The thermal spa was nothing short of sensational. We'd headed there after brunch, and it was so much more than I'd expected. Dimitri had booked us a private outdoor pool, and I really hadn't been sure what it would entail, but it had been exquisite.
The pool itself was a natural outdoor thermal spring set in a little valley near the foot of a wooded mountain. The water sitting around 105 degrees, it was deliciously warm despite the frigid air. The pool was around ten by ten foot, half open to the air, the other half covered by an open fronted pergola. Inside the pavilion was a daybed covered with soft, warm quilts, two huge fluffy bathrobes hanging on a hook and a roaring open fireplace with a large supply of split logs. On a small table inside the pergola was a large jug of water and a platter of fruits, nuts, cheeses and cold meats. The area was surrounded by trees, was breathtakingly picturesque and conspicuously private. The attendant who transported us there from the carpark by four-wheel-drive made a point of explaining he'd not be back for four hours and the area was very secluded, so we'd not be overlooked.
Dimitri and I had stripped off, relaxing in the warm water as snow fell and dissolved on the surface of the water around us. It was the singular most romantic experience of my life! Four hours of love, intimacy, and happiness, we'd bathed, made love, bathed again, loved, cuddled, talked and eaten in front of the fire on the daybed, bathed again and then got dressed. We were lying in one another's arms on the daybed when the four-wheel-drive arrived to collect us four hours later. And I didn't want to leave. I could honestly have spent the rest of my life happy in that place and locked in that moment.
We were quiet in the Academy SUV as Dimitri drove us back to the motel. Finally, my Russian God broke the companionable silence. "Are you up for dinner and dancing this evening? I'd like us to go somewhere really nice."
"Are you sure you trust me to behave myself somewhere nice?" I teased.
Dimitri laughed. "Ok, burger and fries it is then."
"No! I'll behave, I promise!" I quickly capitulated. I'd never been to a really nice restaurant, but I wanted to with him.
Back at the motel, Dimitri sat fiddling on his phone, checking out various sites until he found what he wanted. Then he stepped outside, making a call. I watched him through the curtains as he walked around in the carpark out the front of our room. It was still snowing lightly, and he looked beautiful standing amongst the snowflakes in his duster as they leisurely settled around him. I sat on the sofa as he walked back to the door, trying not to let on I'd been admiring him.
"Ok! We're all set. We've got a booking for 8 pm."
It was nearly 5 pm. "Well… that gives us three hours… How about you get undressed and lie on the bed?"
"Again milaya?" he laughed with a twinkle in his eye. Since we'd become lovers, we'd been worshiping one another's bodies every chance we got. Maybe it's because we were used to working out together, but the idea of giving and taking pleasure from one another physically just seemed so natural.
"Maybe later," I giggled, "But right now I was thinking I might give you a massage?"
Obediently Dimitri stripped and lay on his stomach, and starting at his feet, I massaged him from bottom to top. I loved being able to touch him, discovering parts of his body I'd not yet explored, and hearing his sighs and moans of pleasure as I found little knots of tension he hadn't known were there.
"I could get used to this, you know…" he moaned. I was sitting on the bed beside him, running my fingernails through his hair and scratching his scalp lightly.
"I'm sure!" I said with a smile. "Time to turn over, Comrade!" Dutifully Dimitri rolled over, revealing an impressive erection. "I thought you were meant to be relaxing, not getting excited?"
"What did you think was going to happen with you running your hands all over my body?" Dimitri mock grumbled.
I held my forefinger up to his lips, gently silencing him, before running my finger down his chin, over his Adam's apple, and down his torso. I felt his abdominal muscles involuntarily tighten as I ran my finger across them, heading ever lower.
"Why don't you prop yourself up on some pillows?" I suggested huskily, thinking he'd probably want a good view once he knew what I was planning.
I stripped my top and bra off, standing to peel my jeans off, too. I left my panties on – mostly to signal that this next act was all about him and not necessarily a prelude to another round of lovemaking. Once he was leaning back against the pillows and bedhead, I carefully spread his legs kneeling between them. And then I continued to run a finger down his body, finally leading it up along the length of his shaft, gently over the tip and back down the underside.
I heard his sharp hiss of breath and felt his hard member twitch under my fleeting touch. "Roza…?"
"Patience, Comrade," I taunted, repeating his own words back at him, "I promise you this will be worth it!"
At least I hoped it would be. I'd not done this before, but thankfully Lissa was a devotee of tacky women's magazines, and so I'd read more than one article about the art of fellatio. Trying to remember their suggestions, I settled in between my man's legs, starting by playing with the area surrounding his groin, but never actually touching his penis. I kept my eyes on him, enjoying the way he'd flip between looking at me and then down to where I was toying with him. Seeing his gorgeous chocolate brown orbs reveal he was getting more and more turned on, I decided to start my job in earnest.
Lying comfortably in the space between his legs, I made a show of licking my lips, and then I lowered my face to his crotch, running my flat tongue up the underside of his shaft, taking my time to make my way along his engorged length towards the head. Once there, I used the very tip of my tongue to tease the opening before slowly lowering my mouth over the head of his cock. I had to stop myself giggling at the look on Dimitri's face. His eyelids were fluttering, and he looked as though he was about to cum on the spot!
Smiling up at him as well as I could with his dick in my mouth, I wrapped my hand around the base of his shaft and then I started to move it up and down in sync with my mouth. The smile on his face said it all. I wasn't sure how hard to grasp his shaft, so I experimented with different pressures. I was holding it quite firmly within my fist when he gasped, "Yeah that's it, baby! Just like that!" one of his hands dropping to stroke my shoulder as I continued to pump my hand and mouth up and down.
I was also experimenting with different oral techniques. At first, I tried just sucking, but then I remembered something I'd read about the area where the head met shaft being sensitive, so I tried tickling that area with my tongue and boy did that get a reaction! I thought Dimitri's eyes were going to bug out of his head!
My mouth was getting a little sore, so I changed it up a bit, still using my hand but licking the top of his cock like it was a popsicle. Hmm. A Dimitri flavored popsicle. Fuck that idea was hot!
Then I kissed up and down the sides of his shaft, pausing to lightly suckle on his testicles. I could feel one of his huge hands fingering my hair, and then I was back to the job at hand, taking him into my mouth again, moaning with satisfaction at the taste of his precum. Getting back into the rhythm of things, I kept a steady pace for a couple of minutes, adding the occasional involuntary moan as I saw how much he was enjoying what I was doing.
I was wondering how to bring him closer to the edge when I thought I'd try a technique I'd read about called the 'magic eight.' It involved stroking him, lightly sucking the head eight times, then continuing with seven light sucks followed by a deeper one, then six light sucks followed by two deeper ones. Combining the sucks with some groans, by the time I did three light sucks followed by five deep ones my Russian God was panting, grunting and gripping the sheets hard.
"Fuck Roza," he was gasping, rocking his hips in time with my pumps.
By two light sucks, six deep ones he was right on the very edge and I increased the pressure of my grip on his shaft. One light suck followed by seven deep, and Dimitri's shaft was throbbing, and I knew he was seconds away now. And then I gave him eight long hard deep sucks, pumping my clasped fist up and down him, reaching my unoccupied hand out to gently pull on his sack and groaning as loudly as I could.
I could feel him quiver, his hands dropping to lightly hold my head in place. He closed his eyes and he shouted my name and then moaned as he came in my mouth, spurt after spurt of his cum hitting the back of my throat. The feeling was intoxicating! I felt so powerful, knowing that I was the one to do that to him – to bring that look of pleasure to his face.
Looking up at my Russian God, I swallowed his seed, waiting for his excitement to fade before pulling my lips from his cock. He was still partially reclined, eyes half closed and a huge grin on his face. Smiling indulgently at him I shimmied up the bed towards him, tucking myself in under the arm he stretched out for me.
"I've never had anyone do anything that sexy to me!" he whispered awed.
"I did good?" I asked a little shyly but secretly pretty proud of myself. The aftertaste of his cum was in my mouth, but I wasn't finding it unpleasant.
"Oh milaya you did really good," he affirmed pulling me tightly against him then covering us with the quilt.
We sat there for an hour, me tracing little patterns on his chest, him with his fingers tangled in locks of my hair. We were both lost in our thoughts.
"You need to keep training once I'm gone…" he said, breaking the silence with a sigh. "Promise me? I don't like the idea of you falling behind. It makes it easier for me thinking of you being as strong and prepared as you can be."
"I will absolutely keep training while you're away," I agreed, stressing the word away. I just couldn't deal with him using words like 'gone.' "Besides, I have my qualifier to get through yet, don't I? You going to give me any clues about that?" I asked craftily, partly to get info but more as a way to move the subject away from talk of him leaving. Dimitri had said he was going to be the one to take me, which implied it wouldn't be happening on campus.
"Well… it was supposed to be a secret, but you're booked in to have it done with Art Schoenberg in a few weeks time."
"Art freaking Schoenberg?" I gasped, pulling back to look at Dimitri in alarm. "How the hell did you manage that? Why did you organize that? There's no way in hell I'll pass!"
"You'll pass, Roza," Dimitri soothed. "I've known Art quite a while. He was one of the Guardians I had to fight for my Blood Masters," he explained. "A recommendation from Art would go a long way on your record."
"You must have pulled some serious strings to get him to agree to assess me?" I asked.
Dimitri shrugged. "When I told him you'd basically covered two years worth of material in two months he was impressed. Besides, I think he was keen to meet Janine's daughter," he confessed. "Your Mom's one of the best in the business."
Yes, she was. Did that mean she'd be going on this mission, too? As soon as the idea came to me, I asked.
"No, Roza," he soothed. "There aren't many Guardians who are parents, but those who are aren't sent on missions like these."
"Why? So they're there to love and support their children? Mom does a great job of that," I said, sarcasm dripping from every word. I couldn't believe they wouldn't send my absentee mother because I supposedly needed her, yet they'd send the man who I needed almost as much as I needed oxygen. Dimitri held me. He knew how things stood between my mother and I. More than once he'd encouraged me to try and connect with her, but honestly, I still didn't see the point. I barely knew her, and I saw no reason to try and change that.
Not wanting to ponder the injustice of it or dwell on the always sensitive topic of my mother, I changed the subject. "So are you going to tell me where we're off to tonight?"
"Nope! Just that we're going to dinner and then we're going to dance," Dimitri said in a sultry tone. "I want to romance you, tonight."
"You've been romancing me all day, Comrade," I said affectionately, thinking about the very relaxing, intimate afternoon we'd spent together.
"You deserve it, Rose. I want you to know how much you mean to me. So when I'm… away… you'll remember that you're absolutely everything to this man."
Our days together passed in a blur. Dinner on Saturday night had been everything Dimitri had promised and more. The restaurant he'd taken me to had been superb. The food was delicious but even better was the live band. We'd spent several hours that evening twirling across the parquet, lost in our own little world.
Over the next few days we'd gone to an ice-hockey game, spent an afternoon at a Country and Western bar drinking and playing pool, gone to the movies again but this time actually watched the film, we'd eaten pancakes, Indian, Chinese and pizza and spent hours talking, kissing and making love. The only downer had been meeting the lawyer on Monday afternoon.
A Lazar, he'd been surprisingly sympathetic. He'd accepted my presence as Dimitri's girlfriend without question and was sensitive and gentle in his questions. The appointment didn't take long. The banking aspect of things already taken care of, the discussion had moved to Dimitri's Guardian pension, his personal belongings and his funeral requests.
The lawyer explained that after a death, family and friends could get unreasonable in their thinking, so he encouraged Dimitri to be as specific as possible regarding his final wishes.
"Fine. Please put that my girlfriend Rosemarie Hathaway is to be the one to sort my belongings at St. Vladimir's and to arrange shipping of the box we'll pack together back to my family in Baia. This can happen at any time she's ready during the six months after my passing. I don't want her hurried, and I don't want anyone else touching my things. I'd also like it noted Rose can keep or dispose of my things in any way she sees fit, other than what we've packed to send home. If my body is found, I want to be buried in Baia, with my stakes if possible, and for my mother to be in charge of all funeral proceedings. My only wish is that it be as simple as possible. There may well be a memorial service at St. Vladimir's. If so, I'd like it noted I'd like Rose to be fully consulted about all particulars."
The lawyer jotted everything down, asking for the names of secondary people should something happen to Olena or me.
"My sister Karolina in place of my mother. Roza? If for some reason you can't do my room what about Alberta?" I nodded. Alberta would be respectful and would make sure Dimitri's things were disposed of thoughtfully.
The mood had been somber after the lawyers meeting. Dimitri suggested a meal out, but all I could think about was how it would feel like the last supper, so instead, we picked up Subway and ate at the motel. Thoughts that had been hard to push away on Thursday were impossible to avoid, now. And so we lay next to one another in bed not talking much.
"So tomorrow we check out at 10 am," Dimitri said, his voice steady although he was gripping my hand hard. "Then I'd like to go shopping for a few things and get the photos from your camera printed. I thought if we got back to the Academy before dark we could do a final workout together if you're up to it? Then we can pack my room and spend the last few hours quietly together?" I nodded, not even trusting my voice to articulate a response.
"Is there anything else you want to do before we head back to the Academy?" he asked softly. "We'll have a few hours?"
"No," I whispered, my heart breaking with every syllable. "This weekend has been perfect."
"You're very tense," he observed, his large hands wandering across my shoulders and back. "It won't be as good as the thermal pool, but how about we try out the spa and see if that relaxes you? We haven't given it a go yet?"
Wordlessly walking to the bathroom, Dimitri started filling the tub before stripping down. Coming back into the bedroom, he helped me undress then scooped me off the bed and carried me the few steps to the bathroom. He stepped into the tub lowering the two of us down into the water. I lay on my side between his open legs, resting my head on his chest above his heart as he held me close to him. The water finally the right level, he switched off the taps and turned on the jets. And with the warm water massaging our bodies Dimitri held me to him, consoling me as I sobbed.