AN: Hey everyone! This chapter is full of fluffy feelings and building sexual tension, so I just hope that it came out well. The subtle smut is on the rise and will come to fruition within the next chapter or so. Please give me some criticism or let me know what you want to see play out! Hope you all like, comment/review and enjoy!

Chapter 10: Ready?

She grabbed a long, black, sheer robe that was to be worn over swimwear and threw it on. She thought it looked funny with her ankle boots but didn't bring any other shoes with her. Grabbing her satchel and staff by habit, she made out the ship's door towards the clearing between their two ships.

Ben was there waiting on her, wearing grey swim trunks with a red athletic shirt that had no sleeves. He was also wearing his boots; Rey threw her hand up to her mouth, to hide her giggling at the sight of them paired with shorts.

She approached him, "Ready to go?"

Ben had been looking at her with an odd expression over his face, Rey couldn't recall if he'd ever looked at her like this before, or not. He cleared his throat briefly, and Rey noticed his excited energy had shifted to being calmer. "Yeah, let's go. If we get there soon then we'll have all afternoon to swim."

They began walking together on a small path that twisted through the densely populated trees of the woods. "Swimming is an excellent way to workout your whole body; bones, muscles and joints. Not to mention the benefits it has on the circulatory system, including the heart, and on the production of chemicals in the mind."

"You certainly know a lot about it. Do you enjoy swimming?" Rey was eager to discover all of the details about Ben. She felt like she needed to know what made him tick.

"Yes I have always enjoyed it and still do. However when I became Snoke's apprentice, that was just one of many things, that ceased to exist to me. He wanted me to be focused narrowly and only on the task at hand."

Rey reached for his hand and clasped it in her own. He looked down to see her expression, with the pain and anger at Snoke, written across his handsome features. Rey gazed into his eyes with understanding and sympathy.

"Well, now you're free to do whatever you like. You could choose to swim everyday for the rest of your life, if you wish to do so." He needed to be around that optimistic perspective of hers, something that had been missing from his life, until the day he met Rey.

He chuckled and his eyes lit up with her words. "You know what? Maybe I'll do just that."

They had reached the lake now and Rey's feelings kept interchanging between excitement and fear. Ben sensed her shifting emotions, knowing that she needed to focus before attempting to swim. "Rey… I can feel your emotions. You just need to get used to the water, before trying to influence it with your movements. It's not too different from learning about the force for the first time."

He suddenly kicked off his boots and pulled his shirt off over his head, tossing it to the ground. Rey's hungry gaze was instantly glued to his abdominal muscles. Without noticing her desirous look, he headed towards the water and stopped once it was up to his hips.

It dawned on her that he was waiting for her to join him in the water. She took off her cover and boots, tossing them into a pile with her satchel and staff. Rey felt slightly exposed due to the minimal amount of clothing, but rather than act embarrassed, she thought to cover it up by acting more confident than usual.

She strode quickly into the water, rejecting her instant panic at the unfamiliar sensation. She stopped once in front of Ben, the water reaching up to her mid-torso. He took her hands in both of his, "Just meditate like this for long enough to control your emotions, find your center."

They stood there for a few minuets, just long enough to calm the fearful storm inside Rey's mind. Ben then demonstrated several different techniques that she could try out, until she found the one that worked best for her. Ben's energy was helping to keep Rey calm, while she practiced swimming further and with less support from him.

After a couple of hours they decided to take a break, seeing as how their skin was wrinkled with excess water and how out of breath they both were. They sat beside each other on the soft soil, letting the sunshine warm and dry them off, while they relaxed in the tranquil ambiance.

Rey's mind wouldn't stop racing though. Thoughts of how much she needed Ben kept echoing through her mind, as she eyed him out of her peripheral vision. She adored the little things about him; his compassion for her, his knowledge on multitudes of subjects, his raw strength and his newfound dedication to only her.

He had given up his entire life to become a part of hers. Rey longed to return the display of commitment to him, and to give him a new life with her. She needed some answers before she could fully commit to her plan, but her nerves were preventing her from asking. I guess there's no way to beat around the bush on this one. I'm just going to have to ask him directly I guess. Oh well, here we go.

"Ben, can I ask you something?" Ben opened his eyes to look at her without moving from his position. His hands were behind his head and he was sitting cross-legged, looking more relaxed than Rey had ever seen him.

"Of course."

"Have you ever felt the same way about someone else, as you do towards me?" Rey was shifting her weight back and forth nervously, so quickly that she looked like she was swaying in the wind. Ben's eyes got wide in surprise and he slowly lowered his arms from his head. The brief silence between them seemed deafening.

"No. …I have only cared for a select few people in my entire lifetime. Rey… I care more about you than I care about myself. I know that's probably not what you want to hear, but it's true." Ben was staring into her eyes with such intensity, that Rey thought she might melt into his gaze.

"Oh, Ben…" She softly cooed his name with affection, which in turn, stoked a desire in him he had almost forgotten existed. It was time for Ben's mind to race now, about how he longed to give Rey every part of him that he could give her. He was hers; his mind, body and soul were hers for the taking. He didn't feel weak at having these feelings either, rather he finally felt complete.

He knew exactly how much he cherished her and desperately needed to make sure that she understood how much. He leaned towards her, placing his forehead to hers and closed his eyes. "I love you Rey."

Rey's head and heart exploded with happiness in that moment. She let her instincts take over herself, hoping that she could finally make him completely hers. "I love you too Ben."

She grabbed the hair on the back of his head, pulling him into a heated kiss. He obliged her, wrapping his thick arms around her torso, holding her tenderly. Rey pushed him down gently, while settling herself on top of him, not breaking the kiss.

Ben was pleasantly surprised by her candor, relaxing into the feel of her supple body on top of his.

This time it was he who used his tongue to find hers, and as soon as he did, he swirled his around hers. A small but erotic moan managed to escape through her lips.

Rey felt a hot, tingling sensation throughout her body and recognized immediately what it was. She was a woman after all, and though she had never been with a man intimately, she wasn't afraid. In fact, she craved to experience, the power and confidence that came from making a man submit to the pleasures that a woman's body could provide. She wanted to claim Ben as hers in a primitive sort of way, and wasn't going to bother herself with the possible consequences of her actions.

Ben on the other hand, feared that this kind of immediate intimacy could be precarious. He was just as inexperienced as Rey but had grown up far less sheltered than her. He knew about all of the potential risks involved, not only to the body but also to the heart. He wanted desperately for Rey to be by his side forever. He would do anything for her and even lay down his own life for her. He wasn't going to jeopardize their possible future together by going too far with her too soon.

Rey nibbled on his bottom lip gently, and then very slightly grinded her body against his, creating an intense, burning desire between them. This stimulus was getting to be too much for Ben, who was trying not to rush their promising relationship.

"Rey, as much as I enjoy what you're doing, I think it would be better for us if we stopped where this is headed. I just don't want you to do anything you might remotely regret later." His brows were furrowed in concern matching his slight frown, but his eyes were laced with yearning and affection.

"Yeah, I can understand that." Attempting to hide her feelings of rejection, she put on a fake smile as they separated and put on the clothes they had taken off to swim. They walked together hand-in-hand back to their ships' location, meanwhile having more pleasant conversation about lightsaber crafting.

Once they had reached the clearing, they decided what they wanted to do with the rest of the evening. Ben's ship was larger and as a result, his included a full bathroom, two bedrooms and a full kitchen. Ben would begin cooking dinner, while Rey used his refresher to shower off the lake water. He would take his after her, saying how he could keep his food warm on the stove, while she went ahead and ate hers.

He entered the Grey ship first and immediately began opening cabinets; pulling out cooking pots, pans and ingredients, that he had bought in town earlier that day. Rey was tempted to watch him throughout the process, so that she could learn how to cook something besides rations. However, she recognized how tired her body and mind was from learning so much in one day, and figured she would just ask him tomorrow.

She headed past the kitchen and common area, towards the back of the ship. She walked past the bedroom doors and found the refresher. She entered with curiosity wondering what kind of stuff Ben owned in there. She snooped around looking at the different bottles containing products like body wash and shampoo, things that were still novel to her but that normal people, who didn't grow up in a desert, owned.

She checked that she had locked the door, started running the water to get it to warm up and flung off her clothes. She took a while before getting in the shower to observe her body. She was still tan and lean, but with substantially more weight on her bones both in muscle and fat, from a better diet.

She looked into her own eyes in the mirror, attempting to give herself a pep talk. All right Rey, he's obviously just worried about you and how this could affect our partnership. All you have to do to get what you want is to reassure him, that everything will be fine and that I do want to do this. She then entered the shower, the whole time she was bathing, she focused on feeling confident and on the different ways she could try to seduce Ben.