Crown Of Hearts

Chapter 27

Things slowly returned back to normal. Theo got stronger and healthier. I was by his side when they removed the final bandages.

" Please take it easy these next couple of days." The doctor nodded at me before taking his leave.

Theo smiled softly and touched his bare chest before slipping on a coat. I averted my eyes.

" It's odd not to be as restricted as before." He swung his legs over the edge and stood up. He was as graceful as a newborn deer as he attempted to walk to the door.

I clung on to his arm, " Please don't force yourself. You just removed the bandages."

" Okay." He whispered, his breath warm against my hair.

I flush.

It had been a few days since my encounter with Darius and we had yet to speak. But I still followed his instructions. Keep my head down and stay with Theo.

No guard approach me about the earrings which made the knot of regret inside me grow tighter each day. Frederick spent most of his days locked up securely in his room. And with the realization that he probably did not have a hand in the attack. My paranoid was getting the worse of me.

I helped Theo back down and grunted in pain as he adjusted himself.

" Do you need anything?" I pulled the blankets over him when his hand stopped me.

I glanced up to meet his piercing eyes. Theo had gotten better with eye contact.

" Yeah?" I breathed.

His eyes flicked down to my lips and my breath hitched. Theo leaned forward and I closed the gap between us.

The kiss was terrible, to say the least. It was awkward and uncomfortable. I didn't where to put my hands and Theo seemed as awkward as I was.

When we pulled away, Theo chuckled and ran his hands through his hair.

" That was terrible." He said.

I giggled, the first laugh in days.

" Was it your first kiss?" I asked softly.

" No. You're the second girl to kiss me. Was I your first kiss?" His hands found mine and he squeezed gently.

" No. you're the third one." I looked down at our interlaced fingers and savored the warmth I felt.

" Will you tell me about them?" He raised our hands and kissed the insides of my wrist.

" The first boy to kiss me was when I was thirteen. He was a guard in training and the lady of the house had hired him for the summer while her nieces and nephews stayed over. I don't even remember his name. All I knew was that he was kind and dedicated to his work. He kissed me before he went off to his next assignment. I don't know why he did. We rarely spoke and when we did, we didn't have much in common."

" The second boy to kiss me was when I was fifteen. He lived in the third house I worked for. He was handsome and tall and he attracted a lot of admirers. He was different than his family. He cared about the people that worked for him. When his family realized that he had taken a liking to a lowly maid. They sent him to a boarding school as soon as possible and I never saw him again."

Theo brushed his thumb against my fingers comfortingly.

" And you? What lucky girl got to have a kiss from a prince?"

Theo chuckled lowly, " I was so young and so was she. We were seven and she was a maid in training. She was shadowing one of my brothers' maids. I was playing in the garden and she just walked up to me, confessed her feelings, and kissed me. Me being so young, I immediately pushed her away and cried to my mother." He rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks tinged pink with embarrassment.