The Art of Broken Pieces

The Porgs are Also Not Invited to This Chapter

The fire was pulsing with the barest of amber coals by the time Rey extracted herself from Ben's arms. She felt drunk, aware of the cold seeping into her toes and fingers, even as her body remained warm where she'd been leaning back against Ben's chest. She'd taken his hand in both of hers, studying it in detail, tracing the long line down the outside of his forefinger, all the way to the arc of flesh to his thumb. She'd traced his knuckles, the bruises where his cracked bones were finally healing, the winding track of blue vein beneath his skin. His knees had bracketed her hips, and for a while, she let herself remember how he'd felt against her when they'd danced. His hands had been warm then, but now they were cool, and his nose against the back of her ear was colder.

She pulled him up behind her, kicked dirt over the fire, and drew him with her up the ramp of the Falcon. A flock of porgs puffed out against the chill wind, huddling in a newly-constructed nest by one of the landing struts. They watched with large black eyes as she hit the hatch control and it closed behind them.

A sleepy, buzzing sort of tension thrummed in her belly, and she kept Ben's hands in hers, though it was hard to walk with him so close behind her. His boots kept encountering the backs of hers, his chin bumping into her hair as they moved through the lounge. She veered left, pulling him toward the viewport, and the bunks. She only paused to think when she felt the hesitation in him. It wasn't about her. She knew that—there was nothing hesitant in the stream of thoughts and emotions flowing between them.

She understood a moment later, when the door of her bunk came into view. That had been his father's bunk. His parents' bunk. Though she'd slept in it while he Visited her, he hadn't actually been able to see where they were. There was no way he would be able to go in there with her. Not now. She veered toward the second bunk, and was pleased to see that he'd already seemed to have claimed it.

Thankful for her sensitivity, Ben leaned down over Rey's neck as they moved awkwardly into the small room, nuzzling the soft skin behind her ear. The scent of wood smoke filled her hair, and he breathed her in deeply. Though the time to talk may still come, he felt safe knowing that she understood him--perhaps better than he understood himself.

He didn't know exactly where this was going yet—the heat in his blood was giving him plenty of suggestions, but he also wondered if things were still too new between them. He could easily imagine just holding her close, watching her sleep and running his hands through her hair as he had for the past few nights as he Visited her. They paused in the center of the room, and Ben took a chance, pulling her back against him as his lips found the tendon that ran from ear to collar, kissing it softly.

She had expected another kiss. She just...hadn't expected it to feel like that. Like suddenly, every nerve in her body were concentrated in that exact part of her neck, beneath the warm mouth and tongue now making soft movements against her skin. She sucked in a breath, fingers curling into his sleeve. His breath fluttered her hair, her neck was burning. Currents rushed out from the heat of his mouth, arcing down her body.

Her mind was nothing. It was a space of white, crackling at the edges, every thought obliterated. She felt her face go fever hot, heard the sharp, shallow breaths that dragged light over her vocal cords. A shudder worked its way up her spine and then...then Ben was holding her up, responsible for every last ounce of her weight as he moved down that tendon, and her whole spine went liquid hot.

The intensity of her reaction surprised him, but the soft moan of pleasure from her lips drove straight through him, his heartbeat suddenly racing as her weight slumped into his arms. He slowly kissed a line down the side of her neck, encouraged by the shivers that went through her body as he held her close. Finding the gentle curve where her shoulder met her neck Ben teased at the soft skin, suckling softly as her head fell sideways against his shoulder. She tasted of smoke and wind, and he breathed her in deeply.