The sound of the latch unhinging from its lock told Rey that she succeeded in her task. The door swung open to reveal none other than the private quarters of the ship's captain, the formidable Pirate Ren.
She closed the door behind her, wary of how much time she had to explore the cabin, and inspected every inch of it with her eyes. Unconsciously, she looked at the bed for a beat too long, the covers tucked in looking pristine. The sight, not typically unusual, but for a male rumored to ravage countless of women, seemed contradictory. What would his mother think of him now?
She immediately walked to the desk on the far side beneath the only window. The top cleared away and clean, as immaculate as the bed. She pulled the drawer out and shifted through its contents, half believing her objective would be inside. Nothing. None of the parchments were of use otherwise she would take them too for good measure.
A light creak in the wood flooring caught her attention and she turned her eyes back to the door. She waited, a moment passed, but nothing came after that.
She crossed the room to the tall wardrobe and opened up the doors, pilfering through the pockets with haste. She shivered, unprepared for the distinct smell of the captain to whiff off the fabrics and into her nose.
Her fingers clutched the material of his shirt, her mind conjuring images of him just this morning addressing the second in command and punishing a lazy crewmember. The captain's own hand clutched around the collar of the pirate, nearly choking the breath out of the apologetic man. She watched from her hiding spot in the crow's nest as he stood frightening and strong.
An odd combination to inspire attraction, but it could not be denied his raw strength made her body flush hot. Maker, what would his mother think of her right now?
She pulled the wardrobe door open wider, glancing at the reflection in the mirror hanging from the inside panel, and gasped. She took in the mask that haunted her thoughts just before her vision went black.
A hard slap across her cheek woke Rey from her unconscious state. She cried out, exhaling all the pain.
"What is your relationship with Luke Skywalker?" he asked, the lowered-pitch of his voice sounding demonic to her ears.
Her eyes opened wide, zeroing in on the contents in his hands. Her letters. Upon her awakening, she did not realize that he stripped her of her coat, boots, and even her hat. Adrenaline rushed through her as she sat kneeling before him, with a weight tying her hands together behind her back. She struggled fruitlessly to retrieve her possessions, which he held close enough to taunt her.
"You're rather young. It's hard to believe someone like you would personally know him, yet these are in his hand."
"Jealous, are you?" she asked, unable to refrain from baiting him.
She witnessed his temperament while aboard the ship, and planned to unnerve him enough to make him careless. While engaging in their verbal batter, he would never notice her wrists loosing the rope around them. She watched in displeasure as the shape of his lips, uncovered by that daunting piece of steel across his eyes, merely set into a deeper frown.
"Like I said, someone like you: a nobody, a sewer rat, would have no business possessing these letters. So before I remove that nuisance tongue of yours, what are you to Skywalker?"
"A passing acquaintance. Nicest pirate I've met, present company included."
"And just how nicely did that pirate treat you," he snickered.
Her teeth clutched together at his insinuation.
"I'm a scavenger, not a whore."
"That would explain your unknown presence on my ship. While my crew would take to such lush flesh, they would pay no heed to an extra cabin boy."
Rey fought hard not to wiggle under his heated gaze, her attention brought now to the slight destruction of her disguise. She was not unfamiliar with the sound of hunger in his voice, but was unable to challenge the gaze of her predator.
"Does the thought excite you? I noticed you left only the bed untouched. Pity."
He stepped closer to her, sliding the tip of his boot between her knees and lifting it directly into the crotch of her breeches. She bit the inside of her cheek, surprised by the wave of arousal that flooded her mind. He moved it slowly up and down, the stimulation causing an embarrassing wet spot to grow on her pants. Desperately, she grasped at her next words to counter his game.
"It said a lot about you. Your need for cleanliness rivals those of the high born," she taunted him.
Her comment was intended to unnerve him. Though he could never suspect, he could scrutinize to the point of revealing more than he wanted. The slight tick in his temple proved her assessment gnawed at him.
He stepped away but not before lifting his heel to press his boot into her back.
"Now Scavenger, just what were you planning on stealing from my ship?"
"That's confidential information between my employer and myself."
"Skywalker?" She did not respond.
"There's ways of getting what I want. For instance, giving my lonely crew what they want…"
For a brief moment, Rey's blood ran cold. Then she smirked, calling his bluff.
"If you had any intention behind that threat, there would be a shipmate here ready to have me. I never knew The formidable Pirate Ren to throw empty threats."
Her attempt to again bait him failed and her façade of smugness faltered. He did not respond, neither agitated nor amused. He looked at her, his eyes hidden behind the steel covering the upper portion of his face, but his expression gave nothing away.
He turned from her, and she listened to his heavy footsteps as he stepped away from her. His hands began to maneuver something in front of him, out of her sight. He was acting like a ticking bomb, unknown when to explode. The longer he remained silent the faster her anxiety climbed.
"You are right, no one else will be here. And the reason being…"
He moved with such stealth, her mind could barely comprehend what had happened. He turned back around, closing the distance between them.
"I do not like to share," he said, with wicked pleasure.
His long member stood out from the opening in his trousers and held confidently in his hand. Its monstrous size scaring her as the head pointed straight at her face. She felt his other hand grab the hair behind her head and she cried out again from shock.
Her reaction was a perfect opening for him to thrust himself down her unsuspecting throat. Pushing and pulling her with rough command, the captain gave her no breath in his assault.
Rey felt her mouth go dry feeling his length violate her with abandon and instinctively, she bit down as hard as she could. He pulled out of her reach and grabbed her face, pressing her cheeks together with his one hand.
"Scavenger scum!"
She spat in his face, smiling when her saliva dripped from his face, entering the sockets for his eyes. His other hand reached up and cusped the sides of the mask, before pulling it off. She gasped, seeing him for the first time in all his menacing glory.
His narrow eyes heightened the scowl on his face, fury raging in their amber coloring. She heard stories of his rage, even glimpsed moments of uncontrolled fits, but nothing compared to the devastating look of pure loathing staring down at her at that very moment. His intensity made her squirm.
"I should gut you right now for your insolence."
"Go on, be done with it then!"
"If you desire your death, it will not be your punishment."
"Killer indeed! More pathetic little boy, incapable of true strength!"
His eyes blared down at her, watching her breath heavily after her insults.
He backhanded her, the force sending her falling back and landing at an odd angle. She felt the ball and chain keep her wrists taut, giving her no ability to move her arms behind her. She groaned, her head dizzy with pain. Pain quickly pushed aside at the feel of her own breeches lifting off her hips. He ripped them all the way down to her knees, before speaking again.
"Little boy, am I?
She began to kick, wiggling away from him as he pressed one knee between her legs, crawling closer to her as she lay trapped on the cabin floor. She struggled harder at the binds around her wrists, feeling the fibers burn her skin. He pulled at the bottom of her stolen shirt, stuffing the fabric deep passed her lips. She fought to loosen his work but could not get her voice free.
"Incapable, am I?"
Her attention came back to him, at the feel of cool leather brushing the hairs in her nether region. She could feel the scream build behind the suffocation cloth, but its sound muffled. The tip of his fingers toyed with her opening, his nails scrapping the sensitive skin there.
"I will show you."
Rey's back arched straight off the ground, her body fighting the intrusion of his two fingers inside her cunt. His other hand rammed her stomach back to the ground as his fingers entered her with swift execution. The feeling made worse, when Rey felt his fingers becoming slick with every pass.
"So tight. Are you a virgin, little scavenger?"
She brought her foot up and kicked him straight at the cheek. The hand on her stomach moved to grab her ankle and pull her leg out, wrapping it around him. He struggled to capture the other leg, but managed to hold it down with his knee. The position opening her legs wider to him and his fingers never stopped.
"It would seem so."
Feeling his brute strength pin her down sent Rey's survival instincts into hyper drive. She thrust her hips, aiming to buck him off, but his hand on her leg bringing them closer caused a fire to ignite and burn her from within. She screamed again, but the lack of oxygen left her a heap of mindless nerves and she could feel the friction of his fingers more accurately. Much to her horror, a low moan emitted off her lips in her next breath.
"Now who is the pathetic one? Let me see you cum, like the whore you deny to be. If you can hold off, maybe I'll let you live."
His words thrown out recklessly were her salvation. She widened her eyes, looking straight at the wall and refused to close them, making her vulnerable to her other senses. She tucked her knees together in a vain effort to keep his arm from moving. Her hands curled tightly into fists behind her holding onto whatever hope she could grasp.
The captain heightened his onslaught, sensing the change in her body. It craved the feel, but would not submit. Despite her will to remain strong, drops of salt water escaped the corners of her eyes.
She knew he had no intention of letting her live after he was done with her. She feared her demise at the end of what would be in another world, a glorious release.
Until he stopped upon the distinct hum of a familiar tune.
She continued to hum the words, the feel of the speech inside her vocal chords keeping her determination grounded. She felt the pressure of the cloth in her mouth disappear and she inhaled a lung full of air with an eager gasp.
She felt his body encase her, his arms now on either side of her head as his face lowered to hers so they met eye to eye.
"How do you know that song?"
She shook, her legs pressed tight together and her chest heaved.
"How? How could you know it?" he all but bellowed in her face.
She took another gulp of air, praying it would not be her last.
"The same as you do… Prince Ben," she whispered.
He inhaled, his eyes scanning her face like a droid detecting a lie.
"I know where you came from. Before they called you, Pirate Ren," she continued.
The more she talked, his malice turned into morbid curiosity, and the heat in her belly eased to a simmer.
"Although, you've made quite a name for yourself."
"That name died a long time ago, along with the boy who bore it," he finally spoke.
"Perhaps not everyone can put him to rest as you do."
He raised himself, putting distance between their faces as he braced himself on his palms.
"It is senseless to mourn someone who never existed in the first place."
"Doesn't Ben deserve to be remembered, to be loved even in memory?"
His silence was a quiet admission that struck her heartstrings. The things she learned about him could not be denied.
Underneath the ruthlessness, truly was a man without a heart.
He buried it along with his past. A past she could only catch at a glimpse, like looking through the bottom of a bottle and seeing a blurred version of the other side.
She watched his face, as it reflected the conflict that brewed within him. The demons rose from their ashes and clawed at his present thoughts. Questions and memories that brought nothing but pain, pain she couldn't stand watching him bare.
She reached forward, until her lips caught his in a feeble kiss.
She watched as his eyes bore into hers, the unmistakable outrage deflating her burst of courage and she pulled away. Only to have him chase her and recapture her mouth in another kiss, one filled with confidence and control. Her own shock slowly turned into awe, and she closed her eyes giving into the feel of their mouths pressed together. He ripped his lips away and she looked back at him in trepidation.
"Are you trying to seduce me?" he asked, the rough timbre of his voice making him all the more arousing.
"No," she answered honestly.
Though she contemplated the benefits and downfalls of that strategy now. She did fear him killing her mere moments ago. But the severity behind his anger seemed forgotten once she revealed her hand. Perhaps he changed his mind.
It was hard to determine when he pressed his mouth back to hers, still with confidence but barely tempered control. He demanded entry into her mouth and she opened her lips tentatively, his tongue drawing heavy pants for air from her with pride.
His hands ripped open the front of her shirt and tugged at the binds around her chest hiding her woman's body. His fingers occasionally slipped down to feel her ribcage before they came back up, until her breasts sprung free. His thumbs brushed just underneath her globes making her squirm with every one of her eager jostles.
She felt for the knee closest to the apex between her legs and began to grind her center against the muscle there. Seeking a friction she did not want earlier, but if he no longer planned to end her life…
Both of his hands reached behind her rear and lifted her hips right off the ground, so his own thrusts met violently with hers. A shriek filled the intimate space between them, being new to the experience as any virgin.
"Stop," she cried out.
Through the sharp rip of pain, she could feel him still within her. It felt unreal: the pulsing organ inside her made her own sex clench and hold, yet with every sensation came the reminder of discomfort. She tossed her head to the side, shutting her eyes tight and biting her bottom lip hard.
His hands around her middle weaved up to the back of her neck and brought her face back to his line of vision. She watched as an unaccustomed softness layered his face.
"Stars, don't stop," he implored quietly.
She watched him regard her order to cease as certain rejection. The look of his despair returned and without shame, she pushed up at the exact same time he pushed down. The burning friction caused a wanton moan from her and a depraved groan from him.
He barely pulled back and moved quickly to possess her. His cock filled her so full she would wager she felt it throughout her entire being. He continued with equal vigor in every thrust and her discomfort slowly gave way to indecent pleasure. The strength of his efforts causing her to sway back and forth over the restraint on her wrists, unknown to her, the remaining fibers rubbing away against the wooden floor. With a snap, her hands were unbound.
He noticed it before she did. His rhythm faltered, as he seemed to wait for her to react. Only to have her throw both arms around his neck, her fingers digging deep into the locks of hair on his head and pull his face down to hers so she could resume kissing him.
When he failed to pick up the pace, her lips left him to nibble at the skin of his jugular.
"Ben, please," she begged
The sound of his given name, rather than his feared one, sent him into frenzy. Into anger or lust, she could not tell. His thrusts became sharp and intense, her body giving way to small squeezes around his cock.
His fingers dug into the flesh of her rear, sending waves of shocking pleasure across her skin. She pulled her lithe frame against him, and relished the crushing weight of his larger bulk on top of her.
She coaxed him on: gasping, panting, and occasionally biting the lope of his ear, and relished his own sounds of self-seeking pleasure that made her pussy slick. She felt the increase of his hard jerks and could feel her own body climbing, signifying something she had no knowledge.
Understanding ripped through her like a pulse of hot, white light.
Her body convulsed wildly around his, and his mouth captured hers again to swallow her scream of relief. His arms wrapped around her back, the flexing of his muscles caging her, as her fingers threaded in the hairs at the back of his head.
Regaining her wits, she could feel every point of contact between them, most acutely the spot where his forehead rested against hers, their sweat dripping between them. He rutted inside her a few more times, the animalistic gesture surprisingly gratifying, before his legs gave way and they lay sprawled across his quarter floors.
She could hardly breathe as the intensity of the moment lingered between them, clouding the air with its sated heat. His face moved to press his cheek against hers, his lips close to her collarbone, and she held him tighter around his broad shoulders.
"I would have liked to have met him."
Her admission made him scoff. The deep sound sent goose bumps down her arms despite its bitter tone.
"I bet I might have liked him. Even more than Skywalker."
He leaned back, and she saw him transform right before her eyes, his face made younger by the tiniest bit of amusement.
"And what name would you give him, my little scavenger?"
She blinked, debating over the wisdom of handing over such personal information.
"Rey."
"Rey," he repeated. The heat sparked again in her center hearing the intimate way his voice caressed her name.
"Why did fate not bring you to me earlier in life? We might have enjoyed some time together."
Her fingers stopped in their path across his chest. He still planned to kill her. After what she deemed such a precious moment between them, he thought nothing of her still.
He moved to sit up but she buried into his chest.
"My body aches."
She waited for him to demand she rise from the floor. Instead, he pulled the blanket off the bed and wrapped them in its comfort.
"That's to be expected. It will be a while before we try intimacy again."
He planned to have her again. As he said, enjoying the time they still had until he decided otherwise.
She pulled the edge of the blanket up her chin.
"Sleep Rey. But know that we are not finished here."
Though he told her to sleep, her mind could not be more awake.
She had not stepped off the cargo ship before she saw them. Her slow limp down the plank was not what had her stalling the meeting, but rather her embarrassment over the entire situation. She managed to escape, but completely empty-handed, stealing a dingy hover boat as her get-away until she found another ship to board to port.
She walked through the crowd toward a lone dock before she turned to face the two figures. The closest figure, shrouded by a deep blue cloak, looked out from beneath the hood hiding her face and gazed upon Rey with compassionate, brown eyes.
"Queen Organa," Rey addressed her, bending forward to show her respect.
"I'm sorry to keep you waiting, and to inform you that I couldn't find what you asked of me," she confessed.
The queen nodded before speaking, "I thank you for trying. I know it was not the easiest mission, nor the safest."
Rey flinched despite her best attempt not to reveal just how close she brushed with death aboard the dreaded pirate ship. When they first approached her with their request, she flat out refused. Until, the woman before her convinced her otherwise.
Organa raised an eyebrow at Rey's reaction but the second figure interrupted their conversation. A man of strong build, wrinkles aged what Rey assumed was once a handsome face. Almost as handsome as…
"For your troubles, kid," Hans offered.
He raised a small canvas bag and the contents inside caused a soft jingle with every movement. The queen reached out to take the bag when Rey stopped her.
"I won't take that," Rey declared.
"I assure you, it's all there," assured Organa.
"Your Majesty, I don't want the money," Rey repeated, her voice quiet but firm.
Organa's mouth moved to argue, but Hans placed his other hand on the queen's shoulder to stay her. The look he gave Rey seemed almost tender, too tender in the face of Rey's failure.
"I must go," Rey told them both, picking up her knapsack at Hans' feet, and brushed by them to run into the crowd. She couldn't bring herself to look back.
Had she done so, she would have seen the pair watch her leave with different emotions held within their gazes.
"I thought… I thought there would still be hope for him," Leia said aloud, voicing her most daring secret to Hans. After years of waiting, then months of planning, she couldn't hide the disappointment that sunk deep into her heart.
"There still is," he promised her.
She turned to him, to see if he grew another head to look as crazy as he sounded. He merely looked back at her with a sure smirk.
"She's still alive, isn't she?"