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However, it wasn't for days afterwards that these feelings finally came to a head, when he realised the true depth of his feelings for her when she asked him to spar with her. Having noticed his prowess on the practice courts, she was eager to test her quickly returning strength against his. Completely unaware of her effect upon him, she didn't realise what being in close proximity to her did to him. Not only was he left painfully aroused by just her unique scent, (a curious mixture of gardenia and lily) but her slender form did things to his senses that drove him mad.
She herself knew that being near him caused a strange feeling to spread throughout her, but she did her best to ignore such feelings. She convinced herself long ago that anything she felt was little more than a cruel hoax, for in her past, she had learned to disregard all such feelings of lust, desire or passion. Often having men vying for her attentions, she knew that given any opportunity, any man, even one so considerate and controlled as Haldir, would take advantage of her. She was sure.
Finally convinced to test her skill, he felt himself harden slightly at just the sight of her stretching out her muscles, her arms reaching high above her head.
She turned to face him, and found him looking straight at her, without a trace of emotion on his face, but something hidden deep within his eyes, something strange and frightening, that she pushed to the back of her mind, determined not to think about it.
As they began to fight, she couldn't help but notice his restraint with his weapon. She had seen him cross blades before, so she knew that he was exercising extreme control over his obviously greater skill. She backed him back into a large willow tree, her body pressing against his, as she looked into his eyes through their crossed blades.
"You're restraining yourself", she said, breathing heavily, his body crying for closer contact with hers at even this moment of such tremulous trust between the two.
In a matter of seconds, however, so fast it almost took her breathe away, she found their positions reversed, and it was he who pressed her back against the tree.
"Now my Lady," he whispered huskily, his voice a seductive murmur, powerful in it's quiet arrogance, laced with hidden desire. "I thought you knew me a little better than that!"
She smiled then, the first he had ever seen upon her lips, and was caught off guard suddenly, as she threw him off of her, both of them losing their swords, and her ending up on top of him, her hands holding his wrists firmly to the ground, her body pinning his to the ground.
"And you March warden, are too easily distracted," She said, looking down and feeling the same desire run rampart throughout her body.
He smiled haughtily up at her, before flipping her over, so he rested on top of her. She was by no means a match for his superior strength.
"I think not, my Broken One," he whispered, his lips inches from hers, her arms held over her head. It was then, that the scarf around her forehead, not able to withstand the strenuous workout of its mistress, fell from her head, and her auburn hair lay spread around her like a pool of fire. Haldir took his eyes away from hers then, for the first time since they had begun to spar, to stare in wonder at the bright flame of her hair. He released one of her wrists, to stroke some from her forehead.
"Such hair," he murmured, amazed at the combination of colours. The one small lock of hair he had kept for himself had captured his attention, but on such a scale it was enough to leave him breathless.
"Why would you seek to hide such beauty, such a fire?"
She averted her gaze, and tried to rise, only to find Haldir would not let her up. She reached with her one free wrist to cover what of her hair she could, only to have Haldir take her wrist again, and hold it down.
"Let me up!" she demanded, fighting his firm grip, and strong body, despite the fact that the feel of his body over hers made her want nothing more than to press herself closer still to it, and to stay there like that with him all evening.
"No" he said simply, taking both of her wrists in one hand, his strength so much greater than hers, leaving the other free to smooth the strands of red-gold from her face. He ran his hand through her hair, letting it pool in a shadow of liquid flame in his palm.
"Don't! she said, pulling her head away, trying to fight him off again. He paid her no attention, continuing to run his hand through the silken mass.
"No.You have been running, and hiding, for too long. Too long have you stood in the shadows, when you belong in the light. Why would you hide this?" he whispered huskily to her, staring straight down at her. She stopped trying to fight him, giving in to the inevitable. He wasn't going anywhere.
"I hide my weaknesses," she whispered, her eyes looking anywhere but at him, as his hand sent shivers through her as he moved it through her hair.
"How can such…beauty…such purity be a weakness?" he asked, turning her head to look directly at him.
"It only draws the attention of those whose attentions are best kept to themselves. It is more trouble than it is worth".
"Whose attentions are you running from? You are safe in Lorien. Who would you be running from Ardenia?" He murmured, his lips drawing closer to hers.
"Maybe you are running from yourself, or maybe from those who would help you, for you have been without help for so long." He continued, his lips drawing closer still, " And maybe, I think you are running from those whose attentions you desire the most." And with that, he kissed her, a deep penetrating kiss that stripped her of her last vestiges of control, and reduced her to little more than a bundle of nerve endings, every one of them crying out for his touch.
His lips left hers for a single moment, only to lean down to whisper, his lips brushing her ear, "As I thought I could run from my desire for you".
Next chapter will be up soon, but hope you liked it!
