Hello everyone! I hope that you all have had a good week. I'm trying to get on a schedule for my updates, I'm leaning toward an update once every two weeks on Friday evenings. This will give me time to write the chapters, allow my beta readers editing time, and give the overall story room to breathe and grow.
Please, go give my Facebook page a follow and a like! Let me know what your ideas are on this chapter and where you think that story is going! The plot is beginning to thicken! I'm not very good at spicy scenes yet, I've been reading some and trying to better my own style of writing in that context so let me know what you all think!
-GreyMare

Chapter 8

"I've never been here before," I yelled over the loud music of the band. Tucked away in a small corner at the end of the street on the outskirts of the court, sat a little bar with just enough of a questionable crowd that made the aroma of alcohol and pot seem authentic. I gazed my eyes around the room taking in the teeming, half-naked bodies moving on the dance floor. Loud, eardrum-busting music pumped through the band's speakers as some young boy sang about wanting more than the bottle had to offer him. This was the last place I would have pictured Dimitri dining.

"Neither have I," Dimitri responded. Dimitri was dressed nicely, in a dark pair of jeans paired with black combat boots and a loose-fitting t-shirt. His duster was slung over the back of the chair. He looked delicious. He was shaven, no stubble or shadow dotted his face, and his hair was loose and free.

"No? How'd you know about this place then? I've never even heard of it." I laced my fingers together and propped myself up on my elbows.

"One of Ivan's guards was talking about it, I figured I would step outside of my comfort zone and try it." Dimitri was leaning over the table, each hand closing around the opposite elbow. Strength oozed from this man, the veins in his forearms were exposed and angry looking. I wondered how that type of passion and strength translated over into other parts of his world. How he handled disrespect, how he negotiated terms, and how would that affect the way he had sex.

Stop thinking about it, you idiot. I screamed at myself. My dumbass is just asking for trouble.

"It definitely doesn't fit with the whole loner persona you got going on." I agreed.

"I have a loner persona?" Dimitri took a drink of his water and smiled. "Do tell."

"Well…" I looked him up and down then continued. "You just seem like the quiet type." I had walked in on him reading a book a few times, he would often be early, or maybe I was late, to the gym. Instead of getting started without me, he would be laid out on the gym floor with a crumpled paperback novel in his large hands.

"Quiet may even be too loud for you." I mused. "I think you simply like things that are simple." I waved my hand out in front of me and made my guess. I felt as if I had gotten to know him rather well over these last few days.

"You learn more about people when you're silent." He defended himself. Small drops of water formed on the outside of my glass, I took my middle finger and started tracing a line connecting them.

"Have you been studying me?" I teased.

"Absolutely." Dimitri nodded his voice low and husky. Hot damn, how am I supposed to make this man find me irresistible if he keeps leaving me speechless?

I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat and asked, "And?" Dimitri leaned back in his chair and rested his forearm on the back, leaving his hand to dangle in the air as he assessed me. He took a few seconds, cleared his throat, lowered his eyes, and then finally spoke.

"You're the opposite of quiet. You're the raging storm that crashes ships and leaves no survivors. You're the avalanche that consumes the mountains and redefines them. I don't think that I have ever met a woman quite like you." My breath caught in my throat as he spoke. I blinked a few times to try to clear my head, but I was permanently dumbfounded. Sensing this, Dimitri chuckled lightly.

I smiled like a schoolgirl as the band's music picked up and more and more people flocked to the dance floor.

"Dance with me?" I extended my hand and stood up.

"That's a hard pass." Dimitri shook his head and made no attempt to grab my hand.

"Oh, come on it'll be fun." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Christian sitting alone in the main back of the bar. His hair was shaggy and, on his face, the shirt he wore was unbuttoned and exposing part of his chest. Three empty glasses sat on his table, but something told me that he hadn't only drank three.

"Uh, hang on just a second, I'll be right back." I didn't give Dimitri time to respond before I stormed over to the table, ready to sweep anything in my path out of my way just as Dimitri described.

"Christian?" I sat down in the booth next to him grabbing the glass out of his hands and slamming it down on the table. Streams of whatever he was drowning himself in ran down my hand.

"What the hell are you doing? Lissa has been worried sick about you!" I grabbed his collar and started buttoning the undone buttons.

"Fuck off, Rose. You know damn well she's been just fine." I would've been offended had he not slurred his words so terribly.

"Christian shut the hell up. You have no idea what you're talking about. Lissa was about to send out a search party for you!" Christian ran a hand through his hair and laughed.

"About to? You mean her Royal Majesty has waited? Or was she just too preoccupied with the Russian cunt to notice I was gone?"

"You know that none of that is true. You stormed off and haven't spoken to her in days. What's going on?" I smoothed out what I could of his shirt and folded my hands together.

"I don't want to talk about this with you," Christian mumbled.

"Well, I don't really want to get into it either. And you should be talking to Lissa, not me anyway. And since I don't think you'll even remember this conversation why not tell me anyway?" I took a napkin, licked it, and tried to get something that was stained on his cheek off.

"Ew, gross Rose. Fuck knows where that tongue of yours has been." Christian swatted me away and closed his eyes.

"I'd like it to be down my date's throat if we're being honest with each other. But instead, I'm trying to be a good friend and see what's going on with you." I crossed my arms over my chest and stood my ground.

"It was alright when there wasn't a spotlight…" Christian started. "But now, now that everything is lit up like a stadium…Rose you know my past. I'll only drag her down. And she's been so damn supportive with everything. 'Take time to figure out what you want to do.' 'Move to court with me and help me create a better world than we grew up in.' That's what she said. That was the weight she put on me. How can I take time to figure out who I want to be when she already has her footing in the world that she's building? I'm already a failure compared to her. Tasha said I could expose her to what it was like for Moroi that wasn't royal. But I don't want to breathe down her neck like everyone else. Then here comes this six-foot-whatever the fuck Russian Lord that has more money, more land, more social standing, and sweeps her off her feet!" He threw his hands up in the air as a small tear rolled down his cheek.

"What can I offer her now that she has the world at her feet?" he whispered. I took one of his hands into mine and made him look at me.

"Christian," I started "Lissa loves you. Not Ivan, not anyone else, but you. She is one of the youngest Queens in our history she has no idea what she's doing, but she can use all the opinions and help that she can get. You level each other out, and she's been going crazy without you there, most nights she asks if anyone has seen you. Because she didn't want to overstep and make sure you were okay. Do you think there's too much pressure put on your shoulders? Think about her! Now the way I see it, you can do one of two things moving forward. You can suck it up, get your shit together and share the load that's been put on the two of you, so it doesn't come crashing down on one or the other. Or you can cower away and let her endure this all her own. You can give up the love and the happiness that you've found with each other all because you don't see how it'll work out. And if you're the man that I thought you were and love Lissa the way that I thought you did, the choice is clear."

Christian slowly nodded his head and looked my way.

"It's already too late." He whispered.

"It's only too late if you want it to be," I argued. I patted his hand and kissed him on the cheek.

"Rose?" Christian yelled after me.

"Yeah?" I looked over my shoulder at him.

"Thanks." I gave him a tight smile, nodded my head, and walked back to Dimitri.

"Well, if you're not going to dance with me what kind of nightcap are we going to have?" I asked as I sat back down in my chair. The waiter must have come because our empty plates were gone, and our drinks were replaced with fresh ones.

"Someone you know?" Dimitri cocked an eyebrow and nodded toward where Christian was sitting.

"That's Lissa's boyfriend. They've had a spat for a few days…" I crossed one of my legs over the other and smiled at Dimitri.

"I've had a really nice time tonight." The bar was winding down, a few people were still on the dance floor and scattered in a few tables and booths, but the crowd had died down considerably since we first got here. Dimitri didn't talk much during the date, he let me do most of the talking. I would catch him watching me out of the corner of my eye. And while I had a wonderful time with him, it felt like his mind might have been somewhere else.

"Hey, um, is everything okay?" I moved my chair closer to the table and lowered my voice.

"Oh yeah," he played with his glass "I'm fine. I think I'm just obsessing over something that Ivan said." He spoke slowly, almost like he didn't want to admit what he was about to say.

"Is he okay?" Spirit was unpredictable. And at the rate he and Lissa were using it, there were bound to be side effects. I had woken up a few times during the night panting, itching, and jittery from it seeping into the bond.

"No, I don't think he is." Dimitri's face hardened as he spoke.

"He's spouting off madness again. Talking about bringing people back from the dead and then that resulting in something called being shadow-kissed…he's not making any sense." My heart stopped and my breath caught in my lungs. There were few people who knew about Lissa and me, Adrian and Christian being the only people outside of Lissa and myself. Not even Mason or Eddie knew. I was worried about what people would do with the information if they were given it. I trusted very few people in this world.

"I told him he needed to lay off the spirit for a few days and rest. Has Lissa ever done anything like this?" Dimitri's voice was sincere, searching for a way to help his friend.

"Well…" I didn't want to lie to him, it felt wrong. "Lissa has healed things before. She's brought animals back to life, she's healed broken bones, internal injuries, and stuff like that. But no one has ever brought her a dead body and tested it out." That part was true, there were no dead bodies brought to her.

"Ivan thinks that if spirit can do that than what's stopping them from doing it to one of us?" Dimitri asked.

"Has he read something about Vladimir doing this?" I asked trying to stir the conversation away from Lissa and onto someone who couldn't be touched.

"I'm not sure. His mind goes to a million different places whenever he's in these states. Madness becomes reality and the moon is a safe landing place it seems. Has Lissa ever made jumps like this before?" Dimitri ran a hand through his hair and locked eyes with me.

"I'm sorry, I wish I had something I could tell you to make this all make sense." I pulled a tight smile over my face and tried to look as innocent as I could.

"It's fine, hopefully he'll actually stop using the magic for two or three days and he'll return to his old self." Dimitri held out his hand as he stood up from the table.

"You wanna get out of here?" he asked, a large calloused, outstretched hand awaited mine. I grinned from ear to ear, grabbed his hand as I stood up on my tiptoes, and whispered in his ear.

"Absolutely."

I threw my head back and laughed as tears began leaking from my eyes. Dimitri on the other hand, was not as amused. Taking the long way back to our rooms and walking through court had proven to be an interesting way to end dinner. It didn't take long to realize that Dimitri was well-known among the other ranks of the guardians. We ran into a few that he knew, a few that knew him, and some that just wanted to meet him.

"It's not that funny! Stop laughing." Dimitri threw his hands into the pockets of his duster as he stuck to the shadows. I wiped a tear from my cheek and tried to keep up with him.

"She…she…she asked for a picture with you like you were this rockstar!" I managed to get out in between bouts of laughter.

"And then pulled out an actual camera with a flash that was blinding. Oh god, your face when you saw that camera. I felt sorry for her." I grabbed his arm and made him stop running. Dimitri did a quick sweep of the area and pulled us into an alley.

"I don't like pictures." He shrugged his shoulders and leaned his head back against the wall.

"And here I thought traveling with Lissa was a big deal." I laughed again, which in turn invoked a warning stare from Dimitri.

"Oh, come on, that must make you feel good. You're that great at what you do horny teenagers and old women alike want to get a picture with you and brag about it to their friends." I decided that I needed to enlighten him on just how big of a badass he was.

"Dimitri Belikov. Blood master 7 by age 24, eight recorded Strigoi kills, and a Zvezda? Who wouldn't want to brag about knowing you?"

"You also have a Zvezda." Dmitri pointed at my neck.

"We're not talking about me right now. We're talking about you." I corrected.

"I don't want to talk about me." He shook his head and pulled me close to him. My body was pressed close to his, I could feel the rough outline of his chest on my arm, feel the heat that was coming off his body.

"I don't want to talk at all." He whispered. His mouth was dangerously close to my face. Through hooded eyes he looked at me, making me uneasy at the amount of passion he held in them.

"Oh, no?" I mumbled.

"No." he shook his head; his voice was sharp steel and cool rain, and the deep rumble from within his chest sent chills down my body.

One of his hands gripped my upper arm while the other one started playing with the ends of my hair. Slowly he moved my hair out of the way and brushed the tattoos we had just been talking about on the back of my neck. Goosebumps arose as his fingers worked their way into my hair and held me hostage. Not that I planned on moving anytime soon. I didn't notice that my breathing had started to pick up until our eyes locked in a passionate gaze. The air around us seemed to change as if it were charged with electricity. Time seemed to stand still as I moved my eyes from his, down to his lips, and back up to his eyes. My hands fanned up his strong arms as my fingers glided over the mountains and valleys of his muscles. My hands landed on his chest, the tips of my fingers roaming his collarbone. Splaying my fingers out and touching the soft cotton of his t-shirt, I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat and bit my bottom lip.

Slowly, the hand that was tangled in my hair pushed the back of my head forward and drew me closer to him as my heart pounded with excitement as to what was about to happen. Our breaths mingled, warm and enticing, creating an invisible bond between us, as our lips met, warm soft, flesh mixed with warm, soft flesh. The firm outline of his lips crashed onto mine as my eyes literally rolled into the back of my head.

My hands moved to the back of his neck as I pressed my body firmly against his and deepened the kiss. I felt his tongue trace the edge of my bottom lip just as I let out a soft moan. Dimitri took advantage of this and plunged his tongue into my mouth, surveying my mouth. I pulled his head closer to me, not being able to get close enough to him. I was lost in this kiss and his embrace. One of his hands held me in place while the other moved to the small of my back and pushed me closer to him. My hands tangled in his hair, my nails scraping his scalp as we deepened the already intense kiss.

I had never been kissed like this before. Soft whispers of affection leaked from our lips before Dimitri broke the kiss and rested his forehead against mine. My eyes stayed closed as I tried to level out my breathing, our bodies still molded to one another's.

"Let's go back to your place," I whispered. Dimitri untangled his hand from my hair and soothed a few strands of it down, tucking it behind my ear.

"Are you sure?" Hell yes, I was sure. If we went back to my place there was a good chance that someone would knock on the door and try to get in. Plus, I hadn't had a chance to change the locks since Adrian made himself a key.

"Definitely sure." I nodded as I pulled him back for another mind-numbing kiss.

It was hard pulling myself off Dimitri in order to walk back to his apartment. We walked hand in hand the rest of the way there, neither of us saying much. This wasn't my first-time having sex, I was by no means a virgin, but the amount of nervousness and excitement I felt as he walked up the steps into the queen's chamber marveled that of my first time. Mason and I had messed around a few times, Adrian, and I also, although it never got to the actual sex part with Adrian.

Dimitri's hand felt so right in mine, his hand consumed mine, but I couldn't help but enjoy the feeling of being overpowered by him. The sun was up by now, our date had lasted quite a few hours, leaving the halls empty save for the guards who were on patrol. A quick glance at the clock that was hung on the wall by the check-in desk showed me that it was nearing eleven o'clock. The walk back to the apartments took a good chunk of that time admittedly.

Dimitri brought my hand up to his mouth and placed a tender kiss on the back of my hand as we walked past some of the empty rooms and stopped in front of what must have been his. My heart raced at the possibilities that were lying just beyond that closed door.

"You're in one of the better rooms." I examined, though he hadn't yet opened the door. This side of the hall had just been remodeled so it was more up-to-date than the others.

"It's one of the nicer ones I've been given." Dimitri agreed. Dimitri turned his back to the door and looked down at me. A soft smile was placed on his lips. There was no mask in place, and there were no uneasy worry lines or frowns to be found. He looked happy.

"I'm really glad that you asked me to dinner," I stated, I was happy about it. I was even happier that we had ended up here.

"I'm glad that you said yes. I was worried that you wouldn't." he confided.

"Really?" I asked, "Why?" I stepped closer and closed the distance that was between us.

"Well…" he started, "Just from the first 3 times we saw each other I managed to make you mad each time." He chuckled. "I didn't think that you would even look my way after the first night." His hand wandered up and down my back, until it finally rested between my shoulders, pressing me against him.

"If I had any sense I probably wouldn't of." I rested my hands on his chest as I looked up into his deep, chocolate-brown eyes.

"But, lucky for you, I only learn lessons the hard way." I smiled as I closed my eyes and leaned in for another kiss.

"Dimka?" a woman calling his name made both of us jerk our heads toward her direction. Standing with a suitcase in either hand was Christian's aunt Tasha. I pulled away from Dimitri and my body felt cold from the lack of contact.

"Rose?" Tasha jerked her head in surprise.

"Tasha, what are you doing here?" Dimitri let go of me but stayed next to his door.

"I'm here visiting Christian, my nephew remember? He was quite young the last time you saw him. What are you doing here?" Tasha sat her suitcases down and walked over to us. I felt like a feral cat, needing to defend her territory the closer she got.

"Ivan is visiting with Queen Vasilisa," Dimitri said.

"Oh, that's right. I remember Christian saying something about that. Rose? You're awfully quiet." Tasha closed the gap of air between us and crossed her arms. Tasha looked at Dimitri and I and started to blush.

"I didn't interrupt something, did I?" She sounded like she was pleased with herself. Right before I could tell her that she actually was interrupting Dimitri cut me off.

"Rose and I just had dinner." Uh, dinner? I thought. Yeah, we just had dinner. And you just had your tongue down my throat and hand on my ass but sure, just dinner is how I would've described it too.

I shook my head and gave a soft chuckle. Just dinner.

"I should get going anyway. It's getting late." I turned to start walking back to my apartment when Dimitri's hand caught my arm.

"What? No, Rose. Don't go." Dimitri walked past Tasha and tried to pull me back.

"It is getting late, Dimka. Rose is probably right. Plus, we could catch up." Tasha sang. Dimitri's eyes searched my face, I wanted him to throw me over his shoulder, push Tasha aside and locked us in his room.

"I'll see you later." I forced a smile. My chest started hurting at the thought of not spending the night in his bed.

"Roza…" Dimitri lowered his face close to mine and whispered. "Please, don't go."

"It's fine." I tried to convince myself and him. "Now you and her can catch up." I patted his cheek and pulled his hand off my arm. His eyes held mine for a breath longer before I turned on my heel and headed down the hallway and to my own apartment. Storming down the hall and slamming the door shut behind me, I hope that I had drove home the point all he was going to get was just dinner.

Dimitri's POV

"I should get going anyway. It's getting late." Rose turned to start walking but I quickly grabbed her arm.

"What? No, Rose. Don't go." I walked past Tasha and tried to pull her back to me. Why the fuck did she have to show up now? I thought to myself.

"It is getting late, Dimka. Rose is probably right. Plus, we could catch up." Tasha spoke up from behind me, but I paid her no mind.

I ran my eyes up and down her face looking for a hint of what she was thinking. Make that four times I've pissed her off, I thought.

"I'll see you later." Rose smiled and said. I didn't want to see her later, I wanted to wake up to her naked form in my bed.

"Roza…" I lowered my face close to hers and whispered. "Please, don't go."

"It's fine." She retorted, "Now you and her can catch up." She patted my cheek and pulled away from my grip before leaving me standing there alone with Tasha in the empty hallway. I wanted to yell for her to come back, I wanted to run down the hallway and pound on her door until she opened it. I started to make my way to her apartment but Tasha's thin hand on my shoulder was like ice water thrown on my face.

"Dimka…" Tasha's voice was soft as she spoke. "Care to help me with my things to my room? I'm the last one of the right." I sighed as I looked at the closed door that was Rose's apartment. So close, I had been so close to her. It was cruel how she was yanked away from me.

"Sure." I murmured. Not really wanting to place my anger at Tasha, I picked up her suitcases and let her lead the way. I would find Rose in the morning and try to undo whatever the fuck had just been done.

Rose's POV

I wanted to stay and sulk in bed once my alarm went off. I grabbed a pillow and pressed it firmly against my face, screaming into it. Soft knocks on my door pulled me from my outlet of stress. I had changed into my normal sleeping clothes last night, a simple baggy t-shirt and underwear. The soft knocks were more than likely Lissa, so I felt no need to cover myself up. Opening the door and seeing Dimitri standing in the hallway made me change my mind. I now left the need to cover up.

My hair was wild from sleep, my teeth unbrushed and I no doubt looked as terrible as I felt.

"Um…" I tried pulling my shirt down a little bit more. Dimitri noticed what I was doing and turned around, his back to me now.

"Can we talk?" he asked over his shoulder.

"I'm kind of busy. I had all those important plans I had to push back last night, remember?" I had a good mind to slam the door in his face, but I wanted to wait until he turned around first.

"Roza…put some pants on and let's talk." He covered his eyes with one of his hands and pushed his way into my room, closing the door with his boot.

Rude, I thought as I walked over to a dresser and pulled out the first pair of lounge pants I could find.

"You can uncover your eyes now." I crossed my arms over my chest as Dimitri peeked through his fingers, saw that the coast was clear, and dropped his hand down to his side.

"Why did you leave last night?" He took a step closer to me.

"Well, dinner was over. And we just had dinner, so I didn't want to overstay my welcome." I intended to be as bratty as I possibly could about the situation.

"Rose. Would you of rather I said that I just had you pinned against a wall? That I was in the process of taking you back to my room so we could explore each other's bodies?" I bit my lip as he spoke. I was frustrated, both mentally and sexually and I did not need that image in my head right now.

"Maybe. How do you even know her? Isn't she older than you?"

"Aren't I older than you?" he retorted. Seeing that I wouldn't budge on the subject, he sighed and answered, "I met her about ten years ago on my first visit to court. She and I became friends." He waved his hands in the air as a sign that the conversation was over on the matter.

"If I were you, I would've told my friends to fuck off in that situation." Dimitri took two large strides and landed toe to toe with me. He hooked his pointer finger under my chin and tilted my face up to meet his.

"Do you want me to leave?" he whispered; I felt his breath against my cheek. So many things ran through my mind, none of which sounded sincere.

"You probably should…" even I didn't believe me as the words left my mouth. Dimitri licked his bottom lip and squeezed his eyes shut. He rested his forehead against mine and asked again.

"Do you want me to leave? This time make me believe it." His voice was low and dark as he spoke.

"I…I…" I stuttered to find any words that would sound even remotely believable. Luckily, both of our phones went off at the same time and saved me from having to embarrass myself with another terrible lie. I felt Dimitri take a deep breath before reaching into his back pocket and pulling out his phone. Mine was on charge on top of the dresser behind me.

"Hans?" I asked, Dimitri had his brows knitted together as his eyes ran across the screen.

"Hans." He agreed and shook his head.