When Leia woke up, she did not immediately open her heavy, languid eyes. She felt warm, safe, comfortable the way she was. She just wanted to go back to sleep. She took a deep, contented breath, filling her lungs with the intoxicatingly musky, male scent of the sheets enveloping her. And suddenly she was wide awake.
"Mornin', Princess." said Han, grinning down at her. He was on his side, propped up on an elbow with the bed sheets pulled up to his waist. Leia favored him with a smile, "Good morning. What time is it?"
Han shrugged, "I dunno. Probably not too late, cuz no one's come lookin' for me yet."
Leia flashed him a roguish grin, "And how much time do you think we have until they start to miss us?"
Han laughed, amused and excited by her eagerness. He brushed an errant strand of hair from her perfect face. "Plenty," he said, reaching down and kissing her tenderly, drawing her petite body to his- not that she needed much coaxing. His hand moved slowly, tantalizingly up her leg, and she began stroking his hair with increased urgency. Then the comm-link on the bedside table beeped loudly. Han swore and reached over to grab it. "What?" he snapped into it. Chewbacca grumbled a question from the other end.
"Yeah, I just overslept, don't have a Bantha." replied Han. The Wookiee barked inquisitively. "Have I seen the Princess?" repeated Han. He cast a devilishly handsome glance over at Leia, who was watching him with her head resting on her hand, which was propped up on her elbow. Han turned back to the comm-link, "How d'ya mean that?"
Leia smacked his chest with the back of her hand, indignant yet playful. "Scoundrel." she jibed. Han winked as Chewie wargled a reply. "None o' your business, fuzzball." retorted Han. There came a stream of berating Wookiee barks from the other end.
"All right, fine." growled Han, "I'm comin'."
"What's going on?" asked Leia as Han leapt out of the bed and began searching for his pants.
"We're comin' out of hyperspace," he replied, grabbing his pants and hastily pulling them on. He went to the dresser for a clean shirt as Leia rolled out of bed and began collecting her own clothes. Han took one, last look at her long hair flowing elegantly down her bare back, then grinned and left the cabin.
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Later that day, Leia found herself sitting across from Luke at the table in the hold area.
"Come on, Leia." her brother urged, "Focus. I know you can do it."
Leia sighed, flaring her nostrils in silent frustration. She was trying to focus, but every time she closed her eyes, memories of the night before would flood her mind, threatening to drown her in ecstasy.
Luke eyed her curiously, as though she were a puzzle he was trying to piece together. "I don't understand," he said, almost speaking to himself. "Yesterday you were so calm and focused; now you're- jittery and..." he trailed off, searching his sister's feelings. She hastily attempted to clear her mind, but the harder she tried, the stronger her feelings surfaced. Her stomach quivered excitedly and she felt slightly light-headed as she recalled just how Han's body felt against hers...
When she was able to pull out of her memories, Luke was staring at her incredulously, blue eyes wide. "You- Han..." he managed to get out. Leia felt her face flush, but said in her most regal manner, "I don't understand why you're so shocked. It's only natural for-"
"I'm not shocked," replied Luke, "It's just... I really didn't need that image of Han in my mind."
Leia hid her burning face in her hands as the captain of the Falcon sauntered into the room. "We're comin' up on the Kashyykk System," he informed them, but they were both carefully avoiding his gaze. Han looked from one red face to the other. "Everything all right?" he asked.
Leia finally turned to smile up at him, "Yes, everything's perfect." she stood and walked to him, "But I think I've had enough for one day." And with that, she followed Han back to the cockpit. Luke scrubbed a hand over his face. How awkward! He didn't know if he could ever look at Han the same way again. Taking a deep breath, he got up and walked toward the refresher; he could use a nice, cleansing shower.
Threepio had been watching this whole exchange in confusion. He finally turned to Artoo and asked, "Did you catch any of that?"
Artoo beeped enigmatically.
"I thought not," replied the golden droid pompously, "Sometimes I don't understand human behavior."
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Chewie barked a friendly greeting as the two humans came in, Han taking his seat in the pilot's chair and Leia claiming the one behind it. "Hi, Chewie." She smiled at the Wookiee, laying a hand over his enormous paw. He wargled excitedly and pointed outside to the big, green-hued planet they were approaching.
"Is that it?" asked Leia. Chewie nodded, a soft wargle of longing issuing from his furry lips.
"Hey, Chewie," said Han without turning to look at his co-pilot, "Go and check the sheild generator, would you?"
The Wookiee blinked confusedly at his human friend, barking a reply. Han turned to him, "Then check it again! I want to make sure just in case there're any Imperials still lurkin' around."
Chewie grumbled impatiently, but got up and left anyway. As soon as he'd gone, Han swiveled his chair around to look at Leia. "So what was that all about, just then with Luke?"
Leia chuckled dryly, then looked down at her hands. "Oh, nothing really." She said as nonchalantly as she could.
"If it's nothing, then why are you blushing?"
Leia clenched her jaw, cursing herself. Why now? She never blushed! She had always been able to maintain a cool outward composure, even if she was boiling under the surface. But from the beginning, she recalled, it had been this way with Han. He somehow managed to get under her skin no matter what. And this, she realized as she looked up at him, was why she loved him. He was the first to ever truly challenge her, to match her; the first to ever successfully break down her defensive barriers, and then build them up again, this time with him on the inside. It was the sheer audacity he possessed which really captured the Princess's admiration and affection. Yes, she had to admit it to herself: It was the fact that he was a scoundrel, a deliberate rule-breaker, a rebel, which inexorably drew her to him.
"Well," she began, "It's not bad exactly, just... a little embarrassing."
As her words sank in, the corner of Han's mouth slowly curved upward. "Was it about that time you kissed him? Cuz I imagine that's no longer Luke's fondest memory."
"No, it's not as bad as that." she said quickly, blushing even further at the mention of the incident. "It's..." she bit her lip. How should she word this? "Luke can search people's feelings through the Force, and mine for you are particularly strong, especially after last night." She couldn't suppress a small smile at the involuntarily goofy grin that came across Han's face. "It's hard to explain, but he knows what I felt. He could feel it through me."
"So..." began Han slowly, brow contracted, "You're embarrassed because Luke found out you slept with me?"
"No, not exactly." replied Leia, "I'm embarrassed by the way he found out. But it's not as though he could have found out any other way. I wasn't going to just tell him."
"I see," said Han, "You just don't want anyone to know that you and I-"
"No, it's not that." said Leia, trying to keep her voice level. "I don't care if anyone knows. They probably assume things anyway. It's just- I'd like to keep my private life private. Luke doesn't need to know what I do behind closed doors. I don't have to walk around wearing a sign that says, 'I slept with Han Solo'."
"You don't?" asked Han in a tone of mock surprise, "I already started working on mine. It's says, 'I fu-"
"Very funny." Leia cut him off icily.
"C'mon, your Worshipfulness. Even you've gotta admit that those are some serious bragging rights."
Leia turned her head to stare at him in disbelief. At that look, Han's heart stopped in horror. He had said the wrong thing, and he knew it, but he wasn't about to let Leia know that.
"Is that all I am to you?" she demanded, eyes blazing, "A bragging right?" She stood up, muttering disgustedly, "I should've known. All you men are the same."
She made to walk away, but Han snatched her arm. "Hey, Princess." he said. She tried to pull away, but his grip was strong.
"Let go," She commanded, firmly but calmly, "You're hurting me."
He released her immediately, repulsed with himself. Why was he acting like this? He just needed to calm down. Leia turned to walk away again, but this time, Han reached out a long arm and laid a gentle, yet assertive hand on her waist. "Wait a second, Leia." he said softly. It was the use of her name, and not one of his ridiculous epithets, that made her hesitate. Yet she still refused to look at him.
"Listen, all I meant was that I've been with a lot of women, but..." he paused when Leia's eyes narrowed. He was digging himself a deeper hole, and he needed to climb out of there fast. "But none o' them ever mattered." he continued, watching her face closely, "There's only one woman in the whole galaxy who ever mattered." He took his hand from her waist and instead held one of her hands. She didn't pull away: a good sign. "There's only one woman I haven't just spent the night with; only one I ever made love to." He brought her hands up to his lips, placing delicate kisses on her knuckles, fingertips, and then her palms.
Leia closed her eyes and took a deep breath, fighting to keep her newly-awakened desires under control. She was angry with him! Wasn't she? But every suggestive brush of Han's lips against her skin made her pulse quicken still further and her passionate temper turned to passionate desire. She suddenly found herself moving toward him, and then he pulled her down onto his lap, facing him with her legs straddling his. Framing his face in her hands, she put her mouth over his expectantly parted lips. He left a hand on the inviting curve of her hip while the other deftly began to undo the fastenings of her top. Pulling his lips away from hers, he instead moved them enticingly down her neck, to the upper curve of her breast. Leia ceased kissing his ear to whisper, "Maybe we should take this somewhere else."
"You're right." he mumbled into her chest, his deep voice rumbling and vibrating through her frame. He stood up with Leia still clinging to him, and walked out of the cockpit while she planted kiss after kiss on his cheekbones, along his strong jawline.
Han walked straight through the open door of his cabin and made a beeline for the bed. He set Leia down on her back, then kneeling over her, took the comm-link from his belt and deactivated it. "We're gonna finish what we started this morning. No interruptions." He declared, tossing the comm-link aside carelessly. Leia sighed as Han pressed his mouth into her neck, biting her lip to keep from squealing in pleasure. With one hand, he began to unbuckle his pants. "Here's where the fun begins." he muttered.
"You're incorrigible." she returned breathlessly.
Han smirked. Then there came that voice; that infuriatingly pompous voice which haunted Han's nightmares: "Excuse me, Captain Solo."
Han whipped his head around, swearing violently under his breath, and saw the golden humanoid droid standing in the doorway to the cabin. "Damnit!" he growled. In his lustful haste, he'd neglected to shut the door. How could he have been so stupid?
"Whaddya want, Goldenrod? I'm a little busy at the moment."
Threepio tilted his head and saw Leia beneath Han, whom it seemed, he had not noticed initially. "Oh, dear!" he cried, "I seem to have come upon you at a rather inconvenient time-"
"You've got a habit of doing that." muttered Han darkly.
"Chewbacca tried to reach you on your comm-link, but when you wouldn't respond he sent me to fetch you." said Threepio as though he hadn't heard the human, "He says he needs you at the controls right away. He's about to begin the landing cycle."
"All right, tell him I'll be right there."
"Very good, Sir." said Threepio, then he walked away.
Han let out a long breath, rolling over onto his back and running a hand through his hair. He looked over to Leia, watching him with those smoldering brown eyes and the hint of a smile on her perfect lips. "Will I ever get a minute alone with you with that pile o' junk walkin' around?"
