Hux swallowed and stared at him, breathing hard and fast. His eyes traced the scar over Ren's face. Others had hurt Ren. He wasn't immortal. It could be done. If he needed to. It was too bad he'd lost the advantage of Ren sleeping or pretending sleep. But good, he supposed, that he hadn't tried anything. He did a quick review of his daydreaming. Aside from the brief fantasy, he hadn't thought anything compromising or too revealing.
Ren sprawled back away from him, his athletic body moving under the thin cover. The open, undefended nature of the posture caught Hux's notice. Ren's body language was a clearly non-aggressive. Hux let out a heavy breath, saying, "You saw my thoughts."
"Yes. But so far, they're just thoughts." Ren's hands were raised over his head. The fingers of one hand plucked at the corner of the pillow.
"What if I want to make them more?"
Ren shrugged languidly and oh, that was an invitation if Hux had ever seen one. (He had not, but this was blatant.) Hux turned to face him, hooking a finger in the cover and pulling it down. Ren was as dressed as Hux was, but it was one less layer between them. His hand came back up, moving directly to Ren's throat with enough mental foreshadowing for Ren allowing it to be deliberate. One didn't just strangle the supreme leader without his permission, after all.
Ren arched into the grip. Hux's lip curled up into a savage grin as he put pressure to it, letting his fingers dig in at the sides until Ren's neck muscles tensed reflexively to protect his airway. It still had to hurt. Hux dropped his face to Ren's, kissing him hard and sloppy with too much teeth like he couldn't decide if he wanted to kiss or bite. Ren made an amused groan and slid his hand around Hux's waist. He pulled, collapsing Hux onto the front of Ren's torso.
It also made it difficult to keep a decent grip on the man's over-muscled neck. Hux gave up on it and kissed and bit across Ren's face to a spot just under Ren's ear. He bit him again there and sucked hard. Ren expelled a rude word and sunk one hand into Hux's hair. He tugged. Hux bore down with his teeth, completely willing to tear a chunk out if he was removed sooner than he wished. When Hux was done, the supreme leader sported an obvious hickey and teeth marks.
Ren petted the back of his head as Hux admired the bruise. "Happy now?"
"Are you? You're the one who wanted to sleep with me." Hux climbed out of bed.
"I want to be safe," Ren said, brows pulling together.
"Then make yourself useful," Hux said immediately and with more honesty than he would have used the day before. He looked up and down Ren's body. "I won't kill you if I need you."
"You're the one who should be serving me."
Hux rolled his eyes. "I am not your apprentice begging you for secrets of the Force. A leader provides a function – setting the mission for the group, consolidating information needed to achieve it, and communicating objectives for success. If you choose the wrong mission or incompetently set strategy, then your subordinates will replace you. They must, or else your decisions will get them and the entire Order destroyed. You are my commanding officer, not my master."
"You didn't replace Snoke."
"Why do you think he brought himself and his flagship into a war zone, Ren?" Hux bared his teeth. "He had to. He didn't need to speak of it because he knew – after losing Starkiller Base, the only way he could retain leadership of the First Order was to put his own life on the line to destroy the Resistance. And you see what that cost him? He's gone. Just as you will be, if you make his mistakes."
A pout formed on Ren's lips, but it was thoughtful.
The man didn't know what he was doing. Hux could see it on his face. He also saw an opportunity that he hadn't noticed the day before. Ren still needed a master. "You can retain the title," Hux offered. "But let me make the decisions."
"I'm still not letting you out of my sight," Ren said.
Hux's eyes lingered on the hickey before going back to Ren's. "That's a sacrifice I'm willing to make."