My back was pushed up tightly against Dwalin's chest, our legs entangled. It was our preferred way to sleep. Having being married for a year now we had both familiarised ourselves with life as a couple. Having sides of the bed, knowing how to cheer each other up on the tough days, but the worst for me was when Dwalin would be called away from me for an errand.

That blasted Oakenshield had found a new reason to tear my husband away from me yet again. Dwalin had come home from a meeting with Thorin yesterday and over supper had told me he was going with the King to deal with some fresh orc raids just outside of Erebor borders. My first reaction had been to complain that it's not Erebor's problems if it's not in our land. Dwalin had rumbled a low laugh and had mumbled something that questioned how women's minds work.

So here I was wide awake, staring at the wall, in my head running through every possible outcome after Dwalin would take his leave in the morning. However, I would always skim over the idea of him not returning to me. It was too difficult for me to comprehend. I knew he was the fiercest warrior in all of Erebor and feared by most, but one mistake to even the strongest fighter can mean death in battle.

That's why when I was at the market earlier today I had taken the advice of a good friend of mine, Giva. I had bustled into her tiny shop in the centre of Erebor, to get a present for Bombur's littlest's birthday when I absentmindedly blurted out about Thorin's little quest to 'tactically' remove some unwanted orcs from some ally lands. Coming to the conclusion that I could not take back what I had stupidly told her, I rested my chin in my hands on the counter of her quaint little shop and sighed loudly. She was always good at reading my mind. So when she gave me a side ways glance and began shuffling everyone towards the door and out the shop whilst saying in a sing-song voice

'Sorry, we're closed for lunch!'

I knew she was going to sit me down with a cup of tea and talk it out. To be honest I always wanted something much stronger when thinking about Dwalin and him galavanting off into no man's land without even questioning his King. I wasn't wrong. Giva came out the back of the shop with a tea pot and some mugs. Setting it down on the counter she began talking me through how to cope with the situation. How would she know what I was going through? She just talks at me. However, this time it was different.

'You know, there are ways you can help him return'. What? Why hadn't she thought of telling me this before? Had it just previously slipped her mind that there could be a way I could raise the chances of him coming home to me?

'Huh?' I wanted to know, but I was weary of the answer. Giva had a tendency to exaggerate everything. Dwalin was not her biggest fan, always calling her a meddling old bat.

'Yes! Of course!' She boomed, like it was the most obvious thing in the whole of Erebor. She was starting to irritate me, living with Dwalin for some time had shortened my temper some what. 'I heard from a traveller once, that men are not supposed to do 'the deed' the night before they leave to defend their people.' I knew Dwalin would have rolled his eyes at her avoidance of the word sex. If he had been there he would have come out with some grotesque language such as 'Don't you mean good old fuck?' Then he would have enjoyed watching her cringe away from the word like she had seen Melkor himself.

She was very unaware of the scenario forming in my head and continued. "It means they have more testosterone in their system, which means they are more aggressive…..Or something along those lines..…I think….. maybe.'

A shift from Dwalin brought me back to the present dark room. Dwalin's hand was lightly grazing the skin of my stomach, slowly making his way down. The earlier conversation with Giya being pushed straight out of my head as I automatically thrust my hips back up into his. He have a grunt of agreement as his hand found where it was searching for. His lips found my neck just as his fingers began to stroke my slit gently.

'Dwalin…' I moaned. He knew I was pleading him, asking him to stop teasing me.

'Just relax, Darlin'.' His breath on the back of my neck made me shiver and I once again pushed my hips back into his. Causing him to groan louder this time. Without warning he slipped a finger inside me and bit down on my neck causing me to arch my body away from his and allow his finger to push deeper into me, enjoying me shudder slightly from the pleasure he was giving me. He unlocked his teeth from my neck.

'I love seeing you like this, Dala' he soothed from behind me. Gently kissing where he had just clenched his teeth down onto my bare skin.

His hand still lay unmoved as I purred to him 'you are the only one who can do this to me, Dwalin.'

'I know me way round your body better than I know me way round my axes, lass.' He removed his finger completely and slid it back in before I could reply. My back arched, but once again he had slipped his finger out of me, only to be replaced with two. A moan escaped from between my lips and my head tilted back onto his shoulder. As he got into a rhythm I began to synchronise my hips, bucking them against his fingers with every thrust of his hands. He was driving me mad. I could feel his cock hardening against my back, which was causing him to growl from deep within his throat. He was beyond turning me on at this point, as his rhythm was getting faster. I could feel my orgasm nearing as the heat in my stomach began to burn when Dwalin removed himself from me and shifted his weight once again. In the moment I had to regain my senses I snapped myself out of my daze and climbed out of the bed whilst mumbling something about how stupid I had been to let it go this far. This confused my husband and as I made my way over to the fire I glanced behind me to see his eyes narrow.

'What're ya doing? Come back here, le'me finish what I started, lass!'

'No, Dwalin.' Reaching the fire place I held out a hand and latched onto the mantlepiece attempting to hold my weight on that one arm. 'I meant what I said earlier. We are not having sex tonight.' Our earlier conversation had been cut short when Dwalin had dismissed my preferred sleeping arrangements for the night with a rough grunt. He had then proceeded to stare at my breasts for a good amount of time as if the fabric holding them in would magically rip open under his glare. He had reached out a hand to grab them before I had harshly slapped it away and raising an eyebrow confirmed what I had already said; 'No sex.'

'Mahal! What've I done now?' He bought me back to reality. I narrowed my eyes at his lack of emotiveness.

'Do you really think the only reason I can turn down sex is because you have done something wrong? Do you really think I could not say no to you?' He was beginning to irritate me and I was starting to wish he would just roll over and go back to sleep. However, Dwalin had other ideas.

A low rumble came from his chest, that I had learned early on in our relationship was him laughing. He raised his eyebrow and looked my naked form up and down.

'Well, you've yet to turn me down otherwise.' The tight muscles over his chest and arms rippled as he tensed them. Something stirred between my legs, but I was too annoyed at him to let it affect me. Raising my eyebrow I sauntered over to him, as sexily as I could. Bite your lip, he likes it when you do that I thought. Obediently, doing what my mind told me to I pushed him down onto the bed and straddled his waist. I groaned realistically as I felt him harden between my legs. As I began to rock back and forth Dwalin threw his hips up towards me, which caused me to throw my head back and moan. Dammit. Concentrate Dala. Don't loose yourself. I was annoyed at my slip up, but I didn't think I was going to be able to control myself against him if I didn't end this soon. I chose to kiss along his jawline, up to his ear. Biting down on his lobe made his breath hitch and again he thrust his hips upwards. His hands were running down my sides, forcing my head to spin and for my vision to blur.

'Oh, Dwalin' I moaned into his ear. 'I want your hands all over me.' Very realistic. Well done, I praised myself. My lips found his and we shared a heated kiss, our tongues battling each other for dominance. My hands began to trail down his chest, towards his stomach, feeling his muscles jump under my touch. Just before they reached their destination I removed my lips from his and placed them at his ear.

'Still think I can't say no to you?' Without another word I rolled onto my back beside him. Closing my eyes, I waited to hear him rage. Instead, I was greeted with two strong arms wrapping themselves round me, bringing me closer to his body.

'Lass?' His voice sounded softer than usual. Looking up at him, my eyes quickly found his, searching for his emotion in them. His eyes showed worry. 'If ye din't want sex you should've said, rather than proovin' a point.' A grin broke out across my face, but disappeared just as quickly.

'Seriously though, Dwalin, I want you to come home to me. If that means no sex for one night, then sorry but no sex it is.'

'I will always come home to ye, Dala.' We fell asleep curled with each other, how we had started the night.