Black Keys Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Isabella Marie

The kiss was upside down.

My feelings were upside down.

My thoughts were upside down.

My whole world was no better – it had turned upside down.

One wave after another of bright feelings and soft emotions ran through my body as we kissed. My mind was warming and my heart was heating up; something was changing, lots of things. And I found that I wasn't that scared anymore, I wasn't that unsure anymore. Yes, I was still a bit confused, and I was still very unsettled about my feelings towards him, but – it felt good. Like, a wonderfully amazing kind of good.

And I wanted more. I wanted it to never end.

The prince's hands covered my own over his neck, just the slightest movement of his thumbs over them encouraged me to deepen our kiss. It grew even hotter, more needing, more searing. It was perfect. Just like any other kiss we’d shared, but this one – this one had a different meaning, to me at least. I knew that my statement this morning about the kiss I’d given him before I left and how real it was made him aware of the fact that I’d started to have feelings for him, but – kissing him this way would tell him more, I knew it would.

A part of me was hoping it would tell him that this time I was truly okay with going along with our plan, and I would stay those six months here without us having to talk about it, because lots of things inside of me were unsure and confused. I feared that if we started talking about it – I'd say I wanted to go, because it was the thing my mind wanted the most.

My head started to spin, and I got dizzy just being lost in the sea that was kissing the prince, tasting him and feeling his passion, so I pulled away, panting, my vision hazy and my 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 on his lips.

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

Moments of silence passed and our eyes stayed 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 was 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 then walked around to stand in front of him, moving his hand that was now on his lap to rest it on the arm of his seat, then doing the same with his other, my eyes never leaving his wondering ones. And then – I placed myself where his hands were. 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’ and anyone's mind is that you were an intruder who’d learned something important and then fled to use it for whatever. 

Anyone would think of you as a spy or something of that sort – this 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 beyond my understanding how he could not.

"I know you are not, Princess," he said. "Do you think we'd allow Jaser into the family without looking very well into his background – and his parents', even?" Oh! "And, I actually told you enough to keep you safe, but only that. You don't know of the paths to my father's wing, you don't know how to enter the palace from the outside. The system is very complicated, you can only get in with the code you got out with, and if you weren't in this wing and used its doors, then you can't get in from outside. And the codes always change depending on the number of doors you used to go out and which ones."

Holy Mother of Christ!

"That's –…" I couldn't find the word.

"Complicated." He smiled.

"Understandable," I said, my mind in a fog just trying to process everything he’d said. And I failed miserably.

A quiet silence and calm quietness fell upon us. Time passed while I stayed in his arms, liking his touch, loving his tender kisses on my forehead and adoring the sound of his heartbeat under my ear. I kept my eyes closed and I almost fell asleep, but the prince said he had to get up to pray. I almost told him not to, but I knew I couldn't say that, so I got up, and then he did as well. Before he left the living room, he placed yet another kiss on my forehead, making the argument I had in me to tell him to stay rise, but still I fought it and let him go without saying anything, knowing he'd be back in a few minutes anyway.

~BK~

We talked a lot that night. As a matter of fact, we barely stopped talking at all. I learned a lot about him, and he learned a lot about me.

He still had two years of specializing to do, but wasn't so sure if he could do it. He told me he’d had to go through a lot to convince his mother to agree to let him leave the country to study aboard. She disliked the idea of him being so far from the Kingdom and leaving most of his responsibilities towards his country for his brother to do. She disliked the fact that he was studying something that wouldn't serve his position of being the future King anyhow, but he said that helping people was something he had always wanted to do, not just ruling and guiding – even if it was what he had been raised to do all of his life.

I told him that he should consider being a psychologist; he always knew the right thing to say, always knew how to comfort and solve – it was just the right thing for him, in my opinion. Heck, he was able to send calmness over my heart faster and even better than what my therapist had for all of those years. It made him smile big, then he spaced out, as if he was really considering it, or at least thinking of the possibilities, because it seemed like his duty towards his Kingdom was preventing him from doing anything further than that, like he’d told me.

I told him about the company, about my parents, about my life in New York. It was kind of embarrassing how very boring my life was; it was only work and more work. And before I had to take care of the company, it was studying and more studying. I had no time for friends, and my family was only my grandmother and my parents, but after the loss of my parents – I didn't even have a grandmother anymore. Well, not that much.

Still, the prince seemed really fascinated by everything I was saying. He hung on my every word, told me how he was impressed by my accomplishments and all I’d done for the past year. He liked that we were still able to complete the project my parents had started of having a branch in the kingdom, and that we still kept the branches in London and Paris working like before and even better, making me feeling less bad about my non-existent social life.

He was that nice. And like always, he knew the right thing to say.

Our talk was easy, sweet, and I liked it a lot. But it also made me feel sorry for the past several days I’d spent feeling too much fear to actually enjoy them. But – I don't think I could've ever helped it. Everything was new to me. I was forced to marry a stranger and my brother put a gun to my head … it was difficult. It was still difficult, but easier. A lot easier. I was actually enjoying my time.

Later when Mona brought us food, it looked great and delicious like always, but …

"I miss pancakes," I said. We were just about to eat, none of us had started eating yet.

"Oh!" the prince said, "I don't know if my mother knows how to make them or not, but I could have Mona ask her to make you some. She'll figure it out."

"No, no, it's okay," I smiled, but then thought for a moment. "Uh, can I make some?"

"Pancakes?"

I nodded.

"Yourself?"

I nodded again, smiling widely.

"Now?"

I had to chuckle. "Yeah, I really want some."

"Isn't it an American breakfast?"

"Um … it's morning in America," I grinned.

The prince chuckled and it was music to my ears, shaking his head. "I don't know, Princess."

"Is it breaking a rule? Because I assure you – I've been 'spoiled rotten' enough since I got here," I tried.

"I don't mind at all, Princess, but you have to convince Mona. She won't be happy with you getting your hands dirty during your first week of marriage, no matter what," the prince grinned.

"I know how to be convincing," I said with a smug on my face, making the prince chuckle again, and then we went to the kitchen, readying myself for a big argument with Mona.

.

.

.

"It is not appropriate, Princess," Mona said with wide eyes and shock as if I just told her I'd be torturing puppies, not making pancakes.

"Oh, please! It'll only take ten minutes," I said.

"You tell me how to do it, Princess, and I'll do it with pleasure," Mona offered.

"Five minutes," I tried, desperate.

"I promise I'll try my best, Princess, just tell me how to." Mona was just as desperate.

I looked over at the prince who was leaning his shoulder on the door frame, hands in his pockets, watching us as he tried to stifle his laughter. "Aren't you gonna help me out here?"

He raised his hands in front of him in surrender. "It's your war, Stubborn Princess."

I narrowed my eyes at him playfully, and he chuckled, and then I had to beg Mona some more. I almost thought of bribing her with more hair brushing or something, but thought it'd be silly of me.

Eventually, Mona gave up and let me do it, but all the while she kept asking if she could do this or that herself. I let her help a little only to put her mind at any kind of rest, and she was really happy with it.

To my surprise, the prince wanted to help, as well. Mona didn't object at all, which I told her was so lame of her. She just smiled and then even laughed at how clumsy he was. He had the cutest smudge of flour on his nose, and both Mona and I snickered at the sight of him.

"What?" he asked, completely unaware of the reason why we were grinning so big.

"You have flour on your nose," I giggled.

He quickly rubbed it off, but only managed to put more flour all over his nose and cheeks. It was seriously the most adorable thing I'd ever seen; he was a know-nothing when it came to cooking or rubbing off flour.

"All gone?" he asked.

"Perfect," I gave him a thumb up, and Mona turned her back to him so she could hide her laughter.

"It's all over my face, huh?"

I nodded, bursting out laughing at his reaction, and completely loving how easy spending a day in the Kingdom had become, wishing I'd learned I could smile and laugh earlier than that. It would've saved me so much heartache.

.

.

.

Mona was really touched when I made her a plate. It made me smile to see how little things meant so much to her, and I kept it in mind to do more nice things for her later; she was such a sweet person.

What I enjoyed the most was the prince's humming as he ate the pancakes I’d made. I smiled with pride as he kept going on and on about how delicious they tasted, telling me that the ones he’d eaten in the UK weren't at all the same, stroking my ego just the right way. And I loved it.

We were sitting on the couch in our bedroom. I fed him a tiny slice of strawberry and smiled when he gave me a piece of his pancakes with his fork, trying to convince me it was the best in the whole world, as if it wasn't the same thing I had on my plate.

It was all so good and sweet, until I saw a drop of syrup over his chin. Then it turned even better.

"You have syrup there," I told him, pointing to my chin, the same place he had the syrup, but just like with the flour, he completely missed it.

I had to do it myself. With my lips. Because the idea sounded so good in my head. I just had no idea that the prince's reaction to that would be catching my lips and locking them with his in a heated kiss that almost made me faint.

His lips were hot against mine, soft and tender, yet firm and demanding. It was sweet like any other kiss we’d shared, but this time there was something different. This time it was like he was hungry, thirsty, but not for food or a drink. For me. He wanted me, and the thought drove me insane, because I wanted him, too. So much, at that.

His hand wrapped around my throat, his fingertips at the back of my neck and his thumb just under my chin, his fingers warm and his lips warmer, his touch gentle and his tongue gentler, his breaths hot and his kisses even hotter. I was melting.

My hands found his hair and he groaned into my mouth for the first time when I pulled slightly at the hair on the back of his head. The second time he groaned was when I straddled his legs and sat on his lap, this time facing him, my body flush to his, and our lips hugging each other like long lost lovers.

I felt the heat spreading all over my body, starting from my cheeks and down to my core. I was vibrating from the inside out with need, desire and– … and– … something. Something was bursting inside of me like a wildfire, demanding to be noticed by me, telling me of new feelings I'd never felt before, and uncontrollable emotions and feelings that I was too distracted by our kiss to even care to think about.

His hands were all over my back, pulling, squeezing, stroking, driving me mad with undeniable lust. I wanted him to touch me more, and everywhere.

His lips pulled away from mine, both of us panting and flushed, but just as I was about to start missing the feel of those lips – he started kissing my neck and down to my collarbone, his breaths fanning over my neck, and over the wet spots his tongue left as he tasted my skin. It felt so good that all I could do was to throw my head back to give him better access, moan breathlessly and tug more at his hair, at the same time holding his head in the place where I liked to feel his tongue the most, behind my ear.

It was heavenly good.

"Princess," he breathed into my ear before kissing me right under it at the end of my jawline. "Beautiful, beautiful Princess." His whispers were as hot as his hands that I wanted to feel even more of. I wanted to feel him, all of him.

"What should I do to you, My Beautiful Princess? What should I do to you?"

Kiss me.

Hug me.

Touch me.

Oh, please, touch me.

I could only moan in response. And the next moment, the prince's hands were over my sides, tightening a bit as he moved me the slightest bit away from his lap. I was about to protest and demand the same closeness again, only to have him push me gently over onto my back, bringing his body to hover on top of me as our lips stayed busy with another burning kiss.

The feel of his body over mine was something I couldn't describe. I already knew I’d never felt as safe or as protected as I felt in his arms, but this way – this way was way beyond feeling safety and protection. This way felt as if I was cold outside on a rainy night and finally found shelter.

He was my safety. My comfort. My protection. And my shelter. My very secure and filled with care shelter.

His lips were on my neck again, kissing, licking and sucking tenderly, but with enough pressure to tell me exactly how much he desired me. Maybe just as much as I desired and wanted him, though his arousal that was grinding the slightest bit over my thigh was enough to make me aware of how turned on by me he really was.

My hand reached for the ends of his shirt and I pulled it up and over his head, wanting to touch more of him, and to feel his bare skin with my hand. He helped me with it and then threw it to the floor before getting back to his sweet assault over my neck and collarbone.

I enjoyed his groans that he let out every time I moved my hand over his back, chest and abs. I enjoyed feeling him so close to me. I enjoyed hearing his whispers, 'Princess, Princess, Princess.' And I loved it when he panted, 'My Princess.' It made my stomach flutter, my heart beat faster, and my need for him grow stronger.

"Is this–" he panted, "Is this okay?" His hand was touching the top of my shoulder where he had pulled my dress a little to bare it a bit and taste it with his lips and tongue. This time he was tugging at the dress a little more, asking my permission first before going any further.

I let my eyes do all the talking before I finally confirmed it by nodding my head. I earned a passionate kiss from him as his hand went to the side of my left breast, and I felt him fumbling a little before I realized that he was pulling down a thin zipper that I didn't even know was there, releasing it when it reached my side by the end of my ribcage. His eyes were hungry and lustful as he looked down at my purple lace bra which was doing so little to hide my erect nipples.

"So beautiful," was all he said before his lips sucked at the skin at the swell of my breast, causing my eyes to roll back in my head. And when he pulled down my bra cup and his tongue touched my nipple, I just couldn't control my moans any longer.

"Oh, God! Yes!" I gasped.

He swirled his tongue around my nipple before he sucked it into his mouth while his hand fondled my other breast, only leaving it to do the same to my other nipple, making me moan even louder. My hands pulled his head more into my chest, arching my back to feel him even more if that was possible. I brought my left leg up and put it over his back, because I couldn't help but want to feel his arousal somewhere other than my thigh and leg. This way, I had him right where I wanted him the most, and once he felt what I wanted him to feel, he grunted around my nipple and bit on it, causing me to scream in pleasure and to pull on his hair even more.

His hand found the side of my bare thigh where my dress had ridden up when I put my leg over his back, and he started rubbing it softly, stroking my skin and kneading my flesh in his hand while spreading kisses all over my jawline. My nipples were over-sensitive from his assault on them and rubbing on his bare chest as he ground his arousal right over my center.

I was close. So close. And I didn't want him to stop. Ever.

His hand touched the string of my thong over my hip, and he was just about to pull it down. He had it in his hand and everything, he only needed to tug a little and it'd be down my legs, but then his hand, his lips, his grinding – all just stopped.

 He stopped. Just like that, he froze in his place.

I opened my eyes to look at him, my vision unclear and my body calling to him, only to feel him getting off of me, saying a word under his breath that I couldn't understand because, though it was too quiet, I was sure it wasn't even English.

 He sat back on the couch and looked down at me, his hair wild from my hands and his lips reddish from my own. His eyes held an expression I’d never seen in them before, or maybe I had. Was that – guilt?!

I sat up and held my open dress over my chest, covering myself. We were both still panting and our chests were heaving with the fast breaths we took. 

My eyes questioned his filled with guilt and shame ones, but he only replied to me by completely leaving the couch after murmuring, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." That was about all he said before disappearing into the bathroom.

What the …?

~BK~