I heard the knock at my door and put down my hairbrush, grinning a little I realized I didn't know which of them was at my door, until I opened it, and saw my Commander.

Cullen stepped inside, kicking the door closed as he did so. He kissed me, each kiss a little harder as he slowly walked me to back to the bed.

He was out of his armor – he rarely wore it to see me these days – and I ran my hands down his back until they reached the hem of his shirt, then I slipped them under and up the front, scaling my fingers up the muscles of his stomach, his chest.

Cullen gasped against my mouth.

"Cullen?"

"Yes." He said, holding my face in his hands as he kissed me, then sliding his hands down over my shoulders, working the clasps down my chest.

"Yes?" I watched his fingers work. "Or do you mean... yes?"

"I mean yes." The clasps were coming free, revealing a hint of cleavage beneath them. His voice turned into a growl in his throat, "Yes."

It was a little awkward, admittedly, but a lot sweet. Cullen was attentive – too attentive, bordering on paranoid – and I decided, with a little more practice, I could teach him how to do it well.

We lay together, sweat cooling on his skin, his hair curling and mussed. I ran my fingertips over his thighs, loving the shape of his hips and the soft hair on his legs.

"Lahria." He said my name like a prayer. Reverent tones. I had heard them before, watching him in the small chapel in Skyhold's gardens, lighting a candle and repeating the words I suppose he'd said his whole life. I didn't know the prayers, but they sounded beautiful on his lips. Everything did.

The Dalish didn't pray to our gods. Our belief in them was more about honoring their memory than asking them for favors. Seeing Cullen pray was fascinating, on multiple levels, especially when he prayed for me.

I heard my name in his prayers, echoing off the walls, asking for my safety, for wisdom in my decisions and comfort and happiness. He prayed for my happiness. I wondered if it would be right to tell him there was no need. He gave me every happiness. But maybe that wasn't the point.

I leaned over him, hands playing with the springy curls that had appeared around his ears. I parted my lips to say... well. Cullen didn't know any Elvish. Instead, I whispered his name.

He placed a hand on the back of my neck and drew our faces together, pressed his forehead to mine and closed his eyes. "You are..." He sighed. "I have never felt anything like this."

Ar lath ma. The words were on my tongue and I felt an ache go through me that he wouldn't know. "I love you," I said instead, voice sounding small in the half-dark of my room. My voice had raised at the end, making it sound like a question. Ar lath ma, I said in my mind, eyes closed.

"I..." He stopped himself, and a new ache went through me. He didn't say it back. He didn't say it back. But then he continued. "Ar lath ma, Lahria."

"What?" My ears were ringing.

"I love you."

"No, say it again." I dug my fingers in his hair. "Say it again."

"Ar lath ma." I could hear the smile in his voice. "Did I get it right?"

I was too busy kissing him to answer, and when I pulled away, words poured from me. "Ar lath ma. Ar nuvenin ma'dirth. Sahlin dar'ena era." I kissed his cheekbones, his brow, his temple. "Ma serannas. Ma vhennan in sulahn'nehn."

"Lahria, Lahria." Cullen put his hands on my face, pulling me back. "I can't understand you."

"But... Ar lath ma," I said the beautiful again. "You know what that means?"

"It means I love you."

"Yes." I closed my eyes, breathed the word. "Yes." Then I said his words, his shemlen words, knowing they meant as much to him as his Elvish ones had meant to me. "I love you."

The smile on his face and the way he kissed me told me I was right.

A/N:

"Ar lath ma. Ar nuvenin ma'dirth. Sahlin dar'ena era." I kissed his cheekbones, his brow, his temple. "Ma serannas. Ma vhennan in sulahn'nehn." "I love you. I wanted you to say this. Now it feels like a dream." I kissed his cheekbones, his brow, his temple. "Thank you. My heart sings with joy." I apparently speak Elvish now. I hope you're happy. lol