Four chapters in under twenty four hours... I'm totally sacrificing my review count by updating this fast. I hope you know that.

WARNING: M-rated. Enjoy.

"What are the odds that they're after her?" I asked stubbornly, perched on the end of Dimitri's bed.

"It's not about the odds, it's about the risk," Dimitri argued, pacing in front of me like a caged animal. "We should get her out of here."

"We couldn't even convince her not to come in the first place, Dimitri, how do you propose we go about convincing her to leave now?"

Dimitri flung his hands in the air in a rare show of physical expression. It only happened when we were alone, and it let me know just how frustrated he was with this situation.

"We tell her she's done all she can and she needs to head back to Court. She is the queen, she has things to do," he muttered, unconvinced.

"She hasn't seen any results yet. If the Guardians stop finding evidence that the Mana is working here, she'll leave. Until then, she'll only be going back to court to face the criticism of the Royals who think this is all her fault." I played with my hair absentmindedly, knowing that Dimitri wasn't going to budge on this argument. We'd both been round and round in this debate, ever since Alberta's alarming report had reached Court.

She'd prefaced the report by saying she'd been holding her peace until there was more solid evidence, but the fact was that Moroi students were showing up to the infirmary, bruised and battered. There were higher incidences of students being caught attempting compulsion. Pools of blood being found out in the forests, close to the wards…

And then the beatings had taken a turn for the worse. A seventeen year old boy had almost died, and all signs pointed towards severe damage inflicted by elemental magic. Not a single victim of the Mana seemed to remember anything about what had happened to them, and even though I found that alarming, I had to admit that compelling your victims to forget a beating that severe was better than telling them to convince people they'd just taken a fall.

Nothing the Guardians had done had allowed them to track down a single member of the Mana – something that confused and alarmed everyone involved. It was almost as if we were chasing ghosts.

I stood up and put myself purposefully in Dimitri's way, forcing him to halt in his tracks.

"There's nothing we can do to convince her to go home. She'll be here until we sort this mess out."

Dimitri took my hands in his and began rubbing circles into the back of them. "And what if that's exactly what they want?" he asked. "What if they're going to try and assassinate her?"

As many times as that thought had occurred to me, and as much as it freaked me out, I shook it off. "There are a dozen Guardians looking out for Liss. Nobody is going to be able to touch her. The Mana know they'll never be able to take on Guardians."

Dimitri considered my words then tried a different approach. "What if this is all because of the offensive magic courses?"

I wrinkled my nose in disgust. "Then I agree with Christian. They obviously need to crack down on teaching these kids responsibility. Novices learn from a very young age which situations are appropriate for aggression. Maybe we should make them take it more seriously."

Dimitri sighed in exasperation, and I had a feeling he was a hairs breadth away from rolling his eyes at me. "You and I both know that Moroi are never going to learn how to be responsible the way Guardians are. It's not their lives on the line."

"Then maybe it should be," I shot back, knowing even as I said it that it bordered on heresy.

Dimitri squeezed my hands to bring me back down from my hot headed exclamations. "Hypothetically, let's say we put the same stress on responsibility in the Moroi offensive magic class as we do in the novice prac classes. How do you think they're ever going to take that seriously when their punishment for starting a torture ring is a visit from the Queen and a banquet?"

I grumbled a curse word under my breath, slammed with the same argument I'd used against Lissa earlier in the day. The worlds of the Moroi and the dhampir were very far apart.

"So what are we going to do?" I asked, sitting back on the bed.

Dimitri shrugged and sat down beside me. "We can't do anything more than advise Lissa and Christian to head back to Court, and when they refuse, we either rope them up and drag them back, or we stay here and do everything we can to keep them safe."

"I like the idea of roping them up," I admitted. "I think I'd get a lot of satisfaction out of that."

Dimitri laughed, and the mood lightened considerably.

I contemplated it further and shook my head. "Nope, I can't really think of anything better than gagging Christian so he can't run his mouth."

"Really, nothing better?" Dimitri asked silkily, one arm snaking around my waist.

I smiled and let him shift closer to me to press a kiss to my shoulder. I was craving some physical contact, even though my deal with Lissa wasn't too far from my mind.

"You know I can't have sex with you," I informed him.

He hummed noncommittally and continued placing soft kisses across my shoulder and up my neck. I wasn't entirely convinced he'd actually heard me.

"That is nice though," I breathed, losing myself to his touches.

I almost didn't notice when he started on the buttons of my dress shirt.

"Is it really so important that you prove your point?" he whispered, maneuvering us so that I found myself leaning back onto the bed while he hovered over me. "I know you're angry with me, but I promise I can make it better."

Excitement fluttered in my stomach at his words. "Really? I think it better be damn good."

A gentle nip at my neck sent the butterflies careening. "It will be," he murmured huskily.

His fingers made quick work of the buttons, and my shirt was off in seconds. The cold air on my skin was doing nothing to bring down the temperature between us.

"I like this bra," he commented casually, tracing his fingers along the edge of the red lace.

"You're tickling me," I huffed playfully, slapping his hand away.

"Sorry," he muttered, smiling as he seized my hand and pinned it to the mattress above my head. "Maybe you'd prefer me to be more direct?"

His free hand cupped one breast as his lips came down over the red lace, kissing lazily. He took his time, gently massaging my body into a state of arousal. In less than a minute he was dragging every breath out of me like it was my last, my free hand working its way into his hair, urging his lips closer.

His fingers worked over my hardening nipple, the other succumbing to those hot, wet kisses he was laying upon it.

"More," I whispered hoarsely, trying to free my hand from his. He tightened his hold on me, pressing the length of his body against mine to keep me pinned, but he obliged.

The scratch of lace over my bare skin, and the heat of his hands and mouth had me panting. Gently, he took my nipple between his teeth, sending shocks of pleasure rocketing through my body.

Where his mouth was gentle, his hands were rough, quick caresses and squeezes that betrayed his desperation as he moved his hand down across my stomach to start work on the buttons of my dress pants.

I knew that if I was going to put a stop to this, I'd have to do it now.

But good God did the man know how to use his hands.

A moment of indulgence almost cost me my sanity when his fingers slipped underneath the fabric of my underwear. A single long stroke of his fingers caused a moan to fall from my parted lips. He paused, lifting his head to watch me for a moment.

"You're so beautiful," he murmured, his eyes alight with wonder.

"We should probably stop," I groaned half-heartedly, his words making me less inclined to halt his advances.

He gave me a dazzling smile coupled with another gentle stroke of his fingers, nearly making my heart stop. I thrust against his fingers, looking for the friction he was denying me.

"You don't seem so sure about that, Roza."

Frustrated, I closed my eyes and fought for any shred of willpower I had left in my body. Dimitri knew me well enough to keep me from finding it.

"Just give up, Roza," he whispered teasingly, circling my clit with just enough pressure to make me squirm and gasp. "You know you'll never win."

Dimitri loved a challenge, and the thought of teasing a fight out of me was too irresistible. He wanted to make this a victory, one he could be smug about for the next few weeks. Even knowing his game, I couldn't help but fall into the trap.

"M-make me," I stuttered, levelling him with my best challenging glare, his fingers working more rhythmically against my sex.

The answering fire in his eyes had me forgetting my deal with Lissa – hell, if he hadn't been whispering my name I might've forgotten that too.

We both knew I was lost to him as soon as I'd answered, so he dragged my orgasm out of me slowly, agonisingly, reveling in his triumph.

His fingers moved teasingly, occasionally delving shallowly into my slit, drawing the wetness out of me with every teasing penetration. Mostly his focus was on my clit, where he knew he could control the pleasure he gave me. I tried to increase the friction by moving against him – something I knew got him hopelessly aroused – but with no luck. He was being careful. He wanted me to suffer.

My breaths were short and shallow, my body fighting for the climax he was promising, but not delivering. My head was spinning with the pleasure of his fingers, and now his kisses against my bare flesh, less disciplined than his hands. Every frenzied thrust of mine was matched with a searing kiss somewhere on my exposed skin, the only indication that he was slowly losing control. And I knew just what to say to send him over the edge.

"Please Dimitri," I panted, catching his gaze with my own. I didn't need to make myself look more desperate for his benefit - I was pretty sure my lustful intentions were written all over me. "I need you to make me cum."

He wavered, a dark determination stealing over his expression. With three expert strokes of his fingers, I was arching against him and crying out with the pleasure that exploded through me, firing from every nerve all the way down to my toes. My body tensed with the overwhelming sensations, my thighs tightening over his fingers instinctively and trying to lock him in place.

He let me come down from my high slowly, showering kisses across my cheeks and collarbone.

"That was incredible," I breathed, holding him against me now that he'd freed my other hand.

He hummed in agreement, his body pleasantly heavy over mine. "Would you like to continue?" he asked politely. He wasn't expecting a refusal. He knew I was hot and desperate for more, as usual. But tonight I was going to surprise him.

"No, actually."

He paused before pulling away, allowing me to sit up.

"Are you alright? Did I hurt you?" he asked, checking my body quickly for bruises. I laughed, but I wasn't that surprised by his concern. I was practically insatiable, and sometimes we did get a little rough. Dimitri had been pretty gentle with me so far.

"No, I'm fine," I insisted, waving away his gently probing hands. "I just…" I glanced at him forlornly. "I made a deal with Lissa. I said I wouldn't have sex with you or she gets to pick my wedding dress."

Dimitri processed this information the only way a man could – slowly. "For… for how long?" I could see the hopelessness in his eyes. "Until the wedding?"

I nearly had a heart attack. The wedding was just under nine months away. No wonder he looked so despondent. "Oh God no," I reassured him, "only until this is over." I waved my hand around the room to indicate the Academy situation then started to button up my blouse.

He frowned. "Did you happen to make this bet when you were still angry with me?"

"What do you mean when I was angry with you? I'm still angry with you."

A smile tugged at his lips, and he edged closer to me. "You didn't seem too angry just then."

I pushed him away gently, and stood to re-button my pants. He watched my progress thoughtfully, but made no moves to stop me.

"Well then, obviously I'm going to respect your wishes," he continued slowly. "No matter the cost. I promise I won't have sex with you either." A hand hovered over his heart, and his expression was so solemn I had to chuckle to myself. He cracked a smile at my mirth before pulled me back into his lap. I could feel his erection tenting – no doubt uncomfortably – against his pants, and had a momentary flash of guilt. "But that doesn't mean I'm not going to make you crazy, Hathaway," he breathed, running his nose gently along my jawline. "I'm going to tease you until you can't stand. No more orgasms for you."

I laughed shakily, trying to rid myself of the notion of Dimitri actually trying to make me crazy. The man could do that with his clothes on, his hands to himself, and his mouth shut. His promises filled me with anticipation.

"It's on, Belikov."

"Bring it, Hathaway."

The night was long and lonely. Dimitri and I had promised to keep the beginning of our little competition until tomorrow – and we'd both promised not to tell Lissa or Christian about his late-night escapade into my pants. I wasn't sure what Lissa considered "sex", but I sure as hell wasn't going to take chances.

I was pretty sure Dimitri wouldn't care what I was dressed in, so his concern regarding my bet with Lissa had less to do with the dress, and far more to do with the fact that I was actively involving myself in something to do with the wedding. He wasn't about to ruin that.

The next morning I dropped by Lissa's room for a quick visit before my shift. Ordinarily, I would have filled my free time with a quick workout with Dimitri, but he'd been on shift since four in the morning, and there wasn't a damn thing that could possess me to get up that early.

Lissa and Christian were still in bed when I knocked on their door, but thankfully, they were fully clothed.

"Good morning," I said slyly, jumping onto the end of their bed. Lissa drew up her legs to give me more space, and eyed me suspiciously.

"You seem unusually chipper for eight in the morning," she commented.

"Yes, well, Dimitri and I had a good talk last night."

Christian coughed into his fist to cover his exclamation. "Bullshit!"

I pulled a face, and made a grab for the newspaper he was perusing. "What are you, a seventy year old? Sitting in bed in your pinstriped pyjamas, reading the Times?"

He ignored my jab and continued reading with a dignified sniff.

"You just need some reading glasses and a cup of water for your dentures."

"What's in the bag?" Lissa asked, coming to the rescue of her husband.

"Chocolate donuts. You want one?"

Lissa froze, her suspicion growing. She crossed her arms over her silk pyjama top and gave me a serious look. "Rose, you never share chocolate donuts."

I fumbled for an answer. "I do too. You're just not normally around when I still have some left over."

She raised her eyebrows skeptically. "'Left over'?" she asked, like it were a foreign phrase.

I clutched the bag to my chest defensively. "I sometimes have leftovers…"

Christian coughed another 'bullshit' into his closed fist, and fixed his deadpan stare on me. "Sorry, I think I'm coming down with something."

"You might want to get that checked out. At your age, you can't be taking any chances." And with that I rolled off their bed and took my donuts with me.

"You better not have had sex, or I get to choose your dress!" Lissa called after me. I closed the door quietly and pulled a donut from the bag.

"You're better than sex," I reassured it lovingly.

By the time I got to the first class of the day, I'd polished off all six donuts and was satisfyingly full. I took up my place in the back of the class, and exchanged some friendly words with two Guardians I recognised from my Novice days.

Moroi and dhampirs filtered into the room, their early morning conversation surprisingly lively. I doubted these kids were all going for early morning jogs, so I wondered what they could have been talking about that had them so fired up.

"I'm telling you, it was intense," a Moroi girl was saying to her dhampir friend. "She's amazing. And if I knew anything about those 'Mana' people, I'd try to help."

The dhampir girl was the same blonde from Stan's Guardian Theory class. She seemed subdued as she took her seat next to her friend, nodding along absent-mindedly.

"Maria? Are you listening to me?" the Moroi girl pushed, touching her friend's shoulder.

"Yeah, the Queen, the Mana. I got it," Maria answered. She shot a look over her shoulder to where the Guardians stood, and lowered her voice, whispering something quick to her friend that, even with my ears straining, I couldn't catch.

The Moroi girl turned quickly in her seat and gave us all a startled look, as though she'd forgotten that Guardians observed every class.

A Moroi teacher I didn't recognise swept into the room, and the girl busied herself with straightening out her books.

The class was intensely boring – some dead languages class that I just knew I would have slept through if I'd had the chance. Every student seemed tuned in, however, even the dhampirs. I watched on in stunned silence, and when the class was dismissed, I turned to the Guardian next to me.

"Are they always like that?" I asked as the students began to file out the door.

"Like what?" he asked, shifting on his feet. There was another shitty dead languages class following this one, and soon it was just us and the old Moroi teacher whose name I'd already forgotten – along with most of his lecture material.

"Do they always pay that much attention?"

"Didn't you pay attention in school?" he asked. Then he appraised me quickly and seemed to remember who he was talking to.

The students began filing in for the next class, and we fell back into a professional silence. This was a much younger class, and I couldn't imagine any of them sitting still long enough to hear any part of the lecture the teacher was attempting to give.

Again, I was surprised by how studious they all were. There was still a fair bit of whispering and note passing that went by unnoticed by the teacher, and a few girls giggled in the back corner closest to us, but otherwise there was a generally respectful atmosphere.

Even I found myself half listening to the lecture, although I didn't understand most of it. I was sure it was a remedial class for juniors, but I'd never had much of a head for languages.

When the bell rang, I thanked God that I had a posting in the gym. Yeah, it was with the junior class again, but I was hoping they were going to head out to the range and have some target practice.

No such luck.

It was bitterly cold outside – an exciting prospect for the students, who knew that it meant Christmas break was almost upon them, but very disappointing for me. For one thing, it meant that we were working with a deadline.

I was distracted from my moody thoughts as I walked through the gym doors and saw Dimitri with three other Guardians, standing stiffly against the back wall. Dimitri caught my eye and offered me a swift, tight smile, but otherwise maintained his blank façade.

He didn't look tired – somehow he never did, until he got home and started falling on all available furniture – but I knew he was well into his eighth hour of this shift. I made my way over to him, careful to keep my expression casual and friendly. I greeted the other Guardians first, shaking hands with the one I hadn't met before and introducing myself.

"I hear you're a part of the queen's guard?" the Guardian asked, his voice heavy with a Russian accent. He was well into his fifties, and had a nasty scar along the side of his neck that looked suspiciously like something had tried to tear his throat out.

"Yeah, the Queen and I have been friends since we were five."

He sniffed disdainfully. "Must be nice, to be given such a position because of friendship."

I arched my eyebrows, and held onto his hand for a moment, tightening my grip as a challenge. "Actually, I graduated top of my class."

He considered my hand in his and cracked a smile. "Of course you did," he answered jovially. He clapped his free hand on my shoulder. "Brave girl."

I moved to Dimitri, a little confused, but pleased I'd earned this strangers approval. Dimitri gave me a sly glance before returning his attention to the room.

"Do you like Guardian Komarov?"

"Do you know him?" I asked, not all that surprised. At this point in our relationship, I didn't know if there was anyone in the Guardian world that didn't know Dimitri.

"Not personally, but I've heard of him. I did an assignment on one of his missions when I was sixteen."

I raised my eyebrows and let out a quiet whistle. "That good, huh?"

"No actually, the opposite. The mission was deemed a failure."

"That must have made for an interesting introduction for you then."

He allowed himself another tight smile. "Well, he's heard of me as well. There aren't a lot of reborn Strigoi wondering around."

I schooled my surprised expression into something more professional. "A really interesting introduction." I let a moment slip by in silence so that the other guardians had a chance to start talking among themselves. "What are you still doing up, anyway? Hasn't your shift finished yet?" I couldn't help the concern colouring my words.

"Well, the instructor broke his finger this morning, and he hasn't been let out of the infirmary, so here I am."

I chuckled, trying to imagine any Guardian confined to a hospital bed for a broken finger. "Why you?"

He shrugged. "Because I volunteered." The final bell rang, indicating that students should well an truly be in their classes, and it was time for the teaching to begin. Dimitri sighed. "Have fun guarding my class."

He pushed off the wall and I found myself standing shoulder to shoulder with Guardian Komarov.

"I heard he was you mentor," Komarov mentioned casually, watching Dimitri marshal a group of fourteen year olds for basic drills.

"Yes, he was."

"He must have been good, to get a girl graduating top of her class."

I shot him a disdainful glare he only seemed to find entertaining. "I know that's not generally how things work in Russia."

"True, but we don't have seventeen year olds single-handedly beheading two Strigoi either."

I smiled indulgently, finding myself the object of fascination for the second time in as many days. It seemed no matter how much I accomplished since I was seventeen, I would never outlive the legend that was my first kills. At least not at St Vlads. "You heard about that, did you?"

"I like to do my research."

We lapsed into silence, slipping into a more appropriate Guardian mode. I was watching the back exit, but couldn't help watching Dimitri out of the corner of my eye as he went along correcting the form of the junior novices.

His class was pretty successful, although junior year was more about repetition than any actual fighting. They were just learning basic hits and blocks, perfecting their hand to hand combat. If it had been warmer, they might have had an opportunity to play with some firearms, but a gun was only a very small piece of a Guardians weapon repertoire.

When the class was wrapping up, I turned to Guardian Komarov. "So why were you doing research on me anyway?" I asked casually, as though it hadn't been bothering me for the last hour and a half.

Komarov shot me a bewildered look, as though it should have been obvious. "I was looking into Guardian Belikov. I heard he would be coming over from Court, and I could hardly miss the opportunity to meet him."

He didn't elaborate any further, but I doubted my name had caught his attention if it had only been mentioned in reference to our professional relationship. Komarov definitely knew that Dimitri and I were involved, but he didn't really strike me as the gossiping type.

I offered Dimitri a nod of recognition as he headed out the door with a swarm of students. I knew he was going back to his room to read for a little while, and maybe catch a nap. I was tempted to join him, but my shift didn't formally end for another two and a half hours.

I sighed and settled myself in for Moroi P.E class that was bound to be nowhere as riveting as basic drills. Who knows, maybe they were going to do some gymnastics or something.

Damn, I was really looking forward to rounds tomorrow night.

I don't usually bother requesting reviews, 'cause I'm not really here for that, but I wouldn't mind some love. ;)