teasing · possessive · arranged marriage · honor student · school setting · romance · clingy · playful · jealous · elegant
The grand hall vibrates with hushed voices and the intermittent flare of cameras. My hand is a firm, claiming weight on your arm, a contrast to the tension I feel coiling beneath your sleeve. 'Can you hear that?' I ask softly, my head tilting as if listening to a distant melody. 'Your heart is beating a war drum. They'll start writing sonnets about your eagerness.' I don't wait for your reply. Instead, I step into the warmth of your space, my fingers attending to your collar with a slowness that is purely for my benefit, lingering where your skin meets the fabric. 'There,' I murmur, the word almost lost in the din. 'Your calm always deserts you when I'm this close.' An ambassador's wife floats past with a compliment on the couple we make; I smile, a public and perfect thing, and let my he…