Author's Notes: I'll be cranking things up a notch, put a little more heat in so to speak. I warned you in previous chapters that there will be underage sexual themes. If you're still here, then you know what you're in for. Rey is 13, Ben is 33. Don't like, don't read.

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters

Ben tossed and turned in bed, unable to find the comfort of sleep. Guilt had been plaguing him for days, ever since his last visit to Rey's room—the day, in his partially inebriated state, that he had lowered his guard and allowed himself to be close to her.

Far too close.

Turning to his side, he lifted his hand to his face and stared at it, watching it tremble as he flexed and clenched it. Why had he touched her like that? What the hell was going through his mind that he would actually do such a thing? And to a mere child? Granted, she was not his child, but still he would never...he wasn't a...

Growling, he turned and buried his screams into his pillow as his mind assaulted him with the memory of her hot, silken skin against his hand, the beating of her heart against his palm...

...the moan that had come out of her soft, pink lips.

He groaned and clawed at his pillow. The way Rey had moaned was burned into his memory, refusing to fade even as he desperately willed it to. She sounded uncannily like Annabelle when he used to touch her the same way. It was bad enough that Rey was already starting to look exactly like her mother before all the drugs, whoring and illness took a toll on her beauty. In other words, Rey was starting to look like the sweet, innocent 19-year-old he had fallen desperately in love with.

Except Rey wasn't Annabelle. And she certainly was years away from being nineteen, causing him to become more acutely aware of the crushing guilt in his chest.

After a while, Ben turned on his back and stared at the ceiling. Somewhere in the vast house, the grandfather clock rang its midnight toll, the sound seemingly louder to his ears, ringing with it the same questions he had been asking himself over and over in the previous days. Why had he touched her like that? Was it because of the bourbon? His lack of intimacy perhaps? He hadn't been intimate with a woman in years. Could that be the answer then?

Or could it be that seeing Rey's resemblance to Annabelle had awakened something long dormant within him? A longing for what could have been? Could it be that he was still in love with Annabelle after all this time?

He shook his head. No. Annabelle had broken his heart—crushed it into a million pieces, buried it and spat on its grave. He had lost all love for her and he certainly did not love the bastard child she bore...right?

Frantic knocks echoed from his door, and he quickly got up from bed. "Who could it be at this time of night?" he thought, as he put on his black silk robe and strode across the bedroom to open the door. It couldn't be Maz or Threepio. It was their day off and they wouldn't be back until morning. That could only mean...

Heart suddenly beating fast, Ben swung the door open to find Rey, standing in her ankle-length cotton night gown. She was trembling something awful, her face flushed, and her eyes glistening with tears.

"Ben..." she began weakly, "I...I'm very sick..."

"What?" All previous thoughts flying out the window, Ben raised his hand to touch her forehead and her neck, doing his best to ignore the way she groaned at his touch. The way his hand tingled at the feel of her skin. "You don't seem hot."

"No." Rey shook her head. "My fever broke last night. It's not that. It's...I'm bleeding."

"Bleeding?" Ben pulled his hand away and did a quick sweep of her with his eyes. "Bleeding where?"

"D-Down there..." Rey stammered, and pointed to a stain on the lower part of her nightgown which Ben hadn't even noticed and he felt his cheeks grow hot. He knew what was happening of course, but he didn't think he would be the one to be there for her when it did. This was Maz's responsibility, not his, but Maz was not here and Rey was sobbing uncontrollably.

There would be no one to be here for her but him.

"You're not sick," he said not unkindly. "It's called a period. It happens to girls your age. It's normal."

Rey's sobs stilled, and she looked up at his great height with the most perplexed expression on her face. "A period? It's...normal?"

"Every young lady goes through it," Ben continued, then tilted his head and asked, "Didn't your tutors teach you about the reproductive system yet?"

Rey shook her head again. "What's that?"

Ben felt his heart seize. She sounded so innocent. Looked so innocent. Like Annabelle had. Like Annabelle pretended to be. Only Rey wasn't pretending. She was truly new to all this, and it dawned on him just how sheltered the girl was.

"I'll...have Maz tell you more once she gets back." Ben took a step forward before closing the door behind him. "In the meantime, let's get you changed into some fresh clothes. I think Maz left some sanitary pads in your medicine cabinet for just such an emergency."

"Sanitary pads?" Rey repeated, her voice laced with confusion.

Oh boy, Ben thought. It was bad enough the girl didn't know about menstrual cycles, but how would he even begin to explain this?

"I'll...have you read the instructions on it," Ben settled on that non-explanation, and led Rey back to her bedroom across the hall. Once inside, he checked the medicine cabinet in her bathroom, found what he was looking for and handed the pack of sanitary pads to Rey, who promptly read the instructions before heading inside the bathroom alone to change. By the time she got out, Ben had already changed the sheets, which he had noticed was also stained.

"You didn't have to do that," Rey said softly as he carried the soiled sheets to the laundry hamper. "I was planning to do it myself."

"You wanted my help, didn't you?" Ben fluffed up the pillows before pulling back the covers for Rey. She quietly climbed on to the bed and settled in before he carefully draped the covers over her, making sure to tuck her in nice and snug.

"Ben?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you. For taking care of me," Rey said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I...just want you to know that I'm grateful. That even though I'm not your daughter...and especially after what Mother did to you, you still looked out for me as much as you could. I'm only sorry that I haven't thanked you enough."

Ben's lips tightened. Rey had never been so vocal about her gratitude before. Perhaps it was because he never really gave her a chance to thank him especially since he had kept her at arm's length up until recently. But the mention of Annabelle soured whatever welcome he may have felt for her gratefulness.

"I made a promise to your mother that I would take care of you to the best of my capacity. And I never go back on my word," he mustered trying to keep his voice casual. "Now go to sleep. You don't want to get sick again, do you?"

"I...I think I might still be."

"How so?"

"My heart. It's beating too fast."

Ben froze, and he was taken back to what had occurred a few nights ago. Wasn't this the same scenario which led him to touching her?

"I'm...not sure I understand." Ben didn't look at her as he said it. "Can you elaborate?"

"My heart's beating so fast that I can barely breathe," Rey answered. "It's been happening a lot lately especially when I think of you."

"When you...think of me?" Ben finally looked at her, saw the flush of color rising to her cheeks and he knew his were the same. A thought of what the girl may have felt or may be feeling nagged at him but he refused to entertain it.

He was ready to shut her down, to tell her it was nothing and that she should just ignore it when she pressed on. "This didn't happen before. But after you touched me, that's when it started happening."

Ben swallowed hard. He couldn't say anything else except to echo her. "After I...touched you?"

"Yes. Here, here and here." Rey pointed to her forehead, neck and chest respectively, though she put more emphasis on her chest. "Especially here. It made my heart beat fast and my body warm all over."

Ben was dumbfounded, the nagging thought coming back at full force. Could it be that Rey...felt something for him?

He shook his head inwardly. No. It couldn't be. She was probably just confused. Her young body was confused, especially since she had never been touched like that before.

"It's...it's nothing, Rey." Ben had to sit down on the bed, lest his knees give away. Better to just dismiss it, he thought. Sweep it under the rug. Maybe then she will stop asking about it. "It happens to everyone. Don't mind it and it will go away."

"Does it happen to you too?"

Before Ben could reply, Rey sat up from bed and placed her small hand on his chest.

He couldn't move. Couldn't speak. Couldn't even breathe as her hand continued to press against the exposed skin of his chest, heat blooming from where she touched. Not since Annabelle's funeral had she willingly put her hand on him, and it made him feel hot and cold at the same time.

"Your heart's beating so fast," Rey observed in a whisper, then, to Ben's astonishment, took his large hand in hers and pressed it against her chest. "So is mine. Can you feel it?"

Ben swallowed thickly. "Yes."

"Does that mean you're sick too?"

He looked at her then, this innocent, naive, sickly little girl who seemed to think every new sensation was a symptom of an illness. Yes, he wanted to tell her. He was sick. Sick for having his body respond to the touch of a thirteen-year-old whom he had helped raise all her life, and even sicker for not wanting the touch to end.

Slowly, his gaze lowered to where his hand lay on her chest. He was so close to her budding breast—so close, that one swipe of a finger and he would feel the pebble of her nipple again, which seemed to be glaring at him from underneath the cream satin of her nightgown. The desire to touch her was overwhelming, and he could only do so much to resist.

Seemingly on its own accord, his thumb moved to brush over her nipple.

Rey's reaction was instant. She shut her eyes tight and moaned just like she did before—a cacophony of whimpers and gasps but this time, Ben didn't pull away. He couldn't. Not when the sounds coming from Rey's lips entranced him so, and soon, his other hand rose to knead her other breast, eliciting more of the same reaction.

"How does it feel when I do this?" he whispered, almost afraid to break the spell as he circled his thumbs around her pert nipples. He knew the answer of course, but for some reason, he wanted to hear her say it. Needed to hear her say it.

Rey's breathing was labored. "It feels...good. Warm. Tingly."

Good. Warm. Tingly. That was exactly what he was feeling at the moment, except tenfold as he continued to massage her breasts, his dark eyes boring into her glazed ones. With her face flushed and her expression a picture of ecstasy, Ben couldn't help but think of Annabelle once more. She had the exact same look on her face whenever they were intimate...

...and whenever she was intimate with other men.

Ben snatched his hands away and rose to his feet in an instant.

"Ben?"

"I...I'm sorry," Ben mumbled, taking several steps back. "This was a mistake."

"A mistake?" Rey's brows furrowed, confusion, disappointment and panic clear in her hazel eyes. "Ben...I don't understand. Did I do something wrong?"

"No." Ben shook his head vehemently. "Just...just forget I was ever here. Forget everything that happened. I'm sorry."

He was quick to turn around and run for the door. Rey called out his name, but he could barely hear her through the din in his mind. And even after he had shut the door behind him, the screaming in his head would not abate.

He stared at his offending hands, the sensation from touching Rey's breasts still lingering. What the hell was he doing? She was a child! He had no business fondling her like that. She was his ward. His stepdaughter. The girl he had sworn to care for and protect...and yet he had taken advantage of her. Preyed on her innocence, her lack of knowledge when it came to boundaries, all to satisfy a carnal desire within him.

Desire...

Ben's eyes widened at the realization. He desired her. Heaven help him, he desired that child. But why? He had never, in his entire existence, shown a preference for the younger. Why was Rey any different?

Oh, but Rey was different. She wasn't just any child. She was the child of one Annabelle Elizabeth Snoke. The woman who had beguiled and broken him. Rey was the spitting image of her mother, and yet, she was everything her mother wasn't—kind, innocent and pure.

But now...now he had sullied her.

Mind still reeling, Ben slowly made his way to his study, where he would drown his thoughts with bourbon until he mercifully passed out on his desk.

Author's Notes: I hope I surprised you guys with the reveal that Annabelle is essentially Snoke in this story. At first, I didn't intend her to be Snoke or related to him, but it just made so much sense. She's the villain, the looming specter from beyond the grave that continues to influence Ben Solo; Annabelle Elizabeth Snoke was the one who took advantage of Ben, manipulated him and broke him. So yes, pretty much Rey has a bit of dark side in her too ;) Thanks again for reading.