●●This is a gift for my secret santa! Im using her beautiful quizzy, Ninania! I hope she loves it! Merry Christmas dear! Thanks to my amazing beta!●●
Ninania popped the cork on yet another bottle of wine as she leaned against the stone wall of the abandoned battlements. Her eyes closed for a moment as the cool mountain wind whipped her red hair around her face like a wild flame flickering in the wind. With an exhausted sigh, she took another long pull from the bottle and nearly choked when a voice boomed from beneath her.
"Hey Boss! The Triad is looking for you. Probably something about great peril or dire circumstances, you know, the usual," Iron Bull shouted up at her with a smirk. "I told em' you probably were off fighting demons or some such shite, but they wouldn't buy it."
When she only huffed and pulled more from her bottle, he continued grabbing a hold of the ladder.
"You know, I expect a raise for keeping your little hidey hole a secret," he said in a teasing voice. Nina leaned over so he could see her dramatic eye roll.
"Maybe I ll just let you go then, you're getting to be to expensive," she growled, tossing a cork at him and smirking to herself when it bounced off his horns, making the funniest little plunking noise.
The qunari snorted and wiped at his head as he pulled himself up and onto the ledge next to her, his giant build making the boards creak beneath them.
"Somethin's really bothering you today, isn t it?" he observed while grabbing the bottle from her hands and taking a pull. With a grimace, he looked back and forth between her and the bottle in disgust. "You can't get drunk on this baby juice crap! I ve got something that'll burn your insides and make you breathe fire. Something that'll put some chest on your chest."
She knew his teasing was to ease her tension but, truthfully, she wasn t trying to get blitzed she just wanted to relax and unwind.
"I don t recall offering you any," she snarked, snatching it back and putting the bottle to her lips again with a raised eyebrow.
Iron Bull's jaw dropped in feigned offense as he mocked her raised brow. "Oh really? And what of that flirting you ve been doing? Was that not an offer either?"
She choked on her wine, spewing it from her mouth and coughing violently.
"I *cough* have *cough* not! *cough cough*" she gagged and he laughed loudly, slapping his knee in amusement.
"Oh come on, I know you and Josie have been girly-gossiping about what it'd be like to ride the Bull," he teased with a cocky smirk.
When she finally caught her breath, she punched his rock-hard bicep and instantly regretted it, pulling back her petite, throbbing fist.
"You are just..." she started.
"Charming? Sexy? Buff? I know right?" he quipped, smirking at her and leaning back, crossing his arms. "So wanna vent boss? I do have ears below these horns ya know? Though, it s not like I don t already know. We all know you re under a hell of a lot of pressure and yet you take it all like a champion. You go to this hidey hole to relieve yourself for a bit, right?" he said, nudging her. "You know there are other ways to relieve stress. I could show you "
With a long sigh she tilted her head at him. "Some qunari tactic like when I hit you with the stick? I think I ll pass on the self-inflicted pain."
Iron Bull shrugged as his mouth quirked up into cocky smile.
"It doesn t have to be all painful... sometimes it s a confusing, wonderful mixture. "
The slightly inebriated elf looked at him intently for a moment.
"Sounds like you're the one who s offering now," she whispered, wondering to herself if he wass actually serious.
"And if I am? Come on, boss, it s just sex and I swear you'll feel better after. You need a good lay. Someone who's not going blab, someone you can trust. Though I warn you... it won t be an easy endeavor. But a stress-reliever nonetheless."
She cast him a sidelong look.
"Really? You just want to relax me?" She shook her head in disbelief and aggravation. He made it sound so simple. "Do you think a good tumble would do me some good? That it will lift this burden off my shoulders for a while because I swear by the maker I would f*** you senseless if it would," she said with misdirected anger. Her shoulders slumped as she rested her head on her knees. After a long while she mumbled into her lap.
"This weight it s crushing me to death and I m afraid I m not strong enough to keep it from finishing the job "
There. She finally said it. And Bull was strangely quiet beside her. When she gained the courage to look up she was shocked to see him looking at her so gently.
"Ya know how we were talking about how buff I am? Well, those muscles aren t just to make me look good." He leaned in and tilted her head up to his. "Share your load, boss. I m good for carrying things," he said as he looked her over. She could tell he was wrestling with the thought of kissing her but in the end he withdrew.
"I ll keep your entourage busy while you take a break. Just do me a favor and climb down before you get too tipsy. That would be a hell of a story, the mighty inquisitor felled by a rickety ladder. Varric would have a hay day." With that he disappeared down the ladder with a loud thump.
Nina stared into the distance for a long moment, weighing his words and the shiver that ran down her spine at his touch. He was right, she and Josie had joked about what it would be like. She didn t know if it was curiosity, desperation, or just sheer lust that had her sliding down the ladder after him but she did.
"Bull!" she shouted as his body passed through the frame of the broken door.
He smiled to himself.
"Good choice," he muttered inder his breath. She didn t know if it was to himself or her but he turned to meet her gaze with a look that could melt iron.
"Are you sure?" he asked, stepping forward almost like a predator after his prey. Like one wrong step would spook her.
"I think no no, yes yes. Yes, I m sure," she stuttered as she tried to steady her breathing.
He chuckled low in his stomach and was so close she could almost feel the tremors. With a quick move, his large hand wrapped around both her wrists, pinning them to the ladder behind her.
"Last chance," he growled above her.
She swallowed hard, then opened her mouth, her decision made. "Make me forget for a while... please."