Chapter 9: Training

(Demetri's POV)

"What's on your mind?" Heidi asked as we lay in her bed.

"Nothing really." I replied moving my hand up and down her back. The truth was that I was thinking about Chloe. I don't know why I'm so curious about her. I got up and quickly dressed while Heidi watched me with curious eyes.

"I have to go train a lower guard member." Heidi watched me leave without saying anything. I tracked Chloe to the castle's main garden. I walked out onto a balcony that over looked the garden and looked around.

"S-Stop Riley." I heard Chloe's voice and looked down. She was lying on the ground while a guy was kneeling next to her; Chloe was squirming and kicking her legs as the guy tickled her.

"Say please." The guy, Riley, teased.

"P-Please." She said between laughs and he stopped. He helped her up and brushed grass out of her hair.

"That was mean," Chloe muttered and Riley laughed. Chloe played with her hair as they talked. She laughed and joked around with him and I wondered if he was the guy she was crushing on. For some reason that thought irritated me and my grip on the tiled railing tightened when the boy ran his fingers through her hair.

"Hay," Riley said, "since we're out her how about I teach you how to fight."

"I'm not a good fighter." She said and he sighed.

"And that concerns me," he said, "I know you're too kind to be a fighter, but you need to learn how to defend yourself."

"I know." Chloe muttered.

"You know," Riley smirked, "if you don't want to learn how to fight you can always become my mate and I can protect you." My teeth clenched together and the stone under my hands cracked. Chloe belong to me.

Since when did that happen? And since when am I possessive?

"Riley!" Chloe smiled and playfully smacked him on the arm, "you're such a flirt!"

"I know." Riley smiled then stepped closer to her. He started to tickle her again and she broke into a fit of giggles. I released my death hold on the railing and lightly jumped down into the garden.

"Am I interrupting something?" I asked walking up to them. They both stopped and looke dat me.

"No." Chloe said fixing her cloths.

"Riley is it?" I said looking at him.

"Yes sir." He replied.

"I need you to patrol the city." I said to get rid of him. He nodded and left me alone with Chloe.

"Time for training." I said and she bit her lip.

(Chloe's POV)

I stood in the small training room facing Demetri. He just stood there smirking and watching my every move.

"Well attack me Chloe." He said and just stared at him.

"How do I do that?" I asked feeling stupid. Suddenly he was in front of me. I took a step back tripping in the process. I fell backwards and landed on my back; Demetri appeared on top of me and he held my wrists level with my head.

"Round one goes to me Chloe," he said, "now tell me something about your childhood."

"I changed my mind," I muttered and he frowned; then his eyes sparkled with an idea. He leaned down to where his chest was lightly pressed to mine. He lightly brushed his lips against the base of my neck then moved up to whisper in my ear.

"You know Chloe," he whispered, "all I have to do is bite your neck. That will make you mine for forever; and in our world the women have to obey the men who mark them." He looked a little so I could see the smirk on his face.

"Yes," I replied after a minute, "but that only happens with mates."

"Well I don't have a mate," he replied, "and you don't either. I can smell your innocence so I can claim you if I want." I pursed my lips together feeling very embarrassed; I forgot that male vampires can smell a woman's virginity.

"If I want to learn how to fight," I replied, "I'll go to Riley. Now please let me up."

"We made a deal." He said sounding frustrated

"And I'm breaking the deal," I replied, "It's my life and I will tell who I want to about it." I bit my lip when Demetri closed his eyes; his teeth clenched together and he stopped moving. Before I could react I was being held bridal style and he ran down the hall. By the time I could react, Demetri had set me on my feet and we were standing by a door that had his name on it. He opened the door and pulled me inside then shut the door and locked it. Then he pulled me over to the couch by the fireplace and locked it.

"Sit," he said sternly while releasing me. I didn't argue, I quickly sat down not taking my eyes off him. Demetri ran his hand through his hair and closed his eyes. After a minute he breathed out deeply and looked at me.

"Chloe," he said sounding frustrated, "I helped you run away. I spent over half a million dollars on you, which got me in trouble with the ancients. All I ask is that you tell me about your childhood." I started to speak, but he stopped me by placing a hand over my mouth.

"In my time," he continued, "when a man helped a woman she was indebted to him. The majority of the time he would own her."

"This is the twenty first century." I said

"Which is why I've been lenient with you." He replied

"Why do you care so much?" I snapped, "why can't you just let to topic go?" I stood up and he grabbed my shoulders to keep me in place.

"Because I hate being left in the dark." He said

"We'll you're going to have to get used to it." I said moving out of his hold. When I tried to step around him, he wrapped and arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him. He sat on the couch and pulled me down to where I was sitting on his lap. He then wrapped both arms around me to hold me in place.

"Was your childhood really that bad?" he asked when I looked at him.

"It wasn't great." I replied and he sighed.

"You are the most infuriating woman I've ever met."

"Thank you." I replied and he chuckled.

"Here's the deal," he said tightening his hold on me, "we're going to sit here until you tell me something about your child hood. I'm not letting you leave until you tell me something." I huffed and crossed my arms. Demetri leaned back into the couch and after a while I rested my head on his chest. We sat in silence for a very long time and it became kind of uncomfortable.

At some point, Demetri moved one of his hands to my neck and absently stroked the base of my neck with his thumb. I started to fiddle with a button on his jacket refusing to speak. When I looked up at him through my lashes his eyes were closed and he looked like he was focusing on something; my guess was tracking that Raven girl.

"My parents died in a car accident when I was five." I finally said giving in. Demetri shifted a little but didn't open his eyes and his hold on me didn't loosen up. I bit my lip and after a minute I continued. I told him about how a truck hit my parent's car due to the heavy rain storm. Before I knew it, I had told him about my life up to the point when I met him. When I was done it felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders.

I watched Demetri, who hasn't moved or opened his eyes since I started talking. After a few more minutes he opened his eyes and I noticed that they were pitch black. I wondered how long it's been since he's fed.

"How do you feel?" he asked and I looked down at my hands.

"Better I guess." I replied and he smiled looking a little smug; I huffed as a response.

"Can I leave now?" I asked and he sighed.

Demetri walked me out of Aro's wing since I wasn't allowed to be here. Before I could walk off to my room, he grabbed my wrist.

"One more question." He said and I suppressed an annoyed sigh.

"What?"

"Is that boy Riley the person you're crushing on?" I look at him and blinked a couple times before bursting into laughter.

"Me? Crushing on Riley?" I said between laughs, "He's like a brother to me." I walked away still laughing. When I reached my room, I wondered why he would ask that.

(Demetri's POV)

I watched Chloe walk away laughing. It's been a long time since I've felt like an idiot. I walked away and went outside to get some fresh air. My throat was burning, but it wasn't form thirst. After a while of holding Chloe in my lap, I closed my eyes and tried to locate Raven. During that time Chloe's lilac scent surrounded me. As I inhaled her scent, my mouth filled with venom and my throat started to burn. By the time she spoke, my throat was on fire and I was positive my eyes were pitch black. During my years, I've never come across a person whose scent affected me that much.

I sat on a bench in the main garden. As the wind blew around me, the burn in my throat slowly faded. I was leaning forward resting an arm across my legs while I pinched the bridge of my nose with the others.

"Are you alright dude?" Felix asked walking up to me.

"No," I replied honestly. I sighed standing up and looked at him, "let's go hunting, I don't want to talk about it here."

The fire in my throat vanished as I swallowed the warm blood from a girl. Felix and I had traveled to a neighboring town and found two girls wondering around right outside of town. I drank slowly feeling greatly relieved that the burn in my throat was fading away.

"Damn dude," Felix said when I dropped the dead girl, "I don't think I've ever seen you that desperate for blood."

"My throat hasn't burned that bad since I was a newborn." I said after we cleaned up our mess.

"What caused it?" he asked as we walked back towards Volterra.

"I think it was Chloe." I admitted.

"That girl from the lower guard?" he asked confused, "since when have you been hanging around with her?"

I shrugged, "I've just been trying to figure her out."

"Oh, and what caused this curiosity?" he asked.

"That's what I'd like to know." I muttered.

When I walked into my room, Chloe's scent hit me instantly. I swallowed the venom that pooled in my mouth and felt my eyes darken a shade.

"So who's the person this scent belongs to?" Heidi's voice said and I jumped surprised. She was sitting on my bed smirking in amusement.

"Nobody really," I replied locking my door, "just a lower guard member that I've been curious about." Heidi smiled brightly.

"Curious because you like her?" she asked hopeful.

"No," I replied feeling the burn in my throat come back. Heidi pouted in disappointment and I rolled my eyes. I walked over to my bed and fell onto my back next to Heidi.

"Any luck finding Raven?" she asked.

"No," I replied annoyed and she sighed. We were silent for a few minutes and eventually Heidi straddled my waist.

"Your eyes are pitch black." She stated and I shrugged not wanting to tell her why. I pulled her down to me and tried to block out Chloe's scent by inhaling Heidi's cinnamon scent.

I laid on top of Heidi as we came down from our highs. I kissed and nibbled her neck while she played with my short hair. As I licked her neck the image of Chloe beneath me in the training room came to mind.

"You weren't as enthusiastic as usual." Heidi stated pulling me from my thoughts. I sighed and rolled off of her

"I just have a lot on my mind." I said and she moved on top of me.

"Is it because of that lower guard girl?" she asked

"No." I lied

"You're lying." She said and I sighed.

"May be a little." I admitted, "but it's not because I like her."

"Demetri," Heidi said standing up while getting dressed, "I think this should be the last time we do our 'friends with benefits.'" I looked at her after getting dressed a little confused.

"Why?"

"Well for one it's preventing you from finding a mate." She started, "two: I'm not a fool and I know that during our time in bed you weren't thinking about me."

"Yes I was." I lied

"No you weren't," she replied rolling her eyes, "I could tell. You were thinking about that girl. My bet is you were wishing I was her." I stared at her dumbfounded. I couldn't speak because I was at a loss for words. Why? Because Heidi was spot on; at some points in time I would wonder what I would do if Chloe was in Heidi's place.

"I- that's just absurd." I said and she rolled her eyes.

"But true." Heidi walked over to me and kissed me on the cheek, "I want you to be happy Demetri and I'm not the person who's going to make you feel that way."

"I am happy." I lied again

Heidi smirked, "the times you thought about that girl; you were a lot more active. Maybe you should start spending more time with her and less time with me." Heidi left my room while I stood there shocked.

So I thought Chloe was attractive, but that didn't mean anything; did it?

Author's Note:

I really want to get past the VSA part of this story so next chapter is going to be up to the end of VSA. It will be up to Alec and Raven's wedding and there might be some action with Chloe and Demetri :)

Review please :)