Chapter 4 Now we are getting somewhere!
The fire was dying down but she was still surrounded by comfortable warmth. In her mind, she could see Eomer and Eowyn as children playing on a sea of waving grass under the watchful eye of their royal cousin. Waves. Ocean. She wondered if she would ever see the ocean again herself. It occurred to her that that was a possibly a bigger change in her life than getting married. Since before she could remember she had known she would get married and take up all the various wifely duties. Every girl did. But never before had she gone more than a few weeks without seeing the ocean and somehow this had never entered her mind before. A wet spot on her lap roused her out of her musings. For a moment she blinked at the goblet dangling from her limp hand before quickly setting it down with a gasp.
Must everything go wrong? She sprang to her feet and pulled the wet material away from her skin. She scowled at her laughing husband. "I fail to see the mirth in this. Oh, I hope I can save this dress." Once more she scurried to the privy already pulling off the heavy garment.
Quickly she put the dress to soak in a basin. She shivered in her damp underskirt as she pressed water through the material a few times. As she finished, she heard a rustle of cloth behind her and she turned to see something flapping in the doorway.
Eomer was standing there, waving a nightshirt and openly appraising her body. "I didn't know where you had your nightclothes but you may wear one of mine for now."
Lothiriel instinctively covered her breasts a moment then deliberately put her arms back down, mentally berating herself for needless modesty. This is your husband. Start behaving like a wife. "Thank you." She took the shirt and, without turning away, pulled it over her head leaving it rumpled about her shoulders as she languorously pushed her arms through the sleeves. Then, mindful of the display she was making for her husband's benefit, she arched and reached behind to tug the hem free of its tangle with the collar until the nightshirt hung loose well past her knees. Only then did she see Eomer's eyes refocus on her face and that pleased her.
"Leave all your underthings in here then come join me." With that, Eomer turned and walked back out to the main room. Grateful for that small privacy before she had to face what she knew came next, Lothiriel quickly shed her underskirt and other things and followed her husband.
He stood to the left of the bed so she immediately walked to the right side and threw back the covers. "Let's have done with this then. I want those witnesses gone so I can be with my lord in peace and talk or sleep or do anything without concern for who will see or hear."
Eomer raised an eyebrow at the latest dichotomous display from his wife. He had become more and more convinced of her sensual desires in even the brief hours since the wedding ceremony yet over all there was such control over herself and her situation. Eomer spoke as he walked around to join her, "Let me distract you." Then he pulled her tight against himself.
He rained kisses on her neck and shoulders as his hands roamed over her body. Slowly his hands wound into the material at the back of her nightclothes. As the bottom hem passed her knees it became obvious to Lothiriel that this was not random passionate clutching and she grasped his arms to stop him.
"Trust me," he whispered. "You have nothing to worry about. I don't seek to embarrass you." The smooth back of his nails skimmed across her hips and the small of her back as he caught the bottom edge and pulled her into a brief hug. "Now sit down."
Lothiriel hesitantly did as she was bid, grateful that the front of her nightclothes still hung loose down to her knees. The sheets felt unnaturally cool against her bare bottom as she scooted to the middle of bed and she cringed at the thought of the stains that would soon be there. "At this moment, I feel more exposed than if I was fully naked."
"Would it help if I told you a story?" said Eomer, slightly teasing.
A/N - Sorry for the long wait and it's not even a very long chapter but I am almost finished the next bit. Thanks to Pearl Took for betaing.