Over the next few days I would tease him as my work out clothing got skimpier, pushing his control to his limits. I knew he was trying to respect me and mate me properly as decorum allowed, but I was getting frustrated. I longed for him to hold me and wanted to get my hands all over his body.
On friday, after my run I moved to the stretching area, I could feel his eyes on me, so I added an extra wiggle to my step. Then I bent over and placed my palms on the ground, I could see him staring at me.
I moved into horizontal splits, and lay flat on the ground with my legs facing out. Smiling when I heard a growl as I placed blocks under my feet to increase the stretch past 180 degrees. I rolled onto my back and called him over. "Comrade, I need help stretching"
As I split my legs vertically, one on the ground and the other near my face. I smiled at him innocently, "I have to stay flexible."
We swapped legs, and he pressed my leg down firmly against my shoulder and leaned his hips against my hips. He looked at me with dark hooded eyes. "One day you will regret teasing me like this."
I could feel my secretions flooding my pants, and he groaned and stretched me further. To my disappointment, he pulled away from my core and lowered my leg. He went through the exercises that he wanted me to do, the weights and the reps, but I could see the desire in his eyes.
I had barely seen Lissa, teachers kept us separated in class and the only time I got to speak to her was during meals. We had started sitting with Natalie and her friends since we returned, hoping to keep a low profile. People had started asking more questions about our time away, Where did we go, What did we do for fun, what we did for blood etc.
The fact that I had a notorious father meant that people didn't ask too many questions when we told them he procured a blood supply for Lissa.
He was returning to town for the weekend, which meant that my probation purgatory would have a temporary reprieve. Lissa would be able to come over and see my room.
I knew Lissa was still talking to Christian Ozera when I wasn't around, much to my displeasure. Lissa also seemed stressed, she was worried about our forced separation by Kirova and wanted to know that I was looking after myself.
I felt like I could never penetrate her mind completely; she always kept things compartmentalised. I tried to remember how long it had been like this for, perhaps since we returned. For some reason, this knowledge seemed intangible.
On Friday night, Lissa and I had dinner with Baba while he regaled us with stories of his business exploits. Dimitri was on patrol, but I had hoped that he would visit me later that night.
"Is that a new necklace Rose?" Baba asked. Lissa fixed me with a piercing stare, I deliberately avoided her eyes.
"Yeah, My friend gave it to me as a delayed 17th birthday present." I lied. Abe looked at me and I tried to act like it wasn't a big deal, while Lissa was screaming at me through the bond. I could tell that Baba didn't believe me, but he let it drop.
"It's a Russian ring necklace, if I recall," Baba said to me.
'We are definitely going to talk about this' Lissa told me through the bond. I deliberately avoided her eye contact as I knew Baba was still looking at me.
"I just thought it went with my outfit." I smiled back at him while deflecting.
Baba smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.
"How is your training coming along?" He asked.
"Dimitri is strict with a lot of laps and conditioning, but he has started sparring with me. They seem surprised that I am not as far behind as they thought I would be."
"How fortunate. And Lissa, how have your classmates been treating you?"
"Rose and I have tried to keep to the sidelines by hanging out with Natalie. One girl has been quite nasty, I don't know what her problem is. The worst part is their separation of me and Rose, we don't often see each other outside of lunch."
"What is this girl's name?" Baba said with an edge to him.
Lissa paled, she didn't want Mia to wake up with a horse's head in her bed courtesy of Abe Mazur. So I answered for her "Mia Rinaldi"
"Thank you Kiz, Remember Lissa, knowledge is power. The best way to manage people is to be able to disarm them with your wits."
Lissa nodded at him, looking pacified. Maybe my father was a bad influence on her, but he had our backs. My mother disagreed with his methods and his influence over us, but as she remained in Lord Szelsky's employ, she had little say about the matter. I just worried that Lissa would start leaving a horse's head in Mia's bed as a result of Abe's influence.
"Rose, has anyone been giving you trouble?" Baba looked at me.
"A bit of unwanted male attention, but nothing that I can't handle." I said
"There is an alpha that has taken a bit of a liking to her" I turned to glare at Lissa. "Come on Rose, even you admit Charlie Hunt has been a bit too persistent" She added.
"Yeah, I think he has a bit of an ego since he transformed and thinks that he is god's gift to women" I snorted.
"Let me know if he becomes a problem"
"I can handle myself Baba, don't worry."
Abe Mazur looked less than pleased, "make sure that you do."
We convinced my father to tell us about his recent business trips, he would scatter royal gossip in for Lissa. He wanted her to be informed and have a way to protect herself with words in moroi politics, his method was coercion and bribery.
After another visit from Abe, Kirova lightened the restrictions regarding my social engagements. However, the one strike policy if I was caught drinking or cutting class still applied. She allowed two visitors to come over to my dorm room, Which meant that Natalie and Lissa could come over to hang out on Saturday night.
They were suitably impressed with my setup, Natalie was checking out everything in the kitchen. She poked and prodded everything before she gave it her seal of approval.
I made sure to keep Dimitri's shirt and towel locked away in my study area, I knew how nosy she could be. I didn't want her to find evidence of our connection.
"Wow Rose, I've never seen a student have a setup like this. You could host dinners here." Natalie said.
Lissa snorted. "The best Rose can do is a microwave dinner."
"You don't even know how to boil rice, Liss." I teased. "Besides, I'm only allowed two guests."
"And last week you were allowed no visitors. I think if you gave your father time you could host a rager." Natalie answered. We sat down on the island of the kitchen, eating the snacks I procured from the cafeteria.
I chose that moment to question Lissa about Christian, knowing that she couldn't grill me about Dimitri with Natalie present. "Are you still hanging out with Christian?"
I used Lissa's shock to probe her mind, they had met up every afternoon this week in the church attic. "I run into him from time to time." Liar.
I crossed my arms over my chest and looked at her. "You know he is bad news, why are you hanging around him? You know where he came from, his parents turned strigoi"
She made a side glance at Natalie, who was pretending to be fixated on my vitamin bottles.
"You're overreacting. He's not going Strigoi."
"He's a bad influence."
She laughed. "You think I'm in danger of going Strigoi?"
Natalie proceeded to knock over my B complex vitamins all over the table, reminding us of her presence and effectively ending our conversation.
Dimitri came to escort the princess and Natalie back to their dorm. He returned later that night with five pink peonies, which he said was to signify his romantic interest.
We sat on my couch with his arms wrapping around me with my back to his chest. He ran his fingers through my hair as we talked out our lives. He told me about growing up in Baia with 3 sisters in Siberia, while I told him about my exploits at St Vlads and Lissa's parents. Things felt so easy with him, I felt like I had known him for years,
I felt a hum of contentment being close to him, I pressed my face against his neck while I purred in contentment. Dimitri pulled me closer while he sniffed my hair and growled in contentment, we stayed like that for the rest of the night.
I woke up when he had placed me on my bed and covered me with blankets. He gave me a gentle kiss on the lips which I deepened when I pulled his face closer to mine. He broke off the kiss and left me to drift off to sleep.
I petitioned Kirova for my right for access to my religious needs, she acquiesced a little too quickly. Once I sat down on the uncomfortable benches, I was reminded of my years of monotonous boredom from the sermons and my victory was short lived.
I curled my lips when I spotted Christian Ozera across the aisle from us. I didn't like him, I would have preferred if Lissa reunited with Aaron. He was boring but non-offensive and he lacked Christian's sardonic attitude that irritated me.
I could feel Dimitri's presence and I turned to find him in the back pew looking thoughtful. He didn't seem to be following the service, nor did he take communion, he seemed to be taking time for self reflection.
When the services finished Lissa and I loitered waiting for Natalie who was talking to the priest. Aaron came up to us to talk about the latest gossip, a pair of beta guardians from the Badica family had left to the human world so they could marry.
It was practically scandalous. In our world, Dhampirs needed moroi in order to continue our race. We were infertile with each other, it was something akin to why mules were unable to procreate with other mules.
The closer I got to becoming a guardian, the more that I realised that my life would not be my own, nor is it for any guardians really. A select few of us were permitted to have mates without stigma in Moroi society, the alphas.
Alphas had the privilege of having mates, probably because they stayed dedicated guardians and their mates are often part of their guarding teams. I couldn't imagine not having Dimitri in my life, even if we aren't capable of having children. The only Dhampir who can produce dhampir offspring with other Dhampir are the omega, which are coveted and monopolised by the moroi. This makes us reliant on the Moroi to continue our race.
The talk irritated me, sometimes I felt like I wasn't allowed to be a person capable of feelings. This had become more apparent since I met Dimitri, he evoked such feelings in me. When he looked at me I felt like my soul was on fire, I burned with every touch and I craved more from him.
That feeling went away quickly as we walked outside as a bunch of icy water fell off the roof landing on Lissa and I. Aaron was conveniently safe from the ice slush despite being a step behind us and Natalie missed it entirely.
Mia Rinaldi, a small blonde girl with curly ringlets slipped her arm into his and gave us a smirk. Lissa got the worst of it, her shirt and jacket drenched with her hair clinging to the back of her neck. I handed her my coat because she looked like she was about to go into shock from hypothermia.
"It's a shame you weren't wearing that coat, I would like to see water glistening off that body" Ralph Sarkozy said to me as Mia laughed.
I gave him a filthy look, but mostly ignored him. He was a pudgy moroi, which is practically obese by their standards and I hated him.
Jesse Zeklos handed me a scarf to warm me up. "Looking good Hathaway, I don't want you to freeze."
He flashed me a brilliant smile and took Ralph away from us and I wrapped the scarf around me for warmth. I looked over to see Mia practically salivating over the experience, she clearly had a hand in the event.
"I see Aaron remained untouched, what a coincidence. Do you happen to be a water user?" I put my hands on my hips.
"I can't say that you have been untouched" She smirked at me. I wanted to punch her face in as I knew what she was implying, so I went for the higher road.
"I wonder what Ms. Kirova will have to say when she finds out you used magic against another student."
"It wasn't an attack, it was an act of god". A crowd had surrounded us at this point and I was starting to burn with rage. Mia deserves what was coming and it was about to give it to her.
Lissa nudged me. "Lets go."
She sent a calming tendril of spirit into me and I noticed Alberta and Dimitri making their way over. She grabbed my arm and directed us away.
"The darkness is building up again" I said to her. She looked at me, scrutinising my aura when she nodded in agreement.
"We will have to work on clearing it. In the meantime, I am going to keep channeling spirit into a ring for you."
"Thanks Liss." I felt like Lissa had taken over my role as caretaker. I had spent the last 2 years looking out for her, now it felt like she was the one who was caring about me.
"You know, maybe you should get Aaron back, that will teach that cabbage patch kid"
"I don't want him back, she can have him. I just want to graduate and leave this place, with you as my guardian."
"I still need to catch up before that can happen."
"You will"
Lissa left me to get changed in her dorms and I got ready to go visit Alberta for tea Sunday afternoon, she supplied me with sandwiches and cakes while we caught up.
"I'm so happy to have my cheeky girl back."
I rolled my eyes, Alberta started calling me this when I was four years old. "I've missed you too Bertie"
"Are you settling back into classes?
"Yes, my butt is not getting kicked as much as it was before"
She gave me a look, "That was your choice to leave rather than confide in me. I would have done anything I could to protect you."
I looked down at my hands, ashamed that I didn't trust Alberta enough to protect us. Lissa and I made an impulse decision to leave and once we did we felt safe for the first time in months.
"You know as much as I do how little power Dhampir have, even one in your position and I had no proof, just a feeling that Lissa and I had that we had to leave. We still don't know who it was, nor do we feel safe."
"Rose, promise me that you will come to me if you have those feelings again" She looked sternly over her teacup and I nodded in assent. "What was that business at the church?"
"Some little pipsqueak dumped Ice all over Lissa and I. I'm yet to find out what her problem with us is."
"Try not to get yourself in trouble settling that scoreā¦That's a lovely necklace, where did you get it?"
I flushed, I had been absentmindedly playing with the chain, drawing attention to it. "Oh, I picked this up in Portland, I thought it was pretty."
"How lovely" Alberta said, but I could tell that she didn't believe me. I need to get better at lying.
I had a chocolate eclair on my plate, filled with cream in the middle. I waited until I could feel his attention on me. I swiped my tongue between the sides of the eclair, licking cream and bringing it to my lips. I could feel his desires stir as I had his attention.
I parted my lips and slid my mouth around the eclair, swallowing as much as my mouth would hold without gagging. I bit into the eclair while keeping eye contact with Dimitri as I swallowed.
Maintaining eye contact with Dimitri, I swiped some of the cream filling and placed my finger in my mouth to suck it off. He kept his face impassive and his eyes said it all, the burning desire, I could feel the heat from across the room.
"Damn Rose, you can suck on my eclair any day" Mason said to me. I was enraged by the audacity of Mason to presume that I would want someone other than my mate.
"I'm not going anywhere near your eclair. Besides, I would need a magnifying glass to be able to find it in the first place." I broke eye contact with Dimitri to fix Mason with a glare.
Mason looked hurt, but I needed to make it clear that I wasn't interested in him. The only way to do it was through tough love.
I went for seconds in the lunch line when I felt someone tall press up against my ass. I felt a stiff member pressing against me and large hands grabbed my hips.
I couldn't detect the scent of guardian Belikov and the hands felt all wrong. I twisted out of the grip and turned to see Charlie.
"What the hell do you think you are doing?" I asked him, fury in my voice.
"I just wanted to give you a taste of what you are missing" he said in a tone that made me feel that he was making a pathetic imitation of Dimitri.
"I'm not missing anything. Leave me alone" I said, grabbing my tray. I tried to step away from him, but he grabbed my arm. I set down my tray and tried to break his hold, he dug in and wouldn't let go.
He spun me and pressed me against the bench and used his body to trap me. He sniffed my hair and I could feel him grow against me. I felt revolted and struggled against him.
"You smell so lovely, I could be your mate if you wanted me." He pressed himself closer to me and I held off the urge to vomit.
"Get off me." I gave him a sharp elbow to the ribs and he let me go.
"What's going on here." In my relief, I turned to see a very pissed off Alberta standing behind Charlie.
"Nothing" Charlie said.
I crossed my arms. "This creep needs to keep his hands to himself before he loses one."
"Come with me Novice Hunt."
AN: I'm trying to split my time with finishing Reputation and new chapters of Bound by Desire, while working full time and psyching myself to start studying again.
Thank you for the reviews of the last chapter, people seem to be enjoying this story!
