"What do you desire?" She asked, finishing off her wine. She chomped on another strawberry, enjoying the sweetness of the fruit. She licked her lips, licking off strawberry juice. She leaned back and crossed her arms, wondering what he had in mind in order for her to know the answer.

Gareth could barely contain himself, as he drank some more of his wine, she just kept making it more difficult, but he kept telling himself that he needed to respect her. He played with his collar again, becoming extremely uncomfortable as she ate another strawberry and began to lick her lips. His hand moved to the back of his neck, now the heat was rising even farther. The word desire rang through his head, "I'm unsure..." he said uneasily, "Of what I want." which was extremely far from the truth.

She grinned and stood. "Then maybe you should just tell me? You won't be so...unsure." She said, straightening her gown. She sat back down, moving her legs out, her foot touching his. She was going to control the moment and take advantage of the poor guy. "Why don't I go get you some more wine?" She said, standing again. If that wasn't enough maybe he needed more.

Gareth closed his eyes for a moment when her foot touched his leg, he hadn't been able to touch much of he bare skin with all the layers she wore all the time. A flash of her perfect nude body streamed through his mind, this was going to be more difficult to control than he thought.

When she went to get him more wine he insisted, "Only if you have some too, it is not fun to drink alone."

"Oh, I'll have some I suppose." She said. She wondered into the kitchen and grabbed another bottle. She popped it open and refilled his glass. She moved over to her glass and filled it. She placed the bottle in between them and sat down. She raised the glass to her lips and took a sip, swooshing it in her mouth getting the full flavor. She watched him, wondering just how much it did take until he was goo in her hands.

Gareth was only happy to have another long gulp of wine when she brought it back to the table, "I like a woman who can drink," he said with a smile towards her, she so far was holding her alcohol well, although he wasn't sure how long that would last.

"I also like that you sometimes want to defy me and tell me what to do, it drives me crazy," he chuckled through his glass, that was true, first it was with anger, and now his anger only turned to complete lust. He moved his foot so it could stroke her bare leg that he desired so much to touch with his own skin.

She grinned. It was working rather well now. "Really? What else do you like about me?" She would work her way into asking the question again once she was one hundred percent sure he was drunk enough to tell her anything. She had feeling she would wind up dragging him to his room after diner. She sucked on a piece of strawberry.

Tatiana had dumped water into her glass, watering down the wine to make it seem like she was drinking more than she was. It was a trick she had seen her father use many times. She smiled and gulped down the watery wine.

Gareth grinned, "You would like me to tell you everything I like about you, wouldn't you." He knew she was being devious but he liked that too, he now was rubbing her leg, "I like... the way you look... even if you're clothes are no longer on." he gave her a wink and laughed. "You fought me so long on figuring out if I actually saw you..." he thought back to that time was when he really started to like her.

"It's like you have some spell over me," he said leaning closer, "I just can't keep my eyes off of you..."

Tatiana blushed. "Really? If that why you opened the door?" She chuckled. "I believe that's just the wine." She shivered from his touch. She rested her elbows on the table. She locked eyes with him and couldn't help but to smile. He was becoming more open and she knew at this point the wine was taking affect. "Tell me about the the portrait? And...I'll tell you one of my secrets? Does that sound fair?" She asked.

The only secret she could think of was the time she had swam naked in the lake near her old home. It wasn't much of a secret but it wasn't very ladylike and since he enjoyed her with no clothing on, she thought it may make him smile in the very least.

Gareth leaned close to her, she looked adorable with her elbows on the table with that mischievous grin, "A secret?" he said with his last gulp of wine, "What kind of secret," he then decided it would be worth it, "You have to tell me yours first then I will tell you, I swear." Gareth looked into her eyes when he swore to her, to show he was telling the truth.

She shook her head and leaned back. "No, no. You tell me first." She said. She hadn't thought about him saying that. Maybe it wouldn't work. She bit into another strawberry and waited until she finished before standing up from the table. "Maybe I'll just go to bed now." She winked. If he was going to keep it a secret so was she. She turned, grinning.

Gareth immediately got up from his seat when Tatiana got up to leave, he reached for her hand. He didn't want her to leave, not now, unless he was going to follow her to the bedroom. He placed his hands on her hips and he whispered into her ear, "What if I told you, you were right..." his breath grazed her ear, it was harder to hold back now more than ever.

She grinned and laughed. "I knew it! Good night." She ducked past him and started down the hallway. It was too easy. She now knew a easy way to get him to spill the beans. She stopped at her door, thinking a nice warm bath sounded great. She glanced down the hallway and placed her hands on her hips. She was glad she was right. He really was a good guy, he just liked games...just like her.

Gareth was about to kiss her when she ducked out of his reach, and started down the hallway. He stood for a second completely baffled but then he realized he should go after her. He sped up the stairs as fast as he could when he found her in her doorway. "Not so fast," he said ushering her into the room and cornering her against the wall, he had closed the door behind him.

"You promised me a secret." Gareth said, his face close to hers, she couldn't get away with tricking him that easily.

Tatiana pressed her lips together. "Busted.Fine, alright. I once ran out during the night to swim...." She paused, making sure no one else was around to hear her. "Naked." She narrowed her eyes, watching him. It was silly but she got embarrassed over it but now they were even. 'May I go now? You better go lay down. I believe that wine is really kicking in."

Gareth grinned, "That barely counts as a secret, besides I've already seen you naked, I don't need to imagine." he raised an eyebrow, he didn't want to let her go so quickly, to him the night was still young, he wasn't so drunk that he couldn't understand, or stand straight, he just was more honest than before.

"Why do you want me to go so soon?" he asked a sad tone in his voice.

Tatiana grumbled something under her breath and moved to hold him up. "Why don't we go to your room and you can tell anything and everything you can. I'll listen." She said, grinning. It was perfect. He was drunk and she wasn't, through she did feel a bit dizzy. She really wanted that bath too.

She walked, her arm holding onto his waist. She opened his door and move them inside. She kicked the door shut and sat him down on the bed.

Gareth smiled and followed her to the bed, "Well I'm glad you had a change of heart." he said sitting beside her. He was grinning goofily mainly because of the secret she had told him, and he knew there must have been something worse.

"So you're telling me that's the only secret you have... there has to be a better one than that..." he eyed her trying to figure out if she was lying and hiding something really juicy from him. He also wondered how much of this he'd remember tomorrow, and clearly she hadn't drank as much as he assumed she had.

((Sorry it took me so long! I thought I posted back already ;x ))

Tatiana smiled and unbuttoned the first few buttons on his shirt. "That is my only secret. Besides sneaking away at night to sleep in the barn and read all night. I did steal a horse once and well let's see..." She stood up, tapping her pointer finger against her mouth. "Nope that's about it. I had a rather boring childhood." She said.

Of course it wasn't very boring to her. She had many fond memories of exploring and getting in trouble. She had always wanted to live alone, deep inside a forest by herself but after telling her father her dream she ended up inside most of the day. Tatiana sighed, remembering her memories. She stood and shoved him down onto the bed.

"You'll only get another fever if you don't sleep." She said. Tatiana looked around. "Do you have night clothing that you want?" She asked.

He watched her talk of her childhood, she must have loved it, and it seemed like it meant something to her. Even though she described it as boring, Gareth knew all to well it was more interesting for her than she let on. He smiled, he liked listening to her like this, it was charming in its own way. "I ran away once like that... it's very exhilarating."

Gareth gave her an excited look when she unbuttoned his shirt, "I didn't realize you were in the mood." he said coyly as she pushed him down onto the bed. Of course he was just teasing, he then looked at her and laughed, "Night clothing? I sleep in the nude, I thought you figured that out already."

Her cheeks became red, trying not to laugh. "Well tonight you aren't. Get into bed." She turned and laughed. She moved the blanket over him and kept her hand on his chest firmly, in case he decided he wanted to get up before he passed out. "What else would you like to tell me? I'm all ears." Tatiana knew this was the perfect chance to get to know about all his dark little secrets.

She was glad she had watered down her wine. She able to listen to him spill his guts and act a fool. It gave her the upper hand and she rather liked the power. Through she did miss the fight and his kindness. She leaned over him, her eye sparkling.

"Can you just kiss me already," Gareth blurted, she was being an incredible tease and he wanted to badly. He grinned, he was changing the subject, because he didn't know what he would tell her once he became more tired, he'd lose control of his own mind. He had always been so closed off to everyone, and he still didn't want to let it go so easily, his armour went deep.

"Not until you tell me more." She said, smacking her lips. She brushed her fingers through his hair gently, enjoying the softness of it. Tatiana could tell he was losing control of staying awake. She would have to wait again for this chance to find more out.

She was glad he had no idea about her trick. It would come in handy again later. She stood up, watching him like he would vanish at any second.

"Wait..." he said meekly he was now drifting off, he reached out too her, "At least one to say goodnight, are you really that cruel to leave your fiance like this." He smiled lightly, his eyes starting to close slowly but he fought to keep them open, just for this one last thing from her and then he'd feel it was okay to fall asleep.

Tatiana chuckled and bent down, kissing him. "Now sleep." She said. She waited until he fell asleep before leaving the room quietly. She walked into the library. She pulled the book from before off the shelf and sat down by the window. She sat in the window sill, resting the book against her knees. Her eyes darted from line to line, reading. She paused, glancing outside, spotting some gray clouds.