The next morning I woke up in a warm and comfortable bed tangled in silky covers. Bright sunlight came into the room through the holes of the blind, but I couldn't see Christian anywhere. Then I smelt something delicious coming from downstairs.

I jumped off the bed and put on Christian's discarded shirt, his smell reminding me of all the times we had sex the night before. Some times he was gentle and soft, I could say we were making love, other times we left marks on each other with fierceness only he could bring out of me. I stopped in front of a full length mirror, yeah, he definitely left some bruises on my legs and I felt pleasantly sore.

When I got down I saw him standing in front of the cooker making bruschetta, the view making my mouth water with him wearing only a pair of black boxers.

'Something smells amazing' I said as a way of greeting, hugging him from behind.

'Morning baby, did you sleep well?'

'Yes but I had to wake up to you already being gone'

'I just wanted to treat you like a princess and make you breakfast. I hope you're hungry' he answered sweetly.

I let go of him and went to an already laid table as an answer. He turned around with the pan in his hands and took a spicy toast on my plate. Then took some tomato and put it on top of the toast, topping it all with a leaf of basil.

'Well, thank you, Mr Ozera' I said playfully and he just sat down opposite to me looking at me.

I dug in immediately, the previous night took a lot of my energy and I was starving.

'Turns out culinary science paid off pretty well to you'

He gave me a contented smile but didn't answer.

'Last night was fucking insane' he said at last.

I put down my food and leaned back in the chair.

'It was amazing' I told him seriously. 'And what are we doing today?'

'I was actually about to ask you the same. I don't have to go back yet, I was thinking we could take a walk or go train and then watch a movie'

'Sounds really nice' I answered.

We never really spent time together as lovers, things just kind of happened a few times. I couldn't stop a wave of guilt from flooding me when it crossed my mind what I was doing to Lissa now, but I decided to enjoy this for just one more day.

'What is it?' He asked realizing I was deep in thought.

'I was just thinking about Lissa. She still hasn't called me back and you still haven't talked to her'

He leaned back in his seat.

'It's not like she gave me a chance. But isn't it enough for you now that she hasn't even called me? Normal couples don't act like that. It's obvious that we're over and I promised you I'll talk to her'

'Okay. You don't owe me an explanation'

'Rose, don't ruin this, please, I don't want to fight. Just trust me'

'I trust you' I told him honestly.

'Then let's have fun today and we'll try to call her tomorrow'

'Can I have just one more question?'

'Sure' he sounded calm.

'Do you love me because I'm rebound?'

He sighed and his face seemed to be drawn-out for a second.

'I'm trying to do everything in my power to make sure you know how I feel about you. I kind of was over Lissa before we slept together for the first time. Yes, I still have to talk to her but it's been long since I loved her like that. I'm in love with you, in a way I never loved anyone before. It has nothing to do with anyone else'

It felt great hearing him say these words. I never knew how I fell for him so fast without really realizing it, but I wanted him to know I did feel the same.

'I never loved anyone like you before either'

He looked at me skeptically.

'Really? Not even Dimitri?'

'No, not even Dimitri' I said confidently. I was now sure about that.

He seemed to be lost in thought for a second then nodded at my food for me to go on and I was glad to get back to it, it was really delicious.

'You really are a good cook, Pyro' I complemented him.

'You're flattering me' he said with a boyish smirk on his face and snitched some tomato from my plate.

'Why, help yourself Sparky'

'I just wanted to make sure it is indeed edible' He chuckled licking his finger. 'Though I have to admit there's one thing I'm even better at than cooking'

'Is there anything you left out last night?'

He eyed me heatedly then came to me, lifted me up and took me back to the bedroom upstairs despite my vehement protesting. He laid me on the bed and got on top of me then started to kiss my neck. It was easy for him to go downward on my body, he didn't even have to fight the buttons on the shirt to open it, as I myself tore them off last night.

'You've been a really bad girl Rose' he said and hold my hands down with his above my head.

'Be careful Ozera, I can still beat you'

He chuckled then turned back to pampering me.

I got out of the bed and shamelessly walked to the other corner of the room to collect some of my clothes.

'You really shouldn't walk around naked, you know'

'Or what?' I smiled at him waggishly and disappeared into the bathroom.

I stepped into the shower right before he got into the room, his eyes heatedly piercing into mine as he walked gracefully naked toward me.

Man, our training sessions did their job, he got an amazing body.

'I'll show you what happens when you don't behave like a good girl' he said leaning against the glass door of the shower.

I splashed him suddenly with a jet of cold water catching him off guard. He seemed to be at loss of words while staring at me motionlessly.

'Cool yourself down, Sparky' I said, a devilish grin spreading across my face.

'Remember, you brought this on yourself, Rose' he stated calmly before suddenly grabbing the shower head and directing it at me.

I screamed as the cold water hit my skin and desperately tried to adjust the water temperature. As he felt the water get pleasantly warm he stepped in next to me and hugged me close to him, managing the both of us to stand under the water spray.

'I love it when you're all wet' he whispered into my ears and I found my hands automatically wrapping around him.

'I love you' I told him, in that moment it felt like nothing else mattered in the whole world.

'I love you too'

I was sitting on the bed curled in a towel, watching Christian getting dressed for our walk. I was thinking whether I should wear my dress from last night -which would be a little too much for a walk in a park- or ask him for something to wear. Even my underwear was torn.

'You do realize, that I don't have anything to wear, don't you'

He stopped for a minute and gave me a weird glance at that.

'Check that door' he said indicating a walk-in wardrobe with his head.

I stepped in and found a cream colored floral dress hanging there with a pair of flat scandals underneath. On the shelf next to them were beige panties with bra, a black sports bra, black leggings with matching T-shirt and sneakers for training. Wow, Christian did think of everything. I had a hard time imagining him shopping for these in a rush - while I was training with Dimitri - then bringing them here. Furthermore, it's not that easy to arrange a shopping spree out of the wards, and he needed to take guardians with him. Meaning it wasn't an effortless gesture to get me these clothes. And yet, he didn't act like it was a big thing or expected me to thank him. I loved that about Christian, he never was one to brag or to emphasize how much money he had. He never told me about this flat or the car he got for instance. Also, he never acted like most royals, constantly indicating how they come first. He always treated us like equals.

I put on the dress and emerged from the room aligning my hair.

'You look beautiful' he said staring at me.

'Thank you for the clothes, Christian. You really have a great taste' I chuckled, not to mention he knew all my sizes...

'Lets go' he offered me his hand and we took off.

'Aren't you afraid someone's gonna see us?' I asked him after walking for a few minutes in silence, hand in hand on the neighbor streets.

'I don't think anybody is out here. My parents bought this apartment to be away from anybody at court' he answered indifferently.

'Do you come here much?' Stupid question. He couldn't come here much as he couldn't leave the academy much.

'No. Tasha comes here a few times to meet the charlady. I've only been here once since...'

I nodded, I didn't want him to finish if he felt uncomfortable saying those words.

'Do you miss your mother?' he asked.

'Honestly, I don't know. Any time I meet her, she is so distant and cold to me... I don't even feel like she's a mentor to me. When I was younger I tried to keep my distance from her because I thought I'll get disappointed when she leaves me again.'

'And now?'

'I know whatever I do I'll always love her, she's my mother after all. But I also know not to expect anything from her, not to get attached to her. She let me down too many times. Stating she isn't cut out to be a mother is a huge understatement'

He chuckled at that.

'I don't remember much of my mother. Nor my father for that matter. Some say things about me because of what happened to them, what they did, but that night is also fuzzy in my mind. And I don't really try to recall it completely. I don't want it to be the last thing I remember about them'

I didn't know why he told me all those things but I was glad he did. Lissa always said how he never really opened up to her. A weird kind of satisfaction and pride ran through me at the thought of him talking about his past willingly to me. I didn't want to push him further though, no need to ruin this little amount of time we got together.

'When do you have to go back?' I asked after he hadn't talked in a while.

'Tomorrow morning. I'll have classes again. Is that okay with you?'

'Of course. I won't have duties until tomorrow either'

'So we're training later, right?' he sounded so enthusiastic.

'Sure, if you don't mind getting beaten on such a lovely day' I chuckled.

'Hmm-hmm. Hey Rose, would you like some ice cream? ' he pointed to a pastry shop.

'Well, maybe just this once' I said thinking of how this day had to be onefold and extraordinary.

He laughed at that and went to get me some.

We were laying side by side waiting for our breathing to get even after a round of insane sex. None of us were talking for a long time and I already thought he had fallen asleep when he broke the silence.

'Have you played with the thought what it would be like?'

'What?'

'If this was real. If this could go on for however long we want without anybody having problems with it' he said staring at the ceiling.

I was drawing uncharacteristic patterns onto his chest, then turned on my back and was dreamily staring at the moving lights infiltrating from the street onto the ceiling.

'You know this can't be'

'But I want it' he said turning onto his side to face me. 'I need this'

I looked him in the eyes not knowing what to say. It would be a lie telling him I didn't think about that. I did it all the time. But we had to face the facts: even if he did broke up with Lissa, I couldn't be with my best friend's ex-boyfriend. Nobody would accept us. And that was a fact that made it superfluous to think about the matter further.

We fell asleep holding each other but not saying any more.