The Dragon's Den Read online

  It felt good to be kissed. Merrill kissed Maren back, deepening the kiss the way she had learned Haley had like to be kissed the one night they had spent together.

  Maren's body seemed to be reacting without her mind's permission, but when Merrill kissed her back she felt a tingle in her core. She felt really alive, and she felt like nothing going on in the gossip in the clan seemed important anymore, just kissing Merrill in that moment.

  Maren's red hair was short, but neat. Merrill ran her hair threw it, the way Haley had ran her hand through Merrill's. Merrill remembered she liked the way it felt. Maren must have liked it too, because she felt Maren's body give into the kissing even more. Relaxing her body into Merrill's. They were at an odd position when they began kissing, essentially kneeling.

  Merrill legs were getting tired, but she didn't want to stop kissing Maren. She wanted to stay safe and warm in the moment. She stretched out her body slowly laying down and to her surprise Maren followed her. Maren shrugged off her shield and Merrill felt her weight on top of her.

  Both women were afraid to break the moment. They might never go back to it. Neither wanted it to end, though neither really knew where it was going. Merrill lifted her leg and it came up between Maren's legs. When Maren felt Merrill's thigh touch her small clothes now damn and hot she let out an unconscious moan. Merrill might have only had one night with Haley, but she knew how to please Haley she wondered if it would be the same with Maren.

  Merrill was finding her lost in the heady perfume of fresh sex. She slipped her small hand past the warrior's belt and pants into her small clothes and Maren gave out a muffled cry when she touched her. She found her hot and slick. Her tender bud was pulsing under Merrill's fingers. Both women were inexperienced, but both were very turned on. Merrill let a finger slip inside Maren and she could hear her breathing catch. Maren's tight wall's gripped her finger even tighter and she stifled a moan. She didn't want to wake the rest of the clan, but she really didn't care too much either. She wanted to touch Merrill they way Merrill was touching her.

  Maren was no mage, but this felt like magic.

  Maren wasn't far from wrong.

  The attraction was real, and had always been there, but something felt like it was guiding this. Exciting this. She couldn't think about it too much. She slipped her hand between the mage's legs and Merrill bit her lip. She didn't feel anything they were doing was wrong, but she would rather it be private.

  Merrill was slick and hot. She almost came undone as Maren's first touch. It was all so unexpected. It all felt so amazing. Like so many things near Kirkwall, there was more going on that what met the eye.

  Merrill gently pulled her finger out of Maren and it was wet and instantly became cold where the fall breeze hit it except for the tip, which continued to stroke Maren's sensitive bud. Maren had never chosen to share pleasure with another, and it took almost nothing before she had completely lost herself to Merrill rhythm.

  Maren withdrew her hand and grabbed Merrill by the shoulder's as she came unexpectedly. She didn't want anything to stop, but it felt so incredible and then overwhelming. She gave a short shriek before biting her lip trying to be quiet. Merrill felt amazing under her. Everything felt amazing. She'd never had an orgasm before, she had nothing to compare it to, it felt the gods had chosen her for something, her stomach and mind felt like a million butterflies, there were sheets of white before her eyes, and then she started to be able to catch her breath. She and Merrill hadn't even spoken in the three years Merrill had been gone from the clan and she was having sex with her. Yes, sex. She had just had sex with her, and she knew everything was about to get really awkward. Maren didn't want it to; she did the only thing she could think to do.

  She kissed Merrill on lips and kissed her deeply with her tongue the way she had just been kissed by Merrill.

  Merrill moaned even more excited by her fellow elf's orgasm. Maren had never done anything, but in the clan there was little privacy. She had watch other men and women kiss a woman down there. She thought it looked like it must feel pretty amazing. She's always wanted to try it. She hoped Merrill wouldn't mind.

  When Maren broke off the kiss and started heading south down Merrill's body Merrill didn't know what to think. It was easier not to think. The next think she knew she felt her skin exposed to the cold and Maren was prying her legs apart.

  The first thing she felt was Maren's tongue touching her, tasting her and she could barely believe it. It felt amazing. Maren's kisses were nothing compared to this. She had to know of it were real. She ran her fingers through the short read hair of the woman between her legs, and that just spurred Maren on, it was the approval she had been looking for.

  Merrill tasted incredible. Every time she licked her and lapped at her hardened clit Merrill's body jerked and Merrill moaned. It felt amazing to have a woman in her mouth. Maren had never had any interest in the clan's men, but she's never caught the attention of one of the women. It seemed to have a drastically different effect on her body.

  She slowly lapped at the tiny hard knot that seemed to be throbbing between Merrill's legs. The more her tongue ran over Merrill the wetter the mage got, and it wasn't from all the licking. She felt amazing. She was curious if Merrill would like it if she touched her inside the way Merrill had touched Maren. She slowly stroked one of her fingers near Merrill's entrance, and worked up the courage to push inside of her.

  Merrill immediately kicked her hips forward and lifted herself into the air. She didn't mean to, but whatever Maren was doing felt astonishing. It was mind-blowing.

  Maren was much more timid than Haley had been, but her soft touch seemed to send her over the edge even quicker. Merrill chocked on the air as she came and Maren came up to catch Merrill's mouth with her own.

  Merrill could taste herself on Maren. Considering everything that just happened it just felt more exciting. Merrill's orgasm was quicker and instantly overpowering. As she started to catch her breath she looked at Maren fin the eye or the first time since everything started.

  As luck would have it she did the one thing Maren needed her to do. She pulled her beside her on the ground, wrapped her up in her arms and kissed her. She kissed her until she could feel sleep begin to pull at her eyes.

  Exhausted from the day Merrill rolled over on her back. She should have already been on her way back to Isabela, but everyone had been right there was nothing she could do or she would have done it. Aveline had already gone to get Anders, and she had failed to get Marethari's help.

  She felt a warm body curl up next to her and a soft head lay on her shoulder. Everything was too much and she just started to cry, silently. Tears slipped from her eyes and straight down behind her ears leaving a warm trail that instantly cooled.

  Maren had never had a lover, but she did remember before everything began Merrill had been worried about her friend. She caught a tear with her finger.

  "Are you alright?" It was all Maren could think of to say. Merrill thought about a thousand different answers that flew in and out of her head. She waited so long thinking of an answer that Maren moved over to kiss her to see what she would do.

  She kissed her back with the slightly salty taste of tears.

  "Should I get us…you a bedroll? I'm sorry. I don't know what to say." Maren said. She was confused, and practically anything Merrill could come up with was going to hurt her in her emotionally vulnerable position.

  "Just stay here with me until the morning. Stay here until I need to leave." Merrill said it as a statement, but it was more of a question.

  Practically anything she said would have hurt Maren except for that. There was a blanket not far from where Maren had been tending guard duty. The duty had been optional, and Maren had decided to opt out about an hour ago. She guessed it had been an hour. Merrill shifted back into her clothes and Maren laid back down covering them both with a blanket. Perhaps everything would be gone tomorrow, but they could have this right now tonight.

  Maren watched
from Merrill's shoulder as the mage fell asleep and her arm around her went slack. She decided she liked watching Merrill sleep. She thought, if Merrill didn't mind, she would return to the human's camp tomorrow to make sure Merrill made it safely.

  She hoped Merrill wouldn't mind.

  Chapter 5

  Aveline had left her new shield at Ander's place, which was a shame since she now wanted to use it to bash in his head so he would shut up and quit whining. He never ran out of things to mope and groan about. She supposed she should feel lucky he wasn't in one of his raving moods, but Justice didn't drag ass and need to be constantly prodded into moving faster.

  "All I'm saying is if she had brought me to begin with this wouldn't be an issue now."

  "Well, she didn't, and I'm sure she would prefer it if Isabela didn't die because you felt like moping." Aveline was setting the pace and Anders was keeping up, but leaning heavily on his staff. He was tall, handsome, and had a bedraggled wet puppy charm that worked on many, but not on Aveline, and much to his chagrin, not on Haley.

  Haley only took it as far as flirting. When Anders had taken the flirting a little too seriously she had closed that door years ago, but left it open for Isabela and that had really pissed him off.

  Isabela, he scoffed at the thought. What did that slutty little pirate wench have that he didn't? Maybe it was the absence of sharing his body with a second soul that was the turn off. Still, he would have never run off and left Haley alone and scuttled back after three years. Three years she had run off, and Isabela was right there beside Haley as though it had never happened, and Haley was allowing it.

  She had to see reason.

  This was ridiculous.

  He would've treated Haley differently.

  "I'm not moping." Anders eventually responded after moping.

  "If you take any longer she'll die of old age." Aveline cut a look backwards, but Anders was keeping up.

  "Perhaps Isabela has lost her edge or she wouldn't need healing." Anders retorted.

  "Why don't you heal her, then you two can spar and you can tell me what you think of her wit with her blades. In fact, why don't you both do it in front of Haley so you can both appear equally desperate." Aveline was annoyed. All Anders topics of conversations ended with him brooding or lashing out in a "mage rant". At least the Haley rants weren't as loud.

  "She couldn't get close enough against a mage, and even if she could…" Anders started what was going to be another long prattling speech. Aveline could feel it in her bones.

  "Haley didn't pick you." Aveline turned around and snapped at him.

  "I bed your pardon." Anders at least tried to appear surprised and offended, he fell short of both in believability. He really couldn't do 'aghast'.

  "Haley, all those years ago, wanted something else. She didn't pick you. You wanted something exclusive, Isabel wanted anything but. You fell for Haley. Isabela never meant to. She's a slattern, yet she's never gone behind Haley's back, nor do I think she ever would. You're pissed. I get it, but her dying because you're too busy whining isn't going to win you any awards."

  "You don't pick who you love, like you pick your friends. Haley chose you as a friend, as she chose me as a friend. She chose us; we chose her. Why does she lead the merry band of misfits instead of Varric or me?" Aveline asked narrowing her eyes.

  "Because, she's the only one who can lead." Aveline said. "She's the one who pulled us together. We all do more good than bad because of her. Kirkwall benefits, and everyone looks the other way."

  "I know she helps everyone. I don't need a lecture." Anders jaw muscle flexed as it clenched.

  "You do. It's not about you. It's not about you and Haley. It's not about you and Isabela, or who is a better person. Isabela and Haley just happened. For reasons, Maker only knows, they make each other happy in their own way. If we agree on nothing else, you and I will agree on one thing. After everything Haley has been through, she deserves a chance to be happy. She has no family, except for Bethany, and thank you for saving her, but she's a Grey Warden. You know the life she has, and it doesn't involve Haley."

  "I saved her for Haley." Anders said.

  "And Haley will be grateful beyond words for the rest of her life and you know that. Whether you hate her or not, heal Isabela. Haley deserves some slight chance at happiness. Isabela is hardly a guarantee, but if she dies now after Haley drug herself through the last three years…what do you think will happen?" Aveline stopped and turned to face Anders. Though she was much shorter, he shifted his weight under her authority.

  "She would go on like everyone else." Anders answered flatly.

  "Everyone has a breaking point. Haley is at hers. Work your miracle if you can, or mark my words, they will both die."

  "If I can? Have you seen me fail at a healing not caused by trauma?" Anders scoffed.

  "Have you ever seen a demon mouth eating a woman alive?" Aveline turned and started quickly back up the trail.

  "No." Anders started after her. "I'll do it for Haley."

  "All the worthwhile things you do, you do for Haley." Aveline was starting to chafe under the gore that was rubbing against the leather straps of her shield and armor that had been caked on and cooked under the hot sun.

  "How much further?" Anders asked.

  "Maybe an hour if we hurry." It's just above that cliff. It would put them at almost midday.

  "I don't think your going to make it in an hour." A large bearded mercenary casually said as he leaned against a tree some 25 yards away.

  The two party members had been lost in conversation and were taken by surprise when the Slavers stepped out of the trees. There was a great deal of cover, and they had cleared the area yesterday when they crossed through it.

  Aveline took in a deep breath.

  Guess they hadn't cleared it enough. There were at least ten that had come out from their cover. There could be more.

  "A mage healer could fetch a high price. A magister would pay nicely for that. A practical woman with a shield, well that might be more fun to keep for just me and the boys."

  Anders eyes glowed in fury. He started to draw power for a spell. Five more faces popped into view.

  "Wait." Aveline said to everyone.

  Haley had gotten up near dawn. She was quiet, though she didn't know how quiet she needed to be. She didn't know if Isabel would even rouse. The mouth on her back had grown larger and seemed to be eating away at fresh pink muscle. Nothing she did seemed to help. Anything she did it attempted to bite at, and if she agitated it, it seemed to start eating more quickly.

  Isabela's breathing was shallow, but her pulse was steady for now. The morning hours were slipping away. Since Marethari hadn't come early with Merrill she assumed they had run into trouble or the Keeper wasn't helping. The Clan leader wasn't exactly a safe bet, but she was worth a try.

  The fire was out and Haley had rations if Isabela woke.

  Haley was worried, and indecision wasn't something she suffered from often.

  She dipped a cloth in some of her cool drinking water rations. She put it on Isabela's forehead. Isabela moaned and rolled around in her sleep, unconsciousness. Haley didn't know.

  The Isabela she knew would have been up hours ago.

  Her color was wrong. She was pasty and her breathing was getting ragged. She hadn't deliberately tried to wake Isabela yet.

  If Marethari wasn't there yet, it was a safe bet she wasn't coming. She could carry Isabela and start down the path she knew would meet up with Aveline and Anders coming from Kirkwall. She could leave her gear except for her sword and probably make decent time, but carrying a wounded woman alone, even during daylight hours wasn't exactly ideal.

  They were safe where they were, but they were running out of time.

  "Isabela." Haley said gently shaking her slightly as she knelt beside her. Isabela moaned, but didn't wake. "Bela" she said louder and shook her a bit harder. It didn't seem like she would rouse easily.

  "Hopefully, you'll f
orgive me for this later." She breathed into her ear and gently kissed her on the lips. Her eyes fluttered slightly but she remained unconscious.

  Haley backhanded her. Hard. In a different time and situation it would have felt good. Actually it could have been fun in several different scenarios she could run through her head.

  Isabela gasped, and awoke with a slight shriek and in a flash of silver had a dagger to Haley's neck.

  "That's my girl." Haley smiled softly. She took the dagger from her gently smiling.

  "You enjoyed that." Isabela moaned. "Dammit" she yelled reaching around to her back.

  "Leave it. You'll just make it worse. Actually, you might piss it off." Haley said trying to look sympathetic. Even though the situation was dire she had missed Isabela terribly, even her cranky temper up to and including a knife to the throat.

  "I still don't want to know, do I?" Isabela struggled to get up.

  "Wait." Haley said sitting next to her. "And nope, you don't wanna know."

  "You enjoyed that." Isabela said rubbing her face.

  "Which part, the slap or the dagger? Because you were just as likely to enjoy both." Haley smiled. Her blue eyes smiled with her. How Isabela had missed that smile. Maker she felt like hell, but those smiling blue eyes made hell a bit more tolerable. She rumpled Haley's always-misbehaving hair and offered her a chaste kiss. She hadn't intended for it to be so chaste, but that damn thing on her back-hurt.

  Haley smile flickered to worry, but she covered it quickly. "Well today you get something you always wanted."

  "A foursome of my choosing?" Isabela smiled ruefully.

  "You always got that often enough, and it's no where near your birthday. Nope, something new." Haley said standing and swiping the dirt off her armor, though the effort was mostly in vain.