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.

Chapter rated M for strong language and a lemony scene.

RPOV:

Dark eyes flickered to mine. Dimitri motioned for me to be quiet with his finger, then made a downward action with his palm, indicating for me to get on the ground

Too scared to do anything but listen to his orders, I silently lowered to my knees. My body was shaking all over and I had to clamp my teeth shut to keep them from chattering.

The security system had been breached. Holy shit. Ivan, the technology genius, had the place wired everywhere, top to bottom. I don't think a rat could have gone past those massive iron gates without them knowing about it.

The only way someone must have broken in is because they were also very crafty with computers and alarms.

Sheer panic settled in as I saw a shadow creep around the corner. An arm lifted and in its gloved covered hand was a gun with a silencer on its muzzle. I screamed for Dimitri, but he'd already tackled the black shadow to the floor.

As the sensor lights blinked on, I was able to see the man covered in all black clearly. Dimitri grabbed him by the wrist and smashed it against the ground one, two, three times to get the firearm out of his grip.

"Get the gun, Rose! And be careful!" Dimitri shouted, holding the man with ease underneath him, even when he started bucking and trying to flip Dimitri over on his back.

I kicked the piece of metal a few inches, then grabbed it and booked it for the stairs. "Ivan! Darius!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, burning my throat.

As if they were in sync, the men darted out of their rooms at the same exact time. It was obvious in their clothes and messy hair that they'd been sleeping. Both were wearing startled looks.

"Downstairs! Now. He needs help. Someone broke in!"

Their expressions transformed into murderous ones, a real I'm-going-to-kill-someone-tonight-and-I-cannot-wait. Both looked like soldiers and I knew they were prepared to defend Dimitri no matter what. When it came to Ivan and Darius, one thing you never did was mess with the people they loved.

"Hold on. Uno momento, senorita." Darius grabbed the gun out of my hand, then disappeared in his room. A heartbeat later, he returned with two new shiny firearms. He tossed one to Ivan and they both headed for the stairs. "Stay here, Rose!"

I followed behind, tiptoeing. Hiding in the shadows, I peaked around a corner.

Dimitri was on his feet, apparently in the middle of a brutal interrogation. "Tell me who you work for!" He grabbed the male by his shirt and slammed him so hard against the wall I swore I heard ribs snapping.

As the guy in all black howled in pain, Dimitri repeated his question, baring his upper lip and growling the words at him. A moment later, the ski mask was ripped off, revealing a man in his late twenties with snow-white skin, brown eyes, and hair the color of a barn.

When the redhead didn't responded, Ivan walked over, gripped his nose, and twisted.

The sickening cracks and pops made me want to hurl forward and vomit, but I somehow managed to swallow the bile down and keep quiet. If I was seen now, I'd most certainly be in deep shit.

"I don't know his name!"

"You don't know his name?" Darius smiled cruelly. Man, the guy could be all friendly and funny and polite during the day, but piss him off, and he made you think fondly of the devil.

Redhead breathed heavily as he spoke, his words coming out in short breaths, "H-h-h he never told me his name. I swear to God I don't know it. Please don't hurt me!"

"Too late for that." Ivan muttered. "Boss, I think he's telling the truth."

Dimitri gripped the males collar and lifted him a good foot off the ground. "Are you the one who shot my wife?"

Wife? There would be time to be pissed off about that later.

Red shook his head so fast you'd think he was having a seizure. "No. Nathan was the one. He watched the two women in the store, then waited for them out in the parking lot."

"You told me you didn't have a name!" Dimitri growled, releasing the man.

Redhead fell straight to the hard marble floor. He groaned in pain and rubbed the sore spot. Blood poured from his nose, into his mouth, and down his neck. "Nathan was hired to kill you. He's not the one who wants you dead. It's all money to Nathan, that's all. Nothing personal."

"Nothing personal?" Darius laughed and the sound was like venomous scorpions crawling all over my skin. "I think it's just gotten pretty damn personal, hasn't it. Who does Nathan work for?"

"I. Don't. Know. If I did, I would tell you in a heartbeat. I swear."

"Where can we find this Nathan guy then?"

"I don't have an address," Red said. "But we meet at this diner on Tempri drive. He's waiting for me to call him with the news."

"What news?" Ivan asked.

"News that you had been shot."

"A suicide mission. He was sent in here to get killed, though he is unaware of this little fact...aren't you, boy?"

"Ivan?" Dimitri ignored Darius. When the male nodded, he asked, "Why?"

"He wanted your business partner killed. If I take out Ivan, it's much easier to get to you. I swear I didn't want to do this, but he paid me twenty grand-"

"Shut the fuck up."

"So that's why he's doing this?" Darius was putting all of the pieces together in his mind. "Because you buy and sell hotels. Because you're at the top of the game. One of the richest men on the planet. And because…"

"You're competition." Ivan finished. "He wants you out of the game, boss. Done. Killed. He'll be in control if you are…he'll make millions if you're six feet under."

My stomach churned and my heart burned like it was roaring in flames. God, no. No. No. No. This couldn't be happening.

"Didn't you mention something about threat letters you received a few years back?" Darius asked.

Dimitri nodded. "I didn't think anything of it. They were just trying to scare me out of my business. I wouldn't listen to any of it. Honestly, I though it was a joke."

"Shit."

"Let's go to the diner." Someone suggested.

"No!" I stepped out of hiding. "You can't go."

"Get her out of here."

Darius and Ivan came towards me. Two massively intimidating predators on the hunt.

"Dimitri, I swear to God if you go out that door…"

Dimitri held up his hands, stopping everyone. He looked directly at me. "I have to, Roza."

"Let the police deal with it!"

Darius flashed a gun, "Sorry, baby. This isn't something you can handle with the law. The only way to fix things is to get down and dirty."

"Watch him." Dimitri barked to the men, pointing at Red. When they took positions beside him, he pulled me into the kitchen where it was quiet. The doors flapped shut.

"Why are you doing this?" I demanded, grabbing his shirt and slamming him against the refrigerator. Bottles and boxes tipped off the top and slammed against the ground.

"Protecting you," He growled, pinning my hands behind my back. "Can't you see that? As long as that man who wants me dead is out there, you're in danger."

"Call the police."

"They won't be able to do anything about it. Trust me."

"You're an idiot!"

"I have to go."

"Go right ahead! Leave me when I beg you to stay, just like you did six years ago. History always repeats itself, doesn't it?" Low blow, but I was grasping at straws here. It wasn't like I could tie Dimitri up and lock him in a closet. The idea had passed through my head a few times, but I knew Darius and Ivan would come searching if he didn't show up soon.

"It's not like that, and you know it." His voice was solemn. "I won't stop at nothing to defend you."

Without another glance, Dimitri left.

The doors shutting after his tall frame were like knifes to my heart. I dropped to my knees and hugged myself. Though I'd never been a religious person—my mother had been an atheist before she'd overdosed on heroine—I prayed to God to keep Dimitri safe. Honestly, I had no idea what I'd do without him.

I must have been there awhile because my tears ducts ran dry from crying and I was lifted off the ground. I lifted my head and looked up. "Dimitri?"

"It's me, Roza. I'm just taking you back to your room. You need sleep." he whispered. Everything around us was dark, so I assumed everyone had gone to rest. It was late. Really, really late.

Shaking my head, I said, "I wanna go with you. In your bed."

Dimitri glanced down, his face covered in shadows. He stared at me for a moment as he walked, then nodded. "Okay."

"How are Darius and Ivan?"

"Asleep. And they're fine. Everyone is fine."

"How did everything go? At the diner, I mean."

"Taken care of." he replied sharply.

"What do you mean—"

"Everything is fine. You're safe, for now. That's all that matters. There's no need to dive into details."

I nodded and laid my head against his chest. "I missed you." I said so lowly I don't believe he heard.

A few minutes later, we'd made it to his room. After shutting and locking the door, he set me on my feet and turned on the lights—

I gasped, a hand flying to my mouth. "Holy crap. What happened to your face?"

When I came towards Dimitri, he held up his arms and softly pushed me back. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"To hell with that." I said. "Let me see your eye. Oh, God. It's nearly swollen shut. Do you want an ice pack?"

"No. It'll heal."

I touched his cheek gently. When the God reincarnate closed his eyes and leaned against my palm, I whispered, "Does it hurt?"

He shook his head and turned to press his lips to my hand. "I don't feel anything."

"You will in the morning."

"I'll deal with that when it comes to it."

"We'll." I corrected. "We will deal with it. We're a team now. Deal with it."

Dimitri smiled beautifully.

"Will you tell me what happened tonight?"

"I killed Nathan."

"What?"

"I shot and killed Nathan. Please don't look at me like that. If I hadn't done what I did in that alley, other people would have died. Whether it was tonight or sometime in the future…it would have happened. Death is unavoidable with Nathan…I could see it in his eyes. He was evil, Roza. You could see it. Anyone could." His voice was on the verge of hysteria, telling me exactly how he was doing knowing that he'd taken another persons life: Not good at all.

"Dimitri, look at me." When he met my eyes, I said, "You did what you had to do."

He squeezed his lids shut.

I tugged him over to the bed, forced him to sit down, and pulled him in my arms. Dimitri laid his head against my chest and hugged me tight, like a child being comforted by their mother after having a really bad nightmare.

"Believe it or not, you're a hero."

"I killed a man tonight. That's not heroic."

"You saved Ivan and Darius. You saved me. And you saved yourself." I ran my fingers through his shoulder-length mane. "That man was hired to assassinate you. If you hadn't done what you had, he would have come after you and killed anyone who got in his way. Do you think he is remorseful for the lives he has taken?"

"No."

"Exactly. As hard as this may be to believe, you did the world a favor, you saved peoples lives. You are the bravest man I know."

"You are extraordinary. My salvation." Dimitri prayed in Russian, then lifted his head and stared straight at my lips.

I knew exactly what he needed. My salvation. Those words echoed in my head.

When I lifted my shirt over my head, he seemed surprised and hesitant. "Shh." I put my fingers to his lips, then kissed him. "I need you, too."

Slowly, I reached for the lapels of his duster. "No. We can't. Not now. I want this to be beautiful, romantic. I don't want the reason you finally want to make love is because you pity me." He grabbed my arms and pinned them in my lap, pressing his forehead to mine. "I'm perfectly content and happy with holding you in my arms."

"Yeah, well, I'm not. So release my hands so I can get you naked." When he smiled brilliantly, I giggled. "And the last thing I feel for you is pity. Believe me."

"I don't." Dimitri said. "You're just saying that now. It's understandable. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told you about Nathan. I hate when you worry—"

Grabbing his thick wrists, I slid both palms underneath my bra, feeling his warm skin brushing the sensitive flesh of my breast. He sucked in a sharp breath and hissed.

"Does this feel like pity to you?"

His head shook from side to side, over and over again…kind of like a robot. Satisfaction filled my chest. Dimitri wasn't a man that got struck stupid very often.

"This is desire and hunger and yearning." His jacket and shirt came off, revealing a Godly body. "I want you, Dimitri. I need you. My body is yours."

Something from his native tongue escaped his full lips, as sharp as a curse. I was covered with his heavy body in the blink of on an eye. "I promise to love you the way I've wanted to for so long, Roza. My head is going to be between your legs and I will lick you until you scream my name. Then I'm going to bury myself so deep inside you and look into your eyes as I release. Do you want to know what I'm going to do after that? Take you every way there is. I will seize you from behind. I will take you standing up. Against the wall. And then you're going to sit on my hips and ride me until I'm breathless."

Oh, God, was my only thought as my eyes rolled back in my head. Clothes disappeared. Skin contact was made. Mouths joined.

All of my senses were gone. I was lost completely.

"Ugh." I fell out of bed, my body slammed against the ground with every muscle screaming at me. "Breaker, breaker, Comrade. It seems we have a problem. I am unable to walk."

His loud laugh was music to my ears. I peaked up. Dimitri was laying on the massive mattress, the only thing covering his naked body were the sheets hiked up to his bare hips. Those glorious arms that had held me all night were crossed behind his head. His expression was one of masculine pride and satisfaction.

God…what a sight. My sore, aching body heated up again. Damn!

"Don't look so smug, you bastard." On the contrary, my voice was sweet and gentle. It didn't help that I couldn't stop smiling either. The damn thing just wouldn't go away. Oh, the joys of being hopelessly in love.

"I think I like watching you struggle." Dimitri grabbed the remote and snapped on a movie. "Come back to bed, my love. Let's get some rest."

"You and I both know that's the last thing we'd be doing."

"True. That's why I'm telling you to get over here. Where are you going anyways?"

"Shower."

Dimitri rocket launched to his feet.

"Now you get up. Go back. No sex…yet. I need to recover."

He frowned. "I just want to take a shower with you. That's all."

I rolled my eyes. "Bullshit. But fine. Let's go."

Two hours later, we emerged from the bathroom, so perfectly clean yet dirty at the same time. That's what endless rounds under the water spray will do for you.

Glancing at Dimitri's freshly clothed body, I couldn't believe that I wanted him again. It seemed impossible, but my body ached and yearned for him more than it had in the last six years we'd been apart, despite the fact how many times he'd made love to me throughout the night.

I gulped. "I want something to eat."

He winked. "You have me, baby."

"Food. Breakfast. Kitchen. Food in the kitchen for breakfast would be good. Really good."

Dimitri grabbed my hand and kissed my knuckles. "Whatever you want, Roza. Our new chef just arrived from Europe and I believe that you'd be perfect to put his cooking skills to the test."

IPOV:

I set the weights down slowly and breathed heavily. "What...the hell did you just say?"

"It's all about the chase, brother. All about the chase." Darius said.

Though I was well built from having spent the majority of my life as a marine, Darius was…well, he put my body to shame. The man was all muscles, rock hard muscles. At six-foot-nine and two-hundred and eighty pounds, Darius looked like he could get mowed over by a tank and not be fazed by it in the slightest. No wonder he constantly had women dropping panties at his feet.

"I think it runs deeper than that." I said.

He stood up, navy-blue eyes wide. "Really? Because I think I like her."

"Like or like?"

"Like." Darius wiped the sweat from his forehead with a white towel. "Oh…shit."

"Oh, shit is right, my brother." I grinned, starting my sets of chin ups.

"You know how I only like dark-haired girls?"

"Yeah," I gritted my teeth, keeping the pace. "Only dark-haired."

"Well…I'm starting to like blonds. Or more specifically, one woman with blond curls. Mia. Have you seen that girl's hair? Perfect. Absolutely perfect…with those little ringlets. It's like liquid sunshine. You can tell she spent a lot of time on it, you know? That's a real turn on. I like when a female makes herself look all good and fresh like that. And don't even get me started on her personality. She's fierce, independent, hot-headed, stubborn…and I couldn't want her more." Darius breathed. "Fuck…what's wrong with me?" Panic flooded his cruelly handsome face.

I dropped from the bar and landed on my feet. The confessions continued tumbling out of his mouth.

"Why do I have a head-splitting urge to, I don't know, make love to her? I actually want to cuddle with her afterward, Ivan. Cuddle with her." he said. "The last thing I snuggled with was a teddy bear named Mr. Henry. And that was twenty-eight years ago."

"I'm sorry…did you say Mia's hair was like…liquid sunshine?" I barked. "Hold on, I'm going to hurl if I don't die from laughing."

Darius launched a water bottle at me. "All right. That's the last time I'm opening up to you. No more deep and meaningful convo's for us, bro."

"Sorry. Sorry. I didn't mean it." Clamping my lips shut, I tried to snap out of the hysterics. "It's just…you're thinking too much in to this whole thing. Face it, Mia doesn't wanna go on a date with you, much less get in your bed."

"That's why I have to figure her out," Darius headed for the gym doors with a quizzical expression. "She's like a Rubik's Cube, you know. I have to solve her."

"Good luck with that," I muttered, pulling a shirt over my head. "I ain't ever seen you finish one. And how many of those Cubes have you bought over the years? Five or six? You always put the damn thing down after five minutes. You get bored with it. Just like you do with all the women you go through."

"There's a first time for everything, my brother." A ghost of a smile flickered across his lips. "And I don't know…Mia's just different. I can't explain it. She's on the brain twenty-four-seven."

"Getting those warm and fuzzies in your belly?" I asked.

"Nope. That's just what I ate from Taco Bell."

We both laughed as the door slapped shut.

RPOV:

"Oh, my God." I moaned and eased back against Dimitri's chest, rubbing my achingly full belly. "That was good. Soooo good."

Pavel, the new top chef of the mansion who had been hired right after Opal had been fired for attempting to seduce Dimitri, stood at the end of the dining table dressed in his white uniform. He leaned forward and smiled, kind brown eyes at odds with his hard yet handsome face. "Thank you, Miss Hathaway. Is there anything else I may prepare you?"

"Oh, no. I'd pop like a balloon if I ate anything more. How'd you like breakfast, Comrade?"

Dimitri leaned forward in the chair and placed a lingering kiss to the back of my neck, obviously very okay with PDA. "Delicious." he whispered in my ear. "It was delicious."

I cleared my throat harshly and searched for a rational thought. My brain seemed to get all fuzzy when he was touching me.

Tasha came out of the kitchen, wearing the same thing her boss, Pavel, was. Her ice-blue eyes flashed when she saw Dimitri and I cuddling together, but she forced a smile a second later. "Hi, Dimka. Hi, Rose." She waved.

Immediately, I felt Dimitri stiffen at the sight of her.

"It's okay. I'll protect you, Hunny Buns." I winked.

He chuckled loudly, kissed me, then politely nodded at her.

Pavel gave Tasha an order and I couldn't help but notice his eyes flicker up and down her body. After she nodded, the two disappeared inside the kitchen.

"Well, uh, I think it's time for work, ain't it? Actually, I think we're late." It took every ounce of self-control to hop up from Dimitri's lap.

The Russian God smiled slyly, dangerously. "No."

"No?"

"No."

"No what?"

"No, as in no we're not going to work today. It so happens that we both have the day off."

"It's Monday and that's bull crap."

He grabbed my arm when I headed for his office. "You're not going in for work today, possibly tomorrow and the days following, too. And before you argue with me, I'm your boss and that's an order."

Those dark, hungry eyes made me lose my train of thought…again! Damn! "What do you suppose we do to pass the time, Mr. Belikov?" I smoothed my hand over his chest.

"I can think of a way or two…or a dozen."

"I'll race you up stairs! First one to your bedroom is on the bottom!" Giggling like crazy, I ran for the steps and ate them up three at a time.

Dimitri was quicker though, he scooped me up in his arms in a flash. I don't know how he managed it, but he had us completely naked before we reached the canopied bed.

"I love you." I whispered in perfect bliss as he laid me down gently.

He spoke low and deep in Russian, ending with the three words I had told him.

A/N: It's my birthday and I'm sick as a dog, so I'd really appreciate some sugary-sweet reviews to make me feel all better! :D