Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Academy.


Ch. 12 Of Roses and Candlelight

The guest room looked like it had been magically transformed from just a place to sleep in to…well, a place I could be completely alone with Dimitri. I was absolutely shocked as I took it all in. How had he been able to transform the guest room so fast? I wondered.

There was only one bed in the center of the room, and I idly wondered what had happened to the second bed. A gauzy curtain hung around it, slightly obscuring it from view. Rose petals were strewn all over the bedcovers, and on the floor. The sweet smell of roses and jasmine filled the air although I didn't actually see any flowers in the room. Several candles were placed around the room, filling the room with a soft gentle glow. The curtains had been mostly pulled shut, although I could see a bit of light coming through.

"Do you like it?" Dimitri asked me almost shyly.

I smiled at him, and hugged him. I was a bit surprised that he worried I wouldn't like it. "Of course I love it!"

His smile returned, and he planted a soft kiss on me. "I know we promised not until after graduation…"

"Did you change your mind?" I asked, not daring to believe it. He was the master of self-control, after all…

He laughed, and led me into the room. He'd laughed more in the few days I'd spent with him in Baia than in the few months since I'd met him. "You don't know how much I wish I could, Roza."

"Damn you," I murmured, half smiling. "How did you have time to decorate the room, Comrade?"

He said, "I decorated it while you were out in the garden."

"So that's why you gave me a huge list of chores," I mused, looking around the room. "Couldn't you have found a better way of getting me out of the house?"

"Nope," Dimitri said almost cheerily. "And Mama just made up that list of groceries so that you wouldn't suspect I was coming up with a surprise for you."

"This is a surprise?" I asked a little playfully.

"Spending time just with each other," he whispered into my ear, making my heart race faster.

I pulled back and looked at him. "Haven't we spent plenty of time alone?"

He groaned, running a hand through his dark hair. "Not where we were completely alone, Roza."

I traced a finger down his chest, and his breathing got a bit faster. I laughed softly and leaned away from him.

"Must you make this so difficult for me?" he asked in a slightly husky voice.

"Stay where you are," I told him mischievously, pulling off my shirt.

He let out a soft growl as I came up to him and kissed the side of his neck. "I don't want to stay where I am. I want to be next to you."

"Do you?" I asked, stroking his cheek and tracing the shape of his lips. I knew I was teasing him and flirting like crazy, but I couldn't help it. I was a little curious about if Dimitri would lose control if I kept doing this but not letting us actually touch.

Dimitri pulled me close, and kissed me.

It was a long, passionate kiss, and the way he was touching me made me feel hot all over, and want so much more.

I pulled away from him, and he finally couldn't help himself.

He kissed me again, more fiercely than before. He pulled me towards the bed as our lips met over and over again.

I barely noticed when he started unbuttoning my shorts, too preoccupied with taking off his shirt and his jeans.

We finally lay on the bed, kissing nonstop and barely stopping for air. He ran his finger down my chest, and then towards my hip, and got on top of me, just like the night we'd started getting a little naughty and losing a little control. I wondered how much longer we would be able to do this without losing full control and giving in to our attraction.

I gasped as he leaned down and kissed the area in between my breast, and he slid his hand down to my lower back. I arched up against him and turned over so that I was on my stomach. It was a little difficult with him on me, but I still managed.

He kissed my shoulder blades, and worked his way down to my lower back. He hesitated a little, and I could tell he wanted to go lower. I shook my head and turned back over so I was on my back again.

I gently pushed his hair away from his face, feeling the silky locks under my hands. I kissed his ear, gently sucking on it but being careful not to bite down too hard.

"So…where's my surprise?" I asked him, breathing heavily as I pulled away from him.

He raised an eyebrow at me in mock offense. "This isn't enough of a surprise for you?"

"Of course it is!"

He reached under the bed, and produced a small heart-shaped box wrapped with a silk ribbon. My heart beat faster as he offered it to me.

"What's in it?" I asked, setting it in my lap.

"Open it and find out," he said.

It was full of the chocolates I loved the most – milk, dark, and mint. "Thank you," I murmured, smiling at him. He knew how much I adored chocolate

To my surprise, I saw a tiny rose-shaped chocolate in the center of the box that had "R and D" carved onto it. I blushed a little. The rose was a symbol of love, and at the same time, was my name, even though my full name was Rosemarie.

"There's another thing," Dimitri said, reaching under the bed and producing a second box.

I started blushing at full force as he handed it to me. "But Dimitri, I didn't get you anything!" Some type of girlfriend I was, even if we weren't supposed to be together.

"I wanted to surprise you," Dimitri murmured in my ear, kissing my cheek. "Open it."

I eyed him. "It wouldn't happen to be anything…like lingerie, right?"

"No!" he protested. Now it was his turn to blush. Teasing him was so much fun. It was another thing I enjoyed doing to him-besides making out and spending time alone with him. "Of course not, Roza. What on earth are you thinking?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" I asked, leaning and giving him a kiss. He pulled me close, nuzzling the side of my neck.

"Open it," he whispered again when he pulled away, leaving me breathless.

The side of my neck tingled as I opened the box. I gasped.

A red dress lay inside, wrapped snugly in paper tissue. I looked up at Dimitri, my mouth a circle of disbelief.

"When did you even have time to go out and buy this?" I asked. We spent almost all our time together since we'd arrived in Baia.

He shyly smiled. "I didn't. I took your magazine and showed it to my sisters, since I know nothing about girls' fashion. They then went to the mall and brought the dress for me to give to you. I wanted to go out and buy it myself, but Sonya and Karolina said I wouldn't know what to buy."

I laughed. "They probably have a point."

He put his arm around me, and said, "I want to take you out somewhere. You could wear that dress if we could go out…"

"Where would we even go?" I asked, snuggling into him and closing my eyes.

"Maybe ballroom dancing at one of the fancy hotels away from Baia…or maybe go out for dinner," he said.

Daydreams of us dancing in a hotel ballroom filled my head. Then suddenly his words sank in and I stared at him.

"Wait a minute. You know how to dance?" That seemed highly unlikely for him, the badass Russian god…

He threw his head back and laughed. "Yes, of course. I wouldn't suggest it if I didn't know how to."

He did have a point. My mind flashed back to last Christmas when we'd been at the ski resort and then Tasha had made an offhand comment about playing pool…

I immediately shoved all thoughts of her to the back of my mind. I wasn't going to let her spoil my precious alone time with Dimitri.

I turned around, and caught Dimitri eating a chocolate out of my box. "Hey! That's-"

Before I could finish my sentence, he'd leaned forward and kissed me. I opened my mouth, and when his tongue entered my mouth, I could taste chocolate. When he finally pulled away after an insanely long time, I felt chocolate on my tongue, and swallowed it. That's definitely a new way of kissing, I thought, lightly touching my fingers to my mouth.

Dimitri popped another chocolate into his mouth. I kissed him this time, and he fed me the chocolate with his mouth. This time, it was a mint chocolate.

I lightly kissed his cheek, and then moved my lips down to his neck, nipping at his skin a little.

He gently kissed my shoulder, trailing his mouth down to my hand. I shivered as he kissed each of my fingers. It wasn't anything overly sexual or naughty, and yet it felt good when he did that.

He looked at the clock on the nightstand and sighed. "We probably need to drive to pick up Viktoria."

I pouted, but looked at the time. Holy shit, it was already 3 PM. We must've been together much longer than I'd thought.


We got dressed and walked out to the Honda Civic in the garage. In all the time we'd been here, we hadn't used it. Baia wasn't a huge city, so we didn't need to drive around all the time anyway.

Viktoria was extremely happy to see us and get released from the hospital. She hopped into the front seat with Dimitri while I sat in the back.

"You haven't come to see us in years," she complained as he deftly drove us out of the downtown area. "What took you so long?"

Dimitri ruffled her hair as we stopped at a traffic light. "Sorry. I've been busy since I left, and you know I sort of lost contact."

Viktoria pouted, which I could see clearly from my seat. "But you know we hadn't moved."

"Sorry, sorry," Dimitri said as we continued driving down the streets.

When we got to Dimitri's house, Olena, Paul, and Yeva were home. Olena was already cooking and getting ready for dinner. Paul was doing his homework, his brow knitting in concentration. Yeva was just sitting in her usual chair and knitting away.

Olena's face lit up when she saw her youngest daughter, and she hugged her tightly. "I've missed you so much! I couldn't wait for you to open your eyes."

"Well here I am," Viktoria said, hugging her warmly. "Hospital food wasn't too bad, but it's nothing compared to your cooking, Mom."

Olena released her, and Viktoria briefly spoke to Yeva in Russian before she rejoined me and Dimitri.

"Has anything happened since the accident?" Viktoria asked, looking around with bright eyes.

Olena looked at Yeva warily. I could tell they were thinking about Tasha and wondering if they should tell her about the unexpected and unwelcomed visitor.

"Tasha came," Dimitri said flatly.

Viktoria's face fell as she looked around at us. "What…what happened?"

"She dropped in unexpectedly, attacked Rose, and tried to use compulsion on me." Dimitri's voice was soft and bitter.

Viktoria's mouth dropped. "Tasha did all that? We should tell her to get out!"

"We can't," Olena said, frustrated. "From what I've seen so far, she really has no place to stay, and as annoying as she's been, we can't just kick her out- yet at least. We'll let her stay one more night, and she's leaving."

"Fine," Dimitri said, nodding to his mother. "As long as she doesn't sleep in Viktoria's room."

"Viktoria just came back from the hospital. Of course she has to let her have her own room," Olena said, banging away in the kitchen. "She's definitely not staying with you and Rose, so she can sleep on the couch downstairs."

"Well, I moved the second bed down earlier…" Dimitri said in a leading way.

Olena raised her eyebrows at Dimitri. Was it a Russian thing, or just something the Belikovs could do naturally? "If you moved it into my study, she can sleep there."


Everyone came back for dinner before 7:30. And by everyone, that meant Tasha as well.

She looked extremely uncomfortable when she saw everyone in the house practically glaring at her, me the hardest. Viktoria looked confused, but she wasn't exactly warm and friendly to Tasha.

After dinner, I decided I wanted to take a walk. Dimitri wanted to come with me, but I told him to stay with his family, and he agreed.

I took a walk for half an hour or so, breathing in the fresh air. I was going to miss Baia when we had to leave, I thought wistfully to myself. And I'll miss Dimitri's family…his mother, his grandmother, and his sisters.

I walked back into the house, still deep in thought, and went upstairs.

The door was slightly ajar. I peered in, and recoiled, horrified by what I saw.

Tasha was kissing Dimitri.


Author's note: Finally got to update. Sorry if this chapter isn't that good, I had writer's block and it took me awhile to think of what to write for this chapter. It's going to be a busy week, so not really sure when I can update again. Hopefully I'll be able to update soon.