A/N: Thanks again for the lovely reviews. Just like to say you guys are amazing, and since I'm in a good mood 'cause it's my birthday, I felt like updating! So hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer:

Richelle Mead owns VA and all its characters. I just borrow her characters for my twisted amusement.

Chapter Three: Personal Trainer

As promised, today was the day I would start my defense training. Lissa had gone by the time I woke up, with not so much as a 'bye, see ya next weekend!' She'd promised she'd bring Christian with her. I wasn't so sure my father would approve, but he was a sucker for Christian. I think he was the only male my father liked…other than his personal mechanic…alive anyway.

We had a large gym downstairs next to the basement, set up to train me and give me the skills I would need to defend myself. Thanks to my father, of course. Ugh! He may as well send me to boot camp. Besides, why would I even need defense classes if I wasn't allowed ten feet out of the house without a guard stalking my tail.

It was pointless and I was beginning to think it was an attempt to keep me occupied and out of my father's hair. Maybe he was punishing me for losing his precious files the week I'd arrived. Must have been some pretty important files if he was. So, being the stubborn, narcissistic person I was. I planned a sick day and stayed in bed.

Right on cue, my father knocked on my door. I put my sick face on and groaned.

"Come in." I fake croaked. My father opened the door, and didn't even make an attempt to come in. Judging from his expression, he probably knew I was faking just by looking at me.

He wore a navy blue Armani suit with a matching tie. white cuffs, and matching loafers. He leant on the door frame and raised an eyebrow.

"Kizim, get up." I put my hand on my forehead and sighed. Dramatically so.

"Can't. I think I'm coming down with the flu." He stalked over to me and felt my forehead. He frowned.

"You're not burning up, so you should be fine." I tried a different approach.

"Really? Well, then I think I have glaucoma. It's hurting my throat, I can't seem to swallow properly." I touched my glands on the side of my neck. He rolled his eyes.

"Glaucoma is a medical term concerning the eye, not your throat." Damn. What did he have, a medical degree up his sleeve? I shrugged.

"Huh. Good to know." He sighed slightly irritated.

"Kizim, stop playing and get up. Your personal trainer is waiting in the gym, and I do not want you wasting his time for your blatant tardiness. Now get out of that bed, and stop being lazy." I grunted. I was intrigued and slightly curious knowing this personal trainer was indeed a male, but not enough to ruin my comfy woes of sleep. I frowned.

"Why should I? This personal trainer thing is unnecessary. I know how to fight." I stated confidently. He raised his eyebrows.

"Throwing a sloppy punch here or there does not redeem you a fighter. You lack skill, discipline and with intense practice, only then can you be considered a fighter, if at all." I groaned.

"Can't I just lay in bed a little while longer? Besides, it's a Sunday. God forbids me to work on this holy day. It says so in the bible." He had a smirk on his face.

"God also says 'Thou shall not disobey your mother and father'. Now get up and stop complaining." He pushed the drapes to the side to open them, flooding the room with a piercing light. I squinted.

"Figures, no wonder I don't go to church." I muttered under my breath. He pulled my blanket off my legs, to my protests. Lucky I learnt from the last time and slept in shorts.

"You want your freedom, you take those defense classes. Now get up before I force you out." I gritted my teeth.

"Fiine. Just so you know, I hate you for this." He smiled in amusement, and ordered to be down in the gym in ten.

After shrugging on some sweats and a tanktop, and throwing my hair up in a classic ponytail, I made my way toward the gym. Cursing everyone around me, and how life was so unfair that I had to even consider going through with this stupid task. Besides, it's not like I need to learn how to fight, I already had a good right hook on me.

Yeah, it may be a bit sloppy, but I still managed to hit my target to the floor. Various students at my old boarding school can definitely attest to that. However, my father was right, and it was something to keep me occupied I guess.

After all, I had all summer to try make a living here, and to try my hardest to be able to tolerate my father...and his guards. Beats waiting for my acceptance letters to arrive for Lehigh College and various others alike. Lissa was going there too, so we'd hoped to get into the same school.

I pushed open the gym doors, and froze when I saw my father was in there talking to someone.

I frowned when that someone had to be him.

"What is he doing here?" I didn't mean it to sound so crass, but I still hadn't quite gotten over his insults. Though small they may have been, it still bit at my nerve. It was the mechanic Dimitri Belikov.

Clad in black sweatpants and a matching muscle tee. He was obviously dressed for training, but why the brown duster? My father turned around and planted a smile.

"Kizim, meet Dimitri Belikov. He's going to be your trainer for the next couple of weeks; until he sees you fit to stop." He slapped the guys arm like he'd been his own son. "Dimitri, this is my daughter Rosemarie."

"Rose." I corrected. I frowned as I met Dimitri's curious stare.

"The mechanic is going to train me? What's he going to do, teach me how to throw auto parts at my opponent?" My father glared.

"No. He's going to teach you self defense. He's an ex marine, and qualified fighter and trainer. So he knows exactly what he is doing." This surprised me, but I didn't let it faze me.

"Wow! So much for being just a mechanic." I let my eyes flick toward Dimitri. He'd been setting up the mats when I'd walked in. "You made me think you were just a mechanic? You lied." I accused. He raised his eyebrows.

"You assumed I was just a mechanic."

"I blatantly remember the words 'just a mechanic' coming out of your mouth." The muscles bulged out of his jaw.

"I no longer serve in the marines, thus am just a mechanic. You didn't ask if I did anything else before that." I dumped my duffel bag and snorted.

"Still lied to me." I could see he was keeping a straight face, holding his temper. I almost admired his self-control.

"I didn't lie." He protested.

"Ever heard of lying of omission. It's the same thing." He muttered something incoherent and flipped me off. I felt a little smug that I could get under his skin so fast. My father pulled me toward the door.

"Kizim, do not give the man a hard time." I felt my smile grow wider. Reverse psychology did have its perks.

"I won't make any promises." I folded my arms and watched my father walk out of the gym, giving one last pointed look, and then leaving me alone with the 'mechanic'.

"So, you're an ex-marine huh? What else have you got up your sleeve? You work for the CIA too? A national spy, no wait, you're a stripper?"
I watched Dimitri shrug off his duster, draping it over the barbell bench. He started out stretching, pointedly ignoring me. I huffed.

"Oh God! You were a stripper! I knew it. Man, that's some double life you lead. I'm impressed." He stopped stretching and glared.

"I served five years in the Russian army when I turned 18 up until I was 23. Two years as a soldier, three years as a marine. I've never worked for the CIA or a national spy, and I never intend on ever taking my clothes off for fast cash..." I smiled a little. Mostly at the fact that he answered me. I nodded absent mindedly, as he went back to stretching.

"An ex comrade. Kinda cool. So why quit? Couldn't handle the pressure?" He held his mask of composure, but I could bet my ass it was slipping. I was enjoying myself.

"One of my fellow comrades and best friends lost his life fighting in combat. He died under my watch, when I made a poor judgment by appointing him as leader. When I was gone, aiding the sick, he made an irrational decision based on anger. He lead my men and ordered the raids on our enemies. By the time I got there, they'd been killed. I took out what was left of the enemies, losing half of my men. My lack of competence ended his and many others lives. I didn't deserve the title for being a hero, so I quit." I frowned, surprised that his story had affected me in some way. And that he'd completely opened up to me in this short amount of time I'd known him. He was blaming himself?

"I'm sorry…" I finally said. What more could I say really?

"Yeah…me too." Feeling like an idiot, I faltered. I really sounded like a bitch right now, and judging by his tone, the wounds of losing his friend were still fresh. I bit my lip. I surprised myself when I said the next thing that was on my mind.

"No. I mean I'm really really sorry for your loss. I know that you're hurting, but…you can't blame yourself for his mistakes. You chose him out of confidence knowing that he'd be the best for the job. How he died wasn't your fault."

Silence. The elephant in the air growing thicker. He stared, I stared back, and I was starting to fidget. He was starting to look really really good up close, in his work out clothes and my mind started to wonder which piece of clothing he could do without. God! Stop the shit Rose, and get a hold of yourself. I silently chastised. But he wasn't making it easier on me.

Since he wasn't in a rush to break the ice, I stalked toward the stereo half aware that his eye followed me and flicked on some music to set the mood. I played the CD that was already in there. Keri Hilson lyrics bumped through the speaker.

You're fly as hell, swagger right, brown skin popping.
You know just how to talk to me, know just how I like it
You're turning me on...
You're turning me on...
You're turning me on...

I cleared my throat and quickly stopped the CD. Not the kind of mood I was going for. I switched the CD and smirked when Prodigy sounded through the speakers. Smack my bitch up, perfect. Itching to clear the awkwardness in the air, I opted for a light conversation.

"So Comrade, how are we going to do this?" I started jumping up and down, bouncing on my toes, waving my arms to and fro. My own personal warm up, even though I'd just made it up on the spot. He cocked an eyebrow.

"We start off with stretches, then a few laps around the court." The gym was pretty huge, but running around it would seem like I was chasing my own tail. I stopped bouncing.

"Pretty boring, why don't you let me kick your ass, and then tell my father it was all a complete waste of time, so I can go back to my comfy precious bed?" He shook his head.

"Not gonna happen." I tried to do the one eyebrow thing, but I probably looked retarded. I settled for a frown.

"You seem pretty confident about that. Care to put your money where your mouth is?" I threw my dubs up, fisting my fingers in a fighters pose.

"Stretches first." I groaned.

"Oh come on! You're not scared of a girl kicking your ass are you?" He shook his head.

"No, quite the opposite actually. Plus, I don't want you hurting yourself. Now get on the mat and start stretching." I wagged my eyebrows and smirked.

"Make me." I challenged. He sighed.

"Fine. We do it your way. If you can pin me to the floor, I'll let you go back to your precious comfy bed…but if I pin you down, we play by my rules." Oh this is gonna be too easy.

"Deal."

I charged for him, going for the attack mode by grabbing his shoulders. He welcomed the attack as I gripped his shoulder, automatically taking up defense mode quicker than I could blink.

He had my forearms in a tight grip, and a smirk on his face. Next thing I know, I was knocked off my feet in least than a millisecond. My breath knocked out of me momentarily. He had his rock hard body pinned against me. He lowered his head to my ear. I caught my breath, flaming from his proximity.

"Point." He murmured. I glared and knocked him off me, shuffling to my feet. He let me.

"Okay, that was just a lucky strike." His mouth twitched at the corners.

"You sure you wanna go again?" I threw a right hook toward his left cheek, but he caught it adrift, pulling me toward him and knocking my back knee forward with a back kick, then flipping me over letting me fall flat on my back…again.

"I can do this all day." He said, pinning my body to the ground with his weight. The sick bastard was enjoying this.

"Fuck! Oh you are so gonna pay for that." I shuffled to my feet, wiping invisible dirt off my ass, and growled.
I refused to let this man get the best of me.

I lifted my leg up for a roundhouse kick aiming right toward his left side of his torso, but he caught it, held it there for a little longer than necessary and pulled on it. Making me hop awkwardly toward him, and throwing me off balance so I fell to the floor, hip first.

"Point. Are you done yet?" This time he didn't pin me with his body, he just jumped to his feet in one graceful move.

I smirked, seeing an opening when he smirked down on me. I swung my leg, sweeping at his ankles, but to my complete utter annoyance, he jumped avoiding the blow.

Man, now he's just pissing me off! I shuffled to my feet getting angrier. I put my hands up in front of me, and called truce so I could get a drink of water. I felt smug that he'd believed my lie so quickly. Wrong move Belikov.

As soon as he turned his back, I charged for him again, but he turned around, hitting me in the crook of my shoulder and I went down meeting the mat once again, this time face first. I groaned and rolled over on to my back.

Giving up, I lay there panting uncontrollably. I vaguely noticed that the song had finished, but I just lay there until I could catch my breath. This man was impossible to beat.

Dimitri knelt beside me on his haunches and the bastard had the audacity to smirk down at me.

"Giving up so soon?" I glared, but my muscles were screaming, and I'd hardly done anything but get my ass handed to me. I wanted to smack that smirk off his face. I settled for a grunt.

"Just so you know, I'm mentally kicking your ass right now." He chuckled and I found myself smiling along with him. He hit me lightly on the shoulder.

"Get up." I snorted.

"I can't. I think I broke something." He rolled his eyes.

"You did not."

"You don't know that, I could be paralyzed by the neck down after the battering you put my body through." I protested.

"You'll live." He took my hand and pulled me up.

"Oh my god! It burns! My muscles are aching." I screamed in agony.

"Well, they wouldn't be so bad if you'd done your stretches beforehand. Now you're gonna feel worse tomorrow." I scowled. Oh, he loved every bit of this. I could see it in his eyes.

"If I even live 'til then." I muttered. He shook his head smiling.

"What?" He shook his head again.

"What?" I nudged him further.

"Nothing. Just, your father says you have a tendency to bend the truth a little, but he didn't say you were this dramatic." I hit him playfully.

"Hey! I'm not being dramatic. It really hurts." He chuckled.

"Come here." He nodded me over to the mats. I eyed him warily, and complied.

"Let's work on that right hook of yours. Spread your legs." I cleared my throat.

"Damn. A little straightforward don't ya think, Comrade? You say that to all your students." He groaned in annoyance.

"Put your feet like this." He ordered, patting my ankle to move it sideways. He took my fingers, closing them into fists and holding them up in front of me. So I was in a fighting stance.

"Summon all of your strength from your hips and your shoulders into your fist." He touched my shoulders lightly as if to demonstrate. "When you strike your opponent, use the rest of your body's energy and strength, to give your strike more power. Now hit me." I raised my eyebrows.

"Hit me." He urged. I threw a punch, but I was reluctant to use all my force, since he wasn't fighting back. He shook his head.

"You call that a punch? My grandma throws a harder punch than you." He was taunting me I realized, and I growled.
Before I knew it, I let my fist fly, using my whole body like he'd taught me and pounded my fist into his chest. I smiled when the blow knocked him off balance a bit. I fist pumped the air.

"Good." He nodded in approval.

After he'd demonstrated a few more basic moves, running laps around the court and sparring. I didn't realize we had spent almost two and a half hours of basic training, I'd practically sweated all of my fluids out of my system, and I was dying for a break. We finished up just before noon and Dimitri had told me we would train the same time tomorrow.

"You did good Rose." I smiled liking the sound of my name on his lips. I nodded in thanks.

"Thanks. But next time, let me win." He grinned.

"Well see…" He left the gym soon after, and I made my way to the showers smiling. Hating myself because I actually enjoyed it, and his company.

"Just a mechanic my ass." I said to myself, shaking my head still smiling. Maybe these defense classes weren't so bad after all.

A/N: Hey thanks for reading, and I hope to hear from you in a review...no matter what it is, if its one word or a novel, I love that you guys review.

P.S. Are you a Rose and Dimitri fan or a Rose and Adrian fan? Thanks again!

xxtiny