Beorn seemed more than happy to take Faline to the hot spring and away from the Dwarves. "You my friend are doing far too much fighting for your injuries to heal properly." Beorn leveled a disgruntled look at the woman as he said this, which caused her to break into laughter. "Beorn I have been fighting my whole life. I am used to injuries and the like. Besides my body heals much faster than a normal person." Beorn nodded and pushed his way through a couple bushes before turning around and holding them out of the way for Faline.

Faline thanked him then her breath caught in her throat as she emerged into a large clearing. There was a beautiful waterfall at the other end with a stream running through the middle of the land. The clearing was covered in grass with the occasional growth of flowers, making for a very beautiful picture. "Beorn this place is beautiful! I feel as if I could stay here for the rest of my life and die happy!" This caused the man to smile before turning Faline to her left and pointing to some half hidden pools of water. The woman groaned in relief as she saw that the water was steaming slightly and took a few steps toward it. "Those are the only hot springs that are on my land. I would appreciate it if you didn't tell any of your companions of them. I don't want them sullied with dwarf filth." Faline laughed before turning and looking at Beorn.

"I would never tell anyone of this place. It is too beautiful to be disturbed by anyone who wouldn't appreciate its beauty. It shall be just our secret, yes?" Without an answer from Beorn, Faline ran over to the hot springs and began stripping her clothes off. Being the gentleman that he was, Beorn turned around once she started pulling her clothes off. He heard her laugh as she jumped in then sighed happily as she began scrubbing at her body. Hearing a louder splash, Beorn turned around in alarm only to see a large tiger with a grey coat and green stripes splashing around. Assuming this was her natural animal form; Beorn smiled and laughed which drew her attention to him. She roared out happily before taking one of her large paws and splashing water at him.

They played a quick game of splashing each other before Faline, still in her tiger form, climbed out of the pool and shook her coat free of water. Then, acting like the cat she was in the shape of, she stretched herself out on the grass and laid in the sunlight for a bit. "I must go back to my home and make sure those Dwarves aren't rioting and destroying things. I assume you know the way back?" Faline nodded and purring loudly before yawning slightly. Beorn left her there as he began making his way back to his home.

As the days continued, Faline managed to talk Beorn into allowing the Company to stay a bit longer. Bilbo, she told him, was in no condition to travel yet. Faline had seen the Hobbit when he first left his home and he had lost far too much weight in her opinion. She insisted that he put more weight on before they continued on. Beorn agreed, but only once Faline had wrapped her arms around his waist and begged once more. Once it was decided that the Company would stay for a bit longer, Faline began taking frequent trips to the hot springs. She made sure to be very careful that none of the Dwarves followed her and there was a point where she had had to tie Nori to a tree to keep him away. The star-haired Dwarf was extremely unhappy about that and never tried to follow her again.

Faline became much closer to Beorn as each day passed and realized that her inner animal wanted Beorn as more than a friend. Once she accepted this, she had a large problem controlling herself and she was glad that Beorn didn't seem to mind it. When she lost her sense of control one day and threw herself into his arms in a fit of joy, Beorn caught her and held her close before letting her go and he didn't mention a word of it.

A.N. I lied, sorry! This chapter wasn't steamy but the next one will be! There will be fair warning at the next chapter in case any of you don't want to read it. Please review and let me know what you think!