Black Keys (The Colorblind Trilogy #1) (29 page)

“Who said you would?” he asked. He dropped the reins that were in his hand and the next thing I knew, he was taking off his shirt. “Here, wear this,” he offered it to me and I just eyed it. “It’s clean, I promise. I took a shower while you were sleeping.” A grin. “I know you’re desperate to wear it–you were trying to take it off me all the while I was carrying you here.”

“I was not!” I gasped. “I
am
not!”

“It’s fine, Princess,” he said. “I know you could get on top of Thunder if you tried harder while still wearing the abaya, but you just want to see me half naked.”

“What on earth?” I gasped again, trying to hide my laughs. “You’re not funny.”

“Of course, that’s why you’re laughing.”

I shook my head and grabbed the shirt from his hand. “Okay, turn around,” I told him, making a circle with my pointer finger.

“What?” he protested. “I’ve already seen you in it!”

“Yeah, and you were NOT a gentleman about it. Not at all.”

“Not true! I never said anything impolite!”

“Your eyes did, and your head as well. You had thoughts about me.”

“It’s
my
head!”

“Turn. Around.”

The prince huffed, “Fine.” Then he grinned but didn’t turn around. “I can close my eyes and see everything I want. Huh!”

I crossed my arms in front of my chest and glared half-heartedly at him. He closed his eyes, still facing me. “Oh! I can see that you’ve already taken off the abaya but mistakenly took the gown with it.” He paused, nodding with his eyes still closed. “Nice!”

“Ugh! Unbelievable!” I took a step farther and put my hand on his shoulders, turning him around myself while smiling wide and big at his playful nature–a side of him that I had just discovered less than two hours ago–wondering how many other sides of him I’d yet to see, and wondering if I’d ever get to see them all, or if I’d like them like I secretly liked this one.

Wait…I like this one?

Ah! Shoot me now, I’m going insane.

“All right, all right,” he chuckled, and I was about to take the
abaya
off when he stopped me with a “Wait.”

I frowned as I saw him take a step closer to the door while looking up. I looked at what he was gazing at, to see that there was a small camera–with a very tiny red lamp–on the top of the door frame that I hadn’t noticed at all. The prince raised his right hand, motioned with it to the side, then closed his fingertips to each other and left them like that for a moment. I didn’t understand what he was doing until after I saw the camera’s lens as it moved to the side, before the red light disappeared, announcing that the camera was turned off.

He was ‘talking’ to the one behind the camera…
Huh!

“Go on, Princess,” he said with his back turned to me. His back that I stared at a little bit longer than I was supposed to, or at all, while I smiled widely as I took the
abaya
off, then–out of nowhere–brought the shirt to my face and inhaled deeply.

I smelled protection and safety.

“My God! This is amazing!” I said, raising my hands to the sky. Enjoying my ride so much. More than I ever thought I would. “Can he go faster?” I asked the prince, who was walking beside Thunder with the reins in his hand, as we walked around the garden we’d seen when we first came out of the tunnel.

He gave me a look that translated into
‘Duh!’
and then smiled when I rolled my eyes. “I meant, could you get him to go faster than this? I wanna see how it would feel.”

The prince shook his head. “It’s risky, you could fall.”

“Oh, please?” I whined. “I’m going to be fine.”

“No, you won’t. I wouldn’t be able to catch you or stop it if he goes faster.”

I actually pouted like a little kid, then a thought crossed my mind. “Can’t you, like, ride with me or something?” I suggested.

His eyes shot to mine. “What?” he asked. “I mean, yeah, I can, but…are you sure? It won’t bother you or make you uncomfortable?”

I frowned. Why would it bother me? I shook my head in reply.

I was able to see his Adam’s apple as it bobbed up and down as he swallowed, his gaze locked with mine for a second before he nodded.

“Yes, I’m sure!”

It was only when I moved forward a little, and the prince settled himself behind me, that I knew what he’d meant by his question about if it would bother me or not. He was close. Really close. My back was pressed firmly to his naked chest and his head was right beside mine. I could almost feel his heartbeat.

Oh, dear God…

“Hold on to this,” he said after a minute, moving my right hand to the saddle horn, my left hand following next. His tone held something thick in it, but I couldn’t tell what it was.

The prince then held the reins tightly with his right hand, positioning it in the middle and not on the side. His elbow pressed tightly to my stomach as he pushed me back even more into his body, causing my heartbeat to race even faster. His left hand touched my hair that was over my shoulders and back, and he moved it all to my left shoulder, tucking some behind my ear while I sat still, fighting with my heart to settle down a bit–I didn’t want it to burst out of my chest, yet.

The same hand that had gathered my hair and put it aside moved down and around my body, holding me as firmly as he was holding the reins if not even more. His elbow was now pressed to the back of his left hand that was above my stomach.

I think it was then that my breath started to hitch, especially when I felt his own breath fanning over my skin, right on that soft spot behind my ear as he whispered, “Hold on tight, Beautiful Princess.”

It seemed like screaming was all I was able to do. Well, aside from laughing, chuckling, gasping and squealing.

Riding Thunder was really fun, more than I ever thought it would be. It was better than riding a roller coaster; as a matter of fact, it was better than any ride I had ever been on in an amusement park.
God!
It was magical!

I could easily hear the prince’s chuckle in my ear every time I screamed. I was really glad that my screaming didn’t make him deaf, because my own ears were already buzzing with them, and I was pretty sure my voice would be hoarse when this ride ended. I didn’t want it to end. Ever.

“This is so good!” I cried out. We were now far from the stable and the garden; there was light-golden sand all around us, everywhere I looked it was desert. A beautiful desert, that shone under the light of the full moon, and the magnificent sight that was made by the mountains as they hugged it on either side of us.

“Will we find our way back?” My mind, that never stopped working for a minute of my life, begged me to ask the question after a long while of more laughter and gushing.

“Don’t worry, Princess,” the prince said in my ear. “I know this desert like the back of my hand.” His voice, like every time he spoke–which were few–sent shivers down my spine.

“Can you make him go faster?”

Without replying to me, the prince’s hand tightened on the rope and pulled a bit. His legs, which were stuck to mine, tapped Thunder’s sides and he went faster. I squealed louder.

The cool breeze that was blowing on my face kept messing up my hair and I was glad that it was all on my left shoulder while the prince’s head stayed on my right one, because my hair would’ve blinded him for sure.

“Oh, my God!” I cried. “Faster, faster!” This time, the prince’s hand tightened over my stomach, and I think his breath hitched a little. I wondered if going faster was trying to him or something. Thunder didn’t go any faster, though.

“Faster, please!”

I felt the side of his jaw press tightly to my neck for a moment as he panted into my skin. I was pretty sure I heard him dropping an F-bomb under his breath, before he pulled the reins tighter this time and pulled up. His hand held me tightly as Thunder stood on his back legs and raised his front legs up and then dropped them to the left, his steps fumbling a little until he stilled eventually and his strong whinnying stopped.

I felt the breeze hit my back as the prince left me abruptly, and I found myself sitting alone on Thunder’s back, confused like I’d never been before.

“Why did we stop?” I asked.

“I–uh, I think we should walk a little, enjoy the sights, you know?” the prince replied awkwardly, looking anywhere but at me.

Did I do something wrong?

I didn’t say anything as we walked pretty much the same way we had in the garden, with me on Thunder’s back and the prince holding his reins and walking next to us.

The weather was a bit chilly, but was amazingly wonderful; the nature surrounding me was something to behold, to admire and…love. Everything around me was beauty on its own: the desert, the moon, the stars…the prince.

I sighed and just continued doing what I was doing: riding Thunder. The prince was silent for a long while, and I didn’t like it. I wished he would talk, but I didn’t know how to get him to talk to me. I also didn’t know why I wanted it that badly, and why his silence was bothering me. I just sighed again and said nothing.

Thunder slowed down and started sniffing the ground, not really moving anymore.

“I come here often; he thinks I came to spend some time here,” the prince explained. “I’ll make him go on in a minute, don’t worry.”

“No,” I said. “It’s nice here. We can stay for a few minutes. I mean, if you’re okay with it?”

“Of course, Princess. Whatever you like,” he smiled softly.

The prince helped me off of Thunder when I asked him to, and the feel of the cool sand underneath my bare feet was something else. It felt even better than the sand you’d find on beaches. This one was dry and so incredibly soft, softer than powdered sugar and gentler than cotton touch.

“So? What do you do around here?” I asked after a moment, as I sat on a smallish rock near the mountain we settled beside.

The prince shrugged, “Not much: stargazing, mountain climbing. I just like the quietness here.”

“Mountain climbing? That must be fun,” I told him.

“It is,” he smiled, letting go of Thunder’s reins and patting him strongly on the back.

“Can we do it now?”

“Do what? Climb the mountain?”

I nodded frantically.

“You’re barefoot!”

“It’s no big deal.”

“I’m not sure…”

“Oh, come on! Please?”

“Okay, wear my flip-flops then.”

“I’m not going to wear those, no way!”

The prince chuckled at my reply. “All right, I’ll go without them as well.”

I just smiled and shrugged. “Will he be okay?” I asked, pointing in Thunder’s direction.

“Yes, he’ll be fine, he’s used to it.”

To be honest, I wasn’t sure myself if I could handle climbing the mountain barefooted, but once I started doing it, I was sure it wouldn’t be hard at all. It didn’t feel very uncomfortable underneath my feet like I’d thought it would–it was actually okay. It was hard, but wasn’t edgy or sharp. As a matter of fact, it felt kind of smooth, like marble more than rocks, and I enjoyed it just like every other thing I had enjoyed that night.