Lost at sea

Chapter 22

I wake up to the rude awakening of the sun. "Morning princess" I hear Nikolai say in a groggy morning voice. "Morning" I turn to face him and give him a kiss. "How'd you sleep" he says rubbing my back. "As wonderful as ever" I smile. He replies with a kindhearted smile. "Thank you again for last night" he runs his hands through my messy hair.

I hear a knock on the door. "Ms. Oretsev, I'm here to draw your bath." Nikolai and I give each other the same wide-eyed look. "Shit!" I whisper as we both scramble around. "Why are they here so early" he replies. "It's a Monday! I'm expected at work!" I scramble to fix my hair and bed and he rushes to put on his pants. He stumbles into the wall. "Ma'am are you okay?" The maid asks from the other side of the door. "Yes, give me a minute. I'm in the bathroom and can't get to the door yet!"

Nikolai gives me a mocking look. "Oh shut up! You don't have to worry, imagine what it would be like if you were found with the prince!" I almost yell as I shush him into my wardrobe. He laughs softly, "not really a good treatment for a prince, no?" I playfully hit him as I close the door.

I rush over to the room door. "Hi!" I say a little to loudly. "Oh good morning. You seem- erm, well rested?" She fumbles with her hands as she enters my room. "Oh this shirt looks big on you, did we mix it up by accident?" She speaks while she makes my bed. My eyes widen again, "erm no I just like things that run on the bigger side." She nods her head to be polite. "Ok well let me run your bath for today ma'am" she smiles and walks off. "Oh Marian, do you mind leaving once it's ready? I wanna rest." She smiles and nods her head, "of course."

She soon leaves and I lock the door behind her. I quickly rush over to the wardrobe. "Saints, finally. I felt like dying in there" Nikolai chuckles. He steps out and his hair was still all messy from sleeping and he looked so much more relaxed than normal. "Kay well I have to get ready for work, so leave so I can get changed" I rub my head, stressed from this morning. He holds my body close to his as he runs his hands along my arms. "Oh come on you can't let that bath go to waste" he smirks, taking my hand and leading my away. "Nikolai" I whine.

I slowly enter the bath letting a little exhausted groan out. Nikolai sits behind my head and rests his face over mine. "Hi there princess" he smiles, a few strands of his golden hair fell in front of his face. He plays with my hair as I soak. "You're lucky. The prince normally gets this treatment, not the other way around" he chuckles. "Yes I suppose I'm lucky" I hold his face down to mind and kiss him.

I could just sit there forever. This moment felt ethereal. The orange tone of the sun shone through the white curtains, giving the room a glow. Nikolai looked amazing as ever and sat in front of me. I could look in his beautiful eyes forever. Saints how I loved his eyes. "You're staring love" he mumbles as he plays with my hair. "To bad, you're too handsome for this world." He smiles shyly and blushes.

———————

It was towards the end of my work day and I was talking with Paja and Zoya. As they were talking I see Nikolai across the room calling me over. "Sorry guys I'll be right back." They nod as they watch me leave.

Nikolai smiles and kisses my cheek non stop. "Nikolai stop people are going to see us." I pull him away to somewhere a little secluded. "Oh come on" he pouts. I look around to make sure my friends didn't see us. "So what was it that you wanted" I ask. "Oh what I can't just come to see you" he smiles, holding my shoulder. His hand was sliding up the back of my shirt. I didn't really notice at first, but his fingerings kept circling my waist. I hold his arm still, waiting for his response. "I overheard your maid gossiping about this morning. Apparently she heard me before she came inside" he mumbles softly, he sounded apologetic even though he had no reason to be.

I was about to get mad or whatever but he holds my hand. "Relax, I warned her and told her to not come in that early from now on. You're a big girl, I think you can get ready on your own" he mocks me, kissing me with a smile. I playfully push him back, "thanks" I mumble. "Yeah I know you care a lot about your reputation princess" he fixes my hair as he talks. "Ok well I got to go, thank you again pretty boy" I hug him softly. He responds with a light kiss on my head, "bye princess."

I walk back to my friends to see the right around the corner in shock. "Oh my saints...THE PRINCE?!"

891 words!!