my arms, causing me to grunt in surprise.

Standing across from me Adrian laughed loudly, doubling over, and holding his stomach. "Hey, chuckles! Could you help me out here?" I hissed while Dimitri's bulking frame threatened to crush me.

Adrian straightened himself out and closed the distance between us, threading his arm around the other side of Dimitri's waist like I had and moving under his shoulder. The weight immediately lessened and I was able to lock the door and secure the chain, but it was still going to take work to get him into bed.

"Couch?" Adrian suggested.

"He's too big for it," I said without a second thought, plus I think he would sleep better in a proper bed. "Come one, let's get him into bed."

Adrian and I shuffled along the hallway, finding Sydney standing in the doorframe of her room watching us with an amused smile on her face and her arms crossed over her chest.

"Don't even start Syd," I warned. She made a locking motion in front of her lips but continued to grin widely.

Once in front of my bed, Dimitri ungracefully fell back onto the mattress with a thud. "I think I got it from here. Thanks, Adrian"

"Any time, just make sure you get some sleep as well yeah?" Adrian grinned.

"Yeah, I will."

Adrian shut the door behind him and I began taking off Dimitri's shoes. First untying them before peeling them off. That was the only easy part of undressing him. His pants were considerably worse. With his legs dangling off the side of the bed, I had to roll him from side to side, just so I could get the damn slacks off his hips.

I unbuttoned his shirt softly and heard my breathing catch at the sight of his bare chest. I was no stranger to it now, but it never ceased to leave me breathless. I had to resist the urge to run my hands over his chest and then his well-defined abdomen.

I hadn't asked him what his other tattoos meant. I knew they would be deeply personal and hold massive keys into his past, but there was no way I would push him to open up about that stuff. I hadn't even delved into the darker depths of when I lived in Turkey. He didn't know about my mother nor what had happened to her, so I wasn't going to push for his either.

I felt like I had achieved something when I finally had him undressed. The tanned god sprawled over almost the entirety of my mattress, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Since I first met Dimitri at the bar last week, I knew there was an immediate spark and as the week went on that spark had turned into an all-out blaze. There wasn't just lust between us, but something different.

Would it be crazy to say love? I didn't know if the feeling was mutual, but I was feeling it. Looking down at him I smiled softly to myself. Yeah, I did love him.

I ended up having to stand on top of my mattress just so I was able to heave him higher up in the bed and then under the sheets. It could have been considered a work out as I almost broke out in a sweat.

He began mumbling in Russian again. His voice low and husky as the words filled my ears. I loved hearing him speak Russian, I couldn't understand a single word that left his lips, but damn it sounded good.

"Roza…ya lyublyu tebya" he murmured.

I froze at the words. They sounded different than his incoherent ramblings, though he still murmured the words, I heard them clearly and he said them with such certainty. Ya lyublyu tebya. I'd have to remember that and ask him what it meant in the morning. For now, though, it could wait.

I pulled up the sheets and draped them over his body to block out the January cold and quickly patted out into the kitchen to get a glass of water for him. I had a feeling he wouldn't be feeling too good when he eventually woke up.

I placed the glass on the bedside table on his side and covered the naked window with its curtain. I may like the sun in the morning, but I doubted his eyes would agree with it.

I got back into bed, snuggling down in the silk sheets, and let sleep take over me. Just before I was lost in the dark abyss, I felt a strong arm wrap around my waist and begin pulling me closer to them until I was pressed fully up against a warm chest.

He sighed into the crook of my neck, once again repeating the words that had left his lips moments before.


I was jolted awake by the faint mutterings in another language. I spun myself around and saw Dimitri lying back on his pillow, his large hands covering his face as he muttered into them. I could see the faint tinge of sunlight trying to peek through the curtains and smiled.

"Good morning" I giggled.

"Did I wake you last night?" Dimitri asked eventually, his voice was thick with his accent.

"I was already awake when you barged through my front door" I laughed softly, "Adrian and I were already standing in the sitting room"

"What were you doing up?" he asked, peeking slightly through the gap in his fingers.

"Nightmares" I lied while almost instinctively rubbing my thighs together.

Dimitri seemed to notice the disturbance under the sheets and removed the hands covering his face, his gaze flicking momentarily down to my lower body. A smirk began appearing on his lips once he returned to my eyes and he shuffled closer.

"Nightmares huh?" he toyed as he ran a finger over my hip. Even through the sheets, I could still feel the warmth the single touch brought.

"Yep" I managed to say, but I doubt it sounded convincing.

He inched closer to me so that our bodies were pressed up against each other fully, "I'm sorry I couldn't be there to help" he growled softly, hinting heavily that he knew exactly what kind of dream I had had.

"Don't be…" I said breathlessly. I could feel my heart rate speeding up again, the ever-present pounding in my lower abdomen making itself known once again.

Without proper warning his lips were on mine, his tongue running softly over my bottom lip looking for permission. I yielded and opened my mouth to him as our lips moved with perfect synchronicity. I felt his hand wrap itself in the hair at the back of my neck, using the position to pull me closer as the other trailed down and cupped the back of my thigh.

I wasn't any gentler with him, one of my hands tangling itself in his hair much like his own was doing while the other danced down his chest, my nails scratching the skin slightly.

But despite the passionate kiss, my own thoughts were beginning to niggle through and question what he had said last night. The words seemed affectionate but there was something about Dimitri speaking Russian that made every word he said sound inviting. He could have been condemning me to death and it would still arouse me in places it shouldn't.

"Dimitri" I mumbled against his lips since he was more awake now.

Fuck, I was really going to ruin this moment.

"Mm?" he hummed.

"What does 'ya lyublyu tebya' mean?" I know I probably butchered the pronunciation, but guessing by the way his entire body froze, I got it close enough for him to know.

"I said that?" he asked, his voice a little croaky.

I nodded, "Multiple times actually."

He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against mine, tiny strains appearing around his eyes like he was trying to decide whether to tell me the translation or not. Maybe it was a bad thing, maybe it was something that he couldn't tell me to my face while sober and now he would have to.

He released my leg and hair, bringing both his hands up to take my cheeks in his palms and pressed a soft kiss to my lips. He leaned out ever so slightly so that his lips were only brushing mine as he spoke.

"It means 'I love you' milaya" he breathed.

"It what?" I squeaked.

He had been telling me he loved me last night while I had been thinking the same thing about him. After all my doubt that he was just simply infatuated with me, I had been proven wrong, he did love me.

"It probably seems really early but I can't stop myself from feeling it. I just can't, I-"

I cut off the beginning of his rambling, placing two fingers over his lips in an attempt to hush him. He yielded and stopped speaking. I could see fear dancing in his eyes. A fear that I wouldn't return his love and be repulsed by his claim. He watched my eyes with caution as he continued to cup my cheeks. Guess there is no better time to tell him than now.

"I love you too Dimitri" I breathed, barely getting out his name before his lips came crashing against mine.

One of his hands left my cheek and began running back down my side. Over my hip it went and down the back of my thigh, once he reached behind my knee he pulled upwards and making my leg wrap around his hip.

The familiar knot from my dream returned with equal passion as before.

I tensed slightly, waiting for something to interrupt us, and listened for any activity in the apartment and was met with dead silence.

"What?" Dimitri mumbled between kisses, sensing my stillness.

I waited a couple more seconds almost expecting the moment to be interrupted. "Nothing" I finally breathed before wrapping my hand further into his hair and pulling him closer.

He shifted me under him and moved from my lips to my jaw, trailing soft but eager kisses across my jaw until he reached the sweet spot behind my ear. I arched my back in agreement, ensuring that our chests were pressed tightly against the other and that I could feel the disturbance further below.

I ground my hips into the cotton covered bulge, eliciting a throaty growl from Dimitri much like in my dream. Thinking of the dream only seemed to spur me on further and I unconsciously began imitating the same actions as I had in the dream; removing my hands from his hair and dragging my nails over his chest. Faint red scratches followed my fingertips as they mixed with the black ink.

"Roza, don't start something you can't finish" Dimitri growled as he looked up from the crook of my neck.

I could see the muscles in his arms starting to tremor with anticipation and the straining in his voice told me that he was one touch away from snapping.

"Who said I don't intend to finish this" I whispered into his ear before taking his lobe between my teeth and giving it a teething bite.

Dimitri said something in Russian that sounded an awful lot like a swear word as he returned his lips to my body. Any softness had now been chucked out of the window as he attacked the skin with bruising kisses.

I could feel him between my legs and I was starting to get impatient. As unromantic as it sounded, I just wanted him to hurry up so I reached down and began tugging at the waistband of his underwear. I smiled triumphantly when I felt him become free of the cotton bonds and he inched closer to my core.

Suddenly there was a soft rapping that the door followed by Lissa's cautious voice, "Uh…Rose?

No. Fucking. Way.

"Go away, Lissa!" I shot back.

There was no way I was getting this close to sex with Dimitri and then getting interrupted. Enough is enough, the world could be ending for all I cared, but I was not leaving this bed.

"Uhm…Pavel is here to see you" she said softly, her voice muffled by the wooden door.

Maybe I was in hell and my eternal torment would be interruptions in my sex life. That way I could get as close as I wanted, but never get the follow through.

Dimitri looked down at me with a worried look on his face. "Ignore them," I said strongly, "They will go away…eventually."

Dimitri gave one more fleeting look at the door before gazing back at me. His eyes still held uncertainty of my plan in ignoring them, so I pulled him back down to my lips, kissing him with urgency and fire as I guided my hips back towards his.

His desire picked back up once I felt his tip begin to sink into me. His mouth came down harshly on mine and he snaked his arm around my waist, and with every inch he pulled me closer I felt him begin to fill me up. Whatever pain I would experience from his overachieving size being outweighed purely by my arousal and excitement.

"He said if you don't come out…he's coming in."

Fuck that.

Dimitri and I tore our lips apart, both sharing fearful glances to each other. I shoved him back before scrambling out from underneath him and jumping out of bed with a thud. The entire scene was like a couple of teenagers about to be caught together, again, I would have found it funny if I wasn't so sexually frustrated.

I wrapped myself up in my floor length robe and waited for Dimitri to right himself before heading for the door. The hallway was clear but I could hear Pavel talking from the sitting room and the strong smell of coffee hanging in the air. Everyone was up and about.

We padded into the room like we had been caught red-handed as Pavel eyed the both of us up and down.

"They have eyes on Dimitri" he grunted from the couch.

So much for a 'good morning' or 'how are you'.

"What do you mean they have eyes on him?" I asked worriedly. I looked beside me to Dimitri who had a distant look on his face.

"It means Rosemarie, that someone-" Pavel began but was interrupted by Dimitri.

"-is keeping tabs on me. Right?" he questioned, "Following me around and seeing where I go?"

Pavel nodded, "They probably have someone sat out by your apartment"

"Or in" Adrian grunted while sitting down on a dining room chair with his arms crossed.

"That's ridiculous Adrian, I doubt they would-" I started but Dimitri was getting into a habit of cutting us off.

"Adrian's right milaya."

I looked up at him, my blood running cold at the look on his face, "The other week it felt like someone was in my apartment. I got out of there because I wasn't sure and I didn't have my gun on me. But I was pretty certain someone was hiding in there"

I was shocked. Why hadn't he told me this? Who knows what kind of information they had gathered on Dimitri this past week. Was he in danger? Was I in danger now too?

"So what do we do?" I stammered out.

"Nothing. Mason doesn't know who is out there doing Stan's dirty work, but he's suspicious of only Dimitri"

"So I back off and leave operations to the boys, and while they are busy waiting for me to slip up everything continues to run smoothly in the background."

It was kind of hot watching Dimitri create plans and delegate. He was a natural born leader and despite the danger of having Stan Alto on his case, he didn't seem fazed by it at all. In the time that I had known Dimitri I had noticed that he listened more than he spoke, but on the occasions that he did speak, it was with authority and strength, the stuff people listened to.

"Is it safe for him to even keep coming to the club?" I asked Pavel.

"He needs to keep up appearances. Mason introduced him as your boyfriend and what boyfriend doesn't come and see his lady?"

"We need to keep up appearances" Dimitri grunted, "We have the upper hand now because of Mason so we need to use it"

"How do we use that advantage though Comrade? There are only so many things we can do to throw them off the trail"

Dimitri and Pavel looked at each other and shared a scowl. It was a good idea but it had holes. We couldn't lead the American Mob on a wild goose chase just to throw them off Dimitri's scent.

"Why don't you do nothing?" Sydney piped up from behind Adrian. Her voice soft and wavering as if we would snap at her for interrupting.

And I was about to snap. Not for her interrupting but for her idea. We couldn't sit back and do nothing and wait for Stan to come down on us. Stan was a nasty piece of work who seemed to irk all the guys that come over from Russia. He had been hanging around more than usual this past week and now I knew it was because of Dimitri. I opened my mouth to argue with her but Pavel interjected before I could utter a single word.

"Hold on a minute Rose," he said, holding up a hand. I scowled and crossed my arms over my chest.

"What did you have in mind?" he went on while resting his elbows on his knees and threading his fingers together.

"Well…why don't you just bore them until they give up?"

"Instead of leading them in the wrong direction, just lead them nowhere?" Dimitri muttered.

"Exactly" she sighed triumphantly, "a boring routine of sitting in the club and seeing Rose"

"Are you saying I'm boring?" I countered playfully.

Despite my playfulness, Sydney had thought up a pretty good idea. The guys that Mason worked with were notorious for getting restless and abandoning jobs. All we had to do was bore them with a mundane routine. How much fun could watching a Russian sit in a booth at a club be?


The answer was not a lot.

Later that night, when the club was opened I had noticed that some of the first patrons inside were the men that Mason worked with, but one man, in particular, made me shiver. In the past five years, I had seen almost every single Mafia figure in Chicago come through those main doors and none of them creeped me out more than Isaiah did.

He was a lackey that had no morals or restraint, and judging by the way he was staring at Dimitri from across the room, he was the one Stan had enlisted to watch him.

Throughout the night I had watched Isaiah shadow Dimitri around the club, linger near him when he went up to the bar, and attempt to listen in on his conversations with the other Bratva members. But towards the end of the night, I could see the boredom begin to take its toll on him.

He stopped watching him like a hawk and began watching the dancers instead, he hadn't even realized when Dimitri left his booth completely to come backstage. It was pathetic honestly, that he was the one they entrusted to watch a potential threat.

I had been backstage, watching through the side curtain as Stan yelled at the black haired moron for losing Dimitri, when Dimitri himself came up behind me, hugging my waist from behind.

"Thought I could sneak away," he murmured into my ear. The sound of his accent and the feel of his hot breath on my neck made my entire body tingle with anticipation.

"He's looking for you now" I breathed out shakily as I gripped his hands tighter.

Dimitri peeked around me and out of the parting in the curtain to see what I had mentioned. And sure enough, Isaiah was glancing around the room nervously. If he didn't spot Dimitri soon, Stan would snap.

I laughed loudly at the scene. It was childish and so badly executed that it was just funny to me. I spun in his hands and pressed a soft kiss to lips. He reciprocated the kiss with an eager softness that made me melt in his arms.

"Rose I need your help with my corset!" Lissa yelled from her dressing table.

I still needed to get changed for the dance myself and I knew this was going to be a good one.

"Get back to your table Comrade, you aren't gonna want to miss this dance" I smirked as his eyes were still darkened with lust.

I reached up on my tippy toes and pressed another soft kiss to his lips, "Now go," I ordered, pushing him back playfully as he released his hold on me.

He sighed with a playful grin on his face. I could tell he was weighing up whether or not to disobey my instruction as he brushed his hand roughly through his hair, tugging it tightly for a second at the back of his head.

I placed my hands on my hips and cocked them to one side; he took the hint immediately and raised his palms up in surrender before disappearing through the doors that lead back into the theatre. I spun on the balls of my feet and patted over to Lissa so that I could help her tie the back of her corset before getting my own on.

Lissa, Avery, and I had been working on this performance for just under a week now. Avery had introduced us to the song and desperately wanted a chance to sing it. With Tasha's help, we were able to choreograph a sultry and teasing performance that was steamier than almost all our other ones.

The band had been set up on the main stage rather than on the section adjacent to it during the shows recess. It had been a feat to move all the instruments over and we required the help of most of the backstage crew and a couple of the Russians.

"Two minutes to curtain!" Tasha yelled out into the backstage area, inciting a mini panic behind the curtain.

Lissa and I hurried to the main stage, dodging the assorted instruments that were laid out in front of us before we came to the black grand piano center stage.

I took my place on the top board of the piano, practically sprawling out while Lissa situated herself standing next to me. Pushing her arms out against the piano and relaxing her left knee slightly, it created a perfect dip in her lower back and pushed out her rear.

"You ready kitten?" Joseph the pianist asked as he took his seat behind the keys.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I grinned back excitedly with a wink.

Arching my back into position, I took one more sparing glance at Lissa who looked as equally excited as I did before focusing back on the drawn curtain. The band began the melody softly, getting louder only as the curtains were drawn.

Showtime.


Author's Note:

Please don't hate me for changing Adrian's nickname for Rose!

I thought 'Baby Vamp' was a very worthy replacement though, both because it was used during the 1920's and the similarities it has to the original pet name (Little=Baby / Dhampir=Vamp).

Now that some threats are being introduced, we have a couple more chapters of fluff before the story begins to take shape and reveal its climaxes.

-RCap