Black Keys (The Colorblind Trilogy #1) - Rose B. Mashal Page 0,135

legs more like jelly than flesh and bones.

His eyes opened again and they caught mine. I watched as his tongue darted out to lick his lips, then he sucked his bottom lip into his mouth for a second as if he was gathering all of my taste from his lips.

My knees almost gave out at the sight and the thought.

Moments of silence passed and our eyes remained locked on each other’s, my hand still touching him, and his hand still covering mine, until finally...he spoke. “What is it you’re doing to me, Beautiful Princess?” hushed whispers were his quite voice, tender gentleness was his soft tone.

I didn’t reply; I only stared even deeper into his eyes for a few more moments before I straightened up and walked around to stand in front of him. I moved his hands off his lap to rest them on the arms of his seat, my eyes never leaving his wondering ones. And then, I placed myself where his hands had been: I sat on his lap, and even made myself comfortable.

I wasn’t very surprised when he didn’t react right away. He was shocked by my actions, but he recovered quickly, and I felt his arms surrounding my body, holding me to him, pretty much hugging me. I rested my head on his chest, closed my eyes tightly shut, drowning in an ocean of kindness, safety and security.

I then looked up at his eyes and finally told him what I wanted him to know, what I truly felt. “Your closeness comforts me,” I admitted.

His smile was soft, kind, and despite his heartbeats that I could hear racing under my ear, he whispered, “And yours does the same to me,” causing even more calmness to wash over me.

I nestled my head even more into his chest, my arm wrapped around his neck, my nose inhaling his scent, all sandalwood and wonderfulness and him. My eyes closed as I enjoyed all of the good feelings his closeness offered.

We stayed like that for a while, his hand playing with my hair softly. Every now and then his lips would touch my forehead gently to place a warm kiss that caused my heart to flutter and my stomach to do a little flip.

It still amazed me how he could be so forgiving towards me. I had hurt him a lot and caused him troubles, with both my words and actions, yet... he was always so understanding and accepting, even when I didn’t apologize or explain. He was something else.

“Do you–” I tried to ask, but I dreaded the answer, so I stopped.

“Do I what, Princess?” he asked in a quiet voice, his hand that was playing with my hair now moving to rub along my arm tenderly.

“Do you regret teaching me about the secret tunnels?” I asked.

“Not for a second, never,” was his instant reply. “Why would you think I would?”

“I lied to you, for example?”

The prince sighed. “Listen, Princess, your safety is too important to me. I’d do anything in my power to keep you safe and sound. I’d even go beyond that if I could as long as you are protected, and if–God forbid–something happened here and you weren’t able to escape just because you didn’t know how, I’d never forgive myself,” he said sincerely, and I smiled a small smile.

“Why was my life in danger then?” I asked. “I thought that it was because you’d taught me about those escape routes. Or is it that I’m not allowed to leave the palace without permission? Was that breaking the law or a rule?”

“No, Princess, it’s not like that,” he started. “Just think about it, you’ve only been here a few days, you’re a bride, you just came into our lives, living in the palace, and then you escaped that way. Of course the first thought that would come to my parents’, or anyone’s, minds is that you were an intruder who’d learned something important and then fled to use it for whatever reason. Anyone would think of you as a spy or something of that sort. That is why your life was in danger.”

“Oh, my God!” I gushed. “I never thought of it that way.”

“It’s okay. It turned out okay, thank God!”

“But...how could you not regret it?” I wondered. “I did know about things that were really important and then tried to escape. Only you know that truth. How could you not think that I was truly a spy, and even cover up for me?” It was