Chapter Twenty Three - The New Normal

Thank you all for the wonderful love and support you've given me and this story since my previous notice. For those asking, my mother was admitted to hospital Wednesday 21st after being in severe agony for well over three months. The following day they discovered she had a cluster of abscesses on her left ovary, and since then has been going in for several more scans and tests to check for any other infections and such. She went for surgery on Thursday, and spent the last four days recovering. She was discharged earlier today, and is now safe and sound at home!

Now, enough chatter - I've tortured you long enough waiting two weeks without an update. I hope you enjoy chapter twenty three of Ethereal Darkness.

It was dark. Almost pitch black - at least it would be, for a normal human. If I squinted then I could make out the vague outlines of trees around me, though not much else. The only sounds I could make out were my own footsteps, and the shaky rhythm of my breathing as I traversed my way forwards.

"Rosemarie," an omniscient voice called out around me, though for some reason it sounded simultaneously clear yet distorted. I couldn't tell if it was male, or female, or British, or American... Yet I understood it.

I spun around desperately as I looked through the darkness, searching for the source of the voice. "Who are you?" I called out confidently as I placed my hands firmly at my sides, standing my ground. "What do you want from me?"

"Oh I don't want anything, Rosemarie." The voice sounded amused as I stepped forwards warily. "At least not yet. Not until I have you in my sights."

"Kind of hard to do when I don't know who you are, don't ya think?" I laughed humourlessly. "Maybe if you told me who you were, then I could bring myself to you."

The voice was absent for a few moments, seemingly contemplating my words. "That would make things easier, wouldn't it?" It answered eventually in a deliberating tone. "Unfortunately giving you a name would mean nothing, for you do not know who I am."

"Then how do you know who I am?" A rattling sound alerted me from behind, and I tensed up automatically as I turned to face it. My hand went to my jacket as if to grab a stake but was left unsatisfied when there was nothing there. I stepped towards the source of the noise cautiously yet confidently with my hand still inside my pocket.

"Everybody knows who you are, Rosemarie Hathaway." The voice laughed at the end, and there was another swooshing sound behind me. I froze, realising how close it sounded, every hair on the back of my neck standing to attention as if someone was breathing down it. The voice spoke again, no longer surrounding me, instead being directly besides my ear. "But trust me, we will meet soon enough."

I turned around at the same time a chilly force blew over me, and it felt like a strong force was barreling into me like a rugby tackle. I doubled over in pain as I tried to scream out loud, but nothing came out.

And then, everything seemed to vanish. Like it didn't even exist in the first place.

I woke with a scream, barely any recognition of my surroundings. I felt arms wrap around my waist, and before I had the opportunity to freak out or scream again I was being hushed by a soothingly familiar voice.

"You're okay, Roza," my Russian cooed into my ear, and I felt myself slowly begin to settle again. I was still shaking and hyperventilating, and I shook my head as I tore myself out from his grip. I carefully shuffled my way to the end of the bed and placed my head in my hands. I could hear Dimitri standing from his side to make his way around to me and I inhaled sharply to hold back the tears as I sat up straight.

He lowered himself down so he was crouching between my legs, looking up into my eyes with concern. I wiped at my eyes with the heel of my hands and looked around at the room, the bed, the ceiling - anywhere but him. "Where are my crutches? I need some air."

"They're under the bed- what happened, Roza? You were tossing and turning and then you woke up screaming." Dimitri tried to follow me as I shifted down the bed, reaching down to grab my crutches that were indeed where he said, placing my arms through either of them and raising myself shakily to my feet. He pushed himself up and outstretched his hands as a precaution in case I fell, his worried eyes on mine the whole time. "Roza, talk to me."

"I'm fine, Dimitri!" I lashed out, forcing him to take a step away from me. I regretted my harsh tone immediately, but it was too late. "I just need some air."

I slowly made my way out of the bedroom with the systematic click click of the crutches following me, as well as the near silent footfalls of Dimitri lingering behind me with every step.

During the afternoon, Abe had gotten some of his Guardians to clear out one of the bottom floor dining rooms and convert it to a bedroom for Dimitri and I to stay in, at least until my leg healed. It was easier on me since there were no stairs for me to be constantly climbing, for which I was thankful.

The place was empty as I made my way through to the back garden, every light being off and all the curtains and doors shut tight and locked. I grabbed the keys that were hanging up and clumsily managed to open up the back door, refusing Dimitri's insisting to help. I shoved the keys in my pyjama pocket and continued out onto the patio.

I relished in the feel of the cool air hitting my skin, sighing in contentment as the nightmare slowly began to fade from my mind. I made my way over to the banister that surrounded the edge of the patio and shifted out of my crutches to lean against it, placing them besides me. I could feel Dimitri creeping up behind me before a gentle hand appeared at my waist.

"Roza," he whispered directly besides my ear, and I leaned back into his body as I made sure to keep my injured like raised off the ground. I closed my eyes as he kissed the sweet spot behind my near, all signs of tension melting away with his sensitive touch. "Tell me what happened. Please," he begged quietly.

"It was a nightmare," I told him with my voice barely above a whisper. "About the Strigoi. Or whoever it is that's after me."

"I won't let them touch you, Roza." He said firmly, carefully turning me around so that we were facing each other. He placed his strong hands on either side of me and leaned me back against the railing so I wasn't straining myself to keep my injured leg raised. "I'll be by your side the entire time."

"I know you will be, and I love you for that," I smiled and raised my hands to skim my fingers across his cheekbones. He looked at me with such love and adoration it almost broke my heart, before I realised that I must look at him the exact same way. "But how will everything end? They won't stop searching until they have me, or until we find them and kill them. Otherwise it just won't end."

"Then we will cross that bridge when we come to it." Dimitri closed his eyes and placed his forehead against mine, sighing slightly to himself. "You worried me enough as it was last night. I'm not letting you out of my sight until I know you're one hundred percent safe."

The next two days passed without much incident, until the doctor came back for my checkup. I was able to take the God-awful cast off my leg but was given a fabric brace to wear for a further three more days. At least I was able to put weight on it now. Abe had set Dimitri and I up in a new, better bedroom on the second floor after that, since I was now able to handle the stairs, and had converted the previous room we'd been staying in back into it's regular dining room glory.

Dimitri had barely left my side the whole time we'd been there, and as much as I appreciated it, I knew we were both feeling all out of sorts after being so out of touch with our usual routine. We hadn't trained in four days, and we hadn't been intimate in even longer, and it was clearly taking a toll on the pair of us.

I made my way down to the back room a few hours after dinner on the Tuesday evening, a whole day since I'd been cast-free. I'd been spending the time since dinner with Lissa while we worked on some Advanced Calculus, since we were now being home-schooled until further notice. It was different, considering our teachers were Abe and some outside Guardian's and Moroi he'd hired, but it wasn't the worst. I was just happy that we could all still Graduate, given all the crazy shit that's gone on.

I peaked around the edge of the ajar door to see who was inside, seeing Dimitri and Pavel sat alongside each other with some papers scattered on the table in front of them. "Knock knock." I announced with a smile as the pair of them looked up at me. I stepped inside and wrapped my arms around myself as Dimitri got to his feet and made his way across to me. He placed a hand on my arm and kissed me sweetly. "I hope I didn't disturb anything."

"Not at all." Pavel actually appeared thankful for my intrusion as he placed the piece of paper he was holding down on the table, leaning back in his chair. "Just rewriting some training programs for you and Castille so you don't miss out on your Guardian lessons. It'll mostly be either myself or Belikov teaching the pair of you, though sometimes Guardian Alicia might step in for a woman's opinion."

"Thank you." I placed a hand on Dimitri's chest as he wrapped his arms around me, though I spoke to Pavel. "We appreciate you taking the time out to teach us both. We'd be honoured to have such talented Guardians training us." Pavel seemed touched by my words as he thanked me, before stacking up his sheets of paper and making his way out the room with a nod to both Dimitri and I.

I turned my full attention back to the 6ft7 Russian God in front of me as I kept one hand on his chest, the other skirting up to wrap around the back of his neck. "Speaking of training - how about you and I have a little spar in the training room? It's been a while since I've done anything, and I'm just itching to plant you on your ass."

"As much as I'd love to prove you wrong on that last part," he grinned enchantingly down at me as he rubbed the bottom of my back soothingly, "are you sure you're ready for that? The doctor only dismissed you yesterday."

"Exactly!" I slapped his chest gently as I looked up at him. "He dismissed me. I'm fine! Please?"

Dimitri let out a heavy sigh as he continued to look down at me in disbelief. I pouted playfully up at him as I looked up through my lashes, trying my best to look as sad as possible. I could physically see his resolve melting away as he took me in, eventually rolling his eyes and dropping his head back to look at the ceiling. "Okay, fine." I squealed with excitement in his arms as I jumped up to press a quick yet loving kiss to his lips. "But nothing too extreme!" He cut short, looking at me sternly. I tried to keep my expression neutral as I nodded, hiding the laugh that was brewing inside me. "Now go get dressed and meet me downstairs in fifteen."

"No fair!" I groaned loudly as Dimitri laid me on my back for the third time with a rather loud and pointed thud. His hands were crossed over my chest as a faux-stake, and one knee was against my stomach to keep me down. "You totally distracted me by kissing me."

"Which is why I repeatedly tell you to keep focus." He chuckled as he stood himself up, taking my hand and pulling me up with him. "Even the smallest lack of concentration can cost you your life."

"Except Strigoi aren't gonna be kissing me half way through a fight." I rolled my eyes at him incredulously as I walked over to the shelving units where my water bottle sat, taking a sip as I turned to watch Dimitri. He was watching me fondly as he drank his own water, before heading to the centre of the mats pointedly.

I shook my head at him before placing my bottle back on the shelf and heading over to him with a new found sense of determination. He wiggled his eyebrows teasingly at me as I stepped directly in front of him on the mats, not even feeling the slightest bit intimidating as I looked up from the 12-inch height difference. A smirk appeared on his lips, and I knew he was trying to throw me off, but I wouldn't allow him the satisfaction as I turned on my heels and walked to one side of the mats.

I turned and faced him while shaking out the tension in my shoulders, looking at him from across the mats. "You ready?" He asked, and I scoffed.

"Please." I grinned mischievously. "I was born ready."

Immediately I went on the defensive, figuring that Dimitri would try to attack me immediately. I was already weak from our three previous fights, and he knew that, and getting in an early hit would probably mean in a quick fight. As expected, he launched forwards, swiping across with his forearm for the side of my head. I leaned just out of the way of it as his hand flew past my face instead, before he used a followup attack with a roundhouse kick. I stepped back and swiped my forearm to the side to knock him off balance, though doing so meant that he would get a pretty decent kick there - luckily, I used my slightly less dominant arm.

He did indeed stumble back but quickly regained himself, stepping forwards and swiping across with his forearm for around about my torso. I was quick to act, grabbing his arm before he could gain momentum and throwing it away from me. Unfortunately I was distracted, and didn't notice him launching a kick with the side of his leg for my stomach. He hit me full force and I groaned out in pain, stumbling to the side quickly as I tried to pull myself together before he attacked again.

Dimitri tried to use my momentary hindrance as a advantage for him, kicking in low, wide arch to pull my feet out from under me. Luckily I wasn't completely occupied, my eyes still carefully on him which meant I could see him moving in for me. I jumped up high over his leg and spun around while doing so, using the momentum to carry me forwards into my first attack. On my way around I swung sharply with my elbow for his throat, hoping to wind him. He must have caught onto what I was doing because he blocked me with the side of his arm, throwing my attack upwards slightly to connect not as strongly with his nose. It was still a damaging hit that had him cursing in Russian, but nowhere near as bad as it could have been.

I faked an attack for his chest, purposefully going slightly slower than I usually would so that he could block me. I smirked devilishly as he fell into my trap, using the back of his arm to block me. I quickly turned my hand to the side to grab the centre of his arm tightly, pulling him closer towards me as I punched powerfully at his sternum. It landed full force, but the weight of it carried him flying backwards as he ripped his arm out of my grasp.

As he stumbled backwards, I used it as an opportune moment and quickly stepped forwards to follow his direction of path, turning so my back was slightly facing him and launching my arm and shoulder back into his chest. He cried out at the impact that sent him falling to the floor, landing square on his back like a star fish. I quickly turned to try and pin him so I could stake him, but he was quicker than me, one strong hand grabbing my waist and the other grabbing my hand when I loomed over him while he was still on the floor. He threw me backwards so I was a good few feet away from him, giving him more than enough time to get back to his feet.

"You play dirty," I commented breathlessly as he stepped forwards and tried to hit for my chest, only to be successfully blocked by me as I threw his arm to the side and hit him deftly in the ribs with my other arm. He seemed to chuckle at that as he raised his dominant hand again and tried to knock my shoulder back, but again I blocked him.

"Says the woman," his Russian accent was coming through thick with the adrenaline pumping through his veins, and I could honestly say I'd never been more turned on than in that moment. "Who constantly tries to hit my windpipe." He swiped for my legs and I jumped over them just in time, before he quickly launched another quick attack with his dominant hand. I swerved to the side and grabbed his arm, throwing him forwards and using that momentum to throw me behind him.

"Hey!" I shouted in complaint, using his blindspot I was now in swipe as strong as I could using my dominant arm for the side of his head. He shouted out loud as his head snapped to the side, sending him stumbling in the same direction. "You're the one who taught me that move. Don't like it, don't teach me it!"

He chuckled as he spun around to face me once again, and I could see from the glimmer of a smile on his lips that he was enjoying himself as much as I was. It had been too long since we thoroughly sparred together like this, and it was evidently something we'd both missed. "Oh, I like it," he teased, using the back of his left arm as he swung for the side of my head. I covered my neck protectively as I ducked down, hearing the light swooshing sound of him passing over the top of me. He appeared to of swung with his right arm, as well, because I could hear a second swooshing sound before I stood back up. "Just not when you use it on me."

The momentum of his swings meant that both his arms were on his left side, leaving his right side completely open. "Tough luck, Comrade," I grunted out as I kicked right on the right side of his ribs, forcing him to step backwards and double over from the impact. "I use a lot of your moves against you." As he was doubled over I went to punch him in his stomach to further wind him, yet another move he'd taught me, but he blocked me and pushed me back before I could make impact.

"I can see that," he smirked knowingly, seeming to connect my words and the last move I used. I returned the smirk, though bit my lower lip mischievously in my own attempts to distract him, before attacking with my right arm for the side of his neck. He wasn't fooled, much to my dismay, lifting a bent arm up to block my path way so I instead hit the underside of his bicep.

I cursed under my breath as he shoved my arm away from him, using his other elbow to try and hit right the pit of my neck. The four consecutive fights were taking their toll on me as I felt myself getting tired and sloppy, more and more of my attacks now failing to connect where they were supposed to. Pull yourself together, Rose. I told myself harshly, not wanting to let Dimitri win again. You can do this.

I stepped to the side to avoid the potentially damaging blow, instead receiving it on my left shoulder. It was strong enough to make me cry out in pain and to push me down onto one knee from the force, but not enough to completely hinder me. From this new angle I was able to punch him directly in his stomach as I stood to my feet, knocking him to the side as he tried to avoid it. I swiped out with my left foot and managed to hook around one of his ankles, yanking him to one knee like he had me - only this time, he wasn't facing me head on like I had been him.

I acted as quick as I could and grabbed his shoulders firmly, and I could feel myself absentmindedly biting my lower lip as I focused on the fight. I raised my knee up as I pushed him away from me to create more space and hit him firmly on the backside of his right ribs. I threw him forwards as I attacked so that both the impact and the push would knock him on his front. This way, throwing me off him or creating a counter attack would be a lot more difficult.

The moment he landed I saw him put his hands out to brace himself - to push him back up to fight back - but I wouldn't let him get any further. I dropped on top of him and dug my knee into the centre of my spine, then bringing my hands over my head in a wide arch to rest near the centre of his upper back - right where the heart would be. "Gotcha." I claimed victoriously, though it barely came out above a whisper from how exhausted I felt.

I heard him mutter something from where he rested underneath me, but I was too busy falling to the side and collapsing on my back to pay much attention. I closed my eyes and concentrated on my breathing while wiping the sweat from my forehead. "That was incredible." I was shocked to hear Eddie's voice from somewhere nearby, and I opened my eyes with furrowed brows as I looked around from my still-lying position.

Near the door stood Eddie, alongside Christian, who's arm was wrapped securely around a jaw-dropped Lissa. I laughed singularly in slight disbelief as I looked at them upside down from where I was laying, too tired to move. "What the hell are you three doing here?"

"We were searching for you two to see if you fancied watching a movie on the big screen in your dad's living room - Adrian's already up there, probably raiding the liquor supply." Christian explained with a chuckle. "Pavel said we'd find you down here training, and you were already pretty into the swing of things so we didn't want to interrupt your groove. I've gotta say, Hathaway, you've got some moves."

"Why thank you, Pyro." I grinned in satisfaction at his compliment, finally finding it within myself to heave my body off the ground. Dimitri was already stood and making his way over to stand by my friends, but I took a moment to gather myself before following him. I glanced at Lissa as I approached, seeing she was still looking at me with shock. "You okay, Liss?"

She stammered for a moment, which was completely unlike Lissa, before regaining her composure. "Yeah! I'm fine! I just never thought I'd ever get to see you in action like that. I mean, I've seen you working out before, and I've seen fully trained Guardians fighting each other, but I think that's the first time I've ever seen you fighting someone. I never knew you could fight like that."

"Well, I'm not top of the class for nothing." I smirked cheekily as I rested my elbow on Dimitri's shoulder, despite the awkward height difference. I looked up at him, seeing he looked a lot more proud of my fighting than he was annoyed that I beat him. "Isn't that right, Comrade?"

"Indeed it is." He chuckled, leaning down to press a kiss to my forehead. "The only Full Black Moon at St Basil's. And probably at St Vladimir's, for that matter." I smiled affectionately at him as I lowered my elbow from him, leaning up onto my tiptoes to give him a sweet peck on the lips. He turned to the other three, then, tossing the towel I didn't realise he was carrying over his shoulder. "And thank you for the invitation to join you all, but today's been a long day. I think I'm just going to shower and then call it a night. You're free to join them if you'd like, Malýshka."

"Actually," I looked between my friends and my lover hesitantly with raised eyebrows, looking innocent as I spoke so my friends wouldn't resent me for what I was about to say. "I think I'm gonna do the same. I'd like a nice night in Dimitri. I hope that's okay with you guys?"

Christian opened his mouth to say something but was beaten by an overly cheerful Lissa. "Of course it is! We'll all get together another night." She stepped out of Christian's grasp to wrap her arms around me, and I hugged her back with a smile. "Have fun," she sung quietly in my ear before she pulled away from the hug, grinning knowingly and placing a finger on the side of her nose as a code. I giggled at her as I mimicked the same action, waving politely to the boys as she hastily pulled them away and up the stairs.

I sighed contently as I turned to Dimitri, swinging my body temptingly from side to side. "So... what should we do with the rest of the night?"

We barely even made it up the stairs before we were all lips and hands, Dimitri grabbing my waist firmly and pushing me firmly against the wall besides our bedroom door. His lips on mine were red hot with passion and desire, and the growl he released from low in his throat when I pulled on his hair only urged us both on further.

I pulled back for air while my hands tugged the hairband out from his hair, running through the loose silken locks before retightening my grip again. I tilted my head back and closed my eyes blissfully as Dimitri traced a warm line of kisses from my jaw down across my neck to my breasts. His hands were greedily roaming anywhere and everywhere, grabbing and pulling as if he simply couldn't get enough of me.

I mewled by accident as he bit the soft skin of the top of my breast that was exposed above my tank top, moving one hand from his hair to bite on my knuckle. "Dimitri, maybe we should move this inside." I was very well aware that the other room on this landing belonged to my father, and I wasn't particularly eager to have him catch me in such a compromising situation with my ex-mentor-turned-lover.

He sighed in both annoyance and agreement, pressing a soft kiss to the mark he'd made before at the top of my breast before trailing his way back up to my lips. I looked up at him through my lashes and saw the lust in his eyes, the delightful knot in my stomach only growing at the sight. I gripped his shirt tightly with both hands and rolled us over firmly so that his back hit the bedroom door with a thud, crushing my lips desperately to his as I worked on opening the door simultaneously.

We stumbled into the room together with our lips still attached, and Dimitri wasted no time at all as he pushed me up against the door, subsequently shutting it. I heard a click before his hands were all over me again, and I assumed he had just locked it.

His fingers ran down my sides and gripped at the hem of my tank top. He tugged it up pointedly, and I leaned off the door slightly and lifted my hands up so he could slide it up over my head. We broke the kiss momentarily so he could do so, before he tossed it to the floor, and reattached his lips to my neck once again. His hand ran across my toned stomach, and he pulled away slightly to glance down at where he was touching. "So beautiful, Roza. So, so beautiful."

"I've missed you so much." I whispered to him as I placed my hands on either side of his face. He looked up at me and pressed his forehead against mine.

"I'm right here, Roza. I've always been here."

He dropped his lips to my neck again, biting at the sweet spot between there and my shoulder. My hands curled into his hair instinctively and I moaned, my body naturally arching into his. "You know what I mean." I gasped breathlessly beneath his touch.

I slipped off my trainers as he began kissing his way down my body slowly and sensually, leaving a tingly trail at every spot he marked with his lips. Down my neck, chest, the valley of my bra between my breasts. He slowly shifted down onto his knees, and I rested my hands on his shoulders as I leaned back against the door with my eyes closed and an absentminded smile on my lips. I flinched instinctively as he kissed my belly button and I felt him chuckle against my skin.

"Ticklish, are we?" He smirked, kissing the same spot. I slipped my hands into his hair and tugged once, a sharp warning.

"Don't ruin it." I tugged again, and this time he growled, grabbing the backs of my legs. I gasped as he pulled them out from underneath me, in one swift move wrapping them around his waist while simultaneously getting to his feet. "Shit!" I choked as he dropped me none too carefully onto the bed before hungrily climbing up my body. My breath caught in my throat at the look in his eyes; the animalistic, hungry look that both thrilled me and terrified me.

"I want you so badly, Roza." He growled under his breath as he ducked his head down to skirt his nose across my breast. He wrapped his hands around my back and undid my bra, casting it to the side. He cupped one of my breasts and kneaded it, forcing a moan out of me. I lifted my arms up and gripped the pillows tightly, arching my back into his touch.

"I want you to-" my words were cut short as he took my other breast in his mouth, biting lightly at my nipple. I bit back a moan, my thoughts going wild as I realised how much power this one man had over me. It was insane to think that he could have me putty in his hands with just one action, one word. He just had to look at me and I'd melt on the spot.

The cool air hit the wet spot around my breast as he took his lips away, leaning up to kiss me with every ounce of desire within him. While it was still loving, it was something completely different to anything I'd ever experienced before, almost as if I could feel how desperate he was for me. It had been too long for either of us since we'd been intimately together, and I couldn't help but think that all that pent up tension was about to be released.

His hands danced down from my bare chest and hooked into the stretch waistband of my compression pants, slowly sliding them down my hips. He slid his way down my body as he went, trailing kisses while he slipped the leggings off. He pressed a kiss to the top of my panties and then jumped to the inside of my thigh, kissing either leg as he made his way down. I looked down at him as he did it all the while, watching as he slipped them off past my feet.

"You're wearing too many clothes." I whined as he looked back up at me. I sat up and grabbed him firmly by his shirt, rolling us over so I was straddling him. It was clear I was getting impatient as I crushed my lips to his and worked him out of his shirt, longing for that skin-to-skin contact. He chuckled at me as I threw his shirt somewhere with my own clothes.

"I'm glad your friends got to see you like that today." He said as he sat up and captured my lips with his, making his own way out of his sweatpants. "I don't think you've ever looked hotter while fighting than you did today."

I threw his pants to the side and grabbed his face firmly. I looked down at him with lust, my lips slightly parted. "Can we not talk about my friends while I'm trying to jump your bones?" Before he could even reply I kissed him again and he moaned against my lips.

As if retorting to making him moan, he grabbed my waist and rolled us over so that he was on top again. I wrapped one arm tightly around his neck while the other stroked up and down his perfectly toned abs, greedibly absorbing every part of him.

"Enough teasing," he growled against my lips, and I heard the tear of fabric more than I felt it as he ripped my panties off. I took in a sharp breath in shock as he pressed his lips back to mine, barely even having enough time to realise his actions before he slipped a finger inside me.

I whined against his lips and placed my hands against his cheeks to keep him firmly pressed against me as he slipped a second finger in, then eventually a third. I was shuddering beneath his touch by the time he pulled away to let us both come up for air, and I threw my head back in delight. I couldn't help the moan that came out, and I was almost certain anybody walking by at that moment would have been able to hear it as clear as day.

He curled his fingers inside of me and gestured with a 'come hither' motion, the moan on my lips being caught in my throat from the pure bliss I felt. He hit that perfect spot every time and I felt myself unraveling beneath him. My hands tangled tightly in his hair and I instinctively pulled sharply. "Fuck, Dimitri." I gasped. "Fuck, I'm so close."

"Cum for me, Roza," he was also breathless as his lips skirted against mine, his fingers picking up the pace. The knot in my stomach exploded, and my body arched completely against his as a moan escaped my lips. Dimitri cut it short by kissing me firmly, milking my orgasm as long as he could as he continued to thrust his fingers in and out. "Fuck."

My body collapsed back against the bed and I closed my eyes. I'd barely started coming down from my high when I felt Dimitri shift above me, before sliding his cock inside my slit effortlessly. "Dimitri!" I cried out in both surprise and pleasure, hearing him groan as he settled himself inside me. "You feel so good." I sighed as he began thrusting, setting a hard and fast pace that we both knew we needed at this point.

He cursed in Russian, pulling my legs up to drape them over his shoulders. This way he was hitting far deeper than he typically did, and I had to use every last amount of resolve within me to stop myself from screaming. I met his thrust equally with each of my own, the only sounds in the room being the surprisingly comforting sound of skin hitting together, and our mutual panting.

He reached down to rub at my already sensitive clit, which was exactly what seemed to send me over the edge as I screamed out in delight. I gripped his hair tightly and crushed his lips to mine to muffle the sounds against his lips. The bed squeaked as he pounded into me with a new found ferocity before I felt him lose his own resolve as he came inside me with a pointed groan.

Dimitri dropped his head to my shoulder as he milked both our orgasms, and I rested my hands in his hair and pressed a soft kiss near his ear. "I love you so much," I said breathlessly, running soothing strokes through his sweat-matted hair.

I moaned quietly at the absence of him as he slid out of me, pressing a soft kiss to my shoulder. "I love you too, Malýshka. I couldn't imagine anything more perfect than being here with you."

We laid together a few moments before he slid off the bed to go into the ensuite, quickly returning with some tissue to clean us both up with. I smiled at his thoughtfulness as he tossed it in the bin, then making his way back over to me. He seemed a lot more relaxed than he had the days before, and I held in a giggle at the thought that perhaps it was the mind-blowing sex that eased his nerves.

"What are you so happy about?" He commented curiously as he climbed into the bed besides me, instantly wrapping his arms around me and pulling me close against him. Again, I smiled, loving the closeness we always shared.

"Just wondering how I got so lucky." I whispered fondly as I placed my hands on the sides of his neck, looking up at him with love. He smiled at that, pressing a sweet kiss to my forehead.

He tucked me underneath his chin and draped a hand over my waist, sighing in contentment. "Let's get some sleep. We've both had a pretty long day."

"You're telling me." I laughed sleepily before breaking out into a yawn. I heard my beloved chuckling as I closed my eyes, relishing in the happiness I felt at the end of the day.