The ignition of Kylo Ren's lightsaber brought the entire bridge to a standstill.

It hummed dangerously as he pointed the quivering blade at General Graves' neck. Beneath the harsh filter of his helmet, his voice was an angry snarl.

"Tell me again. Why are we still here?"

The General swallowed, a fleshy movement only centimeters away from his doom. "Field operations on Elrond are not yet complete, my Lord. Additionally…our liberty radius is restricted to the Outer—"

Graves flinched when Kylo brandished his lightsaber, two effortless loops that sliced the floor on either side of them. Glowing gashes appeared on the durasteel that worryingly continued to melt deeper. It went back to his neck.

"You've had three weeks to achieve your objective, General," Kylo snapped. "I would argue you are grossly incompetent."

The red light only illuminated the stubborn scowl on the old man's face. "Lord Ren, I receive my orders directly from Supreme Leader Snoke. If you take issue with the speed or the nature of our operations, I direct you to speak with him."

A deathly silence followed, during which the captive audience on the bridge drew a collective breath. The waves of radiating heat rising from the blade seemed ten times more dangerous in an airtight spaceship. It suddenly went to his side and retracted with a hiss.

"Perhaps I will," he said pleasantly.

When Vegas attempted to follow him to the speed lift, I caught his arm. He shot me a questioning glance. Unable to explain in less than ten words, I said the only other thing that came to my mind.

"Gym?"

The rubber mat was springy under my bare feet. Vegas circled me in a similar state of undress—uniform blouse off, leaving his tight undershirt exposed. My eyes were trained on the dull replica combat knife in his hand. When it swiped forward, I strafed back. My attempt at a counterattack made him smile wryly as he dodged it with ease. He paused to give me a lesson on technique and had me demonstrate it again and again.

"I've never seen him draw his lightsaber on someone like that," Vegas said before knocking back a water canister.

I looked at him sideways as I caught my breath on the metal bench beside him. "Not even Hux?"

"Not even Hux."

I nodded, unsurprised. There seemed to be something about Finalizer that brought out a different side of him. "His mood is so unpredictable," I murmured.

He leaned forward on his knees and looked at my face, hesitation dancing in his eyes. "Caltrel…has he been treating you alright?"

Heat immediately crept up my chest and neck. I was grateful that my skin was already flushed from exercise. The last three weeks have certainly been…

"Yeah," I said, leaving it at that.

He cleared his throat. "Good. I feel like…I never see you anymore."

"You see me every day," I laughed.

"I know, but…" He turned his face away as he stretched out his shoulder. "I used to see you all day."

My eyes went to the floor. Kylo's tendency to stay in his quarters was turning me into a hermit. Knowing that Vegas continued to go on weekly incursions without us only amplified my guilt. But selfishly, I didn't want anything to change. Not a thing.

"I made a new friend in Ren's division," Vegas offered. "A pilot."

"Oh, good. What about the other unit leaders?"

He shrugged. "Self-righteous kriffs."

I smothered a smile. "What's this pilot's name?"

"Levi Trell. LS-8571."

My eyes widened. I sat ramrod straight, causing Vegas to look over at me in alarm. I set my hand on top of his, which was gripping the top of his water canister. I breathed out in disbelief.

"I don't know your first name."

He smirked immediately. "Guess."

I squinted up at the ceiling as I thought of common male names in the Fleet. "Erik, Max, Diego, Jesse…Owen…"

He laughed—a sound that came from deep in his gut. "You're really bad at this. It's John."

My eyes found his, searching a little deeper than I usually did. "John," I said experimentally. "John Vegas."

His smile turned slightly sheepish when he pressed his lips together. "I know yours. But I don't know how to pronounce it," he admitted.

"Loo-see-ah," I said dramatically.

"Lucia…"

The admiration in his voice made me smile. "But my friends used to call me 'Lucy.'"

His eyes brightened. "Lucy. Hm, I like that. Lucy."

A familiar tingle of excitement ran through me as I walked down the hallway to my quarters. Not a single day had gone by that we weren't intimate. My body felt raw most of the time, but it was more than worth it. It was more than anything I had ever hoped for, even in my wildest dreams.

He exited the locked room when I returned. The door didn't close as quickly as usual, and I glimpsed inside, unable to curb my curiosity. I saw the back of an armchair. When he approached me, my eyes quickly darted to his face.

"Hello," I said, searching for any remnants of rage.

"Hi," he rasped, cupping my face with his large hands.

As usual, he slipped into my mind and replayed every single word I exchanged with Vegas. I gazed up at his eyes, which were distant as they tracked over the nothingness on my shoulder. It seemed like he knew everything there was to know about me, past and present, and I hardly knew anything about him.

"Snoke has ordered Graves to leave this planet," he said, monotone.

I nodded. "That's good."

When his eyes finally drifted to mine, they seemed to look right through me. I wasn't surprised when he leaned down and kissed me.

My breath whooshed out of my lungs when my back hit the bed. Kylo climbed over me, his eyes drinking in my naked body as he went. His hand traveled up my side and roughly pinched my nipple on its way to my neck. His fingers closed around it, applying gentle pressure to pin me to the mattress. My carotid artery thrummed under his palm.

"Open your eyes," he ordered.

I forced my eyes to open through the fear. The intoxicating mix of adrenaline and arousal made my head spin in the most incredible way. When he covered my mouth with his, I felt suffocated. I whimpered and moaned against his lips. I felt him smile. After a minute, my need for air became urgent, and a wonderful pang of desperation shot through my limbs.

He pulled back and removed his hand, and my vision filled with flashing dots. I opened my mouth and gulped down oxygen. "Stars, Kylo…"

His eyes followed his calloused hand as it made its way to a bruise on my hip. Raising his eyes to my face, he pressed down on it with his thumb. My face twisted, and I wiggled my hips to remove his hand. Without warning, he leaned up and attacked my breasts with his mouth and teeth. My already sore nipples stung, but the heady sensations overpowered any rational thought in my mind. When my hands nested in his hair, he broke away with an impatient growl.

As he stood and removed his clothes, I spread my legs and touched myself. My overstimulated clit was already swollen and my entrance was dripping. He stared at my ministrations with a dangerous look of lust that made me burn like a flame.

He plunged himself into me with a guttural sound in his chest, his fingertips digging into my thighs as he forced my legs open wider. I whimpered wantonly as I wrapped my hands around his neck. He rose up to shrug them off and started thrusting in earnest. I squeezed my breasts and bit my lip, trying to get myself into the heights of pleasure.

Too soon, he forcibly gripped my hips and flipped me over onto my stomach. Before I could adjust, he dug his hand into my hair and pushed down, shoving my head to the mattress. Heart racing, I breathed through my mouth and clutched whatever sheets I could reach. As he mounted me from behind, I felt him using his power to sift through my thoughts.

"Mm…your violent mind…"

He pushed deep inside of me, and I gasped. His length reached a spot that I never could, sending a tremor through me.

"You want to be taken," he said hoarsely.

He pulled all the way out and rammed his hips forward, causing my soreness to flare into pain. I yelped.

He breathed heavily. "B—Broken…"

He started thrusting into me hard and fast, and a never-ending string of sounds left my open mouth. My finger swirled around my bud, carrying my body higher and my mind deeper into my dark fantasy. I was immobile, completely submitted to his control. Helpless to his power. A wild growl met my ears.

"Scream for me, Lucia."

He fisted my hair, inflicting a thrill of pain along my scalp.

I screamed as my orgasm suddenly crested over me.

The warm water in the shower burned my skin. I winced and turned the temperature lower, but it didn't help. My fingers gingerly traced the new red fingerprints on my hips and thighs, which greatly outnumbered the old fading ones. I felt my eyes unfocus as I wondered just how much more my body could take.

After his shower, Kylo got in bed and curled his arm around me possessively. In spite of the glow from his datapad, I fell asleep quickly, feeling a pleasant soreness in my body and numbness in my mind.

I'm finally his.