BRICK BY BRICK

CHAPTER 2

"Kiss me again," directed Inej.

Keeping in mind what had just happened for both of them, Kaz approached her, and placed his lips on hers, slowly and carefully. Inej immediately responded, kissing him back, tentatively at first, then more confidently. With her eyes closed, she blindly reached out for his shoulders, ran her hands down his arms, and found his hands, resting on the desktop on either side of her. Stroking his hands, she disengaged from their kiss to request, "touch me."

Kaz replied, "Show me where."

Inej lifted his hands, and placed them on her waist. Her own hands skimmed up his sleeves again, where she paused before asking, "May I touch your face?"

Thinking, Hands; We've touched hands, I've kissed her hands. How different can it be? I can do this. Kaz nodded. Inej grazed her fingers across his cheeks, cupping the sides of his face. Kaz closed his eyes, focused on how her fingers felt slightly cool, but not cold like river water. Attending to his emotions, he was aware he was still slightly nervous, but desire was there too. Her roving fingers explored his ears, his neck, finally cradling the back of his head. Inej leaned in, brushed his lips with hers, and inquired, "Would you like to do something? It's alright to ask."

An action he had wanted to do for a long time came to mind. Kaz struggled for a moment, thinking it might seem ridiculous, but it also felt like a safe request. "I'd like to….touch your hair."

Puzzled a little, she answered, "Of course, if you like."

"I mean, I want to touch your …unbound hair."

"Oh." Releasing his head, she flipped her braid from her back to in front of her. "Go ahead, undo the braid." When he remained motionless, she grabbed one of his hands, placed the braid into it, and directed, "Go on." She watched his usually nimble fingers fumble for a moment, but soon he had her hair hanging loose around her head. She closed her eyes as he ran his fingers over and over through her long black locks, slightly wavy from their confinement. It was the first time she had enjoyed anyone touching her hair since she was a young girl, when her mother would comb or style it.

Kaz found it was as pleasurable as he had expected to caress the silkiness. Placing his mouth close to one of her ears, he whispered, "So pretty. I like your hair down."

Inej was surprised at the stab of pleasure those words caused. He had never commented on her appearance before. He had told her repeatedly that he loved her, and while those words meant much to her, somehow this new comment thrilled her in a different way.

Guiltily thinking she might be bored with this activity, Kaz finally stopped, saying, "What would you like?"

Inej reached out toward his vest, and fingered the top button. "I'd like to touch you," and placing her hand briefly on his chest, she added, "here. But without the vest in the way." When she saw his eyes widen, she reassured him, "I'm not asking you to remove your shirt, just the vest." When Kaz didn't respond, Inej continued, "It's alright, never mind."

Kaz was remembering how he taught her to throw a knife, how to use one to defend herself. She had practiced over and over on her own. She was never as good as he was with a knife in a hand-to-hand fight, but she was significantly better when throwing from a distance. One night after she had demonstrated her latest improvement, Kaz, standing against a wooden storage shed, had challenged her to throw her knives at him, to see how close she could get to him without actually striking him. She had initially refused, terrified she would wound him, but Kaz had insisted. He had done it impulsively, even now not sure what had possessed him. But he remembered how it had excited him in the moment, watching her, thinking he had helped create this dangerous woman, his Wraith, his, she was his. Somehow that experience, when he had shown Inej he trusted her skills, had forged a bond between them. He wanted to show her that he trusted her now.

"No." Kaz took her hand, placed it over his heart, and said, "Go ahead, you do it." He watched her slim fingers unbutton his vest, his heart beating faster. When the buttons were all undone, Inej pushed the vest to the sides, and placed her hands on the fabric covering his chest. Carefully watching his face, she began to caress him. Kaz closed his eyes, his focus inward. He liked that she wanted to touch him, that she desired him this way. What she was doing, yes, it was exciting him. But still that other part of himself, that he despised, that part was starting to be anxious. He was trying to endure it, but as the anxiety escalated…He didn't want another panicky episode, not when they were doing so well. Finally, out of caution, Kaz pressed his hands over hers, and stilled them. "I'm sorry-"

"Shh, it's alright, it's alright. What can I do to help?"

Kaz slowly pulled away from her, but then sat next to her on the desk. "Talk to me, about anything, but not about …this."

"Alright." Fishing around in her mind for something to say, she had a sudden memory.

"Remember when you would change your shirt, wash your upper body, with me in your room? I never understood that. Why call me into the room to talk, than do that in front of me? Why wouldn't you make me leave? You were so careful with everyone else, to be completely clothed, even your hands covered. Why did you act like you didn't care if I saw you….like that?"

With a bland demeanor, Kaz asked, "And how was that, for you?"

Inej felt a flush creep up her cheeks, remembering. "I was mostly embarrassed."

Inwardly pleased to see Inej flustered, he added, "And what else?" When she didn't respond, he inquired, "Did you like what you saw?"

"Kaz!"

"Well, did you?"

"I was mostly pissed at you for embarrassing me. Or, for acting like my presence didn't matter, like, like… like you didn't see me as a female, whose presence you should care about." Raising her voice, she demanded, "Now answer my question. Why?"

"I'm not sure, even now. I think I was ….testing myself? Hmm, you're right, my clothing is part of my armor, not just the gloves. You were the only one I trusted enough to show part of my body to. I wanted to see if I could do it, while hiding my own discomfort with it, acting like I didn't care. And, while I would never have admitted it to anyone, I was attracted to you, even then. I didn't believe I could ever be with anyone romantically, but in some perverse way I think I was, I don't know, flirting with you, while simultaneously messing with you. I'm not proud of it, but at the time I got some pleasure out of disconcerting you, you were usually so serene. And when it seemed you were sneaking a glance at me, it made me feel like perhaps you found me attractive. I liked that it might be true, even if I knew nothing would come of it."

Softly, Inej replied, "Well, I did like what I saw," while thinking, That's why I would like to finally get to touch it."

Feeling simultaneously pleased and shy about her confession, Kaz offered, "We could try again, if you like."

"How about we move to your bed?"

"Inej!"

"I just mean, I know it was my idea initially, but this desk is starting to feel rather hard. I would like to move somewhere softer. Besides, we should probably try to get to sleep sometime soon."

Hopping off the desk, Inej grabbed his hand. "I want to see how comfortable your mattress is." Kaz allowed her to pull him along, thinking he could always put some blankets on the floor to sleep on if sharing the bed became too… uncomfortable.

As they reached the bed, Inej dropped his hand, so she could finger his tie. "Wouldn't it be more relaxing to take this off, I mean, while you sleep?"

"I suppose."

Inej began to loosen his tie, then stopped, raising her eyebrows as she looked at him, asking permission. He nodded, and she continued. Once finished, she grasped the open vest, paused, and waited for his nodding acceptance before pushing it down off his shoulders and arms. Kaz had never had anyone undress him unless he was seriously wounded or unconscious. He wasn't sure how he felt about it, but at least it didn't trigger any panic.

Seating herself on the edge of the bed, Inej patted the space beside her. Understanding it for the invitation it was, Kaz sat beside her. She turned to face him, and he mirrored this. She leaned in to kiss him, her hands caressing his chest only briefly before resting them at the back of his neck. "You can touch my hair again if you like; you seemed to enjoy that before. Or whatever else you would like to touch." Accepting her offer, Kaz stroked his fingers through her hair, and Inej suspected he found the action soothing. It was what she had wanted, to calm him before making another request. After several minutes, Inej thought he was sufficiently relaxed, and asked, "Could we try something else?"

'What did you have in mind?"

"I'd like to sit in your lap."

Imagining this in his mind did not immediately trigger strong anxiety, so with only a small hesitation, Kaz replied, "Alright."

Positioning herself crosswise across his legs, Inej again briefly caressed his chest, before putting her arms around him, and resting her hands on his back. She kissed him softly, and Kaz responded in kind. As the gentle kissing continued, she began to stroke his back. Kaz decided she would want him to mimic her, and did so. While he was finding this pleasurable, and was not sensing any anxiety at the moment, Kaz wondered if he was pushing his luck to allow this to persist much longer. He didn't know what Inej might ask for next, and he didn't want to end their evening with saying no to her.

Kaz finally pulled back enough to say, "We really should try to get some sleep."

"Yes, of course." Standing up, Inej asked, "What side of the bed do you prefer?"

"I could sleep on the floor-"

"Please, at least try. I like the idea of us sharing a bed."

Kaz was thinking, This could keep me up all night, but what he said was, "As you wish."

He scooted himself to the far side of the bed, and lay on his side, looking at her. Inej crawled over close to him. "Thank you for this evening. I think we made," and she smiled, "significant progress. You made me very happy." She gave him a slow kiss, before murmuring, "Good night, sleep well." Turning away from him, she also lay on her side, pressing her back against his chest. Taking this as a hint, Kaz put his free arm around her. Definitely up all night, he thought. But surprisingly, he slept peacefully, with no nightmares at all.

NOTES:

-The incident of Kaz changing in front of Inej is from Ch 4 of Six of Crows. The knife throwing incident is my own creation.

-This story originally only had the first chapter. Then while writing a third Inej/Kaz story, a couple of lines referring to later events of that night turned into a paragraph, than more ideas popped up, and it turned into this chapter. To the readers who requested more, I hope you like it.