Ok guys I want to thank everyone for the awesome reviews, and no I won't delete the story, and I do write because I love to write, but it is still nice to know you story in appreciated.

Do you think Authors continue to write the same series if they don't sell enough books in that series? No. They have to have feedback, and readers to continue writing also. It's just how things are done.

So please do not take offense to my comment, I just had to know that people actually like the story, if not then I would have pursued other stories!:)

Once again thank you to all of those who reviewed!

Chapter Ten

His instincts went nuts, making him want to fight to make her stay in his bed. But screw that stupid, primeval core of him. He needed to go do his job. He needed to go out and find that one particular lesser and slaughter the fucker for her. That was what he had to do.

D headed for the closet, pulled on a shirt, and armed up. As he grabbed for his chest holster, he considered asking her for a description of the slayer who'd taken her. Except he didn't want to traumatize her…No, he would get Adrian to ask, because the brother would handle that kind of thing well. When she was returned to her family tonight, he would have Adrian talk to her then.

"I'm heading out," D said as he buckled the leather dagger holder across his ribs. "You want me to have Daniel bring you good before you go?"

When there was no answer, he looked around the doorjamb. She was one her side, watching him.

Another wave of heavy-handed instinct pounded through him.

He wanted to see her eat. After the sex, after he came inside of her, he wanted to have her eat food he'd brought her, and he wanted her take the stuff from his hand. Hell, he wanted to go out and kill something for her, bring the meat back, cook it himself, and feed her until she was full. Then he wanted to lie beside her with a dagger in his hand, protecting her as she slept.

He ducked back into the closet. Man, he was going crazy. Straight-up loco.

"I'll have him bring you something," he said.

He checked the blades on his two black daggers, testing them on the inside of his forearm, slicing into his skin. As the pain tingled into brain, he stared at the puncture marks Rose had left on his wrist.

Shaking himself back into focus, he put his gun holster around his hips and ran through his twin SIG Sauer's. Both nine-millimeters had full bullet loads, and there were another two clips hollow tips on the belt. He slipped a throwing knife into a buckle at the small of his back and made sure he had some hira shuriken with him. Boots were next. Light windbreaker to cover the portable arsenal was last.

When he came out, Rose was still looking up at him from the bed. Her eyes were so dark. Dark as the midnight sky. Dark as—

"Dimitri?"

He fought the urge to smack himself. "Yeah?"

"Am I ugly to you?" As he recoiled, she put her hands over her face. "Never mind."

While she hid from him, he thought of the very first moment he'd seen her, back when she'd surprised him in the gym so many weeks ago. She'd astounded him then, struck him dead-stupid in his boots, and she still had that effect on his brain. It was like he had an off switch that only she had the remote to.

He cleared his throat. "You are as you have always been to me."

He turned away, only to hear a sob. Then another. And another.

He looked over his shoulder. "Rose…holy hell…"

"I'm sorry," she said into her palms. "I'm s-sorry. Just go. I'm f-fine…I'm sorry, I'm fine."

As he went over and sat on the edge of the bed, he wished he had the gift of words. "ou've got nothing to be sorry for."

"I've invaded you room, your b-bed. Forced you to sleep next to me. M-made you give me you vein. I'm so…sorry." She took a deep breath and collected herself, but even still her despair lingered, carrying the earthy scent of raindrops on a hot sidewalk. "I know I should leave here, I know you don't want me here, but I just need…I can't go to my house. The lesser took me from there, so I can't stand the idea of going back. And I don't want to be with my family. They won't understand what's going on for me right now, and I don't have the energy to explain. I just need some time, I need some way to get what is in my head out of it, but I can't be alone. Even though I don't want to see anyone except…"

As she petered out, he said, "You stay here for as long as you want."

She started sobbing again. Damn it. That was the wrong thing to say.

"Rose…I…" What was he supposed to do?

Reach out to her, asshole. Take her hand, you piece of shit.

He couldn't do it. "You want me to move out? Give you some space?"

More crying, somewhere in the middle of which she mumbled, "I need you."

God, if he heard that right, he pitied her.

"Rose stop crying. Stop crying and look at me." Eventually she took a deep breath and wiped her face. When he was sure he had her attention, he said, "You don't worry about anything. You're staying here as long as you want to. Are we clear?"

She just stared at him.

"Nod for me, so I know you heard that." When she did, he stood up. "And I'm the last thing you need. so you just drop that bullshit right now."

"But I—"

He headed for the door. "I'll be back before dawn. Daniel knows how to find me—er, all of us."

After leaving her, D strode down the corridor of statues, hung a loui, and shot past Abe's study and the grand staircase. Three doors down he knocked. No answer. He knocked again.

He headed downstairs and found what he was looking for in the kitchen.

Lissa, Christian's female, was peeling potatoes. A lot of potatoes. Like, and army load of them. Her green eyes lifted and her paring knife stilled on an Idaho golden. She glanced around, as if figuring he must be looking for someone else. Or maybe she just hoped she wasn't alone with him.

"Could you put this off for a while?" D said, nodding at the pile.

"um, sure. Christian can always eat something else. Besides, Daniel in having a conniption that I was going to cook, anyway. What…ah, what do you need?"

"Not me. Rose. She could use a friend right now."

Lissa put the knife and the half-naked potato down. "I'm so anxious to see her."

"She's in my room." D pivoted around, already thinking about which alleys to hit downtown.

"Dimitri?"

He stopped with his hand on the butler's door. "What."

"You're taking very good care of her."

He thought of the blood he'd let her swallow. And the urge to orgasm in her body.

"Not really," he said over his shoulder.

~~BDBHVA~~

Rose woke up hours later to a soft scraping sound. She glanced over to a window and watched as its steel shutter came down. Dawn must be close.

Anxiety tingled in her chest, and she looked at the door. She wanted Dimitri to come through it, wanted to clap her eyes on him and reassure herself he was in one piece. Even though he'd seemed back to normal when he'd left, she'd put him through a lot.

She rolled over onto her back and though about Lissa showing up. How had Dimitri known she'd needed a friend? And God, the fact that he'd gone to Lissa and—

The bedroom door opened wide without any warning.

Rose sat up in a rush, pulling the covers to her throat. But then Dimitri's shadow was a stunning relief.

"it's just me," he said gruffly. As he came inside, he was carrying a tray, and there was something on his shoulder. A duffel bag. "You mind if I hit the lights?"

"Hi…" I'm so glad you're home safe. "Not at all."

He called to life several candles, and she blinked in the sudden glow.

"I brought you some things from your house." He put the tray of food on the bedside table and opened up the bag. "I got you clothes and a parka. The bottle of shampoo that was in your shower. A brush. Shoes. Socks to keep your feet warm. Your diary, too—don't worry, I haven't read it or anything."

"I'd be surprised if you had. You're more trustworthy than that."

"No, I'm illiterate."

Her eyes flared.

"Anyway"—his voice was hard as his jaw line—"I figured you'd want some of your own stuff."

As he put the duffel next to her on the bed, she just stared up at him until, overwhelmed, she reached out to take his hand. When he flinched back, she flushed and looked at what he'd brought her.

God…she was nervous about seeing her things. Especially the diary.

Except it turned out to be comforting to pull out her favorite red sweater, put the thing to her nose, and catch a whiff of the perfume she'd always worn. And…yes, the brush, her brush, the one she liked with the broad, square head and metal bristles. She grabbed her shampoo, popped the top, and inhaled. Ahhh…Biolage. Nothing like the scent of the lesser had made her use.

"Thank you." Her voice trembled as she took out her journal. "Thank you so much."

She stroked her diary's leather cover. She would not open it. not now. But soon…

She glanced up at Dimitri. "Will you…will you take me back to my house?"

"Yeah. I can do that."

"I'm frightened to go there, but I probably should."

"You just tell me when."

Gathering her courage, suddenly interested in getting one of the big "firsts" out of the wat, she said, "When light falls this evening. I want to go then."

"Okay, we will." He pointed at the tray. "Now eat."

Ignoring the food, she watched him go into the closet and disarm. He was careful with his weapons, checking them thoroughly, and she wondered where he had been..what he had done. Though his hands were clean, there was black blood on his forearms.

He had killed tonight.

She supposed she should feel some kind of triumph that a lesser had been taken down. But as Dimitri walked over to the bathroom with a pair of sweats draped over his arm, she was more interested in his well-being.

And also…his body. He moved like an animal in the best sense of the word, all latent power and sleek strides. The sex that had stirred in her the very first time she'd seen him rocked her again. She wanted him.

As the bathroom door shut and the shower started to run, she rubbed her eyes and decided she was out of her mind. The male pulled away the threat of her hand on his arm. Did she actually think he'd want to lay with her?

Disgusted with herself, she looked over at the food. It was some kind of herbed chicken with roasted potatoes and squash. There was a glass of water and a glass of white wine, as well as two bright green Granny Smith apples and a piece of carrot cake. She picked up a fork and pushed the chicken around. She wanted to eat what was on the plate only because he'd been thoughtful enough to bring it to her.

When Dimitri came out of the bathroom with only the nylon sweats on, she froze and couldn't stop staring. His nipple rings caught the candlelight, and so did the hard muscles of his stomach and arms. Along with the star-shaped mark of the Brotherhood, his bare chest had a fresh, livid scratch across it and a bruise.

"Are you injured?"

He came over and measured the plate. "You haven't eaten much."

She didn't reply as her eyes got caught on the curving hip bones that rose above the low waistband of the sweats. God…just a little lower and she would be able to see everything.

Abruptly she remembered him scrubbing himself raw because he thought he was filthy. She swallowed, wondering what had been done to him, to his sex. Wanting him as she did seemed…inappropriate. Invasive. Not that it changed the way she felt.

"I'm not terribly hungry," she murmured.

He pushed the tray closer to her. "Eat anyway."

When she started in on the chicken again, he took the two apples and walked across the room. He bit into one and sank down to the floor, sitting cross-legged with his eyes lowered. One arm settled across his stomach as he chewed.

"Did you have dinner downstairs?" She asked.

He shook his head and took another hunk out of the apple, the crack ricocheting around the room.

"Is that all you'll have?" When he shrugged, she muttered, "And you're telling me to eat?"

"Yeah, I am. So why don't you get back to work there, female."

"You don't like chicken?"

"I don't like food." His eyes never wavered from the floor, but his voice got pushier. "Now eat."

"Why don't you like food?"

"Can't trust it," he said tightly. "Unless you make it yourself, or can see it whole, you don't know what's in it."

"Why do you think someone would tamper—"

"Have I mentioned how much I don't like talking?"

"Will you sleep beside me tonight?" She blurted out the request, figuring she'd better get her answers before he shut up completely.

His brows flickered. "You really want that?"

"Yes, I do."

"Then, yeah. I will."

As he polished off the two apples and she cleaned the plate, the silence wasn't exactly easy, but it didn't crackle, either. After she was finished with the carrot cake, she went into the bathroom and brushed her teeth. By the time she came back he was working the last apple core with his fangs, picking off the little bits of flesh that were left.

She couldn't imagine how he fought on such a diet. Surely he must eat more.

And she felt like she should say something, but instead stil into bed and curled up, waiting for him. As minutes ticked by, all he did was surgically trim that apple, she could stand the tension.

Enough, she thought. She really should go somewhere else in the house. She was using him as a crutch, and that wasn't fair.

She reached out to throw the covers back just as he uncoiled from the floor. As he walked to the bed, she froze. He dropped the apple cores next to her plate, then picked up the napkin she had used to wipe her own mouth. After rubbing his hands with the thing, he took the tray and carried it out of the room, setting it right outside the door.

When he came back he went to the other side of the bed, and the mattress dipped down as he stretched out on top of the duvet. Crossing his arms over his chest and his feet at the ankles, he shut his eyes.

One by one the candles went out around the room. When there was just a single wick that burned, he said, "I'll leave that going so you can see."

She looked at him. "Dimitri?"

"Yeah?"

"When I was…" She cleared her throat. "When I was in the hole in the ground, I thought of you. I wanted you to come for me. I knew you could get me out."

His brows went down even though his lids were lowered. "I thought about you, too."

"You did?" His chin moved up and down, and still she said, "Really?"

"Yeah. Some days…you were all I could think about."

Rose felt her eyes stretch wide. She rolled toward him and propped her head up on one arm.

"Seriously?" When he didn't reply, she had to press. "Why?"

His big chest expanded and he blew out his breath. "Wanted to get you back. That's all."

Oh…so he'd just been doing his job.

Rose dropped her arm and turned away from him. "Well…thank you for coming for me."

In the silence that stretched, she watched the candle burn on the nightstand. The tear-shaped flame undulated, so lovely, so graceful…

Dimitri's voice was quiet. "I hated the idea that you were frightened and alone. That someone had hurt you. I couldn't let it go."

Rose stopped breathing and glanced over her shoulder.

"I didn't sleep for those six weeks," he murmured. "All I could see when I shut my eyes was you, calling out for help."

God, even though his face was harsh, his voice was so soft and beautiful, like the candle flame.

His head swiveled toward her and his eyes opened. His black star was full of emotion. "I didn't know how you could have survived that long. I was so sure you were dead. But then we found the place I lifted you out of that hole. When I saw what he'd done to you…"

Rose slowly turned over, not wanted to startle him into a retreat. "I don't remember any of it."

"Good, that's good."

"Someday…I'm going to need to know. Will you tell me?"

He closed his eyes. "If you really have to have the details."

They were silent for a time, and then he shifted toward her, rolling onto his side. "I hate to ask you this, but what did he look like? Can you remember anything specific about him?"

Plenty, she thought. Too much.

"He, ah, he colored his hair brown."

"What?"

"I mean, I'm pretty sure he did. Every week or so he'd go into the bathroom and I could smell the chemicals. And he'd get rooty in between. A little line of white right at his scalp.

"But I thought paling out was good because it meant they'd been in the Society longer."

"I don't know. I think he had…or has…a position of power. From what I could hear from the hole, the other lessers were careful around him. And they called him 'O.'"

"Anything else?"

She shivered, going back into the nightmare. "He loved me."

A growl vibrated out of Dimitri, low and nasty. She liked the sound of it. It made her feel protected. Gave her the strength to keep talking.

"The lesser, he said he…loved me, and he did. He was obsessed with me." She released a breath slowly, trying to calm her fluttering heart. "In the beginning I was terrified of him, but after a while I used his feeling against him. I wanted to hurt him."

"Did you?"

"Sometimes, yes. I made him…cry."

Dimitri's expression took on the oddest cast. As if her were…envious. "What did that feel like?"

"I don't want to say."

Because if felt good?"

"I don't want you to think I'm cruel."

Cruelty is different from retaliation."

In a warriors world, she imagined that was true. "I'm not sure I agree."

His black eyes narrowed. "There are those who would ahvenge you. You know that right."

She thought about him going out into the night to hunt the lesser and couldn't bear the idea that he would get hurt. Then she pictured her brother all angry and prideful, ready to tear into the slayer, too.

"No…I don't want you doing that. You or Denis or anyone else."

A draft shot through the room, like a window had been thrown open. She looked around and realized the frigid wave had come out of Dimitri's body.

"Do you have a mate?" he asked abruptly.

"Why do you…Oh, no, Denis is my brother. Not my mate.

Those big shoulders eased up. But then he frowned. "Have you ever?"

"Had a mate? For a little while I did. But things didn't work out."

"Why?"

"Because of my brother." She paused. "Actually tha's not true. But when the male couldn't stand up to Den, I lost a lot of respect for him. And then…then the guy let the details of out relationship out to the glymera and things got…complicated."

Actually, they got awful. The male's reputation had stayed intact, of course, whereas hers got shredded to pieces. Maybe that was why she was so attracted to Dimitri. He didn't care what anyone thought of him. There was no subterfuge, no courtly manners to hide his thoughts and instincts. He was honest, and that candor, even if it just served to reveal his anger, made it safe to trust him.

"Were you two…" His voice trailed off.

"Were we what?"

"Lovers?" In a harsh rush, Dimitri cursed. "Never mind, that's non of my—"

"Ah, yes, we were. Denis found out, and that was when the problems started. You know how the aristocracy is. A female who lays with someone she's not mated to? You'd swear she was tainted for life. I mean, I've always wished I'd been born a civilian. But you can't opt out of your bloodline, can you?"

"Did you love the male?"

"I thought so. But…no." She thought of the skull next to Dimitri's pallet. "Have you ever been in love?"

The corner of his mouth lifted into a snarl. "What the fuck do you think?"

As she recoiled, he closed his eyes. "Sorry. I mean, no. that would be a no."

Sso why did he keep that skull? Whose was it? She was about to ask when he cut the question off. "Your brother things he'd going after that lesser?"

"Undoubtedly. Denis is…well, he's been head of my household since my father died when I was very yound, and Den is very aggressive. Extremely so."

"Well, you tell him to sit tight. I'm going to ahvenge you."

Her eyes shot to Dimtri's. "No."

"Yes."

"But I don't want you to." She couldn't live with herself if he got killed in the process.

"And I can't stop myself." He squeezed his eyes shut. "Christ…I can't breathe for knowing that bastard if still out there. He had to die."

Fear and gratitue and something altogether warm squeezed her chest. On impulse, she leaned in and kissed him on the lips.

He jerked back with a hiss, eyes wider than if she'd slapped him.

Oh, hell. Why had she done that? "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I—"

"No, it's cool. We're cool." He rolled onto his back and lifted his hand to his mouth. His fingers rubbed back and forth across his lips, like he was wiping her off him.

When she sighed good and hard, he said, "What's the matter?"

"Am I so distasteful?"

He dropped his arm. "No."

What a lie. "Maybe I'll get you a washcloth, how about that?"

When she would have shot out of bed, his hand clamped on her arm. "That was my first kill, okay? I just didn't expect it."

Rose stopped breathing. How was that possible?"

"Oh, for chirssakes, don't look at me like that." He let go and went back to staring at the ceiling.

His first kiss…"Dimitri?"

"What."

"Will you let me do that again?"

There was a long, long pause. She inched over to him, pushing her body through the sheets and blankets.

"Iw on't touch you anywhere else. Just my lips. On yours."

Turn you head, she willed him. Turn you head and look at me.

And then he did.

She didn't wait for an engraved invitation or him to change his mind. She pressed her lips to his lightly, then hovered over his mouth. When he stayed where he was, she dipped down again and this timeshe stoked at him. His breath sucked in.

"Dimitri?"

"Yes," he whispered.

"Relax your mouth for me."

Careful not to crowd him, she propped herself up on her forearms and got in close again. His lips were shockingly soft except for where the upper one was scared. To make sure he knew that imperfection didn't matter to her, she deliberatly attended to that place, returning there again, and again.

And then it happened: He kissed her back, it was just the slightest movement of his mouth, but she felt it all the way to her core. When he did it again, she praised him by moaning a little and letting him take the lead.

God, he was so tentative, feeling his way accros her mouth with the most gentle of brushings. He kissed her sweetly and with care, tasting like apples and male spice. And the contact between them, though light and slow, was enough to have her aching.

When she sneaked her toungue out and licked im, he pulled away sharply. "I don't know what I'm doing here."

"Yes, you do." She leaned in to keep the connection. "You really do."

"But—"

She quieted him with her mouth, and it wasn't long before he back in the game. This time when her tongue stroked over him he opened his lips, and his own met hers, click and warm. A slow twirl started…and then he was in her mouth, pushing against her, seeking.

She felt the sex stir in him, the heat and urgency in his big body growing. She was hungry for him to reach out and drag her aginst him. When he didn't, she eased back and looked at him. His cheeks were flaming, his eyes glittering. He wa hungry for her, but he made no move to get closer. And he wouldn't either.

Ok guys I know I'm leaving you hanging here but I want to keep you interest purked

So do you think he'll let her continue in her pursut?

Let me know what you think of this chapter?