Rey had finished eating and Ben couldn't eat at all. He was too nervous, too absorbed with learning about Rey.
They had talked for hours, but he didn't want it to end.
He found that she really didn't have many preferences because her life was so hard on Jakku.
She was just happy with whatever she had. He planned to change all of that for her. She would never want for anything again.
"Rey, did you enjoy the dinner?"
"Yes, it was amazing. Thank you."
"So, are you tired? I'd like to show you my favorite spot on the ship. Do you want to come with me and see?"
"Sure. I never sleep well anyway. It's always such a struggle for me."
He extended his hand to her and she took it. He was careful not to touch her wrists. Not yet, anyway.
There was a progression pattern to a heat, especially the very first one. It started with the scent glands in the wrists and moved up to the neck and down to the breeding glands located on the lower back.
The more you stimulated them, the faster it progressed into a full blown heat. He didn't think she was quite ready for that yet, and he knew he wanted to be closer to her and know her better before he could help her through her first heat, before she would trust him enough to.
As an Alpha, he was hard-wired to take care of a mate through all stages of a heat. It was biology and instinct. There was a time when only the Alpha males were allowed to take mates, to ensure the strongest of the human race survived. That time had passed, and now it seemed that the tables had turned. It was very difficult to even find an Alpha male, much less a compatible mate capable of producing offspring.
He helped her up from the table and escorted her out into the corridor. He scanned ahead with the force. No other males were around. Good.
He used the lower volume hallways in an attempt to avoid other people. Her scent was like a drug and he didn't want any other males to get a taste of her and approach.
There were so few females on the ship, as it was and of those only a handful that went into heat. When they did, they had to take shore leave because of the distraction it caused on the ship.
They were almost to the observation deck, when Hux came out of nowhere. .
Kriff! Why was he such a bane to his existence, all of the time. Ben decided he really did hate him.
"Lord Ren, who do we have here? Is this your new fiancé?"
He smiled. He tried to be discreet, but Ben knew he was taking in her scent. It made him see red. How dare he partake of it...
It took all he had not to force-choke him.
She was blushing. The assumption had embarrassed her.
Ben instinctively pulled her closer, moved her to his other side, away from Hux, and tucked her under his arm.
How dare he embarrass her like that...
"General Hux, This is the Lady Rey of Jakku. We've only just met today."
"Lady Rey this is General Hux."
He reached for her hand, but Ben put a stop to it.
"No. Males are not allowed to touch her."
It was a statement of fact.
"Oh, I see. She's getting ready for her first heat then.."
He was eyeing her wrists.
Now Rey was beet red.
His voice was hard, there was menace in his tone and body language as he stared down the Beta, Hux.
I Supreme Leader. The time for politeness had passed. He would not embarrass and disrespect her this way.
"Her biological status is no concern of yours. You would do well to remember that she is no concern of yours."
"You will be more respectful to her in the event that you are ever allowed to be in her presence again."
He wouldn't be, he thought to himself.
"General Hux, I will see you tomorrow afternoon at 1400 in the training hall. Don't be late."
"But Ren.."|
"You will address me properly."
"Yes, Supreme Leader."
Yes, he was going to pay for what he had just done.
He strode quickly away from Hux before he could embarrass her more.
"Shabuir! Don't pay any attention to him Rey, He's insufferable. And please don't feel embarrassed. You can be yourself with me."
"Did you just call him a Jerk in Mando'a?"
"You speak Mando'a?"
"I speak a few languages. I learned from the traders that would come to the Niima Outpost. It helps when you are bartering, or doing work on their ships.
"Wait. You know how to work on starships?"
"Yes, and I also know how to fly them, although I was never allowed to leave the atmosphere of Jakku."
"That's amazing. Who would have thought someone as pretty as you was a mechanic and a pilot as well."
It hadn't escaped his attention that she was still under his arm, and she hadn't pulled away. It felt good to have her so close, it was right.
She didn't quite know what to say. They reached the observation deck.
Good, there was no one there, there rarely was.
The deck was a clear dome that gave a full view of space. The stars rushed by and it gave you the impression that you were outside of the ship looking into space.
"Oh, this is magnificent! I've never seen space quite like this."
Her face expressed all the wonder of a child.
"I'm glad you like it, like I said it's my favorite spot on the ship. I usually like to sit here."
He seated her next to him on a long sofa that faced the front of the ship, so it looked like the stars were coming right at you.
He kept her under his arm, as they sat down. He didn't want to lose the physical contact with her. She didn't try to move out from under it either. That was good.
" I wanted to tell you something Rey, and I know it might sound a little strange to you, but I had a dream of you. When I first saw you, I knew it was you, because I had already dreamed of you."
"Really? What happened in the dream?"
He was speaking softly to her. It was very intimate, as if they had known each other for years.
"I was having a hard time sleeping, like I always do, and you came and curled up next to me and helped me sleep."
She couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"I had the same dream of you. I could even smell your scent in the dream, only, I hadn't remembered that until I woke up in your bed, so I recognized you too."
Woke up in your bed... those words affected him so much..
"What do you think it means?"
"The interesting thing is that I had forgotten all about the dream until I was meditating on whether or not I was ready to get married. Then the force reminded me, and showed me the whole dream again. I knew that it was time, that force willed it. The next thing I knew, you were in my quarters, the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen, and here we are."
"The force? Isn't that what the Jedi and Sith used to fight with or something?"
"Well, you are not wrong, but there's so much more to it than that. The force surrounds everything and everyone. It is a living energy that runs through the entire universe. People who are force-sensitive can gain knowledge from it, use it to fight, to see memories and the future, see into others thoughts and even heal injuries to some extent.
"Are you force-sensitive?"
"Very much so. It's how I became the Emperor. I think you might be also and you just don't know it yet. It might be why we were able to share a dream."
"Close your eyes. Breathe in and out. I'm going to send you an image, let me know what you see when you get it..."
"Rey breathed. She felt peaceful. She could feel him breathing with her. It did something to her. "Just focus on your breaths. Good." Suddenly she saw a stone cottage in a forest. There were waterfalls in the distance. She felt like she was there.
"Ben, I see a cottage in the forest. There are waterfalls and streams. I can smell the meadow grass and the trees. It's warm, but not as warm as Jakku. I hear the water and birds. The sunlight is filtering through the leaves. Oh, it's so beautiful."
"Yes. That's my cottage retreat on Naboo. Very good, Rey."
Not only is she beautiful and smart, she's force-sensitive too. She was such a gift...
"You don't have to keep telling me I'm beautiful...."
"Oh, but you are. I want so much to kiss you."
" I've never kissed anyone before, but I would like to try." He's so handsome....
It was then that Ben realized that they had been speaking to each other's minds. They weren't actually speaking out loud.
He wasn't going to mess this up and miss his chance to taste her lips.
He turned to her and tilted her chin up to his. Her eyes were still closed. His hands were trembling as he cupped her face and very gently kissed her lips.
She sucked in a breath as though she had been holding it and looked up at him in shock. Her eyes were glazed over from the passion that was rising in her for the very first time.
"Don't be afraid. I feel it too. I'm here. Nothing can harm you. You're safe with me."
He stroked her cheek and gazed at her.
"Thank you for allowing me to kiss you." He smiled down at her.
"May I hold your hand?"
She nodded and gave him her left hand.
It was so tiny in his. He rubbed his thumb over her knuckles.
"Rey, do you realize that you and I were just speaking to each other with our minds? We weren't using words. I could hear you speaking to me and hear your thoughts. I know you could hear mine, because I didn't say you were beautiful out loud. This is very rare and very special, just like the rest of you."
"Ben, I'd never kissed anyone before, but I wanted to kiss you. I wasn't expecting it to be so...intense. Let's just say, I'm feeling very warm."
"You don't have to hold anything back from me. I know it felt good, it was right, it made your heart beat faster and your body want something. Don't fear it, don't be ashamed of it. It's how we were meant to be together. I feel the same way. Would you like to try it again?"
She was blushing.
"I'll take that as a yes."
This time he kissed her forehead, her cheeks and her eyelids before taking her lips. She sighed and leaned into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her tightly and she ran her fingers through his hair. She opened her mouth to him when he tugged on her lip with his teeth. She tasted like honey.
Sweet Rey..
Her scent was everywhere and it told him she was aroused, as if he needed her scent to tell him that. She was trembling breathlessly in his arms.
She was so precious...He didn't want to scare her.
He broke the kiss and pressed his forehead to hers. She was taking heaving breaths and smiling.
"Now that was a kiss."
He wanted more, but he knew he had to wait.
Hux had seen her wrists. He had smelled her. He didn't trust him.
What if he tried to scent her somehow, would he break in to his quarters and do it while he slept?
He wouldn't put it past him. Was he being completely irrational?
He needed to scent her now. Everything in him was pushing him to claim her in this small way. He had to, had to. He wouldn't be able to rest until he did.
He took her tiny wrist and kissed it. She almost let out a moan, but she was fighting herself. He rubbed his wrist against hers. Then he kissed it and rubbed it on his neck. She shuddered.
"Don't fight yourself Rey. It's okay to feel. I won't let anything harm you. You're safe."
He licked the other wrist and she actually jumped.
She was going up in flames. He knew.
He rubbed his other wrist to hers. She instinctively sought his mouth. Her kiss was hungry, desperate, beautiful.
They had to stop this.
"Rey, we have to stop now."
"But I don't want to."
"Oh, I don't want to either, but we have to. I might lose my self-control."
"Besides, the way you smell right now, so beautiful and intoxicating, if we don't go back to my quarters now, half the men on the ship could be on their way here to find you. We can't have that. You are mine."
Hi picked her up and threw her over his shoulder and ran with her back to his quarters. She let out a squeal of surprise and giggled the whole way back.