Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, profit from this story and all creative rights to the characters belong to Richelle Mead.

The original content, ideas and intellectual property of this story are owned by Ms. Belikov. Please do not copy, reproduce, or translate without express written permission.

Splash.

I awoke with a start, sitting straight up, gasping for air.

"What the hell?" I screamed at Dimitri, who stood there with a smirk, holding a silver empty bucket.

"You're five minutes late," The bodyguard informed me. "Which means you lost time in training. Let's go."

"Let me at least get dressed."

His bottomless eyes traveled up and down my PJ-clad body slowly, unabashedly. "That'll do just fine."

I scoffed. "Seriously?"

"Does it look as if I'm joking?"

"Can I take a shower?"

"What does it matter? You're going to get hot and sweaty anyways."

Automatically, my mind went to R-rated thoughts. "I'm going to brush my teeth."

"Fine," Reaching into the bucket, he dipped his fingers in and flicked droplets of ice-cold water on my face. "Hurry up."

Five minutes of speedy driving and some rough shoving later, we arrived at our own private space in the local gym.

"Start with your warm up stretches." Dimitri said.

I did as he said, enjoying the muscly view of his bulging arms as he pulled them behind his head.

"So, uh, about last night..." I paused, ready to dive into the awkward details, but the bodyguard waved his hand dismissively.

"Just forget about it. It's for the better."

"See. I'm not like you. I can't just pretend like something never happened." I grabbed my leg and pressed it to my hip, feeling the burn. "You know what, I'm just going to go out there and say it. Why did you kiss me back?"

"Rose..." The tone of his voice made me wince, I knew I was going to hate what he said next. "To be brutally honest, I don't know why I did what I did last night. But please, I am begging you, do not think anything of it. It was a one time thing. Never to happen again. And frankly, you're not my type."

I gulped, feeling my heart break more and more. Somehow, I managed a leveled voice when I spoke, "What do you mean I'm not your type?"

Dimitri arched an eyebrow. "You're a virgin, Rose. I like my women to have experience. And you, defiantly carry none. You just wouldn't satisfy me."

I stood there frozen, only able to stare as he jogged out of the gym and headed for the track.

I made a sharp left turn and cursed when I heard a split. Glancing down at my purple cocktail dress, I growled and pressed my foot down on the gas petal. "It ripped!"

"Slow down, Rose." Dimitri said tightly.

"Don't tell me how to drive! I know how to drive!"

"You're going ninety-five miles per hour on a forty-five miles per hour road. Slow down!" The bodyguard reached over, grabbed my leg, and lifted it over the break. He pressed down, slowing the vehicle to normal speed.

"Don't touch me! Let me go!"

The car swerved, and Dimitri leaned over to steady the wheel. "What the hell is your problem?" he asked as I pulled into the driveway of my parents suburban home.

"You are my problem, Dimitri! God, I just wish you'd go away so my problems would disappear."

Inside, I waved and gave a smile that seemed to suck what little energy I had left right out of me."Hey, Ma. Hey, Dad. Wassup?"

It was strange being here at my parents house for their anniversary, considering they'd filed for divorce just over a month ago. Abe claimed that he loved Janine dearly, but had never fallen in love with her. Which was a damn shame. My father owned my mother's heart, and he forever would.

However, something had changed with their connection lately, I'd noticed. In spite of keeping the divorce private and having to play the perfect couple until they officially announced the news, they seemed to be...different.

Maybe it was simply my imagination, but Janine just wouldn't stop smiling. I sensed the sincerity in that gesture. Not to mention Abe couldn't seem to keep his hands off her. Whether it was to refill her flute of champagne or to brush aside a stray strand of perfect red hair, my father was very touchy-feely with my mother tonight.

"That makes one of us," I muttered, downing the rest of my Gin and Tonic.

"What was that?" Dimitri asked beside me, looking gorgeous as ever in his sleek black suit.

God, I wanted him so bad. It actually hurt not to tackle him to the floor, smash my lips against his, and tear off all his clothes. What was wrong with me? I had never felt this way before. I was lusting after a man who clearly didn't want me, and was totally out of my league.

"Nothing." I said bitterly. "Abso-fucking-lutely nothing."

I stared at Abe and Janine. They reminded me of a pair of puppy-love struck teenagers.

Could my father be falling for my mother for the very first time...? Could he be rethinking the divorce...? Possibly regretting it...?

No.

Of course not.

This was all just an act for the party guests.

"You should really take it easy," The bodyguard nodded towards the fresh blueberry martini I was tipping off.

"It's your job to protect me. Not watch my alcohol intake. Now, my drunk ass is going to stumble on over there and flirt with some hot guys."

"Rose." he hissed, grabbing onto my arm firmly. "Don't act irrationally."

I mocked gasped. "How dare you ask me of such a thing, Mr. Belikov! To not act irrationally, would to not be Miss Hathaway. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some sloppy kisses to give out. I got my eye set on Blondie over there by the dining room table. He's got that real surfer-guy vibe thing going, you know. He's the complete opposite of you, and that's exactly what I need right now. Some good, non-Russian, American fun."

"Rose—"

"Ah-Ah." I tsked, pressing a finger to his soft lips. "Shhh now, little one. There's a cougar over there for you. Early fifties. The one with the curly auburn hair and sparkling yellow gown. Yeah, you see her. She's beautiful, ain't she? God, I love how radiant her skin is. Not to be a bitch or anything, but she looks like she's been around the block a few times. Just perfect for you, 'cause I know how much you love women with experience—"

Dimitri's lips crushed against mine, and I was stunned to the core. So shocked, in fact, that I sobered right up.

"What are you doing!" I said breathlessly when he broke the contact. I gave his chest a good shove when he didn't answer.

"Come here," The bodyguard said, grabbing my hand and leading me outside. He barked to a couple to get out of here and give us some privacy. They scrambled inside to join the party, fear and alarm etched in their eyes.

"I need to explain something to you. But first..." Dimitri cupped my face and pressed his mouth to mine in the softest, barely-there kiss.

"No...no." I moaned when he lifted his head. "Just a little bit more...please..."

Surprisingly, he didn't deny my pleading request. Moments later, we somehow ended up in a tangle of limbs on the tire swing hanging from the massive oak tree.

"We have to stop," The bodyguard murmured, hands trailing the insides of my thighs and back down.

"But I don't wanna." I pulled his full bottom lip between my teeth and tugged. It was strange not being afraid of bodily contact for the first time in nearly a year. I felt like a bird being released from a cage and into the sky. Freedom, release, and something much more intense coursed through my veins.

The rich chuckle that came out of his mouth was music to my ears, I absorbed the sound, indulging in it like a delicious piece of dark chocolate.

"I lied." Dimitri said.

I sat up and stared at him. "What do you mean?" I was afraid to hear the answer.

"Earlier. At the gym. When I said that you weren't my type." he tucked some hair behind my ear. "You are completely my type. You are perfect for me."

I frowned. "Why would you say that? I'm not perfect...for anyone. Not even myself. I can't even stand to look at my reflection in the mirror sometimes. I don't know, it's hard to explain. I'm just...disgusting."

"Not disgusting," His dark eyes grew sad. "Just broken. You need to be fixed."

"You got any glue?" I laughed humorlessly. "'Cause it's going to take a lot to fix all of this."

"Not true." Dimitri said, moving his legs back and fourth to rock the tire swing gently. "You're more incredible than you think you are. You don't see yourself the way other people do."

I readjusted my weight to fit more comfortably in his lap. "And how do you see me, Comrade?"

"The complete opposite of the way you see yourself."

"I don't know if that's a good or bad thing." I said truthfully.

"It's both." The bodyguard said plainly.

I frowned again, not entirely satisfied with that answer, but Dimitri didn't look as if he was ready to explain, so I let it go.

"Why did you become a bodyguard?" I asked randomly.

He stared at me, then gave a small shrug. "For a lot of reasons. Going to the army after I graduated high school provided me with a college education that my family or I couldn't afford. Which even if my mother could, I wouldn't ask her to give me that sort of money. She works hard and does the best she can for me. That's more than I can ask for." he paused. "Anyways, I went to the army so I could get a degree. It was more than I ever expected, and had I known what I was getting myself into, I would have backed out while I had the chance."

"What kind of stuff did you get yourself into?" I asked, trying to get him to talk more about himself. It was so rare—nearly nonexistent—when he did.

"War. Battles. And more war."

I gasped. "You went to war?"

"Did more than that." Dimitri said gruffly. "I led everyone through it. I gave commands, they listened. I told them to fight, they did. I told them to shoot, they pulled the trigger."

"Sounds pretty awesome."

"It's not. At all." Those bottomless eyes grew distant. "I lost my buddy out on the field. His name was Ivan. He bled to death in my arms. It was my fault, too. If I hadn't been distracted..." he shook his head.

"Oh, my God." I said, feeling guilty. "I'm so sorry—"

"It's the past." he cut me off. "It doesn't matter. Nothing is going to change it."

"What distracted you?"

"A woman," Abruptly, he smiled, and I felt a pang of raging jealousy. "Her name's Tasha."

I fought the urge to get up and walk away to try and escape the hurt from knowing he'd been with another woman. I mean, it shouldn't come as a big surprise. The man was too good looking for his own good.

"Yeah? I bet she's really beautiful." I didn't miss the sharp edge to my words.

"She was very beautiful. It's a shame that she was killed."

I gulped hard. "How...How did she die?"

"Explosive. Anyways, the reason why I became a bodyguard is simple. I wanted out of that life I was living, there was too much death and sadness, and I could only handle so much of it. But not only that, I still wanted to help people in need. To protect them from harm. So that's why I chose this profession."

"Wow, I never thought of it that way." I murmured. "I just assumed you loved being a dickhead 100% of the time."

To my utter surprise, Dimitri chuckled and offered me the smallest smile, just the bare twist of his lips. "You say the nicest things. And I like to think of it as only 99% of the time."

"99.9%."

"Fine," he said. "I'll take what I can get. So, what's your story?"

I laid my head against his chest, and shockingly, he allowed it to stay there. "You've already read my book. You know everything that's in it."

"Not true," The bodyguard said. "I've only looked at the cover. I want to know what's on the inside."

His words didn't sound sexual at all, and I would have laughed if anyone else had said them, but there was something entirely different about Dimitri. He was serious, and he was honest— he merely wanted to get to know me better. This little fact had me smiling and blushing. Thank God for the dark so he wasn't able to see it.

"I, uh, don't know. I would marry Chris Tucker in a heartbeat—"

"We've established that already."

"I love turtles."

"Raphael is at home."

"Oh, yeah. Oh, hey! Why did you get him for me?" I said curiously. "I don't believe I've ever asked you that."

He shrugged, face shifting with cautiousness. "Wanted to make you happy. Even if it was just for a moment."

"Why would you care about my happiness?" I'm just a job to you, was left unsaid but understood.

"Because you deserve it more than anybody I know, and will ever know. That's why, Roza."

"Roza?"

He swore in his native Siberian tongue. The swinging picked up pace, like he was angry at himself for the slip of tongue. "It's your name in Russian. No big deal."

I laughed harshly. "See, this is what I'm talking about. I just don't get you some times."

Dimitri arched an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Angrily, I climbed out of his lap, cursing from hell to back when the heel of my pumps caught on a thick root in the ground and I rolled my ankle.

The bodyguard was up in a flash. "Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not okay!" Feeling stupid, but too mad to really care what I looked like, I ripped off both my heels and stalked towards my Honda, limping the entire way. "I just hurt my ankle really bad, my knees are scraped, I'm sweating bullets now, and I think I'm falling in love with you."

I knew he stopped behind me because the heavy footsteps went silent.

"Too much for you to handle?" I gave a careless glance over my shoulder. "Yeah, I thought so."

Digging through my clutch, I found the keys and jabbed them into the lock. Four unsuccessful attempts later, it went where it was supposed to and I ripped open the door.

"You only think." Dimitri said tightly, blocking my way into the car. "You're not really falling in love with me. It's not real. Once this is all over, once I find that man who hurt you and bring him to justice, and I've packed up my bags and I'm far away from you, your feelings will fade. You'll forget about me."

I scowled. "I know what I'm feeling, okay? Don't try to make it out like I'm imagining all of this."

"But you are," His arm shot out when I tried to maneuver around him. "I'm a hero to you, Rose. Your protector. I make you feel safe. You're afraid that that man is going to come back and take you away again. Of course you'd get attached to me, you're vulnerable. You think you're the first one to feel this way towards me? No. It happens with all of my female clients."

I narrowed my eyes, battling the urge to punch him in the face. "Then why the hell did you kiss me tonight? Huh? What are you trying to prove? You know what, never mind. I don't want to hear your bullshit answer. Get the fuck away from me."

"You're not driving." Dimitri said, taking a step forward, menacingly towering over me from his staggering height.

"The hell I'm not! You can't tell me what to do! This is my car!" I shoved against his chest, but he didn't move an inch. "Dimitri! Goddamn it! I said move!"

POP.

POP.

POP.

POP.

The sound rang loud in the air, piercing my ears. My heart pounded as Dimitri slammed me against the car and stood in front of me, using his body as a shield to protect me from the flying bullets.

The bodyguard swore nastily in Russian. "Damn fireworks."

The air came out of my lungs in a rush. "What?" I looked across the street and discovered Abe setting off fireworks for Janine and his friends. As they started going crazy, screaming and whistling, shooting brilliant, beautiful colors into the black sky, my father went over to my mother and lit her a sparkler. She accepted it, positively beaming.

"Jesus Christ." I said. "I think I need a change of underwear, you know what I'm saying?"

"You're...a fucking...asshole...and I hate you...stupid Russian!" I furiously kicked the punching bag, showing no mercy. "I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!"

"Are you done yet?" Dimitri asked from his usual place against the wall, crossing his arms.

I straightened my body and caught the towel he threw me. "Yeah, I suppose so." I wiped the sweat from my forehead as I ripped the taped on picture of the bodyguards face from the punching bag.

"Did that help?" he gestured to the crumpled paper in the trash.

"You bet your sweet as it did." I said. "Next one that's going up there...BAM!...Adrian's!"

"I don't think so," Adrian gave a belly laugh. "It would hurt me to see you beating something so beautiful, such as my face, like that. Even if it's just a photo. It'd still sting me right here..." he rubbed the left side of his chest, over his heart. "I won't allow it."

"Fine." I clucked my tongue. "Then Janine's face."

"I didn't know you had beef with yo' mamma." Adrian said as the three of us headed outside into the pouring rain.

"I don't. Not really." I chewed my cheek, thinking. "Except for this one time, she wouldn't let me go to this bachelor party that my friend in college was throwing. I didn't talk to her until, like, dinner time, when I asked her to make my favorite pie."

"What a bummer." Adrian hummed, pulling the lapels of his gray coat closer together.

"It truly was. I missed out on the show of a life time. It's okay, though. I'm over it now. I know I'll go to Thunder Down Under one day and get a sexy lap dance from a hot Australian male stripper."

"Sounds like a plan," he said. "Well, minus the male part. And the Thunder Down Under. You've got all of that right here, baby. And it's free. Hell, I might even through in an accent for you. How does that sound?"

"Like something I don't want to happen. Now or never."

"You're lying." Adrian said as we did our warm up stretches on the starting line of the track.

"No, I'm not."

"I find that hard to believe. But whatevv's." he winked. "You couldn't handle all of this anyways."

"No, honey. You couldn't handle all of this." I grinned. "Yeah, I've seen you staring at my chest...a lot. They're real, and they're absolutely fantastic. And..." I crouched down. "You'll never, ever get to see them."

I lunged forward gracefully, sprinting down the track like it was what I was born to do. The first few weeks of training with Dimitri had been brutal, and it still was, but I managed to deal with the pain and turn it around, using it to my advantage. Each time I felt the sting in my thighs and the burning in my calves and feet, I pushed myself to go even further. Running was something I loved, I'd discovered. It made me feel alive, free, powerful, almost as if I was flying. I loved the way the wind blew my hair around, and the cold bit my exposed skin, and the feel of rain kissing my cheeks. This is what I was made to do. This was my moment.

I crossed the finish line in a blur, beating Adrian for the very first time. "In your face! In your face!" I dropped to muddy ground, exhausted. "Man, victory tastes sweet." I panted.

Adrian dropped to his knees and fell forward, landing on top of me, laughing.

I laughed with him, feeling happier than I had in a long time. Too tired to push him off, I let my head swing back and rest against the mud. The dirt soaked into my locks, clothes, and skin, staining them with its icky dark brown color.

"Good timing, Hathaway." Dimitri said, striding up to us. His tone didn't sound too particularly pleased, and neither did his stoic face as he grabbed Adrian's outstretched palm and roughly hauled the man to his feet. He did the same with me, only more gentle.

"Your shift is over." Dimitri told Adrian. "You're off for the day. Go shower and head home."

"I will...only if you promise not to think of me naked while I'm rinsing up. You know that's when I'm most defenseless."

Dimitri disdainfully rolled his eyes and playfully gave Adrian a leather-boot-to-the-ass treatment, which got the man yelping and jogging to the locker rooms.

He wrapped his fingers around my throat, squeezing.

I coughed violently and thrashed against him, trying to tear his hands away from my skin. "Please...don't..."

He slowly sucked the life out of me and consumed it, taking everything away from me. The sinister smile that twisted his lips tore me apart.

"No!" My dry lips moved, but made no sound. "It can't be you! No! Not you."

I felt wetness on my skin, covering me, and knew it was my blood.

As my vision grew blurry, I shifted my eyes away from him on top of me and stared at the ceiling.

Lissa was an angel, her eyes glossy with tears. Her pale hand reached for me, but she pulled back at the last moment.

"Why are you crying?" The question floated in my head. I hope she understood.

"You stupid, stupid girl..." Lissa said softly. "Why couldn't you see? He's standing right in front of you. Open your eyes...and you'll find who did this to you..."

"Do it, Rose. Before it's too late..." Janine appeared beside my friend as a glowing apparition. "Your time is running out. He's right there...he's right there...you can see him..."

My body jerked and my eyes snapped open. A blur of people buzzed around me like a swarm of bees. They were silent, though their mouths moved. Why couldn't I hear them?

My body jerked again, and I turned my eyes to stare at a man in a white coat, a doctor. He slammed things to my chest, and the shocks stabbed each of my limbs.

"She's flat-lining! Again!"

The chaos only got worse then. It was all fuzzy, and the bright lights assaulted my eyes, so I closed my lids and waited for it all to be over.

I jacked forward as I was hit again in the chest.

The doctor whistled through his teeth. "Heartbeat is stable. Clear out. Everyone clear out!"

"She needs me!" A deep, accented voice bellowed.

I recognized it immediately, and I sat straight up in the hospital bed. "Dimitri?"

Dimitri's dark eyes snapped over to me, and with new found strength, he shoved—Oh, God—Abe aside. My father smashed against the wall and he fell into a pile on the floor.

The bodyguard came towards me, but was stopped by several nurses and two security guards.

"Let him go!" I yelled, but immediately regretted it the instant the incredible pain shot up my throat. Leaning over, I coughed horribly, spitting blood out onto the white sheets.

I had to be dreaming. This was all a bad nightmare I was going to wake up from, screaming, kicking, and sweating. I'd catch my breath, turn on the lights and make sure the man wasn't in my room, then make a useless attempt to kick back into the dark arms of oblivion.

But why was my gut instinct telling me that I actually was very much awake?

They released Dimitri and he lunged for me, embracing me like his life depended on it. I wrapped my arms around him, needing the comfort and contact of another human being. Especially him. He smelled so wonderful and masculine. It briefly put me in a familiar, tranquil place.

I looked back at the doctor. "Why am I coughing up blood?"

I felt Dimitri shake his head. "I'll explain everything once you calm down-"

"Screw that!" A sob escaped my throat. The pain in my neck was out of this world, worse than if my flesh was roaring in flames. "Oh, no. He was there, wasn't he? In my bedroom. On top of me. Choking me. The man was there, Dimitri! In my home! How did he get in-"

The heart machine started to beep like crazy, and the doctor barked for me to calm down and warned that if I didn't, he'd have to roll that awful machine in again.

"Rosemarie, have you had any history of mental illness?" The doctor asked, all but pushing every nurse out of the room. He shut the door so we could have quiet and privacy.

"Uhhh..." My voice sounded so weird, it was deep, husky, scratchy, like sandpaper. I worked on my breathing, because that proved to be a very difficult task. "No, I don't. Why do you ask?"

"You have a severely damaged windpipe, Rosemarie. It collapsed, and I had to perform emergency surgery to get you breathing again. Now, that's why you may be in a lot of pain right now. And no, it's not going to get any better anytime soon. It'll take weeks, even months for it to heal. That's why you have to be extremely careful with that area."

Dread and absolute bone-chilling fear froze my body to the spot. "He was in my room! The man who kidnapped me was in my room! I saw him!"

The doctor and Dimitri shared looks. Dimitri nodded.

"The reasons you are coughing up blood, and those severe bruises on your neck, they're caused by an extended period of time of suffocation."

My heart dropped into my stomach. My captor had found me. He'd finally found me.

It was all over now.

No way I could escape him.

You can run, but you can't hide from me...My captor's voice pounded in my ears. Because if you do, I will chase you, and I will find you...

"What happened, Rosemarie? Back there in your room?"

"I told you!" I coughed up more blood. Dimitri wiped my mouth with a Kleenex. "H-h-h-h...he laid on top of me. I fought him. Tried to get him off of me. But he was too heavy, and too strong. I felt his hands go around my throat and squeeze so hard. Then I felt the excruciating pain. And, yeah. That's all I remember. Everything else is black." I kept my hallucinations about my mother and Lissa to myself. I didn't want them throwing me on a one-way plane to Crazyville.

The doctor cleared his throat. "The wounds on your neck, Ms. Hathaway, from what I've observed and the police have observed, are self-inflicted."

I stared at him, shocked. "You...you think I did this to myself?"

"Ms. Hathaway, I'm going to be blunt and honest here, because that's how I am." The doctor paused, face solidly solemn. "All of the evidence is there. The way the bruises are shaped, the way they wrap around your neck, the blood on your hands and underneath your finger nails. There's no way someone else could have caused these injuries."

"That's just not possible!" I said. My body shook from head to toe and I worked to control myself. "I told you. The man was in my room. He's the one who hurt me-"

"It was a nightmare," Dimitri interrupted. "A terrible, vivid nightmare."

The doctor nodded in agreement. "You must have acted out the events in your dream yourself. It's extremely rare, but it has occurred before in patients with traumatic pasts. That's the only possible explanation." he said. "Mr. Belikov rushed you here in a paralyzed state. Your eyes were rolled back into your head. You weren't breathing. Your heart started to fail. You're lucky he was there. He saved your life."

I stared around, feeling like I was on a different planet. Why wasn't anyone believing me? I was telling the truth! "You guys make me sound crazy. You...never mind. I'm wasting my breath. When can I get out of here?"

An hour later, I'd finished filling out the AMA form and was on the way home in the backseat of my parents SUV.

Dimitri reached over and grabbed my hand. Numbly, I ripped it away. "Please...don't touch me." I whispered hoarsely. "Why are you even here?"

I felt betrayed by everyone I knew and cared for. No one believed me. They all stared at me with haunted, cautious eyes, like I was a wild animal that might freak out and start tearing out throats unexpectedly. They were strangers to me. I'd lost all faith that I'd ever get better and over my ordeal. If I didn't have the support and trust of what little family and friends I had left, then what did I have? Nothing.

What hurt the most was Dimitri believing I'd lied. For some incredibly absurd reason, I always felt like no matter what, I could go to him, and he'd understand me. He'd have my back. Evidently, that wasn't the case here.

The bodyguard stared at me, eyes for full of sorrow.

"I want you gone." I told him. "Now."