There was a moment after Hawke reached out to touch him that even Fenris did not know if he would move away - or towards Hawke. 'I want you to stay' rang in his ears, but he had to listen again and again until he was convinced that was what he had heard.

For a moment, the only sound in the room was their breathing and his own thumping heartbeat. To Fenris they both felt far louder than they should have. He looked like a deer that had frozen in the moment before a spear was thrown, only a thin ring of green around his swollen pupils.

Then his reaction hit, fiercely. He took each of Hawke's wrists in his own hands, and crushed his lips against hers in a kiss that was desperate yet still restrained. That restraint showed in the tension in his limbs and the inches that still remained between their bodies.