Finnan did not claim to understand women. He had avoided his own battle-axe of a mother for most of his young life, and he had been a soldier in an exclusive world of Men for twelve years, since he was a quiet, studious lad of thirteen. Yet his gut nagged him as he walked away from his young wife. He had expected an ill-temper and harsh words, but what he had found was a girl with her head spinning in circles, as flustered as a filly put to bit and saddle for the very first time. And he was quite sure she did not wish to travel with him.

Perhaps she is afraid of me. I've not been fair or kind, though I give her such gifts that are supposed to make maids swoon for delight. She is new come to this manor, and now I bid her travel to the city, to the very hall of the king. That might be enough to bewilder any mere girl.

He comforted himself with this thought as he walked to the stable. But by the time he was in the saddle of his roan war-horse, trotting out to inspect the rock walls edging his vast estate, Finnan realized that something about this explanation just didn't fit. He had seen that look, such as Halla wore, in a pair of bright blue eyes before, yet he couldn't for the life of him remember where.

I shall have to keep a closer watch on her, Finnan thought. Perhaps spend some time with her, though I'd planned to hunt with Edwyn today… And tomorrow I must prepare for our trip. But once we're on the road together we will talk. She seats a horse well, and can ride with me at least part of the way. Then we will talk, and see if there's some… some common ground to build on.

And at least I won't have to go to her bed until we are on friendlier terms. She's made it clear she doesn't welcome it, and neither do I.

This pleased Finnan, and he spurred his horse to a gallop, crossing the wide, sunlight field, delighting in the speed and freedom of his ride. Yet once again, as he drew his roan charger to a walk, Finnan thought again about Halla's hard shining eyes, and he felt a deep, unexplainable unease seeping through his bones.

As soon as Finnan was gone, Halla opened a door off the side of the hall that she had never tried before. Clutching a silver candelabra, Halla peered inside Finnan's small but well stocked armory. She was greeted with sharp remembrance of the War: Finnan's suit of leather and bronze scale armor was on a standing mannequin before her. His crested helm stared at her with sightless eyes, and Halla felt pangs of guilt.

What am I doing? The War isn't four months over!

The marriage—and the entire way it was arranged—was hard on Halla, but she couldn't deny that for all of her life, the sight of a warrior of Rohan was most desirable. Life would depend on it. And Halla couldn't have dreamed of a better husband, but that was all on the surface! Finnan, out of uniform at the very least, was like a cold fish against Halla's skin. And her enemy… She dared not think of him too much, nor the inexplicable longing she felt for him.

Halla looked pointedly away from the grim warrior's visage before walking to a wall strung with bows. There were at least thirty of the largest size, graceful short composite bows cut for a mounted archer. Halla took one from the rack, and could not manage to string it. It would do well. She snatched a full quiver of arrows, adding several more for good measure, slinging the quiver on her back. Halla slipped out of the armory and closed the door behind her.

It was maddening to go through her day. There was nothing for her to truly do, since Blythe handled the basic household tasks, and Halla couldn't discipline her mind to ledger books or candle-making. Finnan returned from inspecting the northern portion of his estate and took a quick meal in the kitchen. In the afternoon she took a bath in lavender water. By the time she'd dressed in a spring green gown with a pale pink ribbon to lacing the front through bronze eyelets, Finnan had galloped down the lane on a black hunter, and was disappearing into the eastern sea of grass.

Halla had decided not to ride, as it would draw unnecessary attention. She was uncomfortable lying to Blythe, but saw no way around it. Halla asked for a tray of roasted meats, good fresh bread, and two apples. She rolled all of that into a linen towel, ruining it, slung the quiver over her shoulder, and crept back towards the cool forest. She had left her long hair down to dry in shining waves.

As ever since she had met Maukurz, the walk seemed desperately long. By the time she saw him through the rich green leaves, he had already known she was coming. He eased himself back against a tree trunk—near shredded by his claws—and watched her come, a slow smile spreading across his face.

Halla had no idea what to say to him when she arrived. He was so beautiful. A flush spread over her cheeks. Maukurz laughed softly, his eyes dancing. His ability to see through her laid Halla bare, but instead of feeling vulnerable, she felt as if she would never be lonely again. None of it made any sense, but that fact did nothing to lessen the avalanche of feeling that rocked Halla as she gazed down on the bewilderingly attractive Uruk.

"I want to give you this," Halla said, kneeling before him, setting the bundle of food and quiver down, then holding out the bow.

Maukurz snatched the bow as soon as it was offered, so excited he nearly twirled it in his hands. His grin was wide now, and he made that low, rumbling growl Halla had come to associate with his pleasure. Clasping the end of the bow between his thighs, Maukurz bent and strung it with ease.

"You can hunt properly now," Halla told him with quiet satisfaction, sitting back on her shins.

Maukurz looked up at her sharply, gazing at her for a long moment with unreadable eyes. He was astonished that she would arm him—asking nothing in return—and he had no idea how to express it. Halla wondered why he looked sad and joyful at the same time. Maukurz looked away, smiling again, running his fingers appreciatively over the tight recurve. "This is good," he commented. He turned at the hips and aimed into the distance, pulling the taunt, heavy string back with ease. "I can use this. But it needs tightening. Bring a knife?"

Halla shook her head.

Maukurz stared in surprise. He set the bow down. "You come to see me, and bring no knife?"

"What could I do with it," she asked softly, "if you truly wanted to hurt me?"

Maukurz breathed deeply, but he couldn't understand why he was suddenly as powerfully excited as if he was scenting her desperate fear. But there was no fear... Only beckoning. As if she wanted him to reassure her, that he wouldn't harm her. He knew-as well as he knew how to breathe-that the unthinkable had happened: she wanted him.

Not one to wait-and frankly, he'd all but die from waiting, or denying himself-Maukurz reached out for Halla and took her by the wrist. Her heart thudded and galloped away as he drew her against his solid, hot body. She knelt between his legs, shaking as his arms closed around her. But she did not pull away. His hands gripped her gently, so big he could nearly wrap them around her rib cage. He lay his face against her round, firm breasts. Halla moaned softly, unsteadily to feel the heat of his mouth through the thin fabric of her gown, as he teased her with his breath, his lips, a gentle grazing bite over a swollen nipple. Maukurz slid his hands up into her hair and cradled her face, drawing it down against his.

"So small," he breathed. "I won't hurt you, fiil gaz." Maukurz trailed his claws down her arching back, along her spine. She gasped as he gripped her backside and drew her down on his lap.

His cock was burning and steely hard, pressing against her belly. His parted lips ran along her jawline; he buried his mouth against her neck and shoulder, running his teeth lightly against the soft, sensitive skin there. Halla was a moment from swooning, a yearning, aching pleasure spreading from between her legs through her entire body.

"I can't…" she whispered, feeling his hands pushing her gown up over her hips.

"You mine or his?" Maukurz murmured, a firm demand in his voice, a question to which the answer had already been betrayed by the heat of her body, and the sweetening of her scent. His hands cupped her bare backside and drew her tight against him, setting fire to her body. His cock was against her sex now, pulsing and thick, terrifying and thrilling her at once.

"I want to be yours..." Halla sighed, melting in his hands, one of which he drew over his tongue and slipped between her legs again. His touch was quickly overwhelming; he deftly hunted signs of her mounting pleasure, hunted her weaknesses and assaulted with tender ruthlessness.

Halla was so ensnared that it seemed a dizzy, dreamlike haze had settled over her. She felt the Uruk lift her but had no conscious thought of what he was doing, only that she wanted him, wanted to be as close to Maukurz as possible; she wanted the desperate ache between her legs to be soothed, the head-spinning thirst quenched. His deep, growling purr seemed to rumble through her own body. His hands, gripping her backside again, pulled her open and the swollen round tip of his cock pressed at her, expertly seeking, pushing against her inflamed body. For a moment the pleasure was almost too much to bear, and then the Uruk's hands closed on her hips and brought her down.

White hot pain tore cruelly into Halla's sweet dream, drawing a shriek from her. The pain was awful, tearing and burning, but his hands were a cage of iron around her hips, trapping her as he stuffed the punishing stiffness of his cock deeper inside of her. "Stop, stop!" she cried, pushing against his chest, suddenly so terrified she thought she'd vomit. Oh please, oh please…

Instantly she was released, gently lifted, freed from torment and cradled in warmth. His hands were smoothing her hair as he cursed, then murmured unsteadily in her ear, "Shh… S'all right..."

"That was horrible!" she cried, shaking in Maukurz's arms. She felt something hot and wet slip between her thighs, and she realized that it was the blood Aunt Hilda had told her to expect. Halla was no longer a maid. "How did it turn so awful? Everything felt so good..."

She looked up at him, tears in her eyes, and saw that his jaw was painfully flexed. She could feel him shaking.

He exhaled hard. "I-I got too excited. Went too fast. But I know... know what to do..."

He tried not to pant in front of her, but the heat in his body was making him dizzy, and his privates ached in protest. But for the first time in Maukurz's life, this woman's consent was somehow just as important as his insane desire for her. He didn't want Halla's tears, he wanted her to grab his face again, he wanted her to hold him; he'd never wanted these things before. Or perhaps, he thought darkly, I always did. Because it was lovely, far lovelier than he'd ever thought it could be, to sense her equal desire, and feel her gentle touch. He wasn't entirely sure that he hadn't died, or else strayed into a fever dream better than anything he'd experienced in life. More than anything, this could not be the end of it. Or would it turn into a nightmare? Would he have to choose, between throwing her away, or doing a thing he didn't know if he was capable of: turning off his need, now that it was so strong?

Maukurz stroked her hair tentatively, and it seemed to calm her. "Let me have another try, beautiful Halla..."

Halla blinked tears from her eyes. "D'you think it can be better? I mean, it must be lovely done right... But you are... you're... it's so very big," she said, blushing like a little girl. "Maybe it just won't work."

Maukurz's head was spinning, his body so sensitive and needy that the soft breath of summer breeze was stimulating him. "I know what to do," he told her desperately. "I won't hurt you, I promise you. I know what to do now. It works. I swear it works."

Halla reached up, compelled to touch his soft lips with her finger. Her fingertips strayed over the Uruk's sharp cheekbones and brushed over his temples. She looked deeply into Maukurz's golden eyes. They burned with lust, making something churn in Halla's belly. And still-against everything she knew of his kind-he made no effort to force her.

"I want you to have pleasure," he breathed, nodding slightly. "I ain't no foolish little whelp, beauty. I'ma work for you."

A hard sigh escaped her, and Maukurz bit his lip in eagerness. He brushed his finger across her lips, ruddy lips that seemed swollen with desire.

"Once... one more time... But I need a moment..."

Maukurz sighed in relief. "Shh, ambal-izub. I... I would lie you down myself, but for this rotten leg. Lie on your back, fiil gaz. I swear you will be glad for it."

Halla gingerly climbed from Maukurz's lap, the burning between her legs strong. She on the brown woolen blanket, her gown bunched around her hips, her legs trembling. He will stop if he hurts me more, he's proven it. And then I'll find a way to touch him that pleases him... Halla looked down at her pale thighs, pressed together protectively, a stain of red like crushed berries smeared between them. Her heart pounded with the audacity of what she'd done, giving her maidenhead to an Uruk warrior!

Maukurz smiled warmly at her, a flash of dark, devastating beauty, his fangs hinted at by his slightly parted lips. "You won't be frightened much longer," he assured her, lying carefully on his side. His hand slipped between her knees, and he gently pushed Halla's thighs apart. But rather than climbing on top of her, Maukurz lowered his mouth to the smear of blood on her thigh, sweeping his tongue gently across it. The touch was teasing and light, but everything about it-the closeness of his mouth to her sex, the gleam in his eyes as he flickered them to her, the very fact that he was tasting her blood-brought Halla to the edge of swooning once more. Now his mouth kissed-for that was all it could be called-slowly up her slender thigh. When he nipped that sensitive flesh with his teeth, Halla moaned and shivered, and Maukurz grinned wolfishly.

Her eyes were shut when the Uruk's hot, soft mouth pressed between Halla's legs. She gasped breathlessly as Maukurz kissed the hurt there, licking it gently away with a rough, well-schooled tongue. Maukurz kept a discrete eye on her, and paid careful attention to the quickening pace of her heart as he intensified his sweet attack, quickly learning and exploiting anything that gave the young woman pleasure. Nothing Halla had experienced thus far could have prepared her for the blissful fire that radiated through her body as Maukurz tasted her and thrilled her. Halla gripped her skirt in her hand, twisting it and moaning softly as pleasure returned in building, swelling waves. She could feel him savoring her, almost worshipfully, a heady pleasure of it's own. Maukurz's delight in fucking her with his mouth, his tongue, consuming her, all of it driving her wild with passion, brought Halla to ecstasy. Her hands reached down to grasp his coarse black hair, and she cried out with abandon as she experienced her first climax, an ecstasy that couldn't be put into words. Halla bucked and arched and twisted in a torture of bliss as Maukurz held her hips tightly, drinking from her body. She was dizzy and lost again as he rose up, sneering fiercely, a wildness in his eyes that was both terrifying and deeply erotic. Maukurz pinned her in with his strong arms, locking her in his gaze as his weight settled on her, his hot, brutally hard cock pressed against her again.

"Bema help me... I want you so badly..." Halla moaned.

He dropped to his elbows and took her face in his hands, holding her in his gaze as he entered her sopping wet sex slowly and carefully. Maukurz, overwhelmed, trembling, knew that he'd never felt anything so incredible-and so wet-with any of the women he'd ever had. This was special. This was the only way for him, he knew, as the beautiful girl wrapped her arms around him. He sunk inside her as slowly as he could, a rough growl of consuming pleasure on his lips as he felt his cock splitting her tightness softly open. Do NOT fucking wake up...

Halla's eyes fluttered shut and her breath broke. Pain and pleasure swirled together, vying for dominance until Halla couldn't tell where one ended and the next began. His size was a torture of both, tearing and filling, bruising and deliciously caressing her deepest places. Even the ache of him, even the pain, thrilled Halla; when she didn't cringe or cry or pull away, Maukurz gave himself to her fully. She gasped his name with broken breath, plunging her hands into his long, loose mane, pulling his hair hard as he twisted his hips against hers, thrusting deep and slow and hard inside her.

There was nothing else in the world but the two of them, locked together as if they would devour each other. Maukurz lost himself as Halla did, but what parts of him could form a semblance of thought was beyond amazed. She was taking him! He'd been sure he'd have to hold back, painfully, but the beautiful girl was desperate for him, her legs wrapped around him like in his fantasy, her body open to him as if she was his very own. He wanted to bite her, but satisfied himself pressing his lips to hers, running his tongue over her lips and inside her mouth; he delighted in watching her, lips parted and flushed, soft white neck exposed as she through her head back in pleasure. As if she felt him watching, Halla's brilliant blue eyes blinked open, and suddenly it was as if lightning had struck. A deep welling of tenderness seized Maukurz, and in that moment he knew he would gladly die for this woman: die to keep her, die to save her, die if she bid him to.

Halla didn't understand the sudden spring of emotion on Maukurz's entrancing Orcish face, but the compassion and love in her responded instantly. Maukurz had brought her to climax several times, and the frantic lust warmed into slow, loving passion. Halla took Maukurz's face in her hands, and the Uruk, who felt as if he was living in a long-cherished dream, shuddered and came with furious strength. Shaking and gasping for breath, Maukurz and Halla laced their hands instinctively. A moment later, Maukurz lowered himself gently and turned on his back. Halla slipped against him, laying her head on his hot hard chest. For a long while they lay still together, trying to catch their breath. They were both stunned, equally ignorant of the powerful thing their bodies had worked together: Halla, a virgin who could never have been told of such shattering pleasure, and Maukurz, who had never imagined that a woman would welcome him with such unbridled desire, never knowing that a woman's body could perform such miracles when she wished it to.

But then, smelling blood, Maukurz ran his fingers over her thighs. There was a good amount, and though he understood she would bleed this first time, it was still a disturbing thing to see. "Are you all right?"

"Beyond yes..." she gasped, smiling drowsily as she looked up at Maukurz. He grinned to see her eyes cloudy with satiated pleasure. She kissed his chest, kissed the brutal welts from a cruel whip that crept across his chest like the bare branches of a tree.

But then sadness crept into her scent. "What is wrong, my little beauty?"

"I just... I don't want to leave you," Halla murmured, her eyes flushing with tears. "I... I only ever want to be with you, Maukurz, but my life is not my own..."

"Stay with me," Maukurz plead in a whisper, running his hands over the contours of her beautiful ivory-peach body. Stay with me, stay with me forever, you precious thing... How have you come to me, my perfect woman?

Yet even as he said implored her to stay, Maukurz knew it was impossible. She was a sharlob, not an Uruk. She couldn't live under the open sky, forever exposed to the harshness of rain and wind and nighttime cold. Yes, he had had her, and in all fairness that should be enough. He should be content. But Maukurz knew with all his being that he would never be content with anything short of possessing this woman in every way a person could be possessed. Halla belonged to Maukurz now, and until he took her for himself, his life would be a torture.

"When my leg works again," he swore, "I will take you away. I will find a place where we can live together always."

Halla choked on a sob. "He would hunt me down," she whispered. "Not for love, he'd never love me… But for his honor."

"He could never find me, unless I wanted to be found," Maukurz murmured darkly. He tightened his grasp on Halla, thinking it impossible that she would return to the horse lord. "I will kill him," Maukurz promised her. "Rủk goth will not trouble us much longer."

"No!" Halla gasped, sitting up enough to look into his deadly eyes. "You can't kill him! It isn't his fault that I love you, not him!"

Maukurz sighed, stroking his hand over her small, delicious body. He cupped her head in his hand and drew her back down to his chest, and she sank into him easily, a thing so delicious Maukurz thought that if he died right now, he would die the happiest body in the world.

"He wants to take me to see the king," Halla said bitterly. "The day after tomorrow."

"What? You can't go," Maukurz told her. He wished she would not even speak of the horse boy, whose image defiled the perfect bliss Maukurz luxuriated in.

"I know I can't go," she whispered. "I must think of something."

Halla wrapped her arms around Maukurz, wanting to savor the little time they had left. Her life had seemed so hopeless only hours before. Now, Halla felt alive in a way she'd never known was possible. She wanted Maukurz for her own-she would have him, no matter what she had to do! Not only for the intoxicating things he'd done to her, but for the wonderful way he touched her even now, his hands smoothing along her body with such open adoration, and such possessive desire.

Finnan had his secrets, she thought, and now, I have mine.

fiil gaz – little bird