There and Back Again Ch. 128

"Maker's breath, you're so beautiful," he gasped when he came up for air; I chased his lips as he pulled away, and shut him up with another kiss.

Eager after a few days of abstinence and teasing, I lifted my legs, wrapping them around his hips, my heels against the taut muscles of his ass, pulling him towards me; taking the hint, he shifted slightly and then slowly, gently hilted himself inside me without breaking the kiss.

Both of us were on edge, and I knew it wouldn't take much before we both peaked; seeming to realise this as well, Alistair slowed down, allowing me to feel all of him as he stretched me deliciously, but without much friction. I wiggled under him, chasing my pleasure, but he pulled back slowly again, pushing up onto his knees and holding my hips still without separating from me.

"Not yet," he rasped, and my eyes shot open to see his face screwed up in concentration. "I want to feel you, to make it last a little. Not yet," he repeated.

As usual, I could deny him nothing, and I lay there, my hands gripping his forearms with a vice grip as he slowly, agonisingly eased in and out of me. It was more intense than I expected, being filled with such burning need, but denying it to focus on the slow build-up of pleasure.

After a few endless minutes, despite his slow pace, I was overwhelmed, shuddering underneath him as he gently filled me again and again. I gasped in surprise as he reached down and gathered me into his arms, pulling me up so I was sitting in his lap. He kissed me again, his tongue sweeping into my mouth, his hips never stopping, and then he kissed and licked his way down my neck, finally burying his face in my shoulder as we both shook together.

I felt like I would explode; my arms were wrapped around his neck, one hand gripping a handful of his short blond hair, and I rode him at his pace, unable to stop the pleas and declarations of love from spilling out of my mouth. I was ablaze, my skin on fire everywhere he touched me, and it was so much more than pleasure, so much deeper than just sex, I tumbled unexpectedly into orgasm, crying out as it kept going and going, drawn out by each measured thrust of his hips.

I heard his hoarse voice call out as his own peak came; finally losing his patience, his rhythm suffered as he spilled inside me. My vision greyed out; it was a good thing he held me tightly to him, or I'd probably have fallen. As it was, by the time my awareness had returned, I was laying in Alistair's arms, his hand stroking my face as he whispered to me, encouraging me to breathe, to relax.

"Andraste's ass, Alistair..."

"Yeah." I could hear the smug grin in his voice. "Me too. I love you, Sierra."

I snuggled into his embrace and fell deeply asleep.

I woke in the morning to him spooning behind me, his erection pressing against my ass, his lips on my neck, his hand on my breast; when I began writhing in his arms, he took me from behind, bringing me to a climax with his fingers on my pearl before groaning in my ear and releasing himself again.

I'd have preferred to stay in bed and go for round three, but the light sneaking through the closed shutters indicated it was morning, and we knew we had a lot of work to do. Reluctantly we climbed out of bed, cleaning up with a basin of warm water courtesy of my dwarven rune, before dressing for court. I braided my hair back, putting on a lovely-but-simple dress that a servant had obviously unpacked and pressed for me; Alistair put on slacks and a doublet, spending more time on his hair than I did, to my amusement.

I was still teasing him about his hair when we ran into Aedan and Zev in the hallway outside Cailan's room; they told us Wynne had gone inside, and we decided to wait in his sitting room to hear the news.

It didn't take long before Cailan emerged from his room; his skin was sallow, his eyes slightly sunken, but he wore clean clothes and his gaze was clear. We all drew near, worried about him. His expression was sheepish, but also slightly defensive.

"I hear I have you to thank for being sober and not in excruciating pain this morning." Wynne winked at us, and we all stifled our grins. Cailan went on, "Thank you for coming. As you saw, I've been having some...difficulty-"

I interrupted him by pulling him into a hug; he stammered briefly before surrendering to it, and Alistair patted him on the back while he shook in my arms.

"It's okay," I whispered. "We're here to help." I let him go, and he rubbed his face ruefully, clearly embarrassed.

"Right," he murmured. "So where do we start?"