When Spirit Shows Its Thorns
Chapter 12
Coming out of my stupor, I fisted my hand against Dimitri's chest. "That was a blow below the belt, Comrade." My voice husky from the semi aroused state his words had left me. "You play dirty."
Raising his eyebrow, unapologetically, he jerked my body even closer to his. I could now feel exactly how turned on Dimitri was. "What can I say Milaya, even in anger you are a beautiful creature."
"I'm still angry with you and if you think pretty words are all it's going to take to make me forget just how mad I am, you don't know me at all." I was pushing against his chest, trying to put a little bit of space between us. I still had plenty to say to him, but I was losing the willpower as my body was becoming more and more aware of his.
Dimitri's fingers dug into my hips, keeping me anchored against him. "If you could see yourself through my eyes, Roza," he said as he began to trail kisses from my ear and down my neck. "The fire in your eyes, the way your body flushes, here." His tongue swiped across my throat just at my collar bone. He trailed a hand up my side and bringing it to rest on my breast, caressing it through my clothing. "The way your breath pulls my attention to the rising and falling of your chest. I can picture how your breasts swayed beneath me as your body would rise to meet mine, thrust for thrust." He nipped at the hollow of my neck. "It is you, Milaya, who doesn't fight fair," His breathy words, once more cooling my skin.
I moaned into hair. "Dimitri," his name left my lips in a husky sigh and I felt my body give into him. His lips crashed against mine as he guided us back down onto the couch, me straddling his hips. My hands came up to frame his face as I stared into his eyes. In that moment everything had stilled and I drank in the promises that were held in their dark brown depths.
The obnoxious ringing of my phone pulled us both out of moment, leaving Dimitri swearing in Russian, and I scrambled from his lap to answer the call.
"Hey Eddie," I said with a shaky voice.
"Oh, did I call at a bad time?" He asked.
"Oh, no, not all," I wasn't about to have a tell-all of what he had really interrupted. Personally I wanted nothing more than to strangle him at the moment. "I take it you got my message."
"Yeah, I spoke with Lissa. They will be arriving in Ontario in about four hours; she'll have a two hour layover before her flight into Philadelphia. Instead of waiting for her to reach the States, we're on our way to catch a flight into Canada. We will intercept them there and fly back with them."
"Who are we, Eddie?"
"Oh Adrian and I," He replied sheepishly. I guess he knew that Adrian and I had split up.
"Just keep them safe and hidden. My parents are coming along with extra Guardians. They'll probably be leaving pretty soon and should be there by this time tomorrow at the latest." I updated on what I could from my end.
"Rose, I have to ask because she wouldn't say much; do you know why she and Christian would just take off on their own? Is someone trying to hurt her again?"
"Apparently someone wants me dead this time. Lis took off before I could get any answers. I am hoping to figure it out through the bond. If nothing else, maybe she will tell you what's going on once you meet up with them."
"Will this always be your guy's stories?" He asked. I could visualize him rolling his eyes.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Someone gets threatened then one or both of you run away." I didn't even respond because coming to think of it, it was kind of a repeating factor in our lives. "Well, listen, we are coming up on the airport now, I'll give you a call as soon as I can."
"That'll be great Eddie. Talk to you later." I ended the call and set my phone down on the table, just as my parents returned, giving their goodbyes. I blew out an angry breath as the door closed behind them. I hated being so useless.
"Don't be too angry with them." Dimitri's voice stopped my thoughts of stowing away on the plane.
"I'm not just mad right now, I don't like feeling unneeded. It isn't right, Dimitri. She is my charge. I am her Dhampir. She shouldn't be running off to protect me. I should be running off to protect her." My voice broke. "She is the closest thing to a sister I have and I can't lose her."
"I know, and I think she feels the same way about you." His voice was soft and comforting as he came to stand behind me, lightly tugging on my hair. "Plus, I need you, Roza. "
"I need you too. Just having you nearby keeps me grounded. You know I love you, right?"
"I love you too, Roza." He said as he placed a gentle kiss on my lips. "How about a nice bath? You can relax while you keep an eye on Lissa."
"The only way that could get better is if you joined me during the bath." I smiled at him
"I imagine that could be arranged." He chuckled as he walked towards the bathroom.
"This is frustrating. She isn't talking about the Spirit Dream, only catching him up on things from before we arrived here." I told Dimitri as I reclined against his chest.
"Give her a few moments, maybe she will go into detail. Are they still in the hotel room?"
"Yes. Eddie convinced her to wait for my parents before going to Court." I was a little proud of Eddie for that.
"It's a good plan. They have, what, another 10 hours before your parents get there?" he asked.
"Something like that. Oh, she is telling him about the house." I said as I slipped into her head again. I reclined my head back, closing my eyes as I listened in to the conversation between my friends. "Dimitri, its Tasha!" I screamed as the connection dropped from the shock of Lissa's memories.
"What is Tasha?" He asked, concerned.
"Tasha wants me dead. She wants me worse than dead."
"What do you mean Rose? Why?" His hands grabbing my upper arms and turning me to face him, his eyes searched my face.
"She wants me to suffer because you didn't take her offer. She wants to inflict the pain she feels on me and thinks that if I am dead, you will choose her."
"Why would she want that? She is a family friend. Doesn't she realize that by hurting you, she would hurt me?" his voice full of disbelief.
"She would do anything if it meant she could have you. Lissa went with Christian so he could try to talk some sense into Tasha. The Spirit Dream, I saw it in Lissa's mind, Dimitri. I think Tasha has gone insane."
"Are you sure Rose? Tasha has never wanted to hurt anyone. She has always been kind because she knows how it feels to be shunned."
"Dimitri, she has gone insane. She blames me for you being turned Strigoi. She found out that Lissa had restored you and she wants you. She sees me as the only obstacle between you and her being together."
"So she planned to kill you?"
"Not at first," I told him as I took a deep steadying breath. "Her initial plan was to kill the Queen and frame me for it."
"Why would she want to do that?" He looked at me in astonishment.
"Tasha is trying to push for removing the laws that prevent Moroi from using magic to help protect themselves. The Queen is against Moroi fighting alongside their Guardians. She felt it would be a, two birds, one stone type of situation. If Tatiana is dead, then she has a chance at being Queen, but she needs a scape goat to pin the murder on. If she pinned it on me, then that gets me out of the way so she can move in on you. She could be the supportive best friend turned lover."
"There has to be some sort of mistake." He said shaking his head.
"No it's not. Christian was leaving, hoping to go talk some sense into her. Lissa chose to follow him, so she could warn the Queen."
"Rose, are you sure? Treason against a ruling Moroi is the only crime that carries a death sentence for our kind."
"Oh God, what is this going to do to Christian. His parents, and now his Aunt, Dimitri, he is going to lose the only other family he has. This is going to be so hard for them. We need to be there. We should be there for them." My head fell into the curve of his neck and shoulder as tears of frustration began to fall.
"Come on, Roza; let's get you out of here. The water is starting to cool anyways." He said as he gently pulled me from his lap to his side and stepping out of the bath. He wrapped a towel around his waist and leaned over picking me up out of the water. He made quick work of drying us off and then led me into the next room to dress.
"Let's go find some lunch. We both skipped breakfast, and I am feeling a bit famished." He suggested as I pulled a clean t-shirt on.
"Yeah, now that you said something I feel halve starved myself." I gave him a tight smile. Dimitri didn't say anything more, grabbing my hand and leading me down to the kitchen.
"Oh, hello, I was beginning to wonder if you had left with your parents afterall." I heard a feminine voice call out when we walked into the kitchen. Looking around I saw the female Dhampir that had greeted Abe when we first had arrived standing at the stove. "I thought without any Moroi in the house tonight, I would make Pide for lunch. Have you ever had it?"
"Not that I can think of. What is it?" I asked, hoping it wasn't some weird fish or something. I was more of a steak or burger type of girl.
"I think it is most comparable to your American pizza." She smiled. "The bread is shaped like a boat with all the fillings inside. I'm Sidka, by the way."
"Rose and this is Dimitri. Pizza boats sound really good. I'm starving." I said giving her a warm smile.
"I'll have this ready in about ten minutes or so, I'll set the table for the two of you in the meantime." She said as she began to gather dishes from the cabinet."
"Have the other Guardians eaten yet?" I asked. Even with Dimitri near me, Abe's house just felt to massive at times.
"No, I was cooking for them as well. The house is warded, so usually it isn't a problem if we all eat together when there aren't any Moroi around." She explained.
"I understand," I smiled reassuringly to her. "Dimitri and I will join all of you, if that is okay."
Sidka looked a bit uncomfortable but nodded. I was pretty sure Abe had probably left instructions that Dimitri and I were to be treated with the same respect as a Moroi. "The Guardians eat in the room through the door on the right." She pointed to a door about six feet from where I was standing. "If you want to go on through, I will have the Pide out in a few more minutes. There are probably a few off duty Guardians already gathering in there."
"Thank you." Dimitri said as he took my hand and led me to the Guardian's dining room. Although surprised, they took in Dimitri and my presence good naturedly. Lunch was filled with light conversation that eased both of our moods.
I really wasn't too happy with what I had posted last night. I had written half of it before leaving for work and by the time I got home, I probably should have realized I was too tired and in too bad of a mood to have attempted to finish the chapter. I am stubborn though and decided to attempt writing and cooking dinner at the same time so I could get something posted and get into to bed. I learned three lessons:
1) 1) Make sure you post the edited version of a chapter and not a bunch of drabble
2) 2) Don't write when tired and distracted
3) 3) Don't cook when tired and distracted
They both kind of flopped….
