Nagusame Part 3

(To read Part 1, click here.)

(To read Part 2, click here.)

Kai stood and drew Marin to her feet. Taking her hand, he led her back into the house, and down a hall to a bedroom. It had a square lamp and a low table with some candles on a dish surrounded by rounded pebbles. A thin mattress lay on the floor with one pillow and a duvet over it. On the wall hung a simple painting of leafy green bamboo stalks. There was nothing else in the room.

“My mother wanted to buy me a Western bed when we moved here,” Kai said. “But I was afraid I’d fall out of it.”

Marin thought of her own bed, which had a high platform frame and a princess canopy. Compared to his it seemed childish now. “You would never want to sleep in mine.”

“If you were in it, I would.” He bent and pulled back the duvet, and took off his slippers before he stretched out on the mattress. “Come here.”

To lay down beside him should have made her nervous, but as soon as she did Marin felt as if she were floating on a cloud. She saw how he made enough room between them to keep their bodies separated. He didn’t seem to want to rush her into anything.

“Are you comfortable?” Kai asked.

“Sort of.” She turned on her side to face him. “Do you do this a lot with heart-broken girls?”

“I don’t know any besides you.” He reached out and brushed a curl back from her cheek. “You’re not afraid of me.”

“No.” She could feel the warmth of his body, which finally got through the numbness that gripped her. She was really in bed with a boy she didn’t know. “I suppose I should be.”

He looked all over her face. “Why?”

“I don’t know you. We’re alone, and I’m in your bed. Your parents are in Japan, and mine are on the other side of town. You look a lot stronger than me.” But she still wasn’t scared of him. If he’d wanted to hurt her, he would have by now. “Mostly I don’t know what to say or do.”

“Say whatever you like. Touch me if you want to.” Kai watched her eyes. “I will do the same for you.”

Marin shifted a little closer, and reached up to feel his hair. It felt thick and satiny and cool as it sifted through her fingertips. She felt his hand on the side of her throat, and tilted her head as he swept his thumb along the line of her jaw.

“I’ve always wanted straight hair like yours,” she said.

It felt good to be able to trace his eyebrows and skim the edge of his long black lashes, to touch him as if he were her boyfriend. He had a very straight nose, and high slashing cheekbones, and a strong jaw line. When she touched his full lips they parted, and his breath warmed her hand.

Marin didn’t feel horrible now. Maybe he’s right about this.

“Your hands are so small,” he murmured. “And your hair is like golden fire.”

Kai seemed fascinated by her curls, which he wound around his fingers before he smoothed them back from her face. He ran his thumb over the curve of her ear and rubbed her earlobe before he moved his hand to her mouth. He pressed one fingertip against her bottom lip, and then moved his hand down her neck to her shoulder.

Nothing went too fast. He didn’t try to grope her, but used his hands to stroke her back and shoulders and arms. He dragged the edge of his fingernails along the inside of her forearm, not hard enough to hurt, and that left a funny zing that made her shiver a little. He brought her hand up and traced the spaces between her fingers. His eyes shifted as he looked at everything he did to her, as if he wanted to watch it happen as much as doing it.

Had anyone besides her parents ever touched her with such care, as if she were something precious?

Marin moved her hands down his arms, which were slim but felt hard-muscled like his chest. His hands were really beautiful, like he was meant to be an artist or a pianist. When she stroked her hand up from his waist to his ribs he made a low sound. Startled, she looked up at him.

“Your touch feels good,” Kai said.

By doing this she had grown acutely aware of different they were, and yet underneath they were the same. “So does yours.”

Wherever her fingers glided over his skin she could feel how smooth it was, as if he had no body hair. He also didn’t have any freckles that she could see. It made her curious about how he looked with a shirt. Would they be taking off their clothes? She wasn’t sure if she had the nerve to undress herself, much less him. She also noticed how he kept looking at her mouth.

“Tell me what you’re thinking now,” he murmured, and propped himself up on his elbow.

“You make me wonder what you’d like to do.” Marin turned onto her back to look up at him. He’d been so nice and gentle she wanted to do something that would comfort him. “Do you want to kiss me?”

He nodded, but he didn’t move.

“I’d like that, too.” She put her hand on his neck. “Come down here.”

Slowly Kai lowered his head, hesitating just before he touched his lips to hers. She held her breath as he pressed against her, his mouth slanting a little. She could taste his breath and his mouth, and the faint sweetness and heat of it surprised her. She brought her other hand up to his neck, curling her fingers around it as the tip of his tongue traced the seam of her mouth. It felt soft and warm and just a little damp, and she parted her lips for him.

My first kiss.

Strange sensations flooded through her body as he pushed his tongue in her mouth and stroked hers with it. Oh, this was what all the girls whispered about, to be kissed deeply. At first it felt alien and a little alarming, and then suddenly it became delicious. The slow rhythm of it made her feel every part of herself differently. Kai made that sound again as she kissed him back so he could feel her tongue. Her face grew hot, and her body began to ache in places that it never had.

No wonder everyone loved doing this. She could kiss Kai for hours.

At last he lifted his mouth from hers, and looked down at her flushed face. “I should take you home now, Mari. I don’t want to make you late for dinner.”

Mari. No one had ever given her a nickname. “That’s probably a good idea.”

Kai helped her to her feet, and walked with her to the front door, where she put her shoes back on. He retrieved another helmet from the closet and offered it to her. She took it, and then on impulse hugged him. He held her close, his hands rubbing her back.

She looked up at him. “Are you going to be okay?”

He nodded, and brushed back her hair to kiss her brow. “Will you come home with me after school tomorrow?”

She could be alone, or she could be with him. That made it easy to decide. “Yes.”