Chapter 3: I Marry You, I Marry You

Rey drew up to Ben's side, where he was staring out at the crashing waves of the sea. The couple stood, shoulder-to-shoulder, for a moment in silence, not caring how the downpour was soaking them both through.

"Do you remember the last time we spoke in this place?" Ben rumbled low.

Rey nodded, heart fluttering at the memory. "I had just discovered rain for the first time." Growing up on a planet with no rain, she had had no idea what to call the miracle of water falling from the heavens. "You appeared to me through the Bond..."

"... and you called me a monster," Ben finished flatly.

She turned to glance at him. She wished she could take those words back. At the time, the full context of what Ben was going through had not been clear to her. Unsure what to say, Rey decided that the best course of action was to say nothing, and she glanced out to the crashing tide again. It was many more moments before next she spoke, and when she turned to him, Ben could sense through their Bond and in her eyes that whatever she was about to say next was deeply important.

"War's made some things pointless," Rey began. Her voice was little more than a soft whisper. "It's hard to imagine a wedding. I think even my parents would recognize that."

Ben could sense what she meant. Even if on some future day, they could live out of the shadows, and he could live, their relationship would not be celebrated. There likely wouldn't be a classic ceremony, surrounded by Rey's family and friends. Still, that didn't mean... He still wanted... "Rey, I want to marry you." She peered at him, blinking, and he amended, "If you'll have me."

She laughed - a crystalline, glorious sound - and gazed at him affectionately. "Isn't there some legend where all you have to say is 'I marry you'... three times and... you're man and wife?"

Ben's eyes bore a path into her soul, as he let out in a hoarse whisper, "I marry you, I marry you, I marry you."

Her lips upturned happily at this. "I don't have much to offer," she confessed shyly.

Ben was solemn. "I can wait for you."

Rey's heart and face melted. "Oh, Ben... I marry you, I marry you, I marry you, I marry you, I mmmmmmm..."

His lips cut off her words as they passionately attacked her mouth. Tongues quickly squirmed and pushed through the parting of lips, and soon Ben had moved on to peppering her face. His hands were roaming everywhere on her body that she could reach, finding and fondling the edges of her clothing.

"I... hmmmm... I have so many straps. I'm sorry," Rey hissed, apologizing that she was not making an easier time of it, for him to undress her. Ben stepped out of the kiss, to find Rey's deep brown eyes smoldering. "Will you turn your back?" she whispered.

Ben obeyed, like a gentleman, and Rey reached behind her to undo the straps at her tunic. She had to hold her hair up to do so, the tresses having tumbled out of the braid Ben had made for her just that morning; it felt like forever ago. She was just getting the first strap loose, when Ben spun back around, his eyes positively dark with lust.

"No," he croaked out, hoarse. "No, I will not." As far as he was concerned, they were married and this was his wife; they weren't doing anything wrong.

Rey gazed at him almost in amazement, but then she nodded slowly, accepting his decision. Then, Ben swept her off her feet and carried her grandly toward the Falcon.

"Course, it's probably best that you don't strip out here; you'll catch your death of cold." Laughing, Rey kissed him gently, and allowed him to carry her off to Han's old quarters...

As night fell, the squall had not let up, and Chewbacca was still sitting by the light of a small fire, fiercely guarding its flame under the shade of a rocky outcropping above. Munching on a cooked Porg, he glanced down to the landing platform that housed the Falcon. The light in one porthole window was on, and in between the wind whistling and the pounding of the driving rain, he could make out strange noises coming from inside. Throwing back his head, he let out a howl...

Inside the Falcon, Rey and Ben passionately, sloppily kissed as their sweaty bodies undulated against each other in heat.

Rey was lying beneath Ben on the simple cot, her legs spread wide so that she was completely open to him. Her thighs scrabbled for purchase along the sheets as Ben wriggled and thrust against her, his breathing and groans ragged in her ear. She nipped her teeth at his earlobe, and he let out a growl, diving to suckle the pulse point at her neck. Eyes going wide, Rey arched her back, keening into him with a moan.

"Uhhh... Huhhhh... UHHHHHH! Mmmmmm... Hmmmm... Ben, I'm... I'm gonna... cummmmmmm..."

Ben let her have another mighty slam, and Rey's entire body seized. Her hands fisted the blankets so hard, her knuckles turned white.

"BENNNNN!" She came all around him with a beautiful cry. Her husband followed a moment later, spilling all he had deep into her walls with a grunt.

Rey fell asleep against him refreshed and dizzy, astonished over how she had never felt such love before.

The storm had died down by the wee hours of the next morning. By the light of a still-high moon, Rey wandered down the gangplank to the landing platform, wrapped in nothing but a bed sheet. Gazing out at the moonlit waters, she let out a blissful sigh. Sensing the Bond roaring to life, she turned happily, her hair a mussy nest, beaming as Ben approached her. A smug smirk sported his face, and he was beautifully shirtless. Wrapping his arms about her waist, he kissed her forehead and she leaned into him happily.

"I've never had anyone make love to me before," Rey sighed. "And now I want no one else but you to sleep with me ever again."

Ben chuckled. "Good," he rumbled, pressing his lips back into her temple. The couple drifted off into companionable, content silence for many long moments. Finally, Rey spoke what was still weighing on her heart.

"Ben... we can't stay here forever. I cloaked the Falcon, turned the transponder off, when we left, but that doesn't mean someone won't find us eventually." She felt him shift against her, and she turned about in his arms, resting her hands on his chest.

"Let them try and hunt us down!" Ben said fiercely. He gazed down at her. "Rey... I'm not much for words, you know, but..."

"It's no good," she cut across him, blinking back tears. "Ben, when we leave here... I'll likely be arrested and they'll want to sentence you to execution." She turned her face away. "Let's not make it difficult." Her voice had drifted into a pained whisper.

Ben considered her words for a moment... and then gave Rey a little shake. "What are you talking about, 'When we leave here'? How do you know we're ever going to leave? We might be..." Words failing, he pulled her close and kissed her.

Rey flung her arms about his neck and kissed him back, feeling once again safe and at home in his embrace.