Hi everyone, I just want to say a massive, massive thank you for the overwhelming response this story has had so far. It means the world to me!

Like the last chapter, this chapter has a lemon scene in. For those who do not wish to read the lemony goodness, simply stop reading at 000 and start again at 000.

Enjoy!


5

I strutted home after leaving the ball feeling very pleased with myself. Not only had I been satisfied (hey, a girl has her needs) but I'd shown Dimitri just how confident I was now. As much as I hated to admit it to myself, I was still young when we'd been together. I'd been influenced by his mentor role and was always giving myself up to him, whether consciously or not. The years apart had definitely taught me to love myself and demand the best.

I'm not saying that he expected or wanted my compliance, he probably didn't, but it happened because of the roles we were in before the relationship. I personally thought that was one of the reasons we didn't work out. After tonight's argument, I was sure that he had his reasons too.

I arrived back at my flat and quickly got undressed and into bed. Now that I was still, my brain was spinning. I couldn't help but remember how it had felt when he kissed me, so full of passion. How I'd felt his arousal pushing into me... ok. Maybe I wasn't completely satisfied. God knows what would have happened if that guy hadn't walked in, what I knew we both wanted to happen.

I let out a small giggle as I remembered Dimitri's shocked expression when I pulled away after teasing him and left. I wonder how long he had to wait before he could leave the room? I wonder if he thought I would come back. The old Rose probably would have, not wanting her comrade to suffer, wanting to please him, but I had to admit I liked the idea of leaving him wanting. Leaving him wanting me.


Sleep was hard to come by, but I eventually drifted off, only to wake up with groggy eyes and the feeling of being run over by a very heavy bus. I forced myself out of bed, not wanting to be late to Hans's meeting and almost ran to the coffee machine, setting it off whilst I went for a shower.

I still felt the need to have a cold shower. Especially if I was seeing Dimitri today.

I threw on some casual running leggings and a crop top, pairing it with an oversized hoodie, grabbed a breakfast muffin (thanks to Christian) along with an extra-large cup of coffee and was out the door with 2 minutes to spare. New record.

The guardians greeted me cheerfully as I entered the headquarters, a few making jokes about our recent exploits and others just giving me friendly smiles. After the hold-ups (I didn't hold it against them, I really had made some great friends here) I burst into the meeting room at exactly 8 pm.

He and Dimitri were already sat down, both of them with their arms crossed. They looked like twins. Twins with aggravated looks on their faces.

"Hey," I said, flicking my ponytail over my shoulder and sitting down, "I'm precisely on time".

"5 minutes early is on time," Hans said gruffly. "On time is late."

Dimitri turned to the man, his eyebrows raised and an impressed look in his eye. I remembered that that phrase was one of his favourites, he had used it on me on multiple occasions at St. Vlads.

I grunted and crossed my arms.

"Let's get this started, I have plans tonight."

Both men looked like they wanted to ask what these plans were, but fortunately for them, kept their mouths shut.


"And that," said Hans, an hour later, "is the majority of your duties. Dimitri, it's up to you what you delegate to Rose, but the contract says it must be at least 40% and no more than 50%."

Dimitri nodded thoughtfully and looked down at the papers spread before him.

"I'm going to leave the two of you here to sort out the roles each of you will take on. The room is booked until 5 am, but for your sake Belikov, I hope you get it sorted sooner. I know from past experience that Hathaway gets grouchy after 3 am," Hans said, looking at me and chuckling. I glared back and shuffled the paper in front of me.

"So, how do you want to go about this?" Dimitri asked once Hans had left the room.

"Well, a lot of these I have done before. To ease the transition, it would probably be best that I keep doing those".

Dimitri nodded thoughtfully.

"So that would be organising the rota, guarding teams, guardian training and events management?"

I nodded.

"Of course, I've only done them at court though, so maybe it would be best pairing guardians with moroi together?"

He nodded. Neither of us was saying very much, just staring at the paper in front of us.


After a few hours, we were interrupted by staff bringing in a selection of sandwiches in.

"Guardian Croft says to ensure Guardian Hathaway is well-fed," the man said to Dimitri with a straight face. A flicker of a smile showed on Dimitri's face.

"Thank you," he said, and took the sandwiches from him, standing up and clearing space on another table for the cups of coffee and water.

We munched on the sandwiches in silence.

"So... what are your plans tonight?" Dimitri asked in an attempt to make conversation.

I sighed. I was perfectly happy to get this job done without any chit-chat. I still didn't really want to talk to him after what he had said the other day. Regardless of what had happened last night.

"I'm seeing Vasily," I said, in a matter of fact voice.

"Oh."

The silence returned for a few minutes.

"Is it a date?"

I sighed out loud this time.

"Yeah. We're going out for dinner".

Dimitri raised his eyebrows at this.

"You have an opinion?" I snapped, his expression annoying me.

"No, no..." he backtracked, "I'm just surprised after what happened last night".

He just had to go there, didn't he?

"Why?" I sighed. I really didn't want to ask why, I didn't care, but I knew that if I didn't ask now, he would just give me the zen wisdom later anyway.

"Well, people don't normally... do things... when they are dating someone else". His voice was warm and smooth.

"We're not dating," I said. "This is the first date".

The silence came back again, and I thought it would stay this time, but just as before, Dimitri spoke again after a few minutes.

"Well then, people don't normally do things when they are interested in someone else. You shouldn't want to do things with me when you are interested in another man".

His words resonated with my heart, he was right. All I should want to do if I really was interested in Vasily was be with him. Not Dimitri.

"Last night was just scratching an itch for me," I said slowly. "If you remember, you started it."

He smiled slyly.

000

"Oh, I may have started it Roza, but you weren't complaining. In fact, you were moaning for more".

"As I say, scratching the itch" I repeated, but my words were thicker than last time. He was right, I did want more, and remembering only made me want it again. I turned and looked in his eyes, seeing lust in them too".

"So then why did you do it?" I asked, adding the Hathaway snark, my eyes blazing.

"The dress," he whispered.

"Just the dress?"

"Yep."

I suddenly realised just how close we were. He was leaning into me, I was leaning into him.

"And what about the dress?" I asked breathily.

"Oh, Roza," he chuckled, making my lower stomach clench. "The way it hugged your ass, the way it showed off your breasts in a way that made me want to see more, the way the red contrasted with your hair..."

Ok, my full body was tingling now. I really shouldn't be doing this, but oh I wanted to.

He stood up and moved towards me, resting his hands on my chair and leaning down to bring his face to mine.

"It was everything Roza," he said, moving his mouth to my ear so that I could feel his breath tickling me.

"You still turn me on like crazy" he breathed, moving to my neck. He still hadn't actually touched me yet, and I was pinned to the chair through my own want.

"The smell of you, it's intoxicating".

He moved down lower and my lips parted slightly, a small whine coming from my throat involuntarily.

He knelt down (still as tall as me despite me sitting in a chair) and moved to my legs, muttering as he moved up and down, getting closer and closer to the apex of my thighs with the breath from his words, but then, just as quickly as it had started, he stood up and sat back down.

"Shall we get back to work?" he asked, a wicked gleam in his eyes.

My mouth dropped fully open, and I gaped like a fish looking for words.

"Oh Roza, you've forgotten," he said slowly, his voice deep and full of mischief. "Whatever you can give, I can return right back to you".

This man. This man would be the death of me. I wonder if I could find a way to ship him off somewhere. I'm sure Abe would love to help.

I forced a deep breath into my lungs, my nostrils flaring, and closed my eyes tightly, forcing my thoughts anywhere apart from the throbbing between my thighs.

"Ok then," I said, a fake smile plastered on my face. "Let's get back to it".


We sat back at the desk, slightly closer, and began going through the paperwork again. After a while though, I jumped when a felt his foot run against mine.

"Don't do that," I snapped, angling my body away from his.

He only chuckled.

Another 10 minutes past, and then I felt his hand lightly brush my thigh. Even that small touch was enough to set me on fire all over again.

I glared, a true, withering glare.

He chuckled again.

Once he brushed my breast whilst reaching for a pile of paper I actually shot up from my seat.

"Stop touching me!" I hissed, moving my chair further from his.

"Do you really want me to?" he asked, his face full of mischief once again.

"Yes!" I said, as loudly as I could without anyone else hearing.

"Ok". The sly grin on his face told me he hadn't listened.

After a while, he got up to fill his coffee pot. I was stood at the edge of the desk, bent forward inspecting some legal documents. As he walked past me, he purposely leant his body towards me, brushing himself against my ass as he scooted past.

"Sorry," he grunted. "Tight space".

There was a clear path around the other side of the table to the coffee.

I opened my mouth to tell him this, but all that came out was a small sigh.

"Oh?" he said, humour lacing his words. "Nothing to say now, Guardian Hathaway?"

Damn this horrid, horrid man.

"I... I know exactly what you're doing" I breathed, my eyes shut as I concentrated on ignoring my body.

"And what is that". His voice was full of lust as well as humour now.

"You're still smarting that I left you wanting last night," I said, spinning around to face him. Unfortunately, he was still behind me and was now pressed up against me.

"Roza, Roza" he chuckled. "I took care of the problem myself. I think it's you that has the problem now".

He moved his hands to rest on the desk either side of me, encapsulating me in his scent, in him.

My lips parted, remembering how it had felt kissing him last night.

"See?" he prompted. "You are so turned on right now. You can't help it".

I would usually have a witty comeback, but my brain was so foggy I couldn't think straight. Instead, I surprised him.

I thrust forward, catching his lips in mine as my body crashed against his. He caught me with ease and wrapped his arms around the small of my back, hoisting me up on to the table in a position reminiscent of last night. A position that showed me he was just as turned on as I was.

I pulled back and raised my eyebrows at what I had felt. He gave me a wicked grin and moved to kiss under my ear, a spot that he knew drove me crazy.

I moved my hands to his belt buckle, undoing it with ease.

He pulled away again and looked me in the eyes, held my gaze with his lust-filled one. I imagined mine would look the same.

"Finish what we started last night?" I said breathlessly.

He didn't reply, only pulled my leggings and underwear down roughly. I did the same with his clothing, and he entered me with a hard thrust.

I threw my head back and moaned at the feeling, how he filled me, how no matter how good the guy was, I hadn't had this feeling since he left.

"Shhh Roza," he whispered into my ear, not moving. "They will hear."

I nodded and bit down on my lip, burying my head into his shoulder as he began moving inside me again.

His thrusts became more and more desperate, and he soon had me climaxing, biting into his shoulder causing him to groan in pleasure.

I came down from my high, sensing he was close before a shocking thought froze my body.

"Shit Dimitri" I gasped. "Stop!"

My voice was urgent and he stopped moving immediately pulling his head from my shoulder to look at me.

"We need protection" I groaned. "Remember what Adrian said". Dimitri rested his head on my shoulder.

"Only you would remember now" he groaned.

"I'm not ready for kids" I started before he quietened me with a kiss.

"I know Roza, I was just very close. It seems you leave me wanting again".

A sly smile filled my face.

"Oh?" I said, eyes twinkling.

"You... don't have to" he started, before I pressed a kiss to his lips, shuffling off the desk and leaning him against it.

I moved down his body slowly, before taking him in my hands and slowly moving up and down. I ran my tongue over his tip, causing him to hiss loudly.

"Shh comrade" I cooed. He glared at me, closing his eyes and sighing as I took the whole of him into my mouth.

I moved up and down, feeling his body start to tense in a way that told me he was close.

"I'm going to..." he whispered, words cut off as I started moving faster, twisting my hands at his base.

He let out a quiet groan as he filled my mouth and I kept moving until he was completely spent, his body limp and leaning onto the desk.

000

I stood up, leaving him, and returned to my chair, beginning my paperwork once more with a sly grin on my face.

"And now we work?" he asked incredulously.

"And now we work" I confirmed, hiding the humour I was trying to contain.


"I hope you're nearly finished," Hans said as he walked in without knocking. Thank God he didn't do that a few hours ago. We hadn't even locked the door, too caught up in each other.

If he only knew how 'finished' we were.

"Getting there," Dimitri grunted, totally absorbed in a document he was reading.

Hans nodded.

"Looks like you'll be done in time after all Hathaway," he said, closing the door behind him as he left.

"Are you still going on the date tonight?" Dimitri asked quietly, his face filled with an expression I couldn't recognise.

"Why wouldn't I?" I said matter of factly. We weren't going into this again.

"I would have thought what we just did might affect on tonight" he spat.

Dimitri had no right to be mad. He had made his feelings on us perfectly clear.

"Scratching the itch" I echoed. "What was it for you?". I turned and looked him in the eyes, my own eyes narrowed slightly.

He stared at me for a while before answering.

"Scratching the itch". His face was hiding all emotion.

I nodded and returned to my work.

"What if...hypothetically... it wasn't" he whispered, barely audible despite my dhampir hearing.

I snapped up and looked at him.

"Well, you said yourself that we were a mistake," I spat.

"I didn't mean it like that..." he started, before stopping himself and sighing. "Never mind. It was hypothetical. I was scratching an itch.".

I looked back down, my heart falling a little.

No matter how much I assured myself that I was merely relieving tension with him, I couldn't help but get butterflies when near him. Butterflies that never appeared around Vasily. Butterflies that might as well die. He didn't feel the same.


We finished up with no more conversation and went to let Hans know we were heading home. He gave us the all-clear and confirmed that the transition process would begin next week now that we had finalised everything.

I headed home to get ready for my date tonight, feeling a sense of dread of what was to come. Dimitri was my past, Vasily could be my future I reminded myself, to no avail.


There was a knock at the door and I rushed to grab my purse and things I would need in it. I was wearing a body-con dress that was low-cut but long, giving it a slightly classy feel. I had on simple makeup and had no other choice but to have my hair down, styled in loose waves. I had discovered after getting out of the shower this evening, that I had a love bite on my neck. From Dimitri. Thankfully it wasn't obvious, and I was sure that I could explain it as a bruise from training, but I would rather cover it up if I could.

I opened the door to find Vasily stood waiting for me. He was dressed in smart trousers and a shirt. The shirt was undone slightly and emphasised his athletic frame, and gosh, wasn't it a good look for him!

"You look good too," he said, winking as I stood with my mouth open. "Believe it or not, I can actually scrub up when necessary".

"I believe you!" I whispered, as I shut and locked my door behind me.


The restaurant was full and noisy when we arrived, but the waiter quickly sat us opposite each other in a booth that Vasily had reserved. Thankfully, it offered us a little privacy, and in a moroi restaurant, privacy was what I wanted. Things really had gotten better for dhampirs over the past few years, but that didn't mean moroi wouldn't stare at dhampirs in a classy restaurant now and then.

"So..." I said hesitantly, grasping for a conversation topic. "How was your day?"

"Not bad," he smiled, leaning back in his chair. "My ball-buster of a boss had me cover her for the whole day," he groaned dramatically, diffusing the tension between us.

"She sounds truly awful" I joked, going along with it.

"Oh she is, he agreed, but her ass makes it all worth it".

"Vasily!" I gasped in mock surprise.

He chuckled and leaned forward again.

"I heard you were with Belikov today".

Panic shot through me. It's ok Rose, I told myself. He doesn't know. Nobody knows.

"Yeah, I was," I said slowly, tension radiating from my body language that I'm sure he picked up on.

"Not something you want to talk about?" he asked gently.

Vasily knew the basics about Dimitri and me, that we had been a couple and hadn't worked out. Presumably, he thought this was why I didn't want to talk about him. Not that I had a whole new heart-break to think about.

"It's ok," I said quietly, reaching to rest my hand on his. "I was with him on official business that I can't talk about".

He smiled and gripped my hand in his, giving it a slight squeeze, and then the waiter arrived.

We ordered our food and drinks and returned back to the easy conversation that was so common between us. The food came quickly and we ate, sharing a pudding, and before long it was time to leave.

"I enjoyed tonight Rose," Vasily said as we walked back to my flat, hand in hand.

"I did too" I replied honestly. "I'm not going to lie, I was a bit dubious about it all".

He swung our arms, making me chuckle.

"I wasn't".

"You weren't?" I said, eyebrows raised, and I turned to face him as we were walking, gently bashing into his shoulder.

"No Rose. I know we have chemistry, enough to be continually making each other laugh anyway, and I knew that would translate.".

We stopped outside my building and I turned to face him.

"Do you want to do this again?" he asked quietly.

The million-dollar question. Did I want to go on another date with him? Was I ready to forget everything with Dimitri for him? Not that there was anything between Dimitri and me anyway.

"I...I think I would" I said slowly, a small smile on my face.

He nodded, a matching smile on his.

"Well then, good night Miss Rose," he said softly in a mock south-American accent.

"Good night" I whispered as stretched up onto my tip-toes and pressed my lips against his. It was just a small, sweet peck, but it made me smile afterwards. Made warmth run through my body in a reaction that caught me by surprise.

Vasily saluted, a twinkle in his eye, and headed off back to his quarters.

What was it like when I first fell for Dimitri? I thought hard as I walked back into my building, but I couldn't find the answer. I couldn't remember what it was like to not love Dimitri. To not have that all encapsulating feeling in my chest.

Surely it just took time for feelings to grow that strong. Surely?