Arabella's heart quickened as the tension between them grew palpable, like a spark ready to ignite. A magnetic pull drew them closer, and without a word, they leaned in together, their lips meeting in a soft kiss that slowly deepened.
Solas pulled back slightly, his eyes searching hers, making sure this is what she wanted. When she gave a small nod, he leaned in again, his lips claiming hers more urgently.
His hands roamed her body, his touch eliciting a shiver of pleasure. Arabella wrapped her arms around him, pressing herself against him, her tongue tracing the seam of his lips, seeking entry. The sensation brought an answering moan from Solas. They kissed deeply, their mouths exploring each other's depths until it became almost unbearable to wait any longer. Their kiss ended with another soft peck, and they broke apart, breathing heavily.
"We can't do this here," Solas said huskily.
"Can't we?" she replied, her voice thick with desire.
Her hand grasped him firmly, stroking his length through the tight fabric of his trousers. He arched his hips, thrusting into her palm. "Yes," he growled, "we can."
"What are you waiting for then?" Arabella asked seductively. She traced the muscles on his arm, running her fingers down his torso to his waistband, then up again. She bit her lip as his hands traveled down the length of her back, his eyes burning into hers.
Her entire body ached for him, and when he slipped his fingers between the fabric of her trousers and her stomach, she moaned in anticipation.
His fingers found her wet heat and began teasing her delicate skin. She ground her hips against him, unable to control the frantic need rippling through her. All she could think about was getting him inside her. When she felt his hard erection press against her core, a cry of frustration escaped her lips.
With one last look at each other, they quickly undressed, and Solas lowered himself over her as she laid back against the cool sand. He entered her in one smooth motion, gasping at the feeling of her moist heat surrounding him.
The moment was so intense, so full of emotion, she thought she might burst. With every stroke, she clutched him harder, and every time their bodies collided, she swore she heard the soft beat of their hearts beating as one.
When Solas' voice echoed in her ear, reminding her that they were not alone, she lost all sense of time and space, allowing herself to be swept away by the storm raging within her.
He bent down and pressed his mouth to hers once more, letting his tongue trail along her lower lip before capturing it in a sensual kiss. Arabella opened her mouth under his, pulling him even deeper inside.
As she lay beneath him, her head resting against his shoulder, she couldn't help but marvel at how good it felt to have him inside her. They fit together perfectly as their bodies moved together as one. Every stroke, every move they made nursed the slow burning fuel of desire within. Solas slid in and out of her slowly, kissing her neck and nibbling on her earlobe. Her hands clutched at his back, nails digging into his skin.
Their bodies rocking together, Solas began speaking softly, his voice hoarse with passion. Words in a language foreign to her filled her ear as he brushed his lips against her neck. His mouth met hers once again, plunging into her over and over, his thrusts deepening and becoming faster. Her hands gripped the back of his neck tightly as her body clenched in ecstasy. He reached around her backside and squeezed at the firm yet soft muscle, his groans morphing into a low, steady growl.
A scream escaped her throat as she came, the orgasm ripping through her with explosive force. As the waves of bliss subsided, she found Solas still buried deep inside her, gently caressing her cheek with his thumb.
"Do you realize how long I've been waiting to do that?" he whispered against her neck, still breathless.
"Was the last time this intense?" she teased back.
"If it weren't for the influence of the parasite, I'd be insulted you don't remember," he responded with a laugh.
Her brow furrowed, "Maybe it is a mercy to lose one's memories," she said, remembering Astarion's words. "I shudder to think of the nightmares lurking in my memories," she murmured, her fingers gently tracing from his forehead to the curve of his lips.
"For all of the darkness you worry consumes you, you are nothing but a bright light in the midst of the storm." The gentle curve of a smile graced his lips as he looked down at her.
A tentative smile touched Arabella's lips, her gaze clouded briefly with uncertainty. She closed her eyes, silencing the doubt within that argued against his words. With a deep breath, she pushed away those shadows, choosing not to let her inner turmoil disturb this tranquil moment in Solas' embrace.
Arabella slept fitfully, nightmares of past deeds looming ominously over her as she tried to crawl her way back to the waking world. She woke in a frenzy, hands clinging to her neck as her chest heaved frantically. She closed her eyes, willing herself to calm, and felt the slow winding down of her accelerated heartbeat. Sleeping peacefully beside her, Solas reached for her, his hand falling lightly on her thigh, its warmth seeping into her skin reassuringly. She smiled down at him through the anxious fear coursing through her. Gently removing his hand and placing it gingerly by his side, she pressed a soft kiss to his forehead.
Arabella rose carefully, not trusting her shaky legs to keep her upright. Fighting the urge to run, run fast and hard to get away from the sinking feeling in her gut, she wrapped her arms around herself. She folded into herself, riding out the waves of shivers that wracked her bare body.
An eerily familiar voice rang out behind her, a crooning shrill that cut through the air with dreadful precision. The familiarity of it sent a ripple of fear through her, an instinctive recognition that something from the shadowed corners of her past had found its way to her present.
"M'lady? Jubilant day! I have found your vile self at last!"
Arabella's breath caught in her throat as she slowly turned, almost unwillingly, to face the source of that haunting voice. As her gaze settled on the figure before her, her eyes widened in shock, not just at the sight of him but at the immediate and inexplicable knowledge of his name—Sceleritas Fel.
There he stood. The recognition was instantaneous, as if a part of her had always known he would reappear, yet she couldn't fathom how or why she knew him. His name resonated within her, a key unlocking vague memories she wasn't sure were hers, filling her with a sense of dread and twisted pleasure.
Despite the fear that clenched at her heart, she found herself rooted to the spot, staring at Sceleritas Fel with a mixture of horror and fascination. He continued speaking to her, but she could hear little over the deafening pulse in her ears at the mention of his being her butler. The pulsing abruptly stopped, and she locked eyes with the hunched and ghoulish creature.
"Anyways, I come once again bearing a part of your dreadful inheritance," he announced, his voice taking on a ceremonious tone as he extended a hand towards Arabella.
The air around his hand shimmered, and with a flourish of red magic that seemed to weave the fabric of reality itself, a crimson cloak materialized, neatly folded, in his palm. The cloak, rich in color, emanated a faint, otherworldly power; seemingly pulsing with a life of its own.
"And... this," he continued, his voice dropping as he extended his other hand. Within his clawed grip, a black sphere hovered, too dark to fit in the palm of his hand; its surface so deeply dark that it appeared to absorb the light around it.
She carefully accepted the objects from Sceleritas, clutching them against her bare chest, while he offered her a sinister grin and disappeared into thin air. Falling to her knees on the sandy ground, she exhaled a breath she hadn't realized she was holding, only to sharply lift her head at the noise of Solas beginning to move.
"Arabella," he called out to her groggily.
Solas wiped at his face, pinching the bridge of his nose for a second before his eyes settled on her. A small smile rested on his full lips, a serene expression on his face that quickly died when he saw what she held in her arms.
The sudden shift in his demeanor was palpable, the tranquility of his awakening replaced by a sharp intensity that buzzed within him. His posture stiffened, a visible tension taking hold as the implications of Arabella's possession became clear.
"Arabella, where did you get that?" His voice was steady but carried an undercurrent of urgency, a rare note of vulnerability piercing through his usual composure.
The sight of Solas, so suddenly stripped of his calm facade, gave her a moment of pause before she let out a nervous chuckle, bordering on hysteria. "My butler," she breathed, a small cackle punctuating the two simple words.
"Sceleritas?" he asked incredulously.
Arabella frowned at the name, and tilted her head as she looked at him through stormy eyes. "You know him?" She asked, a menacing gleam in her eye. She stood, gathering the cloak tighter to her chest with one hand, the orb hanging at her side.
"Not exactly," he started, feeling both frustrated and anxious as he noticed his cherished item in her grasp. Solas stood up to approach her, moving towards her gradually, and appeared wounded when she recoiled from his touch.
She pressed the orb into his chest forcefully, the loud smack of the smooth sphere against his bare skin echoing in the quietness of the camp. Solas' brow furrowed deeply, and he shook his head before breaking the brief silence between them.
"Arabella–"
"Don't," she spat, her menacing glare now tinged with hurt. "You know what I am and won't tell me. You knew about that thing that came here tonight. And you said nothing!" Her chest heaved as she looked at him with a pained expression, her gray eyes brimming with tears.
Solas felt a twinge of anxiety in his chest, and he swallowed dryly as his mind raced to say something, anything, but he found himself frozen.
"Fucking say something!" she yelled, tears now streaming down her cheeks.
"I swear I don't know any more than you do," he said, his voice unexpectedly taking on a steely edge.
Arabella scoffed at his tone, a sudden urge to grab the orb and smash it into his face repeatedly seizing her with reckless force. She gasped at the intensity of her sudden anger, shaking her head, before growling into the cloak in her hands. Turning on her heel, she stalked away from him and toward her tent, her footfalls heavy with the weight of her ire.
Solas stood fixed in place. He felt blindsided by a barrage of emotions he couldn't readily identify, yet one seemed more pronounced than the others– indignation. The wrath she directed at him took him by surprise, and even though he knew that her ire was misplaced, he still felt angry; angry that she would doubt his honesty, after all his efforts to be forthcoming with her from the very beginning.
His visage was marred with a dark scowl as the orb began thrumming in his grip. He looked down at it and felt the pang of longing for his home grip him tightly. Eyes aglow in a soft-white hue, he lifted the orb near his face, turning it in his hand as he examined it. A small smile formed as the power residing in the orb slowly seeped into its true domain, tendrils of magic wrapping itself around his forearm, following the path up to his heart. He gasped at the euphoric feeling settling in his chest, a piece of the wolf within him restored. A long and ominous howl pierced through the night off in the distance, and Solas laughed dryly to himself before his gaze landed on Arabella's tent.
He turned and walked to his tent, his heart gripped with a heavy weariness as he entered, the fabric flaps falling shut behind him. The interior, lit by a single, flickering candle, cast long shadows across his face, accentuating the lines of fatigue and determination etched deep within his skin. He placed the orb carefully on a small, makeshift table, its light dimming as if in respect to the solemn atmosphere of the tent. Solas sank onto his bedroll, his mind a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions. The magic from the orb had rejuvenated a part of him long thought lost, yet the weight of his decisions, the path he had been planted on, lay heavily upon his shoulders.
The howl in the distance, a reminder of the wild and untamed power he now held sway over, also echoed the loneliness and isolation of his journey. Arabella's presence, a mere stone's throw away, symbolized a connection he yearned for yet feared he would never be able to fully embrace. The conflict within him grew; a battle between his true nature and the desires of his heart.
He leaned back, closing his eyes, allowing the magic's residual warmth to envelop him. In this moment of solitude, the lines between man and beast, indignation and desire, blurred. Solas knew the road ahead was fraught with peril and sacrifice, but the orb had awakened something within him. A resolve, fierce and unyielding, to see their mission through, no matter the cost. Yet, he thought wryly, he had no idea what would become of him once this was all over.
The candle flickered one last time before succumbing to the darkness, leaving Solas in contemplation, the only sound the steady breathing of a man standing at a crossroad with an alien parasite taking refuge in his brain.
A/N: Looking forward to spending a little more time with Astarion next chapter and having Solas and Gale bro out for a second or two. Thank you for reading. As, always, I'd love to hear what you think. :)