Serving the Daughter of My Teryn

~ 1 ~

Nature was much more comforting than the stone for Nathaniel Howe. He was the second of three sons of the Arl of Amaranthine, though he and his father rarely saw eye to eye. Arl Rendon Howe desired his son to be well-versed in the ways of court and be prepared for a position that would likely never be his to fill. Nathaniel had long preferred the company of the Teryn's Rangers, which seemed a place he was more likely to find a position that he could claim as wholly his own. The gardens of the palace at Denerim were well appointed and surprisingly more natural than he'd expected to find. The tall ancient trees created a sensuous canopy that filtered the sunlight into a golden glow that warmed his beleaguered spirit.

The whispers drew his attention from the plants around him and the troubles plaguing his mind. "There, there, now little ones. Back where you belong."

He moved toward the voice and noticed the bare feet and calves walking along a high branch. The lithe movement was striking, she had her skirts gathered about her knees to facilitate her climb and when she reached the ground she let them fall back about her ankles. When she straightened again, after slipping her shoes back on, he couldn't help but smile.

Nathaniel leaned on a nearby tree and said, "I should have known."

Her eyes darted to his, suggesting she hadn't expected anyone. He suspected correctly that the concern on her face was because she initially feared him to be one that might reveal her less than ladylike behavior to her mother. When she saw his face, however, a warm smile replaced the momentary worry.

"Nathaniel!" She giggled as she rushed toward him skits in hand again. They hadn't seen one another in years, but she still remembered him. Her arm around his neck was a familiar sensation though there was newness to the sensation.

"I thought you might be your brother," she revealed with a grimace. "He enjoys getting me in trouble."

"Of course he does. You're a better shot than him."

Bren Cousland smiled playfully as she loosed her old friend. "Only because I had a better teacher," she claimed blinking at him slyly.

Six years changed a lot of things for and about both of them. The last time he'd seen her she was twelve, thin and gangly with big green eyes that offset her striking red hair. At sixteen, he'd had one goal, one interest, and it wasn't the interest his father wanted him to have. He and Bren had always shared a love of natural places and more than once on their own and together they'd gotten lectures and punishments for indulging in it, too freely according to their parents. So while he hadn't expected to happen upon her that afternoon, Nathaniel knew that this was the one place he'd likely find her.

He couldn't help but notice the ways she'd changed. There was a curve to the lean girl he'd known and her eyes were still the brightest green he'd ever seen, though the long lashes served to make them more enticing than he recalled them being. The long soft waves in her red hair cascaded down her back just past her waist.

~ 2 ~

Bren walked deeper into the trees and farther from the path, seeking the solitude of the place. She glanced back over her shoulder once and noticed his eyes on her. It made her smile.

"I didn't know you were here too. I mean I'd seen your brothers," she said rolling her eyes. "But no one said you would be here."

She always remembered Nathaniel in a positive light. When they were very young, he used to show her ways to sneak out of the keep, how to climb even the tallest trees, and catch butterflies. A little later he helped her learn to fire her bow more accurately. The last time he'd visited Highever, she'd finally noticed his dark soulful eyes and been drawn to him as more than just the friend he'd always been. But he'd never looked at her in that way, in the way he was looking at her now-as a woman.

She turned and walked backward in front of him. His eyes met hers. "I've missed you," she uttered with a hint of huskiness in her voice. The words and how she said them struck him dumb. He stopped walking and stared after her. Bren couldn't help but giggle at him.

"Bren!" he called as she took a playful hop that started her sprint. Nathaniel gave chase; she knew he'd catch her. He just didn't know that that was precisely what she wanted.

When he grabbed her arm, he pulled himself closer and slipped a hand around her waist as Bren tripped. They landed more hardly on the ground than either anticipated. He crawled over to her.

"Are you all right?" he asked cradling her head lightly in his hands.

"I'm fine," she said blinking up at him. Remembering his place and who he was holding, he started to lean away. "Nathaniel," she whispered.

~ 3 ~

The sound of his name on her lips in such a manner halted his retreat. Bren smiled at him then turned toward the hand on her cheek and kissed his palm. The gesture clouded his brain and instinct took over. Nathaniel dove for her, his lips ceasing hers restlessly. As he kissed her, he lowered himself to the ground with her. The feel of her body beneath him drove him to distraction.

He let his hands move down her neck, over her shoulder and along the open neckline of her gown. He looked down at her as his fingers grazed the tops of her breasts; she sighed heavily and arched her body into his touch. The reaction spurred him further; his mouth followed his fingertips as her fingers threaded into his hair. Her green eyes blazed with hunger as he tugged at the laces of her bodice.

His mouth met hers again and he slipped his tongue between her parted lips as his hands worked deftly to free her from the constraining garment. As he pulled the ribbon of her chemise loose he kissed his way back down her neck. His gaze met hers as he pulled the linen from the soft skin of her bosom. The hardened tips of her breasts tempted him. The deep moan his ministrations elicited made him ache as his fingertips played deftly across her smooth skin.

"Nathaniel" she sighed deeply as he closed his mouth over her taut nipple. Small vocal signs of his prowess surrounded him as he toyed with one, then the other, before moving back to her moist lips.

His attention was so focused on her that the sudden pressure against him stole his breath. Her hand was soft and warm as it moved along the length again before she wrapped her hand around his throbbing shaft.

"Bren," he stuttered, pressing his forehead against hers as he moved with her hand.

"Yes, Nathaniel?" Her tongue teased his lips for a moment before he thrust his into her mouth again.

"You should not toy with a man so," he insisted trying to maintain a modicum of restraint as he rolled one of her nipples between his thumb and forefinger.

She kissed him and sucked on his bottom lip. "You think I am toying with you?" Her tongue slid between his lips as he heard the rustle of fabric. Her hand clasped the one of his massaging her breast and guided it across her stomach. "I would never toy with you, Nathaniel," she declared as she guided his hand beneath the untied waist of her skirts.

He let his thumb sweep across the soft fabric, the moistness of which was a sign that was not lost on him. Her body responded to his touch as his did to hers. Just as he thrust into her strokes, her hips matched the movement of his hand across the dampening silk. He kissed her softly as he stopped listening to the reasonable side of his brain; Nathaniel raised his hand enough to slide beneath the remaining obstacle to her flesh. The deep moan the touch of his fingertips drew from her made his cock jump in her hands.

"Mmm," she hummed in response to the desire his body revealed. She moved slightly and caused him to readjust to her. He looked up at her as she stood. Bren Cousland was surrounded by the golden glow of the afternoon light and Nathaniel Howe stared transfixed on her as she loosened a few remaining ties before she guided the full skirts down her long legs slowly. He couldn't help but drink in the sight before him. His hooded gaze swept over her pale blushing skin, the pert pink nipples, and the short red curls that burned like the fire he'd felt between her legs.

~ 4 ~

Bren stepped toward him, standing over him with her feet on either side of him. But before she could lower herself which had been her plan, Nathaniel set his mouth upon her, his tongue slipping between the swollen lips and lapping at her tender flesh. His hands moved over her body as his tongue delved into her, causing her to moan more deeply than she yet had. She buried her hands in his hair and encouraged his loving attention to what now felt like the center of her very being.

She finally leaned toward him, removing the object of his attention from the reach of his artful tongue. "I would have you," she whispered, taking his face in both her hands before she kissed him deeply.

Her smile was teasing as he rushed and battled with the belts of his tunic. Bren tugged his boots off easily. When he leaned back in the grass to slide his pants off, she waylaid him.

She had wanted him before it was proper for her to do so. Bren lowered herself onto his lap and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pressing her bare skin against his. Kissing him deeply, she could still taste herself on his tongue. His hips moved against hers as the length of him slid against her, stroking those same her sensitive areas that his tongue had pleasured. Nathaniel lifted her slightly as his hand slipped between them. She moaned as he repositioned himself between her lips, poising the weapon that would assault her maidenhead at her slick entrance.

Gripping her hips lightly, Howe encouraged her to take him into her. She moved slowly and tentatively, and when she reached the tender resistance she became more so.

"Is this truly what you wish?" he asked against her neck, between warm kisses.

"By the Maker, yes," she responded a little too eagerly, she thought.

~ 5 ~

Gently laying her in the grasses, Nathaniel stood and peeled his leathers off completely before he moved to her side and leaned over her. With great care he placed gentle, passionate kisses along her shoulder, up her neck, and back to her lips, before settling between her thighs and guiding himself into her again. The change in control created a new sensation for them both. His movements were careful and slow as he moved within her, and as he pressed against the resistance he watched her face. When he saw a slight sign of discomfort and eased back.

Continuing to kiss her softly, he moved shallowly in an attempt to ease the shock of what was about to happen, until he seized her mouth fully, thrusting his tongue deeply into her mouth as he plunged into her. She gasped. His kisses continued as he remained still for a moment. When she kissed him back, he renewed a decadent rhythm. Her mouth teased his neck and shoulders as her breathing quickened. He took great care and placed great attention into his ministrations; Nathaniel wanted to please her.

As her body clenched at him, he met her sparkling gaze. The intensity there threatened to take him as her orgasm shuddered through her body. There was something in her eyes in that moment that had been there all along he realized, only now did he recognize it. She moaned his name as he grasped her hand tightly. Her free hand grazed his cheek as the storm in her stilled. She kissed him in a way that expressed her longing more clearly and Nathaniel slowed his stroke as her body moved against him still.

When Nathaniel leaned up, she reached up and grabbed his arm to halt his retreat. Her eyes pleading with him.

"I shouldn't." His reason seemed to have returned with the recognition of her connection to him. "I shouldn't have gone so far as I have, but to go farther. To lose myself in you …"

"I love you, Nathaniel. I always have," she countered. "This… you… are my greatest desire."

He touched her face softly and she leaned into the touch. He couldn't help but want to please her and he leaned forward to kiss her. Even in his kiss she could sense his reluctance, which prompted her to retake her former position. As she knelt over him, she guided him into her and impaled herself upon him. Her initial strokes were shallower as she leaned forward to kiss him. But when she leaned up, allowing him to fill her deeply, she set them both upon a path to passion.

His eyes raked over her body as his hands moved across her skin. Occasionally he grabbed her hips to allow his to more fully meet hers with each stroke while other times he merely watched her body move against his. The sight of him entering her threatened to take him over the edge and he wanted her to join him on that plunge. Nathaniel slipped his thumb between into those striking flames at the apex of her thighs. The movement of her hips matched that of his thumb, which allowed him to control both their passions. She ground him deeper into her as she leaned back resting her palms on his thighs as she moved.

He knew he would beat her to the climax, felt that familiar tightening as he thrust into her, apparently the feel of him fulfilling himself within her as he teased at her softness brought her to her release as well. She clutched at his hand on her hip as she bucked against him. Finally she collapsed onto his chest, breathing heavily as her body shuddered against him.

He kissed her cheek, then Bren offered her lips and Nathaniel took those as well, savoring her. Part of him knew this likely wouldn't happen again. Though a connection of this nature to the daughter of the teryn of Highever had once been his father's greatest hop for him. Nathaniel was a ranger; his place was set out before him and as much as he might like to alter that path. This Howe was a man of his oath and even if he wasn't it was rumored that Bren was promised to another much more highly aligned than himself.

"Your brother would kill me," he chuckled in her hair as he inhaled the scent of her deeply.

She leaned up and smiled at him. "Then it will remain ours alone," she replied, her lips teasing his.