Hi, Hopefully the wait was a little shorter this time, hope everyone had a great xmas.

throws frosted snowman cupcakes to reviewers Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter. I'm under threat of losing roseclary93's mercy so if no one minds I think I will just cater to her requests while I still have the necessary limbs to do so.

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I was just about starting to relax. No one of any importance had so much as looked askew at Dimitri or I for over a week and I was down to one fight per day or none if it was a particularly good day and there had been a lot of teachers around.

On the down side it was harder than ever to get any time alone with Dimitri and I was seriously wondering if I would go crazy if I didn't see him soon. On the really up side, I was getting a lot of filthy looks from Jesse, whose jaw had turned an attractive mix of yellow and purple.

It wasn't until later that evening that I spotted my chance. I walked past the wing where the guardians quarters were and saw that the desk where the On Duty guardian usually sat was empty. I figured he had probably gone for a drink or to the bathroom or something. Wherever he was, it wasn't in my way.

I slipped behind the desk and pressed the door release button to let me through to the staircase. The little buzzer nearly gave me a heart attack and I dived through the door and up the stairs feeling like my heart was about to break my ribs, it was beating so hard.

I hardly dared to breathe the entire time I was sneaking around the corridors looking for Dimitri's room. I knew I would get in serious trouble for being up here and there was no explanation I could give that would avoid dumping the both of us in some boiling hot water.

Finally I found his room and knocked quickly, praying he was there and would answer right away before I was busted. Thankfully the door opened only a couple of seconds later and his expression immediately registered shock.

"Rose?" He grabbed my arm without waiting for a response and yanked me inside, closing and locking the door.

"What are you doing? How the HELL did you get up here? What were you THINKING?" He veered off into a stream of Russian that even I could tell was not a declaration of undying love.

"I wanted to see you." I admitted, feeling the blood rush to my cheeks.

"There was no one on duty at the desk and I didn't exactly think about getting caught." Looking at it now I could see his point. I had risked a hell of a lot just for a visit.

He let out a sigh and sank down onto the edge of his bed.

"Great. Now I have to figure out how to smuggle you out again."

Here came the guilt. I hadn't thought about getting out again. The guardian would be back on duty by now and there was no way I could sneak past him.

I went to sit next to Dimitri and gave his shoulder a little push.

"Sorry." I offered, feeling guiltier by the second.

He smiled slightly at me and shook his head.

"This is possibly in the running for the stupidest thing you've ever done but it doesn't mean I'm not glad to see you.

He was glad to see me? Okay, that made me feel a lot better about the shit maybe hitting the fan. I shifted a little closer to lean into him and he rested an arm across my shoulders.

"I'm teaching your combat class again tomorrow. You want to help me come up with a good lesson?" He asked with a small grin.

"You mean help you come up with new ways to accidentally injure them?"

"Naturally." He replied, leaning back to grab a few sheets of paper.

I didn't contribute a hell of a lot to the lesson planning. I was too busy watching him. The way he frowned a little and occasionally bit at the corner of his lip when he was deep in thought.

It made me want to kiss him until that frown disappeared and tomorrows combat lesson was the last thing on his mind. I gave myself a mental slap and instructed my inner slut to get a damn grip already.

Turning my attention back to what he had been saying I realised that he was waiting for a response to something he had apparently said. I had no idea what the conversation had even been about.

Before I could talk myself out of it or common sense could prevail, I leaned up, impulsively and kissed him.

He stiffened in surprise but it was only a moment before I felt him respond. His arms slid behind my back and I felt his fingers in my hair.

We kissed for several minutes and when I was finally forced to come up for air I noticed that we had somehow ended up horizontal on the bed and my hands had wandered under his shirt to explore his chest and shoulders. And a very nice chest it was too.

I looked up at him half hoping he would just continue even though the rational part of me was screaming something about at least one of us having some sense. He was as breathless as I was and his eyes had darkened with something I hadn't seen in them before.

"We need to stop." He said regretfully, running a hand down my bare back. Apparently my shirt had gotten pushed up a bit too.

"I have to get you back downstairs, its already way after curfew."

"I could just stay here for the night." I suggested, only partly joking and hoping he would say yes.

To my disappointment he shook his head.

"Too risky, I shouldn't have let things get this far."

The only reason I didn't push him off in a huff right then was because his hips were still resting against me and I could feel how much he wanted to carry on and how much it was costing him to stop.

He sighed and sat up, running a hand through his hair. I couldn't resist a quick glance down and immediately wished I hadn't because I knew that I was never going to be able to fight him again without the memory driving me to distraction. He saw me looking and his eyes met mine with a smile. Before either of us could say stuff the risks and get carried away again, something happened that doused us both like a bucket of ice water.

There was a loud rap on the door and Alberta's voice called out.

"Belikov? You in there? I need to run over this rota with you, we've had to reshuffle a bit."

Swearing under his breath, Dimitri grabbed my arm and pushed me into the bathroom, pulling the door to. He went to the door and opened it. I heard him tell Alberta he wasn't feeling too great and was just getting into bed and she said something about discussing it in the morning.

When he came and let me out of the bathroom I'm pretty sure my face was as white as his. We were both seriously shaken by the near miss and he went over to his bedroom window.

Leaning out to check if it was all clear, he motioned me over.

"There's a flat roof about 7 feet down. I'll lower you as far as I can. Walk along the ledge to the right until you reach the big air con unit. You can climb up on it and get onto the roof outside the Moroi dorms. God knows what you're going to tell Lissa but its the only way to get you back to your room."

I was about to protest before I realised he was right. I climbed over the frame and as promised, Dimitri lowered me as far as he could reach. I followed his instructions and quickly found Lissa's window. Cursing the stupid design that put Dhampir dorms on the opposite side of the building, I knocked lightly. It was a good job she didn't have a roommate.

She let me in and immediately wanted to know what the hell I was doing out there.

"Sneaking out of Dimitri's room, Lissa, I have to get back to my room before someone catches me!"

"What! I thought you weren't...are you still...? TELL ME!" She almost screeched it and I clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Shhh! I swear, I'll tell you everything in morning, I promise."

I made it back to my room with my heart pounding and adrenaline rushing, both with the near discovery and with the excitement of what we had almost done. There was no way I was sleeping tonight. I couldn't wait for combat class.

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There you go, hope it was worth the wait and I'm SO sorry for the delay but my college seem to think that course work should take priority seeing as I'm leaving soon. I also found this chapter really hard to write.

Anyone who is following this story should probably Alert it because the rating will probably go up depending on how long it takes me to pluck up the courage to attempt to write a lemon. Feedback would be hugely appreciated because I never tried to write so much as a kissing scene before and feedback builds confidence, which I am going to need if I take this story where I'm thinking of taking it. Thanks everyone who is sticking with me despite my horrible updating schedule.

Alexa xxx