Betrothed

11 \ mac and cheese

Diya snuggled closer to the source of warmth. She had ended up waking up at 4 in the morning for no apparent reason. Despite trying to force herself back to sleep, she hadn't been successful till 5 in the morning. When sleep finally engulfed her, she surrendered herself to it willingly. She had switched the alarm off beforehand. And if Vikram's alarm had whizzed, she had no recollection of it. 

Slowly and sleepily she blinked her eyes open, her eyelids protested almost immediately. Too much light. She blinked a couple more times to wake herself up. Suddenly, she was very aware of what (rather who) she was snuggling into.

She tried backing away, rolling to the other side, only to realise that she was encaged between Vikram's arms. She tried slipping through them, lifting them up carefully. She even tried pushing his arms off her midriff, but nothing seemed to work. She finally gave up realising that the only way she could move away was by waking a very peacefully asleep Vikram up.

Oh God, this was going to be embarrassing. She looked at her side of the bed and sighed. He was sleeping properly on his side. It was her who had snuggled into him. In all the days of her marriage till now, this had never happened.

She shook his forearm a little which had absolutely no effect on him. She closed her eyes shut and exhaled in desperation. The clock showed 10 in the morning. How had they slept in this late.

"Vikram" she said shaking his hand a bit more vigorously. He hummed still asleep.

"Vikram, wake up. " she said, her voice rising a few decibels.

She saw his pupils move under his eyelids. He looked even more gorgeous from up close. So rugged yet so delicate.

He fluttered his eyes open, a wave of confusion hitting him as soon as he saw Divya so close. 

"Uhm, oh." he realised as soon as the grogginess subsided.

"Yeah" Divya confirmed.

The princess found the prince staring at her intently as if under a trance. Vikram could not understand how she looked so perfect while still in bed. A few locks framed her face; the rest cascading down his arm that she had been resting her head on. 

Oh, it was tempting. To have her so close looking like an absolute Goddess and not do anything. He loved how her petite body fit in his arms. The ache felt real. 

One touch could not hurt, could it?

He dared to glance at her lips. So lush and alluring. He saw her eyes flicker down to his. Oh she wanted it too. Repercussions be damned. One touch, just one taste, and that's it.

Divya felt his finger move over her dress. Goosebumps erupted all over her skin as a result. She felt him shift closer. His hand flattened against her waist, taking in the smoothness of the soft material she had on. 

Divya felt the anticipation building. She arched her neck sideways towards him. Her fingers reached his, firmly sitting over her waist. Just as they were about to close the distance between their lips, a knock resounded on the door making them recede midway.

He let go of her midriff, the loss of warmth was felt instantly. 

He got off the bed to open the door. It was a maid who was here to notify them about something.

Divya calmed her racing heart. Oh, he was going to be the death of her.

-

"What are you doing in here?" Vikram asked surprised to see his wife in the kitchen.

Divya looked at him momentarily, before her attention got captured by the liquid almost boiling over on one of the stoves. She turned the knob to switch it off. 

Phew, that was close.

"I was craving some mac and cheese since last evening." she said turning towards him after making sure the contents of the pan on the other burner were cooking well.

"You could have told someone to make it, you did not have to cook." he said, a little unsettled that Divya had to go through all that trouble.

"Oh it's fine. Besides I wanted to use my recipe." she explained, bending over to smell the delicious smell from the cheese. 

Vikram walked to where the princess was standing, their shoulders almost touching. He glanced at the pan appreciatively. "It does look and smell wonderful."

He watched as she strained and transferred the macaroni to the pan and tossed it around till everything was well coated. She retrieved a fork from one of the drawers and stabbed the pasta to taste.

Vikram looked on as she furrowed her brows in concentration trying to decipher what was missing. 

There was a certain elegance in whatever she did, he concluded. Little things. Simple things. The way she held the fork and then chewed her food, it had him transfixed.

"Ah, I know, onion powder!" she exclaimed with a child like glee.

Vikram watched while she added the powder and put the fork in for the second time to taste it. Divya's eyes lit up as the flavours burst in her mouth. 

"This mmm..." she said before diving in for another bite.

"Hey, I would like to taste some too." he finally said.

Divya reached for another fork, much to Vikram's dismay. Deciding to focus on the food for now, he poked a few times before pushing them into his mouth. He nearly moaned at how amazing it tasted. The texture was on point, the flavours on fleek. Now, that was one great pot of mac and cheese.

"This is- God oh God- amazing! Not kidding the tiniest bit." he said before impatiently going in for another forkful. Divya nodded in acknowledgement between her bites. 

"If not for the betrothal, you would have married me for the pasta, surely." she joked making him nod vigorously. 

"Oh definitely, I would have." and the laughter rolled right in.

Vikram found himself studying her as she smiled. There was something refreshing about her. She was the no nonsense kind. Yet she had her moments of fun. 

In that moment, as he watched her chew some more of the pasta, he knew that magic was about to happen. Something special was going to blossom between them.

-

Those two are getting closer, yay!

Does everyone feel as blue as I do with the vacation ending?

See you with another update soon.

xoxo