He craved power and control, and he had that in this moment. His captive was completely powerless against him. She feared him, but she was defiant. It simultaneously gave him a heady sense of power and stirred his desire to conquer, as well as awakening his lust. No, not that. She must not affect him in that way. She must not affect him in any way at all.
She was lovely, yes, but she was here for one reason only. She had information that he needed, and he was going to pry it from her mind. He told her as much. "You know I can take whatever I want."
When she flinched away from his touch, he realized that she thought he meant to violate her body. That was something he would never do. His pride demanded that she surrender to him willingly. Wasn't that why he had revealed himself to her as a man when she called him a creature?
He plunged into her mind as much to distract himself from his wayward musings as to find the information he sought. He saw her loneliness and her longing for a family. Her misplaced attachment to his own father was ironic, and Kylo commented on how Han Solo would have disappointed her.
"Don't be afraid," he said as she struggled against the unexpected connection between them. "I feel it too." He didn't know what it was either, but it was exciting and strong.
Reading minds was useful, but it hadn't ever been pleasurable before. He had to focus to keep from becoming distracted by this alluring connection. As he searched through her mind for something relevant, he began to encounter resistance. She was fighting the intrusion, but what was astounding was that she was succeeding. She pushed back at him and then pressed forward into his mind. He stared at her, barely comprehending that this scavenger was capable of such a feat.
He broke her hold on him after she read his most shameful, secret thought. "You're afraid…that you'll never be as strong as Darth Vader."
It wasn't a taunt, because she was uncertain of her new ability as she spoke. His stunned gaze was locked on her in disbelief. She was strong in the force, and she didn't even know it. Her untrained mind had managed to invade his, and she had suddenly become much more than an insignificant scavenger.
He left her to seek guidance from Snoke, but his steps slowed as the shock cleared from his mind. It was too soon to admit failure. He would try again, and he would not be taken by surprise this time. He returned to the room just in time to prevent her escape. A stormtrooper had been about to loosen her restraints after she hypnotized him. Kylo stopped him and ordered him to leave.
The girl was frustrated and angry, but he saw that her face was flushed from the exhilaration she must have felt at discovering yet another new ability. It gave him an idea. The best time to seduce her was now while she was still drunk on her newfound power. To the dark side, he added. Seduce her to the dark side. That was what he had meant.
But it wasn't. Not yet. Once she had come over to the dark side, she would no longer be his to control. She would be consumed with her training and with developing her abilities, and he wouldn't have much chance of seducing her then. His best opportunity was right now, and he could also use it to extract the information he needed. He could distract her enough to slip past her defenses.
"Very impressive," he remarked as she glared at him. "Just think what you'll be able to do with training. I can teach you if you'll join us."
"I'll never join you," she declared.
"Then I'll have to finish what I started," he stated. "I will get the map from your mind."
"You can try," she retorted.
His neutral expression gave away nothing, but he was pleased to hear how cocky she had become. She was no longer wary of him, and that would make her fall right into his trap. He began to probe at her mind, and he allowed her to easily beat him back again. He put up no defense as she delved into his mind, and he hit her with the full force of his erotic thoughts about her. They had come to him so quickly that he knew he had been suppressing them the entire time since he had carried her here in his arms. He had even brought her to his private rooms instead of taking her where he usually interrogated people.
He wanted to kiss her, which surprised him. That had never been a priority in his carnal desires. It seemed like he wanted to connect with this girl in every way. He imagined fusing his mouth to hers as he pulled her body flush against his. Her clothes were gone in his fantasy, and his hands roamed over her bare flesh. He could touch her intimately as his tongue plunged into her mouth.
"You want…"
Her eyes widened as she trailed off, and her face flushed. He kept his gaze locked on hers, and she stared back at him as she saw the vivid images in his mind.
She was the one who was rattled this time when he broke the connection. Her gaze skittered away from his as he continued to watch her. He stepped closer, and her breathing accelerated. Although she tensed, she didn't flinch away from him when he reached toward her.
Her eyes snapped up to his as he unfastened one of her restraints. "You will bathe before our meal," he told her. "Don't try anything. I don't want to have to restrain you again."
When her limbs were free, she backed away from him carefully as she watched him warily. He gestured behind her. "In there."
She didn't comply to his directive until he advanced on her. Shooting quick glances behind her while still keeping watch on him, she backed into the room he was herding her into. Her eyes went wide again when she saw the bed.
Kylo didn't allow his thoughts to stray there yet. He gestured toward a smaller room off to the side. "You will bathe in there. I will have a change of clothes brought for you. Leave those on the floor."
She brought her hands up to clutch at her tunic like he was going to strip it off of her. He gestured toward the bathing room again, but she just stared at him.
"Go in there and bathe or I will remove your clothes right here," he warned.
With a look of panic, she scrambled into the other room. "Leave the door open," he called after her, "or I will come in there."
She peered out at him with a shell-shocked expression and then looked frantically around her as he again ordered her to bathe. He called out instructions to her on how to use the shower in case she didn't know. After another warning from him that he would come into the room with her if she didn't remove her clothes and bathe, she went into the shower fully clothed. He took a step forward, but her hand appeared from behind the curtain and dropped her tunic onto the floor. Her shirt and pants followed along with her undergarments. The shower then turned on, and he thought about her being naked beneath the spray of water.
He almost went to look, but he knew it would be more effective for her to keep anticipating that he might suddenly pull back the curtain on her. He wondered if that thought aroused her, but it was too soon for him to act on that possibility. Kylo had never planned a seduction like this before, but he knew that this girl required a different approach than the women who desired a dalliance with a man as powerful as him. Those women needed no seduction since they were already looking at him with lust in their eyes. Not that he had time to indulge in such things often, but he did occasionally satisfy his sexual urges with random women.
The Jedi had been such fools to believe that sex would lead to attachments that would distract them from their purpose. Kylo had never grown attached to any of the women he bedded. He had no interest in them beyond the sexual release they provided for him.
His captive was more intriguing, but only because of the potential of her force abilities. That made it worth learning her name. After the clothing and the meals he had called for were delivered, he realized that she must be afraid to come out of the shower.
Kylo walked into the bathing room. "Your clean clothes are on the bed. I will wait in the room where I questioned you. If you're not out in five minutes, you'll dine naked."
He waited for her in the outer room in a spot that gave him an angled view of the bed. She came into view wrapped in a towel, and his body responded to the sight of her. His eyes roamed over her exposed flesh, and he wanted to touch her. He wanted to remove his own clothes and feel her skin against his.
She turned and saw him watching her. "Close the door," she demanded.
"I don't trust you," he replied.
"Where am I going to go?" she retorted. "The only way out is past you. Just give me a moment to get dressed."
"No," he said.
"I can't get dressed with you watching me," she insisted.
"Yes you can," he stated in an immutable tone. "Now, or you won't get dressed at all."
She glared at him before turning her back to him to drop the towel and quickly reach for the clothes on the bed. His eyes drank in her nude form, and he imagined bending her over the bed to take her from behind. He had deliberately kept this distance between them to help him resist the temptation, but he also wanted to see her like this.
She balanced on one leg as she lifted the other to step into the underwear the female stormtrooper had brought to him at his request. She switched legs and pulled the underwear up to cover her backside from him, but the image of it was captured in his mind. When she hurried to put on the bra, he shifted his position and caught a glimpse of one breast. His mouth watered as he imagined sucking on it.
He was so hard and hot for her by the time she approached him wearing the blue dress the stormtrooper had provided. Her eyes were downcast and her face was flushed in embarrassment, but her mouth was set in an angry, resentful line. Then her attention turned to the meal that he had ordered for them. Her head turned toward it, probably following the smell of the food, and her stomach rumbled.
"You're hungry," he stated unnecessarily. "Tell me your name, and we will dine."
Her gaze shifted to him briefly. "Rey," she answered and looked toward the food again.
"I am Kylo Ren," he told her. "Sit," he urged, but she needed no more prodding.
He followed her to the table and lifted the cover off her plate as she sat down before it. Her eyes were riveted on the food, and she didn't wait for him to tell her to eat. He sat down and took a sip of his drink as he watched her devour her meal. When she was done, she studied him with a quizzical expression.
"Why?" she asked. "Why have you fed me this feast?"
He didn't consider the meal he had provided her to be anything out of the ordinary, but he supposed that it was a feast for a scavenger like her. "You're my guest," he replied, repeating what he had told her earlier.
She noticed his uneaten meal. "You're not hungry?"
"I am," he answered, his eyes fixed on her.
She looked at him in confusion before becoming ensnared in his heated gaze. He stood up without breaking eye contact and approached her. He knelt down before her, placing his hands on her thighs. Her breathing was shallow as she stared at him.
"I'm going to take you to see an ocean," he told her.
He had no idea why he'd said that, since it had not been part of his seduction plan. Rey was silent except for the sound of her shallow breaths. She stayed still as he leaned in to kiss her. Then his mouth was plundering hers as his hand came up to hold the back of her head. She moaned as his tongue tangled with hers, and her arms came up around his neck. She was now kissing him back just as hungrily as he was kissing her.
Then the door opened, and Hux made a noisy entrance. "Well, well. What do we have here? Dinner by candlelight?"
Kylo sprang to his feet. "How dare you! These are my private quarters. Get out!"
Hux smirked smugly at him. "Sorry to interrupt. Snoke is requesting a report on your 'prisoner.' I'll let him know that you're busy."
"I'll report to him," Kylo snapped.
"I can understand rutting with her," Hux remarked as his gaze slid toward Rey and then returned to level Kylo with scorn, "but you were kissing her like a besotted schoolboy. Have you at least gotten the information from her?"
"I don't report to you," Kylo retorted furiously. "Now get out!"
Hux smiled coldly. "I'll leave you to your important business."
Kylo closed the door behind him and hurried back to Rey. "Take off that dress and put on your own clothes," he told her urgently.
She rushed to obey while he paced through the room. She came back dressed as she previously had been and looked at him expectantly. He gestured toward the restraints, and her expression turned wary.
"I must leave you here while I report to Snoke," he explained. "I will place a guard on you so you don't escape. Quickly now," he ordered. "Don't fight me."
She regarded him in betrayal as he restrained her. He finished his task and stood there gazing into her eyes. "The guard will prevent you from escaping," he said quietly.
He saw the slow comprehension in her eyes, and he leaned in to kiss her one more time. She kissed him back desperately until he forced himself to pull back from her.
"Join us," she urged.
His smile was pained before he turned and strode out of the room. Then she was left alone with a single guard, and she was soon no longer a captive.