Now that we got some steam out of the way, lets resume to the main plot

It's been two days since Rose and Dimitri had their-interaction - in the jacuzzi.

Neither one spoke about it.

Dimitri felt good, except about nearly getting caught, of course. Something felt so- freeing- about being able to finally show Rose how he felt in some capacity. He hoped that she understood that he wants her for more than her body. Even hours later, after, embarrassingly, having to wash his swim trunks, he found himself craving her again just by thinking of her.

Is this what love feels like? He thought. Despite his age, Dimitri has always been very focused on his career and only dated occasionally when he first started guarding. After losing Ivan, he closed himself off from everyone except family. Well, until Rose; she opened him back up in a way that made him feel stronger when vulnerable around her instead of feeling weaker.

Rose was in a similar boat. She already knows that she loves Dimitri. He understands her like no one else and being able to express that in the jacuzzi was so relieving for her.

The next morning, when they met up for training, Dimitri was acting as if nothing happened. It scared her, she worried that maybe he wished nothing did happened, but midway through their jog, in the surrounding woods, during their warm-up Dimitri suddenly stopped running, turned around, and gave her a smoldering kiss that said more than any words could.

She returned the favor while sparring by gently licking the shell of his ear after he rested on her for a moment after pinning her. The look he shot her let her know he liked it way more than she thought he would.

As much as Rose wanted to actually talk to Dimitri about their relationship, which now has definitely gone past friendship. A part of her doesn't want to discuss the harsh realities of how difficult their relationship will become if they tried to be together.

She is happy to have him in this way, especially when the only other option is not having him at all.

But Rose can't focus too much on her and Dimitri's strange relationship because she has another mission to accomplish: avoiding Mason. Rose has been having the feeling that he wants to talk to her privately for the last few nights they have been here. She has been putting in extra effort to always be around someone else, especially Dimitri or Adrian since they both have a good idea of the situation. He has definitely become more persistent, hell, she almost got caught by him when she was in the jacuzzi with Dimitri!

Meanwhile, Mason is really beginning to get irritated. He has been trying to catch Rose alone for about the last three days. The more time that goes by, the more antsy he gets. Going over what he is going to say in his mind, he can only imagine the look of happiness on Rose's face when she admits that she likes him too.

He can't wait to hold her in his arms, exchanging expressions of love before finally being able to kiss her soft lips.

But he can't ever seem to find her! Plus, he doesn't want to come off so obvious by asking to speak with her alone when other people are there.

But, that was all before he found out the truth.

Last night, Rose was with him, Eddie, and Adrian in the living room when she decided to head to bed early. Adrian said something close to an apology, saying he and Lissa will try to go easy. Mason guessed he must have missed something earlier, or Adrian was just talking out of his ass as usual.

Finally getting fed up with waiting for the right moment, he decided to go to her room in the middle of the night and speak to her then. He knew how Rose could be about getting her sleep, but he figured that when she realized what he had to say to her she would be ecstatic. Maybe she would welcome me into her room for the rest of the night. Getting up around 12:30 pm, Mason went to go brush his teeth, gotta get rid of any bad breath for Rose, and went next door to Rose's room.

He softly knocked on the door, but he didn't get a response. He didn't want to wake anyone by banging louder, so he knocked again gently.

No response again.

God, Rose sleeps like the dead. He thought. Of course, she probably didn't hear him knocking in her sleep. Turning the knob of the door, he found that it was unlocked. Mason wasn't surprised. Despite Rose's antics, she took guarding Lissa very seriously, she wouldn't lock her door with Lissa so close just in case she needed her.

Quietly peeking into her room, Mason was dumbfounded when he saw nothing on the bed but rumpled sheets. Where is Rose?

Going across the hall to the bathroom, it wasn't occupied, so it wasn't like she was making a midnight trip anywhere. Mason continued to search the entire floor allocated to them. Rose was nowhere to be seen.

Questioning what he should do, Mason didn't want to get Guardian Belikov or anyone else involved. Knowing Rose, she is probably up to some mischief. He tried to soothe his curiosity with that thought.

It wasn't working.

Rose was somewhere- in the middle of the night- not in her room or in the unit. Something was up.

Going back to his room, Mason was not getting any quality rest any time soon. He couldn't shake Rose's disappearance. Only one legitimate reason came to mind, and it made his stomach churn just thinking about it.

Maybe she is upstairs, in Adrian's suite?

Alright my lovelies, this was a shorter one for you guys. Please remember to review. It keeps me motivated to write more. Until next time!