A/N: Greetings, readers! A special thank you goes out to PSI Teleport for being a great sounding-board, and again, Josh, who tells is like it is and makes my writing honest. Enjoy!
Chapter 9: Fallen
Ino stared at him blankly. "Stay with you?"
The words had come out faster than he could stop them, and it was too late to take them back. Had he seriously said that to her?
After a moment of introspection, Kiba found that yes, he was serious. Officially, he'd lost his mind.
If Ino's father ever found out Kiba had even thought about sleeping with his little girl, Kiba would be dead. No one would find his body. A cold chill ran down his back. But it'd be worth it, so-o worth it if she said yes.
Ino straightened to gaze at him levelly, shorts forgotten. "Are you serious?"
He didn't have to answer before she sighed.
"I suppose you are." Her eyes left his and she glanced to the side. "Where would I sleep?"
"With me."
Her eyes shifted back to his. "You're kidding."
"I promise to keep my hands to myself."
She sighed again. "That's not the point. We have to draw the line somewhere."
Why was she stalling when she already knew her answer? "You could sleep on the couch, but then what's the point of you spending the night?" He touched her shower-dampened hair. "I'm spent, so are you. Nothing's gonna happen." He hoped at any rate; but the black lace…damn.
Kiba watched Ino mull over his words. She might say no; she might say yes. He couldn't predict her at this point.
Ino closed her eyes, opened them. "What will I do for pajamas? And as much as you might enjoy it, I'm not sleeping nude."
He considered making a joke, but decided to keep it serious. "I have plenty of boxers and t-shirts. And if those don't work, there's always Hana's closet."
"Toothbrush?"
"We have extras."
She set a hand on her hip. "Are you making breakfast, or am I?"
Oh, she had him there. He grimaced. Sacrifices, sacrifices. "I will."
"Are you capable of cooking?" Ino wiggled out of her panties, and it was as she popped the clasp to her bra that he realized he'd won. "Well?"
Weird that she seemed so comfortable standing around him without any clothes on, but at her expectant glare, Kiba stopped staring and went to grab the promised clothes for her.
"I can cook! Just 'cause I'm a guy doesn't mean I can't."
"Good. If I'm spending the night in the same bed as you, I wanna good breakfast, not cold cereal."
"Yer so demanding."
She laughed, "You better believe it," as she pulled the t-shirt on. The hem fell just above her thighs, almost evenly with the ends of her hair. His boxers were loose, but fit her.
So. Damn. Hot.
Ino snapped her fingers in front of his nose. "Do you have to stare at everything?"
"Sorry," he said, stepping back. "I can't help it. I'm gonna hunt up a toothbrush. I'll be right back."
She spoke after him. "And a hairbrush, please."
Out of sight around the corner, Kiba did a little victory dance. He'd convinced Yamanaka Ino to spend the night with him in his own bed. How had this miracle happened?
Must have been a combination of good luck and his natural charm. Kiba reached into the linen closet, shifting around extra soap, tampon boxes, and various cleaning supplies. Now he had to figure out what to make her for breakfast. His fingers groped and found the toothbrush package. Pancakes were easy. Would she like pancakes? He'd have to ask her.
Kiba returned to his room, having swiped Hana's hairbrush from her dresser (he only ever used a comb), and found Ino looking at the pictures on his wall.
"I can't believe how young your mother looks here," Ino said, without turning, "and you look like your father."
A nerve pinched when she mentioned Dad. "Here."
Ino stepped around, and when he offered her the hairbrush and toothbrush, she accepted them with a smile.
"Thanks." She paused to look at him, and her smile faded. "I'm sorry."
His irritation had shown; he brushed off her apology. "It's okay."
"I didn't mean to hurt you."
"Not a big deal." Kiba could feel how she wanted to argue, so he leaned in to rest his forehead against hers. "Do you like pancakes?"
Ino didn't answer right away; he saw her eyes close like she had to concentrate. After a moment, her eyes flicked open again and she smiled softly.
"Pancakes are wonderful"- -she kissed him- -"especially when someone else is making them."
Then Ino shifted away, leaving him with a sense of loss he'd never experienced before. The feeling was startlingly close to despair. So when she perched on his bed and began working the hairbrush through her locks, Kiba settled next to her.
Comfortable moments passed. She was so careful and thorough, starting with the ends, working through the tangles with quick picks, but efficiently, so that for the amount of hair she had, she didn't spend as much time as he thought she would.
When all her hair had been freed of tangles, Kiba watched her lean down, between her knees, and flip her hair.
Curiosity got the best of him. "What're you doing now?"
"Braiding my hair."
"Why? Isn't it fine loose?" Fact was, he liked it loose.
"If I leave my hair down during the night, I tend to roll on it and pull it. This way, I know where all my hair is."
Her nimble fingers wove, starting at her crown and eventually, she twisted an elastic band to hold the ends together. When Ino righted herself, her hair hung in a neat braid down her back.
"There. All done." Ino stood and went to the bathroom, grabbing the toothbrush along the way. "I'm brushing my teeth."
"Yeah, obviously," Kiba replied, flopping back on his pillows to wait.
"You seem to want to know what I'm doing all the time."
Her jovial observation silenced him before he could form a retort because he realized it was true. And as Ino brushed her teeth, Kiba tried to decide how it felt to know this, to understand that he had to know about her. To understand that he felt her distance like he felt an emotion.
A few minutes later, she returned, and he watched her crawl over the foot of the bed, looking for all the world like a predator stalking prey. A wicked gleam brightened her eyes.
"What's this?" he asked as she climbed on top of him. "We promised to keep our hands to ourselves." A promise that was currently unraveling.
Ino sat, straddling him. Her rope of blonde hair dangled over her shoulder as she leaned forward.
"No. You promised to do that." She kissed him, minty fresh.
"Hm." Kiss. "That's a little unfair."
Kiss. "Life's unfair. Deal"- -kiss- -"with it."
Their kisses deepened. Muscles clenched under his stomach; she had gotten him worked up already. His heart throbbed, and the sensation pulsing though him seemed much more desperate, much more powerful than what he'd felt previously.
His want for her had become a living thing inside him; he wanted to possess her completely, every curve and angle, every perfection and flaw. That animal attraction was back, yanking at the chains, lusting to mash his hips with hers, to put himself deeper in her than anyone else. It felt dangerous, edgy- -and frightening.
Would he lose control like he had when Ino slapped him? Would he hurt her in the heat of the moment? He didn't want to risk losing her like that.
He pushed her gently to get some space.
When Ino sat up, her eyes held concern. "What's wrong?"
Kiba hesitated to answer her, but after a moment's conflict, decided to be honest, even if that honesty embarrassed him.
Heat flooded to his face as the words dropped from his mouth. "I wanna have sex with you." Mortifying, but the snarling want died down under it.
Her brows lifted. "Right now?"
"Well…uh," YES! "N-no. Just, you know, in general."
"Okay," she said, sounding relieved, "you had me worried."
She shifted off him and snuggled close into his side, resting her head on his shoulder. One arm draped across his chest and her legs and feet rubbed his. Kiba struggled a moment with confusion, lost.
"Hunh?"
Her fingers plucked at his shirt. "I…I want things resolved between you and Yukari before we…involve ourselves further."
"So…you would have said no?"
"I would have said no," Ino agreed. Her hand wandered over his chest to his heart. "But only because I want all your attention."
That was sort of how he felt. "But you will…I mean…you'll have sex with me?"
He cringed when she laughed, knowing he sounded desperate and a little too hopeful. Ino teased his jaw.
"Let's take things as they come."
"Is that a way of saying you want me as bad as I want you?"
"Yeah, you could say that," she answered, laughing.
They fell silent for awhile, Kiba stroking Ino's back, and Ino stroking his chest. He stared at his ceiling with no thoughts in his head, existing- -being with her. His eye cruised over the picture Ino had been looking at earlier, the one of his mother and father.
He got an idea. "Hey, Ino?"
"Hm?" She sounded as though she'd drifted off.
"You know, my sixteenth birthday's in a few weeks…and if I had a get-together, I was wondering if, uh…" He sounded so lame! "…if you would, you know…"
"Join you in celebrating?"
She made it easy for him when he didn't know how to express what he meant. "Yeah."
"I think I could"- -Ino yawned hugely- -"manage that."
That meant only one thing: she was agreeing to be his steady girlfriend. And they could try other interesting things with one another. Including…sex! His only regret was that he hadn't given into Ino earlier. Who knows where they would be currently?
Smiling, he said, "I think it's time for bed."
Kiba jiggled Ino some, not wanting to, but wanting to get under the covers with her. She stirred, slowly, and helped him turn down the sheets. He was excited to have her in bed with him, like a favored stuffed toy needed for comfortable sleeping.
After a few minutes of shuffling around, Kiba had Ino snug against him tucked into bed. He switched off the light and dropped back, fidgeting until he felt comfortable. Silence ensued.
"Oh, wait!" Ino popped up. "I forgot!"
Kiba's eyes were heavy. "Hm?"
"My earrings. Will you set them on the nightstand?"
"Yeah, give 'em here."
In the dark, Ino's hand found his. She passed him her earrings, a pair of studs she always wore, and Kiba reached out and set them by the lamp base on his nightstand.
"Thanks."
"No problem."
He rolled to his side; Ino wiggled back so that he could spoon her. Kiba couldn't help it. His hand roamed up the shirt to her belly. Soft, silky skin. Ino giggled some, but didn't push his hand away. Whether drowsiness slowed his brain or reminded him, Kiba didn't know. The question was out before he could stop it.
"How'd you get so hurt?" A long pause as her fingers traced his. He thought maybe he hadn't been specific enough, but her silence wasn't one of confusion. "You don't have to answer if you don't want."
He heard and felt her sigh, before she answered quietly. "You do what you have to, to protect your comrades. So that's what I did."
"I'm proud of you."
"Thanks."
Another lapse of silence. Kiba definitely felt his exhaustion towing him to sleep. His question had flitted on the recesses of his mind; he wasn't even thinking any more.
"Ino? Do you think…that…this is what," his voice was fading fast, "…it feels like…to be…in love?"
He yawned, only half-hearing her answer as he dropped further from consciousness.
"Yeah," she whispered.
Their silence afterwards continued until morning.
- -N- -
Morning came with bright sunlight and singing birds. Kiba sat up in bed, a smile already across his face. His heart was light and airy; gladness had spread through him from head to toe. He felt infused with the power of youth and life.
Kiba stopped- -he sounded like Lee- -then he shrugged and looked over at Ino, unconscious beside him. Her mouth hung open, one arm above her head, and the other flung out. The braid of hair lay like a golden chain along the pillows. Beautiful.
He considered waking her, but thought he would be romantic and bring her breakfast in bed. Hurriedly, the idea spurring him, he did some morning routine (brushed his teeth, since morning breath wasn't in the game plan) and hustled to the kitchen.
Once there, he managed the ingredients, stove, and eventually the pancakes and juice without catastrophe. He even scrounged up a glass bottle and put a couple flowers from his sister's garden in it.
Kiba came in with the tray just as Ino stirred. She stretched, yawned, stretched some more, before she clued in that he stood in the doorway.
Her jaw dropped. "What…is that?"
"Well, good morning to you, too," he replied. "It's breakfast."
"I…see that." Ino took the tray, stared at it. "I just…don't believe it."
"Did I score major points?" Kiba couldn't help but grin.
She looked up at him, smiled. "You really wanna get laid, don't you?"
"Yeah," he said, leaning down, "what else?"
But when Kiba moved to kiss her, Ino ducked away, waving her hands.
"No, don't," she said, "I've got morning breath!"
He rolled his eyes and grabbed the back of her neck. "I don't care," he growled and landed a hard kiss on her.
Almost physically, Kiba felt her surrender the kiss to him. A deeper emotional charge passed from her to him and back again, and truly, it felt like they were speaking a secret language. His heart rolled in his chest.
Kiba pulled away as panic fluttered in a corner of his mind. When he did, he saw Ino's closed eyes, and she seemed so still he worried that he'd done something wrong…or something terribly right. He clucked her under her chin with his finger.
Her eyes opened; she smiled. "Let's eat."
He didn't argue, and during breakfast, Ino took the pressure off him by chattering about how great the pancakes tasted, and how she hoped her parents would believe her when she lied to them about where she'd spent the night.
Kiba perked up. "What're you planning on saying?"
"That I spent the night with Sakura."
"Is that usually what you say?"
She shrugged. "In this case, it's the answer that makes the best sense. I was with her for part of the day. We had girl-stuff to talk about, so she invited me over for dinner and I ended up spending the night."
Kiba couldn't stand the worry creeping up in his brain. Surely if her father could look at a person and see a lie, he would know his daughter was lying. And mothers always knew about a lie, even as it happened.
"Sounds like what happened with us."
Ino laughed. "The best lies are the ones closest to the truth. Think about it."
He did and decided she was smarter than he. After they finished eating, Ino helped him carry the dishes to the kitchen, where Kiba had a brief lapse in judgment and stood too near her.
He had come to stand behind Ino as she put the dishes into the sink. She stepped back, bumping into him. The scent of shampoo and flower shop and vanilla and maple syrup and comfort and him slammed into his brain and flung him off-kilter.
She had turned, and before he could adequately comprehend the pummeling his senses took, Ino had exited the kitchen, heading toward the bedroom. Feeling oddly dazed by her, Kiba followed, not even really aware that he did.
She was in the middle of brushing her teeth. Yesterday's clothes were in a heap on the floor. He imagined her putting on her underwear and shorts and t-shirt, and walking out the door. In short, leaving.
A different type of panic gnawed at him, the one that affected him last night as she put on those same clothes. He knew she couldn't stay, but he wanted her to stay.
If she stayed, he would know where she was at all times. He would be able to kiss and touch her whenever he wanted. He would be able to look at her beauty and admire her, and feel relaxed and safe and cared for. She would be safe and cared for.
"Hey," her voice broke his thoughts, "hey, are you okay?"
She had finished her teeth, and came closer to look at him, concern lining her mouth and eyes. "You look…weird."
He yearned from his bones for her. To lean and kiss her was as natural an act as scratching an itch. His kissed her gently, caressing her neck and dipping his other hand under her shirt. Her tongue rippled along his, as his hand travelled over warm, smooth skin and found a soft mound.
She made a small noise when he nuzzled her and nibbled her ear, and rubbed a thumb over her nipple. Ino squirmed, her hips bumping to his, giving him a jolt of heated pleasure.
He could smell her heat and it crazed him; he couldn't stand it any longer. The living need for her overwhelmed him. He didn't fight it, couldn't. Kiba kept her locked against him and walked her backwards to the bed.
They fell together on the sheets. Before he realized it, he'd shoved her shirt up and had attached his mouth to her peaked nipple. Ino groaned; her hips lifted, grinding his stiff arousal against her core, but cloth separated them.
Kiba shifted, fingers hooking in the waistband of her boxers, and slipped them down her hips, her thighs, over her knees and shins and feet.
Somehow he wiggled out of his own shorts, but when he returned his attention to Ino, she had scrambled to the other side of the bed. She'd taken a stance on all fours, facing him and shifting her weight from one side to the other.
A wicked grin had spread on her flush face. "Catch me if you can!"
All parts of him revved in anticipation of the hunt. Ino giggled at him and he couldn't tell the difference between the thinking and the sex drive.
He growled, "Tease!" and launched at her.
Kiba tackled her dead-on. She shrieked as they toppled over the edge of the bed. In a heap of limbs and sheets, they wrestled and laughed. Ino proved to be quite adept at escaping his grasp, but Kiba had persistence going for him.
He wore her out enough to pin her down, using hands, legs, and body weight to keep her subdued. Sometime during their tussle, they both had lost their shirts, and they both panted from exertion and excitement.
"Are you going to plunder me," she said coyly, "now that you've captured me?"
Kiba covered an eye with a hand. "Arrgh, ay'll pillage thy pretty booty."
Ino roared with laughter, and Kiba was able to get a hand between her legs and cup her. He hardly heard her gasp, amazed at how hot and lubed she was, and his fingers pushed into her easily.
The same favorable reaction as last time resulted.
"Oh, Kiba!"
Animal lust and hunger and instinct clutched him at her cry. She captivated him, and he needed to fill her with himself, make her his own forever.
When he'd thought about sex before, he always felt nervous about what to do the first time. But all the information he'd gleaned from friends and magazines and books seemed to be unnecessary; even health class back in Academy, that had taught him which parts belonged where, seemed superfluous. Everything with Ino had been natural reaction.
So it felt perfectly natural to position himself with her knees on either side of him, his hips matching hers. Her heat radiated to him and she moaned when he rubbed his tip along the heated cleft between her legs. She felt unbelievable like this- -what would she feel like inside?
Kiba's mouth brushed her ear. "Are you ready?"
Her eyes. He wanted to look in her eyes when they joined. Kiba lifted his head and gazed at her. That blue was so endless. Even so, he could tell that she had chosen to surrender everything to him.
"Yeah." He felt her hands glide up his back and down to his hips. "Here, you'll need some help getting in."
Ino's hand touched him.
"You'll have to lean," she told him, "a little at a time."
The air around them vibrated, and when Kiba breathed, the vibrations rattled his chest and guts and groin. He sent the signal to his body, thoughts racing around his head, his eyes on Ino's.
Finally. Finally he was getting laid; he was going to screw Yamanaka Ino; he would no longer be a virgin; he would stop being so damn horny; he'd be able to show her how he felt about her.
Ding-dong- -the doorbell rang.
A/N: Next chapter: Caught. See you then! =)
