Chapter 8: Confined Spaces

They were finally on the road again, heading toward the Brecilian Forest where they were going to remind the Dalish of their promise to help the Wardens. The road was hardly safe these days. Bandits, darkspawn, and now bears. More than once Wynne had had to set bones, patch them up with healing spells, or revive a fallen companion. Yet it felt good to fight, to do something again.

Zevran and Cat had been cautious and wary in each other's presence for a few days, but eventually they had managed to lock the memories of the last night at Redcliffe away in a safe place, and they had resumed their playful, passionate love-making. Their relationship had changed subtly, though. Zevran realized that he'd once again underestimated her. He'd been utterly shocked by the depth of hurt and resignation that he'd glimpsed on that night. Yet here she was, discussing herbs with Morrigan, singing along with Leliana's songs or trying to draw out Sten from his stony silence, as if nothing had happened.

It helped that Zev never held a grudge for long. Only two days after they'd left, she heard him joke and laugh with Alistair at the campfire. Cat, who still maintained an icy silence towards her fellow warden despite his clumsy attempts at reconciliation, couldn't quite fathom this. When she asked Zevran about it, he just shrugged.

"Ah, Catalina, I've been called worse things before. You Fereldans really aren't all that inventive when it comes to profanity. And he had to strike at me in some way, no? It was hard on him to be bested so easily. Besides," he looked at Alistair, who was gathering firewood on the other side of the camp, with an almost fond expression, "I know jealousy when I see it, and I know it's difficult to bear."

"Jealousy?" she exclaimed. "Why would he be jealous? He's only got eyes for Leliana."

Zevran shook his head. "Not a lover's jealousy, my sweet," he explained patiently. "He's just hurt because he feels he's lost his special place as your trusted friend. And he's really sorry about his rash words; he told me so."

She snorted and grumbled something unintelligible, but he could see she was thinking about it. When he heard her gently tease Alistair about his dirty boots later that night, he smiled to himself quietly.

A few days later they made camp in a little copse of trees by the road. It had been a relatively uneventful day, just one small band of darkspawn that they'd easily beaten off. Zevran was watching Cat's face, fascinated by the play of the firelight on her soft features. She was finishing off her soup, her tongue darting out to lick a few drops off her full lips. When she realized he was looking at her, her green eyes met his gaze, and he could see her mouth curve upwards into an amused smile. He raised a questioning eyebrow at her. Her smile grew broader as she got up, stretched with a yawn and, with a quick goodnight directed at Alistair and Leliana, walked off gracefully toward her tent, her hips swinging invitingly, throwing a tiny glance back over her shoulder at him. Without hesitation he got to his feet and followed her.

Her tent was tiny, with barely enough space for her bedroll and her packs. They couldn't undress without bumping and brushing against each other constantly, a fact that didn't exactly bother them. When they were both naked, he sat down on her bedroll and pulled her down on his lap for a soft, lingering kiss. She moaned happily, and soon their hands and lips were busy, softly igniting each other's passion.

She looked beautiful in the light of the oil lamp. He sighed, wishing for a little more privacy. Their love-making had of necessity become more subdued out here. He missed her wilder side, he realized. Oh well, there were other ways to spice things up... He softly slid his hand between her legs, probing gently and caressing her expertly until she was pushing hard against him, asking wordlessly for more.

He shifted her body a little until she was facing him, her long legs around his waist, and sat back on his haunches. Wrapping his arms around her slender body, he gently guided her downwards on his hard shaft, until he felt her all around him, warm and tight and wonderful. Then he let her sink back a little and kissed her deeply, as he began to move in and out of her in small measured strokes.

With a small movement of his head he directed her gaze downward. Her eyes widened when she discovered that in this position she could watch, she could see how he slid inside her and back out again. Zev heard her quick gasp of excitement and smiled inwardly. This never failed to arouse him either.

He tightened his grip around her as he increased the tempo of his strokes, and he felt her grab his back harder, as her hips joined in the movement, burying him deep inside her again and again. When she finally strained against him in a shudder of ecstatic relief, he came so hard that he bit into her shoulder to suppress a scream.

Afterwards they cuddled up close for a nap, until she had to crawl out into the cool night air for her turn to keep watch. When she looked back at him, stretched out on her bedroll, fast asleep, she couldn't help but smile. Lack of space had its own rewards, it seemed...