A/N: yes, yes, bad lsoa, hasn't updated in nearly two months. but i have many excuses, none of them any good, except for the one about how my computer erased ALL of my files and i still haven't gotten the disk with the recovered ones (including most of ch. 23 of btsf) from the computer guy. that said, i'd also like to announce that this is the last chapter of this story (and a very short one at that). it seems that the ones i expect to be long (like this one) end up being short, and the ones i expect to be short (like my other two e/l fics) end up being long.

:disclaimer: the real reason i have not updated in so long is because i inherited beaucoups d'argent (lots of money) and bought all of the rights to lotr, the tolkien estate, etc. and have been very busy organizing it and reading tolkien's stories about e & l. and did you also know that the word "gullible" is written on the ceiling above your head?

Time For That Yet

Rohan was not so terrible as she had once believed. Of course, it helped that she and Éomer were on speaking terms. Lothíriel glanced at her husband and smiled as he snored gently. He looked very different asleep; he was more boyish and seemed less intimidating. Lothíriel brushed a lock of hair away from his mouth, and he twitched slightly and stopped snoring. She became mesmerized by his lips—the same lips that had kissed her own thrice now. The kiss that morning had been so sudden and unexpected. She thought of the feeling of her body pressed against his, of how natural it had seemed, and of the warmth that had flooded through her at his touch. She wondered what it would be like if she kissed him. Would there be a difference? She moved closer to him and placed a gentle kiss on his mouth. Of course, he did not respond, he was asleep after all, but as she moved back to her side of the bed, Lothíriel could have sworn that her husband smiled. She watched him suspiciously for a moment, waiting for him to open his eyes, but decided it had been a trick of the moonlight.

Éomer smiled to himself. She had kissed him. His wife had kissed him! He was ecstatic with the prospect of waking up with her beside him. And what was more, she seemed to be warming to the idea as well. He turned toward her. The moonlight illuminated her face, giving her a heavenly look. She was beautiful, and she was his! Or, at least, almost his. They had still not consummated the marriage. But there was time for that yet. For now, Éomer was satisfied. His lovely wife was beginning to trust and even to love him. He swept a hand across her cheek and she leaned into the touch, even in her sleep. Delighted, he moved closer to her, taking her into his arms.

She rubbed her head into his chest and opened her eyes slightly. "Yes?"

He smiled. "Lothíriel, I love you."

She pulled away slightly, and Éomer wondered if he had misread her. "You love me." She said it as a statement rather than a question.

"Yes."

A small smile crossed her lips as she laid down again, this time with her back to him. She tilted her head to look at Éomer. "Then I suppose I should tell you that I love you, too."

"You do?"

She did not speak for a moment, as if considering her words. "I do."

Éomer smiled. Yes, she was growing to love him, and there would be time for many things yet.

- fin -