Riyaadh's Story

Chapter 2

His back was drenched in sweat. He could feel it trickling down his spine, coating his shirt till it became sticky with it. He was alone with her, truly alone. His fears were ridiculous. He knew this yet he couldn't stop his body from vibrating with it. Fear was tangible in all its forms, regardless if it was real or imagined.

Saudah was unaware of the thoughts running through his mind. She didn't see the way his hands shook as he wiped his palms on his pants nor the way his breathing had shallowed, ever so slightly, as soon as he closed the door. She didn't know the tumultuous thoughts terrorising his very being nor the way he shut his eyes as he turned around, searching for a second light switch he knew was not there.

He took a deep breath, tapping his leg in time to the countdown in his head.

Ten

Nine

Eight

Seven

Six

Five

Four

Three

T-

"Riyaadh?" he turned around, startled that her voice sounded from right behind him.

"Ya." He had to resist a smile as he took in her tussled hair. It was short- as short as a boy's haircut and right now it stood on end as the static from her scarf still ran through it.

"The hair throws you off a bit, hey?" she ran a hand through her hair, causing it to stand even more, huffing in annoyance at her hair's theatrics.

"A little." He watched as she lifted the thin silver alice-band off her head, pushing it back roughly into place, taming it into submission.

"Ya it threw me off too when I saw it..." she mused, her nose crinkling in memory of it all. "I need you to help me a bit, please." She shook her head, getting back to the task at hand.

"With what?"

She turned slowly, her many skirts brushing softly against the soft wooden floor. "I can't reach my zip." She gestured to the tiny white zip hidden beneath a small fold of material at the base of her neck. "My sleeves are too tight." She shrugged uselessly, turning before he noticed the red tinge to her cheeks.

"Ya, sure..." a sense of déjà vu racked through his entire body. He had been here before... pulling down the stuck zipper to a wedding dress except the woman before him was not Saudah. She had long, brown hair- her curls running wildly down her back reaching the base of her spine. He remembered pulling down that zipper, slowly, savouring every second of it as he exposed more and more of her creamy white skin to him. His fingers could still recall the way her skin felt beneath his touch and the goosebumps that erupted over-

He shook his head, ridding himself of the poisonous thought before he reached for the clasp above the zip. He pulled it apart gently, unhooking the hook from the eye slowly before he moved the little fold of material to the side. The zip was so thin and delicate that it was almost invisible were he not looking for it and he felt as if his fingers would be too big to pull it down. He worked it down slowly, careful not to get it caught in the silky material.

His eyes widened as the top part of her back was exposed...

She wore a white slip beneath her dress but above it, lying between her shoulder blades, was something so sinfully beautiful that he had a hard time pulling his eyes away from it.

"Do you like it?" she could see his face in the mirror before her and she could see the way his eyes kept roving over the henna stamp just beneath her neck.