A/N: Hi everyone, sorry for taking so, so long to update this chapter. A couple of reasons... 1, hubby has been on holidays since before Christmas and is a little snooty about the time I spend writing, apparently he wants to do things on his holidays! Pft! and 2, for some reason, I had a bit of trouble writing it... the words just didn't want to come out. But finally it's here! :-)
Hopefully the next chapter will come a little easier.
Thanks for sticking with me!

Sandy

Chapter 20

Dimitri and I sat opposite Guardian Mathews after we'd filled up on breakfast. I was so full after breakfast, I'd really pigged out. There were a lot of different foods here, but I was more than elated to find one familiar item on the menu... donuts! Dimitri almost laughed out loud at my squeal of delight when I saw them and as full as I was... just remembering their taste had my mouth watering once again... Just then, Guardian Mathews voice pulled me back to the here and now.

"Look, I know that you probably realise that Headmaster Lazar told me a bit about what you've been through lately Dimitri. I'm pretty sure that anything I could imagine would only pale in the reality of it all..." Smart man, if you only knew. "I'm also not going to say I know how you feel, but you must understand why I have to ask if you're ready for this."

"Yes, I do." Dimitri answered. "I won't insult you by saying I don't have certain issues to deal with, but I'm a trained guardian and as such I will perform as such. If I feel that my past is in any way threatening the safety of those around me, I'll let you know immediately."

"I appreciate that." He said with a nod before looking down at his joined hands. "Now, with that out of the way, I must ask you something else. It has come to my attention that not only are you both involved with each other, but you are in fact engaged to be married..."

Instantly my guard went up... "That won't be a problem will it, guardian Mathews?" I asked defensively. Yesterday's confrontation with Headmaster Lazar immediately flashed through my mind.

"In a way it does Guardian Hathaway." Oh, here we go again...

My eyes narrowed and my lips tightened slightly and braced myself for anything... My attention was so focused on Mathews, I didn't notice that Dimitri's grip on my hand tightened.

"I don't really give a shit what you think about our engagement."

"You didn't let me finish Guardian Hathaway." Mathews said holding his hands up in a gesture to stop my immanent explosion. "I personally don't have a problem with your relationship, I actually commend you both. I only wish that more of our people had not only the wish to, but also the guts to stand up for what they want." Okay... so far, so good! "The problem will be more with the Moroi on the academy grounds; both faculty and students... You must realise this."

"Do I look like the sort of person that cares?"

"No..." he said with the faintest of smiles. "But that doesn't mean that others won't react none the less... I'm not asking you to hide your engagement if anyone asks, but in light of what's happened here recently, I am asking if you'll keep any... public displays, private."

"Guardian Mathews, I am a guardian and a damn good one at that. I have and always will conduct myself as such. What I will not do though is deny who and what this man beside me is. He is my life and he is my hero and just over a year ago I lost him and through my grief and confusion I let others tell me how I was to forget him and not acknowledge what we had. I will not do that ever again. I will be the guardian that my thirty-eight molnija marks say that I am, but I will also be Dimitri's fiancé. If you think that people around here will have a problem with me putting my life between them and a strigoi bent on sucking the life out of them, then tell us now and we'll leave right this second." I felt Dimitri's hand tighten on my leg. I didn't know if it was to tell me to shut up or if it was his reaction to what I'd said. Last night he'd not only showed me his reaction to what I'd said to Lazar but informed me of desire to defile Lazar's desk.

Before I could stop them, my eyes did a quick assessment of the size of Mathew's desk... I was grinning like crazy behind my well practised guardian mask.

"Fair enough, if you run into any problems, let me know and I'll deal with them. Moroi won't be your only problem... you know this, right?"

"Yes, we know this." Dimitri said. I looked over to him for the first time since Mathews brought up the 'engagement' conversation and the first thing I saw was the battle going on in his eyes. I was pretty sure Mathew's wouldn't have seen it; after all, his face betrayed nothing... But I knew Dimitri extremely well. His face may not have betrayed anything but there were other parts of his body that weren't so disciplined; this was the second thing I saw when I looked at him. I silently hoped that Mathews wouldn't have any need for us in the next hour or two...

"Alright, listen... I have a meeting with Headmaster Lazar to get to. These are some files of the Moroi and Dhampir students here; go over them so you know more about them. When you're finished, report to Guardian Petrovskii and he'll send you to where we need you to be." With that he walked out of the room.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you Roza." Dimitri's voice was low and dangerous and I knew what I'd see if I looked at him, I'd see predatory eyes looking back at me so I kept my eyes forward. My heart hammered in my chest as peripherally, I saw Dimitri stand up from his seat and walk behind me. I closed my eyes in anticipation.

"I saw you look at this desk." He said at my ear. "I know what you were thinking... wicked thoughts, right?" The little hairs on the back of my neck that weren't tied up in the bun on my head stood on end. I kept my eyes closed as I felt his fingertip slowly trace down my neck and over my collar and then proceed all the way down my spine; goosebumps following in its wake. "Wicked people need to put in their place Roza. Are you wicked?"

You have no idea... I thought as I grinned like a kid on Christmas morning. "Only a little..."

"Oh, I think you're more than a little wicked my love." He said at my other ear.

"Well, you would know I suppose..." I said as I turned my head around to look at him. Yup... he had on his hungry eyes.

"Stay right where you are my love." I didn't dare move, I really, really liked this Dimitri; probably a little more than was healthy at times. I was curious as to what he was doing – until I heard the click of the door being locked.

Oh yes! The little me inside my head was running around doing some ridiculous 'I win' moves, fists pumping and the same huge shit eating grin that I wore only hours before as we left our room.

"Stand up." He said from behind me. I did exactly as I was told... I was conscious of the chair I'd just been sitting in, being dragged away from behind me. My breath caught as his hands took hold of my hips.

"Do you want the Moroi files or the Dhampir files?" I heard Dimitri ask.

HUH! What the hell? I opened my eyes to see that I was still sitting in my chair and Dimitri was standing on the other side of the desk... What the f...

"What's that face for?" Dimitri asked me with a wry expression.

"Um..." What in the hell just happened? Oh crap... I just played all that out in my head! What's wrong with me? It's only been a matter of hours since our 'all nighter' ended and here I am fantasising all over again! I need therapy...

As I dropped my eyes in slight embarrassment, I caught sight of the object of my fantasies. Somehow, I don't think I was alone in my thoughts. "Do we have to read those files...here?" I asked as I looked back up at him.

A slight grin pulled at the corner of his mouth. "I don't see it hurting to read these...elsewhere."

Yes...

I stood up and leant over the desk...just enough so that I knew he could see down the front of my top as it fell forward. What can I say? I'm horny! I picked up a file without taking my eyes off his, having no idea which one I'd picked up and then slowly stood up again. I slowly took a step backwards, then another. The grin on his face increased slightly as one of his eyebrows started to rise. Soon enough, I reached the door and I blindly found the lock and unlocked the door. He grabbed the other file on the desk and took a step sideways and as he did so, I quickly opened the door and ran. I knew without looking that he was right behind me and I knew that with his super long legs that it wouldn't take long for him to catch up to me, so I ran with everything I had in me.

I don't know if he let me get there first or not, but I was alone when I reached our room so I quickly fumbled for the key in my pocket. I heard footsteps climbing the stair rapidly as I slipped into our room and I shut the door. I glanced around noticing that it was still in the state of disarray that we'd left it this morning... that was good in a way, now we'd only need to clean up once! Always the optimist – that's me!

I put the folder on the small table beside on the left side of the door and then quickly placed myself on the right side of the door. As I watched the handle slowly turn, I held my breath... Images of what I'd do when he entered the room flashed through my mind in seconds... The door kept opening inch by slow inch, so slowly in fact that I was fast running out of patience and only moments from opening the door myself. I'd expected him to open it all the way, thus completely hiding me behind it, but he didn't. I couldn't work out why the door stopped moving when it was only just more than a foot opened. The space was barely big enough for his head to fit through, let alone his amazing, jaw dropping body.

What are you waiting for?

The door slowly moved again and my heart sped up. I think Dimitri has just earned a new name; God of Suspense! The door was now open enough for him to come through and I smiled when I saw his hand wrap around the edge of the door. I heard him put the folder on the table where I'd put mine. My body was coiled and ready to pounce at just the right time... As I saw his body move inside, I slammed the door closed and jumped onto his back all in one swift movement.

His hand reached up over his shoulder and grabbed me roughly, pulling me up and over his head... God, he's strong... but then, so am I. I quickly clung myself to the front of him and no matter what he did, I was like a fly on shit... he couldn't get rid of me. It didn't take him long to stop trying to untangle me from his body.

"You're faster than I remember..." He growled as he softly bit into my earlobe.

"I told you, there's a whole other side of me that you don't know."

"I saw that side last night maya krasaveetsa."

"Most of it... but not all." I said as I crushed my mouth to his.

Fingers pulled hair out of bindings, clothes onto the floor and feelings out of bodies... I was now completely sure that the more we did this, the more I hungered for him.

I think I really do need therapy...

More than an hour later, we decided that we should probably look over the files. An hour after that we were washed, clothed and reporting for duty. We couldn't fine Stas anywhere on the grounds, so we tried the guardian's lunch room. As we walked in, we were met with a wide arrangement of expressions. Some were openly smirking, most showed nothing but then a couple were plainly disgusted.

I remembered that feeling at St Vladimir's after word had got around that two guardians had given up their titles to be together; even I had thought they were wrong to do what they did. How naivé I was back then, my view on the world was so black and white that I didn't even recognise the shades of grey we lived in 90% of the time. Dimitri squeezed my hand and we made our way inside.

"Nice to see that you do actually come up for air once in a while." Stas said leaning back in his chair smiling.

"Yeah well, even badass Gods such as Dimitri need to breathe."

Stas choked on his mouthful of coffee.

"Rose..." Dimitri grumbled. But I was on a roll... the audience just gave me the reason I needed to shove it up their asses...

"Even though ears are joined up to the back of your throat, that's one trick he hasn't learnt yet."

"ROSE!" Dimitri said rather loud.

Stas literally fell on the floor in shock. Chairs around us scraped loudly as they were pushed back in haste and I couldn't help but smirk.

"What? It's nothing to be ashamed of lover. If more of these stiffs were honest with themselves, they too would know what I'm talking about."

"You really are pushing their patience you know."

"I know..." I whispered evilly. "It's fun hey."

We looked back as Stas got up off the floor laughing. "You're definitely staying Hathaway. I don't care what Mammoth here wants, you're staying right here. This place needs a good shake up."

"I aim to please."

"I'm sure you do." He shook his head slightly and continued to drink what was left of his coffee. The room was now only half as full as when we walked in. Go Rose! Way to clear a room... At least now I knew who I could trust and who I couldn't. "Grab something to eat; I'm sure you're hungry. Once you're finished I'll take you over to where we need your help."

For the next half hour we ate and chatted like long lost friends. I was actually surprised that Dimitri and Stas were such good friends. He seemed to be more like someone I'd be friends with, not straight-laced Dimitri. He asked Dimitri about his capture, to which Dimitri told a quick outline of events. I didn't know if he didn't want to talk about it around me, or didn't want Stas to know the really bad stuff.

Soon enough, Stas led us one of the dorms on lower campus; it had been the worst hit. Some of the strigoi had been recognised as past students and they had obviously known that it would pose an easier target housing student who didn't know how to fight properly. An academy plane was on its way from the European court to ferry students to safer grounds while the cleanup continued. All senior dhampirs would be staying on the grounds.

As the sky started to lighten and the last of the Moroi and young dhampirs had taken off, Dimitri and I made our way back to our room. We were exhausted, we didn't get much sleep last night and we were still recovering from the fight we had before we even got here. Now, after what we'd done today in the cleanup, I could barely put one foot in front of the other.

As we snuggled down into bed, I saw the sun shine its first rays across the academy, but I didn't remember seeing the second. I'd often been amazed at how guardians were able to go to sleep before their heads hit the pillows, now I knew.

=x=

"Good morning sunshine." I knew that voice anywhere.

"Who said it was good?" I grumbled with a grin.

"I did. After all, you're here beside me."

"Yes, you are a lucky man aren't you?"

"Extremely." I could feel the smile on his lips as he kissed me good morning. I licked my lips as I stretched and when I opened my eyes, I started to laugh.

"Neat freak! You just couldn't wait, could you?"

"Well, I know that the mess was kind of like a badge of honour for you," He knew me so well... "But I nearly broke my neck when I got up this morning, and as I didn't want you to do the same, I thought I'd tidy up."

"Ah, so it was for my benefit..."

"Everything I do is for your benefit my love."

"Come and say good morning properly." I said as I held out my arms.

"I did already; we don't have time for your version of 'good morning'. Headmaster Lazar wants to see us in fifteen minutes." He said looking down at his watch.

"Like that's gonna happen. I may be a guardian, but I'm also female and you should know it takes me more than that to get ready."

His eyes narrowed and his lips pulled up into a grin... Oh, what's he going to do?

Like lightening, he reached down and grabbed my ankles and pulled me across the bed to where he stood. He bent down and wrapped his arms around me and flung me over his shoulder. Thank God dhampirs heal fast; I only felt tenderness in my ribs.

"AH! You beast! Put me down caveman..." I laughed. My laughter died away pretty quickly as I realised we were heading for the small ensuite... He wouldn't... Yeah, he would!

"Dimitri Belikov, don't you dare!"

He ripped open curtain of the shower and plonked me down onto my feet, while turning the cold water tap on in one swift movement.

"AAAHHH! For all the love of God! You mongrel!" I screamed as I tried to get away from the cold water.

You could only just hear his laughter under the sounds of my screeching.

"You need a shower Roza and I know a cold one will be quick!" he said as he tried to back away.

Oh, no you don't... I tightened my grip on his shirt and pulled him in with me. If I have to have a cold shower, then so does he! Only fair I reckon. One thing that certainly worked in my favour though was the fact that a wet Dimitri is a sight to behold... especially one in a thin, white shirt. Apparently, he realised the error of his ways too when he looked down at my wet clothes and then the cold water wasn't so cold anymore; though the shower was quicker than normal.

=x=

We now stood in front of Lazar as he motioned to the chairs that we'd sat in before.

"Not one for rules, are you Hathaway?"

"Not really." I answered truthfully.

"Yes well, I've been in touch with the Royal Court and they've given me permission to tell you that you've been given temporary guardian status while you are with us Guardian Belikov."

I guess Lazar thought I'd be happy with that announcement. "Temporary? Why only temporary? Is he only good enough to be recognised when it suits them?"

"No, not at all. The queen wants to meet with him before he gets his full title back, that's all. She also asked if you can return as soon as possible." That was a little unexpected. She and I didn't exactly see eye to eye, me being on the other side of the planet should have been something that she wouldn't want to change real soon I would have thought. "Until then, I was would like you both to take a few classes with the remaining seniors. Their teacher was one of the casualties."

Our first class had been scheduled for after lunch. When we first walked in, the kids were talking loudly amongst themselves. When they turned to see who had walked in, you could have heard a pin drop. The guys looked me up and down, some licking their lips and grinning, the few girls in the class were staring at Dimitri with hungry eyes...

Yeah, I know... yummy hey! I thought to myself with a grin. We'd planned that Dimitri would take the beginning of the class.

"This class will be conducted in English." He said straight up. "...Guardian Hathaway doesn't speak Russian. I am guardian Dimitri Belikov and we will be training you for the time being." He gave them a few seconds so that they could whisper amongst themselves and then called the class to order. I must say that they were slightly more focused than my senior class was. I think most of them were in awe about who was standing in front of them though. They'd grown up hearing about Dimitri; I'd heard the whispers since arriving here. He was legend in the US, here... here he was their ultimate, he was what every one of them strived to emulate and my heart sang to see what their respect and admiration meant to him.