Bittersweet, but fitting. Enjoy! Thank you for all the reviews and encouragement!

He woke up to the sound of the door shutting softly and her slipping back inside, dressed again.

"Sorry," he mumbled, "Musta fallen asleep."

"It's fine, Corso, this is my room while I'm here."

"Where'd you go?"

"Just for a little kolto, some food. Checked on the other girls."

He woke up fully, "I hurt you?"

"No, of course not," her voice had a note of pleasure that hadn't been there before. "Just sore. Good sore."

"I didn't mean to make you sore."

Her smile was incredibly sultry and her voice was worse, "Yes you did. And you enjoyed it as much as I did."

"As long as you enjoyed it..." her eyes widened, not looking at his face and he pulled the sheet over himself, embarrassed. "Ah, you can't go talking about it... Give a fellow ideas again."

"I like your ideas."

"How long was I asleep?"

"A couple hours."

"I'm rested enough then. I'll have as many ideas as you want me to."

"I'm pretty well rested myself, but I think at some point you're going to get hungry."

"I'm hungry right now."

She winked at him. He blushed, "Ah, they have a kitchen here; can I go get us something?"

"I'll bring something in." She ducked out the door before he could stop her. He searched the floor for his underwear and pants, pulling them on quickly.

She came back in quickly, carrying a tray and put it down on the table on the side of the room.

"Why'd you get dressed?" she said, sounding disappointed.

"Ah, I didn't figure... Is the food hot?"

She grinned and he crossed the room to join her. There was an assortment of bar food, some drinks and Corso dug in with relish. She picked at it, but he remembered she said she'd gotten food earlier.

Once he'd eaten he cleared his throat. "Anytime you want me out of your hair, you just go on and say so."

She stood up and moved over to straddle him, "I don't have hair, Corso."

"Out of your lekku?"

She giggled and wiggled on him in a way that made him start to stiffen.

His hands went up to grab her sides and then he slid them up her body slowly. She suddenly pulled the top of her costume off and dropped it on the floor. Wonderingly, Corso slid his hand under her breast to cup it and then put his mouth on her nipple. When she moaned and slid over his growing erection again, he kissed her more, his tongue tracing across her breast and his hand gently squeezing. He transferred his mouth to the other one and then she was pulsing against him. He slid one hand up her skirt and pulled back from her breast to gasp, "You're not wearing underwear!"

She arched an eyebrow at him. "Is that a problem?"

"No," he blushed, sliding his hands back. He drifted them up her legs and grabbed her butt hard, pulling her into him. He groaned softly, resting his head on her chest as she ground gently against him. His mouth went back to her breasts and then she reached between them to unfasten his pants. She pulled them down just enough to free him and wiggled until she was hovering right on the tip of him. She eased down onto him and he thrust up against her in shock. She made a small whimper. "I'm sorry," Corso whispered.

"Not your fault you're bigger than I'm used to," she gasped out. He must have frowned, because she said, "Trust me, Corso, that's a good thing-" she made a strangled noise as he thrust up again and rocked against him hard, seeking a release. Watching her move on him was incredible, but he managed to hold himself together until he felt her convulse on him. He erupted, driving upwards as gently as he could manage.

She leaned forward and rested against him, panting hard. After a moment she lifted off of him and sat in the other chair, drinking from her cup. Corso reached for his own drink, moving as little as possible. They sat there silently for a minute.

"So what now?" she said.

He got up and picked her up, laying her gently down on the bed. "I want to hear the noises you made before." He crouched between her legs, his tongue flicking out over her.

"You can use your fingers inside when you're doing that."

Corso discovered she was right and slowly, carefully built her up to a fever pitch, exultant in how she reacted to him. When she arched, crying out, her thighs pressed tightly to his head, he felt himself getting hard again. He started to crawl up the bed.

"You're not done with me yet?" she said, breathing hard.

"I just can't imagine being done doin' this," he told her. She whimpered, opening her arms to him. He went into them with a soft groan of relief, carefully guiding himself into her.

"Go slow, okay?" she whispered.

He sank into her with something akin to awe. Pulling back slowly to shift forward even more slowly, he felt like he was flying a ship through the stars. His whole body focused on the sensation of pulling in and out of her. Her whole body was trembling, moving with him. She was making those noises, softly. No wonder everyone makes such a big deal out of this. This is so much different than that first time. It felt like there was nothing else, just the feel of her tightly around him as he moved. He ran a hand over her body, slowly, trying to have every inch of her in his hand at some point. The slow pressure built up in him and he felt her shuddering, then gasping, then clenching around him, almost screaming. Corso finally came too, moving quickly into his own release.

She lay there shaky, looking odd. He finally decided she looked relaxed and happy and he gathered her to him, savoring how it felt to have a woman's body against his.

After a time, she sighed unhappily. "I should let you go," she said quietly, breaking the spell of comfort.

"I can stay."

"I'll get in trouble if you do. They get mad when someone stays all night. A couple hours is fine, but all night and they assume you just wanted a free place to stay."

"I sure don't want to get you into trouble." Corso sat on the edge of the bed and pulled his clothes on. When he was dressed, she met him at the door and she kissed him, softly before opening the door.

"Wait, uh, Liri," he stammered, "I'll see you tomorrow."

She gave him an indulgent look, "Sure." She reached up and cupped his face, kissing him again. "So young, so eager to risk your life. I'm honored to have been with you, Corso Riggs."

She walked him out, thankfully the hallway was empty, but he knew his appearance in the bar would be noted.

"I swear it, Liri, I'll be back tomorrow. I'll get you out of that collar."

The indulgent look vanished from her face and a faint hope in her eyes appeared, "I'll look for you," she whispered and spun away from him.

Corso spent much of the next day crafting a device he was reasonably sure could disable the slave collar. He was pretty proud of it, but had no way to test it. He arranged for a couple of shuttle passes also, making sure none of it could be traced back to anyone he knew. Once he was as set as he thought he could be, he headed back to the bar.

Corso's heart sank. There was no sign of a red Twi'lek anywhere or any dancers. He walked over to the bartender, "Hey, uh, are the dancers gone?"

"Yeah, shuttle came and took them this afternoon." His heart dropped out of his chest.

"I thought they were here for the weekend?"

"So did the rest of us."

"Oh, I was hoping to spend some time with the red one."

"You're the only one who got to spend any time with her. Lucky man." The bartender threw his rag over his shoulder, "You must be Corso Riggs?"

"I am."

"She left word. Said to tell you thank you?"

Corso swallowed hard. "Thanks for letting me know." He got a beer and sat down at the bar, just to make it look like that was why he'd come in. "You know what cantina those dancers were from?"

"The Gunplay. Nar Shaddaa. She that amazing?"

"Yeah," he admitted, "She was."

After he finished his beer, Corso got to his feet heavily and left out the front door.

The stars were beautiful and he stood for a moment gazing at them. I'll go to Nar Shaddaa some day, find you. I'm so sorry I wasn't here in time, Liri.