Chapter Text
Warden Commander Briala Cousland was many things; strong, resilient, charming and an incorrigible flirt, but above all else she was always confident in whatever she did, it was one of the things that drew Ser Roland Gilmore (Rory) to her in the first place all those years ago, when he squired at Cousland castle. So confident, as she lulled Rory with her honeyed voice whispering her absurd plan to him, had she been any other woman, he would have called her mad for suggesting such a thing.
He originally questioned her when she decided to recruit Nathaniel Howe, son of that traitorous snake Arl Rendon Howe. Of all people she should resent that whole bloodline more than anyone, but she forgave Nathaniel, despite the fact that he had come to Vigil’s Keep to kill her for disgracing his family’s name. Not that Nathaniel’s attempt phased Briala in the slightest, given how quickly she trusted Zevran, he shouldn’t be surprised at her willingness to give the son of Howe a chance to redeem himself; she was always believed in second chances.
She had asked Rory to give Nathaniel a chance, to get to know him and see that he was nothing like his father, and with time Rory came around and could finally consider him as an equal, potentially even a brother-in-arms. With Rory now a Grey Warden he had learned to lend Nathaniel some trust as they fought together in battle. But recently, that camaraderie had begun to strain.
The more Rory noticed Nathaniel’s longing glances at their Commander, the more his temperance was tested, for Maker’s sake Briala is his wife. The attention her beauty commanded was nothing new to Rory, even during her time as lady of the castle, her beauty and strong but slender physique would leave the guards in awe of her presence; not to mention that one time she came to the barracks for a few drinks for Rory’s 18th birthday, everyone in the barracks were positively smitten with her.
Briala knew the affect she had on others; it was part of her charm. Recently she had overhead gossip amongst her companions, of whom would tease Nathaniel for his infatuation with her. This infatuation was nothing new, Nathaniel always had a soft spot for her when they had known each other during their youthful years. The Couslands and the Howes were family friends for years up until that fateful day when Arl Howe reared his head a traitor, laying siege to the castle and killing the Couslands (save for Briala and her brother Fergus), thus declaring himself the new Teyrn of Highever. Although Nathaniel had been sent to squire in the Free Marches years before this occurred, it made for a very bitter reunion to say the least.
With Nathaniel under the false impression that the Couslands were in fact the traitors, and with his family name disgraced he tried to assassinate Briala, shortly after her arrival to Vigil’s Keep, his family home now the newly appointed base for the Ferelden Wardens. It wasn’t until sometime after her recruitment of Nathaniel, that he came to know that what he believed was wrong. He felt a great deal of shame for his actions, but above all else he was thankful for Briala forgiveness and trust in him, and it wasn’t long until his old feelings for Bryce Cousland’s daughter began to resurface. This was dangerous, especially now that she was happily married.
Briala was more noble than most to entrust Nathaniel to fight alongside her as a Warden despite his father’s treachery, but to suggest a brief dalliance with him? Rory couldn’t believe what he was hearing, was she really suggesting this? He’ll admit the idea of her toying with the son of Howe did amuse him, perhaps it was about power, he wasn’t sure. The idea of Nathaniel begging Rory for permission to touch his wife or that he knew how insatiably vexing Briala could be when she desired to. Whatever her intention for this game she wished to play, Rory knew that she loved him more than anything, her loyalty was not in question, but perhaps maybe her sanity was. It made Rory wonder what role he was to play in all of this…
“Are you sure you wish to do this?” Roland queried, making sure he had heard her correctly.
“It could be so deliciously fun, my love” she mewled in response. The soft glow of the hearth of her quarters danced across her sun-touched skin, accentuating her shapely form through the thin fabric of her nightdress.
“You’ve seen how he is when he’s around me, he thinks I do not notice, but I do”, she continued. Rory gazed into her soft blue eyes, the woman he loved more than anything in the world, his fingers combing through her dark brown hair and undoing her loosened braids. With an appreciative hum, Briala leaned into his touch and traced her dexterous fingers along his auburn-stubbled jawline, down his throat and leaving it to rest in the small tufts of the matching hair on his chest.
He could feel her pressing her hip into his, drawing softened groans from his throat. As she draws down his chest to his navel, Rory catches her hand midway. She looks up at him beneath hooded lids, he is staring at her intently, eyes wide with both concern and lust; he trusts her more than anyone, but he wants to be sure this is what she truly desires.
“Believe me, I am not blind to the attentions he pays you, I see the way his eyes linger in your presence, like a predator starved of its prey. But let us not forget love, that he is a Howe. I know you said he is a good man, and nothing like his snake of a father, but are you sure you can trust him?” Rory beckoned. As Briala began to open her mouth to reassure her darling Warden husband, Rory interrupts her, “and yes, I know you could easily handle him yourself, should you need to” he continued. “But are you sure you wish to play this game?”, his voice now deep and rough.
His hand was still firm on hers, breath hot against her ear, sending shivers down her spine. As much as Briala knew how to tease, Rory knew how to pay to it back tenfold; he knew exactly what she liked. But she was no fool, for all of Rory’s tact, she could feel the evidence of his want pressing firmly into her hip. How much restraint and stamina had her husband picked up now that he was a Grey Warden, she wondered. The idea of shattering his newly built resolve created a thrilling heat that pooled in her core.
“My dear…” she whispered back, tilting her head so that her lips were now almost on his, tongue darting out for a quick taste, “I never play a game I cannot win, trust me”, her voice now practically a purr.
“I do” Rory responded lovingly, placing a chaste kiss to Briala’s bottom lip, nipping it ever so gently; a clever distraction for his thigh which he now pressed between her legs to generate some friction. But as Rory pressed his thigh against her clothed sex, the last thread of his composure strained as his felt his leggings dampen from the arousal that had pooled in her underclothes. Maker she’s so wet already, he thought to himself, and just as he allowed his nostrils to be filled with her scent, his so-called Warden resolve faulted, ever so briefly.
Briala took the opportunity to slip her hand from his grasp and promptly slide it into his leggings, palming the warm thickness of his length. She wiped her thumb over the tip, collecting the silken beads of his arousal, spreading it along the aching head as she palmed his sorely confined cock. With a deep and wanton groan, the last thread of Rory’s restraint reached near-breaking point.
With a fire-stoked ferocity, Rory plunged his hand into her hair and planted a desperate kiss to her lips, his tongue immediately pushing past her lips and teeth, demanding entry… demanding to taste her. As his tongue danced around hers, he could taste the spiced wine she had been drinking earlier that night. Maker’s breath she was intoxicating.
His tongue hot in her mouth, and her hand in his leggings, she began to stroke his cock at a leisurely pace. With Rory’s patience for Briala’s teasing thrown to the Void, he began to jerk his hips, thrusting into her hand desperate for more friction. With her torturous pace unrelenting, Rory decided to show her the same courtesy. He slid a hand under her nightdress and into her small clothes, which at that point were thoroughly soaked. With his hand pressed to her sex, Rory backed his love against the stone wall of her quarters, accidentally knocking a low-hanging painting off it's hinges and onto the floor with a crash. Briala laughed at the thought that it was probably some other unsightly painting of some disdained Howe relative, “I’m sure Nathaniel won’t mind”, she giggled.
Briala’s breath suddenly caught as Rory’s sword-calloused fingers explored her slickened folds, and as he began to swirl his thumb against her over-sensitive clit, with one swift movement he delved two of his fingers deep within her. The moan that left Briala’s mouth was positively sinful, enough to even cause the Maker to blush. With deft and tentative fingers, Rory applied his careful ministrations, drawing more cries from his wife and Commander; he swore that next to her laugh, these were his favourite sounds.
With an increased fever, Briala finally granted Rory’s cock release from its clothed confines. His breath hitched as he felt the night air against his member. But as Briala began to increase her pace, Rory could feel himself getting closer and closer to his release. No, not yet, he told himself. He wanted to feel himself inside her and illicit more of those beautiful cries from her sweet lips as he carried her into the abyss of their mutual ecstasy.
To Briala’s shock, Rory removed her hand from his arousal, cupping it together with her other hand, and raising them above her head. Hoisting her thin nightdress up over her head, Rory tied it in a knot at the top of her clasped hands. Scooping her up by her backside with one arm and with the other, lifted her hands in the makeshift fabric knot, over the hook that previously held the painting, pressing her back against the stone wall.
Satisfied with his work, he began to pepper kisses along Briala’s neck and down to her navel, gently kissing and nipping at her soft skin until he was kneeling before her, gazing up at her as he drank in the beautiful sight before him. If she was Andraste, he was her loyal disciple, he worshipped every inch of her glorious form. Her slender form taut with muscle from all her years of sword fighting, the various battle scars that mapped her divine body, her beautifully intricate face tattoos, a deep purple colour that accentuated the soft blue hue of her eyes, and finally the way her long dark brown hair fell gracefully from her shoulders to the curve of her bosom as she wriggled beneath his gaze, suddenly feeling vulnerable and observed.
Briala was strong in her own rights, and the hook was not overly high on the wall, she could still just touch the floor. If she was too uncomfortable, she could easily free herself, but seeing her husband who was currently admiring her like a work of art, sent sparks through her nerves, making her shiver against the cold stone wall.
Briala writhed beneath the tender kisses Rory now administered along her inner thighs, as he made his way closer to her sex, his nose buried in the tufts of her hairs as he relished in her scent.
“Spread for me my darling” he cooed, with a husky tone.
She complied, spreading herself before him, her breathing unsteady as his warm breath brushed her sensitive flesh. The blissful haze of his attentions were shortly interrupted by the feeling of Rory’s mouth relishing her aching sex like a man starved. With great attention, he lapped at her folds with his tongue and sucked and swirled her clit between his tongue and teeth. Maker’s breath she wasn’t going to be able to hold herself together at this rate, she thought, writhing beneath him as her climax drew closer. Suddenly, with one decisive motion, Rory plunged his tongue deep within her exploring the warm depths of her wet sex revelling in her sweet essence, drawing a gasp and then a moan from her lips as she came hard. The coil within her snapping as she arched her back against the wall and ground herself into his wanting mouth, riding out the climax that was coursing through her.
As Briala caught her breath, Rory returned to his feet, her slick coating his stubble. Once her breathing had stabilized, she examined her husband’s face, his eyes hungry and predatory, his breathing ragged. What has gotten into him? she wondered. Perhaps it was the thought of her potentially bedding another man that stoked some sort of primal flame within him. If he was to share her, even for a brief moment, he wanted it to be known who she truly belonged too.
His passion thoroughly stoked, Rory grabbed Briala’s backside, lifting her up with his warrior strength so she could firmly wrapped her legs around his waist. As he did this, Rory seared her mouth with a desperate kiss, his lips wet with her slick. Using his tongue to hungrily explore her mouth, the taste of her essence on his tongue made her head swim. Her own desire renewed, Briala sought more friction by using her legs to pull her husband closer. Rory let out a shaky breath as he positioned the tip of his cock to the precipice of her entrance.
This was the game Briala enjoyed most, and he’ll be damned if he was going to let her win, he wanted to hear her beg for it first. He could feel her tremble as she waited with bated breath for him to sheath himself insider her. Her core practically dripping at this point, her nerves burning as hot as the hearth in the corner, its flames illuminating the fiery auburn colour of her husband’s hair.
She could feel his staggered breath hot on her skin, she couldn’t take the waiting, she needed to feel him, to be filled by him. Briala scanned his face for an answer to his sudden pause. His pupils were blown so wide with lust and greed that she could barely see any of the blue-green colour of his eyes. His breath uneven as he flashed a half-cocked smirk, she had found the answer. She now knew there was only way she would be able to get what she wanted…
With Rory’s eyes fixed upon her, she pleaded silently with her eyes for him to continue. Rory lowered his mouth to her ear and with a low and husky purr he whispered, “come on my darling, be a good girl and use your words”. Andraste preserve her, for all her usual bravado, when he was like this, she was putty in his hands, ready to melt instantly upon contact.
“Please”, she pleaded, barely louder than a whisper.
Rory inched his throbbing cock ever so slightly closer to her entrance; she could only just feel the heat emanating from it. “You’re going to have to do better than that, my love”
“Please Rory, I…” she clamoured.
“If this is how you’re going to behave for Nathaniel after all your teasing, he’ll ruin you” Rory mused “perhaps you need a little more encouragement…”
With that Rory slipped Briala’s nipple into his mouth, suckling at it while he dropped a hand to massage her breast. Briala threw her head back with a wanton cry as Rory swirled his tongue lazily, nipping at her stiff peaks. It was too much, she needed him. She was practically trembling at this point, pathetically desperate for him to be inside her.
“Maker’s fucking Void Rory, please just fuck me!” she shouted, loud enough to wake half the Keep.
Satisfied with her answer, in one swift motion Rory plunged his cock deep into her, earning him a loud cry from her lips. Once he was fully sheathed within her, he began rocking into her at an unrelenting pace, too far gone from holding himself back, his last thread of self-restraint had snapped, his mind now completely lost in the songlike cries emanating from Briala’s lips. Maker’s fucking breath she’ll be the end of me, he swears to himself.
With her arms pinned above her head and Rory’s hand gripping into her arse, at a near painful pressure, she happened to catch a glance at the look in Rory’s eyes as he sunk his cock deeper within her. He was completely enthralled by her, drinking in her naked form, supple breasts bouncing as her back hit the wall, she couldn’t even decipher where her husband ended and she began. She was probably going to be slightly bruised in the morning, but she didn’t care, all she could think about was how fucking good he made her feel.
With each desperate thrust she could feel the heat quickly building in her core, threatening to set her nerves aflame. She neared closer and closer to the edge, but when Rory brought his hand to her clit, and began pressing and swirling it with his calloused fingers, it knocked her over the edge completely. Crying out as the wave of her climax crashed through her with great ferocity. He continued his ministration helping her ride through her climax, her oversensitive sex began to pulse and grip Rory’s cock. She could feel his thrusts become hurried and uneven, desperately chasing his orgasm.
“Briala, I…” he groaned as if he were asking for permission.
“Come for me, my love” she cooed, and with her divine blessing, Rory found his release. He gripped her arse tightly and buried his face into her neck, moaning through harsh breaths as he spilled his seed inside her.
After a short reprieve for both Wardens, while they caught their breath, Rory broke the silence with the sound of loving kisses being planted to Briala’s neck as he whispered unintelligible praises to her. As much as she adored his peppered kissing and words of praise, her wrists were becoming quite sore.
“My love, as much as I enjoy this, do you think…” she asked, nodding towards her wrists still above her head.
“Of course my dear, I apologise” he replied soothingly, slipping out of her, and lifting her tied hands up and over the hook. Rory settled her onto her unsteady legs and untied the knot, amazed that the delicate fabric had managed to stay intact. After he undid the knot, Rory lifted her wrists to his lips kissing them tenderly. With her legs still wobbly, he lifted her into his arms and carried her over to the bed.
Settling her onto the bed, he covered her with the bed furs and blankets, and got in beside her. Half lidded with exhaustion, she gazed into her husband’s adoring eyes and could see that the blue- green colours had returned. With sleep too ebbing at him, he returned her gaze, not filled with lust, but with unconditional love and admiration for her, his wife. Maker, he loved her more than anything in this world, and she loved him back just as fiercely; what he did to deserve someone like her, he’ll never know.
With the crackling of the low burning fire being the only sound that filled the room, gently lulling them into a blissful haze
“Still thinking of going through with that plan of yours?” Rory mused with a lazy whisper, smoothing her ruffled brown hair.
“Perhaps…but I think I’ll give it a couple days, I could use the rest” she humoured, curling up closer to the warmth of his large body.
More than anything though he trusted her with every fibre of his being, and if she truly did want to go ahead and play her game with the son of Howe, then he trusted her…if nothing else, it’ll be amusing to watch.