"I don't want to leave," I whispered against Dimitri's chest as we cuddled in his bed in the early morning. The sun had only just risen, so I didn't expect anyone else was awake, yet.

Dimitri's home was my home now, and while I missed the States, I felt at peace here. It was very tempting to stay.

"Neither do I," he confessed, pulling me closer. "But we have a new adventure waiting. Together."

I nodded, nuzzling closer to my man. I knew he was speaking the truth, but part of me wanted to hide here with my Russian God and his family forever!

"Are you excited about our new allocation?" I asked. With the focus and effort that had gone into staying together, I don't think either of us had spent much time thinking about what we'd be doing in our new roles.

"You know, I am. I enjoy teaching, and I loved the freedom of our time at the compound. If it's like that, but we can live together, then it sounds ideal to me!"

"Really?"

"Roza – I just want to be with you. Working and living together is a dream come true for me."

I smiled. While working away from our world for five years seemed extreme, with monthly visits to Court, it might not be so bad. By the sounds of it, our roles were going to be more human based, which meant a lot more time off than most allocations. It was hard to imagine how Dimitri and I could fill whole weekends without work duties, but I was looking forward to finding out.

"Me too," I admitted.

I could barely confess this to myself, and I would never say it to Dimitri or Lissa, but a small part of me wasn't entirely unhappy to be forced away from my responsibility to her. I loved her. I'd always defend her. But being ordered away from Lissa was also a bit of a relief. For the first time in as long as I could remember, I didn't have the obligation of her welfare hanging over me.

"Do you think she'll be ok?" I asked. Dimitri needed no clue about what I was referring to. He knew how much I worried about Lissa.

"She will be," he consoled. "Celeste is an excellent Guardian, and she was very excited at the prospect of going to University with Lissa. If they allocate Meredith, too, she will have an excellent guarding team."

"But it won't be me."

"No. But maybe once our terms are served it could be? Do you want that?"

I stopped and thought about it. The obvious answer was yes, yet I struggled to say it.

"I'm not sure," I eventually confessed. "I guess I'll know closer to the time."

"Five years is a long time," Dimitri agreed. "Let's not tie ourselves down to anything so far away. We'll know what's right for us as we go along."

I murmured in acquiescence, not wanting to admit how much I liked the idea of not being tied to anything or anyone other than him. Because more than anything, I loved hearing Dimitri talk about us.

"There's still a few hours until anyone will be up," Dimitri crooned suggestively. My ribs were sore after the fights a day and a half before, but my desire won out.

"Maybe we need to claim this bed one more time?" I giggled flirtatiously.

"It might be a while before we're back here," my Russian God agreed, sensually bringing his lips to mine before rolling me onto my back, positioning himself between my thighs.

An hour later we were both well and truly satiated. Dimitri was on his side, curled around me, his head resting on my bare breasts. I was stroking his hair, enjoying the closeness. There were sounds of the household starting to wake, and I knew it wasn't long before we needed to rise.

"I want to come back soon," I whispered, referring to the house where he grew up. The place where I felt we could both be ourselves.

"We will," he promised with a sweet smile.

And then it was time. We repacked the few things we'd taken from our duffels, stripped the bed and then moved together to the bathroom to shower and dress before heading downstairs.

Olena was already up, cooking breakfast for us all. Dimitri and I sat down with coffees, chatting with his mother. We all pretended not to notice when the door to Meredith's room opened, and Meredith emerged followed by a red-faced Eddie. Things were progressing quickly now!

Over the next ten minutes, Vika, Yeva, Karolina, Paul, and then Sonya appeared, and we all sat around the kitchen table. It was companionable and easy, and I knew it was these sort of casual interactions I was going to miss the most.

"In time you'll make your own home," Yeva grumbled to no one in particular as she waddled over to the table, seating herself in her customary place.

We all accepted her comment, although I knew it was directed at me.

We'd finished eating, and I was helping Vika with the dishes when Abe, Lissa, Christian, Celeste, and Pavel arrived. We all sat down with coffee in the living room.

"So are you looking forward to being back at Court?" Karolina asked.

"A little. I'm looking forward to seeing all my classmates and finding out where they're going to end up."

Since I already knew my allocation, that wouldn't be a surprise, but I was itching to know where the other St. Vlad's graduates were going to be posted – particularly Eddie and Meredith.

"And I need to see Mom. She said she'd be at the allocation ceremony."

"Yes about that," Abe said urbanely, not quite meeting my eyes. "The allocation ceremony is a big thing. I thought I might fly over with you lot so I can be there for it."

The original plan had been for Baba to stay in Russia when we flew back to the States. It would no doubt be a while until I'd be able to see him again, so I welcomed a few more days together back in the States, but I thought there might be a little more to his visit.

"Are you going to tell Mom you're coming?" I asked him suspiciously.

As I expected, his face fell into a mask of complete, and completely artificial, innocence.

"It might have slipped my mind," he owned, having the good grace to look at least a little sheepish.

I held up my hands in front of me in surrender.

"Fine. Just don't upset her until after I've told her about Dimitri and me, alright?"

"Do you think she'll be upset?" he asked with genuine curiosity.

"I think it's a good thing we'll be living with the Alchemists in an unknown part of New Hampshire," I predicted. "In five years time, she might have calmed down."

"Roza," Dimitri gently chided, "she's not that bad." But somehow his tone lacked conviction.

Saying goodbye to the Belikova's was hard. A lot harder than I'd anticipated. I was crying before I'd finished my first hug, and Meredith was teary, too. By the time Olena and I shared a long loving embrace, I was bawling and so was she. Dimitri was downcast as we clambered into the vans ready for the drive to Omsk. Recognizing Dimitri and I were feeling flat, Lissa graciously left the seat beside me free for Dimitri, instead sitting behind us with Sparky.

Meredith and Eddie were again in the other vehicle in what was a blatant attempt to avoid my questions about last night's sleeping arrangements. I giggled, imagining the fun I was going to have with the two of them when they were trapped on a plane with nowhere to hide!

Lissa was busily focused on charming some silver for me to wear. Oksana had explained about the charms and described how to make them. Lissa had spent the afternoon practicing, and once she'd got the hang of it, she promised it used very little spirit. I slipped one on, a silver necklace, and the effect was instantaneous. A pressure I'd barely known I was carrying was gone, and I felt much more at peace.

"That's better, isn't it?" Lissa said gleefully, noticing the change in my expression. "When we get to Court I'll buy a stack of silver. Oksana said I need to use my magic at least once a week, so when there's no other call for it, I'll make a stockpile of charms. She said you'll need them more if I have to use a big block of magic, so I'll prepare some in advance."

"Does the magic last?"

"Yes. The silver can hold it for several years. What would you prefer? Rings? Necklaces?"

I thought about it. Rings were probably out. They just weren't practical what with the punching and all that. Necklaces were likewise unwise – they could be used to choke me.

"What about a bracelet or wrist cuff?" I suggested.

Lissa nodded, telling me she knew just the shop at Court and we could pick some up when we arrived.

The trip to Omsk was uneventful, and we arrived at the airport in the late afternoon. Baba had arranged for feeders for himself, Christian and Lissa – so they disappeared with a handful of Guardians into a side room while the rest of us waited in the sparse seating area. Half an hour later we were all on board, the plane had lifted into the sky, and Dimitri was leaning across me, looking down at the countryside and saying goodbye to his homeland, again.

"We'll be traveling via London again," Abe explained once we'd leveled out. "We'll refuel there and then continue."

"It feels weird to be going home," I said a little sadly to Dimitri.

"I know, Roza," he said, picking up my hand and kissing my knuckles. "But you'll be happy once we're there."

We ended up watching a movie, me curled up on Dimitri's lap like a sleepy kitten. Now I was wearing the charmed jewelry, the pesky ghosts didn't bother me, but I was feeling tired. In fact, the credits had barely started rolling when I felt Dimitri pull a blanket over us and I cuddled my face into his neck and slept.

I woke up parched and disorientated a few hours later.

"Hey," Dimitri crooned as I opened my eyes. "We're just about to land in London to refuel."

"How long have I been asleep?"

"A few hours."

"You should have woken me."

"I like holding you," he explained.

He spent the whole time playing with your hair and watching you with a goofy grin on his face Lissa told me through the bond, without looking up from where she sat opposite us, flicking through a Lehigh prospectus.

"I liked being held by you," I replied sweetly, taking his face in my hands as I gently kissed him.

"I've ordered feeders in London," Abe mentioned from across the aisle. "I thought you lot might want to stretch your legs and visit the food court?"

It was a good idea. There was food onboard, but I had a hankering for a burger and lots of chips. And… "Hmm, chocolate shake," I moaned.

"Do you think of anything but your stomach?" Eddie laughed from a few seats back.

"Shut it, lover boy," I growled, suddenly remembering I'd not yet had a chance to grill him over where he slept last night.

Christian chuckled from where he sat opposite us. I think he enjoyed seeing someone else getting the sharp side of my tongue.

"Pick me up a burger and a shake?" he asked, keen to stay on my good side.

"Sure," I grumbled, getting up to use the bathroom before returning to my seat and strapping in for our descent into London.

The terminal was busier this time, but we found seats in the food court and split up, each returning with our food. I was unsurprised to see Dimitri had chosen pizza – it was his favorite fast food indulgence!

Celeste was sitting with some of Abe's Guardians a table or two over, Emil having accompanied Baba and some of the other Guardians with Lissa and Christian. Eddie, Meredith, Dimitri and I were sitting together eating. I was dying to quiz Meredith or Eddie about what was going on between them, but I had to wait to get one of them alone.

"So what are you hoping for with allocations?" I asked. I hadn't mentioned my requests to Croft in case they didn't come off.

Meredith shrugged. "I'm hoping for someone young. I know it will be a woman, but an old Royal at Court would be boring as hell."

Dimitri and I nodded. Being female, Meredith was bound to be allocated to a woman, and while guarding aged Royals at Court was safe, it was considered a slow death in Guardian circles.

"If it's not too late, I was thinking I might ask Christian if he was interested in having me as his Guardian," Eddie said looking embarrassed. "I know it was meant to be you, Rose, but with you going to the Alchemists… Do you think he would be interested?"

I grinned.

"I think he would be. Ask him before we go back on board. If he rings a request through, it might not be too late?"

Eddie was looking a bit bashful.

"I could bring it up if you'd like?" I offered.

"Would you?" he asked with a smile. Eddie, for all his virtues, was still backward at coming forwards putting himself out there.

"Yeah leave me to it," I reassured him, taking a bite of my burger and humming in pleasure.

We met up near the boarding gate twenty-minutes later, me carrying a couple of paper bags with extra food for the plane. I handed one to Christian.

"Hey, fireboy? I was thinking now you won't have me guarding you, maybe you could request Castile? He's got some wicked skills, and he won't give you shit the way I would have…"

Christian looked a little embarrassed to be put on the spot, but I could see he liked the idea.

"You interested?" he asked Eddie in an unusual display of candor.

"Yeah. I'd be up for that," Eddie confirmed, nodding his head.

"Ok. Sounds good to me," Christian replied.

"You should ring Guardian Headquarters and put through a request now," I counseled, suppressing my grin at the awkward way the two men were interacting with each other. They both wanted this, but I suppose it was a rather personal discussion.

"That's a good idea," Lissa said, stepping in and smoothing the moment over with her effortless charm. "My phone has roaming," she mentioned, fishing it out of her bag and passing it to Christian.

Dimitri, Meredith and I wandered over to a nearby shop to give them their privacy as they arranged the particulars. I was looking for a movie or something to pass the hours from London to Pennsylvania.

"We should buy this!" I giggled, looking at a boxed card set called 'truth or shots.' A bit like the 'never have I ever' game, this had the advantage that the cards were a bit more generic, and so we couldn't ask devious personal questions.

"That's a drinking game," Meredith pointed out.

"I know," I said with a wicked grin. "None of us have to drive at the other end, and we'll be in international airspace. I never did get the chance to get shitfaced after my win…"

I batted my eyelashes at Dimitri hopefully. I didn't want to get too drunk, but a few drinks with my best friends was overdue. It had been a hell of a few months for all of us.

"Fine. But don't go silly!" he said, as I pulled him by the hand over to the alcohol section. Ten minutes later we were back at the gate, Dimitri carrying two bags of bottles. He sounded like a milk truck!

"It seems like too much," he said, referring to the numerous bottles.

"Think of how many of us are on board," I replied persuasively neglecting to mention I knew Baba's Guardians were unlikely to take part.

My Russian God grunted. I knew he didn't like the idea of me drinking to excess, but we'd be in a private enclosed space with my friends, my father, and his Guardians. It didn't get much safer than that.

"And I brought movies to watch first," I cajoled, holding up Pitch Perfect and Pitch Perfect 2.

"What are they about?" Dimitri asked, eyeing the covers distrustfully.

"It's about a guy and girl, and they fall in love in college," I said innocently, choosing to overlook Dimitri's admittedly warranted suspicion.

Back onboard we settled back into seats. I'd announced the idea of a movie, so Eddie, Meredith, Christian, Lissa, Celeste and Kirk and Dimitri and I took the front seats. Further forward there was an open area with low bench seats on each side surrounding a central coffee table and a large screen above. We'd move there once we'd taken off.

"Baba? I hope you don't mind, but I bought a drinking game and some spirits for later on. None of us has had a chance to cut loose for a while," I wheedled.

"That's fine – let your hair down. It will be late Saturday when we get back, and you don't have any commitments until Monday."

I held on to my Russian God's hand as we again took into the sky. Lissa and Christian were sitting opposite Meredith and Eddie, and I could see Eddie was busy talking with Christian about the potential allocation.

"He's not your Guardian yet," I warned Christian. "Tonight it's about friends chillaxing together," I demanded.

"Yeah yeah, keep your hair on, Rosie," Christian snarked. But he laid off the professional talk and so did Eddie.

As soon as we'd leveled out, I put on the first movie, and we moved to lounge on the front sofas and floor.

"Acapella singing?!" Eddie groaned. "You're fucking shitting me?!"

"I think it's wonderful," Lissa said reprovingly, silencing Christian's unspoken criticism that was about to follow.

And so we settled in to watch. I sat on the sofa, Dimitri sitting on the floor in front of me, leaning back into my embrace. I could feel him relax as I massaged his shoulders, occasionally bringing my fingers to his lips and allowing him to kiss them. Lissa and Christian were cuddled side by side on the sofa. Eddie was next to them, but I noticed that while Meredith was sitting on the floor to one side, she was leaning against his leg. Later in the movie, he was toying with her hair. Even Celeste and Kirk were sitting closer than I thought strictly necessary. I hadn't picked those two, but now I thought about it, they made a good match.

"Surely one film is enough," Christian wailed after we'd finished the first movie.

"I heard good things about the second," Lissa said sweetly, knowing it didn't matter what the film was – he'd watch it if she wanted to.

She sealed the deal with a few kisses with Christian while I replenished the snacks, and we started the second film.

"Sequels always suck," Eddie announced as the second set of credits rolled.

"That's bullshit!" Kirk declared.

"Where's your proof?" Christian challenged.

"Batman Returns, The Temple of Doom and Aliens," he triumphantly affirmed.

"Got anything from this century?" Christian scoffed, sparking a long discussion about the filmmaking of today versus the modern classics.

"I think it's time to bring out the vodka," Dimitri said reluctantly as Kirk started espousing the supremacy of 'The Godfather II' over the original.

"It was the second film, but it's actually the prequel," Kirk was explaining to a largely disinterested audience.

"Yeah, and it came out before my Mom was born," Eddie sniggered.

"Time for a drinking game!" I said, sitting up in my seat and pulling across the bags that held the vodka, plastic shot glasses and the card game we'd bought in London. "Truth or Shots! Each card has a scenario or question on there – you've either got to tell the truth about how you feel or if it happened to you, or take the shot!"

I set up a couple of lines of shot glasses on the coffee table, filling them with vodka. One by one we all made our way to sit on the floor, me sitting in between Dimitri's thighs and leaning back against him.

I opened the cards and pulled them out, splitting the deck at random.

"Who's the most inappropriate person you've fantasized about?" I crowed, reading the back of the card.

I looked around, and there were some red faces.

"My mentor!" I announced with a cheeky grin. No surprises there!

"My student," Dimitri chimed in, kissing my neck sweetly.

Lissa, Christian, and Eddie quickly downed shots. I tried probing Lissa's head, but she was blocking me, pointedly going through her timetables so I wouldn't 'hear' her thoughts.

Meredith glanced around cheekily.

"Miss Karp," she stage-whispered. My eyes flicked to Eddie to see him looking, frankly, very turned on!

"I know he's old, but you've gotta admit, Guardian Croft is pretty hot…" Celeste said with a giggle. Kirk looked a bit put out and downed a shot.

I passed the deck to Dimitri who selected a card.

"How often do you fake orgasms?" his richly accented voice read.

"Never needed to," I said with a wicked grin at my love.

"Same here," he replied raising an eyebrow salaciously.

"Never!" Lissa said although I could tell through the bond she was lying. Poor fireboy. And more to the point, poor Lissa!

"Same!" Christian said with a happy grin.

"Been so long I can't remember if I faked it or not," Celeste grumbled.

Kirk mumbled, "Well, that's a damn pity!" before announcing he, too, didn't fake.

Meredith and Eddie likewise said they hadn't, so that round was a bust.

Dimitri passed the deck to Kirk.

"What is the silliest thing you have an emotional attachment to?"

Celeste immediately downed a shot, and so did Dimitri.

Lissa mentioned a teddy her brother had given her, Christian a book he'd had since childhood. Everyone else's responses were equally innocuous, and I declared mine to be a tube of lipgloss. I was curious about Dimitri's, so filed away the question to ask later.

Kirk passed the deck of cards to Celeste.

"What's the weirdest sex toy or thing you've used during sex?"

I picked up a shot glass and handed it to Dimitri before downing one myself. We both giggled a little as we did so.

What was it? Lissa squealed through the bond.

I raised my eyebrows and my shot glass to her, letting her know I wasn't going to divulge anything.

In the end, she took a shot, too - but only because she was embarrassed that she and Sparky never used anything. I'd always wrenched myself out of there before I witnessed too much – but I was getting the impression Sparky wasn't the most adventurous lover.

"I can hear you guys, you know!" Abe called out benevolently from the back of the plane.

"I didn't say anything!" I shouted back.

"Yes. And that's what worries me," he laughed.

Dimitri looked a little worried but calmed down when Eddie took the pack and asked the next question.

"What is your best physical attribute?"

"My ass," Kirk grinned.

"My eyes," Lissa said demurely.

"Tits!" I said playfully, squeezing mine through my top.

"I'll second that," Dimitri murmured before raising his voice. "My abs."

"I disagree," I purred giving him a very loaded look.

"Gross guys!" Eddie interrupted, getting what I was referring to. "My hair!"

"You do have wicked hair," I agreed, mostly to move the conversation away from my favorite part of Dimitri. The others named innocent enough parts of their anatomy and then it was Meredith's turn with the deck.

"What's your most embarrassing moment?"

The only one not to drink this time was Lissa.

"I was in a change room, and when I went to get redressed, my bra was missing. I thought some pervert had stolen it from under the change room door, but two hours later I was passing a shop front in the mall and saw it was hooked onto the back of my sweater…"

I was actually crying I was laughing so hard. Christian and Dimitri were doing their best to look sympathetic – but the rest of us were howling.

"I never knew that!" I gasped, smacking my knee with laughter.

"I was too embarrassed to tell you!" Lissa said with a small grin.

We kept playing, round after round, and while I didn't drink every round, I'd had enough that by the time the pilot announced our descent into Court I was feeling decidedly merry.

"You're drunk, ангел," Dimitri laughed as I tripped over my own feet getting back to my seat.

"I'm not," I argued. "I'm just a little happy."

"Ahha," he agreed disbelievingly. "I am not sure you can even walk off the plane."

I might be drunk, but I was going to make the most of the increased privacy as we were strapped in side-by-side, ready to land.

"I want to sleep next to you tonight," I moaned into Dimitri's ear as we were about to land. "Take me to bed, Guardian Belikov," I demanded suggestively. "I need a big, strong man like you to take care of me."

Dimitri growled in agreement, kissing me passionately as we taxied across the runway. The sun was high in the sky, and the airfield would be deserted, so he waited until we had halted and the airplane door had been opened before he unstrapped me and lifted me up.

My legs wrapped around his hips. He had one hand on my ass supporting me, the other tangled up in my hair. He'd occasionally kiss the side of my face. For my part, I was busy on his neck, giving him sexy open-mouthed kisses, and whispering salacious red hot suggestions in his ear. I couldn't wait to end up in bed with him in the Guardian dorms.

He had me all the way to the aircraft hanger before disaster struck.

"Rosemarie? Guardian Belikov?! Can you explain to me why my daughter is dry humping you and why you're letting her?!"

"Well, shit!" I giggled as Dimitri quickly set me on my feet, standing by my side and holding my elbow to keep me upright as I swayed alarmingly. "Hi, Mom!" I gasped, taking in her enraged expression. "Long time no see!"