You guys! So many nice and wonderful comments welcoming this story back. You really blew me away. I honestly thought you all would have moved on to something better. It's such a blessing to having you here until the end.

And I didn't even get raked over the coals for upping the chapter count *gulp*

I had fun writing this lovely, angsty and (warning) smutty chapter.

Same deal as last time, beta'd by myself so, you know, typos!

Crimson Lane - Chapter 25 - Stay with Me Till Dawn

I got lost in him and it was the kind of lost that's exactly like being found.

— Claire LaZebnik

There was always that moment before seeing her, when Ben questioned whether he'd imagined everything. Backed against the hallway wall, in the darkest area he could find, the thought leaking into him like poison.

She wouldn't want him anymore. He was a criminal and she — she was like an angel. He watched in silence as Master Luke spoke to her, light cresting on that pretty face.

If he were less selfish, he might have had the strength to slip away now and just allow her to move on with her life.

But he was not a good man. He was selfish, and he would never stop wanting her.

Rey squeezed him in a desperate hug and Luke groaned with pain. "Easy there, tiger."

Ben couldn't stop the laughter that rumbled from his chest.

She looked up then, desperate to find him.

"Where is he?"

Her words lured him out, unfolding from the darkness like some voyeuristic gargoyle.

"Ben!" She threw her arms around him, her body a mix of warmth and softness, bone and muscle. It felt so familiar. He pulled her in close, drinking in the scent of her, pressing fervid kisses to her temple.

"Get inside," Luke hissed. "We can't risk anyone seeing us."

"Yes, quick, come inside," she whispered, indicating for them to enter.

They followed her into the apartment and waited as Rey pulled the door closed, very carefully latching the lock.

Once they were inside, she leant back against the wall, hands clenched in front of her like she was trying not to fidget. She wasn't looking at him, almost like she wouldn't, and yet here he was, unable to look away. A quiet dread crept back into Ben's heart, even more so when her eyes became glassy and her breathing was heavier the longer she avoided him.

"How is this possible?"

"A couple of favours, a bit of cash, a lot of luck," Luke said, dryly.

Rey bit her lip, slowly releasing it again, brow furrowed.

"Don't worry, it's all above board. He's been granted bail. Not for long mind you, but it's something." Luke rubbed at his lower back with a wince. "You got anything to drink here?"

"There's some orange juice and mineral water in the fridge," Rey said. This time she dared a fleeting glance at Ben as she spoke. There was so much behind those eyes, he could tell, they were like a dam holding back a million thoughts and questions.

They needed to be alone.

Luke clomped through the apartment and into the kitchen area, grumbling about a sore back and stiff neck. He filled the silence between them with a running commentary of the contents of Rey's fridge, wrinkling his nose at the number of items well past their expiry date, not to mention the take-out boxes overflowing from her trash.

Ben slipped Rey an uneven smile and she returned it with rosy cheeks.

Luke came back, sitting on the lounge with his feet on the coffee table. "Lando's put you up in a nice room."

Rey glanced at Ben again this time, the look on her face matching the one in his mind: How do we get rid of him?

When no one answered him, Luke cranked his neck to study them. "You can sit down if you want?"

"Oh, I'm fine," Rey answered quickly.

"Me too," said Ben.

Luke grumbled something under his breath before resuming his position. "Suit yourself."

Master Luke was perched on the lounge, staring out at the moonlit trail lighting an ocean-path to the horizon, his long-grey hair shivering with each gust of wind.

Ben leant against the wall, his gaze travelling from Rey, to Luke, eventually lingering on the bed. Each time he looked at it, his jaw shifted and he sucked on his cheek. Rey stared at it also, blushing at the old takeaway boxes on the floor, not to mention the dirty undies and yoga pants slung at the end of the bed.

What passed was the longest five minutes of her existence before Luke finally got up, grumbled something about getting sleep and turned to leave.

"You're welcome to stay," she said, even as she reached for the door handle.

Luke raised his eyebrows with a guffaw. "Subtlety was never your strong point, Rey."

Rey released the handle, her cheeks burning. "I mean it. You're always welcome here. You've done so much for me—for us—already."

"I know, kid." He gave her chin a little nudge as he walked past. "But I think you and my nephew probably have some things to talk about."

She glanced at Ben, but he was staring at his shoes.

"How long?" she asked, her voice a little shrill and panicked.

"Just the night. We're scheduled to leave on the 10 am ferry in the morning."

So short, she tried to swallow her disappointment.

"We can't miss that boat or there will be hell to pay."

She nodded, resigned. "I understand."

"I'll see you both in the morning."

The door closed, she latched the lock again and they were finally alone.

Rey hesitated by the door, almost like she was afraid to be alone with him. Her eyes were downcast, transfixed by her interlaced fingers pressing white pressure points into her skin.

Ben waited. He would wait all night for her if need be.

For now, it was enough to unabashedly stare at the beautiful woman before him. How many hours he'd spent locked in that steel cage, remembering every freckle dusted on her cheeks, the way her nose wrinkled when she smiled, the awkward, athletic way she walked. He'd pictured her sass, or giving him attitude, but not like this with cheeks flushed with a violent shade of red, the light reflecting a tear in the corner of her eye. That bottom lip, squeezed and sucked, hidden in her mouth, and then released, swollen and kissable. From there it was hard to look away from the long, slender curve of her neck and the sharp collarbone beneath it, and onto her black, cotton camisole. It must have been an old favourite, because it was thin and worn, the straps shredding from overuse. Something else caught his eye then, a pert nipple swollen and puckered beneath the material—both of them. She was probably just cold ...

A pulse jolted below the beltline, and he shifted.

He'd missed her in many ways. In jail, he'd missed her company, her laughter, the way she shot him down or soothed him, and the way she always tucked neatly into him when they cuddled.

But seeing her now, his body remembered missing her in other ways too. How many nights had he woken with a grunt, covered in sweat and cum on his sheets, clinging to the memory of her body coiled around him, her cries, creased forehead, panting breaths …

He stepped back a little, gripping his hands together in front of his crotch. It was the last thing he wanted her to see and yet, there she was, looking down there. That rich shade of colour blooming even more.

Fuck. He looked to the ceiling fan softly whirring overhead, feeling like he was 12 years old. There wasn't much point denying what was so damn obvious now.

"Sorry about that," he said with a low voice. " I've been looking forward to seeing you."

There was the understatement of the year.

"So I see." She gave him a fleeting smile at her lips and turned to look at the clock in the kitchen. He followed her gaze. It was late, just after 2 am.

Had he been presumptuous in coming here? She hadn't seen him in over two weeks and they'd had zero direct contact in that time.

She'd had time to think now, away from him, to map out her future. Perhaps, he wasn't in it…

He swallowed down that living nightmare of a thought and cleared his throat.

"I hope it's ok my uncle dropped me off here?"

She turned to him, surprised, thumb drawn to her mouth, biting at the nail nervously.

Shit. He panicked. "Because I can stay with my parents if it's a problem."

Ben forced his shoulders to relax, his erection had long gone and now he was stiff and awkward.

He'd dreamt of this moment every second he'd been away from her … but maybe she hadn't. At least, Rey wouldn't beat around the bush, if she wanted him to leave she'd have already told him.

"Rey."

He risked a step closer and her chin trembled.

"My love—"

Another step.

Rey was a relatively tall woman of her sex, but right now she looked so small against the wall, like a caged animal. Is this what he had done by hiding her away here? He'd meant to help her, but perhaps he'd just stolen her freedom.

He ground to a halt. "We don't have to—"

"Damn you, Ben Solo!" She all but ran at him, those lithe but muscular arms wrapping around his neck and pulling him down, face burrowed in his chest, muffled sobs leaking tears through his clothes. "I was so worried about you!"

"I know, I know."

Relief.

"And the last three days, we had no word from Master Luke or you, I didn't know if you were okay…"

He hadn't thought of that. All along he'd meant it to be a surprise, plus there were enough reasons to keep his movements secret with the Knights still out there.

"I am okay, now," he breathed into her hair.

He felt her hiccuped in his arms, and he brought a finger beneath her chin, raising it. "Let me look at you."

He did now, close to him and basked in light, her face was soaked with tears, eyes red and a stream of snot beneath her nose. She sniffed loudly, trying to wipe it all away with the back of her hand.

"I look like shit," she cried.

Ben laughed. "You look perfect."

He closed the distance between them, cupping her face, stroking her wet cheeks, marvelling at the feel of her skin beneath his fingers, before pressing a kiss on her forehead and she melted into him.

"God, I've missed you," Ben whispered, pressing soft kisses into her messy, brown hair. Even after midnight, she smelt like summer: sunscreen, sand and salt. It was an intoxicating scent, reminding him of something old, a distant childhood, fun and laughter on the beach, and something else entirely, a desire of warm, hot, sweaty sex.

With that thought on his mind, he kissed her lips, or perhaps he should say 'consumed', tasting every corner of her mouth, every curve on the fleshy pink of her lips.

"I've missed you too," she murmured, voice low and wanting.

Then her fingers were in his hair, lips fleeting across his own and down his neck. He felt the flick of her tongue at the rise of his collarbone and it was enough to fire all the blood from his head to his cock. With one hand, he pressed her into him closer, and the other clamped over her arse grinding her body into him.

"Ben—" she whispered, but the word was covered with another kiss, his tongue thrusting into her mouth. Her body slackened for a brief moment, as though her willpower had crested, but now she stopped his roaming hands again. "If we only have tonight, let's take it slow."

He nodded, understanding. Without a word, he reached around her back with one arm and lifted her like a bride with the other, carrying her in his arms to the waiting bed.

Rey gazed at Ben Solo's silhouette hovering above her, his ragged black locks flicking with a hot breath of wind, edges ablaze with the silvery moonlight. She shivered; not from the cold.

"Okay?" he whispered. She nodded, sliding her hands over his legs to take her mind off her shaking fingers.

"You're trembling." There was a slight quirk of his lips as he said this.

She lay beneath him, naked and stretched out upon the mattress, the way he had wanted her. He was taking time looking over her body, burning it into his memory, fingers tracing the path of his vision. With whisper-light touches, he moved along her arms and abdomen, swirling across her heaving breast and below her navel.

His touch, down there, erupted an explosion of goosebumps all over her body and as she gasped, his eyes grew wide and black as the night outside.

"Don't look at me like that!"

"Like what?" He lowered his lips to her ear, taking a small bite, his hot whispered breath sending shivers all the way to her curling toes.

"Like you're going to eat me."

He stroked her shoulders, painting tender lines down her arms, kissing down her pliant fingers. Rey felt every touch too deeply, beyond flesh and nerve endings, stoking a fire in her soul, heating her blood, readying her body.

"But I am going to eat you."

Every cell in Rey's body was on fire. With each brush of his lips, or sweep of his tongue gliding between her thighs bringing him teasingly close to the part of her that ached for him the most.

She remembered the first time he had done this to her, that ill-fated, terrible first night and the beginning of everything.

He pressed a heavy kiss atop her mound and Rey jolted as a pulse charged through her body. She arched, and gasped, but then — nothing.

She waited, longer, only feeling his hot breath between her legs.

Rey bit her lip, aching for more. She peered between her legs and there he was just waiting, eyes shining, a soft smile on his wet lips.

"What are you doing?"

"Remembering you like this," he said, wrapping two strong arms around her legs as he slipped a tongue between her lips. Rey gasped, unable to hold back the way her body jolted at the gentle stroke. "I want to remember what you taste like."

He lowered his head again, this time swirling over her clit and Rey grasped her fingers through his hair, an inescapable cry lurching from deep within.

"The way you sound when you come under my mouth," he breathed, picking up the pace.

He found his rhythm then, and, oh, God — Rey lost herself to the touch of his soft kisses, the trace of his tongue, searching, swirling, flicking and probing. She arched her back, moaning and whispering, tugging at his hair as everything pulled tighter, wanting him to stop, wanting more, begging to give him the attention he deserved, but unable to find the will to pull him back.

He brought her to the very edge, leaving her near-spent and panting as he climbed up her body. She wrenched him up in her arms, kissing his warm lips, harder and fiercer, showing him she would never let him go.

"More?" He kissed the word into her mouth.

Every part of her body ached for him to finish, or even more, to bring her to ruin inside her.

But she wanted to do something first.

She gave him one long-lasting languid kiss and whispered:

"Lie down."

He smirked with surprise, but quickly obeyed, lowering onto his back for Rey to crawl on top.

Now it was her turn to study him. With his hard body locked between her wet thighs, she navigated every inch of his skin, sliding the tips of her fingers across each mole, exploring the rise and fall of his chest. He tasted like sweat and salt, and, oh , did she want more.

Ben followed every move with dark hunger in his eyes. His thumbs rubbed circles on her forearms as she moved across the wide expanse of his chest and shoulders. There were scars there she hadn't noticed before, raised white lines long forgotten. She kissed every one of them as he trailed soft fingers along her ribs, her breasts, teasing her nipples, forcing a moan from her mouth.

Rey paused, raising an eyebrow at him. "It's my turn, remember?"

"Can't help it." He smirked.

"Just relax." Rey took his fingers in her mouth, kissing each one of them, rolling her tongue around them teasingly. He closed his eyes, cock pulsing. She kissed down the line of hair below his navel, each one deepening as Ben groaned and jolted beneath her.

Once she was between his legs, tickling her fingers on the inside of his thigh, she stole a look at him.

Ben was waiting, lips parted with anticipation, chest swelling with each breath. She burned that image of him to her mind, the way he looked at her with overwhelming desire and love, so vulnerable and desperate. She would keep it with her once he was gone.

With a smile, she pressed her lips to his cock.

Ben was … vocal as she rounded her lips around his head, clamping a firm hand at his base.

She started slowly, a teasing lick, a slow slide down his length before climbing back up again. It wasn't long before she could taste the sweet pre-cum seeping into her mouth. His strong hands gripped her shoulders, groaning profanities each time her tongue circled his head and lunged him into her mouth.

He was going harder with every intake, his hands grasped tighter, guiding her tempo: faster, faster, faster ...

Ben lurched, pulling her up, enclosing her in his arms and peppering her face with kisses.

"Too good," he panted. "You're going to make me come."

"That's the point! Unhand me so I can get back down there."

"No." He rolled her over again, eyes darker and even more intense. "I want to make love to you now."

The thrill of his words washed over her and Rey nodded, blankly. She wanted this, she wanted this so much. Her legs parted and she sucked in a sharp breath as his long length pushed inside. The walls of her body closed in around him, remembering the way he felt.

Making love to Ben was like muscle memory, they just moved with natural instinct. It felt so right , Rey thought, as she clasped her arm across his back. Every thrust was worship, every moan a prayer, she closed her eyes, throwing her head back to take him.

They moved with slowness at first, bodies swaying like gentle waves, heaving and gliding, then building with ferocity, cresting and crashing. She felt his fingers entwined through her own, pushing them into the mattress, his soft lips, pressing wanting kisses to her mouth, tongue exploring. With every thrust, they yearned for more—more touching, more kisses … more time.

"I'm not going to last," he whispered.

"Me neither."

Each thrust became more urgent then and Rey felt the walls of her vagina grow tighter as Ben grunted into her neck. She stared out at the glass doors, at the silvery-blue light beyond them. The world was still and silent. It was theirs to own, they would conquer anything so long as they were together.

But they had to be together. Like this. Always.

A tear slipped down her cheek, disappearing into the space between her face and his neck. In the ambience of the moon's glow, they chased the tempest, riding that peak of desire, holding onto it, like it was the string that tied them together.

Just tonight ... the thought taunted her on the cusp of her orgasm, her whole body clamped around his.

"Never leave me." She begged close to his ear as her hands slid along the sweat of his back, legs molding around his waist, holding him close until her whole body surged with shattering release.

Ben's eyebrows pinched, his face a mix of rapture and heartache.

He threaded his fingers through hers even tighter and Rey watched as his expression changed, tension peaking, breath racing, rapture, release.

He pulled out in a hurry, collapsing on her chest, a mixture of sweat and semen trickling across her middle.

"Rey," he whispered, forcing a sad smile.

Because he was going to leave her.

"I know," she said, blinking away a tear. "But for one moment, I just wanted to believe."

Rey cradled his face, swiping the dark strands off his forehead, pressing a long-kiss to his lips.

He nodded, his shining. "I want to believe too."

The moon drifted below the horizon, swallowing up the last of that silver light. Rey was quiet, legs splayed on either side of Ben's body, stroking his hair, watching the light of the smoke alarm flash red in the darkness. Her eyelids were drifting closed, no matter how much she fought sleep.

"What happens now?" she asked.

"We wait. I'll be appointed a lawyer soon, after that they'll set a date for the trial—"

"No." She pressed a hand to his lips. "That's not what I mean."

He raised an eyebrow at her and she snuggled him closer, wishing he could understand. She needed time to dream, to hope yet. "Will you go back to your apartment after tonight?"

"I—" he stalled, perplexed. His gaze shifted to the ceiling as if searching for answers there and then back at her, this time nodding in understanding. "I thought we could find one together."

Rey relaxed in his arms, ear pressed against his chest, listening to his heart's song. "Yes, I'd like that. Not Mustafar, Naboo perhaps, or maybe near the coast."

"We could get a pet."

"A dog," she grinned. "I think you'd like a dog. Something big and scruffy like Chewie. We could take him for runs in the morning."

"Or maybe we should wait until we've done some travelling?"

"Are you taking me away?" She asked excitedly. "Where?"

"I thought I'd take you on a long-tail boat in Thailand, or perhaps we could go hiking at Machu Picchu?"

Rey's heart squeezed, eyes welling with tears. The two places she'd dreamed of going, she'd had them framed on the wall of her apartment. He'd remembered.

"I'd like that. I didn't think I'd ever travel anywhere..." Her words caught in her chest and then, somehow, the illusion spirited away.

Because, of course, there would be no apartment, or pets, or travel. They wouldn't even have each other after tonight. She'd have her island home and him, a jail cell.

Ben wrapped his arms around her even tighter, and she slid her hand in the curve between his neck and shoulder.

"What's it like in jail?"

"Boring. Rigid. Every day is the same but the people around you change. The dynamics are constantly shifting, new people, new allegiances, fights that would make a Knights of Ren look like Mother Theresa." He stroked her hair, it was lulling her to sleep even faster. "I read once that prison is like animal cells and in Afgan Zoo, and that's not too far from the truth. There's someone always watching you, whether it's your fellow inmates or the correctional officers."

Rey stared into the black night, measuring his words. "Are you safe?"

He nods. "I can take care of myself in there."

"That's good. I was worried—" she yawned deeply. "And the rocks?"

Ben angled his head to look at her with a confused smile. "The rocks?"

"Do they—" she paused, breath becoming deeper. "Do they make you lift them?"

"What?"

"Hmm?"

"You asked if they make me lift rocks?"

She was silent for a long while, her brows pinched, and with a languid smile, she kissed his chest. "I don't know. I think I was falling asleep."

"Sleep, sweetheart. I'm not going anyway."

"No. Need to stay awake— "

Ben smiled. She was gone. He pressed one last kiss to her temple and held her close as her eyes fluttered and her feet jolted in the descent to sleep.

"I love you, Rey," he whispered, and while she didn't answer, he saw the flicker of a smile on her sleeping face. It made him believe, somehow, his words had made it through to her on the other side of consciousness. A bond. It had always been there, even from the beginning. It would be there still.

Dawn

Ben woke when the sky was still dark along the horizon. Venus blazed in the dying night. He recognised it immediately. As a child, he used to lie on the beach with a telescope, sneaking out while his parents slept to see the planets before the dawn. It took every inch of restraint not to stir Rey awake. The romantic in him wanted to kiss her beneath the morning star and then make love to her again as the sun rose. But when he looked back at her, she was sleeping fitfully beside him, lips parted and pupils racing behind her eyelids. He wondered what she dreamt about, praying they were kinder than his own had been these past two weeks.

They had slept skin-to-skin; a layer of hot sweat filling the space between then. She cradled him from behind, hand still pressed against his chest, her lips wet against his back. He had thrown off the covers sometime in the night, but she still wore them like a wedding dress, draped around her torso and flowing loosely over her hips. He peeled himself away, walking to the bifold doors for some fresh, peering out into the black sea, foaming with white bubbles. The world was still asleep, the only sound were the waves upon the sand. Confident there was nobody watching, he stretched his arms the length of the doorway, exposing his naked body and breathed the sea air.

"The breeze is nice in the mornings," Rey murmured, eyes still closed.

"I thought you were asleep."

"I was," she said dreamily, stretching her arm across the mattress to where he'd been only moments before. "But I woke and you were gone."

He felt the pang in her voice as she finished those words.

"Not gone," he said, returning by her side as he gently caressed her forearm. "Still here."

He sat down on the bed, it dipped steeply beneath his weight and she gripped his hands, pulling them close to her chest, they were clammy and trembling, and instinctively he knew why.

"Nightmare?"

She nodded.

"Snoke?"

"I always dream about that night."

Ben dropped his head. He needed no other explanation; he'd dreamt of it so often, oftentimes waking in his cell, covered in sweat and shouting. It was the reason his first cell mate had requested a transfer after the first two nights. They never replaced him.

He lay down, curling an arm around her body as she rested her head on his chest. It was little comfort, but it was everything he could give her.

He stroked her hair, it wasn't silky and soft as it had been in the brothel, instead, it was curly and rough, stiff from sea salt. He liked it this way, imagining her spending her days in the ocean, leaving it untied and billowing in the wind. God, how he wished he could see her like that — be there, even.

But Snoke had stolen that dream, as he'd stolen everything else.

"I dream of it too." His hand mechanically glided down her brown locks, floating down to her shoulders and back, repeating the motion. "I used to have many nightmares, but now there is just that one …"

He felt the need to gasp like a man drowning, trying to hold back the emotions threatening to overwhelm him.

"I dream that you're dying, and I — I can't help you. I see it almost every night." His lungs were burning as he tried to bury the images away. "Except for tonight. I felt you next to me and it was ... better."

She squeezed his arm just below the shoulder and laid a wet kiss on his chest.

He glanced down at her, but she was hiding her face, her shoulders trembling.

"I know everything will be okay so long as you're with me."

"Ben, don't—" The wretched tone of her voice sliced his heart in two. In less than a day he would be back in jail, staring out that tiny slit of a window, overlooking a monotone wall and barb-wire fencing.

Because all of this was fleeting and tomorrow the nightmares would return.

He turned away. And, as if sensing a change in him, Rey pressed the palm of her hand to his cheek, bringing him back to face her. "I didn't mean that. Keep talking"

He blinked. Once, twice. He couldn't —

Then she kissed him, and by God the way she looked at him like she loved him as much as he loved her. He broke, a sharp exhale. "I — I really don't want to go back," he whispered, staring at the barren ceiling.

"I don't want you to go." Her voice was raspy, strained and he felt her stiffen in his arms. "How long?"

Ben swallowed. "Before I'm out? I don't know...months...years…"

A warm teardrop fell on his chest from where Rey was laying and he tightened his hold.

His Rey.

"Why did you do it? Why did you give yourself up?"

"I needed to keep you safe," he said, hoarsely.

"But you didn't have to go that way — we could have run."

"And have you hiding for the rest of your life. Never knowing when the lies would unravel—" After all this time he'd hoped she might have understood. "I refuse to do that to you. I've hurt you enough."

"But I would have chosen it!" She looked at him squarely in the eye, there was no room for uncertainty anymore and her anger mirrored his own, only it was building.

"If it would have meant us being together, I would have done it!" She wiped away a tear and cursed. "You have no idea. I'm so upset at you, Ben. You didn't give me a choice."

"Is that why you wouldn't look at me when I came in, because you were angry?"

"Angry? You broke my heart."

She sat up, pulling her body away from his, and he followed her.

"You've been forced to hide all your life. I wanted to give you freedom from that, to be a journalist, to see your friends, travel—"

"I want that too, Ben, but not without you!" She folded her arms now, closing herself off from him as a steady stream of tears fell down her face. She ferociously tried to wipe them away. "Goddammit! Why can't I stop crying?"

"Rey." He pressed his lips together.

"I don't want to be alone anymore, Ben." She wrapped her hand over his shoulder, clamping it there. "I know what it's like to have someone now—"

"Don't wait for me!" The words rushed out, as a band-aid to her wound. He could fix this. He hated every word he was saying, but it was the truth. She could still find love with someone else, anyone would be better than him, that reporter, Finn …

"What?" The coldness in her voice made his blood freeze.

He panicked. "You're not tied to me—"

Rey wrenched herself away, staring him down with fresh fury. "Don't you ever say that to me."

He met her glare, fire on fire. "I won't have you give up everything for me."

"How dare you! You are tied to me in every way Ben Solo. How could you think I would ever be happy with anyone else? I'll only ever be yours."

A memory: "You don't own me. You don't own any part of me!" She'd shouted at him from behind the restaurant, chin held high and her voice haughty. He'd never owned her, not then, and not now. Rey was independent, spirited and could hold her own in a fight. She'd been so fed up with his bullshit that day. How he'd tried to protect her from the brothel, how Snoke had lied and manipulated him into believing she was spying on him. That bastard had seen through Ben's armour, straight to the weak point, this wafer-thin, freckle-faced girl he'd do anything for even then. God, he'd fallen so hard for her that day. That fighting spirit, the refusal to be tamed, or claimed, by anyone. He loved her for it.

With a sudden lurch, he kissed her, cupping his fingers around the back of her neck and pulling her down.

"We're not finished!"

"Yield."

"No," she hissed.

"Just accept that I love you and this is the way I'm showing you." He trailed hungry kisses down her neck. "Now, yield!'

"Never!"

His hand settled between her legs and she went quiet, obviously torn between her desire to fight and the bone-melting feeling of his fingers circling her clit. "Don't you play that card—"

His lips enveloped her own again, pressing fevered and messy kisses into her mouth, only stopping to gasp for air. She moaned, pushing her legs apart in a rush.

"I'll never give up on you." She clawed his back, returning his violent kisses with more of her own.

She wiggled beneath him until he could feel the slick of her heat. Ben's abdomen and hips tightened. She'd lit a fire in his veins, blood surged to his cock and the only thing he could think about was taking her.

They were desperate and frantic, the truth stuffed away into that forgotten place, neither of them wanting to revisit it anymore. Rey slid her tongue between his teeth and he pushed inside her. It was too rough and too fast, but she only kissed him harder. He relished the feel of her sex, closing around him. He would hold onto this forever, their last moment before the dawn.

Ben felt both pain and passion as Rey's nails dragged down his back, grasping his arse and anchoring them together.

"I do want you to wait," he hissed through gritted teeth. "I don't want anyone else to fuck you but me." Anger crashed through him, intensifying at the thought that this would be their last night, that it would never be enough. The thought of her with anyone else—

He claimed her with pounding thrusts unable to bear the thought. Of course, he wanted her to wait. She was only ever meant to be with him.

"No," she panted, clutching hold of him so tightly. "Just you. Only you."

She sucked down hard on his neck, knowing she was bruising him.

Ben closed his eyes, giving in to the feel of her body writhing beneath his own, the peaking ache of every touch and kiss forcing him to go deeper and harder.

It was not romantic lovemaking. It was messy and urgent, too fast, too hard and he wasn't going to last. With clumsy hands, he pressed the tips of his fingers hard against her clit and she spasmed.

"Too hard!"

He slowed, and she moaned to the dance of his fingers and thrust of his cock.

He was on the cusp of an orgasm, the tension in his body yearning for release as her hands and legs clung to him in every way, overriding his mind with the fever of passion. He kissed her again, pushing inside as deep as he could, and she returned it with animalistic rawness.

She'd never kissed him like this. There was a darkness to it, consuming and angry, it tugged at the part of him he'd hidden away— Kylo Ren, the man who took what he wanted and hurt where it suited him. The monster who dulled his pain with mindless, brutal sex. She did it too now. The darkness would always be there. But so would love and it was stronger and more hopeful than the long night ahead.

The bed creaked with the fast tempo of his thrusts, his breath coming out in heaves against her face, blowing loose strands to the side. There was a gleam of sweat around her face and chest, those eyes dark with burning desire. She was in her own ecstasy now, holding him tighter with every thrust, the breathy guttural cries of pleasure coming from her mouth only pushed him further.

And fuck, he was going to come so hard.

"Are you close?" she asked, breathless.

He nodded. A drop of sweat fell on her neck and he sucked it off.

"I want to fucking come inside you so much," he growled into her neck. Those words spilled from some primitive, fucked-up part of his brain, but he couldn't care about caution any more. They'd lost everything now and he wanted it all.

"You want to—" A high-pitched moan finished her sentence as Rey threw her head back, exposing a long white neck that he attacked with insatiable hunger. "Um..."

Her brow puckered as though thinking about it. She was so taut now that he'd have to pull out soon or climax inside her. His fingers blundered between them as she thought about it, the swollen flesh of her sex hot and slippery between his fingers as he forced her pleasure to peak.

"Oh God,' she cried out. "Come inside me, Ben!"

He paused, arms trembling, pressing a forehead to hers because surely he had misheard her.

"Please, just this once I want to feel it," she whimpered, sliding beneath him desperately.

He gaped, staring at her.

"Please, Ben!"

He should fight it, there was logic in his brain somewhere, tinkering around, the last vestige of himself that hadn't completely gone mad with his desire to be whole with her, but at that moment she cried out, her orgasm came, tightening around him with violent pulsing surges. It catapulted him over the edge, and — he couldn't fucking hold it, not with her coming on his cock like this.

"Fuck," he spat and spilled inside her with thrusts so hard flecks of paint fell down from the wall as the bed banged against it. He grunted into the nape of her neck, fucking her until he was soft, until his breath had slowed and she was left gazing up at him in misty awe.

"I love you so much," she whispered, as he collapsed on top of her, bathing in the afterglow of the strongest orgasm of his life.

He held her face then, kissing her. "Are you okay?"

She blinked and nodded.

"Did I hurt you?"

"No, Ben," she said, dreamily.

"You need to tell me—"

"Shh." She pressed a finger to his lips. "I like it when you take me. I wanted this. All of it. It was real, Ben. It was you: Ben Solo, Kylo Ren, the man in the mask. I want every part of you."

He nodded, relaxing in her arms, everything wet and supple between them.

Ben rolled off her, keeping a hand on her breast. He was still panting, red-faced, and his back felt like she'd marked him raw with red streaks but it was bliss, exhausted, utterly fucked, bliss.

It was only then that the reality of what they'd done dawned on him and he quickly looked over at her, feeling something akin to raw panic.

" Shit! "

Rey lay beside him, reflecting on the sensation of having him spill inside her. It was an odd feeling, wet, warm, she wanted to have a shower, but wouldn't because some sick and twisted part of her wanted to keep it all inside.

To say it was amazing was an understatement, and she still felt the glow of release. It was more than sexual energy, but heartbreak, anxiety, anticipation, lost hope, release of everything awaiting them.

And it wasn't wholly without thought, two days ago her period had finished. It would most likely be fine.

Most likely. She was sure it was.

But still… There was always a risk.

The spell lifted and she smiled awkwardly.

"Oh, boy!"

"Fuck, Rey…"

"It's fine. It will be fine."

"Rey, that was … I, shit ."

"Stop it!" she reproached him. This was Ben, always thinking after the fact but in this case, she'd been an accomplice to his recklessness. "I just finished my period. It should be fine, but we really need to think about some protection for when you get out."

She stole a sly glance at him. "It seems neither of us has much self-control when it comes to the other."

Ben rolled onto his stomach, utterly spent.

"But what if you—"

"I'm not going to be pregnant, Ben!" She all but shouted at him.

He rested his head on her chest, and she moved it slightly so he wasn't squashing her breast.

"By the time I get out, you'll probably be past the age of having babies anyway."

Rey was silent, focusing on the feel of his warm breath on her chest, the soft brush of waves on sand, the temperature of his skin, feverously hot.

"Don't say that!"

"It could be true though.."

"Then I hope I am pregnant."

Ben squeezed her breast again, his breath growing heavy with fatigue.

He fell asleep long before her, leaving her to lie awake thinking of her future and what it would look like.

How could she bear the hours ahead? How could she face the rising sun knowing it would take him away.

Their words had been shouted in passion, but Rey knew this to be true: there would never be anybody for her but Ben.

What did you all think? Turns out it's very hard to shake the angst off this baby. I must say,

Thanks so much for making it to the end.

Hoping I can land this still! ;)

Next chapter Sun/Mon

As always find me on on a href=" blog/wayofthepathfinder" rel="nofollow"Tumblr./a or a href=" /WayPathfinder" rel="nofollow"Twitter./a