Happy new year!

Chapter 9 is incredibly long, over 4000 words, and I feel the need to warn you that it is Rated M for sexual scenes and references, so sensitive readers, beware!

Reviewers: I freaking love you, that's all I have to say. One of you even wished me merry Christmas, which was like the best gift I got, except for a new guitar. So thank you, and here is the latest chapter.

Two months later:

The night with Rafael turned out to be a pointer as to how successful Dimitri and I would be in gathering information. After two months, we had nothing.

Nada. Zilch.

Well, that wasn't true. Lissa had sent me some more slutty dresses, so I had those, and on top of that I had acquired a bunch of phone numbers that I mysteriously kept finding ripped to pieces in the bathroom trashcan. But Strigoi-wise, we had nothing. And I was getting pretty sick of it.

"Let's go out today!"

Dimitri looked up from his western novel. "What?"

"This is a beautiful city and we haven't seen anything but dark clubs and alleyways. We should go out and see things before one of these Strigoi snaps our necks," I said walking up to him and smacking the book from his hands. He gave me one of his looks.

"I was reading that."

"Yeah, I noticed. What's with all the cowboy books anyway?"

Dimitri stood up, ignoring my gibe. "Rose, we aren't here to enjoy ourselves, you know that. We're here on a mission."

"Well, it hasn't been going very well, has it? I bet if we could just get rid of all the stress, we would find answers in no time!"

Oh, God, I couldn't come up with better reasoning than that? I was pathetic.

Dimitri thought so too, because he looked at me like I was crazy. He does that a lot.

"Come on, Comrade," I whined. "I'm not like you, okay? I'm not content with living life like a robot; no feelings, no fun. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you can't even remember the last time you did something for youand not for somebody else, can you?"

Dimitri looked momentarily taken aback – something I had never seen before but enjoyed immensely – before he ruined the moment and went back to being all negative and stoic. "My job is not to have fun and do things for me, Rose. I do things for other people because it is the right thing to do. They come first, remember?"

"Oh, right. Sorry, I forgot they brainwash you lot." Dimitri gave me a dark look to which I paid no heed; too busy conjuring up my best puppy eyes. "Please, just this once, let's take a break from all this."

He looked torn. "Rose…"

"Please, Dimitri," I begged, staring up at his incredible height through my eyelashes. "Do this for me?"

Dimitri looked at me for a long time, then tipped his head up and closed his eyes, muttering something in Russian. "Fine. But we are still hunting tonight."

"Thank you!" I squealed and threw my arms around him. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Dimitri briskly cleared his throat and stepped back, but there was a small, barely there smile on his face that he couldn't seem to wipe off. "You're welcome."

"Is that a smile I see?"

It disappeared. "Absolutely not."

"It was! You are so sick of being a robot, Comrade." I pointed a finger in his chest. "Admit it!"

"I thought we agreed you would stop calling me that."

"Oh, did we?" I narrowed my eyes at his attitude. "How about Grumpy-bastard-who-ruins-all-the-fun?"

The smile appeared again, ever so slightly, before he seemed to realize he was losing this argument and let it spread to a full one. My heart flipped. "Don't push your luck. Get dressed and we'll leave in twenty minutes."

- 5 hours later -

I am not kidding when I say we had the perfect day. Seriously. Well, we didn't see any of the more well-known places like the something-with-an-a-cathedral or the opera house, but we ended up getting lost in cozy – and sometimes not so cozy – streets and parks, me taking pictures and pointing and laughing and Dimitri pretending to be all exasperated and adult-like, but secretly having this glint in his eyes that told me he was actually enjoying himself too. Turns out he had been in Novosibirsk a lot of times before, as he had been working on and off at the Guardian HQ there ever since his former charge and best friend Ivan Zeklos had died in a Strigoi attack when Dimitri had been off visiting his family. He'd said, with a troubled expression on his face, that he simply hadn't been able to get a new charge after that, and I had been torn between being glad he'd opened up to me or devastated about his best friend dying. I ended up hugging him and telling him it wasn't his fault until he finally, reluctantly, admitted it might not have been. The look he gave me then had been filled of gratitude and admiration, and you would not believe my incredibly body's love-struck, completely pathetic reaction to that. I had felt like growing wings and soaring off the surface of the earth, that's how happy one little look from him could make me. Damn, I was in trouble.

Then we talked about his family. The way he spoke of them, fondly and with a faraway look in his eyes, had made me realize how much he missed them.

"How long was it since you visited them?" I had asked, and the small smile that had been brought to his lips by his mother and three sisters grew wistful.

"Almost two years. I haven't been able to take any time off to go see them," he had told me.

Now, don't tell me that was not ridiculous. Not that my mother and father was any better, that was for sure, but it was glaringly obvious how much Dimitri loved and missed his family. How he could have let his duties take first priority was insane to me, and that's what I had told him, too. Then I asked about his father, and Dimitri became dangerously still.

"My father," he'd said icily, "was not a good man."

"Wha – what did he do?"

"He would beat her. My mother. He was royal so he never lived with us, but from time to time he stopped by and when he did he would beat her. Use her." Dimitri's voice was raw with hatred. "I kicked him out when I was thirteen."

I had been filled with a dangerous combination of heartache and anger when he'd spoken of his father, which is why I'm very ashamed to say that instead of offering my condolences like a normal, tactful person, I accidentally blurted out that he was a God. I denied it when he'd given me one of those questioning looks, of course, and told him I was sorry about his dad, but I'm not sure he believed me.

I had told him about my family, too. About my father, who I never knew, and about my mother, who dumped me at the academy when I was three years old and never initiated contact with me since. I had tried to e-mail her a few times when I was younger, out of pure desperation, but she only answered the first one, the one about her leaving me, about the reason why. I knew that one e-mail she had sent me by heart, and I resented every word. Rosemarie, I remembered it saying, leaving you at the Academy was the best choice for me, for both of us. It would be impossible for me to protect the Lord while taking care of a child, as you surely can understand, and as a Guardian, it would be wrong to put his life at risk. With the Academy's help I am certain you will grow up to be an excellent Guardian yourself, but please, do not contact me again. Things are busy enough as it is and with more distractions I won't be able to concentrate on my work. Remember, Rosemarie, they come first. And then, the words that for some reason had hurt me the most, Kind Regards, Guardian Janine Hathaway. As if I was nothing more but a distant acquaintance.

Dimitri had looked absolutely furious when I had told him, casually, about that e-mail. I had told him that's why I grew up to resent Guardians, why I was unpromised, and then I had seen in his eyes what I had wanted to see for a long time now. I had seen in his eyes that he understood.

Filled with a strange tranquility, I returned to the present with a small smile on my face as I leaned into Dimitri's side, where I had somehow ended up during the emotional rollercoaster of the day. I looked up to see that Dimitri, who usually looked like a caged lion ready to pounce, was holding me against him with the most serene expression I had ever seen on his face, and once again I felt that pleasurable pull in my gut. He gently eased me off of him, but the moment he released me he stiffened and put more distance between us. To my chagrin the usual wariness had returned to his dark eyes and he gave me a stern look.

"Go rest," he said, turning his back on me. "We're leaving in a few hours."

He disappeared into his bedroom, presumably to follow his own advice, and I sat down in front of the TV instead of copying him. I had tried to convince Dimitri to allow us the night off from hunting undead vampires, since we were so tired and all, but he refused to give in and had told me to suck it up and go take a nap. But that was okay, because I had a plan.

A brilliant, ingenius plan. Well, okay, it was none of those. It wasn't very original either, but who cares. At least it was effective.

Making sure that Dimitri was asleep and trying not to stare at his adorable sleep-face, I went through the arsenal of weapons he had in his closet. Dimitri was not going anywhere tonight. And okay, so this was probably not the right way to go about it, but no one could say it wouldn't be the funniest fucking thing anyone had ever done to Dimitri Belikov. I finally found some plastic cords that I assumed was a modern version of rope and turned back to Dimitri. He was sprawled on his back, eyes closed and breathing deep, looking as innocent as a baby. Well, not for long. I tip-toed up to the bed and kneeled beside him, the mattress sinking slightly with my weight and making Dimitri mumble something in his sleep. Slowly I grabbed his wrist, being careful not to wake him, and lifted it to tie it to the bed, then doing the same thing with the other one. I made sure his hands were secured before looking at my creation with a muffled laugh, and then I suddenly had another idea. A super-childish and super-immature idea that would probably make Dimitri furious, but I seriously couldn't help myself. I got off the bed and headed towards the kitchen where I filled the blue bucket under the sink with scorching hot water. Walking slowly as for the water not to spill, I made my way back to the bedroom and straddled Dimitri's still sleeping form.

Then I tipped the bucket.

He jerked and woke up with a start, eyes wide and bewildered before he caught sight on me on top of him, laughing like a maniac. Then his eyes went from wide to narrow and from confused to absolutely, raging shit mad.

"What," Dimitri hissed, "the hell do you think you're doing?"

I narrowed my eyes, trying to ignore the way my body buzzed from being so close to him, especially when he was all… wet. "I am making sure we stay in tonight," I explained sternly, struggling to keep a straight face. "Dimitri, there is simply no way –"

I broke off with a little shriek as Dimitri tried to jerk himself up, presumably to strangle me, and discovered that his hands were bound. Impossibly he got even angrier, his black eyes practically steaming with rage and his lips curled over his teeth in a snarl. I couldn't help but laugh again at that, knowing he was completely unable to strike back, and Dimitri came to the same realization with a dangerous growl.

"Rose!"

I merely shrugged with a teasing smile, causing Dimitri to mutter something in Russian under his breath that didn't sound very complementary.

"Hey!" I slapped my hand against his wet, muscular chest. "You have no manners!"

"Oh, I have no manners?" he demanded furiously, and I noticed that his voice had deepened and his accent become more pronounced, probably with anger. "I'm not the one tying people to their beds and scalding them with hot water in the middle of the night for no legitimate reason!"

"My reason is totally legitimate!"

Dimitri scoffed. "It is not."

I scowled. "You better take that back or I am going to leave you like this to starve," I threatened, and Dimitri's eyes narrowed to slits.

That's when I realized that not only had I – in a very strange way, admittedly – forced Dimitri to stay put tonight, but that I also had him powerless underneath me, and a delightful rush of power swept through me. Dimitri, the six foot seven Russian badass who could scare me and everyone else on the planet shitless with a single look, was in this moment completely at my mercy. It was an exhilarating feeling, and I decided I wanted to enjoy it some more. Dimitri must have seen the sudden mischief in my smile because his eyes became wary.

"Rose," he warned, and the sleepy, husky edge to his voice sent goose bumps all over my damp skin. "Untie me right now or I swear to God, I will make you regret it."

His threats, as always, made me scared shitless, but knowing he was tied down helped a bit. "Oh please," I snorted, "You'll tear me up as soon as you get free either way. I'd rather not rush my impending doom, thank you very much."

Dimitri's muscles tensed with aggravation under his wet T-shirt and the thin, white fabric stretched deliciously, attracting my attention and pulling me away from our argument. God, I would've given anything to lick my way down his chest in that moment, kissing and nibbling every valley of his abs and trailing my tongue down his happy trail…

Unconsciously, I trapped my lower lip between my teeth to stop myself from biting into his hard nipple through the now translucent shirt and then heard a faint sound escape Dimitri's lips before the clench of his jaws blocked it out. Curiously I dragged my lustful gaze away from his chest to look at his face. It wasn't angry anymore, was the first thing I noticed. It wasn't happy either. Lustful, sinful, that's what it was now, and a hot pulse went through my body at the way his darkened eyes were slowly soaking me in. I squirmed against his hips, unconsciously seeking a relief to the tingling in my body, and once again he shifted nervously beneath me. I suddenly realized, with another painful rush of emotion, why. He was hardening. And from what I could feel, he was… he was huge. And very ready.

It was like a wave of lust swept over me and I lowered myself toward his body, pressing my aching core against him harder and immediately feeling my heartbeat flip with excitement. Dimitri was clenching his teeth so hard I could almost hear them grind together. His face was hard and stony, but I could see he was straining to keep it that way. His soaked skin was slightly raised in goose bumps and his breathing was as harsh and unsteady as mine.

"Rose." The gravel in his voice sent a tremor down my spine. "What are you doing?"

In that moment, I knew I should have stopped. Had I been anywhere near in my right mind, I would have. Everything stood against me, against us. This life, it was too dangerous for love – in this life, love would end up killing you. And even if it didn't, I knew that Dimitri never abandon his duty even for someone he loved, let alone me. The things he had said, the things he'd made me feel… so worthless and immature – it should have been enough for me to feel repulsed; it should have been enough to stop me.

But I couldn't.

Instead, I pressed a kiss to the exposed skin of Dimitri's gorgeous chest, licking tentatively to taste him and causing his hips to make a little jerk. He swore in Russian and yanked at his ties again, hard.

"Rose –"

But my name on his lips did nothing but spur me on further, and with another kiss, this time in the hollow of his throat, Dimitri's control came undone. His body bucked almost violently and his hips lurched into mine, creating a rubbing sensation that made us both shudder against each other. Before I even knew what had happened, we were kissing, hard and desperate and breathless, and I was grinding my core into his for all I was worth. Dimitri was almost thrashing, trying to get free but for different reasons now, and finally bit me hard in my shoulder in frustration.

"I need," he panted, "I need to touch you, Roza –"

Before he had time to finish the sentence, I loosened the ties, and within the blink of an eye I was slung against the wall with Dimitri, hard and insistent, touching me for all he was worth. Arousal pulsed through my body, and I couldn't make my thoughts string together.

"Wait, wait," I gasped out, "you – you said you didn't want this… that you didn't want me. You said I was just a child, and…" I took a deep, shaky breath, "and that you wished it had never happened. I –"

"You're not a child," Dimitri interrupted, the words muffled by my skin but the pain in them unmistakable. "It was a lie. It was all lies," he murmured throatily, letting his teeth graze my neck before burying himself in my hair and inhaling deeply. "I'm so sorry," he breathed on my skin and shiver after shiver rolled through my body and made my knees buck. I was so hot and needy for him that I couldn't say anything, couldn't question or forgive him. I just pulled his mouth to mine and pressed myself harder against him, as hard as I possibly could and I still wasn't close enough.

"I'm so sorry, Roza," Dimitri muttered again and then forcefully rolled his hips against mine, fanning a shuddering breath over the overheated skin of my shoulder. "It's been killing me, you know. Not touching you even though you're there, not…" he swallowed and took a deep, calming breath, still clutching my body tightly to his. "Not protecting you like I should. I want – I want you to be mine. I've wanted you mine for a long time now, and it's taken so much – so much control not to let myself have you. It's the hardest thing I have ever done, resisting you, and I can't go back there now. I don't know what to do," he admitted against my skin, his words muffled but their meaning clear. Emotions churned in my chest, so painfully present that I felt like I could choke on them, but the most acute one, the one I couldn't get rid of, was desire. I needed him, so much I could barely breathe.

"I'm so pissed at you," I mumbled honestly against his lips and a tremor rolled through him. "And I'll kick your ass tomorrow." I licked his lower lip, tasting the Dimitri-like combination of salt and honey. "But right now, I want you to fuck me, Dimitri."

Dimitri's breath hitched in surprise and he jerked his hips against mine on a reflex, a small groan escaping his lips. I felt him throb against my lower belly and suddenly there were rough hands fingering the edge of my T-shirt, tugging and scratching and tracing chaotic patterns on my skin.

Taking in quick puffs of air I rolled my head back against the wall with my eyes closed, giving in to the sensations. With his shaft still firmly pressed against my core, he raised my T-shirt over my head and then grabbed my chin to make sure I looked him in the eyes. His gaze was black and possessive as he his hands went to brush over my now exposed breasts, making my nipples harden and strain for his touch. When he touched them harder, almost pinching, a merciless wave of heat caused my breathing to become whimpers, and Dimitri, still with his eyes on mine, looked away from my heaving chest and swore once.

Suddenly all his pulsating warmth disappeared and I stumbled, almost falling down the wall, before looking at Dimitri accusingly. He was taking his shirt off.

"Get on the bed," he said harshly, Russian accent thick. "I am not fucking you against the wall."

He watched me with dark eyes as I tried to control my trembling legs and started to make my way towards his bed. I had only taken a couple of steps on before he grabbed me with an impatient growl and suddenly I was pinned against the sheets by his hard, male body. Back where we started, only now our positions were reversed.

"Impatient bastard," I managed to mutter, and I could feel the vibrations of Dimitri's silent laugh against my breasts, causing the sensitive skin to pucker.

"I love you," he said suddenly, perfectly, gravely serious, and I stopped breathing. He… loved me? Dimitri had said he loved me. My heart felt like it was trying to beat its way out of my rib cage, and I looked into his eyes, needing to make sure. Make sure it wasn't just some trick. But there was only honesty, only need and love so real it almost made me dizzy. But there was also uncertainty.

"Do you seriously doubt my feelings for you?" I asked, a little harshly, before I could stop myself.

Dimitri's eyebrows rose, as if maybe he hadn't expected his words to cause an outburst. "Would you prefer it if I just assumed you loved me too and got on with it?"

"No." I arched my back, wanting his skin back on mine."But I wouldn't mind if you got on with it though, 'cause frankly, I'm horny as hell and if you don't give it to me soon I think I might self-combust."

His eyes turned midnight dark and a hand went to my lower stomach. "You have no self-control."

I shivered and tipped my head back, unable to stop the needy moan proving him right. Vengefully my hands trailed down his abs towards the hem of Dimitri's pajama shorts, teasing the edge until Dimitri groaned out in frustration. I looked into his half-closed eyes as I sneaked my hand down his pants and gripped him, making him thrust slightly into my hand.

"Stop that," he demanded throatily, "or this night will be over a lot sooner than you expected."

I giggled into his ear and stroked him again just to tease him, but then he abruptly reached down and trapped my hand above me before shoving my panties down to my ankles and, without missing a beat, pushed his dick inside me. I screamed at the contact I had been aching for since the very first time I touched him, back at the airport, but to my disappointment he quickly collected himself and pulled out long enough to yank his pants off and take a deep, calming breath.

"I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?"

I smiled and cupped his cheek. "No."

He searched my eyes and then nodded, lowering himself to my body again and eased himself inside, gently this time. I gasped and moaned, unconsciously writhing in an attempt to feel more of him. Slowly he began to move, and with every thrust a tingling sensation spread throughout my body until I couldn't think of anything else.

"Oh, God," I moaned and grasped at his broad shoulders, trying to tell him what I needed. I needed faster now, harder, I needed all of him. But suddenly, Dimitri stopped. He grabbed my chin and looked me straight in the eyes.

"Say my name," he demanded with that possessive gleam in his eyes that turned me on like there was no tomorrow.

"Dimitri," I breathed shamelessly and he rewarded me with a teasing thrust before stilling.

"Again."

"Dimitri!" I cried out, grinding against his motionless dick in desperate search for my release. He kissed me one last time on the lips before setting a slow and deep pace, his breath harshly panting in my ear along with the repeated; almost reverently groan of my name in Russian, Roza. I clamped down around him and clung to his broad shoulders, digging my nails in while whimpering incoherently. Fuck, he really was a God. My God. My Comrade. Feelings of pure love and happiness exploded in me and I opened my eyes to drink him in. His lips were parted in a silent moan, a light sheen of sweat covered his forehead and a fire of raw lust and emotion was in his scorching black eyes. Lust for me.

"Dimitri," I panted, "Please – faster –"

His pace quickened and my wails got louder, the only thing registering in my mind how close I was to the edge, how little it would take, how much I loved him and how my whole body was ablaze and then –

"Cum for me."

My body burst, wave after wave of pure, unaltered pleasure washing through me and tingles shot straight out to my fingertips. "Dimitri!"

He groaned my name and convulsed, his dick throbbing inside me and bathing my insides in white.

We lay there panting, clutching to each other for dear life, before Dimitri pulled out and rolled off me, still shaking slightly.

"I love you," he murmured again and pulled me hard into his chest. I smiled happily, my eyelids drooping. "I will protect you with my life."

It was a dangerous thing to say. We both knew it, and yet there was no denying the truth anymore. "I love you too, Comrade. You come first to me."

So, for those of you who wanted a lemon, which seemed like a lot of you, actually, here it is. And I am very very nervous about it, so if you guys have any opinions or pointers I need them now more than ever. Thank you for reading and again, Happy New Years!