A.N: Hey Guys!!!!

READ FIRST There is a small M scene on this chapter (It will be the only one normally) I'll put a warning at the beginning and at the end of it, just to make sure. I will call it more of a T+ than a M but i rather be safe so =). It's very soft and i think sweet that's why I didn't take it off as in Blood Promise: The Quest.

By the way, small spoiler...You'll finally meet Chris Walker in Next chapter. I know you're waiting for him =) *winkwink*

Thank you to all my reviewers I love you guys!!! You are the one who keep me going.

Don't forget to show me the love (or not) by reviewing... Come on guys don't make me beg ( i beg you lmao)

Take care

Steffy xoxo

Chapter 11:

Seeing this huge black vampire dragging Adrian to a van made my mind act so fast.

Fear was filling me up, but it was not the crippling kind of fear that you feel when your own life is at risk. No, it was the fear to lose someone, someone you cared about, someone you finally realized you couldn't imagine your life without.

This kind of fear almost gave you some kind of superpower. You were suddenly able to do things you never thought you would be able to do. You were faster, you could fight harder and, moreover, you were ready to sacrifice everything to protect that person.

I looked at Eddie passed out on the floor with Lissa on top of him. I took Christian by the arm and pushed him toward Dimitri. "Protect them!" I shouted running toward the strigoi that was restraining Adrian trying to take him away to the van.

"No!" Shouted Dimitri, trying to grab my arm but I didn't listen and moved fast enough for him to miss me.

I mentally thanked my mother for the little stories she counted to us in Stan class as it gave me a perfect plan.

I jumped on the back of the strigoi restraining Adrian and broke his neck. He let go of Adrian and I took advantage of the few seconds he was dizzy to get the stake from my belt and staked him hard with all the anger and terror I felt.

How dare they try to take Adrian away from me?! I thought, concentrating on the other strigoi that was charging back toward us, but as he shouted, two other strigoi joined him. They were probably waiting in the van near by.

I stood in front of Adrian. "Go to Dimitri!" I said but he didn't move. "GO NOW!!" I shouted taking a defensive position. "Christian be ready," I added hoping we were ready for the real life 'badass' team.

I saw Dimitri from the corner of my eye, that he was about to let our moroi unprotected to come and help me. What was taking Alberta so long?! I though annoyed.

"Don't you dare move!" I shouted. "Protect them! They come first!!" I added without even looking fully, but I saw Christian standing first line beside Dimitri and Eddie started to twitch on the floor.

"You bitch!" Shouted the female strigoi who I supposed was the leader of this little coven. "You are going to pay for that!" She added with anger.

I needed them to take a specific position. I laughed looking at her. "Boohoo the mean little dhampir killed my buddy!" I said with irony. "Cry me a river… Well if you can," I added with a wink.

"Oh, you're gonna suffer! You'll cry me a river!" She said nodding toward her 2 friends.

"I can take the three of you without breaking a sweat!" I said cockily hoping that the three stayed concentrated on me only.

I heard Dimitri groan with disapproval. He will give me shit for that later.... Well if i had a 'later'.

They started to circle me. Yatzhee, I thought and I could imagine Christian grinning with expectation behind me.

I parted my legs slightly to be sturdier. I held on tightly to my stake and smiled.

"Number 7 Chris now!" I shouted knowing which one I'd stake first.

The heads of the three strigoi burst into flame almost simultaneously, but I started to stake them from the right. The burliest vampire first. One…two…three… They fell on the floor around me.

I saw the little Academy little van stop behind me and Alberta ran toward our little group directly to Dimitri who was looking from Christian and me with both surprise and amazement.

"That was…extraordinary". He said in a daze.

My breathing was ragged, as it had been really hard. I had to use all of my strength.

Dimitri started to quickly relate the facts to Alberta about me killing four strigoi but leaving Christian's involvement out as the moroi society would criticize us for using offensive magic.

Christian was acting like he didn't help and kneeled beside Lissa to help Eddie up, but he didn't have an injury anymore, Lissa healed him.

I finally looked at Adrian, who was standing about 3 feet from me. I couldn't read what was in his face, but it made me shiver in a very good way.

Finally, the adrenaline rush, the fear and anger faded and I felt exhausted. I looked at the bodies around me and fell down on my knees.

Dimitri tried to reach for me, but Adrian was faster as he was almost immediately kneeling in front of me. Alberta was helping Eddie to the van while talking to the phone probably with someone at the Academy.

I leaned in and rested my forehead on Adrian's shoulder and he wrapped his arms around me very tightly. We didn't speak, but his body was shivering with all the emotions he just felt. He was probably just as speechless as I was.

"We need to go now." Said Dimitri back in his guardian skin. I couldn't see him, as I still had my face buried on Adrian's shoulder, but I could hear some hardness in his voice, a hardness I didn't understand.

"In a minute," whispered Adrian his face buried in my hair.

Through the bond, I could feel that Lissa started to question my relationship with Adrian, but I couldn't care less right now. I almost lost him and it made me realize so many things like the fact that Adrian was an important part of my life.

"No we need to get--" Started Dimitri closer to us at the sound of it.

"I SAID IN A MINUTE!!!" Roared Adrian, craning his head to face him. For the first time since I met him, he sounded like the pure Royal he was.

I didn't know how he looked like at this instant but it was probably terrifying as Lissa was shocked and she was sure at this point that what Adrian and I had was much more than just mere friendship.

Alberta came back to us. "I warned the Academy. The council will send a team right up. They'll take care of everything." She said still awed about my exploit. "We need to move now. It's not safe," she added nicely.

I nodded in Adrian's shoulder.

"Are you okay my Rose?" Adrian whispered to my ear. "You want more time?" He asked very softly.

"No I'm okay," I said finally breaking our embrace. I stood up and looked at Christian who winked at me.

We were so proud of each other. We're really Badasses!! I thought winking back.

I walked beside Adrian to the van and heard Alberta and Dimitri whispering behind me.

"She took the four.. Just by herself?" Whispered Alberta. I guessed Dimitri nodded in confirmation as Alberta continued. "That's just…wow! The kid will have 6 Molnija before hitting 18. That's impressive."

"That's Rose." Simply stated Dimitri as it was an explication.

I sat at the back of the Van beside Eddie as I saw shame on his face. Adrian sat beside me, Christian and Lissa sat in the middle while Dimitri drove with Alberta by his side.

We chat between us in hush tone but we didn't need to mention the whole Christian and I 'super team' as Lissa and Eddie understood our secret training straight away and Adrian couldn't care less.

Adrian kept my hand firmly in his and I didn't even try to get it again it was too nice, it made me feel too good to care about the quick looks that the other were giving to our entwined fingers.

We made it to the Academy about 2 hours later and the "day" there just started. We were all feeling a lot better now.

We were all excused of any duties and training for the day.

Uh... Killing four strigoi was a pretty good way to get off training! I thought chuckling to myself.

Adrian frowned looking at me.

"No it's nothing," I said quickly kissing the back of his hand before letting go of it and stepping out of the van.

Dimitri told me that Kirova wanted to see me if I felt good enough. I nodded.

Christian and Lissa decided to go to have something to eat but Lissa looked at me with an 'I-need-to-know-everything' look.

I sighed and looked at Adrian who was looking at me with that strange look again.

"I'll catch you later," I said to him before following Dimitri, who put a hand softly on my shoulder.

The chat with Kirova was pretty short. She wanted to congratulate me on my fantastic fighting skills how I saved the Queen nephew and blah, blah, blah…

I was spacing most of the time, as I couldn't care less to have saved the nephew of the Queen. I saved Adrian…my…'friend' I thought as I was trying to restrain what my own mind was shouting loud and clear.

She also mentioned that I would get my 4 Molnija in the morning and that I would meet Guardian Walker tomorrow too, as he would be in the academy in the morning.

I nodded, Dimitri looked annoyed by that, but he didn't intervene.

"You know that was reckless Rose… It was the first time you did it with Christian." He said not really judgmental as he walked me back to my room. "Surrounded by 3 strigoi, if he had missed one you'd be dead by now."

"Yeah, well you almost left our moroi unprotected to help me, without knowing if there were more strigoi" I said knowing I was hitting below the belt but he had no right to judge me. "I used a desperate measure in a desperate situation."

"That's not the same." He said now stopping in front of the dorms. "I care about you… You see I almost made a terrible mistake as I based my decision on my feelings for you and not on my duty."

I looked at him for a while. Did he just say that he cared about me more than he did care about the moroi?

"Well, maybe I was feeling just the same." I said avoiding his eyes. It was the truth I was so scared to lose Adrian that I asked completely irrationally only driven by my feeling.

"How could it be the sa--" he started "Oh," he added and, as impossible as it seemed, this little word conveyed pain.

"Well, I'm a bit tired so…" I said pointing at the door.

"Of course…" he said in a hush tone. He hugged me tightly. "I'm so happy you are okay…I…I'm just so happy," he said turning around striding away.

I looked after him and noticed that, even if I still cared about him a lot, much more than I should, it was not the same anymore. Something changed and I wasn't sure what it was yet, but all I knew was that it wasn't hurting that much anymore. Maybe…Maybe I was moving on.

Where r u? I texted to Adrian.

The pond… Waiting… Thinking.

B there in 5. I wrote, hurrying behind the building into the woods.

Adrian was at the pond, just behind the cabin where Tasha stayed over the holidays. He told me once that he loved going there to think.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked when I saw him sat on the little wooden bench.

He looked at me and stood up. "I was thinking about you… Only you," he said with sadness in his voice.

"Hey hey hey! Don't be sad!" I said soothingly walking to him and bringing my hands to his face to lock our eyes together as he looked so distraught. "I'm fine…thank God you are fine… We're fine," I added.

He brought his hands to my neck and kissed me intensely, almost painfully.

"Oh my God Rose. I was so scared." He said with a sob against my lips. "I thought I was going to lose you and it hurt like…like…I don't know it was like having my heart ripped out of my chest." He kissed me again, but this time a lot more gently and brought his hands to my cheeks. "I could not live with the idea of you not being a part of this world," he said the voice heavy with feelings.

"I know…" I said finally crashing on his chest. "I know…" I whispered.

"I'm done pretending my Rose." He brought his hand to my chin in order to look into my eyes. "I've let you categorize what we have in the 'Having fun' category because it was what you wanted but," he shook his head. "But it's not! It's a lot more than that. It always was a lot more than that and you can deny it as much as you want. I know it's a lot more for you too. I…" He rubbed my cheek lovingly. "I saw it in your eyes…you were as terrified to lose me that I was to lose you."

"You are right…" I said, as I needed to face the fact that he meant a lot more to me that I wanted him to. "I was terrified to lose you, that's why I acted so recklessly. I would have done a lot to save you. I would do almost anything to protect you. I…" He let go of my face and I kissed his throat. "I care about you very much. I like you…a lot." I added uncomfortably.

"Like me…a lot," he said with a small smile. "It's enough for now I guess. And I care for you…much more than you are ready to hear it right now."

I nodded and took his hand, as I knew now what my next step should be. It was clear at this point…clearer than anything. I knew it deep in my heart. Adrian would be my first…and it will be now.

"Come with me…" I said entwining our fingers and started to walk up the path.

"Where are you taking me?" He asked cheekily.

"You'll see…" I turned to glance at him. "Do you trust me?"

"With my life." He said so sincerely that it tightened my chest.

We arrived in front of the cabin. I took the key under the third stone. Thanks Tasha! I thought opening the door dragging Adrian with me.

I looked around. The cabin was pretty bare, but clean. Tasha did a very good job with it.

There was a double bed on the right side of the room, a small table and two chairs in the left side with the fireplace on the middle

I lit a fire in the fireplace and concentrated my attention on Adrian again. He looked at me warily.

"I… I realized something today," I said taking my coat off. "It's that you can lose what you have with just a snap of a finger."

He nodded agreeing, but somehow confused. He removed his coat too and put it on top of mine.

I walked to him as my heart was accelerating with the apprehension. I really didn't know what I was doing and I was scared, excited and expectant.

Breathe Rose. Breathe…I thought, resting my hands on his chest. I could feel his heart beating faster too.

"I realized that I would be missing on all the things I wanted to do with you and…" I started to unbutton his shirt. "I really want to be with you Adrian." He froze on the spot as he grasped the concept of what I was doing. I had already opened three buttons. I kissed the part of his chest that was bare. "I want to be with you entirely." I added the voice heavy with all the stormy feeling that was invading me.

I was done unbuttoning his shirt when he caught my hands and looked deep into my eyes. His eyes were dark green, not emerald like they used to be. I guess it was darkened by desire.

"Are you sure my Rose?" He asked the voice hoarse. "Are you sure that's what you want?" He added taking a little step forward towering over me.

"Yes…" I whispered keeping my eyes locked with his. "I've never been so sure in my entire life. I want you to touch me, to love every part of me." I added shivering under the extent of the passion in his eyes. "Make love to me Adrian."

I had barely finished my sentence that his lips crashed on mine pushing me against the wall by the fireplace. He let his hands ran on my back and under my shirt pressing his body even harder against mine.

I moaned against his lips and he took a little step back to remove my shirt. He then started to kiss my jaw line, before kissing me softly down the neck gently nibbling on my neck, which caused me to moan louder and louder.

"You're driving me crazy," he whispered on in my collarbone.

[ Beginning of the M scene]

I just brought my hands to his hair and gently grabbed a handful of it to press his face even deeper into my neck. I needed his touch so much. It was like a physiological need.

He wrapped his arms around my waist, and without breaking our passionate kissing, he slowly walked us to the bed.

He, very gently, laid me in the middle of the bed and joined me while unfastening my bra.

He looked at my breasts for a couple of seconds and I blushed.

"Beautiful…." He whispered with clear admiration before starting to kiss it, playing with his tongue doing things that I never thought could be so good.

I arched my body against his and tried to find the buttons of his pants. He took my hand and guided me down still kissing every part of me, tasting me.

My hands found the zipper, but I didn't manage to open the buttons as my hands were quivering with my inexperience.

"It's ok… It will be wonderful. We're meant to be," he whispered to my ear before sucking on my ear lobe sensually.

He stopped kissing me and started to move away from me. I had a frustrated groan and tried to grab his shoulders to keep him with me.

He chuckled. "I'll be right back with you , " he said taking off his pants and came towering on top of me, but now he was in his black Calvin Klein boxers.

He kissed my lips letting his tongue wander from my mouth to my chest.

"I need you," I said half coherently.

"I need you too," he said starting to unbutton my jeans.

That was it. It was now, no turning back! Adrian was on the verge to become my lover and, truthfully, I wouldn't have it any other way.

He took my pants and my underwear off. He then took two steps back and looked at me. Looked at me so deeply that it made me so self-conscious.

"You are the most beautiful creature on this planet," he said the voice even more hoarse than before.

Say the guy who sleeps with Victoria's secret models! I thought then cussing myself for thinking that.

"I'm the luckiest man on this earth." He added taking his boxers off and joining me on the bed.

I purposely avoided looking south as it was already easy to presume, seeing him in his boxers, that it was pretty impressive. I didn't need to have more apprehensions than I already had.

He was now on top of my looking into my eyes. "Are you sure? You can still change your mind," he said gallantly.

I parted my legs and slightly lifted my hips. "I want you…want you so bad it hurts." I said in a breath.

"Rose…" He exhaled before crashing his lips on mine while entering me slowly.

It was a bit painful at first, but then this pain receded, morphing into a huge wave of pleasure. It was really magical. He was as soft, as caring and loving as I imagined my first lover would be.

[End of M Scene]

Lissa didn't get it right the first time because this did made the planets aligned in my sky. It was the best most wonderful thing I had ever experienced and I wanted this moment to last forever.

We got rid of all our barriers, all our inhibitions. No more pretence… We were just Adrian and Rose making love to each other.

After a little while I was resting on his chest, our legs entwined together as he was tracing random patterns in the small of my back with his thumb.

"It was amazing," I said kissing his chest. I knew I would feel sore in the morning, but right now I felt like I was in heaven.

"It's your birthday soon and you gave me one of the best presents I could have dreamed of," he said kissing the top of my head

"I'm so good… I could stay like that forever." I said snuggling a bit more on his chest. But I took his arm and look at his watch. "I need to go back to reality. To Christian's room."

Adrian sighed. "I know…but I wished we could spend the whole night together."

I propped myself on one arm to look at his face. "That can be arranged for this weekend," I said seriously. "Saturday night if you're not too busy?" I added jokingly.

"Saturday, it's your birthday!" He said like I forgot.

I chuckled "Well, you'll give me your body as a present."

"Well, it's far more a present to me than it is to you." He said kissing my lips softly.

We finally stood up dressing very slowly as we stopped every two seconds to kiss.

We walked hand in hand back to the campus, we were like floating in our own little world but I had an uneasy feeling like we were being watched. I looked around warily but there was nothing to be found.

I shook my head and smiled at Adrian who was studying me.

"Are you ok?" He asked with concern.

I brought his hand to my lips and kissed it. "I'm more than fine… I'm perfect," I said sincerely as this uneasy feeling was probably due to the Strigoi I had just fought this afternoon.

He didn't let go of my hand, even when we came to view, but it didn't matter as nobody was outside with such a freezing weather especially on a Sunday!

He kissed my lips quickly.

"I'll see you later my Rose," he said with longing in his voice.

I nodded suddenly sadly to part. "I'll miss you," I said sincerely.

"I'll miss you more," he replied kissing my forehead.

I rubbed his cheek nicely. How is that possible? I thought before turning around rushing to Christian's room.