Trying to branch out with my skills as a writer in trying to write something I have virtually no experience with (namely, love scenes) and I've been wanting to write something involving my second favourite Warden, Tabitha Cousland in this kind of vein for a while (inspired by the Jon/Ygritte and Jon/Daenerys scenes from GoT), so I've been jotting this down over the course of my current holiday as a little practice run before trying to write similar for a couple of novels I've been working on. This uses the same characters and settings from 'In The Most Unexpected Places' (which I will get back to at some point, real life and other commitments have somewhat derailed my plans for that), in which Tabitha Cousland is not a Grey Warden, but accompanying Alistair and the party on their journey to defeat the Blight. Just a drabble I wrote to test myself and try writing something that is not a strong point of mine with two favourite characters, and I hope you enjoy it...
Redcliffe Castle,
Winter, 9.30 Dragon
He hesitated outside the door to her quarters, pausing before knocking, uncertain of what might happen; for all he knew, he was about to make a fool of himself for no reason. Yes, she had been friendly with him in the weeks they'd travelled from Denerim into the Frostback Mountains in search of the Urn of Sacred Ashes. Yes, she had kissed him and seemed deeply taken when he'd presented her with the last rose of Lothering, playfully holding it under her nose as she'd considered him, looking back at him over her shoulder as she'd retreated into the tent she and Leliana shared on the road…but that didn't change facts in his head as he saw them. She was the daughter of a teyrn, the closest thing to a princess in Ferelden outside the royal family, had likely had men of far greater rank, of bloodlines and families stretching back to the founding of the kingdom paying court to her since she was a girl, to which a bastard whose father just happened to be nobility, who knew virtually nothing about the fairer sex and who had nothing he could offer her beside his heart and soul.
And yet still knowing that didn't change what he felt for her, and with Leliana, Sandor, Oghren and Zevran apparently all aware of it and all urging him to go for it, he couldn't put it off any longer. His encounter with his shrewish harridan of a sister had taught him the importance of putting himself first, of pursuing what he wanted, and even if nothing came of it, he couldn't wait any longer. He had to know if he stood a chance.
Tabitha Cousland poked her head around the door. "Alistair? What is it? Is something wrong?" she asked, concern writ across her features and in her sapphire-blue eyes at the nervous look on his face.
"May I come in?" Alistair asked, feeling amazed that his voice hadn't broken from nerves. She seemed a little surprised by the question, but she didn't refuse, opening the door and letting him in. As she closed the door, Alistair felt his heart quicken as he saw she was clad in a lavender-hued bed robe, presumably borrowed from Isolde's wardrobe, and tried not to think about what she was wearing- or more likely not wearing- under it.
Tabitha sank back into a high-backed chair close to the fireplace, stretching out her long legs as she looked up at him expectantly. "So, what do you need?"
""All right, I guess I really don't know how to ask you this." Alistair began. Tabitha's thin eyebrows raised at that. "Ooh, now that isn't ominous at all!" she teased sarcastically. "Ask me what?"
"You'd think this would be easier, but whenever I'm around you I feel like my head is about to explode. I can't think straight." Alistair blurted out, instantly regretting the words the moment he spoke them, but desperate to convey how she made him feel, a way he'd never felt before regarding a woman.
"Oh? Thanks a lot." Tabitha replied, quirking an eyebrow up at his choice of words.
"I didn't mean..." Alistair began, stammering in fear at the thought of having offended her, only to stop as he saw the feline smile on her lips and realised she was toying with him. "Oh ha-bloody-ha!"
"You're not the only one who can make lousy jokes!" Tabitha replied, playfully sticking out her tongue. Alistair tried to give her a stern look, but he couldn't manage it; the night had too much promise now to let anything spoil it.
" Here's the thing: being near you makes me crazy, but I can't imagine being away from you. Not ever. I guess I'll just come right out with it. I want to spend the night with you. Here."
"Are you sure?" she asked, her playful mockery gone, looking wary, as if she feared the wrong word might shatter things between them irrevocably.
"I've never been more sure of anything in my entire life. You know I've never done this before. I want it to be with you."
For a moment, the girl herself became shy and uncertain. "You do know I've never done this before, either? I wanted it to be with someone who cared about me for me, not because they wanted to get into my family's good graces or saw me as an easy road to wealth and prestige. I didn't want to throw myself away on someone who wouldn't appreciate me for me. You're silly, irreverent, awkward and Maker's balls, sometimes you can be as thick as two short planks" but at this, Tabitha gave a soft smile and gently placed a hand on Alistair's face, stroking his cheek, revelling in the feel of the warmth of his skin "but you are a good man. You have a good heart, a noble soul; you've made me feel happiness and joy for the first time in months when I travelled with you Wardens. If I choose someone to be my first…
"Are you sure this is what you want?" Alistair asked tentatively. It was everything he wanted, his heart pounding in his chest at the prospect, but he would not force himself on her.
"Let me show you what I want" Tabitha replied as she lunged forward, seized Alistair's head in her hands and pulled his mouth to hers. Her tongue pushed into his mouth, his darting forward to meet her, twining around each other like mating serpents as their bodies pressed against each other, Alistair moaning as he felt Tabitha's bust crushed against his chest, Tabitha groaning in reply as she opened the buttons of the shirt Alistair wore under his armour and ran her fingers along the muscles of his chest. Finally, they broke apart to breathe again and Tabitha leaned forward. Alistair groaned as she gnawed at his earlobe, a sharp intake of breath that it took him a moment to realise was his own, followed by more as she gnawed and kissed her way down his neck to his shoulder to his collarbone, both of them backing up until Tabitha's back was pressed against the wall, her hand placed in the centre of his chest, both of them pausing for breath…until Tabitha looked up, her blue eyes fixed on Alistair's hazel ones, her expression determined.
"Undress me," she said.
"Un-undress you?" Alistair stammered, sounding unsure. Tabitha's eyebrows rose as if surprised by the question.
"You know most men wouldn't need to ask twice. I'll put it another way then; I want you to strip me naked, is that clear for you?"
"Your wish is my command" Alistair replied with a feral grin as his hands, resting about her neck when he'd cupped her face to kiss her, slid down and eased the bedrobe off Tabitha's shoulders, their lips still locked until he stepped back to admire her. Tabitha stood before him, bared to the waist and Alistair couldn't help but catch his breath at the sight that he beheld. Her breasts were small, but round, high and firm, capped by raspberry-hued nipples. Her hair gleamed like burnished copper in the firelight and an impish gleam lit up her blue eyes as she watched Alistair staring in unabashed awe at her bare breasts.
"Like what you see?" she teased. By way of an answer, Alistair took her right hand by the wrist and pressed it to the front of his britches. When she felt the bulge pressing against the fabric, Tabitha gave a throaty laugh and said "I'll take that as a yes!"
Alistair's hands darted forward, and Tabitha groaned as he took her breasts in both hands, arching her back to thrust them forward more firmly into his grip. As Alistair kept his focus solely on her tits, her hands slid down her body until they reached the fabric belt tying the bedrobe around her waist. She undid the knot and slid the garment off her hips and Alistair's mouth almost hit the floor at the vision of beauty and perfection before him. Below her breasts, her waist and stomach were flat and toned, with narrow hips, lean muscled arms and a runner's legs, the result of a young life spent on the move or in the saddle and training to fight and hunt. At the juncture of her thighs, a neatly trimmed triangular thatch of red hair, darker than that on her head, stood out against her pale skin between her flat belly and her quim. "Maker's breath, you're perfect. I am a lucky man." Alistair whispered as he, driven by some new compulsion, ran his fingers through her bush, teasing her as his fingers came close to her quim.
Her hands darted out, seizing his by the wrists and brought them back up to her breasts, Alistair gently holding the globes in his hands, almost as if weighing them. His fingers traced around their circumference, admiring their contours and curvature before his fingers ran up to her nipples, teasing both between thumb and forefinger, revelling in the sensation as they became stiffer, reacting to his touch. On an impulse that shot through him, Alistair lowered his head to her right breast, his mouth closing over her nipple, teeth raking over the fleshy point as his tongue traced a wet circle around the peak.
"Oh, holy Maker! Where in Thedas did you learn to do that!?" Tabitha cried out as she fell back onto the bed, dragging Alistair down on top of her. Alistair shrugged his shirt off completely as he teased her left breast between his fingers.
"It just came to me" he replied earnestly. "You seemed to like it…" he observed as he began to attend to the left, gaining another pleasured gasp from his lover.
"Oh, you have no idea" she replied between moans as Alistair moulded, rubbed and fondled Tabitha's breasts. Her own hands were far from idle, raking her nails over his abdominal muscles, his pectorals, tracing the cords of his neck before running down and down to the hem of his britches. As her hands made to slip beneath and reach their contents, Alistair placed a hand over hers to stop Tabitha, uncertain of what would come next, how she would react to seeing all of him. Tabitha's face contorted into a disappointed moue, as if she'd been denied a treat by his reaction.
"Ah, ah!" Tabitha teased. "Fair's fair; I showed you mine, time you showed me yours!" she noted as she motioned for Alistair to stand up, sliding off the bed and running her hands down to his waist as she sank to her knees. Tabitha's long fingers unlaced Alistair's breeches and once they were loosened, she pulled them down along with his smallclothes. His breeches pooled around his ankles as Tabitha cast an appreciative eye over what she'd exposed, standing erect from amidst a thicket of dark gold hairs at his groin.
"Andraste's blood" she whispered in an almost reverent tone "the Maker has certainly blessed you with a fine sword here! But tell me, do you wield it as well as the one in your hand?" she asked, an impish grin on her lips now inches from the tip of him, a mischievous look in her eyes.
"What are you doing?" Alistair asked as she leaned forward.
"Sheathing your sword" Tabitha replied and Alistair moaned as her mouth descended upon his manhood. The smell of sweat and a faint herbal scent from whatever soap he'd used to bathe with filled her nostrils, a scent both masculine and yet distinctly his, and she tasted him on her tongue. Her lips formed an 'O' around his member as she sucked at the bulbous head; caught offguard by the wave of sensation that ran through him, Alistair impulsively thrust into Tabitha's throat, causing her to gag at the unexpected sense of fullness.
"I'm sorry! Maker's breath, I'm sorry!" Alistair hastily insisted as he pulled out, allowing her to catch her breath. "I just wasn't ready for…Andraste's ass, I'm so sorry! Are you alright?"
She smiled through her discomfort and caressed his hip, taking his hand by the wrist and placing it against her cheek, kissing the calloused palm and fingers. "It's ok, it's ok, I'm fine. You just caught me by surprise, and you're so big…"
Alistair might have been new to the whole love-making thing, but he wasn't immune to preening a little when a woman complimented him on his size. "Do you want to…go on?"
"Of course," Tabitha replied impishly. "Just go a little easier this time, I'm as new to this as you are" she went on, taking Alistair's member in her hands and slowly lowering her head to his tip. "I want you in my mouth first. I'm told making love is so much more intense after…"
Whatever else she was going to say was lost as Tabitha once again took Alistair's length into her mouth, running her tongue up and down his erection. Alistair's vocabulary was reduced to a litany of moans, gasps and groans as she lowered her mouth to the base of his shaft, and then slid back up to its tip, up and down, her lips, teeth and tongue teasing all along his length and driving him to new heights of ecstasy. He held out for as long as he could, but the sensations Tabitha brought to him proved too much.
"OH HOLY MAKER!"
With a desperate cry on his lips, Alistair's seed spilled forth into her mouth, filling her with the salty flavour of his release. She swallowed quickly, lest she be overwhelmed from the flood and she milked the last salty drops from his tip as he collapsed, resting himself against one of the bed's four posts, his manhood and stamina temporarily spent. Tabitha crawled across the bed to the nightstand, Alistair's eyes following the movements of her buttocks, his hand darting out to give an affectionate pat to her pert little arse as she grabbed the bottle of Antivan wine she'd purloined from Eamon's cellar- a vintage Oriana had introduced her to that had become a favourite of the Cousland girl, crisp and sweet- and poured two glasses, handing one to Alistair and drinking deeply, letting the wine wash the salty taste of him from her mouth as she crossed her legs, feeling Alistair's gaze trying to see her quim between them. 'Wait your turn' she thought to herself. 'Patience is a virtue'
"Give me a moment my love…" he muttered as he drank down the wine, trying to regain his breath and slow his heart down. "Sweet Maker, the sisters at the Chantry never mentioned that when they taught us the facts of life!"
"Oh, there's plenty more to come!" She giggled at her pun and Alistair's face broke into a broad grin.
"Where did a teyrn's daughter learn to do that?" Alistair marvelled. Tabitha gave him a piercing look.
"I'm a virgin, not a complete moron!" she replied. "Besides, my maids used to tell me about things they got up to with their lovers amongst the household guards and the stable boys, little tricks they knew to keep the boys coming back to them and they taught me a few things for my wedding night…though I hope you don't mind me showing you a little early"
"Not at all!" Alistair chuckled. "So what comes next?"
"Well, while we wait for your sword to regain its edge" she remarked with a wry look at his now flaccid cock "now, you canreturn the favour" Tabitha replied as she lay back on the bed, making herself comfortable before she raised and parted her legs, letting Alistair be the first man to see what was between them. Alistair sank down to the bed, kissing his way down the length of her body, between her breasts, down her flat belly, his tongue licking into and around the dip of her navel to what lay beneath…
"A tabby pussy" Alistair mused as he admired the slit between Tabitha's legs, below that fiery red thatch of hair, leaning forward, parting it with his fingers…and Tabitha's mewling cry of want at the touch of his tongue to her inner folds told him he was on the right track. His head jerked up at the sound and he saw Tabitha give him an incredulous look.
"Andraste's ass, don't stop!" she demanded, and Alistair again bent forward to oblige her. "Ah, ah, ah, aaah!" Tabitha cried out at the touch of his tongue to her quim, probing her clit, teasing all the dimensions of her sex and revelling in the scent and taste of her, his body reacting to it like a dog scenting a rabbit as he felt his cock begin to stiffen again.
"Holy Maker, where did you learn to do that?!" she demanded. Too intent on his task, Alistair didn't answer her, instead sliding a calloused finger inside of her, then another, and another, the walls of her cunt clenching at the digits as he moved and manipulated them inside of her, Alistair revelling in how soft, warm and wet she felt.
"Andraste's tits, you're so wet" he whispered as he pulled his fingers from her quim, leaving a wet trail across Tabitha's flat belly and between her breasts as he offered his dripping fingers to Tabitha's mouth, the Cousland girl licking them clean and tasting herself upon them.
"Well I certainly have to be to make that lamppost of yours fit." Tabitha said with another throaty laugh. "I must say, that's the first time anyone's ever compared my tits to those of the Maker's bride!"
"Yours are much better" Alistair replied earnestly, idly teasing one of her nipples between thumb and forefinger to make his point.
"A little blasphemous from a Templar, isn't that?" she remarked, trying to give him a reproving look…one that melted away into one of ecstasy with a mewling cry of lust as his fingers slid back between her legs and his mouth descended reverently to her breasts once more, teasing first one of her nipples then the other between his teeth, raking the points to hardness, her breathing coming faster and heavier as she felt first one finger, then a second, then a third slide into her…and then her hand grabbed the wrist of Alistair's hand probing her depths, his eyes meeting hers, concern and uncertainty twisting his features, unsure what he'd done wrong.
"No more fingers" she demanded. "Sheath that sword in me and fuck me! I want you. I want to feel you. I need to feel you in me". Not needing to be told twice this time, Alistair moved his way up her body until they were face to face, feeling the tip of himself at her entrance, the sensation of his hair against hers, Tabitha admiring the muscles of his chest and neck, cupping his face and running her fingers along the lines of his cheekbones, grabbing his strong chin and tilting his head up so their eyes were locked.
Alistair hovered at her entrance, their hips pressed together as he stared down at her, his expression tentative as he looked Tabitha in the eye, an unspoken question in his gaze. He knew what he wanted, but he wouldn't go further without her permission, until he knew he wanted her to proceed. Tabitha cupped his face in her hands, gave him a single nod and a whispered word "Please…"
Alistair needed no encouragement; slowly, with intimate precision, gasping at the sensation of their bodies pressing against each other, he slid himself into her. Tabitha gave a cry of ecstasy, her eyes going wide, her arms around his neck, her legs locked around his waist at the feeling of Alistair sliding into the wet warmth of her sex, groaning with the emotion and sensation of it. Her muscles worked out the deep ache inside as she expanded to accommodate his girth and length and she cried out again as he filled her, slowly inching forward until his entire shaft was sheathed within her.
He felt magnificent, hard and throbbing with a passion that she felt throughout her entire being. His face was a mixture of ecstasy and surprise and she smiled happily as he grinned lopsidedly at her, his fingers running along the lines and swirls of blue ink tattooed across her right brow and left cheek.
She gasped as he pulled back, leaving only his smooth tip inside her before he plunged into her once more, only this time his strokes were faster, more direct. Again and again he pulled back, only to then slide forth and pierce her once more, using his entire length to fill her with his desire and she cried his name, raising her hips up to meet his thrust with a desperate one of her own.
Like a raptor descending on prey, he dropped down on her and sought her mouth with his, stifling her screams with his kisses as their tongues entwined like serpents and crushing her to his chest as his hips continued their unrelenting rhythm, thrusting and stabbing into her with a force that she would never have expected from someone so gentle and sweet-natured. His mouth moved down her body, from her lips, to her chin, running down the curve of her neck to her collarbone and below that to her breasts before coming back up to repeat the cycle, her own lips matching his, biting into his neck, his collarbone, fingers running through his hair and down his back, both of them feeling their bodies beginning to overload with sensation and emotion as they climbed higher and higher towards their peak, the inevitable crescendo.
Alistair came first, crying out and arching his back until it felt like his spine would snap, filling her warm depths with his seed; however, she didn't relinquish her grip on him, Tabitha's legs wrapping around Alistair's hips instead with the strength of a python's coils, as if commanding him to stay hard, refusing to release him until she'd taken her pleasure. Taking the hint, Alistair kept thrusting, her inner walls holding him tight like a key in a lock, moaning her name and the name of the Maker in equal measure as Tabitha seized his hair, sank her teeth into his neck, raked her nails down his back, leaving deep red furrows in his skin, Alistair uncaring of all the pain she caused in her frenzy of passion, thinking only of pleasing her…until finally she inhaled deeply and with a sound that was part laugh, part sob, part cry of exultation, her climax swept over her.
Utterly spent, they collapsed upon the bedsheets; Alistair rolled off and onto his back, Tabitha curling up next to him, her head resting against his heart, her fingers idly stroking the muscles of his torso and abdomen.
"For a man who's supposedly never been with a woman, you certainly seemed to know what you were doing. You expect me to believe that was all just instinct?" Tabitha murmured. Alistair chuckled at the question.
"It wasn't just drinking under the table and fighting darkspawn when I was with the Wardens; I was the junior member of the Order, it was all men and most of them were a bit older, so some of them who'd… 'lived a little', shall we say, gave me a few tips on women, in case I ever got a chance to use them. They kept talking about taking me to the Pearl in Denerim and finding a nice girl to make a man out of me…but we got called south to Ostagar before they could…" Alistair trailed off, his tone and expression sombre. Before he could descend into melancholy brooding, Tabitha leaned up and kissed him full on the mouth.
"I hope I didn't disappoint when it came to 'making a man out of you'!" she teased. By way of an answer, Alistair ran his fingers through her hair and returned the kiss she'd given him moments before with one of his own.
"You, my love, were perfect" Alistair insisted, his smile returning as he pulled her close, pressing his lips to her forehead. "You know according to the sisters at the Chantry, I should have been struck down by lightning for that"
"Not for that performance" she assured him with a playful smile, her hand dipping below his waist, Alistair groaning as her fingers gently squeezed him…
"Meaning it was so good, the Maker personally decided to spare me? Sweet talker…" he chuckled. "You do know the others are going to talk about this? They do that" Alistair remarked, already imaging the laughter, knowing looks and bawdy jokes they were likely to get from Leliana, Zevran and Oghren the next morning when they went to break their fast…
"First one to make a smart comment gets fed to genlocks" Tabitha murmured into Alistair's chest, her eyes closed, exhaustion and a sweet sense of satisfaction washing over her from the unfamiliar, but pleasant ache in her loins. Alistair chuckled at his lover's sleepy declaration.
"This is why I love you" he laughed with a soft smile, stroking Tabitha's hair and holding her close. "So where do we go from here?"
"Well, in case you've forgotten, you and that dwarf have a civil war to end, a delusional tyrant to overthrow, a darkspawn horde to defeat" came the reply from around his chest level.
"Ah, so practical" Alistair joked. "Ah, have I told you I loved you? I did…well, it won't kill you to hear it again, will it?"
"No, but I might kill you" came the sleepy retort, emphasised by her archer's fingers yanking out a few of the golden hairs covering the broad expanse of his chest.
"Ah, point taken" Alistair noted, kissing Tabitha's forehead, stroking her hair and whispering sweet nothings to her as he waited for the Cousland girl to fall asleep in his arms before he dared allow himself to nod off.
At about three hours before sunrise, having snuck out of the bed to relieve himself, as Alistair slipped back beneath the sheets, the light of the full moon shining through the window of the tower chamber Eamon's steward had granted the girl, as befitting a woman of her status, Alistair stopped for a moment to admire Tabitha Cousland, asleep on her side with her back to him, a slice of moonlight across her face making her pale skin gleam alabaster white and her short, spiky and braided red hair shine like burnished copper. Alistair had never seen anything so beautiful in his life.
A small smile contorted her lips, her face looking soft, content, at peace. Alistair knew the hardships she'd endured before she'd met and joined the Wardens in Lothering; the murder of her entire family, the destruction of her childhood home and being, like the Wardens, falsely branded a traitor to Ferelden, hunted with a price on her head. He wondered if that was why he'd been drawn to her; having lost so much too soon, losing people so close to them, he wondered if perhaps some part of him wanted to protect her from that hurt, to keep her safe from further tragedy and maybe bring a bit of happiness back to the life of a young woman who'd suffered so much undeserved tragedy.
He had no idea what the future held for him, for her, for Ferelden. They might all be killed by darkspawn in an ambush on the road the next day, might all be murdered by Loghain at the coming Landsmeet and assuming he and Sandor Aeducan survived that, they still had the archdemon to face, but Alistair knew one thing; he never wanted another woman in his bed beside Tabitha again.
He wanted to be at her side for the rest of his days. He wanted to be there to support her in any way when she finally got to exact justice upon the bastards who'd murdered her family. And, if Eamon was truly serious about putting him on the throne, then he knew who he wanted at his side, to rule beside him as his Queen and to be the mother of his heirs.
'Surely Eamon can't complain. She's the daughter of a teyrn, the closest thing to a princess Ferelden has, and unlike Anora, she's on our side, fighting to help save this nation, as opposed to keeping her mouth shut and letting Daddy dearest run roughshod over Ferelden and its people!'
But those were matters for the morning. For now, all that mattered was being next to her, of keeping her warm and banishing the nightmares the taint would inflict on his mind with thoughts of her, her beauty, her good heart, the warmth of her body, her inventiveness in bringing pleasure to them both. He gently teased one of the braids of her hair around his fingers, pressing his lips to her cheek as he made himself comfortable against her and pulled the bedsheets over them, resting his head between her neck and shoulder, wrapping his arms around her slender waist, enjoying the sensation of her arse against his groin…
Just before sleep took him, Alistair leaned over and whispered softly in her ear. "I love you."
He didn't see that her eye was open, or the contented smile that flitted across Tabitha's mouth at those words.