The ownership of all characters related to and involving the novels of The Vampire Academy and Bloodlines Series remain the sole property of Richelle Mead, the Penguin Group and any affiliates.

No copyrights have been infringed on maliciously.

A/n: I know, I know, I'm skipping months again. I promise I'm not stopping. Happy belated New Year, everyone!

A Conflict of the Soul

Chapter Twenty-Four

Swinging open the gate to the memorial garden tucked behind the church, the hinges squeaked noisily in the quiet night air. Ushering Rose through, I carefully checked to make sure that no one was around to see us. The grounds had all but emptied since the graduation ceremonies on Friday and those who had remained behind had left for dinner as soon as the Sunday service was over; including Lissa, Christian and Eddie.

We were essentially alone, but that didn't mean we weren't being watched.

Suspicious now of everyone, Emil's betrayal had completely destroyed my ability to trust any other guardian in these grounds. Alberta was still the exception, but even Dustin now made me wary. It was probably pointless to worry about it now, when we were all but in the clear, but it still left a bitter taste of treachery in my mouth and made me angry that my faith in others had been so easily destroyed.

I hadn't told Rose yet about Emil and the other spies. Not because I was planning on keeping it from her; that kind of thing wasn't something I could keep to myself, but because we hadn't spent more than a few moments together since Friday night.

Both preoccupied with packing and completing paperwork, I had spent most of yesterday morning in Missoula transferring my personal holdings to Allentown; the closest town to Court in Pennsylvania. This was the first real opportunity to tell her, and she wasn't going to take it well, especially once she found out that it was Ibrahim who was already causing problems for us.

It also meant that we would still have to be very careful once we arrived at Court as to when we chose to announce our relationship, which would only make her angrier. The names Emil had reluctantly provided would have to be watched with warily, but the rest of them would have to be watched just as carefully. Emil might not know about all of them, or deliberately hadn't revealed all of them. There could be many more that Ibrahim could leverage against us.

Infuriated by the corner he had forced us into, I watched Rose walk towards the back of the cemetery; carefully weaving her way through the weathered headstones. Taking a deep breath, I reminded myself that we also had leverage over him and pushed aside my irritation at being manipulated to instead concentrate on Rose and the time we had left together.

Tonight was ours and ours alone, and we were both willing to risk it to be together.

Heading straight to the memorial wall dedicated to guardians – both graduates and novices who had lost their lives defending the Moroi inside and outside of these grounds – Rose stood looking at an engraved plaque for a long moment as I closed the gate behind us. I knew whose plaque she stood before and how important it had been to come here on her last night at the Academy.

Rose was saying her final goodbye to Mason.

Giving her both space and privacy, I crossed my legs at the ankles and rested back against a fence post; waiting patiently for her as I watched dark tendrils of hair float loosely around her in the gentle breeze. The night was very warm and oddly humid considering how far we were from the coast. It was very similar to what we would find at Court come tomorrow. Looking up at the cloudless sky, the moon was just off being full, but still bright enough to light up everything in a pale glow.

Sighing irritatingly, Rose brushed impatiently at the strands before tossing them back down her back to cascade in a dark torrent before her head swivelled around; looking for where I was. Smiling gently as her gaze landed on me, Rose scowled. "Why are you all the way over there?" Stiffening suddenly, she turned in a full circle that flared the floaty skirt of her summer dress around her thighs before stopping to face me again. "Is someone here?"

"No." Reassuring her that we were alone; or as alone as I could see, I pushed away from the fence post and walked to her. I didn't think anyone would look for us or that there was any immediate danger to us being caught together. "I just wanted to give you privacy, nothing more."

"Oh." Relaxing, Rose held out her hand. Taking it, I joined her at the wall. "You didn't need to give me privacy. We said our goodbyes before." Leaning her head my chest, Rose looped her arms around my waist in a tight hug as I curled an arm around her shoulders; squeezing consolingly as she continued to softly talk.

"Mason always used to say that once he had graduated, he didn't care where he was assigned or to who. He just wanted to be out in the world so that he could start to live. To no longer be dependent on anyone or anything. He was more excited for this moment than even Lissa and I were, and now...he's the one that we have to leave behind."

Hearing the thickening of tears in her voice, I rested my head atop hers and squeezed tighter. "My Roza."

Wiping at her wet cheeks, Rose sniffed before groaning aloud. "Ahhh, I told myself I wasn't going to cry. I've done all of this already. What is wrong with me?"

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with you. Trust me when I say that grief isn't something that you can schedule. It sneaks up on you when you least expect it to, so trying to control it is never a good idea. This is your last night at the Academy and you're always going to associate it with Mason. It's a perfectly reasonable response, so don't try to contain it; just let it out."

Shaking her head in refusal, Rose tried to control the flow of tears for a few moments before she gave in and buried her face against my t-shirt and wept whilst I held her. Rubbing her face against the soft cotton minutes later, she dried her eyes as her tears slowed. Sniffling, she rested her hot cheek against my chest and reached out to trail a finger over the metal engraving. "Goodbye, Mason. I promise I'll try to live for both of us."

Kissing the top of her head, my hands rubbed up and down her back in a soothing motion. "He would like that, I think."

"Hmm." Stilling dashing away the tears from her cheeks, there always seemed to be another that followed.

"I know I just told you to let it out, but could you stop crying, please? Nothing hurts me more than seeing your tears."

Tilting her head back to look at me quizzically, my fingertips gently blotted them from her skin. "Do you remember the first time you ever saw me cry? When Lissa and I were fighting after you had brought us back? You couldn't even look at me then. It was like they made you uncomfortable."

Nodding, I did remember. "They did, but not because I wasn't interested in giving you comfort. It was because I didn't understand why seeing them upset me so much…or maybe I did understand, but I just didn't want to acknowledge what that would mean for me."

"Because having feelings for me would distract you from duty and loyalty to the Moroi?"

"Exactly. Duty and loyalty were the most important things to me, and they still are, but now I've just learnt to balance them better with my love for you."

Smiling gently, Rose pressed a quick kiss to my chest before she pulled away. Separating slightly as we walked along the wall, I said my own silent goodbye and thanks to Mason Ashford. Without him, we would never have known about the survivors or where to find them and our losses would have been so much greater. Cleaning the plaques covered with a thin layer of dust and grit, Rose stopped at another with a curious expression before she turned to me.

"This is the Maia that Emil was involved with, isn't it?"

Nodding, I dug away at the wedge of moss growing from a corner. This was the perfect moment to tell her about Emil, but I was oddly reluctant. I didn't want the night ruined by talking about her father or his machinations, but there wasn't any real way of avoiding it. She had to be made aware.

"Why did he avoid you when we left the service?" Rose pressed absently when I said nothing; cleaning the plaque besides Maia's. "I was expecting him to come straight over and start poking at you like he always does, but he looked really uneasy when he saw you and left straight away. What was that all about?"

"I told him that I didn't want him anywhere near me for as long as I was still at the Academy and obviously he took my threat seriously." I admitted flatly; seeing no further point in skirting around the issue.

"Why did you threaten him?" Eyes wide with shock, Rose reached out to capture my hand; holding it between both of hers in an instinctive show of support. "What happened between you two? You were really close."

"We were, until he revealed that he's one of Ibrahim's spies. Our friendship soured a bit after that."

Dropping my hand so quickly my arm swung in a wide arc, the blank look of astonishment on Rose's face would have been comical had it not been so personally infuriating. Taking advantage of her momentary silence, I quickly ran through the conversation with Emil. Sitting heavily on the bench beneath the wall as she continued to listen without comment, by the time I told her about Emil's reasoning for admitting everything to me, Rose seemed more dazed than anything else.

Crouching in front of her, I took both of her hands in mine and squeezed gently; concerned that for once she wasn't shouting. "Are you okay?"

Shaking her head, Rose inhaled sharply. "Yeah...yeah, sorry. I'm ok. I just think I'm in shock. I never thought of Emil as a friend exactly; I mean he's a guardian so there's always a certain amount of distance between us and them, but I liked him. Knowing now that all this time he's been watching me…us, and reporting back to that…that man, it doesn't feel great."

"No, it doesn't."

Shoulders drooping, Rose gave me a look of commiseration that I appreciated, but only made the anger worse because it was a look of pity. "I'm sorry, comrade." Bumping her forehead against my own, she softly sympathised. "He was your friend. This has to be so much worse for you because it feels like a betrayal."

"That's exactly what it feels like."

Cupping my jaw, she lifted my head to gently kiss my lips. "This hurt you."

"No."

"Yes, it did." Rose countered with quiet determination, seeing straight through my quick denial because she knew me so well. It wasn't until she had said it that I had actually admitted to myself that it had. I had been so focused on the anger that there had been no room for anything else. "You don't let many people in," Rose continued softly. "And those you do, you give your absolute trust to. Betraying that trust hurts more than anything anyone else could ever do to you."

Like a wound that never fully heals. I thought grimly to myself. "You're right," I conceded, grinning wryly at Rose. "It did hurt, but it's a lesson learnt in never knowing who you can and can't trust, so it's better to be suspicious of everyone rather than to trust blindly."

Twisting her soft mouth, Rose shook her head. "You can't become cynical because of this, comrade. Your faith in others is one of the things that I love most about you."

"It's not cynicism, Roza…its caution. Something we both need to exercise once we reach Court. Apart from those we are travelling with, we need to treat everyone at Court with suspicion."

"Even Konrad?"

Frowning, the name pulled me up short. Until Rose had mentioned him, I hadn't given any thought to the possibility that he was one of them, but it was entirely possible. He had worked in Europe before being reassigned to Court and it would have been easy for Ibrahim to get to him by pulling strings, especially as he had found himself in trouble. He could easily have used that as leverage against him. The thought of it made me sick.

Sighing, I warily scrubbed my hands over my face. "I honestly don't know. Until I can nose around at Court and find out more information, let's just be cautious of him and everyone else, okay?"

"Ok." Brushing at strands of my own loose hair blowing over my face, Rose tucked them behind my ear. "You said something about Maia's death being the turning point for Emil. What did you mean?"

"After Maia died, he basically fell apart and I was there to support him through it. He said that after that, he knew that he couldn't continue to betray me; but that he still had to report to Ibrahim for appearances sake or else he would become suspicious. He promised me that he hadn't given him anything that could be used against us."

"He took a huge risk doing that, comrade."

Pulling away, I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"He essentially betrayed the person who has leverage against this family. Someone that he knows is dangerous and ruthless enough to punish him for it if he finds out what he's doing, and he was still willing to risk it...for you."

"You're defending him?" Unable to keep the disbelief from my voice, Rose shook her head.

"No, I'm not defending him. What he did was despicable and there's no excuse for that, but maybe later, once you're over the initial betrayal of his actions, you'll be able to see this differently. You'll be able to see that he found himself in a bad situation with only one way out. Also, when he made the agreement, he didn't even know you yet. You said he was spying on me before you arrived, right?"

"Yes."

"Okay, so his loyalty wouldn't have been to you, but to Ibrahim and that changed pretty quickly."

Baffled that she wasn't angrier about this and that everything she was saying made more sense than I wanted it to, I stood to look down at her with an expression that couldn't have hidden my confusion. "Why aren't you angrier about this? He's put you at risk too by spying on you. He also was the one that told Ibrahim you had left the Academy. They knew where you were the whole time and did nothing to return you to the safety of the grounds."

"Oh, I am angry at him, but after everything we've already learnt about Ibrahim Mazur, I also feel sorry for him. The man my mother chose to father me seems to have a knack at making good people do bad things."

Sinking my hands into my back pockets, I shook my head. "I'm not capable of being as generous towards him as you are, Rose."

"That's understandable. You're a lot closer to this then I am. If it had been Lissa or Eddie or Christian who had done the same thing to me, I would be just as pissed." Standing, Rose rubbed her hands up and down my chest in a comforting gesture. "All I'm saying is that maybe you need to look at this from a different perspective."

"A different perspective...you are telling me to look at this from a different perspective."

Chuckling wryly, Rose looked a little sheepish. "I know I'm the last person to give you advice on it because I punch first and ask questions later, but you are not me and you are capable of looking at things more objectively."

Wavering, I didn't want to give Emil the benefit of any doubt; the wound still too fresh, but Rose's logic was working on me whether I wanted it to or not. "I'll try, Roza, but I'm not promising anything."

"That's all I ask. Besides, we have a bigger pain in the ass to deal with than Emil and any spies. You said he was genuinely concerned about Ibrahim publically announcing me as his daughter?"

"Yes. It was one of the only things that came out of his mouth that I did believe."

"So how do we stop him?"

"It already too late to try and stop him, Rose. Too many here heard the truth on Thursday and would have spread it. By the end of the weekend, half our world will know about it. He has no need to announce it publically…he took care of that personally at Trials." Hearing the bitter anger in my voice, it was the knowledge that I was powerless to do anything about it that created the resentment.

Twisting her mouth in disgust, Rose scoffed. "It's already started. You should have seen Kirova when she handed me my Academy transcript. She was stuttering and shaking as she congratulated me. Told me if I ever needed anything to call her…personally and gave me her card. She offered me a cup of tea and then started sweating when I refused. He scares everyone, even people like her. If it's like this here, what is it going to be like at Court, where he has more influence?"

"Far worse." At her worried look, I placed my hands over her shoulders and gently massaged along the line of her collar bone. "There isn't anything that can be done about this now, but in the future, should he try and manipulate us into anything, we might have some leverage over him."

Wrapping her fingers around my wrists, Rose cocked her head to the side with a raised brow. "Leverage? What leverage?"

"Emil named the spies that he knew in Court who reported to Ibrahim and more than a few of them are a part of the Queen's personal entourage. She would be less than pleased to learn that there are moles within her inner sanctum. If we threaten him with that by using my connection to the Queen, it might be enough to get him to back off."

"You said that you didn't want anything to do with the Queen."

"I don't and he knows that, but he also knows that I'll do anything to protect you. He would probably never suspect that I would go to her, so that at least gives us the element of surprise, even if I only make it look like I'm going to her."

Looking doubtful, Rose rubbed her chin back and forth against my wrist. "I don't like it; the thought of you owing her some kind of favour, so we only use it as a last resort against him. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

Divulging the names of those he had revealed, Rose looked shocked by each and every one of them, but she repeated the names and memorised them. There could of course be many more of them that Emil didn't know of, but at least this was a start.

Patting my wrists to let her go, Rose walked back to Mason's plaque. Covering it with her palm for a second, she turned back to smile at me over her shoulder. "That's enough talk about spies and Ibrahim Mazur. What are we doing for the rest of the night?"

She was right. This was our night and there was still another topic of discussion that I couldn't avoid. I wanted it out of the way so that we could enjoy what was left of our time together. "Whatever we want."

"Will anyone come looking for us?"

"I don't think so."

"Then let's go for one last walk around the grounds. We both need to clear our heads."

Leaving the garden, we avoided the front of the church and headed straight into the woods. Once we were concealed by the thicket and felt it was safe enough, our hands automatically found each other as our fingers intertwined. "Father Andrew looked really sad when we left the service," Rose remarked lazily. "I think he's going to miss us."

"Of course he's going to miss you...who else is going to get into enough trouble to have cleaning the church as punishment?"

"Very funny, comrade." Elbowing me, Rose leaned her head against my arm. "Even Stan looked sad to see me go. I mean, he actually gave me a half hug when I was leaving the admin building. The bane of my existence gave me a hug goodbye."

"Probably scared of Ibrahim and wanted you to put in a good word for him."

"Seriously? Can you let me have my moment, please?"

Laughing at her indignation, I kissed the top of her head. "Sorry. Please, continue."

"Oh, bite me."

"Don't be like that. You must be excited that tomorrow we leave."

"Yeah, I am, but I'm also sad. I'm going to miss the Academy."

"But on Wednesday you were eager to be out of here, so what's changed?" I teasingly reminded her.

"I don't know. On Wednesday I still had to get through Trials and that was all I could think about, so the end of the week seemed really far away. Now that's over and tomorrow is Monday and it just seems to have snuck up on me. This place has been my home since I was four. Apart from the time Lissa and I spent on the run, I've never known anything else. It's just an adjustment, I guess."

"For all of us. You're not alone in feeling that way, Rose. The nice thing is we all get to adjust together."

"I didn't think of it that way. It's comforting. Thanks." Stretching up to kiss my chin, Rose rested her head against my arm again. "How are you feeling about tomorrow? They'll make you do some kind of orientation first, won't they?"

"Yes and some sort of training exercise to prove that I belong there along with a firearm competency test. As to being nervous…no, I'm excited, actually. I'm looking forward to whatever this assignment will bring, and the time it will give us."

"Even knowing it's your great-aunt you'll be guarding?

Glancing down at her, Rose had given me the perfect opportunity to discuss my concerns about Tasha. "I can't think of her that way, Rose. First and foremost, she's a Moroi. That's she's the Queen and Randall Ivashkov's aunt are irrelevant. I'll do my job. That's what I need to focus on, but there is something that I want to discuss with you about her that's concerning me because I want your honest opinion…something to do with Tasha."

"Tasha?" Frowning, Rose swatted away a low lying branch. "Are you talking about when you two were speaking after the graduation ceremony? When you told everyone who your father was and about your reassignment?"

"Yes. We were discussing my assignment specifically and obviously, given her feelings towards Tatiana, she wasn't happy about it."

"Well, that's not news. We all know her opinion about Tatiana, so what's concerning you?"

"She asked if I was going to use my family connection to try and sway her on the dhampir cause."

Stopping in her track, Rose almost yanked me to a halt. "She asked to do what?!"

"You heard me."

"I can't believe she asked you that."

"Actually, asked isn't the right word. She all but demanded it of me and when I wouldn't agree, tried to guilt me into it."

"What did she say?!"

Running through the entire conversation, I almost wished I hadn't brought it up because the more I talked, the angrier Rose became. "That's bullshit! Its manipulation; emotional blackmail. She's no better than Ibrahim is, trying to force everyone to follow their agenda, no matter what it costs you. Especially that 'where is your place?' crap.Who the hell does she think she is?"

Perversely enough, I found humour in how irate she was and reminded of her of the double standard she had just set for Emil. "So Emil's betrayal didn't raise your blood pressure, but Tasha's attitude does?"

"Emil wasn't trying to force you into something that could damage your career or put you in personal conflict with your belief system. She knows you; she knows how important this is to you, to your sense of honour and integrity and how personally you would take it. How could she ask that of you?"

"She's just passionate, Rose." Desperately hoping that she would agree with, I knew I was grasping at straw; hoping that Rose would dispel my actual fears, but she didn't. She only confirmed them.

"No, comrade, that wasn't passion." Looking up at me, Rose held my gaze with compelling urgency. "Passion is commitment and drive, but it's not manipulation. That was…hell; I don't know what that was. Crazy talk maybe, and you know it. You're trying to get me to agree with you because you don't want to admit to yourself that it could be something else. Something dangerous. I think you should take it seriously, very seriously because it sounds like a threat and should be mentioned to whoever is in charge of the Queens Guard. You just said that your job is to protect Tatiana against this kind of thing, whether or not you like her or agree with her policies."

Knowing she was right, it was a little disconcerting to find that her opinion was so in sync with my one. I had hoped that she would have been able to provide some sort of view that had differed from my own so that she would tell me that I was overreacting; that I was blowing everything out of proportion, but she had drilled right down to the bedrock of the problem…I wasn't so sure that Tasha's attitude was merely passion and not a serious threat.

Cocking her head, Rose looked at me with a frown. "You look…I don't know, almost disappointed."

"No, it's not that. You're right; I was hoping you would tell me that what I was concerned about was all in my head; that it was just her passionate nature to blame. The fact that you're not, is worrying me even more."

Sighing, Rose wrapped her arms around me and rested her chin on my chest. "Sorry. I don't want you to be worried on our last night here. I wanted it to just be about us, but this kind of thing needs to be discussed. I know its Tasha and your history with her blurs everything, especially because it will affect Christian, but this is not something that you can ignore."

"I know." Cupping her jaw, I massaged along her jaw bone. She was right; I knew she was right, especially about my past with Tasha blurring my judgement, but I still couldn't bring myself to make a decision to report this. Tasha was already prejudiced against by the Moroi. If this was nothing more than just talk, and I made them aware of it, she would be maliciously targeted and that would be my fault. I couldn't do that to her. Until I had hard evidence that there was any real threat that she posed, I wouldn't report it.

I just hoped it wasn't a decision that I would regret later.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ruin the night." Hoping to distract Rose so that she wouldn't push the issue any further, how would I answer her if she asked me straight out if I would report it? I couldn't lie to her, but wasn't my decision already a lie to her?

"You didn't…of course, you didn't. I want you to talk to me about these kinds of things, especially if you're having doubts about anything. That's what a girlfriend is for."

"Really? I thought a girlfriend was for…" Whispering an explicit explanation into her ear, Rose chocked and looked up at me with a mock frown and for the moment, I let myself enjoy the byplay; pushing aside my concerns about Tasha as my distraction worked. There was an uncomfortable knot of guilt in my stomach over the ploy, but what other choice did I have right now?

"Dimitri Belikov, that's scandalous for you. What would people think if they heard you talking like that?"

"Well as luck would have it, I only speak to my girlfriend like that, so it's not something I need to worry about, now is it?"

"They don't know what they're missing out on."

"Would you be willing to share me so that they could find out?"

"No way in hell, comrade." Grabbing fistfuls of my t-shirt, Rose pulled me down to look me in the eye. "You're mine and no one else's. Got it?"

"Got it." Grinning, I closed the small gap between us as my lips found her nose first and then moved to her upper lip in a soft kiss that quickly gained more pressure and heat before we began to walk again. Silent as the sounds of the forest immersed us; both of us enjoyed the last time we would walk through it. There wouldn't be any woods to walk through at Court and the loss of one of the more private places we had to be together was only now dawning on both of us and maybe because of it, or because we were simply walking in that direction, we soon found ourselves at the cabin.

"How do we always end up here?"

"Good luck?"

Snorting, Rose cast me a sly look. She both knew why we were here and it had nothing to do with luck. Turning the handle, the door hinges were quieter than the gate of the garden and opened easily as Rose walked through. Quietly closing the door behind me, the darkness within the small cabin felt familiar and full of memories.

Looking around, Rose found the matches and supply of candles always left when electricity wasn't needed and struck one now with a whiff of sulphur and a flare of light. Finding the largest of the candles, she lit only one as I drew the curtains to conceal the light from within. Blowing out the match, Rose moved the candle to the mantle above the fireplace so that everything in the small room was bathed in weak light our eyes easily adjusted to.

Dusting off her hands, she glanced around before turning to me with a crook in her brow and a slight smile. "Tasha left it spotless again. If nothing else, she's a good cleaner." Running a finger over the clean table top, Rose sighed. "I think I'm going to miss this place the most."

"So am I. We're going to have to try and find a version of this cabin at Court."

"Ugh!" Hoping onto the table, Rose flicked out her skirt. "You know, at first, it was exciting sneaking off with you, but now I'm over it. I want to make love with you on a bed. A big, comfortable bed. I want to wake up with you in the same bed. I want to spend hours in it without having to worry about being caught, or being late for duty, or needing to go meet Lissa. I want just us, and it's pissing me off that we can't have that yet. That it might be months before we can."

"I know. It's frustrating for me too, but you were the one that was patient two days ago, so what's suddenly changed?"

"I've graduated now; I'm a guardian now. I'm no longer your student, but it still feels like I'm a child being told I can't have what I want."

"I don't think of you as a child."

"I should hope not...you'd go to jail for some of the things we've done if you did." Waggling her eyebrows, Rose didn't need to remind me of just what we had done…each memory had been burnt into my flesh like a living brand.

Chuckling, I moved close enough to stand at her knees. "We have to wait. You know why." Smoothing out a crease in her skirt, I noticed a slight bulge on her right thigh. Stretching for it, Rose wriggled out of reach.

"Is that your stake?"

Smiling provocatively at me, Rose patted her thigh. "What do you think?"

"I'll find out for myself." Placing my hands on the inside of her thighs, I widened them until I could stand between them. Gathering the hem of her skirt, I slowly pushed it up until her slender thighs were exposed along with the stake strapped to it with a...garter belt? Swallowing roughly at the sight of the black scrap of lace, my fingers trailed over the edge. "Where did you get a garter belt?"

"My unmentionables drawer."

"Unmentionables?"

"Hmm."

"I didn't know you had a…unmentionables drawer." Having to clear my hoarse voice, I scowled a little as Rose smiled with feminine awareness and wondered what else she had in there, and how soon I would get to see it.

"There is a lot you don't know, comrade." Stroking her fingers along my jaw, Rose smiled. "It's weird. We know everything about each other. Every intimate detail, every scar and every flaw…well, my flaws, you don't have any, but we don't know anything as simple as what is in each other's closets."

"You have no flaws." I corrected.

"You're biased."

"Yes, I am. We'll get there, Roza…and when we do, you're going to show me just what you have in all your drawers and closets. I'm expecting to be surprised."

"Don't be. This is the sexiest thing you'll find." Lifting the heavy fall of her hair off her neck, Rose wiped away at the perspiration coating her skin, exposing her newest tattoo as she did it. Nudging aside her hair, my lips drifting lightly over her skin; puckering into a smile as she shivered and the smooth skin gave way to goose flesh. Lingering over the newly inked tattoo, Rose had removed the light dressing yesterday; much to the delight of Lissa who had spent most of the time showing it off to anyone still left on the grounds.

"This is my favourite tattoo."

"Mine too."

"Congratulations, Moye Serdtse." Finding the chain with my medallion on it, I looked for the other pendent she normally wore. "Where's the Nazar?"

"I took it off."

"Because of him?"

"What would you have done?"

Probably exactly the same thing, so I didn't press the issue. Not when I had other things on my mind. Sweeping her hair to the side, my lips followed the slight bumps of her spine downwards until I found the edge of her dress. Sighing, Rose rubbed her nose along the line of my throat, and inhaled deeply before she delicately licked and then bit gently at the damp flesh.

Groaning as the electric sensation sizzled to my engorging cock; my hands gripped her hips and pulled her tighter into my groin. Arching into me, Rose wrapped her legs around the back of my thighs before gripping the edge of my shirt and tugging upwards. Pulling back, I reached for the fabric and pulled it over my head; tossing it carelessly to the side as Rose slide her hands upwards over the rippling flesh to hook around my neck and pull me down again.

Mouths meshing greedily, my hands found the straps of her dress and pulled them down. Wiggling out of them, Rose fumbled for the side zip, but my hands brushed them aside; hastily yanking the zip down with an impatience driven by need. Breaking the kiss as Rose tried to catch my lips, I peeled the dress away; watching as her full breasts caught lightly on the material before I tugged it to her waist.

Arching backwards, her heavy, jerky breathing thrust her breasts towards me. Cupping my hands beneath them, my thumbs found the puckered nipples; rotating heavily against them as she shivered at my touch and began unbuckling my belt. Pinching and pulling at the rosy flesh, Rose whimpered softly in demand.

"Dimitri…please?"

Smiling tightly at her plea, my head dropped quickly to find her left nipple; latching onto it hungrily as Rose cried out into the quiet air. Releasing my belt, she tunnelled her fingers through my hair, clutching at it almost painfully as her nails dug into my scalp. Rocking her hips into mine, the pressure rubbed the denim roughly over my cockhead and sent heat spiralling through my brain.

Groaning against her soft flesh as my mouth tightened over her breast, I licked the nipple roughly for a second longer before releasing it; unable to wait any longer. Wrapping one arm around her waist, I lifted her from the table and worked her skirt further down her hips with the other; whipping it down and off her legs before flinging it over my shoulder.

Toeing off her shoes as my frantic fingers finished the job she had stated with the belt, Rose watched me with a kind of predatory lust that fed my own; the skin above her cheekbones flushed. Hooking her fingers into the lacy edge of her panties, Rose left the garter belt and stake in place as she slowly inched them down the long length of her legs as I threw the belt aside, yanked down the zip and threw off my jeans and boxer. Revealing the tight cluster of dark curls at the junction of her thighs, Rose continued to watch me as she rested backwards on one arm and slide her slender fingers between the wet folds of her vulva to ply the swollen clitoris.

Shuddering at the sight, my fingers found the laces of my running shoes and tugged impatiently at them as she continued to tease me whilst arching her back and panting. Finally ridding myself of my shoes and socks, Rose spread her legs as I surged forward, sliding my hands beneath her hips to lift her from the table. Whimpering, Rose wrapped her arms around my neck as her legs wrapped around my hips; pressing the wet heat against my aching cock. Groaning hoarsely, I slide the rigid flesh between my legs between her own, wanting nothing more than to thrust inside of her.

Carrying her to the bed, I sat in the middle of it, keeping her tightly in my arms. Latching onto my mouth, Rose greedily twined her tongue with mine, whimpering at the erotic contact. Running her nails lightly down my torso, Rose reached for my up thrusting cock; wrapping her fingers around the engorged head, masturbating the crown as I groaned and twisted beneath her touch.

Rising to my knees as she dipped the tip of her finger into the slit to spread the moisture of semen around the crown , I kept her locked tightly in my lap as she continued to pump me before guiding my aching flesh again to the slick folds before sliding the head just inside. Throwing back my head at the slippery, tight feel of her, Rose pressed her breasts against my chest; rubbing her jutting nipples against my muscles as she slowly, achingly inched my cock inside of her.

Gritting my teeth at the teasing increments, I held myself still as she undulated, whilst low whimpers escaped her and her nipples rasped against me. Feeding half of my length into her, Rose clung to my shoulders with gripping fingers and nails as she rocked against me.

"Dimitri," She breathed against my mouth in Russian. "Harder…harder."

Gripping her hips as my control broke, I thrust the full length of my cock into her; catching her cries with my mouth as I surged upwards, delving deeper and deeper with every furious pistoning of my hips. Tightening my buttocks, I bounced her mercilessly; groaning with every tightening of her flesh as my fingers gripped her rear. Feeling the ache in my testicles, I gritted my teeth to keep from climaxing, wanting to feel her come first.

"Come, Rose," I rasped against her lips, gripping her neck to keep her nipples pressed tightly against my chest. "Come, Moye Serdtse."

Twisting against me as she fought the approaching climax, my fingers found and pulled at her puffy clitoris as it scraped against the thick flesh plunging into her. Jerking at the rough touch of my fingers, Rose cried out and began to spasm around me; triggering my own orgasm. Thrusting frantically against the clenching of her inner muscles, a rough groan rumbled from my chest as I came.

Shuddering, my heart thundered as I clutched Rose tightly; dimply aware of her own beating frantically against my chest. Resting against me heavily, her breathing was a laboured as my own. Licking at the salty essence of sweat in the hollow of her throat, Rose tightened her hold on me; furrowing her fingers through the damp strands of hair. Nuzzling her, my own arms tightened, wanting to meld our skin together as our hearts beat in unison and my hips continued to lazily rock the softening flesh still clasped tightly within her.

"I don't want to move. Can we stay for a while?" Rose asked softly, drowsily, minutes later.

"For a while." I agreed just as drowsily. "Just a little while."