Warning for non-consensual touching in this chapter. After this chapter there is no more dub-non con behavior.
spoiler: alternative scene from tros when Kylo realizes Rey is inside his bedroom. He catches her and uses a force-suppressant binder to do it (yeah I know, indulge me).
Kylo can't stop examining the gorgeous creature he has hunted and captured. He's missed her deeply.
Their lightsabers lie on the shining floor of his personal quarters. She was rash and hot-headed to battle him through the Force, and Vader's helmet still rests on the ground. He drove her to the point of exhaustion during their duel: both physically and emotionally.
Rey's chest heaves from exertion as he manhandles her across the room and over to his desk. She has bested him countless times in the past, and now he has finally gained the upper hand. He wants to enjoy this.
Kylo appraises the familiar high sweep of her cheekbones, the contours of her face, the tilt of those delicate lips, and her wide, defiant eyes locking with his through thick eyelashes. He slowly, almost reluctantly, turns her around.
Kylo braces one hand on her shoulder while the other rests on her hip. He hears her breath quicken in short, nervous gasps as he slowly bends her over his desk. Rey struggles lightly underneath him and finds it useless. With the Force-suppressant cuff locked around her ankle, he holds her down effortlessly. It is a cruel tool: she cannot wield her power, yet he is still able to sense her connection to him through the Force.
Though he will never admit it, Kylo considers it cowardly way to gain an advantage over her. But he is long past playing fair. He uses one knee to nudge her legs apart, and she glances at him from over her shoulder. Kylo sees fear reflected in the shine of her eyes.
"I'm searching you for additional weapons," he explains.
"Liar," she spits.
"No," Kylo's hands find their way to her hips, and he smooths them down her thighs, her calves. He can't help but tremble at being this close to her, feeling the warmth of her body heat under his palms. His gaze lingers for a moment as he takes in the graceful curve of her waist and hips. He thinks of the fertility necklace he tore from her neck.
He wants to see more.
His primitive thoughts urge him to savagely take her. Whatever Kylo wants, he could take it. With her Force successfully muted, he could easily overpower her. He is overpowering her.
But how could he? How could he ever harm his Rey? Bile rises in his throat at the thought and he banishes it.
"I've never lied to you, Rey."
"Stop touching me," she hisses as he unbuckles her belt and throws it across the room. He unties the long fabric that crosses her chest, letting it fall to the floor. Kylo fingers the hem of her shirt, but holds back from caressing her bare skin. One large hand rests on her abdomen, and he finds no weapons on her person. She is barefoot and wears only her white leggings and undershirt now.
"You have no right to touch me like this," she says through clenched teeth.
"Would you rather a Stormtrooper search you? Or Hux?"
As if that was even an option. Absolutely no one gets to lay a hand on her except for him. And yet, Rey's brazen contempt impresses him. In spite of her fear she does not cower before him.
Oh a whim, Kylo runs his fingers through her scalp and undoes each bun. Her hair falls, pooling well past her shoulders. She smells of sweat and war.
He likes it.
Kylo calls on the Force and binders fly into his hand. He wordlessly pulls her wrists behind her back and snaps the cuffs into place.
"I'd prefer you spend the night in my quarters instead of a cell, Rey."
"I'll take the cell," Rey responds coldly, with conviction.
Kylo yanks the binders and turns her around to face him. Her face is wet from hot tears streaming down her cheeks, one racing to meet the other before diving off the end of her chin. Kylo realizes she is working hard to repress sobs.
Sobbing? She has endured worse than this. He would never -
It hits him, and Kylo lifts a gloved finger to her cheek, wiping away her tears.
"I would never take you against your will. That is what you are afraid of, isn't it?"
Kylo knows Rey. He knows her mind better than anyone. She is a girl who can't remember what a soft touch feels like beyond the hug of a friend - or the tentative, hopeful connection of fingertips brushing across the galaxy.
"No? Isn't that exactly what you're doing? Holding me against my will?" She tilts her chin up with stubborn resolve.
A nervous undercurrent runs through Kylo and he struggles to conceal it. Does she truly not know how important she is to him?
"Rey, I would like to - "
Kiss you, Kylo wants to say. The words die in his throat. It is not the right time to ask that of her, not when he is treating her like this. Like an enemy instead of the lover. But what option does she leave him? He needs her to listen.
And truth be told, he can't stomach another rejection.
"You'd like to what?" Rey twists, trying to gain a sliver of independence.
"I would like to offer you a choice," Kylo keeps his face closed, his desire hidden behind his eyes, "Stay with me and I will release your - friends."
The traitors. Dameron. FN-2187. Chewbacca.
"Stay with me, Rey, and let me guide you. There are things you don't know. There are forces at work in the galaxy that threaten the First Order and the Resistance."
Kylo catches the faint flicker of confusion in her eyes - or is it suspicion?
"Some choice. And if I refuse?"
The question is a dare. It's a challenge. Kylo chooses his words carefully.
"You won't see them again."
It's scary to want someone this much. To need someone this much. The silent muscles work in his jaw as he waits for her answer, tensing and relaxing.
"I don't negotiate with tyrants. Besides," Rey holds his gaze, "You could never hurt Chewie. Not after what killing your father did to you, Ben."
Ben.
Using his birth name unnerves Kylo. She touches on a festering wound that has not, and might not ever heal. In retaliation, Kylo lifts Rey and hoists her over his shoulder. She gasps in outrage, but he ignores it.
"I'll make it simple then," Kylo says as he marches up the stark-white steps to his bed. He gently sets her onto the mattress and stares down at her. He is stunned into silence for a moment as he surveys the view in front of him.
Rey is in his bed. She is cuffed, powerless, and in his bed.
Focus. Kylo wills himself to focus. He cannot appear weak. He braces an arm on either side of her, his fists dipping into the mattress. Rey leans back as far as she can, loathing the submissive position he has put her in.
"You will join forces with me," Kylo speaks quietly, "You will come to understand why you have no choice in that particular matter."
With great effort, Kylo pulls back. He pushes a button embedded in the wall, and a door slides shut, sealing her inside. Kylo exhales a long, shaky breath. He needs to release the traitors. He needs to soften Rey's regard towards him. He hopes she will warm to him sooner rather than later. Because right now, in the stillness of his quarters, all he hears is her soft, vulnerable crying behind closed doors.
Kylo closes his eyes. He nearly breaks the facade of Kylo Ren and goes back to her; he wants to hold her, comfort her.
All in good time.
His eyes open, and Kylo makes his way to the bridge.