"Guard Duty"

I'm bored." I said into the phone.

On the other end of the line, my boyfriend chuckled. "Hello to you too."

"I'm serious. I am the queen's guard, why am I stuck at the front gate? This is bull."

"We are short staffed with this flu going around, Rosa." Dimitri said patiently. "We all have to deal with…bull, if we want to still give everyone a night off."

"It's still sucks." I said petulantly. "Come entertain me." I heard him take a breath to object and cut him off, "You aren't working tonight, mister. And what kind of head guardian would you be if you let one of your underlings die of boredom?"

"People do not die of boredom, Rosa." He said. I could hear the smile behind the exasperation. "And since when have you ever been under my command?" he huffed "You have never been someone's underling in your life."

"Come to the guard station and you can do anything you want to me." I said, trying to sound seductive. It must have worked on some level because I heard Dimitri say something in Russian that might have been a curse, but he still had the smile in his voice.

"If you promise to continue your grunt work, like a good little soldier until the rest of the guardians are well, I will come down there for one hour." He said, emphasizing the last two words. "Just to visit."

"You sure know how to sweet talk a girl, Belkov." I teased.

"I'll be there soon, Rosa." He said and hung up.

True to his word, it wasn't long before a knock sounded at the guard house door. I flung it open and pulled him inside, wrapping my arms around him in a tight hug.

"That's quite a greeting." He said, hugging me back.

"I told you, I'm bored." I said against his chest.

"Maybe I should stick you on front gate duty more often."

"Try it and I'll sic my spirit user on you." I said, pulling away and mock glared at him but I didn't hold the expression very long. Dimitri was looking at me with that…look, the look that spread warmth out from the center of my chest all the way to the tips of my fingers and toes.

"Somehow I knew we wouldn't end up talking tonight." He said softly and pressed his lips to mine.

I responded immediately, bringing one hand to tangle in his hair and the other groped behind me to push the desk chair out of the way. As if he could read my mind, as soon as the chair was gone, Dimitri walked me backward. He lifted me effortlessly onto the small desk, never breaking the kiss. Once I was settled, he stepped between my legs and pressed himself against me, tearing his lips away from mine only to press them to my neck, nipping at the sensitive skin with his teeth.

I noticed in a disconnected sort of way that the windows were starting to fog over but Dimitri's mouth had found that spot just behind my ear and his hand was on my breast so I couldn't focus on much else. A few minutes later, just as I was thinking we had way too many clothes on, I heard three short honks from right outside.

With a start, I pushed Dimitri away and hopped off the desk. The windows were so fogged up now that I couldn't see out of them so I slid the widow open. On the other side was Christian Ozera, who flashed me a knowing smile when he caught site of my disheveled appearance.

"Rough night, Hathaway?" he asked.

"Nothing out of the ordinary." I said

"Bullshit. I can see Belkov lurking around in there." He said with a grin. "You two getting paid extra to steam up the windows?"

"Stop being an ass, Ozera." I said. "Do you want though or not."

"Carry on, gatekeeper." He said.

I quickly let the barrier up and then back down behind him. That done, I turned to Dimitri. "We should probably just talk." I said.

The dampir's laugh filled the tiny space. "Whatever you say, Rosa."