𝘓𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘛𝘰 𝘠𝘰𝘶

𝖤𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍

𝗟𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗼 𝗬𝗼𝘂

Chapter 8

Welcome To My World

It was late. The shop– Grave's Ink was quiet except for the faint buzz of a needle winding down. Kurenai sat in her fishnets that were under cut offs, a vintage band tee, and her combat boots. Her silver bracelets clinging as she drew, her jewelry catching in the light. Draco walks out from the back, admiring her but she doesn't know.

"You always dress like you came out of a horror movie?" He broke the silence.

"You always flirt like someone who's scared to get let down?" She fires back, and he grins, enjoying her feistiness.

"You're improving fast," Ka'Jai says, peeking over Kurenai's shoulder at the fake skin she was practicing on. His scent was clean, and slightly smoky. It intoxicated her making her head spin anytime he was near.

She turned a bit to face him trying to hide her smile at his praise, "You're just a really good teacher."

Ka'Jai laughed, a genuine one taking his thumb and wiping away the smudged ink on her cheek. "Nah, you got raw talent. I saw it from day one in your sketches." He smiled at her his dimples showing, a rare occurrence according to the few friends of his she met, but for her it was normal.

"You know.... you remind me of myself mama, hungry and determined." Ka'jai tells her neither of them moved from their closeness.

They didn't name whatever was happening yet, they didn't need to. It was a quiet understanding.

"Is that supposed to be a compliment," She tilted her head, a teasing smile playing at her lips.

"Don't play me, but it is. You see the world for what it is, you know it's not sunshine and rainbows." Ka'Jai points out and Kurenai thought about his words as she stood up to begin cleaning, suddenly wondering about that second life most spoken of.

It was silent between the two, Kurenai looking up at him with nothing but admiration in her pretty brown eyes.

Ka'jai was falling into the trap she didn't know she was setting. Kurenai looked at his eyes then down to his lips and back to his eyes.

"Do you know how dangerous it is to look at someone like that?" Ka'jai asks but before Kurenai could give a smart remark he placed both of his hands on her face and brought her closer.

Their lips collided gently, cautiously, but full of the hunger they'd been hiding from each other since they first bonded so closely. They kissed like they've been holding it in for over a century. Kurenai's fingers curled into his hoodie and his hands moved to cradle her head. He kissed her like he was scared she'd vanish in an instant.

That's when Ka'jai knew that to have her, she needed to know all of him. She needed to know who he really was.

A few weeks after their kiss. Kurenai walked into the shop, she missed him. Badly. She wasn't trying to be clingy but she hadn't heard from him since yesterday and figured she could stop by to at least make sure he was okay, but she would stumble into so much more.

Walking into the back of the shop like routine, she went to knock on his office door until she heard grunting, the sound followed? groaning. Shaken, Kurenai moves further down to where the noise was coming from. Another door she hadn't explored before, but it creaked open like it was expecting her.

She peeked inside, not seeing anything at first so she opened it further, "Draco?" she called walking down the steps before gasping at the scene. A man sat tied up to a chair bloodied, bruised and clinging to life. There were stacks of money, phones–most likely burners, guns, and a map of New York City with multiple faces of targets and him?