Chapter Text
It was a dream. Elissa knew it was a dream, and Maker help her, she didn't care.
She stared raptly at her father's beloved face as they stood in the main hall of Highever. His face, the room, the tapestries, the great fire, the elven servants all bustling in and out, all of it so very familiar, and all of it mere shadows of a past she knew she could never reclaim.
She could almost believe she was still there.
Almost...if not for the memory of her father lying in a pool of his own blood with half his entrails spilling out as her mother knelt next to him and comforted him in his dying moments. No dream, no matter how real and convincing, could eradicate that memory of her final glance of her parents before she fled.
But if it was a dream, she would enjoy it while it lasted.
"Pup," he father said, smiling at her, "this is a very special guest of mine, Duncan. He's the Commander of the Grey here in Ferelden. Surely Brother Aldous has told you about the Grey Wardens?"
"Of course," she replied, turning to see yet another familiar face, belonging to someone she also knew to be long dead. "The Grey Wardens are a great order of warriors."
"And heroes throughout Ferelden," Bryce Cousland elaborated, "since they defeated the last Blight not so long ago."
"Defeated the Blight?" Elissa's brow furrowed. "But--"
"It was a triumph for all of us," the darkly attractive bearded man said proudly, "bringing down the archdemon and setting the underground lairs ablaze."
"Then what shall the Wardens do?" she asked.
"The Grey Wardens shall be keepers of history," Duncan answered. "We shall tell tales and sing songs of a more tumultuous time, that others may rejoice in knowing that that time is past."
"I see," she murmured, not all that interested in his answer. Anything to keep this illusion alive just a while longer...
"Pup," her father interjected, smiling widely. "Duncan has come here with the express purpose to recruiting you into the Grey Wardens. I've given my consent, and your mother is thrilled at the idea. It will be a great honor for the Couslands, and since you've never really been all that interested in marrying or running the teyrnir, it seems an appropriate solution. Perhaps you'll find your destiny among the Grey Wardens instead."
"I would be honored," she said formally.
"Then it's settled!" her father declared. "I will make one request, however. Your mother and I are leaving momentarily for Denerim, and with Fergus visiting Oriana's kin in Antiva, you will be in charge of Highever. When I return, you may leave with Duncan to join the Grey Wardens. Until then, please show Duncan every courtesy and see to his comfort. You may begin by escorting him to the guest suites and making sure he has everything he needs after his long journey."
"As you wish, Father," she acceded, turning to face the illusion of Duncan. "If you'll follow me, ser?"
"It would be my pleasure, Lady Cousland," the vision smiled at her with more warmth than the real Duncan would ever have allowed himself, and Elissa turned and led him from the great hall.
*****
"May I compliment you on your beauty, Lady Cousland?" the illusion of Duncan offered once they were alone, following her rather more closely than seemed strictly necessary through the passages of Highever Castle, bumping into her backside at every pause. Smiling to herself, Elissa decided to allow it and wondered just how far she might take this.
She lowered her lashes and flirted with him. "Aren't such compliments 'inappropriate?'" she needled, remembering Duncan's rejection of her offer the night she met him. "What, with you being my commander in the very near future, and a guest in my father's castle."
"I can't imagine why they would be," the dream-Duncan--no, Elissa decided, she would think of him merely as "Duncan" until morning came and woke her in her lonely tent--replied. "Having given their permission for me to recruit you, your parents have essentially ceded all guardianship over you. You are now your own woman, and may receive any attentions you desire."
"And what of the Grey Wardens? Where do they stand on matters of...propriety?"
He caught her elbow and turned her to face him. "Fraternization is by no means disallowed within the Grey Wardens," he replied, pressing close to her until her back was against the stone wall. "We've little else to do with our time, now that our battles have passed. Frankly, many of us have grown quite bored and have acquired...rather decadent appetites. We fought hard for our victory and if the rewards we allow ourselves seem indulgent, they are at least well-earned. And here in Ferelden, I am the arbiter of propriety for the Wardens under my command, and I have a...liberal view of such matters."
That was all wrong, she thought, knowing Duncan would never say such a thing, and yet...this was everything she had ever desired that day so long ago in Highever.
The pressure of him against her--Maker, he even smelled like Duncan!--brought back to her all the warmth and hunger she'd felt that day she first beheld Duncan. She'd wanted him then. She'd wanted to be overcome by the raw power and discipline he exuded, wanted to surrender to his will and his command. She'd been so frustrated by his polite and proper refusal that she'd sought that milquetoast Dairren to come to her bed to ease the ache she'd been left with. And now, in this dream, he was hers for the taking, and the fact that he had her pinned against the wall in plain view of anyone who should walk by had heat rushing across her skin and tension pulsing in the pit of her belly. Already she could feel moisture seeping between her thighs.
Peering up at him from beneath her lashes, she murmured, "I am supposed to see to your every comfort. Besides, with you being my new commander, I must obey, mustn't I?"
"I would have it no other way," he growled into her ear. He caught her earlobe between her teeth and pulled on it with his teeth, hard enough to be uncomfortable. His hand pulled at her skirt and jerked her smallclothes aside, wedging her thighs apart, caressing her with no care for gentleness. He handled her more roughly than anyone she'd ever known, but what he was doing was incredible. The coarse friction of his fingers on the hard knot of pleasure made her hips buck, and when he thrust three fingers into her sex with no warning and ground his thumb against her nub, she cried out in mingled discomfort and pleasure, seizing around him and shuddering in a brutal and unexpected paroxysm that flashed through her as swiftly and sharply as a whipcrack.
As she caught her breath and stared at him in wild-eyed wonder, he withdrew his hand with a satisfied smirk. He brought his wet fingers to her face and slid them along her lips, pressing until she opened for him, and pushed them into her mouth. "Suck them," he demanded, his other hand fondling her breast.
Obediently, she sucked, licking the slippery fluids from his fingers. At that moment, she heard the jingling of armor and her eyes darted to the left as Ser Gilmore came around the corner. He stopped and gawked at them and Elissa quickly tried to pull her head away, but Duncan grabbed her hair and would not allow it.
"My lady!" Ser Gilmore's voice cracked, rushing forward, his hand going to the hilt of the sword on his back. "Ser! I demand you unhand her immediately!"
"You may leave us, ser knight," Duncan said amiably, apparently unconcerned with Ser Gilmore's threat. "Lady Cousland is perfectly safe in my company, and is here by her own wishes. Her father requested she see to my every comfort, isn't that right, my lady?"
Elissa felt the hot blood of humiliation stain her cheeks. The embarrassment did nothing to alleviate her arousal, however--it still throbbed between her legs, stronger than ever as she watched a rapid succession of emotions cross Ser Gilmore's face, from indignation to revulsion to arousal.
"Perhaps your loyal knight would like to watch?" Duncan mused, finally withdrawing his fingers from her mouth. "It hadn't been my intention to take you here in the passageway, but I'm willing to consider it. Or maybe I should take you to the barracks and let the whole company of guards watch? It's not like they won't get the whole story when your knight here begins to gossip, is it? Perhaps I might even let them each have their turn."
Simultaneous spasms of lust and fear quaked through her, and she was shockingly intrigued by the idea, but she shook her head. It took her a long moment to remind herself that this was just a dream. "No, please," she answered, her voice shaking. It never occurred to her to refuse Duncan's assumption that the choice was his to make. She struggled to project an air of dignity. "It's all right, Ser Gilmore, you may go. I'll simply...finish escorting the Commander of the Grey here to his guest chamber. If you'll follow me, Commander."
She walked away as sedately as she could manage, ignoring the cramping surge of desire that threatened to buckle her knees as Duncan pulled her back against his chest and gave her breast one last rude squeeze right in front of Ser Gilmore's stunned gaze, then prodded her forward. They rounded a corner and left Ser Gilmore's sight.
Duncan's hand on her arm stopped her once more. "Stand perfectly still," he commanded, and she shivered with foreboding as he drew a dagger from a sheath at his waist. "Answer me honestly. You were aroused when I suggested letting the guards see me take you, weren't you?"
Testing him, she shook her head in denial. "No. Of course not," she answered.
"You're lying," he declared, and her heart hammered as he raised the dagger and pressed it against her breast. "For that, you will be punished."
A swift flick of the dagger was answered with a small clatter as one of the buttons down the front of her gown was cut away and dropped to the stone at her feet. The rest followed in rapid succession, until her gown was parted to the waist. He pulled her breastband away from her skin and ran the razor-sharp edge of the dagger down the fabric between her breasts. It parted with a whisper, and her breasts sprang free.
"You will walk through the rest of the castle as you are," he said calmly. "Now, I will give you another chance to answer honestly. Were you aroused by my suggestion that I allow the guards to have you?"
"No!" she protested, her face crimson even as she felt another surge of arousal. Roughly, he spun her around and slammed her against the wall. The stone was cold and rough against her exposed breasts. She felt him pull at her skirt again, then heard the snarl of ripping fabric as he dragged his dagger through the back of her skirt from her hips to the hem. Cold air wafted against her thighs and backside. She heard the dagger slide into its sheath and then felt his hands brusquely jerking her smallclothes down her hips and thighs. She stepped out of them at his command, then he turned her around to face him.
He raised her smallclothes to his face and inhaled deeply, giving her an arch look. "Another lie," he noted casually. "You will walk beside me, so that neither your breasts nor your lovely backside are hidden from the view of passers-by. If you make even the smallest attempt to hide or cover yourself, I will shove you to your knees and fuck you in front of the next person we encounter, be it a servant, a guard, or your father himself. Am I perfectly clear?"
"Yes," she whispered, feeling the sting of humiliated tears burn her eyes. It was only made worse by the knowledge that this was what she desired, and even as she quailed, desire throbbed with agonizing intensity in her belly. From the moment she'd seen Duncan, she'd wanted him, known that he was a man who would possess her completely. But until this moment, she hadn't understood how desperately she'd needed this...this utter and abject debasement at his hands, how she craved it like her next breath.
"I wouldn't worry," Duncan said casually, his tone almost chatty as she walked beside him, painfully aware of her exposed state. She lifted her chin and tried to pretend nothing was amiss as a servant approached and then froze, staring. At her lack of acknowledgment, the elf quickly recovered herself and scurried away. "Your father is by now already on his way to Denerim with your mother, and no one is going to question the acting teyrna and the Commander of the Grey. Soon, we'll be departing for the Warden compound in Denerim and you'll never see these guardsmen or servants again, except on rare visits. So...if it arouses you to think of letting them fuck you while I, and all the others watch, well, that can be arranged.
"But know this," he grabbed her by her hair and pulled her to a halt, jerking her head back until it rested against his shoulder. His hand slid down her back to her exposed backside. His finger dipped low, to the impossibly wet folds between her legs, then retreated, stroking softly along the cleft between her buttocks, spreading the fluids he had gathered there. "I will decide, not you, when you are taken, and where, and by whom or by how many." As though to punctuate his statement, his damp finger pressed slowly but deeply into her anus. Elissa's drew a harsh breath and shuddered with the intoxicating combination of fear and humiliation and arousal. Even as her mind shied in horror from the images he was creating, her body ached for him to do to her everything he'd described and more.
He withdrew his finger, gave her a sharp slap on the rump, and instructed her to continue on her way. Before they reached his chamber, they encountered two more servants and another guard. Elissa dismissed each of them with a regal nod, then sagged with relief as she stepped into Duncan's chamber and he closed the door behind them.
"Disrobe," he instructed with a nonchalant wave in her direction, turning from her to lay aside his blades and unbuckle his armor. Shivering, she stripped off the ruined remnants of her gown, then stood alone, naked, in the center of the room. "Summon a servant and have a bath prepared," he said, beginning to remove his clothing.
Closing her eyes, she pulled a cord near the bed. In the hallway, a bell rang and within moments, a servant knocked softly at the door. "Enter," Duncan commanded, and Elissa turned to face the stunned chambermaid who opened the door.
"The Commander of the Grey desires a bath," she said, struggling to keep her voice calm, as though it were every day she stood nude in the chamber of a guest. "Please bring hot water and towels."
"Do not bother knocking when you return," Duncan added as the servant bowed and made to withdraw from the chamber. "Simply go about your work and try your best not to disturb your lady at her business."
When the door closed again, Elissa watched him warily. Now as nude as she, his body rippling with hard, corded muscle that looked as unyielding as the hands she'd already felt upon her, he withdrew the multiple leather belts from the scabbards and sheaths that had hung from his waist and shoulders and laid them in rows on the bed, then moved about the room, gathering also the ties from the window curtains and bed draperies and laying them beside the belts.
"Come here," he commanded at last, and she stepped hesitantly toward him, her pulse pounding in her ears and between her thighs. She dreaded what he had planned next, even as she yearned for it. She thought for a moment of ending this, of trying to force herself to awaken, but she couldn't do it. If she woke now, she may never again have this chance to explore all that she'd craved from Duncan in those few short weeks before his death.
She stood before him and he stared at her a long moment, thoughtfully. "I've reconsidered," he said at last. "I thought I might bind you to the bed right away and let your servants see you spread out awaiting my pleasure, but I've thought better of the notion."
Quick as a serpent striking, he reached out and grabbed her by her hair once more and forced her to her knees. Taking a belt, looped it about her neck and buckled it loosely there, the tail forming a short leash which he then wound about his hand, drawing her inexorably closer until his erection was pressed against her face, the bristly hair of his groin chafing her skin. With his free hand he pushed his erection out of the way and lifted the sac beneath it.
"Lick it," he growled, giving the leash a jerk. Intoxicated by the musky scent that surrounded her, she opened her mouth, eager to taste him. She caressed his balls with her tongue, licked away the saliva that collected on the soft, wrinkled skin. She opened her mouth wide and drew one soft orb into her mouth gently. Then the chamber door swung open as the chambermaid obeyed Duncan's command not to knock and shuffled in with a yoke over her shoulders bearing buckets of hot water.
Elissa stiffened and tried to pull away, but Duncan pulled the leash tighter. "Continue," he said calmly, then to the chambermaid: "Go about your business."
Her face crimson, Elissa offered a few half-hearted stroked of her tongue, cringing and unable to dismiss the stream of maids bearing buckets passing into and out of the room. Duncan pulled away with a severe frown.
"Now you've gone and disrupted my comfort," he chided. "What? Are you concerned with what your servants might think? Afraid they might not respect your authority? In this chamber, and in my presence, my lady, you have no authority. My orders are to be obeyed eagerly and immediately, and your only concern is pleasing me. The sooner you get comfortable with that, the easier this will be for you. To that end..."
Duncan let the belt unwind from his hand until he held only the end, and Elissa swayed on her knees at the sudden and unexpected loss of restriction. Turning around before her, he stood with his backside before her face. He reached back and spread his tightly muscled buttocks slightly, opening the crevice between until the puckered opening was revealed. "Lick it," he commanded sternly. "Ignore the servants. If you falter even once, you will not enjoy the consequences."
At his tug on the leash, dragging her closer, twin tears escaped her eyes. She opened her mouth to obey, then froze and bowed her head, "I can't!" she whispered.
"You will," he said coldly, pulling on the leash again. "The longer you delay, the worse your punishment will be."
Tears trailing down her cheeks unchecked, and feeling the covert stares of every servant that entered to empty more buckets of water into the bathing pool, she leaned forward and stroked her tongue along the cleft between his buttocks. Salt and sweat and musk filled her senses, not unpleasant except for the mortification she felt. He pressed his backside closer to her and issued another calm, implacable command. Obeying, she began to swirl her tongue around his anus, licking firmly. Duncan grunted in pleasure, making small movements with his hips. Elissa began to find a method and rhythm that he drew pleased responses from him, alternating sweeping strokes with firm jabs of her tongue directly on his opening. Without even thinking about it, she lifted her hand and began to fondle his balls where they brushed her chin. Ever so often the sounds of a servant arriving with more buckets would cause her to tense up and lose her rhythm, but Duncan would jerk roughly on the leash and she would find it again, until bath was filled with steaming water. The parade of servants ended and the chamber door shut behind the final one.
"Get up," Duncan commanded, pulling away and turning to face her. His shaft was rigid and quivering against his belly, long and thick and beautiful, but he seemed almost unaffected by her reluctant ministrations. "Kneel on the bed."
Elissa rose, stumbling as her knees protested the prolonged exposure to the hard stone floor. The bed felt heavenly in comparison as she knelt, and kneeling before her, Duncan took her breasts in his hands. "I warned you," he said softly, "what would happen if you faltered. Not only did you falter, you attempted to disobey me."
With sudden brutality, his fingertips closed on her nipple like a vise, pinching hard. Elissa cried out, squirming, trying to pull away from that merciless clamp. It seemed forever until he released her, but scarcely had she caught her breath than he did the same thing to the opposite nipple. Another release, another pause, and then he pinched the first nipple again, only now she was so oversensitive that the pain was infinitely worse. She wailed, writhing frantically, beating at him with her hands and trying to push him away. She nearly succeeded in gaining her freedom, but he grabbed the makeshift collar near her neck and jerked it hard, pulling her off-balance. She tumbled to the bed and he was immediately upon her, crushing her into the feather mattress. Screaming, she clawed at him, only to be stunned by a sharp slap to her face. His iron-hard hand drew back and slapped her again, then he came down on her with all his weight, trapping her limbs beneath him.
Subdued, she stared at him in shock as once again he caught her nipple between his fingertips and pinched brutally. She screamed until she was hoarse, struggled until her muscles quivered with fatigue, not because she had any true hope of winning her freedom, but because she couldn't not struggle. Still, he was unrelenting. Her nipples throbbed and ached when he finally released them and eased his weight off her body.
He thrust his hand roughly between her thighs and withdrew it, glistening with copious fluids which he licked from his fingers with relish. "It seems," he remarked, his tone amused, "that I was mistaken. You did enjoy your punishment after all."
Elissa choked on a sob, turning her eyes away from his smug expression. Even now, still feeling the remnants of agony pulsing in her nipples, she wanted him, wanted more. He dipped his head and licked her throbbing nipple and she cried out in pleasure, exquisitely sensitive to even the slightest pressure of his tongue.
"I suppose this means I will have to devise another punishment," he said with cheerful menace. Abruptly he hauled her up. "Roll over, onto your knees," he commanded. "Hold on to the bedpost."
No sooner had she obeyed, then his hand came down hard on her buttock with a shockingly loud CRACK that echoed off the stone walls of the chamber. Elissa yelped, more surprised than hurt, and felt an answering throb between her legs. She squirmed, rubbing her thighs together to attempt to generate some friction to soothe that frustrated pulsing. Another slap to the opposite side brought another surge of restless desire. And another. And another, as her skin began to grow warm, burning where the blows had landed.
"Do you think I'm trying to pleasure you?" Duncan taunted, bringing his hand down in another punishing blow, and again, too quickly for her to recover. The pleasure she'd felt with those first few strikes was gone now, and the blows simply hurt. Elissa cried out sharply with each one, louder each time, and the pain built and built. Every inch of her skin between her thighs and her waist felt like it was on fire, and still the blows rained down upon her. Her cries turned to wails which then evolved into screams. She wriggled and tried to crawl away, but his hand on the belt looped around her neck held her in place. Again! And again! And again! And--
--suddenly his fingers thrust into her, hard and fast. She was tense and tight, having braced herself against the blows, and only the moisture weeping from between her folds eased their passage. Roughly he pumped them in and out, and she moaned loudly, wriggling now for an entirely different purpose, arching her back in an effort to open herself for him, praying to the Maker, to Andraste, to the Creators of the Dalish and the mage-lords of Tevinter for him to just take her and bring her that final little bit to completion.
Shamelessly, she begged him for release in the most vulgar language she knew, filthy, vile supplications spilling from her lips without self-consciousness. She buried her face in the pillow bit it, tearing at it with her clawed hands. She let it muffle one hoarse cry after another. Close, she was so very close!
Then suddenly his fingers were gone, and she wailed in frustration. She felt him moving behind her, and, she hoped--thank the Maker--readying himself to fuck her. She babbled words of gratitude and promises of unquestioning and devoted service. She pressed her chest down into the bed, arching her back, lifting her ass like a cat in heat...
A soft whistle, then, and she felt solid fire blaze a sizzling line across her backside as a belt struck her reddened and welted skin. Elissa shrieked, reared up, brought her hands behind her to cover her exposed buttocks, but Duncan grabbed her by the back of the neck and shoved her face back down into the pillows. "If you try to shield yourself or get away again," he grated, "I will summon Ser Gilmore in here and make him whip you."
He held her there a long moment, unable to breathe with her face buried in the pillows. She began to struggle and fight for air until he relented, easing the pressure on her neck enough to allow her to catch her breath before he shoved her back into the pillows again. When he released her once more, she drew ragged, gasping breaths. He drew away, and the belt whistled through the air once more. Another stripe of what felt like molten steel crossed her flesh.
Elissa screamed, but remembering Duncan's warning did nothing to attempt to pull away or protect herself. The seering line of agony on her skin, however, was quickly forgotten as she found her face thrust once more into the bedding, her air cut off until she struggled and fought to breathe.
"I like seeing you writhe like that," Duncan said, his voice a low growl against her ear as she gasped for air. Giving proof to his words, he ground his pelvis against her abraded backside, his erection rubbing the welts he had left behind. The tip of his cock left a cold line of wetness across her inflamed skin. He pressed her into the pillow again, until her lungs felt ready to burst with the need for air, and when he released her, he the belt sang and slashed across the back of her thighs. Once! Twice! Three times! Over and over, while she screamed and cried and fought with herself in an effort to not attempt to escape. Just when she was about to lose the struggle, her breath was cut off again, her face driven into the pillow that was now damp with her tears, until sparkles began to flare within her eyes. She hovered on the verge on unconsciousness when his hand came down without the belt. Once. Only once. Not across her backside, but between her thighs, his cupped hand dealing a hard, sharp slap to her sex.
The world exploded in flashing light and roaring noise as she came at the very instant that oblivion almost overtook her. The pressure was gone from the back of her neck, and she could breathe. She heard shrill, feral shrieks and knew them for her own, felt her throat burning from the misuse of her vocal cords. Her hands clawed at anything she could reach and she heard the shredding sound of her fingernails scraping the linen of the sheets and pillowcases. Spasm after spasm crashed over her, each in its own way as brutal as the strokes of the belt had been and when it was over, she lay on her belly on the bed, shuddering as minor ripples passed though her, her chest heaving and hitching as her lungs heaved drew deep, heaving breaths.
Gentle now, his hands stroked her, passing over her stinging welts with feather-light touches, massaging the muscles of her back and shoulders where no tension lingered. Everything within her felt as though it had melted into liquid. When his hand caressed the side of her face, she mewled and rubbed her face against it like a cat, craving his gentleness. His fingers brushed over her mouth and she kissed them fervently, knowing he possessed her utterly.
His fingers gently pressed at her chin, urging her up, and he bent low to kiss her, licking sweat and tears she didn't know she had shed from her lips. Helplessly she gave herself to the kiss, welcoming his tongue into her mouth. After a long moment, he drew away and shifted so that he sat beside her head. The same heavy scent of musky she had relished earlier wafted toward her, and she raised her eyes to see his long, turgid erection thrusting boldly up against his belly before her face.
Though exhausted, she placed eager, willing kisses along his hip and thigh and groin. She raised herself on her hands and knees and crawled sideways as he parted his legs to allow her to settled herself between them.
Elissa trailed kisses up the length of his erection, stroking lightly, licking the head where a bead of fluid had gathered. Her lips parted and she let the tip of his cock slip inside, running her tongue around the ridge. She teased the slit at the tip with her tongue, and then drew him into her mouth, deeply, her head bobbing up and down as she sucked.
Pulling back, she trailed licks and kisses down his length, her saliva wetting him. She licked and sucked for a moment at his sac much as she'd done earlier, only this time willingly, joyfully. Then she took him into her mouth once more, as far as she could manage without gagging. Up and down she moved, pulling on his cock with long slow sucks, withdrawing periodically to suck lightly on the head before sliding downward for another slow draw.
Remembering a trick she'd overheard in her youth from gossiping young noblewomen at one of the Queen's salons in Denerim, she relaxed herself with a slow, deliberate breath. She clenched her left hand into a fist, then pressed her thumb into her palm and squeezed tightly. Then, she plunged her mouth downward, taking the full length of his erection into her mouth.
Onward she pressed, past the point where she might normally have gagged, but there was no convulsion, only a very slight popping feeling as the head of his cock passed from the cavern of her mouth into her tight, quivering throat.
Unable to breathe, she worked the muscles of her jaw as much as she could, creating more tension for him. Duncan groaned, his hips lifting, thrusting restlessly upward. His hand caressed her face, then gripped her hair and held her until she ran out of air and pulled away. She licked him slowly as she drew several deep breaths, forcing her muscles to relax and release the tension that had crept into her body. Duncan was surprisingly patient as she gathered herself, allowing her the freedom to pleasure him according to her own wishes, and she felt a surge of power, knowing that at this moment she possessed him as completely as he'd possessed her earlier. Smiling, she once again squeezed her left thumb and took him deep into her throat, all the way to the base where the crisp hair of his groin brushed her lips.
Duncan groaned again, louder and more urgently. This time when she pulled away, he refused to release her entirely, but buried his hands in her hair and pushed her back down after she'd caught only the slightest of breaths. Technique and finesse were abandoned, and she sucked on him, hard, resisting only when he hit the back of her mouth and caused her to gag. He bucked his hips, driving into her mouth. With a grunting roar, he came. A hot rush of thick, salty fluid washed over her tongue and into her throat. Elissa drank it down, savored it, bestowed light kisses to his softening length as she released him.
Now I should wake and end this, Elissa thought reluctantly, unwilling to stir. Before she could compel her body to meet her will, however, Duncan's hand seized her hair cruelly and dragged her up from where she lay with her face pillowed on his thigh.
"I'm not finished with you," he announced, all trace of tenderness gone from his expression and voice. He jerked her into a kiss, as brutal now as he'd been gentle before. His tongue plundered her mouth, his lips grinding hard against hers. Elissa felt excitement surge to life throughout her body, felt that emptiness at her core aching to be filled, and she thrilled to feel his cock twitch and stir against her--not hard, not yet, but slowly rousing back to life.
He released her as abruptly as he had seized her, thrusting her away so that she tumbled and sprawled back upon the bed. With impersonal hands he released the belt from around her throat and tossed it aside. Arrogantly, he rose and walked away from her, stepping into the deep, stone bath and sinking into the water. Elissa knelt on the bed and warily stared at him, trying to gauge his next move. Casually, he gestured her closer with a wave of his hand. "Come here," he commanded, gesturing to the opposite end of the long bathing pool. "Bathe."
Rising, she crossed the room and stepped into the bath. She let the water swallow her, gasping sharply as it stung the welts across her backside, but when the stinging faded, it felt divine. As Duncan leisurely sponged the sweat from his body, she cupped water in her hands and lifted them to her shoulder, letting the water sluice down her back and chest. For several moments, they bathed in silence, as the warm water and slippery soap soothed her aches.
She paused when she felt his keen gaze upon her. The familiar low hum of arousal began in the pit of her belly, like the discordant tuning of an orchestra prior to a symphony.
"Sit up on the edge," he instructed, sliding down and reclining until the water was up to his shoulders and his head rested on the wall of the stone bathing pool. Obediently, she complied. The stone ledge was uncomfortable against her abraded rear, and she perched gingerly, awaiting his pleasure. "Oh no, make yourself comfortable," he said, seeing how carefully she sat, barely applying any pressure. "You're going to be there for some time as you provide the entertainment for my bath. Spread your legs, now."
Cautiously, Elissa opened her thighs, keenly aware of the fact that in their present positions, his was eye-level with her sex. Nothing was hidden from his view, and it made her feel self-conscious.
Duncan sat up and dealt a stinging slap to the inside of her thigh with a wet hand. "Spread them!" he snapped. "All the way!"
She felt a small spasm as the muscles of her sex clenched and released in response, not just to the slap but to his sharp tone of command. Her body reacted even as her will balked. Unable to bear the thought of another whipping--or whatever torment he might devise as a consequence for disobedience this time--she reluctantly spread her thighs far apart, shivering as the cool air and rising steam wafted across her exposed folds in turns.
"Good," Duncan said approvingly, his voice warm. He settled back into the water, casually folding his arms behind his head. "Now pleasure yourself."
After all that had gone before, Elissa wasn't sure that would be possible, but her sex gave a willing pulse and Duncan chuckled. He'd seen the twitch. Unable to refrain from blushing, she dipped her hand to her sex and catching some of the moisture seeping from between her folds, began to draw circles around her sensitive nub with her fingertips.
Her hips immediately bucked in reaction and she had to open her thighs again as they threatened to slam shut. After the rough treatment it had already received, the hard knot of nerves was almost painfully tender and even the slightest touch felt like too much. She had to caress gently if she hoped to find any pleasure at all.
Duncan watched her intently, his eyes never wandering from the motion of her fingers and the fully-exposed display of her sex. Elissa closed her eyes, unable to bear him looking at her so frankly, seeing parts of herself that not even she had ever seen so completely.
"Spread yourself open," he murmured, and she winced in embarrassment, hesitating only a second before she obeyed. With her fingers, she parted her folds and held them open for his gaze as the fingers of her other hand continued to circle the center of her pleasure. As she did so, he began to talk, wielding words like caresses.
"There is no part of you that I will not possess," he said, his voice a low, confident, seductive rumble. "Until I say otherwise, I command every instant of pleasure you receive, every moment of pain. Every orifice of your body belongs to me to use as I desire. There is no pain so intense you will not bear it on my command, so debasement so humiliating you will not suffer it at my pleasure. You are mine."
"Oh, Maker!" she gasped, rubbing harder, faster, feeling pleasure begin to build at his words. She heard the slight splashing of water as he moved, and she opened her eyes to find his face directly before her, and a single pointed finger slid firmly and suddenly into her core and crooked. "Oh! No!" her voice was strangled as she bucked and thrashed, trying to pull away, the sensation too much to be borne, and everything within her resisted.
"'No?'" Duncan asked, his tone mockingly bemused as he withdrew his finger and she nearly collapsed with relief from the intensity. He held his glistening finger before her face, waved it beneath her nose to allow her to smell it. "This doesn't tell me 'no.' Not that I recall allowing 'no' to be an option."
Rising, he stepped from the bathing pool and retrieved his dagger from where he'd left it with the rest of his weapons when he'd undressed. He drew it half from its sheath, and felt a surge of terror, unable to remind herself that this was merely a dream. Tauntingly, he slowly slid the dagger suggestively back into the sheath and carried it with him back into the tub.
"It occurs to me that in all this time, you still haven't been fucked," he remarked. "Perhaps it's time we remedy that. Sit. Now." That final command was spat so crisp and sharply it might have been a physical blow, for all that it was barely louder than a conversational murmur. Trembling with fear, Elissa sank back down upon the stone ledge. Duncan knelt before her and rested the dagger beside her and roughly shoved her knees apart, spreading her legs achingly wide. Without preamble, he moved between her open thighs and rammed into her in a single thrust.
Elissa gave a shrill, warbling cry, throwing her head back, her face contorting as pain and pleasure combined. She was tight and unprepared, and he was thick and slightly curved. His girth stretched her flesh as the immense pressure of being filled by him brought her close to the edge of ecstasy again. Giving her no time to adjust, he set a fast, merciless pace, slamming into her without regard for her struggles as she adapted to the invasion.
Gradually she stretched to accommodate his girth more comfortably. He wrapped his arms around her hips, pulling her forward to meet his pounding hips. Each rough thrust was accompanied by a sharp cry wrenched from her hoarse throat, but it was good, so very good to have him so hard and thick and full inside her, filling her completely. She placed her hands on the stone ledge on either side of her and arched her back, lifting her hips of the surface to allow greater freedom of movement as she met his ramming thrusts eagerly, her internal muscles grasping at him as wave upon wave of pleasure built within her, until she teetered on the precipice of completion.
Suddenly, he pushed her away and withdrew, his shaft twitching as he fought back his own climax. She cried out, bereft, and groped for him, seeking to draw him back. "Not. Yet," he ground out, grabbing her hair and dragging her forward for a deep kiss, his tongue thrusting roughly into her mouth. She gave herself over to the kiss, welcoming the invasion of his tongue with the same eagerness she'd received his cock inside her, yearning toward him, wanting more. She felt him moving, and then something cold and metallic was pressing bluntly against the entrance of her sex.
Fear froze her, congealing within her breast and spreading outward in icy waves. Everything in her body tensed as he firmly pressed the wide, rounded knob of the pommel of his dagger into her. It ached as it stretched her even wider than his erection had, and then the pommel was inside her and her flesh closed around the narrower shaft of the grip. Still he pressed on, deeper and deeper until the wide guard rested cold against her folds. Elissa sat there, quivering with fear, as he slowly drew the sheath off the blade.
"I'd advise you not to close your legs," he said softly, calmly, moving off to the side and away from the dagger blade is it jutted out from her body, the hilt buried within her. He pressed carefully on the guard, holding the hilt of the dagger within her when the pulsing of her muscles attempted to expel it. "Now pleasure yourself," he demanded in a murmur, "and do watch out for your fingers."
Her hand shook as she slid her fingers cautiously down her belly to her mound and the bundle of nerves pulsing softly there. The bitter, metallic taste of fear was in her mouth and her heart raced and hammered against her ribs. When she touched that spot, it was so intensely sensitive that her entire body convulsed. She caught herself not an instant too soon as her legs attempted to clamp closed in an involuntary, instinctive effort to protect her from an excess of stimulation. She felt, rather than heard, Duncan's chuckle. Holding the guard of the dagger carefully he began to pull, slowly drawing the hilt almost completely out of her, before pressing it it back in with slow, implacable care. She shuddered again in aroused revulsion as she realized the metal of the guard was now warm from her heat.
Duncan leaned forward and pressed slow, open-mouthed kisses against her neck, which was now damp with the sweat of fear. He licked a line down to the junction where her neck met her shoulder, kissing, sucking...
...and then his teeth clamped down, hard. Elissa screamed in startled pain, resisting the urge to struggle as her limbs attempted to move, to fight him off. The sudden increase in tension pushed the hilt of the dagger halfway out, and ruthlessly Duncan shoved it back in against her resisting muscles. It seemed an eternity before he finally let go with his teeth, and Elissa lifted a hand to feel a deep, stinging ring of teethmarks on the tendon between her neck and shoulder. There was no blood, astonishingly, but the imprint throbbed.
"Pleasure yourself," he repeated insistently, giving the hilt of the dagger a quick, careful pump. Whimpering with the remnants of pain, Elissa once again traced a soft circle around her throbbing nub with her fingertips. She held her legs rigid against the impulse to move, her feet braced against the bottom of the stone bathing pool. Insanely, even through her fear and discomfort, she could feel pleasure at the touch of her fingers, softly responding to her slow rubbing.
Duncan kissed a slow, licking, soothing path down the slope of her shoulder and Elissa began to increase the tempo of her fingers, still rubbing carefully, but more firmly, more swiftly. Pleasure began to coil and tighten within her, and even the terror and the hilt of the dagger filling her so solidly felt good. Faster it wound in her belly, tighter, her hips shifting in tiny, involuntary movements as her body sought release. Almost there, almost to the edge, and then...
...Duncan bit her again, hard, on the point of her shoulder where the firm muscles of her arm began. His teeth sank ruthlessly into her skin, unresponsive to her scream of pain and fear as once again she came close to injuring herself on the protruding blade of the dagger as her body spasmed with the uncontrollable urge to fight him off. Red flares of light sparkled through her clenched eyelids as she gritted her teeth and moaned, her body taut. By the time he released her, tears had started in her eyes and were glistening on her cheeks.
"Continue," he whispered, his beard brushing her ear. With slow, even movements he drew the hilt of the dagger out and pushed it back in, and again, fucking her gently with it. Weeping softly, helplessly, she once again stroked herself, praying now to find the pinnacle of pleasure quickly so that this trial might be over. Duncan rose and moved to the other side of her. No sooner had she begun to respond to the ministrations of her own fingers, then his teeth sank savagely into her other shoulder and another round imprint burned in her skin when he released her.
"Again!" he said sharply, hefting her breast in the palm of his hand and licking the nipple. Desperately she rubbed the center of her pleasure, tears streaking down her ravaged face, frantically seeking her release amidst the shuddering spasms of fear that rippled through her gut at the thought of his teeth so near her tender nipple. He licked the upper slope of her breast, tracing the blue veins on her pale flesh with his tongue, sucked on the soft flesh. Fear and pleasure combined to tighten her body in waxing and waning surges of pleasure, drawing her ever nearer the brink.
When his teeth closed on her chest just above the soft white skin of her breast, she shattered, convulsing, screaming with her head thrown back and the nails of her free hand gouging the side of her own thigh. The keen blade of the dagger danced and bounced as her muscles seized around the hilt in waves. On it went, and on; so long as he bit down into her breast, the waves kept crashing over her until all she could do was buck and hold her legs apart.
Finally he stopped biting, and Elissa looked down to see the bright crimson--though miraculously bloodless--crescents of his teeth imprinted above the slope of her breast. She felt him gently draw the hilt of the dagger out of her, and another spasm of helpless pleasure shuddered through her as the wide pommel pressed firmly against that maddeningly swollen and intense sponge of flesh behind her pubic bone on its way out.
Setting the dagger aside, Duncan drew her into his arms, holding her, kissing her brow. Overcome by the extremes and intensity she had endured, Elissa began to sob, clinging to him, wrapping herself around him.
"You are marvelous," he murmured, massaging her body soothingly, "So fearless and fierce! Everything trial you withstand makes me admire you more, makes me desire you more. Your passion and grace are a wonder to me, and if I desire to possess you body and soul, that is why."
He sank with her into the cooling water of the bath and held her until her sobs had subsided and she began to compose herself again. Then he left her there in the pool as he got out and began to dry himself. He tossed the unsheathed dagger carelessly onto the bed and then coaxed her from the tub. Weariness had started to set in, and she felt boneless and replete. He dried her skin softly, careful of the the places where she was tender. Elissa allowed him to pamper her, trusting as a child in her lassitude. He guided her to the bed and sat her upon its edge, then knelt behind her and pulled her wrists behind her back, wrapping them in one of the cords he'd scavenged from the bed hangings.
Weakly, she struggled, unable to summon much energy to resist. "Please," she murmured, "I think I would rather rest now."
"We will rest soon," he assured her, his hand coming around from behind to stroke her neck and throat, making her tilt her head to the side in sensual delight, "But not until I decide it's time to rest. And I have not finished yet." Kneeling behind her, he pressed firmly against her back and she felt the prodding insistence of his warm erection. He ground against her and though weary, desire sparked dimly within her again. She tried to stroke him with her bound hands but the angle was wrong. She couldn't reach him and growled in frustration.
"It thrills me to see you so eager to please," he chuckled in her ear, nibbling her lobe as his arms came around her and his hands cupped her breasts, his thumbs stroking her nipples. Remembering, she glanced down and saw the imprints of his teeth were filling in, but had begun to discolor in a distinctive dual crescent of blackish bruise. For some reason, the sight, knowing he had left a brand on her flesh that would linger, pleased her.
He kissed her jaw, the side of her face, and she turned her head, seeking his mouth, opening to his tongue. The hands on her breasts became rougher, more insistent, kneading and squeezing her flesh. Then he locked his arms around her and hauled her body onto the bed. Unable to catch herself with her arms bound behind her, she toppled over to her side when he released her, and Duncan slapped her backside once, sharply. "Get up onto your knees," he ordered.
It was a struggle, encumbered as she was. She had to roll over onto her stomach and press her face into the bedding, lifting her hips and drawing her knees up under her. She panted slightly once she had achieved the task. Unable to brace herself with her hands, she had no choice but to lie with her head turned to the side against the bed, the dagger not far from her face, her shoulders down and her back arched so that her backside and sex were prominently exposed. When she attempted to straighten up, Duncan pushed her back down, pressing between her shoulder blades.
"You will only rise if I tell you to rise," he commanded. His fingers slid easily into her; somewhere in her exertions, moisture had begun to collect on her folds again. Slowly, leisurely, he pumped his fingers in and out, twisting them to stimulate likely spots and stretch her. Then he withdrew his hand. A second of prodding and his erection pushed into her with exquisite slowness, inch by inch, letting her feel every bit of his flesh as it parted her.
Elissa sighed softly. After all that had gone before, it wasn't nearly intense enough to bring her to fulfillment again, but it felt good. It was pleasant to be filled by that thick, hard, pulsing length. More than her own climax, she wanted to feel him come inside her, feel him lose himself within her. Complacently, she moaned softly, enjoying his easy thrusts. She closed her eyes, blocking out the sight of the dagger on the bed, and let herself be rocked by the rhythm he set.
Her eyes flew open again with shock as, without warning, he pressed a slick, wet finger into her rear entrance, pushing slowly but insistently until his finger was buried in the tight opening. Duncan grunted with pleasure as tension made all her muscles tighten around him. He picked up his face, fucking her harder and faster, driving her into the bed. His finger in her anus twisted and turned and rubbed, relaxing the muscle.
Suddenly alert, Elissa quivered as a tiny spasm of pleasure rippled through her. It felt so very much better than she would have expected. Arousal caused her internal muscles to flutter where they engulfed Duncan and he paused with a quiet groan. He withdrew from her body, both the finger in her backside and his erection from deep within her. With a sudden plunge of his fingers into her sex, he collected more of the fluids that had begun to drench her the moment he'd worked his finger into her rear. Then the finger was back, slicker this time, sliding easily into to ring of muscle and spreading her moisture. He withdrew, then pressed two fingers in, firmly, taking no heed when she lifted her head and protested the unaccustomed and alarmingly intense sensation of being opened this way. The pressure was too much, so strange and yet so good. Still, she sensed the potential for pain here and feared what would come next.
"This is how I intend to finish," he said thickly, something rough and menacing in his tone. "Every night from now on, the last thing you feel before you go to sleep will be my seed seeping out of you, here," he worked his fingers in and out faster for emphasis. "That's how you'll always remember that there is no part of you that doesn't belong to me. No matter what I do to you, no matter how you suffer or what pleasure I give you, no matter who I allow to have you, this will always belong to me."
A spasm of fear tore through her, drawing all her muscles taut with tension, and into that tension, Duncan once again thrust his cock, roughly, pumping in and out of her sex with rapid strokes. Then he quickly withdrew and she felt his slick erection push against that tight rear opening, slowly but unrelentingly.
"Oh, Maker! Please!" she gasped in alarm, a sharp burn starting where he insistently pressed in to her. She tried to rear up, but he pushed her down again.
"If you struggle, it will hurt," Duncan said, unaffected by her fear. "If you relax, I promise you will enjoy it. Either way, this is how I intend to take you. The choice is yours."
He eased off for a moment, and Elissa breathed a sigh of relief. Already the moisture he'd spread over her was drying and becoming tacky, and he rose, leaving her there. Presently he returned, and his fingers once again pushed between her buttocks, this time slick with some other substance. He pressed them into her again, deeply, sliding and probing. She tried to relax into that utterly foreign feeling of having something within her there. He paused and she felt him stroking himself behind her, heard the slick sounds of his hand pulling on his own wet flesh, and then his erection was prodding at her once more, insistent and unrelenting. Drawing a deep, nervous, shuddering breath, Elissa tried to relax as he'd instructed while he pushed gradually into her.
For a swift moment it burned unbearably, and it was all she could do not to fight it, whimpering softly into the bedding, but then he was within her and--dear Maker!--the sense of pressure and fullness was incredible. He allowed her a moment to adjust, and then he began to move.
Slowly at first, oh! so slowly, he rocked, before drawing back with exquisite care before thrusting forward again. The sensation of being filled was frighteningly intense, and Elissa felt the chill of fluids sliding down her thighs from her dripping sex. Gradually, he increased his pace, drawing from her a series of low, guttural, wailing cries as she surrendered to the intensity of being stretched and filled this way. Of all that had passed between him since meeting in the Great Hall, this, this was the moment she felt most fully in his power, submitting totally to his will. He owned her completely, and she yielded to him with abandon.
With a snarl, Duncan gave over his reserve and unleashed to ferocity he'd been holding in check. His hips drove into her backside with bruising force, awakening the ache of the welts he'd left there with the belt, as his hands gripped her waist and jerked her back against him. Again, and again! He released her waist with one hand and tangled his fingers in her hair, wrenched her head back and forced her spine into an even sharper arch.
"Come for me," he demanded, his voice low and ragged, his words filthy and arousing. "Come with my cock in your ass."
"I can't!" she sobbed, agonizingly aroused and yet unable to find that peak despite the brutal, unyielding pressure and pleasure as he rammed his length deep within her, over and over.
With a feral growl he gave her hair a punishing jerk and his other hand came around her hip. His fingertips ground mercilessly against her swollen, tender knot of pleasure.
"Come for me now!" he commanded, with one last rough stroke of his fingers, and Elissa shrieked, shuddering and clenching around him. Still he pounded into her her, hammering against her backside with his pelvis, again, and again, and finally with a sudden, barking shout he rammed home once more and she felt him swell and pulsate within her, over and over. He slumped over her, drawing a yelp of protest as he pressed her into the mattress and her arms were trapped behind her painfully pressed between their bodies.
Duncan withdrew, his softening length sliding easily out of her, wet with his own seed. He untied her hands, and she stretched, her shoulders aching. She felt exhausted, and desperate with the need for rest, but even as she lay down and began to close her eyes, she felt Duncan rise from the bed with seemingly renewed energy.
How can he not be tired by now? she wondered, and a bolt of fear shot through her as he looked in her direction and his deep brown eyes were strangely blank.
Wouldn't you like to just lay down and...forget about all this? Leave it all behind?
The words, remembered distant and indistinctly, brought her upright on the bed. Duncan didn't notice, he was busy rifling through his gear in search of something, clearly preparing for another bout with her.
Suddenly she remembered the Circle Tower, and then...
You deserve a rest. The world will go on without you.
Abomination.
How long have I been here? Where are Alistair and the others? What has been happening when I've been delayed here?
The demon masquerading as Duncan straightened, approaching her with a small smile and something resembling a manacle. The sight awoke a pang of arousal within her and suddenly she understood that this would go on and on without cease, if she allowed it. She needed to get out of here.
As the demon drew close, Elissa grabbed the dagger from the bed and shoved it through its throat, just below the beard that had intrigued her so. She shuddered in revulsion as the thing gurgled blood and collapsed beside the bed. Breathing heavily, she rose from the bed and found herself suddenly clad in the armor she'd been wearing in the Circle Tower, her weapons at her back. A glow caught her eye and she looked toward the corner of the chamber to see a small pedestal that hadn't been there before.
Collecting her scattered senses, she strode forth and touched it.