Chapter 1: Wolves Without Teeth

Ellana returned to Haven after a long, trying journey to Val Royeaux. They had freed the Hinterlands of the battling templars and apostates, they held the storm coast, and rescued captured soldiers from that Marker-forsaken Fallow Mire. She had closed every single bleeding rift in every place they ventured to, and killed more demons than she ever thought she'd see in her lifetime. Still it seemed never enough. She never asked for this, for any of it. She didn't ask for this cursed mark or to be Andraste's "chosen one", if that's even what she was. Somehow, she'd become the unofficial leader of this Inquisition. No one would say it, but they all looked to her for guidance, to make decisions. Some decisions a person just shouldn't have to make on their own. If she was indeed marked by Andraste, why did the Chantry reject the Inquisition so vehemently? And what the hell was wrong with Lord Seeker Lucius?

These thoughts stabbed at her already throbbing mind as her legs carried her quickly through the small town, not stopping for a moment and avoiding the paths that her companions occupied. She needed his presence. Her world hadn't stopped spinning long enough for her to catch her breath since that fateful day at the Conclave, and things seemed to slow down just enough whenever Cullen was nearby. She didn't know what this meant, honestly, she didn't care. That feeling she got in the pit of her stomach whenever the Commander was around was a welcome distraction from everything else. Their relations hadn't surpassed much more than idle flirtations, but he was so easily flustered and vexing the man had quickly become her favorite pastime. Though there were times, in the solemn hours of the night when nightmares roused them both from their cots and drew them to the war table, that Ellana and Cullen found solace in each other's quiet presence. Eventually solace turned to confidences and the two found familiarity among themselves.

The ever-busy Commander wasn't by the tents as he normally would be, training the soldiers, which meant he was probably in the Chantry. So troubled and intent was her mind, she didn't even consider knocking as she opened the door to the Commander's quarters. A small gasp escaped her lips and turned white in the cold mountain air. Cullen was covered only by his trousers and a tangle of furs. His bare chest heaved and was covered in a sheen of sweat, his brow furrowed though he was clearly asleep. Was it night? How had she missed that detail? Ellana knew she should leave, but instead she latched the door silently behind her and hastened to his side, unable to leave him to the wolves that hunted him in his sleep.

"Cullen…" She cooed tenderly, brushing blond curls off his forehead. She felt utterly compelled to end his pain, to make the nightmares go away. "Cullen wake up." Ellana said with a little more urgency, carefully drying the cold sweat from his brow and smoothing his hair. The Commander started and sat up straight. Many emotions flitted through his amber eyes as his mind muddled from the realm of dreams, though they settled on confusion at her presence.

"Ellana…? You look upset."

"Must've been some nightmare." She answered evasively, still concerned about him.

"Ah- Yes, well- Oh, Maker…" He seemed to finally realize their predicament. Before he could try to move away, or cover himself up, she trailed a tentative hand across the skin of his broad chest. His muscles shivered and rippled underneath her fingertips. "Ellana-" His voice was low, somewhere between a whispered warning and a plea for more.

Open my chest
And color my spine
I'm giving you all
I'm giving you all

"Let me keep the wolves away." The elf murmured in return. She flattened her palm on his torso, tracing taut muscles as she pressed a slow, unsure kiss to the stubble on his jaw.

"W- wolves?" Cullen's voice wavered in a way that she had never heard before. Encouraged by this, she moved slow kisses down his throat as she shifted her body closer to his.

"It's what my people call nightmares." Ellana explained between kisses, lingering at every scar and mark her lips came across. One of his large hands buried itself into her loose hair, gently lifting her face back to his. Darkened amber eyes met blue, and a shot of desire sparked through her like light flashes in a storm. Cullen brought his lips to hers with a slow and burning passion that stole the air from her lungs. His hands weren't just in her hair, but also on her body, working at the tethers that held her worn travel leathers in place.

Swallow my breath
And take what is mine
I'm giving you all
I'm giving you all

Cullen pulled back just enough to look into her eyes again as he slid the fabric from her strong shoulders and down her slender arms. Gooseflesh rose on her skin where cold air touched. He ducked his head and admired her torso with kisses just as she had to his minutes before. His rough fingers slid into her bindings and slowly unfurled them from her chest.

"Maker's breath…" He whispered reverently before taking one of her pert, pink nipples between his lips.

"Ah-" Ellana moaned. Her fingers of one hand threaded into his hair as the other dug into the flesh of his shoulder. His tongue swirled the sensitive bud and another pleasured sound fell from her lips as her fingers tugged his hair. Cullen smirked and released the reddened flesh from his lips, earning a whimper off loss, but only to give her other breast the same treatment. He pinched and rolled the sensitized flesh, wet with his own saliva, between two battle-roughened fingers, earning him all kinds of delicious sounds. "Cullen-" She panted as warmth pooled between her thighs, shifting her hips, seeking friction.

"Ell-" His body stiffened, teeth accidentally scraping her nipple, as her core rolled against his crotch, brushing the length of this now throbbing member. She cried out at the mix of pleasure and pain, and given his reaction she moved her hips again, but with more purpose. A low growl rumbled in his chest this time, and Ellana had never heard a more arousing sound in her life. When she went to do it again, his hands moved to her hips and held them like a vice. "Dear Maker, woman…" He panted, voice strained. Ellana whimpered, not because it hurt, but because she liked the pain.

I'll be the blood
If you'll be the bones
I'm giving you all
I'm giving you all

"Bite me again…" Her voice rasped in his ear as she took his earlobe between her teeth and nipped the soft flesh until it was red and swollen. Cullen could not have resisted her command if he had wanted to, the need in her voice was almost tangible, and he knew then her every whim would be his pleasure. His cock twitched in response. His mouth switched nipples again, teeth sinking into her flesh a little harder this time, though he was quick to soothe the assault with the flat of his tongue. Ellana sobbing his name, pulling once again at his hair. Cullen thought he might fall apart right then. As his mouth worshiped her chest, his hands loosened on her hips so he could undo the fastenings on her pants. The moment he did her hips resumed their movements against his crotch, eliciting a primal moan from them both. His mouth returned to hers and he kissed her hard, dizzyingly, as he pushed her down on top of the furs.

So lift up my body
And lose all control
I'm giving you all
I'm giving you all

"Ellana-" She was driving him insane, he was hardly in control of himself at this point. He hated it, and he loved every minute of it. Cullen's mouth ravished hers, his stubble irritating her skin in the most delectable way as their tongues dueled for dominance. His thumbs dug into her hipbones as he jerked the tight material down her thighs, his mouth leaving hers to take the pants all the way off. Only her smallclothes were left her cover most intimate part. A groan escaped his lips upon seeing how dark and damp they already were. He hesitated there, kneeling at her feet and taking in the sight of her body stretched out before him. The swell of her breasts heaved as she caught her breath, her hips wiggled slightly, needy, and soft whimpers fell from her puffy lips, feeling the loss of his touch.

You hover like a hummingbird
Haunt me in my sleep
You're sailing from another world
Sinking in my seas

Ellana had no patience left. In a moment she was on her knees facing Cullen, her fingers sliding into his hair as she pressed her bare body to his warm, strong chest.

"Waiting for an invitation?" The playful question had barely left her mouth when his lips crashed into hers with a hunger she had not detected previously. The sheer force of the kiss would have sent them both tumbling back into bed if not for the fact that Ellana was stubborn, and not at all done fighting for dominance. She might not be stronger than Cullen, but she was stronger than she looked. And far sneakier. Her fingers slid down his body at a languid, torturous pace as they kissed, trekking the hard lines and planes until they found his trouser ties. She palmed his hardened cock through the thin material, his hips jerked into her hand and he moaned into her mouth. His pants were loose enough that they slid off his hips the moment she unfastened the final knot, letting his erection spring free of its confines.

You're feeding on my energy
I'm letting go of it
She wants it

Cullen clung to her, one hand on either side of her face as his mouth held hers in the desperate kiss. In all honesty, he was just trying not to fall apart as Ellana wrapped a deft hand around his need and began to pump him from shaft to tip. Now it was his turn to make all the sounds, his head fell back unable to hold her lips captive any longer, lost in the sensations. She moved her mouth to his neck and collarbone, biting and soothing with sucking kisses as her hand slid along his length, slick with precum. Ellana was back to admiring his body, her lips wrapped around one of his nipples, twirling it with her tongue as her hand brought him closer and closer. His legs quaked beneath him.

"No wolves…" She whispered tenderly before nipping the puckered bud.

And I run from wolves
Breathing heavily, at my feet
And I run from wolves
Tearing into me, without teeth

Cullen gasped and his hips jerked again. He grabbed her wrist and pulled it off him, not wanting to finish this way, no matter how good it felt. Her blue eyes pierced his with profound understanding, followed by a glint of mischief and seduction. She brought her hand up to her mouth and slowly licked his fluid off each finger, eyes never once straying from him.

"Maker's breath…" Cullen watched, entranced by some sort of sorcery, though she was no mage. She pressed a lingering kiss to his mouth, tongue brushing his just so he could taste himself on her.

"Stay. Watch." She whispered into his lips, then crawled back and propped herself up on his pillows. She held his gaze as her hands grazed down her own body, tweaking her nipples, and then curling her fingers around her last scrap of clothing and slowly shimmying it off her legs.

I can see through you
We are the same
It's perfectly strange
You run in my veins

Cullen watched with wide eyes as the most beautiful woman in all of Thedas spread her legs and began to touch herself. Her blue eyes still gazed into his, though they fluttered shut every now and then as she pleasured herself. One of her delicate hands rested on her breast, playing with an erect, rosy-red nipple, as the other slid between her thighs. Her fingers gleamed with generous amounts of her own juices. She pressed them in and out of herself at a lazy pace, and then began to rub the small bundle of nerves at the top of her soaked apex. It was when her eyes fell closed and she whispered his name like a prayer that he couldn't help himself anymore.

Cullen kept himself controlled, wanting to pleasure this woman as she so highly deserved. He began at her ankles, trailing kisses and calloused touches up the inside of one smooth, milky leg, and then the other. Ellana started, and then writhed under his touches, needing him very acutely at the one place he had yet to touch.

"Cullen… Please…" His stubble tickled and scratched her sensitive thighs, his hands gliding down the backs of her thighs to the bend of her knees. He bent her legs and parted them wide, bringing his mouth down over her gleaming cunt and sucking that throbbing pearl. Her release was instant and intense. She cried out his name as her back arched, sobbing his praises, and at the moment neither of them cared if the whole Chantry heard. When her eyes opened, he was leaning over her, looking as if he had just seen Andraste herself. Cullen leaned down and kissed her, long and deeply, letting her taste the salty sweet juices that coated his lips and tongue. For a moment they stayed just like that, lips lingering in a sensual kiss, breathing each other's air.

How can I keep you
Inside my lungs
I breathe what is yours
You breathe what is mine

"Ready, love?" His voice was patient, though she could hear his need. She could feel it too, laying on her thigh.

"Still waiting… for that… invitation?" She was still breathless from her climax, but she looked up at him through eyelashes heavy with desire, more than ready, a playful smile on her lips. Cullen lined himself up at her core, slowly pressing into her deepest, most intimate places. Euphoria engulfed him, but he went slow and held still, he could see the pain line her brow and he felt her stiffen.

"Ell… you didn't tell me-" He began, only to be shushed.

"Shh… Sh." She pulled his face down into hers, kissing him with a depth and intimacy not before known as she adjusted to his girth.

You're feeding on my energy
I'm letting go of it
He wants it

Pain ebbed, washed away by an overwhelming need for more. Ellana began to roll her hips into Cullen's, her fingernails biting deeply into his shoulders. It was a good thing he wore that obnoxious fur all the time, with all these marks, he would need it in the morning. He moved inside of her, slowly at first, torturously so, but he went deeper with each thrust, sending her to heights she didn't know existed. She begged for more. She begged for speed. And slowly he listened. His face buried itself into the crook of her neck as he became closer to his own release, sucking and biting at her supple skin. His chest made the perfect amount of friction on her nipples as they moved together as one, she was reaching her own high again.

You hover like a hummingbird
Haunt me in my sleep
You're sailing from another world
Sinking in my seas

They fell apart together, crying out each other's names as they soared into ecstasy. Cullen emptied himself inside of Ellana, pressing repeated kisses along her skin, finding his way back to her lips as both of their bodies quaked with their orgasms and then went still, sated. He settled himself at her side, his strong arms bringing her lithe body back to his. She shivered and curled up against him. Cullen smiled in his lopsided way, giving her the urge to kiss that scar on his lip, which she did. He left her only for a moment to retrieve the furs that had somehow ended up across the room. He covered her in several of the warm blankets and then joined her underneath them. Ellana tucked herself right back into his chest and he gave a low chuckle, arms wrapping back around her bare form. She pressed a kiss to one of the many fresh marks on his chest.

"No wolves…"

"No wolves." Cullen answered as they both fell into the realm of sleep. And for the first time in a very long time, neither one of them dreamed.

And I run from wolves
Breathing heavily, at my feet
And I run from wolves
Tearing into me, without teeth

A/N: Part 1 of 3. The song is Wolves Without Teeth by Of Monsters and Men. Hope you all enjoyed. All credit for the cover image goes to mageflower. deviantart. com