Of The Force

I Will Join You

If it could, that burning gaze would have seared the clothes clean off her body, Cordelia assumed. Still, she didn't shrink under those eyes. While she didn't particularly enjoy the idea of a man imposing himself on her, it wasn't as though he hadn't already seen what was beneath her clothing, even if it had been eight years. Her stomach wasn't as taut, but she was still lean with muscle. The body of a woman, no longer a girl, just out of adolescents.

Cordelia wondered how much he had changed in the time they'd been apart. She'd felt the difference when they'd been alone in her quarters, her body remembered it as being leaner, a younger man. When she'd been in his arms last, it was only the slightest feel of him that had been familiar, the way his hands had slid across her skin. The rest, was a stranger.

Shaking her head and averting her gaze, Cordelia stripped, avoiding his eyes as the clothes fell in a heap on the ground. Crossing the distance to the shower, she slid through the open glass door and shut up behind her, letting her mind imagine it was a plane of obsidian. The hot water was near scalding, but she didn't make a sound when it scorched her skin. Instead, Cordelia grabbed the cloth she'd been given and lathered it with soap and began scrubbing herself vigorously. When she couldn't tell if her skin was red due to the temperature or the harsh cleaning she'd given herself, Cordelia moved onto her hair. The shampoo she'd been given smelled of menthol, but she didn't mind as it tingled her scalp as she scrubbed.

It was when she moved under the stream of water to rinse the cleanser from her hair, did she notice the sudden dip in water temperature. It wasn't uncommon back on Bakura for her to take cold showers, but she expected the Steadfast to have an almost endless supply of heat. Opening her eyes, Cordelia made the mistake of looking to Kylo, who was staring at her. Not just at her, but his eyes were downcast to where her breasts were arched outwards, the now cold stream of water hardening her nipples into stiffened points. He had been leaning against the counter, ankles crossed in front of him, but now he stood, legs spread slightly as if he were struggling to keep his balance, or making room for something.

Cordelia couldn't help the small smirk of triumph that curled her lip. She had hardly paid him any mind, but there he stood, no better than a young man who'd seen his first woman. Instead of indulging him, Cordelia closed her eyes and turned away from him. It wasn't as though her backside were anything to scoff at but as the temperature rose once more she knew he'd looked away.

Finishing up, Cordelia turned off the water and stepped from the shower, grabbing the towel Kylo held out to her. When she wrapped herself, he strode from the room without a word. Cordelia knew better now and quickly caught up to him before the force shoved her after him.

"These will be your new quarters." Kylo said, entering a room across the hall from the refresher.

Cordelia looked around in shock. It was almost quadruple her current quarters. The bed was huge, making a mockery of the shameful cot she'd been sleeping in. There was a door to her left that showed a walk in closet, empty. She snorted, imagining the few imperial uniforms she was given, spread out in the large room.

"Will you explain to me what is the purpose of my relocation?" Cordelia asked, crossing the distance to sit on the bed, still wrapped in her towel.

"You've proven you cannot be trusted. So I will keep you close, so that you do not think to get any bad ideas." Kylo said, but he wasn't looking in her eyes. That menacing gaze was now looking at the long length of her bared legs.

"Is there something on your mind, Supreme Leader?" She asked, tone dripping in condensation.

"How long did it take for you to realize you were pregnant?" He asked, taking Cordelia completely off guard.