What Happened

Elissa was exhausted. Not only had Alistair spurned her, but then she’d sent him into Morrigan’s
arms and he’d gone willingly. A bit too willingly in her opinion. But none of that mattered any
more. Alistair was King, and she was a Grey Warden and that, as they say, was that. Besides, it
really wasn’t nearly the blow to her ego she expected it might have been. Elissa had a feeling
that had she pressed the issue, she could have gained herself a throne next to Alistair’s. But that
seemed a pale fate. This saved her the trouble of having to break it to him that while endearing,
his self-consciousness did nothing to enhance his appeal.

What Elissa Cousland wanted was a man.

Despite her weariness, sleep eluded her. She wandered in the halls of Redcliffe castle, dragging
her bare feet against the cool stone and the hem of her nightgown brushing the floor when she
heard a small sound from behind the partially open door to the library. Surprised to find anyone
still awake, she peeked inside.

Teagan was reading by the flickering light of a few candles, a glass of amber liquid held
languidly in one hand. He absently took a drink and Elissa watched carefully as the sleek
muscles in his throat moved as he swallowed. She had a sudden pang of desire so strong it was
almost painful.

She must have made some small, inarticulate sound, because Teagan looked up and caught her
staring. He gave her a cordial smile.

“Lady Cousland,” he said quietly. “I did not expect anyone would still be awake.” His smile
widened, exposing a row of straight, white teeth. “Come, join me for a drink.” Elissa pushed the
door open and walked in, closing it again partially behind her. She leaned against the desk,
looking down at the book Teagan had been studying so intently.

“What’s this?” she asked, fingering the leather edge of the cover where it poked out from beneath
the well worn pages before pressing her hand down against the glossy wood of the desk top. Her
long fingers splayed out, just barely inches from the book.

“Ah,” Teagan smiled. “The Rose of Orlais,” he replied, without a hint of embarrassment.
“Something to distract me, and keep me company on this lonely night.” Slowly, deliberately, he
closed the book, resting his hand with its perfectly manicured fingers on top. “But I do believe
that your company is far preferable to this tale, no matter how . . . arousing it might be.”

He was calm, collected and completely unfazed. Elissa was brushing like a madwoman.

She couldn’t deny that she was attracted to Teagan. He was exactly the sort of man she’d always
expected to be with. Noble, older, wise perhaps even. The sort of man her father would have
smiled to see her choose. Alistair might be King, but Bryce Cousland would not have been
impressed. And Fergus was going to kill him, once he learned what had happened.

But Teagan Guerrin? Well, he would please everyone.

Then Teagan’s hand moved, so slowly she hadn’t realized what was happening until one of his
fingers slid up into the cleft between her middle and ring fingers, touching her skin in an
unmistakably erotic way. His warm fingertip mimicked how he might touch her elsewhere.

Please everyone indeed.

Elissa smiled, the blush spreading from her cheeks down onto her chest, a faint pink tinge
coloring the round curves of the top of her breasts. Teagan’s gaze flickered from her fingers, to
her eyes and then unabashedly slid down the length of her neck and stopped at the narrow valley
between her breasts. His tongue darted out to moisten his lips. He smiled slowly, moving his
eyes back up to meet hers again.

“So,” he said, his voice as rich as caramel. “Can I offer you a drink?”

“Yes,” she replied, remembering herself. “What do you suggest?”

He smiled again, offering her his own glass. “Eamon has some fine brandy; it is my personal
favorite. One of the few reasons to bother visiting, I find.” He paused, lifting his other hand to
take her free hand and wrapping her fingers around the glass. He moved his out from underneath
very slowly, the combination of his warm flesh and the cool glass possibly as intoxicating as the
liquid inside.

Teagan smiled again, not bothering in any way to hide the heat in his eyes. “Taste,” he rumbled.

Elissa brought the glass to her lips. There was a certain intimacy to putting her lips on the same
glass his lips had touched only moments before. The brandy was smooth as silk with a
tantalizing burn on the way down.

“Mmm,” she murmured appreciatively, her lips still softly against the glass. “Delicious,” she
continued, looking at him over the rim of the glass with half lowered lids.

She slipped back off the desk, and walked around to the same side he sat on. Or perhaps stalked
or sauntered was a better description. There was something so refreshing about the direct, yet
smoothly subtle innuendo here. Far more appealing than the inept bumbling of an inexperienced
man. Perhaps there were other perks to experience as well and Elissa was intent to find out.

Had circumstances been different, it would have been luxurious to let this little game play out
longer. Soft touches, heated looks, accidental brushing of her breasts against his arm. Dances
where they stood too close. And her favorite game of seduction, stealing a taste of food from his
fingers, in full view of the nobility with her hand on his thigh under the table.

But there was no time for that. Time was something she didn’t have. And so to hell with the
game. Teagan turned in his chair to look up at her, perhaps recognizing the urgency in her eyes.
He stood and Elissa could actually feel the heat of his body rolling off him. He reached up and
traced the curve of her jaw with his fingertip before cradling her cheek in his hand.

“So lovely you are my dear,” he said. “And so sad. What must I do to make you smile, despite
our dire situation? Simply tell me and I will make it my mission in life to see it happen.”

“I have a few ideas,” she said, stepping closer until the length of her thigh was nearly touching
him. “But I was hoping that perhaps you might have an idea or two of your own.”

Teagan gave her a wicked grin. “I might at that,” he said, his other face coming up to cradle her
face. He pulled her close until she could feel his breath against her. He smelled of brandy and
very expensive cologne. “In fact, I have quite a few ideas.”

Then his lips where against hers, his teeth nipping at her lower lip. His mouth tasted sweet, of
fine brandy, sugar and apples. Elissa’s hands slid up the length of his arms, over the rich,
velvetly fabric. One of his hands slid around to cup the back of her head, the other sinuously
traveled along the lean muscles of her back and without hesitation over the round arch of her ass,
pulling her tightly against him. The evidence of his arousal was unmistakable.

Elissa pushed her self against him and he moaned something incoherent against her mouth.
Pulling back from the kiss wasn’t easy, but Elissa wanted more. And frankly there was no time
for the long seduction that she knew they both wanted.

“Please Teagan,” she whispered. “We both know this dance. And as much as I would like to
prolong the pleasure, there is no time. I want you. Now.”

Teagan raised an elegant eyebrow at her bluntness. “Well, then can I assume that you will
promise me a smile if I comply?”

“Smiles for days,” she said. “If your other skills match your skills of seduction, I’ll still be
smiling when I kill the archdemon. I promise,” she said, making the sign of the sword across her
heart.

He chuckled. “My skills of seduction are not my strong suit, dear lady. I have always been a
man of action, more than words.” This was not ego talking; it was clear by the look in his eyes.
Just a simple, honest fact.

Elissa slid her hand down his chest and along the flat plane of his belly until her hand reached the
length of his erection, straining against the fine fabric of his trousers.

“I would very much like to experience that for myself,” she purred.

That spurred him into action. He pulled her against him tightly, his tongue tracing the length of
her neck as his other hand reached out behind him sweeping across the top of the desk sending
book and brandy scattering to the floor. Elissa heard the sound of breaking glass as he bunched
up the skirt of her nightgown around her waist, boosting her up on to the now empty desktop.

He fell to his knees, parting her legs, planting a kiss on the soft skin of her inner thigh. His
mouth moved languorously along her leg, his tongue fluttering against her satiny skin until he
reached the apex between. He looked up at her, blue eyes blazing under auburn lashes as his
tongue darted out and made a long, deliberate circle around her clit.

Elissa’s hand clutched at his hair, pushing his face close as his mouth worked against her. There
was no doubt; Teagan was experienced in the pleasuring of a woman. His tongue and lips moved
in well tested patterns across her skin as his hand moved to join them, one long tapered finger
sliding into her buttery heat. As her flesh closed around his finger, he moaned against her. The
vibration of the sound sent shocks of pleasure through Elissa’s entire body.

Agonizingly slow, he began to pump his finger in and out, his mouth moving to ruthlessly suck
on the bud of her clit. She writhed against the desk, her fingers tangled through his hair, pushing
his face tighter against her. From the look in his eyes as he stared up at her, he didn’t mind one
bit.

A second finger joined the first, the pace of his hand, the pulsing of his tongue against her clit
increasing. He moved in a maddening rhythm. Not too fast, or too slow, but just the perfect
speed to wrench a excruciatingly intense orgasm from her. Elissa shrieked her pleasure as she
ground herself against his face.

Teagan leaned back on his knees, wiping his face with his sleeve, his short beard glossy with her
cream. He stood and slipped his doublet off over his head, deft fingers unlacing his trousers
exposing the thick mast of his cock rising from its nest of dark red curls. Putting one hand on
Elissa’s still quivering thigh, he wrapped the other around his length, aiming his cock towards
her damp opening. The head pushed in, just enough to tease. His eyes closed as he shivered.

“I hope,” he purred, slowing sliding forward, the thickness of his smooth cock stretching her as
he pushed inside. “That I will be seeing many more . . . smiles,” he said, as he buried himself to
the hilt, “In the very, very near future.”

He pulled back, pulling the full length of his cock out, now glistening with Elissa’s moisture
before plunging back in again. Not tenderly this time, but hard and rough and merciless. He
began to work his cock in short thrusts, circling his hips so the firm pressure of his pelvis rubbed
against her clit. Elissa shuddered, her heels digging into the firm globes of his ass, urging him
on. She tore her eyes away from where they were joined to meet his eyes.

“Of that, you can . . . be certain,” she managed, her voice breathless and made staccato by the
rhythm of his pounding. And she did smile as he angled his hips just a bit differently, his thrusts
longer now, the cords in his neck taut as he fought against his impending orgasm. Elissa felt the
thick length of his cock pulse inside her.

“Oh Maker, Teagan,” she moaned, feeling herself nearly reach her peak again at that one pulse.
“Please . . . please let me feel you come inside of me.”

He groaned, leaning forward, burying his face in her neck, his thrusts short and frantic now.

“I want to feel you throb inside me,” she whispered into his ear. “It’s going to make me come.”

“Oh Elissa,” he groaned. “I . . . holy Maker.” He continued on, his words no longer coherent.
He made a few last, brutal thrusts and buried himself as deeply as he could. Elissa could feel the
deep pulsing as he spilled his seed, her own internal muscles milking it from him as she too
reached the crest of her pleasure.

They didn’t move for a bit, except for one of Elissa’s arms coming up around his shoulders, slick
with sweat. The aftershock of their powerful pleasure washed over them and his cock pulsed one
last time, still deep-seated inside her.

“Ah, my Lady,” he muttered against her throat. “You have no idea how long I wanted this.”

Elissa smiled, kissing the top of his head. “No longer than I have, I suspect. Considering I have
desired you from the first moment we met.”

She heard him chuckle against her skin. “Make me a promise then; I will promise as well,” he
said, lifting his head to look up at her. Elissa didn’t speak but nodded.

“We both promise to survive this battle, and then you come with me to Rainesfere for a long
overdue rest,” he said.

“I promise,” Elissa said, smiling broadly. “It would be beyond rude of me to reject your most
pleasurable hospitality.”