She knew she had candles hidden inside the cabinets somewhere. All she had to do was find them, which seemed to be a more difficult task than she'd first thought. Eliziya wanted the evening to be nice and if they were having dinner together then why not set the mood?

She closed the lower cabinet and straightened with a little sigh. Her eyes wandered upwards to the cupboard where she kept the caf. With her luck the candles were up there somewhere but to reach it, she'd have to get back on the stool. And she remembered quite vividly how that had ended last time…

Eliziya blew out a breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. She was worried about Kyp, it was just that simple. If his mission had been moved up by a day…it didn't sit well with her. What if it was more dangerous than Kyp was letting on? She didn't want him to get hurt…or worse.

"You alright?"

Eliziya jumped and whirled around. Stars, she was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she hadn't even heard him come in. Kyp stood leaning in the door, feet crossed at the ankles, arms over his chest. She truly liked the picture in front of her. Smug little smile on his face, hair in disarray, dressed casually in a no-nonsense matter…oh yeah. She'd already fallen for him and she knew it and it scared the hell out of her.

"I'm fine."

Kyp raised his brows. "You're a bad liar."

Eliziya grimaced. This was something she was going to have to get used to. Reminding herself again and again that Kyp was a Jedi, that he could do things with his mind that other people could only dream of…

"Can you…you know… read my mind?" She asked slowly, backing up until her hip caught the counter.

"No. And even if I could I would never do so without permission. It's a violation of privacy on the most intimate level. A Jedi never crosses that line."

"What…" She searched her mind for the right words. "What can you do? I mean, Jedi use the Force and I've seen some amazing things but…"

"Well, there's a number of things I can do. I'm an empath, for starters." Kyp said, stepping forward slowly. "I feel emotions. Any kind of emotions. And I can always tell when someone's lying to me."

"Is that so?" Eliziya rubbed her neck as Kyp came closer. He braced his hands against the counter on either side of her body, his face only inches away from hers. She could feel his warm breath on her skin; strands of his hair tickled her cheek as he whispered. "But I don't need the Force to tell me you were lying. You're not very good at it. Period."

"I'm not sure if I should be insulted or not."

"Never be insulted by facts."

Eliziya frowned. "You're not helping."

"What's bothering you, Liz?"

She pursed her lips. "You can feel my emotions, right? Figure it out." With a slight smile, she pushed him away and went about gathering everything she needed to cook a meal. She had yet to decide what she wanted to cook but decided the easiest way to go was to simply shove something into the cooker. And then get to the candles. She lifted her head and scowled at the cupboard.

"Right now you're annoyed." Kyp said.

"Indeed."

Eliziya heard him chuckle. He came up behind her, opened the cabinet where she hoped the candles were stashed. "So what's in here that you need?"

"Candles."

Kyp blinked and shot her a look that she couldn't quite discern. He was surprised at least. That was a good thing. "Dinner with candles. It's nice." She shrugged it off as if it wasn't important to her at all.

But it was.

She wanted nice with Kyp.

Eliziya watched as he stretched to reach the back of the cabinet. A moment later he pulled out a pack of dark red candles and placed them on the counter. "Anything else I can help you with?"

Now it was Eliziya's turn to smirk. "Yeah. You can get out."

Surprise and shock flittered across his face. "You want me to leave?" He asked slowly, as if measuring each word separately.

"I want you to get out of the kitchen. I can't concentrate when you're around."

In an instant, his face lit up with a big smile. "So, not only am I such a good kisser that you nearly fall over but you just admitted that my presence alone distracts you."

"Your ego is about to blow up the building, Kyp."

"Admit it, sweetheart. I'm irresistible, aren't I?"

Eliziya grabbed a towel from the counter and snapped it towards him. Kyp jumped aside, laughing at her. "Admit it!"

"Get out!"

Kyp stopped inside the door, leaning against the frame with his shoulder. "Why don't you just admit it? You know you want to."

"Get out, you smart ass."

"Do I get a kiss before you kick me out of your kitchen?" He batted his eyelashes and pursed his lips. Eliziya snapped the towel towards him and with a little yelp, he left for the living room.

Eliziya switched on quiet music before she went about setting the table. Kyp had asked to help her but she'd shaken her head – she needed something to do to keep from openly staring at him. Kyp followed her wherever she went, talking about this and that and she had the feeling that he was looking for something to do just to keep busy.

Eliziya set a bottle of Avedame on the table, an expensive and hard to come by wine she'd picked up months ago at a market in the lower regions. She'd been saving it for a special occasion. In her book, this was definitely a special occasion. With a half smile on her face she said, "Would you…you know…show me something?"

Kyp lifted his brows and the grin that graced his features told her exactly that his mind was working on one track only. "Like what?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

She walked around the table and stopped a few paces away from him. Her breath caught in her throat. So handsome…so utterly handsome. Green eyes twinkled mischievously while he leaned against the wall, ankles crossed, arms hanging loosely at his sides. Eliziya bit the inside of her lip as she approached and raised a hand to touch him. Deviously slow, she ran a single finger down the center of his chest. And she loved the fact that his breath caught in his throat.

He relaxed when she came closer still, her other hand on his hip. She slipped her fingers underneath his tunic, suddenly wondering what he looked like underneath. She was surprised at the sudden urge to see him unclothed.

"I was referring to…um…"

Kyp grew completely still, staring at her. Eliziya knew she had him exactly where she wanted him and she also knew, if she made a move to tug off his tunic, he would let her. It made her crack a little smile. Strong, fierce, stubborn Jedi Knight undone by a mere normal little woman.

Flush against his chest, she lifted her eyes to meet his. Her lips were only inches away from his. She could kiss him…but she didn't. "As I was saying, I was referring to what you can do with the Force."

"There's a lot I can do…with the Force." He whispered and the double entendre in his voice wasn't lost on her.

"Like what?" It was difficult not to smile. And even more difficult not to rip his tunic off his body.

A few seconds passed in silence. Kyp's half smile turned into a smirk. He closed his eyes and all of a sudden, Eliziya felt a tingle course through her body. It was truly a fantastic feeling that started at her toes and ended up in the tips of her fingers. A shiver ran along her skin; the hairs on her body stood on end, her heartbeat quickened, her breathing grew faster.

She tilted her head back as invisible fingers touched her. It was the most amazing thing she'd ever experienced. She felt Kyp's Force touch on her face, her neck and throat, lower along the curve of her breast and her stomach…

She sucked in a breath, exhaled on a moan. "Holy…hell…"

"Did you like that?" Kyp asked slowly, leaning forward as he whispered in her ear.

All she could manage was a little nod.

"So you see…I am quite gifted in things concerning the Force. In many different ways." He grazed her earlobe with his teeth, earning a slight hiss. Eliziya leaned into him, hands wandering up his chest underneath his tunic. Soft, warm skin, hard muscular body…stars, she wanted to see him.

Kyp dropped his hands to her wrists. He stopped her advances with a smile on his lips, "I sense that you're…impatient."

Impatient…one hell of an understatement.

Get yourself together…

She blew out a breath, then another one and then she smiled. "You're making me lose my mind, my dear Jedi."

"Well now, we wouldn't want that, now would we?" Gently, he massaged her hands between his. His palms were rough, calloused but his caress was soft. He had the touch of a lover but she was certain that these hands that so gently held her could do a lot of damage as well. She looked to where their hands were linked, fingers intertwined.

She raised her gaze, speechless. She wanted to say something, anything but nothing came to mind. All she managed was a smile.

"You know what I'd like?" Kyp whispered, leaning forward and kissing her cheek. He slid his lips down to her jaw, to her neck.

"Hm?" Eliziya tilted her head to the side, giving him better access. She held back a moan when he kissed the spot behind her ear.

"I'd like for you to wear your hair down."

He used the Force again. It tingled along her skin; she shivered. She felt little tugs in her hair as Kyp pulled out the pins, one after the other. It was the oddest sensation as she looked at him, knowing that he was touching her and yet…he wasn't. A moment later, dark tresses of thick hair spilled over her shoulders, framing her face.

Kyp cupped her cheeks in his hands, stroking with his thumbs. "Beautiful."

His kiss was soft and passionate, long and lazy. He took his time as he caressed her, as his hands wandered along her back and into her hair. His arms went around her shoulders, around her waist and he pulled her as close as he possibly could.

Eliziya gripped his tunic, nails digging into his skin. It was all she could do to hold on because her legs could no longer hold her upright.

It turned out to be rather difficult to let her go. Common sense set in and Kyp backed off, forehead touching hers while he calmed his breathing. With a smile that nearly knocked him off his feet, Eliziya untangled herself from his embrace. She turned away and headed into the kitchen – he'd nearly forgotten about their dinner.

While Kyp was alone, he ran his hands through his hair, took a few breaths. Indeed, this was an entirely new experience for him. He had no words to describe the feelings that she invoked.

He wanted to spend as much time with her as he could but life as a Jedi wasn't easy. There weren't very many Jedi couples and there was a reason for that. Some made it work and they seemed happy…

Happy…the word kept repeating itself over and over in his mind. Happiness was something Kyp had given up on years ago, right around the time he'd witnessed his parents' deaths. He'd never really had anything to be happy about and when the time came to train at the Jedi Academy, he considered it a chance to break free of the chains that still had him tethered to his past. But happiness had never crossed his mind. It had taken months for him to finally remember what it was like to be carefree, what it was like to laugh.

But happy suddenly felt possible. He turned towards the kitchen, listening to Eliziya opening cabinets, humming to herself. Just a few steps away lay happiness for him.

Whatever it took, he wouldn't – couldn't – let her go.