Inej woke warm and comfortable to the sound of voices outside the door. Not an unusual occurrence, but once her brain registered the lack of the gentle rolling of waves beneath her, her eyes popped open wide.
Ah. She was back in Ketterdam.
Back home, her brain whispered. Mentally waving the thought away, she took a moment to take stock of her surroundings.
She was curled up under the blankets in Kaz's bed. The door separating the bedroom from his makeshift office space was cracked open and she could hear voices in animated discussion. Whatever it was about must have been urgent for them to come bother Kaz in his private office, he usually conducted everything downstairs. She recognized a few voices, Roeder's, Anika's, Pim's, but a few others were new. She took a moment to listen to Kaz's rasp, the intimidated voice of a clearly young new member of The Dregs, Anika's flirtatious response to Kaz's questions-
Flirtatious?! Inej fought down a sudden wave of possessiveness.
She loved Kaz, she knew that. And she knew that at the very least he cared for her, if not loved her back. Regardless, there was nothing that said that another woman, or man for that matter, could not flirt with him. There had been no kisses between them, no declarations, nothing to say that one or the other of them was off the market or exclusively committed to the other.
All the same, Inej's blood boiled at the sound of Anika's advances toward him. A plan began forming in her head. A sleepy, potentially not well thought out, certainly emotionally driven plan. But perhaps now was the time to stake her claim. No more hesitating, no more pussy-footing around it. Kaz was hers and she would make it more than clear.
Nothing had happened between them the night before. Inej had snuck into Kaz's window after returning on The Wraith from a voyage of a few months to find him working away in the wee hours of the morning at his desk. They had talked about her recent successes on the sea, his on the front of other gangs' territory, and she had slowly grown more and more sleepy until Kaz had ushered her into his bed for a bit of rest and returned to his work at his desk.
Nothing had happened between them the night before, but the others didn't need to know that.
She quickly and quietly hopped out of bed and crept on silent feet to the set of drawers in the corner. She eased them open and rifled around until she found an old button down of his, one that she made sure screamed "Kaz" with a little bloodstain on the cuff, a slice on the elbow from a knife fight, and mercher-quality buttons.
She took a deep breath before summoning her hard won courage and stripped herself naked before slipping on his shirt. She found a pair of warm socks and pulled them on, hoping to add just a little air of innocence before pulling her hair out of its braid and giving it a good shake and a ruffle to give it a sleep-and-sex mussed look.
With another deep breath, she closed her eyes and prepared herself to stalk out into the adjoining room. She knew how to appeal to men, knew what it felt like to wake up after a night of sex. Her time in the menagerie had taught her that but this time, it was something she would use to her advantage. She took one last glance in the tiny mirror above the washbowl and bit her lips to appear kiss swollen.
Showtime.
She made a few sleepy waking sounds, yawned, and pushed open the door blinking and stumbling on tired feet for show. All heads snapped to her and a few of them started, clearly not having been aware that she was asleep in the other room.
Ignoring them, she stretched, making Kaz's shirt ride up a bit to expose some of her upper thighs.
"Good morning, Kaz," she crooned. Only half of the sleepy satisfaction in her voice was faked. The other half was from the quick widening of Kaz's eyes and the look he shot her, a clear "What in Ghezen's name do you think you're doing?!"
He quickly schooled his expression and turned back to the map spread across his desk, but he couldn't hide the slight pinking of the pale skin of his cheekbones and the tips of his ears.
The others had none of Kaz's composure and stared at her, Roeder with his mouth hanging comically open, eyes traveling up and down the short length of her body. He quickly exchanged his ogling for panicked looks between her and Kaz, hoping he had not been caught staring at the girl who was clearly Brekker's girl.
Oh. That won't do.
She was his, in a way, but the point that she had been meaning to make was that he was hers.
Time to take it up a notch.
She sauntered up to his desk and sat herself atop it before reaching for Kaz's steaming cup of coffee. She gave a pleasant nod and a smile to the others before piping out a cheerful,
"Good morning, Anika, Pim, Roeder." and a quieter " Morning," to the ones she did not yet know.
"Good morning, Inej! Didn't know you were back in the city!" Anika was quick to stutter back a response. Her cheeks reddened and she could barely meet Inej's eyes.
Kaz drew their attention back to their discussion. She casually took a large sip of Kaz's coffee. Black. Not how she preferred it, but she was here to make a point. No one drank Brekker's coffee. No one would dare. The action was successful, if the incredulous glances between the gathered crew were any indication.
Though the incredulous glance that Kaz shot her while they were distracted spelled a bit of trouble for her later. She hopped back up off the desk to stand behind him and contented herself listening to the discussion taking place.
She had missed this, in a way. Being a part of his missions, standing behind him, holding his secrets. Her place was by his side, and his was by hers. She kept half her focus on the discussion taking place, the other half planning her next move. A bit belatedly, she realized she hadn't thought much on how Kaz would react to her little show. She supposed she had been lucky that he hadn't called her out on her theatrics immediately. Come to think of it, that was a little out of character for him. Perhaps he was amused? Maybe even . . . pleased? Or maybe he just respected her enough not to chew her out for it in front of everyone. Well. As long as he was granting her temporary amnesty, she would take full advantage.
What should she do next? She racked her brain for another way to mark him as hers.
Ooh, mark. It was too bad they hadn't had sex, she would have loved to leave hickies all over his throat -
Oh! Too far! Where had that thought come from?! She dropped her gaze in slight embarrassment to the back of Kaz's neck in front of her and immediately had to fight down the burning urge to place an open mouthed kiss to the skin of Kaz's neck behind his ear. How far was she willing to take this?
She was saved from musing over her sudden audacity by the sound of Kaz drawing the meeting to a close.
"Roeder, I want you on the rooftops waiting for my signal. Be there by ten bells. And Anika, you'll be by my side. The rest of you, you know your places. Understood?" at their nods of affirmation, he dismissed them. "Good. Now out, I have business to attend to."
They scurried out the door, Anika turning back with a look of deference and a small smile to Inej.
Good. She had made her point.
Kaz got up, closed and locked the door behind them and leaned against it, turning to face her. His eyes were narrowed, jaw clenched tightly, chest heaving. The others may not have noticed, but she did. She smirked back at him as she walked around to the front of his desk and perched herself on top of it, spreading her legs ever so slightly. He was bothered. He was irritated. He had figured out her game. And he liked it.
He held her gaze as he walked toward her, coming closer, closer, until he was stood in the space between her legs that she had been made to open a bit farther than she was comfortable with while completely naked beneath his shirt. He slid one gloved hand up the outside of her thigh to brace himself as he leaned closer and closer still until his lips were just above her shoulder, bared by his shirt slipping off her thin frame.
Just when she thought he'd kiss her there, as he had that moment in the bathroom all those months ago, he pulled back and she could see the crooked, pleased grin on his face.
"Morning, Wraith," he rasped out before taking a sip of the coffee that he had retrieved from behind her while she was distracted.
That bastard.
"Mind telling me what your little show is all about?" She huffed and considered her answer.
"Just taking a page out of your book . . . Defending my territory."
"Inej, darling, if you want me to have a word with Anika or any of the others, you just have to ask."
He moved into his bedroom to perform his little strip tease/ washing up while she sat in stunned silence.
He was hers. He admitted it. He was Ghafa's boy. Man? Whatever. Her point was made. The others would gossip, Anika would back off her man.
He reappeared in front of her, shrugging his jacket on over a new shirt.
"Come, Wraith, walk with me. We'll get breakfast."
He grabbed his cane and started toward the door.
"Wait, I'm not dressed!"
"Didn't seem to bother you earlier."
She glared at him before scurrying away to his bedroom to redress.