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Jayna didn’t wake with a scream. She had learned long ago the danger of making any kind of noise in the still of the night.
Her eyes shot open. Her pulse raced and her fingers tightened around the sheets beneath her.
The room was still and dark, save for the light of the moon. Maul all but insisted on finding the room with the largest windows. Even in the dead of night, the stars and lights of the city illuminated the space.
It was a stark contrast to Jayna’s own room. She liked the dark. Sure, you couldn’t see the monsters, but they also couldn’t see you.
She lay there for a long while, willing her breath to calm. She didn’t move. She wasn’t sure if she could.
But then, something else moved beside her.
Fear shot through her. Her muscles tightened, ready to run, until a familiar arm draped itself over her side. A warm chest pressed against her back and the curl of a breath played against her ear.
“Jayna?” Maul whispered.
Despite herself, Jayna did feel a kind of peace take over her body at the sound of his voice. For once, the other person in the dark wasn't there to hurt her.
Still, pride took over. She feigned sleep as best she could and hummed a tired acknowledgement.
“Don’t try that with me, little hunter,” Maul said, his tone gentle, as if speaking to a trembling child. “What is it?”
A small frown formed on her lips. She should have known better. If there was one emotion Maul could recognizes through the force, it was fear.
“Just a nightmare,” she said, trying to make it sound dismissive. She failed, utterly. There was such sincerity in his question, she had to meet it.
She wondered how many people had heard him speak like this. She wondered if he even knew was doing it.
“What of?” he pressed.
She closed her eyes seeing the flames and the bodies just as clearly as if it had happened moments before. In some way, it had.
“Old memories.”
His hand found hers, squeezing it lightly as a sign of understanding. His lips then pressed to her neck and she felt her shoulders relax at the simple touch.
“They’re just shadows,” he promised. “They’ll never touch you again.”
Since when could he do this to her? It was one thing to turn her on and make her cum, but quite another to actually make her feel well and truly safe. Gods, what was he turning her into?
“I know,” she said. But even as she said the words, the bloodied face of her Master reflected back to her in the darkness.
Maul seemed to feel this second spike in fear, as he nuzzle further into her skin, peppering kisses up and down her neck.
“What can I do?" he asked. "Tell me."
Jayna closed her eyes, focusing on the feeling his body gave hers.
This was dangerous. Years of experience told her so. She couldn’t rely on other people to keep her safe. She was all she had.
And yet, Maul wasn’t pulling away. He kept her near, placing gentle kiss after gentle kiss on her skin as if it were some spell to keep the nightmares at bay. She couldn’t remember if anybody had done that for her before.
The words came out before she could think to stop them.
“Just keep holding me.”
Maul’s arms tightened around her in a gentle squeeze as his lips left a ghost of a touch on her ear.
“I’ll never let go.”