A/N:

Keep in mind that this is after Awakening, and that both Cousland and the Howe has barely talked to each other during this threat, so there is still a lot of unresolved hate between them. This was written in the spur of a moment thing, after watching a certain Buffy episode where I got inspired from. Kudos to the one that figures it out! Feedback is always appreciated. Would love to hear your thoughts.

Enjoy!

Elissa was walking fast through the chilly corridors of the keep, unbuckling the armor she got from the depths of Kal'Hirol. She was leaving tomorrow to head back to Denerim, and still hadn't packed. The threat in the Arling had been stopped merely a week ago, and her dear husband was missing having her by his side. She didn't know how she felt about it. Being in court was reminding her about Highever. Yes, she needed to put that behind her, and yes, being the queen had those boring but necessary things. Seeing Alistair after almost a year's absence made her not feel so giddy like it should. All the rumors about mistresses, not seeing him or getting any kind of letters during the time she fought against the Mother and the architect was taking its toll. They had been so newly in love, and it was a rushed decision that none of them thought through. Despite avoiding the obvious, Elissa thought it was quite clear that her feelings for Alistair was a strong crush or infatuation which was nothing wrong and probably normal during the time they were together. All that burden about being the only wardens left, finding comfort and solace in one another. And if the rumors were true about Alistair having a mistress, it should prove it was the same for him.

She walked headfirst into a body that seemed to be appearing out of nowhere.

"Watch were you going, Nathaniel." She said grumpily, while she unsuccessfully tried to walk around him to be on her way.

"Well, aren't you rude? Aren't you supposed to be kind and gentle and all that, or does that not apply for me?" He smirked unpleasantly at Elissa, his grey eyes sparking with malice.

Elissa gave an annoyed sigh when she met those cold marble eyes, "It doesn't apply for people when they are being completely idiotic and insisting on dwelling on past grudges then actually doing something about it."

Nathaniel's smirk disappeared and there was a flash of anger in his eyes, "better to be idiotic then being incurably naive." He hissed.

"I'm naive? Yes, I'm so sorry that I actually tried 'the past is the past, forgive and forget' with you. It clearly didn't work."

"Watch your tongue, girl." Nathaniel voice had a very dangerous tone, and Elissa hit his sore spot.

"Let it go already Nathaniel..." She said harshly to him, and when she would walk past him once more, she added, "I did." And that was all it took.

He grabbed her wrist and flung her against the wall, and the unbuckled part of her armor, which were the shoulder pads, scrambled loudly against the ground. Elissa almost thought fume would spring out from his nostrils.

She hit his jaw with an armored fist. Nathaniel grunted and when she tried reaching for her sword, he was faster with his damned rogue reflexes and grabbed both her wrists with his and placed them over her head. She struggled against him, but he leaned over her with all his body weight, making it quite impossible for her.

"Not afraid of me are you?" He sneered.

Elissa stopped her struggling for a second, giving Nathaniel a bored look, "get over with whatever it's you are doing. I don't have time for this."

"Oh, but I think you got a bit more time." She narrowed her eyes at his words and jerked up her knee in an attempt to hit him in his precious area, but he shifted his leg just in time to prevent it. The look he gave her was venomous.

He cursed, and let go of her wrists and left. Elissa's heart as pounding hard and with a mocking tone, she called after him, "what, that was it? And here i thought I might get a good fight going." That made Nathaniel stop dead in his tracks, and turn his head, "If you call that a fight, I think you see things very differently then a normal person does."

"And you define yourself as normal then?" Elissa laughed, clearly thinking this to be a great joke.

Nathaniel sneered, "I hate you."

"Well, at least we got that in common." She smiled bitterly at him.

"Yes, poor little Cousland girl that everyone loves. Poor little girl that is the queen over this entire nation."

"Shut it." Elissa growled and walked past him with success this time. Nathaniel was apparently not done with his ranting as he continued, "you know what I think? That you are an insufferable little girl."

"Oh, why is that?" She asked cheekily as they kept walking to her quarters.

He took her wrist again and turned her around, and after a moments pause, "because everyone thinks you are such a lovely person when deep down you are so cold. You have a lot of darkness that you only show when you are with me."

"What can I say? You bring out the most lovely abilities that I have." She said with sarcasm, and snatched her arm back. Elissa banged the door opened to her room and Nathaniel hovered the entrance while she walked in.

"Mind leaving now?" She asked with an annoyed sigh.

"No." He responded just as cheekily she was just a moment ago and closed the door behind him.

Despite her strut earlier on, Elissa was getting nervous. Being locked up in a room with Nathaniel would prove to be bad, and there was so much hate between the two of them, nothing but complications would arise.

He laughed, apparently noting her unease.

"What, Cousland? Don't tell me you are actually afraid of me being here." He said with his arrogant tone, while slowly walking towards her, savoring the advantage he had over her.

Elissa drew her sword and pointed it towards him.

"I'm not afraid of you. There is nothing to be afraid of." She grinned, resulting Nathaniel to draw out his dagger and making a very quick sudden move, confusing her and went for her arm where she held the sword. With a quick twist from his dagger and hand, he twirled it out of her grip and pushed her off balance. Elissa cursed at her disadvantage, blaming her half buckled armor for slowing her down. Her sword was now on the ground along with Nathaniel's dagger. He had taken her means of defense. Being the Commander or the queen did not apply for this man in any way. He saw her as nothing but dirt that needed to be washed away.

But she wouldn't back down because that was not her way of dealing with problems when they came straight on. She refused giving him the satisfaction of believing she had indeed gotten scared and would plea for him to leave. Instead she walked closer to Nathaniel, almost that their bodies were touching, and looked up in his emotionless face, but you could see in his eyes that he was taken by surprise when she came up so close. "So go ahead then. Do your worst." She said calmly and firm.

Nathaniel stood there silently and Elissa could feel anger swelling in her core. Everything that was loaded up between the two of them was finally hitting the surface. Being alone with Nathaniel in a room was like putting two starved marabis in a cage with one raw stake.

Elissa couldn't help it and hits him in the face where a bruise had already started to form from her other punch earlier on. Nathaniel smirked and rubbed his cheek, and looked at her with anger and hate.

"Do it." She hissed at him. And he did. A fist collided with her abdomen, the armor only attributing to pain when hanging loosely.

In annoyance, Elissa pulled it quickly off her only leaving her hands and feet with armor, and the rest was covered by a tunic and pants.

Nathaniel seemed very confused by her decision on the point but didn't have time to think really when Elissa hit him on his chest with her elbow. After his gasps for air he grabbed her shoulders and switched the positions and slammed her forcefully into the wall.

"You don't even do your best, Cousland. Feeling a bit tense?" He smirked as the bodies slightly brushed.

"Who isn't tense whenever you are around them?" She bit out, feeling off her game. She wanted to sound as insulting as possible to make him leave and hate her in peace. This was not how it was supposed to go.

"You should be more careful with what you are saying." He muttered. Elissa pushed against Nathaniel with no avail, only causing their bodies to interact. That was when she noticed that he was in nothing more but a tunic and breeches. She wondered for a second how he could have a dagger then, but that was forgotten when Nathaniel grabbed her wrists and almost threw her against her desk that was placed in the other corner of the room. He flung her on the desk and forced her backwards onto it, and kept her wrists above her head in a hard grip. She frowned at Nathaniel, and struggled against him, but barely had any strength in their current position and he changed his shifting to keep to her legs still with his. his body pressing into hers.

Now was the time to panic. Her heart was pounding hard and fast and she was feeling a fluttering in her stomach that she attributed to nervousness. She had beaten an archdemon but could not take on this man? What gives?

"Stop moving." He said rather breathlessly.

"What do you want?" She asked and kept pushing.

"Wha- I don't want anything. Stop this!" He said. She didn't believe him from the way he said it.

It was very much out of character for him to assure her of anything. It was more likely he would assure her to walk over a bridge over a volcano could be completely safe. He was panting heavily, the light from the fireplace was giving a gentler look to his features. She opened her mouth to ask if he would let her go, but something prevented it. She closed her mouth again and submitted herself to watching him.

His eyes were closed and he seemed to be forcing his breath down. It was odd, she hadn't put up that hard a fight, that she knew. She fought rather poorly and slow.

When his eyes flew open, he was regarding her for the first time in a different way. His grey eyes sparkled but not with hate this time. There was something else in it that had her heart pounding again, this time for no apparent reason, and she felt heat creeping up her throat.

She didn't like this new turn of events, and pushed against him, trying to shove him off her, using only her body. Her arms were shaking from the shock of even being in a position like this.

Nathaniel shuddered and grabbed her wrists even firmer. Not that she could feel it because of her gloves. Although, she could clearly feel his body against hers, tense and forbidding. His heart was beating fast, and his breath was shallow.

He seemed to be debating something with himself, and she wasn't waiting for what that could be so she pushed up, resulting in a sharp intake of breath and a groan from him as her belly connected with his.

Elissa stiffened, unsure what to do. There was no mistaking that he was aroused. He had a look of bewildered need, and didn't know what to do with it. She was taken aback just as he, and didn't fool herself that he hadn't noticed her reaction.

She gulped, feeling awkward in this new situation, but wouldn't cave, "Let go. This game ends now."

He leaned down towards her and in a voice that was hoarse from his struggle, he sneered, "I hate you!"

Elissa opened her mouth to respond but couldn't as his lips captured hers. It was strange how she was usually so well prepared for attacks but felt like such a child when she couldn't figure out or what to do in a situation like this. The jolt that went through her the second she met his lips was making her whimper. She was in shock, and surprised but it felt right to kiss him. His hand had let go of her wrists but after his so called attack, but she no longer felt the need to get up. She was rather enjoying the feel of him on her lips, the more gentle Nathaniel, not the one that was angry all the time. He probably still was, maybe even more for wanting her now. But it peaked to something else, turning both their hate into something enjoyable.

One of his hands were going to her side and the other one cradled her head and pulling her into a more forceful kiss. That she was returning the kiss with such fervor was surprising both of them, making Nathaniel groan against her. She caressed his chest through his tunic and felt his heartbeat against the palm of her hand, and wanted more. He pulled up her tunic, but there was a lot of obstacles in the way. Her pants, gloves and boots. Nathaniel took her hand, pulling her up, so they were standing again without breaking their kiss. With a lot of clumsiness on both sides they got of all their clothes.

For a moment, Elisa could just find herself staring at the man before her. His scarred chest, and her eyes kept traveling downwards. She felt her attraction for him heat up even more when the evidence of him wanting her met her eyes. She still couldn't figure out this sudden change of both their behavior, but her brain didn't care to attribute to it for the moment, but urged her on to explore it further. Nathaniel was looking at her, with a look that dared her to mock him, to make him go away when both of them being so exposed and vulnerable. She wouldn't, normally maybe, but somehow she couldn't now. Elissa's hands travelled to his back, adjusting the feel of his body and hers together. They were moving to the bed and Nathaniel hit the side of it and fell with her on top of him in the soft material. He wanted to be inside her, and, right now, she wanted to feel him inside of her. The evidence of it was pressing hard against her already heated core. Sweet madness, she thought.

He turned both of them, and hoisted himself on his arms and looked hungrily at her breasts, before bending down to caress one of them with his lips and tongue, while gently fondling and pinching the other with one of his hands. They weren't the largest breasts, but they seemed to be met with his approval. She felt feverish and restless and she longed to feel him.

He stopped when his shaft was at her entrance, probably surprised about how ready she was for him, and both of them weren't the cuddliest of people, so he bit her shoulder before diving into her with a quick and firm thrust. She wasn't prepared for it, neither for the whirlwind of pleasure rushing through her.

She was thrashing against him, wanting release. His movements were rapidly turning harsher and quicker, and groaned with almost each thrust. Her hips was meeting his, giving him a deeper and sweeter angle to her core. She moaned against his neck, and her tongue was slowly caressing his neck up to his ear. That made him lose control even more, and growing more frantic. Her bliss came only minutes after that when his growing speed was making it to much for her to handle. She cried out, her nails digging so deep in his skin. With one final thrust, he surged into her, feeling him pulsating in her. He collapsed on top of her, his heart beating at an almost inhuman speed, she caressed him gently on his back with her fingertips.

They were both lying there, trembling for several minutes. Then like a rude poke in her ribs, she just realized what happened. How? Why? She just slept with a man she hated. How could she let this happen? She needed him to leave, she didn't want to feel his warm and sweaty body against her any more. She put the palms of her hands against him, pushing him off her. He obliged with no complications and got of her to sit on the edge of the bed. He put his face in his hands and after a few breaths, he stood up to put on his clothes. Elissa was feeling just as uncomfortably you could get in a situation like this.

She still couldn't understand how both of them could do this, and she never felt so stupid in her entire life.

She ventured to look at Nathaniel who was now fully dressed. With trembling legs, she proceeded to do the same, but the minute she stood up, she could feel warm fluid of their combined pleasure running down her thigh. She hurriedly reached for her tunic and put it on, pressing her legs together trying to make the fluid disappear. But of course, it only got sticker and she wouldn't be able to rub of the evidence.

He turned to leave, and she hurried to him, grabbing his arm, "nobody hears about this. No one. I don't know why or how this happened, but no one will know that we slept together!" She whispered furiously. He only smirked at her, "Yes, wouldn't want to ruin your reputation, would we? That she went for a Howe because her needs couldn't be satisfied somewhere else."

Slap! Her hands were shaking, and Nathaniel's already bruised cheek was growing with an angry red mark on it.

"You have me in your system now, precious. Next time I will make you beg for it." He said with overly confidant voice, making her want to hit him until he turned into a bloody pulp.

"There won't be a next time." She muttered as he closed the door behind him, leaving her alone in the room, with guilt, relief and hurt building up in her core that she just couldn't rub off.