Over the course of the next few weeks, Kylo focused on little else than teaching Rey how to fight and defend herself; he pushed her relentlessly, making her perform each maneuver over and over again, and then putting them into practice sparring with him. They started out with staffs, but he also taught her to fight without a weapon, emphasizing the importance of being able to defend herself in all situations. She hated it at first; it seemed like all she was doing was getting knocked on her ass over and over again. Sometimes Kylo would laugh at her, but he'd usually just order her up and make her repeat the exercise until she performed it to his satisfaction. Eventually Rey began to get the hang of it; she still wasn't coming close to presenting a challenge to him, but she started learning his patterns of movement, and developing ways of modifying her own movements that served her better. She found that she could use her tail as a counterbalance, and if she flicked it hard as she lunged, she could propel herself forward with greater force; she also learned that Kylo's long reach was most dangerous the farther apart they were, and that if she could get in close to him, he had a more difficult time making contact.
After many long hours, bruises, and dirt stains, Rey had learned to block Kylo's strikes quite well; she'd grown to anticipate the considerable weight that came with each of his blows, and found that deflecting them was preferable to blocking them head on, and often helped her avoid the jarring and soreness from a full block. It was almost pure luck when she finally landed a blow on him. She'd been knocked down for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, and it was wearing on her. Like usual, he motioned for her to get up and have another go at him, standing back and holding his staff loosely, waiting until she was up and ready again. Rey gritted her teeth and slammed her fist into the dirt, all she wanted was to wipe that smug look off his face. Kylo was a patient teacher, but he couldn't help giving off a sense of superior self-satisfaction; he enjoyed being the more skilled combatant, and it made him insufferable.
Rey hopped lightly to her feet, and gave her staff a few twirls before turning her attention on her opponent, sizing him up so she could take him down. Raising her weapon, she advanced on Kylo, throwing a few experimental jabs, which were easily deflected; they circled each other, feeling out the body language of the other, neither taking the offensive just yet. "Kylo," Rey asked, breaking the heavy silence "You said the essence of our power is in our bodily fluids, is that true for blood too?" He nodded, keeping his guard up and not breaking eye contact "Your powers are unique in that they lie in and exchange based on your arousal, but for the majority of magic users, ours is the most concentrated in our blood." She grinned, making a quick swipe at his head, which he dodged swiftly "You seem to enjoy sampling my power with your mouth, could I take in yours with your blood?"
His gaze grew more serious and he swung his staff in a downward arc, forcing her to be quick on her feet as she spun out of the way "Yes, you could. There are some witches and warlocks who do take the power of others by drinking their blood, or use it to infuse their rituals with greater power by using it, but that is a dangerous practice and is forbidden in all honorable covens." Rey frowned curiously "What's wrong with taking a little blood? Provided it's given willingly, and you don't take too much." He caught the foot she used to aim a sideways kick at his ribs and threw it backward, forcing her to perform an awkward head-over-tail summersault "That's the thing though," he explained "blood magic is incredibly powerful, but you can never just do it once; for someone who uses blood to amplify their own power, it's instantly addicting. It becomes a deep hunger that is only briefly sated with the consumption of magical blood; you become an animal whose sole purpose is the pursuit of more."
Kylo had become so invested in impressing Rey with the seriousness of what she was asking, that he'd stopped his keen scrutiny of her every movement. Rey saw her chance and seized it. She threw a quick jab at his chest, snapping him back to the present and forcing him to throw up his staff to block the blow; he returned her strike, as she knew he would, with one of his own, aiming at her head. Rey feinted to the side and raised her own staff at an angle, deflecting his blow, but not stopping its path, causing him to surge past her. Rey leapt forward as the path of Kylo's glancing blow traveled past her, and whipped her tail in a circular motion, down onto his staff. Doing so added to his momentum in a way that he didn't anticipate, and it caused him to stumble slightly. That was all she needed, and, as she flew past him, she struck out behind her, dealing him a smart blow to the kidney.
The resulting groan told Rey that her shot had been true, and she pulled up short, spinning around to survey her handiwork. Kylo had let his staff fall to the ground and was leaning backwards, his hands on either side of his lower back, with one rubbing the offended area. Rey choked back a giggle; she had finally fulfilled the conditions he had required of her, and now he had to hold up his end and take her out into the forest to hunt something. She apparently hadn't stifled her laughter well enough, because he turned and fixed her with a scowl "Oh it's funny to you, is it?" his annoyed tone almost completely hiding his slight amusement. Rey was now laughing openly as she nodded vigorously "You look like such an old man when you rub your back like that!" the mental imagery was seemingly overwhelming as she dissolved into helpless peals of laughter after she said it, sliding to the ground and weakly kicking her legs.
Her amusement caught on, and Kylo was soon smiling begrudgingly, but that only reinforced Rey's claim that he reminded her of a grumpy old man, and she was soon a useless pile of giggles that made no attempt to help him put away their gear for the day. He ended up throwing her over his shoulder and hauling her back home, that way; surprisingly, she made no protest and was quite peaceful the whole way, apart from a spasm of laughter here and there.
When they got back to Kylo's cave, he laid her down on one the log bench, and went about putting their gear away. Rey lay there watching him as he moved about, putting everything in its proper place. A wave of fondness and affectionate feelings washed over her as she observed this strange man who she'd grown so close to in such a short period of time. She found that even though he clearly had some past trauma that he did his best to hide under a mask of arrogance and cold indifference that sometimes bordered on harshness, he still had a kindness to him that drew her in; he'd made an effort to be more open with her and to make her feel safe, and for that, she genuinely cared for him.
When he returned to her, Rey stretched out her arms to him, her eyes dark and her smile inviting "Please?" was all she said. Kylo had bent down when he reached her, and smoothed a tendril of hair out of her face "Please what, Rey?" She flushed deeply, averting her eyes in embarrassment, not wanting to say the exact words "We haven't since before you started teaching me to defend myself. Kylo, it's been so long, please?" He smiled, a low chuckle rumbling deeply in his chest "My little Rey has an appetite after all, does she?" her color deepened, but she mustered her courage and reached out, entwining her fingers in his hair and pulling him down until their foreheads touched "Kylo, it's been too long. Make me yours, now." His eyes widened and swept her into his arms with one movement, crushing her lips to his; as he did so, she could tell by his heavy breathing that he was longing for this just as much as she was, the realization making her smile against his lips.
That smile was soon replaced by short gasps as Kylo pushed her against the outside wall of the cave, kicked her legs apart, and shoved his hand into her breeches, stroking his fingers through her building arousal. Rey wrapped her arms around his neck as tightly as she could, arching her back against the stone for support as her lover plunged his fingers into her heat, eliciting tortured whimpers from her rosy lips. She was soon rolling her hips against the hardness growing beneath his robes, begging him to join their bodies "Just let me finish you" he whispered raggedly into her ear, and doubling his efforts in the process "No, I want you inside me, now" she demanded as best she could, not wanting to let him know how close she was to coming apart. With a strained growl, he freed his cock from its constraints and yanked down her breeches before hoisting her up, wrapping her legs around his waist; he stared into her eyes before kissing her deeply for several moments. Then, as if in concert, he breached her with both his tongue and his cock, swallowing her surprised yelp at the sudden intrusion.
Rey did her best to catch her breath, but she didn't get the chance, as Kylo was instantly filling her up with thrust after thrust; one powerful arm was wrapped around her hips and pulled her in harder with each plunge of his cock, the other arm crushed her to him with a vice-like grip while his mouth was busy marking her neck. Rey thought back to the night she had seen him gripping his manhood while he lost himself to some dream, her name on his lips; the memory made it dawn on her that the way he was fiercely gripping her body right then, reminded her of the way he had taken his cock in hand and turned it to his purpose. The idea that Kylo was using her body as a tool with which to gain his pleasure washed over Rey like a drenching wave, and went straight to her sex, making her clench around him and go rigid, throwing her head back, her mouth falling open in a silent cry of ecstasy as each wave hit her. He stared at her in awe before speeding up the motions of his hips, lasting several more minutes before giving one last powerful thrust and pressing himself as deep inside her as he could, his cum pumping into her in hot streams. He was so consumed in his passion that he almost forgot his spell to counter the heat they generated together, and hurriedly blurted it out, his hand placed urgently over her belly until it served its purpose and they both fell silent.
When Kylo finally let her slip to the ground, they were both spent and stood there leaning against the rock and breathing heavily for several minutes before either of them could move to do or say anything else. Kylo moved first, lifting Rey's shift over her head and tugging at the buns in her hair "Come on, little one, let's get cleaned up.
Once they were done bathing, Kylo carried Rey to the cave, as was his habit after every bath. As they passed through the low doorway, he lit a fire with a wave of his hand and, instead of tumbling Rey onto the bed like he loved to do, he summoned a blanket and several pillows from the bed and laid them on the stone hearth in front of the fire, proceeding to set Rey down comfortably amongst them. He then went and donned some knee length breeches, not unlike her own, and moved to where he kept his potions and concoctions, selecting various tools and bottles before returning to sit down behind her. "What are you doing?" she asked, watching him with a certain amount of amusement and curiosity "I'm taking you out on your first hunt tomorrow, remember? The one you wanted so badly and finally won today?" She beamed at him "Of course I remember! But what it all this for?" he kept his eyes on his work as he took drops from an array of different bottles, dripping them onto a palette of sorts and mixing them with small brushes, never using the same brush for more than one mixture "Well, I can't plan for everything we might run into out there. I've placed wards around a small circumference of the cave and our training area, but beyond that, I can't predict what kinds of creatures we could encounter beyond them. This is just some extra assurance for your safety."
Seeming to be satisfied with his work, Kylo set it down and turned to Rey. Turning her so she faced away from him, he drew her robe down around her waist, and carefully tied her hair up and out of the way. "This might be cold" he warned her, but she still shivered a bit when she felt something cool and wet slide across her skin in a large circular motion that took up a large portion of her upper back. "Mind explaining what you're doing, as you've already said why?" she asked teasingly. Kylo's voice responded in a tone that told her he was focused on his task, though it was somewhat hindered by the brush he held between his teeth. "Protection runes can be very powerful when done correctly, I want to make sure you're in no real danger when we venture out tomorrow. This will help a lot with that." He seemed so concentrated on his work, that Rey decided not to try to get him to explain any more for the moment; she carefully picked up a pillow, doing her best not to move in a way that would ruin Kylo's work, and hugged it to her chest, letting her head rest against it.
The next thing Rey knew, Kylo's voice was gently calling to her "Rey. Rey, I'm finished, let's get you up." She took his hand and let him help her up, turning toward him once she was on her feet and resting her head against his chest. He took her face in his hands and turned it up toward him "Rey, look at me for a moment" she lazily opened her eyes and gazed up at him, an adoring smile, no doubt a result of her dozing, beaming up at him. He turned her face to one side and then the other "How is your vision now that you've been here a while? Would you say it's better or worse with the lack of sunlight?" She wrinkled her nose, trying to think about what he was asking "Well, it was kind of hard to get used to for a while. At first my depth perception was a little hazy, but now I can see just fine since you've mentioned it. Why?" He simply laughed and kissed her forehead "I'm only making sure you aren't going cross-eyed from spending so much time in the dark. You are a creature of sunlight, after all. Now come, you need your rest for tomorrow."