I wanted to thank all my readers again. These past few weeks have been a bit rough, as I've been down and out with respiratory issues and severe headaches and migraines. This, in turn, has caused some serious depression. I wasn't able to write on either of my current WIPs for almost 2 weeks, which really brings me down. But, I'm back to feeling better and even wrote some the other night. Oh, and for those interested, I did post a short angsty Damerey story a short time ago (I forgot to mention it last week) called She Makes Him Laugh.

On to this story. This is a very big chapter as two important things are about to happen. It also gets a bit spicy. We're not quite to the smut, but there's a hint of it here.

Her feet had blisters, her right knee was aching bad and it kept locking up, she was hungry and hot and dead on her feet.

But none of that mattered as Poe kissed her.

For a brief moment, she remembered how she and her internet friends used to joke about how Poe Dameron 'kissed like a whore,' and how they had all dreamed of being kissed like that someday. Well, now she knew what it was like, and it was far better than anything her imagination could conjure. His tongue, his lips, the way he held her head, directing her with subtle but slightly demanding motions. The best part was, she knew he wasn't acting. He was as exhausted and stressed and achy as she was. There was no pretense left in either of them.

This was real.

One of his hands had drifted down her side, sliding between her back and the pack she wore, then moving down to cup her ass. His mouth left hers and he started kissing along her cheek, making his way down along her jawbone. She lifted her chin, letting her head fall back, and he accepted her invitation, sucking and licking down her neck.

"Poe," she gasped, bringing her hand up to run her fingers through his hair. She had to be dreaming. There was no possible way this was really happening.

"I want to make love to you, Rey," he whispered against her neck. He lifted his face back up so he could look at her. His eyes were almost black and she felt a surge of moisture between her legs as her body responded to his obvious arousal. "I want to get you to a real bed with lots of pillows and I want to lay you down naked and do wicked things to you."

"Oh, God," she breathed in response.

"Please tell me you want to do that, too," he said, his voice raspy.

She nodded vigorously, but then she remembered who exactly she was dealing with. She took a deep breath and pulled away from him slightly. "I do," she said, and her voice caught. She cleared her throat. "But…" She paused.

"Fuck!" he said sharply, and stepped back. She suddenly felt cold without his touch, even with the warm sun still shining on her. "I knew there would be a 'but'," he groaned. "You've got a boyfriend, don't you?" he asked. "Or are in love with someone else."

She laughed softly as she turned away from him. "It's not…" She stopped and faced him again. "Remember how you said that from the first time you saw me that you knew I wasn't a fan? That you were comfortable with me because I didn't know who you were?"

He tilted his head, then nodded. "Yeah."

Rey took a deep breath. "It's the exact opposite," she admitted. "I recognized you before you even got on the plane. The reason I acted so… distant… was because I was freaking out inside, so afraid I would embarrass myself in front of you, that I didn't even want to look at you."

She ran a hand over her face, then met his eyes with her own. "The truth is, I've been a fan of the Galaxy Aflame movies since I was a kid, and when Treye Sulvan became a part of the franchise, I became obsessed. I am totally in love with that character, so much so that I actually wrote fanfiction about him. And the more I got to know him, the more obsessed I became with the man who played him." She licked her lips, unsure how to react to Poe's stony expression.

"I've watched every movie you have ever made. Every guest appearance in a TV show. I've downloaded all your music, both your original stuff and your covers. I've watched every interview I could find on Youtube, and made sure to catch anything I could that was new when it aired." She shrugged, looking at him helplessly. "I am that rabid fan you were joking about."

He stood watching her silently, assessing her.

"And now I've gotten to know you," she continued. "The real you. Seeing how kind and capable you are, just like I imagined. But also seeing how unsure and tentative you are. You know how to take charge, but you're happy to have help and to take advice from others. There's no grand ego in you, despite the fact that I know you know how good an actor you are. I've seen the fear in your eyes, the fatigue, and it comforts me. Because it tells me you're real. And that my feelings now aren't because of what you do in front of a camera, but because of what you've done since I've met you. And…" she stopped, knowing she was just rambling now. "And I thought you should know," she finished lamely.

He continued to look at her, his expression almost contemplative now. Then he spoke.

"You wrote fanfiction about me?" One eyebrow was raised.

Rey couldn't meet his gaze anymore. "I used to. About Treye. Yes."

"Did you write smut?"

Her face heated. "Yes."

"Vanilla or gross kinky stuff?"

Rey couldn't stop the laugh that came out, but she still couldn't meet his eyes. "It's pretty vanilla, but there's a bit of kink in some."

"Can I read it?"

Startled, Rey finally looked at him. "You want to read my smut?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

"Why?" she breathed.

Poe closed the gap between them, the corner of his mouth curling up. He stopped directly in front of her, close enough she could feel the heat of his body. "Because," he said softly. "I want to reenact every scene with you in real life."

Rey's heart started racing. He was dead serious. "Oh, God," she repeated.

Before she could utter anything else, his mouth was on hers once more, his tongue already exhibiting some of the wicked things he said he wanted to do to her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, holding on for dear life. His hand cupped her ass, pulling her tight into him, and she felt the unmistakable bulge of his erection. The knowledge that he was that turned on shot adrenaline into her system. She wanted him. Now.

"Poe, please," she gasped, pulling back just enough to speak. "Let's not wait for that bed."

"Shit," he hissed sharply before he nudged her chin up with his nose and started licking and sucking on her neck again. One of his hands slid down her thigh, coaxing her leg up, propping it on his hip.

Rey almost shouted as his hardness rubbed against her center, the friction of the jeans they both still wore giving her more stimulation while at the same time frustrating her. A buzzing began in her head as she instinctively began rocking against him. He moaned in reaction. The buzzing increased.

That wasn't in her head, she thought suddenly.

She jerked back just as he also pulled back. They looked at each other wide-eyed, then spoke the same word at the same time.

"Airplane!"

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