Doom Upon All The World

Chapter 29: The Freeing Of Minds (Part 2)

The plan meeting was called into session and then quickly dispersed. It was short and to the point. No one wanted to be there for longer than they had to. Everyone was called into the infirmary, where they could all talk without excluding Josephine or Tom. She looked just as she had in the past days but her breath was more shallow, her voice raspy and dry. She held Camille as best she could but the child slumped in her grasp. The rest of the babies were present as well. Tavvy was in her sling against Bull's chest, snoring almost as loudly as Bull himself. Olive was in Tom's arms, pulling at his shirt and drooling all over herself as she babbled little baby words. Cullen held Torrance close, enjoying his opportunity to hold the nephew whose birth he was absent for.

They'd agreed that the next day they would lead a small group out into the open, making it look like a hunting trip. The rest of them would hang behind by a few minutes. They knew the enemy was aware of where they were. Skyhold was a secret place but that did not mean its location was entirely unknown. Maeve cringed to think that the plan would not work and they would be defeated. When the enemy finally struck out at the forward group, the others would reveal themselves and together they would defeat their assailants. They'd take at least one hostage and put him to Leliana's questioning. If he answered and told the truth, he would be shown mercy. But that mercy being at Leliana's hand, they had no idea what it could mean.

The meeting ended and they all left, going to their separate chambers, to enjoy their time away from the children. Of course Bull and Dorian would still have Tavvy but everyone was sure they knew the things she'd had to sleep through. Branson took up the room above the bar that used to belong to Sera, taking Torrance to nap with him. The poor thing was exhausted from the long day. Before retreating to their chambers, Maeve watched as Solas congratulated Cullen on his and Cassandra's second child. They shook hands and Maeve thought how refreshing it was to see him being so social. The hall emptied, Leliana taking the newborn twins for the night and the rest of them retiring to coupled solitude.

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"We cannot, Cullen."

Cassandra breathed deeply as her husbands deft lips kissed, caressed, sucked, tugged, and nipped at ever inch of her bare torso. His mouth was hot on her skin, wet and luscious, drawing the air from her lungs as she arched into his touch. Her breast wrap was still on though she strained in it. She'd been in the middle of changing into something that did not make her feel so bloated when his hands were suddenly on her, touching her everywhere he could. He pushed her back on the bed, his cloak and under shirt already gone. The only articles that adorn him being his tight leather trousers and boots.

His chest was hard and chiseled against her sensitive skin. His muscles were taught with the strain of tension. She wanted to run her hands down them and work all of the stress from them, make him relax in her touch but he had another agenda. His lips were wild and torturous on her flesh, pulling at it with his mouth, his teeth, stimulating it with his tongue. She moaned though her brain protested. This was unwise. To give in to such desires whilst in the early stages of her pregnancy was not a good idea. She could not deny she wanted it though. She wanted him, to feel his strength, his presence, his exertion fill her. He moved up her torso, nearing the bottom of her chest wrap with a slowness he knew was killing her. She almost wanted clutch him tight and bring him to her lips but her body was telling her otherwise.

Her hands moved from the sleek skin of his back, crawling up his neck to the dense, glossy curls of his golden hair. He came away from her stomach only for a moment as her fingers entangled in his locks and a low enraptured groan came from his mouth. His eyes closed as her hands worked in his hair. "Maker, Cassandra. I cannot wait for this baby to be born so that I may nail you to this bed for the ungodly things you do with those hands of yours." He expressed with an enticed and titillated inflection in his speech. She breathed out harshly as he climbed up her body with his rousing and captivating kiss. "Cullen, please. You know that we should not do this." She pleaded with him. She wanted it just as badly as he did but there were circumstances that caused her to have pause for it.