A/N: Good afternoon guys! Thanks for all the love. Please review and let me know what you think. Now back to Kylo being Kylo.

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of the characters.

Chapter 8:

After his conversation with Rey, Kylo almost felt bad about not telling her that he knew what system the Resistance was hiding in. It seemed to him that they had taken a step in the right direction, with neither of them insulting, attacking or antagonizing the other. Though, a step toward what, he did not know. Luke wanted them to love each other. Kylo didn't know if it were possible and if it were possible he didn't know how loving someone so steeped in light would affect him.

He sat at his desk and replayed the whole thing over in his head. He still couldn't figure out what Luke was up to. He also didn't know how he felt about Rey admitting that she cared for him. Though in what capacity he did not know, it still seemed so unlikely to him. He had tortured her friends, he had taken her prisoner, stolen information directly from her mind, and killed countless members of the Resistance on Crait. As well as trying to kill her. Why would she feel anything for him?

Maybe she felt like he did. Whenever Rey invaded his dreams or the bond allowed them to see each other, he couldn't get her out of his head for days. His whole being would cry out with the need to see her, talk to her even if they were fighting and hurling insults at each other. But once it became clear that the force wasn't going to allow them to see each other Kylo could go about his daily life as though the scavenger didn't exist. He could go for days without thinking about her and didn't feel anything about it. Of course, he also had Megum and Kalissa to ease his loneliness.

Realistically Kylo knew that there had to be willing men within the Resistance that would service her, like the traitor or that pilot. Maybe one of them would even love her. Thinking about that made him want to kill them both and any other man who wanted to put their hands on her. How irrational of Kylo to want to kill someone for desiring a woman who didn't even belong to him, a woman he would probably never have? That probably pissed him off more than anything else; that anything involving her could affect his emotions so much.

He was about to get up from his desk when his communicator signaled an incoming call. He would be surprised if it were his mother but his logical side said that it had to be either Thalia or his scouts reporting in another wasted 18 hours of searching. He pressed the little blue button and a miniature version of Thalia appeared over his desk.

"So, you are serious about this," she asked, indignantly.

There was no pretense that this was about business. Kylo was already regretting having ever taken this woman to his bed. If word got out that one of his subjects felt comfortable enough in their relationship that she would speak to him in such a manner, he would have several more coups on his hands.

"You would do well to remember who you are speaking to Thalia. Just because you shared my bed for a month does not automatically give you the right to speak to me like we are equals," he snapped. "But, why Kylo? I thought things were going well between us," Thalia asked, her lower lip trembling.

Kylo Ren laughed in her face. She was trying to appeal to his humanity by crying. Didn't she know tears never worked on him. If Rey's tears had done nothing to him, why would Thalia's?

"I grew bored of you," Kylo lied easily.

Thalia looked aghast, as though no man had ever dared to implicate such a thing.

Kylo smirked to himself. In so many ways she was just like him. He was used to getting his way and having people tripping over themselves to make sure he was satisfied. Thalia was a woman who was used to getting her way and having people, especially men, fawn all over her. Too bad her ambitions made her way too dangerous.

"YOU GREW BORED OF ME BUT YOU ARE STILL SCREWING THOSE TWO HUMAN WHORES!?" "What can I say; they're infinitely more convenient and willing to please."

Kylo didn't know why he was antagonizing her other than the fact that it brought him joy. He put on his best bored face as he waited for what he'd just said to sink in. He saw her eyes grow wide the moment she caught on.

"You arrogant little man! You think you can just use me and there not be consquen-"

She was abruptly cut off as the force wrapped around her throat. The hologram sputtered, her legs kicking as she slowly rose off of the floor. Kylo's face had hardened to a cold arrogant mask. His dark eyes burned holes in the woman's face as he waited for her face to go purplish red and then let her go.

"If you ever speak to me that way again I will blow that little rock you call a planet right out of the sky," Kylo promised. After a few tries Thalia said, "Yes, Supreme Leader."

She got to her feet and tried to regain her composure. She was giving Kylo the most unfriendly look that she could imagine. Kylo smirked at her. Her evil eye was nothing compared to Rey's.

"Now, if you want a chance to earn your place back by myside I would suggest that you fix your face, Thalia. You are a Queen and you should act as such," Kylo said. "Yes, Supreme Leader! Just tell me what I can do to regain your favor," she asked, sounding desperate.

He wondered if rumors of her losing favor with him had caused some trouble among those who only supported her because the First Order did. It had only been a few days since he decided to stop sleeping with her, less than that since he'd told her, and they'd only actually slept together maybe 6 times in as many weeks. So how had the news got out so soon?

He checked his datapad and sure enough among the hundreds of reports he'd gotten throughout the day there was one on Jasmenerth. He opened it while Thalia was still struggling to breathe normally. There was a rumor that if Thalia had lost the First Order's favor there was no way the Jasmenerthian people would allow her to stay on the throne. The same people who executed the coup that got her on the throne had no problem taking her off the same way. The rumor had spread like wild fire as one of the chamber maids had overheard Kylo's conversation with Thalia explaining that they were to no longer be lovers through an open door and couldn't help but run and tell everyone who would listen.

Kylo shook his head. Thalia was sloppy. What had he been thinking just jumping into bed with this woman? Obviously, he had been over indulging since Snoke was taken out of the picture. He saw that now. He was going to have to be more careful from now on. He made a mental note to have to track down everything about her so that there would be no more surprises though there was no way in hell he would ever let her back into his bed. He would allow her to think that she had a chance as long as it served his needs.

"I want you to host a banquet in my honor. It will help you with your little PR problem and prove to me that you can handle being around me without acting like a love sick teenager. If you act accordingly I will give you another task," Kylo said. "Yes, Supreme Leader. How did you know about the issues I am having here," she asked. "I am the Supreme Leader of the Galaxy. It is my job to know things like that." Thalia nodded and asked, "When would you like this banquet to be held?" "You have two weeks."

Kylo abruptly ended the communication. He had a headache forming just from speaking with the woman for so long. How had he ever tolerated her presence? If Snoke were here he would be laughing at Kylo and his apparent weakness of the flesh.

All he wanted to do was stretch out on his bed and think but there were loads of reports that needed to be gone through and he had a training session with Kalissa who was a hand to hand combat expert that was teaching him to fight without relying on the force. It was a great workout and the cool down was always fun with her. He felt a little pang of guilt at the thought of sleeping with Kalissa so soon after the talk he'd had with Rey but shook it off. It wasn't like he owed her anything, right?

Kylo hunkered down and began going through all of the reports which ranged from Budget reports for various bases and ships to uniform and armor requests for new members of the Order. He worked for hours. A droid brought him dinner at the usual time. He worked as he ate and was pleased when he came across one of the reports from his scouts.

Lifeforms on a planet known as Uomia in the Amara System reported seeing a Freighter and a ship that looked conspicuously like the Millennium Falcon. He seemed so close to finding them but now he no longer had a plan. He couldn't send Thalia and her men to take Hux from the General and Rey, not now. He would have to go and retrieve Hux himself if it ever came to that. He would give Rey until after the banquet to have his mother contact him. That bought him some time, at least.

He pushed his datapad to the side and stood up. He checked the time and saw that he was late for his training session. He left the dishes from his dinner outside of his door and headed down to the training area.

When he got there Kalissa was already there dressed in her training gear which consisted of brown flat leather boots, tight fitting leather leggings and a tight fitting brown tunic. She wore fingerless gloves that had a small amount of padding over them. She was working on the punching bag and had no clue that he was standing there watching her.

She was striking with long honey brown hair, pale skin and wide, almond shaped hazel eyes. Her face was a delicate triangle with high cheekbones, a medium sized button nose and full lips. She had an athletic build and Kylo could guess that she had less than 5% body fat. She held none of the curves that Thalia possessed but she was still beautiful.

"Are you ready for me," Kylo asked, stripping off his long black tunic and black under shirt. "Yes, Supreme Leader," she said with a genuine smile on her face.

She tossed him a pair of gloves like hers and he slid them on even though he preferred bare knuckles. Over the last couple of weeks they had worked on everything from stances, stance changes, foot work, dodging and striking. Kylo was bored with this part and just wanted to get on with putting it all together.

"Today we will be working on combination attacks which will include punches, kicks, counters, parries and dodges," she said and Kylo nodded.

Not quite what he wanted but it was at least a step in the right direction.

…

"That was a great workout," Kalissa said with a smile.

Kylo watched her as she took off her gloves and tossed them into her locker. They were both covered in sweat, sore and a little tired. Kalissa started toward the showers but Kylo caught her arm.

"Join me," he said and she nodded.

As they walked back to his quarters, no one even looked in their direction. Which was the way that he liked it. He would not tolerate anyone talking about who he was with or what they did and they all knew it so it was better to just pretend like they didn't see anything at all. Kalissa was just your run of the mill Stormtrooper who happened to be specifically trained in hand to hand combat before joining the Order. She was used to following orders and was loyal to Kylo over everything else.

Once inside his quarters he led the way to the 'fresher. A trail of clothes was left in their path as Kylo stripped her out of her leather outfit and she helped him out of his clothes as well. She only had eyes for him but another pair of Hazel eyes kept filling his vision.

Kalissa pressed her lips to his chest before working her way up to his neck, careful to only touch him with her lips. He watched her passively in the mirror directly behind them. He wasn't a fan of being touched and the women that he'd slept with were no exceptions to that rule.

Kylo ran his hands up her naked back and pulled the tie from her hair so that it hung in soft waves down her back. He used the force to turn on the hot water of the shower. He backed her up until they were standing the spray. He called soap to his hands and began to lather her lithe body. She smiled up at him and he offered her a crooked grin of his own in return.

He called soap into his hands and began to slowly soap his body. Her eyes followed his hands as though he was using Jedi mind tricks on her. She desired his body that much. He couldn't see her wanting him as a person. Even through the desire he could feel a tiny bit of fear in the back of her mind. She might not consciously fear him, but she did, and it added to the excitement for her.

Once they were both clean Kalissa dropped to her knees with a smile. Kylo's eyes fluttered close as her hand wrapped around his manhood. As her mouth moved over him he called force hands to rub over the sensitive tips of her breasts and then over lower bits that left her gasping around his flesh.

Brilliant but sad Hazel eyes flashed behind his closed lids and abruptly he pulled Kalissa to stand. He retrieved a prophylactic, which is a thin rubber sheathe worn to protect against pregnancy and diseases during sexual intercourse, from a drawer in the 'fresher. Kalissa took it from his hands and rolled it off his hard shaft.

In one swift movement he lifted her and sank into her core. She cried out, her hands going to his shoulders to steady herself. Kylo was too far gone to care about her hands on his flesh. The fresh scent of her skin plus the pressure from her heightened state of arousal had him so close to the edge that he had to pause for a moment.

Kalissa made a mewling sound in protest but he pressed his lips to her throat, laying gentle kisses over the sensitive flesh of her throat. For a moment it was Rey in his arms, her sweet flesh under his mouth, her body wrapped so tightly around his. He grabbed a handful of oh-so soft hair and held her neck at an angle so that he could kiss more of her throat and she groaned his name and it was Rey's voice. He almost lost it then but regained his composure by opening his eyes and looking into Kalissa's face.

He increased his pace, this thrusts short and hard. Kalissa whispered to him that she was so close. Kylo held her to him harder, grinding their bodies together. He felt sharp pain in his shoulders and knew that her nails had bit into his skin hard enough to draw blood. Not that he minded at the moment. The pain just added to the pleasure that he was feeling.

As Kalissa came around him, body spasming uncontrollable she screamed his name and it was enough to send him over the edge. He felt a tingle in the back of his mind and his eyes shot open. Over his shoulder Kalissa's shoulder he spotted her.

She was standing there with her arms wrapped around herself and tears in her eyes. He let Kalissa slid to the floor where she had to lean against the wall to keep stay standing.

Rey, he barked out.

Her eyes roamed over his naked form before she looked him in the eye for maybe a nanosecond and then slammed the bond shut. He cursed and knew he'd screwed up big time.