Coming Home to You (VA - Romitri)

Chapter 33: Rose POV

I laughed softly as Alberta walked away, clearly embarrassed. After a moment, I felt my body relaxing. I tipped my head back, gazing up at the stars for a moment before closing my eyes and imagining that it was sunlight, not moonlight that caressed my face.

The quality of the silence surrounding me shifted subtly, and a voice, low and gravelly, rumbled through me. I felt it, more than heard it.

"The small sacrifices we make."

I turned to lean against the man who had materialized beside me.

"And the big ones?"

I could feel his soft chuckle reverberating through our bodies as he wrapped his strong arms – so recently trading blows with mine – around me.

"Ah, my Roza. The big ones, we make as well. Sometimes."

"And sometimes we don't." My voice held a hint of a question.

"Yes." The certainty in his voice reassured me.

He lowered his head to mine, and I lost myself in a passionate kiss. The sexual tension that had been building during our fight crackled between us.

"Dimitri..." I gasped, as I pulled away slightly. At his raised brow, I merely tugged on his arm, leading him away from our friends in the gym. He caught my meaning after a moment and swept me giggling into his arms, bearing me off to our cabin for a different sort of sparring.

Some time later, we made our way hand in hand back to the lounge.

As we walked in, the scattered conversations halted abruptly. Before I could comment on it, everyone began to talk at once. I picked out only a few phrases from the resulting babble.

"...going to leave in..."

"...need to research..."

"...shopping for the..."

"...private jet will be..."

"...really impressive..."

"...been gone awhile..."

I held up my hands. "Whoa, guys. One at a time! I didn't catch any of that!"

They all looked at one another, then at our puzzled expressions, and burst out into fits of giggles. Once we'd all calmed down – and a few pillows may or may not have been thrown – Lissa stepped forward.

"Rose," she started, "Adrian and I – "

"Wait a sec," I interrupted her. "Who is that?"

She frowned in the direction I was pointing. "Rose, you know who that is."

"Uh, Liss, I'm pretty sure I've never seen her before in my life."

"What? Oh! Right. Duh." She smacked her forehead. "Sydney, take off your ring for a second, would you?"

And, suddenly, the mystery girl was gone, and Sydney stood in her place.

"Whoa! That's incredible!" Then I grinned at Sydney. "You looked Hot!"

She blushed and muttered something I took to be thanks. At Lissa's nod, she replaced her ring. But this time, nothing happened.

"Uh, Liss?" I frowned. "Why isn't it working this time?"

"It is." she assured me. "But now you know it's her, so you don't see the glamour."

"Oh. Right." Man, this Spirit stuff is complicated.

"Anyway, Rose," Lissa began again, "as I was saying, Adrian and I – "

"And me." broke in Abe.