Black Keys (The Colorblind Trilogy #1) - Rose B. Mashal Page 0,128

actions, my thoughts changed, and just like the prince had described, it was like something brightened in my mind at the awareness of the situation from another side. Maybe that was a black key and I had found it. But I didn’t think there were any more black keys to find and put in my head–or were there? I seriously had no idea.

I thought I might have dozed off for a bit, because I was sitting on the couch, buried deep in my thoughts and wondering about all of the feelings I was having from here and there, and the next thing I knew was the feel of the familiar touch of his hand over my hair, massaging my scalp softly, oh, so very tenderly. I was still on the couch, but my head wasn’t resting on the back of it like earlier: it was now pretty much lying on the prince’s lap. From the feel of the tingling on my temple, I knew it had been this way for a while.

“Hey,” I heard him saying, and I looked up at him, finding him smiling. I smiled back and got up, back into a sitting position, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, but it was no use: I was pretty much sleepy, very sleepy.

“Hey,” I said back, “I guess I dozed off a bit.”

“I guess I finally managed to bore a girl into sleeping,” the prince smiled. “Thank God I was only talking to you; otherwise I would be very insulted if you slept while we were doing something else,” he–to my surprise–joked.

I chuckled and playfully punched his shoulder, my sleep-fogged mind drifting to draw an image of what he’d said. I was actually shocked that I didn’t find that image disturbing at all. But then the thought of him getting back to his playful and light nature–joking around with me and slightly teasing–made me smile widely at the idea that maybe everything that had happened last night would be forgotten soon, or already was, and I wouldn’t feel any impact from it.

“Sorry, I’m just really sleepy,” I told him. “Haven’t slept all night.”

“It’s okay, you can go back to sleep. I don’t mind,” he smiled.

“Nah, I guess I’ll go back to the bedroom. It has been a very long night.”

“Tell me about it,” he sighed.

“Won’t you get some sleep yourself?” I asked.

“Not now, I can’t sleep before I’m told that Janna has landed safely,” he said.

When I looked at him without a reply, he continued, “She’s on her way to the US.”

“Oh,” I said, trying to hide the fact that I already knew that, and hoping that I was successful. “Okay, I’m gonna go get some sleep.” I smiled and got up, feeling my head spinning suddenly, making me sway a bit.

“Whoa!” The prince was standing by my side right away. “Easy there. Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” I replied. “I think I got up too fast, or I’m just really, really sleepy.”

“Let me take you back there,” the prince said, and didn’t wait for me even to grasp what he was saying. The next thing I knew, he was carrying me bridal style, taking me back to our room.

“You like doing this, don’t you?” I teased.

“You have no idea,” he smiled brightly and I chuckled, pressing my head to his chest even more, seeking warmth, comfort and safety–all of the things that his closeness always provided. And I did feel it all, in those moments it took him to carry me from the living room to the bed, where he tucked me in like you would a little baby. So kindly and sweetly.

When he was about to step away from the bed, I pulled him by the hand, stopping him, swallowing thickly before I let out the words I knew I should’ve said long ago. “I’m sorry,” I said, and not surprisingly, the prince looked surprised. I could clearly see it, when his eyes widened slightly and his eyebrows shot up towards his hairline. “For everything that happened last night, me leaving that way without saying anything other than lying to you. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you, or anyone else, or even to cause you any trouble. Please, forgive me,” I told him sincerely.

The prince was silent for a moment before he brought his free hand–that the one I wasn’t holding in mine–to touch my cheek tenderly. “There’s nothing to forgive, Beautiful Princess,” he said. “I completely understand. I didn’t before, but now I do–and I