Building the Tension | ✔ | 18+

Chapter 19 - Big Deal

Dimitri's Point of View
(entire chapter)

I met Rose in the cafeteria. She was running late, but she looked like she was trying to set a new speed-eating record for scarfing down a stack of five pancakes. While she finished eating, Vasilisa, sitting beside her, remarked that she had already downed three sausage links. For such a small woman, my Roza could eat more than anyone else I knew.

I ate a lot, too, but most of what I ate was a much healthier selection than what she had chosen. My typical breakfast, which I had gotten in my apartment this morning, was egg whites and lowfat cottage cheese. The American cottage cheese reminded me a lot of the tvorog I'd eaten back home in Baia with my family.

"Rose, are you ready to go for sparring? You're fifteen minutes late," I remarked.

"I'm almost done. Two more bites. Keep your pants on, Comrade," she replied, smiling, her mouth so full of food that it was a wonder I could understand her. It was hard to keep from smiling back at her when she was like this.

"No one can eat like Rose does," said Christian, who was sitting beside Vasilisa, "I'm sure she'll be done in no time."

"Are you already dressed for sparring, Rose? Or do you need to change first?" I asked.

"I'm still in my training clothes from earlier, so I should be fine for sparring," she said, popping the last forkful of pancake in her mouth, "Let's go." She got up and took her tray over to the dish return. Christian walked up to get something from one of the food counters at the same time.

"Princess," I said to Vasilisa in a low voice once Rose was out of earshot, "I have the necklace now, but I'd rather not have Rose see me handing it to you. Can we meet this afternoon while Rose's father is here? Outside the chapel after the service?"

"Okay, I'll see you then," she said. I started to turn.

"Hey, Dimitri," she said, "Actually, may I call you Dimitri?"

I nodded. "Yes, of course, Princess."

"Feel free to call me Lissa. I think you might be right. Rose's aura, with you, today - it's different. And I can see yours when you're with her. You love her, don't you?"

"Yes," I replied.

"She loves you, too."

-=o0&0o=-

Our walk to the courtyard of the elementary campus Moroi dorm was in a comfortable silence. For some reason, there was no one that I could be more at ease with than my Roza. Even before I loved her, it always just felt good to be around her. For part of the time we were walking, I was also deep in thought.

I always hated training in a place where there might be an audience, but I needed a place with some different terrain and it was unlikely that anyone would be watching outside the elementary Moroi dorms. People watching would be an unwanted distraction that Rose didn't need. While training wasn't exactly private, spectators could cause embarrassment at best and mistakes at worst. On the bright side, elementary Moroi would probably be so far removed from the dhampirs' guardian curriculum that they'd have little understanding of what we were doing. Simple moves - right or wrong - would easily impress them.

Now that the necklace was finally off, I had a feeling the dynamics of our relationship might have some added heat to them, so this was also definitely a calculated risk for that reason, but Rose didn't know yet that my position on doing more than just kissing her had changed.

Overall, it would probably be for the better for both of us if she still thought that I wouldn't go further yet - or even if she still continued to think that I wouldn't all the way until her graduation - but I don't know if I could really hold out for that long, now that there was nothing but the propriety of what I 'should' do standing in my way. The beautiful woman that I loved finally knew she loved me back again. I wanted to show her that love, in many ways - including a few very, very physical ways.