Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. I am merely borrowing them. I merely own copies of the books.

Author's Note: I haven't written anything in over 1.5 years. Writing (fanfiction) used to be my outlet, a way for me to practice my writing as well as something I love doing. This past year has been hard and I've decided to actively focus more on myself and the things that (used to) bring me joy. So this is me dipping my toe back in and I hope someone ends up enjoying it. :) Happy 2022 to whomever decided to take a chance on this story.

Just Enough

"One taste and he wants it…"

He watched her when no one saw. From a dark corner of the room, from underneath his lashes when others thought his attention was turned inwards, the wheels of his head ever turning. He never watched her openly the way Jesper sometimes did, even though he admired her for the same reasons: her courage, strength, and ability to hope despite her own past circumstances and experiences. She was a gemstone that had been roughly cut and honed but shone brighter because of it.

He saw how it attracted attention in the form of looks, gleaming with intention and want, as well as the advances that remained unfulfilled due to her walls. Kaz and Jesper were two of the few allowed through. Jesper due to his contagious charm and easy way he handled her, and Kaz because he kept her secrets and because the dark but resilient pieces of him were drawn to hers. It was a magnetic pull. And he also couldn't deny her beauty that she carried so naturally and effortlessly, as if it was something that simply belonged to her. Just like she recognized the appeal in his appearance and the lure of his midnight shades and mysteries his chocolate eyes always seemed to hold.

His home was where she was as hers was literally whatever place he laid his hat.

So when Inej entered through Kaz's window it was just another night. He didn't so much as look up from the papers on his desk as she glided in featherlight from the dark, nor when she began shedding her layers, weapons and jacket, on the dresser.

"Working late?" Inej asked, eyes quickly running over Kaz.

"I'm always working on something."

Inej's lips drew back in a smile before turning to face herself in the full-length mirror. "As long as you don't forget to fuel that devious but ingenious mind of yours," she offered up the compliment freely.

"While your concern is touching, it wouldn't be for your benefit now would it?" Kaz's eyes shone bemusedly as he now leaned back in his chair to observe her as she was in the middle of the process of pulling the pins from her hair. He didn't look at her directly, not yet, but chose to follow her small movements in the mirror, her habits ridiculously girlish though he never commented on them. He did find himself wondering at times where and when she picked these up. It was before her time with him and his team, this was a fact, so it was most likely something that she had learned to do during her time in the Menagerie. Forced to become an adult and to mimic what was expected of her as a woman in that environment too soon. And he couldn't deny that he felt a pang of emotions he chose to suppress at the thought of her having had to endure that, and the first memory he had of her. When she had so bravely approached him, and he had connected to the fierce survival instinct in her eyes and powerful lines of her body. He had never regretted going back for her.

By the time Inej met his gaze, her long straight and silky strands hung loose past her breasts and her feet were bare, leaving her in just her black leggings and tank top. She was painstakingly and breathtakingly beautiful this way: bare and at ease. She walked over to where Kaz sat, placing her hands behind him on the chair as she looked over his shoulder at the papers sprawled out before him. "Food and sleep are the best ways to fuel the body, mind and soul. Preferably in that order," she not so subtly hinted with a playful shrug of her shoulders.

"And what food are you in the mood for, pray tell?"

"Something hearty. Potatoes, meat of some sort…"

Her hand went to her stomach and his eyes trailed the movement. "I'll see what my minions can scrounge up."

Her smile widened and she dropped herself onto Kaz's bed while he stood up, reaching for his cane while shaking his head ever so slightly in amusement. "If only people could bear witness to the enigmatic Wraith now."

She stuck out her tongue at him childishly as she rolled onto her side, unable to keep the concern from etching her brow at the way he leaned more heavily on his cane. But before she could open her mouth, Kaz clicked his tongue to chide her. "Careful now, it almost comes across like you care and we both know caring is…"

"A luxury we can't afford," she finished with a sign. "You do know that's fallible reasoning since caring costs nothing," she said to his back as he left the room.

He returned as silently as he had exited, maneuvering stealthily and inconspicuously despite his cane. Kaz gallantly placed the overloading plate on a small table which he then pushed towards the 5'4 lynx with the help of his cane. "Dinner is served milady."

He watched her take in the food, the sauce-laden potatoes, the thick cut of meat and the fresh greens quietly, knowing she was saying a quick prayer in her head before she began devouring the food in a very unladylike manner. Kaz knew that Inej never took food for granted, as well as other amenities such as a hot bath, the joy the inside jokes she had with Jesper brought her and the safety net Kaz provided her with.

She was an enigmatic puzzle he had figured out the edges of.

He often reassured her that there would always be enough food and that she didn't have to want for the basic necessities every again, not if he had anything to say about it. "There are seconds, should you require them. So, you can chew your food," he lightheartedly joked.

"I thought caring was a luxury you couldn't afford," she pointedly remarked. "By you providing me with sustenance and pointing out the hazards of me eating too fast, you're contradicting yourself."

Kaz scoffed. "If making sure you don't choke and die is caring… You are useful to me alive."

Her eyes narrowed and zeroed in on him as she stopped eating. "Good to know what my value to you is." Her tone had turned razor sharp.

"Oh, come on Inej, don't be sensitive. You know how things are."

She rolled her eyes, pushing her plate away completely now as she braced herself for a discussion. "Does it really cost you that much to admit that you care. About the Dregs. About Jesper. About me. About you and I."

Kaz leaned forwards in his chair, arms leaning on his upper thighs. "Inej," he said her name calmly, "what would you like to hear?"

"You know you don't have to be like this all of the time. You don't always have to keep your guard up. Not behind closed doors. With me," she finished just as calmly, mirroring him by leaning towards him until the fronts of their knees were touching. He wisely kept quiet for a little while longer; he was the calm, but she was the one who could turn into a magnificent but destructive storm. "Haven't we seen each other at our worst. Everything and anything that makes us who we are and haven't we accepted that."

Kaz folded his hands together on his lap, chewing on his bottom lip before finally raising his eyes and looking directly into hers. "What point exactly are you intending on driving home with this for better or worse speech?"

Inej let out a puff of air in frustration and Kaz bemusedly watched as she leaned back and glared at him from beneath her sleek locks. "Why do you have to be such a male." She kicked at the small table with the half-eaten food, causing the piece of furniture to skid slightly across the floor.

The male across from her let out a deep chuckle as he held on to his cane with one hand and waved his hand at the scene in front of him. "Let me counter your question with one of the same nature to you, why are you acting like such a—"

"Don't even think about calling me a girl Kaz Brekker," Inej cut off his words whilst pushing her body forwards once more and bracing both of her hands on her knees.

Kaz tapped his thumb against the top of his cane once before placing it against the wall beside him, all the while keeping his eyes on his fiery paragon as she got up from his bed. "If you had let me finish, you would have heard me refer to you as a woman. One that has not only proved her worth as invaluable to both the Dregs and I, but should also be incredibly proud of herself," he paid her the compliment freely, although they weren't the words she had been seeking out. But it was enough to give her pause.

Kaz recognized this instantly, having read between the lines of her sensitivities. "Tell me what you're wanting to hear, Inej. After all, I am but a man."

He looked up at her, as conformable and open as she had rarely seen him. It was a look for behind closed doors. It was soft compared to his regular demeanor and so unlike him. A side he denied possessing due to his own past and experiences, his sharp edges formed by all the cuts he had sustained along the way. Yet for her he dropped the mask, unafraid because she dared to show her true face to him. Despite what tainted her and because of the unfaltering trust she had in him.

He saw her just like she saw him.

And it was all those unspoken things between them that compelled Inej to close the remaining distance between them, his knees between her legs, as she brought the tips of her fingers to his chin, gently tipping it upwards so their eyes aligned precisely. "Do you think I'm beautiful?"

Her boldness sparked something within him. "Yes," Kaz spoke quickly and without thinking, the words barely a breath but enough to leave Inej momentarily without. "You are the most eye-catching and tempting woman I've ever laid eyes on," he continued while looking up at her, eyes hooded, and mouth ever so slightly parted as if there were more words ready to finally spill out.

And when he brought his tongue to his bottom lip to wet it, it unraveled her from the inside out. Inej lowered herself onto his lap painstakingly slow. And as she straddled him, his hands landed on and gripped her upper thighs like that was where they belonged. He didn't break eye contact as he caught her lips with his own.

It was a gentle coming together as they gingerly felt each other out. His fingertips grazed against her sides before disappearing into her long locks and when he lightly tugged at them causing her head to tilt backwards just enough for his lips to find her neck, she held on for dear life.

And while Inej's eyes had fallen closed, Kaz made sure to keep his open, unable to keep his eyes off her. He found himself mesmerized by the miniscule changes in her breathing and reactions in her body that only gave her away because he felt them. Her hands roamed across his chest until they finally settled in his strands, her nails scraping against his scalp in a way that caused his toes to curl.

He nipped at her neck one last time before his lips found hers once more. She was the one who slipped her tongue in between his and deepened the kiss, wanting to be as close to him as she possibly could with her clothes on. Kaz knowingly kept his hands on parts of her body that were covered by her clothing, aware of how intimate a touch on her bare skin would be. It would need time, she would need time because of all she had gone through, and he didn't want to scare her off. Not when he had already waited such a long time for a moment like this one.

Inej felt Kaz shift in his seat and paused her actions. "Am I hurting you?" Her hand went to his knee as a worried crease appeared in her forehead.

She intended on leaning back so she could look at him, but his hands on her back kept her close instead. He shook his head before pressing his forehead against hers. ""Only in the sweetest of ways," he whispered his confession to her. "Only in the way you could," he finished, letting the words slip, all the while keeping his eyes closed. Afraid that the magic of the moment would end as soon as he opened them, that she would disappear.

Emotions swelled up from within her, emotions she had learned to suppress and not attach any worth to because from her experience they were fleeting as were the people associated with them. Caring too much had gotten her hurt in the past and caring hadn't gotten her out of any of the damaging situations she had found herself in. Caring didn't result in anything and was dangerous, a vulnerability she rarely afforded herself. As did the man on whose lap she currently resided.

Her hand reached for Kaz's, clasping their fingers together as she leaned forwards with her own eyes closed as well to press her lips against his forehead, the meaningful touch embedded with the weight of all the words that she couldn't say.

His hold on her momentarily tightened and he felt her smile forming against the skin of his forehead before she pulled back and untangled herself from him completely. At least physically.

Kaz let out a chuckle as he leaned back, one hand on his cane as he looked at the woman who he had dubbed the Wraith as she crawled back onto his bed, eyes twinkling as they sought out his purposely. He had expected her to shy away from what had just taken place between them just like she had been prepared to write this off as a one-time thing, a lapse of judgment, something to brush under the rug and never bring up again.

But it had been a long time coming.

"You said something about seconds?" Inej broke the silence between them.

Kaz shook his head, but pushed himself up out of the chair with the smallest of smiles tugging at his lips. "As you please, Inej."