If Ben had gotten a full hour's sleep last night, he would have counted himself lucky.

After his call with Rey he had been up for a while. Judging by the rather unkempt state of his favorite student as she swished into his morning class, she hadn't done much better.

Ben immediately notices the little details. Things that he'd like to think only he knows about her and no one else. Like how her cheeks have that slight flush to that that's more of a sheen of pink rather than a full blush. She'd had that glow when he was eating her out in the sauna.

Or the way she worries at her lower lip, her eyes sliding absentmindedly about the room and staring anywhere but at him as he gives his lecture. She seems listless. He knows better. And the fact that she keeps squirming and crossing and uncrossing her legs tells a story of one pent up bad little girl.

Unsurprisingly, Ben spends most of the class sitting down, his lower half safely tucked out of view behind his desk until the bell rings.

The students begin to shuffle out, a gang of perfume and short plaid skirts and why-oh-why knee high bobby socks. Ben couldn't care less about them. He only has eyes for one student in particular: the one who has been so studiously ignoring him and uncharacteristically silent throughout the whole fifty minute lecture.

"Miss Kenobi, a word with you."

He stops her with a wave of his hand, and several of the other students pause in their exodus as well.

Rey pouts, those perfect lips of her pushing out slightly and reminding Ben of how they had felt wrapped around his cock.

"Professor," gods, even her voice is a little dusky, "I didn't do anything-"

"You were two minutes late to class today, Miss Kenobi."

Her eyes flash to him, annoyance darkening her freckles.

"We're allowed a five minute-"

"You're allowed at my discretion, Miss Kenobi. Now I would like a moment to discuss the repercussions of this."

Around her a wave of giggles rise and fall from the other students. They really are like a gang of blackbirds, tittering and quaking at the slightest sign of commotion even if it's coming from one of their own.

Ben shoots the rest of them a dismissive wave of his hand and they reluctantly shuffle out the door, disappointed they don't get to bear witness to Miss Kenobi getting talked down to yet again.

All of them except for Rose Tico. She stays behind, pretending to futz with her backpack until the last student leaves. Then she has the nerve to grab Rey by her sleeve and try to drag her out.

"This is a private matter, Miss Tico."

"But-"

"Get out."

Rey nods at her and Ben chooses to believe that she's every bit as eager for a few moments alone time with him as he is with her.

The look he gets from Rose is absolutely condemning, but she finally gets the hint after being pushed on both sides and leaves without another word.

When the door finally closes behind her, Ben advances.

"Good morning, Rey."

For a second she tries to hold her ground. The she darts back when he gets within pouncing distance of her. Slowly he directs her to the far corner of the room where they would be safe from any curious eyes peeping in through the window in the door. He reaches out and tucks a lock of her hair behind her ear, savoring how the glow on her cheeks seems to only brighten with his closeness.

"Professor, I have another class."

In ten minutes. They have ten minutes. It's not enough, but it's enough.

"Have you been a good girl for me, Rey?" he asks, stroking the outline of her jaw. "Have you done what I told you, or do I need to punish you?"

They may only have a few minutes before suspicions rise, but that's plenty of time for him to whip her pink right her and now and then make her sit on her welts for the rest of the day. If need be, of course.

Rey shakes her head, her eyes wide and glassy.

"I've been good. I've done everything you told me to."

Ben smiles. The urge to kiss this perfect little piece in front of him is so strong, but that would ruin the dynamic they're playing at right now.

"Have you?" He traces his thumb along the curve of her full lower lip. "So you didn't come at all last night? Not even after we disconnected?"

Ah, there comes the full on blush. His perfect Rey seems so embarrassed.

"No," she shakes her head. "I didn't. Not this morning either."

His smile grows. An image of Rey just waking up and writhing about in her sheets- no, in his sheets- sinks down through his mind and straight to his half-mast.

"You look very frustrated, Rey. Are you? Tell me, are you frustrated?"

Rey's eyelids flutter as his hand traces down the column of her neck to dust over her clavicles. He's barely even touching her and she's so damned responsive. He should have been having her do this from the beginning. Build some character and self control in his bad girl delinquent student.

"I want to come so bad, Professor," she whimpers. "Let me. Please."

He laughs, his hand darting down to the first button of her blouse and he notes how her nipples bloom to full arousal at even this minor touch of proximity.

"I can see that, Rey, but we don't have time. Later. For now, show me that you're telling the truth."

He left his command open to interpretation, but she snatches his hand off her sternum and drags it abruptly under her skirt. Then she shifts, parting her legs enough for him to trace her slit over her panties.

She's very wet, soaking through the no doubt flimsy fabric already. Her finds her hard little nub with a practiced certainty and begins to rub her, his fingers sliding effortlessly even with a layer of fabric separating them. Rey gasps, bucking her hips into his hand as a tremble rolls up along her back.

"So you were telling the truth? Very good Miss Kenobi. Very, very good."

Just to be a little mean, he snags the tip of his middle finger under the edge of her underwear and pushes it forward, tracing her lower lips and making her gasp and suck in a choked breath.

"Would you like to come now, Rey? Would you like to come on my hand right now in my classroom?"

She nods rapidly, her teeth sinking in deep into her lower lip as she stares at him with pleading, slitted eyes.

His finger finds her entrance and he pushes, parting her very slightly with just his fingertip before he drags his hand away. She whines, holding onto his wrist until he steps back.

"Fix you skirt," he tells her, pressing his fingers back to her lips.

She opens obediently, hollowing her cheeks and sucking her own slickness off his digits as he pumps then in and out of her mouth. Perhaps it's time for another edition of A Study in Oral tonight. Maybe for them both, even.

"Ben..."

She sounds like such a whiney brat as he steps back to admire her completely flushed and needy looking appearance.

"Tonight," he promises. "This was just a teaser. Tonight you will meet me after the last period and you'll have another lesson.

To his surprise, Rey shakes her head. It's one of the few times she's outright denied him in their game.

"I can't. I have to go to work. Shift starts at six."

"Cancel it. Take the night off."

Already Ben is halfway through undressing her in his mind. He'll take her back to his apartment, and fuck her for the second time right on the bed her took her virginity on. He could give her a lesson in endurance, see how long she can hold herself back. Or… or perhaps the opposite lesson and they can see just how many times she can climax in a night.

That's exactly what she needs. The 'fuck me so good and hard' is written all over her face, but again she shakes her head.

"I can't, Professor. I really have to go to work. I need to pay Pkutt my rent and he's just been so horrible about it recently. I know he won't give me an extension."

Right. That. Ben's ardor immediately begins to cool, a sudden bitterness replacing the heat in his veins.

"You shouldn't have to do that," he tells her as he steps back. "It's against the Institute's regurgitations. You shouldn't have to pay rent at all."

She blinks at him, her eyebrows pulling together. Oh, she didn't know that, did she?

"I… I still have to."

"How much? How much does he charge?"

"A thousand."

Ben's eyes bug slightly. "That's ridiculous."

Maybe he should try bringing this up to Phasma again. She may not know the details, but this is crossing over into full on extortion. Or there might be other more direct ways of changing Plutt's mind.

Rey shrugs, her hands fidgeting with the bottom hem of her too-short skirt.

"That's what he charges. I don't get a say in it. I don't want to disappoint you, Professor, but I really have to-"

"I'll pay it. Take the night off."

Saying without thinking has gotten Ben into a lot of trouble in his life, so why stop now? What she's telling him is so ridiculous on so many levels.

Rey's face changes, her expression hardening slightly. She seems almost offended.

Oh. Shit. Right.

"Rey, I'm not paying you for- not like that, okay? You're not that way, I know. What I mean is-"

"I can take care of myself, Professor. I always can."

That's highly debatable, but also not to the point right now. Ben holds his hands up in peace.

"How about if I talk to Plutt, then? See if I can get him to see the error in his ways and drop your rent down by a few hundred? I can throw his contract with the Institute around and see if that doesn't make him a little more reasonable? How about that?"

Rey seems to consider it. He wishes he could read her mind, know what the mystery that is woman is truly thinking. After a few moments, she nods, a hint of a smile brightening her eyes.

"Okay, but… but only if you say it that you're 'throwing your DICK around'. Deal?"

Gods. It really is a god awful acronym for an all-girl's school, isn't it?

He straighten his posture, stepping back as Rey steps forward and moves like she wants to kiss him.

"Not now, Miss Kenobi. Don't be late for your next class. I'll see what I can do about your rent, but tonight I expect you to call in sick to your work, understood? I'll take care of the rest."

He's not sure how he'll take care of it, but he'll take care of it. And his eyes stay glued to her barely-covered ass as she leaves. Only when the door closes and he's alone with his thoughts Ben take a moment to sigh and collect himself.

He'll pick her up after the last class. Do it really quick in the parking lot after everyone else has left and then they'll go back to his apartment for a few hours. It's all going to work out. Hopefully.

But for now, Ben is both highly pissed and horny. It's the former that wins out. He has three hours between now and his next lecture. Plenty of time to make a social call.


Ben's "discussion" with Unkar Plutt had gone very poorly. No surprises there.

He'd gone to the apartment complex during his lunch break and found Plutt already half drunk and watching a poker game on TV while in his underwear and nothing else. There alone were at least three infractions in his contract with the Institute, but Ben was here to discuss the far bigger issue of the rent.

Plutt had denied everything. Asked where was the proof and he knew that it was just his word against Rey's and which one of them would win on that?

Of course the rent thing was going on under the table. That must have been why Phasma was willing to look the other way because there was no paper trail to lead back to DICK.

Then Plutt had gone too far. He'd started to imply that the "theoretical" rent was for the girls' own good. If they had to pay him they had to have a job, he argued, and that was less time for them to end up on their backs with their legs in the air.

It was at this point that Ben might have made a mistake. Maybe.

Maybe his fist had spent a little time with Plutt's jaw, and he maybe might had have sent him flying back so hard the couch almost turned over.

Ben maybe had showed himself out after that. Rapidly.

He half expected to have the police knock down the door to his office, but they didn't. With any luck, Plutt was such a lowlife he didn't want any trouble with the law himself.

It might have been a while since Ben lost his temple that suddenly.

He hadn't been lying to Rey when he told her that he used to be a bad, bad boy in his early years. The kind of young man who let something other than words do the talking for him.

Turns out it was easy to fall back on bad habits, especially when it comes to Rey.

He didn't regret it, though. Not even the tiniest bit.

Well, maybe that much, but only just because some of Plutt's beer had splashed all over his suit jacket when the fat fool had maybe thrown it at him on his way out with maybe shouting threats of more if he ever showed up there again. So Ben went back into his office reeking of cheap Pabst Blue Ribbon and having only one option to change into: the blue and red flannel jacket Phasma had given him as a loaded gift of appreciation last week.

What were the odds that he'd have to wear it today when he had a meeting with her? Unlike his last one, this one had been scheduled. More bullshit about his future tenure vs. His Alaskan Nightmare debate and today Ben just wasn't in the mood to kiss his boss's impeccably tailored ass right now.

"Giving up are you?"

Hux, his much hated co-worker down the hall from his office sneered as he walked past on this way to see Phasma.

The angry ginger had always had some sort of big problem with Ben. Now they were apparently in competition for the same job security and it had brought his hostility's a little more in the open than before.

Hence why Ben was going to wait and "work late to make a good impression" before safely picking up Rey. And then just absolutely going to town on her, but he couldn't think about that now. Needed to keep his eye on the prize of not being shipped off to a place where the Mosquito is the unofficial state bird.

He gives Hux the stink eye as he stomps past, steeling himself before he enters Director Phasma's brightly little den of control.

She was dressed all in black today. It made their meeting both seem funereal in its seriousness as well as Ben look even more of an idiot in his flannel jacket by comparison to the impeccable woman sitting primly and cross-legged in front of him.

"Director."

Ben sits, locking his hands together over his lap, and waits as his boss opens a file on her desk and then closes it.

"That jackets really suits you, Professor Solo. I'm pleased to see you wearing it. Unless, of course, you only put it on to impress me."

For someone like Director Phasma, queen of all she surveys but especially of the passive aggressive means of asserting control, a comment like that came close to a full on declaration of war.

Ben clears his throat, buying himself time. There's no right answer to her question, and she's not making eye contact with him. That's it. Plutt squealed about what happened. He's hosed.

"Happy to have it," he says instead, trying for a middle ground. "Winter's come on fast this year. Snowing outside already."

Sleeting technically, but come on, how much more innocuous could he go? They're talking about the kriffing weather as he awaits hearing whether Plutt is going to file assault charges against him or not.

"You don't like the cold weather?"

Phasma's eyes flick up, dagger like in their precision as she reads his face. Ben fidgets, feeling that creeping tightness start to set between his shoulders as he takes notice of the new decoration in her office: a calendar of 'Scenic Alaska Vistas'. Double kriff.

"Ben, I want you to flunk Miss Kenobi from your class."

Ben didn't hear her right. He couldn't have, because it's not possible that she just said that or called him by his first name. He wasn't even completely sure she knew what his first name was, and the other thing…

"Come again, Director?"

Up goes the blonde eyebrow and down goes the edges of her mouth.

"I have just received notice that our contract with the government will be coming under review. Miss Kenobi has been one of our most troubled students. These two situations are in direct conflict with each other."

Ben's mind skips stones over the surface of choppy waters before sinking completely.

"What?" he asks dumbly.

Phasma lets the silence hang just a moment too long to be insignificant before she answers.

"Someone has filed a complaint with the state's school board about us. Such things are normally swept under the rug, but whoever did it must have had some clout with the higher ups, as it were. Because of this, we need to be extra strict with our standards. Miss Kenobi falls well short of them, so I want you to fail her from your class so that we can dismiss her from the program."

Ben only half hears her. Someone got the Institute in trouble? Heck, Ben would half like to shake their hand or take credit himself, but right now, rankly, he's not sure if he gives a damn about any of this.

"How would me unjustly flunking R- Miss Kenobi possibly help with anything?"

Phasma slides the folder on her desk to the front and center. Her nails tap against it and Ben frowns.

"When Miss Kenobi first came to our institute, her file was three pages. Only three pages."

Ben swallows. The folder under her red oval nails was thick. Very thick.

"And," Phasma continues, "if we're going to be audited, they're going to look beyond simply the academic progress of our students. The Institute is about more than just offering an education, Mr. Solo. It's about providing responsibility, accountability, professionalism, and ethics. Grades are only half the equation, and we have to periodically make an example out of the bad apples."

He falls silent. When there are no right answers, silence is the only option left.

"There is also the whole business with her caretaker, Unkar Plutt," she says after a moment. "He is operating under… a non-traditional agreement with us. If Miss Kenobi was still attending our program, this may be brought under closer scrutiny and that would be very unfortunate."

Ben squeezes his hands together to keep them from betraying how pissed off he's turning on the inside. Allowing Plutt to extort money out of the students was one thing, but what she's asking him goes to a whole new level of unethical.

It makes choice clear, even if it isn't an easy one.

"No."

Phasma's fingers freeze mid-tap on Rey's file. Her eyebrows slowly raise raise raise. Clearly this is a woman who is not used to being directly challenged.

"No?" she repeats. "No as in you're refusing to-"

"To flunk a good student who deserves a second chance and not the rug yanked out from under her?" There's something pettily satisfying about interrupting Phasma for a good cause. "Hide Rey. Stick her in a closet during the review. Heck, send her off to an old folks home for community service when they're here to make her look extra virtuous. All of those are good options. But ruining a troubled young girl's life just because you're worried that your 'non-traditional' contracts might paint DICK in a bad light? I'm not going too have any part of that."

For the first time ever, Director Phasma's mask of perfection cracks. Her eyes narrow, her lips pulling down into an unmistakable sneer. It only last a second, but it's a second of starting straight into the cold white of the Alaskan sun. Then she draws back. Tight lipped. Tighter eyes.

"Mr. Solo, when I hired you, I took a big chance on hiring someone with such a checkered past like you have. Without proper, glowing references, I believe you will find it almost impossible to get another job in the teaching field under your unique circumstances."

Ben falls silent, memories of his own youth and the fallout it brought him springing up vividly to mind. He's still paying for his past mistakes, but just how much is he willing to give up? The pussy wasn't that good, was it?

In the absolutely most inappropriate of times, he feels a twitch of a vote in his pants. Well part of him certainly thinks the answer to that is a big old yes, and the more rational head on his shoulders also knows that there's really only one answer he can give Phasma.

"I stand by what I said, Director. My answer is no."

Phasma doesn't sneer again. She doesn't crack. And she doesn't blink.

"I see."

Her fingernails swirl circles on Rey's file. Ben frowns and waits, unsure if he's just been fired or not.

"You may leave, Professor Solo. I wouldn't want you to be late for your next lecture. Tardiness is frowned on by all levels of our Institute."

His back pops from held tension when he stands up. She stops him again with a clearing of her throat before he can politely bound for the door.

"Mr. Solo, a moment more, please. I think, to be fair, I will give you until the final week to make your decision on what to do. Until then, I look forward to seeing you in a more casual capacity at this year's Christmas Party. You should wear that jacket, in fact, it will fit the theme."

It may be just by chance, but there is a perfect straight line that's formed from Rey's file on the desk to Phasma's rigidly straight posture and the Alaskan calendar above her head. Like you could literally hold up a ruler and all three of these talismans of doom would be perfectly aligned.

Ben clears his throat to his silent mention of a ruler as the ever-foolish little Ben gives another jump of enthusiasm for the promised evening to come.

"I'll keep that in mind, Director. Have a good day."

"You too, Mr. Solo."

He almost bumps into Hux on his way out. He wouldn't put it past him to have been listening in at the door to the whole conversation.

He doesn't matter. If he's about to get fired or shipped up to the Frozen Lands of Nador, this little redheaded punk-bitch really doesn't matter.

Two priorities take a precedent. First is drowning his problems between the legs of his very favorite naughty student. Second is coming up with a game plan on figuring out how to untangle this mess before it gets any worse.


He'd been wrong about Hux. Hux was being a real asshole and this time he wasn't even hiding it.

Ben had been procrastinating in his office, pretending to be a very diligent employee working overtime to prepare for tomorrow's classes. Hux, asshole office block neighbor extrordinarie, had apparently seen this as a personal challenge. He loudly announced that he also was going to be working late and such diligence would surely be considered when it came down to decide tenure.

Tenure. Whatever. For the last few years that had been the Golden Ticket of working here. Now than Ben's seen below the shady undercarriage of DICK, he's not sure he could stand to work here forever.

But that leaves him with Fairbanks or minimum wage hell. Karkers. Maybe he should just accept his fate and quit now, go get a job scanning groceries across from Rey at Niima Market. It wouldn't be so bad, despite being the end of all his hopes and reams for a future worth living for. They could totally sneak in quickies during their breaks. Go at it in the produce aisle. Slip the tip in front of the school supplies. Be bad bunnies next to the-

Okay, nevermind. Ben was tired and horny and it had nearly been an hour past when he told Rey he'd pick her up. She kept texting him, saying that she was waiting out in the cold and sleet and he'd damned well better not be planning on standing her up. Then she'd sent a picture that was either her perfect little pink-covered crotch or possibly a sign of the early stages of frostbite.

Kriff it. Hux can win at the who-can-stay-later-and-get-no-sex game. Congratulations, prize was all his. Ben was about to get a serious piece of ass tonight, so who's the real winner here?

Still, he creeps out of his office as quietly as he can. Locks the door with his sleeve over the knob to muffle the sound. Then he flips Hux's closed door the bird as he silently stalks down the hallway towards his half frozen prize awaiting him outside.


Ben had thought about telling Rey that Phasma was trying to get her thrown out of the Institute.

Then Rey had distracted him by practically throwing herself into the passenger's seat of his car and side hugging him furiously.

"C-c-cold."

Her hands were freezing. Two blocks of ice that burrowed their way inside his flannel jacket then the shirt underneath to make his eyes water and his dick twitch when she touches bare skin.

It's late evening and the sleet has turned to snow and there were only two damned cars in the parking lot. That was how long he had been keeping his frozen beauty waiting for him.

"Sorry," he mumbles, kissing the top of her head as he carefully pulls out of the lot and onto the mostly empty highway.

"I'm soaked to the bone," she mumbles, burrowing her hands deeper and lower down. "I can't wait to get out of these clothes. I've never been more wet."

Kriff. She's doing this on purpose. She has to be.

Ben doesn't take the bait, though. All his concentration is required to keep them on the pavement as her touch moves closer and closer to his highly grateful half-chub.

They shouldn't be doing this. He should stop this. He shouldn't be about to take his favorite student home and fuck her senseless until he can't even remember his own name let alone why his whole life is hanging in the balance between life and Fairbanks in Flannel.

"Rey..."

He draws her hand away from him, finding it close to impossible to steel his resolve to make the right choices as she palms him through his boxers. She looks up at him then. Big eyes. Full lips. Those damned flushed cheeks.

He tries again. Ten and two. Hands on the wheel, eyes on the road. Don't let yourself get seduced by the freckled siren practically sitting on your lap.

"Rey, we should-"

"I'm horny. I'm so damned horny. Do you want to see?"

The stop light ahead of him is turning yellow. It would be rude of him not to look at whatever she has to show him, right?

Even in the dimness of the evening storm, her pink panties seem to almost glow like a beacon to the promised land. She rubs the inside of her thighs, biting her lower lip almost innocently.

"I've been thinking about you all day long, Professor. Have you been thinking about me?"

Does visualizing sensually teasing her with a banana from the produce aisle at Niima's count? Or how, even when faced with the grimness of a thorough Phasma-ing he still was a little hard and not even his boss's glacier glare could fully cool down his anticipation for tonight?

Screw it. Screw it all. Tomorrow is another day. Tomorrow he'll deal with real life shit. Tonight, though, tonight it's time to really give Rey the D of DICK.

"Of course, Miss Kenobi. Now you just sit tight and keep your hands where I can see them. In just a few minutes those wet clothes are going to be a thing of the past."

Rey giggles. It's the sweetest sound, and made even better when she cuddles herself close again and rests her head against his shoulder. He gives her one more kiss on the temple for the road.


Author's note:

In chapter 1 Styx dared me on archive of our own to use the D in Dick line. Challenge accepted :P

And, what, no sex in this chapter?! Well… I made the executive decision to focus this chapter on the plot (yes, there IS a plot after all! I know, I'm as shocked as you are!) and then ch8 is going to be a 3-5k bangathon. Like them just going at it before the balloon of their illicit affair gets burst. We actually only have 2 chapters left of the main story and then an epilogue, isn't that crazy?! I'm not sure if I'm liking this 50k limit, self imposed, but it sure does go by quickly.

Also I know I'm badly behind on Stranger to Blue Waters. I've gotten the first chapter out and then decided to completely scratch my meticulously crafted outline and start all over with the plot because it just wasn't right. Again self imposed. Oy. Soon. I promise. I think. I've got to figure that one out.

ps. anyone care to guess who the anonymous person that made a complaint against DICK was? No hints other than it's not just some rando stranger never mentioned in this fic before…


comment replies:

ToughSpirit- Don't worry that I stopped this fic, I was just taking a vacation but I'm absolutely going to be finishing it! We're actually nearly there at the end already, this is slated for 10 chapters and we just crossed the door#2 into the final act. I hope you liked ch7 and thanks so much for commenting! :)

kfulmer7- hi again! I was happy to give Rose a little fun, too. I don't have enough time to really flesh out the secondary characters, but it only seemed fair that Rose would get a little something of her own after covering so much for Rey and Ben. And yeah, Rey was pretty much climbing the walls this whole chapter, though Ben wasn't much better himself. Thanks as always for commenting! :D

shestoolazytologin - Ha, spa services! I really couldn't think what to call his number, but I went with the facial angle and this is what I came up with, lol! These two ALMOST talked about their feelings for each other. Strihns are already very attached and now the shit's really hit the fan so they had better decide if they're worth it to each other because they both have a lot to lose, don't they? Glad you liked this chapter and thanks so much for commenting as always! :D