NSFW.

We needed a place to spend the night after helping Levi clear Soldier's Peak, so here we are, in a cleaned out room. Or rather, here I am. The others have gone down to Levi and the courtyard where we planned on eating, but I'm still within the castle walls, drumming my fingers on my thighs anxiously. I should change my clothes and join them, but I find myself stuck in place, frozen out of nervousness. How am I supposed to tell her? How am I supposed to tell Leliana that I love her?

I've spent some time thinking about it. I have wanted to dismiss my attention has something foolish and stupid, but every time she smiles at me, or laughs because of something I said, or kisses me, my heart beats a little faster. I've become obsessed with getting to spend time around her, making up excuses that I hope she'll accept. I make it my mission to get a smile out of her at least twice a day. She's the only person I try that with. She's the only person to ever make me feel the way I do. Her touch, her smile, the way her eyes light up when she finishes doing something important, all of it has me wrapped around her finger. The way she talks to me, so happy and carefree, makes me ache. All I want is to tell her how I feel, but I have no idea how to go about doing it.

"Dammit all," I mutter under my breath, somewhat angry and somewhat annoyed with myself. I begin removing my armor, arranging it in a haphazard mess by the foot of my bed, and change into my traveling clothes, the cottons I wear at camp. Just as I'm about to exit, a knock comes from the door.

"Are you in there Aedan?" Hearing Leliana's voice brings a smile to my face, but I quickly wipe it away. I don't want to seem like some lovesick puppy. "We're all waiting for you."

I pull the door open. Her entire face lights up at the sight of me and she smiles widely. She's not wearing her armor, but instead a fitted shirt I find completely distracting, and loose brown trousers. I try not to be obvious with my staring, but by the way her cheeks turn pink, I don't do very good at it. Clearing my throat awkwardly, I manage to say, "I'm uh...I'm not very hungry."

"Oh," Leliana says. She almost sounds...disappointed. "Are you sure? You don't want to come sit with me anyway?" Her eyes widen in the slightest at her words as she realizes what she said. "Er...I mean 'us'. Levi was going to tell us about the castle's history."

I resist the urge to laugh. Smooth, Leli. Smooth. "I have enough history lessons under my belt to last a lifetime, Leli."

"Well, yes, but..." She looks back over her shoulder. She's not as good at keeping her composure as she usually is. It's adorable. "I was...wondering if you would..."

I raise a brow when she trails off. "If I would...?"

After a moment of thought, Leliana shakes her head. "Never mind. I'm going to eat. You know where to find me if you need me." Then she turns around and marches away, back stiff. She's...mad? About what? What did I do?

Groaning, I step back into my room and close the door. Then I flop onto my bed, covering my face with an arm. "Women." My voice is muffled by my shirt sleeve, but Leliana is apparently still close enough to hear it, and I hear her snort as she walks off. I close my eyes at the noise, slightly annoyed, wanting to be mad at her, but I keep finding myself thinking about how she looked moments ago. Happy to see me, smiling, and...er...that shirt...it, um...yeah. No words for it. Maker, I feel my face reddening at the very thought of her. At the desire to grab her and have my way with her in the middle of the hallway...

"Fuck it," I grumble, rolling to my feet. I almost run out the door, chasing after the last person in Thedas I would've expected to want. An Orlesian, a bard, a Chantry Sister! I wouldn't have expected any of this to happen a year ago. I never thought I would become a Grey Warden, one of the last in Ferelden, or find myself doing everything in my power to make my one Orlesian companion as happy as humanly possible. "Leliana, wait!"

"For what?"

I turn a corner and accidentally slam into her. She yelps as we fall to the floor, not that I blame her. I'm a tall person, and broad-shouldered, compared to her average height and thin build. I could crush her easily. It's probably what I'm doing now, pining her to the floor as I am. She winces, flaring her nostrils to prevent from sneezing on my face. I push myself up and pull her after me.

"Ow," she growls halfheartedly.

I give a nervous laugh, forcing myself to keep eye contact instead of tracing her curves. "Oops?"

"Oops," she agrees, rubbing her face. Leliana looks me over once, frowning, and adds, "You have a solid chest. Thank the Maker you weren't wearing your armor. Hmm." She taps my chest, flicks her eyes up to mine, and looks back down before bursting out in laughter. I chuckle, confused, while she spends a good five minutes laughing hard enough that she falls on my chest, hugging me so she can keep her footing. The sound makes me feel lighter despite my confusion, and her warmth, pressed so firmly against me, makes my heart race. I'm suddenly aware of everything about her. The way she smells, the pitch of her laugh, the places she's touching the most. I swallow, squeezing my eyes shut to keep control of myself. I have no experience with women whatsoever. Leliana is the first woman I've ever wanted the way I want her now, and it is kind of unnerving.

It takes me a moment to realize she's stopped laughing to stare up at me. I don't recognize the look she's giving me, but it only makes my desire burn hotter. Holy Maker...

Leliana stands up on her toes to press her lips to mine. The kiss starts gentle while I wrestle with my swirling mind, but as soon as I regain control of it, I wrap my arms around her and crush her to my chest. Her hands roam over my back and my shoulders, ghosting over my neck and my short hair. The tingling feeling...the blinding lust...all of it is too overwhelming for me. My nervousness, the awkwardness I felt only moments before, is gone, replaced by a deep desire to just fuck Leliana until neither of us can walk. To hell with what just happened here, or how old the castle is. I don't want to wait to be somewhere else. I can't.

I spin her around and push her against the wall, tilting her head to the side to deepen the kiss. We've gotten this far before, but one or the other stops it from going too far. I find myself hoping with everything I have that she doesn't stop me now. I have no idea what I'm doing, but by the way she holds onto me, I take it that I'm doing something right. Well, that's a lie. After spending so much time around Zevran, I sort of know what I'm supposed to do. I sort of know how to make her moan.

The instant I think of having her sprawled out beneath me, a moaning, writhing mess, I groan and press myself closer to her, parting her lips with my own. She tastes like honey, sweeter than I could possibly imagine. I swear she can hear my heart beating by now; it's all I can hear.

She rolls her hips on mine. Stars burst behind my eyelids and send waves of lust shooting straight down. I move to suck on her neck, inhaling deeply. My lungs ache from their lack of air, but it's a good ache. I do what my body tells me to and press kisses down the column of her throat, reveling in her gasps for air.

"Oh Maker..." Leliana locks a leg around my waist and grinds against me. I'm already hard enough that my trousers are actually hurting me. She's not helping matters any. "Aedan, please...not out here."

"Oh? So this is all right then?"

"Maker yes!" she exclaims. "Don't stop. Please don't stop." I stifle a laugh by kissing the spot where neck meets shoulder. Her entire body goes rigid on mine, and for a moment, I think I did something wrong, but then she arches into my touch and tilts her head to give me better access. "Aedan." I do it again, causing her to whimper. Heat pools in my stomach at the sound. It's all I can think of now, getting her to make that noise again. I want to hear her moan, whimper, everything. I want to bury myself inside of her more than I've ever wanted anything.

My senses are on fire. I'm acutely aware of every movement she makes, all of her breaths, how she smells, how she feels pressed against my aching member. She's so...alive that it hurts me.

I kiss her neck again, the place making her whimper, but instead of that, she lets out a soft, breathy moan. Hearing that is what pushes me over the deep end. I pull away and set her on her feet, locking my hand around hers. Then I start pulling her down towards the room I've claimed. I can't stop looking back at her though. Leliana's eyes are dark, but she seems excited in a strange way, one I've not experienced before. It takes all of my effort and concentration to get the door open, and far more willpower than I have to get inside without touching her. Thankfully, Leliana has the brainpower to shut the door before making a move.

She turns to face me, but I'm already on top of her, crushing my lips to hers without a moment of hesitation. She's made it clear that she wants this as much as I do. Now I'm not going to stop. We're alone for the first time in weeks. This is the first real chance I've had to even try anything.

Her hands run all over my torso, leaving feather-light touches everywhere. She leaves a path of burning touches on my body. One of her hands drifts low enough that she can grab the hem of my shirt. Leliana lifts it off me, tossing it aside carelessly. Her eyes roam my exposed skin, and from the way she looks at me, I'm guessing she approves. Ten years of training relentlessly with a sword will give you muscles. I'm no exception.

I reach for her, pulling her body into mine, and she comes happily. Shirtless, I'm open to the full extent of her touches. Her nails trace invisible patterns on my back. The palms of her hands leave warm tingles on my abdomen.

It occurs to me in my lust-driven state that she's been rather quiet. I want her writhing.

I return my lips to her neck. Something about that place...she's sensitive to it. The briefest brush of my lips has her whimpering, clutching at my body for any purchase she can find. I suck on the skin there, pulling another moan out of her. Now Leliana digs her nails into my shoulders, head thrown back to let me continue.

"Touch...me," she begs, panting. "Please, Aedan. I'm so...I'm so..." She seems unable to finish her statement, instead opting to take one of my hands in her own. She guides me beneath her shirt and to her breasts. I feel like I've been smacked by a maul. She has no breastband on! Maker help me.

She rubs into my hand, moaning loudly. When I stand here, frozen in shock, she grabs my wrist and moves my hand in slow circles. The noises she makes...sweet blood of Andraste. I gulp past my sudden wave of anxiety and surprise to resume my kisses. The pressure in my abdomen is curling through my body like a fire, keeping me from pulling away. Leliana doesn't seem to care that I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing, either. She's whimpering and moaning in pleasure, far too out of it to know I'm lost. When her hand falls from mine to grip my shoulder again, I have the movements memorized. I palm her chest and press hot, wet kisses on her throat until she begins shaking. Her nails dig into my shoulders roughly enough to draw blood, but it feels so damn good that I couldn't care less.

But that moan...the way she quivers...I know she hit her release. She collapses against me, panting heavily, whimpering through the aftershocks. I hold her to my chest, smiling faintly. I still want her desperately, but seeing her like this...worth it.

"Was that...?" I trail off, unable to voice my question, too afraid to.

She giggles. "I'm fully clothed and just felt the best I have in a while. It was wonderful." Leliana wraps her arms around my neck to pull herself up for a kiss. "But that better not be where we're stopping."

I stammer for words, at a loss for how to reply, and she laughs. Her lips find mine again and she starts pushing me back towards the bed. My heart is hammering in my chest. My head spins. How can she still be up for this so soon?

The backs of my knees hit the mattress and she pushes on my shoulders, forcing me to sit. Leliana crawls onto my lap, wrapping her legs around my waist, and runs her fingers along my scalp. My hair is barely long enough for her to get a grip on it, but she does. She leans forward to press her mouth to my own, grinding her hips on mine like before. I grab her waist to steady myself, squeezing hard enough to leave bruises, but just as I go to apologize, to make sure she's all right, she tears her mouth from mine to lean her head back and moan wickedly. Her cries of pleasure come in time with the groans she pulls from me. I buck my hips into hers, holding her against me, and she snaps back forward, kissing me so hard that everything spins.

"Now," Leliana says. "I need you...I need you now."

The tone of her voice...her whimpers and moans...and she thinks she needs me? I'm aching for her, to finally feel her. Whatever sense of nervousness had crept back into my mind vanishes now in my lust for her. I want to claim her, right here, right now, to make her scream my name so loudly that all of Thedas knows she's mine. I'm never letting go.

I pull her shirt over head slowly, bracing myself. Her stomach is flat, but I can see her muscles contract with her heavy breathing. Her skin is pale...so pale... I gulp, unprepared for what I'm about to see, to do, and squeeze my eyes shut as I throw her shirt aside.

Leliana's hand brushes over my cheek and I lean into the touch, grateful for the distraction. "You can look at me, Aedan. It's all right."

"I...I know, I'm just...it's just that... I don't know what I'm doing."

She takes my face in both of her hands and turns my head to face her. "It's all right, Aedan. I promise. I won't hold anything against you; I understand."

I'm somewhat reluctant to open my eyes, but I do. The first thing I see are her eyes. Normally a bright, vibrant sky blue, they're now darker than night itself. She wants this as much as I do; I want to give it to her, to give her everything she ever wanted, but I'm not sure how to go about doing it. So I settle for kissing her, holding her hips against mine. The kiss is slow, gentle, as earlier, but after a moment, it gains a life of its own. Leliana starts rolling and grinding on me again, crying out her excitement in moans and whimpers. I thrust my hips up into hers, but that only succeeds in making her impossibly loud. Her cries of pleasure become the only thing I can hear. My name falls from her lips like a chant. Her noises have me worked up, ready for what's to come, and after a few minutes of teasing with the clothed thrusts, she braces the palms of her hands on my chest and shoves me back onto the bed. She straddles my waist while working at the laces of my breeches, fingertips ghosting over my member. I clench my fists in the blankets and squeeze my eyes shut, groaning with each little touch.

I help her kick my trousers off. Her breathing quickens and she braces herself on my chest, leaning down to press kisses all over my neck and face. It's not long before she wriggles free of her own pants, and when she does, she moves her mouth to mine. Her hands guide mine to her breasts, urging me to tease the soft flesh.

Leliana stammers for words, begging for me to take her, or to let her take me, so I nod. She positions herself over my member, hands flat on my chest, and lowers herself onto me.

"Maker!" I let out a strangled gasp while she throws her head back and cries out. She's so warm and wet and tight. The pressure in my stomach threatens to burst right there, but I hold myself together. It takes all of my self control to let her remain in charge.

She raises herself off me before dropping back down, rolling her hips as she does so. A hiss escapes me. Her nails dig into my chest, sending waves of desire pumping through my body. I want my release, but not until she's found hers. Leliana pumps along my length, moaning occasionally. As she crests one motion, I raise my hips to meet hers.

"Oh Maker, Aedan! Yes...again, please...Maker..."

As her hips come down through the next rotation, I drive mine into hers, burying myself deep within her folds. Her breath comes in ragged gasps, moans, whimpers, but not anything productive. I'm in a similar state, lost in a world of sweat and pleasure. She squeezes me so perfectly, knowing exactly when to clench her muscles and when to not. Her hands ball up into fists and relax in time with my thrusts. She cries my name with each breath.

The pace she sets is slow, so slow I can't take it. I ache for her to fall off that edge and for myself to do the same. At this rate, it'll take forever.

I grab her hips before she can continue. I lift her off me, and as I pull her back down, I thrust up into her with enough force to make her breasts bounce. Her cries become more intense, eyes locked shut in her ecstasy, and her hands firmly planted on my chest to brace herself. Now that I'm moving her, she removes her hands to run them through her hair, whimpering.

Driving deeper into her with each thrust, I find myself staring at Leliana, looking for facial reactions. She makes few expressions I have not seen already, so I pin her hips to mine and sit up. The new angle feels so foreign yet so amazing that I groan into her shoulder. She threads her fingers into my hair instead of her own now, pressing hungry, desperate kisses to my mouth. Her tongue clashes with mine, leaving me with the taste of honey and sweat, but I don't care. I don't. It's so difficult to give a damn when I have the most beautiful woman in Thedas fucking herself with my body. I pull her close, forcing my length as deep inside of her as possible. She whines, grinding in me to even the score.

Her muscles start pulsing around me. Her breaths are even quicker than before and her cries are becoming more and more frequent.

And then she screams my name. Her body squeezes me so tightly that I see stars behind my eyelids. The feeling in my stomach is only a little from bursting, so I roll her over and begin thrusting into her with no self control whatsoever. Hard and fast. Leliana seems to will her muscles to pull me deeper, whimpering in excitement as I work her back up.

The coiled fire in my gut bursts and I grunt, shoving myself deep inside of her. I spill my seed into her without reservation, panting. My arms give out from under me and I slip from her warmth, flopping to my side.

Leliana brushes sticky strands of hair from my sweat-covered forehead. Our breathing comes in ragged gasps, but I pull her to me anyway, praising the Maker for giving me a woman such as this. I press my lips to Leliana's temple, exhaustion creeping over me. My muscles are sore and I'm sleepy. She's already drifting off in my arms, so I give into temptation. I close my eyes and fall into a dreamless sleep.

That's not how I expected tonight to work out.