The next night, Rey practiced stance. She practiced kicking. She practiced evasion. She sweated and grunted and wished she hadn't asked Kylo Ren to teach her anything. The man was a taskmaster. He was a sadist. He didn't know the meaning of mercy. He demanded every ounce she had to give. And she gave it. She was going to fall over. She was going to die. She was sure Kylo would kill her before anyone else had the chance.

The night after that was much the same.

The smell of the underground basement had begun to trigger feelings of dread. It wasn't a bad smell, but the association she now had with it was pain. Pain and suffering. Pain and suffering and Kylo Ren.

She could not deny his magnificence. Even sweaty and panting, he made her stomach flutter. She'd gotten closer physically with him than with anyone ever in her life. No one had touched her as much as he had. The touching remained strictly impersonal; he never gave her cause to think he was ever anything but deadly and professional. But her awareness of him as a man, a man she was certain she would kiss if given half the chance, was growing to a point where she didn't know how to act around him.

She wasn't sure of herself in matters of the heart. She wasn't even sure if she could categorize these feelings for Kylo as matters of the heart.

She wished she could talk to someone about him and how he made her feel. She would never say anything to Kylo himself. That would be mortifying. And she knew there could never be anything between them. He was a hired killer. And she was just someone who'd stumbled into his path.

Rey went down on the mat particularly hard when Kylo swiped her feet out from under her with a long tree trunk of a leg.

Stars slowly swept across her vision, lazy, unhurried, until her breath returned to a normal cadence. She raised herself up and rubbed at her injured shoulder. It did not pain her as much as other body parts that had been stretched, pulled, prodded and abused in the past days. Muscles were hurting her in places that had never hurt before.

A large hand closed down on her hair and pulled. "What's this new hairstyle?" Kylo asked her while dragging her away.

Rey knew the drill. She clamped her hands over his and started assessing his weaknesses. She sank into a wider, heavier stance, keeping the pressure off her hair, and turned toward him. The crook of his elbow was the closest, weakest mark. She brought her forearm down hard on it, and that action caused his face to sink closer to hers. She immediately lashed out, sending a blow to his throat.

But he didn't let her go.

He went down and brought her with him. She landed with her spine on top of his stomach. She had no time to think about where she was, she never stopped twisting and moving, shoving her feet against his kneecaps. His hold changed to a choke hold from behind. She pulled against the thick arm circling her neck, turned her head to the path of least resistance, and twisted away from him.

Once on her feet, she simulated a heel strike to his crotch while he was still down and she was able to get out of his range of reach.

At a safe distance now, she straightened the buns she'd styled down the back of her head. "It's called Ass-Kicking Hair," she panted. She bent at the waist and rested her hands on her knees and caught her breath.

Grappling with a man of Kylo's size took a lot of energy. Her level of exhaustion following their workouts was telling of how unfit her body truly was. He, on the other hand, looked even better with damp hair that constantly fell over his eyes.

The best word she could come up for him in those moments was alluring.

He stood to his full height, staring down at her from behind all that black hair.

So kriffing alluring.

"Can you swim?" he asked her.

She blinked. Stood straight. What a concept, a kid from the desert, a swimmer.

"No. Never had the chance."

"Let's go." He started for the stairs.

"Now?" It was already dark out.

"Come on. It can be part of your training."

She was thankful for the lit path that led down to the lake. The deck and pier built into the side of the hill provided seating and an outdoor kitchen to grill food. It was a place for parties and fun.

Trepidation kept her from the edge of the pier. There were lights that bled out into the darkness, but the black water below didn't entice her at all.

Kylo didn't have that problem. He was already stripping off clothes, much to Rey's excitement and dismay. Disrobed down to his black underpants, she watched as Kylo launched himself off the edge of the pier, knees drawn to his chest. His back split the water first.

The splashing hit her with the force of a thousand ice chips. She gasped. There was no way she was getting in that cold black lake.

When he finally came up for air, she said, "I'm just going to go back to my room. I'm tired. Very, very tired."

She didn't make it across the deck.

Kylo came out of the water and right up behind her. He grabbed her up in his arms and turned her toward the lake. The shock and surprise of his cold wet body wrapped around her caused her stomach to fly away to a new dimension. But her new combative instincts kicked in and she stomped his leg just above his ankle, sending them both to the boards beneath them.

"Ow," he groaned in her ear.

He was cold and clammy against her. She shivered and twisted out of his slippery grip. She also stepped far enough away from him so he wouldn't catch her again.

Rey had learned her lessons well.

Kylo didn't get up. Rey looked down at him with worry. "Are you okay?"

"You got me good that time." He hissed as he stood, favoring the leg she'd stomped on.

She'd landed some particularly vicious hits on him over the last few days. His head was scabbed and bruised over his right eye. There were purple splotches on his arms and legs. There were also teeth marks puncturing his forearms. Rey had done all of that.

The two of them had gone hard at training. She could tell Kylo held himself back from his full strength when she scrapped with him, but he had encouraged her to hold nothing back.

She watched as he limped to pick up his abandoned clothes. "I would offer to help you up the steps, but I'm afraid you're just playing at being hurt so you can distract me and throw me into the lake."

"Why didn't you want to get in?" he asked as he stepped closer to her.

Rey averted her eyes from his chest, stared instead at the wet hair plastered to his face.

"The water's cold."

He hummed. "Is that the only reason?"

Yes.

No.

Maybe.

The reasons were many. She'd never been in a lake before. She didn't know how to swim. She could drown. It was dark. She couldn't see the bottom. There may be something in the water. She might have been a little scared. She may be intimidated by Kylo in a setting where he didn't have on clothes and she had no way to defend herself. She would have to hold on to him without his clothes. She would have to rely solely on Kylo if she went into the water.

"Yes?" she squeaked.

"You're a bad liar, Rey."

Indignant, she responded with, "You don't know me well enough to say that."

He paused, his eyes on hers. "You're the curious sort, always asking questions. You're brave, even when the world is falling down around you. You care deeply. You learn quickly. You're tough. The circumstances you came from don't define you, and yet there is a purity that shines out of you that blinds me every time I look at you. You're so full of light, and I…"

Rey held her breath, hoping, dreading he would continue.

"I can tell when you lie," he finished abruptly.

"Oh." She couldn't meet his eyes. Her face was burning. All this talk of bravery and compliments, she didn't know what to do with it. And it was now apparent that she would not be able to fib around Kylo.

"Do you trust me?" he asked.

A deep breath left her. Kylo belonged to something darker than she could understand. She didn't have all the details of his life, but killing for money had to be a brutal way to live. That wasn't normal. Comprehending the reasons that would drive someone to do what Kylo did was beyond her.

If it wasn't for the fact that she had seen the arsenal of weapons he carried wherever he went, she wouldn't have ever guessed he was a contract killer. He had tremendous self-control, kept to himself, and had fine manners. He'd saved her from certain death. He'd kept her alive. He was kind to her. He'd seen to her needs. And he was also teaching her to defend herself.

To her, all of the reasons she had for answering in the negative were far surpassed by the reasons that made her say, "Yes."

Because she did trust him.

The truth? Kylo Ren was the only person she had left in the world that she could trust.

The warm night air pulsed around them as their gazes caught and held. After long moments, Kylo raised his hand, offering it to her palm up.

His stoic face had softened in ways that she already knew wasn't customary for him. He was waiting patiently for her, palm wide, long fingers still reaching.

Rey found that she was in a new kind of danger.

She'd never met anyone like this man, but her heart recognized something in him that she couldn't deny.

She liked him.

If she liked him, she was in danger of losing herself to him.

The darkness in him filled her with concern, but that didn't stop her from moving closer to him. Her hand was so heavy as she raised it to his. This was all part of learning how to swim, wasn't it? Taking a chance. Stepping off into the unknown. Trying to stay afloat. Trying not to drown.

She would take this one moment with him and she would keep it close to her soul. She would not let the dark have it.

His hand was firm as it grasped hers, his eyes… so warm. She could get lost in them.

He threw his clothes down on the deck. "Hold your breath and jump."

"Just don't let go of me," she pleaded.

"I've got you."

The cold stunned her entire body as they went under. Mild panic clawed at her, but Kylo's hand was stronger.

She curled into him when she came up for air. There was no bottom for her feet to stand on. Her hands went to his broad shoulders. She tried very hard not to stare at his sculpted chest in the moonlight. He steadied her with his hands on her waist. She tried very hard not to dwell on how large his hands felt on her.

She tried, she failed.

The breath shuddered out of her. Everything tingled and warmed where his hands touched her. Yes, the water was cold, but her skin burned through her clothes.

"Kick your feet now. It'll help you stay afloat."

Her focus caught and held on his wet lips.

His strong shoulders warmed her hands.

She followed his instructions as best she could and found she took to the water just fine. It was a free feeling, swimming, being weightless.

He enticed her farther out into the water, and she went, forever being pulled in by the force of his gravity.

He taught her to float, his hands at different times on her back, her belly, her wrists and ankles. His touch was magic on her skin. He probably had no idea what he was doing to her.

She watched the stars and caught her breath while floating on her back, the water creating a vacuum of otherworldly sound in her ears.

After all the work they'd been doing and the lateness of the hour, Rey began to grow weary. Kylo tapped on her hand and she saw him tilt his head toward the pier. She took advantage of his retreating back and latched onto his shoulders, her knees resting at his hips.

Her blood pulsed slow and thick through her veins.

His broad shoulders turned to steel beneath her fingertips.

"No free rides," he told her, a slight hitch in his voice.

"I'm about to fall asleep," she replied. "Do you want me to drown?"

He didn't answer, but his big hands secured her knees tighter to his sides. Rey's arms slipped around his neck and she rested her head near his. Her lips touched the column of his throat.

She knew that it wouldn't be long before they parted, and she wanted to make the most of being near him like this. What she felt for him was uncharted waters in which she had no idea how to swim.

But he would never know, and she would never tell that her feelings for him were blossoming into something that terrified her.