WARNING: Mature content in this chapter. Explicit content not suitable for younger readers. To avoid it, skip past the first line break.

-=o0&0o=-

I was dreaming of the lust charm again.

Dimitri had just slid my panties off. I laid there naked beneath him. He admired me. He leaned in to kiss me. Dimitri captured my breast in one hand. His other hand moved up my inner thigh. He grazed my folds. He slid a finger against my opening, then slightly inside.

Suddenly, I was awake. I was naked in my bed, except for the blankets. And I wasn't alone. Dimitri was there in my tiny twin bed beside me, under the blankets with his arm around my waist. I could feel his skin everywhere that he touched me - a lot of skin. He must've been as naked as I was. I turned towards him.

"Hi," I whispered, smiling at him, "I love you."

"Hi. I love you, too. I've missed you these past few weeks."

"We've seen each other every day, Dimitri." I kissed him again, wrapping my arm around his bare torso.

"We have. But you didn't believe that we loved each other until this morning."

"I didn't." I smiled at that. "But I do now. And I missed you, too."

"I was hesitant to wake you up when I got here. From the sounds you were making, it seemed like you were having a nice dream," he said.

"I was," I said, catching his lips in another kiss and then nuzzling his neck, "So you just decided to take the time to take all of your clothes off and curl up beside me before waking me up?".

"Did you want me to go?" he asked, glancing towards the door with a smirk, "And let you get back to your dream?"

"I was dreaming of you. But reality is so much better than that dream right now." I pulled his body against mine and kissed him as hard as I could, practically devouring his lips. As the kiss deepened, I slid my leg around his and rolled him onto his back, positioning myself on top of him, legs on either side. I could feel the heat and smoothness of his bare erection up against my core. I knew he could feel just how aroused I was, too.

Dimitri groaned at the contact. "Mmm, Roza. That really must've been a very good dream," he said, catching my breasts in both hands and pinching a nipple.

"If you're in it, it always is," I replied, "Now that the necklace is off, I take it from your clothing choice that you're not still choosing to only kiss me?"

"I think I choose just the opposite, actually, Roza. I've been waiting for so long to show you just how much I love you."

"You've been showing me that all along, Dimitri," I said, "Thank you."

"I will never take this for granted. Knowing I can be this close to you and touch you. Having the chance to say that I love you and hear you say it back. This life we live, we may not have tomorrow, but I will love you until the day you die - no, I will love you until the day I die. I will give everything that I have to give to keep you safe and cared for. I promise that I'll always be here for you. I will never let anything happen to you," he declared.

I was stunned. Just those words were practically treason for a guardian to say to another dhampir.

And yet ... I felt the same way. "And I won't let anything happen to you, either. I love you so much."

He cut off my words with a deep kiss, tangling one of his hands in my hair and the other pressing the middle of my back to bring us closer together. His kiss felt so full of love and emotion. I loved that. I loved him. I wanted to show him how much I loved him, as much as he wanted to show me.

I sat up straight, slid a hand down in between us, and positioned him so that the tip of him was at my entry, slowly sliding down onto him at a snail's pace, taking almost a full minute to have him fully engulfed inside me. I heard him whispering 'Roza' again and again as I made my slow journey around him. When he was fully inside me, it felt extremely deep and snug, but there was no pain as there had been the last time we were together. I was startled when I realized that, from this angle, the tip of him was exactly in that same spot that had felt so good before, without having to adjust in any way.

I leaned forward to kiss Dimitri again as I began to slowly move while on top of him. The kiss lingered. It felt both soft and powerful, his lips caressing my lips and his tongue stroking my tongue. I bit gently at his lower lip, sucking softly and feeling his hands gripping tightly, urging my hips to move faster.

After I moved to start kissing his neck, Dimitri said, "Wait, Roza, I love it when you kiss me, but I want you to sit up again."

I sat up, as he asked. The lights were all off in my room, but it was noon outdoors and the blinds were cracked open enough that we could both see each other very well. As soon as I sat up, he raked his eyes over me from shoulder to thighs and hissed in a breath as his gaze returned to where we were joined together.

"That's better," he said, reaching forward and stroking his thumbs across both of my nipples as he cupped my breasts, "Feeling you is incredible, but I want to see you, too."

I could almost feel Dimitri's eyes all over my body as I watched his darkened lustful stare. The change in position again lined me up so that he was hitting that perfect spot repeatedly. The rotation meant that my hips had moved from slowly pushing my weight up and down to sliding forward and back, meaning I found myself moving faster, rolling my hips slightly as he hit my deepest point. After a few dozen rolls, I couldn't even look at him as I felt the intensity begin to overwhelm me. I could only close my eyes and lean my head back. I was doing my best to be quiet, but I was practically gasping.

"Oh, Roza ... Do you know how long I could only imagine seeing you like this?" he asked, "How long I dreamt of your beautiful body? Or the softness of your skin? How badly I wanted you?"

My eyes returned to his I shook my head gently. "No," I whispered, with a smile, "but I know how long you loved me."

"Yes, it's true that I have loved you for a very, very, very long time," as he spoke, each 'very' was punctuated by a thrust from underneath me, the last being the deepest, his hands clutching my hips to pull my core tighter against him than I thought possible, "But I wanted you even longer. You can't imagine how long I wanted to be able to do … this." he asked as he sat up slightly under me and began gently sucking at one of my nipples, causing my losing fight with silence to end completely as a whimper escaped my lips.

Dimitri laid flat again, arching his back to thrust up from underneath me as he continued to spur my hips and stare at my naked body astride his. With every word Dimitri said, he thrust harder. He continued, saying, "Even when we first met, I knew you were beautiful. I tried not to notice these hips," he squeezed my hips and pulled me onto him harder while he thrust so that he could illustrate, "and these beautiful breasts." He moved a hand up and squeezed one of my breasts. "And back then, Roza, I had no idea," he said, as he move the hand from my breast to the apex of my thighs, letting his thumb find its way to rub circles along the front of my folds, "just how amazing all of the rest of you was."

Feeling both his tip inside me on the perfect spot and his thumb rubbing me there, I couldn't help myself. I moaned loudly, almost a yell. Dimitri's body went perfectly still and his eyes went wide, half in surprise and half in fear. "Shh, Roza," he whispered, "It would be bad for both of us if we were to get caught now."

I nodded. "I know," I whispered back, "it's just so hard to control."

As his hands and hips began to move again, Dimitri said, "Once there is finally no risk of getting caught, I can't wait to make you scream. Over and over again. You have no idea how much I would love that. But please, try. For now."

My mind was telling me to be quiet, but my body was telling me now was the time to scream. The intensity of every motion was overwhelming. His wonderful chocolate eyes kept shifting between my own eyes and my body, the look of love mixed with pure desire that he was giving me only adding to the heat of every moment. My movements were beginning to get erratic and uncontrolled, but Dimitri seemed to know exactly what he was doing. At the end of every shift backwards that I made, I could feel his hands pushing my hips to suddenly burst forward with an additional pop of speed.

I was so close to coming undone, but I was so afraid that I actually would scream. "Dimitri," I breathed, "I don't know if I can keep quiet."

"Oh, Roza," he moaned gently. I didn't intend it that way, but I could see that my words had thrilled him. In an instant, he had flipped us over so that he was on top before I even realized what was happening. "Bury your face in the pillow, krasivaya," he said, "I'm going to make you scream now. I want to make you come so hard, my beautiful Roza."

Dimitri shifted my legs up so that the angle of my hips positioned me flatter and tighter against him, then began pounding into me so hard that the mattress slid slightly on each push. I whimpered as his thumb returned to me and he simultaneously found that right spot again on the inside. He was right that this would make me scream. I turned my face so that I could bury it into the pillow, clutching it to my face with a fist. When the intensity caused the first scream to come, I bit down into the pillow. It muffled the sound, but we could still hear it clearly from inside the room. "Yes, Roza, scream for me!" he said, "I love you so much."

I began to climax just as he said that, muffling my scream in the pillow. It was easily the most intense orgasm I'd ever felt. Within seconds, I felt Dimitri reaching his release. I didn't see him when it happened because I was still riding the waves of my own pleasure with my face buried in the pillow. Contrary to what I used to think, sex - at least this sex - was much better than any bite I'd ever received. I was panting hard and struggling for air as I turned to face him and tried to catch my breath. His weight wasn't on me, but my heart felt like it was going a million miles an hour and it was taking effort to try to breathe normally again. "Oh … my … God … Dimitri … that was ... so incredible. I ... love you so ... much."

-=o0&0o=-

Dimitri slid to lay beside me on the bed, wrapping both arms around me and pulling me close. He kissed my forehead, then planted a small kiss on my lips. "I wish that I could stay with you all night," he said, cupping my cheek and then running a hand through my hair, "and just lay here in each other's arms. That I could wake up with you in the morning. I've never loved anyone the way that I love you."

"Me either," I admitted, kissing him again. "I never even said the word before you. I mean, I told Liss, but never a guy before. And I wish you could stay, too. Last week when I fell asleep in your arms, that was maybe the best night's sleep I've ever had. It's just better when you're here."

He kissed me again, soft and gentle. "Do you think you could do that again tonight?" I asked.

"I could do that," he said. He chuckled low in his throat and added, "I should probably put some clothes back on first, though."

I nodded, saying, "Okay, if you have to."

Dimitri slid off of the bed and walked over to the desk, where his clothes were neatly folded. Watching his exquisite body walk across my dorm room was surreal. If I'd ever thought he was a god before, it went double now, seeing the work of art moving across the floor of the room I'd slept in every night. He'd called me beautiful, but that word just wasn't strong enough to use for him. I was sad to see the first layer of clothing go on, but it was nice to get this view of him just walking around like this.

"Dimitri," I said, hoping I didn't sound like a foolish, love-sick little kid, "could I please just look at you some more before your clothes all go back on?"

He nodded and turned towards me so that I could see him, then came and sat back on the edge of the bed. I sat up to admire him, pulling the blankets up around my chest. He was absolutely breathtaking. "As you wish, Roza. I have a suspicion that I know exactly what you are feeling."

"I'm not sure what you mean," I said.

"Roza, when I asked you to sit up earlier, it was because I simply needed to see you - to enjoy your amazing beauty. I still want to see you - and I'd love for you to pull those blankets back down now, too. I wanted you long before I loved you, Roza. It took me a while before I could even admit it to myself. I used to dream about you, long before the lust charm. The night in the lounge, when I found you there with Jesse Zeklos, seeing you there with your shirt off, you were so mesmerizing. You were so beautiful. You are so beautiful."

I pulled the blankets back down as we both looked at each other. "That night with the lust charm," I said, "I know better now, but for a long time, I never thought things could get better than that. I still dream of that night."

"I do, too," he said, "I dream of so many of the things that have happened with you. I dream of the first night we made love. I'll probably dream of tonight, too."

"The night you were here during the lockdown, when you asked me to … take care of things, you know that I did, right?"

"Oh, yes, Roza," Dimitri said, "Just the thought of that got me through several lonely nights the past few weeks, imagining you imagining me that way."

"Did you ever … while thinking of me, I mean?"

He looked at me as though I had just asked him if the sky was blue. "Of course I did. I tried not to, at first. It was a losing battle. Once I gave in - especially after the lust charm … well ... it was hard to think of anything else."

"That long ago?" I asked, wishing I could raise an eyebrow like he did.

"Yes, Roza, that long ago."

"I didn't, you know? Before you, I mean. Not ever. I sort of understood the mechanics, more-or-less, but I had never …" I wasn't usually the timid or embarrassed type, but I couldn't bring myself to say the words. As my words drifted off, he arched an eyebrow in surprise, "What about now? Do you still, now that we've been together? And will we be able to be together like this again - maybe next weekend?"

"Everything changed the night we were together. That chertovo necklace changed things again. I'm not sure what will happen now, but this only worked tonight because of swapping shifts with Yuri. Yuri and I aren't always together on the schedule like this, and even if we are, this probably can't happen every Sunday we're both on. We'll figure it out, though."

Chertovo. Another Russian word I didn't know. "Dimitri, when you told me to put my face in the pillow, you called me something. Christ-a-via, or something like that. What did that mean?"

Dimitri laughed and placed a hand on my cheek, "Christ-a-via? I called you krasivaya. It means beautiful." He kissed me tenderly again and then said, "I really do think I should get dressed now. I'm tempted to get back in the blankets with you again, and I don't think we have time for that."

It took surprisingly little time for him to put his clothes back on. Next to his clothes were his walkie-talkie and his cell phone. After he finished buttoning the last button on his shirt, he opened it. "Der'mo," he exclaimed, looking at the screen.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Text messages about a problem with the shift swap. I may have to deal with some consequences. I have to go. I'm so sorry, Roza."

"I know you are. I love you."

"I love you, too, Roza," he said, closing the distance and placing a kiss on my lips, "I'll see you in the morning on the track."

-=o0&0o=-

Author's Notes:

Okay, last explicit chapter for a little while, but it definitely got a little more detailed than I had previously written in this work. Whether you read and enjoy that sort of thing or skipped over it, though, hopefully you're glad (like I am) to see Rose and Dimitri back together and loving each other again. My apologies if Google translate falls short on the Russian, but hopefully you get what I was going for there and found it fun.

If you feel like you need more explicit content and I'm falling short at bringing the goods, let me know in the comments/reviews and maybe I can come up with a few more, but just keep in mind that they'll probably slow down the overall story, if I put them in.

Here's my question of the week:

What's the most surprising way you've ever woken from sleeping?

For me, there's a story to go with it: my husband and I moved to the opposite side of Michigan a few months after college. The apartment we were supposed to move into was supposed to have been ready when we arrived with our truckloads of furniture and boxes, but there was a problem with the flooring, so the complex put us up in a budget hotel for the night at the last minute. The hotel only had one room left available when we checked in - an ADA-compliant handicapped room complete with handrails on all of the walls. We requested a 5:00 AM wake-up call so that we could get all of the furniture loaded into the apartment in time to return our rental truck. When the wake-up call from the room phone went off, it was the loudest, shrillest sound I had ever heard and there were blindingly bright lights flashing everywhere. I thought the fire alarm was going off and panicked. I screamed at the top of my lungs so loud that the people in the next hotel room came out into the hallway and started banging on our door to make sure I was okay!