Richelle Mead owns the VA and Bloodlines series.

Whoohoo! 50 chapters guys! And very nearly 500 reviews (possibly more after this chapter)! You guys are amazing and I love you all for being so supportive. So, since we're at 50 chapters, I was wondering do you guys have a favorite one shot from this collection? If you do, I'd love to know which one. Maybe we can do a bit of a poll. If you have a favorite chapter leave the chapter number in a review and I'll count them up and see which chapter comes out on top!

P.S. This chapter is out way ahead of schedule because of a guest reviewer who requested it :)

"He ran his hands over my hips. "I'm not supposed to kiss you."

"It's okay."

"What is?"

"It's okay if I kiss you."

Eddie faltered a little before he continued reading, looking a little embarrassed and I couldn't blame him. I was practically blushing just imagining the scene we were currently reading. "Adrian Ivashkov wasn't easy to surprise, but I surprised him then when I brought his mouth toward mine. I kissed him, and for a moment, he was too stunned to respond. That lasted for, oh, about a second."

Everyone, but mostly Adrian, laughed at that. He was still sitting next to me. Every time we sat down to read a little more of these books he seemed to find the seat closest to me. I didn't mind as much as I probably should have, but then again, I was currently listening to a half vampire read about a fictional midnight tryst I was having with a Moroi royal. There was a lot I was letting slide these days that I probably shouldn't have been.

"Then the intensity I'd come to know so well in him returned. He pushed me backward," Eddie went on, sounding thoroughly embarrassed now, "lifting me so that I sat on the table. The tablecloth bunched up, knocking over some of the glasses. I heard what sounded like a china plate crash against the floor."

Eddie paused. "Um, I think maybe you better read this part, Sydney. I... I can't read it anymore."

"No!" Rose exclaimed. "It was just getting good. Here," she said, gesturing for him to hand her the book. "I'll read it if you don't want to."

I reached over and grabbed the book from Eddie, before Rose or anyone else got to it. "I'll read it," I said, ignoring the disappointed look Rose shot me.

"You might, uh," Eddie said, bashfully looking down at his feet. "You might want to read it to yourself for a couple paragraphs."

I quickly glanced down at the page to see if it was really as bad as Eddie was making it out to be. We'd read through a couple of other, um, make out scenes and he was always a little embarrassed to be reading something so personal. Who wouldn't be? But they weren't that bad. They usually only lasted a few sentences and, I mean, it wasn't like Adrian and I were reenacting them on the couch or anything. Although I'd certainly imagined what it would be like if we did.

But, seeing how embarrassed whatever was in the book was making Eddie, I decided to skim the page and see just how bad it was. Something in me was terrified at what I'd find, but another part of me began to coil up in anticipation.

Whatever logic and reason I normally possessed had melted away, I read to myself. There was nothing but flesh and fire left, and I wasn't going to lie to myself—at least not tonight. I wanted him.

I felt my cheeks begin to heat. Oh, boy.

"I arched my back, fully aware of how vulnerable that made me and that I was giving him an invitation."

"Adrian!" I shouted, startled by his sudden voice in my ear. I tried to pull away so he couldn't see over my shoulder, but he simply grabbed the book from me and continued to read, an amused look on his face.

"He accepted it and laid me back against the table, bringing his body down on top of mine. That crushing kiss of his moved from my mouth to the nape of my neck. He pushed down the edge of my dress and the bra strap underneath, exposing my shoulder and giving his lips more skin to—"

"Adrian!" I finally wrestled the blue book out of his hands. "That's not funny!"

"Of course it is, Sage," he said, looking completely unperturbed by the fact that an entire room full of people—all now staring at us with wide eyes—now knew extremely personal facts about us. Or, at least, the us's in the book. Regardless of whether this was some nonexistent future version of us or not, I was angry he'd just shared such an intimate moment with these people without my consent.

"It's not," I said firmly, clutching the book to my chest. "And will you move back, please? I don't even want you reading this."

This seemed to annoy him and he sat back, his green eyes flashing. "That's about me too, you know," he said, pointing at the book. "I'm pulling down your bra strap just as much as you're letting me."

I almost hit him, I swear I did. I'd never had the urge to hit someone in the head with a book as much as I did right in that moment. "Too bad," was my intelligent response.

It was like, in the last three days, I'd gone from being afraid to be in the same room as a vampire to being able to bicker with one almost nonstop. It wasn't that Adrian and I didn't get along, because we did. Actually, we really did, but we also had very different personalities. He thought something like reading about us being intimate was funny, and I thought it was absolutely mortifying. From the looks in the room, most everyone else agreed with me. Eddie was still glancing down at his feet. Christian and Lissa were sort of just staring awkwardly into space while Adrian and I argued. Dimitri was waiting patiently, and Jill and Sonya each wore a small smile. Abe was smiling as well, but, unlike the others, his creeped me out.

Rose, on the other hand, looked impatient. "Will you please get on with this?" she asked. "You keep leaving off at the good parts."

Adrian smirked at Rose's comment, while I glared at her, unsure who I was more irritated with, him or her.

"Sorry to disappoint," I told her, "but we won't be reading any of 'the good parts' today." I got up, marking our place in the book and clutching it tightly. "We've been reading all day, I think we should call it a night."

"I think you meant that backwards," Adrian said, standing as well. There was no trace of annoyance in his smile like I thought there might be. I guess he wasn't as concerned with 'the good parts' as Rose was.

"Huh?" I asked.

"You said we've been reading all day," he elaborated, "but it's night. And when you said we should call it a night, you meant day. We should call it a day."

The corners of my lips twitched, but not from amusement. "Your people usually call day night and night day," I snapped. "I'm pretty sure you knew what I meant."

"My people?" he sneered. "Really? We just read about you getting naked with me on a table and you still—"

"We were not getting naked!" I exclaimed, flushing. "We were kissing."

"And," he continued, completely ignoring me, "now you're going back to the your people/my people remarks? Because, to be honest, Sage, your people seem like a bunch of major assholes to me."

I opened my mouth, feeling utterly flustered. "You have no right—"

"Don't I?" He was in my face now, not in a way that scared me, but in a way that threw me off all the same. His green eyes were glowing, not in anger, but something else. Some unknown emotion dancing in their depths. He shook his head in disbelief. "After everything we just read about Marcus and St. Louis and that Liam guy? You're still defending them?"

"How did this get out of hand so fast?" I heard Christian whisper, but a chorus of voices shushed him. I was too angry with Adrian to give him or the others much thought though.

"Ian," I corrected primly. "And no. I'm not defending them. I'm just... I don't know! What I do know is that you don't have a right to call them names or make scathing comments."

"But they treat you like—" He began to argue.

"Adrian, enough!" I took a breath and collected myself. "It's enough. I'm going to my room now. I'll see you all tomorrow," I said to the uncomfortable looking crowd surrounding us before glaring at Adrian and correcting, "tomorrow night," as snarkily as I could and headed for the door. Adrian looked as if he wanted to say more, but thankfully kept quite as I left.

It wasn't long after I reached my room that I found myself pacing the living area. Three days ago I'd have thought you were crazy if you told me I'd be anxious about how to handle my relationship with Adrian Ivashkov. I'd have told you you were crazy for even suggesting I might have a relationship with Adrian Ivashkov. But now... Well I wasn't sure what the status of the relationship was, but it was pretty obvious we had one.

We'd been getting along pretty well for the most part. We bickered more and more often the longer we spent together, but our argument tonight was... I wasn't exactly sure what it was. It had started out so stupidly. I was annoyed he'd read personal details out loud in front of everyone, but it was more than that. It was the way his cavalier attitude changed so quickly when I'd defended the Alchemists, which, I wasn't even entirely certain why I'd done that. I supposed it could be because of whatever compulsion they'd laced my tattoo with. It worried me. But what worried me even more was Adrian's reaction.

He'd gotten so upset, more upset than I'd thought he was capable of. He seemed so easy going and care free most of the time and, while I knew better from the books, it was easy to be taken in by it. So when he got defensive it took me by surprise. I refused to think about the other thing that bothered me about our fight, that Adrian had been angry because he was being protective of me. It was one thing to know that he did that kind of thing all the time in the book, but it was entirely different when he actually did it in real life.

The lines between reality and fiction were beginning to blur and I had the sneaking suspicion I was going to have to start seriously considering what I was going to do about the Alchemists, something I had been pushing off, always telling myself I couldn't make a decision about until I'd read all the books. But what did I think would change over the next three books? That the Alchemists would somehow redeem themselves? That Adrian and the others would show their true colors and do something evil and get me off the hook for the whole thing?

The truth was, it wasn't even about the books anymore. I knew, just from spending a little time around these people, that they weren't evil. How could blushing Eddie be evil? Or overly enthusiastic Jill, or snarky Christian, or even Rose with her blunt comments and outspoken nature? It wasn't hard to see how not evil they were. Maybe with the exception of Abe, but I didn't trust him for reasons that had nothing to do with him being a vampire.

Meanwhile, I could recall plenty of times when the Alchemists had used me or people I'd known in ways that seemed so unfair now. They treated me like a robot, expected to perform tasks without question. But I wasn't a robot, I couldn't simply sit back and let people lie to me and use me for their own personal gain. Especially when they were barely living up to any of the original Alchemist beliefs. My mind was going into overload worrying about how I was ever going to be able to extricate myself from their grasp, because I couldn't live like that. I wouldn't live like that. And it had absolutely nothing to do with these vampires and everything to do with finally seeing my organization for the greedy, manipulative group that they were.

But I had to admit, part of me was changing because of the vampires as well, namely, Adrian. It was hard not to be changed after spending time with him, especially when reading the books and about our relationship. It should've been a nightmare for an Alchemist like me, or at least embarrassing considering we were reading it in front of a group. But the worst part wasn't the public reading of our embarrassingly personal encounters or even that book-me was in love with Adrian, a vampire. I'd gotten used to all that. The worst part was that whenever book-me was with Adrian I cheered on the inside, hoping she'd just admit her feelings already. I was rooting for my own future forbidden romance! As stupid as it sounded, I'd started to fall in love with a character in a book. It didn't help that the "character" in question was real and had already admitted to wanting the lives we had in said book. Or that he was sweet, funny, charming and protective. Not to mention irritatingly good looking and he knew it.

If I thought my own feelings were hard to handle, seeing Adrian's face light up whenever book-me admitted my feelings for him was impossible. I had no idea what I could possibly say to him, but knew it was only a matter of time before he wanted to talk about our relationship, especially after tonight's argument. The books told our future, and our future was apparently together. But... this was insane! I couldn't be in love with a Moroi. Although, if I was going to fall for a Moroi I couldn't think of anyone more appealing than Adrian.

It was hard not to openly sigh whenever he did or said something romantic in the book. Sure, he could be a little pushy, but there were a few times when, even I had to admit, book-me needed a push.

Still, he was a vampire and, despite feeling friendlier towards them, the idea of seriously dating one was still throwing me for a loop. And this vampire in particular had some pretty serious issues to contend with. Even though Adrian had noticeably cut back on the drinking, he'd taken more than a few sips from his flask today and God knows how many cigarettes he'd lit up over the past three days. But he did make me laugh with all of his sly commentary and he had this way of guessing what his book-self was going to say before Eddie read it. And somehow when he was around I felt safer even though I was stuck in the middle of the Moroi Court. That didn't make a whole lot of sense to me, but after reading the books I was pretty sure he wouldn't let anyone hurt me.

I only wished that the book went into more detail about the spells I learned for Ms. Terwilliger, then I could protect myself. That was another thing I couldn't keep off my mind for very long. It bugged me at first, knowing I had magic coursing through me, that I could do such unnatural things. But seeing the power and all of its positive uses had loosened me up a bit about magic. I almost wanted to find Jackie Terwilliger in real life and see if she would teach me how to control my magic. It seemed like a great resource to have. I certainly would never be anyone's victim as long as I knew how to use it.

I'd just stopped pacing and sat down on the couch when there was a knock at the door. The unexpected sound caused me to jump up, but, surprisingly, I didn't feel fear when I walked over to the door. It could only be two people. I knew Rose would want to talk at some point. She was really my only friend here and I did want to talk to her about everything, but, despite what had happened earlier, I was still hoping for someone else when I pulled the door open, just enough to see who was there.

I held back a smile when I saw the other person standing in the hallway, his dark hair messy and sticking up in all directions like he'd been running his fingers through it. His green eyes locked onto mine and he gave me a small smile.

"Hi," I said, gripping the side of the door and yanking it open all the way. I'd wanted him to come, but I still had no idea what to say. "Come in."

Adrian didn't move. "I just wanted to apologize for earlier. You were right, I shouldn't have said the things I said." He glanced at my hand on the door, clutching it so tightly my knuckles were turning white, and looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry for barging in on you," he said suddenly, and started turning away." I shouldn't have come."

"No! No, it's fine. I wanted to talk to you." He turned and looked at me warily, like he didn't believe me, or maybe he just thought I planned on yelling at him some more. "Well, I think we need to talk, anyway. A lot of stuff has happened... while reading the book, and I just want to make sure that we—that we're—you know. On the same page. I guess."

Adrian nodded, but still didn't come inside. I waved him in and told him to sit down. It was shocking how a few days ago being alone with a Moroi, even one as attractive as Adrian, would have scared me, but now I was fine. I didn't worry that he'd bite me or anything. I was pretty sure everyone else thought I was still scared and uncomfortable around them though. Including Adrian, who sat as far from me on the couch as he could.

"I wanted to talk to you," he started once I was seated, "because I really am sorry about before. I shouldn't have acted that way, and I know I shouldn't have read all of that stuff out loud if you didn't want me to. I shouldn't have joked about it like that when I know that you... Well, you know. I figured you were probably in here freaking out about... everything." He looked so uncomfortable I almost felt sorry for him. I almost told him that it was fine and I forgave him, but he kept talking. "I know I said I wanted to be more like the me in the books, and I do, but..."

For a split second I panicked. I wasn't exactly sure why, but I did, and my heart throbbed painfully against my ribcage. Was he going to tell me he didn't want to date a human? That he'd changed his mind and didn't want to see if we connected like in the books?

"But," he went on, "I know how you feel. I do, even if I didn't get it at first. I've been thinking about it a lot and I don't want to scare you. I know there's something between us, Sage, but I understand why you wouldn't want to be with me. Especially after tonight. In the books we came together because of circumstance. We had months to get to know each other and change and grow as people. But we just met three days ago, and I'm still the crazy, drunken, immature vampire that has nothing going for him besides daddy's money. And I don't even have that anymore, because he cut me off." He took a breath and shook his head. "What I'm saying is, I get why someone like you would want nothing to do with someone like me. So don't worry about it. I don't want you freaking yourself out and worrying I'm going to have a meltdown if you reject me when this is all over."

I looked down at my hands, wondering what I could possibly say to that speech. He was letting me off the hook, in a way. I could simply nod and he'd leave and that would be that, no more worrying about what was going on between us. But I'd still have the Alchemists to contend with, and, really, just because there was nothing going on between me and Adrian didn't mean I wouldn't be thinking about him. Finally I just took a deep breath and decided to let my heart guide me. After that the decision wasn't all that hard and I turned to him with a smile. "You really know how to unsell yourself, don't you?"

His head snapped up, his green eyes still sad, but now there was some confusion there as well. "What?"

"Did you really come to my room to tell me not to feel bad about not wanting you?" I asked. "Because from what I understand, Adrian Ivashkov is usually brimming with self-confidence and witty come ons." I shook my head teasingly. "I feel like I've been mislead."

"I thought you'd be scared if I came in here and hit on you," he said, uncertainly, but a small smile tugged at his lips.

"Then why did you come at all? Besides the well deserved apology, that is."

The smile spread across his whole face, but Adrian looked away before I had time to really appreciate it.

"Well, I came here to hit on you. Sort of, anyway." He glanced back at me sheepishly. "I needed to apologize, but I wanted to talk to you. I like talking to you. But when I went to knock on the door I got this mental image of you throwing things at me and telling me to leave you alone. I really thought you'd be in here worrying about how to handle this," he said, gesturing between us with a flick of his wrist.

Now I looked away. I had been worrying about how to handle this thing between us, but not in the way he thought. What I was feeling for him wasn't something I should be feeling. It wasn't even something that made sense. For the hundredth time I tried to tell myself that you couldn't fall for someone just because you read about them in a book. It was ludicrous! But, no matter how many times I tried to convince myself, I didn't believe it. Not when I looked over at Adrian and saw him looking at me with his beautiful green eyes. He looked completely at my mercy, like he'd do whatever I told him to, he was just waiting for my decision. In the end, I couldn't make it.

"I don't know what to do," I said honestly. "Like you said, it's only been three days, but..." I bit my lip and looked back to my hands in my lap. "I... like talking to you, too. The books, they're about us. What we would have been like in the future, if Abe hadn't shown them to us. So obviously, there's something between us. Whether it's right or wrong, I can't figure that out right now, there's just too much else to think about. But I do know it exists. I've read about it, I've... I've felt it." I dared a quick glance up to find him looking at me with an expression somewhere between confusion and awe. "But three days just isn't enough time to go making major life decisions. I mean, I'm not going to tell you I'm in love with you or anything. I'm not and I think we both know that it would be ridiculous if we were, but... I do feel something for you. It's sort of all hitting me over the head at once here."

"I know," he said, inching closer to me on the couch. "It's okay. I feel that way too. But, would you consider spending some time with me? You said three days isn't enough time, and I agree. So we should spend more time together. If you want."

His eyes were wide and earnest and I inched a little closer to him, too, feeling brave. "That might be nice," I said softly. "Just the two of us, no group of onlookers overhearing our private thoughts and conversations."

His hand grazed my arm and I suddenly felt warm where he touched me. "No one to make stupid comments or roll their eyes whenever we flirt or..."

"Kiss," I whispered, finishing his thought.

We were leaning into one another, close enough that I could feel his warm breath on my cheek. My eyes started to flutter shut, waiting. His fingers curved around my shoulder, gently holding me in place and all I could feel was the heat of those fingers.

His breath mingled with mine as he whispered, "You've never kissed anyone before."

My eyes popped open and my cheeks flamed when I realized how close he was, how close we'd come to... He was right, I hadn't kissed anyone before. In the book I'd kissed Adrian, many times, and I was apparently good at it. But I'd kissed that boy Brayden first. It was awkward and clumsy and now Adrian was going to experience that awkward kiss firsthand. I started to pull away, embarrassed.

"No." Adrian's hands came up to cup my face gently. "I meant that in a good way." His lips touched my cheek and my eyes closed involuntarily as he whispered against my skin. "I want to be your first."

That was when something truly amazing happened. I stopped thinking, just like in the book. I lifted my face to him on some sort of instinct and suddenly his mouth was on mine. We were kissing and it was soft and warm and he was so gentle. His fingers traced my cheeks and jaw, before sliding into my hair. I had imagined our kiss in the book a thousand times since we'd read it and, even in my fantasies, I never thought it would feel like this. It really did feel like melting. I couldn't think about anything but the feel of his lips even if I'd wanted to, and I didn't want to. All I wanted was to wrap my arms around his neck and pull him closer, so I did.

This kiss, my first kiss, our first kiss, didn't end the way it did in the book. I didn't pull away, mortified and scared of the consequences. I knew the consequences and I knew exactly what the Alchemists would do to me if they found out, but I couldn't bring myself to care. Not when I knew so many of their dirty little secrets. Instead of pulling away I leaned further into Adrian and he wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me until I finally backed away. I rested my hand on his cheek and looked into his too green eyes, the eyes of a stranger who was so much more than a stranger. He covered my hand with his and smiled.

"Hell of a first kiss," he breathed.

"Can't wait to see how much better the second one is," I grinned, unable to stop myself.

He brushed a strand of hair away from my face, looking amused, but oddly serious. Somehow that just intrigued me more. "You're really not the same girl I met a couple days ago," he said.

"I don't think anything's the same as it was a couple days ago," I countered, moving back from him, putting a little distance between us, but our knees were still touching.

Adrian considered that. He reached out to take my hand, gently holding mine in his. It was the first time I'd ever held hands with someone who wasn't a parent or one of my sisters. I couldn't help but think how nice such a simple touch could be when you liked the person who was touching you.

"I hope you're right," he finally said, looking up at me. "Because, right now, I'm a lot happier than I was a few days ago. Than I ever was, if I'm being totally honest."

I wasn't sure what to say to that, so I just squeezed his hand, hoping it was enough. After a few more seconds Adrian let go of my hand to grab the book off the end table next to the couch.

"Would it be okay if we read some of this together? Rose might not be happy with us tomorrow, but I know you'd feel better about it," he said, making me smile. For whatever his issues, Adrian really was a good guy and he was trying to make me happy.

I told him it was fine, as long as he didn't go broadcasting it around for all of Court to hear, and he laughingly agreed to never do anything like that ever again. I couldn't read it myself, not out loud to him at least, so I let Adrian take the reins. The subject matter was a little uncomfortable, but he ignored my many embarrassed faces and by the time we were a few paragraphs in I was already lost in the story. He had a lovely voice, rich and melodic, and as he read I decided that I could listen to him forever.

Our book-selves weren't as intimate as I'd feared they might be, considering how caught up in each other they were. I'd only kissed Adrian once, for a few moments, but I could already guess how easily things might escalate if we allowed them to.

After we got to a more appropriate place to start reading with the group tomorrow Adrian lingered for a few minutes, talking and joking. It was late and I was pretty tired, so we decided to find some time together tomorrow. Adrian said he'd handle all the details and, while that worried me, I was surprised to find that I was worried about him taking me to a party or club or some place else I wouldn't fit in. I wasn't the least bit worried he'd take me to a dungeon where he planned on biting me or anything superstitious like that.

"So I'll see you tomorrow," he said as I walked him to the door. He opened it, but turned back to me instead of walking out.

I smiled at him. "Just, please, don't take me anywhere stupid, okay? Promise?"

"No stupid places for Sage. Got it," he grinned, but it faded a second later when our eyes locked.

I don't know what came over me, if I was caught up in the moment, or if it was lust, or just some long forgotten instinct, but I leaned up on my toes, my fingers threading through his hair, and kissed him. It took him a moment to catch up, but when he did his movements were slow and sure. He wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me closer, while the other traced patterns down the back of my neck. His lips were smooth and soft and I wondered how they'd feel while kissing my neck like he'd done so many times in the book.

This kiss lasted longer than the last, but we managed to stop before we lost ourselves in each other. Adrian pulled back, stroking the hair back from my face and smiled brightly.

"Damn," he whispered. "You were right about the second kiss."

I laughed, feeling the oddest sensation, like I was floating. It was nice though and I decided I liked it. A lot. "Maybe we can try out a third tomorrow," I teased.

"Can't wait," Adrian said, leaving my room. He turned back once while I was closing the door and said, "Sweet dreams, Sage."

I watched him go for a moment before swinging the door shut and leaning back against it. My fingers came up to my lips of their own accord, touching the place they tingled. I could still feel the warmth where he'd kissed me.

This wasn't how I'd planned tonight going. It wasn't anything I'd ever pictured for myself, but now that it was happening... All I knew was that, vampire or not, book or not, I liked Adrian and he liked me. I felt happier than I'd felt in as long as I could remember. The Alchemists didn't deserve my loyalty or my respect, so didn't I owe it to myself, to Adrian, to give this, whatever this was, a try? I wasn't afraid he'd hurt me, I wasn't afraid of him at all. In fact, I was sort of the opposite of afraid when it came to Adrian Ivashkov. And the way he'd kissed me...

I smiled, still touching my lips. It couldn't hurt to spend a little more time with him. We still had a few days to read the rest of the books, after all. It was the perfect opportunity to see if what was in the books was true.