Author's Note: So, this may very well be my last story, at least for a while. I've recently hit serious burnout, and it's made me seriously consider giving up my fanfiction career. At the very least, I am currently on hiatus. If you want to show support while I'm gone, I would encourage you to go and read my story "Faith From Ashes", which has my absolute hardest work put into it, and in all honesty the lack of response to it was what began my burn out.
Love you all.
I sigh as my horse rides into the gates of Skyhold, leaning down to scratch his chin, exhaustion having long since settling in my back, icy fingers of death digging under my tunic from this damnable northern weather. Whoever thought that they should build a fortress in this god forsaken place must have been desperate. Or insane.
"Good boy." I coo, patting the pony's cheek once, smiling at the happy noise he makes. Maker, but I'm done with all of this adventuring and war. When was the last time I saw Leliana? A month and a half? God's blood, but it feels like it's been years. All I've had were my thoughts that always found her, my darling wife. Though I suppose we're never really apart so long as I have her ring on my finger.
"Ho there!" One of the guards calls, looking over the balcony at me. I come to a halt, pulling down the hood of my cloak. "You have Inquisition business?"
"I am Marilina Amell, the Hero of Ferelden." I call up loudly, my voice creaking and unused since I was last here. "Here to see your Spymaster, Leliana Amell." Amell. Leliana Amell. The only thing I have from my family in the whole of the world. And it fills my heart with joy every time I hear her called that. Amell. She is mine. And I am hers.
Oh, yes. I am hers. Completely.
"Oh!" He exclaims. "My apologies, ma'am. Should have recognized you immediately." I smile up at him kindly, heavy iron under my eyes dragging them down in exhaustion. He turned, yelling. "Open the gates you 'orrible lot! And show some respect, lady saved all our arses."
The gates open, and we ride in, bringing him to that lovely little old man that handles the horses. He grunts when I do, but laughs when he sees me practically sprint to Leliana's office. As does that Tevinter man with the moustache when I reach the library beneath her rookery. They all know what I'm going for, but it doesn't matter. So long as I get it. So long as I see her, am blessed to be in her presence.
At the top of the stairs, my breath is stolen from me when I find what I wanted, what I need to continue living. Her. There she sits, busily looking over several papers, but that awful hood is down. That crimson hair straightened down to her shoulders and out of her eyes, those piercing blue eyes that are so kind, bright, beautiful… oh dear Maker, I can't breathe. I met her more than a decade ago, and she leaves me speechless every time I am blessed to stand in her presence.
She looks up to see me, giving that peerless smile of sparkling white. She stands, holding her gloved hands out to me. I blush for a moment before running to her embrace, practically jumping in her arms and kissing her, tilting my head up, and she responds just how I want her to. With her lips on mine, I am happy, warm and safe, so safe. Nothing else matters right now, no Inquisition, no Wardens. Just us.
A hand finds my cheek, caressing my face in a loving gesture. I love it when she does that, making me feel so previous and loved, kissing me fiercely until light sparkles in front of my eyes. Slowly, softly, and oh so sweetly. I'm sure she missed me as much as I missed her, and right now I need her in my life. I draw her head down to kiss me deeper, feeling her lips open and our tongues find one another, deep and sweet.
"So," She murmurs, utterly out of breath and smiling wildly, her kind eyes crinkling upwards. "I take it you missed me as much as I missed you?"
"Every moment I was gone." I swear to her eyes, drinking in every piece of their depths. "I thought about you all the time, my love."
"And I thought about you." My dear, sweet Leliana draws me in again, pressing her head to the hollow of my shoulder in such a tender, loving embrace. "I always forget how lonely my bed is without you, until you're not there. Amour de ma vie, tu es toujours dans mon cœur."
"I missed your cute Orlesian accent." I giggle, unsure of what she said but knowing it to be filled with love. "I think that's the first thing I fell in love about you. The way anything becomes so much sweeter when you say it."
"I love you." She whispers, pulling back just enough to look into my eyes, clasping my head between her hands, resting her forehead on mine, eyes closed in utter contentment. "It's so hard, having a whole half of myself somewhere else, missing my heart, my soul. So incredibly lonely."
"I know." I whisper, kissing her gently. "Hold me closer." She obliges, lowering her hands to circle my waist and squeezing me tightly against her body, as if I might disappear at any moment.
"So how tired are you from the ride out here?" She asks quietly, not moving her head from the comforting position it's at, but lower a single hand down to what she wants. "Are you up for… well, a little more exertion?"
I give a small laugh, and raise my own hands to her full, womanly breasts, cupping them gently. "I am yours, Leliana. I've enough strength left in me to go all night if you like."
"Would you care to go for a walk with me?" She asks, and I pull back, utterly confused by that. I thought she wanted some… physical benefits from me, not a walk. "I found this lovely place while you were gone, and I desperately want to go there with you, amore."
"Oh, alright." I pull back a little and smile, still feeling a little confused. When she gets frisky like that, it always ends in us making love. We've been married, what, eight years? And I've never seen her do that.
"Alright, so, maybe," She smiles guiltily, kissing me again. "I want to make love to you. There. It's… wonderful, and I need you to make me whole there."
"Ah," I laugh, kissing her back. "So that's it."
"It's the most romantic place." She coos, taking me by the hand. "Come, it will only take a minute to get there, my angel."
"Alright," I laugh, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek, interlocking my arm in hers. "Though I think you'll have to walk in front of me, though. You know, to guide me better." She giggles, and I follow in suit, admiring her curves that sway as she struts seductively in front of me.
This is going to be a lovely day.
"-And so that man came back, and threw a goat at the castle!" She retells, and I break down laughing clutching at her body.
"A goat?!" I cry out, laughing hysterically. "Tell me you're joking!" She shakes her head, a smile like wildfire burning across her lips at my sheer mirth. "You killed his son, his only child, and he answered by throwing a goat at you?"
"I guess it must mean something else to the Avvar." She shrugs, laughing with me. Her eyes always get so bright when she makes me laugh, so joyful for having brought me joy in turn. "But it's the truth. He threw goats at the building until our soldiers arrested him."
"Maker's breath, I wish I could have seen that." I smile, drawing her closer. "Wish I could have been by your side all the time, my dearest. From the Fade to ser Goat Man."
"You always manage to do that," She smiles as she pulls me closer, kissing me on the forehead. "Turn our conversations back to throwing compliments at me."
"Such a lovely woman deserves no less." I bow, and laugh harder when she takes me into her arms, kissing me all over in a way that no one ever has and no one ever will.
"Oh, now you're just trying too hard." She teases, giving my hand a squeeze. "Come on, it's not too far now."
"I should certain hope so." I wink. "I want you to run your frisky little hands on me again, my little Orlesian minx."
As I finish speaking, we pass over a hill and my breath is taken from me. In the middle of this frozen wasteland lies a paradise, hidden among the ice and snow. A hot spring, with warmth literally carrying up and into the air, deep and full of steamy hot water, smelling of salts and spices. Wonderful.
"I thought you'd like it." She teases, kissing me on the back of the neck again. "I thought of you the moment I found it, and I knew." She purrs, running her hands all over my body just like I asked.
"Kn-knew what?" I stammer out, shivering under her touch. Oh Maker, she's not pulling any punches today. I'm not going to last long at all.
"That we had to make love here."
She steps in front of me, slowly undressing out of her leathers, pulling her coat over her head. She steals my breath when it passes over her chest, revealing her full, womanly breasts covered by black, lacy small clothes. I can lightly see the skin through the fabric, and more I can see her hard nipples at the peak.
In the frozen mountain range, where I thought nothing could ever be warm, Leliana begins a steamy tease for me that instantly makes me hot and bothered. She sways her hips in that incredibly lust filled way that she does, running her hands all over her body, teasingly touching the belt that holds up her pants before reaching back up to cup her breasts, elegant fingernails teasing at the bindings. Infuriating. And utterly enticing.
"Now, now, my dear Warden." She clucks her tongue disapprovingly, love and honey drizzling from her voice. "Keep your hand out of your pants." I look down, blushing as I realize that I was indeed trailing my hand down to fulfil what she won't. "Soon, love. But not yet."
With that, one hand finds her belt once more, the other running it's nails across her breast. With a single smooth motion, the buckle comes undone and her leggings pool around her ankles. Maker's breath, but she's beautiful, beyond my wildest dreams. Her long and creamy legs that go on forever… her black, lacy panties that show just the slightest hint of dampness.
"Do you like them?" She giggles, and I nod as if in a trance. She leans down to take off her high heeled shoes, stepping out of the pile of crumpled clothes. God, but how someone got such a beautiful body is beyond me. Maybe that's how she got to be the Left Hand of the Divine, that she couldn't be so beautiful without the Maker having made her body himself. And I'm just blessed to be hers.
"More." I beg desperately, pinning my hands on one another to not touch her or myself. She giggles, putting her hands behind her back to grant my request. A click signals the opening to her the clasp on her bra, but her hands plant themselves firmly on her breasts as the bindings come undone, holding it up.
"Beg for it." It's an order, saucy and full of steel. I nod, utterly breathless, keeping my eyes locked on her beautiful blue ones. Dear Maker, she's so incredible. How did I ever live without her? My perfect, wonderful little Orlesian Angel.
"Please." I whisper, horse in desperation. I want to see what she's hiding. I need to. What little lays beyond that small, tantalizing piece of fabric... "Please, my love. I… I need you. All of you."
She giggles, and lets her hands fall, the cloth with them. All of my breath is stolen from me in one perfect, euphoric moment. Maker's breath, but she's perfect. Completely and utterly. The curve of her breasts, the light tan of her nipples, the strong muscles in her chest…
"Do you like what you see?" She giggles, noticing my reaction. God, I can't breathe. There's a harsh pain in my chest, but I can't force myself back into my own body long enough to take another breath.
A moment later, her beautiful panties fall to the ground, and she tosses them in the pile with the rest of them. God, she's gorgeous. That little pink slit that's still so incredibly wet, insatiable with it's need for relief, and that little teasing bit of fiery red hair…
"Your turn." She whispers, and I somehow find the strength to obey, quickly pulling off my clothes in obedience. I'm nowhere near as beautiful as my gorgeous Orlesian wife, but she makes a coo as my clothes come off, filling me with more confidence.
A moment later, she takes me into the hot spring, and she's even more beautiful than before, somehow. The weariness in my back is immediately gone, filled with a lulling warmth that immediately seeps through to my bones, enveloped by heat. A flush finds her cheeks, with a hint of skin on her brow.
I can't help it. My hand trails down to her slit, and begins touching, stroking, caressing. It's what she wanted, wasn't it? She moans, and closes her eyes, embracing me completely to let me touch, to tease, to do whatever I want. Her eyes shut, groaning in pleasure as it takes her. I close my own, touching her sensitive little nub, drowning myself in the smell of her and the spring, in the feeling of her soft hair… Maker…
My movements are tentative at first, but I soon become more aggressive, more tenacious and maybe even a little rough, two fingers inside of her, soon upped to three, just how she likes it. Her cries intensify, become stronger and more powerful, growing louder and louder with every moment.
"Maker's breath." She whispers frantically between her gasps of sharp breath. "I missed you so much, my angel."
I giggle a little, kissing the back of her neck as my fingers touch her more and more. She is so incredibly wet, and not just from the water. I really want to touch my lips down there, to use my tongue to further pleasure her, but it would be rather unerotic if I drowned, now wouldn't it?
My fingers move faster and faster, teasing her, tasting her, devouring her until pleasure takes her completely, reaching that wonderful edge of the wave, her back arching, her whole body tense, my name on her lips as a stream of hot ecstasy.
We lie like that together for what feels like forever, her ragged breath the only sound in my ears. I continue touching her, riding out her orgasm, and even when it leaves.
Eventually she pulls back, bright blue eyes regarding me hungrily, and I shiver when she licks her lips hungrily, looking at me like a prized piece of meat.
"Your turn." The words are a little frantic, but deeper, purring, husky. A moment later, their full meaning strikes me, and I shiver, releasing her a little and opening myself to her.
She takes me in her arms, a devilish hand stroking, caressing me, my womanhood. Maker's breath, she's so incredible. The hot water steaming out feel amazing joined with her hands, like fire and water joined together, flowing over me, inside of me, filling me completely…
Oh… Maker…
"You're mine." She whispers, biting my neck, clutching my hip tighter than necessary, and that's all that it takes to bring me right up to the edge, ready and impassioned as I am. As lonely as I've been without her. I trust her completely, body and soul, and I need her.
I clutch to her desperately, crying out. I only have a single response, one tool at my disposal, to plead and praise with that one perfect word that makes the whole of the world right: Leliana. Her. I'm… I'm falling. Tumbling over the edge of the world. She gives a short, throaty giggle in my ear, curling her fingers until they are there. All I have left to do is surrender.
I think I can see the stars…
Pressure builds up in me, growing greater and greater as the rest of my body thrashes. Finally it reaches it's pinnacle, I feel myself… pushing out, hips jerking. We can't see it, but I know what's happening. I take a deep breath, and scream as I squirt out at her.
Maker's breath, I… oh god...
She holds me close, tight and loving, as my body stops trembling. Maker, but she's amazing. Perfect, in every way. I don't deserve her. I'm not sure anyone could.
"How was that?" She giggles, kissing me all over.
"That was… amazing." I whisper, grasping the back of her head and kissing her harshly, entwining our tongues. "You were amazing."
"I missed you so much." She whispers, and I nod. I know, I missed her too. And this time I was only gone for a few weeks. Let alone before the Inquisition, before the Divine's conclave, when I was gone for… god, six years. How I survived that, I'll never know.
"I'll always come back to you." I whisper, a heart swelled with love and adoration, and she smiles in turn, a tear finding her eye, noticeable even in spite of her head coated with sweat. She curls against me, and I fall asleep then and there. Complete, and utterly content with the world.
Perfect.