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Alberta laughed before taking another long sip of her drink.
“Well!” she said dramatically. “Since you asked me so kindly, Mr Castile, I will tell you. My first boyfriend was Markus Eliade, a dhampir. Last I heard, he was guarding some faction of the Voda family? Anyway, we dated for, oh, perhaps three months, back when we were fourteen.”
The room hollered. There was something so scandalous and great about finding out your teacher’s partners. There was also an added layer of scandal, knowing that she’d dated a fellow dhampir.
“A weird question for a young man like yourself,” Alberta commented.
Eddie grinned. “Love you, Guardian Petrov.”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, I bet you do,” she snorted. “Anyway! This makes it my turn, yes?”
We all confirmed. She looked around the room deviously, clearly seeking some sort of vengeance. The guardians looked vaguely unnerved, but nowhere near as much as the students. If I had any sense of self-preservation, I probably would have been scared too. Instead, I took a haughty sip of my drink, some fantastic, smooth whiskey that I definitely did not want to know the price tag of (supplied by Adrian, of course), and prepared to watch someone’s doom.
“Ryan,” she said finally.
“Shit,” Ryan groaned. “Uh… dare? Yeah, definitely dare!”
Alberta almost laughed. “Think you’re safer that way?”
He groaned even louder this time.
“Ryan, I dare you to tell us who you were hooking up with in the fourth-floor lounge last week, and which one of you it was that was crying.”
Gasping, shocked laughter coursed through the room.
“It’s a trap! Don’t do it, she’ll give you detention!” Shane cried.
Alberta shook her head. “No, we all agreed!” she reminded us. “Nothing said or done here will incur any kind of punishment.”
“So why ask at all?” Harry asked.
She shrugged. “Curiosity.”
Ryan sighed. “…It was Camille.”
“Conta?” Alberta asked.
He nodded. I snorted, finding it funny that she’d sink to someone his level. He was an idiot! What was she thinking?
“And the crying?” Alberta prompted.
He sighed again. “…Me.”
I laughed loudly. I wasn’t the only one, of course. It was only funny because he was such a dick of a person who acted like he was God’s gift to women on this planet.
“What, crying ‘cause you couldn’t believe someone as hot as Camille would go within ten feet of you!” I laughed.
He fired up right away. “You know what, Hathaway? Truth or dare! Your turn to suffer!”
I almost snorted. “Oh, please. Dare. And make it something interesting this time! I’m bored!”
He frowned, taking a moment to think.
“Dare her to take her shirt off!”
“Dare her to punch someone!”
“Dare her to kiss one of us!”
“Make her give us a strip tease!”
“Dare her to tell us what the hell’s really going on between her and Lissa!”
Ryan raised a single hand, silencing everyone. He cleared his throat dramatically.
“I think we have a winner,” he declared.
I rolled my eyes. Of course he wanted to know what kind of action was going on between Lissa and I. Truthfully, there wasn’t a lot going on there. We both had boyfriends now (or kind-of-boyfriends in my case), which changed our dynamic a bit. But let’s not lie, there was definitely something going on there. I just didn’t really know what. But I’d be keen to explore it, if she ever was.
“Hathaway, I dare you to kiss Guardian Belikov.”
I froze.
The whole room froze, really, stunned that Ryan would even think of suggesting such a thing. Ryan sat there looking smug, automatically assuming that I was going to forfeit and leave him the Truth or Dare King.
I tried to raise an eyebrow, but as usual both shot up. I snuck a look at Dimitri, who had let his guardian mask slip. He looked a little horrified. I frowned. Rude.
But then again, I had just been dared to kiss my mentor/secret boyfriend in public. I suppose horror and disgust were the correct emotions to be feeling? Worry, which was my main emotion right now, probably wasn’t. What if everyone figured it out? What if Dimitri lost his job because of this?
But still. I couldn’t lose a dare. Not now, not ever. I had a reputation to uphold. And quite frankly, I had asked for things to get interesting. This sure as hell qualified as interesting.
I looked back to Ryan and grinned.
“Well now we’re getting somewhere!” I exclaimed. “Pucker up, Comrade, you’re in for the best damn kiss of your life!”
Dimitri gave me a look crossed between please don’t and I hate you so much right now.
“Make it a good one!” Alberta slurred.
“Oh yeah!” Ryan agreed. “It doesn’t count unless there are tongues! Give us a show!”
I stood up from my spot on the couch. Dimitri was across the room with a bunch of the guardians he was friendly with, lips pursed, looking deep in thought. I could tell he was as concerned as I had been. But hey, they wanted a show! We could sure as hell give them one.
“You heard the people!” I laughed. “They want a show, Comrade! Better give them one!”
Honestly, how was this even a dare? This was a goddamn gift.
“Are you serious?” he asked, looking a bit worried.
I shrugged. “What, you scared?” I challenged.
He looked to Alberta. “She’s my student,” he reminded her, clearly wanting her to intervene.
Alberta snorted. “I doubt you’ll find it too hard, Belikov.”
Dimitri shot me a concerned look at that. I frowned for a second, also concerned that Alberta seemingly knew that things weren’t totally PG-rated between Dimitri and I. I shook it off, figuring she was just drunk.
“Besides, rules don’t apply in this game! Now give us a damn show!” Alberta ordered.
Dimitri looked back over to me, looking resigned to his fate. I shot a wink his way. His lips pursed again for the briefest moment, though this time trying to hide a smile. The look was enough for me to know that he was simply going to go along with whatever the hell I was about to do. He knew me well enough to not bother trying to fight it.
I sauntered over, hearing half of the room cheering us on. I felt a sliver of nervousness, but more than anything I felt devious. They had no idea what the hell was coming. They probably expected a timid, gross kiss, like the others that we had seen tonight from other people. Dimitri and I were going to give them fireworks.
I didn’t put too much thought into it. Afterall, this wasn’t the first time we’d kissed.
Without too much effort (though admittedly plenty of practise over these past few months), I wrapped my arms around his neck and smoothly pressed my lips to his. At the same time, his head dipped, capturing my lips in a sweet kiss.
The room roared, laughing, yelling, and whistling. I tried not to laugh. It was so stupid.
Dimitri’s hands finally settled on my waist, very purposely not touching any of the exposed skin from where my t-shirt had ridden up. Ever the gentlemen.
“Not seeing any tongues!” Ryan hollered.
Dimitri’s lips still touched mine when he spoke. “Are you sure?” he asked.
“All in, Comrade,” I replied huskily.
I bit his lip and tugged roughly, just how I knew he liked it. In the background, I heard my classmates and the guardians cheering at this display, but they were just background noise. I saw the ghost of a smirk tugging at Dimitri’s cheeks and knew that he was all in as well.
The kiss started again, this time with tongues. From the get-go, this kiss felt hotter, needier, more desperate. Dimitri wasn’t giving it his all, but I only knew that because I’d experienced the whole show from him before. He wasn’t far off, and I could tell from the reactions of everyone in the room, that they thought this was us giving it our all.
The room screamed again, but we weren’t done. They had asked for a show. We weren’t anywhere near that just yet, and I’d hate to disappoint.
Dimitri’s hands travelled down my side, slowly, sensually, painfully trailing down to my hips, where he held me a little rougher than he had earlier. I could tell what he was about to do – he’d done it plenty of times before – and was sure as hell ready for it. I made a small humming noise, only just loud enough for him to hear, so he knew that I was okay with it.
His hands began to roam again, settling on my backside. I could hear whispers and gasps and giggles, but they were all just white noise. Dimitri took my weight, allowing me to hoist myself up and wrap my legs around his waist. We didn’t need to break the kiss for the adjustment. It wasn’t the first time we’d done this either.
The room went wild. I could hear Ryan squeaking like a baby.
“Get it, Hathaway!” Eddie boomed.
My hands roamed a little, only far enough to get them tangled in his perfect hair. I dug my fingers in and tugged gently, freeing his luscious locks from their tie, knowing how wild that got him. I faintly heard Dimitri’s breath hitch. I was almost certain that he’d been strangling back a groan. Dimitri held his self-control to such importance, a fact that everyone knew, and here I was bringing him to a breathless mess in one easy kiss. I hoped that this was enough to fulfil Ryan’s dare.
As much as I wanted to continue, to feel Dimitri’s lips against my skin and prove Ryan an absolute idiot, I knew that it was time to stop the kiss. Dimitri was moments away from throwing me up against the wall, and I could barely think of anything other than ripping his shirt off. As much as they had asked for a show, I figured that would be crossing a line.
While everyone was still cheering and not yet questioning legalities, we pulled away. I sat back, legs still around Dimitri’s waist and his arms still holding me up, giving him a smug smirk.
“Now that’s a fucking kiss!” Shane boomed. “What’s what you two were meant to do!” he cried, nudging Ollie and Nathan, whose kiss earlier had been sloppy and horrible.
While everyone was distracted bullying the guys, I ducked my head again, burying into Dimitri’s neck.
He froze. “What are you—no!” he cried.
I pressed my lips to his neck and sucked hard, biting down a little like I knew he liked.
“Don’t!” he exclaimed. “What are you–wh—!” he complained, though kind of moaned at the end.
He half-heartedly tried to push me off, but everyone knew his heart wasn’t in it.
The room broke out again, laughing, gasping and yelling excitedly.
“Fangbanging is illegal, Hathaway!” someone called out, joking.
“Yeah, Hathaway, is this your way of telling us you’re really a Moroi!” someone else teased.
I stuck my middle finger up behind me, directing it at whoever it was that had spoken, and finished up with my task. Once satisfied, I let Dimitri push me off. I laughed as I admired my handiwork.
“To remember me by,” I teased.
He shook his head, looking annoyed but also like he was trying not to laugh. Dimitri loved a good hickey. He was probably just annoyed that he couldn’t push me down onto the couch and have his way with me in that very moment.
“I hate you,” he grumbled.
I grinned. “Love you too, Comrade! Hope that shows up real nice tomorrow!”
I turned to address the room. “So! Who’s my next victim!”
“Oh shit what have I done?” Ryan groaned.
-
THE NEXT DAY.
I sauntered into the cafeteria the following morning, on cloud nine. I swiped a few doughnuts first of all. I laughed as I passed one of the tables the guardians sat at, and saw Alberta with her face down on the table and a half-drunk cup of coffee next to her. She must have had the hangover from hell, judging by how much I remembered her drinking.
A few of the other guardians also looked pretty sorry, as did many of the senior novices. The more-sober novices were all chatting enthusiastically about the previous night amongst themselves, as well as sharing a few of the stories to the younger years and the Moroi.
Ollie and Nathan’s kiss was big news. Shane’s nude run across the quad was also a hit. Alberta’s hangover was a hot topic because it was so unexpected, and how could anyone pass up sharing the story of Angus admitting to crying after training with his legendary uncle, Hans Croft. Of course, the news of Dimitri and I making out like drunk fifteen-year-olds was the biggest news of them all. I felt very smug. And very proud.
Dimitri was at his usual table, sitting with a few of the younger guardians who were still able to drink a bottle of wine without suffering a shocking hangover the following day (see: Alberta). They all looked a tad hungover though, despite their better ability to drink, which really went to show how much everyone had let loose last night. Dimitri was hiding it brilliantly, but I knew him too well.
I couldn’t resist.
I strolled over, coming up from behind. Emil looked up as I approached. I pressed my finger to my lips, asking him to keep quiet. He quickly turned back to Yuri, who seemed to be holding the conversation.
I finished off my doughnut and wrapped my arms around Dimitri, over his shoulders. I clasped my hands and leant in close, my cheek grazing my arm.
“Hey, Comrade,” I greeted brightly.
He let out a breath, looking resigned to whatever hell I was about to unleash.
“Rose,” he replied pleasantly, though tersely.
“How’s that hickey coming along?” I asked.
He rolled his eyes. “It’s coming along great,” he replied sarcastically.
I grinned. “Knew you’d love it. Any jealous girls this morning?”
Yuri snorted. “Oh, you have no idea,” he snickered. “Ms Meissner looked like she was going to cry when we walked past her earlier.”
Dimitri shook his head. “Don’t…” he begged half-heartedly.
Surely he knew that that only egged me on?
“I heard Ms Gardner over on elementary campus bragging to one of the kindergarten teachers that she could give him a better one,” Emil teased.
“That cute math teacher dropped literally everything, coffee cup included, she was so shocked,” Yuri snickered.
“And should we talk about the students? My god, they were crying as if he’d been murdered!” Alan snorted.
“Oh, so I have competition, do I?” I asked.
“Definitely not. You win best hickey,” Alan assured me.
“Never mind best kiss,” Dustin added. “That was… wow.”
I grinned. “I know, right!”
“Can we please never talk about this again?” Dimitri begged.
“Hell no, Comrade. I’m bringing this up every day for the rest of my life.”
He sighed dramatically. “I hope I die young.”
I pulled away a little. “Wow. Just wow, Comrade.”
“That was pretty emo of you,” Dustin agreed. “Ignoring the fact that she’s your student, if someone like Rose kissed me, I sure as hell wouldn’t be wishing it never happened!”
“See?” I teased Dimitri. “Dustin wouldn’t mind kissing me.”
“Dustin isn’t your mentor,” he hummed.
“You and your rules are so boring. There’s nothing wrong with admitting that I, Rose Hathaway, gave you the best kiss of your life.”
“Bold of you to assume that was the best kiss of my life.”
“Don’t lie to yourself, Comrade.”
“Really, don’t lie to yourself, man,” Emil said. “We all saw that kiss. It was the best kiss of our lives and we weren’t even the ones being kissed!”
I grinned. “Damn straight.”
Dimitri let out a small sigh. I kissed him on the cheek. He looked somewhat surprised, but didn’t jump back or protest. I mean, how could he after we made out in front of my entire grade and half of his colleagues?
“Next time you should take your shirt off when we kiss… And your pants,” I teased.
“Same goes for you,” he replied bluntly.
I froze for a moment, shocked that he’d actually said something like that so publicly. From the looks of it, the other guardians were just as shocked, with their bodies frozen, eyes wide, eyebrows raised, and jaws slack.
I recovered quickly, smirking to myself.
“Can’t wait. Shall we make it a date? Say, the night of graduation?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Was I that good a kisser that you can’t wait a moment longer than you have to?” he asked.
“Oh shit, who is this guy and where’s Belikov?” Alan whispered.
Yuri, eyes still on Dimitri and I, whacked Alan to shut him up.
I shifted a little closer to Dimitri, pressing my torso against his back. I saw his fist start to clench and knew that I was definitely edging on dangerous territory again. But on the edge of the law was where I liked to live.
“Graduation’s only a week away,” I reminded him. “And I think I’m speaking for the both of us when I say that we could have easily taken things further last night. Come on, Comrade. What do you say?”
“I say you’d better clear your schedule the night of graduation,” he hummed.
I hummed in delight. “Sounds perfect. I’ll wear a nice, red, lacy number. You’d like that, right?”
He gave me an amused look and I cracked up. I pulled away, laughing like an idiot.
“Oh man,” I snorted. I began to walk backwards, away from his table and toward mine, where my friends were all watching intently. “It was great flirting with you and all, but no. The kiss last night was nice though! I hope you enjoy that hickey! Have fun explaining it to Kirova!”
He was laughing and shaking his head when I finally turned away. I slid into my usual seat at the table with my friends, still grinning.
“So how was last night?” Lissa teased, already knowing perfectly well how it went.
I grinned. “And you had such hope that I’d get to graduation without kissing a teacher.”
“I didn’t,” Christian deadpanned. “I mean, never expected it to be Belikov, but…”
Eddie started laughing. “I have never seen everyone looked as shocked as they did when Belikov picked you up. Man, how did you guys even make that look so effortless?”
I shrugged. “I’m Rose Hathaway. Need I say more?”
They all shook their heads, amused.
It was the talk of the school, but everyone was taking it as a big joke.
We danced with fire and made it a laugh. I couldn’t be prouder of myself if I tried.
-
GRAD NIGHT.
I stumbled out of the school-approved party in the gym, still laughing at one of Eddie’s jokes. There were plenty of people outside, mostly talking, a few drinking. There were graduates and family, but more importantly, the person I’d been looking for.
“I believe we had a date,” I began, teasing.
Dimitri chuckled huskily. “Didn’t think you were being serious.”
“I wasn’t, but I can pretend I was?” I offered.
He looked away to the sunrise, smiling. “The night’s still young… Figured this conquest was something for later.”
I shrugged. “The party’s wrapping up. Lissa isn’t going to any of the afterparties.”
“Doesn’t mean you can’t. Your assignment doesn’t start until next week.”
I looked back to the gym. “…Eddie asked me to go to Shane’s party with him. Wanna join us?”
He looked hesitant. “I doubt I’m someone that they’d want there.”
“Half an hour, and then we can leave.”
He grew amused. He looked at me for a long moment, studying me. “…You want to give them a show again, don’t you?” he asked.
“What, and you don’t? That’s kind of our style now, Comrade.”
“…Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Okay.”
I grinned. “You won’t regret this.”
“I’m sure I will,” he argued. “But it’s worth it.”
Forty minutes into Shane’s party I had Dimitri by the hand, dragging him out. I pushed him against the corridor wall and pulled him in for a messy, desperate kiss. It almost felt like the night of truth or dare. Students around us were yelling in excitement, squealing, whistling. Like before, the kiss grew deeper and my legs found their way around Dimitri’s waist. Only this time, neither of us pulled away. We continued the kiss, taking it to a level that would make even the most carefree person blush.
My feet found their way to the ground again, and without breaking the kiss I began to stumble backwards. Dimitri followed, helping me walk. I found myself pressed against the door to my dorm room, kissing the love of my life.
“I wore that red number like I promised,” I breathed.
He pulled away for a brief moment. The look in his eye was enough to almost send me over the edge. I forced my door open as quickly as I could. He scooped me up, lifting me from the ground as we began to kiss again. I threw my door shut behind us, hearing the gasps, yells and whistles as I did so, and let my boyfriend throw me down on the bed.
“Enough of a show for you?” he teased.
I grinned. “Perfect. But seriously, I’m wearing that red lace set, stop wasting time and take my dress off, Comrade.”