Chapter Nine

Plans – NSFW

The next morning, I woke up in Cullens' arms happier than ever – he wanted to marry me!

He smiled at me, "So… does this mean you're my fiancée now?"

I giggled, "Yes. Though I suppose it's odd for me… I mean…"

He frowned, "No, tell me… please?"

"Just a silly tradition from my home land that isn't important. Don't worry about it."

He was quiet for a moment before, "If it's something that's important to you… then I want to do it."

I flushed, "It's not – it's just something… fine – when someone proposes to another in my lands they offer a ring – usually with a diamond, but I prefer simple designs. Every woman in my lands knows her ring size if you catch my meaning…" I caved to the puppy dog eyes.

"They know in case it's…"

"Yeah; and when the two get married, they exchange rings – like a woman would have two, the engagement ring and the marriage ring and the man would have the marriage ring. The ring is typically worn on the left hand – fourth finger – because that finger is believed to be the only one with a vein that goes directly to the heart… the uh… the vein of love – Vena Amoris. The marriage rings are usually simple – just a regular band – but the engagement ring is… supposed to be… more. Look, it's not important! I mean… I thought the tradition was cute because the rings were supposed to be metal – circles as signs of eternity and unyielding metal. It was… cute."

He looked thoughtful, "Actually… I think I like that idea…"

I sighed, "If you want to do it, I won't object – I do like the idea of us being 'marked' as taken… but I don't want to push."

His eyes darkened, "Would it sound completely terrible if I said I'd love to mark you as mine?"

I flushed, "No worse than me being the one to say it first…"

He kissed me, "I'll talk to the Circle Smith – I'm sure he can come up with something."

I gasped feeling his arousal against my leg, "Mmmh, you like the idea of marking me that much?"

He flushed, "Well… I…"

I kissed his deeply – we were up early anyway, "There are other ways, my love… do you want me to show you?"

His eyes darkened, "Maker… yes please."

I pressed my lips against his neck before biting down and giving him a hickey. He groaned as his hands came up to rest against the back of my head. I pulled away after a long moment and admired my handiwork.

I smiled, "People will certainly think twice when they see that."

His lips crashed into mine, "Maker… it's almost impossible for me to believe that we've only known each-other a few months, my love – and now we'll be getting married."

I felt his hand trail along my body as he kissed his way to my neck. I whimpered and tilted my head back, allowing him better access.

His hand pinched and tugged at my nipples as he kissed my neck. He waited – like a tiger on the prowl – until he slid two fingers into me before biting down hard on my neck.

"Cullen!" I cried as my back arched. This room – unlike my previous room and the Dojo – was not soundproofed yet, so I was well aware that people had heard us each time we… made love these last two weeks. The unfortunate thing was I had a lot of trouble keeping quite if I wasn't biting something. No one said anything to Cullen – they knew he was far too shy for that – but I had received quite a bit of teasing. I didn't mind it so much.

His fingers worked to bring me to orgasm while he 'kissed' at my neck. I was getting close – fast – when he finally used his thumb to play with my clit. His mouth only left my neck when I was screaming as I came. I was always telling him that he was too good, too often and that I was sure I would lose my voice one of these days.

He moved his hand away. And while staring me in the eye, he brought his fingers to his lips. He had gotten very good at sex – more so each time we had fun. This month, I had brought the 'forbidden' book from the Cousland Study for his… education. He had gotten much bolder in the bedroom these last two weeks.

I gasped at the sight of him cleaning his fingers – I wasn't sure why but the simple action was highly erotic to me. I whimpered, "Please… stop teasing me…"

He growled and kissed me as he lined himself up. I felt my hands fist in the sheets as he thrust. I mewled and arched my back.

"Makers' breath…" he gasped out. I flipped us with a mischievous look. He looked confused until I began moving atop him while my hands trailed his chest – sending light jolts of electricity through him.

He groaned, "Maker! Valeria, that…oh…"

His hands gripped my waist hard – nails digging into my flesh and even drawing blood. One of his two hands moved away from my hips to play with my clit. I cried out, "Cullen… oh, yes…"

His other hand came up to play with my breasts. I was caught off guard by my second orgasm, causing him to flip us back over and speed up as I cried his name over and over – tears from my enjoyment and all.

He gave a gasp when my hands on his chest both emitted an element – one hot, one cold. This wasn't the first time my elements had taken control on their own – and he knew that when I was as worked up as now, I had no control. He loved it and this time, it sent him over the edge.

As we lay there after – his arms around me – he said, "Maker… is it bad that I find it… enjoyable when you lose control?"

I shook my head, "Primal urges make you want to stay in control, so you delight when you can make your partner lose control. For you, I'd say it's a point of pride – you certainly love that I lose control every time."

He flushed, "Well, you've made me lose control to…"

"And I do love when you get rougher in those moments… mmmh… the teeth, the harder grips, when you yank at my hair and everything else. You drive me wild, Cullen – and I love that I can drive you wild just the same."

"… Is it terrible that I want to spread the word of our engagement the minute we leave the room?"

I giggled, "If you don't, I will – I want all the girls to know that you are mine."

He kissed me, "I've realized something."

I hummed at him as I snuggled closer. He chuckled and continued, "We've been rather… loud when we make love, but no one has… commented on it… did you soundproof the room?"

I laughed, "Not at all; I doubt anyone will tease you because you're so innocent. I get all the teasing. People ask me all kinds of questions about it – my favorite position, how you get me to be so loud, and such things. One person asked me about the fact that I constantly have to ask you to stop teasing me – because she thought it was… interesting that you could get me off before actually taking me. I may have been quite… smug about it."

He flushed, "I… I didn't realize… maker that explains the looks…"

I giggled, "Come on, lover boy – we have to get breakfast before 'class' begins."

He was bright red but still got dressed – I loved hiding the regular frumpy clothes of his and essentially pushing him into sexy clothes. He'd caught on fast, so… he was giving me a smirk as he picked out the tighter leather pants in a dark brown color with a matching leather vest over a vanilla colored long-sleeved shirt. I bit my lip.

He chuckled, "I don't quite understand your fascination with changing my wardrobe, Valeria."

I sighed as I looked him over, "Oh… trust me… it's entirely a selfish desire. I'll let you pick out my outfit today – that should give you some insight."

He looked intrigued and dug around in the armoire. What he came back with consisted of a dark brown leather top with a Queen-Anne neckline and red fastenings along the left side. The pants he chose for me were black with a crimson cloth sash for a 'belt' accessory. I chuckled and pulled on the outfit.

His eyes wondered over me as he said, "I… find I must agree. Seeing you in something I chose… well…"

I smiled, "One of these days, I have 3 or 4 versions of formal-wear that I want to see you in. A suit style from my home lands, something I've seen in the future, and something formal but very… elegant… and of course, a 3-piece suit."

When I spoke of formal but elegant, I was thinking of a suit in a fan-art I had seen – someone had the idea to draw Cullen in a way for the Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts quest that had a single-shoulder 'cape' like thing with a long jacket and a vest and… I really wanted to see him in it.

He flushed, "What… why?"

"Because, my love – there is nothing sexier than a man who is dressed up. At least, that's my opinion."

"Then… then I will… ahem, you'll have a chance for our wedding?" he seemed as though he was asking.

I lit up, "A good point – I'll get to work on the outfit soon. Do you have any special requests for the dress I'd wear?"

He flushed, "I… well… I think you look… best in… in grey or… white. And… that style of top you wore… ahem, yesterday… had a nice…"

I was amused – he liked hooded tops? I could do that easily. In fact, I already knew what to make.

I nodded, "I can do that. I love you, Cullen."

He leaned in and kissed me, "I love you too."

By lunch, everyone knew of the engagement – some called it a betrothal due to my status as a noble lady. Marden had been happy to hear it – he had been the one tasked with 'talking' to Cullen about it; as in, he had been told to threaten Cullen about it if I wasn't engaged by the last week.

Greagoir had come to the Dojo at mid-day; he and Irving had brought us lunch.

"I hear congratulations are in order?" Greagoir asked hopefully.

Cullen smiled at me, "She said yes this morning."

Becca snorted, "Was that before or after the ruckus?"

I laughed, "Before, of course – because he asked last night. It was just before that ruckus that…"

Solona was laughing, "Oh, Maker… you didn't soundproof the room?"

I shook my head, "No one has asked me to, so I have to say no. I figured I shouldn't without asking permission first – because they'd never hear Cullens' answers if they knock on his door."

Greagoir gave me an amused look, "How considerate of you."

I gave an innocent look, "I live to please, of course."

Irving chuckled, "So, when should we expect the nuptials?"

"Not until at least Guardian – I have to be 18 according to Cousland Traditions first."

Cullen smiled and took my hand, "Sometimes, I forget that you are actually younger than I am…"

Greagoir snorted, "I forget she's younger than me sometimes. She acts in such ways that I occasionally feel as though I am a child she is scolding."

I chuckled, "Likely because I do not just get visions of the future. I can see the past too – and this means… I unlocked the memories of my past life."

Irving stiffened and said, "We've never been able to confirm reincarnation before – can you tell us…"

I shrugged, "It's not pleasant – in fact I led a fairly… average life for that place."

"Average how?" Alim asked – I had forgotten he liked 'paranormal' things.

"Perhaps I will explain later… it's really not pretty and some of it would need more in-depth explanations because of the location I was in."

"Give us something?" Cullen pleaded. I bit my lip before sighing, "I was on another world. It seems this world is not the only one in the wide expanse of time and space. The humans there were quite imaginative in most cases, but dull in others. Examples of this would be that the World was called Earth – they had a desert region called the Sahara desert – which translates to Desert-Desert. Seriously, naming things was not their strong suit. A weapon could be called something as boring as an M-14. I mean… really?"

Cullen was sniggering. I smiled as I found I had the urge to tell him more, so I continued, "At least the science was advanced. They learned so much – like… there are 206 bones in the body, more than 600 muscles, your body has enough Iron in it to make a nail that's 3 inches long, a person will die from lack of sleep sooner than they will from starvation and the acid in your stomach is strong enough to dissolve razorblades. They learned why the sky is blue during the day and even how rain works. Most of it is taught to people in their routine schooling – which lasts until you turn 17 or 18 before you decide if you wish to learn more in a specific field. These memories are… fascinating, but… terrifying when you think of the downsides."

"Like what?" Solona pressed.

"No magic, no Templars, no elves or dwarves just humans… the population was counted to be about 7 billion, and worse yet… while the justice systems and such were more advanced the crime rate was much higher. The sheer number of statistics on rapes alone was worrying. 1 in 3 women would be… 1 in 5 men would be too. There are 3 women and 4 men in this room. At least one from each group would have been… in theory anyway."

Greagoir looked ill, "You're right – those are… not small downsides."

"Indeed – I believe the worst thing about Earth was… there was enough food and housing for everyone, but the people in charge kept raising the prices and raising the prices to the point that if you weren't rich then you were essentially homeless. People had to work two or more jobs just to pay the bills – forget having a family in that sort of economy. Two people might have four jobs between them and still need to rent out their extra bedroom just to have enough to pay the rent. The Greed in that world was much worse than here."

Cullen looked horrified, "How could people get homes if they were…?"

"The system was rigged against them, actually – if you were homeless, you would be that way until you died unless you had the grace of gods. It was… not good."

"Well, will you tell us about yourself? I mean your previous life?" Alim asked.

I groaned, "I already said that it's better if I don't."

"Why?" Lona asked.

"… It's a bad memory I wish I could forget, Lona – very bad."

Cullen pulled me into his lap when he heard the breaking in my voice. "How bad could it be? You said your life was average…" Becca pointed out.

"I died at the age of 36 with a 5 year old son. My son was killed first, I gave up after that – and our killer was none other than my husband."

Cullen sucked in a harsh breath, "How could he…?"

"I didn't know his true colors until after I gave birth – he isolated me so I had nowhere to go and… the beatings started not long after my son turned 3 months old. Do you understand why I might not want to talk about it? Gaia… I could have stopped it – I was a martial arts master then too. But I was… I was a fool. He kept threatening to take our son. I didn't have a job or a place to go – he would have won custody. I stayed to try and protect my son…"

I was crying – this was the first time I was talking about it. No one on Earth had known about the abuse or… I found I couldn't stop now, "One day, he came home early – I was in the shower while Cole slept… the man was drunk. I came out of the shower to find him bashing my sons' head in with a shoe. I was frozen – I couldn't… when I realized what had happened – that all that red was… I screamed. So he turned on me. I didn't fight back – like I said, I gave up when I saw… I couldn't… why?"

Cullen held me tightly. I didn't see it, but I could feel him glaring at the others for pressing me into telling them.

Greagoir was the first to speak, "That… was average?"

I shrugged, "Many women – and men – get abused by their spouse. It wasn't uncommon for the papers to report about a person dying from it and learning that no one around them had any clue that the abuse was even happening."

Cullen pulled back and made me look at him, "I would never…"

I shook my head, "You'd rather take a Qunari sword to the gut than hurt me – I know. I knew that before I started having visions about my past life."

He nodded – the fact that he'd felt the need to reassure me was actually rather sweet.

Irving coughed, "So… about the lessons…"

I chuckled, "I've been making great progress in training them. Solona and Alim are masters now. Cullen is getting close and Becca isn't that far behind him."

Greagoir nodded, "That's good. It's a shame that I'm not allowed to have them train anyone else."

I cocked my head, "What do you mean?"

"I received a note from Lady Seeker Nicoline. The ones in your class have exception as they were being taught before the halt was put on it, but no one else can learn Tai Chi until things are sorted."

"What things?" Irving asked.

Greagoir sighed, "The Lady Seeker wants Templars to have priority teaching – or be the only ones taught. Grand Enchanter Briaus was outraged saying that Mages are getting better benefits from the lessons – that the chance of possession would go down and eventually mages might be allowed to have normal lives again. The Seekers don't like that; they want mages to stay in the Circles and if they're 'normal' then there's no reason to force the issue. The Divine has ordered that all Tai Chi lessons – other than your current roster – be put to a halt until this can be decided. It could be years until they come to a choice. I suppose you all understand what I am saying?"

Cullen was the one to speak up, "We are not allowed to teach anyone else as ordered by the Divine?"

He nodded solemnly, "Unfortunately, correct."

I snorted, "They won't make a choice until they consult me – so don't get your hopes up until I receive a note asking for my advice. And since I'm so young, the will stall that even longer – we may not get 'permission' for another decade… unless…"

Irving motioned, "Unless what, child?"

"Unless I go against the Divines' orders and teach other people. I mean, I know I'm going to have to – Wardens, to be exact."

Greagoir snorted, "The letter only says no mages or Templars are to be taught. It says nothing about Wardens or civilians."

I nodded, "Good to know…"

Later that night, Cullen had me tucked against him. I loved this – and missed it when I wasn't here.

He took a deep breath, "I had a wonder…"

I hummed, "What about?"

"Your kiss… when we first… you asked me who taught me – because it was quite… good?"

I nodded, "It's supposed to be quite awkward the first time – until you know what you're doing."

"What about you? In my opinion, it was only good because neither of us were awkward."

"Oh – well, even then, I had the memories of my previous life. To be honest, when I arrived in Thedas, all I had were those memories. It took me months to recall my current life in full. I only had bits and pieces of memories – enough to tell Cailan and Anora what they needed to know. It helped that Cailan had an old Diary from one of my ancestors or it would have taken longer to know who I was."

He seemed troubled at my response, "So… your husband killing you… was your last memory before coming to Thedas?"

Oh… "Yes, it was. You can probably imagine my shock and horror when I landed in Cailans' arms like some fairy-tale princess. Where was I? Who was I? I had the memories of my first life, but I couldn't remember a name. I couldn't… and everything around me looked so different than it should. And then… I saw you. That first night, in a suite in the Palace, I had my first vision since coming here. It was a vision of you and me talking about our relationship – and how… how you wished people wouldn't talk, but that…"

"If there were nothing to talk about, I'd regret it more."

I nodded as his arms tightened around me, "Yes, that. I saw that and it gave me hope – hope that I was where I belonged. And when I met you… the feelings on my part were already developed, but they were more intense than I thought they would be. And you… responded to me. You kissed me when I asked and I thought… I thought maybe soul-mates do exist. It was a stupid fairy-tale that my mother used to tell me – how people used to have someone that they were destined to be with. How the veil didn't always exist, and when it was created, that was when soulmates became so rare that they were a legend. I thought she was full of shit even when I was only 7 because… if soulmates existed, why did mommy and daddy hate each other so much?"

He snorted, "That would be a good reason to doubt it. I have to say… I actually had a dream about you back in Herring, 9:27 Dragon. It was so strange – I knew I'd never seen you before, and I wasn't sure what to make of it; this strange woman appearing in my dreams every night for a week – each dream different. I remember thinking… do I know her?"

"Herring is when I came to Thedas…"

"Yes well… the first dream was the oddest. You were surrounded by spirits and talking about the abuse you had once suffered. The spirits said you didn't belong there."

I was stunned "When did the dream end?"

"You looked down and fell."

"Yeah; right into Cailans' arms." I snorted. Cullen looked stunned "You're telling me it actually happened?"

"I think it really was just a dream… I hope."

He chuckled, "Well, it was more than that for me, at least – it was the first time I saw you."

I flushed, "Oh… I think I know what happened!"

He sat up, "Tell me."

"Mom used to say that people would dream of their soulmate before meeting them – so that they would know who it was!"

"That makes sense, actually – how else would we know if it was just feelings?"

I nodded and said, "Your right – I love you."

He leaned in and kissed me, "I talked to the smith – and… and I may have drawn him a picture of what I wanted for you…"

I flushed, "You're telling me you designed the ring? That's romantic."

He flushed, "Do you want me to show you?"

"I think I'll wait for the surprise when I see it myself. Besides, I can think of better things to occupy our time…"

It was the day I was going to leave back to Highever when the ring was finished to Cullens' perfection. He was seeing me off and handed me a little velvet box. I took it and… oh, Gaia…

The ring was beautiful. The golden band was thin but had a braided pattern with a single rose shaped Amethyst on top. I looked up at him, "I… it is so gorgeous Cullen. You really designed this?"

He flushed, "I'm not as good at Drawing as Alistair was – part of the reason he failed in learning the Chant properly was because he spent so much time drawing – but I do well enough. I just… you have such unique braids in your hair all the time – the more intricate ones that still leave so much of your hair loose are my favorite – and I wanted to show that, hence the band. I chose the stone for your eyes; I know you said it's usually diamonds, but… I couldn't see you with anything other than purple."

I threw my arms around him, pulling him down for a kiss. "Oh, Cullen – I love it."

He was smiling, "I'm glad. I'll see you in a month and a half?"

"Mid-Herring, so yes."

He groaned, "I'm going to miss you."

Alim and Solona were watching as I slid the ring onto my left ring finger. I smiled up at Cullen, "I'm going to miss you too, love. If Anders' comes back before I return…"

"I will make sure he is looked after – you have my word."

I nodded. I looked to my two mages, "Cullen is a Master now, but Becca still needs more training – and I don't want any of you slacking on your daily meditations."

They nodded and came to hug me. And then… I left; knowing things would be different when next I came.