Trigger Warning: there is no sex scene in this chapter.
Rey felt Kylo wake up, but she kept her mind blank. Peaceful. She didn't want him to know that she was awake. She amused her conscious with images of the ocean in case he got curious and peeked.
He faced her, resting his head on his hand, eyes tracing the smooth curve of her hip. Rey nearly jumped with surprise when he wrapped an arm over her stomach and pulled her into him, fitting his body tight against hers with only the thin sheet separating their skin. She couldn't keep the smile from stretching across her face when he nuzzled his face against the nape of her neck.
As quickly as he had snuggled her, he was up from the bed and shuffling around to gather his clothes. Rey considered waking up to accompany him in the shower, but the bed was too warm and comfortable to leave, and parts of her were still reeling from the night before.
Kylo Ren left without disturbing her further.
Some time after the door closed, Rey opened her eyes and got up. She couldn't figure out why, but today she felt untouchable. The cuffs and collar indicated otherwise, but, now when Rey saw them, they were nothing more than another article of clothing. One that she couldn't remove, yes, but she didn't mind wearing them so much.
When she finished grooming and dressing, Rey took a deep breath and walked out of the bedroom.
Three armed troopers turned to face her.
"Go back inside, please."
"I'm getting cabin fever in there." She said. "Give me a tour or something."
The three men in white exchanged glances. The silence went on for too long and Rey let out a sigh. "Alright. Well I'm going. You can follow me if you like."
As she started walking, one of them grabbed her arm.
"The last storm trooper who touched me got sliced in half." She said casually. "You're ordered to guard me, isn't that right? Not to command me or drag me off to anywhere. So, come with me, guard me." He let go of her arm and Rey sauntered down the hall. They followed her, unable to think of an alternative.
She took in everything, but walked too fast to retain it. Her three little buns bobbed back and forth as she looked to and fro, waiting for a branch in the hall.
When she finally found one, she turned suddenly and spotted Finn standing there.
"Rey!" He yelled just as she put her fingers to her lips. The troopers rounded the corner, and Rey ducked her head and threw herself against the wall to avoid the blaster fire.
Finn had taken two of them down quickly. The third trooper yanked Rey up by her hair and held the blaster against her neck.
"Drop your weapon." He yelled at Finn.
"He won't hurt me," Rey said. "Just shoot him."
Before the trooper could process what Rey said, he was dead.
"Are you alright?" He asked, his eyes immediately fell to the collar around her neck.
"Yes." She nodded. "Yes, I am alright, but you can't be here." She squeezed his arms, elated that her friend had come back to save her. "Come on, follow me. I have a room." She took his hand and looked down both ends of the hallway before running back into Kylo Ren's bedroom.
"What is going on?" He said, looking around the room.
"It's…" Rey began. "A long story." And not one she wanted to talk about. "Is anyone else in the ship? Han? The Resistance?"
"A couple of us." Finn nodded. "We've got a ship docked to get you out of here, come on."
She could have cried. She wanted to. Her face looked as though it might split in half from her lips, stretching in a grin. She embraced Finn.
"I've missed you." She whispered.
Finn was frowning. "What have they done to you?" He asked. From his cursory glance there hadn't seemed to be anything wrong with her. "What's with the cuffs?"
"Finn I can't go with you." Rey finally said. "I can't get these off, and they…" She had to turn her face away from him. "They can control me. As soon as I'd get off the ship all Kylo has to do is think for me to return and I will. You and everyone else needs to get out of here. Leave me."
"Rey I can't just-"
The door hissed open. Kylo Ren was standing there, his lightsaber crackling. Finn grabbed his blaster as Kylo rushed at him. Rey threw herself between them, her back against Finn's chest.
"Stop!" She yelled. "Don't. Do not hurt him."
Finn still had his blaster pointed at Kylo from under Rey's arm. Rey turned her head to glare at him. "Put that down!"
"Him first." Finn said.
"Ben, please." Rey said, trying to ignore the distance created between them by him wearing that infernal mask. "Please don't hurt him."
"How many of you are on the ship?" Kylo Ren asked him.
"Just me." Finn lied.
Kylo searched Rey's mind, but she revealed nothing.
His saber powered down. Finn dropped his blaster, but stepped in front of Rey now. "She's coming with me."
"Grab him." Kylo instructed the team of troopers behind him. "Stand down, Rey."
While the troopers grabbed him, Finn glanced between the two of them as Rey stepped aside.
"You came to rescue her?" Kylo Ren asked, stepping towards Rey. Rey stared at him cautiously, worried.
"What's she to you anyway?" Finn asked.
"A test subject." Kylo Ren said, putting a finger on her collar. "For a new technology. I can make her do anything, would you like to see?"
"Ben, please." Rey's words were a horrified whisper.
"That's messed up." Finn said. "Even if it were true."
"She doesn't think so. Do you, Rey?"
"You can control my body not my words." Rey said angrily.
"What's going on, here?" Finn asked.
Kylo Ren made the collar hum to life, Rey threw her head back and braced her shoulders against the wall, forcing herself to think of anything but the shivers coiling up her thighs and taking root in her lower belly.
"Don't hurt her!" Finn yelled, struggling against the troopers.
"You mean she didn't tell you? Rey isn't going anywhere. She's in love with me."
Finn's mouth dropped open. Rey's legs were shaking, her face was hot from humiliation and she reluctantly glanced up at Finn.
Her heart would have sunk, if her body wasn't being so uncooperative. She gasped to catch her breath. But she had already begun to cry. "It's… complicated." She huffed.
"Go back to your resistance and tell them to forget about Rey. She doesn't want to go back. Her place is here with me."
"Stop hurting her!" Finn yelled, watching Rey claw desperately, her face bright pink, at the collar around her neck.
The sensation went away as fast as it had begun and Rey slid down to the ground, relieved and now aching for more.
"I wasn't hurting her."
Rey threw her face in her hands before she could lock eyes with Finn. She didn't want to see the enlightenment cross his face.
"Take him away." Kylo Ren ordered.
"We'll get you out, Rey!" Finn yelled.
"Please don't hurt him." Rey begged Ben. "He's my friend, he was the first one to show me any kindness, please-"
"I'll deal with you later."
"Ben," Rey flung herself at him, grasping his leg. "Ben, please." She hated feeling so helpless.
If he hurt Finn, Rey didn't know if she could forgive him. He may never release her from the metal around her wrists and neck. He may paralyze her with pain or pleasure day after day but she would feel nothing but hate. Her fingers tangled on their own around his cloak. Restraints or not she'd find a way to escape. She'd never stop fighting him. Tears streamed down her face as she grimaced, lost in her fury. She'd spend every waking moment, every ounce of her energy fighting him. She'd murder him in his sleep. With his own lightsaber. She'd -
Alone in the room finally, Kylo Ren knelt down on the floor in front of her and removed his helmet. He pulled her hands to his chest and touched her face, forcing her eyes to his. They were kind. Possibly for the first time ever. It stunned her to silence.
"I won't." He promised, stroking her wet cheeks. "I promise I won't."
Her bloodshot eyes darted between his, immediately skeptical. "Or ordering your troopers to, or-"
"He won't be harmed."
"Or Snoke."
"I promise." He insisted, clutching her face. His mind was open to her.
She believed him. He stroked her cheek with his thumb once more and Rey threw her arms around his neck, holding him close, relieved.