Selise woke in the late morning with her body burning. As soon as she had the ability to sense her surroundings, she felt Anders everywhere, his chest bare, his arms encircling her. Her cheek was directly against the little hollow of his shoulder, and with every breath she took his scent wafted enticingly from his skin and into her, warming her more and more from the inside out. Even in her sleepy, half aware daze, she couldn't stop her hands from roaming, her lips from laying kisses where ever they touched, her thighs from sliding between his. Her hips moved instinctively toward him, as if pulled inexorably by some primal force. She let her eyes open and looked up at the man who held her. He was the picture of sensuality; tendrils of his silky hair laying messily over his relaxed brows, splaying over his shoulder and pillow, his velvety skin still golden, his delicately defined lips calling to her. Everything about him called to her, begged for her to touch him.
As she was admiring him, the striking reddish brown of his eyes appeared from under their satiny lids and found her face. They seemed to spark as they looked into her, and his lips curled into a little smile as he moved closer.
Then their lips found each other again, and she felt the warmth of his mouth spread all the way through her, fanning the flames of the need that had originally aroused her from her slumber. His lips were skilled, and moved with a hungry, slow deliberation that felt like he was making love to her mouth. He teased soft moans from her throat and she felt herself melting further and further into the bed under his touch. Warm, firm hands caressed her face and her hair, running down the soft flesh of her neck and clutching gently at her jaw. Their limbs moved together in a slow, writhing dance while searching palms mapped out the cartography of each other's bodies. She could tell by his jagged breaths and trembling hands that he was holding back and letting her lead, and as much as she wanted him to unleash the beast within, she also reveled in his slow, thorough explorations. He sighed and whimpered into her mouth with each new movement of her body against him and she let his tongue delve deeply into her, the power of his kiss turning her limbs to jelly.
Feeling a quake of self-conscious nerves, she eventually she pulled back.
"Wow," she whispered. "I had no idea it could be like that."
He smiled and placed a light kiss on her chin, and then trailed more up her jaw. She felt almost delirious, intoxicated by his skin, his mouth, his scent.
"Anders, I should tell you, I don't really have much experience with this. I don't really know what to do."
"But you're doing fine," he said as he kissed her again. "Have you never… been with anyone?"
"Only once," she answered softly, "and it wasn't a good experience. Which is probably why it never happened again. I'm sorry."
"No, no, don't be sorry," he said, his hands caressing the lines of her face. The sensations he was manifesting in her crawled a trail directly to the warm, pulsing center between her legs. She had felt arousal before, but this… sheer desperation for him, or anyone, was entirely new. She wanted him, completely and utterly.
"Show me what it's supposed to feel like," she said. She opened her legs and pulled him in even closer, bringing his lips down upon hers again. He exhaled a breathy groan and pressed himself fully against her, his hardness hitting a bundle of nerves that pealed ecstatically at the contact. She cried out into his mouth, and then he pulled back, looking darkly into her for a moment, before he began sliding down her body.
"Where are you going?" she asked him, frantic that he might be about to leave her there, aching in agony.
"Just trust me," he smirked. He trailed kisses down her chest, and her stomach and then his head disappeared below the blanket.
She felt his nimble fingers curling over the waist of her leggings, and in a quick move he had them at her ankles, pulling them over her feet. She felt the warm skin of his shoulders moving up between her knees, his hands sliding along the outside of her thighs and she opened fully for him, running one leg over his back.
And then something soft and hot hit the bundle of nerves that was aching so exquisitely, his tongue sliding around that center of desire that was rocking her whole body with waves of need. Those lips, that mouth that had delivered such nectarous kisses upon her was now working its magic powerfully between her legs, teasing the already intense sensations into higher levels of ecstasy. She bucked against him and found herself whimpering and panting, climbing a ladder of pleasure that she had never known before. One of his arms swept the blanket back off of them, and his eyes were on her again, intently watching her face, observing what his ministrations were doing to her. She writhed and squirmed, her hands finding his hair and grasping handfuls at the roots.
The wave of sensations was building to a crest, when a vision flooded in.
"Commander…" she panted, "Commander Cullen…"
Anders stopped, his head raising to look at her with a hurt expression. "What?" he asked.
She pulled his mouth back down to her, desperate for him to continue, to take this escalation of pleasure to its inevitable climax.
"No," she said realizing hazily what he must have thought, and she swallowed and struggled to put a coherent sentence together,"Cullen is on his way…. only have a few minutes,"
This energized him, and he wrapped his arms around her thighs, kneading at her flesh with strong fingers, pushing her legs up slightly as his mouth pressed harder, sucking and tonguing her with a renewed vigor.
Finally the energy building in her body burst into an explosion of sensation that arched her back and curled her toes, rippling and quaking its way from her center outward to the furthest reaches of her limbs. She heard her own voice gasping in desperation and tried to quiet herself. She didn't want it to carry out into the hall where Cullen should be approaching any minute now.
With delicious aftershocks still coursing through her, she collapsed back, getting only a quick glimpse of Anders' mischievous grin as he collected his clothes and darted out of her room, closing the door quietly behind him.
She was still plastered to the bed, breathing heavily and trying to wrap her mind around the storm that had just completely rocked her body when she heard Cullen's knock on the door beside hers. Anders didn't answer right away, and Cullen knocked a second time. Finally she heard the muffled sounds of Anders greeting him, and Cullen entering his room.
Selise felt like her whole world had just changed. How could it be possible that her body was capable of something so…. Otherworldly? Is that what she had been missing out on the whole time? Does everyone feel that way when they're with someone special? No wonder people got so crazy about love and coupling, she thought.
She couldn't manage to wipe the grin off her face as she finally pulled herself out of the bed and made her way to the washroom to bathe. Even there she let her fingers linger where his mouth had been, recalling the delicious explosion that seemed to awaken a whole new hunger in her. Though even that new earth-shattering revelation barely compared to the power of his kisses. She found herself leaning back against the wall, running the scenes through her mind on the back of her eyelids, while she sighed and ached for more. She realized she had probably spent twice as much time closed in the room as she usually did, as she kept getting waylaid by waves of fantasy.
Cullen and Anders were still closed in his room talking when she returned from her bath. As disappointed as she was that she couldn't rush right back into Anders' arms, she also knew she had things to do. She wanted to get out into the courtyard and be among the people, see if she could hear any mentioning of the man the soldiers found on the battlements the night before. And she also needed to find the holding cells, scope out any possibilities for a good location to try to lure out Vengeance.
She threw on some clothes and then closed up her room, pausing outside Anders' door to listen to the musical cadence of his speech and try to gage the tone of his and Cullen's conversation. But the voices were too muffled for her to decipher anything useful. She gave a small sigh, and touched her hand to the outside of his door, knowing the man who had somehow completely captured her mind and heart was lingering just on the other side.
She felt the grin spreading itself across her face again as she made her way up into the courtyard. The chill from the night before was still noticeable in the air, but she didn't mind it. The sky could have opened right then and dumped a season's worth of snow on her head and she wouldn't have minded one bit.
By all appearances, it was a normal day. Refugees gathered around clusters of tents and market tables, patrons streamed in and out of the tavern and soldiers practiced fighting on the small collection of wooden dummies. Selise walked lazily from one end of the main courtyard, down below the Skyhold steps and toward the stables, with an ear acutely tuned to the conversations around her. She spent an hour wandering around, stopping near groups of men and soldiers and trying to look busy enough not to be suspicious as she eavesdropped on them but she heard mostly gossip and bartering, with the occasional burst of male bravado. No one seemed to be mentioning anything about a mysterious death on the battlements. She hoped that it meant that anyone investigating assumed it was a natural death, but felt a small chill that warned her against getting too comfortable. It's likely that the soldiers might just keep that little detail of the missing sword private, if they thought anything about it at all.
After satisfying herself that there would probably be nothing to hear, she turned around and walked back toward the tavern, remembering that the door to the dungeon was somewhere in that area. She ascended the path to the upper courtyard and scanned the stone walls all the way around, looking for a door that seemed like it didn't belong to anything in particular. There was one door that she tried that opened into a room that held a man looking down at a table covered in books and lists. She apologized quickly and ducked back out.
Then the wall curved around to a door that had a step down to it, and Selise knew she had found the correct one.
It opened into a long stone staircase that descended down below the ground, and which was lit through its whole length by spaced out braziers. She crept quietly down the stairs, and then came to yet another set, this one even longer. Finally she reached a vestibule that had a pillared doorway looking into a old, partially delapidated stone room. A single guard stood at the back of the room, looking out through a large hole in the wall at the valley beyond. On the right side of the room were three collapsed stone cells fronted by metal-barred doors. On the left were three cells that were intact. These should work fine, she thought.
The guard turned abruptly and saw her.
"Can I help you?" the guard asked.
"Nope, thank you. Sorry I was just exploring… got a little lost," she said. The guard gave her an annoyed expression and Selise backed out of the doorway, turning around to ascend the two long staircases back to the surface of Skyhold.
If there was anyone there when they made the attempt, Selise would just have to put them to sleep. She'd need the guard to be there anyway, so she could get the key to the cells to lock Anders in.
She was crossing in front of the tavern when she felt Cole behind her.
"See?" he asked.
"See what?"
"You help him."
"Yep, you were right about that."
Selise suddenly got an idea and she stopped, turning to look at Cole.
"Cole, you remember how his spirit came out that first night?"
"Yes. Two faced spirit, he never knows when to help or hurt."
"Could you feel the one that hurts? The really angry one?"
"But they are the same," said Cole, confused.
"Yes, but they're different too. Two faced, you said it yourself just now."
"Yes."
"We're trying to bring out the face that hurts people, so I can see if I can help him. Will you help us?"
"He can change, if he wants it enough," said Cole. "The man doesn't want it."
No, he doesn't, she thought.
"The angry face frightens me," said Cole quietly.
"Okay," she said feeling a rush of sympathy for the troubled spirit. "That's okay. We'll just try something else," she told him as she gave a little smile.
She raised a finger and brushed his stringy blond bangs out of his eyes, but they just fell right back into place.
"There's a man from the gardens yesterday who was having bad dreams while he was awake. Can you find him and make sure he's okay?"
Cole gave a little nod.
"Mother Giselle will probably know where he is," she said.
"You gave him the dreams?" he asked.
"Yes, I had to."
"Your magic can be cruel," said Cole.
Selise knew he was right, but his words still stung.
"I know. I wish it wasn't," she told him seriously. She sighed and bid Cole a goodbye, resuming the walk back into Skyhold.
As she entered the Great Hall with her mind wandering, she almost ran into Cullen, who was in the middle of a serious, quiet conversation with the bald elf. She excused herself politely and walked around the men, but out the corner of her eye she saw them both glance at her. If Cullen was up here and not down there, that meant Anders was free and she felt herself perk up a little bit. She wanted to walk faster, to rush back down the stairs and to Anders, but knowing she was being scrutinized, she forced herself to walk at a leisurely pace, keeping her gaze forward, trying to look as nonchalant as possible.
She felt relief wash over her when she was finally through the door that led to the lower floor, glad to be out from under the scrutinizing eyes of Cullen and the elf. She couldn't afford to make people talk or ask questions, especially now that she had officially betrayed her post.
As she descended the stairs to the lower floor, Cole's words continued to ring in her ears. She hoped he could find the man that she had thrown the Nightmare spell at and help him. She winced as she recalled the shrill cry the man had emitted once the visions started taking over. She'd always had a perverse curiosity about what people saw when she used that spell. From her understanding, the spell just manifested whatever fears already existed in their psyche. As she thought more and more about it, she stopped in her tracks for a beat. She knew exactly what she needed to do.
Anders was in his room, his hair wet from a recent bath and he was sitting over an open book at his table. Over his fire sat the iron tea kettle and it was beginning to steam. Selise rushed into his room, hurrying a little more than she had intended, and closed the door behind her. As soon as he heard her, he stood and rushed forward, and they fell into each others arms.
She groaned in relief when he closed himself around her and his lips met hers again. Her heart began to quicken almost the moment that she felt his touch. Finally, she sighed to herself. His hand came up to cup and caress her cheek, to hold her steady as his mouth claimed hers. She opened for him, eager to experience the delights of his lips again. She felt a wave of hypnotic sensation flood her body that made her simultaneously want to collapse into him, and also hold him as hard as she could, to pull him in and claw at his flesh, to open him up so she could burrow inside his chest. She did all of it, her hands raking down his back as she let her head fall so that it rest only in his hands, and she surrendered herself to him, to the thrilling heat of his body pressed against hers from ankles to lips.
They were pulled out of their oblivion by the hissing coming from the fire, indicating that the water in the kettle was boiling over.
She groaned some more when he pulled away, not wanting to be separated, but the hissing and spitting was only increasing.
His eyes burned into hers as he stepped toward the fire and she swayed, feeling drunk and lightheaded in the aftermath of his devastating kiss.
She sat herself at the second chair at his table and tried to get a handle on her thoughts again. There was something she was going to tell him….
"The nightmare spell," she said finally.
"The nightmare spell?" he repeated. "Like the one you put on that man in the garden yesterday."
"Yes, it conjures up your fears and shows them to you."
"Okay, and what about it?"
"I bet that would bring out Vengeance. You already fear Templars, imprisonment… many things that would anger him," she said.
"Yes. But my fears are not all relevant to Vengeance. I have many more… personal ones as well, that might not do anything to bring him out."
He came to the table with two mugs of tea and set one in front of her before scooting his chair closer to her again and sitting down. He took one of her hands in his and kissed it.
"Right. Maybe if you think about, I don't know, the Circle, Templars, something related to a great injustice then the spell will grab hold of that, and not something else? I'm sorry, that would still mean you'd have to endure the nightmares. From the reactions I have seen... it is not something I would wish on you." she said as she frowned and took a drink of her tea. "Well, like that man in the garden. You saw him scream and cower," She was only just then thinking of that part.
"If you think it will work, we can try it. It's a better idea than anything I can think of, short of bringing a Templar along with us," he said.
"And the dungeon has exactly what we need. I was just there," she said. "I didn't see any other prisoners, but there was a guard."
"Of course. Only one?"
She nodded, falling silent as her hand was drawn to his face, as it always seemed to be she realized. She had noticed that almost every time she studied his face, it had become even more beautiful to her. From the light, almost unnoticeable dusting of freckles over his aquiline nose, to his dark, expressive brows, to the perfect square of his chin. She thought she could just sit and look at him all day. But not only did she get to look at him, she got to touch him, a fact that thrilled her more and more. She caressed his jaw, delighting in the course texture of his stubble, while he continued to kiss her other hand. She needed to be closer to him, she realized, so she scooted forward, until they had to open their legs to let the other slide in.
"Did Cullen have anything interesting to say?" she asked him, "any mention of a dead guard with a missing sword?"
"A missing sword?" he asked, tilting his head.
"Yes, I couldn't get his sword back into its sheath so I had to toss it over the battlements. Which means they picked up a guard that seemed to have died of natural causes, but who misplaced his weapon in the process. I just know that is going to come back to bite me somehow. But I didn't hear any mention of it up in the courtyard."
Anders nodded as he considered this. "No, he mentioned nothing about that. But that little detail probably won't be overlooked by everyone. Especially Cullen. He is nothing if not thorough."
"But, I am thinking that maybe, if it becomes an issue we should just… tell them it was me?" she said.
He raised an eyebrow, "would that be wise?"
"Well, I am not supposed to use lethal means, but if I tell them he threatened us, and you back me up, they might understand. What else could we do?"
He nodded, bringing his tea to his lips, "Yes, maybe you're right."
"So then the question is, do we wait for them to come to us, or do we go to them? No, I know the answer to that. I should go to them. I should probably go right now. I already forgot to tell them about Justice the first night. I have really been a piss poor Keeper to be honest. They probably regret selecting me."
"Well I don't regret it," he said. "If I had known that I would get you out of this whole deal, I would have let them catch me sooner."
"I should probably at least try to keep up appearances… let them think I am still on their side," she said, even as her mind railed against the thought of walking away from him again so soon.
"Are you not on their side?" he asked, his eyes closing as he caressed her hand with his lips.
"I believe in the Inquisition of course," she said, she felt her eyes glazing over as her arms tingled with goosebumps from his touch. "But I am on your side, Anders. Whatever that might mean."
His eyes flicked open and he flashed her a deep, warm smile.
"I guess I should go talk to them then," she said, even as she made no move to pull away.
"Maybe not right this very second…" he said sweetly as he pulled her close, "let me have a little bit more of you first. Please?"
She leaned in and gave herself over to another long, deep kiss.
When it was over, she exhaled a heavy breath, feeling nervous and anxious and blissful. "Anders, I have never felt anything like this," she breathed. "Or like this morning."
He tilted her face up and looked down into her with a satisfied little smile, and he kissed her again.
"I got to sit across from Cullen for over an hour with the taste of you still on my lips," he said with a sly smirk. "I think I should take all my meetings like that from now on."
"Not if that means you have to run out like that," she whispered as she felt her cheeks grow hot.
"Hm, good point," he said.
She took his hand and pulled him up to stand. But before she could take a step toward the bed, she found his mouth on hers again, his arms enveloping her and she pressed herself against him, feeling him grow hard against her. It fired up the memory of what he'd been able to do to her just a few hours before. He had run out unsatisfied, having only pleasured her and not himself. The thought of making his body burst with feeling like hers had unleashed a hot river of desire through her again. She was instantly aching for him, her body thrumming and trembling with the need to have him again.
"I want to make you feel the way I felt this morning," she breathed as she kissed him hard, and ran her hands over his robe, trying to release all the bindings. He helped her, pulling at clasps and letting his robe drop to the ground, but he still had on a light tunic underneath. Selise pulled on it, searched for a way to get it off without having to break her mouth away from his, but she couldn't tell if it had buttons or ties, and it wasn't budging.
"How badly do you want to save this shirt?" she asked as she gathered up a handful, prepared to rip it right off him.
He gave a light laugh and then pulled away, yanking the shirt over his head and to the floor in a single swift move.
She shuddered at the feel of the warm, velvety skin of his bare body. She ran her hands over the smooth hills and valleys of his back and chest, and then moved her mouth down to his neck, sucking at his flesh and running her teeth along his collarbones, covering him with urgent, consuming kisses. He groaned a long, tortured growl that only made her try even hard to devour him. His head fell forward and the coolness of his damp hair brushed along her neck, increasing the shivers that were traveling along her skin. Finally she got the last scrap of her own clothing off and they were both completely bare, smooth skin against smooth skin, cool and hot and soft and hard all at the same time. She felt her knees go weak and she slid down to the floor, bringing him along to collapse on top of her. Her body was throbbing with need for him, and she opened, grinding her hips into his, her thighs slick with desire.
He slowed when finally he entered her, and broke away from his kiss to look at her face, his dark gaze burning into hers, reflecting back to her his own desperation for her. He kept his eyes clamped onto hers as he filled her up, sliding against the walls of her flesh and igniting dormant, starved nerve centers inside her. She tried not to let her eyes roll back under her lids as he began to move, thrusting softly at first, but building up a momentum that sent wave after wave of the most delectable, the most exhilarating rushing of sensations she had ever known. It shadowed the ecstasy of that morning, but magnified immeasurably because he was there with her, sharing her journey into the perfect storm of madness and euphoria.
Finally, she felt more of his kiss as he entered her mouth with a blazing fervor, doubling the rapturous melding of their bodies and fanning the flames of her passion into a fury. Eventually the tide of his climax surged over him like an ocean wave and he arched, his groans smothered by their joined mouths, his body tensing and writhing. But she held on, following after him in a delirious frenzy that incinerated her every last nerve with a sweet, delectable fire.
He collapsed into her arms, chest heaving and body pulsating, and she snaked her sweaty limbs around him, fitting them into any groove she could find before relaxing back onto the floor. Nothing existed in the open landscape of her mind while they lay in recovery, only the feel of him in her arms, the weight of him against her, the swell of adulation that filled her heart. Slowly their breathing returned to normal and then she felt the tickle of his lips on her earlobe.
"We didn't even make it to the bed," he whispered.
"It was too far away," she laughed softly.
When the sweat dried and the sun changed angles in the sky, she realized she needed to make her way up to Leliana before it got too late. He pulled her to her feet and she collected all her discarded garments, needing to go on a room wide search for her smallclothes. She dressed reluctantly, wanting only to lead him to the bed and continue to luxuriate against his bare skin for the rest of the evening. But duty called, and she laced up her boots and tried to make herself presentable as he sat at his table, bare-chested, and in a loose pair of breeches, watching her with a satisfied grin. When she was fully dressed, she found him standing close, ready to pull her back into him.
"Come back as quick as you can," he whispered between the soft caresses of his lips.
And she turned, steeling herself for the conversation with Leliana, whispering a small prayer to the maker that everything go as well as possible. She cast him one last glance and dragged herself away.