Lady Hux would never have expected him to barge into her house, looking for her husband. Granted, he did claim that he had something extremely urgent to discuss, and that it was, of course, not a topic he could tackle with others around, and once upon a time she would have naively believed it. Possibly there was such a thing after all, as they had gone through the worst military defeat they could remember. But over time she had gotten various vibes - sometimes more than that, when her husband didn't seem to care, anymore - that their twisted, unhealthy work relationship was actually also tainting their private life.
So she carefully studied him, certainly not expecting the man to show himself without his helmet, finding him younger than she would have assumed, and she sighed, leading him through the mansion and into her own chambers. He had never been interested in sharing his quarters with her, but since he lost Starkiller, he had remained close as if needing reassurance or company or both.
She opened the door in and trod in first, showing him she was at home and he was just a tolerated guest - and also because she wanted to see her husband's face when the knight would appear in his view. And as she did, she immediately regretted that forbidden knowledge, surprise making way to some emotion akin to a gentle happiness. She tensed and told herself she knew, now. She didn't know the details of what had transpired between them, but she knew enough.
Ren spoke first, repeating that he had something to discuss, something regulation wouldn't allow her to hear. She ignored him, staring at her husband as she took her time going to her shelves and examining her books, finally choosing one randomly and sitting herself in the back of the room, not exactly close enough to hear, but certainly not leaving. Hux would have sent her out, once upon a time, but he wasn't himself since Starkiller, and since what they had shared after that, so he sighed, long suffering, and gestured for Ren to sit down in front of him. Instead, the younger man chose to sit next to him on the plush sofa. The wife glared daggers for an instant only, pretending not to be spying on them lest she would be asked to remove herself.
It proved impossible to concentrate on her reading, and it was difficult to make sense of what the men were discussing, close and intently. She couldn't help thinking this was a punishment for bringing him up as her husband was vulnerable. As vulnerable as a Hux could be. She allowed her eyes to get back to her book, only to realize after some time - that it wasn't her book. She wouldn't be reading some tract about… politics? war? some mix thereof? The wife hadn't realized that general Hux had been bringing some of his favorite books into her room, instead of retiring to his own or reading somewhere else. She imagined the man, stern and cold as usual, discreetly arranging them on her shelf, in between her novels and decoration manuals. It was absolutely cute, to her, and so disorderly it could never have happened before.
She told herself she could almost forgive what was going on in front of her eyes. Almost. Somehow, as she had been pondering, they had started holding hands. Hux didn't protest about physical contact, public display or sentiments. Ren was talking basically in his face, whispering Maker knew what, so close he had to feel his breath on his pale complexion. She shivered, he didn't.
"This is a no, Ren". That had been loud enough for her to clearly compute. It had to be on purpose. "I am not going to run, I am not to be a fugitive. I am a general of…". His voice, self assured and - for anyone else but her - just like before. The brunet interrupted him.
"Always your misplaced honor and sense of duty then, general". His tone was bitter, definitely more personal. He let go of his hand and she thought he was going to leave, or even to strike - she had heard the rumours about him - but instead he placed it on her husband's thigh, much too high to be tolerable between friends. Hux didn't protest. She gasped as much at that as at the touch. Ren, climbing higher again, was almost touching him now. His other hand took hold of Hux's face, the clear eyes obviously conflicted and disturbed, and he kissed his cheek, not quite in a friendly way. He aimed for the mouth then, stopping just a breath from the red lips. She didn't hear what he whispered, but she read it on his lips. One last time.
Hux didn't move much, but his mouth was clearly further away from temptation now. "Not... No". His no was quite definitive, but she could read into the interaction, and she gathered that his first answer would have been not here. That, again, taught her everything she needed. A sob escaped her lips, which she hated. Pain was wrecking her physically and she couldn't breathe. He looked toward his lady wife and his eyes were filled with shame and, unless she totally misinterpreted, begging. For her to understand. She wished this all had been taped, she could still use this information to destroy him, to hurt him bad, but now that she also knew how terrible the situation was, she hoped this would be no more than a drop in an ocean of dishonor.
"It is that bad, then", she managed to comment, meaning both the First order and their not so youthful indiscretions.
"As I said, always your misplaced honor and sense of duty, general". That was clearly a jab at her. He got up, oblivious to anything including Hux, and left the room. He at least had the good taste not to look at her.
"Kylo", her husband said when the man was already much too distant to hear it. His voice sounded deadened, dead. As if she had waited for a reason to unleash, she stood up in one start, frightening him out of this, and she threw the treatise at him, aiming to hurt. He didn't react when it hit him straight on the forehead. It would bruise. She hoped. She had never good at throwing, but this was good.
"Get out of here!", she screamed, not caring if anyone heard. "Go to him, go to hell!". He didn't react again, shocked that this was the woman he had married. He stood up, an interrogation on his face. She gritted her teeth and nodded for the door, unable to say more or not trusting herself to. She didn't believe it when he left. She had managed to throw General Hux out.
She assumed he had run after 'Kylo', then, but much later, when she went down to give some orders to the servants, she found him alone in front of a glass of Coruscant liquor. She approached to assess the situation and her eyes detected a red, swollen shape on his lip. He didn't meet her eyes when he found that she was looking at it. She bent toward him and breathed against his mouth as if she could still sense someone else had been there. She licked tenderly at the raised flesh, though she could only taste liquor. He sighed and just in case he was thinking of the other, she bit him hard just where Ren had. Picturing her husband meeting the warrior's plush lips, the other man's hand reaching for his pleasure, in her own quarters, helped. The image brought on a surge of hatred. That shouldn't have caused a ripple of desire low in her stomach. She wouldn't ask if more, worse than this had taken place under her own roof. She licked again, tasting copper, and they both moaned without realizing.