I didn't get the chance to speak with Eddie alone for a few days, but his supportive smiles and friendly demeanor reassured me things were good between him and me. I didn't have a chance to be alone with Dimitri, either. I wasn't sure whether he was avoiding me, or whether that's just the way it worked out. He was professional whenever we trained or worked together, but he wasn't giving me the loving little glances he had before I'd broken into the Alchemists' bunker. It was impossible not to wonder whether our love was on the rocks.

I was trying to keep my spirits up. I was here, and Dimitri hadn't said he didn't love me. But then he hadn't said he did. And with each passing day, it seemed less and less likely that my Russian God still cared for me.

Determined not to be the clingy, pathetic girlfriend (or ex), and not wanting to give Dimitri a reason to think even more poorly of me, I buried my mounting fears and focused my efforts on learning everything I could on the mission and being pleasant and agreeable to everyone. Even my mother. A couple of days after our last run in, I asked her whether she'd have time to run through some training moves with me. I made it clear I was fine if Elizaveta or Meredith wanted to join us, but Mom surprised me by suggesting we train alone. By mutual agreement, we barely said a word beyond training instructions. But silence was a step up from where we'd been recently - so, from that perspective, it was a success. And I'd learned some new moves I'd be able to use on Dimitri the next time we sparred - so all in all, it was a worthwhile endeavor.

Our positive interactions continued the next day when Mom, Blake, and I were scheduled to do the hike to the ranger's cabin to check for any signs of activity. Because of the distance, we'd always drive part way there and back, concealing the car at a different spot each time and hiking in and out. This particular day, Mom stunned me by suggesting I drive while she acted as my second. It was an unexpected gesture of trust, and I'd learned a lot from it.

If I'd been determined to take the high road in my interactions with others, Elizaveta was of the other bent. I had no idea why, but since her night away in Sheridan, she'd been positively feral. Well - to me, at least. At first, her bitchy little comments had been under her breath when only I'd hear them. But when I ignored them, they got more and more pointed and public, although rarely in front of Dimitri or my mother.

"That's enough Novice Vitsin!" Stan snapped one morning at the breakfast table after Elizaveta lobbed a particularly disrespectful remark my way. "You've been making rude comments for days, now. Novice Hathaway might not take exception to them, but I do!"

I looked up at Stan and gave him a surprised look.

"Is there a reason you're letting this insolence pass?" he asked incredulously. The Rose Stan knew would have snapped a long time before now.

"Stan – I'm going to be in charge of defending someone's life in a couple of months," I explained wearily with a shrug. "I haven't got time to get distracted from the things that matter."

I didn't say any more, but my eyes caught Dimitri's, and for the first time since that day, he gave me an approving smile. I guess my efforts to be more responsible about things were being noticed.

"If no one minds, I might go for a run before starting in on the cleaning?" I said after consulting the ever-present roster on the wall.

"Ok if I join you?" Dimitri asked pleasantly. No one else would pick it, but I could tell he was nervous.

"Sure thing," I said with a small smile, although inside my heart was doing cartwheels. Now he'd finally reached out I wasn't sure what I wanted to say.

We set off out the back door, doing a lap of the facility perimeter before approaching the pedestrian gate next to the driveway.

"Why don't we run the roadway again?" Dimitri suggested. He might not remember the last time we'd done this was the day I stuffed everything up between us, but I did.

"Ok," I replied, following him out onto the paved road. I figured he probably wanted as much privacy as possible to say whatever needed to be said.

Despite the connection with the ill-fated day when everything between us changed, getting out of the property was still welcome. We ran in silence for a few minutes before Dimitri spoke.

"Rose? We need to talk."

"Yes," I said, closing my eyes for a second to stop tears leaking down my cheeks. He'd called me Rose, not Roza.

I was just opening my eyes when I misstepped and started to stumble. Dimitri's hand shot out and grabbed my arm, preventing me from tumbling to the ground. He stopped, holding me hard up against him, both of us panting and only partially from the exertion of our run.

"I'm sorry, Rose," he started, sounding pained.

I cut him off. "No, I'm sorry, Comrade. I fucked up. I know it, and I'll always regret it. I'm sorry I destroyed your trust in me."

"Roza," he soothed, turning me, so I was cuddled in his arms. "Not destroyed. I was angry with you for doing something so irresponsible. I still am. But what I did was even worse."

"What you did?"

"I punished you by saying things to make you think I might not love you anymore, and for that I'm sorry."

Staring up into his gorgeous brown eyes, I could see warmth and affection lingering in their depths again.

"So you do? Still love me?" I whispered. It was the sixty-four thousand dollar question, and I regretted it the second I'd asked it.

"Always, ангел. Can you forgive me?" he replied apprehensively.

"There's nothing to forgive, Comrade," I whimpered, leaning up to kiss him. "I love you." And I did. With everything that was in me, I loved my handsome Russian God.

"What made you decide to forgive me?" I asked nervously, leaning against his chest.

"It was actually Tasha," he admitted. "I rang her and told her I didn't know what to make of a situation I'd found myself in - that I felt my logic was being overridden by my feelings. She told me to look at the situation with my heart, not my head. That my heart would show me the right decision."

"She probably thought you were reconsidering her offer," I suggested, knowing from my time in Lissa's head that that's exactly what she'd assumed.

"No. She knows there'll never be anything between her and me," he said confidently. "But she did help me to see that I love you, and even though I'm disappointed by what you did, it doesn't change how I feel about you." He said the words tenderly. Reverently, even. And suddenly the world had color again! The birds sang in joy, and the scent of spring flowers was in the air. Everything was beautiful now I knew my Russian God still loved me!

I silenced any further discussion with another kiss. Welcome after so many days without, I wanted our kisses to go on forever! They certainly would have gotten deeper had we not heard the rumble of a car in the distance.

"Come on, let's keep running," Dimitri said with an irritated sigh. It looked like he'd been missing our kisses as much as I had! We resumed our pace, running side by side on the edge of the road. A minute or so later one of the SUVs pulled up alongside us, Stan behind the wheel.

"I'm taking Blake and Elizaveta on the cabin run," Stan told Dimitri. "We'll be back in three or four hours."

Dimitri nodded, and I gave the three a friendly wave.

"Janine's just behind me. She's taking Artyom and Meredith to practice driving as firsts and seconds."

Stan drove off, and sure enough five minutes later the other SUV passed us on the road, Meredith waving her hand in greeting from behind the steering wheel.

"Eddie's rostered to gather wood today," I muttered none too subtly. With Eddie foraging for timber and the others otherwise occupied, Dimitri and I would have the house to ourselves. "I've missed you, Comrade. Please let me show you how much…"

"Let's sprint back," he suggested, a knowing look in his eye.

We turned around and increased our speed, cutting our run short and racing back to the house. Charging through the front door and straight up the stairs, I headed directly to my room, pausing only to lock the door as Dimitri followed me inside.

"Close the curtains," he growled his voice low and husky. I did as he bid, yanking the strips of fabric across to cover the sunlit opening before turning to launch myself at my man.

I wasn't stupid enough to think that a make out session was going to fix the damage done by my recent actions, but I knew I'd feel a whole lot better being back in Dimitri's arms, and evidently, he was feeling the same way.

"So beautiful," he moaned, stroking the side of my face as he stepped us backward towards my bed, flopping down onto it and pulling me beside him.

Wrapping my arms around Dimitri's neck, I pulled myself flush against him and kissed him eagerly. We were both hot, sweaty and panting - and in my excited state, it was easy to imagine other activities that could result in a similar state of dishevelment.

"I've missed you so much," I admitted against his lips, tasting the salt from his sweat.

"I've missed you, too," he moaned as he rolled me onto my back, lying on top of me and pushing a leg between my own. "All I've been able to think about is you," he growled.

Opening my mouth to his, I whined as his tongue found mine, softly stroking it as one of his hands wandered down my side to my hip. Slipping a hand underneath the waistband of my sweats, long sensuous fingers of one hand were playing with my hip and the edge of my panties while the others were buried in my long locks.

We kissed for what felt like forever, neither wanting to stop. I was squirming under his touch, relishing his tiny growls as my fingers danced across his neck, diving into his hair and pulling it gently. I arched my back, pushing my rib cage hard up against his. He pulled back slightly, his eyes opening to gaze at me.

"I couldn't give you up, even if I tried," he groaned.

"And did you try?" I whispered, my voice not giving away my apprehension.

"Not very hard," he chuckled self deprecatingly, returning his lips to mine and kissing me again. "I don't want to give you up, Roza."

Melting against him, I needed to be as close to him as it was possible for a man and a woman to get. Hooking one of my ankles around his legs, I trapped him against me, rocking my hips against his.

He dragged his lips from mine, a tortured gasp escaping his lips. Eyes closed, his kisses found my cheek and slowly made their way across to my ear. He took my earlobe into his mouth, nipping it slightly and teasing it with his tongue.

"Dimitri!" I hissed softly, my hips bucking against his. I'd slipped my hands up under his shirt and was stroking the sculpted plains of his back as he relinquished my earlobe, his lips finding other pleasurable places to play. Pausing at the point where my pulse pumped precipitously, I moaned at his meandering ministrations on my neck.

He pulled away from me, and I couldn't help my disappointed sigh. But he pulled me into a sitting position, grabbing my sweaty workout shirt and pulling it upward, tossing it from me as though its very existence offended him – which given we'd just been running and I was sweaty, maybe it did? Before he could stop me, I similarly disposed of my bra and made short work of my sweat pants and panties. If his intention was to hold back or deny me, I wasn't going to make it easy for him!

"Roza!" he groaned, half admonishing yet undeniably also with excitement. "You know we shouldn't…"

"I know," I agreed, nonetheless pulling him back down onto my now naked form. I expected him to be guarded. I expected him to hold back. I didn't expect him to growl "Fuck it," under his breath and kiss me hard, his fingers trailing down my body to my folds, slick with excitement and expectation. He dallied there, fondling me for just a moment before sinking a couple of fingers inside me.

My eyes rolled back as he pulled back from me, watching as I lost myself to his touch. His eyes were dark and carnal, his lips a knowing smirk.

"That's it, isn't it?" he crooned, working his fingers in my most private place. "Is that what you need?"

"Yes… I need you, Dimitri" I whispered, grasping his biceps. They were tense – one from holding his weight off me, the other from massaging me from the inside. He was rubbing his fingertips in a circular motion around and around on the front wall of my pussy. It wasn't the movement I'd expected, yet it felt mind blowing.

I shifted to one side so he could lie down beside me. Resting his head on my bare breast, he kept up his fingers' actions down below as I opened my legs further to him, giving him better access to my core. Repositioning his hand, slightly, he brought the pad of his thumb up to the tight bundle of nerves at the top of my slit. Brushing it lightly, I almost jumped off the bed. Everything was so new and unfamiliar - everywhere he touched caused a reaction.

His chuckle was warm, but rather than embarrassed I felt loved.

"You're so excited," he said with a glorious smile, angling his head to watch me as he sent me on my way to complete and utter abandon.

"Ughh…" I agreed inarticulately as the pad of his thumb determinedly circled my clit, drawing excited mewls from my lips.

As he worked his magic between my thighs, Dimitri was rocking his hips against my side, pushing his manhood against me again and again. Reaching between us, I awkwardly grasped him, running my hand up and down over the bulge in his sweats. He muttered something approving in Russian and intensified what he was doing with his fingers. Leaning down, I brought my lips back to his, tongues tangling. My eyes closed, I let myself go to the delight of his touch, reveling in his the sensations his long sensuous fingers were eliciting and in the taste of his mouth on mine.

My Russian God's fingers were getting faster, and I could feel a torturous tightening across the top of my chest and further down. My abdominal muscles were clenching, and my heart was starting to race.

"Please…?" I whimpered.

He chuckled again, a knowing tone in his voice as he quietly soothed, "You're nearly there…"

"Yes," I cried, wanting to cum, but also wanting this feeling to last forever. Everything he was doing felt so good. My breathing ragged, I gasped as Dimitri moved his lips to my breast, grasping my nipple between his teeth and alternating between nipping and sucking at it.

Before I knew what was happening, my hips were bucking uncontrollably, and I was wailing loudly. I was so damned close, now, and like the tides, there'd be no holding this back!

"Yes! Yes, yes, yes!" I shouted as the first wave of pleasure crashed through my body, finding its ultimate release in my core. Dimitri changed what he was doing, thrusting his fingers in and out frenetically as I came long, hard and violently against his fingers. His lips were still on my breast, and he nipped me there sharply, only adding to the overwhelming feelings coursing through my body.

My pussy clamping on his fingers, it felt like I would never stop cumming, but it was only a few moments later when I started to come down from my orgasmic high. I was opening my mouth to tell Dimitri how amazing he'd made me feel, and to suggest he replace his fingers with his cock so he could experience relief as well when I heard footsteps outside my door.

Dimitri pulled back and looked at me in horror as the handle to my door rattled.

"Rosemarie? What's going on in there? What are you doing?! I demand you open this door!"

Holy fucking shit! It was my mother! We must have been at it longer than I thought because obviously she was back.

Dimitri was off the bed in an instant, looking around him in a panic. I pointed to the window, and he nodded. I pulled aside the drapes, carefully looking out to make sure no one was outside. I lifted the sash, opening the window to its fullest.

"Go!" I mouthed, pointing. He obliged immediately, launching himself through the window and down onto the springy ground below.

"Rosemarie?! Open this door right now!" My mother's disembodied voice echoed through the closed door, sounding irate.

"Yeah, yeah. Keep your hair on!" I replied, noiselessly closing the window and watching as Dimitri took off away from the house and into the trees.

I looked around, quickly making sure there was no sign Dimitri had been here. But other than a rumpled bed, and the scent of sex in the air, it was clear. I pulled the curtains closed, quickly putting back on my clothes.

"Rosemarie!" My mother's admittedly almost non-existent patience was at an end.

"What?" I asked, turning the key in the lock and opening the door to look at my mother.

Taking in my disheveled state, Mom's first move was to look around my room. Seeing no one, she stepped inside, checking the closet and then walking across to open the drapes and peer out the window.

"Who was in here with you?" she growled at my retreating form.

"No one," I tossed over my shoulder as I headed downstairs, seeking safety in numbers. Surely she wouldn't pursue this conversation in front of others?

"Don't lie to me!" she shouted, following me from my room, down the stairs, into the kitchen and then the mud room. I washed my hands, nodding to Dimitri and Eddie who came in from outside.

"She's on the warpath… She thinks she heard me in my room with someone…" I whispered conspiratorially, before leaving them to wash their hands while I walked back into the kitchen. Meredith and Artyom were sitting at the kitchen table looking at me quizzically.

"I heard noises from your room!" my mother accused.

"I didn't say you didn't!"

Eddie and Dimitri appeared in the doorway between the mudroom and the kitchen, watching the scene playing out in front of them.

"Where have you two been?" my mother asked suspiciously.

"Finding logs to chop for the range," Eddie supplied immediately, answering for both of them. His face was a picture of innocence, but he'd obviously put two and two together, and I would have kissed him on the spot for covering for Dimitri and I if it wouldn't have given Mom the completely wrong idea.

Mom turned back to me.

"Why was your door locked?"

I shrugged, blushing a little. "I wanted some privacy."

"Why did you need privacy?" she shot back.

"I didn't want to be interrupted."

"Interrupted from what? I heard noises, Rosemarie!"

"I'm sure you did!" I snapped.

"I want to know what was going on in your bedroom and who was in there with you!" she shouted.

"Can we not talk about this?" I groaned.

"I demand to know what you were doing, and I want to know now!" she shouted.

"Fine!" I snapped, turning to face her. "I was masturbating, ok? Now almost the entire house knows, can we please drop this?"

It was a kodak moment. My mother's mouth was open, but nothing was coming out. At the table Meredith looked mildly surprised, Artyom confused. Eddie was standing with Dimitri looking shocked, and Dimitri? Well, he had his Guardian mask yanked on so firmly I doubt he'd be able to show any emotion for a month.

Eddie broke the moment by walking across to the kitchen table, pulling out a chair, followed by my love.

"Do girls do that?" he asked an amused Meredith in an undertone as he sat down.

"Of course they do, Castile," she chided, rolling her eyes.

He was silent for a moment.

"Often?"

"It depends how bad my week's been, Eddie," I said with a cheeky grin, albeit a very red face.