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An Unexpected Romance	By : princessjolie92 Category: S through Z > Vampire Academy Views: 7135 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Vampire Academy and i receive no sort of profit from this....these disclaimers seem a bit pointless...

Chapter List
- 1-An Unexpected Romance
- 2-II
- 3-III
- 4-IV
- 5-V
- 6-VI
- 7-VII
- 8-VIII
- 9-IX
- 10-X
- 11-XI
- 12-XII
- 13-XIII
- 14-XIV
- 15-XV
- 16-XVI
- 17-XVII
- 18-XVIII
- 19-XIX
- 20-XX
- 21-Chapter 21
- 22-Chapter 22
- 23-chapter 23
- 24-Chapter 24
- 25-Chapter 26
- 26-Chapter 27
- 27-Chapter 28
- 28-Chapter 30
- 8
- 9
- 10
Chapter 9
RPOV

Lissa found me later in the day. I'd fallen asleep after Mason left, too dejected to leave the bed. Her slamming of the door jolted me awake. I was happy to see her. I needed to spill about the fumbled thing with Mason, but before I could, I read her feelings. They were as troubled as mine. So, as always, I put her first.
"What happened?"
She sat on her bed, sinking into the feather duvet, her feelings both furious and sad. "Christian."
"Really?" I'd never known them to fight. They teased each other a lot, but it was hardly the kind of thing that could nearly bring her to tears.
"He found out... I was with Adrian this morning."
"Oh, wow," I said. "Yeah. That might be a problem." Standing up, I walked over to the dresser and found my brush. Wincing, I stood in front of the gilt-framed mirror and began brushing out the snarls acquired during my nap. “I can talk to him if you want to.”
She groaned. "But nothing happened! Christian's freaking out over nothing. I can't believe he doesn't trust me."
"He trusts you. The whole thing's just weird, that's all." I told her "Jealousy makes people do and say stupid things."
"But nothing happened," she repeated. "I mean, you were there and Adrian’s attention was definitely focused completely on you as soon as you walked into the room. And what was in the box?’
"Adrian sent me a bunch of perfume."
"Why?"
“Because I told him when we met that I didn’t own any. He thought I should so he sent me like thirty different brands to chose from. I found one I really like and two others that I will try out.”
“That was sweet of him.”
I nodded with a smile.
"Whoa."
“What?”
“You really like him!” Lissa gushed at me. Her eyes sparkling with happiness for my happiness.
“Yeah I do. I know we have only known each other fore a few short days but it feels like a lifetime.”
“Instant love connection. That how it was for Christian and me. Soul-mates. I just wish he would see that.” she said the last part sadly.
“He’ll come around Lissa. Once he realizes that you only have eyes for him. Besides I think he a little intimidated by the fact that you and Adrian share something so unique. By the two of you being the only two Spirit either of you know of it creates a special relationship between the two of you. What Christian has yet to realize is that the relationship between you and Adrian is platonic. And the relationship between you and him is like you said is that of soul mates. He just needs to get his pride in place, and when he does he’ll come crawling back to you.”
“Thanks Rose. I need to hear that.”
“What are best friends for Liss?”
“So now tell me what is up with you?”
"Nothing's up with me."
"Whatever, Rose. I'm not psychic like you, but I know when you're pissed off about something. You've been kind of down since Christmas. What's up?"
Now wasn't the time to get into what had happened on Christmas when my mom told me about Tasha and Dimitri. But I did tell Lissa the story about Mason-editing out why I had stopped-and simply driving home how I had.
"Well..." she said when I finished. "That was your right."
"I know. But I kind of led him on. I can see why he'd be upset."
"You guys can probably fix it, though. Go talk to him. He's crazy about you."
It was more than miscommunication. Things with Mason and me couldn't be patched up so easily. "I don't know," I told her.
“You can give it a try. If anything it will show him that you really want to be friends with him.”
“I guess you are right. I’ll see what I can do once he had time to cool off some.”
“Don’t take to long. You two are great friends and if you take to long he might think you don’t care.”
“That can go both ways.”
“Yes, but he is a guy and is probably to stubborn to admit to his mistake. Like Christian.” Her face darkened. "Christian. I still can't believe he's being so stupid about this."
I didn't mean to, but I laughed. "Liss, you guys'll kiss and make up in like a day. More than kiss,
probably."
It slipped out before I could stop it. Her eyes widened. "You know." She shook her head in
exasperation. "Of course you know."
"Sorry," I said. I hadn't meant to let her know I knew about the sex thing, not until she told me herself.
She eyed me. "How much do you know?"
"Um, not much," I lied. I'd finished brushing my hair but began playing with the brush's handle in order to avoid her eyes.
"I have got to learn to keep you out of my mind," she muttered. “Explains why you aren’t here in the mornings.”
"Only way I can 'talk' to you lately." Another slip up.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded.
"Nothing ... I..." She was giving me a sharp look. "I... I don't know. I just feel like we don't talk as much anymore."
"Takes two to fix that," she said, voice kind again.
"You're right," I said
True, I was guilty in my own way of locking things up-but I had wanted to talk to her a number of times lately. The timing just never seemed to be right-not even now. "You know, I never thought you'd be first. Or I guess I never thought I'd be a senior and still be a virgin."
"Yeah," she said dryly. "Me either."
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"
She grinned, then caught sight of her watch. Her smile fell. "Ugh. I've got to go to Priscilla's banquet. Christian was supposed to go with me, but he's off being an idiot...." Her eyes focused hopefully on me.
"What? No. Please, Liss. You know how I hate those formal royal things."
"Oh, come on," she begged. "Christian flaked out. You can't throw me to the wolves. And didn't you just say we needed to talk more?" I groaned. "Besides, when you're my guardian, you'll have to do these things all the time."
"I know," I said darkly. "I thought I could maybe enjoy my last six months of freedom."
But in the end, she conned me into going with her, as we'd both known she would, I had to call Adrian and let him know that our plans to meet up this afternoon would have to be put on hold, but seeing how he was going to be at the event we would still have sometime to hangout to day.
We didn't have much time, and I had to do a rush shower, blow-dry, and makeup job. I'd brought
Tasha's dress on a whim, and I was grateful for her present. I pulled on the silken material, happy to see the shade of red was just as killer on me as I'd imagined. It was a long, Asian-style dress with flowers embroidered into the silk.
The high neck and long hem covered a lot of skin, but the material clung to me and looked sexy in a different kind of way than showing a lot of skin did. My black eye was practically nonexistent by now.
Lissa, as always, looked amazing. She wore a deep purple dress by Johnna Raski, a well-known Moroi designer. It was sleeveless and made of satin. The tiny amethyst-like crystals set into the straps sparkled against her pale skin. She wore her hair up in a loose, artfully styled bun.
When we reached the banquet room, we drew a few eyes. I don't think the royals had expected the Dragomir princess to bring her dhampir friend to this highly anticipated, invitation-only dinner. But hey, Lissa's invite had said "and guest." She and I took our places at one of the tables with some royals whose names I promptly forgot. They were happy to ignore me, and I was happy to be ignored.
Besides, it wasn't like there weren't plenty of other distractions. This room was done all in silver and blue. Midnight blue silk cloths covered the tables, so shiny and smooth that I was terrified to eat on them. Sconces of beeswax candles hung all over the walls, and a fireplace decorated with stained glass crackled away in one corner. The effect was a spectacular panorama of color and light, dizzying to the eye. In the corner, a slim Moroi woman played soft cello music, her face dreamy as she focused on the song. The clinking of crystal wineglasses complemented the strings' low, sweet notes.
Dinner was equally amazing. The food was elaborate, but I recognized everything on my plate (china, of course) and liked all of it. No foie gras here. Salmon in a sauce of shiitake mushrooms. A salad with pears and goat cheese. Delicate almond-stuffed pastries for dessert. My only complaint was that the portions were small. The food seemed more like it was there to simply decorate the plates, and I swear, I finished it in ten bites. Moroi might still need food along with their blood, but they didn't need as much as a human-or, say, a growing dhampir girl-needed. Still, the food alone could have justified me coming along on this venture, I decided. Except, when the meal ended, Lissa told me we couldn't leave.
"We have to mingle," she whispered.
Mingle?
Lissa laughed at my discomfort. "You're the social one."
It was true. In most circumstances, I was the one who put myself out there and wasn't afraid to talk to people. Lissa tended to be shyer. Only, with this group, the tables were turned. This was her element, not mine, and it amazed me to see just how well she could interact with royal high society now. She was perfect, polished and polite. Everyone was eager to talk to her, and she always seemed to know the right thing to say. She wasn't using compulsion, exactly, but she definitely put out an air that drew others to her. I think it might have been an unconscious effect of spirit. Even with the meds, her magical and natural charisma came through. Whereas intense social interactions had once been forced and stressful for her, she now conducted them with ease. I was proud of her. Most of the conversation stayed pretty light: fashion, royal love lives, etc. No one seemed to want to spoil the atmosphere with ugly Strigoi talk.
So I clung to her side for the rest of the night. I tried to tell myself it was just practice for the future, when I'd follow her around like a quiet shadow anyway. The truth was, I just felt too uncomfortable with this group and knew my usual snarky defense mechanisms really weren't useful here. Plus, I was painfully aware that I was the only dhampir dinner guest. There were other dhampirs, yes, but they were in formal guardian mode, hovering on the periphery of the room.
As Lissa worked the crowd, we drifted over to a small group of Moroi whose voices were growing louder. One of them I recognized. He was the guy from the fight that I'd helped break up, only this time he wore a striking black tuxedo instead of a swimsuit. He glanced up at our approach, blatantly checked us out, but apparently didn't remember me. Ignoring us, he continued on with his argument. Not surprisingly, Moroi protection was the topic. He was the one who'd been in favor of Moroi going on the offensive against the Strigoi.
"What part of 'suicide' don't you understand?" asked one of the men standing nearby. He had silvery hair and a bushy mustache. He wore a tux too, but the younger guy looked better in one. "Moroi training as soldiers will be the end of our race."
"It's not suicide," exclaimed the young guy. "It's the right thing to do. We have to start looking out for ourselves. Learning to fight and use our magic is our greatest asset, other than the guardians."
"Yes, but with the guardians, we don't need other assets," said Silver Hair. "You've been listening to non-royals. They don't have any guardians of their own, so of course they're scared. But that's no reason to drag us down and up tour lives at risk."
"Then don't," said Lissa suddenly. Her voice was soft, but everyone in the little group stopped and looked at her. "When you talk about Moroi learning how to fight, you make it sound like an
all-or-nothing matter. It's not. If you don't want to fight, then you shouldn't have to. I completely
understand." The man looked slightly mollified. "But, that's because you can rely on your guardians. A lot of Moroi can't. And if they want to learn self-defense, there's no reason why they shouldn't do it on their own."
The younger guy grinned triumphantly at his adversary. "There, you see?"
"It's not that easy," countered Silver Hair. "If it was just a matter of you crazy people wanting to get yourselves killed, then fine. Go do it. But where are you going to learn all these so-called fighting skills?"
"We'll figure the magic out on our own. Guardians will teach us actual physical fighting."
"Yes, see? I knew that was where this was going. Even if the rest of us don't take part in your suicide mission, you still want to strip us of our guardians to train up your pretend army."
The young guy scowled at the word pretend, and I wondered if more fists would fly. "You owe it to us."
"No, they don't," said Lissa.
Intrigued gazes turned her way again. This time, it was Silver Hair who regarded her triumphantly. The younger guy's features flushed with anger.
"Guardians are the best battle resources we have."
"They are," she agreed, "but that doesn't give you the right to take them away from their duty." Silver Hair practically glowed.
"Then how are we supposed to learn?" demanded the other guy.
"The same way guardians do," Lissa informed him. "If you want to learn to fight, go to the academies. Form classes and start at the beginning, the same way the novices do. That way, you won't be taking guardians away from active protection. It's a safe environment, and the guardians there specialize in teaching students anyway." She paused thoughtfully. "You could even start making defense part of the standard curriculum for Moroi students already there."
Astonished stares fell on her, mine included. It was such an elegant solution, and everyone else around us realized it. It gave no party 100 percent of its demands, but it met most in a way that didn't really harm the other side. Pure genius. The other Moroi studied her with wonder and fascination.
Suddenly, everyone started talking at once, excited about the idea. They drew Lissa in, and soon there was a passionate conversation going on about her plan. I got shuffled to the edges and decided that was just fine. Then I retreated altogether and sought out a corner near a door.
Along the way, I passed a server with a tray of hors d'oeuvres. Still hungry, I eyed them suspiciously but saw nothing that looked like the foie gras from the other day. I gestured to one that looked like some sort of braised, rare meat.
"Is that goose liver?" I asked.
She shook her head. "Sweetbread."
That didn't sound bad. I reached for it.
"It's pancreas," said a voice behind me. I jerked back.
"What?" I squeaked. The waitress took my shock for rejection and moved on.
Adrian Ivashkov moved into my line of sight, looking immensely pleased with himself.
"Are you messing with me?" I asked. "'Sweetbread' is pancreas?" I don't know why that shocked me so much. Moroi consumed blood. Why not internal organs? Still, I repressed a shudder.
Adrian shrugged. "It's really good."
I shook my head in disgust. "Oh, man. Rich people suck." I said as he pulled me towards him, his arm around my waist. He leaned in to kiss me on my forehead.
His amusement continued. "Seriously it isn’t that bad. One day I will get you to try all the ‘rich people food’."
“I don’t think you could pay for me to eat such food.” I scoffed. He was dressed to perfection, as always. "Some parts of animals are not meant to be eaten."
“That is what you say now but I am sure I can come up with a way to pleasuring you into eating ‘rich people food.’”
“I doubt it. I don’t even like you that much.” I said with a straight face. How I managed I have no clue. But from the look in his eyes I knew he saw threw it.
He flashed one of his tantalizing smiles, "I don't know," he teased. He looked perfectly sane now, exhibiting no trace of the weird behavior I'd witnessed in his room. He looked a lot better in a tuxedo than any guy I'd seen in there so far.
"No?" asked Adrian, still smiling. He leaned toward me, like he had a secret to share. "Then why are you wearing my perfume?"
I did blush deeply at his statement. "I'm not."
He laughed. "Of course you are. I can smell it on you. It's nice. Sharp...but still sweet-just like I'm sure you are deep down inside. And you got it right, you know. Just enough to add an edge...but not enough to drown your own scent." The way he said "scent" made it sound like a dirty word.
And it had me thinking very dirty thoughts. I could feel my arousal spike to an all time high. And Adrian being the aura reader he is could also see and no doubt smell my arousal for him. His beautiful emerald green eyes got impossibly darker. That did nothing to ease my arousal.
“Keep this up Little Dhampir and I will be taking you back to room and make sure we enjoy copious amount of fun between my sheets.”
“I might take you up on that offer later.” I told him as I laid my hand on his chest. “But right now I am here for Lissa.”
"Ooh, Rose Hathaway is here to play, folks." He paused and took a glass of what looked like
champagne from a passing waiter. "You want one?"
"No not right now, maybe later."
"Alright." Adrian handed me a glass anyway, then shooed the waiter away and took a drink of the
champagne. I had a feeling it wasn't his first of the night. "So. Sounds like our Vasilisa put my dad in his place."
"Your ..." I glanced back at the group I'd just left. Silver Hair still stood there, gesticulating wildly. "That guy's your dad?"
"That's what my mom says."
"You agree with him? About how Moroi fighting would be suicide?"
Adrian shrugged and took another sip. "I don't really have an opinion on that."
"That's not possible. How can you not feel one way or another?"
"Dunno. Just not something I think about. I've got better things to do."
"Save that for later," I suggested, seductively. Which I could tell was not helping his start of arousal, but I loved to torture him sometimes.
He nodded his eyes still filled with lust, I could see he was very tempted to take me back to his room at this very moment.
Across the room, Lissa's feelings burned back to me, calm and content. Good.
"Why are you smiling?" Adrian asked.
"Because Lissa's still over there, working that crowd."
"No surprise there. She's one of those people who can charm anyone she wants if she tries hard enough. Even people who hate her."
I gave him a wry look. "I feel that way when I talk to you."
"But you don't hate me," he said, finishing the last of his champagne. "I am beginning to think you might even love me. And if that is true the feeling is mutual."
"I don't know what you are talking about." I told him quietly. What he said was true, but after only knowing each other for a couple of days, this isn’t something we should be talking about now.
"So you keep saying." He took a step toward me, not threatening, just making the space between us more intimate. "But I can live with that."
"Rose!"
The sharpness of my mother's voice cut through the air. A few people within earshot glanced over at us. My mother-all five angry feet of her-stormed up to us.
What do you think you’re doing?" she demanded. Her voice was still too loud as far as I was concerned. I just stared at her incredulously. The nerve of this woman! She had been absent most of my life and now she wants to act concerned! If I didn’t hate her before I hated her now. "Excuse us, Lord Ivashkov," she growled. Then, like I was five years old, she grabbed me by my arm and jerked me out of the room. Champagne sloshed out of my glass and splashed onto the skirt of my dress.
I looked back at Adrian he made to follow ignoring my mothers request but I shook my head at him and mouth for him to stay.
"What do you think you're doing?" I exclaimed, once we were out in the hall. Mournfully, I looked down at my dress. "This is silk. You could have ruined it."
She grabbed the champagne flute and set it down on a nearby table. "Good. Maybe it'll stop you from dressing up like a cheap whore."
"Whoa," I said, shocked. "That's kind of harsh. And where do you get off turning motherly all of a sudden?" I gestured to the dress. "This isn't exactly cheap. You thought it was nice of Tasha to give it to me."
"That's because I didn't expect you to wear it out with Moroi and make a spectacle of yourself."
"I'm not making a spectacle of myself. And anyway, it covers everything up."
"A dress that tight might as well be showing everything," she retorted. She, of course, was dressed in guardian black: tailored black linen pants and a matching blazer. She had a few curves of her own, but the clothing hid them.
"Especially when you're with a group like that. Your body's...conspicuous. And flirting with Moroi doesn't really help."
"That is what boyfriends and girlfriends do they flirt." I told her rolling my eyes. Her calling me a whore and grouping Adrian in a category of sleazy Moroi men made me angry, she had no right. Something petty occurred to me. "Besides," I said mockingly, "isn't that what I'm supposed to do? Hook up with a Moroi and further my race? It's what you did."
She glowered. "Not when I was your age."
"You were only a few years older than me."
"Don't do anything stupid, Rose," she said. "You're too young for a baby. You don't have the life
experience for it- you haven't even lived your own life yet. You won't be able to do the kind of job you wish you could."
I groaned, mortified. "Are we really even discussing this? How did we go from me flirting to suddenly having a litter? I'm not having sex with him or anyone else, and even if I were, I know about birth control. Why are you talking to me like I'm a child?"
"Because you act like one." It was remarkably like what Dimitri had told me.
I glared. "So you're going to send me to my room now?"
"No, Rose." She suddenly looked tired. "You don't have to go to your room, but don't go back in there, either. Hopefully you didn't draw too much attention."
"You make it sound like I was giving a lap dance in there," I told her. "I just had dinner with Lissa."
"You'd be surprised what things can spark rumors," she warned. "Especially with Adrian Ivashkov."
With that, she turned and headed off down the hall. Watching her, I felt anger and resentment burn
through me. Overreact much? I hadn't done anything wrong. I knew she had her whole blood-whore paranoia, but this was extreme, even for her. Worst of all, she'd dragged me out of there, and several people had witnessed it. For someone who supposedly didn't want me attracting attention, she'd kind of messed that one up.
A couple of Moroi who'd been standing near Adrian and me walked out of the room. They glanced in my direction and then whispered something as they passed.
"Thanks, Mom," I muttered to myself.
Slight humiliated I wanted nothing more than to stock off. But right now I need Adrian. I didn’t care what my mother said about not going back in. I was about to go back in and get him when he walked out of the room.
He looked at me with concern than sadness and the next thing I know I am in his arm with him wiping away tears I hadn’t even realized had fallen.
“Let’s get you out of here.” he told me softly.
“Okay.” I said as he pulled me into his arms and lead me away. When we had reached his room he guided me over too the couch and pulled me into his lap.
"My life is a disaster," I finally said.
"It's not a disaster," he said automatically.
“I think it is. Well for the most part. Meeting you might have been the only good that has come out of my life for the last several months. It is a miracle all the things that had happened to me have not broken me so far.”
“You are too strong for that Rose. And now that I have found you I don’t plan on letting you go. And for whatever comes your way good or bad I will be here for you. Always.”
“Thanks Adrian.” I told him as I brushed my lips against his lips.
“Anything for you Little Dhampir.”
We while we set there I told him about the conversation I had with my mother.
"She's just worried about you," Adrian said when I finished.
"She overreacted."
"Sometimes mothers are overprotective. Besides she has a point with the reputation that I have built for myself, I am always perceived as trouble. And if I wasn’t so selfish I would let you walk away from me so you wouldn't be dragged under with me. But I am very selfish and I plan on keeping you around as long as you want me around. So yea I can under stand your mother’s over protectiveness."
I stared at him. "Yeah, but this is my mother. And she didn't seem that protective, really. I think she was more worried I'd embarrass her or something. And all that becoming-a-mother-too-young stuff was stupid. I'm not going to do anything like that."
"Maybe she wasn't talking about you," he said.
More silence. My jaw fell open.
You don't have the life experience for it-you haven't even lived your own life yet. You won't be able to do the kind of job you wish you could.
My mom had been twenty when I was born. Growing up, that had always seemed really old to me. But now...that was only a few years off for me. Not old at all. Did she think she'd had me too soon? Had she done a shoddy job raising me simply because she didn't know any better at the time? Did she regret the way things had turned out between us? And was it...was it maybe possible that she'd had some personal experience of her own with Moroi men and people spreading rumors about her? I'd had inherited a lot of her features. I mean, I'd even noticed tonight what a nice figure she had. She had a pretty face, too-for a nearly forty-year-old, I mean. She'd probably been really, really good-looking when she was younger....
I sighed. I didn't want to think about that. If I did, I might have to reevaluate my relationship with her-maybe even acknowledge my mother as a real person-and I already had too many relationships stressing me. Lissa always worried me, even though she seemed to be okay for a change.
Sitting next to him there, I marveled at the warm and happy emotions springing up inside of me. There was something about being around him that felt so good, that moved me in a way anyone else couldn't, even Dimitri. You can't force love, I realized. It's there or it isn't. If it's not there, you've got to be able to admit it. If it is there, you've got to do whatever it takes to protect the ones you love.
"Where you going?" he asked me when I got off his lap. I gently kissed him on the lips before I pulled away from him.
The next words that came out of my mouth astonished me, both because they were completely unselfish and because I actually meant them "To break someone's heart," I replied.
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An Unexpected Romance