Ashe

She felt delighted when she saw the playful look in Cullen's eyes as he stood there, teasing her with some letter from an Orlesian. She couldn't bear anyone else looking at her like she was some fragile little girl, and she was grateful that Cullen didn't.

After she threw the letter away and practically invited him to fuck her, he smiled at her like he used to, his expression slick, hot, cunning.

She bit her lip and then she kissed him. She stumbled forward slightly when he put his arms around her waist and she flinched when she stubbed her toe against the desk, hissing through her teeth.

Shit, that hurt like a son of a...

"Maker, I'm so sorry, Ashe," Cullen mumbled and stepped away from her, like she was carrying the plague.

Huh?

"I shouldn't have touched you like that, it was too soon. Dammit, I should have known better!" he berated himself and turned around to face the window instead of her.

"Cullen," she said slowly. "Are you kidding me right now?"

He didn't answer and she started to feel really pissed off. "I just hit my damn toe against the desk, nothing more!" she said, frustrated.

"Please," he said and threw his arms out in front of him when he'd turned around again to face her. "Don't make excuses for me, it was inappropriate and I should have known better."

"I'm not – Maker, I'm telling you, it was nothing! And what do you mean 'you should know better'? What is it that you are supposed to know, exactly?"

"I should have known you weren't ready for this yet."

Ashe blinked, stunned at his stupidity. Didn't he know her at all? Did he want to attend his own funeral?

"So you're saying that you know better than me what I'm ready for or not?"

"I didn't..."

She slapped him, hard. He just stared at the floor. She hit him again. No reaction, no hands flying up to stop her, or even defend himself. He refused to touch her, even though that meant he got hurt.

She shoved him then, anything to get him to react.

He looked at her with ill-concealed pity. "It's okay, love. Just let it out."

She was seething by now. "Let fucking what out? What do you think this is? Do you think I'm so damaged that I came here in the middle of the night, to try to seduce you and then panic when you touch me? Do you think that you remind me of Anders? Maker's breath!" she swore. "All this because I stubbed my fucking toe? You're so full of yourself, Cullen. Well, you can just sit here and wallow in your completely unnecessary pity then. I've got better things to do. Like not feeling sorry for myself or linger on what happened in the past."

She left his office without so much as a glance back at him, and just as well, since he didn't say a word in response.

Cullen

The sky was cloudy but eerily still, like the calm before a storm was about to hit, but Cullen wasn't concerned about that. A storm had already hit him in the form of Ashe Trevelyan.

Maker, the temperament of that girl...

But he couldn't blame her. He was leaning his arms against the battlements, shoulders tense as he thought about what an idiot he was as he looked up to the sky. It was still dark, barely an hour after she'd slammed the door to his office behind her.

He was an idiot, because after all this time, he simply didn't know how to handle her. She'd been traumatized, was it really so loathesome of him to want to treat her carefully? He sighed, because he knew as soon as he thought about it that it was probably presumptuous of him, because really, what did he know? She hadn't talked about what had happened with Anders on the way back to Skyhold, except for how much she wanted the mage dead. She seemed far more angry than broken. And now, she'd come to him for comfort or to feel normal or whatever it was that drove her to him, and what had he done? Reminded her again of what had happened. What a bastard he was.

Sentries passed behind him every so often, careful not to disturb him, so he was surprised when he heard someone walk up and stand beside him.

"Couldn't sleep, Commander?"

Cullen glanced at the man beside him.

"You could say that. And you, Hawke?"

"Mhm. A bit difficult when one of your former best friends kidnapped and hurt your current one."

Cullen said nothing. He fleetingly registered Hawke using the term 'friend' and not something more intimate to describe Ashe, but he didn't really care about that right now. The time for rivalry over her was, if not over, definitely put on hold.

"So, what did you do?" Hawke said and looked at Cullen, an amused twinkle in his eyes.

"Maker," Cullen groaned. "Am I really that obvious?"

"Yes, really. Standing here, sulking for hours. As far as I know, nothing else has happened since our arrival, so you've clearly spoken to Ashe."

"I... may have implied that I knew what was best for her, and she didn't agree."

Cullen could almost hear how Hawke rolled his eyes at him, but he refused to look at the man, opting to keep staring out over the horizon instead.

"I'm surprised you still have your head attached to your neck," Hawke commented dryly.

"Yes, me too, me too." Cullen had no idea why he was telling Hawke any of this, but it felt good to talk to someone.

"Look, Commander. I generally don't like to get involved in other people's business -"

Cullen scoffed at that.

"Hey, do you want my advice or not?"

He wanted to say no, but he did want it, since he only seemed capable of fucking things up on his own.

"It's simple," Hawke continued. "You just have to do what she wants. And do it well, smoothly, you hear me? She deserves to feel happy."

Cullen shrugged in exasperation. "But I don't know what she wants! I'm not even sure that she does."

"Well, let me guess what happened: She was abundantly clear about what she wanted from you, tonight at least, and then your overprotective alpha male persona took over and decided that she was the helpless, little girl that she hates when people are treating her like." Hawke clicked his teeth and shook his head. "I'm amazed you don't know better. I mean, how long have you known her, really?"

With that, Hawke turned around and walked toward the stairs down, whistling a merry tune as he went.

Maker, that man was insufferable. But absolutely, irrevocably right.

Hawke

Greyer Hawke was a practical man. And had he believed for one second that all Ashe needed was sex, he would have been more than happy to provide that for her. But right now, she needed more than psysical comfort. She needed stability, love. Not that he didn't love her, but the stability part was the real issue. Sooner of later he would have to leave. He couldn't stay in Skyhold, he had other things to attend to. And he was afraid that it would be impossible to leave her if their feelings went any deeper than they did now, or that he would ask her to come with him, which he knew she couldn't say yes to even if she wanted to.

Unnecessary complications he could do without, even though his jaw clenched tightly as his mind uttered the thought.

Better to leave her be and let her explore the wiser alternative. Cullen was a hotheaded bastard, but he was Ashe's general. He already had a natural place by her side and he would never leave her. Besides, Ashe had gone to him this night, therefore he was what she wanted, at least right now.

Regardless of his personal feelings, Greyer Hawke was a practical man.

Ashe

She woke up and yawned, rubbing her tired eyes before opening them and taking in her surroundings. Maker, it felt good to be back in her own room. She nestled deeper into the mattress, enjoying the soft warmth of the covers and blankets draped over her body. Bright rays of sunshine shone in through the windows – the approaching storm of last night seemingly gone. Her belly rumbled with hunger and she reluctantly left the warmth of her bed to get dressed and go out to raid the kitchen. She shivered a little when the cool air hit the bare skin of her arms and legs, regretting putting on the tiny nightgown she had on instead of her pyjamas last night. She tip-toed over the freezing floor and sat down at her vanity, groaning when catching sight of herself in the mirror. She had bags under her eyes and her hair was a tangled mess.

"Andraste, I look like crap..." she mumbled to herself.

"You look adorable."

She yelped and spun around, spotting Cullen leaning casually against the railing.

"What the fuck, Cullen? Trying to give me a heart attack? Still being an ass, I see," she grumbled. He just laughed quietly at her and once the shock of finding herself not alone settled, she eyed him from head to toe. He was wearing leather pants, boots and a loose, white shirt, barely buttoned.

"Maker's breath," she murmured.

"What?"

Oh, that sly look...

"I'm still angry at you! You're a bastard, a know-it-all bastard. I hate you."

Cullen snickered and walked up to her, but she stubbornly backed away from him. "You don't hate me, little one."

"Maker, don't call me that!" she snapped and threw a pillow his way. It was ridiculous for him to call her that, she was a warrior, almost as tall as he was, not some dainty little country girl.

He just grinned infuriatingly at her and to her great surprise, he picked up the pillow and threw it back at her. It hit her right in the face and she fell back onto the bed with a muffled 'oomph!'

She'd barely removed the pillow from her face when she felt Cullen straddling her, making her wonder how in the world those leather pants he had on held together, before she felt his rather impressive equipment press into her stomach.

Not rather impressive, she admitted to herself. Damn impressive, and she couldn't help the blood rushing between her legs.

He leaned down and nuzzled her neck. "Say you hate me, and I'll get off and leave," he murmured before he licked her neck, his tongue swiping over her skin, once, twice. She moaned in pleasure.

"I do hate you, but you will do no such thing," she whispered and pulled him in for a hard kiss. After a few breathless moments, he pulled away and smiled crookedly at her.

"I know what else I want to kiss," he said and she didn't even have time to think of a witty response before his hand caressed her inner thigh. He pulled up the hem of her nightdress and slipped his hand underneath, and she bit her lip when he brushed his fingers against her already wet center. He kissed his way down her neck and her collarbone while he eased a finger into her, making her breaths come out in short, ragged bursts. She moaned and arched her back as he kissed her still covered breast, sucking at her nipple, making the fabric sopping wet. He continued down and she almost protested when he removed his finger from inside of her to discard her clothing completely. He looked at her naked body with hungry eyes.

"You're so fucking beautiful," he murmured, and then he sank down to his knees and pushed her legs apart before pushing his tongue against her cunt. He licked her folds, all the way up to her clit, and she cried out when he flicked his tongue against it. "Maker, you're so wet for me," he whispered and pushed two fingers into her soaking pussy. He moved his fingers expertly in and out of her, hitting the sweet spot with his tongue every time. It wasn't long before she was a shaking mess, moments away from her orgasm. "I want to feel you around me when you come, sweetheart," he growled and lapped at her a final time before he withdrew. She wanted to scream at him for stopping, but it was worth it when she saw him throw his shirt over his head.

"Are you trying to kill me? Fuck me now, Cullen, or I'm going to come just from looking at you," she said and stared at the ripped muscles of his abdomen.

He laughed quietly again. "As you command, Inquisitor," he said playfully and quickly unbuttoned his pants and threw them to the floor. She bit her lip hungrily when his cock came into view, eager to feel him inside her. She turned over and stood on her knees and hands, desperate to feel him fuck her as hard as possible.

He bent over her, molding himself against her without actually entering her. Feeling his hard cock teasing her opening made her mad with desire. She felt his mouth right next to her ear. "You want to be a filthy little girl, huh? You want me to take you like this, from behind, like some whore?" he hissed.

Yes, yes, yes!

This was exactly what she wanted. No treating her like she was some fragile little thing just because of what had happened. In its own way, this was far more respectful, doing what he knew she'd always liked.

"Say it," he growled again, his hands all over her, pinching her nipples, rubbing against her clit.

"Fuck me hard Cullen, please, fuck me like a whore," she begged. He was not long in granting her wish and she gasped violently when he pushed his cock into her. He was huge and it took several thrusts before he was all the way into her. He stilled when he finally was, and she enjoyed the feeling of being so utterly filled by him. He kissed her neck and squeezed her hips lovingly. "Ashe, you feel so good," he whispered and then he moved against her and her eyes almost rolled back into her head with pleasure. His cock stretched her so deliciously and the sounds he made when he fucked her was enough to set her blood on fire. It wasn't long before she came, gasping and screaming his name while clenching around him, making him grunt, relentlessly driving himself in and out of her, not slowing down for one second.

She was so sensitive and it was like pleasure doubled when he fucked her like that all throughout her orgasm, it was like it never really ended. Wave after wave hit her while he whispered dirty things in her ear, cursing and moaning so sinfully that she never wanted to hear anything else but these delicious profanities out of his mouth for the rest of her life.

He flipped her over to face him and she lost track of time as he continued to drive himself into her, reveling in feeling his hot, sweating body pressed against hers.

"Andraste, fuck... Ashe, you're gonna make me come," he growled. "You want me to fill you up? My sweet, little girl, do you want me to make you even dirtier?"

"I want to taste you," she said and smiled, her eyes glinting with playful mischief. She opened her mouth wide and stuck her tongue out as if ready to take his cum. He seemed more than happy to go along with her little game. He pushed her up against the pillows and withdrew from her, kneeling in front of her while he took his cock in his hand, still glistening wet from her juices and started to jerk himself off right in front of her mouth. She leaned forward and opened her mouth wider, touching the tip of him with her wet, little tongue, making him groan. He moved his hand even faster, grunting and moaning harder as he jerked himself against her tongue.

"Fuck, fuck, are you ready?" he moaned, breathless. She nodded eagerly and felt delighted when a guttural sound tore up through his throat and spurt after spurt of his cum landed in her mouth. She swallowed as much as he could, feeling so deliciously dirty when some of it ran down the corner of her mouth.

When he was spent, he collapsed down into the bed, catching his breath for a few moments before opening his eyes and staring at her in wonder as she made a show of licking up every last drop of him, wiping her mouth with her finger and licking it slowly before licking her lips clean.

"Fuck, you are too amazing for words," he mumbled and pulled her down to him, nestling her head against his shoulder. They lay there in the afterglow, not speaking for a while, before he asked: "Are you good, sweetheart?"

This time she didn't mind him asking. "Yeah. I'm good," she smiled.