Thanks again to all the wonderful reviewers. You're the bomb!
I don't own Vampire Academy or its characters, just the plot and a few extras.
Adrian POV
Ugh, I don't want to wake up. I love Rose's bed, it smells so good, just like her. I look over to her poor beat up alarm clock that's covered with duck tape to keep it together. Rose isn't really a morning person. It's about time for me to get my butt out of bed and get ready for work. As I walk to the bathroom to shower I wonder if a tornado came through, because most of her clothes are all over the floor. There's even a floral skirt hanging from the chandelier. Oh Rose. I jump up and grab the skirt and hang it back up in the closet, along with the other items laying around. I jump in the shower and become aware that Rose has a lot of girlie smelling products. Nothing that smells like a man should smell. Oh well, I guess I'm going to smell like Rose today, which is like heaven anyway. I pop the top off her shampoo and take a long whiff. Mmm, smells like coconut. This won't be too bad. When I'm all squeeky clean, I turn off the water and hop out. At least I remembered to bring my toothbrush and deordorant when I brought some clean clothes over. I get dressed and decide to make the bed to help Rose out since she's been through so much these last few days. I think that a date night is in order. Since she's learning how to dance, and obviously isn't happy with her selection of dancing clothes, I think I'll get her a new dress. I know she won't be comfortable going out for a romantic dinner, so I'll organize a nice private candle lit affair in my apartment tonight as a surprise for her. I can't wait.
I pull out my cell and call my guy. This is the guy I call for situations such as this. "Hey Roland, this is Adrian. How are you?"
"Good, Lord Ivashkov. How may I help you today?" he asks with a heavy french accent.
"Well Roland, I would like a dinner for two set up in my apartment. Candle light, champaigne, the works." Nothing is too much for my Rose.
"Sounds like you have a special lady to impress. What would you like on the menu?" Roland is the best at making the night special and I have total faith in him that Rose will love this.
"Yes, Roland, she is very special. So I would like something simple, but elegant. No sweetbread or caviar, she's doesn't go for that kind of stuff, if you know what I mean." I remember her reaction at the ski lodge at the different hor d'oeuvres they served. 'Rich people suck' is what she said. I love how she just speaks her mind without appologies.
"I understand. Tonight will be perfect for you and your lady, Lord Ivashkov. Trust Roland."
"I do. That's why I called you. Thanks for your help." I hang up with Roland and walk to one of the dress shops here at Court to find the perfect dress for Rose to wear to dance with me. I don't bother searching through the racks like women do. I go straight to the one in charge and tell them what I'm looking for. It saves a lot of time. The lady I spoke to brings out five dresses for me to choose from. One catches my attention right away. It's red, low cut with thin straps, form fitting to the hip and then flowy to the knee. It's perfect for dancing and will look wonderful against her skin tone. I tell her the size and have them gift wrap it and deliver it to her room. I can't wait to see her in that dress and hold her in my arms as I dip and spin her around the room.
Walking into the meeting room for the Offensive Magic Committee, I see Emily sitting down in her usual spot waiting for me. The memory of seeing Rose laying motionless in that hospital bed flashes back to me when I see her look over to me. Rage starts to grow inside me knowing that I could've lost Rose because she turned off my phone to keep me away from her. And then what she said to Rose last night, I feel my fists tighten at my sides. I haven't had anything to drink or smoke since I healed Rose and Emily and I think the darkness is starting to grow. I need to find a healthier way to get rid of the darkness. I can't sit next to her feeling like this. I take a seat in the back of the room and see her looking at me with a pissed off expression. What does she have to be mad at? She does nothing but cause trouble. I am so done with her. I know Rose wants to teach her a lesson and humiliate her, but if I have to spend one more minute alone with her, I'll punch her myself.
All throughout the meeting, I feel her gaze upon me. A couple times I look right at her a send her my best glare, which she quickly turns away from. Finally, the meeting is ended and I try to get out before Emily has a chance to corner me, but no luck. Stupid Derek is standing in the doorway talking to someone, making it difficult to make a quick getaway. "Adrian, I didn't see you yesterday. How is Rose doing?" she asks with false sincerity. Why can't she just take the hint and leave me alone?
"She's much better. Thank you for asking. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm supposed to find her for lunch." I say as I push my way through the door to look for Rose. I hear the sound of heals hitting the tile floor behind me. I don't have to look back to know who it is.
"Adrian, if you think you can brush me off for some bloodwhore, you're sadly mistaken." she yells after me. I immediately stop in my tracks, letting her catch up. I turn to face her, anger clearly on my face causing her to flinch when she sees me.
"You will never call Rose a bloodwhore again. You will show her nothing but respect and gratitude. The next time you start to insult Rose or any of my friends, you will instead bark like a dog. Do you understand?" I tell her in a calm, smooth voice. I don't even realize what I'm doing until it's done. I just used compulsion on her, again. At least no one is around to see it.
"Yes, I understand." she says with that all too familiar glaze in her eyes. She nods her head as she walks away from me. I stand and watch her as she leaves, pleased with myself.
"Smooth, but I would've made her cluck like a chicken." Rose's voice behind me makes me jump about ten feet off the ground. I spin around and see her smiling at me.
"Rose, you scared the sh...What the hell happened to you?" I yell as I notice the huge bruise and cuts on her face. Can't she go anywhere without trouble finding her?
"Dance class was a lot tougher than I thought it would be." she laughs. I take her face in my hands to get a closer look at the damage. I gently run my thumb over her cheek taking in every little cut and blemish. I look in her eyes and see that she is studying me intently. I give her a look, asking permission to heal her injury and she nods. I find my magic within me and push it to my fingertips and to her delicate face and watch as her skin returns to its normal color and smoothness.
"Anywhere else?" I ask. She takes my hand that is still touching her face and runs it along her body; over her neck, over her breast, which elicits a reaction in my body, along her stomach and stopping at her side, right above her hip. I pull her shirt up enough to see a red mark on her skin. She winces at my touch before I heal it.
"Thank you." she whispers just inches from my lips. I close the distance between us and place a chaste kiss upon her lips. I take her hand in mine and lead her out of the building to take her to lunch. I see a couple people walking towards us and Rose pulls her hand out of mine, not wanting them to know about our relationship. I resist the urge to take her hand back since I know Rose isn't ready to let the world in on our little secret.
"Are you going to tell me what happened?" I ask as we walk our way to the cafe.
"Conner and I ran into a couple Strigoi when we were leaving class. Thankfully no one else was around to see us kill them, well, me kill them. One got Conner pretty good and broke his arm." she says like it's no big deal. Of course, with as many kills as she has, I think the number is in the sixties now, it's second nature to kill them.
"How many were there?"
"Three. The last one got away when I missed his heart." She looks frustrated with herself when she mentions the one that got away. If I know Rose, she'll be in the gym this afternoon working on staking the dummies.
"Maybe you shouldn't go back to class for a while. Remember what the doctor said." I expect to get an arguement from her, but I don't.
"Your right. I need to make sure I'm a hundred percent well before I go out of the wards again." she says like her mind's on something else.
"Is there anything else wrong? I get the feeling there's more you aren't telling me." I know she has some secret she's been keeping from me and I wonder if this attack has something to do with it.
"Uh, no. Just your typical attack. I'm just disappointed I didn't kill the third one when I had the chance." I still don't believe her.
"Rose, I know you're hiding something. Just tell me already. I want to help." I persist.
"Adrian, there's really nothing to tell, so drop it." she pleads. We walk the rest of the way in silence. We sit down and order our food, still not talking. I can feel Rose staring at me, like she's trying to see inside my head. Thinking about how she's being so evasive about what's bothering her, and her constant gaze is aggitating me. I can't help but figit in my seat and tap my spoon on the table. I see Rose start glaring at me trying to get me to stop, but that just makes me do it louder. I know it's just the darkness getting to me, but I can't help it. "Adrian, if you don't stop with the banging, I'm going to.." I interupt her.
"Do what Rose? Hit me? Kick me? Violence is always the answer for you, isn't it? Don't like what someone says to you and you punch them. Then I have to come clean up your mess. When are you going to grow up Rose?" When I see the shocked and hurt look on her face, I immediately regret everything I said. "Rose, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I..." she stands up from her seat and leaves without saying a word. Real good Ivashkov. I'm going to pay for that.
The waitress comes over with our food and I figure that I'll let Rose cool off while I eat my lunch. Ten minutes later she returns, slamming a drink of what looks like vodka down on the table in front of me. She also has a brown paper bag in her hand as she takes her seat across from me and begins to eat her lunch. "What's this?" I ask, even though it's obvious.
"The darkness is making you act like an asshole, so I got you a drink. Bottoms up." she says while taking a bite of her chicken salad. What would I do without her? I pick the glass up and quickly drink it empty. As I feel the alcohol run down my throat, I can feel the darkness begin to fade. She motions for me to hand her the glass, which I do, and she refills it with the bottle in the bag. I don't want to get drunk since I still have a few more hours of work ahead, but this is definitely helping.
After lunch, Rose walks me back to my office. "Thanks for helping me out back there. You know I didn't mean what I said, it was the darkness talking." I say as we stand in the doorway, holding her hands in mine. She tries to raise one eyebrow up like Dimitri does, but fails miserably. I'll never tell her though.
"Don't blame the darkness, Adrian. You meant what you said, and you're right. I do have a short temper, but you knew that when you fell in love with me, so stop complaining." she smiles and reaches up and gives me a peck on my lips.
"I have a surprise for you tonight. I'll come over to your place at six." My heart feels like it's about to fly our of my chest when her face lights up at the mention of my surprise.
"Sounds good. What should I wear for tonight?"
"That's already taken care of. You'll see when you get home." I can tell the suspense is getting to her, but she doesn't press it.
"Alright. I'm going to the gym to work out and get in some extra staking practice." I knew she would. We indulge ourselves in another kiss and go our seperate ways.
Roland worked his magic on my apartment today. It looks fabulous. Now to get Rose. I show up at her door wearing black slacks and a red button down shirt to match her dress. Cheesy, I know. I knock on her door and eagerly await to see her in the dress, When she opens the door, I think my jaw hit the floor. She sure doesn't disappoint. She looks amazing. She has her hair up in a loose bun with a few curls hanging down around her face and just enough make up to accentuate her already breathtaking features. "The dress is beautiful, Adrian. Thank you. And for cleaning my room. You didn't have to do that. I would've gotten to it eventually." she says while linking her arm in mine as we walk over to my apartment.
"It was my pleasure." I open my door and I hear her gasp when she sees every flat surface covered with lit candles and red roses. Roland really outdid himself. The dining table is decorated with a red linen table cloth, plates with silver domes, a tall red tapered candle and roses. We lift off the domes to reveal a prime rib dinner for two. We ate and drank and talked and laughed.
"Why don't you show me what you learned in dance class this morning." I ask as I hold out my hand for her. I turn on the music and hold her in my arms.
"Well, we learned the waltz. Do you have any music for that?" Hmm, a waltz. I change the music and we start dancing. She's actually really good for having only one lesson. One of these days I'll be able to take her out dancing so I can show her off to the world that she's mine. We end up dancing all night long, just holding each other close.
I hope you liked that chapter. It was fun to write. Review and let me know your thoughts.