A.N: I want to take a second to thank everyone who has favorited/followed/commented on this fiction. There are no words to accurately describe just how much it means to me, and how much it helps to keep this story alive. These characters mean the world to me, and it means even more that you are enjoying them. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You are all amazing and wonderful and I love you.

Also, this chapter contains strong sexual content. Reader discretion is advised.

"I'm not interested in any of that, mother," Cullen declared, completely flabbergasted that the woman was even able to say such a thing. He didn't care about wealth or respect, Cullen cared about Delani and that was all that should have ever mattered. "Delani makes me happier than I have ever been. That should be all that matters to you."

His mother shook her head, regarding Cullen as though he couldn't possibly understand. "Your future matters to me, Cullen." She reached up to pat his cheek but he caught her wrist before she could.

"My future is with the Inquisition, serving the Inquisitor," he stated with all of the conviction he felt. "She is important to me, and my feelings for her are real. I will not marry another woman for titles or wealth, because all I will ever want is her." Narrowing his eyes, he corrected himself, "And I want you to accept that."

"Cullen—"

He shook his head. "She is a good woman with a good heart, and she cares about me as much as I care about her. I will not listen to you erase those facts simply because she's an elf." Setting his jaw, Cullen took in a long breath and steadied his resolve. He gave his mother a measured look as he said, "My future is with Delani, and you will either accept that or you will not be part of our lives."

His mother's eyes widened with shock. She opened her mouth to argue, to try and make him see reason as she saw it, but Cullen wouldn't hear any more of it. Lip curling with distaste, he stated, "She faces enough opposition as it is, I won't let her endure anymore from you," before leaving his mother in the hallway and starting for the stairs.

He knew his mother wanted him to be happy. Cullen knew that his mother wanted him to be taken care of, that was why he had been so confident that she would accept Delani without question. Delani not only made him happy, but she cared about him so much that he still had trouble believing it.

Cullen stepped off of the last step and found Bran in the middle of a chess game with Hanna. Mia was standing at the bottom of the stairwell, leaning her back against a support beam. Glancing over her shoulder, she spotted him standing behind her and offered Cullen a smile.

"You know, as your big sister, it is my responsibility to remind you that there isn't a woman in existence worthy of your affections." Mia's smile grew, it was warm, reassuring, supportive. She was offering him everything that their mother had thought to deny him, and Cullen didn't know how important it was to him until she'd given it freely. "But if such a woman were to exist it would be the Inquisitor."

Placing a hand on Mia's shoulder, he squeezed it gently, hoping she would be able to tell how much he appreciated her words. Looking around the inn, Cullen searched for Delani and, when he didn't find her, he wondered, "Where is she, by the way?"

Mia gestured toward the door. "She said she needed some air," she answered. Before Cullen could chase after Delani, Mia caught him by the arm and informed him, "I think she heard you with mother." It was a warning, and one he would be wise to take into consideration when going to speak with her.

He thanked his sister and left the warmth of the inn. Just outside, seated on the second to last step, Delani was hunched forward with her hands in her hair. Her shoulders were trembling, and Cullen knew that it wasn't because of the cold. Taking the few steps down, Cullen shrugged out of his cloak and draped it over Delani's shoulders as he sat down beside her.

Delani jerked at the suddenness of the contact before realizing what he'd done. She closed the cloak around her shoulders and smiled up at Cullen, wiping away the rivulets of tears that fell from her eyes. "Cullen," she said, clearing the emotion out of her throat. Allowing her smile to grow a touch, Delani admitted, "I didn't hear you come out."

"You do know that I don't care what my mother thinks, don't you?" he asked, wanting to get to the point of their conversation so that he could show her what he'd been dying to show her all day.

Burrowing her face in the fur collar of his cloak, Delani sniffed away the rest of her tears and shook her head. She pointed her attention forward and, without looking at him, stated, "But she's right." She must have sensed him stiffen beside her, because she quickly added, "I have nothing to offer you, Cullen. I have no dowery, I have no—"

"Hey," he gently gripped her by the chin and forced her to look at him. Searching her face, Cullen assured her, "I have no desire for wealth or a title. My only ambition is to serve the Inquisition, to serve the Inquisitor. I want you, Delani." Cullen pressed his forehead to hers and repeated the words she had already said to him, words that he had so desperately needed to hear then, words that she so desperately needed to hear now. "I will only ever want you."

She sighed and nodded against his brow, accepting his words without further argument; much to his relief. "Ma seranas, vhenan'ara."

Cullen pressed a kiss to her brow, thinking of how best to reply, before settling on,"Atisha mala, ma atishan." Standing from the step, Cullen offered Delani his hand and said, "Come, there is something that I wanted to show you."

Taking his hand, the moment that she was back on her feet Delani shrugged out of his cloak and tried to offer it back to him. When Cullen declined with a shake of his head, she pulled her arms through the sleeves again and nodded in answer to his request. "You are just full of surprises today, aren't you?" With a smile on her lips, Delani prompted, "What do you want to show me?"

Gesturing for her to follow him toward the stables, he asked, "Are you up for another ride?"

Sea green eyes alight with an emotion he dared to call adoration, she assured him, "I would follow you anywhere, Cullen. You know that."

The kiss he pressed to her lips in reply was short, the briefness forced lest he fall prey to her heat again and give into his desires. Quickly they readied their mounts and raced out of Redcliffe. Their destination was a little less than an hour's ride away, and it was an hour that they both used to forget what his mother had said in regards to their relationship. Cullen had been telling the truth when he told his mother that he would cut her out of his life if she didn't accept Delani. Delani might have learned to accept that level of ignorance and intolerance, but it was something that he simply couldn't accept from his family.

He led them through the countryside, through the forestation, all the way until the Hinterlands were no longer visible in the distance behind them. When he finally pulled them to a stop, their mounts were huffing, their breaths misting in the air before them. Cullen dismounted first before going to Cornelius's side and helping Delani from his back.

A lake laid out before them, water reaching out to the horizon before being met by the embrace of land once again. Night was already dark in the sky, a low fog creeping in through the trees and inching toward the lake's edge. Taking in a deep breath, Cullen shut his eyes to let a feeling of nostalgia crash over him. This had been his retreat for many years, being back was strange, but in a good way. He was excited to share this part of his life with Delani.

Taking her by the hand, he guided her onto the dock. A smile inched over his lips at the sound of her melodic voice wondering, "Where are we?"

He led her toward the edge of the dock, his gaze on the rippling water, the cold air of night in his lungs. "You walk into danger everyday," Cullen explained, glancing down at Delani and allowing a warm smile to stretch over his lips. She was so beautiful, so ethereal and wild. He had never stood a chance against her, Cullen had been hers from the start and he hadn't even known it. "I wanted to take you away from that, if only for a moment."

Moving his attention from Delani and back onto the lake, he revealed, "I grew up not far from here. This place was always quiet."

Delani breathed in deeply and a contented smile took shape on her plush lips. Without turning to face him, she asked, "Did you come here often?"

"I loved my siblings," Cullen supplied with a grin. "But they were very loud, as I'm sure you can guess." When she returned his grin, he finished, "I would come here to clear my head. They would always find me eventually."

"It's beautiful," Delani said, pulling his cloak more snuggly against her, and Cullen couldn't help how much he enjoyed seeing her in it, or imagining how much he would enjoy seeing her in nothing else but the cloak.

He shook away his wandering thoughts. He was here for a reason. They would get to that soon enough, there was something that he wanted to do first. Looking back out onto the lake, he started, "The last time I was here was the day I left for Templar training."

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the small coin that had always been there, that had seen him through so much. Holding it out before him, Cullen inspected it for the millionth time, taking in all of the small details that he'd already memorized, the scratches, the smudges, the places that had been worn down by him thumbing it over too often. This coin was a part of his life, a part of who he was. It was a piece of home that he could always carry with him. It was the memories of family, the dreams of what the future held in store, it was hope that, even in the darkest times, things would get better.

"Bran gave me this," he said, his voice distant as he remembered that day so long ago. The memory pulled a smile onto his lips. "It just happened to be in his pocket but he said it was for luck. Templars are not to carry such things. Our faith should see us through." And perhaps it had, perhaps faith and luck were not so different.

The small upturn of Delani's lips was understanding. Her large sea green eyes regarded him warmly as she suggested, "A little luck can't hurt every now and then."

"I suppose not," he agreed. "I should have died during the blight, or at Kirkwall, or Haven. Take your pick. Yet I made it back here." Cullen's attention returned to the coin, and he sighed.

For so long it had been his most prized possession but, at some point down the line, that had changed. Actually, Cullen knew exactly at which point it had changed. It was the night that he had been so convinced that Delani had died at Haven, when his faith had not been enough to make him believe that she could survive. And then she had returned, his faith, his belief, his luck had all come back with her.

He took her delicate hand in his and placed the coin in her open palm. "Humor me," he said, offering her a reassuring smile as to dissuade her from rejecting his gift. Curling her fingers around the coin, Cullen held her hand shut as he searched her gaze, trying to impart with her how important this was to him. "We don't know what you'll face before the end. This can't hurt."

When he released her hand from his hold, Delani rolled her fingers back out and stared at the coin sitting in the center of her palm. She took a deep breath before closing her fingers around it and assuring him, "I'll keep it safe," then adding, "But only if you do something for me," before he could release a breath of relief.

Delani tucked the coin into her pocket before reaching for the carving knife that was always on her belt. Cullen's heart jumped into his throat. He had never asked the story behind that knife, had never questioned its importance to her. But he had noticed that she did not go a single moment without it. Even while walking around in the safety of Skyhold, she had that knife strapped to her belt. It was a part of her outfit that he had come to expect, a part of her appearance that he had already accepted. Delani had green eyes, auburn hair, and a knife on her belt; that was how much a part of her it was. And now she was holding it out between them.

"This was my father's knife," she explained, her gaze on the blade, her eyes reflecting its shine. "After the drake had… my father pressed it into my hand while I was holding him in his final moments. He told me that as long as I had the knife he would be with me. Da'mi isa ma da'mi."

A little blade for my little blade, Cullen whispered the translation in his mind, glad that he was able to work the words out himself. His eyes widened when Delani stretched the knife out toward him, making her offering official. She wanted him to have her knife? Her father's knife? The only memento that she probably had left of the man? He couldn't possibly accept it from her. He could never separate her from that knife, it wouldn't feel right.

"I can't take that, Delani," he said, taking a step back as though even considering it could cost him a limb.

Her auburn brows furrowed with insult. "Please," she insisted. When he still refused she gave him a hard look and observed, "You gave me your lucky coin, this is only fair. This knife has gotten me through some dark places, it helped me survive an avalanche, it returned me to you, and I want you to have it."

When still he hesitated, Delani insisted, "This war is as likely to take you as it is to take me and I can't, in good consciousness, let you face it unlucky. So please, vhenan'ara, take the knife."

For a moment all Cullen could do was stare at her. What did he ever do to deserve this woman? A woman who did not know how to take without giving in return. A woman who cared so fiercely that the world trembled at her passion. He had given her a piece of himself, and she wanted to give him a piece of her in return. To deny her gesture was to deny her, and that was something that Cullen simply could not do.

Cullen took the knife, inspecting the worn leather hilt, the curved silverite blade inscribed with Dalish text. AHe couldn't work out the meaning of the words, but they weren't what was most important. The gesture was all that mattered. The woman that had made the gesture was the only thing of import.

"I will treasure it always," he assured her before tucking the blade into his belt.

He placed his hand on her waist and pulled Delani into his warmth. Resting her hands on his chest, Delani stared up at Cullen, searching his eyes, needing to see if he was feeling what she was feeling. Cullen had just given her his most important possession and, in return, she had given him hers. It had felt right, giving her father's knife to Cullen. At least she knew that it would be in good hands, that the luck, the strength, she had always pulled from that knife would now be going to Cullen. She wanted him to have it, wanted him to always have a piece of her with him, but it still wasn't enough. Delani wanted more.

Holding his gaze, Delani's hands roved up his chest to the back of his neck. As he pressed her to his chest, Delani pulled herself to his lips and felt a pleasant chill run down her spine at the feel of his mouth against hers. The kiss was gentle at first, tender, a soft flutter of their lips seeking each other out. Then the heat between them grew and their kisses deepened. Want was turning into need, tenderness into desperation.

His tongue traced the seam of her lips and she eagerly welcomed him into her mouth. Their tongues danced, a familiar push a pull, twirling, darting, chasing, battling, it was intoxicating. Lost to the decadence of his taste, Delani groaned into his mouth and Cullen swallowed the sound. His hands were gripping her tightly, holding her fiercely as though she might slip away from him at any moment.

With her fingers in his hair, Delani scraped her nails across his scalp and back down to his neck. She needed to feel more of him, she needed to feel all of him. Her hands wandered over the curve of his shoulders, feeling the ropes of muscle through his clothing. Cullen was strong, his body hard, hot, heady. She felt the muscles of his back, how his skin welcomed her touch, how his taut muscles pulled and strained as he too felt her every curve.

"Cullen," she exhaled. His name was a whispered prayer, a plea. His strong fingers were reverently tracing the line of her body, memorizing her curves as though they were scripture. Her breath hitched when his grip found its way to the curve of her breast.

Delani rocked her body against Cullen's and a deep, rumbling moan vibrated through him. "Delani," he breathlessly returned, desire thick in his voice. "I-I-" he stammered, the words either not forming or simply too hard to say. She took his bottom lip between her teeth and sucked and tugged on the flesh, encouraging him to say it. She needed him to say it.

"I-" he tried again once his lip was free. Cullen's hand was on the small of her back, dangerously close to cupping her entire rear. He pressed her to his pelvis and Delani took in a sharp breath at the feeling of his desire against her belly. "I need you."

Finally, the words she had been dying to hear. Countless nights she had dreamed of this moment. Even her waking mind had fantasized about this, about him, about them finally giving way to their desires and welcoming him into her heat. "Cullen, yes," she sighed, grateful that he would not pull away this time, that he would not stop her from getting what she so desperately needed.

Growling, Cullen picked Delani up by the waist and a surprised squeak sounded from her. She jumped into his arms and wrapped her legs around his waist, allowing him to carry her off of the dock and back onto shore. Once his boot was met by blades of grass, Cullen fell onto his knees with her still in his arms.

"The cloak," his voice was low, husky, grated by desire and a need that she knew intimately.

She knew what he was asking and quickly obliged. Pressing her lips to his again, Delani maintained the kiss as she pulled her arms from the sleeves and allowed the cloak to fall onto the grass behind her. He didn't move from the position, instead Cullen welcomed the taste of her again. His tongue sought hers out, slithered into her mouth and explored her thoroughly. With his hands on her hips, and her legs still around his waist, Cullen moved his grip until it was filled by the curve of her backside.

Delani moaned into his mouth, her hips rocking against his groin and she groaned again. She could feel him through his trousers, could feel his solid length straining against her heat. Desire blinded her, consumed her, and she gyrated in his lap again, seeking out his hardness. The memory of him, of his size, of his girth, of how his manhood had tasted in her mouth, it was maddening.

Upon the first sight of him, Delani had been rendered speechless. She had stared at his length and wondered how he would ever manage to fit inside her. And then she had slowly taken him into her mouth, an inch at a time, and she knew. Cullen would fit, inch by inch, he would fit, he would fill, he would satisfy, and that was exactly what she needed.

He bit into her lip at the feeling of her rocking in his lap. The growl that rumbled through him was dangerous, predatory, possessive, and only served to fan the flames of her desire. Carefully, Cullen set Delani down on his cloak. He pulled away from her lips and a small smile twitched at the corner of his mouth at the sound of her whine in protest.

Any further complaints died in her mouth at the sight of the need in his eyes, the adoration, the affection. Cullen's hands were trembling when he reached out to undo the knots of her tunic, causing him to fumble with the first two. Then Delani caught and held his gaze, she caressed his cheek and he pressed a tender kiss on the inside of her palm. She wanted this. She wanted him, and he could see it in her eyes. The rest of her knots gave way under steady hands.

Gooseflesh broke out over her skin once it was met with the cold night air. Cold that was immediately forgotten at the feeling of Cullen's warm hands on her collarbone, fingers sliding underneath the fabric and pushing it back over her shoulders. All Delani wore underneath her tunic was her breast band, and another shudder wracked through her; not because of the cold, but because of the fire burning in Cullen's amber eyes.

Her tunic fell from her shoulders and pooled on the ground behind her. Delani straightened her spine as Cullen took in the sight of her, proud of her hard earned body. She knew her muscles were strong, taut, defined. She knew her curves were feminine, that she was an atypical combination of firm and soft, of rounded and defined. Delani welcomed Cullen's gaze, as he would welcome hers.

"Maker," he breathed, a prayer of thanks to one most high. "You are so beautiful."

Kneeling before him, Delani gently pressed her lips to his as she started to work him out of his clothes as well. With some assistance from Cullen, she had him out of his bracers and buckles, out of his shirt and undershirt, until he was kneeling topless before her. She sat back and admired Cullen the same way he had admired her.

He was built by strong muscles earned over years of militant training. More than that, the strength in his arms, his shoulders, his pectorals, his rippling abdominals, those muscles were the result of diligent work, of prideful pursual. He had worked hard for his body, not only because his occupation demanded strength, but because he liked the way he looked, the way he felt, and Delani could not blame him for it.

Delani reached out to him, her fingers seeking contact, needing his heat. She placed her hand on his chest, over the excited beat of his heart. Closing her eyes she listened to her own frantic heartbeat, listened to how her body reacted so desperately towards him. When she opened up her eyes again, it was to hold his gaze and whisper, "I need you."

He was on her in a flash, easing her onto her back, his cloak protecting her from the cold, wet grass. Cullen loomed over her, resting his weight on his forearm as he took in the sight of her laying ready beneath him. Hooking his finger around her breast band, between her cleavage, Cullen wondered, "Have you any idea how badly I want you," in that gravelly voice of his.

When she nodded that she knew exactly how badly, he tugged the band downward and her breasts fell free. Cullen licked his lips at the sight of them, a soft groan escaping him as he devoured her with his eyes. He returned his gaze to hers, and she could clearly see the restraint in his eyes, the control.

"Have you any idea how badly I need you?"

Just as badly as she needed him, she guessed. Grabbing him by the face, Delani mewed, "Cullen." It was a demand, an order. She needed his hands on her body, she needed his body all over her, inside of her, she needed him, and she needed him now.

He returned his mouth to hers, starting himself with the familiarity of her tongue against his before venturing to more foreign territory. As he moved his lips from her mouth to her jaw, Cullen's hands were on her breasts, rolling them, kneading them, finding her pearled peeks and pinching them in between his fingers. Delani hissed at the pleasure pain, feeling a jolt zap down her spine and straight to her core.

As Cullen tasted her neck, lapped at her pulse, nipped at her skin, Delani dragged her nails down his back until she had a firm grip on his backside. He was between her legs now, his arousal rocking against hers, and Delani used her grip on his ass to press him more firmly against her core. Curse his trousers, curse her tights! Why were they even still on? These were unforgivable transgressions when she needed him so badly.

Lips like fire grew more and more certain with each taste, soon Cullen was leaving the curve of her neck to her collar bone. He left a trail of wet heat as he kissed and licked his way from her neck to her chest until he had a sensitive nipple in his mouth.

"Creators," Delani threw her head back as she cried out a desperate moan. The feeling of him licking her, sucking her, the tip of his tongue twirling over the perked flesh, it was driving her insane. Clumsy with passion, Delani reached between them and started to unlace his trousers. Blindly she worked as Culled continued to suck on her.

His pants were undone, but they were still on, she had won half the battle but did not yet know victory. Attention divided between her breasts, Cullen released her from between his lips and quietly growled, "Do you need me, Delani?"

"Yes," she cried, "Cullen, please."

"Ma nuvinen, ma atishan." Never in her life had her native tongue sounded so delicious to her ears. Cullen tucked his fingers under her tights and dragged them down her legs. Rolling to his side, he quickly discarded his breeches before finding his place between her legs again.

As he kneeled between her spread legs, Cullen stared down at Delani as though she were some creature of legend, as though he expected her to disappear at any second. He was regarding her like a treasure, when it was he who was invaluable, priceless, far too good and more than she would ever deserve.

He gripped the base of his shaft, pulling Delani's attention down to his arousal standing at attention between them. He was thick, veins pronounced, so well endowed and so ready to fill her sheath. When Delani rolled her hips toward him a smile hinted at the edges of his mouth. Cullen lubricated his tip with the slick heat of her desire, eyes clamping shut with the sensation, bottom lip finding its way between his teeth as a groan rumbled out of him.

At the sound of Delani desperately mewing his name, "Cullen, please, I need you," he pressed himself to her entrance to oblige her. Delani hissed and Cullen moaned as he slowly eased himself into the cradle of her body, inch by decadent inch. By the time he was sheathed to the hilt they were both breathing heavily.

Cullen held Delani's gaze, waiting, searching, and when she realized what he wanted she nodded that she was ready, eager, desperate for more. He pulled out of Delani completely before slamming back in, jostling her, stirring her, both of them crying out at the intensity of the sensation. The sound of their bodies slapping together, the rhythm of his thrusts, their passionate moans, were the only sounds to fill the area.

She arched her hips to meet his every thrust, feeling his length slide in and out of her. The feeling of him stretching her, filling her, rubbing deliciously against her aching inner walls, it was intoxicating, addictive, it was getting to be too much. Fire so hot that it burned white was raging at her core, lapping at her skin, stoked by his every touch, by his every thrust. Soon Cullen's body was slapping against her at a quickened pace and she knew that she would not last much longer.

He had pushed her up the hill of climax, and now she stood toeing the edge. With her nails digging into his shoulders, Delani clung to him, hoping to stay grounded while her body threatened to disintegrate from the flames. Then Cullen lowered his mouth back down to hers, the kiss was distracting, disorienting, keeping her mind from focusing the task of keeping her from falling. Just like that, the pressure gave way. White flashed before her eyes as Delani was sent soaring into orgasm.

"Cullen!" she cried as she met the sun. Her body trembled, her insides quivered. She pulsed around him, milking his length for all that he could give her.

His face was buried in the crook of her neck as his own release jetted through him. Cullen had conformed to the shape of her body, molding himself against her as ecstasy drained him and left him spent. Once they had both come down from the billowy clouds of release, he rolled off of her as to not crush her with his weight.

They laid there for some time, catching their breath, taking in everything that had just happened between them. Rolling over, Delani tucked herself to Cullen's side and couldn't fight the contented grin from her face even if she tried. When he wrapped an arm around her shoulders she used his chest as a pillow and breathed him in. Cullen smelled of summer and rain, he was a man beyond comparison, and she was falling so desperately, so madly in lo—

"I probably shouldn't tell you how badly I've been wanting for that to happen," she stated with a giggle, feeling bubbly and alive.

Rubbing the length of her arm, he assured her, "Not nearly as long as I have, ma atishan." Cullen pressed a kiss to the top of her head and breathed her in. Quietly he whispered, "I keep thinking that this is a dream, that I'll wake up and I'll be alone."

Delani burrowed into Cullen's side. "If this is a dream I never want to wake," was her muffled reply.

They stayed like that for a few more minutes, just basking in the cool air and the warmth of each other's naked company. It wasn't until Delani started trembling that Cullen decided that, maybe, they should head back. "We left rather abruptly. My family will likely be concerned," he said as he handed her her tights before reaching for his own discarded trousers.

Jokingly, Delani inquired, "Afraid that the pagan savage is making a blood sacrifice out of the precious Commander, are they?"

He gave her a reprimanding look before a nervous smile slipped onto his lips. "I hope you do not mind, but I only paid for one room."

Shocked, Delani quirked an eyebrow in surprise. "You were planning to bed me tonight this whole time, weren't you?" she demanded, jaw falling open at his boldness as she pulled on her tunic and retied the knots.

A laugh came from Cullen, loud and buoyant and the most lovely sound she had ever heard. "Is that a complaint I hear, my lady?"

"No," she quickly amended. Delani was nothing but glad that they'd finally made love. She had longed after it, after him, for so long already it was nice to not have to wait any longer. Shrugging, she finished, "Just surprise."

Cullen smiled, his clothes were back on and a little roughed up but he was dressed and that had to count for something. "I am full of surprises, Delani." His smile turned wolfish when he added, "Perhaps a few more await you once we've returned to the inn."

No other words could have had her moving faster. Hurrying to mount Cornelius, Delani shouted, "I'll race you there," and Cullen's laughter chased after her.

Atisha mala, ma atishan

(Peace now, my safe place)

I hope this was a satisfactory continuation to the last chapter. (please don't hurt me)