Chapter 5:

Once we had gotten back to our wagon, Lissa had broken down crying into Christian's chest.

I had shivered most of the day, despite the warm temperatures. We had stayed in the wagon, all four of us, silent, trying to process what we had seen. It had taken us a while to speak and to get back to normal.

Dimitri and I kept a good eye on Mr Sage. But so far we hadn't seen any strange behavior from him. The days ticked by. I didn't even flinch anymore when Dimitri would throw the knife next to my face. But if it was because I was getting used to it, or if I was preoccupied I didn't know.

"Rose, we are safe here, Abe wouldn't have sent us here if he thought we were in danger."

Dimitri reiterated again. He had said the same thing since we got back from the city. I had been on high alert for days now. I couldn't shake the feeling something terrible was going on and I had to be on alert. I had to protect Lissa.

"You don't know that. Even he doesn't know everything." My father had a hand in many pockets and there wasn't much that got past him. But he wasn't God, he wasn't all knowing. He could have missed this.

"Abe knew Sydney. So at least he knows she is somewhat trustworthy."

That is probably true. But what I have noticed is that Sydney is a far cry from her father.

We were laying down in our bed, there was just enough room for both of us to lay on our backs. He was slowly stroking my stomach over my dress. His hands idly caressing me in an attempt to calm me down. But it wasn't working. Too much was going on.

I had gotten used to relaxing a little at the palace. I was Lissa's personal Guardian but before they reached me and her, there was an entire army standing in their way. The attack of the Witch hunters was proof of that. But here I had to be on alert all the time. We couldn't let Christian or Lissa out of our sight for a moment. Not just for Witch hunters, but for whatever Mr Sage was doing. I also had to make sure we weren't detected.

Hiding who we were was starting to become exhausting. Dimitri and I couldn't really spar like we usually did. That would draw too much attention towards us. Christian and Lissa needed to sneak around with feedings too. Not to mention I had to keep them out of the sun most of the day in the Romanian late spring.

On top of that, Dimitri and I hadn't been intimate in over three weeks. We had gone longer when he and Christian would travel, but we had never gone this long without when we were this close. It was frustrating and everything was starting to get to me. It was too much.

Christian and Lissa had been around us twentyfour/ seven. And we had been their Guardians all that time. I know we couldn't let them just wander off and get a quickie in. If I was only protecting them from Strigoi they would be alright in the sun, but now all the terrors we faced probably preferred the sun.

I groaned.

"What is wrong Roza?"

I threw my hands up in the air.

"We don't know why these girls are taken, Witch hunters are just around the corner. I am tired, I am restless and I am horny!"

Dimitri actually blushed a little, but I knew he felt the same.

"You aren't the only one, Rose, Lissa and I haven't actually indulged either. I am just not keen on you guys overhearing."

Christian commented, of course he did, because he was there all the time.

"Probably only because you are embarrassed because you finish so quickly." I retorted back.

That earned me a shoe in the face.

I picked it up, sat up and threw it back towards Christian. He tried to pick up something else, but Dimitri stopped us.

"That is enough. We all are getting a little cabin fever. We can't fall apart now."

Christian lowered the shoe he had been holding and I let go of the pillow I grabbed. I suppose he was right.

I knew he was a little crabby too. Lissa seemed to be holding up the best with the no sex rule. I felt a little sorry for Christian. But it was more than that. Both Moroi had been struggling to get blood. For Lissa it was a little easier. She had much better compulsion skills and she would sometimes compel a customer to follow her and drink from them, a bit morally questionable, but necessary right now. She could only get small bits at a time and she would only drink from strangers visiting the circus. That way exposure was kept to a minimum. Christian tried, but because of his compulsion, or lack thereof, he wasn't so successful. He would need Lissa to be there for him, and logistically that didn't always work out.

Dimitri had fed him once from the wrist. He made sure there was a wound he could drink from and Christian wouldn't have to use his fangs. That way Dimitri wasn't under the influence of the endorphins. We needed all our senses to be in tip top shape.

"Look, I can take care of myself for a few hours." Lissa said. "I want to be alone with Christian too. It has been so long since Christian and I had a good conversation and could cuddle in an actual bed. I miss it."

I snorted and Christian groaned, not the attention he wanted appertenly.

"Can't Lissa. Christian can go off wherever he wants, but you need a Guardian with you at all times. Meaning you either have to watch or we have to watch you, which I am considering at this point, or we have to wait."

Dimitri snuggled a little closer. He pressed his nose in my neck.

"Christian can take care of her for five minutes, I just need a private place, I don't even need a horizontal surface." He whispered into my ear and it sent all those delicious shivers right down to my core.

I chuckled. He didn't need anything. Not a bed, not the ground, not a wall, he could hold me up with his big strong hands and he could just…plow into me while holding me.

But what he couldn't do, was do it in five minutes, well maybe round one.

Even when Christian and Lissa were just outside we had to be on alert. Christiand wasn't weak I knew that. He was watching over Lissa when we were on stage. But that was different. We were still vigilant. But when Dimitri and I were together, we were in our own little world.

"No, no, I am done. I want a moment alone with my girlfriend. I don't even care about the sex anymore. I just want an hour without you two hovering over us." Christian protested.

"Fine. Dimitri and I are sitting outside. We will be able to hear you, but we won't be able to see you. So there is that. Make the most of it."

We had left them alone in the cabin before, when we were practicing, but we would still be close by. Too close for Lissa to be comfortable with some smoochie smoochie time. But I think that point was shifting the longer they went without.

I got up and left the wagon. It was a nice day so I didn't mind sitting outside. Maybe the sun would calm me down a bit.

We had a couple of chairs just outside the wagon. We could still look for danger this way.

"We can leave them alone for an hour, Rose. Christian is with her. He can protect her."

Dimitri took my hand. But I shook my head.

"And risk exposure? I am her Guardian Dimitri, I can't let anything happen to her."

Dimitri squeezed my hand and held me close.

"She is fine and she is strong, Rose. I know there are a lot of threats out there right now, but we can't be on alert twenty four hours a day. We won't last. We are already taking shifts sleeping. You need to let loose just a little. Otherwise we won't make it another month. This is a marathon not a sprint."

Damn why did he have to be so reasonable. I knew exhausting ourselves would only backfire. But leaving them alone to rest, or even to be together seemed wrong when there were so many threats around.

Christian and Lissa had started out talking a bit. Then it progressed to giggles, and then to moans.

I put my hands over my ears and closed my eyes. I still heard Dimitri chuckle as he took my hands from my ears and kissed them.

"They are finding some time to relax, and it is their lives in danger. Why can't you?"

"Because we are their Guardians."

He smiled. That was always the answer. The reason we still weren't married. The reason why we never took some time off, the reason why it had been hell to get together in the first place. We were their Guardians.

"Look at it this way. There are so many dangers now, we might die tomorrow protecting them. Do you really want to die horny?"

I couldn't believe my ears. Dimitri was always the serious one. I can't believe he would suggest dereliction of duty just to have me.

But the flames in his eyes told the entire story. There was one thing he valued more than his duty. Me. And apparently three weeks was the tipping point, where one outweighed the other.

I moved closer and kissed him. Even that had been days. I pulled back all too soon.

"Okay, I guess I can lighten up a little." He seemed relieved. Not just because maybe one of these days we would find the time to have sex, but also because I sensed I was stressing about it a lot, and letting it go a little would be good for my own health.

It is just that the hanging had startled me. Not just that the Witch hunters were this close but that there was something else looming over us. But Dimitri was right. Lissa was fine if the 'Oh Gods' were any indication.

I must admit Christian was lasting longer than I gave him credit for.

An hour later we went back inside to start getting supplies for dinner. Christiand and Lissa had dressed but were in the snuggle fase. The smile on Christian's face was undeniable. But Lissa felt lighter too. I could tell. Darkness was always something that loomed over her. I had been able to take it from her at one point, but the bond Lissa and I had was broken years ago. I still know what it did to her.

So from now on I would be more conscious of them having time together. It was good for them and good for us. Now we just had to figure out a time when it would be good for us.

Fortune smiled on us the next morning. Dimitri had woken up early. He always did. I would stay up a little later until everyone in the group had fallen asleep and he would wake up early before anyone else. We still had a few hours of overlapping sleep, there really was no way around that, but we tried to keep it to a minimum.

I would have to remind Abe to ward the wagon next time.

Dimitri pressed himself against me. He was spooning me from behind. He nuzzled my neck, waking me up slowly.

"Christian and Lissa are out like a light. They were tired from yesterday. The rest of the camp is still asleep."

His insinuation wasn't lost on me and if I needed anymore evidence of what his intentions were, I only needed to feel the very hard member pushing against my backside.

Dimitri moved his hand from a rather innocent position on my hip to a not so innocent position on my breast, moving underneath my nightgown.

I let my head rest against his as I moaned.

"Hush, don't make a sound. Or you might wake them up." I put my hands over my mouth. This might be harder than I thought.

Dimitri started to knead my breast, he reached the nipple and tweaked it. I bit my bottom lip. If I had a hard time controlling my noises now, imagine if he was inside of me. The thought alone made me moan a little again. But instead of chastising me again, Dimitri joined in with his own groan.

"Quiet Comrade." I said breathlessly.

"I am trying, but you can't make those noises. It drives me crazy." His hot breath on my neck was driving me crazy. I pushed my backside into his groin, needing to feel him close.

He left my breast and moved his hand lower and lower, until it reached the apex of my thighs. The moment his fingers brushed over my node I gasped. If there hadn't been any privacy to have sex, there hadn't be any privacy to take care of things myself either. It had been weeks since I had had an orgasm and I was on the edge already.

"So sensitive." He joked. But it didn't stop him from circling my clit and occasionally going lower and spreading my juices around a bit. He was teasing me. Never putting too much pressure on, or going too deep with his fingers.

I could do that too. I reached behind me, into his pyjama bottoms, until I felt his cock against my hand. He hissed when I ran my finger over the head.

I smiled. "So sensitive."

He was rocking his hips against my finger. He pushed me back against him with the hand that was on my clit a moment earlier. He had it on my abdomen. I knew what he wanted. I wanted it to. And I was ready. He simply moves his pyjama bottoms a little lower just enough to free his cock. he guided himself slowly inside of me. I was still facing away from him, but I didn't mind. There was something to be said about this position. His body moulded around mine. We didn't just connect on the obvious parts, but every inch of us was pressed together.

He started to move slowly and I knew it took a lot of him not to pound into me. I could hear him grind his teeth. I was fighting a losing battle too. I was starting to move with him, trying to get any friction I could.

I reached towards his neck with my hand and laid my head in the crook of his neck. He kissed my shoulder all the while holding me in place.

We were covered with blankets and most of our nightwear, so even if Christian and Lissa were to wake up they wouldn't see anything. Still it would be very obvious from our movements what we were doing.

I bent down a little, grabbing a pillow to stuff my face in. The angle meant Dimitri could go deeper and I needed that pillow now.

He leaned down a bit over me, I was now slightly in my stomach and slightly on my side. My face was pushed into the pillow a little, but it helped me with the noises, so I didn't complain. He lifted one leg up a bit, bracing it on the side of the bed. It gave him better support to go harder without making more noise.

His hand moved back toward my clit. "Oh God." I moaned as he made contact. I was going to explode any second now. I really was. If Christian or Lissa woke up now, it wouldn't matter. We were going to finish this now.

I threw my head back and let out a silent scream as I came hard around his cock. My walls were pulsating with the intensity of my orgasm. Dimitri bit down a bit in my shoulder stifling the sound of his own release.

We went back to the spooning position, he was still inside of me, but the eagerness had left him.

"Please don't make me go another three weeks before we can have sex again." He whispered in my ear.

I liked him begging. He was cute when he begged.

"As long as we are quiet, and they are asleep we can do this."

This has been amazing. I knew we eventually wanted more. We always did. We had a very active sex life, but this would do for a while, and hopefully we would be back in the palace in another couple of weeks. It was definitely better than nothing. And I sort of like that we had to hide it under the covers. It was a little thrilling that you could get caught if you weren't careful. It sounded like a challenge.

And for the first time in three weeks, I didn't think about the numerous threats to our lives, or about the girls that were going missing, or the look of the hanged when they passed from this world.