25

[Tension]

The week seemed to move slower than usual and to be honest; I was starting to look forward to the trip to the mall with Lissa. It seemed like a chance to get away from classes, and actually do some real guardian work. Plus, I might get some clothes out of the deal.

After school, I was throwing my books into my locker when Jesse leaned into my peripheral.

"Hey," he said with a light smile.

"Hey, yourself…"

"A couple of us are going to watch a movie on Saturday night, and Ralf has a stash of booze he was going to break out, maybe some weed. So, I was just wondering if you wanted to come with me." Jesse pushed his hand through his hair.

"Are you … asking me out? Cuz, I don't really do dates…"

"Okay, fine. It doesn't have to be a date, per se. Just think of it as a kickback, with a couple of other people… and you and me"

" Plus," I cut him off, still slightly perturbed. "I don't think I have ever seen you ask someone out before. Isn't it a little beneath you to beg like this?" I said wryly.

"Maybe I haven't really been interested enough in anyone… before."

Um, what?

"You aren't serious," I said slamming my locker and turning to walk down the hall.

"I'm not hearing a 'no'," Jesse said next to me.

"No".

I could tell he was slightly amused by my quick retort.

"Really? You're turning me down; just like that?"

"Just like that," I stopped walking. "Besides, I won't even be around. Lissa and I are going to the mall in Missoula on Saturday, we will be gone most of the human day."

"The mall? You'd rather go to the mall, than hang out with me?" He threw his head back. "I see how it is, it's fine…" He sighed, dramatically. "I can take a hint, I'll just go mend my broken heart elsewhere," he walked ahead of me and down the hall.

"Jesse-" I laughed as I called to him, but he threw his hand up, indicating that he didn't' want to hear it.

That boy surprised me at every turn. It was almost like how we used to be. Flirty, fun, slight sexual tension…

I turned to walk down the hall to my class, but found Lissa staring straight at me.

"Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?" She asked looking me up and down.

I eyed her questioningly.

"What were you doing talking to Jesse Zeklos?" She folded her arms across her chest.

"Oh, that. He wanted to know if I wanted to hang with him and a few of the other guys on Saturday, but we're going to the mall…"

Lissa snickered, "…As if you would even consider it. Did he just suddenly come up and start talking to you?"

"Yes, well … no… I mean, we've talked a couple times in the last few weeks. Before class and stuff…"

"Seriously? I thought you hated him."

At one point, I thought so too, "Well, he sort of apologized to me and since then he's been okay… pretty normal even."

Lissa still wasn't convinced, "Well… whatever … anyway … that wasn't why I was looking for you."

She paused, and was staring at me until I heard her through the bond.

"Have you seen the hot new guy, yet?"
 I shook my head.

"He dropped in, on my Basics of Elemental Control class this morning and…"

Lissa's eyes caught something behind me and I turned to look.

It was like a scene from a movie, minus the wind machine.

The tall figure striding down the hallway was one I had never seen before. Muscular, sandy blond hair and … Moroi?

I quickly turned back to Lissa and she waggled her eyebrows, "Like I said", she thought.

When I turned around he was already gone and an insane amount of girlie chatter erupted throughout the hallway. I motioned for Lissa to follow me.

I sat on top of a stone table outside, Lissa on the bench.

"So?" I begged excitedly.

Lissa laughed, "Alexander"

"You mean the future Mr. Hathaway –" I said as Lissa laughed again.

"From what I heard from the other Moroi, he's 20 and he basically has nothing to do because he is a royal. So he just came to hang out".

"Royal?"

"Yeah, he's a Zeklos. Which is why I was surprised when you hadn't seen or heard about him. You and Jesse being BFF and all…" Lissa shrugged.

I shrugged back.

"Good timing though. I bet you have more of a reason to consider going to the dance now.."

"Psh, yeah, me and everyone else," I said lightly, playing with leaves that had fallen from the tree above.

"Well, if not him who else would you go with?"

Dimitri. It was that simple. No hesitation, no second thoughts. If I could go with anyone to the dance it would be him. He would probably look amazing in a suit… he pretty much looks amazing in anything… or nothing…

"Shit!" I grabbed my bag off the table

"What?" Lissa called from behind me as I took off in a run.

"Dimitri is going to kill me!" I shouted back. I was mentally kicking myself already. I never have time to hang out after school because of practice.

I ran down the quad and across the lawn toward the gym, and rounded the corner toward the door.

Aagh! For the second time in a week, I ran straight into someone, but this time that someone felt like a brick wall and I was looking up from the ground when I realized what had happened.

"You weren't chasing me, were you?" I looked over to see Alexander Zeklos looming above of me.

"Why would you think I was chasing you?" I said trying to sit up.

Alexander quickly knelt down and helped me sit the rest of the way up.

"Well, I was being followed by a group of girls and so I ran just to get away from them. So, you could have easily been one of them, and by the way you were running…" He broke off.

I was just staring into his blue-green eyes as he spoke and I hadn't really realized that he had stopped talking.

"No" I started.

His light smile engrossed me.

"No, I mean, I wasn't chasing you." I managed.

He studied my face momentarily and his smile grew, "Well, in your case, I might not have minded." He put his hand out to me, palm up.

"Alexander Zeklos," He said bending and placing a small kiss on the back of my hand. "But you can call me Alex."

"Rose," Dimitri's voice echoed just inside the gym doorway.

I looked to Dimitri and then back to Alex, "Yeah, I'm late for practice."

Alex helped me to stand, his strong hand lingered on mine.

"It was nice to meet you, Rose" He said nodding his head slightly.

I smiled and walked toward the doorway where Dimitri still stood. Dimitri's eyes lingered on Alex as I walked by, but he simply closed the door after me.

I changed quickly into my workout clothes and started my stretches. Without a word from Dimitri I set out onto the track and ran the usual two miles, keeping a fast pace. When I was done, I went back into the gym, where Dimitri had one practice dummy set up in the middle of the room.

"While mastering your skills is one of the most important steps to being a guardian, keeping a clear head is vital. If you cannot maintain focus in tough situations, your skills will not be efficient." He said flatly.

I nodded at him and then he told me to stand directly in front of the dummy. Suddenly the lights went out in the gym, and even with good Dhampir vision, the dummy was a mix of shadows.

"Okay, so I can't necessarily see very well, but it's a dummy. He's not really going anywhere-" I called out into the large, dark, space.

"And you are to keep it that way!" Dimitri's voice called from behind me.

I turned, hoping I could catch his movement.

"What?" I threw my hands up.

"Guard him," his voice boomed again, this time from my left.

What?!

It was then that the echo of Dimitri's voice was drowned out by the speakers positioned around the gym.

I could barely see, and now I could not hear anything but the adrenaline pumping music, now moving in sync with my heart.

I backed up, knowing the dummy was somewhere behind me.

The back of my shoe struck something solid and I felt the frame of the dummy. I knew I had to keep it to my back if I was going to defend it, so I took a few steps forward, trying to listen, feel, whatever I could do.

Just before it struck me, I saw Dimitri's fist extend toward me, hitting me directly in the side. It wasn't a hard hit, but it definitely caught me off-guard. I reached back toward the blackness, hoping to catch Dimitri, but he was already gone.

A shove from behind me sent me sprawling forward to the ground, but I quickly pushed myself back up, trying to regain my bearings.

Luckily, I found the dummy once again and set out in front of it.

I stood, suspended in time, just waiting. Waiting for Dimitri to make a move that I could counter. I was ready. My breath stopped in my chest.

"You'd be dead already" the deep voice whispered warmly on the back of my neck. A chill ran up my spine.

I turned a low kick, trying to catch him but he was already gone.

In my position, I realized that Dimitri would be expecting me to be running around like a chicken with her head cut off. When really, he was probably just as blind as I was and he was making slower moves to find me. I went on the offensive.

Crouching lower in my stance I took a few steps one way and then the other and I realized that the floor below the mats had a slight give to them; a movement I could feel.

When I felt it again on my right, I lunged, grabbing Dimitri by the arm, then the other, trying to pull him to the floor.

Being Dimitri, he quickly slithered out of my grasp, but I moved again quickly slamming him, and me, into the floor.

The song ended, the echoes of silence returning within the darkness.

I could hear Dimitri's breathing ragged in his chest as I struggled above him, trying to pin him down long enough to pretend to stake him. Then I remembered his ribs that I had already bruised in practice. I pressed my knee bluntly into his side, making him grunt lowly.

I raised my fist before staking him, but was surprised when Dimitri threw me off of him. I landed with a crack, and he rolled over on top of me.

My arms were pinned to my side and Dimitri's torso and legs anchored my own.

Dimitri pushed his face into the hollow of my neck, pretending to bite me. Letting his teeth graze my slick skin. A Strigoi bite would likely feel a lot less hot.

Dimitri's breath heated my skin and my heart thudded below his.

"I'm sorry", I whispered softly.

"For what?" he whispered back huskily, pushing up to his hands.

"I was late for practice and then it looked like I was trying to talk to that guy."

I heard him let out a breathy laugh, "You were talking to that guy."

"But I mean, only because he was helping me up, because I ran into him-- because I was late --and in a hurry… not because I was trying to get his number or something…"

"hmm… I don't know…that's not what it looked like to me…"

"Plus, I'm not really on the market." I said, trying to ignore Dimitri's lower body still leaning on mine.

"No? Well, damn. Who is this guy who took you off the market?" He said leaning back down to my neck."...I'll kill him"

I inhaled deeply.

"Oh, I don't think you know him," I said as Dimitri planted lingering kisses up to my ear.

"No?" he whispered. "Well, what is he like?"

Dimitri nibbled at the base of my ear, which sent my eyes rolling to the back of my head.

"Well," I panted. "He's tall, body like a Greek god, devastatingly handsome, sexy-"

Dimitri moved his mouth onto my own, urging my tongue with his slowly.

He broke off, leaving me breathing heavily. "Are you sure I don't know this guy, sounds familiar…"

I smiled defiantly, happy he couldn't see my face in the dark.

"You guys are complete opposites, I don't know how you would".

Dimitri pushed his weight onto me. His kiss was heated as he slid his body against mine. I could feel the pressing excitement.

His hands no longer by my side, slid my tank top just above my stomach as he caressed my hips, my abs – pushing my tank top up and over my shoulders.

Hey lovers; the song I pictured during the fight as 'Black Spider Save Your Life' - Warp Brothers Remix. If you have any suggestions for a different song, let me know :]

Thank you again to the readers and reviewers. I love writing and I love reading responses. Thanks for the tips, requests, and suggestions.

Love it!

besos

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PS: My tracker isn't working on any of my stories, so I don't even know if people are reading them :[ ugh! Please review.