Part IX

It had been half a solar cycle since she had come to The Empire and Kira was thriving. She had a family within Mama Maz and her sisters. She had just completed two courses at the university, learning about history and politics. If she was going to change the galaxy one influential man at a time, then she should know which way to push.

She enjoyed working weekends when politicians and business owners were more likely to end up in her bed. So she dressed in a slinky white silk dress that had crystal encrusted straps and a back that plunged low. She had become very confident with her body and kept in shape at the university gym.

Like any other night, she got ready with Rose and they walked down the stairs together to survey the crowd in the lounge. "Another bachelor party," Rose mused, looking to a group of eight men just off the bar.

Kira had started to take the grooms up to her room a few months back, thinking that at least with her talents the men wouldn't actually be cheating on their brides. She often made them talk about their fiancée, why and how they had fallen in love and their hopes for the future. By the time the men left her, they were so bathed in love for their wife to be, that they would never stray.

So when she scanned the group and saw the man who appeared to be the center of the party, she set her eyes on him.

The group was a little strange, all dressed in black, but not too formally. They had a hardened quality to them as if they had seen trying times in their lives. They gave off the air that they got their hands dirty for their work, not sitting in crystal towers all day, or wearing robes that never saw a scuff.

At the center of the group was a man she could tell was tall, even though he was sitting, his long outstretched legs gave him away. He had hair that came almost to his shoulders, not what she was used to with her normal clients and she almost mused that he wouldn't be worth her time and she would do better to get trade secrets from the galactic lobbyist eyeing her from the corner.

But, for every few influencers that she bedded, it was nice to send a groom home happy to his bride.

She focused back on the dark haired man, taking in the sharp angles of his face. A strong nose sat at the center, flanked by eyes so dark that if she got close enough she could most likely see herself in them. His lips were full and she tried to imagine them wrap around her heat. He sat with arrogance, legs splayed wide, commanding the space around him. He looked strong with a wide chest and shoulders.

In a normal setting, when he caught her staring, she would have been embarrassed, but this was her home and in this room, she got to make the calls. He smirked at her and took a sip of his drink. One of his friends gave him a playful push on the shoulder, telling him to get off his ass and go to the girl.

They had just come off of a difficult mission and this was their way of cutting loose. He only partook about half the time, often leaving much of the fun up to his Knights. But when he noticed a pretty petite brunette eyeing him from across the bar his skin started to warm.

When they would go incognito, the Knights would don civilian clothing and leave their helmets in the shuttle. They often went by their given names, especially Kylo, who's name was becoming rather infamous around the galaxy as of late.

He would never tell his Knights or his Master, but there was something calming about getting back out into civilization and calling himself Ben. Something that perhaps cleansed his soul after all of the misdeeds he had committed and still plan to act upon. He exchanged the battle dented helmet and the blood-soaked gloves, for dark jeans, black V-neck shirt, and a leather jacket that had a pocket custom stitched along his left flack that concealed his saber. The iconic cross guarded instrument would be a dead give away for his true identity.

So with a swagger that his lanky body naturally had, and perhaps inherited from his father, he stood and moved around the other patrons towards her. Usually, Kira could get a read on a client within a moment of her notice, but a trail of darkness seemed to wave and ripple around this man, it both intrigued her and also sent a shiver down her spine. She turned to the little spot at the back of her mind, it was practically on fire, burning brighter than ever, begging to be stoked.

No conversation was needed. She didn't need to bat her eyes or stick out her chest. She just blinked at him and then turned, looking over her shoulder to make sure he was following, before moving for the stairs. For an unknown reason, she just knew that anything they had to say to each other needed to be behind closed doors.

The entire walk, Kylo was trying to get a read on her. He brushed against her mind with the Force, like fingers touching the most delicate jewels. There was no discernible thoughts, just feelings of excitement and trepidation…heat and light. He was becoming very curious about the small woman with the creamy skin of her back acting as an impossible temptation.

Her room was the color of a sunrise and he found it very fitting for the light that she gave off. She moved them to a sitting area, still not having said a word to him, as if spoken language wasn't needed. Wanting to have control over where his saber was, he pushed his jacket off his shoulders, letting it slide down his arms and then folded it over the back of the chair she was offering to him.

"What's your name?" He finally spoke. His lips pursed and his eyebrows rose with interest.

"I'm Kira."

"Mistress of the Light," he almost snorted. "Very fitting."

She decided to take his offhanded comment as a compliment and moved to her bedside table, gathering her credit swiper. "What should I call you?" She had learned to ask this question, knowing that half of her clients used false names.

When she turned back, he as holding a gold credit card between two fingers and offered it to her, "You may call me Ben."

Smiling at the simple and traditional name, she almost wanted to hope it truly belonged to him. But she just took the card from him, cocked her hip slightly to the side and asked, "What would you like from me?"

His eyes became even darker, leaning back in the chair as if it was his throne and she was his to command. "Everything."

Another shiver ran through her and settled between her thighs. She might have to break her own rule about grooms, her body was screaming for her to bed him. Instead of letting the pressure at the base of her skull push her forward, she swiped his card and handed it back to him once the three thousand credit transfer went through. For some reason, even though he didn't wear the latest fashions and his jeans seems well worn, she could tell that he could afford to pay her ten times that for her service. And what was worse…or better…she couldn't tell, she felt that he would.

But Kira went about her normal routine, dropping to her knees in front of her client and started with his boots, pushing up his pant leg to get to the laces, her fingers grazed a strong calf and she wondered if he was made up completely of muscle.

She started her normal line of questioning as he watched her with intense eyes and continued working on his drink. "Where are you from?"

"Chandrila," he named his birth world.

Kira smirked to herself. Perhaps she was wrong about him, he was from the Core, but he still had a roughness about him that didn't lend to banking or industry. "When is your wedding?" She looked up at him through her lashes as she pulled at the heel of the first boot.

"I'm not engaged," he answered flatly.

"Oh," her tone was light, relieved that she wouldn't feel guilty after letting this man take her in whatever way he pleased. "I'm sorry for my assumption. Usually, groups as large as yours are for a stag night."

"They are associates of mine."

"I see," she went to work on the other boot. "And what is it you do?"

"You ask a lot of questions for a…" for the first time the term whore wouldn't do.

"Mistress of the Light," she said back to him in an almost joking tone and something in her gut fluttered as she saw just the smallest smirk pull at the corner of his full lips. "I have found that some conversation creates a sense of intimacy, which can make what we do even more fulfilling."

He chewed on her words for a moment before finishing his drink and setting the glass on a dark wood table that sat between the two chairs. "I'm a mercenary of sorts."

Her eyes rose at this, looking up into his almost expressionless face. He was telling the truth and this is where the sense of grit and danger came from that she had felt before. His hands were not clean and he seemed like the type of man who would do the tasks that others might balk at.

She had just finished pulling off his other boot, carefully moving them under the table between the chairs to keep them out of the way. Now was the time that she started to push with her suggestions. Moving closer into the space between his knees she ran her hands up his thighs and looked up into his fathomless eyes.

"Tell me your deepest, darkest secret."

Kylo was surprised to feel a nudge at the front of his mind, but it couldn't be. She couldn't have the Force, he would have been able to feel it. Perhaps she was just very talented in her trade and weaker men spilled their confession. But she looked so very pretty between his knees and if this is the game she wanted to play, he saw no harm in making her believe that she had cast her spell over him.

"It's very dark," he teased.

Kira lifted her bottom from her heels, bringing her face closer to his, which was now hunched forward. She reached out and stroked his left cheek, combing her fingers into his ebony hair, which was surprisingly soft. "Let me ease your mind. Let me take your pain." She pushed a little harder, she had found that some men's mental blocks were stronger than others.

He felt the nudge again and decided to push back, grabbing the wrist of her outstretched hand and turning his face, grazing his lips to her palm. Kylo's gaze never left her's when he summoned the Force, "I want you in my lap."

Kira's mind buzzed as she stood, almost without having to tell her legs to move. He didn't release her wrist as he pulled her towards him and she straddled his thighs.

"You want to know my darkest secret?" His gaze flicked from her eyes to her lips before it dropped lower as he pulled her curled hair over her shoulder, exposing her neck. When she tilted her head from him, his full lips went to work on her creamy skin.

She hummed in reply, quite amused that he was the one doing the seducing. He let his hands explore the exposed flesh of her arms and back, at times just running the pads of his fingers over her heated skin. When his large hand came up to cup the back of her neck so he could get better access to the line that started just below her ear and ended at her collarbone, she ground down into his lap and almost hissed, "Yes…"

Using the hand still cradling the back of her head, he brought her upright, looking into her hazel eyes, noticing the flecks of gold that appeared to glow in the low light. "Through all of my sins and pledging myself to the darkness…to this life…" he searched her face for something, "I still crave the light."

Kira sucked in a breath as if she had been just told the most imported secret in the universe. A sense of contentment started at the base of her skull, where his hand was still firmly planted, and it trickled throughout her body. She thought about how she was continually chasing her own light and every cell in her body wanted to share it with the desperate man holding her.

"You can take mine," she said without knowing the significance of her words.

Kylo looked over her face once more and could sense the sincerity in her words. And a moment later he crashed his lips to hers. They pulled at each other as if trying to envelop the other, body and soul.


AN: And so they meet...