Hidden Princess

Chapter 10: Birthday full of memories.

"Good morning, love. As much as I would just love to lay here and watch you in your peaceful slumber, I fear that time is of the essence." Tatyana woke up with a start at the voice reverberating underneath her ear. Wasting no time, she shot out of bed looking at the person laying next to her with an incredulous look on her face. Face-palming herself, she wondered why this seemed to happen again and why he had defied the instructions she had given him when they came back last night.

"I thought I told you to sleep in the guest room. Whatsoever happened to that agreement?" she asked, looking at the smarm look on his face, the way his auburn hair was all ruffled up and last but not least, his bare chest. She quickly looked the other way after noticing that he had caught her staring at his abdominal muscles.

"You didn't even light a fire in the grate. I found the room stone cold and if I would have stayed there any longer, I would surely have gotten the flu," he defended his actions, getting up and pulling the aubergine heap of duvets to the side, pacing about the room.

"Then how is it that I wasn't able to sense you climb onto my bed. Only the heavens above know whether youve assaulted me or not." Once she said that, a chuckle escaped his lips and he could not fight the grin spreading on his face.

"Once again, I will say that time is of the essence. Now hurry along, we dont want to ignite my mothers fury," he said, but stopped when he saw that she was not making any move. Letting out a sigh, he replied, "And no, I did not assault you when you were in your sleep. Sadly, I'm too much of a gentleman to do such," he put on a wry smile as he watched her walk towards the adjoining bathroom. Speaking about being a gentleman, I better head out while she prepares.

Walking through the sunlit corridor, he was left in awe at the paintings lining the wall. One had caught his attention. It was a painting of a little girl, flashing her pearly white teeth, adorned in a knee-length, pink, flowery dress, her brown hair falling in large curls behind her back and her green eyes holding glee. He had no doubt as to who it was. It was her, and he smiled at the way she looked so amazingly cute. She was probably no less than the age of ten.

He had not noticed how long he had been standing in the corridor until he heard the snick of a shutting door. Snapping his head towards the direction, he saw her standing opposite him, as fresh as a daisy in her castle maids uniform.

"All done prepping yourself up, I believe."

"I am, but you aren't, half-naked and all,"she said, running her eyes up and down his person.

"How kind of you to point that out," he said sarcasticly. "I guess I'll be heading to take a shower." After saying so, he brushed past her and took a whiff of her fresh, lavender smell.

She cleaned and tidied the room before Darryl left the bathroom with the same clothes he had on the day before, having nothing else to wear.

He strutted into the kitchen, watching her clean the picnic dishes they came back with the day before. He tried to assist, only to be chased away in fear of him breaking every dish in the room with his unavoidable clumsiness when it came to just arranging crockery in their cupboards.

"You've never worked in a kitchen before, have you?" she asked, breaking the silence that had occupied the area.

"No, not really. Father always told me that the kitchen was not quite a place fitting a crown prince. Or for anyone of royal blood." She watched him jump off the counter he had been sitting on to stand behind her. Her breath hitched, wondering what he was up to this time. A pair of hands snaked their way round her waist. Her back stiffened at the touch and the particular area that his hands had made contact with started heating. She drew out a shaky breath, feeling him nuzzle on her neck.