Free Birthday Shift by Desconhecido(a)

Her thoughts went to only one other. Would he welcome her?
Would he run away again? Well, there was only one way to find out.
    She stepped
forward, wobbling a little on the impossibly high heels she wore. Her halter
top and short skirt bared so much more skin than she was used to, but when in
Rome, or in this case Sparkle and Moondust… She plastered one of the soft,
royal smiles she so often gave, the one that said “I’m a princess and I know
it” on her face and strolled into the bar. This time of night, the crowd was
sparse, but she only had eyes for one fae man.
    Lukos sat at the
bar with his back to her. He, too, wore mortal clothes, black jeans and a black
T-shirt that made his pale skin look even more so. His white-blond hair had
been cropped short, nearly shorn, so his pointed ears stood out prominently.
Lise admired the breadth of his shoulders, the way his torso tapered to his
trim waist, and the fit, tight muscles of his ass modeled so lovingly by the
worn denim. Black snakeskin boots with silver accents covered his feet, and
she’d never seen a sexier looking fae. A pink bag, incongruous with his
badass-biker look, sat by his feet.
    Her pulse
fluttered. She breathed deeply. With the bar’s doors closed, she caught the
faintest hint of Lukos’ deep woods aroma. Behind the bar, Menelik nodded to
her. She smiled back. He’d been the one to set up this meeting, and discreetly,
he moved to the other end of the bar to clean its spotless surface.
    Lise glided
forward. Her heels clicked against the floor. Men’s gazes turned to watch her
passage, but not Lukos. He sat, his back ramrod straight, and stared into the
tumbler full of amber liquid he held.
    She’d rehearsed
how to approach him a thousand times since coming to the mortal realms. Be
sultry and entice him back to her bed. Or maybe just telling him
straightforwardly that she knew the truth about his parentage and it didn’t
matter to her. It hadn’t back in Caroann, the fae realms, when she’d taken him
to her bed, or when they ran political circles around the betrothal offers for
both of them, never once revealing that they were lovers. She knew the entire
truth and she loved him just the same.
    Her courage fled
the closer she got to him. She slid onto the empty barstool next to him.
    Menelik
straightened and went to her. “What will you have, beautiful?”
    Next to her,
Lukos stiffened.
    “The usual,” she
replied.
    “Coming right
up.” Menelik moved behind the bar with an easy familiarity of a good bartender.
He placed her drink on a napkin, even added a cherry on a little plastic sword
the way she liked.
    Lise reached for
her purse.
    “It’s on the
house, enjoy.” He winked at her and returned to his place at the other end of
the bar.
    “What’s the
usual?” Lukos asked.
    The first brush
of his voice against her ears was like a match to tinder. Heat, never quite
banked, flooded her body, making her nipples harden behind the flimsy material
of her halter top. She pressed her thighs together. The pure sensual effect of
his voice caught her unawares, and she took a sip of her drink in the hopes it
would calm her nerves.
    “A fairyland
special,” she replied.
    Lukos arched one
finely sculpted brow. “I think I have one of those for you.” Lukos drowned the
last of his drink in a single gulp. If the liquor burned all the way down, he
didn’t show any signs. Reaching between them, he picked up the bag from the
floor. "I believe you ordered these."
    Lise gasped.
She'd nearly forgotten about the order placed on the Spellbound Treasure
website. The small tag containing a crest and the initials ST announced he'd
brought her package. Her cheeks heated, and she cursed her pale complexion. Of
all the people to know she'd bought those. Maybe he hadn't looked
inside. Maybe he didn't know what he held. She licked her lips and took the bag
from him. "Thank you," she said, setting the bag on the bar and
taking the stool next to him. She rested her