Black Keys (The Colorblind Trilogy #1) (28 page)

Oh!

“Sleeping with any other woman other than your wife is called ‘adultery’ and is a grave sin–something I
wouldn’t
ever do,” he said sincerely. “Do you understand me, Princess?” His thumb brushed my jawline softly.

Despite my efforts, I couldn’t help my grin. I could only manage to bite both of my lips to keep from smiling too big and breaking my face, but I wasn’t able to hide the tightening in my eyes as they did their own smiling. I nodded, understanding
exactly
what his words meant, and not being able to prevent the happiness I felt in my heart at the realization. His own smile showed on those stupidly-beautiful lips when he knew I understood what he meant very well.

“Come. Salma needs to rest, and there is someone else I want you to meet.”

“Oh, my God!” I gushed when I heard loud neighing coming from one of the other large stalls. It was very strong, as if the horse was right beside my ear.

The prince chuckled lightly. “He knows the sound of my footsteps, and he’s really happy to hear it,” he explained.

“What’s his name?” I asked as we approached the stall of horse-in-question .

“Ra’ad.”

“Rad?”

“No, Princess, it’s Ra’ad,” he said a bit slower, but he was pronouncing a letter that I couldn’t pronounce no matter what, and I gave up after a few tries.

“What does it mean, anyway?” I asked, defeated. Maybe I could call him by that if I ever had to?

“Thunder.”

“Whoa! Strong name.”

“It is. It fits him very well,” the prince said as he pushed his door open.

I looked inside the room, immediately taking a step back before I even got to take one inside of it. “Holy Mother!” I gasped when I saw the horse, my hand automatically going to my chest to hold my cross, only to remember it was around my wrist. Nonetheless, I still managed to hold it in my hand and to my chest, all freaked-out and wide-eyed from the sight of the horse in front of me.

I heard the prince’s light laugh as he walked closer to the horse. How he wasn’t scared of that huge creature was beyond me.

Rad–Thunder was a very big horse, much bigger than Salma–there was no comparing the two. I think he was even taller than the prince, and the prince was very tall, so you could imagine just how big Thunder was. His coat was pitch black, just like his tail and the mane on his head, and his eyes weren’t any less dark. His look was scary, and the noises he was making frightened me; blinking my fear-widened eyes was out of question.

“Be careful!” I screamed at the prince, taking only a moment to frown at the concern in my voice and the worry in my heart that I was feeling for my perfect stranger, when the horse stood on his back legs, raising his front ones in the air and letting out more of his loud whinnying.

It was only when the horse settled down and the prince’s hands caught his neck, touching and rubbing it up and down, that he finally looked back at me, a knowing look in his tightened eyes. “He’s just greeting me, Princess. Don’t worry.” And the smirk was back on his stupidly-beautiful features.

Oh, the smugness!

I bit my bottom lip and looked down, saying nothing. The prince’s voice was what made me look up again. “It’s the first time I’ve spent so long away from him; I haven’t seen him since the day before the wedding. We’ve spent some time together almost every day since the day he was born.”

His caresses to Thunder’s coat were obviously much stronger than the way he was caressing Salma’s. And from the horse’s reaction to it–the noises and the grinding he was doing into the prince’s shoulder with his head–I could tell that Salma wasn’t that comfortable with the prince, yet. Because unlike her, Thunder’s responses to him were faster, with no hesitation at all.

“Ra’ad was born on my fifth birthday. My grandfather–God rest his soul–gifted him to me. I love him the most,” he smiled big and patted his back strongly.

“He’s twenty?” I asked.

“No, he’s eighteen.”

I frowned. “But you’re twenty-five.”

“Nope, I’m twenty-three.”

“But you said your stepmother died seventeen years ago, and you were eight when it happened.”

“I know what I said,” he smiled smugly. “I was just trying to prove something to myself, sorry about that.”

I looked at him with confusion. “Prove what?”

“That you would ask about the date of my stepmother’s death so you would be able to calculate my age without asking me,” he paused. “Because you care.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You lied.”

“A little white lie, no harm done.”

“That’s lame.”

“So was the way you wanted to learn about my age. You could’ve asked me–you know I would’ve replied–but you didn’t want me to know you were curious about something related to me, so we’re even.”

“Whatever.” I turned my face away, crossing my arms in front of my chest and blushing hard, embarrassed that he was able to tell the reason behind my question earlier today–or should I say yesterday since it was long after midnight.

He must be really smart to finish medical school at such a young age… or the school system was different in the UK? Whatever…

The prince chuckled at my attitude and when I turned to look at him he was shaking his head, pissing me off with all his smugness.

“Come here, Princess, I want to introduce you to Ra’ad.” He raised his hand in invitation.

“Uh, I’m fine right here. Hey, Thunder…Rad,” I said lamely.

“Come on, Princess. Are you scared of him?”

I nodded slowly, pursing my lips to one side.

“He won’t hurt you, he’s a good boy. Come on.”

I hesitantly took a step inside, then two steps back when Thunder made some noises and moved around a bit.

The prince left him and came beside me, then held my right hand with his. His other hand was on the small of my back, putting me in front of him and urging me to move. “Don’t be scared, Princess. I’ve got you,” he whispered close to my ear.

I swallowed audibly and nodded, taking a deep breath in then one step forward, followed by other hesitant steps until I was right in front of the huge horse.

“I know he looks scary, but I swear to you, he has the most tender heart you could ever find in a horse,” the prince said in a low voice as if he was trying not to disturb Thunder as he drank from some kind of a water tank nearby.

I took another deep breath and let it out, the prince’s words easing my anxiety somewhat.

“Even if he wasn’t, do you think I’d ever let him hurt you? That I’d ever let you near him if I knew he would even think about it?”

I turned my head to the side and looked into his green heaven of eyes, seeing nothing but honesty and sincerity. Our eyes stayed locked for a few moments. He was so close, our noses were almost touching, and the tingle in my chest rose again at his nearness.

“Do you want to touch him?” the prince whispered.

“I’m not sure if I should,” I whispered back.

“What does your heart say?”

“To go for it,” I replied. “But my mind knows it’s not right, I could get hurt, real bad. I
always
follow my mind.”

“It’s mostly the right way to do things,” he whispered. “But then you would never find out how much fun it could be, proving to your mind how wrong it is, and that your heart is a better judge sometimes.”

I gulped.

The prince’s right hand squeezed the back of mine as he tangled our fingers together then pushed me gently towards Thunder, following right behind me. Our joined hands rose up with the prince’s guidance and slowly my fingers were touching Thunder’s thick coat. I gasped once my fingertips made contact with his body, turning to look at the prince once again. He was smiling softly then he nodded encouragingly.

“He’s so soft,” I said to myself when I looked back at my fingers that were touching Thunder. He truly was, and I just adored the sight of our fingers laced together as they moved all over Thunder’s back and his black coat. The prince’s hand guided mine for a minute, teaching me silently about the kind of pressure I should use over his body. When I raised my left hand to do the same as my right one, the prince’s hand left mine and settled on my hip. Then both of his hands were on my hips, keeping us close enough that our bodies were almost touching. Like, really,
really
almost.

The feel of Thunder’s body shuddering the slightest bit under my fingers was something I couldn’t put in words. It was really magnificent, to touch this strong, powerful creature and find it so soft that way…I was speechless.

The prince started telling me about Thunder’s pedigree: his father was a purebred Arabian horse and his mother was English–making him a breed called
Thoroughbred
, one of the most expensive horses in the whole world. It has the genes of both breeds, making it the strongest, fastest and the most beautiful. I was really enjoying the informative facts he was telling me, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out that horses were the prince’s passion. I kind of...liked it.

“He won three international races in a row in Derby, in Great Britain,” the prince said, and I turned my head to look at him in amazement. “I was riding him,” he winked.

Gah! Not again with the winking! Not while you’re so close…

“Impressive,” I said, and when the smug look was back on his stupidly-beautiful face I turned my head to look at the horse again. “Good boy, Thunder.”

“Uh, I was riding him, you know?” He said again.

“So?” I asked innocently, not looking at him.

“Um, nothing,” he sighed, and I smiled to myself, happy that I was able to stop him in his attempt to make me stroke his ego.

Men!

When I touched the hair on Thunder’s head, he leaned down and rubbed the top of his head on my chest, earning a squeal from my mouth and a continuous stroking from my hand to his head.

“I think he likes me,” I said, flashing the prince a wide grin.

“How could he not, Beautiful Princess?” He smiled, his hands tightening on my hips and his eyes telling me things I didn’t want to hear, because it was more than scary to believe them. I looked away, busying myself with Thunder once again.

“Isn’t it fun?” the prince asked a minute later.

“What?”

“To prove your mind wrong and your heart right?”

I refused to reply, and he didn’t ask again. He sighed, then offered, “Would you like a ride?”

“Can I?” Disbelief at the possibility and the excitement I felt for the idea filled my voice.

“Of course,” he smiled softly.

“Oh, my God!” I said excitedly. “Yes, please!”

His smile grew and he nodded. “Give me a minute to prepare him.”

I squealed and clapped my hands in delight.

The prince took a few minutes to put the saddle on Thunder’s back. He then untied him, securing the reins around the leather saddle and the stirrups.

“Come on, Princess. He’s all yours,” the prince smiled, offering me his hand.

I squealed again and took his hand, my other hand fisting the long robe I was wearing in my hand, then put my foot in the stirrup. I stumbled on my clothes and if it weren’t for the prince’s strong hands catching me, I would’ve fallen. I tried three more times, the last time sending the feeling of lost hope to my heart. I wasn’t going to be able to ride after all.

“Forget it,” I said in disappointment. “It’s not going to happen, not in these clothes.”

The prince pressed his lips in a tight line and stayed quiet for a minute before he spoke again. “Take them off.”

“Excuse me?”

“Take the abaya off, Princess.”

“You mean this?” I pointed to the robe.

“Yes.”

“Do you realize what I’m wearing underneath this?” I wasn’t going to wander around the royal stable wearing a little nightgown!

He grinned. “I think I have a pretty good idea.”

I rolled my eyes at him but couldn’t help my smile. “I can’t walk around wearing that,” I shook my head.