A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviews this story. I'm so glad that you are all enjoying it so much. Please keep letting me know what you think and if you see I've made a boo-boo! :-)

I just thought I'd let you know that my other story, My New Life... It may take me a while to update each chapter. If any of you write, you'll all know that sometimes certain characters assert themselves... well, these ones are really loud right now and by trying to force out chapters in MNL, I'm not doing it justice. I won't stop writing it, it just will take a little longer. Sorry...

Anyway, on with the story...

Sandy

11 I hate him...

"I hate you... Dimitri." I said puffing between gritted teeth.

"No you don't Rose." I looked up at him and growled when I saw the barely contained grin on his not puffing face. I wanted to wipe it off in one foul swoop!

I was barely able to get the words out; my lungs felt like they were on fire, my legs felt even worse... "Oh, I'm pretty sure... that I can say... that at this... point in time... I truly, truly... hate you."

That's when I stopped running.

I staggered a little before bending forward clutching my knees with my hands; my stomach heaving as I tried to pull air into my lungs.

"Rose, we've only run a mile and a half, you can't be this puffed yet!"

Without lifting from my position, I turned my head and glared at him. "Oh yes I can..." The sides of his mouth seemed to be giving him an awful lot of trouble; they seemed to want to move in an upward position... The only thing stopping them was his teeth – it was a little hard for the sides of his face to move when they were firmly snared between his ivories...

"Are you growling at me again?" He asked once his cheeks were released from his teeth. Now his lips were free to go where they wanted...

"Don't you dare... smile at me!" I slowly stood up placing my hands on my sides hoping that I looked mad. Only I knew the movement was so that I could clench at my sides in hopes of relieving the pain of the stitch that had me in its grip... "Or laugh! I'll turn around right now... if you so much... as snicker, Dimitri Belikov."

"Finished?" He asked very unafraid... I had to use every last bit of my self control not to stamp my foot at his cockiness but that would involve me lifting my leg... the same leg that was screaming in pain right now.

"Yeah, I think I am actually." I said with as much sarcasm as I could muster all while snickering to myself, but I couldn't help it. "I've had a rough day – week... hell, I've had a rough month actually and I already walked for miles yesterday. I shouldn't have done this today; I should have waited."

That was all it took... He finally laughed out loud. I was pretty sure he was laughing at me and not with me.

"Why is that funny?" I asked.

"Oh," he said his smile dropping. "You were serious."

"Yes..." Duh...

"Look Rose," he said crossing his arms over his strong, muscular chest. "I think I'm pretty sure that your legs are burning right about now."

Oh, he's waiting for me to answer!

"Burning? Ah...more like I hurt like hell...already!"

"You'll feel worse tomorrow." Great...

"So?"

"So, better to jump in now while you still feel...not so bad."

"What kind of logic is that?" I retorted.

"Sound logic, 'been there and done it' logic. I told you that I am going to help you and I meant it. I also told you that I wouldn't be taking it easy on you."

Yeah, he did. "So... what...warm and fuzzy isn't your M.O?"

"No it's not. You have others in your life for that." He stood in front of me making no apologies for not pitying me and as much as my body was screaming at me to sit the hell down; I knew I had to keep going. Failure was never in my vocabulary before, nor was taking the easy way out. I fought hard for everything in my life; this was not going to be any different. I'd never cared about what other people thought of me but for some reason I cared about what Dimitri thought. My subconscious was now standing in the full light of day, out of the shadows she once hid in – boxing gloves on and ready for a fight.

"I still hate you." I said in a last ditched effort to sound put out.

"No you don't." He said smiling. No, I didn't... He was my Kryptonite, I knew then and there that I would do anything he asked of me; all he had to do was say the words.

"Lead on Master." I said with a sweeping hand. I was rewarded with that smile, a smile I'd seen only a couple of times and it made my heart beat a little harder.

"I think I could get used to that."

"Be nice and I might call you master more often, otherwise I'll call you something of less appealing connotations."

Then he did it... God I loved it when he lifted his eyebrow... Sex-eee!

I sucked it up and started running again; this time at a much slower pace. Thank God...

"So, why all the running?" I asked.

"Well, what if I wasn't a friend? What if I meant you harm? How would you stop me from hurting you?"

For a split second I waited for his words to frighten me, I know that if anyone else had said them, I would have broken out in a cold sweat... but I knew deep down that he wouldn't hurt me – ever!

"I'd knee you where the sun don't shine." As much as it would kill me to hurt you...

"Believe it or not, most men are actually aware of that particular soft spot and guard it pretty well. What if you couldn't rely on kneeing him there, how would you get away?"

I tried to think of a weak point that a man of his size could have – other than between his legs... I came up empty.

"You run Rose. It's one thing to learn how to punch and kick, but sometimes running is what will save your life."

I looked up him and I saw that his eyes were as distant as his voice. I'd seen that look before at his house and I wondered what was going on in his head. We soon ended up at St Vladimir's Youth Centre and all I could do was roll my eyes. His car was sitting out front.

"I was wondering where your car was." I said.

"Now you know. Come on." He opened a door at the side of the building; one I knew wasn't a normal entrance.

"Is breaking and entering another talent of yours?" I asked as I moved past him.

"No, but my awesomeness isn't just wanted at the studio you know. I teach classes here too." This didn't surprise me really, he was pretty awesome.

"Doing what?"

"Yoga and kick boxing."

"Huh! You know, if it weren't for the pain currently in my painfully, rubbery legs, I might truly believe you are a figment of my imagination. No man could be as per..." Crap! I bit my lip before I really embarrassed myself. No way was I going to let him know how perfect I thought he was.

He lifted one eyebrow in question, like he knew what I was about to blurt out. "Care to finish that sentence?"

"No." I just ignored the grin on his face. We were now standing beside some wooden racks with varying sized weights on them and I had an idea of what he was going to have me do next. A half hour later I had arms that felt so heavy I was surprised my knuckles weren't dragging on the ground and my legs that were rubbery before were now starting to feel numb. Numbness after exercise fills one with a sense of foreboding... I was going to hurt tomorrow – bad!

"You did well today Rose. What time do you want me to pick you up in the morning?"

The morning?

"You really are trying to kill me!" I said seriously. "After this, you want me to get up in the morning and do it all again and then somehow drag my sorry ass to class tomorrow night?"

"Yes." He said simply.

I was hoping that my face now conveyed just how true my previous statement was in regards to how much I hated him, but then I felt that he really needed to know.

"I really hate you..."

"No you don't..."

=x=

I was surprised when he turned the ignition of his car off when he pulled into the driveway, something told me he was coming inside. He had a slight grin on his face as he got out from behind the wheel and came around to my side of the car.

"I'm being nice..." he said in response to my surprised expression.

"Now..." I grumbled as I rolled my eyes. I eyed his outstretched hand while willing my arms and legs to move but I knew if I made them, they were going to let their opinions of what I'd just done to them be heard. "I can't move..." I caught the quick grin on his face before he wiped it away.

"Well, you can either get out yourself or I'll have to scoop you out – what will it be?"

Hmm..?

He obviously thought that last option he gave me would be a bad thing... My delay in moving while I weighed up my options must have been answer enough for him as he bent down and slipped his arms under my aching legs and around behind my back.

Oh good Lord! He even smells good sweaty...and I could feel just how hard his chest was. If his training didn't kill me, the thoughts and feelings he evoked in me surely would.

"What did you do now Rose?" Lissa asked in a deadpanned voice at the front door.

"I did nothing; it's entirely my Russian jailers fault."

"Jailer?" He said smiling. "What happened to master? You said you'd stick to that if I was nice to you and aren't I being nice by not making you walk into the house?"

By the look on Lissa's face as we passed her, I was going to be giving her a step by step recount of what had happened this afternoon.

"What happened?" Mrs D asked when she looked up and saw me in Dimitri's arms.

"Nothing Mrs D... I can stand you know." I said to him.

Once I was back on my own two feet I looked up and saw Adrian, Nat and Andre sitting on the sofas in the games room, staring at me in wide eyed confusion. But then something different crossed Adrian's face when he looked at Dimitri. Great, now he's going to think he can hug me and shit...

"Now, you're going to be pretty sore tomorrow Rose." Dimitri said. "But there are some things you can do so that will make it not so bad. Go take some pain relief and take a hot shower..."

Not wanting the walking hormones in the other room to hear about me showering, I interrupted him by taking his hand and with sore, wobbly legs I pulled him into the kitchen.

"Can we not talk about hot showers in front of those guys please, they'll never let up otherwise."

His eyes narrowed slightly before turning to look back the way we came, I rather liked the unfriendly glare in his eyes he gave in the direction of the games room... "Sorry."

"That's alright."

"But honestly Rose, if you don't want to be too sore tomorrow, you have to make sure that you stretch out tonight. The shower is the best place to do it, lather up and massage all of your muscles once the heat has penetrated. A good liniment wouldn't go astray either."

Oh, he needs to stop speaking... Those words spoken in that voice... Thoughts of Dimitri, showers, massages and lathered up soap made my mind wander to places it's never gone before... Yum... I shook my head slightly and quickly shoved those yummy thoughts to a far corner of my mind; I could feel my cheeks pinking up and Dimitri had a habit of reading me too well as it was. I certainly didn't want him asking what I was thinking right now.

"Yes...well, before all of that lathering up can happen, I have to somehow get myself up the stairs and after my first lesson with Alberta, I'm well aware of the pain that's going to be involved in that task, and I wasn't as sore as I am now..."

He barely contained his smile. "Do you need another lift?"

Yes please... "Thanks but, I'll be right... No pain, no gain right." See, I can be tough!

"Well, that's what everyone says. I better be going, Mama's expecting me for dinner."

"I still can't believe Olena's you're mother," I said shaking my head. "...but then again..."

"Then again, what?"

"Well, you're a lot like your mom... when you're not going all 'Commando' on my ass that is." I was rewarded with a genuine laugh and I knew it was now my most favourite sound in the world. I'd have to find ways of hearing it again; it was the highlight of my day.

"Someone has to." He said still laughing. "I'll see you at six in the morning, so early to bed tonight; you'll need your rest."

"Sir, yes sir!" I yelled with a little salute. "You know... I'm not going to be able to walk tomorrow, so I may not show..."

"I'm not worried about that. See you tomorrow Rose." He said as he turned away smiling. I wanted to walk him to the front door but I couldn't, I wasn't kidding when I spoke about the stairs. Maybe Liss could piggy-back me...

"Bye Warden..." I yelled after him.

I was sitting on one of the kitchen stools contemplating how long it would take me to climb those bloody stairs when Liss came in and sat down beside me grinning like the Cheshire cat we all know her to be. I knew that face...

"He's trying to kill me and by doing it this way," I said indicating to my almost dead legs in mock seriousness, "...he'll get away with it."

"Maybe, but what a way to die..." She said jokingly. I started to smile but it fell away as an image of Mason flashed into my mind. I couldn't help but grimace slightly and she saw it... "Oh... I'm sorry Rose. Oh god, I didn't mean... Crap – me and my big mouth..."

"Don't worry about it Liss, I know you didn't mean anything by it."

"You are getting so much stronger Rose, I see it every day." She said with a sad smile.

I didn't see it; I still couldn't get near men – with the exception of one tall, dark and extremely handsome Russian and most nights I still slept with the bedside lamp on when Liss wasn't with me. I certainly didn't feel any stronger. I only really felt 'normal' when I was with Dimitri, but that wouldn't last forever. He had his own life, a man like him would probably have a life filled with gorgeous women; women his own age... like the one in the diner. How long would he be content to be in my screwed up, teenage company?

"I need a shower, I stink..."

"Yeah, I didn't want to say anything..." she said scrunching up her nose and shrugging her shoulders.

"Wanna help me up the stairs?" I asked with a wiggle of my eyebrows.

"No way... I have an aversion to other peoples sweat."

"That's not what Christian told me..." I laughed when Lissa gasped in pretend shock. "He told me that you love his version of 'Slip'n'Slide."

He actually did tell me this once, I nearly puked at the unwanted images he put into my head...

"ROSE!" She yelled.

"I know – horrifying thought isn't it!" I said with mock horror and then pretended I was about to vomit! When she took a playful swipe at me, I tried to get away but forgot about my legs... As soon as they took my full weight, they started to buckle. "OW, ow, ow, ow!" I yelled in what could only be described as something between laughing, crying and moaning. Liss tried to catch me but she ended up falling on top of me onto the floor which only hurt me more...

"Aahh!" she screamed as she fell.

"OW! LEGS..." I yelled while pushing her away. "Ow, my legs... get off!"

As much pain as I was in, I couldn't help but laugh with her.

"Ow... my elbow..." Liss whined as we both rolled on the floor of the kitchen. I took a few minutes to stop laughing.

"I still need help up the stairs you know and seeing as how my legs feel even worse than they did 10 seconds ago, I think you owe me." I said with a bit of a glare.

"On one condition... you won't get sweat all over me." She said scrunching up her nose.

"Deal..."

Within an hour, we'd made it up to my room and I'd finished showering. I had to sit on the closed lid of my toilet to put my underwear on because I couldn't lift my legs... As I waddled stiff-legged to my bed, Liss tried half heartedly to stifle her amusement at my pain. I was pleasantly surprised when she offered to massage my sore muscles, although the surprise wasn't all that good once she started... it hurt like hell.

"So, are you going to continue this?" She asked.

"Apparently... he said he'd be outside waiting in the morning."

"In the morning?"

"Yeah... that's what I said! He's a slave driver. Now you know why I called him my Russian jailer."

I told her all about our training session as she rubbed my sore muscles and before I knew it, it was dinner time. Once I finally made my way into bed, my legs had loosened up quite a bit so I was hoping that they wouldn't be too sore when I woke up.

=x=

I woke up at 5:12am covered in sweat and my heart and head both pounding to different beats. I'd made a promise to myself that I wasn't going to let what happened to me or these rotten nightmares dictate my life anymore, I was going to take the bull by the horns and fight... Fight back, starting now... no matter how hard.

You know the saying that we don't always get what we wish for? I thought my legs hurt yesterday... this morning they were even worse, and that's not even taking into consideration of what my arms felt like. It was a quarter past six when I finally opened the front door and the pain I went through to get down those rotten stairs was almost worth the vision that stood in front of me.

"I was about to come get you, you're late."

"I may be late, but I'm here aren't I? You should be proud... or happy at least. You have no idea how long it took me to get down those bloody stairs." I did say the vision that was him was almost worth it right? His stifled grin was slowly picking away at said vision. "And besides, it would be a little hard to come get me with the doors locked."

"True, but I just would have called the house phone until someone came and opened the 'locked door'" he said holding up his cell phone. "Then I would have knocked on your door until you had no other option but to get out of bed to open it."

I was under no illusions that he would indeed do this and I sort of grinned internally at the thought of testing him out...

"I'm sure you would." I said evenly.

"Rose..." he said walking towards me. "I always say what I mean and mean what I say."

My mind went blank for a few seconds... "So, what's first Master?" I said after I released my bottom lip from my teeth.

"Well, with your legs so sore from yesterday I won't make you run this morning but we will be walking. Come on."

Walking? It didn't take me long to realise that we had very different definitions of what 'walking' meant. I would call what he was trying to make me do, a slow run.

"I thought you said walk, Dimitri?" I whined.

"We are walking. Would you care to run and find out the difference?"

Prick!

As much as I wouldn't let on, every minute that I walk/ran, my legs did feel better. Within fifteen minutes the stiffness in my legs waned, if not the pain and as soon as he noticed the change in my gate, he put me through some gentle stretches. We walked some more at a slightly faster pace to the lake and then made our way back to Lissa's place again. Strangely enough, I didn't want that to be it so I asked him what else we were going to do.

"Well, we could go to the Y and do some light weights if you'd like. I wasn't sure if I should push you so soon."

I was probably going to regret what I was about to say... "I need to be pushed Dimitri, if not, my fears and insecurities will overpower me and I'll quit. I can't afford to quit."

"You have no idea how strong you are Rose." He said as he pushed a strand of my hair behind my ear. "After experiencing what you have, most people would still be huddled in the dark too afraid to do anything. But here you are, ready to fight even though you know it's going to hurt like hell both physically and emotionally. You don't know how much I respect you right now."

Respect... not quite what I'd hoped for...

We drove the short distance over to the youth centre and Dimitri parked in the same spot as yesterday. Again we went through the side entrance but this time he entered a code into the security alarm. He pulled some foam matting onto the floor and then lowered himself down. I went over and sat in front of him and waited to see what he wanted me to do.

"I know this might sound a bit weird..." he said. "...but you did really well yesterday, you didn't quit... so I thought you deserved a little reward."

"Really... I like rewards."

He gave a little snicker and the sound made me smile back. "Here, I didn't know what you'd like, so I..." he said with a shrug.

He handed me a small box wrapped in brown paper. Puzzled and excited, I opened it up and smiled when I saw what he'd given me.

"Lip gloss? How did you know I liked lip gloss?"

"I pay attention and I noticed yesterday you didn't have any on." His words made me think that he must look at me more than I realised.

"I could have just forgotten yesterday... I could have a whole stash up in my room."

"Do you?"

"No... Thank you."

"You're welcome. I like seeing you happy." Without even thinking about it, I leapt forward up onto my knees and wrapped my arms around his neck. Initially he was a little stiff, but he quickly relaxed and when he reached around and rested his hands on my lower back, I thought I was going to die.

"I'm glad you like them." His mouth sounded like it was almost in my hair, just above my ear. "When I saw how much pain you were in when I left, I wanted to do something for you, to show that I understand what you're going through – and I wanted to make you smile."

"Yeah, I bet you couldn't believe how unfit I was either, you weren't even puffed!"

"That's not what I thought."

He pulled back slightly and looked at me with so much intensity it made my breathing stop, I couldn't say anything. His eyes were so dark and deep that I wanted to dive right in; staring into them made me feel warm all over. Slowly, carefully, those long fingers of his reached out and traced the edge of my cheekbone and moved up the side of my face. His touch produced the same tingly feeling as every other time he'd touched me and I couldn't help but shiver. He wound a lock of my hair around one finger, just like he had in the car outside Lissa's place...

Swallowing, I dragged my eyes up from his lips. I'd been contemplating what it'd be like to kiss him ever since I'd seen him in the diner and being this close... I don't know how I stopped myself, although the thought of doing exactly that, both excited and scared me, which was stupid really. I'd kissed Mason heaps of times and as much as kissing him was exciting... the thought of touching Dimitri's lips with mine was sending my adrenaline production into overdrive.

"Oh, I'm sorry..." A voice to my left broke the bubble we'd just been in. Dimitri's hand fell away from my hair as my arms came away from around his neck.

"Hi Emily, I didn't think anyone was here." He said plainly. Emily was probably a little younger than my mom, but she looked somehow familiar.

"I just got here. Sorry to interrupt..." I smiled internally when he didn't deny we'd been interrupted. "I was just going to set up for the day."

"We won't be long, just doing a little resistance training."

"That's fine Dimitri. I'll leave you to it." With that she turned and walked out of the gym.

"She seems nice." I said.

"Yeah, Emily's the manager here."

"What's her last name?"

"Mastrano, her daughter's name is..."

"Jill... She's a few years younger than me. She's a junior at St Vlad's."

"Yeah. So... weights?" he said with a nod to what I knew was behind me.

Damn... I thought he'd forget.

For the next twenty minutes Dimitri made me do some light weights, he said he'd build the weights up over the next couple of weeks, but if I did too much now I'd only succeed in doing damage. I wasn't arguing.

After I was good and sore once again, we walked outside to his Jeep Wrangler. I actually thought it suited him rather well. I could just imagine him in tatty denim jeans, plaid shirt and cowboy boots, all he would need to complete the image was one of those long brown duster jackets. Yumm!

"You're kidding me right?" I asked hopefully once he started to pull out of the carpark.

"What?" he asked.

"Don't tell me you listen to this shit all the time?"

'Hungry Like The Wolf' was playing on the radio of his car and seeing what station it was on only made me shudder in the realisation that the God who Walks does actually have a fault. He likes 80's music...

"This, I'll have you know is not shit... its classic rock and roll."

"Beethoven is classic, Elvis is classic... Duran Duran; that's just... old."

"Are you calling me old?"

"If the shoe fits..."

"Well, if I'm so old... why am I the one not in pain right now?"

"I hate you." I whispered.

"No you don't..." he said snickering. Grr...

My body tensed as we rounded the corner of our street and I saw a car in the driveway, this was yet another strange car that I'd come to recognise. The detectives were back.

"What's wrong?" he asked me.

"Do you have to be anywhere right now?"

"No, why?" Then he saw the car... "Who's that car belong to?"

"The cops..."

After helping me out of the car, Dimitri walked up to the front door one step behind me. I reached out a shaky hand to open the door but it swung open before I could grab hold.

"I didn't know how to get hold of you to warn you." Liss said as we walked into the foyer.

"That's alright Liss. I need to shower before I deal with them again though. Can you let them know?"

"Sure, do you need a hand up the stairs?"

"I'll help her up." Dimitri said as he held out his arms. Memories of his calming scent made the awkwardness melt away. Liss smiled as she nodded and walked into the lounge room.

"Thanks but I think I'll..." I said.

"It'll be faster this way." He interrupted, then he bent down and lifted me easily into his arms.

"Turn right at the top of the stairs." I said as I breathed in deeply.

"Now where?" He asked as he started to walk down the hall.

"Last door."

He bent slightly as he reached for my door handle and I couldn't help but giggle.

"You could have put me down you know. It would have been easier." I said as he walked us into my room and put me onto my feet.

"Yes... I could have." Oh! "I'll wait here." He said pointing to the single sofa chair at my window.

I grabbed some clothes as quickly as I could and made my way into my bathroom, where I let the hot water relax me. I was about to turn the nozzle onto the 'massage' setting when I remembered using that setting last night and what that felt like, that hurt more than Lissa's massage did. When I came back out, I smiled at the sight before me. Dimitri bathed in the morning sun, reading a book in my room! Hmm...

"Not what I expected as being something you'd read Rose." He said holding up the book. I took a hard look and saw that it was Anne Rice's 'Interview with a Vampire.'

"Came with the room... I don't really have the patience to sit long enough to read a whole book, especially about something like Vampires."

"Not a fantasy girl?"

Oh... should I answer truthfully? Yeah... I thought with a smirk.

"Oh, I love a good fantasy. I just prefer the visual kind instead of the mental..."

He was speechless... YES! Shall I continue? Yeah, why the hell not!

"Jean-Luc Picard... Mmm, nothing like a nice... bald... head!" 'Mini Me' inside my head was now taking her bows to her adoring audience who were at this very moment showing their appreciation of a perfect performance by throwing bouquets of roses at her feet. "Close your mouth Dimitri, you'll attract flies..." I said giggling.

Even though I was now walking a little easier than before my shower, I still walked stiffly to the top of the staircase. I only made it one step down before I looked back to Dimitri's smiling face. He knew as well as I did that if he didn't carry me down, I wouldn't make it to the living room until dinner time.

"Aren't you glad that I waited now?" He asked smugly.

"Yeah, I suppose you're useful for something."

"Ouch! You wound me." He said with a smiling grimace. "Are you ready?" He said suddenly serious.

"No..." I said softly as he lifted me up.

Dimitri set my feet on the floor at the bottom of the staircase and I slowly hobbled my way to where the detectives sat waiting with Liss and her parents.

"Miss Hathaway." Detective Morris greeted. Ivanson gave me a quick nod of acknowledgement before boring her eyes into Dimitri.

"This is a friend of mine." I said as I sat on the two seater sofa beside Liss. Dimitri stood protectively behind me.

"Are you over your thing Miss Hathaway?" Ivanson said stonily. I'd thought about telling them who Dimitri was, but after Detective Bitch's comment, she could go jump. I didn't want them to taint our friendship with all of this... mess, any more than Ivanson already had.

"If you're asking if I can now go near males, then the answer is no." She gave me a look of disbelief. "He's the only one."

"Right..." We could all hear her innuendo. She never believed that I had a problem with men and having Dimitri here only seemed to back up her belief.

"Anyway," Morris interrupted. "...we have some news. Apparently, one of the other party goers saw Jesse add something when he mixed your drink."

I closed my eyes and swallowed loudly as the world suddenly shifted under my feet. The sound of white noise in my ears was deafening. He was seen... he was seen...

"Rose..." I heard Dimitri's voice in the background but I was too busy trying to slow my heart rate. I opened my eyes and found myself staring into two sets of worried eyes; one was warm brown, the other – pale jade green, the eyes of my sister.

"I'm alright." I said meekly. I took a deep breath before continuing. "So what does that mean exactly?"

"It means that now we have a witness, and normally where we find one witness in such a large gathering... we'll find more."

"Who, who saw him?" Liss asked.

"Um... a Camille Conta." Morris said after looking at her note book.

Camille...?

Please read the Author's note up top if you didn't do so beforehand... Thanks Sandy.