Language Lessons

Cat and her companions had left the outskirts of the Brecilian Forest behind and were approaching Denerim once more. Alistair and Leliana held hands for most of the time, like young lovers, and Cat could hardly hide her smile. It's about time. Alistair deserves some happiness. They were actually rather cute.

When Leliana set off to scout ahead for a good campsite, Cat noticed Alistair falling into step beside Zevran. She was surprised. The two men had made their peace with each other, but it was still unusual for Alistair to seek out the assassin's company. She quickly looked for an excuse to get closer to them and managed to overhear a few sentences of their conversation.

Alistair was swallowing, trying not to look at Zevran's face. "Zev, I... wanted to ask you... Have you... had very many women in your time? I mean... you seem like the sort of man who would...?

Zevran glanced at the young Warden with a knowing grin. "I have indulged from time to time, perhaps, when my interest is not elsewhere..." He laughed merrily at Alistair's tortured look. "Ah, who am I kidding? Too many to count, my friend, but why do you ask?"

"Well, you see..." Alistair's head snapped around when he noticed that Cat was close, and she could see his ears take on a pink tinge. "Forget I asked."

Zevran smirked, but let the topic rest. Cat smiled at him, but she couldn't help the brief pang she had felt at his words. Too many to count. Of course she had always known. It wasn't as if he had made a secret of his preferred technique of... assassination. Still, his words were eating at her, more than she cared to admit to herself.

That night, when they had retired to their tent, Cat snuggled up to Zevran, happy to be in his arms. But when he kissed her and his hands began to caress her back, she stopped him. "Not now, Zev." She ignored his surprised face. "Do you think you could teach me to speak Antivan?"

He looked at her in disbelief, surprised by the unaccustomed rejection. "You want to learn my language?"

"Well, some of it." She chewed pensively on her lower lip. "I only know a few words so far. I want to know more. I want to understand you."

Zevran grinned wickedly. "It seems to me that so far you have had no trouble understanding me, no? You know what I mean when I tell you you're bellissima," his lips trailed along her neck, "or if I ask you for un bacio..."

His lips met hers, but she wiggled out of his embrace and sat up, unwilling to be distracted. "I'm serious, Zev. I... I would like to know what I could call you, for example. What do women call their lovers in Antiva?"

Zevran frowned for a moment, clearly irritated by her request, but she could see he was considering his answer with care. "Well, there's always tesoro... my treasure, or amore, of course. Or cuore mio, my heart. As for the others..." he made a moue of distaste. "They are all rather sickly sweet. Mostly names of cute little animals, and I really wouldn't appreciate being called 'little rabbit' or 'cuddly bear'."

Cat giggled. "No, that wouldn't suit you. At all." She grew serious again. "Isn't there anything... special?"

He lay back with a sigh, pulling her on top of him, giving her a searching look. He knew her well enough to realize that there was something deeper going on behind this sudden interest in a foreign language. "What's the matter, Catalina? Why would it have to be special?"

She blushed. "I... Zev, I want to have a name for you that no one has used before. There have been so many others..." She saw a flash of something dark cross his face, but she couldn't stop herself. "It makes me worry, Zev, it makes me afraid that when we make love, you don't know... who you're with, you don't know it's me in your arms."

"You are afraid of what?" His voice had become a low growl. She could see a tempest rise in his eyes, a fury so intense that she instinctively cowered back, frightened by his reaction. His hand gripped her neck, roughly, pulling her back to him. "Do you even know what it is you are saying?"

"I... no, Zev, I am sorry. I didn't mean..." She was babbling now, wishing she had kept quiet. "It's just... look, please forget what I said, it was stupid."

Zevran shook his head, calmer now, but determined. "No, amore, you don't get off that easily. I am going to show you how stupid it is." Then his lips claimed hers, hard and merciless and she moaned at the sudden heat. He was hot, he seemed on the verge of burning, of scorching her with his hands, with his mouth, with the incredible intensity of his rage - or was it his desire? Her clothes came off within minutes and his hands seemed to be everywhere on her body at once. She was unsure how he managed to take off his own clothes, but somehow they both ended up naked.

He pushed her back onto the bedroll and knelt in front of her. "Look at me, Catalina." His voice was liquid fire and she gasped at the sight of him, the hard lean muscles of his chest and stomach, his golden skin with its artful pattern of tattoos, his magnificently erect cock. "Look at me! This is how much I want you. You! No one else." And then his lips were on her again, finding every spot guaranteed to make her cry out with pleasure and she realized his heat was contagious, felt the same fire pooling at her crotch, spreading from there to envelop her entire body.

Zevran had moved between her legs and was teasing her with his hardness, sliding against her. "I know exactly who you are, dolce cuore, I know it better than you know yourself." He was still furious, she could tell by the catch in his voice, even if his movements were controlled and he took care not to hurt her as he thrust inside her.

Cat almost cried out loud then, throwing back her head and closing her eyes, overwhelmed by the sensation. "Open your eyes, cara, look at me!" he snarled. It was a command, not a request, and she obeyed without thinking, losing herself in the incredible intensity of his amber eyes. They seemed to glow from within with a searing flame, and as he took her slowly but inexorably toward her peak, he never let go of her gaze, held it, as if he wanted to burn her image into his mind.

Not even in the final moment, when she was writhing under him in ecstasy, pulsing around him, her whole body trembling, did he allow her to look away, to close her eyes. She had never felt so thoroughly exposed, so at his mercy and yet so incredibly close to him, without even the flimsy barrier of her eyelids between them.

"I'm here with you, my love. No one else is on my mind." Zevran's voice still sounded grim, but she saw his expression get softer, his aggressive stance falter as he melted inside her, overtaken by love and desire.

He held her close afterwards, his gaze tender now. "None of the others count, amore." His voice was so passionate that it made her tremble. "It's you, just you, ieri, oggi, domani. Yesterday, today, tomorrow. I am yours."

Hugs and thanks to zevgirl for her help with this!