Touch of Flame

As Ravina rode Darcy beside Malachi, she couldn’t help but admire him. She had always liked horses but had forced herself to stay away after the painful loss of her mare that she still avoided remembering in detail even if it forced its way into her mind.

She was scared. She couldn’t deny it. To get so close that she even gave it a name, frightened her. A name she liked very much.

She looked over at Malachi, “shall we race?” She asked him.

He smirked, raising a brow. “You might own a stallion but you are underestimating my queen.”

“Oh, I am not.” She drawled, referring to herself as his queen.

His eyes narrowed and darkened, causing something to flutter in her low in her stomach.

“We have rules here when it comes to challenges. I am sure you know.”

“Hmm… So you want something if you win?”

“Of course.”

Oh lord. The way he looked at her, she didn’t know what he would ask. “What do you want?” She asked, heart racing.

“A kiss.”

Typical male. She really didn’t think he would tell her straight.

“Alright,” she said trying to keep a straight face.

He seemed surprised. So he had just been trying his luck?

“And what do you want?” He asked.

“What is it that you would not give?” She could not help but smirk.

“You can be very bad, you know?”

She gave him an innocent smile and then without warning, she mounted Darcy.

“Hey,” he called as she started ahead of him at full speed.

Darcy was truly quick. She forgot just how fast horses could be when she didn’t hold back. The wind whipped her hair back as she rode into the woods, seeing only a blur of trees as she passed by them. Then suddenly Malachi was riding beside her.

Ravina sped up, trying to get ahead of him but he was still beside her. “Careful princess,” he called.

She focused ahead, speeding up even more. More than this felt unsteady. It was going too fast for her to steer with confidence. Malachi went ahead of her, looking comfortable. He couldn’t have a fear of riding. Even if he fell he would barely scratch.

He turned when he was a good distance away and stopped blocking the road. Ravina slowed down knowing she lost. She could not ride that fast.

Slowing down she met him down the road in the woods. “I don’t know which queen I should praise,” he teased stroking Rani.

She rolled her eyes at him.

“Don’t be a sore loser,” he told her.

“I am not.”

“I would let you win, just to be a gentleman but it is not in my nature.” He said pretending to be sad. “Besides, the price of victory was too enticing.”

Ravina tried to keep her composure but her body betrayed her. She could feel the heat rising to her cheeks.

He smiled knowingly as if he could tell what was going on inside of her, but she had already decided from the beginning. She knew what to do. “It is just a kiss,” she said.

He watched her in silence, his eyes turning into a smoldering black. Then he looked away and dismounted his horse. She swung her leg over to step down as well and he was already there to ease her down onto the floor, so as to not hurt her ankle.

She landed close to him with his hands on her waist. She froze for a moment being in this position already to kiss. What did she have to fear? She had already decided before they even raced.

“Um… close your eyes,” she told him now a little less nervous and a bit more excited.

His hands dropped and he frowned. “Why?”

She didn’t have to pretend to be shy. Her face already flushed and her gaze wavered.

“We are not children,” he said.

“Still,” she insisted.

He sighed. “Alright.” He put his arms behind his back and closed his eyes.

Ravina was about to tiptoe and be done with it quickly when she slowed down, getting caught in watching his face so close. It was completely quiet in the woods, only the wind making a sound together with her increasing heartbeat. It blew a few strands of dark hair onto his face, covering his cheek where she actually intended to kiss him. She wouldn’t have accepted the challenge otherwise.

She reached up, removing the hair from his face. She could see he was surprised by the sudden touch of her hand from the way his chest expanded and his lips parted.

Lips. Now she gazed at them, a part of her mind wondering what kissing him would feel like. Startled by the sudden thought that came to her so vividly, causing her to shudder, she tiptoed to place a quick kiss on his cheek but because he was too tall to reach up, the kiss was slower than she intended and her lips dragged down his cheek as she tried to step away.

Surprised she only managed to take one step back before he opened his eyes. He looked at her surprised as if…

Oh. He didn’t expect her to kiss him at all. He thought she told him to close his eyes to run away. A muscle ticked in his jaw and his eyes glowed like obsidian stones.

“That was not what you promised, princess,” he spoke his voice so dark it made her insides quiver.

“I-I promised a kiss. It is a kiss,” she said her voice quivering as well.

He took a step toward her and she took a step back without thinking. “You think you are smart professor?”

“Well, are you? You think I would kiss you for a bet?”

He smirked. “No. I just didn’t think you would be teasing me.”

Tea-teasing?

“I was not!”

“Then why did you agree to it?”

“I… I…” her mind spun not finding an answer. “Alright! I was teasing you! So what?!”

He raised a brow surprised.

“You did it with the stallion and riding thing!” She accused.

He tilted his head. “So you figured it out?”