Here's the complete chapter! Thank you for waiting so patiently. xx

This chapter is for everyone who's added this me to their fave author or author alerts lists! Redglasses, IHeartVA, lovethefang, soccaplayer71, i-bit-a-pillow-or-two and random4evea.

I don't know what it is that you've done to me...
but it's caused me to act in such a crazy way.
Whatever it is that you do when you do what you're doing...
it's a feeling that I want to stay.

'Cause my heart starts beating triple time,
with thoughts of loving you on my mind.
I can't figure out just what to do,
when the cause and cure is you.

I get so weak in the knees I can hardly speak.
I lose all control and something takes over me.
In a daze, your love's so amazing, it's not a phase.
I want you to stay with me, by my side.
I swallow my pride, your love is so sweet.
It knocks me right off of my feet.
I can't explain why your loving makes me weak.

It's time after time after time I've tried to fight it.
But your love is strong it keeps on holding on.
Resistance is down when you're around, starts fading.
In my condition I don't want to be alone.

Weak – SWV (Sisters With Voices).

I wake up late the next morning, curled against Dimitri. His arms are wrapped tightly round my waist, his body curled behind mine, his face resting against the nape of my neck. Memories of what we'd done until the early hours of the morning cause a small contented smile to pass across my face and I turn around to rest my head against Dimitri's chest; stroking across his chest gently as his arms tighten around me and I slip back into a peaceful sleep.

….

I wake a few hours later to find the bed empty. The space where Dimitri was lying is still warm, so I know that he's only just gotten up. Rolling over so I can see onto the floor I find that his jogging bottoms are gone, but the two duffel bags are still in the same places as last night.

A toilet flushes and the taps run for a while before the door opens and Dimitri appears. My breath catches as I take him in, just like that first time in the club. Long, defined legs. His washboard stomach, still littered with bruises that make my heart hurt; but the memory of exploring that muscled chest last night makes butterflies grow in the pit of my stomach. In fact, remembering all of the dirty, naughty things I did to him last night; and the things he did to me in return to sate his desires makes a smug grin pop up on my face as my body tingles.

He notices the wicked grin across my face, and raises one eyebrow in a silent question before stripping off and crawling back into bed so that he's spooned up behind me. His strong arms wrap around my waist as he places gentle feather light kisses across the back of my neck. "Good morning."

He kisses me once more before replying. "It's a very good morning. I hoped to be back before you woke up." Another kiss. "Did you sleep well?"

This time I turn to face him, another contented smile popping up across my face. "The few hours that I got were very good. Very... energising." My lips find his again for a few minutes until he breaks away with a chuckle. "What's so funny? You keep doing this you know, laughing at random things and not telling me what they are."

He chuckles again before twining some of my hair around his fingers. "The first time I didn't chuckle, I smiled, and it was because of something you said. It simply made me so happy, I couldn't believe my luck. I still can't." And coupled with that serious intense gaze, I know it's true. He gave me another one of those breathtaking smiles before continuing. "And this time I laughed because I realised that even though we stayed awake; we certainly didn't keep watch."

"Well I was watching something, just not the door."

"And what was that Miss. Hathaway?"

"Hmmm, well if you don't know Mr. Belikov, then I guess I'll just have to show you."

He grins and then leans down to kiss me. I'm eager to return the kiss, and it's not long before we're ready to go again until it hits me and I break away suddenly. "Stop!"

He jerks away shocked, before hurt and confusion pass across his face. "What's wrong? I thought you were ready for me, did I hurt you?"

"No, no, it's nothing like that." I catch the sides of his face to calm and reassure him. "It's nothing you did wrong, trust me. But..." Embarrassment starts to flow through me and a blush works its way onto my cheeks. "Wedon'thaveacondom."

"Huh?"

Maybe I'd spoken a little too fast. "We don't have a condom Dimitri. I know last night we went... well after the first few times and the naps and going again before taking another nap, and going again... I lost count, but it doesn't matter. What I mean is, that I'm not ready for a baby; we're not ready for a baby. Not yet. I know what happened last night; but the chances of it actually happening on those many occasions… Well, actually yeah it's pretty big. But not as big as the chances of it happening if we do it again without protection again."

He nods and kisses my lips gently before rolling off me and pulling my body close to his, wrapping his arms around me. "You're right. And I have to admit, that never entered my mind last night." He pauses, and then asks something I wasn't expecting. "Did you see any paracetamol in the medical bag?"

I can't help but stare in amazement before getting out of bed and walking into the bathroom. The medical kit is still strewn over the countertop, and as I look for the little tub that I saw last night, I can't stop myself from giggling.

"And what's so funny?" His strong arms wrap around my waist again, one of his strong hands gently caressing my stomach. "This time you're the one laughing randomly."

"Nothing, nothing. Here they are." I turn in his arms and tilt my head back to see his face. "Is it your back?"

He takes the small container and removes a couple of the small tablets before dry swallowing them. "Slightly. It's itching, which is good. It's more of a dull ache – which I can ignore. My sides are a completely different matter."

My gaze travels down to the sides of his muscled chest, and my cheeks flush delicately as I realise what he means. "Oh." My hands reach out of the own accord to trace the scratches my nails made last night. "I didn't mean… That wasn't supposed to happen."

"Don't look so flustered Roza. We both got a bit caught up in the moment." His gaze settles on my shoulder and his face sobers. "That wasn't meant to happen. Did I hurt you?"

I'm confused until I glance down and see what's troubling him, and then my memory of what lead to last nights many activities comes flooding back. I feel a slight sharp pain on my shoulder. Glancing down I can see that he's bitten me before kissing up and down my neck. My nails dig into his sides… "That's not your fault either. How can you tell me not to worry and then blame yourself? And no, it doesn't hurt." I kiss him lightly on the lips. "Stop worrying."

With some effort he drags his eyes away from my shoulder and focuses back on my face. "Since we can't… exercise today, what should we do?"

And that snaps me back into reality. We're in a hotel. Agents are running around looking for us and Lissa, who I haven't heard from in a month. We have nowhere to go. It's us against everyone else. "We need to find Lissa. I can do it, but I need to be able to concentrate. So first we're going to shower, only shower, no funny business." At the mention of funny business a mischievous grin pops up on his face. "I mean it Dimitri, no funny business, so get whatever dirty ideas you have out of your head. I'll redo your back, we pay and then leave. Can you drive, I mean, with your back?"

He nods solemnly and I continue. "Okay, so you'll drive and I'll look for Lissa. Once I find her, we'll go to her. When we're all together we'll figure out what to do next. Any questions?"

"Just one. What exactly do you term 'funny business?' Because I'm sure we might just have different ideas."

"Well what exactly do you consider it to be?"

He grins and pulls me towards the shower. "The language barrier might get in the way Roza. I think it's much better if I show you."

….

A few hours later we're in the car driving to God know where. Once we finally got out of the shower and managed to get dressed, pack up and leave the room, things moved pretty quickly.

We left the car we'd switched to, and took another one. Then we switched again, and since then I've been trying to contact Lissa. She's too far for the link to; I don't quite know how to explain it. It's like she's too far to make a clear connection, I can feel that she's there, but it's like static. So every so often, I try again, and if it feels like we're closer, then I tell Dimitri to keep heading in that direction. If not, we head somewhere new.

Dimitri hasn't questioned how I'm finding Lissa, but every time I 'space out' he watches me worriedly. He's trying to give me space, and I suppose, to prove that he's not tricking me. It's cute in a way.

But despite driving all day, there's still no luck. We find another hotel and book a room, this time curling up in each others arms and falling asleep instantly.

…

This pattern continues for the next week. We wake up, shower, I clean Dimitri's back, he pays with the slowly dwindling bundle of cash and we leave. Then we drive all day, before finding another hotel. Once we stopped off in a strange run down area where Dimitri spoke to a couple of scary looking guys. They weren't overly tattooed or pierced, but their whole demeanour screamed 'I break kneecaps to earn my living. All dodgy business is acceptable here.' Dimitri paid them a large amount that he wouldn't tell me, in exchange for fake identity papers. Then we continued on. We haven't run into any agents yet, so that's the only good thing that's come out of this whole ordeal. But a part of me worries that perhaps that's because they've already found Lissa.

"Dimitri?"

"Mhmmm?" It's almost sunset, and like always we've been driving all day. I've been trying to find Lissa, but again, there's been no luck. He's looking for a hotel sign, somewhere out of the way. Despite not running into any agents, we're still not taking any chances.

"Do you think we'll find her?"

He glances over at me startled. "Yes. Don't you?"

"I don't know. I'm just scared that she's already been found by The Academy. Or that we just keep missing each other. Sometimes I feel like we're getting closer, but then it fades before I can catch an exact location."

He reaches over to catch my hand before speaking. "There's a high chance that we do keep missing them. America's huge, and we'll be lucky if we ever find them. But you know her, better than anyone. Rather than looking for her, why don't you try to figure out where she would go?"

We both lapse into silence. Dimitri concentrating on finding somewhere to stay for the night; me on where Lissa would have gone. And there it is, as clear as day. "Georgia."

"Georgia?"

"It's where her dad worked. We, her family and me, we used to go up there every weekend, stay at one of those fancy hotels. I've forgotten the name, but it used to cost a couple hundred every night, just for Liss and I to share a room. It was good though. Good quality. She'll have gone there, even though I told her not to. It's somewhere familiar, something she knows. She can hide there more easily… especially since I'm not there to keep her hidden."

"Then that's where we'll go." He starts to change direction, heading us out of the town and onto the motorway.

"We're going there now?"

He glances over amused. "If we drive all night, we should be able to get there by tomorrow morning. Better we get there now than risk a night and she moves on. Get some sleep Roza; I'll wake you when I see somewhere to eat."

"No, let's switch places. You've been driving all day. It's tiring work. I'll drive and wake you up when I see somewhere."

"You need to sleep Roza. And you can try to find Miss. Dra- Lissa again."

I scowl, but a sudden wave of fatigue crashes over me. "Just for a few hours. Then I'll take over and you can sleep."

…

I wake up to bright sunshine flowing through the windows onto my face. Glancing around, I can see that the car seat has been cranked back so that I am almost lying down and I'm covered up with Dimitri's coat. I don't remember driving, or even waking up. Readjusting the chair so I can sit up his face is clear to see, along with the bags under his eyes. "You didn't wake me up!"

He smiles, but it's weak. "You needed to sleep, and I didn't want to trouble you. It's okay Roza, we're here."

And looking out of the window for the first time I see that he's right. Landmarks from my past are now in front of my eyes, clear to see. "That's it!"

Surprised at my voice, he jerks and the car swerves earning us a few beeps from other drivers. "What?"

"There's the hotel. Lissa might be in there." He smiles and after a few minutes we pull into the car park of the hotel. "I know, I know, we need a plan. But you need to sleep. So lets just go in there, get a room; and while you rest your eyes, I'll see if Lissa's there. Also, if she is there, it might be best if I find her alone. Then I can explain to her why we're together."

But we don't even get that far. We get a room, though the clerk sneers down his nose at us for wanting to go there in the middle of the day. I resist the urge to break his slimy little nose, and instead smile sweetly, commenting on the fact that standards of service have definitely gone down since I used to visit with my 'uncle'. Hearing this, he has a sudden change of heart and becomes all smiles, trying to please the niece of the secretary of state. Sucker.

Once we step into the lift, both Dimitri and I let out identical sighs of relief; but that relief is short lived. Our room is on the fifth floor, and when we reach the third the doors open to reveal Lissa and Christian.

They step inside the lift, their minds not processing who they see before them. But as the doors close, they freeze and try to step back, slamming into the doors. "Rose? Rose!" Lissa is on me, her face exploding into a huge smile as she hugs me tightly. "How did you find us? We thought you'd got taken. I'm so sorry that we came here, I know you told us to stay away because it's where my dad lived bu-"

She freezes and stops talking at the click of a gun. Instinctively I spin so that she's sheltered behind me, protected by my body. But it's not Lissa who needs to be sheltered, it's Dimitri. He is frozen against the wall of the lift, his eyes locked on Christian. Christian who has one finger pressed on the button to keep the doors shut, while the other hand holds a gun trained directly at Dimitri's forehead.

"Why is he here?" Christian's voice is low and angry. Just like back in the alleyway, he is focused completely on keeping Lissa safe and protected. "Why did you bring him with you Rose? Have you decided to join The Academy?"

"No, it's nothing like that Christian." Behind me, Lissa is starting to tremble and through the link I can hear her fear. She trusts me to protect her, but seeing Dimitri there… it's not helping. "No Liss. Please. Just let me explain."

Christian answers before she can. "I fail to see how you can explain this Rose. He's the reason we had to pack up and leave. Now you're here together. Or maybe, you were together from the start, and the whole time you've been protecting Lissa you've actually been spying."

"That makes no sense at all you idiot. Are you stupid or stupid? Why the hell would I spy on Liss for eighteen years?"

"I don't know. You're the one who's running around with the person who got us into this whole mess. You're the one who brought him into our lives in the first place!" That stings and I flinch, knowing that it's true. Anger starts to grow in Dimitri's eyes, but before any of us can respond, Lissa speaks.

"Let her explain Christian. Rose wouldn't betray me like that, she wouldn't." And through the link I can feel her steady confidence, that knowledge and belief that I wouldn't hurt her ever. "You know Rose. Don't turn your back on her like that. Let's all go back to the room and she can explain properly."

He looks like he wants to argue, but gives in, throwing another dirty look at Dimitri. "Fine. But we go to their room, and he doesn't leave my line of sight." By that, he means that Dimitri doesn't leave the range of his gun.

Dimitri nods. "Deal."

The few minutes it takes to get into our room are silent and tense. Lissa grips at my hand, scared that I'm going to disappear in a flash. Christians face is pale and anxious, though he's softened towards me. And Dimitri just looks tired.

When the door is finally unlocked, I direct him over to the bedroom. "Sleep. I'll explain to them."

"No, he stays out here where I can see him." And that blows my last shreds of patience.

"Get over yourself Christian. It's obvious that Dimitri's too tired to try anything, and he wouldn't try anything anyway. He's been beaten, had nothing to eat, and driven for twenty-four hours straight to get me here. So just lay off! Before you start acting so high and mighty, why don't you explain why you're here in Georgia. There were strict instructions I gave you to keep Lissa safe. Staying out of Georgia was one of them. It's predictable; and if I found you, what makes you think The Academy hasn't?"

He shuts up, looking abashed and I turn back to Dimitri. "Get some sleep." He nods looking thankful and leans down to kiss me gently before heading into the bedroom.

I take a deep breath before turning back to face Lissa and Christian, who are watching me shocked. "Now what did you want to know?"

Christian's mouth drops open. "Did… did you just kiss him?"

I sigh and roll my eyes before answering. "No, he kissed me. I kissed him back. There's a difference. Do you have any smart questions this time?"

If possible, Christian's mouth opens even more, and Lissa gives a little giggle before commenting. "Maybe you should start at the beginning."

So I do. I tell them what happened after I was caught. About being held by The Academy, and the questions they asked. About the fact that Dimitri never pushed me and treated me decently. About him getting beaten for it; and how it's not all completely his fault. Lissa looks like she wants to cry when I describe the whipping, and even Christian looks a little shocked. Finally I get to the part about us escaping and searching for them before figuring out where they were. I leave out exactly what happened in the hotel room but Christian picks up on it any way.

"And you're sure that nothing happened in that hotel room Rose?"

"I cleaned his back and we went to bed." I'm not going to fall into his trap.

"And that's all you did? For the past week all you've done is sleep together, not sleep together?"

Lissa realises what he's hinting at and giggles slightly before looking at me sympathetically.

"It's none of your business what happened between us Christian."

"Aha! So something did happen!"

"No, that's not what I…" But it's no use. Christian's grinning hugely, happy at embarrassing me and that smile only becomes more pronounced when Dimitri's steps out the bedroom groggily.

"Roza? Can you clean my back after I shower?"

Christian snorts and mumbles something rude, but he shuts up pretty quickly once I kick him in the shin. Then he glares at me while I smile back sweetly, before turning to face Dimitri.

There are still bags under his eyes, but after those few hours sleep, he looks more alert. And slightly wary, now that he's remembered we've met up with Lissa and Christian. "It's okay, they understand everything now. Call me as soon as you're done."

He gives me a small smile before disappearing into the bathroom and I turn back to Lissa and Christian. "So they only thing we all need to do now is decide what the four of us are going to do."

This time, it's Lissa who grins hugely. "We've already got that covered. We're booked in here for the rest of the week, and then we're going to try to empty out my account and move somewhere else. You said that they're tracing my account, so we'll take as much as possible. We'll open up a new account under a new name and in the days after we leave, we'll steadily empty out my old one, before placing the money into the new one. We can buy a house somewhere and stay off the radar."

…

A month later with my head shoved down the toilet down while I puke my guts out, I've come to the conclusion that morning sickness is a bitch. In fact I mumble that to Dimitri who's sitting beside me holding back my hair while I clutch at the bowl as if my life depended on it.

"What's a bitch?"

Sensing that I'm done throwing up, I groan and lift my head so he can hear me. "Morning sickness." He hands me a glass of water to rinse my mouth out before helping me to stand so I can brush my teeth. Then I continue. "And life in general. Lissa's crazy plan actually worked and then bam! Well done Rose, that first time in the hotel when you and Dimitri 'made up' was all you needed to get pregnant. Enjoy the first nine months of your new life growing a new life inside of you. And it just gets better and better. You have morning sickness to look forward to along with muscle aches, strange craving, swollen feet, back aches, mood swings… the list is endless. And you don't have to go through any of it. You get to enjoy it all. The only concession is that you hold my hair back in the mornings, and you don't have to do that. You only do it because you feel guilty."

"I don't feel guilty. I do it because… I don't know. But I'm no guilty. Sorry Roza, but I'm happy that we're having a baby. I-"

"Of course you are! You're not the one who's going to blow up like a balloon and have to go through all that pain. You had fun and then nine months later you'll get a gorgeous little baby girl or boy out of it!"

"We'll get a gorgeous little baby girl or boy out of it." He wraps his arms around me and kisses the back of my neck.

"No! No kissing. That's what lead to this. You and that damn sexy mouth of yours. You keep it to yourself." I spin to face him and try to get out of his embrace, but his grip tightens, pulling me closer.

A humorous smile pops up across his face. "You didn't want me to keep it to myself an hour ago. In fact you were demanding that I use it over and over and over again…"

He trails off seductively and I can't help the shiver that passes through me. "Hormones. Blame the hormones…" But my argument is weak and he knows it.

"In fact, I'm pretty sure that once we've both showered, or perhaps while we're showering, you might not mind so much." He's tracing small circles across my lower back while his deep dark eyes stare into mine. And it's hard to look away. I close my eyes and swallow audibly, trying to regain my self control; and he takes advantage of the moment to trail kisses up and down my neck, battering down the last of my resistance.

Hope you liked it! Please let me know what you thought! xx