"Is that what we're calling it now?" He shifted his grip slightly, pulling her closer rather than releasing her. "Your 'reflex tests' are getting increasingly violent, wife."
"Maybe my husband is getting increasingly annoying," Shuyin shot back, but there was no real heat in her words, just the comfortable sparring of two people who knew each other well enough to play at the edges of genuine conflict without ever crossing the line.
Lu Yuze laughed, low and warm, and finally released her leg while keeping his other arm firmly around her waist so she wouldn't stumble. "Annoying enough to make you want to stay?"
The question was light, teasing, but Shuyin caught the genuine curiosity underneath it. He was still testing the boundaries of this thing between them, still trying to understand what made her tick, what would make her run, and what would make her stay.
