Resistance

Too long alone, too long in denial - it is too much to bear. When the truth reigns, will we be able to face it? Sebastian x F!Hawke.

This fan fiction might contain spoilers, canon and also non-canon endeavours and history. In response to a prompt...

Author: Illusionary Ennui

Disclaimer: If it's not in the Dragon Age games, codex entries, or the wiki, it's mine. All else, hail to Bioware.

Chapter Rating: M/E

Chapter Warnings: Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Sexual Intercourse - NSFW.

Beta: Lywinis

Edited: 02.17.2013

Resistance

Denied and broken

Little have we left to share

Only we remain

A burden, an oppressive mass that weighed the Champion of Kirkwall down as her slow steps carried them through Hightown. That was how Sebastian Vael, heir to the throne of Starkhaven, felt while he leaned upon Maria Hawke, shuffling towards the Chantry. She wobbled beneath his bulk, she but a small woman by comparison, and guilt prodded at him. Nevertheless, he required her help for his wounds, a raking score shredding his mail during their battle with the high dragon plaguing the Bone Pit. Other than the abomination, as Fenris would name the warden apostate, only Maria's skills held any hope for the royal archer. Even with the prospect of her help, he found himself averse to accepting for many reasons, most of which unspoken.

Pain overrode out his thoughts and Sebastian suppressed a complaining whine, the Chantry's steps far too numerous for his tastes in his current condition. Each step jarred him, making the frayed mail dig further into his torn flesh. Maria sensed his plight and slowed their progress to pause every so often to allow him some respite. Both knew healing him as is would only hinder his recovering, the mail determined to rip him to shreds.

By his guidance, mere grunts of directions, Maria hoisted his arm a little more comfortably over her neck and escorted him to his bunk. Sebastian sank onto his cot once inside his empty quarters, heavy with pain and fatigue. An irresistible desire for sleep washed over him, hoping to escape his pain in the nothingness of slumber. For the sake of his well-being, however, Maria's soft voice called to him, driving away the oblivion.

At her insistence, Sebastian gave her liberty to do as she willed, forgoing pride in favour of the circumstances. Cautious fingers worked the buckles of his armour, the leather parting under her gentle prying. Maria deprived him of his jerkin's warmth, the sharp metal of its ragged links scratching at his wound. His wincing and stifled groan elicited a worried cry from the healer's lips, a kind hand ghosting over the slashed skin. Her touch feathered across the raking claw marks that stretched from his shoulder to his hip, the deepest at the bottom of his ribs and down the side of his abdomen. At once, the pain receded into a dull the glow of her magic mingling with the flickering candlelight. The warm palm against his chest shifted down his torso by minute degrees, her fingers lingering as she flooded him with the pleasantly cool caress of healing. When her magic knitted the cracked rib, unseen beneath the split flesh, he bit back a strangled sob, all the pain from its mending crashing down on him in a single rush instead of over time. Her soothing words as well as her reassuring magic, cool against his heated skin, chased away its memory.

Then, Sebastian's heart beat faster as she leaned closer to inspect her work, her dark chocolate tresses spilling over his stomach. Like an untried maiden, his blood rushed to his cheeks when her fingers trailed near the waistband of his leather trews, intent on address the remnants of the wounds that continued beneath the ripped hide. However, Maria sensed his tension and her head whipped up to examine the cause. To their misfortune, the rogue shot up at that exact moment only to have her lips brush against his with the unintended force of his reaction. In shock, the petite mage pulled away, a vibrant blush spread across her freckled features, but her hands remained flush to his skin.

Admiring her kindness, her shyness, Sebastian studied her in awe at how she cast her eyes away from him even while she touched him with such familiarity. With the shake of his head, he recalled how their companions told him that he must be blind, so buried in his faith to see a woman pining for him not in lust, but in genuine affection. Inclined to agree, the prince knew he could not be entirely blameless in the matter, his own feelings questionable during their acquaintance. Ever since that fateful day when they first met, the murderers of his family dead by her will, his mind danced a fine line between tempting fascination and stalwart confusion. Sebastian, over the six years in her company, often found himself praying more and more in repentance for lust, for anger, for his failures. He even prayed for her welfare - for forgiveness in their endeavours, for the choices she made for the betterment of all. Although he often disagreed with her errant courses, she never once kowtowed to demons, dabbled in blood magic, nor sought to cheat or harm an innocent. Maria gave only of herself, asking nothing in return, naught but a mere tool to be used, even for the wrong reasons - she only wanted the best for each person whose life she touched and desire only their happiness with little care for her own.

A naïve lass she may have been, but Sebastian still chided himself for his adoration and the growing enamour. Possessed by the realization, he revelled in the closeness, her breasts heaving beneath her blood-splattered mantle thanks to her unsteady panting. To soothe her trepidation, he slid a hand along her arm from where it contacted with his body, her skin pebbling beneath his palm even under the heavy fabric, as it wandered up to her shoulder. Her dark amber eyes snapped to meet his gaze in bewilderment and she froze when he cupped her ruddy cheek. The rogue watched her swallow hard with apprehension while his broad thumb traced the slight curve of her jaw. Maria flinched and her breathing quickened as the wide span of his hand curved around her neck. In his wake, his fingers then brushed the edge of her ear to earn a shiver from the mage. His daring then drew her nearer and sent a frisson down her spine. Sebastian smirked, licking his lips with a distinct reflection of action.

Her gasp made no sound as Sebastian slanted his mouth over hers in surprise. Maria responded with hesitation at first, perplexed and unaccustomed to such intimacy. As she began to yield, by chance or understanding he would never know, the archer tried to press her further by snaking an arm around her waist and bowing her back to bring them closer, wanting more. His stomach coiled with the heat of provocation, delighted by the fit of her lips against his. In that simple kiss, he discovered a sense of calm, of wholeness, only to lose it. To his dismay, Maria pushed him away in an abrupt panic and threw herself across the room. The uncertainty in her eyes wounded his pride and his heart.

"Maria, I -"

"I'm so, so sorry, Sebastian," she said, the words caught on her tongue. "The Maker forgive me, but I can't... not like this."

One step back. Then two. He watched her flee from him, from the Chantry, leaving the lesser damage of his lacerations unhealed.

All at once, repressed emotions, buried deep by the demands of his faith and for sanity's sake, overtook him. The wanton need, the desire. He lamented for the loss of her warmth, her comforting caress - the Maker help him, he could not live without it, a strange sort of peace recognised within her embrace. Overwhelmed by need and the mere memory of her taste, sweet like a crisp apple, Sebastian pleaded forgiveness as a wayward hand worked the laces of his trews.

Groaning with a grave sigh, he sought completion to alleviate his frustration, the shadow of her touch vivid in his mind. Spent, his shoulders slumped with self-loathing as he washed himself with the tepid water from his washbasin. Even in this, Sebastian berated himself for imagining her hands in the washcloth's place. He then returned to his cot and stripped off his tattered garments before he stretched out on the thin pallet, his hands locked behind his head. Breathing steadied, he stared at the high ceiling, pensive in the aftermath. His mind set to wander, the royal archer breathed in the scents of incense and tallow, only to discern mint and lavender among them.

The prince, his head bowed in penitence, knew for certain he would find no rest that night.

A week passed in anonymity, Maria not once visiting her bereft companion - had he frightened her away from his company?

Alone, his wounds healed, a slow and agonizing process, as Sebastian wasted away every night spent in contemplation. His body begged for that extraordinary touch in her absence which left him aching and wilful. The prince battled with his conscience over the options ahead of him. Unable to weather the storm of his mind, he garnered his strength for the choice he dare not refuse. Yet as his hand hovered on his door, he paused and laughed: in the past, he wore the title of "rake" with pride, caring little for the women who shared his bed or the hollow bliss he took for granted. For one strange woman's sake, he deigned to trade every encounter for her forgiveness and pleasure.

A smirk marring his countenance, the rogue stole through the moonlit streets of Hightown, the silver orb hanging a hand's breadth above the city's horizon. As he walked, Sebastian squared his shoulders and kept his strides sure and purposeful. Up ahead stood his goal where candlelight gleamed from a single window. Ah yes, the former Amell estate. On the doorstep, the prince sucked in a deep breath, the air whistling through his teeth, before knocking and offered up a muted entreaty for courage and good will. Tonight marked the change of everything, he mused in silent gratification. Tonight, he sought solace and meaning to define an uncertain future at her hands and within her arms all because he failed to envision another night without an answer for zealous yet buried longing.

"Ah, Your Highness," Bodahn Feddic, Maria's manservant, said as he rubbed the sleep from his bleary and tired eyes. Standing in the doorway, the dwarven manservant barred the prince's entry, ever a dutiful servant and guardian of the house. "Messere Hawke has taken to her chambers presently. Pray tell, what has you up and about at this hour?"

"I have urgent business with your mistress," Sebastian replied, his tone flat.

"Can it not wait until the morn, Your Highness? Messere Hawke sleeps little as is."

From beyond, the men heard a woman's voice which rang with concern. Their heads snapped towards the lady of house, her finery loose on her form and her hair tousled, as she descended the last stair. At her heels growled her Mabari, Thane, the hound just as perturbed by their guest. In a familiar fashion, the men watched her shuffle across the main hall to determine the cause of that racket that woke her from her nap. Dark eyes widened when their blurry gaze fell upon Sebastian, cloaked and without his armour. Recalling their previous encounter, Maria's face burned with a mad blush.

"Sebastian? What in the Golden City -"

"May we speak in private, dear lady?" he answered in haste as he bowed his head in a polite gesture, unwilling to give himself the chance to run.

"Now, see here -"

"It's all right, Bodahn," Maria reassured the dwarf. "You may take your leave - 'tis late and you need your rest."

The manservant eyed Sebastian with a wary glance, a subtle reminder of his displeasure, prior to acquiescing to his mistress. Now alone, Maria marvelled at the archer's presence and her confusion only increased. Why in Thedas was he here, far from the comfort of the Chantry? She continued to stare at him until he withdrew his cloak's hood from his head, revealing a man held together by sheer willpower. With a heavy sigh, she frowned at dark circles beneath his eyes, familiar prizes from a lack of sleep. Yet, the brilliant blue irises gleamed, possessed of an some consuming secret. Even as the tanned skin appeared ashen in the dim glow of the torches, his face betrayed nothing save a weary soul.

Despite the parting of last meeting, Maria gestured for him to follow without immediate explanation. Sebastian spoke naught while she led him through the estate, led more by her own curiosity and desire rather than simple kindness. Up the staircase and into her bedchambers, she waited for him to speak his mind. It did them no good to stand in silence, the tension a veritable barrier between them.

Meanwhile, her own thoughts crushed her with her folly: did she regret her actions that night? Oh yes, she did - his kiss, so desperate, lit an unquenchable fire within her. However, for all her life, she could not bring herself to give in. For him, she only resisted, all for the sake of his vows. More than that, she reflected with a solemn air, he deserved more than her accidental teasing and maiden charms, so much more than the reality of her pitiful existence.

All thought then ceased when she shifted to close the door and Maria sensed the archer behind her step closer. The mage gasped when his hands slammed the heavy door shut, pinning between himself and the wood within the confines of his reach. At once, she turned to face him, finding him divested of his cloak and without his armour, clad in only a soft linen shirt and doeskin trews. With a shake of her head, her sleep-tangled hair falling in front her face, she made to seek answers for his strange behaviour. Never had she seen such a vivid glimmer of determination in the rogue's blue depths. She wondered what could possibly be going through his mind, his breaths uneven and short.

"Seb -"

"You are unlike any woman I've ever known."

Stunned, her bafflement precluded the hot mouth that slanted over hers in frantic kiss which brimmed with the release of his hunger. His tongue darted out to taste the salty skin of her throat until he turned to trail kisses down her jaw. Tracing her pulse, licking a leisurely line down the column of her neck where his growl vibrated against her skin. The prince of Starkhaven ran a heavy hand down her ribs to squeeze her hip before he then slipped the span beneath her finery. With a conceited smile, he soon relished in her sharp gasp when he caressed a trembling thigh. Sebastian's smirk broadened with every hitched intake of air. Throughout the display, he coaxed her towards submission and sought the exposed spots of her form that he could touch where each one caused her to arch into him in stimulated delight. His fingers tugged at one edge of her finery to reveal freckled chest and shoulder, the scar of her past glinting in the firelight. Nipping along the ridge of her clavicle, his impassioned words were mumbled against her flesh, suggestive pleas for her consent, begging to stay.

"Sebastian, you're not thinking clearly." She struggled for speech, panting with the effort. Her tongue caught between her teeth, she attempted to rebuff the feelings that swirled around her head: the need and the lust, only to begin losing sight of her endeavour. "Would you break your vows for one night of meaningless pleasure? And for a mage, no less?"

"My mind could never be clearer and this is far from meaningless, Maria." he said, haughty in his retort. "Not unless you don't want this, that you care nothing for me. Because right now, you're only making excuses. Granted, time and time again, you ignore my advice, but were we not the better for it? Thanks to you, I've regained more than I lost but also achieved the prospect of something greater. As for the fact that you are a mage, what of it? I care not. We are all children of the Maker and deserve the freedom to walk by His side or throw ourselves to the Void - magic is a gift, and though many abuse it, you do not. Yet, would you deny me this?"

"I'd chance the Void for you." Shock by his words, blood pounded at her temples while she fought to steady her nerves. "But what of your vows? You can't tell me that they no longer matter, even if you've finally decided to take your life in your own hands. You'd just throw away everything, and for what?"

"I cast aside my vows long ago when my family was murdered. It's taken me six years to realize the futility of my arrogance and I'll not remain a fool, one ignorant of another's suffering. Our families lost, your brother beyond your reach - let me fill the emptiness in your heart for I know you too share my loneliness, needing solace, an anchor against the tide. We've nothing left to bind us to our pasts. Now, let me ask you again: will you still deny me as I once denied you? Please, let me fill that emptiness. Let me make you mine. I need you. Always."

It could be wrong, but it could be right - she should have fought, should have argued. Yet, words failed her. In that moment, she bowed to the sensation of the lips and hands that roamed her body, submitted to the prince's will. Possessed of her assent, Sebastian grinned in a prideful exhibition as he jerked her away for door to envelope her in his arms. No longer resisting, she stifled a chuckle when the royal archer tore at her finery to reveal more of her flesh so that he could leave more bruising kisses, to mark her with every bite. Their mouths melded once more, his tongue delved past her parted lips to dance among the warmth, meeting her fervour. A strong hand gripped her tight to pull her towards the grand bed, both kicking off their boots with little care for their awkward stumbling. After pressing a brief kiss to her ruddy cheek, Sebastian seated himself on the mattress's edge before he motioned for her to address his sweat-stained shirt. Delighted by the invitation, her fingers brushed along the hot flesh. His fervour shared, she yanked the garment of his head and then pitched it into the corner without sparing a second thought, caring little for propriety.

Maria squealed when he grabbed her hips and pulled her closer, his blood high and their need great. His face buried in her flesh where his lips then pressed heated kisses to her chest as he stripped her of the rest of her garments. When he leaned back to take in the woman's naked form, he frowned at the ugly scar that marred from throat to thigh. Tentative fingers traced the hated scar and his kissed the silvery line and he whispered "never again" into her skin. Too much pain filled them both, their pasts better left forgotten. Yes, now they chose their own fate.

Those unwelcome flaws ignored, Sebastian admired the plain beauty before him. A mad grin then split his features as he tore away her breast-band, beyond ready to claim what he should have taken long ago, the woman guided by Maker into his arms. Her soft cry of indignation went unheeded when wandering hands swept up her ribs to cup the swell of her bosoms, an offering sweet and heavy in his hands. Calloused fingers teased the heaving mounds, giddy with the feel of her skin at last bared for him and just as willing. The old game remembered, he tested their resolves and passions fanned. Curious, he bent to lick a heavy breast and his teeth scraped over the sensitive peaks. Blowing air over the pink tips, he rewarded himself with her delighted shiver before he shared his attention with devoted worship.

Time would not be kind, but he assured himself with every touch and logic trumped simple desire.

His corded arms snaked around her waist and he stood to lift her off her feet. Dangling above the stone tiles, Maria managed less than breath to ponder his actions before the prince tossed her onto the bed. He then crawled atop of her to bear down on her smaller frame, her body covered with his lean form. Even with his words thick with need, Sebastian whispered into her ear where his torrid lips brushed the curved shell. There he professed his yearning for her, for all that she was. By grinding his hips to hers, he enforced his claim with the feel of his arousal hidden behind the smooth hide of his trews. Radiating confidence strained the timbre of his lust-roughened voice as he assured her that meant to claim what they both desired, not lust but an expression of love, to give of mind and of body. Every action that followed only increased the haze of astonishing stimulation, a mutual high.

That night he burned; fuelled by passion, light and heat.

Sebastian led her into the fray, his experience giving him the edge over the untold virgin trembling and trapped beneath his bulk. He licked another line along the racing pulse which rushed beneath the flushed skin of her throat. Languid kisses trailed down her sternum to her stomach, his wide palms drifting down her shapely thighs. Possessed again by lust, the sudden spark of domination shifted his train of thought and he glided down her body where his hips rolled against hers once in passing to remind her of his intent - she was his now, for there would be no return, not now, not ever. A strong hand then encircled her ankle and he pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her foot. Following the contour of her form, he graced more lazy kisses up along the calf and to her knee, presenting the quivering joint with its own delicate kiss. On her other leg, strong fingers massaged the warm flesh, his progress on its mate mirrored with every motion. Further along, he smirked against her skin before he kissed up the mage's inner thigh to meet his hands at the apex of her legs.

Her shriek of protest disregarded, long, square-tipped fingers slipped between the trembling legs to tease her heated sex. Maria gasped and her hands seeking to dissuade him by grabbing at his hair, but to no avail. His thumb circled the nub that would begin to enthral her broken soul and he delighted himself in her quickening breaths and muffled moans. One finger chanced a daring thrust into her core and she gritted her teeth against the raw sounds bubbling in her throat. She whimpered when his head dipped lower, yanking the auburn strands from her loosening grasp. With a leg then thrown over his shoulder with smug casualness, he offered her no warning before his tongue speared her folds and drew out an astonished cry from the dazed mage beneath him. The tip swirled in mischievous gestures until he placed an open-mouthed kiss to her swollen pearl. There he suckled his fill and tore a strangled, but pleasured sob from the woman he sought to claim. Lost to the desire to leave her craving for release, his middle- and forefingers replaced the taunting mouth once more. Deeper, the lengths curled within to touch the little bundle of nerves until she shuddered with every point of pressure. Her hand flew to her mouth to bite her knuckle, so quick to stifle another loud groan of satisfaction while the other hand fisted into the coverlet. Sebastian merely smiled at his labour, so assured in his talents as he unravelled the mage and brought her towards her peak, relishing in the tightness of her, unspoiled after so many years.

Then the time had come. No more games, he agreed at last and even with his own arousal neglected, he withdrew. That very moment, he left her teetering on the knife's edge of culmination and he shifted back up his lover's tremulous form. Wandering hands mapped the contours, her shape burned into his memory, before he returned to face her. Their bodies flush, he captured her mouth in a hard, commanding kiss where he let her taste herself on his lips, reminding her that she was his to savour, his to share and hers alone. His head spun with the irresistible prospect of taking the woman that quaked beneath him, having dreamt of this day for so long that he once believed it to be only a reverie. Yet, there he lay in her bed, poised and willing. His heart pounded with a self-righteous pride unbecoming of a chaste brother in the Chantry, but not alien to the true prince of his royal blood and rakish past.

There but apart from him, Maria's own mind reeled in increasing heady sensation that threatened to overcome her. The want to reciprocate his attention pierced the haze of her bliss. Not willing to sit idle for long, a leg hooked around Sebastian's longer limb and she pushed on his chest in hope that the action conveyed her own unrealized desire. Obliging in understanding, he rolled them over in a single, smooth motion until her legs straddled his narrower waist. From her new overlooking position, her thoughts raced with a vast flood of licentious ideas. One flowed into the next and then into another, each more fantastical than the last. Within, she combed through every book she ever read, every provocative tale told by her more learned companions. No, she would not let him go without his own pleasures found. Her sights focused, she dragged her blunt nails down the rippling muscles of Sebastian's sun-browned chest and her petal soft lips left feather-light caresses across his torso to his stomach. He felt her vibrant blush from the heat suffused into her cheeks as her unsteady pants ghosted over the taut muscles of his abdomen. Blue eyes screwed shut when questing fingers grazed the unhealed wounds lashed into his side and hip. Guilt-stricken, she frowned at the remnants of her negligence and healed them with barest whisper of her magic, all the while cursing the stubbornness of her flight that fateful day. As though he read her regretful thoughts, he reached out to stroke her cheek in forgiveness, the words unspoken but no less powerful.

Intrigued by her sudden change, he left her to her exploration in turn, feeing that shared fire with each passing second. His respite, however, was short-lived when the wayward mage caught her fingers on the waistband of his trews.

She stopped to contemplate the wild, untamed thoughts that dictated her actions. A flutter of panic leapt into her chest, her inexperience warning her against such a course. Yet, the Maker help her, she owed him something more for his patience and welcome affection.

"You don't -"

"I want to," she said. Ever part of her demanded it, her tone firm as she tugged at the leather lacing.

Sucking in a deep breath, Sebastian gave her liberty even as he watched her shake with apprehension. On cue, he lifted his hips for her and allowed her to toss away both the hide trousers and his smallclothes over the side of the lavish bed. Sunk back among the pillows, he chuckled at her maiden blush at the sight of his naked form, splayed out before her without a hint of shame, and could not help but stare in awe. Not one night since their first meeting had her imagination graced her with such a fine specimen, the Maker's artistry chiselled into flesh.

And yet, regardless of her boldness, Sebastian sought some sort of decency.

"Maria, you really -"

Her unheralded grasp silenced him once her petite fingers curled around the hardened length. Sebastian bit back a groan, hissing before he choked on a bated breath the moment her thumb circled the glistening head. He copied her lurid stare, his eyes wide when she leaned down to kiss the tip and her wicked tongue flickered out to taste him. He stiffened in her hold as her lips traced a line down his shaft, so like the caress of a fallen petal on his skin in spring. Her small hands bestowed his throbbing member with indolent, teasing strokes along with tortuous pressing. A hardy moan escaped his lips at the feeling of her mouth as it descended upon him where he was lavished by gentle sweeps of her tongue while she tested the waters of his control and that her own brashness.

Growling with frustration, unable to weather her ministrations any further or willing to waste his release, he wrenched himself from her gratifying grasp. Though he lamented that loss of her warmth, Sebastian gripped her waist and turned to pin her back down on the mattress, his dominance once more asserted. The deprived prince grabbed her legs and wrapped them around his waist until his eagerness met her heat. Assuring him of her approval, her arms folded around his neck and her thighs squeezed him tighter. Her mouth rose to devour his, provoking him to seek finality.

They had waited long enough.

Her desire matched his need as Sebastian drowned her in an impassioned kiss and commanded her to never let go, the words tingling against her lips. Nostrils flared, he readied himself for the task at hand, shoulders squared and his jaw clenched. Taking himself in hand, he ran the tip of his length between her folds to tease her with the barest brush to her core.

"Sebastian, please!"

Her keening cry warranted a roguish smirk from him. To oblige her wilful demand, he shifted into position and guided himself into her heat. His brilliant blue irises, narrowed in lust and relinquished pleasure, fixed on Maria's darkened amber gaze, her own desire smouldering in the diaphanous pools of light.

Not heeding his impatience for her sake, Sebastian inched into the tight, hot sheath even asher nails dug furrows into his back as he hilted himself. Her stuttering moans, feeling herself stretched and overwhelmed, caused him pause. Desperate for her relief, his soothing voice calmed her. Filled with his gentle kisses to assuage the discomfort, time stretched into an endless space before he retreated, delirious to continue but far more concerned for her. A kiss, raw and needy assured him of her acclimation, too desperate to yield, and he surged forward at its presence. Even as he found something profound in the fit of their bodies, he focused solely on the task at hand and he gripped her hips to bring her to match his slow, experimenting thrust. By her nod and mewl of pleasure, Sebastian forged into a stronger pace where he revelled in the encompassing impression with the friction of her flesh against his in every drive. Just outside the realm of consciousness, he observed her pliant body compressed between his aching frame and the rocking bed below, her sweat-slick hair fanned out on the pillow and the pungent smell of sex and lavender cloying in the air. In that moment, Sebastian felt alive within the sheer sense of her all around him, her soft moans melodious in his ears over the din of the blood which rushed in his veins, a song never heard but now only made for her. Her hips met his rolling snaps with timid motions that only spurred him deeper when she at last found a rhythm to match him.

Their coupling was unhurried. In it, Maria felt loved and needed, filled by the man who writhed above her not only in ecstasy, but in something more primal and pure. Rising up, she whispered into her ear where she put a voice to the once masked yearning. There she told him how much she wanted this night, the chance to express the affection that she had so long desired to share, wanting to find solace in his embrace if nothing else. Encouraged by her confession, Sebastian answered in all honesty that he approved with a sigh of relief, grateful that he had not been alone in torment. Though he never spoke the words aloud before then, he himself treasured the prospect of being with someone like her. Even so, he admitted without regret that he must love her for he could unearth no other word to describe the yearning of his heart.

Fulfilled by truth, their kisses became soul-searing as they both neared completion, spellbound by one another's declaration.

Again, heat drove them onward, words cast away for physical needs yet unsatisfied. His thrusts grew frantic towards climax, his hand slithered between their sweat-drenched forms. Deft fingers worked magic not of the Fade to help her reach to precipice with him. Casting her head back and crying out his name, the heated coil loosened and she arched up from the bed. Maria undulated around him, her sex throbbing with her release. In its grip, she held him tighter to ride the waves of her own pleasure when she crashed over the edge. Enveloped in her embrace, Sebastian revelled in a prideful haze before he spilt his seed deep within his lover's eager heat after a few exhausted, juddering rolls of his hips. Her body continued to writhe about him and milked him in the fading throes of her orgasm even as he kissed her. In a single moment, relief blinded him with radiant stars sent to dance before his eyes - he gave her all of himself, everything he possessed.

Before it had been a game with the others, but she turned them into mere shades - no one else could take her place.

Chivalry took the reins in the aftermath. To avoid crushing her beneath his boneless bulk Sebastian rolled them over once again. Their positions changed, his spent member still buried within, he let her limp legs fall on either side of his waist where her exhausted form rested in his embrace. Even then, her weight became a comfort and he found himself never wanting to let go if it could be helped. Wrapped in her warmth, he contented himself with the prospect to never leave that bed - here, he was at peace while he let his hand tangle in her hair, more than unwilling to part. Yet dispossessed of the strength to move, his mind chose to wander until sleep drew nearer. An idle thumb stroked up and down his lover's spine as she traced swirling patterns on the expanse of his chest, their fatigue shared. The mage let her hand fall lower to caress the new scars that marked his side and she muttered to herself, wishing she had healed them earlier instead of being so stubborn.

His half-hearted words of forgiveness were lost in his yawn, sleep taking precedence after their arduous efforts. Sebastian's last thought reigned with the knowledge that he would need his rest should he wish to relive the memory so fresh in his mind, the morning filled with promise. However, the rogue's respite resolved into a short nap, barely a blink of eye. Upon waking, he discovered Maria awake and pensive, a faraway stare woven into her forlorn expression.

"Maria?"

"What now?" she asked in a sleepy tone, a look of sorrow overtaking her features. "Through my meddling, do you not intend to retake your lands?"

"Aye, I do," he said as he kissed her brow when the frown deepened. "Although, I need not return to Starkhaven alone. But let us talk no more of it - there will be time for that when our task here is done. All that matters is that we face that future together."

With a kiss to the flesh above his heart, she envisioned a life with him only let her heart sink into despair - the Chantry would never allow her remain at his side. All the love in the world could not keep the chains at bay which would seek to bar her from him. The world still feared those who shared the gift of magic, and rightly so. Dismal tears then blurred her vision and fell down ruddy cheeks to streak through the sweat of their exertions.

Her sorrow divined, his forefinger's knuckle made to brush away the sadness.

"I know what you're thinking." Placing a soulful kiss to her quivering lips, Sebastian offered her a solemn vow of prosperity. "They will not keep me from you - that much I can promise. I'll find a way, Maria. The Chantry failed me once before, but they will not refuse me this."

His tone rang with vigour and the force of his will, a testament to his birthright. Cradled in his embrace, Maria fought with the odd sense of happiness and belonging, two sensations alien to her, which filled her just as he had. Fallen into meditative musing, she marvelled at him as her lover held her tighter and yawned before he drifted back off into satisfied slumber.

Though a wistful laugh escaped her lips, Maria snuggled deeper into the comfort of Sebastian's side and left her thoughts for another time. After that night, tomorrow would be a new beginning.

Fin.

Author's Note: Well, that was interesting. Other than apologizing for taking so long to fill this prompt, I simply want to thank my dear Lywinis for continuing to beta and also express my gratitude to the readers and the OP for without you, there is no fic or drive. I hope you enjoyed it.

Any road, here was the prompt: Lady Hawke has had a crush on Sebastian, but won't go for his whole chaste relationship bullshit. Sebastian realizes he can't stand to be without her, goes to her estate in the middle of the night and begs to eat her out. Whether or not she lets him or how much she makes him beg, is up to anon. :D