Symmetry

Start a fire

Allowing Ben to go back to work had been a bitter pill of reality to swallow, and it'd taken a great deal of effort for her to let go of her own worries and to see him off on his first day back, albeit with plenty of clingyness and countless assurances that she would be checking in to ensure all was well. It had been a few days since then, and his regularly scheduled day off would come in the morning, which meant they'd mercifully trudged through the week uneventfully.

Getting back in to a routine with the twins had taken a bit of effort, particularly given that she was limited once again to two hands, but Rey made do as best she could. Today, she had taken them out to the lakeside to lay on a blanket in the grass and gaze at the clouds overhead. It had been a small thing, but just enough to exhaust them thoroughly for the remainder of the night - which had been her plan.

After feeding them, she had put them down relatively early before heating up leftovers that Ben had made from the night before, setting aside a plate for each of them. Ben had already passed a weary thought along to her that he would be home just a hair later than normal, and she had accepted that with a readiness to offer him an evening of relaxation - and, hopefully, an opportunity to reconnect.

In the days before his inevitable return to work, she had insisted on a trip to town to restock on some things. His absence had weighed on her more heavily than she'd fully established, namely in the small fear that a time would come when he would be taken and she'd have no means to get to him or to obtain resources. But Rey had also taken advantage of that trip to earn some additional money, leaving Ben to care for the twins aboard the Falcon, before purchasing him a variety of new, clean shirts.

That left his older, more worn ones in the dresser of their home; perhaps more at her disposal than his. Wrapping herself in the warmth of one of such shirt, deliberately electing to wear nothing but her undergarments beneath it, she settled their plates on the dining room table before stepping outside onto the front porch.

Wrapping her arms around herself as she leaned against the banister, she fortunately wasn't left long waiting for the tell-tale hum of the Falcon as it neared the lake. Barefoot, she padded over their lawn toward the place she knew the freighter would touch down, confident enough in the security of BB-8 and D-O stationed just inside the twins' bedroom, and she lingered beside a tree as she waited for the hiss of the freighter's ramp to open.

Ben was quick to follow, a little tireder in appearance than she cared to see him, and Rey smiled softly as she stepped over the grass and moved to catch his hand with hers.

"I've been waiting for you all day," she informed him playfully, a soft, affectionate smile curving her lips as she reached up to massage the back of his neck. "Have an alright day?"

Speech

you & i

Since returning to work Ben had done his best to be more vigilant of his surroundings while out.  He made sure to not let himself fall into the false sense of security that he had unconsciously grown to believe in after being able to disappear back into obscurity alongside Rey. He made sure that, simply because he was called Ben now, he didn't let himself believe he could truly avoid and remain one step ahead of everything that surely still trailed after him.  Somehow, Ben's mind had done that and it had been foolish on his part to believe that.

Ben used to always worry and think about that, but it seemed that the joys he had been mercifully given had erased such things from his thoughts.  That, of course, wasn't a bad thing but it had made Ben feel more secure than he should have felt.

Thankfully there had been no worrying instances that had occurred during his return to work, and Ben was grateful for that. Still, the days had been filled with extra work that, regardless of the hassle, Ben couldn't complain about.  Having given his word that he would do additional tasks to make up for any lost time, Ben had been charged with more cargo than he knows he would be on any regular day.  Every day Ben had been determined to see it dropped off where needed, and he had managed so far but for today.

Well, he was still going to manage, but it was going to take him longer than he would like.  Ben had been sure to let Rey know this when he realized, not wanting her to unnecessarily worry.  Once he had, Ben had repeated to himself several times that he only needed to finish this last thing before being able to return home, and that thought helped him more than he had thought it would.  The thought of being able to spend the coming day with just Rey and the twins was such a desirable one that it got him through his wearied state and made piloting the Falcon back to their home more bearable.

Looking forward to being close to Rey and the twins, Ben had already made a note to shower her and their children in as much love as possible come tomorrow morning.  He knew it wouldn't be possible to make up for the countless hours he was gone but he was going to give it his best shot.  His effort would also, hopefully, allow Ben countless opportunities to place a kiss on Rey for every day he had been gone and she had been on her own.  He had made up for many of them during the days he had stayed home before returning to work, but there was still well over 500.  Too many days unaccounted for in Ben's opinion.

Once the location of their house came into sight Ben felt his shoulder noticeably relax beneath one of the new shirts Rey had acquired for him.  Ben then directed the Falcon to the spot nearby where they always kept the starship with the expectation in mind that Rey would be waiting for him inside of their house once he landed.  Ben continued to believe that's where Rey was until the moment he exited the Falcon and was greeted by the sight of his wife quickly approaching him.

Barefoot and bare-legged, Ben felt a small unstoppable smile brighten his face as she grabbed his hand.  Wondering about her choice of outfit, Ben didn't comment on it as Rey brought herself close and affectionately greeted him with soft words and a massaging touch to his neck.

"It was fine," he hums out as he wraps his arm around her waist, slotting her close so that he can give her a warm, greeting kiss.  "But it's better now that I'm home."  Ben affectionately says after he pulls his lips away from hers, the words painfully true.  Already he feels better and more relaxed, and that's just from being here with her.

Finally, with an amused, curious look, he asks after what she's wearing.  "Not that I don't love seeing you in my shirts," Ben says, allowing his eyes to noticeably look her over from where he keeps her close, "But why are you only wearing that right now?  And how long have you been standing out here?"  A tinge of concern coats his voice at the last question.

"You might catch a cold for all we know."  He somewhat teases next, knowing it's highly unlikely she will but not being able to completely silence that ever constant worry he has in regards to her and the twins' well-beings.  "That is the last thing I want to happen."  Ben adds on, bringing his lips to hers once more to give her a chaste, affectionate kiss.




Speech

Start a fire

Releasing his hand in favor of wrapping both of hers around his neck, she returned the kiss he gave her, allowing it to linger for a moment before she reluctantly allowed him to pull away and speak. Even so, she kissed his jawline gently, stroking his nape and threading her fingers lovingly through the dark strands of hair that curled at the back of his neck.

“I’m glad. I’m sorry it was long,” she huffed softly, nudging her head against his chin.

A slow, sly smile curved her lips as he withdrew to give her a once-over, noting her choice of attire which less… recognition than she might’ve liked. What times Rey took to primp in anyway—which was usually still less than thorough or impressive—were stolen only for his benefit, and she couldn’t help the amused angle of her head at how clearly her intent seemed to escape him. Meeting him by the starship in nothing more than one of his shirts, showered and clean with her tawny hair spilling over her shoulders; Rey laughed at him, bewildered.

“Only for an hour or two,” she said with sudden seriousness, though the solemnity was wiped away as she sighed and shook her head at him, smiling affectionately. “I was waiting for you on the porch and watching the sunset, that’s all. I came out to the clearing once I felt you coming closer. And I’m not going to catch a cold,” Rey scoffed, rolling her eyes, but she hummed contentedly as he brought his lips down to hers.

Hugging him close to her as she withdrew, drawing their foreheads together as she peeked up at him, Rey’s smile thinned into something mischievous.

“As for the shirt,” she started, coyly angling her head to the side. “I thought it was obvious when I was seducing you… but I can walk you through it, if you need a reminder.” Rey ducked her head down to laugh against his skin, peppering slow, loving kisses along the sculpted line of his collarbone.

“But, before I do,” her voice was drawling and warm as she kept her hands linked together at the back of his neck, securing him to her as her lips mapped a path over his skin, nosing away the crew-neck of his shirt to reach for the points of bolt-shaped scars; to lay her featherlight attentions over his shoulder and then up the strong column of his throat.

“I heated up dinner for you. And the twins are asleep, but I don’t think they’d mind waking up for you.” Rey’s hands slid to his shoulders as she spoke, her words and her lips laving reverently over his neck.

“And then, if you’re not too tired,” she rocked back on her heels, sliding her hands down his shoulders to twine his fingers with hers and to tug him slowly toward the house. Despite her playfulness, despite how she nearly made fun of his obliviousness, she was no doubt sincere as she continued. “I thought we could spend some time together. I wanted to help you relax.”

Speech

you & i

His brows raised when she told him she had been waiting an hour or two, he almost even wanted to sigh.  Ben managed to keep from making such a sound, though.  He doesn't know why he should be surprised she decided to do such a thing.

Huffing out an amused breath, he made it easier for her to draw his head down to her own.  "If you say so," he grumbled with a curve to his mouth as he traced a hand over the side of her abdomen, keeping her nearly pressed against him with his other arm.  Basking in her presence for a moment, Ben watches Rey curiously as her expression visibly changes.  Ben's own expression then creases into confusion as she speaks.

"Wha—" his mind is trying to catch up as Rey laughs against him, and Ben instinctively presses her closer to him.  There is really nothing his mind need to catch up on, but Ben likes to believe he can't really be blamed for not catching onto what Rey was doing.

His obliviousness is amusing, even to himself, and Ben's mouth twists in wry amusement before he sighs at a relaxing breath that clearly makes his shoulders relax beneath Rey's secure hold on him.  As she laid her lips against his skin Ben curled his arms around her more protectively.  All of his attention and focus was on her completely by now, and a hum softly reverberated through his throat in response to her words as she pressed adoring kisses along the length of his neck.

"I... think I can wait until morning to see the twins," he muttered before she began to withdraw, causing his hold on her to loosen.  It would be easy, Ben knew, to keep her there and place his own kisses along her skin—a handful of them that would secretly erase the tallies he had stored away in his mind, but he was willing to erase those later.  

Allowing himself to be pulled along, he watched her with a lovesick expression as he moved after her.  "Alright, even though we always spend time together," he joked, waiting to make a comment on her last sentence that clearly portrayed just what Rey meant.  

When Rey, at last, turned away to lead him more easily to the house with a hand holding onto his own, Ben quickly lurched forward.  Wrapping an arm around her abdomen, he was quick to slightly crouch and get his other arm in a position to support her legs behind her knees before he effortlessly lifted her up.  Cradling her against him in the manner Ben knows he would have had they had a wedding night, he chuckles lightly as he keeps up the pace she had set before he had picked her up.  

"Anything specific you had in mind for helping me to relax?"  He asks, a faint smirk showing as he curls his arms closer so that he can place a kiss near her temple as she holds onto him.  "Because I have quite a few ideas, and they all involve showing you how much I love you." He murmurs close to her head as his feet easily cross the distance needed to reach the front door of their house.

Ben is careful as he opens the door, doing so quietly and easily.  Closing the door to their house with his back once he has brought them both inside, Ben gently lowers Rey back down until she's standing on her own two feet again.  "Can you be patient and wait long enough for me to take a shower and eat, or no?"  He questioned softly before placing the beginnings of a burning kiss against the pulse point on her neck, causing her head to tilt back.




Speech

Start a fire

She snorted gently at him at his assurance that he could wait until morning to visit with the children, a knowing, self-assured smirk playing along her mouth as she gently tsked and shook her head at him. Still, her thumb brushed his knuckles lovingly as she drew his hand into hers and guided him toward their house. Another, soft laugh left her lips as he continued, and an indignant huff made her glower at him playfully.

“Well, in that case, you’re more than welcome to spend some quality time with yourself,” Rey quirked a brow as she said it, sticking her tongue out at him before, laughing, she turned to watch her step as they headed inside, tugging him along behind her easily.

A yelp of surprise came, however, when his arm seized her around the waist. She gripped for his arm on instinct, and then she was gasping softly and laughing as he scooped her up, cradling her to the warmth of his chest with laughable ease. Rey narrowed his eyes at the smirk on his face, and she grumbled softly as she looped an arm around the back of his neck and reached to kiss his jaw, a noncommittal hum her initial answer to his words.

“I have plenty of ideas,” she murmured against his skin, and the door to her mind slowly swung open as she spoke the words against his chin. “And mine all involved thanking you thoroughly for all the hard work you do for us. You can show me how much you love me another night.” Her lips curved into a loving smile as she, for the first time in a long while, invited him into her thoughts.

Things were still in disrepair, but she had taken the grueling care—particularly since Finn’s intrusion—to sweep ruin and rubble to the side, filing them all away in neat corners, sorting through memories and wounds gradually. It was just warm and inviting enough to welcome him back in without fear, and she did so with a teasing surge of affection that trickled down the bond and through the black-pelted beast that lay on the other side, where she had spent one too many nights curled in its fur.

Rey had tucked her head against his collar to lave more kisses over his throat, some of them lingering longer than others as her teeth shaped short, harmless nips to the vulnerable patches of skin there. She barely noticed when the door to their house creaked open, and she was reluctant to disentangle her arms from him as he eased her carefully to the ground. Still, her head angled back slowly to meet his gaze, only to let her eyes ease shut as he bowed his lips toward her throat.

A soft, contented sound left her mouth as she arched into him and smiled in reply, shaking her head.

“I’m not the impatient one between the two of us,” she reminded him warmly, before both of her palms slid down to flatten against his chest, pushing him gently away. Her eyes found the warm brown of his within the lantern-lit darkness of their living room, and she only glanced away to focus briefly on the cooling plate of food she’d left for him on the small table in front of their couch.

“Go get cleaned up,” she murmured, catching his hand in hers and drawing it to her cheek. She turned her head in to kiss the thrumming pulse at the base of his thumb, withdrawing to set him free. “I’ll heat up your dinner.” Rey offered him a crooked smile as she stepped away, mindful of the bareness to her legs as she stretched her arms over her head, letting the fabric creep slow inches up her thighs as she stepped harmlessly away, grinning at him.

But she reached for the unattended plate innocently enough before pointing down the hall. “Go on, love.”

Speech

you & i

Her teasing reminder made him breathe out a warm puff of air against her neck before he was gently pushed away. Ben had managed to brush one last inviting kiss against the elegant column of her throat before relenting and rising to his full height with an amused curve to his lips.

"Better to be safe than sorry," he comments with a helpless shrug, his hands sadly falling away from where they had rested against the curve of her waist. One was stopped short from leaving her completely though, captured by her hand as it was. Helping her guide his hand to her cheek once Ben understood where she was directing it, he brushed his thumb over the line of her cheekbone reverently once his palm rested against the curve of her face.

Sighing in reluctant acceptance, Ben finally let the hand return to his side with a nod as Rey moved away. Ben made to do the same, his eyes tracking the movement of her rising arms and then, inadvertently, the motion of his shirt riding up the length of her bare legs. The latter made him stop short, and he was well aware of the fact she was purposefully doing that. Her grin said as much.

Working his jaw, he took in a controlled breath before releasing it heavily as she innocently artlessly told him to go on, acting as if she hadn't done a thing.

"That's really mean, cruel even, you now that?" He tells her, keeping a serious note to his voice as he begins making his way towards the hallway leading to the rooms of the house. "Try not to start a fire, sweetheart," Ben says to her after, gripping the neckline of his shirt as he does and pulling it off over his head right as he reaches the threshold of the hallway. "I'll be right back." He tells her over his now bare shoulder.

~
It never takes him long to shower, and while Ben knows he can be impatient a tinge of spite tells him to take his time and not rush as he does. Just like the shower, it also doesn't take him longer to get dressed into something comfortable and make his way, barefoot, out of their room.

Before returning to the kitchen, Ben finds that he cant help but chance checking in on the twins who have remained quiet this entire time. The amount of time they're sleeping has slowly grown, and he's thankful for that as he slips out of their room where D-O and BB-8 now rest themselves, keeping dutiful watch over the sleeping twins during their dormant states.

It's only after this that Ben makes his way back to Rey, returning to the kitchen and being greeted by her alluring figure that is currently hidden beneath the size of his shirt. Moving closer to her, he elects to ignore the plate of food clearly meant for him and instead engulfs Rey in an affectionate hug. With his arms snuggly around her waist, he holds her for a moment and soaks in her presence, her mind still wonderfully open to him and just as extraordinary as ever. Even with the yet to be cared for edges to it that he can see.

He places a kiss against her temple, laughing gently from the joy of being here. "Hi," he says childishly afterward, drawing his head away from her. "I see that you managed to not burn anything." Ben teases.




Speech

Start a fire

Her unwillingness to give him the satisfaction and the tapering scars that still glared at her from his body meant she had stolen only a fleeting glance at the bared skin of his back once he’d turned away and headed to shower. She had been quick to see to heating up his dinner, then, mumbling to herself out of playful spite at his remark—which might have been rightfully deserved, given the sparks that reared up when she toyed with the burner atop the stove.

She left it unoccupied to steal a chance to check in on the twins, too; barely cracking their door open to prevent the hallway light from flooding in. Both were still sleeping soundly by the time she padded back to the kitchen, just in time to remove his food from the hot stove-top and to place it carefully on the counter, turning the nob for the burner off. The hissing sound of the shower water had already turned off, but Rey only leaned idly against the counter, gazing thoughtfully out the kitchen window, even as she heard Ben approaching from behind her.

Rather than reaching for his untended plate, though, like she expected, she felt strong arms wrap tightly around her waist. Her touch was wholly innocent—this time—when a hand snaked up to reach back and wind fingers through his hair, her weight settling carefully against his chest as she closed her eyes and smiled, feeling the soft laugh that vibrated from his throat from where she stood flush against him.

Angling her head carefully into his kiss, Rey gasped in feinted offense and swatted him away, turning where she stood to lean back and gaze at him.

“Do you have any more jokes in mind? Did you want to take up that offer of spending some time by yourself?” she challenged, arching a brow at him as she let her hands settle over his chest. Rey narrowed her eyes as she gazed up at him, and she was slow to lean closer, letting her teeth express her discontent in the pinching nips she placed at the base of his throat.

Even so, her arms looped around the back of his neck for a moment, hugging him close before, just as before, she nudged him away and slipped out from where she’d been wedged between his body and the kitchen counter.

That didn’t mean she abstained from claiming her hand in hers, twining their fingers securely together before she snatched up his plate with her free hand. Balancing it on her palm, she guided him over to the couch, urging him to sit before releasing his hand and offering him the warmed plate of food.

“Eat,” she instructed, and this time, even she had to admit that there was a hint of impatience in the solitary word.

Sure enough, Rey didn’t hesitate before tucking herself into his side, curling her bare legs close to his warmth as she, without a hint of guilt, returned to laying affectionate kisses over his neck. One of her hands came to cup the side of his throat, her thumb gently stroking along the length of his jugular, and her lips shaped firm, lingering trails over the pale skin hidden away by his dark, curling hair.

“I’m starting to think I might have caught a bit of a cold.” Rey’s voice was soft when she spoke against his skin, her other hand painting lines over his upper back as her lips curved into a mischievous smile. “With any luck I’ll give it to you, and then you’d have to stay home for a few days,” her hand slid up the side of his neck to tuck his hair just behind his ear—the ears she knew, now, he kept hidden away. Rey, however, pointedly grazed the shell with her lips, letting her mouth linger as she continued. “And that would just be awful.”

Her head nudged gently against the side of his, her fingers moving to hold and massage the nape of his neck while the one half-encircling his throat moved toward his shoulder, where it then pressed flat. Rey only withdrew to slant her eyes toward his plate, quirking a curious, almost accusatory brow at him as she smiled. “Are you eating?”

Speech

you & i

The feeling of her fingers entwining themselves in his still-damp hair had been wonderful, but he was more than okay with the touch being removed if Rey's reaction was to his comment was that.  With a short laugh, he loosens his hold enough to let her turn in his arms. Regardless of the challenge in her expression, Ben's own remains entirely affectionate.

"I think it might depend on a few things," he playfully begins, oblivious to any intention Rey might have as she starts to bring herself back toward him.  "Are you going to hit me again or—" his words faltered and a hand he had on her back tensed as her teeth pinched the skin of his throat.  It was a clear sign of condemnation.  "Or biting me?"  Ben questions her pointedly, one of his brows raised up as he wordlessly bends to allow Rey to hug them close together.

What feigning indignation is immediately gone and Ben gives her midsection a gentle squeeze with his arms, hugging her in return before she gently pushes him away.  Ben willingly lets her go, breathing out a sigh and smiling lightly as Rey grabs his hand and begins to lead him out of the kitchen like a child.

Sitting down without complaint, Ben takes hold of the plate of food when Rey hands it to him, practically demanding him to eat. "Alright, alright," he concedes, not pausing for a moment before reaching for the accompanying fork and bringing a bite of the food to his mouth as Rey slots herself into the spot at his side.  He thought nothing of her doing so, at first, but Ben soon realizes he should have been more wary.

Swallowing involuntarily, the thought of eating was immediately gone from his mind as he instantly became distracted by the feeling of her lips mapping paths across his skin.  Having kept his plate of food suspended above his lap after being handed it, it now comes to rest carefully on his lap as Rey continued to lavish him with attention.

"Is that so?"  He off-handedly wonders aloud with a slightly rougher voice, his head slightly angling in Rey's direction as he does so.  Absently listening to her speak further, Ben hums, feeling a long forgotten shivering sensation travel up his spine as she brushes the shell of his hear.  Her voice is intoxicating, and it's the only thing he hears.  Just as her hands and lips are the only things he feels.  "You're right, completely awful—an absolute shame."  He mumbles.

Head remained angled towards Rey, Ben is practically drowning in the soothing and alluring touches she is placing on him. Lulled as much as he is, it's nearly dizzying the moment she stops, pulling slightly away and speaking up.

"What?"  He mutters, blinking his eyes open and glancing in the direction of his plate that rests close by.  He lets out a heavy breath, "I would be," he says, looking back towards Rey, "If you would stop being distracting."  He utters, voice taking on a feigned, scolding tone. His mind is slowly coming back to itself and a disapproving crease winkles his expression, "And you called me impatient.  I will push you away." Ben threatens, actually tempted by the idea but knowing he probably never truly would do that to her. Still, it's an amusing thing to imagine.

"Be patient," he tells her with a shake of his head before taking the second bite of his food.




Speech

Start a fire

She had smiled softly against his skin at his concession, a breathy laugh leaving her lips where she nudged against his neck. All that gave her pause was how he started in answer to her question, and Rey withdrew to angle her head at him curiously, arching a brow at the accusatory tone that lingered in his words. She narrowed her eyes at him, letting her arm drape over the width of his upper back as she leaned into him, her body turned into his and her bare legs curled close.

He had barely gotten the words out before she was scoffing, her indignation just as feigned as his, and yet Rey was all too willing to play into his request with the utmost dramatics. She sulked theatrically as she withdrew, sliding a couch cushion away from him and settling her legs beneath her, crossing her arms over her chest as she glowered at him from across the gap that she’d put between them.

“Fine then,” she mumbled, and her expression was nothing short of pouting as she scowled over at him. “It isn’t my fault that you can’t multitask,” Rey pointed out, and despite the finality of her fine, it was all too clear that she was nowhere near done expressing her displeasure at his lecturing. “I can be plenty patient, anyways—enough to wait until morning, maybe, or tomorrow evening. Or a week from now...” she stuck her tongue out at him. “And then we’ll see who’s pushing who away.”

She uncrossed her arms to stand up from the couch with a too-pointed sigh, stepping away and around the piece of furniture to redirect herself toward the kitchen. The lamp light there dimmed the moment she pinched the guttering flame painlessly through her thumb and forefinger, and then she was turning to head down the hallway and toward their bedroom.

Despite her words, and his, she paused by the back of the couch to lean over it slightly, lowering her head carefully toward the side of his. Her teeth lightly scraped the shape of his jaw as she left a burning, lingering kiss over the place where his pulse thrummed.

“I’ll see you in the morning, then. All that waiting around and being patient has been exhausting,” she murmured, a mischievous, punishing intonation tucked within her words as she withdrew. Her fingers threaded through his tousled hair as she spoke, before gently catching a handful in her palm and angling his head back so that she could meet his gaze.

“I wouldn’t want,” she lowered her head down to brush a kiss over his mouth, barely letting the nearly-chaste touch linger before she withdrew again. “To distract you.”

Rey released him to step away from the couch and wander down the hallway and toward the bedroom. “Goodnight, love.” She called, with more than just a hint of triumph shining victoriously in her voice.

Speech

you & i

Amused at Rey scoff, Ben finished swallowing down the bite he had taken with a glint in his eye as Rey made a show of scooting away from him.  Ben watched her every move, taking in the way she crossed her arms and how she dramatically pouted.  

A surprise laugh leaves him, and it would have been louder if there hadn't been two sleeping children not far away.  Ben managed to keep his outward expression of joy quiet though as Rey went on.  Ben listened on, entertained as he took another bite while remaining quiet.  He raised a pointed brow near the end, however, and hummed in doubt.

She sticks her tongue out at him and Ben playfully rolls his eyes in response.

"Okay, I will keep that in mind," he says after finished his bite, continuing to go along with this little game.  Absentmindedly taking another fork-full of his food from his plate, Ben watches Rey curiously as she gets up from the couch and walks around to the kitchen.  Ben follows her with his eyes for only as long as he can comfortably turn his head.  What she was doing became clear the moment the soft light in the kitchen disappeared entirely.

He had no idea as to what she could possibly be up to now, but as Rey approached him from behind the couch Ben found that that didn't particularly matter as she enticingly drew her teeth over the skin of his throat.  It made his breath hitch, and Ben both loved and hated how easy it was for her to render him entirely helpless.  Taking in a deep breath as she kissed a patch of skin, Ben huffed that very same breath out afterward as Rey made clear what she was planning on doing.

Staying silent, waiting for who knows what to happen, Ben's mind was only able to focus on the sensation of her hand in his hair as he gently angled his head back. Keeping ahold of his plate of food, he met her upside-down gaze with a slight furrow to his brow. Instinctively responding to the far too chaste kiss (in his opinion) Rey gave, Ben sighed in dismay.

"I appreciate that," Ben somewhat grumbles, head turned to watch Rey go with a slight scowl on his face.

A breath, one that feigns exasperation, is pushed out from his mouth as she bids him goodnight. "Goodnight, sweetheart," Ben pointedly replies, forcing himself to look away take a couple of bites of his food. A part of him wants to be spiteful and take his time, but Ben knows himself and he knows he won't be listening to that part of himself anytime soon. Not when he's completely in love with the woman that had practically just left him in the dark.

He's almost positive that Rey is going to push him away the minute he enters their bedroom and tries to get anywhere close to her. The image of her trying makes him huff out a laugh as he rises from his seat. Plate in hand, he scoops a few more mouthfuls of food into his mouth as he quietly walks into the kitchen. There's only a few more bite of his food left, and while Ben doesn't go rabid and consume them rapidly he certainly doesn't take his time.

"Can be plenty patient," he mocks, the words whispered out in a terrible knock-off of Rey's voice as he takes the final bite of food off of the plate. As he chews the bite, he works on carefully putting the plate away in the clear sink. He'll take care of the dirtied dishes in the morning. Checking to make sure that everything else is good for the night, putting away anything that might have accidentally left out, Ben extinguishes the last light illuminating the area before heading towards he and Rey's bedroom.

The door had been left open ajar, and it was clear that the room was dark. Pushing the door open carefully, it was easy to tell when he entered what with how how the door quietly made noise. Given that the room was already dark, Ben's eyes adjusted quickly enough that, once he quietly closed the door behind him, he had no issue navigating his way towards the bed that he knew Rey was laying down on with her back facing him.

It would be impossible to hide the moment he got onto their bed, and so Ben didn't hesitate to reach out for Rey with the arm closest to her. With the bedspread laying over her Ben couldn't reach for Rey and simply pull her towards him like he wanted, but he made do.

Regardless of anything Rey did in protest, Ben didn't stop his actions until he was hovering over her. Holding himself aloft by his forearms, he caged her in, lowering his lips to her neck and grazing her throat with his teeth before kissing the same spot.

"Thank you for getting a plate ready for me," he quietly murmurs in the dark, placing another kiss down near her collarbone and erasing away another tally. "And I hope you had a good day." He softly adds on, wanting to remove the cover over her body but willing to leave her be and continue lavishing her neck with dragging kisses and nips that he lets linger.

He pauses his reverent touches, "Would my wife be willing to let me show her how much I love her tonight? Or would she rather I go sleep on the couch?" He asks close to her ear, dragging his teeth gently over the curve of her jaw just below it while doing his best to keep his hands to himself for the time being.




Speech

Start a fire

She had sent their bedroom into darkness with the dimming on the lanterns and curled up into a made bed, his shirt clinging to her skin as she nestled beneath the comforter and awaited his arrival. Much to her uncensored delight, and the sense of triumph that ebbed freely through the doors of her open mind, it wasn’t long before the door to their bedroom creaked open and the silhouette of him passed through. Rey only glanced at him over her shoulder before settling further into the mattress, humming a wordless greeting to Ben as his weight caused the bed to shift.

Even in sleep, Rey would have felt the encaging security of his body sliding over hers, his weight kept carefully braced on his arms and off of her as he loomed over her blanket clad form. She kept her eyes lightly shut, though her skin prickled with delighted goosebumps, as his teeth brushed a slow path over her neck before his lips gently followed.

“I’d tell you it was a better day now,” she murmured, her head shifting against the pillow as his bowed down toward her neck, his teeth and lips paying pleasant worship to her skin. “But you lost that privilege.”

Despite her words, Rey smiled faintly as slowly rolled her head into his touch, exhaling a careful breath—one she had momentarily held—as his words caressed the shell of her ear, his teeth then mapping a path over her jaw. Sliding an arm out from beneath the warmth of the covers, she brought it up to entangle her fingers in his hair, pulling gently as she angled her head to gaze at him.

“I’m not sure. I wouldn’t want to distract you from getting some sleep,” she mused, slowly sliding herself toward the head of the beds until she was sitting upright, pushing the covers down and off of her bare legs. Her hands found his shoulders, and she pushed him with surprising force as she guided him to the side. “You couldn’t make it through one meal with me there. How in the world,” Rey hummed, easing him down onto his back with insistent hands. “Do you expect to get any rest with me here?”

Though she doubted he could see it, her smile was downright feline—mischievous—as she moved to climb over top of him, straddling his hips and pulling the blankets back up and over them both, nestling her snugly between the warmth of his body and the covers. She stretched out so she was laying full on top of him, her chest flush against his and her arms hugging either side of his head as she lowered her lips down to admire the pale skin of his throat.

“I wanted to help you relax,” she reminded him gently. “Shouldn’t I show you how much I love you?”

Speech

you & i

Placing a parting kiss against the length of her throat as Rey guided his head away with her hand, Ben was only able to make out some of her facial features due to how close they were.  He felt (more than saw) her begin to shift and sit up, and the partial absence of one of his senses made Ben all the more aware of how Rey moved beneath him.  Moving in tandem with her, he slowly lifted himself up to give her space, able to feel the comforter noticeably move.

His partial lack of his sight also meant that Ben wasn't prepared for the force Rey applied to his shoulders once her hands come to rest against them.  Hearing a soft, surprised sound escape him, Ben didn't fight against the pressure.  The startled noise was then followed by a gentle chuckle as Ben's mind registered what Rey said while forcing him to the side.

"You were terribly distracting," he mutters as she straddles his hips.  Ben's hand automatically move to grip her waist, his shirt still covering her from early.  Looking up rather blindly at Rey, he listens to the sound of the bedspread moving and breathes out a relaxing sigh as she lays herself over him. Ben's arms then moved beneath the cover to wrap around her abdomen, hugging Rey close for a moment as she began to lay down adoring kisses along his throat again.

Another soft laugh leaves him when she speaks up, his arms moving to unwrap from around her.  His hands slowly glide down her back as she speaks, tracing the curves of her body with his eyes closed while his head turns into hers.  

"If that's what you want to do," he tells Rey, the words breathed out against her neck.  Ben then scrapes his teeth against her throat a little more roughly just as his hands grasp her backside and push Rey further up where she rests over him.  With her now straddling his midsection Ben knows he'll be able to begin lifting his shirt off of her more easily.  "What do you want to do, sweetheart?"  He asks her, lips dragging against the underside of her chin as his hands travel up her thighs, lifting up his shirt that she wears as his hands move higher.

With a simmering heat already building up inside of him and her mind allowing him close, Ben is nearing the end of what patience he has.  "What do you want, Rey?"  Ben questions, voice rougher as his hands rest hotly against the bare sides of her midriff beneath his shirt.  "I know that I really want to get this old shirt off of you."  He tells her a moment later, lips giving the juncture of her neck and shoulder attention now. His mind is still capable of keeping count as his hands imperceptibly tighten where they grip her midsection before lifting higher, pushing the shirt she wears up more and more .




Speech

Start a fire

A careful shiver wracked her body as his hands mapped warm, encompassing paths over her abdomen and up and down her spine, but a breathless smile played over her lips as she brushed her mouth over his skin. A soft sound, nearly imperceptible, shuddered from her as his teeth grazed her throat, but Rey insistently repaid the favor with bruising, lingering kisses along the strong column of this throat, admiring the pale skin there.

Nibbling at his jawline as he spoke, she shifted to catch his mouth with her own, interrupting his sentences carefully as she caught his bottom lip between her teeth, pulling it away for a heartbeat before she kissed the corner of his mouth, and then along the angled line of his jaw. She only hesitated when his hands came to grasp her more tightly, forcing her up along his body until she was settled lightly over his midsection. Rey paused, her breath catching as his hands roved higher and his mouth chased her pulse up and under her chin, his voice a gentle rumble against her skin.

“I want you,” she answered coyly, a breathless whimper following her words as the heat of his hands skimmed the bare skin beneath her shirt. She lay herself closer to him, though her hands slid down to the hem of the oversized clothing she wore, fulfilling his request in a slow, fluid motion. Her head remained angled down to gaze at him through the darkness as she pulled it gruelingly upward, revealing a flash of smooth skin, however obscured, before she slowly discarded the shirt to the floor by the bed.

“There,” she hummed, lowering herself back down to twine her fingers in his hair, leaving his hands free to explore her body as she pressed her chest against his, her mouth exploring his throat with bruising reverence.

She only released the tousled black strands at the top of his head, and only slid out of his grasp, so she could make path lower across his body. Her hands slid down his chest as she moved, her palms flattening admiringly over the muscles that contoured his chest, his abdomen, as she littered slow, demanding kisses over the front of his shirt. The fabric didn’t seem to stop her from teasing the skin underneath, and her legs wrapped securely around his own, keeping him in place to the best of her ability as she moved to catch the hem of his shirt in her fingers, just as she had her own.

Tilting her head back to gaze up at him through the shadows of their bedroom, a small smile toyed with the corners of her lips as she breathlessly watched him, letting her hands slide beneath the fabric of his shirt and up the slope of his hips, and then over the taut expanse of his abdomen. Although she doubted he could make out her expression, she knew he would be able to see the mischievous tilt of her head—and he would be able to feel how she hiked the shirt slowly upward.

But slow wasn’t necessarily in her nature, and the patience she had playfully mentioned earlier lost as she opted to, instead, grab the shirt in either hand and pull it up and over his head, giving her free reign to the broad expanse of pale, scarred skin—skin she, thanks to the gratuitous darkness of the bedroom—didn’t have to know had been marked by her.

“I love you,” she murmured, lowering her head to lave kisses over his chest even as her hands slid lower, toying with the waistband of his pants as she pressed their bare abdomens together, her breath falling hotly against his chest.

The brief moment of tenderness was lost as she dragged her teeth over the ridged bone at his collar, sliding it down to the left side of his chest before she followed the path with her lips, instead.

She paused to slot their bodies more snugly together, her chest laying heavily against his own, though her head was level only with the middle part of his torso as she glanced up at him again, working her bottom lip gently before her teeth as her hands explored his chest, his sides, and then back down to the points of his hips.

“What else do you want…?” she asked lazily.

Speech

you & i

It was absolutely maddening that way his mind went absolutely blank.  Her coy response might have elicited a soft laugh from him any other time, but the knowledge that Rey was getting ever closer to being completely bare was distracting; the simple knowledge that the only thing keeping her decent were her undergarments made it impossible to spare the energy to respond.

Ben's hands never left her sides.  Remaining secure on either side of her midriff and easily covering her sides, Ben only moved his hands after the shirt she had worn noticeably fell onto the floor and Rey pressed herself back against him.

Chest rising heavily, his head remained angled in the direction of hers as she laid bruising kisses along his neck—kisses that Ben was more than willing to wear with pride come morning.  Hands moving slowly over her bare back, his fingers soon dipped beneath the back waistband of her underwear.  His fingers gently dug into her skin then, gripping her closer until the moment came that her fingers left his hair.

A sigh, somewhat distressed and yearning, left him as Rey shifted away and forced his fingers to leave the skin he had gently created indents in.  It left him with one hand uselessly resting on the mattress at his side while the other went to the back of her head, his fingers gently winding through her hair.  Rey moving away had been the opposite of what Ben currently wanted, and he knew he could easily move out of the hold she kept around him with her legs if he wanted.  He didn't though, because even if it was within his power to do something he would rather Rey have her way.

That's why he remained placid, malleable in her hold and moving only when he felt her push his shirt up.  His breath had stuttered at the initial feel of her hands touching his skin, his rising and falling abdomen reflecting this as his muscles tensed beneath her touch.

Releasing a heavy breath as he settled back down beneath her, his hand from before finding it's way back into her hair.  "I love you," he echoed back, his eyes open but unable to see anything other than the faintest outline of her looming figure above him.  It was a provocative moment—her above him and he unable to see anything.  He could only really on his other sense, which mainly consisted of sound and touch.  

The way she dragged her teeth over his collarbone, making the hand in her hair tense and his other hand move back to gripping her backside.  The sound of her breathing eagerly against his skin before peppering more kisses along the paths she dragged her teeth across.

Her lazy question was a clear tease, and Ben didn't know whether to truthfully reply or take matters into his own hands as he released another tense sigh.

The decision he comes to is a somewhat rare one.

"For you," he begins as the hand not in her hair starts to trace up her back, his arm wrapping around her more securely.  "To stop being a tease."  He murmurs the words right as his arm tightens around her and he flips them over, ending with him kneeling between her legs, his body bent over hers, and his forearms resting on either side of her head.

Ben takes the opportunity to begin placing his own tender, bruising kisses along her neck as he balances his weight on one arm, allowing the other arm to move and freely let his hand explore.

"I want this off of you," he whispers fiercely against her ear, his hand edging beneath the bottom hem of the wrappings around her chest.  His single hand begins the process of removing the bindings almost right after, working as he continues to worship her skin with his lips.  Catching her mouth in his soon, Ben doesn't let the heat between the two of them cloud his mind as he feels the bands loosen.  He begins to greedily touch before even fully removing the bindings from her, hungry and eager.

Soon, however, it isn't enough and he reverently pulls away the wrapping with his single hand as the kisses he places on her (ones he has last count of and so places more and more to make sure) turn softer. Once Rey's chest is bare Ben shifts himself down lower, lips dragging down her sternum and placing tender love-bites as his both of his hands no begin to brush down her body.

Painting paths across the slope of her abdomen and over the rise of her hips, one of his hands remains on her waist, helping to keep her where she lays while his other hand brushes down her thigh. The entire time he continues to kiss and teasingly drag his teeth across the skin of her breasts, admiring the feeling of her skin beneath his hands.

"I want you just like this," he tenderly murmurs, his kisses nothing more than featherlight touches and his hands just the same against her body. "Is that okay?" He asks after one last kiss against her collarbone. "Or are you still imagining things going a little differently?" The smile that appeared on his face is apparent in his words as he slides an arm underneath her back, holding her close to him.




Speech

Start a fire

Even the dedicated attention she paid his body couldn’t have left her blind to his wandering hands—how his fingers dug deeply into her skin, or how they twined with her undone hair. It was blind encouragement in the dark, and she waited with bated breath, her mouth still sucking bruises into his skin, as he answered her breathless inquiry.

But his reply wasn’t what she’d expected, and Rey yelped in inelegant surprise as he flipped them over with ease, reversing their roles as though she weighed nothing. A low sound, almost a growl, followed her sound of shock, even as her arms lifted to twine her fingers in his hair, pulling him down closer to her. She squirmed in complaint, even as his lips and teeth found her favored places against the vulnerable skin at her throat.

“I’m not the one teasing. Not this time,” she whispered in reply, though a gasp was swift to follow as she arched into his mouth, stiffening slightly as his teeth dragged over her jugular. “And this doesn’t seem like,” Rey continued, exhaling roughly as she smiled and tilted her head into his, her mouth moving gently against his temple and her hands sliding down to drag her nails over his bare back. “Like you’re relaxing.”

Effectively and comfortably trapped between him, the comforter, and their mattress, Rey brought her legs upward to cinch securely around his waist, trapping him to her with stubborn efficiency as the tips of her fingers dug into his skin. She shivered and shifted in answer to his wandering hand, mixed between leaning into his touch and using the motion of her body to guide him toward other places. Regardless, she was there with wholehearted interest when his mouth came to seize hers, and she kissed him with equal fervor, one hand lifting to tangle and pull at his hair as he moved.

The change in position had incensed her impatience only further, rather than pacifying anything in her, and Rey’s body bucked and shifted with mounting annoyance at the pace with which he removed the bindings around her chest. One of her hands unlinked from him, sliding down to tear and pull at the ribboning fabric until it came unspooled upon the mattress beneath them. Her hands returned to him in an instant, one wrapping snug fingers around his throat as he ventured downward, the other trapping itself in his hair as she squirmed beneath his touch.

Soft, inexplicable sounds of pleasure left her mouth at the feel of his teeth upon her chest, and gooseflesh dotted the canvas of her body everywhere his touch stroked a brush—but when his touch turned featherlight again, the hand she had used to hold his neck tightened slightly, and she whined her impatient complaint as she angled her head up to stare at him through the darkness.

Rey might have wriggled more, were it not for the arm he slid beneath her back, capturing her and pulling her close. As it were, she leaned upward to catch his mouth with hers again, entangling both of her hands in his hair now and using her grip to deepen the kiss, her heels digging in to the backs of his thighs as she clung to him with an iron grip.

“It’s not what I had in mind,” she admitted, pausing for a breath as she brushed their foreheads together. Ever the stubborn one, though, Rey shifted in his grip and let her legs fall to the side as she forced herself to lean upward and, to the best of her ability, into a sitting position. Her hands slid down his back, her fingers not daring to pause and wonder at the scars that might lay there, until she found the waistband of his pants.

Where Ben was methodical and adoring in how he’d helped her clothes off, Rey was demanding and insistent as she tugged them as far down as she could manage, only to pull him back to her with a firm touch, slotting their near-bare bodies together with a breathless sigh.

The feel of skin on skin was reassuring—it was, at least for a moment, less of a lust-driven fervor, and more of a fleeting moment of respite. It was a heartbeat to catch her breath, to feel him close in body and soul, and to let their bond wrap around her completely, reveling in his nearness as she sucked in a breath, drawing in the clean smell of his still-damp hair.

Her hands roved his body aimlessly, traveling up and down his back, over his shoulders, around the column of his throat and up into the hair that curled at his nape. She pulled his head closer to her neck, her mouth shaping noiseless words into the skin at his shoulder as she clung to him, hugging him impossibly close.

When she found her voice, it was to press sweet sentiments into the curve of his neck, and then alongside the shell of his ear.

“You’re perfect,” she whispered, robbing him of words he had said to her one too many times before. “You’ve come so far, and I’m so, so proud of you,” her teeth nicked his jawline as she wrapped herself around him, one of her hands coming to cup his cheek and to run her fingers along his chin. “You do so much for us—and I love you for it. I love you so much, Ben.”

Speech

you & i

He had exhaled a breathless chuckle hotly against her skin at the sheer impatience Rey had shown, and he had gently reprimanded her rushed actions but nipping the skin of her neck playfully.  It was clear he was amused and welcomed her eagerness, regardless of how his hands on her had tightened and he had grazed his teeth against her skin.

Anchored to her by way of her fingers digging into his skin, ever so slowly Ben begins to lose himself in her.  Pressed together as closely as they are, all there is are the sounds of her breathing growing heavier, the press of her fingertips against his back, her legs locked around him.  It's clear she won't let him go, and Ben doesn't want her to.  He wants to stay like this forever, lost in her presence and in the devotional act of praising her with his mouth and hands.

Another breathless laugh, short and brief, tugs him away from the haze in his mind at the answer she gives him.  Soaking up her presence further within the brief lull Rey allows them to fall into, Ben keeps silent as he adjusts his grip on Rey to let her move.  Her actions only bring them impossibly closer, and Ben renews the hold he has around her body with his own mounting impatience.

He staves off his greed for a moment longer as she hugs him close.  His entire body shudders against her own, his mouth returning to her neck that she openly offers him.  It's almost as if the rhythm of his heart syncs up with her own, in that gentle reassuring moment where they just hold onto one another.  His lips on her neck turn far too tender, his kisses lingering for longer until the moment her voice lowly speaks near his ear.  Under her beaming praise and affection Ben can only bury his face against her neck, holding himself carefully above her as their bodies remain slotted together.

"For you—" he says before kissing her neck, moving his arm out from underneath Rey.  Her hand against his cheek falls away, "I do it for you, and for those two perfect kids of ours."  Ben says as he lets her lay flat against the bed, withdrawing and blindly looking down at her in the dark.  His hands then rove down her rising and falling slope of her stomach as Ben shifts down their bed to remove the last of her undergarments.  Regardless of his eagerness, Ben savors the act of exposing the last of her to the dark.  As he crawls his way back to rest above her a part of him troubled by the fact that he is unable to see Rey in her entirety, flushed and waiting impatiently for him, but Ben doesn't linger on this loss for long.

"I do everything and try my best," he mutters into the dark, kissing along the column of her neck once he's above her again, "because I want you and them to have everything."  The words are spoken against her neck, revealing just a sliver of what he truly wants them to have.  

The world, everything Rey didn't have and that he didn't—more.  So much more.

One hand begins to travel down her body, his other arm sliding underneath her bare back one more to keep her in place.  "Can you be patient a little while longer—for me?" Ben wonders, mouth against her temple.  It's been months, after all, and he worries.  "Just a little while longer."  He mindlessly mutters, the path his hand traveled obvious.  His breathing then turns helplessly heavier, and Ben wants to drown Rey in pleasure while he kisses away invisible tallies.

He curses against the juncture of her jaw and neck, "You're gorgeous,"  he unthinkingly whispers.  "Gorgeous and breathtaking."  Absolutely breathtaking and entirely his.




Speech

Start a fire

She gladly hugged him to her, allowing him the respite of ducking his head down against the skin of her neck, a shiver wracking her body with each gently impassioned press of his teeth. Rey soaked in the warmth of him within the comfortable dark of their room, securely tucked beneath his body and the blanket that hung over them both. It occurred to her in a surge the reality of it all—that this was their home, that they were safe together, that their children slept a room over, that he was hers to have and to hold.

When he kissed her neck and shifted, the husky timbre of his voice breaking through the steady quiet of their labored breathing, Rey clung to him even as his arm slipped away. She slid back down to lay against the mattress, her weight swaddled heavily in the comfortable dip of it, and she gazed up at his shifting outline as his hands traveled her body. She arched into the contact, the muscles in her abdomen and along her sides twitching beneath the familiar touch, and no matter the warmth of him, gentle shivers wracked her skin as she watched his silhouette move.

His voice was steadying anchor in the dark, his wandering hands touching her that her blindness made shocking, and she arched into his searching touch and clung upon his every word to stay moored to a place close to him. On instinct, her arms rose to dig her fingertips into the muscles beside shoulderblades as he loomed over her again, and Rey closed her eyes and arched her throat into the press of his lips.

“You’ve given me more than enough,” she whispered in answer, sighing contentedly as she clung to him. “More than I ever thought we would get to have,” Rey admitted. Years ago, she would have never guess—would have never imagined—what they had now.

She had known a dark then, too; but it was one where he wasn’t with her. Where he was gone, and there was nothing on the other side of the bond but a gutting, hollowed emptiness.

Her fingers dug into his skin with renewed need, and she whimpered faintly as his hand began to move down her body, his other arm keeping her in place, snug against his body, despite how she impatiently quivered in his embrace. She stilled, if not only barely, at his questioning words, and Rey tilted her head into his to sloppily kiss the side of his face, the corner of his mouth, his jaw—anywhere he could reach.

“I’ve waited all day,” she whined argumentatively, though the touch of his hand knocked the breath from her lungs, drowning her defiance in pleasure, and her teeth nicked the shell of his ear where his head had bowed into her neck.

A soft laugh left her at his compliments, breathless and cracked as it might’ve been, and she placed a kiss in the place her teeth had grazed. Wrapping her arms around the back of his neck as they clung to one another, she still struggled slightly against the arm that tightly embraced her, doing her utmost to wriggle closer to him, even if there wasn’t a sliver of space between their bodies.

“I’m so lucky,” she managed to get out, both through her breathlessness and her laughter. “So lucky that I have you,” her finger nails dragged down his back despite herself, and she mindlessly peppered kisses down his neck and over his shoulder, a ragged gasp leaving her mouth as she ducked her head close to his. “No matter what you think—I always will be,” Rey whispered, one of her hands resting on his side while the other arm looped around the back of his neck, keeping him close.

“I love you, Ben,” she murmured—nearly whimpered—repeating the words like a mantra against the dark curls of his hair, breathing them in to every inch of his skin that she could reach.

Speech

you & i

Her whining complaint made a brief, toothy grin appear on his face that was hidden against her neck.  It also made him want to silence her and it seemed that Ben managed well enough if her stuttering gasp was any indication.  It was a pleasure all its own to know he was able to bring her to such a state; to know that he -and only him- got to see her like this, got to hear her gasps in his ear, and feel her lips on his skin.  It was a delight all its own.

Ben hardly believed him deserving of any of this, but when it came to others?  No one deserved this what so ever.  This was something he would always covet greedily.

With every minuscule twitch Rey made against Ben's body his arm around her tightened, silently willing her to still as he nipped at her neck and placed more blooming kisses against her skin.  Kisses that, Ben found, he wanted to last and stain her skin for more than a few days.  Just little signs that, every time he looked at them, he would feel a immoral satisfaction at having left them there.

Devoting himself to the simple task of tenderly pleasuring her, Ben did his best to continue focusing on that even as Rey breathlessly spoke into his ear.  Her nails, when they drew marks over his scarred back, made his breath hitch at the pleasant shivers that were sent down his spine.

Even if her compliments made his heart sing, removed the grime on his heart that was practically a part of him, Ben found that she was talking a little too much for his liking still.  So, he committed himself to his task even more, doing his best to draw out her pleasure and make her breath catch and her body curve into his.

"And I love you, Rey."  Ben breathes into her skin, sings through the bond, the skin of his body hot against her own.  "Just a but longer," he whispers against her skin, eager himself as he bows over her and curls her close.

"Maker, the things you do to me."  He says out loud unknowingly, chest expanding as he heavily exhales against her shoulder.  There won't ever be a moment, a day, that passes that Ben won't be entirely captivated by the woman that has become his wife and the mother of his children.

A ragged breath leaves him, one that comes from frustration and need Ben tries his best to overcome.  Yet, his hand still reluctantly leaves her and drags his palm down her thigh.  Curling his fingers behind her knee, Ben hitches her leg up, kissing the skin of Rey's neck and then her lips as he carefully removes the last fragments of space separating him from her.

He can't help the gasp that leaves him, one that disrupts their kiss as Ben keeps them still, placing a reverent kiss against her cheek.  "I love you," he adoringly whispers against her lips, foolishly hoping to remove any unwelcome space that might possibly remain between them so that they can truly be more than what the bond and the closeness of their bodies allows them to be.




Speech

Start a fire

Even after months, he knew her body well enough to quiet her words with the gentlest of touches, and it was all Rey could do to keep her limbs linked around him, writhing inexpertly as she sought both to wiggle closer and to escape the overwhelming sensation he brought about. Her chest heaved heavily beneath his, and her teeth dug into his shoulder for desperate purchase as soft, wanting sounds—meant to shape words but failing—escaped her.

It was a challenge to release his skin from between her teeth as he spoke, and she didn’t so much as dare to mend the hurt with a parting kiss as she let her head fall back against the pillows, her neck arching openly to his mouth, though she doubted there was a place that he hadn’t already left a bloom of dark discoloration upon parting. The offering remained, regardless, and she expelled a breathless, forced laugh despite keeping her eyes closed.

“You enjoy every single one of them,” she gasped in answer, and one of her hands snaked down at long last to grip his wrist, her nails digging in to the muscle of his forearm until his hand finally shifted away and then out of her reach.

She let her palm flatten against his side then, stealing the moment to catch her breath as he moved to hook her leg up and against his hip. Rey whined, the sound nearly inaudible and ultimately swallowed into the kiss he pressed to her lips. She clung to the touch with bruising need until he parted with a gasp, and she leaned up to chase after him, her forehead pressing into his even as he held them in place.

“I love you,” she whispered in turn, her arm moving to link around the back of his neck, holding him close as she resisted the urge to move her body against his. “So—so much,” Rey continued; and this time, she did shift, a breathless sigh following before she smiled against his laugh.

“And, in the morning,” she murmured, stilling her subtle movements to grin into a second, worshipping kiss. “You’re going,” another kiss, her nose brushing against his. “to show me how much you love me again,” Rey’s fingers dragged down his back again, until both her hands came to rest on his hips, her nails digging into the skin there. “By making me breakfast.”

Speech

you & i

She chained him to her, made sure that he wouldn't get any further from her that a few centimeters—not that Ben would dare to do such a thing now. He wants to stay right here, close to her and not with a single shred of space between them.

She shifts, and his hands clench against her body as he strains above her, feeling the smile she wears rather than seeing it. He can't help but shake his head, amused and captivated by her, as he places a breathless kiss against her skin before Rey speaks up. It's nearly maddening, the moment she stills, but Ben makes the effort to remain still above her for the time being as he pants against her lips.  

Her words make him believe she's suggesting something else at first, but the second her nails dig into his skin Ben is roughly chuckling against her lips.

"Brat," he rumbles near her neck, the single word punctuated by him sharply moving.  Driving them closer together, Ben grazes his teeth against the painted skin of her neck, refraining from putting anymore marks there as he obeys the silent demand her fingers made against the skin of his hips.

"We both know I will, though," Ben grunts, "I'll make you whatever you want."  He breathes out against her skin, knowing very well that he would never tire of cooking her anything for the rest of his life.  Just as he could never tire of this.

"But," he breathlessly pants, "Only after I really get to show you how much I love you." He tells Rey, sealing the words with a kiss to her bare shoulder as his hand grips at her thigh.  "I'll make you whatever you want after that—and the day after, and the day after that."  Forever and ever.




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