Hi y'all! Back again with another chapter! Thank you for the reviews on chapter 3; glad to know y'all are still enjoying this story. Enjoy this chapter and leave a review with your thoughts, opinions, etc.!


Dimitri POV

Lying in bed with Roza was heaven. She curled up in the bed, her head resting on my chest. With one hand, I set an alarm on my phone and then closed my eyes, Roza's natural scent acting as a calming agent.

Some time later, I felt my phone vibrating on the bed and reluctantly opened my eyes. Rose was still fast asleep, and I pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"Roza," I whispered. "It's eleven-thirty. It's time to get up."

Rose groaned and rolled over in the bed. "Don't wanna."

I laughed. "Don't you want to win the game?"

My words flipped a switch in her, and she flipped back around, sitting up.

"Fine," she said. "Your logic wins this time."

I smiled and tilted her head up so that I could kiss her again. "I'll see you soon."

Rose got up from the bed and picked up her crop top from under the bed. I watched her zip up the shirt and dragged my eyes away from watching her as she kneeled on the bed. She kissed me quickly before getting off the bed again.

"I'll see you in the gym."

I nodded. I stood up from the bed and crossed to the door, cracking it open to see if the coast was clear. There wasn't anyone in the hall, which wasn't surprising.

"You're good," I said, stepping back into the room.

Rose didn't look back as she walked out, and I crossed back over to my closet as soon as the door was shut to get dressed. I changed back into a pair of jeans and slid my guardian jacket on. I made sure my door latched behind me and made my way to the gym.

Most of the students playing the game were there when I walked in fifteen minutes later, but I didn't see Rose yet. I took my place among the other guardians near the front, nodding at Alberta when she saw me.

As the clock ticked closer to midnight, I found myself scanning the bleachers for Rose and finally found her a minute before midnight. She met my eye, and I smiled at her. Her responding smile was blinding.

Alberta brought the room to attention a minute later as the clock ticked over to midnight.

"Welcome back! This competition has been a St. Vladimir's tradition for many years. The way that we are going to do it this year is simply by numbers. I'm going to start with a number, and if you have that many hearts, or more, stand up. Understand?"

"Stand up if you have five or more hearts," Alberta said.

Over half of the student population stood. Alberta kept going higher and higher with the numbers. As Alberta crept into the twenties, more students started sitting down until it was between Rose, a royal Moroi named Marlene Ivashkov, and Jesse Zeklos.

"If you have more than twenty-five hearts, stay standing," Alberta said.

Jesse sat down with a huff, and I saw Rose grinning.

"If you have more than twenty-six hearts, stay standing."

With an angry cry, the Moroi sat down.

"Novice Hathaway," Alberta said, "how many hearts do you have?"

"Twenty-seven," Rose said, her voice echoing through the gym.

"Does anyone have twenty-seven hearts or more?" Alberta questioned.

Nobody said anything, and Alberta gestured to Rose to the front. She quickly made her way down the bleachers and handed her stack of hearts to Alberta. Alberta glanced through them before confirming her the winner of the game.

I saw Lissa and Rose's other friends congratulating her, and a handful of other people congratulated Rose too before they walked out of the gym.

I watched Alberta approach Rose to tell her something before Rose and her friends walked towards the exit. Before walking out, Rose glanced back at me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Alberta approaching.

"Guardian Belikov," she said stiffly. "Let's talk."

She wasn't giving me an option, and I followed her across the gym and into the guardian office side. She didn't say a word as she led me to her office. I stood in front of her desk, silent, as Alberta sat down behind the desk.

"You wanted to talk?" I question a few minutes later.

Alberta looked up from what she was staring at on her desk and fixed me with a steely gaze.

"Yes," she said. "About Novice Hathaway."

"What about her?" I asked, keeping all emotion off my face despite my heart going wild in my chest.

"How are your extra sessions with Hathaway going?"

Relief coursed through me, but I still didn't let it show. "She's doing well. Hathaway has made extraordinary progress since returning with the princess. Her progress since Spokane has also been remarkable."

"That's good to hear. And does her "extraordinary progress" have anything to do with the relationship you currently have with her?"

My head snapped up at her words. I opened my mouth to respond, and Alberta quickly cut me off.

"Do not lie to me, Belikov," Alberta said.

"I—"

Alberta cut me off. "I know about you and Hathaway, and you might as well cut to the chase. There's no point in denying it."

She was right; there was no point in denying it. Only one word came out when I spoke. "How?"

Alberta gestured to her desk where I noticed Rose's hearts were spread out. In the mix of hearts, it was easy to spot the one Rose took from me. By itself, it had looked the same as the rest of the hearts in the game. But next to the regular hearts, it was clear that mine was a couple of shades darker than the regular ones.

I froze. I had nothing to say, suddenly fearing that they would kick Roza out of the Academy. I didn't care if I lost my job; I had connections, and I would be able to find employment somewhere else. But Roza, she has a lot of potential. The Moroi needed her.

"Nothing to say, Belikov?" Alberta snapped.

"Keep Roza here," I said, looking Alberta in the eyes. "Don't kick her out of the Academy."

"Do you truly care for Hathaway?"

"Yes. I love her." There was no hesitation.

Sighing, she ran her hand through her short hair. "I'll be honest with you, Belikov. I don't think that age should matter that much when it comes to who you love when it's legal and consensual." She paused, and I let out the breath I had been holding. "But you are her instructor, her mentor. She's your student. And she's seventeen. It's unethical and illegal."

I closed my eyes and sat down on one of the chairs in front of her desk. "Are you going to take us to Kirova?"

"You didn't let me finish," Alberta said. "I agree that Hathaway has potential. It ends today. If Kirova found out, she would kick Hathaway out and have both of our asses. You're dismissed."

I walked out of Alberta's office numbly. Without realizing it, I found that I had traveled across campus and was standing in front of Rose's door. I could hear laughter from within, but before I could back away from the door, it swung open, revealing Rose.

"Dimitri," she said, smiling. Her smile quickly fell. "What's wrong?"

I jerked my head down the hall. "Let's walk."

She nodded, stepping back inside the dorm briefly to put on a pair of shoes.

We walked in silence down the hall, and she followed me silently outside. We were still silent as we made our way across campus, to an old watch cabin near the edge of the wards. I glanced at my watch. Rounds of the wards would have just passed here a couple of minutes ago, giving us nearly thirty minutes before guardians would be passing again.

Rose moved into the cabin and sat on the bed as I walked around the room to the fireplace. I could feel her staring at me as I bent over to light the fire.

"Dimitri, what did Alberta say?" Rose asked softly.

"She knows."

Rose POV

I froze. Dimitri still wasn't facing me.

"She knows?" I repeated.

Dimitri sighed and crossed the room to sit on the bed next to me. "The hearts were different," he said quietly. "I don't know how I didn't notice."

I didn't tell him that it was an easy mistake to make. I also didn't tell him why the mistake was made. I knew he didn't want to hear that our being together earlier had resulted in the mistake happening.

"What's going to happen?" I asked quietly, already imagining the worst.

"Nothing," Dimitri said. "She's not going to say anything."

I had a feeling that Dimitri wasn't telling me the whole truth, but I didn't question him further. "That's good. We're fine," I said.

"Roza—"

"Dimitri, look at me," I said, cutting him off. "We're going to be fine."

Before he could protest, I swung over so that I was straddling him and pressed our mouths together. Dimitri kissed me back with ferociousness as he buried his hands in my hair.

In an instant, Dimitri was picking me up and turning so that I could sit back on the bed. He moved forward, pushing me down and back onto the bed and hovering over me. I met his intensity as I kissed him back, dragging him down on top of me.

"Dimitri," I cried out. "Please."

"Roza, you're so beautiful," he murmured, pulling back to look at me.

"Please," I repeated. "I want you to be the one."

Dimitri froze over top of me. "Roza—"

I could hear a protest coming and quickly cut him off. "Please, Dimitri, please. I know what I'm saying. I know you want me too. Please."

He was quiet for a moment.

"Unless you don't want to," I said softly, underlying fear creeping into my voice.

I knew he wanted this as much as I did; I could see it in his eyes. And as he brought his mouth back to mine to kiss me again, I knew that his mind was made up.

I trailed my hands down his body, finding the edge of his shirt and pulling it off. He quickly retaliated, tossing my shirt across the cabin, and leaving me in a red lacy bra. He started trailing kisses down my body, pausing every so often to pay special attention to a particular spot. I arched my back, allowing him to unsnap my bra, and he tossed it in the same direction as my shirt.

Dimitri sat up and stared down at me, his brown eyes smoldering. Underneath his gaze, I could scarcely breathe, and I cried out as his head dipped, sucking a nipple into his mouth. I arched off the bed, a breathless sound rupturing from me, and Dimitri repeated the movement on my other breast.

"Dimitri, please," I begged.

"Let me pleasure you, Roza," he said roughly. "Let me take care of you."

He unsnapped my jeans and started tugging them off. He dropped them off the side of the bed and stood to remove his own jeans before hovering over me again.

"Are you sure, Roza?" Dimitri questioned, his fingertip running along the edge of my underwear.

"I've never been more sure about anything else in my life," I said. "I'm ready."

Dimitri nodded and tugged my underwear off. His stayed on.

"Pass me that pillow," Dimitri said, and I complied, handing him the pillow that was next to me on the bed.

Dimitri quickly maneuvered the pillow so that it was underneath my hips, propping me up. His fingers skated up my legs, making goosebumps break out. A moment later, one of his fingers was at my entrance, while his thumb massaged my clit.

"Dimitri!" I cried out as he slowly inserted one finger inside of me.

He made quick work of stretching me as I writhed on the bed, my cries getting progressively louder. Nonsense was leaving my lips, mumbled versions of his name mixed with groans and moans. His fingers slowly moved within me, stroking my walls, twisting, and moving. He built up a steady pace, his thumb still massaging my clit. I quickly felt my orgasm building, the fluttering in my stomach a dead giveaway.

"Oh God," I cried. "Dimitri, please. Please."

Dimitri slowly pulled his fingers out of me and stood up, removing his boxer briefs in a quick motion.

"Are you ready, Roza?" Dimitri asked again, his tone soft.

I stared up at him, my heart swelling with love. "I've been ready."

Dimitri smiled and climbed back onto the bed. He gripped himself in one hand, and my gaze followed. It was my first time seeing Dimitri completely naked, and I let myself memorize every detail. Dimitri lined himself up and slowly started to enter me.

I tried not to tense, knowing that that would make the pain worse. Finally, Dimitri bottomed out inside of me, and I cried out at the stretch of me around him.

"Are you okay?" Dimitri questioned. He began peppering kisses over my face and neck, waiting for me to respond and waiting for me to get used to the stretch.

"Never better," I gasped.

After a moment, the pain had almost completely faded, and I gave Dimitri the go-ahead to start moving. He did so slowly, lovingly. His arms were framing my face, and he leaned down, capturing my lips with his.

"Roza," he muttered. "So good. So good, baby."

I flushed with heat. It didn't take long for me to figure out how to match him thrust for thrust, and soon we were both groaning as the bed squeaked under us.

I felt the fluttering in my stomach again that signaled my orgasm was close.

"Dimitri," I whined. "More, please."

Dimitri picked up his pace, moving in and out of me quicker, slamming back in harder, and I met him thrust for thrust. I wrapped my arms around his neck, dragging him down so that we were kissing again. My hands roamed, scratching up and down his back, digging in deep at one particularly hard thrust.

"Come on, Roza," he groaned. "Come for me."

He trailed one hand down to massage my clit again, and his words mixed with the new sensations running through me threw me over the edge. Dimitri captured my mouth in another kiss, swallowing my screams as my orgasm ripped through me. Dimitri cried out as my orgasm went through me, as I tightened around him, and a few thrusts later, he was coming too.

He didn't take long to rest before carefully pulling out of me. He gently took the pillow and helped me stretch out my legs, before standing and disappearing into the bathroom. Dimitri returned a moment later, a wet washcloth in hand, and carefully cleaned between my legs.

Dimitri tossed the washcloth away when he was finished and pulled me into his arms.

"We don't have long before the patrol will come by here," Dimitri said. "We should go."

That was the last thing I wanted to do, but I wanted to get caught by another guardian less. I grudgingly got out of bed and went looking for my clothes. We got dressed in silence, both of us sneaking looks at the other.

Like déjà vu, Dimitri looked out the door of the cabin first, deeming it safe to go. I kissed him one last time before walking out the door. Like earlier this morning, I didn't look back.


Lissa and the others had since left my room by the time I made it back, and I quickly got ready for bed, despite the early hour. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep, and my sleep was blessedly dreamless.


My alarm going off the next morning came too soon, but I dragged myself out of the bed nevertheless, excited to see Dimitri again.

I took care in getting ready for training, making sure to wear one of my tighter tank tops and an almost too short pair of shorts. I almost left my hair down, knowing how much he liked it but decided at the last moment to pull it since it was a liability while sparring.

When I walked into the gym though, it wasn't Dimitri waiting for me. Another one of the school's guardians, Emil, was standing on the sparring mat.

"Emil?" I asked in surprise.

"Good morning, Rose," he said. "I know Guardian Belikov usually starts you off with laps, but I wanted to see what your sparring level is at first."

"Why? Where's Dimitri?"

Emil gave me a confused look. "Didn't Belikov tell you? He's been reassigned for his duty hours, so I'll be taking over your training sessions. Though I'll be honest with you, I don't think you quite need them anymore, based on your field experience scores so far."

My brain didn't comprehend the words Emil spoke past "reassigned".

"I'm sorry," I said, cutting off whatever Emil was saying now. "I have to go."

I ran out of the gym before Emil could say anything, knowing I would probably catch hell for it later. I ran all of the way back to the dhampir dorm, flying past the Moroi sitting at the desk, ignoring his calls too, and banged on Dimitri's door.

I banged again after a moment with no response. "Open the door!"

I could have sworn that I heard movement behind the door and banged on it again.

"Open the door! Open the fucking door," I cried. I sank down in front of the door, ignoring the other people in the hall. Ignoring the way that this looked. "Please. Open the door."

But the door didn't open.