Tauriel hadn't always had so many freckles, Kíli thought as he leaned over her where she lay dozing on the grass.

Kíli mused backwards over the seasons since they had been together—spring, winter, fall. His first memories of her face were of skin flawless, cool and clear as alabaster. Or starlight. And then she had leaned closer to pass a smile between the bars to him, and he had seen a few rare freckles, light as the dust from a butterfly's wings, scattered across her cheekbones and nose.

Perhaps she'd gained a few more by the end of winter. Scouting and hunting with him in the sun-dazzled snow had left her with a sprinkling like the nutmeg Bombur would grate over the hot spiced drinks he gave them when they returned.

And Kíli remembered that in the spring, he had been thinking how fine she looked in her pale gold wedding dress when he had noticed that the new speckles on her shoulders were not merely an effect of the sun dancing through the leaves.

Now, at midsummer, she was very liberally dusted, as if, standing on Erebor's peak, she had lifted her face to the heavens, and the Milky Way had misted her cheeks, her shoulders, her arms. There were even freckles between her breasts, as her deep summer neckline revealed.

Kíli leaned closer and saw her smile as his hair brushed her, though she did not open her eyes. He kissed her, in the angle between her shoulder and neck, then slid aside the shoulder of her dress so he could skim his fingers over the stardust on her skin. It was most concentrated on the outer edge of her arms and the tops of her shoulders, drifting in a lighter spray down past her collarbones and over her bosom.

Tempted by the sun-kissed markings that did not seem to respect even the borders of her clothing, Kíli drew her gown further askew so that he might trace constellations in the freckles over her breast.

She opened her eyes now. "What are you doing?" she asked through a smile.

"Counting stars," he said against her, pressing lips below her rosy nipple.

"Stars?"

He raised himself up to meet her look. "Tauriel, you've got freckles everywhere."

She colored slightly, but Kíli knew her well enough to understand she was not embarrassed, only touched by his fascination with her.

"That is your fault, Kíli," she said. "I spend so much time under the sun with you."

He smiled. They did come outside every day, horseback riding, shooting, running. "Yes, but that doesn't explain the freckles here." Kíli touched the lower curve of her breast.

"Mmm. Sometimes I go to the top of Ravenhill Tower and bathe in the sun."

"Naked," Kíli supplied.

"Yes." Her tone was matter of fact, as if there was nothing strange about this habit of hers.

"I see."

"I've spent nearly all my life in the shadows of Mirkwood, so I've a lot of missed sun to catch up on."

He chuckled. "Just remember they're to start repairs on the tower next month. I don't want any other dwarf catching a glimpse of my wife unawares."

She smiled. "I'll find somewhere new by then."

"Good." He sank back down against her as he looped his fingers in the other shoulder of her dress. "Now, if you're going to be adding stars to your skin, I suppose I had better memorize the present constellations or I won't recognize the new ones."

Tauriel only laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Author's note:

Tauriel's sunbathing was inspired by CircusBones's beautiful story "Chasing Sunlight" (which can be found on AO3) as well as by a character from Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle.