Chapter Text
Titan's Dreams Part Two
Rook can’t sleep. She slips out of bed and throws on a robe. Solas stirs but doesn’t wake up. She makes her way silently to the library. This is one of her favorite places in the Lighthouse. She settles onto the couch after finding the book she sought.
It's times like these that really make her miss Bellara. She knew more about Anaris than just about anyone. Except for Solas. Rook doesn't really know why she hesitates bringing up the subject of that particular Evanuris.
Arms wrap around her and Rook startles. “Solas!” She yelps.
“Who did you think I'd be?” Solas chuckles as he peers over her shoulder to get a glimpse of what has her so distracted. She leans back into him.
“Research.” Rook explains.
“Perhaps I can help. I am quite the scholar,” he says, nuzzling her neck.
“Are you trying to distract me?” Rook asks playfully.
He glances up at the smeared mural and then looks at Rook, “Pay me no heed.”
So it's his turn now? This has become something of a game between them, one attempting to remain impassive while the other works to make them break. The smeared mural has become something of a private joke. A reminder of when this game first started.
He rests his hand on the exposed skin above the collar of her robe, gently brushing her hair behind her shoulder with a deceptively casual touch. There is a gleam in his eye that betrays him. Rook rests against him, leaning her head on his shoulder. Her book sags in her hand. Solas exhales in humor.
Rook gets miffed at this. To give in so easily to their game is an affront to her pride. She can do better than that. Rook's spine straightens and she scoots forward so that she isn't touching Solas.
She can remain unaffected by him if she wanted to.
Really. She can.
Rook gives him an assessing look. He's bare chested, wearing only linen leggings. He must have rolled out of bed to find her.
She returns to reading, adopting an air of studious nonchalance. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see him watching her with amused interest.
“Is there a reason you're holding the book upside-down?” Solas says with laughter in his voice.
“Just checking for hidden glyphs.” Rook says, unable to keep a laugh from escaping her at the absurdity of this.
“Ah. Of course. Wise of you.” Solas says dryly.
She reorients the book, flipping the page not reading a single word.
Solas eases off the couch and moves to stand behind her. He leans over her shoulder and points to a line of text, reading along. The heat of him against her right ear makes her hyper aware of him.
His arm wraps around her to reach the book, pressing against her side oh so casually. Her skin buzzes with the contact. He smells amazing, a combination of pine scented soap, a pleasant masculine musk, and a distant storm.
Rook marvels that his innocent touches can seem terribly arousing. She doesn't know if he's just really good at this game or if it doesn't take much for Solas to get to her. Probably a little of both.
She shifts agitated on the couch and Solas rests an arm on her left shoulder as he leans over her as if stabilizing his balance. Rook shivers at the contact and realizes she's reading an account of how Andruil had captured Fen'Harel and demanded he service her in bed for a year and a day.
This is so not helping. Rook flushes. She closes the book quickly and stands as if to get a different book from the shelf.
Solas moves around the couch sensing her weakening resolve to maintain the charade of her indifference.
“Is there a particular book that you are seeking?” Solas asks in that husky voice that always does something to her.
“What would you recommend?” Rook asks, playing along.
Solas reaches up over her head so that he is pressed up against her. Then he tips forward as if going just a bit off balance and grabs her about the waist. It's more like a complicated dance move than an unintended fall.
She flushes at the sudden press of him, giving a little laugh at their game. She turns to scold him. He's so close their lips are just a hair's breadth away.
It's very tempting to just lean in and kiss him, but she's made of stronger stuff. She will not give him the satisfaction. When Rook retreats a step, she's so flustered that she trips over . . . nothing. Her own damned feet betray her.
Solas catches her before she can fall. Pulling her up into his arms. “Falling at my feet now?”
Rook laughs, not pulling free. “What can I say? You're irresistible.” She closes the distance between them with a kiss.
There is a satisfied rumble in his chest as he responds to the kiss. Solas pulls her back to the couch to sit beside her.
“Read to me.” Solas requests.
Rook is a bit breathless. “If you'd like.” She leans back into the couch.
Rook reads from Bellara's notes, “So did great Anaris, Champion of the People, ride forth as a great and noble wave crashing upon the shores of injustice. And to him, we pledge . . .”
“Stop!” Solas covers her mouth with his hand and pulls the book away.
Rook is dismayed and Solas lowers his hand. “My mistake. I requested that you read to me. Had I known it could result in you speaking an oath to Anaris, I would never have done so.”
“No!” She shakes her head. “You mean I almost pledged myself to that egotistical fool?”
His chest rumbled in humor. “It is better not to find out. You are thinking of Revas?”
“It’s been bothering me. Claiming that Anaris would avenge him. Why does he hold a grudge against you in the first place?” After a pointed look she continues, “There's a story here.” Rook prompts.
“You were reading a retelling.” Solas points to her abandoned book. “It was many years ago. I was captured by Andruil and tied to a tree. She wished for me to serve in her bed for a year and a day as recompense for hunting a halla on disputed lands she claimed for her own.”
“Serve in her bed?” Rook raises her eyebrows. “I have to ask, did you provide this service for her?”
Solas scowls, “No. Anaris came upon us, seeking his revenge against me. I tricked them into fighting each other. Andruil was injured and fled. Anaris was so wounded that he entered the extended sleep of Uthenera to heal his injuries.”
Rook looks at him speculatively. “You had no interest in her?” Rook asks doubtfully.
“None. I assure you.” Solas says.
Rook says contemplatively, “You value freedom very highly. You spent years freeing slaves. Now, I learn you were very nearly a sex slave to this Andruil.”
“That is so.” Solas agrees.
“Do you have an issue with allowing someone to have power over you?” Rook asks tentatively.
Solas says, “I am not suffering from some unresolved trauma, Rook. However, I appreciate the compassion this question displays. I am who I have always been. I do not deny that I enjoy taking a certain – measure of command. Does this distress you?”
“Not generally, no. I like when you're assertive, or as you say, take a ‘certain measure of command’.” Rook admits.
Solas watches her with a barely there smile.
“But I can understand the appeal of compelling you to service for a year and a day.” Rook adds as well.
Solas’s eyes are alight with humor. “You will have me for much longer.” He leans in to brush her lips with his.
When he pulls back he says, "If you want to command me all you have to do is ask.”
Rook watches him quietly, not saying anything.
Solas leans over her watching the play of emotions across her face. Finally he says, “Why do you hesitate? You have been bold before. Why are you reluctant to express what you most desire?”
“What about you? What do you want?” Rook deflects.
Solas is having none of that. “I wish for you to be comfortable enough with me to express your innermost wish.” As he says this his hand is moving in a barely there pattern against her inner thigh.
Her breathing becomes shallow. She swallows heavily. Rook would be happy with anything right now. Solas is looking at her with the knowing half grin. He's completely aware of how much his touch affects her.
“What would Andruil have commanded you to do?” Rook asks.
Solas's gaze moves from her mouth to her eyes. “She would want to feel like a goddess.”
“All right. A goddess it is,” Rook affirms. “But I don’t want you as a slave but as an equal.”
“It would be my pleasure.” Solas says as his voice drops a register. His words shiver through her.
He slides off the couch to drop to his knees before her. He looks up at her. The tip of his ears are flushed. He’s waiting for her to say something.
“Kiss me,” She commands.
When he begins to move up her body to reach her mouth she adds, “Here.” She drops open her robe and parts her legs.
He gives her an approving smile. He wants to see her undone. Just thinking about it makes him heavy and aching.
“As you command.” He says wickedly. He pulls her legs and tugs her so that she's on the edge of the couch, spread wide. She swings her legs to either side of his head.
Solas shifts quickly, kneeling between her legs and nips her inner thigh playfully. Rook jumps with a little laugh that turns into a hitched inhale as his fingers move to the folds between her legs. He dips inside finding her slick and works the moisture around to her surrounding flesh.
He replaces his hand with his tongue to give her a long hard slow lick. Rook shudders. Solas hums in approval as he begins to continue this motion sometimes delving deep inside. She moves restlessly, as his nimble fingers play her like an instrument. He notes her reactions and adapts. She groans, throwing her head back against the couch. He inhales deeply and makes a pleased noise as he continues to taste her.
This is bliss. Solas revels in the sensual and has eons to perfect his craft. Rook is helpless against this onslaught. For Rook, it goes on for minutes, maybe hours. She has lost all sense of time. It’s so good that she wants it to last, but she knows she’s going to come apart any moment.
He pushes deep in a rhythm working with his mouth and tongue in a way that convinces Rook he is a god. The glorious pleasure makes her cry out his name as she tells him this.
He chuckles but then he is caught up as she loses control of her magic surging into Solas. He meets it and rejoins with his own. The warm surge fills her with his power. Rook’s power sinks into him so that they are joined together in bliss, aware for one shining moment the feeling of truly being one, sharing the essence of their souls. There is nothing quite like it in the world. They both quiver in release.
It takes Solas a minute to recover. He shucks off his pants, and crawls up her body. He claims her lips, mapping the inside of her mouth with his tongue. Rook feels his length pressing against her core and she guides him to her opening. She pushes against him whimpering, unable to get the right angle.
Solas shifts, adjusting, and buries himself with a sharp flex of his hips into her. She claws at his back. Rook feels full and heavy with him. When he moves it makes her gasp. It's incredible. She wraps her legs around him.
Solas drops to rest his forehead against the edge of the couch just next to her head. He turns to face her. She sees him watching and she gives him a wicked grin.
“Vhenan,” He gives her a quick answering smile. His hand roams up and down her leg. His mouth drops to her shoulder. He pulls her up into him as he pushes deep into her.
“Solas!” Rook gasps when he discovers a particularly devastating angle.
Rook can feel the coiled tension in him through their bond, how each time he pushes into her the bliss grows sharper. She runs her hands along his backside as he flexes into her. She grabs him to pull him deep, as she pushes up, rising to meet him. Solas makes an almost imperceptible noise deep in his chest each time he bottoms out. It's so good.
Their magic sparks around them. She can feel his spiraling pleasure that matches her own. Solas clutches her hard. He's trying to maintain control to last for her.
Rook shakes her head. ”Let go.” She commands. “I want to feel you finish inside me.”
Solas growls, withdrawing and then bottoming out. “I will fill you.” He says as if this is a warning.
Sparks flare in her peripheral vision. He pulls almost completely out and plunges back hard causing Rook to cry out in pleasure. Solas groans, shuddering, reaching his peak, pulsing deep with wet heat. A wave of sensation crashes over her. She cries out, pushed over the edge. Rook spasms in aftershocks. He collapses onto her. She clasps him, holding him against her.
“I have no words.” Rook says breathlessly.
Solas shifts to the side, his eyes glowing. “Despite my protestations to the contrary, if we keep going like this, you will make me a god.” With each coupling, he is flooded with more power.
“With the things you do to me you won't see me disagreeing.” Rook says lightly.
Solas gives a pleased laugh and says. “If I am a god, you are my goddess.”
“I can live with that. Seriously though, are you saying that you’ve fully recovered your strength?” Rook asks.
“More than that. When we couple, our bond is a conduit for the magic to build.”
“Always happy to help.” She says impishly. “If that is the way it is with these Sul Saota bonds, why is it not a normal practice?”
“It is a forgotten art requiring specific skills. To be successful, one must perform the rite just so, demanding a significant expenditure of power, impossible for most mages.” Solas says without a hint of humility.
“So unless you happen to be a really powerful magic user like yourself. . .” Rook says.
Solas nods, “And well versed in this ancient art.”
“ . . . and really old.” Rook teases.
Solas rolls his eyes at her. “You are fortunate to benefit from my wisdom.”
“And pride. Don’t forget that.” Rook reminds him lightly.
He scoops her up into his arms. Rook gives a little yelp of surprise.
“I take pride in a great many things.” He agrees.
“As well you should.” She concedes as she leans back into his arms. He carries her with remarkable strength to the tub in his room. Rook sighs in pleasure. They sink into the hot water together.
_____
Solas is playing an elven lute. He is an accomplished musician. The harmony fills the music room with a sorrowful longing. Whenever the song is enough to make Rook cry, it turns hopeful and lilting. She could listen to him playing for hours, and since the passage of time is hard to measure in the Lighthouse, it’s possible that she has.
He loses himself in the music and Rook feels like she is witnessing a secret part of him that he has yet to fully share with her. Solas shuts out the outside world when he plays. Rook suspects that if he were to ever play in the raw Fade, he would shape whole worlds with the notes.
She can almost imagine a forest forming on the side of the room. The shadows of the leaves falling to the ground beneath them. The smell of foliage and green things filling the air. It isn’t long before Rook’s gasp pulls Solas out of his reverie to see the changes around them.
Everything Changed.