The air was sweet with the scent of flowers, the breeze warm, the night lit by only the stars and a few soft lights from below. Ben lifted Rey up so that she sat on the edge of one of the planters, making sure the spot was clean so he didn't ruin her dress. He stepped up close to her, between her legs, hands on her hips as his eyes searched her face. His cape obscured most of them from sight with him standing so close, anyone passing would only see his broad shoulders and her arms wrapped around his neck.

Rey looked up at him, her mouth dry with desire. Their kiss had sparked something in her, made her near mad with need. She ached for him, hiking up the skirt of her dress so that she could wrap her legs around him under his cape and pull him closer. He reacted to this with a hiss, his head dipping as he lavished kisses upon her neck. She could feel that he was just as affected as she was, by the hard bulge of his arousal that now pressed against her and through the force. It was intoxicating. Her arms and legs tightened around him, hands working their way up into his hair while his lips dragged kisses up and down her neck.

Ben struggled to control himself as she pulled him closer, every squeeze of her thighs making him shiver. He tasted her neck, relishing the soft salty sweet of her skin; he sucked gently on the spot just below her ear, not wanting to leave a mark he trailed these kisses down and then back up the other side. His hips ground against hers, even though they'd been together just that morning in this moment it felt like it had been an eternity. He longed to press himself into her, feel that carnal connection, lose himself inside her. Rey's desire rose right next to his, making it even harder to resist.

Feeling him holding back she moved one of her hands down to grip him through the front of his pants. His lips paused and his head tilted back as he groaned.

"I said I want you…" she whispered into his ear, "No one can see us, take me here. Please…" her voice trembled but her hand was sure as she opened his fly and slid it down into his pants, wrapping her delicate fingers around him, squeezing gently.

His breath hitched and he pressed his forehead against hers, "Rey…" his voice cracked, "What if we're caught?"

She stroked him while her other hand tightened in his hair, "I don't care. I need you right now Ben. Inside me. Please…"

His hand moved down from her hip, snaking under her skirt and up the inside of her thigh. She gasped as his fingers pressed over her panties. He tugged them aside and slowly slid a finger into her. Rey moaned quietly, her hand leading his arousal towards her entrance. He pulled his finger out, holding her panties to the side as she rubbed him against herself. They both struggled to stay quiet, the sensation intense.

All thoughts of being caught fled them both as Ben slowly pressed into her. Her body stretching perfectly to accommodate his size. When he had himself buried to the hilt he held it there for a moment while he captured her lips in another passionate kiss.

Rey tangled her hands in his hair once more, kissing him back, her tongue flicking across his as she whimpered into his mouth. With him buried deep inside her she felt utterly complete, wishing this moment of pure bliss could last forever. She felt him slowly pull his hips back and she whined against his lips until he thrust in again, this time faster, harder. He repeated this, slowly working up to a rhythm that jolted her body back against the flowering plant behind her. They parted from the kiss panting, no longer able to keep completely quiet. They both moaned and gasped with each thrust, her legs tightening and loosening with their rhythm. She could feel that he was close to climaxing and so was she, they rode the wave of pleasure together, using their connection in the force to amplify it tenfold; They stared deep into each others eyes as the wave came crashing down upon them. Ben moaned loudly and pressed himself as far into her as he could, twitching and shuddering against her as he filled her with his seed. Rey clutched at him with her hands and legs, the pleasure of their climax making it hard for her to stay upright.

Ben held her body to his, tucking his head into the crook of her neck, peppering it with soft breathless kisses. It took them both a few minutes to come back to their senses. Finally he pulled himself back, "I'm sorry," he apologised, "I might have ruined your dress."

Rey adjusted her skirt and helped Ben fix his pants, shaking her head, "I'm sure it's fine…"

Once they were both decent, Rey pressed another kiss to Ben's lips, saying quietly against them, "I love you."

He smiled, "I know." Another kiss, "Will you marry me Rey?"

She laughed lightly and flicked his chest, "Of course I will, but I want a better proposal than that."

He chuckled, "As you wish."

They were suddenly interrupted by someone clearing their throat behind Ben. It startled both of them, Ben instinctively turning and tucking Rey behind him protectively.

Ben recognized the man as one of his attendants from earlier, "Sorry to interrupt you, uh.. Chancellor Calrissian asked me to find you and ask you to meet him in his office after the dance."

Rey tugged on Ben's sleeve as she stepped out from behind him, he looked down to her and the same thought passed through both of them. Lando knew they wanted to be alone, he wouldn't have sent someone for them. He would have just waited for them to reappear and ask then. Something was not right.

Ben pushed the force towards the attendant and spoke, compelling him to tell the truth, "Who asked you to tell us this?"

A confused look passed over the young man's face, "Chancellor Calrissian… I think… Huh… I.. Can't recall seeing him, that's weird."

Ben nodded and pushed again, "That's fine, you just forgot, we will meet him, thank you for telling us."

The man bobbed a bow and excused himself heading back towards the ball a look of confusion still plain upon his face.

Rey cursed under her breath, "Someone with the force compelled him to tell us that."

"I agree. Someone wants us at Lando's office. But who? And why?" Ben asked, looking down at her once more.

"I think we need our sabers." she said, taking his hand.

"And we need to find Lando," he said, a frown tugging his lips down, "I have a bad feeling about this."

They headed back towards their apartment, stopped by guards at every turn. They quickly gave up on trying to convince them with mere words and resorted to gentle mind tricks.

Finally when they reached their apartment, Ben burst in, lifting his hand to summon his old purified saber to him while Rey did the same with Luke's saber, and it was a good thing they did, as they'd surprised a trio of intruders.

Igniting their sabers with a flourish they both instantly fell into attack positions.

The masked intruders turned to them, two with vibroblades, one with a blaster. Ben caught the first vibroblade on his spitting blue crossguard, shrugging the man off with a force push before turning to catch the second with a grunt.

Rey stepped in front of them, deflecting blaster bolts from the third man, she angled them back towards him causing two of his own shots to take him right in the chest. She didn't pause to watch him fall, turning her attention to the first attacker. She pushed the man against the wall behind him with the force, holding him fast as Ben struggled with the last man.

He caught the vibroblade and twisted, pulling it up over his head, ducking under his attackers arm and then pulling his saber up and through, cutting the man in half.

The fight was over in a matter of moments. Ben and Rey were left breathing heavily, both glaring at the only man still alive; The one held up with the force by Rey, pinned against the wall. Ben didn't deactivate his saber as he stepped over the dead man at his feet to approach him.

Rey grit her teeth, anger flashing in her eyes as she held him fast, her hand raised, fingers splayed to help her focus the force, "Who are you? Why are you here?" she snarled at the man.

Ben tilted his head to the side, using the force to encourage an answer out of the man, "You heard her, why are you here? Who sent you?"

The man resisted them, closing his eyes and holding his jaw tightly shut. Ben and Rey hadn't noticed that the man's right hand still clutched something. He crushed whatever it was and his body suddenly went limp, all the air leaving him in a rush, and he was dead.

Rey blinked and immediately released her hold on him, stepping back and shaking her hand out, "What… What did he do?"

Ben finally turned off his saber and clipped it to his belt before kneeling next to the man's body. They were all young humanoid males of indistinct origins. He moved the cuff of the man's right arm up to reveal a tattoo. Recognising it, Ben stood, "He killed himself rather than give up his employer. He feared him or her more than death."

Rey looked disgusted and terrified at the same time, "What is worse than death?"

"Oh I can think of a few things," Ben said, casting his gaze around the room, "The real question is why were they here? I thought the ambush was supposed to be at Lando's office…"

"They were surprised to see us, I don't think it was part of the plan." Rey pointed out, also disengaging her saber.

Their apartment was in shambles, all of their drawers open and belongings scattered about, "They were looking for something…" Ben said quietly.

"We don't have anything other than these sabers and old clothes…" Rey said, confused.

"And a sith wayfinder…" Ben said, looking to her, "They don't know that it isn't here."

"Let's keep it that way…" Rey said moving back to the door, "We need to find Lando."

"Agreed," Ben said, following her as she swept back towards the grand hall, saber in hand.

Once again they used the force to get them through each checkpoint, they moved at a quick pace, not wanting to draw too much attention to themselves. Eyes scanning the crowd when they reached the great hall.

"Do you see him?" Rey asked Ben, going up on her tiptoes.

"No… But I see Jannah." Ben replied, leading Rey by the hand across the room. People whispered and watched them push their way through the crowd.

Jannah turned a smile from a Sullustan to greet them, "Hey," she immediately understood that something was wrong and her face fell, "What?"

"Where's Lando?" Ben asked her quietly.

"He said he would be right back, I think he was headed back to his office, why?" she'd gone pale.

Rey and Ben exchanged a look and Ben immediately dashed towards the exit, heading towards Lando's office. Rey took Jannah by the arm and said quietly into her ear, "Get these people to leave, something is wrong. We think Lando is in danger. We need to discreetly evacuate…"

Jannah nodded and quickly moved in the other direction, barking orders to attendants. Rey ran after Ben, no longer caring if people were alarmed by her behaviour. When she caught up with him he said, "They had First Order tattoos. The kind only our elite troopers got."

"They're First Order?" Rey said, alarmed.

"And can use the force, who do we know that is both of those things?" He said.

"Voe…" she answered.

"Voe." Ben confirmed.