Reading VA: Reading Frostbite (ON HOLD)

Ch 2: ONE

RPOV
After dinner and once Paul, Zoya and Nadi had gone down for the night, Abe declared "I'm reading next." No one argued so my father picked up Frostbite and turned to chapter one. "I didn't think my day could get any worse until my best friend told me she might be going crazy. Again.
""I... what did you say?""

Silence dominated the room as Abe read. My father was not the kind of man you mess with. Even Tasha seemed to realise he was dangerous and to be wary around him. No one said a thing as he continued to read through the beginning of that conversation. That was until the topic turned to my Qualifier.

"I knew you'd freak, love. So you can blame me for the last-minute notification," whispered Dimitri in my ear.
"In that case..." I purred in response. Continuing only after my fiancé groaned, "You are going to pay tonight."
"Roza," he whined in my ear.
"You know you love me," I teased seductively.
"Yes, I do."

I barely had time to notice the cheeky and cunning look cross his face. Suddenly his lips were on mine again, kissing me hungrily.

"Guys!" exclaimed my father. "I know you might not want to hear your own writing, Rose. But I'm sure Belikov wants to know what went on in your pretty little head."
"Her beautiful brain, Abe. She's not simply pretty, she's beautiful," said Dimitri with a lovesick and dreamy expression. Aww.
"Ew!" chorused the others. "Where is the Dimitri Belikov and Rose Hathaway we know?" continued Eddie.
"Somewhere," I answered. Then told Abe to keep reading.

"My mood promptly shot up past "cheerful" and went straight to "ecstatic." Me and Dimitri. Alone. In a car. This might very well be worth a surprise test." read Abe. He continued as everyone remained silent, listening respectfully.

Soon asking, "Please tell me nothing happened?" My father answered his own question. "Spoilers apparently."
"Damn straight!" I laughed. My language was met with eye rolls and chuckles. Soon they were hushed when Abe returned to reading.

Dimitri simply pecked my cheek after whispering, "maybe I should teach you Russian after all. Just don't use it in front of my family."
My head whipped around. "That's the best idea I've heard come out of your mouth yet!" I teased.

Meanwhile, Abe read through me trying to resist Dimitri's scent. I zoned out into a kiss with Dimitri as he started reading my explanation of the Qualifier process.

When we returned to the room, we tuned in to hear, "It was like he could read my mind sometimes. I smiled a little and dared to peek at him."

"That was adorable, Roza."

"It was a mistake. A long, lean body, obvious even while sitting. Bottomless dark eyes. Shoulder-length brown hair tied back at his neck. That hair felt like silk."

"That's what yours feels like to me, my love." Dimitri couldn't resist loosely twirling a curl around his finger as he'd done so often before.

"I knew because I'd run my fingers through it when Victor Dashkov had ensnared us with the lust charm. With great restraint, I forced myself to start breathing again and look away."

This time when I looked at him, I shamelessly soaked up and memorised every detail of my future husband. I couldn't care I was, to put it crudely, checking him out in front of everyone. Neither did he apparently, because that damn sexy, heart-stopping and powerful studious and appreciative look was on his face. I could feel his eyes roaming me, and I loved it. I loved him. So, I loved the way he looked at me like I was precious and delicate yet dangerous, as though I was his goddess. Abe continued reading while Dimitri and I looked at each other. And looked. And looked. Disappearing back into our own world, not hearing what was being read nor did we hear any commentary that may or may not have occurred...

Until it was directed at us, that is.
"Do you two have no control? Does the world even exist right now?" Vika brought us out of our moment.
"You sure you want to know, Vika?" I responded, voice full of snark and sarcasm.
"No. I don't want to know. That's my brother you're ogling shamelessly, Roza."
"You've seen worse!" I laughed. My sisters in law winced. "It's not like two of you haven't done worse, it's not like two of you don't have kids."
Karo and Sonya blushed then said, "okay, okay! Point taken Roza." The room burst out laughing.
"Read, Dad!" I begged once they'd calmed.

When Abe restarted reading I learned Dimitri and I had missed the playfully music argument. And the two streams of thought on Moroi living in human cities.
"I'd convinced Dimitri to stop for food at a twenty-four-hour diner along the way, and between that and stopping to buy gas, it was around noon when we arrived."

Everyone fell silent. Meanwhile, I snuggled into Dimitri.

"The house was built in a rambler style, all one level with grey-stained wood siding and big bay windows-tinted to block sunlight, of course. It looked new and expensive, and even out in the middle of nowhere, it was about what I'd expect for members of a royal family."

The old man was uninterrupted as he continued reading. Covering how we approached the house and my reflection on the car ride.

"Mmm... guilty satisfaction indeed, Roza," lovingly mumbled Dimitri in my ear. Soon after, he placed a light kiss on my cheek, which turned into trailing butterfly kisses. Of course.

Abe read on, ignoring me and Dimitri. Of course. He successfully covered Dimitri saving me from falling, yet again, without interruption. No surprise in that, he was scary... To everyone but me and Mom. Also covered without interruption, but with a building air of suspense, was realising the house had been broken into and that something was wrong.

As Abe continued reading, the realisation that Dimitri and I had been the ones to realise and report clicked on the faces those who hadn't previously known we were at the sight of the Badica attack. Shock and dismay also shone on the faces of those Moroi who hadn't known humans were league with Strigoi. Disgust and anger showed on the faces of all. All the while, Dimitri tried to comfort and shelter me from the memories.

When Abe read through the description of the crime scene, the dhampirs held their own. The Moroi, however, didn't fair so well with that imagery. None made a mad dash to puke in the bathrooms. Sydney, ironically enough, though human was as gag resistant as any dhampir in the room.

"Syd?" I asked. Interrupting my dad in the process.
"Yes, Rose?"
"How are you fairing so well?" I asked, genuinely curious and concerned if she wasn't coping as well as she was letting on. I also suspected I knew the how come.
"How do you think?" she teased. "I am an Alchemist after all. I do clean up your mess."
"I thought as much!" I returned the friendly banter. I looked at Abe, "Keep reading, Old Man."

Abe returned to reading the story of my life. "Aww"s escaped when Abe read, "I started to struggle; then I smelled Dimitri's aftershave."
""Why," he asked, "don't you ever listen? You'd be dead if they were still here.""

"You have no clue how scared I was when I saw you there like that. I was scared for you. You shouldn't have had to see that. You always seem to underestimate how protective of you I feel, how much I love you, Roza." whispered my future husband in my ear.
"And you always seem to underestimate just how badass you trained me to be." I pulled Dimitri into a kiss before he could say anything else. Abe kept reading, the tension kept building and Dimitri and I kept kissing.

We pulled back in time to hear, "Dimitri's face was stern, still ready for anything, but the tiniest spark of sympathy flashed in his dark eyes as he watched me wage my mental battle.
""This changes everything, doesn't it?" I asked.
""Yeah," he said. "It does."" Abe snapped shut the book and immediately passed it to Mom.

"Let's go to bed. Deal with the next chapter tomorrow," I suggested. Quickly pulling Dimitri out of the that room and into ours. "Time for some fun," I purred. Dimitri growled.
"Woman!"