AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Just as I finish the keys and rise to start on the body, Ris moves behind me. I don’t think much of it as I go to lean forward, but then his fingers brush along the back of my neck. I stiffen, chills breaking out across my skin as heat pools low in my stomach.
“What are you doing?” I breathe, frozen by his touch. Gods, I wish he didn’t have such a hold on me, and sometimes I swear he can’t even see it.
“Well, if some elf went to such lengths to find the perfect shade of green like…” I can see the smirk on his face without turning around. “How did you put it? The most gorgeous eyes you’ve ever seen?” He chuckles softly, inflating his own ego with a compliment I gave him months ago. “Don’t you think you should wear it?”
His arms come around me, enveloping me in his warmth and making my heart stutter. He’s so close that my skin is prickling with anticipation. I’m certain if I shifted even a little, my back would be pressed to his front.
I have to break this tension before it shatters me. I don’t think Ris even knows what he’s doing.
“It’s a little ostentatious, don’t you?”
He snorts as his hands slide around the base of my neck, hooking the clasp of the necklace. “You’ve been around the patrons too much, saying things like that.”
Ris steps back as he finishes, and I reach up to touch the stone. I gulp back the way that my heart thuds with emotions I refuse to name. It shouldn’t mean anything that he got me a necklace. Itcan’t.
“Well?”
I lean forward to get back to work, and I have to bite my bottom lip to keep from grinning. “Well what?”
He huffs in exasperation just as I expected him to. “You know damn well what!” I peek at him out of the corner of my eyes to see his arms crossed and his lips pressed into a thin line. It’s too fun to push his buttons, especially when I know that he is only faking his anger. Well, mostly.
Ris is used to getting his way. “Show me!”
I roll my eyes even as a grin escapes me. I turn around, throwing my arms out with a flourish. “Happy?”
He immediately surveys the green pendant around my neck, and when his gaze returns to mine, it’s much more somber. I’m not very used to that look on his face.
“Are you?”
I fidget under the intensity of his gaze, his usually humor-filled eyes assessing me in a way I can’t stomach. So I nod my head and quickly turn away. “It is beautiful,” I manage to squeak out.
“Beautiful!” And just like that, his demeanor shifts back into the happy, teasing Ris I know. “You called my eyes beautiful.”
I chuckle as I move around the body of the jinrayaha. “Is that why you keep me around?”
I glance up at him. “To give you an even bigger ego than you already have?”
“No.” He leans against the jinrayaha, his fingers gripping the edge. “I keep you around because…” He chuckles as my eyes narrow on the smudges he just placed on the smooth body.
“It’s fun to see you make that face. You keep me in check.”
I swat at him, scrubbing away the marks he made. “You know that we will both get in
trouble for shit like that.”
“Yeah.” He crosses his arms over his chest as he watches me. “But it’s worth it to see you
like this.”
I stand up with a huff. “Like what?”
“All red and flustered.” He takes a step forward, sucking all the air from my lungs. I stare up into his eyes as his voice dips down low.
I roll my eyes. “You think it’s funny to piss off the help?” I motion to the ilya against the wall, one of his favorites. “I’ll cut the strings.”
He grips my chin, tipping my face up. “You will not. You love that damn instrument as much as I do.”
I lean up to bare my teeth in his face. “Don’t test me.”
