Being back at Court was odd, and I was sure that once Roza woke up, she'd want to leave as soon as possible. There was no reason for her to be at Court anymore. She'd left for a reason, though I blame myself for most of it. I knew that she left with a purpose, and I was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back that ultimately solidified her decision to leave and pursue her dream.
She'd slept soundly the entire ride, but that was to be expected considering what she'd been through in the last thirty-six hours. While I also wanted to sleep, I couldn't. Hans was asking too many questions and each time I tried to put off answering them until we reached Court, he'd keep on asking. I honestly don't know how he came up with so many questions.
Releasing another tired sigh as we pulled up to the gates to pass through a security check, I looked down at Roza. She had a soft smile on her lips as she rested her head against my shoulder. Any signs of the past thirty-six hours had vanished as she received more and more sleep.
Hans gave us an apologetic look as he pulled up to Guardian housing. I don't know what he was apologizing for, I was about to get sleep!
"On such short notice, we couldn't really pull together a really nice room. If I had my say, you guys would be housed with the Palace Guard, but that's against protocol, so you're stuck with the same crappy Guardian dorm. However, there is a shower and a well-stocked fridge for when she wakes up." The head Guardian said with a chuckle and a wink as he passed over the keys to our room.
Looking down at the key, I saw a room number – my old room.
"Thank you. As soon as we're both awake, we'll be down in your office answering questions, but I ask that you don't have anyone waking us." I said, shifting out of the car after I received a confirming nod. Roza was still sound asleep, her eyes moving slowly behind her eyelids, but she wasn't waking any time soon, at least not for something like walking up a couple flights of stairs to sleep in an actual bed.
I moved around to the other side of the vehicle and gently pulled her into my arms. I nodded a farewell to Hans and made my way up to our room for the night, trying my hardest not to jostle Roza too much.
The hardest part was getting the door of our room open. I debated whether or not to set her down or to try to wake her up, but thankfully a passing Guardian recognized my dilemma and kindly offered to unlock the door for me.
I whispered my gratitude and made my way inside. I set Roza down on the sofa before closing and locking the door. Glancing around, I could see a few items I'd left here when I'd gone in search for myself.
I can't believe they hadn't already allocated this room to someone else.
Deciding I didn't care enough to ponder the reasons why I turned down both sides of the bed and placed Roza on the side furthest from the door. I placed the one stake I still had on the table next to the bed and drew the curtains closed, not wanting anything to disturb the sleep I was about to get.
I stripped down to my boxers before climbing in bed beside my Roza. It felt like it had been ages since she'd last been in my arms, and I couldn't help but release a contented sigh when she immediately rolled over and curled herself into my side.
I placed a gentle kiss on her forehead before settling back against the lumpy pillow, almost instantly falling asleep.
I didn't know how long we slept, but when we both awoke, there wasn't light peeking around the curtains in the room, so that told me we'd been asleep for a while. Roza stretched out beside me, several of her joints popping as she gave an aching moan.
"How are you feeling, Roza?" I asked rolling onto my side to look at her. Her eyes were tightly closed as she finished stretching and popping.
"Like I could use a hot shower." She said, her limbs falling limp as she continued to lay in bed.
"Are you going to go take one?" I asked with an amused chuckle when she'd still yet to move.
"In a little bit. I've got to work up the motivation to get out of bed first." She said, opening one eye and turning her head to look at me.
"Would there be more of a motivation if I went with you?" I asked raising an eyebrow. With both her eyes open now, they followed the movement, and she gave an annoyed expression.
"Are you planning on joining me? Or are you just going to accompany me into the bathroom?" She asked, returning her eyes to mine.
"I'd planned on joining you, although, if you don't want me to do either, I could just lay in bed until you get back," I smirked as a frown took over her face.
"I don't want that." She said pushing herself out of the bed. As she stood to her full height, more pops echoed through the room.
"That doesn't sound healthy at all," I commented, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. Despite my opinion, my body protested the statement by giving a few pops as I stretched my arms over my head.
"If your body is making the noise, too, it has to be okay for mine." She laughed moving toward the bathroom. She peeled off the oversized, tattered t-shirt and dropped it in the trash bin before repeating her movements with her bikini, though she gave a sad sigh when she had to discard her swimwear.
Before she could step closer to the shower, I put my hand on her hip, halting her movements as my fingers gently caressed her skin. She turned her face up to look at me and gave me a dazzling smile. I returned her smile, but I busied my hand with tracing over her skin.
Not only did I want to feel her, to reassure myself that she was alive and well, but I also wanted to see if she had any wounds that might need to be checked out. All I could see was dried blood on her skin. I moved to stand behind her as my fingers splayed across her stomach.
With a quiet, breathy moan, she leaned back against my chest, her body molding itself against mine. I dipped my head slightly to press a kiss to her temple, as my eyes followed my hand in its journey across her body.
I kept my lips close to her ear, every now and then nipping the soft cartilage, as my hand moved up to softly stroke each of her breasts. Her chest was heaving, pushing her soft globes into my hand as I thoroughly inspected them for even the slightest scratch, there was none.
The hand that wasn't exploring her body rested lightly on her hip, holding her in place as she started grinding back against me. I pulled back slightly and turned her to face me. She gasped at my sudden movement and moaned as I dropped to one knee in front of her.
With one hand on her hip to steady her, I gripped her ankle to bend her knee, discretely checking it for injuries, though by now I'd known there weren't any, I checked anyway just to be on the safe side. I placed her leg over my shoulder, bringing her core closer to my face.
The inside of her thighs was warm, and I could tell she was already wet just from the smell. She placed one hand on my bare shoulder and the other one threaded her fingers through my hair. I held on to her hips to keep her steady and still as she sucked in a deep breath.
Her eyes were closed, head tilted back as her short nails scraped against my scalp. I inhaled through my nose, filling my mind with Roza and her pleasure. She rewarded my focused mind with a quiet moan.
"Dimitri." She sighed, pushing her hips closer to my watering mouth. I licked my lips in anticipation.
"Yes, Roza?" I muttered in my lowest voice. "Is there something you want?"
"I want you." She breathed, opening her eyes to look down at me with hooded eyes.
"You've already got me," I said, nuzzling the tight curls above her slit.
"I want you to eat my peach." She said with a wink. I never thought I could be turned on by a piece of fruit, but she somehow managed it. With a wicked smile on my face, I nipped gently at her thigh.
"As you wish," I muttered right before diving straight in. I moaned as her juices coated my tongue. It had been so long since I'd been this close to her, so long since I'd focused solely on her and her pleasure.
However, as my tongue delved deeper, bringing her closer to the edge of abandon, I recognized that by giving her this amount of pleasure, I was receiving some myself. I was getting more and more turned on by the sounds that were escaping her. Each moan had my blood racing faster and each time she screamed my name made my cock twitch.
Her knees started to quiver moments before her heat clamped down on my tongue. I groaned at the pulsing sensation and moved my hands further up her back to keep her upright. Her body was relaxed as the final shiver of her orgasm rocked through her.
I pulled back and rolled my jaw back a forth a few times.
"You really made me work for that one, Roza," I said huskily, looking up at her completely placid expression. She hummed in appreciation, her eyelids flickering open as she brought her gaze down to mine. I felt a cocky smirk take over my face as I lifted her into the shower.
I was aware that Hans was wanting to talk to us, and the sooner we got the questioning out of the way, the sooner we got to go home. Keeping this in mind, I kept the shower sex to a minimum, which is hard to do when the most perfect woman was doing everything she could to tempt me.
Eventually, I got us both dressed and presentable, striding into the Guardian headquarters while receiving a few odd looks from the surrounding Guardians. Roza ignored them, but I gave nods of recognition as we passed, heading straight into Guardian Croft's office.
He had a friendly smile on his face, though he looked much more tired than I thought he would have.
"It's nice to see that both of you are up and seemingly well rested." He said, gesturing to the seats in front of him.
"Thanks, Hans, we'll just be glad when we're back home and done with this mess," Roza said with a kind smile. I knew that the relationship between the head Guardian and my Roza was strained at first, but I could see in Hans' eyes that he truly cared for her and her well-being.
"Of course. I hope to have you home by the end of the day. I just need you to answer the questions that everyone else has been asked, and I ask that you try not to butt in too much while the other is recounting." He said with a meaningful glance between the two of us.
I told, well, retold my series of events, knowing that I had more insight into what Roza went through, but I still didn't know all of what she went through in her day there.
"That's pretty much what everyone else said, though you gave more detail on what Rose was going through. Do you wish to explain that? It seems to me that you speak as though you were there." Hans said.
"I'm sure the others explained it to you, also, but I think somewhere along the way with Roza being Shadow-kissed and all, we developed a bond. In a sense, I am also Shadow-kissed, though my shadow is being a Strigoi and not actually dying. She has what we call Darkness, and I have what we call Light. We balance each other. One of the fortunate side effects of our bond is that I can take the pain from Roza before she even feels it. It's what kept her fighting for almost three hours while we were on our way to her."
"It's not a fortunate side effect, Comrade," Roza muttered, but both Hans and I ignored her.
"Do you think you could elaborate on what you experienced, Rose?" Hans questioned, nodding in appreciation toward me and my testimony.
"There's not much to tell that Dimitri hasn't already shared. I didn't know who had taken me until I woke up and Guardian Nelson walked into the room. After giving him a piece of my mind, I finally quieted down enough to gather his reasoning, albeit insane, and started working out a plan of escape. However, because of the bond, Dimitri knew what I was planning and urged me to wait until they knew where I was so they could help." Roza explained, picking up my hand as an anchor.
I knew for her the events weren't traumatizing, just angering. I was the only thing keeping her calm at the moment, and I didn't want to think about what she might be like now that she'd had sleep and time to formulate a plan of revenge, not that she would act it out.
I think.
"So, in the time that passed between first understanding Guardian Nelson's plot, and their discovery of your location, what happened?" Hans asked cautiously.
"Tyler really just ranted about how I was 'the perfect prey.' Apparently, I was the ultimate opponent when it came to his twisted game of cat-and-mouse. When he wasn't ranting, he just stared at me. I know it sounds weird, but that's really what happened. I was honestly shocked that he didn't try anything, not that I would have allowed anything to actually happen, but it surprised me that he showed such restraint knowing what his game was."
"And what was Tasha's part in all of this?" He asked.
"I didn't know what Tasha was getting out of having me kidnapped and tortured until Dimitri showed up and revealed everything," Roza said with a shrug. "I never really liked her, and I knew she could cook up some wild story about why she thought I deserved it all, but I guess I never really thought that she would drag Dimitri into all of it."
"Hmm, well, I have enough information here to write up charges. I was waiting until after talking to you two to interrogate Guardian Moore and Lady Ozera, but if I have any further questions or I need to inform you of a trial date, I'll call you. As far as I know, your father has a plane ready to take you back to New York as soon as you're ready, so you might want to give him a call."
"Will do. Thank you." I said, standing to shake his hand, waiting for Roza to do the same before ushering us both out of his office and out of the building.
"Do you mind if we stop by to see Lissa, Christian, and Adrian before leaving?" Roza asked quietly. She looked a little nervous.
"I don't mind, but are you sure you want to?" I asked, pulling her to a stop.
"I don't know. I'm nervous. The bond broke, so Lissa probably thinks I'm dead, but I never thought that I would be back here, ever. When I left Court, I never wanted to come back. There was no reason for me to, and I know that I don't want to stay here. I'm afraid that if I see her, she won't let me leave again, but I'm not staying here." Roza explained, finishing with a determined foot stomp.
"She can't keep you here. You're not a Court Guardian anymore, so no one can make you stay here. It's up to you to decide if you want to let them know you're alive. If you have no intentions of ever seeing or speaking to them again, you might just want to send her an email or something to let her know you're not dead, but if you might want to try to patch up your friendship, I'd meet with them." I said, rubbing slow circles into the back of her hand, knowing the calming effect that it had on her.
"Will you be there with me?" She asked after a moment of quiet contemplation.
"Of course, Roza," I said with a gentle smile. I arranged for Abe to have the three Moroi in question meet us at his suite in guest housing. We'd be leaving Court after the meeting to meet Eddie in New York.
I kind of felt bad having him there pretty much by himself after he'd dropped everything to come help us find Roza, but I knew he was probably needing a few days off, and he'd be getting to spend some of that time with Roza soon.
"I'm so glad you're alright, Kiz," Abe said, enveloping Roza in a hug the moment she entered his suite. Pavel, Kyle, Christopher, and Jasper were all waiting patiently for their turn to hug her. Sydney was sitting uncomfortably on the couch, looking like this was the last place she wanted to be.
"What's wrong?" I asked as I went to sit beside her, waiting for Roza to come to me after her numerous hugs.
"It feels so wrong to be in the middle of your Court." She said, shifting uncomfortably. "I've gotten pretty used to Dhampirs and Abe, though he still makes me nervous sometimes, but there are more Moroi here then I can handle. I'll just be glad when I can leave."
"Why are you here, then? You and Jasper could have gone back to New York and waited for us to get back."
"I couldn't leave Rose like that, not when she might have needed us. I know she's strong and everything, but it's nice to know the people you care about care about you too, so this is how I show her I care." She said with a small smile.
"Well, I hope you'll be alright with three more Moroi. They're pretty nice people, and they'll most likely be focused on Roza the entire time and won't pay you much attention." I warned with a chuckle.
"Are these the three that she left behind when she came to New York?" Sydney asked with a worried expression.
"That would be them." I nodded, opening my arms as Roza made her way over to me, finally being released from the onslaught of hugs.
"They'll be here soon," Roza said, picking up on our conversation with a gentle smile. "If you get uncomfortable, you can leave, I won't be offended and neither will they."
"I want to be here," Sydney responded, sounding more sure than she had moments earlier. Roza gave her a thankful smile as she settled into the conversation that was flowing around us.
Abe was filling us in on Tasha's charges and the dates to expect for a trial, if it ever made it that far. If Tasha would just admit her guilt, we wouldn't even need a trial, and I knew Roza was hoping that she'd just plead guilty to spare everyone the time and effort of a court case.
Surprisingly, Roza began animatedly discussing the next hunting party, though Abe and Pavel looked like that wasn't going to happen any time soon. I silently agreed with them, wanting to keep Roza out of harm's way for a little while longer before she dove back in head-first, but I knew better than to keep Roza from doing what she wanted to do.
She and Christopher were in the middle of a laughter fit, caused by some sardonic remark made by Christopher, when there was a knock on the door. Roza immediately froze in place, her muscles tensing as she turned to look at me with wide eyes. I hugged her to me tightly as Pavel and Abe rose to answer the door.
I placed a calming kiss on the tip of her nose as a sniffle echoed through the room.
"Mr. Mazur. I'm assuming you're asking us to meet here because of bad news." Adrian's voice drifted through the front entryway. His tone sounded flat, but I would assume that the sniffling was Lissa, assuming the worst.
"Not at all, Lord Ivashkov," Abe responded cheerfully. I heard shuffling at the door, and Roza scrambled to her feet to greet her depressed friends.
Adrian was the first to enter the sitting area, followed by Christian as Lissa clung weakly to his arm. Adrian froze in place, eyes widened in shock, surprised tears sitting on the rim of his eyes. Lissa was looking down, discretely wiping her eyes, when Christian also spotted Roza and froze, bringing them both to an immediate halt.
Lissa first looked up at Christian in confusion before looking around the room. Her eyes released a stream of tears as her wide eyes finally landed on Roza.
"Rose?" She squeaked in a broken voice.
"Hey, Liss."