Chapter Four

"Are you alright?" His voice was soft and gentle as he looked at me, his eyes full of concern. I was still standing in the hallway right in front of my door, and Dimitri was standing in front of me, slightly hunched so we were at eye level, with his large, strong hands resting on my shoulders.

"Huh?" was all my dumbass could respond as I stared back at him. I was too preoccupied looking at his face and how his shoulder length hair was now pulled back and tied at the nape of his neck in a short stubby ponytail.

Dimitri straightened out, his hands falling from my shoulders and instead crossing his chest, his eyebrows knit together as he continued to look down at me. I suddenly noticed the cold feeling that replaced where his hands had once held onto me, the loss of his warmth. "I asked if you were alright. I found you here, but you were staring off into space, practically unresponsive no matter how many times I tried to talk to you. I was worried you were having another incident."

I felt my cheeks burn as the extent of my embarrassment fully dawned on me. Another incident. He found me just standing there like an idiot. I groaned internally, mentally kicking myself for being unable to have a normal interaction with this gorgeous man. My first encounter with him was an absolute train wreck, with me writhing in pain before passing out and with him having to carry me to the infirmary. I mean, first impressions are everything. Then, I burst out of an examination room just to stand and stare at him, more like eye-fuck him, in front of a whole room of people. And now, this. If I wasn't careful, I was going to scare him away.

"Uh, sorry," I reply sheepishly, trying to find a good excuse for my behavior that didn't completely reveal my one way bond with Lissa, "I guess I was really deep in thought." God that sounds so stupi–.

To my utter surprise, Dimitri starts laughing, and it wasn't a rude laugh as if he was laughing at me; his laugh was more of a chuckle, light, and, in a way, good-natured. It was if he thought I was funny, and the grin on his face as he looks down at me, one eyebrow raised, confirmed that very suspicion. "I'd say that's a bit of an understatement." Then, he glanced at my door, before looking back at me. "Is that your bedroom?"

I was taken aback by his question, from how random it seemed and due to the fact that now thoughts of him and me alone in my bedroom were flooding my thoughts. "Yeah…?"

"Were you here to grab something?"

"Uh no, I actually don't have my key, or my phone actually. Lissa has them, I have to go get them from her. She's up in the attic at the church right now." I reply, shoving my hands into the pockets of my workout leggings, which I just realized I was still wearing. Thank God I didn't sweat too much. Otherwise I'd probably reek by now.

"How do you know that if you don't have your phone?" he asked, an inquisitive look on his face.

Instantly I begin to panic inside. "Oh, uh…" Shit, how the fuck would I know that? It's been hours since I last saw her. "She, uh, told me that's where she'd be when she was still at the clinic," I blurt out. I couldn't have been more suspicious sounding, but he must have considered it a good enough answer since he merely nodded back.

"Makes sense."

The two of us continued to stand in the hall, him with his hands crossed in front of him, looking down at me, and me with my hands stuffed in my leggings, looking sheepishly from him to the floor and anything else that caught my attention. Talk about awkward with a capital A.

"So," he says, stretching out the 'o' sound and breaking the silence, "were you going to go get them?"

Instantly I felt as dumb as a board again as that logically was the thing I needed to go do, not stand awkwardly with my mate in front of my locked door. "Yeah, I guess I better do that, huh?" I say matter-of-factly. I give him one last look before I shuffle awkwardly past his tall, muscular frame and down the hall towards the church, but just before I opened the door at the end, I hear his voice call behind me.

"Did you want some company?" I stopped abruptly in my tracks, then turned back to look at him.

"You want to walk with me?" I asked him, just to clarify if I even heard him correctly.

"Is that a yes?"

I'm honestly shocked by his suggestion, surprised that he'd want to spend time with me, a complete stranger. Even if we were mates, he was still in a committed relationship with Christian's aunt.

"Um, I suppose so. Only if you really want to." He gives me a small smile and nods.

"Sounds like a good time to me." Instantly I feel butterflies in my stomach, and I can't help but smile at the thought that he wanted to spend time with me. After all, even though having a second mate has been a rollercoaster, that didn't mean that I didn't want to spend time with him. So I turned my back to him and opened the door, and as confidently as I could muster and a grin plastered on my face, I turned my head back to look at him.

"Well then you better keep up, Comrade." And then I ran, letting the door close behind me.

It turns out Dimitri is pretty fast, even for a Moroi, as it didn't take long for him to catch up to me. As I burst through the doors of the Dhampir dorm hall into the cool Montana in May air, I raised my arms up in victory. It was totally childish of me to run like that, especially since he didn't even know the campus. Well, unless he went to school here before he graduated, though I don't recall ever seeing or hearing about him. I'll have to ask him about that later. But either way, I was going for playful, not childish. I just hoped it came across that way to him. Seconds after I won our impromptu race, he joins me in the cool air, a few strands of his hair having escaped from his hair tie and softly framing his face.

"You call that a race?" Dimitri asks, his arms returning to their former position across his chest.

"What? Not challenging enough for you?" I ask incredulously. He merely shrugged, and said nothing. "Well, I will admit, you're pretty fast for a Moroi, but you've got no chance against a Dhampir like me."

He begins to laugh again, and I found I was beginning to love that sound the more I heard it; but what really set me on fire was when he grinned back down at me with an eyebrow raised, and in a low husky voice said, "You've have no idea the things that I can do."

I was literally speechless. It was obvious he knew what kind of effect he had on me, and he was finding any time he could to exploit it. Even so, I believed him. I absolutely believe that I had no idea the things that he could do. I can also admit that I wanted to know all the things he could do. Eventually, I managed to clear my throat and change the subject, afraid to challenge him further. It's not that I was afraid of him, because I wasn't; I was afraid I was wouldn't be able to keep my cool if things got more suggestive. "We better get going if I'm going to catch up to Lissa."

Dimitri chuckled to himself, a slightly smug look on his face. We turned and began walking in the direction towards the church. We walked along in silence for the first few minutes, but the awkward silence between us began making me feel antsy.

"You know, if you're going to start teasing me like that, we should probably introduce ourselves," I tell him, realizing that we'd never had a formal introduction.

"You're Rose. Rose Hathaway." He said matter-of-factly.

He already knew my name? "Uh yeah. And you're Dimitri Belikov," I replied softly, mirroring his response.

He smiled softly, looking down at me as we walked. "See, we don't need an introduction."

I rolled my eyes. "Ok, so we know each other's names, but that doesn't mean you're not a stranger to me, Comrade."

He was silent for a moment, before saying plainly, "You keep calling me that," and looking forward again. From the way that he sounded, I couldn't tell if he liked the nickname or not.

"Do you have a problem with me calling you that? You are Russian, aren't you?" I respond.

He lets out a sigh. "Yes, I'm Russian, but do you even know what that term means?"

I mock offense, gasping at his words. "Of course I know what it means. It's not like our entire culture isn't heavily influenced or has a large history based out of Russia or anything – OH WAIT. It does. Yes, I know Comrade is associated with the Soviet Union, which I know doesn't exist anymore."

"So you know that's not exactly a complement."

Irritated that he can't seem to take a joke, I abruptly halt in the middle of the side walk and square up to him as he turns towards me, wondering why I stopped. With both my hands on my hips, I look him right in the eyes. "So you get to tease me and I can't tease you? If you can't take it, don't dish it out, Comrade." I put as much emphasis on my last word as I can and hold my ground, never breaking my eye contact.

From an outside perspective, I can understand how inappropriate and disrespectful it would be for Dhampir to act in such a way to a Moroi, but there's something about him that makes me feel comfortable and safe to speak my mind, even if it makes me look like a brat in the process.

He doesn't back down from my confrontation and instead just stares back, his eyes flickering back and forth as he focuses on each of my eyes. It's difficult to read his facial expression; he doesn't appear angry, but he wasn't smiling either. Instead, he just looked like he was concentrating really hard. When I watch as his eyes glance down at my lips for a millisecond, I can feel my heart begin to pump harder. And it nearly stops when he reaches up with his thumb and gently touches my lips, his palm cupping my jaw and the side of my neck.

"Don't bite your lip. It's a bad habit." He whispers softly. I hadn't even realized that I had started to, but I obey and let it go. His hand hovers for a moment more, his eyes exploring my face and glancing back down to my mouth. For a moment I think he's going to kiss me, and I melt at the thought, but eventually a pained look crosses his face for a moment, so fast I wasn't sure if I imagined it or not, and he lowers his hand away from my face. Taking a step back, he looks back down the sidewalk, and softly says, "Come on, the church isn't far."

My arms drop to my sides again as we begin to walk to the church again, and I can't help but think about the moment that just passed.

It was suddenly clear to me that Dimitri was conflicted, as I often wondered. I imagined he felt guilty. He was due to be married, and here he was caressing the face of another, even if it was his mate. Then I begin to wonder if maybe I had gone too far with my little outburst.

Soon, we made it to the steps of the church, and I told Dimitri I would go inside and get my stuff, but thanked him for keeping me company. He didn't say anything, but nodded with a solemn look on his face. However, just as I open the door, I find myself standing face to face with a woman with a distinct scar across her face, accompanied by Christian and Lissa behind her.

A soft smile appears on the mystery woman's face as she looks at me and she extends her hand towards me. "Hello, you must be Rose. I'm Christian's aunt, but you can call me Tasha. I've heard lots about you."

Author's Note: Chapter 4 is done. Finally. Sorry it took so long to update, but the writer's block was strong with this chapter. Thanks for all those who have fav/followed this story, and for those who have left reviews as well! With any luck, the next chapter shouldn't take as long as this one to be uploaded. For those new to the story, welcome! I hope you liked it, and if you do, be sure to fav/follow, and let me know what you think!

Be safe, friends!

Bridget (DearDeathbed)