Author's Note: Update and I didn't make you wait a week! Thank you SO MUCH for the reviews! I hope I live up to your expectations! Just as a reminder, this is a two-part installment so it will read in four parts.

Disclaimer: I do not and nor have I ever owned Star Wars. I simply play in their world.

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Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far away...

Kylo Ren

"Sir?"

I look up from the datapad in my hand at the familiar voice. Lieutenant Eusebia, waiting at attention for me to respond. Since I've been here for over two weeks she knows well enough not to bother me unless it is important.

"Speak Lieutenant."

"A pirate signal was intercepted on the holofeed. Our cipher's have yet to trace the origin of the message but we have the receiver and part of the message they sent out. I thought this would be of use to you Sir."

She hands me the chip and I slide it into the port on my device.

Word appear on the screen, I scroll quickly and note the sender; Maz Kanata. Her castle was destroyed a year ago and our spies know she relocated to Empheria on the Outer Rim but has been inactive since then.

The other name sharpens my interest immediately.

"Praksis."

Also known as Anu'ul Semorn.

I look up at Eusebia who give a sharp nod of her head. "Correct, as you can see he's headed here under Maz Kanata's instructions. He suppose to be meeting someone at a bar in the slums of the city."

Anu'ul Semorn dealt in secrets, knowledge that is highly classified...or so ancient as to be myth and sold only for the right price.

Praksis, another alias he goes by, deals in illegal contraband. Mostly rare and hard-to-find items.

He plays both the First Order and the Resistance and if Maz was asking for his help it must be important.

It also happened that I was looking for him. However the male had the irritating ability to spot First Order spies with unerring accuracy.

"I'll handle this personally."

"I'll have troops surrounding the bar..."

She snaps her mouth shut when I hold up my hand.

"No, I want all troops pulled away from the district. Let him think he's safe. I'll go there myself and meet up with him."

"But Sir you..." I let my eyes speak volumes and I see her quickly rethink her words, "will be recognized."

Perhaps Kylo Ren will be recognized but I had a thought about that.

"The Corellian ship is still in holding?"

"Yes Sir," she answers me slowly, a puzzled look on her face at my question, "still being processed as we speak."

"Good. That will be all Lieutenant."

I stare at the mirror, a reluctant truth staring back at me. The clothing from the smugglers ship fit rather well.

"Well dad," I murmur as I push back the sleeves to my elbows, "if only you could see me now."

I no longer wore the mantle of a Sith Warrior. Instead I stared at an image that looked nearly identical to Han Solo.

My Corellian blood-line was hard to miss in these clothes. Considering where I was headed, that was the idea.

Spies had reported seeing a man who resembled a known image of Praksis in the city and it was time for me to go and get answers from him.

One way or another.

The smell of stale alcohol and unwashed bodies hit me as soon as I entered the underground stairway leading to Kemora's Secret. It had taken little effort to find the place and as soon as I entered, I knew why Maz had chosen this location.

A cacophony of voices filtered through the air. Humans and other species intermingled as a sea of bodies pressed together.

Despite the image in my mind, I could not detect right away the one I sought.

The threat of violence swirled around me, eyes turning in my direction as I entered this nest of vipers.

"Looks like a Corellian."

I note the male in the far corner, the one with the dirty patch over his eye.

"Looks like trouble to me."

The purr of a female voice close by.

The comments were loud enough that several more head turned in my direction, most of the gazes hostile.

Time to pull the fangs from the snake.

I used their interest to my advantage and add a touch of Force to my voice.

"I'm looking for Praksis."

A sharp spike of fear that should be easy to follow.

An elusive flower, sensual and evocative...the kiss of heat with a taste of sunlight...

The blood in my veins beats a fiery pulse beneath my skin, the hot burn of desire tightening my body until I can practically taste her in the air.

Only one woman has this effect on me.

"Well, well look what the Rathan dragged in."

Scornful words filled with a sexual heat that has me snapping my head around to find her, when unexpectedly, she comes to me.

My heartbeat is a thunderous roar in my mind and I can only stare at the woman who weaves her way through the crowd with practiced ease.

It's Rey.

But not the Rey I've come to expect.

This Rey is wearing a sleeveless black top that molds to her body with a lover's attention, tucked into snug, black leather pants that paint my vision a hazy red. The click of her boots on the floor is an erotic sound to my starved senses. Her hair is loose, flowing waves and I can see the strands of dark fire that she normally hides.

A kiss of crimson around her neck, the scarf she wears as it flutters freely down the slender column of her throat. I note the blaster at her right hip, the smaller one strapped to her left thigh.

She moves closer and I get a good look at her face, stealing the breath from my lungs in the process.

Her eyes are outlined in black, making the amber shimmer in the light, her lips a dusky rose that begged to be kissed.

The stark black of her clothes against her skin lends her a lethal kind of beauty.

"Hello Ben."

The name she uses is a sensual tease on her lips but her eyes tell me a different story.

There is a soft pleading in them, a sense of need.

"Rey?"

Her name, a question between us at what I glimpse in her gaze.

"Oh good, you do remember me."

The biting sweetness of her words is my only warning before I feel the hard slap of her palm across my face.

Pain blossoms across my cheek and jerks my head back with the force of her temper.

The silence in the room is absolute. Anticipation a heavy weight in the air.

I turn my head back to Rey, the pain a vicious throb, but my attention is on the woman before me.

"Didn't think I would remember did you? That's for that stunt you pulled on Darvis Four."

Considering I have never set foot on Darvis Four, I understand the plea in her eyes better now.

It seems she has given me a role to play in her reason for being on Pralis Six.

I reach up and touch the mark on my face, the pain a vivid truth that she was here with me and not a spectral image made up by our Bond.

If she wants to play this out then I will gladly indulge her.

But on my terms.

"Still mad about that?"

I let my control slip just a fraction, let her taste the keen edge of my desire she has stirred...along with unapologetic arrogance that only a Corellian can pull off.

I see her eyes dilate slightly, the flush of color along her cheekbones but she lifts her chin to me, her hands on her hip in a pose that screamed 'outraged female' to everyone watching us.

I had no doubt that all eyes were watching now to see how our little drama plays out.

"Yes I am," cool words with a touch of asperity, "what's it to you?"

Fire in her gaze, challenge in her words.

A sane man would be making words of apologies right about now.

It was a good the galaxy thought all Corellians were insane then.

I pull her to me, my fingers sliding over the smooth leather at her hips, the heat of her body as it presses into mine a heady rush of pleasure that is almost painful.

"Ben!" Shock and simmering anger in that one word. She struggles in my arms and the press of her curves against certain parts of my body have me gritting my teeth in an effort not to simply lay her flat against the nearest surface I find.

Her hands on my chest, trying to shove me away but with little effect.

"You can't talk your way out this, not this time!"

"So I won't."

Her lips part, no doubt a blistering retort on her tongue, but I'm already slanting mine over hers.

Tasting her, taking her mouth like I have every right.

There is nothing gentle in my touch, my fingers digging into her hips, pulling her lower body hard against mine so she can feel just what she's doing to me.

That soft, needy sound she makes, her fingers in my hair only add to the conflagration she's building in me.

Her mouth pulls abruptly away from mine but she leaves a trail of fire as her lips slide across my jaw.

Her fingers are still buried in my hair, making sure I can't pull away.

"What are you doing here?"

A harsh whisper, her breath in my ear that strokes fire down my spine.

I turn my head slightly so that my voice will only be heard by her.

"I could ask the same of you." and because my blood is still raging, I nip at her ear, a sensual punishment.

The sudden tremble of her body against mine makes me want to do it again.

Except she's already pulling away, the shove of her hands is more of a caress across my chest.

The muted laughter in the room has taken away the air of violence I felt earlier and I reluctantly let her go.

The flush on her face, her lips swollen from my attention has me folding my arms over my chest, satisfied that I have marked her for my own.

"Still angry with me?"

She fusses with her scarf as though resettling it and I see her eyes dart around the room.

A touch of Force-sense tells me the attention has moved away from us...and the fear I felt earlier from someone in this room has faded.

She lifts her lashes to look at me, molten amber and a slow smile on her mouth that leaves me off-balance.

"Yes," lilting voice filled with sensual smugness, "but since I already have what you're looking for, I'm starting to feel better."

My lust-induced senses take a moment to wake up my brain to understand her message.

I had come here looking for Praksis, instead I had found Rey.

Who was already in contact with my quarry.

So you're the one Maz sent him to meet.

Which begged the question, what did Rey need so badly that she would risk coming to a world controlled by the First Order.

She turns away from me, once more weaving her way through the crowd, as though done with me.

The sway of her hips has more than my eyes watching her with avid attention.

I am already off the steps when I see a male from a table she has just passed reaching up to touch the curve of her backside in those tight, leather pants.

I have my blaster resting on his temple before he can complete the gesture.

"Touch her," I tell him softly, pitching my voice so she will not hear, "and we'll see what your brains look like from the outside of your skull."

A bead of sweat slides down his face as he lowers his shaking hand.

"M-Meant nothing by it."

The acrid tang of fear coming from him has me holstering the blaster as I once more turn in search of Rey.

She is seated at the bar with a male who has nearly white hair against tanned skin.

The mental image I have of my prey matches the man I see with her.

I thought to let her conclude her business with him, it would give me an understanding of what brought her here, until I see her jerk away when his hand touches her thigh moving inward.

A red haze falls over my eyes and I am already wrenching his hand off of her.

No one had the right to put their hands on her.

Except me.

His blustering irritates me and I put a little more pressure on his wrist, the sound of the small bones grinding together a pleasant one.

"She doesn't like to be touched."

He moves his head to look at me and I let him see the promise of death in my eyes.

"Ow! Ow! My mistake!"

Somehow I doubt that. Perhaps a more permanent solution is needed.

Gentle pressure on my arm. Sunlight and flowers brush across my senses as I feel Rey's fingers on my skin.

"You can let him go," she tells me in a coaxing voice but I keep my grip on his wrist as he lets out a groan and coaxing gives way to caustic exasperation, "I don't need you to protect me. I can do that myself."

I look at her even as Praksis turns his head and she glances down.

I follow her gaze...to see the blaster she had strapped her her hip resting across her thighs, her finger on the trigger.

Pointing directly at Praksis. At that angle she could blow a hole straight through his spine.

A slow and immeasurably painful way to die.

I settle my gaze back to her and she lift a single, tawny eyebrow in my direction.

There was something enticing about seeing a woman with a blaster.

I let go of his wrist, acceding to her demand.

"Just who are you?" A sour look on the dealer's face even as he rubs his abused appendage. I can already see the bruise forming beneath the cuff he wears.

Considering where he had that particular hand, he's lucky I left it attached.

"Praksis, Ben." Boredom in Rey's voice, "Ben, Praksis. Introductions done."

I cannot help the glare I level at Rey when she uses that name to answer for me.

The cool, amused smile on her lips is her response.

Despite my annoyance with the name, dark pleasure thrums in my veins at her smile.

"Now that's over with, can we get down to serious business. I have other places I would rather be than here."

So would I. Preferably with her at my side.

Praksis takes a long swallow of his drink before pushing it away and turning back to Rey.

"Oh as you wish, though it pains me to be denied your sweet company."

Shallow words if not for the compulsion I heard buried beneath it. Not a touch of the Force, but something else.

There were a few species who could manipulate emotional behavior and it seemed he had that particular gift.

It explained why he was able to elude capture for so long.

But that is not why my temper slips the leash and the soft menace that emerges from me is aimed at the male.

He is trying to use it on Rey.

Who seems unimpressed by both his words and manners.

I catch the barest curve of her lips at the sound I make and see her slip the blaster back in its sheath.

I listen, with half an ear, to the bargaining now taking place between them. I am more interested in their body language.

Rey, despite the half-bored inflection in her voice, is thrumming with tension. I can see it in the way she plays with that glass of liquid, the subtle change in her breath as she pauses between her words.

Praksis, on the other hand, is in no hurry to complete this bargain. He is deliberately stringing her along for whatever amusement it brings him.

We'll see how much 'fun' he'll have with me.

"What does he have that is of interest to you Rey."

For a moment I catch the flash of hate in his eyes as Rey turns away from him without a second thought and back to me.

"Why should I tell you?"

Boredom and just a hint of wariness as she speaks, keeping up the pretense that I am not entirely welcome in her company.

Our eyes clash and I return her wariness with a touch of arrogance.

"Humor me."

Fire in her gaze now, burning amber touched by gold.

"Convince me," lilting words, a sensual challenge that spikes adrenaline in my blood, "and I might show you."

I lift an eyebrow, silently asking if she really wants to tease me this way.

The wicked smile that blooms on her mouth is my answer.

I am already tilting her face up, more than a little possessive with my touch as I catch her lips with mine.

Lush softness, sweetly yielding as I take her breath for my own. I trace the delicate seam of her mouth with my tongue, feel the race of her pulse.

I lift my mouth from hers.

Bewitching eyes and that playful smile that curves her lips meet my gaze.

"Not bad," dry words that belied the delicate blush staining her skin as she hands a familiar piece of paper to me, "though I'm still not certain you deserve to see this."

It was the the detailed drawing of the crystal cradle I made, and left, for her. I had wondered if that bit of Force manipulation would actually work. It seemed I had guess correctly.

I also know now why she is here.

I look down to see Rey sipping at a drink, the flicker of her eyes telling me it is not one she enjoys.

I also catch the smoldering look from beneath the fringe of her lashes as she glances in my direction.

I need to finish this, now, before I lose my ability to think about anything other than where I want her mouth on me.

"You're wasting your time," I hand her back the drawing, cool anger in my voice, "he's either lying or it's in bad shape."

His body language does not suggest he's lying and his reputation wouldn't allow a man like him to sell inferior part.

The look I give Rey is one of amused condescension, "You were always too trusting."

"Well I trusted you," sultry words soaked in venom, "look where that got me."

"The part is real and in working order," Praksis cuts in, the sharp edge of his anger brushing against my senses, "I should know. I've handled it."

I had rather hoped he would be foolish enough to disclose that piece of information.

I turn, unwillingly, my attention away from Rey and back to the dealer.

"Then you'll also note it's illegal to sell on any world under the First Order's rule."

For just a moment I let the mask of Kylo Ren slip back into place as I stare him down.

A delicate, subtle use of the Force as I exert pressure over his throat, cutting off his air for a fraction of a second.

His skin turns pale beneath the dark hue.

It is gone just as quickly and I pluck the glass from Rey's fingers.

I am rather curious as to what she is drinking and it will give Praksis time to wonder just who, or what, he is dealing with.

The bitter liquid hits my tongue and I swallow before my throat can close up against the taste.

Tammorian juice, though not as potent as the one mother used to serve at the breakfast table.

Rey gives me a look of utter disgust as I swirl the contents of the glass.

"Yes," Praksis clears his throat, "well there is that to consider."

The subtle shift in his body tell me that he has realized the rules of the game have changed.

He is no longer the one in charge.

I am.

He turns a less provocative smile towards Rey and already I feel his fear pressing against me.

"Since you seem to be willing to...ah...carry such an item I suppose I have no choice but to sell it to you. Four hundred, last offer."

She doesn't answer right away, leaning back in her chair as though considering his words. She turns to me, her eyes on the drink I stole from her and I see the question in her gaze beneath the pretext of wanting it back.

Is it real?

I hand it back to her, our fingers brushing against one another, and I give just a slight tip of my head.

Yes. Take it.

She turns her attention back to Praksis, agreeing with the price and once more they fire barbed words at each other.

I see Rey flash her money and before I can warn her about doing anything stupid, like giving it to him without having the part, she snatches her hand back.

"While my associate," a nod in my direction and my temper sours at the term, I am more than just an association, "thinks I'm too trusting, I'm not foolish. You'll get your money when I get my part."

Praksis finishes off his drink keeping both of us in his line of sight.

He wants Rey to meet him in the warehouse district on the the seventh bell.

The warehouse district was exactly what the name implied and there were dozens, if not hundreds, of places to store items without being discovered.

Rey, arguing about going there now instead of waiting. Mistrust in her eyes and tone.

"Because," he tells her in a lofty tone that doesn't hide his growing anger, "that's when I'll have it. So you can either wait for the seventh bell," his body language shifts again and there is no longer fear, only inflated self-importance now "...or go find yourself another dealer who can get you the part."

"Fine," she fires back, haughty condescension dripping from the word, "Seventh bell."

She looks over the rim of her glass at him, amber darkening to burnished copper, "you had better be there."

A promise of violence in her tone.

A quick nod of his head and the matter of crystal chamber is concluded.

It was time for him to deal with me now.

"So...Ben was it?" I see him falter over the name Rey had introduced me with, he has begun to suspect something about that, "what invaluable item can I offer you today?"

A disdainful smile that scrapes the wrong side of my temper. I have no desire to pander to his self-inflated importance.

"Not an item. Information."

I watch with dark amusement as the smile slowly drains from his face.

I can feel Rey's curiosity, a feathered caress across my mind and I turn to look at her.

The wide-eyed innocence she gives me is amusing but not the least bit convincing.

I know her too well to be fooled by that look.

She turns it on Praksis when I refuse to answer.

"You sell information?"

"For the right price, I can sell you anything you desire."

His attraction towards Rey borders on the obscene and the only reason I let him breathe is because of her reaction to him.

That bored look of disgust, as if she dealt with men making advances on her like this on a daily basis, and was singularly unimpressed by it.

She turns back to her drink and Praksis shifts his attention back to me but I am still watching Rey.

Seemingly unaware, she shifts the glass in her hand over to the spot where I took my own sip...and covers her mouth over the same spot.

Arousal has me by the throat, a living pulse in my body.

Praksis turns to see what has my attention just as she pulls the glass from her lips.

She looks up to see both of us watching her and she narrows her gaze at me.

"What," teasing indolence in the curve of her lips, "don't trust me with your secrets?"

Her mouth was going to get her into trouble. Especially when she used it to continuously test my self-control.

"I still remember the last secret I gave you. It didn't stay secret long."

Get out of here Rey. This matter doesn't concern you.

The flare in her eyes tells me she heard my message, loud and clear.

"One little slip of the tongue," annoyance as she tosses money on the bar, "and you hold it against me."

She gives me a pointed look, expecting me to back off so she can get by.

But I still remember exactly where she put her mouth on the glass and refuse to move.

Her body slips against mine as she looks up at me. I don't hide the living need I have for her in my gaze.

Burning amber as she trails a delicate finger across my jawline, the kiss of lightning in her touch.

"Try not to rip out his tongue, Ben, if he makes you mad like the last one. I still have business with him."

The look she gives the dealer is filled with malicious amusement.

Praksis makes a choking noise but I barely hear him, my eyes only for the woman making me burn with such ease.

"Wait for me," I tell her, a demand rather than a request, "this won't take long."

Her eyes come back to rest on me, cool regard for my tone.

"Maybe." The curve of her lips might have been called a smile if not for the provocative challenge in it.

The sway of her hips as she walks away only sharpens my desire for her.

I turn away only after she disappears up the stairs that lead out of the underground bar.

Praksis is watching me with eyes filled with envy and hatred in equal measure.

"What information does a Corellian," a sneer in his voice as he motions for the barman to refill his drink, "want from me? Codes to unlock a blockade so he can slip through undetected? The rate of spices being smuggled from Veris Nine so you can undercut your competition?"

I come to stand behind him and lean down, so that only my words reach his ear alone.

"Nothing so banal from Anu'ul Semorn."

The glass in his hand shatters as my hand comes down on his shoulder when he tried to leap out of his chair.

"I...I haven't the slightest idea of what you're talking about."

A whisper of pressure against my mine, trying to deflect my attention. To make me forget about him.

Paltry tricks that have no effect on one who is Sith trained.

"Oh, I think you do."

I increase the pressure on his shoulder even as I strip away the facade of a Corellian smuggler from my voice.

"Answer my question and do not attempt to lie to me."

"What have you to offer me in return?"

Ah, there it is. The compulsion, the greed that shapes his life.

My fingers dig between the soft spot where the shoulder and collarbone meet.

"Rey made me promise not to rip out your tongue," I tell him mildly and I feel him shudder in response, "but nothing else. So this is what I offer you; the ability to leave this planet intact. Or not."

"What do you...want to know?" A hissed out breath as I loosen the pressure, letting the blood return to muscle.

"I want you to tell me the location of Exegol."

to be continued...