Two Sides

Interlude #7

He tried not to touch her too much while she learned to swim, but he was rewarded with plenty of legitimate opportunities. He had learned as a child, and wasn't sure how to teach her. The water was murky and hid everything from his chest down, for which he was very thankful. She didn't need to see how much the sight of her mostly exposed skin, slicked by lake water and shining in the sun, caused an uncontrollable need for her that he couldn't master. If he had known that's what she was going to do with his old cape, he would have ripped it into shreds weeks ago for her. 

He settled his hands on her waist and held her far enough away that he could fully see her face. She was shivering with cold. She held his steady gaze. 

"Are you sure?" he said, his voice still strained and out of his control. 

Had it been any other woman, he wouldn't have cared. He would have taken and used and thrown away, without concern for the consequences for her. But it was Rey, and he knew he couldn't compel her into this or take it from her, as much as he had wanted to in the past. He needed it to be her choice, for her to come to him. It wouldn't be real unless it was, and he was desperate for it to be real. 

In response, her hands slid up his chest and cupped his face. He grabbed the back of her thighs and pulled her up and against him, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. 

"Yes, Ben. I'm sure." 

She pressed her lips against his, gently, and he responded with barely contained restraint. Then she pulled away, and he panicked for a second, thinking she had changed her mind. She wrapped her arms around his neck and murmured into his ear.

"I'm not fragile. You have my permission to do what you want with me. I trust you." 

He pulled her back again, needing to see it in her face. Needing to see the truth of it. When he did, he growled and pressed his fingers into her back. 

"I'm going to devour you, Jedi." 

"Do your worst, Knight." 

He crushed his mouth against hers and was rewarded by a gasp of pleasure. He grabbed her thighs again and walked them out of the lake, the water sluicing down around them as he made it to the shore, and kept walking up toward the shelter he'd built these past weeks. The sunshine warmed their skin, but neither of them were cold anymore. 

For all of the tenderness Rey had displayed when she first kissed him in the lake, she had responded in kind to his urgency, her mouth and tongue and teeth on his lips, his neck, his collar bones, wiping his mind clean of anything but her, and how much he wanted her. He pinned her against the side of the shelter, pressing into her. Her fingers moved along his back, tracing the scars that marred his skin. 

He was squarely in a place where the darker undertones of the Force fed. Passion and desire tore through him, drawing up power he was unfamiliar with. It wasn't the energy birthed from rage or hate, frenetic and violent, bent on destruction. This power was piercing and focused, white hot, and much easier to control. He honed it and sent it forward, allowing his mind to shape what he needed. 

A second later, Rey's arms were tugged out wide against the wall, legs spread and her ankles pinned as well. She squirmed, and he secured her hips. She cried out when he broke his kiss and stepped away from her. 

"Come back," she said. She tried to break free, but his bindings held. 

He looked her over, studying every curve and swell. He reached forward and with ease ran his fingers along the strip of black fabric, soaking wet and clinging, and slowly worked the tie loose. He pulled it away. Then he tore the panties off. 

"Don't wear these any more," he growled, tossing the fabric away. 

Rey had calmed her struggling and was watching him. 

"Please," she said. "Please come back." 

"Your wish is my command." 

He kept his promise, working his way from her lips, down her neck, and devouring every glorious inch of her. The noises she made drove him to the edge, and he allowed them to guide him, wringing beautiful, potent pleasure out of her and leaving her limp and satisfied. 

"Please," she begged. "Ben. Please." 

He wondered if she knew how much he needed to hear those words. He stood and kissed her, deep and long, and buried himself inside of her. He stilled as she cried out, allowing her a moment to adjust.

"I'm not fragile," she whispered, capturing his mouth again. 

When he realized the cry wasn't from pain, he moved harder and faster, fed by the continued spasms of her body and the overwhelming pressure of her wrapped around him. When he tumbled over the edge with her, his control of her bindings snapped, and they dropped to the ground, her on top of him, both of them shaking. 

She rested her head on his chest, and their breathing slowly calmed. He stroked her back and brushed the drying strands of hair out of her face. 

"Rey," he whispered.

"Hm?" 

"You're amazing." 

He felt her smile against his skin. "How long have you waited for that?" 

"Since I captured you on Takodana." 

She laughed. "Thank you for giving me time." 

"I wanted you. And I wanted you to come to me of your own free will. It mattered."

He thinks about their confrontation on the ship before it exploded, and pushes the doubt away. She must still not remember it. It makes him nervous, this volatile secret he holds, and he's glad their bond is still closed tight. 

"Again," she said, shifting herself above him. 

He griped her hips tight and smiled, more than happy to oblige.