Lady Bess

Detroit wasn’t a million miles away, but the decision to get there by road rather made it feel like you were headed to a different country altogether. For the sake of your cover, it didn’t make sense to use the Statesman jet. If there were links to The Golden Circle operation at this resort, there was nothing to say that you wouldn’t be scrutinised if you didn’t appear ‘normal’, by whoever it was you were looking for. You had to be seen to be turning up in your beaten up car, together. Life might be different for you since becoming an agent, but you hadn’t totally lost your grip on reality yet. 

Ginger had done more digging into the resort, as well as the two unfortunate souls that had landed within the Statesman labs the other night - both of whom succumbed to their poisoning before they’d had a chance to wake up. It was a somber phone call you’d received from her last night while working at your desk, her voice shaky as she delivered the news. Ginger and her team had worked tirelessly to stabilise the two victims, but unfortunately it was a little too late. 

But that just meant your next mission would be even more important. You knew from research that your victims worked together, but that they had also been having an affair. It seemed like they had used the work trip as an excuse to be together without prying eyes from their home town seeing them. Texts between the couple indicated that they were approached by someone at the resort, promising that they could get them something which would make their affair a more "exhilarating experience”. 

You’d surmised that whoever was behind all of this was targeting those who seemed troubled - in the days that lead up to the couple’s trip, it seemed that Stephanie was debating calling the whole thing off. 

“She sent Max a message saying she couldn’t deal with the stress of hiding their affair any longer, and that perhaps they should stop seeing each other”, Ginger had explained. But for whatever reason, it seems that she never did. The couple went away together, and that’s when they were seemingly targeted for the laced narcotic. 

You and your team had worked tirelessly the past couple of days to ensure that you and Jack had concrete alibis going into this mission. Based on what you knew about your victims, you would be going in as a couple dealing with marital issues, and you were using this retreat as a way to ‘reconnect with one another’. You hoped that whoever was behind this operation would see the two of you, and decide to take advantage of your state. 

Ginger’s research into the database of the resort showed that over 85% of their guests checked in and described themselves as couples, so your cover wouldn’t be questioned in that regard. You just had to now make yourselves appear to be in the throes of marital distress - a daunting task, given the recent developments between you and Jack…

It hadn’t been your first choice at a cover story, especially given the history you and Jack now found yourself sharing. Even Astrid had tried to dissuade Tequila when he made the link and suggested that this be the tactic you tried. But without being able to tell Tex why she didn’t think it was a good idea, her argument fell as flat as your own, and you found yourself going along with it. 

Telling Jack had been fun. He’d gone coy standing at his door last night when you’d handed him his undercover documents - everything he needed to remember about his new character, the backstory, the reason you two would be there. Everything. 

“We’ll be pretending to be a couple,” you’d explained, sighing slightly as you saw Jack’s brow knit together, “It was Tequila’s idea.”

“I’ll kill him,” Jack had scoffed, secretly struggling with the pact you two had made just days before, to not be romantically involved anymore. You’d shrugged. 

“In his defence, I think he’s onto something”. 

The seven hour trip gave both you and Jack rather too much time to ponder over the events of the last few days - so much had happened in such a short amount of time, you were constantly playing catch up. You felt like you spent a lot of the last few days in an out of body experience, a spectator to your own life, watching it play out like you were watching a poorly written rom-com. Constantly questioning the “will they, won’t they” trope you saw time and time again, knowing what the result would inevitably be. 

Except in this rom-com, the ending was unclear. 

And there was nothing which frustrated you more. 

You glanced over at Jack briefly, whom you’d not spoken to in just over an hour. Your fingers had padded over the pages of your file for long enough now that you could feasibly play your silence off as just being observant, but you knew Jack would already know that you already had every detail memorised. 

He looked strangely calm, which put you slightly at ease. After his disgruntlement last night, you expected that he’d be more on edge - or perhaps you were just projecting your own unsettlement. Who knew?

All wonder ceased though when Jack broke the long-held silence with a simple question. 

“Y’allright, sugar?” he asked, his head turning briefly to properly look at you, the current stretch of road ahead straight enough for him to turn away for a moment. 

“Yeah, I’m just-” you tapped the file, “memorising,” you lied. Jack chuckled, seeing right through your ruse. 

“Sugar, you’re a fantastic agent, but your lying sucks sometimes,” he grinned, now looking back at the road, “I know you’ve got that file memorised back to front, so don’t bullshit me. What’s going on in that head of yours?”. 

Sometimes you hated how well you knew Jack, and how much he could read you like an open book. 

“I suppose I’m worried about the mission,” you sighed. 

“You mean because of me being involved?” he asked. Truthfully, you hadn’t given that much thought. The fact that this was Jack’s first partnered undercover mission since he came back to Statesman hadn’t really crossed your mind. You felt a pang of guilt twist in your stomach as you realised you probably should have taken that into consideration much more than what you had. 

“Not overly, no. I know how hard you’ve worked, and you wouldn’t have been signed on to do this if you weren’t alright,” you reasoned, which wasn’t a lie. You knew better than anyone at Statesman how much Jack had worked for this, and he really was ready for this final push back into the life he once led. 

“Then what is it?” he asked. 

“It’s silly,” you scoffed, “don’t worry about it”. 

“Hey,” Jack turned back to face you, “If it’s on your mind, I wanna know. That’s what partners are for, right?”. 

Partners. A word so mundane but yet it somehow felt like a bullet to the stomach with the significance of it now. You wondered if Jack felt even remotely the same as you…

“That’s the issue, I guess. Not that we are partners, but the nature of this mission and how-,” you swallowed, “close, we’ll have to be. Given everything I guess it’ll just be a strange adjustment”. 

Jack smiled taut before focusing back on the road. He turned off at the next junction, then reached across and set his hand on your thigh. He softly squeezed your leg, and at his touch a jolt of electricity surged through your body. 

“It won’t be easy, sugar. But we’re good agents, and I’m sure we can put things to one side for the sake of this, yeah?”. 

Yeah, sure.

“Of course we can,” you smiled, “It might just take a while to adjust to”. 

“Well, I hope you’re ready to find out if that’s the case,” Jack moved his hand and placed it on the gear stick, "Because we’re here”. 

You hadn’t been paying attention to the scenery, choosing to instead vacantly stare at the passing landmarks whenever you turned your attention to the window, but otherwise you’d been totally disassociating most of the way here. It had totally passed you by that you were now driving up the long winding driveway to the resort, a large white building that appeared to be an old country manor house. 

The surroundings to the main building saw it nestled amongst pine trees of various heights, rolling green hills, and an array of natural flowers littering the grass. It was clear that there was a gardener on staff who took great pride in their work, and the closer Jack drove the more pristine the surroundings became. 

“Blimey,” you muttered to yourself, watching on in awe as you got towards the resident parking area, which even here the smallest detail had been considered carefully. Jack parked the car in a space which had been reserved for “Mr. & Mrs. Jameson”, the name that your cover story has bestowed upon you both. Admittedly you’d chuckled at the surname, given the ironic connection of the name Jameson to Jack Daniels, when it came to whiskey brands. 

“You still finding the name funny, sugar?” Jack asked, his teeth flashing through the playful grin he shot towards you at the sound of your laughter. 

“Maybe a little. I still can’t believe your folks didn’t make the connection with your name when they named you,” you giggled. 

“They did, actually,” Jack’s smile remained still, but there was a hint of coldness towards it now, “But that’s a story for later. Come on now!”. 

And on that ending note, Jack leapt out the car faster than you’d ever seen him move. You wondered, as you unclasped your belt and opened your own door, what possibly you could have touched on to warrant such a response. 

But, as he said, that was a story for later.

~~~

Your room was…cosy, to say the least. If you were an actual couple, there would be no issues at all. A nice double bed sat central in the room, surrounded by plush carpets and small drawers for your belongings. A bathroom went off to the left of the room, and at the foot of the bed was a small seating set up, with a chaise lounge and a few chairs. 

“Well, it could be worse,” you remarked as you stepped in, avoiding the obvious issue that was going to be you two sharing a bed for a few nights.

“I’ll take the floor,” Jack said, dropping his bag next to the lounge at the end of the bed, not even giving you a moment to bring the topic up yourself. 

“You’ll what?” you said. 

“There’s only one bed, sunshine. So unless you wanna be cozied up to ol’ Jack, I’ll take the floor,” he said, a glint in his eye and a small smirk forming under his moustache. You scoffed and shook your head. It might be a touch awkward at first, but you couldn’t have one of you compromised on this mission by not getting a good sleep. 

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous. We’re both adults, and the bed looks plenty big enough. I’m sure we can amicably share. Besides, we’ll be here at least a few nights. Your back will be shot if you spend more than a few hours on the floor,” you said. 

“Only if you’re certain?” Jack said. 

“I am. Come on, pick a side,” you giggled, “Or else I remind you how old you’re getting!”.

“Bitch,” Jack sniggered, and at that you laughed back with him as you threw a spare item of clothing at him in jokey retaliation.  

You’d arrived fairly late in the afternoon, so there wasn’t all that much time to really get to know the place today. If you were being honest, you were also both exhausted from the trip that any reconnaissance today would likely be utterly useless, as almost as soon as you’d unpacked there was a weight which fell over you both. 

Settling on an early evening, you’d freshened up quickly before setting off out of your room, donning your new names for the first time in search of dinner. Just a few corridors away from your room was one of the three dining rooms on offer here, and as your waiter sat you down at a corner table, you breathed a short sigh of relief as you looked around to see it wasn’t all that busy. 

The two of you made polite conversation while scoping out the area, making a mental note of any particular guests who stood out to you, while you dined. Any time someone walked into ear shot, Jack made sure to divert a conversation towards something a married couple might discuss - property value, kid’s college fund, what your rude neighbour was doing in their back garden recently. 

You had to admit, you were much more impressed with Jack than you anticipated. There wasn’t a doubt in your mind that he’d be good at undercover work, but his ability to switch from himself to his cover in nanoseconds was admirable. You smiled softly at him when the two of you came to leave, Jack unable to resist resting his hand on the small of your back as you walked out the restaurant. 

Like a proper couple. 

Entering your room, you hit the shower first. So far this resort had proven to be every bit as fancy as you imagined it would be, and the bathroom didn’t disappoint. With white marble tiles everywhere (even on the ceiling!), a waterfall shower donned with fresh eucalyptus, and complimentary toiletries that, after Googling, you found cost over twenty dollars each at retail price - you were in heaven. Taking full advantage of every amenity, you came out wrapped in the room’s robe feeling fresh as a daisy. Jack chuckled as he saw you padding across the room to get your nightwear, his cue to make himself scarce. 

“Enjoyed that shower, did we?” he asked, standing up from the chaise lounge and heading towards the bathroom. 

“You may mock, but wait until you’ve used that shower!”.  

One outfit change later, you slipped under the covers and pulled out one of your books to pass the time. You flicked through a few pages of your book while you waited for Jack to get ready for bed. It wasn’t the most riveting read there was, but you refused to leave a book unfinished, so you persisted with it. If nothing else it provided you with a distraction you much needed today. Even though you meant what you said, that it would be ridiculous for one of you to sleep on the floor during your time here, that didn’t mean you weren’t internally freaking out about the proximity you’d find yourself and Jack. 

Snapping you out of your train of thought, your book doing little to distract you, Jack stepped out of the en-suite and headed over to the bed. Smiling faintly at you as your eyes flitted up from the pages of your book, he walked towards you clutching the clothes he’d worn today against his chest, before leaning down and setting them in his suitcase. 

You didn’t mean to gawk at him, but seeing Jack in sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt had your mind racing the second he leant down. You admired the strength in his legs, how nice his ass was, and the small flash of skin that revealed itself as his shirt went slack around his hips. It had been a long time since you’d seen him dressed like this, and it wasn’t easy to forget how that ended…

“Hey, you can say no, but I tend to be a ‘sleep naked’ kind of guy. Obviously I won’t be doing that,” he chuckled, standing back up again to face you, “but do you mind if I at least lose the sweatpants?” Jack asked, snapping you back into the present moment. 

“No, no, of course not! You can lose the shirt too, if you like,” you said, not really thinking how that sounded. Jack smirked and quipped his eyebrow up at you, a small chuckle in the back of his throat and he slid the sweatpants down his legs. 

“Oh, can I now?” he teased. 

“No, I- I didn’t mean- it’s just-,” you sighed, putting your book to one side, “Fuck, I made that sound much hornier than I meant,” you laughed nervously, your face burning. 

“I’m only messing with you, Whiskey,” he winked, swinging his legs off the floor and into bed, “I’ll be fine like this, I promise. But if I get too hot, it’s good to know the option is there,” he smiled softly. 

“What are you wearing, anyway?” Jack said, lifting the covers up to reveal your choice of nightwear. Nothing fancy, and certainly nothing provocative. Light grey shorts with a matching vest, and fluffy socks to pair with the outfit. Jack chuckled as he put the covers down. 

“Nice socks, agent,” he teased. You gently slapped his arm. 

“You won’t mock me for them when they’re the only thing saving you from my ice cold feet!” you said. Jack did a proper belly laugh at that. 

“Fine, fine! I’m sorry for mocking your socks,” he chuckled. 

“Fuck you, Jack,” you laughed. “Come on, we best get to sleep. Rumour has it that the spa in this place is world class, so I’ve made us appointments first thing tomorrow. I imagine if we’re going to find anyone related to this case, that’s the ‘hip’ place they’ll be hanging out”. 

Jack grunted in disdain as you turned your bedside lamp off and shuffled down under the covers. You turned to look at him, eyebrows raised. 

“What?” you asked. Jack turned off his lamp and slid down into bed with you. 

“Spas are not exactly my kind of scene,” he said, mirroring you by turning off his light and laying down under the covers next to you. You chuckled at his comment, pulling the covers up to your chin and turning to look at him. Only the faint light from a streetlamp outside provided any illumination inside the room, so his features all but disappeared before your own eyes. 

“Yeah, well, they’re gonna have to be. At least for an hour,” you said. 

“Fine!” Jack huffed, rolling over to face you in bed. 

You chuckled under your breath at the absurdity of his attitude, when a warmth on your face interrupted you. Delicate fingers danced across your cheek, and you realised Jack was softly caressing your cheek. 

Part of you wanted to give in, and you found yourself instinctively leaning into his hold, even just for a moment. But then the pang of hurt hit you as you remembered all the reasons why this couldn’t happen, even for a short time…

“Jack…,” you whispered, your eyes screwed up in frustration. 

“What, sugar?” he asked. 

“We can’t…,” you said. “Not here.” You reasoned with yourself that this implied you weren’t totally shutting him down. The ball was entirely in his court, really, but you still had to try and keep your agreement going. 

You felt his hand withdraw almost as fast as if he had been electrocuted. 

“Sorry, I- I didn’t mean-,” he stammered, panic setting in that he’d crossed a line. 

“Hey, shh, it’s okay,” you smiled, reaching forward and gently clasping his hand in yours. “I just…I want nothing more than that. But we’ve got to be rational. It was you yourself who said about us not doing more for the time being, right? Got to stick to that and keep you with it.”

“You’re right,” he nodded, “I’m sorry,” he sighed, “I just forget myself around you. You make me want to forget about it all and just…throw caution to the wind”. 

“Don’t be sorry, Jack. We’ve just got to be sensible.”

The reasoning sucked, and you hated to give it. There was nothing you wanted more than to give into the feelings you’d had brewing under the surface with Jack for all this time, and to use this opportunity tonight to submit to the lust and need that existed between you. His hand tightly gripped yours and your faces were so close, it would be so easy to lean in and catch his lips in a kiss, to pull him on top of your body and to let him have you. 

But you couldn’t. 

“I know,” he sighed, “God I hate how fucked up in the head I am. Anyone else would be able to do both, why can’t I?” he asked, almost pleading, letting you know that was not a rhetorical question. He absolutely needed assurance right now. 

“Hey, come on now,” you spoke in hushed tones, trying to calm the simmering tension that you could feel building. “Jack, with everything you have been through, it’s a miracle you’re even remotely sound of mind. You’ve gone through Hell and back and are here to tell the tale. Give yourself some credit that you’re able to even be on this mission, which is so closely related to what sent you over the edge in the first place.”

“I know, but sugar I-,” he began. 

“No, no buts. You are so strong, and I don’t wanna hear another word about how someone else might cope in this situation. As far as I’m concerned I don’t know anyone strong enough to handle it in the first place, let alone consider how they’re meant to live their life after the fallout. Okay?”. 

And he did know. Nodding slowly, he leant forward and placed a soft kiss to your forehead. You smiled at the gentle contact, yearning for more, and you gripped his hand tighter as he pulled back. 

“Thank you, sugar. That means a lot to me. Let’s go to sleep. Long day ahead of us tomorrow,” he said. 

“Goodnight, Jack,” you said, finally releasing his hand and rolling onto your back to sleep. 

“Night,” he murmured into the dark, rolling over and away from you, shielding you from seeing how his eyes had prickled with tears. Just when he thought he might have a chance with you, it was ripped away, and like with everything in his life so far he had been denied something, yet again…

~~~

Jack woke up in the middle of the night to find himself wrapped around your body, the gentle heat from your skin seeping into his, and the soft push of your ass digging into his crotch waking Jack with a start. His arms were loosely draped over your body, settled around your waist and keeping you close to him. Jack’s throat went dry at the realisation of how close you both were, and he pondered who had initiated this. 

He was about to retract when he heard the soft snores coming from your lips, and he noticed just how out of it you were. For the moment he could, he settled back down next to you and nuzzled his nose in the crook of your neck, breathing in your scent. It may not last a lifetime, but if this was all the closeness he could get, for now he’d take it. 

Closing his eyes, Jack slipped back off to sleep. 

Until he awoke with a start. 

~~~

April 23rd, 2002. Medellin. 

“Look what we got here, boss,” were the first words Jack heard when he woke up. His head pounded from where he’d been hit, his vision having remained only long enough to ascertain he was dragged into a van immediately after. 

He had this coming. Working so closely with those who wanted to bring a stop to the Medellin Cartel for all those years, and then him having his own part in taking down the copycats that came after, it was inevitable. 

You didn’t do this job without risk. 

“Who’s this?” another man answered. It was still too dark for Jack to see who he was about to be dealing with, and the more he came around the sooner he realised he was bound up and still in the back of whatever van he’d been thrown into. 

“One of those bastards from Bogota. Part of the team that’s looking to put guys like us away”. 

“You think he’ll talk?” 

“Let’s find out.”

Jack steadied his breathing as he heard the doors of the van click open, then screwed his eyes up as light flooded it once they were open. He just had to pray that there would be backup on the way. If there was one benefit to being a covert agent for Statesman, it was their incredible way of keeping track of their employees. Bogota could learn a thing or two. 

“Come on, out with you, or else you’ll have a knock to the head again that matches the other one,” the first guy sneered, reaching into the van and grabbing Jack by the arm. He dragged him out, his slender arms being deceptively strong, Jack finding himself on the ground before long. 

“I promise, you’ve got the wrong guy!” Jack said, attempting to see if he could bullshit his way out of this one. He wasn’t totally convinced, but it could give him some time. 

“Shut up,” the second guy , a much taller and broader man, exclaimed. His hand struck Jack’s face at the same time, making him recoil on his knees, blood coming out his mouth. 

“That’s not gonna work on us, pig. We know exactly who you are and what your part to play is in all this,” the man explained. Jack moved his head back up, spitting blood before he did, and squinted at his attacker. As his vision began to restore, he recognised the two men. 

The slimmer of the two guys was Luca Torres Molina, one of La Familia Castellano’s notorious weapons smugglers. Even without the drug charges to his name, he was wanted on about seven different accounts of illegal weapon sales in Bogota. 

The second guy was Phillipe Guerrero Morales, a well known henchman for the family. They were currently the most notorious cartel in Colombia, with their operations spreading further every week. Jack had been assigned an intel case on a lead the station had received, when he met his match physically and was taken away by them. 

“Oh yeah? What do you think you know then?” Jack taunted, knowing it was a terrible idea, but also figuring that he was in for a beating regardless of what he said. If one of the most notorious henchmen for the family was coming after him, he knew he was getting too close to the answers he needed. Just like Icarus, his wings needed burning off. 

“Don’t play games with me,” Guerrero snarled, grabbing Jack by the hair and forcing his head back to look up at him properly. Blood continued to trickle down his face from his nose, dancing down his neck and seeping into his collar.

“We know you’ve been looking into business that ain’t your own, and now you’re gonna pay for it”. 

“Not worried someone will come and find me?” Jack asked. Torres scoffed as he loaded his gun. 

“The police will find you, we’re sure of that,” he cocked his gun, “But you’ll be dead by then, won’t you, Jack? Or, shall I say your real name, Javier?”.

The gun cries out, and metal shreds through Jack’s thigh, rendering him immobile. He screams in agony, blood pooling from his leg. Limb by limb the men beat, cut, twist, and bruise him until he’s black and blue, trying to get as much information from him as he could. Another shot rings out, piercing through Jack’s shoulder, throwing him to the ground. His head smacks the concrete floor below him, and soon his world begins to go black. 

~

He doesn’t know how long he’s been laid there, paralysed in his own body, everything throbbing and dripping with blood. It’s the worst pain imaginable, and yet this is the moment he relives time and time again. 

A voice comes through, shouting his name, rousing him from his unconscious daze. “Guys, I’ve found him!"

"Peña is alive”. 

You’d not slept as soundly as you did than on your first night on Dathomir, in spite of the unfamiliar climate you found yourself in. The two of you barely moved a muscle all night, remaining tangled up in each other’s arms, Maul’s strong chest beneath you for most the night. The sound of his twin heartbeats soothed you in a way nothing else ever had, and when the sun crept through at the break of dawn, you were hard pressed to get up. 

Maul clearly felt the same. You could tell he was awake by the pace of his breathing, and also his bare hand tangling in your hair, caressing you softly as you both gently rid yourself of fatigue. All you wanted was to lay here forever, basking in his presence and having him hold you close, a kind of possessiveness that for once didn’t scare you - it just made you feel safe. For as demanding and terrifying as his demeanour was, something that once frightened you half to death, now it felt like coming home. 

But for as much as you could have wasted the hours and days laid together in a comfortable silence, you had a job to do. With much effort, and plenty of protest, you roused both your tired bodies from bed and set about your day. Maul jokingly pulled you back to his side a few times, and for the first time in months you heard a genuine laugh from him - not one laced with sarcasm or disbelief, but one of pure unadulterated joy. It was beautiful. 

Heading back to your ship, Maul had enlisted the help of a couple of his nightbrothers to help you unload your belongings. While he knew you were physically capable of doing it yourself, now that you were by his side and under his care, he wouldn’t allow you to ever be laboured more than necessary. 

The brothers, Helios and Ares, made short work of unloading your belongings and bringing them into your new workshop. They were clearly under strict instruction from Maul, as each time you attempted to ascend the ladder to get a box, two strong hands would haul you back down to the ground. It was fairly amusing to be honest, and each time it reminded you of the sheer strength Zabrak’s naturally possessed, whether they were force sensitive or not. But while you protested at first, you eventually gave up, allowing them to fulfill their duty as laid out by Maul. 

So, you set to putting everything away and organising your new space, as that seemed to be all you were allowed to do. Maul was spending part of the day with Devon, hoping to get some training in both in the wake of her new found connection with you, and also in anticipation for if he was to be incapacitated anytime soon. New legs came with risks, he wasn’t naive to that. He might have been able to bounce back swiftly in the past, but he was a younger man then, and he’d not only aged what felt like 10 years in the past 2, but the damage his body had sustained was immense. Not just to the cybernetic parts, either. 

Before parting ways this morning, you’d given him instruction to come and see you later in the day so that you could start work on his new legs. Sure enough, after a couple hours of unboxing and furniture removal - for which both Helios and Ares insisted on helping with too - he turned up on your doorstep. 

“I trust my brothers have been helpful?” he asked in that sinfully sultry tone that you don’t think you’d ever tire of. You smiled at him then nodded over at the brothers, who were now standing side by side, hands clasped behind their back, like they were awaiting a military inspection. 

“Very. Thank you, boys,” you said. They nodded back at you in return, stoic as ever and just as unmoving as they had been for most the day. You imagined Dathomirians might not be the friendliest of people to newcomers, but were grateful that they still helped you as they had. 

“You may leave now,” Maul dismissed them as he walked into your workshop, kitted out in his cloak and staff again as he was yesterday. The brothers bowed their heads before leaving the building, closing the door behind them on the way. 

“How’s Devon?” you asked, putting away your final pieces as Maul took off his robe and set his staff to one side. He scoffed under his breath at your question. 

“Same old Devon. I had hoped yesterday might have given her something to be a bit perkier about, but it seems we’re back at square one again,” he lamented, leaning on a side table as he watched you organise your new space. 

“You forget she’s still a teenager. Even without what she’s been through, a bit of defiance in the face of authority is normal,” you reasoned, “I’ll go see her tomorrow, if there’s time? See if I can’t get through to her. At least get her to see you’re not the asshole she clearly thinks you are.”

“It might not hurt to try,” he shrugged, his arms folded as he surveyed the stacks of now empty boxes, “Have you finished here?”.

“Yes,” you nodded, “All unpacked. I’m ready to start work on your legs now, if you are?”. 

Maul sucked his top lip in, hissing slightly in pain as he snagged the skin on his teeth. His own nerves were rife today, and while he would never outright admit that to you, he did an awful job of hiding it. You might not be force sensitive as he was, but even an idiot could pick up on his anxiety. 

“Or…we can wait?” you offered, but Maul shook his head. 

“No, no, I’ll be fine…,” he chuckled under his breath, clearly trying to alleviate nerves, “Just remembering how much it hurt the last time you attacked me with these tools!”. 

You scoffed, closing the gap between the two of you and prodding him in the chest. 

“The word ‘attack’ is a bit strong, no?” you teased, “Besides, today will just be investigative work. I’m saving the pain for another day.”

“Oh, I’ll count my stars for that blessing then,” Maul mocked, his hand grabbing yours which continued to jab at him. He slowly brought your hand up to his mouth, and planted a soft kiss on the inside of your wrist. The feeling sent a shudder down your spine, not helped by his next question. 

“Where do you want me?”. 

Stars. Where didn’t you want him? 

You coughed slightly to clear your throat as Maul eventually released your hand from his, then took a step back to put some space between you. You feared that if you didn’t, there was a chance you’d jump him right here and now, and you were still unsure of his boundaries in regards to intimacy.  

“May as well use the bed,” you gave him a half-smile, “Might as well be comfortable while I “attack you”,” you said, mocking. 

Maul rolled his eyes before grasping his staff and following you over to the bed. There was the rudimentary bedding on which he recognised from yesterday, as being what was left for you, but now there was more surrounding it. Amongst all the technical items you’d carefully packed and brought with you, you’d snuck a few creature comforts on board as well - a few blankets, an extra throw cushion which he recognised from your couch, and even a small stuffed animal. He smiled faintly as he saw it, wondering how many moon cycles you’d been hanging onto that, and why it was so important that it came with you. 

But then his eyes darted next to the bed and saw a myriad of your tools lined up like surgical instruments, ready to pry and prod at him. He felt his twin hearts beat a little louder at the sight, worry and fear coursing through him. You noticed his darting eyes. 

“Hey,” you got him to focus on you now, not the tools, “Do you trust me?”. 

“Yes,” he responded without hesitating, nodding in response also. “Completly.”

“Okay, good,” you smiled, “So you know I’d never hurt you on purpose, right?”. 

“I know that. My rational brain is screaming that at me. I think I’m just worried how bad this could be,” he admitted. You shrugged slightly, but all the while not being dismissive of his feelings. 

“We won’t know how bad until I have a closer look. The fact you’ve gone this long with such sufficient damage makes me hopeful that it won’t be as horrific as we might expect, but I’ll not lie and say it’ll all be okay. Truthfully, I don’t know. But if you trust me to keep you safe, we will work together to make this right for you.”

Maul smiled at you before leaning down to meet your lips with his. You kissed him softly, not stopping at any point to question how swiftly the two of you had gone from having not seen each other in months, to what now felt like a very established relationship. You didn’t think Maul would be the kind of man to dwell on labels anyway, so the need to ask him anything along those lines fell by the wayside pretty quickly. 

“It should be me keeping you safe, Empress. Not the other way around,” he whispered against your lips between soft kisses. You smiled at the new pet name, probably your favourite that he’d come out with for you. 

“We have all the time in the galaxy for that, Maul. But you can’t do that with these old hunks of metal slowing you down,” you chuckled, pecking his lips one final time before stepping back and assessing him standing up for a moment. 

“I apologise for this, but I’ll need you to take your utility belt off, if that’s alright. I need to know what exactly I’m working with before I can start designing your new legs”. 

You had a vague idea of what lay under the metal casing around his hips, based on the stories he’d recounted and the memory you have of him furiously explaining how he lost his legs in the first place. It was the first thing you actually got him to open up about - but aside from that, you’d never seen beneath the coverings. There was never a need to. The stars above knew that you’d imagined, though…

If a crimson faced Zabrak could blush, you could have sworn Maul was doing that now. With a soft bite to his bottom lip, he nodded. Releasing the staff so he had both hands free, grunting as he put weight back on his leg, he slowly unclipped the metal belt that encircled his body. The mechanics hissed as the hydraulics which kept it flexible as he moved deactivated, turning the belt to one solid metal lump which unclasped from the front. 

Maul slowly took the belt off, setting it on the table next to the bed, before turning around. 

“I-,” he swallowed thickly, “I assume you’re going to need these off as well?” he gestured to his material trousers which covered the top half of his legs. You’d never really worked out what they were, or more to the point where they started, as they were always tucked into the belt. 

“I’m gonna need to see all that I’m working with, Maul. That includes the attachment point for your legs around your hips. Sorry if this is embarrassing,” you said. He shook his head. 

“No need to apologise. It’s just I- I’ve never been this bare to anyone since my accident”. 

Your heart shattered a little bit for him. He was a man who commanded such respect and was, quite rightly, feared by millions for his actions and strength with the dark side of the force. But yet here he was, standing in your quarters, as nervous as a virgin before their first time making love. 

“Well, I won’t look, that’s a start,” you smiled, then reached into your bag to grab a towel, “Use this as a modesty cloth. It will allow me to get to what’s left of your hips, and get an understanding of how your legs are fused in, without you needing to actually expose yourself to me”. 

Maul took the towel from you and nodded. 

“I can work with that.”

You did as you promised and turned your back to Maul for a moment, allowing him to undress himself from the waist down and get himself comfortable. You even closed your eyes, not wanting to risk accidentally turning round prematurely and him being in a state he didn’t wish you to see him in. This relationship, whatever that was shaping up to be, was no different to any other; it was built on a foundation of trust, and this was a sure-fire way to physically show him that you would never betray him. 

Maul waited a few beats to establish that you were being true to your word and not likely to turn your head. While he at some point figured that he would end up in your presence naked, the fact that this was how that could first happen made him riddled with embarrassment. He’d not had many lovers before you, but he knew that he could totally dominate whenever he was with a partner, turn their world upside down with his strength and power, so much so that he didn’t even have time to dwell on his insecurities of being half the man most wanted - quite literally, too. 

Not only was he self conscious about how he looked, and the current state he was in, but he was afraid of how you’d view him in this vulnerable state. Would you ever be able to look at him the same, with those eyes filled with need and desire, after tending to him in such a way?

Maul shook his head quickly, as if trying to shake those thoughts out of his head, and set to work removing his clothing. He kept his top half on for now, not that it covered much, but everything from his waist down he allowed to slip down his metal legs and onto the floor. He hissed a little as the material snagged on his open wound as it dropped to the ground, and on shaky legs he stepped out of the clothing. 

Slowly, he lowered himself onto the edge of the bed. 

“Don’t turn around yet. But how do you want me?” Maul asked, his hand clutching the modesty cloth you’d given him to cover his cock. 

“If you can, it would be good for you to be laid flat on your back. It takes the strain off your legs and lets me look at the damage fully,” you asked. 

Maul nodded and then shuffled back on the bed, using his one good leg to push himself back towards the pillows. Once his back hit a cushion, he stopped, and laid down with his legs straight on the bed. It took him a moment to get comfortable, the feeling of being without clothing being so foreign to him at this point that he struggled to settle. But eventually, he got to where he needed to be, and placed the modesty cloth over his groin area. 

“Okay, you can turn around now.”

You turned on your heels and opened your eyes, greeting Maul with a small smile as you looked at him laid down. The damage was significantly worse now you could see what was going on, but you tried not to let your face say that. Instead, you grabbed a few of your investigative tools, a pair of glasses, and gently sat next to him on the bed. 

Now that he was laid bare, you finally understood the extent of his injuries. He’d lost everything organic from the adductor muscle and below in his leg, but alterations had clearly been made when he got his cybernetic legs. While initially he might have been able to have prosthetics from the mid-thigh and below, you instead were looking at a different surgical site to what you might have expected. 

He’d told you about his “trash legs”, the pair he first had and held together with the sheer determination of the force and his own willpower, but it was clear that in that time there had been damage to some of the organic matter that remained. The likely outcome was that the sheer weight of the old trash legs corroded away at some of the remaining bone, and put a lot of strain on his remaining hip joints. 

You traced your fingers along his metal joints, a small flashlight guiding you, looking for a fuse point. If your assumptions were correct, he must have been given a hip joint replacement when the Nightsisters gave him his first proper pair of legs, but other than that you weren’t sure what had been left to suffer. 

What remained  had deteriorated, that much was evident. The fact that he hadn’t been built to last, literally, was so obvious to you as you continued to examine him. Looking carefully at his hip joint, the metal of the joint was different to the rest of his leg. 

“Well, this explains why you can’t keep up,” you muttered to yourself, examining the fuse points of remaining flesh of the external abdominal obliques to the metal hips. It was a mis-match of bone, an old joint, and the “new” legs he had been sporting for years now. Scar tissue wrapped itself around the older layer of metal, being pinched and torn in multiple places, likely giving him constant grief. 

“Why’s that?” he asked. 

“The joints weren’t updated when you got your new legs. These were just slotted in the old socket - but the two are totally incompatible. In fact, I haven’t a clue how you’ve managed as long as you have with them,” you explained, “And were you also aware you’ve still got your original pelvis?”.

“Honestly, no. I know that whatever parts I was given they were wired into my nervous system so I could still feel if I sustained damage. I assumed any pain that came from them was cybernetic,” he said. 

“You’ve got your original bone, old joints, and damaged cybernetics all working against each other here. It really is a wonder you can stand,” you shook your head in slight disbelief, but also frustration at the previous mechanics. How could they be so stupid? 

“Is it fixable?” he asked, timidly. You nodded. 

“You’ll probably need new hip joints designing, but I don’t see that being an issue. We might be able to salvage your original pelvis too, but I’d need to know more about the condition of the bone and how it’s holding up before saying for definite. I wouldn’t know that until I got your old legs off”. 

Maul winced as he remembered the pain he felt the last time you shut his leg down. He started thinking about whether it was worth asking Mother Talzin to cast her Magick and put him under so that he would never even know what you were doing. He always had horrific night terrors after her sleep spells, but perhaps they were preferable over the agony he’d feel having both legs removed. 

He tried to calm himself down at the thought while he allowed you to continue examining him. Without taking the legs off there wasn’t much more you could do, but you were still able to put together a design for new legs that would hopefully take less of a brunt onto his hips. You also set to designing a new joint that could better withstand the kind of movements and force that Maul continually drove through his legs, thus needing something far more complex to cope with long-term use. 

Time flew by as you took measurements, continued your examination, and tested some basic movements with Maul to understand his range of motion he currently possessed. If he wanted to rule, return himself to his former glory, then he needed to be a powerful figure who could do just that. You wanted to make sure that he had as much as he could possibly get from this process, and that hopefully he wouldn’t have to go through it again. 

“Can I be honest?” Maul asked, breaking the silence. You’d almost not noticed just how quiet you’d been, and how much time had passed, until he spoke. 

“Of course,” you said, continuing to work. 

“It frightens me, getting new legs.”

“It’s a big thing. I can imagine it would,” you reasoned, not really looking up from your mechanical drawings. 

“No but…I’m already half the man I was. Literally speaking too,” you scoffed a small laugh, but let him continue, “I worry in case any more of me needs to go to replace these legs”. 

Oh. 

Oh. 

“Maul,” you breathed softly, finally looking up and understanding now why he had been hesitant when you asked if he was ready to start this process. Given the work he’d had done before, which now your trained eye was looking at it was becoming more like a bodge job, he needed someone he could trust. Someone who wouldn’t just hack away at anything he had left which made him feel like a man - not without reason, anyway.  Starting this process, even if he did already trust you, was never going to be simple. 

“If I did, I- I don’t know. I would no longer be me, at all. The one thing that keeps me going, in spite of the fact most of me is no longer flesh, is that I still retain enough to be normal. I still eat and drink as I once did, I could still have a family if I wished,” he went quieter as he said that, and your heart broke slightly. Behind the mask of vengeance and hatred was a man who had real dreams and ambitions that were not rooted in defeating someone else.  

“Maul, I’m going to do everything I can to make sure you keep everything,” you smiled, holding his spare hand which wasn’t holding down his modesty cloth, and squeezing it to comfort him. 

“You promise?” he asked, almost broken. 

“I promise.”

Maul nodded, and the two of you fell back into a comfortable silence as you continued to work on your drawing. There wasn’t much left you had to do, now it was just about taking measurements and then beginning the actual work itself. His utility belt would need looking at too, as it acted as core support for his body and was probably part of the reason why his organic hips hadn’t totally shattered under the pressure of the metal cybernetics. But that could wait until later down the line, as it hadn’t seemed to have sustained damage recently. 

Eventually, you finished. Removing your glasses, you looked down at your mechanical drawings with satisfaction, knowing you’d got as much as you could from a theoretical standpoint. There was now going to be the arduous task of finding out if your ideas could even work, but that would be a job for tomorrow. 

“Okay, you can sit up if you like. I’m all done,” you smiled. Maul did as you asked, getting himself comfortable against the wooden headboard and your scatter cushions. 

“Thank you. That wasn’t as horrific as I imagined," you both chuckled, before Maul’s face turned far more somber, “Can I ask you something?”. 

“Anything,” you smiled, setting down your work but not moving from where you were sitting.

“After we were last…together. Did you ever think about doing more? Even though you didn’t know what lay beneath my clothes?” he asked, shocking you slightly. You weren’t sure what you were expecting him to ask, but it sure as Hell wasn’t that. 

But stars, if only he knew what went racing through your mind. If only he knew how many nights you’d fucked your own hand with your imagination bringing you hurtling back to the image of him on his knees before you. It would quell any worry he might still have about what you truly thought of him in this form.

You nodded.

“Yes. And, if we’re being pedantic, I still don’t know what lies beneath,” you winked, nodding your head towards the modesty cloth over his lap. Maul chuckled, shaking his head. 

“Is that part of you still there? The one who wanted more?” he asked, glowing eyes piercing your very soul as he picked apart every word that fell from your lips - he needed to be sure about things before asking you that question…

“Yes. It wasn’t some one-time lust filled desire, Maul. I wanted it before you even touched me. Before I knew anything about what lay beneath,” you admitted. 

“Even after seeing me like this?”. 

“Yes, Maul. Even after everything”. 

You felt brave admitting that, albeit a little stupid and embarrassed at the same time. But it felt good to say, and to also feel like your feelings were being reciprocated. Maul smiled at you, one hand reaching out to grasp yours. His fingers caressed your knuckles, and the two of you silently got lost in each other’s presence for a moment. 

“Good…,” he breathed, speaking now almost in shallow whispers, barely a sound coming from him. 

“Why do you ask?” you queried, intrigued taking over. Maul’s hand squeezed yours a little tighter as he inhaled sharply, almost like he was preparing himself for what he was about to say. 

“If I may have to lose more of myself to keep living, I’ll be damned if I don’t get to experience the bliss between your legs with my own cock at least once in my life. If you’d honour it, I’d owe everything to you if you would grant me such a pleasure”. 

Your throat went dry and you felt your eyes widen at the proposition - but you’d be lying if you said you didn’t also feel a pit of warmth in your stomach at the idea, and it wasn’t like the thought of riding him hadn’t crossed your mind. 

“I’ll admit, that’s the most suave way anyone has ever got me into bed,” you giggled.  

“I don’t mean now, just, if you ever-” Maul stammered, not able to even finish his sentence. That’s when it dawned on you that this was the first time you were seeing him properly nervous. 

You silenced him with actions, not words. The one language Maul understood so intrinsically. Standing back up, you discarded of any of the tools you were going to use for final adjustments to his legs, setting them back in their cases. All that could wait for later. 

Feeling bold, you slowly slipped your clothes off, baring yourself entirely before him. His eyes filled with that lust filled hue you had come to dream about since your first night together on Janix where you surrendered to one another. But this time, you were in control. 

Maul remained on the bed, propping himself up further, as he watched you undress entirely. His eyes widened, and his jaw went slightly slack, as he admired you peeling back layers of fabric, baring your flesh to him like some kind of sacrificial lamb ready for slaughter. 

“My girl,” he muttered, his eyebrows softening from their usual pinched look of anger to one of utter wonderment, “Look at you…,” he whispered, almost as if in disbelief as for what he was witnessing. He watched you like a hawk as your trousers slid down your legs, followed by your shirt being pulled off over your head. 

“Your girl, hey?” you said, now standing in just your underwear. And honestly? With eyes like Maul’s blown up at the sight of you, you’d never felt so sexy in a man’s presence. It was a bit addictive to watch him falter without you even doing anything. 

“Yes. Please,” he begged. 

Maul. Begging. You made a Sith Lord - former or present, it didn’t feel like that mattered - to beg for you. 

“Sit up more,” you commanded, and watched as Maul complied, with not a beat of hesitancy. He slipped off the remaining clothing he wore over his top half, exposing his tattooed chest to you now in its entirety. You smiled as you watched him ready himself, his chest heaving and hands now bare, outstretched and beckoning you to come closer. 

Before taking his hand, you hooked your fingers around the top of your underwear, and slid them down your legs. You heard Maul growl as the scent of you hit him, his sense of smell far superior to a human’s. Your eyes darted up to watch him grin at the sight of you now bare from the waist down, before settling on the modesty cloth. A distinct bulge lay beneath the cloth now, and at the sight you felt your heart race and skin prickle with a familiar heat. 

Looking back at Maul, you reached out and took his hand. He tugged you towards him, hurrying you into his lap where you straddled him, his arms wrapping around your back and caging you in towards his body. The bulge of his cock hit your clit as you settled onto him, and a small moan escaped you, making Maul grin in delight. 

His fingers danced along your spine while his mouth began its assault on your skin, kisses being left across your chest, teeth grazing your soft skin and leaving small red marks in their wake. Without any further words, Maul undid the clasp on your bra and let it fall between you, before grabbing the material and throwing it to one side. 

You chuckled as you now sat completely naked in Maul’s lap, your cunt throbbing with need and anticipation as you remained so agonisingly close to getting everything you’d fantasised about for months. 

“I am devoted to you,” you breathed, kissing him softly, “Only you,” another kiss, “And I will do everything I can to keep you whole”. 

Maul began muttering in your ear, words you didn’t understand the meaning of, but understood to be Mando’a. You assumed that they were terms of endearment, each syllable coming out soft and gentle - a far contrast from the man who was whispering them. 

“I am yours,” was the only discernible thing that you managed to pick up on, “Let me show you that”.

“Remove the cloth, Maul…,” you whispered, your bare cunt now mere centimeters from grinding down on him. Maul removed it, the shyness from earlier now seemingly gone, and gave you a moment to glance down and take in the sight of him. 

He was certainly nothing to scoff at. You smiled faintly as he bore himself to you, exposing his greatest vulnerability, and throwing the cloth to one side. You dipped one hand between your bodies and began to gently caress his hardened length for a moment, getting a feel for his size with your fingers. 

Maul hissed in pleasure as your hands slowly worked away at him, your thumb rubbing the tip of his cock and smearing the pre-cum he’d already released all over the fat head. It had been so many moons since he had laid with another, too ashamed of how he looked to even dare invite someone into such an intimate part of him. But with you, all that fell away. He wanted to show you this part of him, and to feel alive in your presence. For the first time in a long while, he wanted to live. 

“Please…I’m not sure how much of this I can take. It’s been so long…,” he said, breathing staggered and his fingers digging into your flesh even harder. 

That was the permission you were looking for. The green light you needed to truly know that all cards were on the table, and this was genuinely something he wanted. 

With your hand still working his length, you positioned his cock in line with your hip tilt. Gently, you  lowered yourself onto his cock, whincing slightly as he first broke your walls, it not only being your first time with Maul but also your first time in years. Working with the Jedi, then having to lay low in the aftermath of Order 66, seldom gave you time for recreational pleasure. 

Maul held you tight against his body as you sank into his lap, and you watched as his demeanour completely shifted at your will. His eyes got lighter, the usual red dissipating to a pale pink and the amber becoming a soft yellow; for a moment you could have sworn that they rolled back into his head. 

“Stars above,” he cursed, dipping his head to be flush with your chest. “You feel like heaven”. 

Once seated, you stilled for a moment, taking in the entire feeling. Maul was by far one of the more impressively sized lovers you’d had if the feeling was anything to go by, that you needed a moment to compose yourself. He didn’t seem to mind though, his hands tracing the curves of your body, dancing along battle scars you’d obtained over the years. He made a mental note to one day ask about each one of them, and to keep you safe so that you never got another. 

You cursed under your breath as you acclimatised to the size and feel of Maul between your legs. Even without movement, you agreed with the sentiment he shared; he felt like heaven too. 

Slowly, you began to move your hips. Maul’s touch got firmer and his head fell back against the headboard as a surge of pleasure ran through him. You watched as he lost himself piece by piece with every roll of your hips, moans and grunts filling the room as you slowly fucked him. With every roll, your movements became more certain, confidence growing gradually. Every time Maul panted, moaned, or dug his hands in harder to your hips, you became more confident in yourself, snapping your hips faster and harder until both of you filled the room with the sound of pleasure and longing. 

You didn’t even care about the metal of his legs digging into your soft flesh, choosing to ignore your body’s screams of agony as it rubbed against you, undoubtedly leaving marks behind. You’d tend to that later. Nothing mattered right now except for the feeling you were chasing, the high that wasn’t far from reach. After so long without another’s touch, every time Maul’s hands gripped your body, or any time his lips met yours, threatened to push you over the edge. 

You weren’t sure if he had seen inside your mind, or if he was just really in tune with you by now, but it was as if Maul knew just how close you were; and what you needed, too. With a firm grab of your hips, he stilled your movements entirely. You looked at him, your brow furrowed in confusion, wondering if he’d perhaps changed his mind about going through with this. 

“Are you alright?” you asked on shaky breaths, your heart pounding in your chest and clit throbbing with need. 

“More than alright,” he caressed your sides as he spoke, “But may I do some of the work?” he asked. 

“What about your leg?” you asked in return, not wanting him to make his injury worse. 

“I’m injured, not dead,” he chuckled, “Please. I know my limits. I just want to make you feel good,” he said, one hand now reaching up to caress your cheek. 

How could you ever say no to him? Even without a pleading look in his eyes, you were always hard pressed to turn down Maul; whatever he asked of you. Smiling sweetly, you nodded, and let him move how he wanted. You figured that if he damaged his leg anymore, it’s not like you couldn’t do anything about it to tide him over. 

Maul grinned before pulling you into his chest as he slipped a little further down the bed. You felt his legs bend, and watched as he forced himself to position his damaged leg behind you. Before you could stop him though, to prevent him from pushing himself too much, a firm hand grabbed your jaw, covering your mouth. 

“Don’t even think about telling me not to do this, Empress,” he slurred, words laced with a venom that you got such a kick out of. The shy and timid Maul who hadn’t laid with another since his early twenties was gone; you’d awoken something far more primal now. 

All you could do was nod and accept his fate - if he did damage himself, it seemed as if he was willing to take that risk and deal with it after. And so, you did the same. 

Maul’s hand released your jaw, setting itself back on your body, as he got into the position he wanted. With his legs bent and feet planted on the bed, he began to thrust up into you with a force far greater than what you could ever manage while riding him. It was enough that your head dropped to his, and a guttural moan left you. 

“There she is…,” Maul chuckled, his arms wrapped around you tight as he fucked up into you rapidly, each thrust getting harder than the one before it. Your nails found purchase in his flesh, and with each thrust you dug in harder, attempting to distract yourself from the scream you wanted to do, aware that behind the door to your workshop was an entire village of Nightsisters. Eventually you felt a trickle of his blood beneath your hands, the skin broken from your vice like grip. 

“Sorry,” you whispered, before feeling a hand land on your ass. You squealed with the force of it, the spank leaving a tingling sensation behind. 

“Don’t even think about apologising. I feel alive. I don’t care about a little blood,” Maul said, before silencing you both with a firm kiss. You kissed him back, grateful for his lips to muffle the sounds of the moans that each thrust of his hips brought out. 

Every second that he rutted into you made your head spin, and you could feel that you were teetering on the edge of an explosion. Maul’s hot skin pressed into yours as he kept you close, your mouths battling through need to consume one another, teeth and tongues crashing against each other. Every kiss was messy, needy, and forceful. 

Maul snaked one hand between your bodies and began drawing circles around your clit, hyper-aware of his own finish line being in reach. He’d be damned if you were left unsatisfied by his hand. He groaned against your lips at the feeling of your slick coating his hand, and he had to fight his urges to not immediately bring his fingers up to taste you. Not many nights had passed where he hadn’t thought back to your first encounter, where he’d plunged his tongue deep inside you and tasted your essence. 

The feeling surged through you like a lighting bolt, and suddenly all decorum evaporated. Breaking your kiss, a hoarse scream separated your lips from Maul’s, and your climax slammed into you like an oncoming speeder. White hot flashes appeared behind your eyes as your mind went blank, your senses so totally overwhelmed with him that you could no longer think straight. It was just you and him, alone here, and that was all that mattered. 

“Good girl,” Maul muttered, grinning as he watched your body spasm and contort as pleasure took over. He slowly stilled his hand and slowed down the speeds of his thrusts to try and give you a moment of composure, him briefly entering your mind and finding that the feeling was almost getting too much. Every touch threatened to bring you back to this point in an instance. 

“Kriff…,” you panted, Maul’s hips stopping entirely now. You leant over his body, propping yourself up on weak arms and looked down at your lover. 

“Are you alright?” he asked, his hand now no longer between your bodies, back to caressing your side. You nodded, then smirked, bucking your hips. 

“Never been better,” you grinned, slowly sitting up to ride Maul anew. He moaned lowly at the different angle, his cock pushing into you deeper. 

“My girl,” he whined, watching in awe as you rode him hard, pushing through the overstimulation yourself. You let his hands grab and mark you wherever he needed, letting him explore your body as you pushed him closer and closer.

He sat up again, unsatisfied that he couldn’t kiss you at this angle. His mouth found yours and claimed it immediately, his hands tangling in your hair as you fucked him. 

“I’m barely holding on here,” he groaned as your lips separated, his head now nestled into the crook of your neck. His fingers pressed into your flesh hard as he fought against every part of his natural instincts to just let go, releasing so many years of isolation and loneliness, wanting this to last as long as it could. 

“I’m not asking you to,” you kissed his cheek, “Cum for me, Maul,” you whispered.

Maul’s body shuddered at your request, and almost instantaneously, he released the part of him that was holding back. With a firm bite to your shoulder to muffle his cries, Maul came hard inside of you. The feeling rushed through him and made him feel more alive than he had in years. Truly there was nothing that could compare to this. 

Just as he had for you, your thrusting slowed down gradually, until eventually you stilled on top of him. But Maul never let go; he clung to your body, both of you now exhausted and spent from your efforts, a sheen of sweat covering you both. He never wanted this to end - the sweetness in the still, your bodies calming down, your senses returning to normal. The blissful period after sex where nothing else matters - you simply remain with one another. 

But eventually, it had to end. You slid yourself off Maul’s lap, but his arms didn’t allow you to go very far. You giggled as he pulled you down towards him, your body lazily slung over his in bed.  He held you to him as your heart beats rested, and the heat between you dissipated. And that’s where you remained for the rest of the night; satisfied, safe, and content. With soft kisses and gentle caresses, the two of you slowly slipped off into a slumber that both of you so desperately needed, neither one of you daring to break the bond you’d created.

Tomorrow would bring a myriad of challenges as you began work on Maul’s new legs; it was certainly not going to be an easy piece of engineering to successfully pull off. Part of you feared that you were not the right person for the job, and no matter how much he trusted you he would be better off finding someone more experienced to do this work for him.

But as the sound of his heart beats relaxed into a gentle rhythm, there wasn’t a thing about the concept of the work you had to complete that could frighten you. You smiled softly as you felt the weight of Maul’s arm, draped over your body, go heavy with slumber. 

And suddenly you realised; you were right where you were meant to be.