Mmm, time for what you've all been waiting for... drenched, topless Dimitri! Enjoy! :D
I think I forgot to mention last chapter that we've passed the 100 review mark- thanks so much to everyone for taking the time to leave your comments. It's much appreciated. Thanks to catnip851 for the 100th review :)
Disclaimer: Vampire Academy belongs to Richelle Mead. Without it, I have to be content with my own imagination- which is almost as good...I don't own that sentence either :( Kinda creepy to be sharing thoughts with Strigoi Dimitri... At least I own my dreams :) And Strigoi Dimitri doesn't have them :P
DPOV
After the tense conversation about Roza's birthday, I wanted to know what was going on, especially after Christian's comment about her 18th.
I knew that I wouldn't find out from Rose or Lissa, or any of the girls.
As Rose and I got changed in the tent, there was an awkwardness between us that I hated. Fortunately, the longer I went without mentioning it, the less awkward it became, though the weight of the thing she was keeping from me increased. I decided to put the ever-more ridiculous fears out of my head, and just enjoy myself.
When we reached the lake, the girls took off the towels and dresses that had been covering them. When I saw Roza in her bikini, it was easy to become distracted. It was barely more than a few scraps of fabric, a bright red that looked amazing against her dark skin. The top was strapless, and didn't leave much to the imagination, though I knew perfectly well what was underneath.
After that thought, I ripped off my t-shirt and dived, the first one in the water, thankful that it was cold, not that it bothered me anyway. Fortunately, the lake had the same effect as a cold shower. As the other girls got undressed, I could see the other guys having the same problem, and getting into the water pretty quickly, too. Christian stepped in tentatively, Eddie dived like I had, and Adrian attempted to copy, but ended up doing a very painful-looking belly flop, and as he stood up at the shallow edge of the lake I could see red patch on his chest and stomach as proof of that. Sydney was laughing at him, which I think hurt more than his body.
When the girls tried to get in, their reaction to the temperature was a little different to ours. It wasn't exactly comfortable for the other guys, but it was necessary.
Lissa called Christian over to where she stood, shivering, and Abe walked over to them from where he had been sitting on the small beach with Janine. Mia joined the discussion, and they turned their attention to the water.
With looks of concentration on their faces, I felt the water warm up to a more comfortable temperature; the fire users were combining their magic with Mia's water to heat the lake.
With this taken care of, Roza was the first one in, showing off with a perfect swan dive into the water. Her body like the most graceful of arrows, she barely made a splash, and I swam over to her, and she spoke.
"Sydney wants to know what the bottom of the lake is like, how deep it is, and if there are any fish in here."
"Hold on." I replied, before diving down. My eyes were less sensitive to water than human eyes, so it was easy to see through the clear waters to the bottom of the lake. Seeing everything I needed, I swam back to the surface, and faced Sydney, who was standing on the bank nervously.
"The bottom is mostly sand with a few smooth stones, there are plants just around the edges, and there are some small fish round them, but not in the middle. You won't be able to touch the bottom in the middle, but it's not too deep, as I can just about reach."
"Thanks Dimitri." She looked reassured, but not entirely happy. I swam away to let Adrian help her in, as she didn't seem happy to jump the 2 feet or so from the firm part of the bank to the water.
I swam over to Roza, who was floating on her back with her eyes closed. Feeling a little mean, I swam silently underneath; I quickly wrapped my arms around her waist and lifted her out of the water.
She screamed. "Dimitri!"
I laughed at her splashing around, trying to stand upright again. I helped her, and when she turned to face me, I was scared. The look of absolute rage on her face was enough to send me swimming for cover, but she caught up with me and dunked my head. I hadn't been expecting it, so breathed in a lungful of water. After I finished my coughing fit, I saw her standing in front of me, smirking.
"Payback's a bitch. So am I." Roza told me, still smiling evilly. I splashed her face. She splashed me back.
So it became a war, until we ended up very close together, in a deep part of the lake where it wasn't easy for her to stand up. The water came to just under her chin, but only reached half way to my upper arms.
I pulled her closer to me, hands on her hips, lifting her to my height. Her wet skin was glistening in the sunlight, and she lifted one hand to brush a strand of wet hair off my cheek.
We kissed with a passion that could have set fire to the water. I ran one hand up her back to knot in the wet hair at the base of her neck, and her fingernails were digging into my skin. Roza wrapped her legs around my waist, leaving one of my hands that had previously been supporting her free. I moved my hand from her lower back and brought it to her toned stomach, stroking the skin with my thumb.
I had just trailed kisses down her jaw and was about to reach her neck, when suddenly we were hit by a huge torrent of ice-cold water.
It was such a contrast to the previous heat that had been trapped between our bodies that Roza screamed, and I had to bite back a shout, which instead came out a growl. I locked both arms around her shivering body possessively, and turned to see what had happened.
The cause of the problem, it seemed, was Mia. This was obvious from the fact that everyone was now standing on the beach at the edge of the lake, laughing at us, and hi-fiving Mia. She must have used her water magic on us.
I walked quickly over to them, holding a still-shivering Roza. Her arms were pulled in, hands resting against my chest, with her face buried in my neck. Her skin was a slightly strange colour, a faint blueish tint visible under her tanned skin, which was paler than usual.
I was about 10 feet from the bank when Roza stopped shivering completely, but her skin was still cold on mine. This was not a good sign, and I rubbed her back to try and warm her up. I recognised it from when I was 15, when Ivan had dared one of my Dhampir friends and me to swim in a frozen lake, after a water user cleared a hole in the ice. I had been fine, aside from cold, but as soon as Sergei hit the water his muscles locked up, and he started to sink. I'd had to pull him out, and he'd gone into shock. He'd been fine after he warmed up, but since it was my Roza this time, I was irrationally worried.
When I reached the bank, I tried to put her down so I could climb out, but her limbs were too stiff to move. So, I had to climb out still holding her, which wasn't easy, but I managed.
"That'll stop you from getting all hot and heavy where others can see you!" Adrian shouted.
"Yeah, thought you'd need a cold shower." Mia added.
I ignored them all, and instead sat down on the sand, picking up Roza's towel and wrapping it round her shoulders, whilst I whispered to her to hold on, that she'd be warm soon.
The laughter of the others died down as they realised something was going on, but Lissa was the first to realise that something was actually going on with Rose. She came running over to us.
"What's the matter with Rose?" She asked, worried. I didn't look up as I answered.
"She's gone into shock from the cold. We need to warm her up, slowly."
"Shit." I heard Lissa say, before she ran back to the others. It was one of the few times I'd heard her swear, the other being when Rose had been shot and she'd been forced to stay away. I managed to move Roza enough so that I could see her face. Her usually red lips were a disconcerting shade of blue, and when she saw me looking at her, they moved, as though she was trying to speak.
"Ssh, Roza. You'll be fine in a minute."
"D-Dimit-tri..." She stuttered, before starting to shiver again. I breathed a sigh of relief, this was a good sign.
"I'm here, Roza. Ya zdes, lyubov moya." I held her close again, trying to warm her up. It didn't help that I had been covered in water as well, my skin was cold; I was just used to it and didn't feel it.
I heard footsteps behind us, and turned to see everyone coming over. Their expressions varied between worry, apologetic and embarrassment. Abe and Janine had apparently left; and I wasn't sure whether to be grateful for that or not.
"Rose has gone into shock from the cold. She needs to be warmed up, Christian, can you do that?"
He stepped forward, kneeling down beside us. I moved Roza in my arms so that she was laid across them, bridal style. Christian took one of her hands in his, and placed his other hand on her forehead.
He closed his eyes as he called the magic, then turned to me.
"I'm sorry, Dimitri. The cold was my idea. Mia just wanted to make the wave hit you, because we thought it would be funny. But then I suggested that we make it cold, because it would make Rose really angry, which, as long as she doesn't catch you, is hilarious. But I didn't mean to make it freezing. I'm obviously better at heating things up than taking the heat away." He looked down. "I know me and Rose fight all the time, but I like her, really. She's like a sister to me, and I'd never hurt her intentionally."
Should I tell him that Rose was actually conscious and could hear every word he said? No, I'd let him figure that out for himself.
"Well, as long as you're ready for her revenge. Because you can guarantee she's already planning it right now."
Genuine fear crossed Christian and Mia's faces. "Are you going to help? Because I might start running now." Mia asked.
I shook my head. "No, I'll just watch Rose do it. And laugh at you, like you did to me."
Adrian joined the conversation then. "Yeah, why did Rose come off so much worse than you? I mean, you barely flinched. You must have balls of steel or something."
"Oh, please. I was raised in Siberia; I learned to swim in the middle of winter, in a half-frozen lake when I was 6. When I was 15, I swam from one end of the lake to the other under 3 inches of ice for a dare."
They looked impressed when I told them the first part, and shocked when I admitted to completing a stupid dare. Well, it was 10 years ago.
"Whoa, Badass Belikov!" said Adrian.
"That's my man." I looked down quickly to see Roza stirring in my arms, her normal colour restored to her beautiful face, though her lips were still a little off-colour.
"Roza." I hugged her tightly; and I was relieved to feel that she was warm again. She hugged me back, before turning in my arms to face everyone else. I didn't need to see her eyes to know that she was glaring at everyone, as they all backed off a couple of steps.
I helped her to stand up, and passed her the sundress that was lying on the ground. Once it was on, Roza took one step towards Christian, who paled.
"Maybe big bad Russian over there doesn't care about the cold, but I do. I also don't appreciate having a really great make-out session with aforementioned Russian interrupted. In fact, it makes me very angry. What do you think will happen to the little shit that pissed me off?"
Her voice was cold, and I was glad that it wasn't directed at me. My Roza could be scary sometimes.
Christian gulped, before pointing at Mia.
"She did it. I'm fire; I couldn't have made that wave. Did you get brain freeze or something?"
I heard Lissa whisper to Sydney, "Lying and insulting Rose right now, Worst. Mistake. Ever."
Rose took another step towards Christian.
"I know it was your idea to make the water cold, Fire-crotch. I heard the whole conversation, little brother, and though you may not want to hurt me intentionally, I can assure you that I have no such reservations. Let me show you my magic, bitch."
With that, Rose kneed Christian in the crotch, and he dropped to the floor, eyes shut in agony. I knew how much that hurt; Rose had accidentally kneed me there in training once, harder than I thought possible, though she had apologised profusely afterward. Christian was not as lucky, and she then kicked him in the kidney, before turning to Mia.
"I really was wrong. Water is a great weapon, and I have to say your original idea was a good one. But I think you owe me a favour, so do your worst." She indicated Christian with her hand.
Mia grinned before dumping a load of muddy lake water all over him. Everyone laughed, and Rose smiled triumphantly. "That's what I call instant Karma."
I smiled, trying to hold back another laugh. Christian cracked one eye open, and looked up at me. "Don't laugh yet, Dimitri. You're marrying that."
Fast as lightning, Rose struck out with her foot and kicked Christian in the balls again, this time breaking a few bones in his hand as well, as he was holding his crotch.
He looked beseechingly at Lissa. "Heal me." He croaked out. Lissa looked like she wanted to, but quickly shook her head.
"Sorry, babe. You brought that on yourself." With that she stepped over his body, and we all walked back to the campsite, leaving Christian groaning on the sand.
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