"Vy, kak moi khuy, ne tak li?" Dima said in a tone that was like velvet to my ears.

I came up to breathe and looked at him. After a few gasps I managed to get out, "What?"

"You wanted to learn Russian, didn't you…?" His fingers ran slowly across the parts of my body he could reach. "Well…first lesson. 'Vy, kak moi khuy, ne tak li?' means "You like my cock, don't you?' I believe knowing that will be very useful in our relationship…"

The pleasure had caused him to become a very alluring creature of the night…and bed.

"You've been doing very well - I was surprised you took me more than halfway - but that's enough. It's your turn now."

"Alright…" Soft hands removed my ponytail and gently ushered me to lie down where he had been before. I followed their commands and we switched positions, he now piercing me with hungry eyes.

Man that tongue was amazing. He knew how to hit every good area - and not just the ones between my legs. Every inch of me was touched gently with finger or tongue, all to tease me. I was aching for release that he refused to give me.

In one quick, fluid motion, I was in his arms and held against the wall. "New position, lyubov?"

One hand moved from underneath me to my hair. Dima moved his face as close as he could, hot and heavy breath in synch with mine. "I thought you'd like it." He closed his eyes and went in for a kiss, and that wasn't the only part of him that went into me.

Sweet, passionate love. Within minutes we were calling each other's names out, and released together. It was wonderful. Although not as pleasurable as feeding or being fed from, it was an experience that filled my soul with joy. Dimitri was mine, I was his, and we were together. At long last.

He undid the covers and slid me into bed, then slipped under the covers with me. We kissed and cuddled for a long while.

"This won't last forever, you know…" I had no idea where that came from. It just slipped out of my mouth. I regretted it immediately.

"What won't? I plan on staying with you forever." Dima turned saddened.

"No, our souls. The charm runs out of magic, eventually."

He smiled. "I'll find a way to fix that. Don't worry, Roza." He began to sit up. "Speaking of that, I remembered something you might find intriguing. We have a library up here that has a section about the myths of Strigoi." I shot bolt upright. "What, really? Can we go now?"

Dima smiled. "Of course. Strigoi don't sleep."

I began to kiss him again. "I love you. I love you so very much. I wish there was a way I could express it more."

"Ya lyublyu tebya." He smirked and held back a laugh.

"I said more, not in Russian." My face showed obvious annoyance.

"Lesson number two. 'Ya lyu-'" I interrupted him.

"Yeah, I know. 'I love you.'"

"And I love you too."

I pushed him off and began to search for clothes. "You've become a real smartass, y'know."

"Looks like I've gone up the food chain. I am dumbass no more. By the way, closet."

He got out of bed as well, and I couldn't help but admire him. Pale as a ghost, fanged like a beast, eyes red like the more common vampire tales humans enjoyed…and still a god.

He smirked and arched an eyebrow. "See something you like?"

"I see a whole lot of things I like."

He wasn't under the ring's power, but was noticeably more lifelike and warm. "Hey, you know you're supposed to be a cold bastard now, right? No ring." We made our way to the closet.

Dima shrugged. "Am I supposed to immediately lose my soul? Every time I touch the ring, I feel a lingering effect. Apparently you don't. I saw how you tore into her neck. It made me slightly sick." He shivered and went through the clothing.

"What should make you sicker is you've been doing that for about a month now. I feel nothing but dark and evil without that ring." I noticed a bagged dress. "Hey, what's this?" I went to try and open it, but he stopped me.

"Don't open that! That's a very special dress for you. It's a surprise." He picked out an outfit to wear and began to put it on. "You know I hate surprises. What is it, my wedding dress?" Couldn't be anything else.

"Yes, Roza." He made an annoyed sigh. "What was that ring originally for, anyways?"

I couldn't find a dress I liked. They were all so fancy and would be hard to kick ass in. "For healing the darkness that comes from being shadow-kissed." I stomped my foot. "Agh! Don't you have something I could wear?"

He nodded understandingly. "That makes sense. And there's plenty for you to wear, don't you see the dresses?" Dima made the last remark casually, no smirk on his face. "Anyways, your immediate turn may be because the darkness still hasn't left you completely. It explains how you could defeat Galina…I had never seen that cruel of an expression on any other of us."

"Damnit, you know what I mean. I can't fight in these dresses." I sighed.

He pulled out a black strapless dress made of some expensive material. It glittered as if there were stars across it. There were long slits across the sides. "Soft, sexy, and mobile. Now stop complaining." Dima threw it at me. He was now completely dressed in something that reminded me of a guardian outfit.

Eh, I couldn't complain. I managed to find a sports bra and non-sexy underwear and began to put my ensemble on. "Hey Dima, you look like a guardian."

"Hence why I picked this outfit." He picked up the remains of our lovemaking and set some in the laundry basket. The two halves of the black shirt went in the trash.

"That was a really sexy move." I went to put his hand in mine, but he stopped me.

"No, other hand. I need to be a Strigoi now." He took on a cold expression and our hands entwined around each other. "It wasn't nearly as sexy as how you look right now."

We walked into the hallway. I had taken on a cold expression as well, which was good, because two Strigoi came up to meet us for some reason. One was the one who had 'remembered my name'. I think now his reputation was going back up, as I was clearly no ordinary dhampir/Strigoi.

The one who didn't know me looked at me and began to speak Russian. That pissed me off.

"English please." Although I said it with a sarcastic tone, it was too polite. "Or I tear your throat out." That was better.

My lover looked down at me, but somehow I felt as if he were telling me I had said the right thing.

The one who knew my name translated what I had said to the other. He gulped and ran away. "Rosemarie Hathaway, you now live in the penthouse suite. All assets of Galina's have been transferred to you."

"It's 'Belikov'," Dimitri corrected. "Rosemarie Belikov. Get used to it." He was practically snarling.

"If Rosemarie wants to say something, she can say it. She is, after all, our leader. You're not. You're her fucking bodyguard." The guy was against the wall in a second.

"Say that again, I dare you."

"Or what? It's her call what you do to me." He showed no fear. Apparently he had something against Dimitri. Or it was just a Strigoi thing. Probably the latter.

I had to intervene. "He made me who I am. I wouldn't have been able to finish Galina without him."

Dima smirked. He had won.

"So he shares the title and assets with me. And he can kick your ass if he wants."

Dima placed his hand against the Strigoi's heart. "Have you heard about what happened to Galina?"

Now he was afraid. "Yes." But his voice showed none of that.

I placed my hand on my lover's shoulder. "But I don't think you should, Dima. We're going to have to explain this a lot, and we have much more important things to do than explain the shared leadership over and over again."

He thought this over and drew back. "Good idea. You are messenger. Spread our word to every one of us you can. And if I hear you told them otherwise, I'm going to do much worse to you than merely rip your heart out. Got it?"

He nodded furiously and strode off. We waited until he had gone downstairs to say anything.

"Hey look, he's being messenger for me again." I laughed lightly.

Dimitri just glared daggers through me. "You're getting rid of that ring as soon as I can get another one."

I blinked at him. "What? Why?"

"It makes you weak. I had to take care of that petulant creature to make sure he understood that we meant business."

My attitude started to work up. "I thought I did a pretty damn good job."

He took me by the shoulders and looked straight into my eyes. "You didn't."

I touched his cheek with the ring before he could move away. He blinked and let me go.

"Chert!"