Rey had asked him to join her for dinner.
"Of course, I'd love to eat dinner with you." He smiled down at her. When was the last time he had smiled...it felt like it had been years..
Leia noticed that Rey was only wearing the silk sheath without any of the usual undergarments. Poor girl, she didn't know any better. She could see pretty much everything she had to offer through the silk.
"Ben, you really need to shower and Rey has had a very long day. Clear your schedule for lunch tomorrow and you two can get acquainted then. In the meantime, I've given Rey your suite. She's going to sleep in your bed and you can take the other guest room if you like."
"You are right about the shower, but I'm not waiting until tomorrow."
Rey was practically swooning when his hand accidentally brushed against her wrist as he passed her in the doorway to the suite. She was overwhelmed by his scent which was so much more intense with his body so close to hers. She could feel the heat coming off of his chest, that very heavily muscled chest...
Their eyes met for a moment. Somehow, Rey heard him say "so beautiful." But his lips never moved. She had to be losing her mind.
She was so tiny next to his larger frame he thought. And that scent. It told him that she was open to him, interested, that she wanted to know him more. It was intoxicating him. His pupils were blown wide.
"Uh. I'm just going to take a quick showerrrrrr."
He was forgetting how to speak. He was distracted by her lips.
Rey blinked up at him and blushed. It was getting hard for her to breathe.
Leia cleared her throat.
"Hurry up Ben, our food is getting cold. Rey, step back inside so you can finish dressing."
Ben walked backwards into the suite. He didn't want to take his eyes off of her.
He was going to have to thank his mother later.
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"Rey, how are you feeling? Are you alright my dear?"
"Yes, yes, uh. I'm fine. Just a little overwhelmed. He's not at all what I expected."
"Ok, well I want you to be comfortable, you don't have to have dinner with him tonight if it's too much for you right now. Usually there are protocols for this sort of thing and much more clothing."
"Leia, no, it's fine. I feel like I already know him somehow. I had a dream of him. I wouldn't know what to do with protocols. I would just like to eat something and talk with him a little tonight."
"Alright, but if you feel too overwhelmed or uncomfortable in any way just give my hand a squeeze under the table and I will take care of it. Now, Let me look at you. Let's find a robe or something for you to wear..."
Leia called the wardrobe team on her Comm.
"Rey, I'm just going to step outside for a moment."
________________________________
She sat on the edge of the bed and decided to lay back. His scent was everywhere. She basked in it, he smelled so good, he was so handsome. She rolled around in his scent. Had he called her beautiful?
Her body was feeling a little bit out of control, it was throbbing in places she didn't know existed before.
Her wrists for one. They suddenly felt tender and swollen, sensitive. The skin there was pinker than it had been before. She ran her thumb across her left wrist and to her shock a jolt of pleasure passed through her body, all the way to....down there. Down there, which was now very moist and throbbing. She sat up in shock. What was going on with her?
Ben had been showering as fast as he could so that he could get back to the girl. She was so beautiful, her scent intoxicating, and literally the woman of his dreams. So innocent and tiny. It made him want to shelter her in his arms, protect her.
Her eyes were clear, she held no guile, had no hidden agenda, she was just purity and beauty personified. When his mother had said that she would be sleeping in his bed, he couldn't stop thinking about that or the way she looked in that white silk. He was hard as a rock.
He turned the knob to cold. The breath went out of his body, and that should have helped but just as he stepped out of the shower, he smelled her again.
Her scent had changed, a lot. Ohhhh. He breathed it in deeply. She was aroused. To say that he was, was an understatement.
Wait. Why would she be aroused? Was someone else here....touching her? The jealousy that accompanied the unexpected strong emotions reared it's ugly head.
He wrapped a towel around his waist and quietly padded down the hall. He would catch whoever it was...He was out of his mind in a state of possessive fury. No one would ever touch her, arouse her, except for him. She was his.
He would kill them and lay their head at her feet.....She's mine. Only mine.
Then he saw her with her little pink wrists sitting on his bed. She didn't know what was happening. She must have been embarrassed.
He felt stupid now, but she was still going to be his....she had to be, because he realized in that moment that he had accidentally imprinted on her. Kriff.
She heard a noise and saw Ben standing in the hallway wearing only a towel around his waist. He had a ferile look in his eyes as he regarded her seated on his bed. How long had he been there? Had he seen her rolling around in his scent?
She had a nice view of his muscular body. From head to toe he appeared to be carved out of solid marble, so strong, so male, so Alpha. Something inside her responded to that. His raven hair hung wildly in his face....Was she staring? It wasn't like her to think this way. She turned a brilliant shade of pink and averted her eyes.
"Oh, I'm sorry he stuttered. Uh, I smelled something and I thought something was wrong. I'll just uh go get dressed and see you in a minute."
As if on cue, Leia stepped back into the suite, Rey's new clothes in her hands, just in time to see Ben talking to Rey wearing nothing but a towel.
"What is going on? Ben? Rey?"
"Nothing Mother, I thought something was wrong. It's fine. I'm getting dressed now." He wouldn't meet his mother's eyes. He hurried back down the hallway.
"Rey, this is not how all of this was supposed to go. Are you ok?"
"Yes. Um. I'm fine. It's fine. Let's just have dinner. I find myself feeling very hungry all of a sudden."
She looked down and noticed Rey's pink wrists. It made sense now. It was all happening very quickly, much sooner than she would have ever expected.
Let me help you into your robe. She wrapped her in a full length white fur robe that was dotted with various jewels embedded in the longer fur collar. It framed her face and showed just a little cleavage, it was cut to leave her wrists exposed.
"Usually, there's a team of people to dress you and prepare you, but this is a bit impromptu, so we're going to go with it. She fluffed Rey's hair. Now you are looking a lot more like the Princess that you are. You look beautiful. I know Ben will think so too." She smiled at her. She actually meant it.
"Now let's go eat. I know you didn't have a lot of food on Jakku, so just remember to take tiny bites and eat as slowly as possible. I don't want you to make yourself feel sick."
Leia walked with her to the dining area. She thought to herself: I also don't want you wolfing down your dinner like a wild Loth Cat and scaring away my Son with your lack of table manners.
Although really at this point, it would probably take a lot more than that to scare him away. He seemed pretty smitten with her and with her heat in the very early stages, well...she couldn't be happier with how things had played out. Leia smiled to herself.
She left Rey at the table so she could have a quick word with her son.
Ben was still in the guest bedroom. He was dressed but sat on the edge of his bed looking distressed. There was a sheen of sweat on his brow and his eyes were far away. It looked like he was in shock.
"Ben, what's wrong?"
"Mother, something has happened to me. I'm pretty sure I imprinted on Rey." He still wouldn't look at her.
"Honey, you couldn't have, I mean you have to be a virgin for that to have happened, weren't you and Phasma....."
"Define virgin. She and I were into mutual gratification, but I never penetrated her, or anyone else." Kriff. Could this be any more awkward?
"Male imprintation, I mean it's so rare....and you have to stimulate a scent gland, at just the right time, just before a first heat.....I mean you haven't touched her right?"
"Did you see her little wrists? I accidentally brushed her wrist when I was squeezing by her in the doorway earlier, and I'm pretty sure they weren't pink then.
Then I smelled her scent change and thought someone else was touching her or something and ran out there so I could literally kill them and saw her looking confused with her little pink wrists.
I just met her and I'm ready to kill for her. So yeah, pretty sure I imprinted. You can't tell me she's ever had a heat before, very clear that she hasn't."
"No, we had her examined when she was out, she's never presented and of course she's a virgin."
"You what? Mother, really. So you knew that putting her in my quarters would trigger a heat for her. I bet you were hoping to pheromone bond her to me too. Does your propensity for machinations know no limit!"
"I'm sorry son. I am. But she's out there waiting for you and now it appears you are bound to her, so go. Go talk to her. Just don't move too quickly. With your imprint now your instincts are going to be pushing you to claim her. Take it slow. She's lovely, she really is."
"Only if you stay here. I don't want you meddling with us anymore. I would be really angry with you right now if she weren't the perfect mate for me and now, the sole purpose for my existence."
"Alright Ben. I will try to stay out of it. I do love you son, whether you believe me or not, I do. This might not be a bad thing."
"It wouldn't be, except for the tiny detail you are leaving out of this conversation. You know, the part where if one of us dies, so does the other. That. With me being a warrior and the Emperor, always having a target on my back, that automatically puts her in danger and if my enemies knew, they would try to kill her to get rid of me. That tiny detail."
He took a deep breath and headed to the dining area.
Rey was seated at the head of the table dressed in a fur robe. She was stunning, even with no make-up, no coiffed hairdo, no jewels, none of the usual things that women did to beautify themselves, she didn't need any of those things, she was magnificent just the way she was.
"Hi."
She looked up at him with those clear hazel eyes as he sat down next to her.
"Where's Leia?"
"I asked her to let us have some time alone and she agreed. She's right down the hall though, in her room if you need her."
He could sense her nervousness.
"So tell me about yourself Rey. What do you like? What's your favorite color, anything at all."
"There's not a lot to tell. What has your mother told you about me?"
"Really nothing except that she found you on Jakku, chased you down and sedated you and brought you here against your will. I'm sorry Rey, that was so wrong of her. He was getting angry about it again...He was thinking of the stormtroopers handling her, touching her.
He had to get control of himself. He took a deep breath.
"Although, I can't honestly say that I'm sorry you are here now. I think you have to be the most beautiful woman I have ever seen."
Rey was blushing from head to toe. His eyes were burning for her, she could see it. She wondered if hers looked the same way to him.
"Thank you. You're not so terrible to look at yourself." That got her a smile and helped her to relax.
A servant brought out a platter of various foods. Rey had no idea what any of it was.
"Ben, When I was on Jakku, I was no one, practically a slave. I had to scavenge to survive. We were fed portions. That's all I've ever had to eat. I have no idea what any of this is." She looked a little embarrassed.
"Perfect. I'll teach you. Okay, close your eyes."
He skewered a piece of fruit.
"Open your mouth."
He fed her a tiny piece of the red fruit.
"How does it taste?"
"Sweet, delicious, tangy."
"Yes, that's a Jaquira fruit."
Stars, he was a classic case of male imprintation, he was hand-feeding his mate. His mate, she would be his mate. He didn't care. It felt right. It was biology, instinct, maybe even something more.
They continued on this way until she had tried everything. She was relaxing, he was relaxing, it felt natural and good.
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Phasma was done for the day.
She was headed back to her quarters when Hux caught up with her in the corridor. Hux looked like a little child next to her huge frame, which was only made more imposing by her body armor.
She was the epitome of an Alpha from head to toe. It annoyed her that this sniveling Beta out-ranked her.
"Captain Phasma, are you off duty?"
"Yes." She didn't even look at him.
"Well I have some news you might be interested in hearing."
Hux was trotting along side her, trying to keep up with her larger, faster pace.
"Really General Hux, I doubt there is anything that you could ever say that would interest me." Her tone was flat, her expression blank.
"It's about Ren."
"Do tell." She knew he wasn't going to go away until he had said whatever it was he wanted to say.
"The High Counsel is forcing him to get married."
"My dear Hux, now why would you think I'd be interested in that?"
"Well, weren't you two "having Caf" together every now and then?"
"Now where would you get an idea like that from?"
"Phasma, do you really need to ask me that question?" He glanced up innocently at the security cameras and smiled up at her. It was the smile of of a snake.
Her expression was blank. She looked bored.
"Is there a point to this conversation or are you just that pathetically lonely?"
"I don't know Phasma, you tell me. If certain ahem, (he cleared his throat) footage were to come out, would you be disturbed?"
"What exactly is it that you want, Hux?"
"I don't know yet."