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"What do we do now? You told me nothing could go wrong and look what’s happened," Cullen told Evelyn as he rushed to shut the door after the recruit that had just left. He stood there a moment, his hands on the door. Dropping his head, he sighed before turning around to see Evelyn's bemused smile. "I'm glad you find this so funny," he muttered as he made his way back to his desk, sitting resolutely in his chair. Picking up a scroll, he pretended to read through it.
Evelyn giggled to herself before clearing her throat at Cullen's glare over the parchment. "Sorry," she said through another smile, "But I don't see what the big deal is. So he saw us together. It's not like it's some big secret we're together." She walked over to his side of the desk and rested her hip against it, grinning as she noticed the deep red that had started creeping up Cullen's neck.
Cullen put the scroll back on his desk and looked up at her, his gaze not nearly as dark as before, "As I have said before: I'd rather keep our private affairs just that. Private." He ran a hand through his blonde hair, mussing it up a bit.
"You're just worried what everyone would say about the Inquisition's leader and commander getting into bed together. Well, you should know that doesn't bother me; otherwise, I wouldn't have went to bed with you the first time."
Cullen looked away, clearing his throat. "Yes. Well, uh, the Inquisition depends on a lot of people. Where do you think we get the funding? We can't anger any of our backers. Josephine would probably murder us if we ruined anything." She'd do it without hesitation, too, Cullen thought. The Inquisition was like her baby. She would do whatever it took to see it succeed.
"And Josephine would have intervened by now if she had thought us being together was bad for the Inquisition," she pointed out, and Cullen had to admit she had a point. If Josephine had a problem with them, she'd have said something by now. It had been a few months since Cullen and Evelyn had become a bit more serious. "Cullen, if being in the Inquisition means I can't be with you, then I'm not sure I want to be in the Inquisition anymore. I want to be with you. Don't you know that?" she asked, reaching for his hand and pulling it onto her lap as she caressed his fingers.
"Of course I do, but we must never lose sight of the Inquisition's mission," Cullen reminded her. His flesh tingled where she was tracing a line into his palm. He smiled to himself, relishing the feeling.
"Who says we can't do both?" she retorted, and he realized he didn't have an argument to throw back at her. She was right. Of course she was right, as always. He was just so sure she deserved better than him. She was so happy, so full of life, and Cullen was, well, himself. He could be moody, and after everything he'd done in his past, he still wasn't quite sure why she stayed, why she cared about him as much as she did.
"I would love to be able to do both," he stood, standing inches from her face and smiled at the idea of building a life with this woman, "But I just don't really want to have another recruit walking in on us.. uh.. together," Cullen blushed an even deeper shade of red. She lost eye contact with him again as he looked around the room, and she chuckled at his discomfort in talking about what had just transpired not fifteen minutes ago.
"If the door's closed, I thought it was free reign to do what we wanted. And I'm sure they've seen a lot worse than two people getting hot and heavy on a desk," Evelyn smiled, remembering the recruits face when he had opened the door after one knock and found Evelyn on the desk, her legs wrapped around Cullen's waist, their hands in each other's hair. Thankfully it had only been a heavy make-out session, but it could have been a lot worse. "But I promise next time to lock the doors or drag you upstairs," she put her right hand up. "Scout's honor!"
Smiling down at her, Cullen wrapped his arms around her waist, feeling the taught muscles that lined her torso. Her hips had more flesh to them, and he loved the feel of them. Pulling her tightly to him, he couldn't help but ask, "You think you'll get a next time?"
"I'm counting on it."