Double chapter post today! Make sure you read Chapter 40 first :)

Minor smut!

Ellana jumped off Cassandra's horse and began to approach the small rustic Inn before her. Their group had made great progress today and planned to spend the evening in a local Inn just outside of Val Royeaux. Tomorrow, they would be back in Skyhold. 'Thank the Creators.'

She finished settling into her room and made her way down to the Inn's pub; although she had barely eaten anything that day, she found herself more interested in a stiff drink rather than a late evening meal. She noticed Alistair seated at a table by himself and joined him after ordering a drink from the bar maiden.

"Anything to eat?" the woman called over to her. Ellana shook her head, no.

Alistair grinned, "You know, Cullen would be furious with me if I didn't – " Ellana shot him a look and so he chose to rephrase his warning, "As your friend, I should be encouraging you to eat something. You haven't had anything today, have you?"

Another glare.

"Alright – I've said it. Alistair being a good friend checklist complete; I won't bring it up again."

Ellana lightly chuckled and downed the contents in her cup, quickly signaling for the bar maiden to bring over another.

"Andraste help us. It will be that sort of night?" he laughed and ordered another drink as well.

Ellana was completely wasted by the time Cullen arrived in the Inn with Cassandra and Silvhen. She lifted her mug to her face and blocked her vision of him sitting down at the table. When she glanced over in his direction, she saw him ordering a drink and laughing over something that Alistair had said. His scar – the way it tugged slightly when he smiled; it was the first thing she noticed. Lightly blushing, she turned towards Cassandra to throw herself into a conversation with the Seeker and distract herself from that pesky scar and its undeniable charm.

"Your lover is a Templar?" Silvhen had leaned over and mockingly asked Ellana at one point throughout the night.

"No." Ellana wrinkled her nose at him. "He was – he's not anymore."

"That doesn't sound like what you were saying earlier today." He shuffled his mug between his hands.

Ellana paused for a moment before she spoke, "It's complicated." He raised an eyebrow and so she continued, "I don't know how I feel about it but, don't call him a Templar. I don't want you to be calling him that."

Silvhen nodded his head and lifted his mug to take a drink. "Of course. Just… make sure you're happy with that one. I have no opinion on the matter and I mean nothing further than an old friend who is concerned to see you so troubled."

Ellana mumbled that Silvhen should mind his own business and threw herself back into her drink. Hearing another man refer to Cullen as a Templar had infuriated her. True, she had called him the exact same thing herself earlier that day… but she would not have Silvhen referring to Cullen as such. She glanced over at Cullen and found herself somewhat lost in thought about the feeling of his presence. She couldn't detect any change in his being – there was no lyrium smell, no lingering mana trace… it was so easy to forget about the entire ordeal and pretend it didn't exist. Unfortunately, Ellana knew that wasn't an option. This was a long-standing issue that they had both chosen to put off addressing for far too long: he was an ex-Templar and she was a Mage. He had his powers back – it only further complicated things. They could no longer continue to step around the issue and deal with it at a later date.

As much as she tried to ignore him over the next hour, Ellana's eyes kept wondering back to Cullen. Anytime he laughed, her stomach dropped at the sound of his deep and husky chuckling; anytime he smiled, she found herself lost in the curve of his lips and small lines that would gather around the corner of his honeyed eyes. She was cursing his handsomeness multiple times throughout the evening. How was one to stay angry with someone who looked like that? Her resolve to withhold from physical interaction with him, until she had sorted through some of her complicated emotions, began to fade with each finished drink. She found herself craving a taste of him and longing for the feeling of his arms wrapped around her waist.

He caught her staring at him and flashed a smile; it left her feeling weak in her knees, even though she was currently sitting. Her lips involuntarily curved up in response and she saw him relax, pleased to see her sending him a warm gesture his way.

Cassandra stood and declared her intentions to retreat for the evening – somehow multiple hours had passed since Ellana first sat down at the bar's table. Alistair decided he was to call it quits as well, and suddenly they were all standing up to turn in for the night. Ellana hung back and watched Cullen approaching the Inn's stairs. She reached out and grabbed at his hand, causing him to turn around and give her a confused look.

She waited for the rest of their companions to disappear from the stairs before stepping closer to him and lifting up to place her lips lightly against his own. "Ellana…" he started before she silenced him, throwing her mouth onto his and relishing in the warmth and comfort of his kiss. His arms wrapped around her from mere habit and his hands explored her back until landing on her ass. She grabbed at his fur mantle, pulling herself closer into him and whispering, "what room are you in?"

He regained some of his composure and slightly pushed her back, bringing their eyes to meet. "Ellana – are you sure? This… why are you wanting to do this, now?"

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself back into him. "Cullen, just bring me to your room and make love to me – please." She widened her eyes and pouted her lips, begging him to do as she asked. He was useless against her when she gave him that look; quickly picking her up within his arms, he carried her up the stairs and brought her to his room.

Once inside, she threw herself at him in a drunken, aggressive fury and began to kiss him. Her hands brushed through his hair and she leaned her head to one side, allowing herself to fall deeper into the kiss.

"Should we be doing this tonight? When we haven't… resolved things?" He whispered in a desperate plea for her to stop.

She glanced down at his waistband and sent him a sly smirk, "I think your body may be betraying that sentiment, ma'arlath." She brought a hand down to slide against his hardened member, feeling delighted at the look of pleasure which spread across his face.

"Are you sure?" In between deepened breaths, he asked her with worried eyes.

"Cullen, take me." She instructed and he obeyed.

He picked her up and threw her down on the bed, leaning over to gently place a trail of kisses down her chin to her chest. His hands grabbed at her waist, slowly pushing up her tunic and rubbing small circles across her hips and ribs with his calloused thumbs. Her skin was like freshly spun silk; it's softness forever surprised him and he found himself amazed that something so flawless could be his to touch, whenever he so chose. He furrowed his brow – was she? His to touch?

Ellana felt him hesitating and glanced up at him with a raw hunger spilling out of her eyes. "You don't want me?" She whispered.

"The opposite." He stroked her face, "I want all of you, always. Not just your body – " his hand made its way down to rest gently above her breast near her heart. "All of you. Do I still have that?"

She smiled and pulled him down to her, placing her lips on his neck and whispered into his skin, "I am yours."

It sent shivers up Cullen's spine and he roughly grabbed at her hips, throwing her tunic over her head and allowing it to land on the floor. He needed her; needed to feel that she still belonged to him – that he belonged to her. He didn't have the patience for foreplay this evening and quickly removed her pants, along with his own clothing, before positioning himself between her legs. Harshly, he crashed into her; shivering at the feeling of his member entering – at the feeling of her warmth and wetness welcoming him and begging for more. She gasped at his sudden entry and the noise sent him into a manic frenzy. His thrusts were instantly rapid and rough; her moans giving him the approval needed to continue fucking her in such an aggressive way. It wasn't anger that had him pounding into her; he wanted to hear her scream out of pleasure – not pain.

He could feel himself building and leaned down over her on the bed. "Ellana, I want to hear you yell my name."

She thew her arms around his neck and angled her hips so that he could reach farther within her. Cullen could feel her nails digging into his back and he knew she was close. A few moments later, he could feel her tightening around him and watched as she thew her head back in ecstasy. His hand wrapped under her ass to press her further up into him and he too began to reach his peak. She moaned loudly underneath him, screaming his name and begging him not to stop. When she finally came down from her thrill, she nestled her head into his neck and quietly whispered, "Ar lath ma."

"I love you, too." He planted a kiss on her forehead. "More than you know, Ellana… I love you."

…..

Cullen woke up the next morning with Ellana wrapped in his arms. He let out a happy sigh – Maker did it ever feel good to have her back like this. Thinking of her screams during their climax last night had him instantly hardening again; he had missed being intimate with her during this trip. She began to stir awake and he brushed his hand lightly against her hip, slowly shifting himself to climb on top of her in a hopeful plea for a round of morning delight.

She shimmied over the right and awkwardly glanced over at him, cradling her head with her palm and with squinted eyes. "Creators, I am…" she whipped her eyes with her palm, "I'm a mess this morning. My head…" Suddenly, she noticed their lack of clothing and deeply blushed.

"I was pretty drunk as well," he nervously approached the subject, "Do you – you do remember what we did last night, right?"

She nodded her head, yes. She remembered.

"Good." He grinned and reached out for her waist to pull her in close.

She began to rise from the bed and gave him a weird look, "I um – I'm sorry for last night. I remember sort of pushing you into doing this and so…"

"I didn't need that much encouragement." He laughed while getting out of bed, himself. "I am quite pleased with how our evening ended. I missed you, in that way."

Her lips pursed together and she lowered her eyes. "I… kind of regret it. It was amazing! I won't claim that it wasn't but… we didn't talk about anything. I – I just lost myself in how good you looked last night and I feel… rather foolish this morning."

Cullen felt as though she had pierced him in the heart with an arrow. "I see…"

Ellana let out a deep breath and finished pulling her tunic over her head. Slowly, she walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Regret is a strong word, perhaps I shouldn't have used it. I just meant – I mean to say that… I still feel confused, Cullen. I still have worries and fears over the things we spoke of."

He nodded.

"I just need some time to think, ma'arlath." She whispered and then quietly left his room.

Several minutes later, Cullen was prepping his horse for their departure when Alistair walked over to him with a sheepish grin on his face. "Did my eyes see correctly last night that you and the missus made up?"

Cullen solemnly shook his head. "I don't know."

Alistair raised an eyebrow, "I saw you two going into your room."

Cullen let out a deep breath and went over the night's events with Ellana, along with their uncomfortable discussion this morning. "…so, I have no idea what I'm to think." Cullen exasperatedly leaned his head against his horse.

"Hm…" Alistair mumbled, "Yes, that's certainly confusing. Sorry my friend, I know you would prefer to have her happily riding along with you today. Rather unfortunate that we'll be arriving back at Skyhold in the middle of all this."

Cullen nodded. Yes, it sucked; there was no other way to phrase it. They'd be returning to all their friends and the Inquisition's soldiers in less than 24 hours and it was bound to be noticeable that the Commander and Inquisitor were no longer on speaking terms.

Alistair patted his friend's shoulder, "At least you can relax about her and the Dalish mage." He shrugged his shoulder, "If she was drunkenly throwing herself at you last night, she's probably been truthful in saying they're only friends. She said 'I love you'?"

Cullen sadly nodded again.

"Well then, she does – still. I mean, I knew it hadn't gone away that quickly and I know this is not the way you'd like for it to have ended but it must make you feel a little better. At least she's not jumping on someone else's lap when she's two sheets to the wind! Better yours than his." He laughed and pointed a thumb back at Silvhen.

Cullen grumbly chuckled; Alistair had a point. It was comforting to know that she still craved that with him. Maybe it wasn't all doom and gloom – maybe she needed just as she had said, some time to process everything on her own. Cullen had made his position clear: he would be there for her whenever she was ready to talk with him. For now, he would trust in what the two of them had and allow her some quiet time. Hopefully, she would arrive at the conclusion that they were better together than apart.

Especially since they had one day left before returning to Skyhold and dealing with their next hurdle… how in Andraste's ass they were going to deal with Gaspard and Celine.

Thank you for reading & yayy, back in Skyhold next chapter! Nevarra has been a freakin' doozy!