Something was different today. Celebrimbor knew that feeling even before he had woken up, feeling too comfortable under the bed covers to leave. Only that, he seemed to have a different position with his arms than normally, enough much that he did actually blink in the manner of waking up. Because his hands actually seemed to have been tied together, Celebrimbor struggled to remove the sleep mask Narvi had ordered for him after many complaints of the Dwarves placing coins on his open eyes because they was freaked out by that Elves did sleep with their eyes open instead of shut. And found himself to be right, when he saw that his hands had been tied together with a soft piece of cloth.
"She might be planning something…"
It was not a wrong guess. Narvi arrived soon from the outer room, dressed in one of her finest dresses and her hair set up as if she were to go on a important ball or other social event with the upper classes of the Dwarven society.
"Ah, I was just starting to wonder if you would awake soon. That herbal tea for helping you sleep better proved to work...somewhat, if only for a few more hours."
Celebrimbor groaned, he knew that he suffered from insomnia at times and only the Valar could know how many cures his Dwarrowdam wife had tried for that so he could sleep longer than what he would do when the insomnia hit him hard. Yet it seemed that the Dwarven treatments was not fully effective on him because he was from a very different race all together.
"May I ask my hands are bound?"
"Oh, that is for adding some tension...for this."
With a teasing smile, Narvi took off the heavy silver necklace with emeralds and matching earrings, placing them in the jewel box which Celebrimbor had given her as a sign of their marriage for everyone to see. Then she began to open up the fine gown of green silk with silver embroidery she was wearing, first taking away the small pins on both sides of the front so she could take off the placard and then remove the dress fully. Once she was free and laid the gown over a chair, Narvi pulled on the strings in the side since that was where her kirtle was laced up, spirally.
Now, this was far from the first time Celebrimbor had watched or even helped his wife to dress because some of her finest dress requested help with all the layers, but it was very rare for her to actually make a strip tease for him because they normally was busy with work commissions and everything else in a normal life. Or as normal a marriage between a Dwarf and a Elf could be because they were the first couple in a such relationship.
"Naaaaaarvi….please let me touch you!"
It was not that Celebrimbor had a habit of touching his wife when it was a bad timing, he simply had started to get aroused by the strip tease and having his hands tied did indeed add to his desire to touch her. Narvi only smiled, enjoying the sight of his redding cheeks as he tried to get his hands free from the cloth and how his long, black hair still was disheveled from the long sleep Celebrimbor had been in earlier. That his sleep mask had slided down on to be worn like a soft necklace, made him a far cry from the elegant Elven Lord people normally saw him as.
"I am not done yet, dear silver-fisted husband. You will have to wait a little bit more before the true fun starts for us both."
On purpose, Narvi turned her back to him because she knew how he sometimes could not take away his eyes from her female curves when she undressed and he thought she did not notice it. Removing the kirtle and laying it beside the gown, she now focused on getting free from her petticoat. She tried very hard to keep herself from laughing over his distress.
"Narvi….please…"
She pretended to not hear him, as she finally was in only her linen chemise and silk stockings. Since Narvi had not really been on a important social event while Celebrimbor slept, but rather just kept herself busy with dressing herself for this, she wore comfortable shoes of red leather which was removed from her feet.
"You said something, dear?"
Taking out the silver hair pins which held up her hair in a tight bun of many smaller braids, Narvi took her time to unbraiding them so her white-blonde hair fell freely along her back. Then she slowly began to crawl up in the large four poster bed, a strong Dwarven style for the wooden bed frame and Elven-made bed sheets. Since it was summer, there was no need to pull on the heavy velvet drapes on both sides and the end of the bed.
When Celebrimbor did not answer right away, Narvi placed herself between his half-opened legs with only the quilt and and her chemise between them, making good use of her assets to be placed on his stomach as temptation.
"Shall I ride you, my silversmith? Like when we both are riding outside on your horse?" she asked, in a seductive whisper, knowing very well that her Elven husband was naked as the day he was born below the quilt since he had been too lazy to dress in his sleeping robe the night before.
If anything, Celebrimbor got even more aroused by the close contact. Only his great self-control prevented him from reacting any further by instinct. Narvi's gentle touch with a finger tip on his bare skin, on the chest, felt so hot.
"Y...yes…."
Narvi smiled that smile which had enchanted him almost right from the beginning, and pulled the quilt off her husband. The sudden change of the air temperature against his bare skin made Celebrimbor shiver, but it was replaced by the skin heat from Narvi's tights as she straddled his hips, having already removed her underwear and now lastly her chemise. Even in the half-darkness of the bedchamber, it was impossible to miss the contrast of her dark skin and white-blonde hair, the way her green eyes seemed to shine like stars on the night sky. As she did slide down on him to begin riding him, just as promised, he felt that wonder and half-disbelief that she was his wife, someone who had been brave enough to look beyond the deeds of his family and still willingly accepted him as a husband, someone who did not care if his hands held invisible blood no one else but him would see.
Oh, the bitter irony of that the Dwarves was far more familiar with kinslaying and similar crimes, because they knew that life could be short and being sheltered from dangers could end in disaster, rather than the Elves who once had enjoyed the protection of the Valar in Valinor! There was even tales of how and why such crimes had started, acting as warnings to try anything similar because the cost would be too great, not to mention eternal dishonor and being barred from the afterlife in the Halls of the Forefathers as a result of their actions.
"Do you still want to touch me, Celebrimbor?"
Their eyes, blue and green, met and he nodded, feeling like he would drown in the sight of her stunning beauty by the standards of her race.
"Please, my lady."
In response, Narvi freed his hands from the cloth so he could finally embrace her while they rode out their pleasure together. For them, it had never mattered that they were of different races, or how different their backgrounds were, with Celebrimbor having royal blood in his veins and Narvi as the daughter of a merchant. Once they had realized that their strong, unlikely friendship had slowly changed into more romance feelings, they had not hesitated to take the next step, even if their marriage had remained a secret until that they had found the right time to reveal it.
If Elves and mortals could fall in love, why not a Elf and a Dwarf despite that being even more unlikely than anything else? Perhaps it would be their fate to remain the only couple of their kind, but hopefully also show that no matter what background or past, you could not control who you fell in love with.
"My silver prince," Narvi whispered tenderly, once the heat of their love-making was falling away to become yet another memory and she cuddled up beside him under the quilt.
"My most treasured emerald."
They kissed, smiling at each other. Narvi may be mortal, but Celebrimbor intended to love her and live his marriage with her as much as he could, despite that in the long run, he would end up as widower when her time among the living was up.
"I expect to be rewarded with a similar show at some point. I love to tease people about how you Elves look like without clothes, for those who never have seen you naked in the public baths," Narvi laughed somewhere close to his ear, her breath against his neck.
"Give me a few days to wash and air out my finer clothing, and then I will give you a show of pleasure, I will ensure that," Celebrimbor promised with a fond smile.
This time, he was able to sleep better, with her at his side.
~X~X~X~X~X~X
Author note:
Placard is a different word for a stomacher, which in turn is a decorated triangular panel that fills in the front opening of a woman's gown or bodice. The stomacher may be boned, as part of a corset, or may cover the triangular front of a corset. If simply decorative, the stomacher lies over the triangular front panel of the stays, being either stitched or pinned into place, or held in place by the lacings of the gown's bodice.
Narvi's formal gown is meant to be inspired by a early Tudor dress, like here
watch?v=7GKvaj5jOUc&t=90s
