Cullen woke from a mercifully dreamless sleep feeling disoriented and too hot. When he felt something squirming restlessly against his body, he very suddenly snapped awake. Memories of the previous night returned to him in waves.

A maelstrom of emotions rained down upon him, feeling gratitude and disbelief but also intense concern and uneasiness. Being very careful not to disturb his sleeping bedfellow, he pulled slightly back and took in the sight of her.

He could clearly see the silhouette of Seyna in the early morning light, and his heart skipped a beat. If he could free his arms, he would pinch himself. Several times. His heart skipped a beat as he watched her body rise and fall with each rapid, panting breath. Hmm that seemed odd…

Then she squirmed again, her entire body restless. Her fists clenched so tightly that her knuckles were white. She was breathing quite heavily. Briefly he worried that she might be trapped in a bad dream as he had been just last night.

This thought concerned him. He wanted this place to be safe and comfortable for her. Not plagued by the troubling demons that were so familiar to him. He made to try waking her up but hesitated when he reached for her. She had said something he couldn't understand.

Then it sounded like she mumbled his name. It was pleading and desperate. He paused, filled with disbelief, and then carefully pulled himself closer to her. He wanted to be sure he had heard her correctly. Her back arched and she let out a faint mewl, and she said his name in a clear, passionate tone.

Well, that certainly wasn't the kind of dream he was expecting she was caught in.

He felt torn. It felt shamefully unfair to savor in this experience and let her carry on without being aware what was happening. He realized also that the inferno of desire within him wanted terribly to let her persist. As her hips rocked into him and met hard resistance, she gasped softly. He felt his very weak resolve shatter. He needed her, and he needed to know she wanted him. All of him.

There was one (very risky) way to answer his question: Would she continue if she were awake?

He could wake her and find out.

He would wake her and find out.

Very carefully he brought his head closer to hers. He gently brushed the length of her pointed ear with the tip of his nose. Slowly he traced it up and back down, then up again. With as much control as he could manage, he blew a whisper of his hot breath across her lobe. She was pressed firmly against the length of his body and her form became suddenly very still.

He held his breath, completely tensed. He fully expected to be slapped, or shocked with a violent burst of magic.

"Hmmm?" She hummed in a pleased, questioning tone. She arched her back in an exaggerated curve as she stretched. He was certain that at any moment she would snap awake and suddenly pull away as if scalded.

She did not.

When she settled out of stretching, she pushed her back firmly against his torso and sighed contently. His heart leapt into his throat. This moment was both pure bliss and pure agony. Still, he waited. He was coiled like a spring and ready to pull back at any sign she was going to be unhappy.

She was not.

"Cullen?" Seyna's sleepy voice was hopeful. She sounded happy and expectant. The syrupy nature of her still drowsy tone was more endearing than anything he could have imagined. She was… content. Comfortable. It was more than he could have hoped.

"Yes?" He whispered as quietly as he could manage, lips still close enough to barely brush against her ear as he spoke. His heart hammered in his chest, feeling like he had put everything on the line. Just this interaction—the intimacy of it—was asking so much of her. Was this what she wanted of him? He felt as if every nerve in his body were teetering on a tightrope.

She inhaled sharply, but the gasp was not a bad one. His arms tightened around her frame, and she arched her body against him in response. It was both an answer and not an answer.

"I…" she began but faltered. His breath was still hot on her ear, lips just grazing the delicate skin there. It seemed to be having a satisfyingly distracting effect on her. She leaned her head back, searching for the contact of his shoulder, exposing the length of her neck. Her fingers laced tightly in his hand that was trapped under her.

"Yes?" He whispered again, and very tentatively kissed the spot just below her ear. It thrilled him when a soft moan escaped her, and her hips pressed more tightly against his. He could feel her moan reverberate in his chest, and it was somehow as enjoyable as everything else he was feeling.

"Yes…" she gasped, and he felt hot skin against the palm of his hand. She had guided his hand through the open front of her tunic, and she held it against her abdomen. He smiled into her skin and planted a very slow trail of kisses down the length of her neck. He savored each one, feeling happier than he thought possible.

He used his free hand to trace down her silhouette very gently, delighting when she abruptly giggled and squirmed.

"S-sorry," she laughed, and then took a shaky breath. "That tickles." She managed, before losing words to soft moans again when he kissed the crook of her neck where it met with her shoulder.

He placed his hand across her hip gently. Asking for permission, testing the waters. Then he pressed more firmly. His fingers curved into the very slight hollow at the front of her hip and pulled her against him. When she enthusiastically pushed herself backwards, a soft moan escaped him. She rocked her hips back, pressing against his erection and then grinding against him slowly. He swore he saw stars.

Seyna remained firmly in disbelief as she writhed against all the hard planes of Cullen's body. His strong chest, his arms encasing her, him. With boldness that she did not fully understand, she guided his palm to her breast and delighted when she heard (and felt) a low moan from him. His hand was so tentative and gentle. His lips on her shoulder felt the same way, kissing very gently and carefully. It was driving her insane, she was filled with so much wanting and something that felt like a charging force that was being held at bay. This teasing pace was going to unravel her.

A voice in a deep, deep corner of her brain tried to be heard over her animalistic drive. Does he want to have you or just your body? What will happen after this? She mentally shuddered at the idea. What if this was a roll in the hay for him? Just harmless fun…

She wouldn't recover. It would be like trying to put elfroot paste back in the sleeve at that point. Her heart would not be able to tolerate recovering from some sort of friends-with-benefits or one-time-fling physical relationship.

She ruminated on this, all the while he drove her further mad with kisses and-By the Creator, was that his teeth? They grazed her shoulder tentatively, then more boldly when she whimpered in response. It was the most fantastic sort of not-pain pain that made her entire body clench and quiver.

She barely managed to steady herself and take a deep, measured breath. Before she opened her mouth to speak, he had paused his wanton kissing and grinding against her body. She grinned. He knew her well enough to know when she was about to try to find the right thing to say.

"Is everything all right?" he asked, voice gentle and worried. He drew himself back slightly, lips no longer at her pulse.

With a very heavy sigh, Seyna maneuvered her body away from his enough to roll onto her back and face him better. Her every nerve instantly cried out at the lack of sensation and discontinuation of the very enjoyable foreplay.

They both shuffled their limbs in an inelegant sort of dance until they were less awkwardly arranged. This prompted a slight laugh from Seyna, but they figured it out. Cullen lay on his side, his head resting against his arm. He had withdrawn his arms from around her and the distance between them felt suddenly vast.

She looked up into his eyes, trying desperately to read what he was thinking at that moment. His expression was concerned and hesitant, but it didn't tell her enough about how he thought of her.

"Yes—more than all right. I mean—" Seyna's mouth screwed up into a sort of puzzled expression, not sure how she could possibly broach what was on her mind. She cast her gaze away, unable to stare up at him any longer. "Also no. Not all right." She was sounding meek again, just like the night before.

"I'm so sorry…" Cullen began, his brow so furrowed she thought they would forever meet in the middle. "That was entirely too forward of me, I never should ha-"

"No, no, it's not that." Seyna jumped in, her hand quickly coming up to caress his face. The stubble there felt fantastic against her palm. It was such a grating sensation on such a sensitive part of her skin. It gave her ideas. Focus!

"You didn't do anything wrong. I just—I need to… um." She closed her eyes and took another deep breath. It felt very impossible to speak coherently while watching his warm golden eyes pour over her. Out of necessity for continuing this conversation, she drew back and stared up at the ceiling instead. She sighed deeply again, blowing all the air out and using some of it to push her hair out of her face. She felt Cullen chuckling beside her, almost silent. He reached up and brushed some of the hair away, tucking it behind her ear very carefully.

That tender moment of connection was enough to steel herself and forge onward.

"I want to talk about… this. Before we do anything." Her tone was sad and defeated, already knowing that she was putting an end to their intimate moment.

And probably all hope for any future intimate moments.

"What do you mean by 'this'?" Cullen prompted. His voice was uncharacteristically weak, airy almost. She spared a glance at his face but could not read his troubled expression.

"Er- well… Us…" Seyna couldn't believe how vulnerable just that one phrase made her feel. Calling them an 'us' was so damning. This was worse than any physical danger she'd ever found herself in. She was exposed, fragile, leaving so much of herself open to harm.

"Us?" He repeated in that same weak tone, face still an unreadable mask.

She nodded.

There was a long moment where neither of them asked or answered anything of the other. Their breathing was matched, in sync. It was such a simple thing, but it felt like a very solid, reassuring connection to him. Inhale together- weary, afraid, wanting. Exhale together- unsteady, faltering, seeking courage.

She was trying to organize her thoughts into which were the easiest to confess, all the while desperately wishing she could read his mind. Her only reassurance was that he did not immediately jump in to interject that the 'Us' did not exist or wasn't important. She chewed on her lower lip, completely unsure of the next step.

She was so scared now, not wanting her stable world to change. She wanted to undo the whole morning and go back to before they had woken up together. It would be far easier than navigating this minefield of emotions and risking her heart. She drew a shuddering breath and opened her mouth to speak.

"I… Care… deeply for you, you know." Cullen said before she could speak, and Seyna felt herself freeze in place, waiting for him to continue. She snapped her mouth closed. "No, I… Adore you. Utterly. Completely. I do not want this if it is not what precisely what you want, and I do not want this if… I am not what you want."

There it all was. Out in the open and more than she could have ever imagined. She felt like she could glow, like her sudden happiness would explode from her. Seyna studied his face, searching for any dishonesty or charade. Her own expression settled into a sort of unhappy scowl. She needed to reach for something familiar to steady her overwhelming joy—so humor won out.

He laughed nervously when he managed to look down at her and saw her exaggerated grumpy face. Even hesitant and held back, his laugh was a wonderful sound.

"Seyna?" He prompted gently.

"Hmph." She replied in a curt tone.

"You… seem unhappy."

"You stole my thunder." She replied and crossed her arms with unnecessary force. She stared up at the ceiling, trying not to crack. She couldn't maintain her scowl very well though, as a smile began to tug at her mouth and ruin the effect.

"Your…. Your thunder?" He chided, still laughing uneasily. His body was held very carefully still, she noticed. Every fiber of him was tenuous waiting for her answer. Rejection or acceptance, but he didn't know which. She wanted to ease all those muscles, she wanted to see him so assured in her feelings that he turned to jelly.

She gave up the mock-angry reaction and grinned quite widely when she turned her face to meet his. "You took the wind out of my sails! You lessened the impact of my heartfelt confession by beating me to the punch." Her hand returned to caress his face again as she smiled openly up at him. She was struggling to wait for him to believe her.

Seeing Cullen understand what she was playing at was better than any sunrise she'd ever seen. The realization seemed to pour over him very slowly. His expression brightened and he smiled so widely that her heart almost broke apart just to witness it. "No." He insisted, but his voice was quiet. His golden eyes were shining, and they could not stop staring at her.

She nodded fervently with a laugh, "Yes!"

She watched as his whole body finally seemed to melt when she replied. It was magnificent, it was the happiest she had ever seen him.

There was a sudden flurry of motion as Cullen changed his position and then he was over her body, resting his weight on his palms. He stared down at her; expression happy but measured. Reserved. Seyna felt her heart quicken as he stared down at her. She was his whole world in that moment. It was a very humbling position.

She quirked her brow at him with a grin, questioning his sudden shift.

"Tell me." He said. His voice was quiet, but it had a tantalizing edge to it.

"You're… everything." Her voice was barely above a whisper, but it was sincere. It was the best she had come up with before he had stolen her thunder. It was honest and it was the easiest way to express the magnitude of her feelings. She met his gaze and felt how it seared her. He studied her with an expression she could only identify as intense and unwavering. Focused.

With a quick adjustment, he dropped to is elbows and held his face just above hers. His hands cradled her head. The tips of his fingers framed her face, his thumb slowly caressing her chin. Seyna felt her cheeks grow very hot. His body was touching almost every part of her now.

"Tell me." His voice was quiet and husky. It amazed her to no end what an effect his voice could have on her. She wanted to hear him say many, many things in that tone.

Seyna smiled shyly and turned away. He used the position of his hands to guide her back to his face, meeting her eyes again. He wasn't letting her shy away, not now. Every part of her body felt like it was on fire under the weight of his body and his stare. She felt her skin tingle like she had just gotten gooseflesh everywhere.

Her stomach turned over uncertainly. How much should she admit? And if she didn't right now, how long before she eventually told him anyway? Uncertain, she dared to meet his eyes again. The look she saw there was breathtaking. It was as though she were an oasis at the end of a journey through endless dessert, the only respite for him. She could feel that he was returning what she had said. To him, she was everything.

"I think I love y-." She managed to say, voice a soft whisper. Her chest squeezed intensely with the truth of it suddenly out for him to hear.

It seemed to be killing Cullen to wait for her to say it, because she couldn't quite finish before he captured her mouth with his. He crushed into her with hungry, demanding kisses. Everything inside Seyna screamed pleasantly, and she wrapped every limb she could manage around him, desperate to feel him everywhere. She moaned and it coaxed a moan from him. She could feel him everywhere and it was not enough. Without warning, he drew back again. She was already breathing heavily.

"Don't make me tell you again." She teased as she caught her breath. He laughed and shook his head.

"I'm not." He replied. He held her eye contact as he came in for another kiss. This was different than the first—it was not urgent need and hunger; it was savoring her. It was gentle, so slow and so soft. The kind of kiss that you could not share with a casual fling—it was sweet and vulnerable. It was deliberate and caressing. Again, he was returning what she had said to him. She smiled broadly into his lips and felt complete when he smiled back.

She held his head between her hands, fingers sliding into his hair and finding purchase. She pulled him back this way which seemed to surprise him. His eyes came open again, questioning her. She grinned.

"Tell me."