Into the Ether - Complete

Spring, When New Things Grow: Part 30

"Again?!" I gasped, putting up no resistance as Dimitri started to kiss and nip at my neck as a prelude to other activities.

"Something about you in our bed in our place is a huge turn on," he moaned in apologetic explanation. "I can't get enough of you," he said, pushing his arousal into my hip as proof.

Not that I was complaining. Dimitri had been like this for the last fortnight as we'd broken in every possible part of the unit, and I loved it. We were doing our best to limit the PDA in front of the Guardians, but as soon as we knew we had our privacy, we were at it like rabbits.

After the first few days at the property, we'd all settled into a routine, and I was stunned by the amount Dimitri and his team had already achieved. The gym equipment my Russian God ordered had arrived, so every morning Dimitri and I would workout with three of the Guardians. Although most of my workout was simple weights training or stretching, Dimitri and I did do some gentle sparring together which was nice. After breakfast, Dimitri and the team would work on the property while I studied. If the weather were fine, they'd garden – clearing undergrowth and years of rubbish for the many projects Dimitri had them working on. I'd sit outside nearby in a comfy outdoor chair reading or using the laptop to make sure I kept up to date with everything I'd need to know for my exams.

After lunch, Dimitri would split the Guardians into pairs and assign them different tasks. Some of the team had not worked together before, so it gave them a chance to get to know their peers. Every afternoon Dimitri would work with a different Guardian on the cottage – and already the progress was astonishing.

They'd started by ripping out the electrics and most of the plumbing. It was so old Dimitri maintained it would be more efficient and safer to replace it than patching and extending where necessary. Then they'd stripped out all the boards on the porch as many were rotten and not sound. Gutting the inside of the cottage, they'd taken down walls, built new ones where required and put in massive beams to support a proper attic floor and to allow the open plan kitchen/living/meals space. The old kitchen and bathroom were ripped out, and one side of the structure extended, leaving my little cottage looking decidedly worse for wear. It was actually quite depressing, but Dimitri kept assuring me he had seventeen weeks to get it ready and ready it would be.

Coming back to the here and now, specifically Dimitri's lips at my neck, I knew the pleasure my man was proposing would have to be a 'quickie.' We were due to leave for the Court airstrip in an hour for our first trip back to St. Vladimir's since we'd left. After the whole fire thing, no one was prepared to take any chances, so I was going to be traveling with Dimitri, Kirk, Fernandes and two of Abe's guardians I hadn't yet met. We'd be staying together in a three-bedroom unit in Guest quarters, and I was to be accompanied by at least two Guardians at all times. We'd be staying two nights, and I'd be sitting four exams. I'd be switching back to Moroi time, which was going to be a bitch; especially since I couldn't take a sedative to help me adjust. But I was very excited about seeing my friends.

No one bar Alberta knew we were coming. There were a number of exams over the next six weeks, but it had been negotiated that I would do some on campus, and others would be done via Skype. I'd already done two Skype exams, and basically, they'd email me the exam I'd print it out, and I'd sit there on Skype while someone at St. Vlad's got to sit and watch me do it so there could be no claim I'd cheated. So far I'd had Alberta and Celeste.

Alberta muted the sound from her end, but I could see her doing paperwork and having meetings, occasionally looking over to her computer where I was. Celeste had spent the time in her room painting her toenails, shaving her legs using a razor, shaving foam and a cup of water, clipping and buffing her fingernails, folding and putting away her washing as well as putting in a deep conditioning masque in her hair and leaving it for the full three hours. I'd finished the exam in two hours, but because of the time difference I had to keep Skyping for the extra hour until the St. Vlad's students had gone in to sit the exam. Celeste and I had used the time to chat, her bringing me up to date on the Academy goss.