A/N: Sometimes the muse wants fluff. Sometimes she wants stressful angst.

Today she wants SMUT.

You have been warned.

Ellana was sprawled out on her bed, the setting sun casting her room in a golden, warm glow, at odds with the wintry air outside. Another time she might have appreciated the beautiful, peaceful moment, but today, she found herself far too restless to take such time.

Most days, if someone were to ask, Ellana would tell them that the Inquisition was a fast-paced mad house, with a new task needing her attention every time she turned around. It seemed every time she fixed one problem, there were five more disasters, and she had to race to plug the holes. But then, once in a while, there were days like today. Where nothing happened.

And Creators above, was she ever bored.

She had practically begged Cassandra for something to do earlier, but the woman had had nothing for her. When she had asked Josephine she had said two words about paperwork only to find that the Inquisitor had mysteriously disappeared. Cullen had retreated to his rooms for some time to himself to read – she couldn't really begrudge him for that – and Leliana was off in The Hinterlands meeting with some of her spies. Ellana almost wished the Breach would open up again just so she could go and beat the snot out of some demons.

The elf sat up with a huff, eyes darting around the room for something that might grab her attention. Her fingers drummed when nothing appeared. She considered going and claiming the time of one of her companions', but she hated to deprive them of what little relaxation they were afforded. As if they weren't stressed enough already. It wasn't their fault she was bored.

Thinking of her companions did bring her mind back to a problem she had been facing lately however. Namely Solas. The elf was an enigma to her in every possible way. When she'd met him he'd seemed almost casual about the breach and the problems that lay with it. Arrogant even. Rather befitting of his name. But then later, speaking with him, she'd discovered a serious, troubled side to him, and even more surprising, a playful, teasing streak. His moods seemed to change erratically, and she had trouble keeping up.

All this, unfortunately, deeply appealed to the hunter in her.

While she may have only hunted for food and materials in her clan, but she didn't know a single hunter who didn't love the thrill of it, the excitement of catching their prey. Especially when it was something strange and exotic. Exactly what Solas was. Some part of her had marked him as 'prey' almost immediately, and she'd been hunting him ever since. At first, things seemed to go well. He responded to her flirtations easily, and even initiated some flirting a time or two. She'd quite liked the thought of him noticing how graceful she was, noticing her body. In fact, after that particular conversation, she'd gotten a little smug. If he was noticing how her body moved, surely it would be all too easy to capture him. But he never made a move, and always managed to evade any she tried to make. It was a strange game of cat and mouse, and she was getting quite frustrated with her inability to catch him.

There was also another matter that she was rather embarrassed to admit, even to herself. Ellana was not a stranger to romantic trysts. Not that she slept around often or anything, but she was a grown woman, and knew what she liked. And for one reason or another, when it came to matters in the bedroom, the hunter in her seemed to completely disappear. She'd discovered a submissive streak, and she had actually avoided romance with anyone for a while afterwards. It made no sense to her that she could be such a strong, confident woman in every other matter of her life, and then completely relinquish control during sex. She worried that what ever man she was with would lose respect for her, assuming that she never really wanted control, that she secretly just wanted a man to run her life for her, and nothing could be farther from the truth.

Eventually she'd come to terms with it. She'd realized that it was okay to want what she did in the bedroom. She was the first to admit that she was a control freak in most of her life, and it was sort of nice to let someone else take the reins once in a while. Especially when it turned her on so much.

Now that didn't mean that she never took control when it came to sex, but it certainly wasn't her preference. Which was part of her problem when it came to Solas. Much as she was sure he wouldn't, she wanted him to chase after her, instead of the other way around. The hunt was enjoyable from both sides, so long as both parties were interested, she just didn't know how to get him to –

She paused when a sudden thought occurred to her. This really was a hunt, wasn't it? If she treated it like one, perhaps she could get her prey to come to her, something she – and many other hunters – often did.

A feral grin crossed her face. Oh this would be fun.


"Solas?" Ellana called out into the rotunda, where the man could usually be found. She'd asked him once why he hadn't chosen the library, which is what she would have expected, and he made a quip about there being too much moustache up there. He and Dorian had an odd relationship.

"I am here, Inquisitor."

The voice from behind her made her jump and whirl. The elf had been leaning by the doorway, so she had not seen him as she passed. He grinned at her surprise, though she scowled and had to restrain herself from smacking his arm.

"What can I do for you, lethallan?" he asked, noticeably attempting to curb his smirk.

She huffed a little before replying. "I just thought I might say hello. I was going to head to the library to get something to read, but then thought you might like some company instead."

"I suppose that would be nice. It has been a rather quiet day, hasn't it?" he replied, moving to lean upon his desk.

She did her best not to smile. She'd needed to be sure he wasn't adverse to her presence first. Now, she just had to find a way to get him to initiate their teasing. Or let him think he was initiating it anyway. She just needed to give him an opening… "It really has. To be honest, I was thinking of just turning in early, but my bed was so cold I decided to come down here," she said with a little laugh. Her tone was almost too innocent. "Unfortunately I'm just as freezing down here."

Solas' lips pulled up into another small smirk. "If you'd like, I could warm you both."

He'd taken the bait. Excellent.

She pretended to give him a surprised blink and then an embarrassed giggle. "Well…" she began, and looked up at him from under her lashes. "You'd have to catch me first."

He paused, evidently surprised, but not deterred. "Oh, would I now?"

She gave him a teasing grin. "Ser, I am a lady. Surely you know I couldn't just invite you to my bed."

He gave a little snort. "And catching you and dragging you to it would be a better option?"

She took a couple of steps backwards towards the door, without quite moving too far from his personal space. "Well, I wouldn't really able to resist then, would I?"

His eyes flashed. "My lady Inquisitor, unless I am mistaken, you are a hunter. Something tells me you wouldn't be so easily caught."

Ellana noted that he didn't say he wasn't willing to try. "My, Solas, are you telling me there is no hunter in you?"

"Oh, quite the contrary," he replied in a lowered octave.

"I don't know," she said, with a mock sigh. "It seems to me like you don't know how to catch prey."

There was another flash and a pause before he surprised her by saying "You have a one minute head start."

Her heart jumped. Was he serious? She didn't want to go running through the keep only to find he hadn't bothered to give chase. She'd look like a fool. When she didn't move however, he raised an eyebrow and got that little smirk again.

He isn't joking.

She took a few more backward steps, keeping her eyes locked with his before turning and walking through the doorway.

And then she broke into a run.

The hunt was on.


There were startled squawks and yelps as she raced by, though she noticed none of them. Her muscles burned pleasantly with the joy of running – and maybe from finally getting to do something – and though she was far from tiring, her heart already raced. She was fairly certain the one-minute mark had passed not long ago, so he had to be after her by now. The feral grin returned. Soon she would have her prey.

She wasn't about to lead him straight to her quarters, though. She was going to enjoy their game first. Maybe she'd even let him think he was about to catch her once or twice before –

A little eep! escaped her as she nearly went down a hallway only to see him at the end of it. She saw a grin light his face before she took off again. Creators, he was faster than she'd expected! After turning a couple of corners she was brave enough to look back and saw that he had disappeared again. Whether that meant she was faster than him or he was attempting to cut her off she didn't know. And she wasn't sure which option sounded better.

When she was relatively certain she was safe she stopped to breathe for a moment and consider where to go next. The excitement of being chased had the unfortunate side effect of wearing her out quicker, and she wanted to preserve her strength. But where to go?

Treat this like a hunt, she recalled. She needed to think like her prey – predator? – and figure out where he thought she would go.

She was a rogue, and her particular fighting style relied on hiding in the shadows, and striking her opponents without them ever seeing it coming. Which he knew. He probably assumed she would go for the quieter, more private parts of the keep, either out of instinct or to hide. She chose to do the opposite.

She ran back into the throne room, amused at the shocked, and even scandalized, looks on some of the nobles' faces, and back through the rotunda. Her heart jumped a little again as she ran through there, part of her still assuming he'd be in there waiting. She immediately went for the outside door and ran through the cold air towards Cullen's office, the chill bite reddening her cheeks and nose. She paused briefly when she entered the Commander's office, breathing hard. She looked around but didn't see him.

"Inquisitor?"

She jumped at the voice, her adrenaline shooting through her and leaving her skin tingling. The voice had come from above, and Ellana looked up to see Cullen peering over the edge of what his bedroom floor, next to the ladder. His brows were furrowed in confusion.

"If Solas comes through here, tell him I went that way," she said breathlessly, pointing to the door she'd just come through. She then took the door on the right side of the office, racing into the night again. It was a rash move, and one the elf probably wouldn't fall for, but she couldn't resist trying.

Ellana raced as fast as she could for the tavern, zipping past Cole, who mumbled something about 'needing to know that someone was willing to fight to catch her' – she'd think on that later – and down to the first floor, hoping she could get lost in the throng of bodies for a little while, catch her breath, and maybe find out if anyone had seen Solas.

Luckily, as it was indeed a slow night, the tavern was full of patrons looking for a distraction, and she got to walk among everyone at an easy pace, though she got a few weird looks due to her heavy breathing. The nervousness that she could be so easily caught in such an open place kept her heart from completely slowing down, so her blood continued to race. She made her way over to Bull after a minute or two.

He looked up with an easy grin. "Hey, boss," he gave her a quick once over. "You're looking kinda ragged. What's up?"

"I'm uh…" she searched for a way to explain what she was doing without being explicit. Though, knowing Bull, he'd probably like that. "Okay, cards on the table, I sort of convinced Solas to chase me and now I'm kinda leading him around Skyhold before I get him back to my rooms."

Bull was quiet for a moment before erupting with laughter. He slapped his knee, and she couldn't resist smiling good-naturedly. "Boss, don't ever change."

"What could possibly need changing?" she countered with a wink. "Incidentally, you haven't seen him, have you?"

He pretended to think for a moment, rubbing his chin. "Hm, bald guy, about yea high, scowls a lot?" he said, holding his hand up to Solas' height.

She giggled. "Yeah, that's the one."

Bull grinned and nodded his head towards the window behind her. She turned and saw Solas standing outside, apparently just having seen her himself. They both stared for a moment before she shot him a 'come and get me' grin and took off for the stairs again. She heard Bull call out "You kids play nice!" and more laughter as she rounded the stairs and took off out the door and to the ramparts.

She actually heard a clamor in the tavern before she was out of earshot. He'd apparently given up attempting to cut her off and was giving chase directly behind her now. Ellana couldn't help grinning as she ran back through Cullen's office, hearing him bark in surprise again, but she was already taking off for the main rooms of the keep before he could question her. She could only imagine how frustrated – and confused – he would be when Solas came racing through. She doubted he would ever leave his doors unlocked again.

The elven woman sprinted through the rotunda, practically vaulting over the desk in the center, and into the throne room. As it was now getting rather late, the room had finally emptied, and she was rather glad for it. Their game of chase was coming to a close.

She heard the outside door open and close just as she got into the hall and raced for the door to her quarters, wondering if she could get in and to her room before he caught her.

Ellana's fingers had just brushed against the wood of the door, and she was grinning with victory when her wrist was suddenly grabbed and pinned above her, and her body was pressed against the entrance by another body behind her. She gasped in surprise and excitement, feeling her captor's hot breath panting against the nape of her neck.

"Caught you."

A/N: I hate to leave you hanging, but…I actually I take that back. I love to leave you hanging. Mwahaha.

Maybe if I get enough reviews I'll upload the next chapter quicker ;)

(Just kidding, I'm way too excited about this to keep you waiting long.)

Happy reading!