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A/N: This chapter is where the story earns its 'mature' rating, for sexual content and a tiny bit of language.
Part 5: Later on, we'll conspire…
Gathering her unbound hair and securing it in a messy knot at the back of her head, Leia emerged from the bedroom dressed in cosy sleepwear that she'd chosen from among Lando's generous offerings. The fluffy pyjamas certainly weren't the most alluring things she'd ever worn, she mused, catching a glimpse of herself reflected in the glassine picture window to her right as she stepped into the living room. But after returning chilled to the bone and slightly damp following their snowy walk from the village, and finally feeling warm thanks to a long, hot shower, Leia couldn't imagine anything better than slipping into soft flannel and fleece. She silently thanked Lando for his decorum in not including anything in the way of more intimate lingerie in his selections; style expert or not, the thought of Han's friend choosing racy apparel for her was unsettling, and she didn't think Han would have enjoyed it much, either.
She smiled at the sound of soft music drifting through the room as she crossed into the open sitting area. Trust Han to quickly sort out how to operate the antiquated audio device he'd found, tucked away in a drawer of one of the side tables. As they'd both suspected when they first looked it over, the old-fashioned apparatus played a loop of shapeless but pleasant tunes, mood music that was likely to be pleasing to the ears of human and non-human alike, enough to augment the cheerful ambience without detracting from the rustic atmosphere and glorious natural views.
At Leia's behest, Han had gone to shower and change into his own comfortable sleepwear as soon as they'd arrived, while she busied herself stoking the smouldering fire that had nearly snuffed itself out during their time away. She had thoroughly enjoyed the task, relishing the opportunity to practise new skills she'd acquired by observing the clever Ewoks who kept their Endor flames burning day and night. She was delighted now to see her efforts rewarded; the rekindled fire crackled merrily in the open hearth, its flickering flames melding with the soft glow of the festive tree lights to give the entire scene a cosy and decidedly romantic feel.
She paused in the centre of the open living area, midway between the bedroom door and the open-plan kitchen, and admired the view—but it wasn't the light snowfall on the other side of the large window that caught her eye, nor the dark and lovely lake glimmering under the light of Zalarian moons that garnered her attention. Her gaze was instead drawn to Han.
He stood at the kitchen counter with his back to her, busily working on something she couldn't quite glimpse from her vantage point. She suspected he was concocting the hot beverage he'd mentioned as they wandered through the village market, a drink he would only describe as 'a Corellian Special' that was guaranteed to warm her up from the inside out. He didn't appear to have noticed her approach, clad as she was in woolly socks that made no sound at all on the plush carpet beneath her feet.
Taking advantage of his preoccupation, Leia allowed her eyes to roam unabashedly over his figure, from the top of his rumpled head down to his sock-clad feet, revelling in the novel and ineffably delicious sight of his tall, lean body in slouchy sleepwear. The soft cotton shirt he wore was loose over grey sleep pants that rode low on his narrow hips, and Leia found her gaze lingering there, biting her lip as she watched him move.
He turned slightly to one side, presenting Leia with a profile view as he placed a saucepan atop the flat glassine surface of the cook top, and she released a breath she hadn't even realised she was holding. The way Han filled out a pair of sleep pants was a feast for the eyes, she noted; a tantalizing visual treat more tempting than the variety of exotic ingredients laid out before him, or the enticing scent of rich chocolate that drifted up to meet her as she moved a little closer.
Han caught sight of her then, turning his face to hers with a warm smile, his eyes a rich mosaic of green, russet and gold under the soft lights of the kitchen.
"Hey, Sweetheart," he greeted, and the low, rumbling timbre of his voice made every hair on her body try to stand at attention. He reached for a whisk beside the cook top, apparently oblivious to the effect he was having on her, and began stirring the pot with a flick of his wrist. "Good timing. I can't walk away from this now that I've started, or it'll be one big mess. Grab me the bottle of Savareen brandy we bought, would you? I think I left it on the dining table."
"Sure," Leia replied, and then retraced her steps, angling toward the round table positioned in a small bay window adjacent to the open kitchen.
She sifted through the handful of half-empty shopping bags there to find the brandy, and then paused to shake out Han's purple scarf that was lying in a sodden heap beside the bags. She'd retrieved it from the ruins of the snowman, which had apparently become a sad casualty of the snowball wars that had erupted behind them as she and Han departed the field. As she draped the damp scarf over the back of one of the carved wooden chairs, she smiled bemusedly over the fact that the kits seemed to take as much pleasure in knocking the snowman down as they had in building it.
With the brandy in hand, Leia made her way back toward the kitchen. Han's attention was focused on the contents of the saucepan, so he murmured his thanks as she returned to stand at his side, but barely looked up from his task. "Open it up, and set it right over here," he directed with a nod, indicating an empty spot on the cook top in front of him.
Leia moved to comply and, as she leaned across the cook top to set the bottle down, caught the fresh, clean scent of him that mingled with the mouth-watering aroma of chocolate and spice arising from the steaming pot. The combination created a novel, heady and exotic fragrance that stirred her senses and sent another little jolt of awakening through her entire body. She struggled with herself for a moment, fighting off the powerful urge to drag Han away from the cook top, press him back against the counter and kiss him senseless.
"Everything alright, Sweetheart?" he asked, eyeing her with a quick sideways glance. "You've got a funny look on your face."
"Hmm? Yes, I'm fine." She willed herself to look away, feigning interest in the eclectic variety of ingredients laid out on the counter—catabar, Akivan chillies, sparklemint sticks and a large chunk of Trammistan chocolate, plus a number of other spices she didn't immediately recognize.
"Why don't you go sit down by the fire, put your feet up and relax? I'll bring this out when it's done."
Leia edged a little closer and leaned one forearm on the countertop as she peered at what he was doing. "I'd rather stay and watch. It looks...interesting."
"You're gonna love it," Han returned, and then snagged the brandy from the cook top. "Okay, time to add the good stuff."
While he worked, Leia's eyes roamed over his body once more. She couldn't seem to take her eyes off of him, captivated by the curve of his long fingers around the pot handle and the flex of his lean biceps as he moved, adoring the way his still-damp hair spiked up at every angle, as if he'd simply run a hand through it or hadn't bothered with it at all, beyond rumpling it with a dry towel. The tiny pulse of desire low in her core thumped a little harder as her eyes drank in his handsome features: his clean-shaven jaw, the generous curve of his lower lip, the tiny lines that creased his cheek and wrinkled the corner of his eye as he concentrated on his task. She allowed her gaze to drift downward, following the line of his throat down to the tempting hollow between his collarbones, just visible above the neckline of his t-shirt. Admiring the way the thin cloth stretched across his muscles as he worked, Leia had to curl her fingers around her thumbs to quell the impulse to touch.
Han added a splash of brandy, stirred and tasted the mix, and then added a bit more. "Mmm, perfect," he said after a final taste, then turned off the heat and transferred the steaming saucepan to a hot pad on the counter, beside two tall white mugs rimmed with dark cacao powder. When he angled slightly and reached back toward the cook top to retrieve the spoon he'd left there, the movement offered Leia a tempting glimpse of skin, a narrow band of bare torso between the lower hem of his shirt and the waistband of his pants, and she could no longer resist. Reaching out, she slipped her fingers beneath the loose hem and skimmed her palm along the warm flesh beneath.
Han made a sound that was part amused chuckle and part low murmur of appreciation as he finished pouring a measure of the beverage into each of the two cups and then exchanged the saucepan for a pressurized container of sweet cream. Leia continued to stroke the small of his back lightly with her fingertips, smiling to herself as she saw his brow wrinkle with the effort of concentrating on his task. He decorated the top of each steaming mug with a liberal dollop of cream while Leia allowed her hand to stray a little lower, drifting from the smooth skin of his back over the edge of the cloth waistband and down to follow the firm curve of his ass, loving the feel of solid muscle under the soft fabric. Sneaking a glance around Han's tall frame, she watched him pick up the piece of chocolate and a hand grater, and start to shave wide spirals of fragrant chocolate atop the cream.
When she curved her fingers firmly around his backside and gave him a little squeeze, Han finally stopped what he was doing and cut his eyes at her. "Hey, watch your roamin' hands, lady," he warned with mock sternness. "I'm a married man."
Even though it wasn't technically true, Leia couldn't contain the smile that beamed across her face at the sound of him saying those words. While being 'married' by their frosty officiant with a group of alien kits as witnesses had been an amusing bit of make-believe, Han's earlier indication that he wished to make that fantasy a reality had made Leia's heart leap and set her pulse racing a little faster. They'd been working their way toward that conversation for a few months now, ever since their reunion on Tatooine and their subsequent clearing of the air on Endor made it apparent that they were both still as much in love as they'd finally revealed to one another on the trip to Bespin. Not only had their mutual feelings not changed since then, they'd greatly deepened and grown stronger, and they were now more secure in each other than Leia had imagined they could ever be. In the days following their victory at Endor and in the aftermath of their first conversation about her biological connection to Darth Vader, she had come to the quiet realisation that marrying Han and spending the rest of her life with him was her primary personal objective; a private desire that she held more deeply than anything else on that level. Somehow, he had become her rock and her refuge when other aspects of her life—her role in the burgeoning new government, her newly discovered kinship with Vader, her apparent capacity for manipulating the mysterious Force—felt too enormous and overwhelming. In Han's company, she found solace and sanctuary, and she wanted more than anything to know for sure that he found the same haven in her.
Han had turned his attention back to his task while she was lost in reverie, but if the slight hitch in his breathing and the subtle shift in his stance to allow her to continue her tactile exploration unimpeded was any indication, he was quite content to let her maintain her present course. She obliged, tilting her head and angling her face to catch his eye.
"Are you recently married?" she queried innocently, playfully keeping up the pretense he'd initiated. She kept her hand in slow, enticing motion on his bottom all the while, dipping a little lower to caress the firm muscle at the back of his upper thigh, and then grazing his inner thigh with a light stroke of her fingers, eliciting a shiver that Han tried—and failed—to mask. She watched him swallow hard before he managed a convincingly nonchalant nod.
"Yep. 'Bout three hours ago."
"So…" Leia mused aloud. "You must be on your honeymoon, then?" As she spoke, her fingers ghosted back up to the rounded curve of his ass once more, and she gave the taut muscle another slow, lingering caress.
Han chuffed a soft laugh as he stalwartly finished crafting his beverages, adding a length of sparklemint stick and a final dusting of catabar to each cup. "Yeah, I guess you could say that." He picked up a nearby towel and wiped his hands.
"And aren't you supposed to...enjoy yourself on your honeymoon?" Leia suggested mildly.
In lieu of an answer, Han dropped the towel and slowly swivelled in her direction, allowing Leia's palm to maintain contact with his body as he turned. She started smiling as soon as she realized what he was doing. As he pivoted fully to face her, she allowed her fingertips to trail around his hip bone, and then dragged them deliberately downward, raising an amused eyebrow at the discernible reaction to her wandering caresses.
"Oh, you are enjoying yourself," she intoned, trying to keep a straight face.
Han grunted his response and pressed a little closer, his eyes half-lidded as he lowered his head to hers. Leia met his kiss warmly, her fingertips still idly tracing the shape of him through the soft, thick fabric as she opened her mouth to the touch of his tongue. The kiss was molten, laden with all the pent-up heat they'd kept in check all day. Although they'd spent hours in each other's company, they'd been out in public and constrained by propriety to limit their displays of affection to hand-holding and the occasional kiss. Now that they were alone for the evening and tucked away from the rest of the world, they could indulge every desire. And what Leia desired most in that moment was to drag Han to the kitchen floor and have her way with him. Judging by the feel of him under her palm, she didn't think he would offer any objections to that plan.
But she forced herself to still the touch of her hand after a moment and then stretched up to wrap her arms around his neck as they continued to kiss, wanting to slow things down just a bit. He had taken such care to craft the 'Corellian Special' for her, she thought it would be a shame to let it grow cold and go to waste. And it wasn't as though there was any reason for them to rush to completion. They had all night, she reminded herself, and she rather enjoyed driving Han—and herself—a little crazy with lust. He wrapped his strong arms around her back and drew her tight against him as they continued to nibble and nip at each other's lips, smiling around their kisses and revelling in the pure pleasure of being alone together at last.
She lowered her arms and drew back a little as they parted, and then licked her lips, savouring the traces of minty chocolate there that had been imparted by his kiss. "Mmm," she hummed her approval, meeting his eyes with a bright smile. "That is delicious. Can I have some more?"
Han moved to oblige, lifting one of the cups from the counter—but instead of handing it to her, he raised it to his own lips. Holding her gaze, he took a sip of the hot liquid before dipping his head down to Leia's once more. She couldn't help the giddy laughter that escaped her as his sweetened lips sought hers again. They shared a series of sticky kisses then, Han pausing periodically to take smiling sips of his drink, keeping his lips laced with warm chocolate and cream. They drained a good measure from Han's cup in that fashion, kissing each other into a state of near delirium before Han finally took a step back, released a gratified sigh, and offered Leia her own cup. Smiling so much her cheeks hurt, she accepted the steaming mug and watched as he passed a palm over the controls to dim the lights, and then turned to steer her with a hand on the small of her back toward the large picture window.
With the overhead lights now turned down low, the room was lit only by the twinkling lights of the festive tree and the faint golden flicker emanating from the fire, and it took a moment for Leia's vision to adjust. Gradually, though, the scene outside the wide window came into focus and it was all Leia could do not to gasp out loud. The snow had finally stopped falling, leaving every frond and twig etched in sparkling white. In the distance, the majestic snow-capped mountains were dimly reflected in the dark water of the lake below. All around the distant frosted shoreline, tiny flickers of cobalt blue and silver indicated the presence of the diminutive birds they'd glimpsed on the way to the village. The whole scene was brightly illuminated by the pale light of Zalari's three small moons, now descending along the meridian, all soon to disappear behind the rocky peaks. Cradling her warm mug in her hands, Leia leaned into Han and sighed with pleasure as he curved one long arm around her back and pulled her close. Sipping their drinks in contented silence, together they took in the spectacular view.
"See anything yet?" Han asked after a while.
They had been advised by a friendly shopkeeper in the village to keep their eyes on the skies because the aurora was known to make sporadic appearances at this time of year and it was reportedly a sight well worth seeing. The clouds had thinned and dispersed somewhat in the hours since they'd first set out for the village, and now the air was crystal clear, allowing the first tiny pinpricks of starlight to flicker into view. Leia smiled.
"Nothing but the stars," she replied.
She kept her eyes trained on the deep indigo vault above the lake, taking a mouthful of the richly spiced chocolate and savouring the feel of Han's warm body against her side. Han sipped his own drink and then cleared his throat.
"I don't mind if that's all we see," he said softly. "It's a view I never get tired of."
Leia craned her neck up to look at his face. "I noticed that, every time we were planetside on some base or on a mission."
"Noticed what?"
"No matter where we were, you always seemed to find a way to spend some time with the stars every evening. If I couldn't find you after sundown, chances were you were sitting on top of the Falcon or outdoors somewhere, staring up at the night sky."
Han pondered over that observation for a moment and then gave a little shrug as he drained his mug. "I've always been like that," he acknowledged, tipping forward to set the cup on the low windowsill and then straightening to draw her against his side once more. "Even as a kid, all I ever wanted to do was fly. The idea of leaving everything behind, hitting open space and never looking back…." He angled a look down at her upturned face. "Let's just say it always had a strong appeal."
"And for good reason," Leia nodded thoughtfully, thinking of what Han had confided to her about his wretched childhood and the hellish years of his adolescence. "It's powerful, isn't it, the call of the stars?"
"There's nothing like it," Han agreed, absentmindedly stroking the curve of Leia's hip with one hand. "And I don't guess I'll ever get over it."
Leia lowered her gaze to her nearly-empty mug and absorbed that comment in silence, pondering over the implications. Han was an inveterate spacer; she knew that as surely as she knew the colour of his eyes. He wasn't the type to pick a pretty planet, find a friendly town, and build a cosy house. There was something restless and wild in his nature that precluded that, and the family ties and settled routine that bound most sentients to their planets of origin would never apply to him. And, despite his obvious aptitude and the success he'd found in his present military role, Leia knew that a long career in the New Republic navy was not his ultimate ambition. As soon as the war was over, she was fairly certain he would resign his commission and look for some other way to make a living—something that would keep him out there among the stars, where he felt most comfortable.
Still, there was no doubt in Leia's mind that he was signalling something significant to her now, something he'd been edging closer to articulating ever since his rescue from Jabba's palace. For a fleeting moment, she wondered if she was inadvertently using the Force to sense his feelings; Luke had suggested more than once that he thought her talent for reading people was at least partly dependent upon that mysterious energy. She didn't like to think about that, though, and she quickly brushed the thought aside. She preferred to believe that her understanding of Han was rooted in long acquaintance and deep friendship. He trusted her completely, and he'd confided things to her that she knew he'd confided to no one else, not even Chewie. If he had something he wanted to say, he would say it; she felt confident about that now.
"The thing is," Han continued, as if he were the one reading her thoughts. "Things have changed. The pull is still there, and maybe it always will be. But the push isn't."
"The push?" Leia echoed, quirking a curious eyebrow as she bent to set her mug on the sill beside Han's and then straightened once more. Turning to face him fully, she slipped her arms around his waist and tipped her head back to keep his face in view.
Han drew a deep breath and released it on a sigh as he wrapped both arms around her and met her gaze. "Ah, you know. The stuff that drove me off, made me desperate to escape. I don't feel that way anymore. Don't have the urge to keep moving all the time, like I did when I was a kid."
Leia made a small hum of acknowledgement, nodding her understanding.
"Never had anything worth sticking around for, Leia," he continued, reaching up to smooth a strand of hair away from her cheek. His eyes roamed her face as he ran a finger along her jaw. "'Til now."
Leia held his warm gaze as she stretched up to kiss him, feeling her heart swell with love and happiness as their lips met. He didn't need to say anything more. Whether it was the power of the Force within her, or simply her own close connection to Han, she could feel the waves of love rolling from him, washing over her and filling her with the warmest glow, even as his full lips moved slowly against her own. In his own way, he was making a declaration, Leia realized; she thought it only fair that she should do the same. They parted, and Leia flicked her eyes up to his once more.
"And if I decide to leave politics after all?" she whispered. "Would you be willing to bum around the galaxy with me for a while, until I figure out what I'm going to do with my life?"
"You bet I would," Han murmured.
Leia smiled at his fervent tone. They'd already had a few discussions, with each other and with Luke, about how the premature revelation of the twins' true paternity would almost certainly have a negative impact on the development of the New Republic, given their prominent positions within the Alliance. Leia hadn't yet reached a decision, but she was giving careful consideration to whether or not she wanted to continue in her role as a member of the Provisional Council after the war was finally over. If she wanted the fragile new government to succeed—and she wanted that with every fibre of her being—then she had to face the bitter fact that it was perhaps better off without her in it.
"What if I decide to take Luke up on his offer and try to figure out this...Jedi thing?" She squirmed inwardly, still a little uncomfortable with the topic of her Force sensitivity. "He mentioned relocating to Yavin Four to begin my training. You'd have to resign your commission if you wanted to come with me."
Han threw his head back and laughed, loosening his hold around her.
"What's so funny?"
"You," he chuckled, leaning down to press his forehead to hers, bringing them eyeball-to-eyeball. "You just spent the last few years trying to get me to join up, and now you're talking about—"
"Oh, shut up," Leia groused good-humouredly, tossing her head and pretending to resist his efforts to draw her closer once more. "I'm just speculating. It could be that none of this ever comes to anything. I just like to be prepared."
Han was still chuckling, but he sobered enough to press an affectionate kiss to her temple. "I know you do, Sweetheart. And wherever you go, I go." He paused for a beat and then added, "As long as you want me with you."
"Of course I want you with me," Leia said with some heat, relaxing into his embrace once again. "It feels like I just got you back and I can hardly stand to let you out of my sight; I'm certainly not going to go away for months without you."
"Luke might object to that."
"Well, Luke will just have to deal with it."
Han chewed on his lip. "You know, I might sit around making wisecracks about mumbo-jumbo if you start floating around and levitating things," he warned.
"Then the first thing I'll learn how to levitate is you."
They were both laughing softly again and drifting together for another kiss when a flicker of greenish light caught Leia's eye. She turned her face away from Han, who carried on with his plan regardless, nuzzling her ear and then nibbling his way down her neck. The touch of his lips on her skin sent a delicious shiver racing through Leia's body just as her gaze fell upon the sight of the burgeoning aurora. A luminous white glow had developed over the distant mountain peaks while they were talking, but it held a distinctly greenish cast that seemed to deepen and grow brighter even as Leia watched.
"Look," she breathed, gripping Han's shoulders to get his attention as his mouth continued to make its way down the length of her throat. She couldn't help the thrum of desire that pulsed through her at the sweep of his tongue on her bare collarbone; he'd nudged his way inside the neckline of her pyjama top and was now mindlessly devouring her skin, completely heedless of the spectacular display outside the window.
Leia's eyes fluttered closed as he shifted over and began slowly nibbling his way up the other side of her neck, his big hands tightening on her body as he nuzzled and kissed behind her ear. The aurora was lovely, to be sure, but Han's hot mouth was divine. She gave herself up to the pleasure of it, tilting her head to one side to give him better access, even as she ran her hands down his back and gripped his hips, pulling him against her.
"You're missing the show," she gasped, feeling the hard ridge of his erection jutting against her stomach, even through the layers of soft cloth that separated them. The state of his arousal came as a slight shock, given their lengthy conversational detour, although Leia wasn't about to complain. She was hungry for him, feeling starved of contact, though they'd been together all day.
Lifting his head, Han tossed a perfunctory glance at the shimmering curtain of sheer green that stretched and wavered above the mountaintops. The curving banner of light seemed to billow and subside in the dark sky like a luminous sheet in the wind, lending a surreal and ineffably beautiful quality to the landscape below.
"Nice," Han pronounced succinctly, and then dipped his head down to capture Leia's lips in another heated kiss.
The way he parted her lips with his tongue made Leia's whole body flood with warmth, and she found herself clutching at him just to remain on her feet. The flicker of lust that she had banked within herself a little earlier now flared to life again full-force as Han's tongue stroked slowly and sensuously against hers. His obvious passion for her was a heady drug; it made her feel powerful, wanton and wild—instantaneously and utterly overcome with desire. With a gasp, she broke away from him but caught his hand in hers and pulled him with her, leading him away from the window and toward the fire. When they reached the sofa, she pushed him down, planting first one knee and then the other to either side of his hips, straddling him as she took his head in her hands and descended upon him with another fiery kiss.
Han responded with a low growl and wrapped his arms around her body as she sank down onto his lap. They shared a sigh of mutual pleasure as their bodies made intimate contact and their hungry kisses intensified. Leia couldn't help grinding against him a little; his solid erection felt magnificent between her legs and she found her hips moving of their own accord, gliding slowly back and forth in his lap as she continued to kiss him for all she was worth. When he ran his hands under her loose fleece top, she broke the kiss and breathlessly reached for the hem of the garment, stripping it off over her head in one swift move, feeling impatient for his touch on her skin. Han's hands and mouth were upon her again even before she dropped the top to the floor, his lips seeking the flesh of first one bare breast and then the other as his large hands roamed her body, squeezing and stroking Leia into a state of arousal so intense it made her head swim.
Bracing an arm across her back, Han reached up to cup one breast in his palm, and then lowered his head to draw the taut nipple into his mouth. Leia moaned and arched against him, letting her head drop back and her eyes fall closed as she concentrated on the exquisite sensations. His tongue was wet and warm and oh so soft, curling deliciously around her pebbled flesh over and over again, even as he closed his full lips around the tip and applied light suction. As he continued to lick and suck gently at one breast, he used his free hand to caress and softly massage the other, until Leia finally cried out with the pure, overwhelming pleasure of it. He released her then, but immediately shifted to the other side, taking the other hard nipple into his mouth and giving it the same loving attention. The combination of his lips and tongue on her breasts, the feel of his strong hands on her body and the hard bulge of his erection pressing against her core was enough to send Leia into a state of gasping, moaning oblivion. Although his passion for her was fierce, he was always tender when he touched her. Even when he was rough—and she liked that, too, on occasion—his every caress was imbued with the love and respect he held for her, sentiments she could easily read in his touch and in his adoring gaze, no Force-sensitivity required.
Desperate for more of him, she reached down and found the hem of his shirt and then, with his help, tugged it off over his head and tossed it away. She paused for a moment, panting lightly and feasting her eyes. He had a beautiful body, lean and tautly muscled, with a light pattern of hair across his broad pectorals that arrowed down the centre of his abdomen, darkening as it disappeared beneath the waistband of his pants. Leia couldn't resist touching him; in the flickering firelight, his skin was tinged with warm gold, a deeper shade of his natural colour. She'd once believed his perpetual tan to be the result of continual exposure to so many suns and that supposition had stood until the first time she'd seen him in the nude. He'd been gravely injured at the time, and she'd been too busy trying to save his life to ponder over the finer qualities of his physique, but for a long time after that, once he was safe and sound, she'd been haunted by the fleeting vision of his naked form—and by the curious fact that he seemed to be the same colour all over. Unless he'd been secretly indulging in nude sunbathing atop the Falcon every time they were planetside, she'd mused, it was just his natural skin tone. Subsequently, that tantalizing fact had featured in her private fantasies more times than she cared to admit.
But there was no need to fantasize now. He was here before her, bare-chested and breathing hard, and watching her closely with lust-darkened eyes. When her gaze finally met his once more, he broke into a broad smile that crinkled up his handsome face and showed a flash of even white teeth. He was nowhere near as vain about his appearance as he sometimes pretended to be, but there was no denying that he enjoyed Leia's sincere appreciation of his body. Smiling back, she leaned in and took his lips in a searing kiss, running her hands down his bare torso as she slowly stroked his tongue with her own. He groaned into her mouth and dropped his hands down to her hips, guiding her slow, rhythmic movements against his erection as they tenderly devoured one another. The room was filled with the sounds of their mingled moans and heavy breathing, murmured encouragements and breathless entreaties that drowned out the crackling of the fire and the faint strains of music that still drifted through the air.
Leia's lips finally left Han's mouth and travelled along his jaw line, adoring the rasp of his stubble against her skin. When she reached his ear and then drew the fleshy lobe between her lips, she felt him tense; the soft scrape of her teeth and the sweep of her tongue made him shudder, and she felt him lift his hips, jutting hard between her legs. She shifted her own hips back a little and then reached between them, wrapping her hand around his straining length through the loose fabric of his pants, and tracing his thick contours with her fingertips. He gasped her name and tightened his grip on the back of her thighs as she rubbed him through the cloth. Emboldened by his ardent response, she then delved beneath his waistband and caressed his bare skin with a light touch. He felt so good; rock hard, and yet soft and warm as velvet. She delighted in his strangled groans and the upward press of his hips as he sought to meet each slow caress.
She withdrew her hand after a moment, chuckling to herself when she heard Han's suffering sigh. Despite their relatively short sexual history together, she'd already learned a few things about how to make him plead with her for completion, and there was nothing she enjoyed more than driving him half-demented with desire. Still smiling, she began kissing her way down his neck to his chest, teasing him with her tongue and lips in much the same way as he'd just done to her. When she could go no further down his torso without bending herself in half, she slid backwards off his lap and took up a kneeling position in front of him, feeling the warmth of the fire against the bare skin of her back. Han's eyes were upon her, feverish with want and avidly watching her every move. Holding his gaze, Leia reached forward and curled her fingers into the waistband of his sleep pants, then tugged them downward as Han lifted his hips to help. She was delighted to find him completely bare underneath, and sat back on her heels for a moment after she'd peeled the garment away, humming her appreciation at the sight of him—gloriously naked and as golden-skinned there as he was everywhere else. She couldn't resist touching him immediately, running her hands up the length of his thighs before reaching to wrap one hand around his rigid length to give him a slow, teasing stroke.
Han made a sound low in his throat, and Leia flicked her eyes up to meet his gaze, finding his half-lidded eyes locked on her and glinting with hungry desire. Settling on her knees between his thighs once more, she kept her hand in motion as she dipped her head low, bypassing the obvious target to trace the tip of her tongue around the indent of his navel instead, making his stomach muscles jump. Hearing his hoarse gasp above her, she shot him a wicked smile, and then returned to her task, dragging the tip of her tongue along the thin line of coarse hair that led downwards as she continued stroking him with her hand, pausing to pepper his skin with warm, open-mouthed kisses as she worked her way down. Han's long fingers threaded through her loosely bound hair as he urged her on with soft words and faint moans, mindlessly lifting his hips a little in counterpoint to each firm stroke. Working him into a state of frenzied delirium like this was still a novel experience for Leia, but one she thoroughly relished; every tortured sound that escaped his lips amplified her own hunger for him tenfold, pooling liquid heat in her core and making her feel lightheaded, pulsing all over with desire. But she wasn't quite ready to end his delicious torment, or hers; not just yet.
Slowly, she stroked with her hand as she leaned in and brought him closer to her lips, then paused to swirl her tongue around the broad head of his straining erection, feeling him harden and twitch in her grasp as he arched to meet every touch on his sensitive flesh. Savouring the salt tang of him on her tongue, she flicked her eyes upward once more and met his gaze, holding him in abeyance and teasing him with the warm rush of her breath until finally she parted her lips and took him deeply into her warm, wet mouth. Han's hands dropped away then, falling limply to either side of his body as he released a heavy groan and gave himself up to her loving ministrations. Leia took careful note of his every reaction as she attended to him, lingering for a while in her attentions whenever she observed a particularly keen response. As she kept up the rhythmic movements of her hand, lips and tongue, she brought her other hand into play, delving lower between his thighs to cup and gently stroke the rounded contours there, trailing her fingertips across the thin skin with a light and teasing touch. Sliding her fingers lower still, she traced the silken softness of the skin beneath, thoroughly enjoying the way it made Han's whole body tighten and his eyes roll back in his head.
It didn't take long for the combination of pressure and friction to drive him close to the brink. But, as gratifying as it would have been to send him tumbling helplessly over the precipice in record time, Leia had been fantasizing about the feel of him inside her all day, and she wasn't prepared to deny herself that pleasure. Gradually drawing her tender movements to a halt, she then withdrew, imparting a farewell kiss upon the erstwhile object of her attentions before she climbed to her feet.
Gazing down at his sprawled supine form, she silently congratulated herself on the results of her efforts. With his wildly tousled hair, glazed eyes, and slack jaw, he looked exactly as she'd hoped he would look—like a man who had been taken to the limit and still hungered for more.
Leia smirked affectionately at his dazed expression, and then couldn't suppress a laugh when he visibly perked up at the sight of her shimmying off her own pyjama bottoms and kicking them to one side. Unlike Han, though, she wasn't bare beneath her sleepwear. Hooking her thumbs in the narrow band of her cotton briefs, she had barely begun to slide them down when Han sat up, pulled her by the hips, and pressed a heated kiss to the skin of her abdomen. Then, holding her steady with splayed hands on back and bottom, he turned his fevered attention to her body once more. Leia let him take over, resting her hands lightly on his shoulders and watching breathlessly as he rained loving attention on first one bare breast and then the other. The sight of him drawing her pert nipple between his lips was second only to the exquisite pleasure of his hot tongue swirling around the rigid flesh, and when he moved to attend to the other side, Leia couldn't help but slide her fingers through his hair, clutching him close and humming with pleasure. When he released her and began kissing his way down her abdomen, Leia heaved a sigh every bit as deep as the one she'd drawn from him earlier, dimly reflecting with some amusement that he knew as well as she did how to extend pleasure and elicit a whispered plea. He moved lower still, his tongue swirling once around her navel, before his warm lips began traversing down the sensitive skin of her belly. Every soft caress, imbued with love and tender devotion, sent a sparkle of sensation radiating outward all over Leia's body, tiny frissons of electricity that made her arch and tremble under his bracing hands.
When his mouth meandered southward, she decided it was a good thing he had such a strong grip on her body, because the sight and sensation of him hunched over and nuzzling between her thighs made her feel lightheaded, and her knees actually threatened to buckle when she felt the graze of his teeth through the thin cotton. She clutched at his shoulders for balance, her legs feeling shaky as he caught his fingers in her underwear and dragged the fabric down. He didn't bother removing the garment entirely, though; as soon as the scrap of fabric was out of the way, pushed to mid-thigh, he drew back a little and slipped one hand between her legs—and then she really did swoon, overcome with the pleasure of his expert touch. He moved slowly and with tender care, gently exploring between her thighs, and then grinning up at her when he found her already slick against his fingers. She smiled back and then gasped as he nudged his hand a little further, the rough pad of his fingertips brushing against her swollen sex. He knew exactly how and when to touch her to elicit the strongest reaction, so it was deliciously frustrating—but no surprise—when he bypassed her most sensitive spot to delve a little deeper. She lost the capacity for anything more articulate than an animal groan when he slipped one finger deep inside, coaxing a gasp from her lips at the surge of delicious sensation. He chuckled and repeated the leisurely motion, before bringing his broad thumb to bear where she needed it most. Pressing a kiss to one breast, he secured her a little closer to him with one arm and then settled to his task. The thrill of pleasuring him had worked Leia into a frenzy of her own and his deft touch quickly had her tense and hovering on the cusp of release, her fingers tangling in his hair. Employing a complex pattern of rhythmic touch and strategic withdrawal, and adding the occasional swipe of his tongue around the tip of her moving breast, Han drew her tighter and tighter, finally bringing her trembling and panting right to the edge, her head dropped back in the throes of ecstasy. But just when she felt herself beginning to unravel, when the ache deep inside her felt on the verge of blooming into sweet release, he pulled away, withdrawing the exquisite friction of his fingers and leaving Leia half-crazed with an urgent need that coiled tense and hot in her belly.
Chuckling at her frustrated moan, Han hitched back on the sofa and tugged at her hips to pull her close. Finally yielding to the urges that she could no longer hold at bay, Leia shoved her cotton briefs the rest of the way down and swept them aside with her foot, and then moved to straddle his hips once more. As she settled her weight across his lap, she reached a hand back to loosen the binding of her hair, delighting in the slow unfurling of the smile that spread across Han's face as the heavy locks tumbled around her shoulders.
"Ah, Leia," he murmured with tender reverence, reaching to draw his fingertips through her long tresses. "Sure feels like a dream sometimes."
Leia smiled. "A good one?"
He lifted his eyes to hers. "Fan-fucking-tastic, Sweetheart. Hope I never wake up."
"You know the best part?" Leia queried softly. She held his gaze as she leaned in close and lowered her voice to a whisper. "It's not a dream."
Capturing his mouth with hers, she tasted rich chocolate and exotic spice, and something uniquely Han that melded into an intoxicating combination, drawing a deep sigh of longing from her lips as they parted. They shared a lingering look as Leia rose up slightly on her knees astride his lap. Then, reaching between her legs to wrap a hand around his rigid length, she guided him carefully to her centre. For a long moment, she simply savoured the slick sensation of him, slipping warm and hard against her most sensitive flesh, and then she sank slowly down, taking him inside. They moaned in tandem, and Leia felt herself trembling inwardly at the exquisite feeling of heat and fullness easing deep into her core.
"Sweetheart, sweetheart," Han sighed, dropping his head back to the sofa and keeping his remarkable eyes fixed on her face. He cracked a crooked grin. "How the hell did a guy like me get a girl like you?"
"Must be that famous Solo luck, I guess," she smirked, undulating her hips against him once, very slowly, as her body adjusted to his presence inside her. "And I think it's rubbing off on me already."
"Oh yeah? We've only been 'married' about four hours," he joked.
"I know," Leia gasped, as she began moving her hips again, settling them into a deep and rolling rhythm. She relished the slick sensation of him hard inside her, a pleasure made all the more intense by the way he was looking at her now, an open expression of adoration on his handsome features. "But I feel so lucky right now."
Han grinned. "Gonna get luckier in a minute," he promised with a wink.
Leia threw her head back and laughed, briefly interrupting her tempo. Han took the opportunity to take the lead, drawing his legs up, planting his feet and then gripping her hips to steady her as she righted herself atop him once more. Splaying her hands against his chest for balance, she began to move in counterpoint to the slow upthrusting of his hips as they gazed, still faintly smiling, into each other's eyes. They moved together in an easy rhythm for a while, delighting in the deep intimacy and pure pleasure of the moment.
Leia was already so close, her body so ready for release, it didn't take long for Han to get her there. Murmuring breathless words of encouragement in Corellian, Basic, and a few other languages Leia couldn't comprehend, he skimmed his hands down the length of her spine and encircled her waist to guide the angle of her movements as he continued to drive his hips upward in a series of shallow but powerful thrusts. The slightly different slant in approach brought him into contact with a place deep inside Leia's body that made her tremble and moan with every stroke, her splayed fingertips on his chest barely maintaining her precarious balance. When he dropped a hand between her legs and added the deft touch of his thumb to the equation, she felt her whole body tighten like a wire and began moving astride him with increasing urgency. The delicious feeling of fullness and friction, coupled with the low rumbling of his voice urging her on, sent her careening toward the brink, her hands now gripping his shoulders like a pair of vices. Winding tighter and tighter, she focused all of her attention on the place where they were joined, relishing the power and heat of his body moving relentlessly between her thighs—
And then suddenly she was there; teetering on the exquisite edge in one breath, and tumbling recklessly over it in the next, finally plunging down into sweet oblivion as hot waves of intense pleasure rolled through her core. Her trembling arms wouldn't hold her up any longer, and she collapsed onto Han's chest for a moment, gasping and awash with lingering sensation, her core muscles clenching around him as he continued to move inside her with long, slow strokes. Still caught in the lingering aftershocks of her own release, she clung to him as he tightened his arms around her back and buried his face in her hair, his hips driving upward with increasing speed as he sought his own release. Sensing his urgent need, Leia roused herself and resumed the undulation of her own hips, soon matching his pace and whispering the sort of erotic encouragement that she knew he liked to hear. She gazed down at him in adoration, loving the look of pure bliss on his face as she used her body to bring him the same sweet pleasure he'd just brought to her. When she heard his breath catch, and felt his body tense and rise, she knew he was close; when he arched his neck against the sofa and started to moan her name, she knew he was there. He surged hard inside her, fingers gripping the flesh of her hips in helpless entreaty as he pulled her to him over and over—until finally he broke, his release washing over him in a shuddering rush that tore a rough groan from his throat and sent his eyes drifting back in his head.
Breathless and feeling deliciously spent, Leia leaned forward, lowering herself slowly until she came to rest against Han's chest, then closed her eyes and smiled as he wrapped his strong arms around her back once more. They lay like that for a long time, letting their bodies recover and their laboured breathing gradually return to normal. At length, Leia lifted her head and propped herself up so that she could look down at her handsome 'husband', realising as she did so that husband was precisely what he was to her—no ceremony or official proclamation required. He was her bond-mate for life and the person she loved and trusted most in all the galaxy. She stared at him until he opened his eyes, and then couldn't help but match the beatific smile that slowly unfurled across his handsome face.
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