Chapter 2
She had no idea how long she lay there, her body burning and twitching on the stone. The room had grown stiflingly hot and sweat had stuck her shirt to her skin within the first hour. She had torn it of in frustration as well as discomfort and thrown it across the room with a snarl. She had already tried tugging at the chain attached to the pillar and her collar. It was a pointless exercise, but just laying there was driving her insane. She had only the one pick hidden and that one was way beyond her reach now. She pouted, she writhed and she clawed at the stone, succeeding only in breaking a few fingernails and bringing the frustration to fever pitch.
She could have taken care of the issue herself but it wasn't just relief she needed. It was HIS relief she craved, his hands, his body, his mouth muttering dark obscenities in her ear. She thought she had understood this need when she left Soldiers Peak in the dead of night. But only a little time in his presence, under his command and she was a like a mabari at its masters heel.
With nothing left to do, and with time stretching out before her, she closed her eyes and did a few breathing exercises to calm her heart if not her aching body. With each breath she cleared her mind, letting herself fall into nothingness and eventually a strange twisted sleep.
…..
She woke up thrashing and gasping, cold water filling her nose and mouth, she coughed and splayed out her hands awkwardly to find something to grab before she drowned or pure panic took her. Arms slipped under hers and pulled her up into a sitting position as she coughed up water she had managed to inhale. Perhaps it was disorientation, or maybe the shock of being woken up in such a manner, that made her hand sweep behind her in a well practiced chopping motion.
The arm was caught and pulled roughly up behind her back, while another gently swept the wet clumps of hair from her face.
"Careful mi amora, I do not wish to damage this lovely body….unnecessarily"
Her teeth clicked together and she shook with cold, this caused a jolt of pain from the arm at her back. The small cry she gave made the hand on her wrist tighten briefly in response. She knew pain, her pain, sometimes excited him, though again, due to camp conditions they had never really explored the possibilities too far.
"If I let you go will you be a good girl and allow me to bathe you?"
She nodded, not wanting to speak lest she catch her tongue between violently chattering teeth. He released her wrist and she pulled her arm back round to hug it against her chest. One tanned arm dipped into the metal tub she was sat in and drew out a wash cloth. With slow deliberate motions he began to wash her, taking care not to miss anything, making her stand to reach the parts he couldn't while she was sat in the tub.
When this was done to his satisfaction he helped her out of the tub gathering up the length of chain still attached to her collar, wrapping her in a towel and guiding her to an empty fireplace that had been too deep in shadow for her to notice before. She watched him, still naked, as he set about making a fire. She felt sure there were questions she should really be asking but they died on her lips, her treacherous brain wanting instead to guide her eyes to every detail of his body. The line of muscle from buttock to thigh, the way his hair slid over his back as he carefully arranged wood in the fire-grate, the movement of sinew and muscle in his arms as he worked at this mundane task.
He glanced over his shoulder and caught her looking, delighting in the dark flush that spread all the way to the tips of her pointed ears.
"Ah to know I can still cause such a reaction in my little warden is most exciting"
He turned back to the fireplace and within a minute or so it was blazing fully and a delightful warmth touched her skin, making it tingle. He stood up and pointed to a box next to the fireside.
"I will leave you for a few minutes, be sure to put on what I have left you my pet "
She watched him leave again and felt a twinge of loss as he shut the door behind him. When had she become so damned needy all of a sudden? She answered her own question as she knee walked over to the box the towel still tightly wrapped around her shoulders despite the warmth of the flames.
She had craved him the moment he had left Denerim, her duties at Soldiers Peak only served to distract her for a whole year before the craving became an obsession.
He had tried to convince her to come back with him and she had stupidly refused , telling him that she couldn't just abandon her duty to the grey wardens. They had argued, him insisting that she had done enough already, her accusing him of being selfish. He had left her sobbing and pleading with him to stay. He had turned to stone before her very eyes, giving her a cold look she wished to never see again. As her heart plunged right there she couldn't help but wonder if it was the same look he had given Rinna. He had left and she had become stone herself, focusing only on duty.
She opened the box, expecting to find clothes, her green eyes widened when they fell upon its actual contents. She lifted out a pair of iron manacles small enough to fit around her delicate wrists, the insides lined with sheep's wool, a small metal ring on the outside of each one. There was a second pair for her ankles. Beneath these was…oh no…he couldn't be serious!
She lifted the robe from the box and let it unfold before her eyes. For a moment she wasn't sure whether she should laugh or be worried.
It was a chantry robe. Simple yet cut to hug obvious curves. She chewed her lip nervously trying to imagine exactly what the sneaky bastard had in mind.
'Only one way to find out' her brain told her smoothly.
She shrugged the towel from her shoulders and pulled the robe over her head. It had obviously been made for her, since the average chantry robe was designed to fit a human and would drag along the floor on her slight frame. Which begged the question, exactly how long had he owned it? Next came the cuffs. She noted as she slipped one around her wrist and snapped it closed, that they locked automatically once closed, and she couldn't help but feel a small familiar thrill crawl up her spine as she snapped the other three in place around her other wrist and her ankles.
Right there and then she decided to push all questions away from her mind, she had no idea what would happen when they had finished this little dance, but she needed, no WANTED to feel that thrill again, under his ministrations. She would not fog her mind with ifs and buts, instead she would give herself to him this day and whatever came next would come in its own time. A short term philosophy indeed but it would suffice for now.
She smiled to herself when she noticed he had also included a brush in the box and sat down to tame her wet hair into something that didn't resemble a swamp bush.
When he returned she had tamed it enough so that it hung behind her ears and down her back in smooth damp strands. He closed the door and moved to the middle of the room, not in the slightest bit conscious of his nakedness, in fact he seemed to be making a show of it as he stalked into the middle of the room all too aware that her eyes were glued to him.
He lifted his arms above his head and stretched, standing on tiptoe , making his body one glorious line of muscle. Vythica felt various pieces of her brain fall away.
He grinned as he relaxed from his pose and pointed to the floor at his feet, indicating that she come to him. She stood immediately ready to go to him, eager even. But a narrowing of his eyes stopped her.
"No my pet, in this room you are dragged, carried, or you crawl, and being as I have no intention of collecting you I suggest you get on your hands and knees" He pointed to the floor at his feet once more.
Blushing for all of Ferelden she hiked the robe above her knees before kneeling on the floor, tucking the chain away so that it would trail beneath her and not tangle around her legs. She placed her hands on the floor and began her slow stalking crawl again, golden eyes commanding her own to his face. Her belly rolled deliciously with the unmasked lust in those eyes.
The centre of the chamber seemed an eternity away, the only sound was the fire and the dragging of the chain beneath her. The stone floor was mostly smooth, but her knees still hurt a little, though she would have crawled across a field of darkspawn for the look he was giving her now.
When she reached him he took up the chain beneath her and pulled up sharply making her rise up on her knees.
Bending down to her level he took her face in his hands, she tried nuzzling her cheek against his warm palm, but he held her firmly, just staring into her eyes. It was a favourite game of his that had started across the campfire when they first met, and she always lost, closing her eyes first. At times like this, when she was his, it was like gazing into the sun, too long and he would burn her very soul.
She tried so hard not to look away, but the intensity of his gaze was so focused that she could only last a minute before her lids closed and her ears flamed. His smouldering laughter rang in her ears as his hands left her face and grasped her wrists pulling them up above her head.
"Since you once again lost our little game I'm afraid you will have to keep those lovely eyes closed until I say otherwise"
The moment he said this Vythica was almost overcome by the desire to open her eyes, to see what he was doing with her arms held above her head. However she didn't wish to be left alone in this room again and he might leave for even longer if she disobeyed him again.
She heard the chime of yet more chains and his voice, softly humming some random tune as he set about his work. She remained that way for a few minutes, when without warning she was grabbed around the waist and lifted to her feet. Chains rattled and her arms were pulled up even higher, to the point that her feet were not completely touching the ground. She was desperate to see what was going on which only made her squeeze her eyes shut even tighter should the desire cause her to actually open them.
She swayed there gently, waiting. Silence filling the huge chamber and making her equal parts nervous and excited. She couldn't tell where he was, he could be silent as a cat when he wished. Yet she could feel his eyes boring into her, knew he was waiting to see how long she would last before curiosity and anticipation became too much.
Her fingers brushed the chain that linked her cuffs and held her up, it clinked in response, the sound amplified in the cavernous room.
Hands grasped her hips from behind, fingers bruising flesh as she was pulled tightly against the curve of his stomach, buttocks pressed against his erection. Her hair was swept to one side and hot breath found her throat. In a rush of lips and teeth he began to devour her like a starving man presented with his first meal. Tongue and teeth worried the curve where neck and shoulder met, lips drew her skin into his mouth and he bit down with a strangled moan of desire. She could barely breath through this assault, what breath she could gain would only rush out again in hitching gasps and small whimpers.
His mouth released her to move to her ear, teeth tugging at the sensitive lobe. She jerked against him mewling and shivering.
His voice, barely a whisper, rubbed against her mind like an affectionate cat.
"I want to make you scream Vythica, I'm going to tear down those walls you rebuilt and make you scream"
If she thought she was breathless before, it was nothing to what she was experiencing now. She was drowning in him, his voice his scent, his touch. They all stole her breath and turned her heart to a frantically pumping mess that slammed into her ribcage.
He moved to face her, keeping his body in contact with hers.
"Open your eyes"
Her eyes flew open to find his fixed upon her, for a fleeting second she felt fear, the glint he held in those golden orbs was almost the same as when they had met on the battlefield, toe to toe in a furious dance of blades. The fear heightened when he drew an arm from behind his back to reveal a wicked looking dagger. He saw her fear and his tongue darted out to taste it. His other arm shot forward and grasped the front of the robe, he stepped back and the blade flashed in the firelight. There was a smooth sound of material parting as the robe was cut from chest to abdomen, exposing the pale milk white of her stomach and breasts.
Vythica could not help but look down, there was not a mark on her, and once again she had to marvel at his skill. The flat of the blade was placed against her belly, the cool metal making her stomach retract slightly in response. His head bent and lowered to her chest. Fingers dug into the flesh of one breast while his mouth found the other. His mouth was gentle, tongue coaxing the small lump of flesh to peak, his fingers were not, they grasped greedily and with little finesse, pulling at her nipple till she whimpered and her toes curled under her. Her head hung back and her throat worked as she tried to temper the multitude of sounds that wished to escape with each kiss, lick and scrape of nails upon her flesh.
He stood, throwing the blade to one side and spun her around, the chain twisting above her. The back of her robe was hoisted rudely to her waist. His hands grasped her hips once more pulling her tight against him, his herd length pressing against the curve of her buttocks. A hand locked in her hair, forcing her head back as he teased her with small movements of his hips, rubbing himself against her.
It was almost unbearable. She could feel all control, all mental defences slipping away to be replaced with a need so sharp and bright that it scorcher from inside out.
"Zevran…oh Maker..p..please"
He laughed at her and yanked on her hair again "Oh you will have to do better than that kitten, you do not sound as if you want it nearly enough yet"
The need was almost painful now and she gave a low keening cry of frustration.
"Please my love, it hurts"
"What is it that you so desperately crave little warden"
She knew what he wanted. It always came to this, but some small part of her, that last bit of dignity that she always tried to cling to desperately bit back the words she knew he wished to hear.
"I'm waiting my dear, I have no qualms about spilling my pleasure upon your sweet backside and leaving you here should you chose to keep those pretty words to yourself"
Her fists clenched above her as she fought with pride an lust, a battle that only he could ensue, only to leave her to fight its skirmishes.
"Please…make love to me, give me release"
"No.., if all you wanted was the sweet embrace of lovemaking you would have chosen Alistair and not the assassin who tried to spill your blood"
He delivered these words with all the force of a slap, then sank his teeth into her shoulder. She screamed for him then, a high clear sound punctuated with pain, lust and frustration. It rose to the high ceiling and reverberated off the walls.
She was at the height of desperation now, her last vestige of control had slipped. She pleaded and begged him to take her, own her, fuck her or kill her, but for the love of the Maker give her desire peace. Shame and lust brought tears to her eyes as she screamed these words with complete and utter abandon.
He reached up and yanked the spike from the chains that held her upright. They both fell to the floor, she on her hands and knees, Zevran draped over her, one arm curled around her waist. With a practiced movement of his hips he sheathed himself inside her and his growl was one of triumph as he pushed forward as hard as possible.
She shook beneath him, this all too familiar and most intimate of embraces wiping away everything from her mind but the feel of him and the knowledge that she would love him even if it eventually killed her.
Fingers grasped her hips and twisted in her hair for purchase as he led their wicked dance of lust. Hips moving with deadly purpose, each stroke a near killing blow to her tortured body. She writhed beneath him, a barely contained animal that could no more but twist itself to meet those savage thrusts. The chamber was filled with animal grunts and whimpers until it felt as though the wilds themselves surrounded them.
She was reaching her peak when he did...Something, some roll of the hip that sent her spiralling out of control. His name spilled from her lips in a scream that tore at her throat and her body clenched tightly around his as her orgasm slammed against her in one frightening rush that had her scrabbling for purchase on the stone floor.
His pace quickened and she felt his body tighten against her own. Antivan words, none of them she could understand exploded in a rush from behind clenched teeth as he reached his own release in a warm rush of fluid.
Both arms closed around her waist and chest as he collapsed sideways to the floor, bringing her with him. He buried his face in her hair until he found the back of her neck and laid his mouth to her skin, breathing long ragged breaths that matched her own. Her heart was beating as fast as a hummingbird's wing, it fluttered in her chest, a tiny caged animal.
They lay there for some time, no words exchanged, none were needed. She was his once more, and without the threat of the blight to temper her love it would burrow even deeper under her skin.
After some time he gently withdrew from her, lifting her in his arms he carried her over to the fireplace and lay her down with him. She buried her face in the hollow of his neck while his arms wrapped around her. He had won, she belonged to him again. His tenderness was her reward until the urge to tame her would inevitably take over. But for now sleep would steal the two lovers away into the night.
