*************************...***************************
*************************...***************************
A game of trust
The sword swished, cutting the air in two, stopping three inches away from the tree bark were it remained steady and unmoving. His gaze glided down the shinny length of the weapon, checking on each rune that bespoke of it's name with scrutinising intent until it reached the pointy end. His eyes thinned expecting to see it slightly shaking under the unsteady grip of his wounded side, but no. It was a perfection of stillness. After that night were Eilin found him out of breath and beaten by his inability to use his sword hand, he had been training everyday. Some mornings with Dwalin, most of them alone. Out here or in his chambers, sometimes even at his blacksmith station. No matter the basic need to keep his slaughtered side untroubled, he pushed through stubbornly. Time and time again kneeling down from the pain, then steadying his shuddering breath, steeling his heart and standing once more to try even harder until he had no breath left.
When he ended up in the hot springs trying to alleviate his pains, Oin always checked on him to make sure that he hadn't harmed himself further. The wound was healing very well and the pain had almost faded to nothing, unless he was over exerting himself. So repeatedly he failed and retried, until his sword hand was not a trembling mess anymore. Day after day it became steadier and more reliable. He looked at the balanced tip that could hold a feather on it without a whisper of movement and a small satisfied smile broke on his lips. The silence of the snowy forest around him was broken only by the shuffling of small animals and the occasional owl or hawk flying overhead. He sheathed his sword and came down to his knee. He took off his leather gloves in order to warm his hands by the fire, in no particular need to return to Erebo, when fast galloping broke the serenity around him.
He didn't turn his head to see if it was her, for he was certain. He smiled at the fire and rubbed his cold hands against each other. The galloping became a canter and then a trot. When it stopped he inhaled deeply and closed his eyes, his ears picking up the smallest of movements behind him. The rider alighted with a light thump and soft footfalls came up behind him.
"If I was an enemy you would have been dead by now", her voice was quiet.
He looked above his shoulder to see her pointing her arrow at him, "you are so loud you can be heard over at Mirkwood. You need to work on your stealth and that's been said by someone who's stealth is poor in comparison to those pesky elves".
She exhaled and came around to the fire, "thought I'd make you smile with that one".
"You did," he looked at her calmly as she kneeled next to him. She was wearing a dark brown coat with white thick fur around its neck and heavy fur boots above her leather pants. His sigil was on the sleeve of her coat and her mad red curls were as usual untamed around her face and body.
"What?" She asked and her cheeks became as red as her hair.
"My sister must be going crazy with that hair of yours", he noticed.
Eilin passed her fingers through the thick curls and nodded, "she is. She tells me to braid it all the time, but it's too thick and entangled at times. It hurts me to braid. Especially those complicated hair do's that Lady Dis enjoys so much".
He smiled, "I like them the way they are".
Her blush expanded to the tip of her nose and he found that endearing, "You do?"
He nodded with a quiet side smile, "thought you wouldn't come".
She lowered her eyes, "there was no question that I would. I just had a hard time finding an animal. No one was willing to give me one".
He looked above his shoulder at the small brown pony and frowned, "then maybe we should get you one so you wouldn't have a similar problem in the future".
"What? No, I don't require such a thing out of you Thorin" she said sweetly.
"You used my name unhindered. That deserves you horse, not a pony", he noted.
Her eyes grew wide, "I've never ridden a horse in my life".
"Maybe it's time for you to start then".
She munched on her bottom lip thoughtfully and then looked at him, "Thank you for helping me out this morning. It meant a lot".
"I saw that", he frowned.
"I got disappointed too soon and seeing you there just broke me down completely", she admitted.
"Afraid to show me your failures?" He looked at her.
"Wouldn't you be?" She lowered her eyes.
"Haven't you seen my failures perchance? At this very same place during that stormy night? Haven't you picked me up and brought me home when I couldn't even stand? Why would you fear to show me your failures then?" His gaze was heavily fixed on her.
She nodded, "you are right".
"Failure is just a stepping stone to success, Eilin. A couple of shots outside a target is nothing to be embarrassed about. Especially when you've never had proper battle training", he turned his eyes to the fire.
"When I was working in that tavern the stable master, Matthew, always insisted that I must learn how to wield at least one weapon".
He raised his brow.
"You've been to human villages and their sleazy taverns of course, haven't you?"
He nodded and brought his hands close to the fire.
"Too many low life criminals coming and going. Not to mention the burglars and abusive fiends that are roaming the fields around the villages. He said I needed protection. So he decided to teach me archery. We used to go out early in the morning at five, when the rest of the tavern was asleep and train for an hour a couple of times a week. I learned how to handle the weapon more or less, but never got around to aiming well. Soon enough I left them and in the Dunlands I didn't get a chance to practice. I was too busy surviving or using my already meagre skills to catch a rabbit to eat you know", she said quietly.
He was looking at her intensely.
She found his eyes and pressed her lips, "Of course you know..."
He nodded again, "How long did you live alone in the Dunlands?"
"Several months. A family of vagabond Dwarfs found me and they were headed to the IronHills. I followed them in exchange for manual labour. I carried most of their staff on my back since they didn't have a carriage. That is how I ended up under Master Fain's command".
"Then my sister took a liking at you…" a thoughtful side-smile appeared on his lips.
"She did, and now contrary to all belief I am sitting right next to the King of Erebor, talking with him so intimately after he became my assistant in archery. Sometimes I think I am dreaming you know", she muttered and mused at him entranced, "I cannot even believe that I had the audacity to steal a pony…don't look at me like that…I couldn't find one therefore I stole her….and came find you. I must be dreaming".
"you are not…"
"Then pinch me!" She suddenly got animated.
He frowned, "what?"
"Pinch me…" she drew up the sleeve of her coat and took off her glove, "…pinch me hard to convince me that I am not dreaming", she insisted.
His warm hand encircled her small wrist and drew her close to him with no hesitation. Then he brought her hand up and she looked mesmerised as his soft lips touched her skin and offered her a kiss that exploded a balloon full of butterflies in her stomach. She gasped unable to find words to reply to that and his lips dragged softly on her skin, the roughness of his beard creating the perfect contrast, "you are not dreaming", his deep voice rumbled and all the hair on her body stood on attention. Was it wrong for her to want more from him? That she didn't want him to let go of her hand? Was she asking, or wanting to much?
"Why did you ask me here today?" She murmured, not making any attempt to pull away from him and trying hard not to come even closer.
"To help with your archery of course," he said quietly, but his eyes spoke differently as did the michievious smile on his lips.
"Yes, but why would you help me?" She insisted and licked the inside of her lips.
"Because I don't want to see you feel defeated again, like I saw you this morning".
"Yes, but why here? Why not close to Erebor, why me?" Her eyes jumped all over his face.
"Too many questions…" he smirked and let go of her hand.
She drew it back regretfully, but didn't pull away from him, "Ok, I'll give you one then. Why here?"
"because I wanted to have you all to myself", he gazed at her.
She shuddered, "don't jest please".
"I am not…" he averted his eyes and she felt the tension melting to the ground, "…I cannot have a moment of peace at Erebor and that's nothing unusual for me. So if I want to have some peace of mind, I need to distance myself from the city. I wanted your company today, but in Erebor we were under heavy scrutiny, so I invited you out here where we can be alone and unhindered. Where I can be Thorin, not the King, and you can be Eilin…."
"Not the stable girl from the IronHills", she added with a small smile, "I understand".
"Thank Mahal…" he teased.
"Perfect then! Now are you with me?" she smiled widely as if pulled out of a trance all of a sudden, and pointed at him.
"You got animated all of a sudden, how come?" He smirked confused.
"I want to show you what I did after you left me this morning!"
"Υou practiced?"
"Intensely! Want to see?" She asked him and stood up.
"Sure", he nodded.
She picked up her bow, "I need a target…." She looked around her thoughtfully.
"You need to be careful not to shoot too far away from the target because there might be wild animals around that could possibly attack if they feel threatened. We are far away from the city and surrounded by wilderness", he advised.
"That's suppose to steady my hand? You are scaring me…." She smiled.
"I am warning you, and this apple should be enough for a target. What do you think?" He said and pulled one out of his leather bag.
She bit her lower lip and pulled several long curls away from her face, "eh…too small?"
He chuckled and walked over to her. He pulled an arrow from her back quiver and walked to a tree that was some ways off. There he pierced the arrow through the apple and onto the tree bark, "it's perfect…now resume stance".
She bit both lips and the thought of luring him close to her, to repeat his Erebor knee-loosening performance was too hard to resist. "Mmm…I will need some help in order to remember", she pretended to think.
He walked over to her, "You don't remember how to resume stance even though you want to show me how much you trained?" His brow rose slowly.
She cast her eyes down and felt her cheeks blushing, "might be that I am trying to forget who you really are and pretend that you are just a random dwarf I really like. You know like a miner, a mason…anyone I would have the courage to ask help from".
He placed his thumbs on his heavy belt and raised his brow "random sword smith".
She shook her head, "one of the best sword smiths I've ever met", she needed in some manner to show him how much she wanted this, but she was lacking in courting experience so much, she only made herself more embarrassed if possible.
Without approaching much, possibly on purpose, he looked at her. "Enough with the compliments. Show me your neutral", he said quietly.
Her shoulders deflated and she blew him a raspberry before resuming a very poor neutral that she was certain it wouldn't satisfy him. Hoping that this would be enough to lure him in to fix her stance.
"Several mistakes made", he looked at her critically.
She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply calling on patience, "then maybe you can take hold of my hands and show me exactly how to correct my mistakes, like you did before!"
"I'll talk you through the proper steps", he said casually and she looked back at him with disbelief.
"I don't believe this!" she exclaimed and lowered her bow.
He raised his brow at her calmly, "What..."
"You brought me into this place, to -talk me through a lesson- instead of showing it to me practically?" she felt her nape crawling with annoyance. It was as if he knew how much she wanted this to be repeated and he was avoiding just to piss her off.
"You came to this place, so I can -practically show you- or to learn no matter which method I use?" he said with a fleeting smile on his lips.
She was sure that smoke was coming out of her ears by then, "Thorin, for the beard of Mahal, stop annoying me!"
"Very well, I will! Now take on a proper neutral! Use the arrow perpendicular to your feet and straighten your body!" his playful tone instantly turned commanding.
She gritted her teeth, "Fine", she did as she was told.
"I don't even have to come over to see that the target is to your right. Which stance must you take?"
"Open..." she hissed.
"What are you waiting for to open it up then? An invitation?" he pushed.
Seeing her meagre effort to bring him close to her failing so badly made her shoulders slouch defeated. Suddenly she didn't want to tease him closer anymore, and neither did she want to see this commanding side of his, "Please don't talk to me like that..." she said quietly.
She heard the two steps taken towards her and instantly felt his energy encompassing her. His hand slithered around her stomach and pulled her back to him. Her heart gave two strong thuds and then began racing as her body suddenly came alive. She felt her hands unlocking and the bow lowered to the ground when his fingers pulled her long hair away from her face. "Next time, instead of trying to lure me in, ask clearly and you shall receive", he whispered and she felt his rough beard on her cheek sending waves of goosebumps through her body.
"I am sorry", she tittered, already feeling defeated and loving every single moment of it.
"Did I scare you?" his mouth grazed close to her ear and her eyelid closed heavily.
"Mmm, a little", she murmured and leaned her head back to his shoulder.
"You are here to learn self defence, are you not?" his fingers traced her cheek softly.
"Right now, I am not so sure..." she whispered and felt them moving slowly towards her jawline.
His chuckle echoed down to her poor stomach that clenched in agony.
"I am quite certain that you are getting a kick out of tormenting me..." she swallowed hard.
"Just a trace...", his rough knuckles ran a gentle caress from her jawline up to her temple. Then instead of unfolding more on her as she was eagerly expecting, he pushed her head up from his shoulder and straightened her body away from his, "Now concentrate. Face forward, and open stance, Eilin".
She nodded and inhaled deeply. "Alright, already. I get it!"
He laughed quietly, "Kill that bleeding apple my beauty", he slowly pulled away, making her regret the loss of his heat.
"I will get it, you just wait and see!" She said trying to make her voice sound self assured when in reality she was too shaky and unbalanced.
"Show it who's the boss", he smiled and she released the arrow that scratched slightly the right corner of the apple and got stuck in the tree bark, "Oh, damn…" she looked at it regretfully.
"Close enough. You didn't open your stance properly. Leg a bit further back and try again…."
She nodded and got ready to change position, when he grabbed her by the shoulders suddenly, "…no, changed my mind…wait for it….", he began spinning her around, once, twice, thrice and then he released her.
She staggered and laughed out loud, "why the hell did you do that for?"
He chuckled, "just to hear you laugh".
"Thorin!" She yelled trying to get her balance back.
"And to hear you use my name in a commanding manner. I like that…" he left a small insinuation there that send a strong signal of warmth at the pit of her belly.
"You are driving me crazy with you shenanigans today!" she whined.
"Good...that was exactly what I was aiming for", he tilted his head.
"Come on, now I lost how I am supposed to be standing", she said truly annoyed.
He kicked the arrow in front of her feet and it lost it's orientation, "Damn, I think I just messed up your arrow also...by mistake".
"By mistake...sure", she inhaled annoyed and picked it up.
"Now do everything from the start properly, without my assistance. Pretend I am not here", he said and waved around casually.
"Oh, come on…" she frowned.
"Nope, now you do it alone…see?" He walked towards the fire, "I am going to rearrange the logs because we are going to freeze to death soon and then try out my sword a couple of times. You practice and whenever you need me to see a shot, call on me", he said nonchalantly as he walked away with self assured steps.
She looked at his long thick wavy hair and felt her jawline tightening. Did he just abandon her, after playing with her so roughly? This was a side of him she had never seen before, and she didn't know if she enjoyed it, if it was making her mad, or maybe both at the same time. She huffed a whole bout of annoyance through her nose and muttered, "Fine, you'll just wait and see!" And then she hollered after him, "that was bloody unfair!"
"Life is unfair, get used to it!" He rebuked without turning around.
"As if I don't know that already," she exhaled and took all the steps he had taught her. Then she steadied her bow and tried another shot that cracked the apple in half even though the arrow had barely touched it's butt. One piece got blown to smithereens, the other one remained stuck on the tree, hanging from the arrow he pierced it with by a thread. "See I did it!" She cried and pointed eagerly at the apple.
He turned nonchalantly and observed it for a couple of moments, "There's still a piece there. A straight shot would have obliterate everything. Try again until there is no sign of the apple left on that tree!"
"The remaining piece is one fourth of the original one! How am I suppose to hit such a small target?" she hollered, getting red in the face.
"By practicing", he said calmly and drew out the magnificent sword she had seen him forge.
"Wow", she murmured and lowered her bow, not knowing if she wanted to slap him silly for pissing her off, if she wanted to admire him as he began a series of parries and attacks or simply drop all pretence and kiss him to kingdom come. The arrow touched the toe of her boot as her eyes feasted on his impeccable art of sword fighting.
One one of his rapid twists they came face to face and he lowered his weapon, "you're not training…" he noticed.
She shook her head, "no you're training and I'm admiring".
He pressed his lips and sighed, "don't bid for time and destroy what remains of that apple. I am going to warm up some ale for us to drink afterwards".
She smiled, "that's my bribe?"
"Isn't it enough?"
"Hardly", she cringed, other rewards overflowing her mind tantalisingly.
"Don't ask for more than you can handle," he shooed her and with a smug smile that she wanted to wipe out of his mouth in any manner available, and continued to train as if he had done that in front of thousands of people all his life.
-well he probably has…
She turned around and squared her shoulders against that broken apple determined. She was going to make it disappear from that tree bark if that was the last thing she was going to do. Then she was going to show him her accomplishment proudly and she'd see that self assured smile wiped off his handsome lips. Well, there was the other option of trying to kiss that smile away from those lips...and that thought made her jawline tighten almost painfully.
She cringed against her unbidden thoughts and with one last look back at him, she began a series of shots towards that formidable apple that stood strong through each and everyone of them. She aimed, looked at the target, fixed her stance and still that apple eluded the pointy side of her arrows. Sure they hit pretty close, some even scraped past it with their body, but none pierced it through and through. She kept on trying until her quiver was empty and then she marched up to the tree picked them up, except from one that was too deeply embedded under the apple and returned to resume her practice.
With each shot her jawline was becoming tighter and her body stiffer, and with each failure she felt on the verge of tears once more. What did he tell her? That his assistance this morning was because he didn't want to see her defeated anymore, wasn't it? Well, now she was feeling her failures even heavier than ever and what was he doing? He was rubbing a cloth on the blade of his sword, his face calmly unreadable. Not even looking at her. When she was down to her last arrow she felt her fingers numb from the cold and her patience running thin so she turned to him very much decided. She was either going to make him embrace her like before, or at the very least she would have his attention. She was doing all this for him at the end of the day. "Can you at least pretend to be interested in what I am trying to do?" She didn't want to sound biting, but it was impossible not to.
The small smile on the side of his lips was enough to let her know that his attention had never wavered from her, "I am".
"You sure don't look like it", she said.
"I am looking at your tries. Some are pretty accurate, but still the big one is eluding you," he turned and looked at her.
"As if I didn't know," she turned towards the target.
"Try harder", he said easily.
"Come help me please," she felt her eyes filling with tears of frustration.
"No, not this time", his voice was no nonsense.
"Thorin…!" She stomped her foot down.
"Why do you wish me to come over again? You know how to fix your stance..." He frowned.
"Because I might be enjoying your arms around me more than I would have ever dared to admit, hadn't I been so pissed off with you right now!" She barked and turned at him.
He pulled back with a coy smile and chuckled, "that was more impulsive than I could have ever hoped, but contradictory as hell".
She felt her shoulders slouching and her lip pouted, "I am sorry" she admitted defeated.
His lips upturned in a genial smile that brightened up his face, "Did you just actually admit that you want a hug?"
She cringed, "I did…"
"From the King of Erebor? Your audacity is unprecedented", he raised his brow testily.
She bit her upper lip in uncertainty and after a few silent moments were she quaked in her boots, she tried timidly, "No…I want it from Thorin".
His face mellowed down into a handsome smile, "You asked and therefore you shall receive. It will be my pleasure".
She smiled widely, "now?"
"When you hit that apple!" He raised an austere finger at her.
She huffed through her nose and her eyebrows came together angrily, "Fine!" She turned towards the apple aimed and fired, but her hands were unsteady and her stance completely wrong. The arrow flew off to the right and landed somewhere into the forest. That wouldn't have been such a great deal, if her missed mark wasn't accompanied with a painful and very heavy squeal that made the hair on her nape stand in attention. She cringed and took a step back, "Thorin?" She whispered.
He was already on his feet with his sword at the ready, "don't move", he said quietly.
Several deep grunts and snorts came from the same area and she took three more steps back in terror. Apparently her arrow found a live target and they were not so happy about it. "Thorin I think I shot something back there," she tried with a meek voice.
"I am bloody well aware. Back up to me slowly. Don't make any sudden sounds", he said and began walking careful towards her without wanting to alert the wounded animal of their presence.
She gripped the bow tightly and began backing up towards him, without looking properly where she was stepping. It was only a matter of time to step on a branch and cause chaos and that is what happened. The crack under her foot made her raise her eyes towards the area where the grunts were coming from and feel her blood freezing, "Thorin?" She murmured again unable to think properly.
He didn't have the time to answer as a large sized wild boar jumped out of the trees and grunted at her madly. Her arrow was sticking out of it's hind leg. She cried, lost her footing and landed on her back messily. A rock stabbed her hip and she yelled in pain and terror, "Help me Thorin!" She cried as she saw the wild boar turning at her. It was clearly ready to attack. That is when a large rock found it dead centre above the snout with a muted thumb and it backed up momentarily surprised. Then it's murderous attention turned to Thorin that had cast the stone at it. She looked behind her frozen, "what the hell did you do? It's going to come after you now!"
He swallowed hard, "I know. Stand up as quietly as you can and resume your stance".
"What?" She frowned and looked at the wild boar that was moving deliberately towards Thorin.
"Stand up and resume your stance! You have to shoot it!" He looked at her fleetingly.
She placed her hands down and pushed up carefully, "I cannot shoot it, I am no good at it. Run away from it's path!" She felt her heart palpitating and her fingers numb.
"I cannot ran faster than this beast in my condition and I don't have a bow. Either you shoot it or I will have to fight it up close and personal, which I don't think will end up very well," he said with blunt honestly and enviable self control. It was as if he was not standing in front of certain death at that moment. His hand tightened around the sword.
With shaking extremities and her blood growing cold, she stood up and pulled an arrow. She resumed her stance almost to perfection and aimed the wild boar, "I cannot do this, I cannot do this, it's going to kill you, I cannot do this", she kept murmuring.
His eyes fell on her intensely, "My life is in your hands Eilin…a game of trust", his voice penetrated through her foggy brain and woke up it's most protective threads.
She felt tears blurring her eyes and lowered the bow to clear them, "don't do this to me Thorin, I won't be able to bring it down…please", she begged.
He frowned, "Yes, you can. You can do it…"
She raised the bow up again and nodded, "I can do it, I can do it, I can do it," her pale lips kept repeating, trying to convince herself that she was able to pull through for him.
The wild boar dug with it's hoof on the ground and Thorin's eyes thinned, "Right about now would be a good idea to shoot it..."
She inhaled deeply and opened up her stance, "I can do it", she said again.
The boar grunted angrily and suddenly run towards him with a menace incomparable. He backed up ready to face it, when he heard it's painful roar once more and he saw it falling to the ground and sliding up to him with speed. He brought down his boot on it's head and stopped it's advance. An arrow was buried straight into its neck. He gazed up at Eilin that had lowered her bow and looked ready to collapse, "That was a brilliant aim…" he said calmly.
She dropped her bow down and run to him faster than the wild boar. Her momentum knocked him several feet back and he dropped his sword. He held her from the biceps to calm her down, "Hey, take it easy…." He tried.
"it could have killed you! It was running up to you! I could have missed! You could have died!" She was yelling at him.
"Eilin it's dead, you killed it!" He tried.
"No one should trust me with their lives and above all you! I don't want you hurt! I could have missed! Why did you rely on me?! Are you bat-shit crazy?!" The last sentence was almost screamed at his face and he got ready to reply when suddenly she grabbed him awkwardly by the shoulders and pulled him on her. Then her arms wrapped around the back of his neck and one hand got buried with such possessive anger into his hair that he winced in pain. Her fingers picked up his warrior braid between them as they twisted inside his mane and nailed his scalp. He opened his mouth to speak, but then her lips were on his cheek pressing so hard he could feel her teeth behind them and his need to calm her down braked so suddenly that he lost his breath. When her mouth went to his other cheek to offer him an equally hard and untrained kiss of concern he felt his eyes closing down, and his hands tightened around her biceps more.
"How could you trust me with your life you bloody fool!" She hissed on his beard and her nails scratched the skin of his head in despair.
"You are hurting me…" He tried to use his voice, but it was coarse.
"Yes I am! I am going to scratch the idiocy out of you if I have to! You scared me so bad…so bad that I never want to let you out of my arms again!" She sniffled and he felt her warm tears getting trapped on his beard.
"Eilin…" he frowned, but she decided to silence him once and for all.
Forgetting the pathetic semi-measures with his cheeks she sealed his mouth shut with hers.
His breath hitched when he felt the softness and fullness of her warm lips capturing his, in an unexpected kiss that betrayed both her inexperience and her passionate possession. As her free hand climbed up to grab his other warrior braid tightly, her lips opened up to taste his, in a sloppy and wet dance that rammed the air out of his lungs. His hands pulled her in, and that was exactly the encouragement she needed. She pressed her body on him so fiercely that he had to take a couple of steps back to keep his balance, until the bark of a tree stopped his retreat. Even then she was not satisfied. She stood on tiptoe and pulled him down until she could get control of every single inch of his face. One of her legs lifted up to wrap around his thigh in order to lock him in place and her mouth….that ravenous part of her body was trying to taste him with an animalistic urge that he wouldn't have ever thought possible from this timid and always careful maiden.
His need to reciprocate was muted by her need for dominance over him and he could do little, but allow her to experiment freely. Her inexperienced tries ended up with him bearing a heavily wet mouth and beard, and a body that was jolted by fiery blasts every time she tried to use her tongue on him. Sensations long forgotten through the centuries and buried at the deepest corners of his mind got awoken so suddenly that he was seeing stars in his eyes, even though Eilin was really sort coming on the kiss department. The more she was trying to show him how much she wanted this, the more he wanted to kiss her back, but her sloppiness was stopping him, until he pulled back dazed and foggy in order to take a breath, "Wait, Eilin…" his whisper was husky and he was panting as hard as she was. The tree behind, was holding both of them up, because at that moment his knees had turned to mush.
She looked at him confused for a few seconds and then the passionate glaze of her eyes got replaced by a slowly growing realisation, followed by a gleam of apprehension, "Oh shit! What did I do to you?" She asked herself.
He felt his wet and slightly abused lips, smiling gently, "Pushed me back to a tree while trying to snog the life out of me?"
The apprehension in her eyes turned into full blown terror, "I am so sorry Thorin! I don't even know how to kiss. I don't know why I did this….please forgive me," she tittered and her leg released his thigh and her nails declawed from his scalp hurriedly. She tried to pull away from him, but he didn't allow her.
"It's okay…" He pulled her back in place.
She turned around and looked at him with eyes that were wet and regretful and a bottom lip that was trembling, "I am so sorry…" she repeated.
"Look..it's easy…", he said and one hand left her bicep that he bruised in his need to keep her in place and cupped her cheek gently. His forefinger caressed her under the earlobe and instantly her stiff body relaxed. His other hand pressed the small of her back until she was flushed against him. He pulled her chin up and lowered his head until their lips were touching once again, "let's try this one more time alright?"
She nodded mesmerised, "okay…".
He kissed her bottom lip once and then the upper, "gently…" he whispered between his soft pecks. She closed her eyes and her hands came up his chest and grabbed hold of his vest. He took one of her hands and brought it up to his face, making her cup his cheek and jawline, "touch me…" he whispered on her and his tongue came out to trace the ridges and valleys of her lips just barely.
She gasped and her fingers tightened around his jawline.
His other hand moved away from her waist until it found the part of her upper hip that took most of her fall, "are you in pain?" His fingers mulled her hip gently.
She closed her eyes feeling her chest bursting from bliss, "not anymore…" she whispered.
His hand then wrapped under her leg and pulled it up, "Then put it back where it was before…", he smiled.
She huffed at his teasing, but when his tongue entered her mouth in the softest exploration he had given a woman in years she mewled. Her fingers searched hungrily for an entrance into his mane again, but were more timid in their caress this time. When he felt her tongue twisting around his sloppily, he pulled back slightly until she stopped, but kept their lips locked, "Don't haste through this. I am not going anywhere".
"Okay," she said and that word transformed into a breathy moan that he elicited as he deepened his kiss without hurrying through it. His hand kept her thigh locked around his and his other hand caressed her beautiful face as he offered her forgotten kisses whose art he believed he had locked away into the dark dungeons of his soul, after Siv's death...but the memory of them was still there. As vivid as if he had used them only just yesterday for the last time. He tuned the pace perfectly for both of them, until she aligned with him and began learning how to use her lips, teeth and mouth to elicit small gasps of pleasure from him…..and they kissed softly... and firmly... slowly...and passionately...for a long time.
Under a steady snowfall they stood embraced, with the heat of their bodies elevated and their faces aflush. They kissed a few feet away from the wild boar that she had shot with a perfect aim to save his life, long after the blazing fire had died down to mere orange embers. They never heard the muted trot of Dwalin's horse on the snowy ground, nor did they see his solemn features hidden at the other side of the clearing. They missed his steady gaze on them for a few tense moments before he set his horse on a trot towards Erebor once more.
She melted under him and he kissed her until his mind had forgotten every single thread of his painful past or heavy present and only the softness of her lips and the roundness of her warm curves were there for him. His hand got buried into her wild long red hair and he inhaled her scent as if it was the only thing that could feed air into his lungs. They stopped only when their bruised lips felt too painful to continue and even then they didn't pull back. She buried her head under the nook of his neck and he embraced her and leaned his cheek at the top of her head.
She was the first one to speak after a long time, "Wow…"
He nodded, "and then some…"
Her arms tightened around him, "Is this what it feels like when you kiss a winter storm?"
He smirked and kissed the top of her head, "you are getting too good with compliments".
"It's easy with you..." she whispered.
"Thank you my beautiful Eilin". He exhaled and closed his eyes. After a long silence were his steady caress through her long thick hair, cooled her down she spoke again, "Do I taste like frogs?"
He frowned, "Frogs?"
She nodded and flicked her shoulder feeling the traces of embarrassment scooting away the heat his kisses had ignited.
"wait…let me check…" his lips captured hers once and undulated between the top and the bottom one for a brief moment. Then just as she was closing her eyes again he pulled back and made her reopen them.
Her fingers massaged his nape tenderly, "Did you get the taste now?"
"No…a bit more just to be sure", he whispered and dragged his lips on her half open mouth before allowing his tongue to delve into her carven, tasting her deeply. That woke a moan from her and she let her head free fall onto his palm that kept her locked to him.
"Now?" She asked with foggy eyes when he stopped.
He frowned down at her seriously and his finger caressed the side of her mouth, "nope, not yet..need more", he admitted and came down on her as firmly if not more than before.
She pulled back, "stop teasing me and tell me if I taste like frogs…" she panted.
A low rumble vibrated from his chest and he picked her up easily and turned them around. Suddenly she found her back pressed unceremoniously against the tree. The broadness of his chest and his thigh kept her easily off the ground and she felt like she was floating. Her leg wrapped behind his and her arms took good hold of him, like he was the ultimate prize. His mouth grazed hers gently once…twice… and his tongue came out to stroke her lips. She met him half way and closed her eyes, "this one tastes like flowers…", he whispered and then his lips nestled on top of hers immovable as their tongues twirled around each other, "this one like honey…", a soft groan escaped him that made her unwillingly cream her underwear and her fingers tightened on his skin. Then his tongue retreated and he caught her lower lip between his teeth, before sucking it in so hungrily that she shuddered, "…and this one tastes like bloody life…" his rough voice send clouds of ecstasy through her mind and she hissed in pleasure.
Then he released her and pulled back, "all right for the taste test?"
She shook her head "No"
He frowned down at her.
"I need you to check a couple of times more…" her eyes rose up to him in a such a tempting manner that he shoved her back against the tree.
The end of her exhalation was caught in a soft moan, "Please?" She added quietly.
His eyes became several tones darker just before he came down to her. Her plead was meant to provoke him to deliver more and he did. That kiss was more fire igniting than anything he had tried on her up till then. It was firm, demanding, dominating and so total that she lost all sense of the world around her, and of her body. The only thing that was burning bright in her foggy mind was that his mouth was doing to her unspeakable things that also wreaked havoc on her nether regions. When it was finally extinguished, her head was dizzy, she was heaving and she was certain that if he allowed her to step down, she would probably collapse.
"Are you alright?" he asked gently and pulled her head under his neck protectively.
"I am in heaven..." she whispered and caressed the side of his neck.
"Maybe we should get closer to the fire", he said.
"I don't want to move", she admitted, feeling on cloud number nine.
"Eilin, we're going to freeze. Can you walk?"
She snickered by his uncanny ability of knowing exactly how much he had affected her, "Probably not...", she admitted.
He snorted, "Be serious for once. Nightfall is coming and it's dangerous being out here at this hour. We need to get back to the fire, or to the horses".
"Alright, you want serious, I'll give it to you. I don't want to go back to the fire and I certainly don't want to go back to Erebor…" she frowned and looked at the slow snowfall that was covering the darkened forest.
"Why?" He caressed her cheek.
"There we shall have to part ways. Actually I feel that we are going to part the moment you pull me away from this tree", she cast her eyes down and felt her heart losing the glow it had gained from their kisses.
He pulled her into his embrace and she snuggled there inhaling his musky scent, "What is going on through your mind? We will part in the end, but only temporarily. Do you fear that all this will end the moment we get back to the city?"
She nodded and felt her eyes tearing up, "I will have to go back to being your sister's maiden and you the King of Erebor. Upon your golden throne, surrounded by your court. Running a city of gold…"
"The King will probably do all that, but what about Thorin? I bet he will be seeking out your company like mad", he smiled down at her.
She looked up to him, "will he?"...she stopped and shook her head, "...I mean will you?"
He gave her a smug lopsided smile, "You bet your life I will".
Her smile widened, "But how about me then?"
He frowned, "what do you mean?"
"How can I ask and seek for your company? How can one seek the company of the head of the Lonely Mountain? You are rarely alone…"
He pursed his lips, "I have always been available to you Eilin. Even prior to things turning this...physical between us, or am I mistaken?"
She remained thoughtfully silent for a few moments and then frowned, "shit, you're right...". Only then she realised how truthful that statement was, or how much of a dead giveaway it should have been for a while now. Master Fain was never freely available to her. Actually she had no access to him, unless he needed her services and he stood much lower in rank than the man she held in her arms. When she arrived in Erebor, the lines of what was appropriate or not were so confusing under the immediate danger for his life, that they were crossed many times over by her, with no consequences from him. No scolding, no orders for her to keep her distance, no hard feelings. Actually the King abided by her insistence to always be around and check on him with a patience and a kind smile than only now under this new light she could justify. She should have realised much sooner that things had been anything but typical between them after a certain point.
"Only just now realising?" he snorted at her reaction.
She nodded quickly and held him tightly, "I will sound terribly stupid by admitting to it...but yes".
He exhaled on her curls and looked at the soft snowfall, "You will be able to see me whenever you feel like it, unless I am in some official business about the city, in which case I will seek you the moment I become free. Alright?"
She pressed her lips and smiled, "Alright!"
He cupped her jawline and his thumb nudged her chin up. Then he gave her a soft reassuring kiss, "Don't rush head-first into fears that are unfounded".
She snuggled comfortably in his arms and smiled "I am sorry I spoke to you this way after killing that boar. I was scared out of my wits. My behaviour was totally unacceptable", she wanted to sound regretful, but having him around her that way made her sound blissfully relieved. In all honesty she didn't care one bit that the man she had been groping so shamelessly was the King of Erebor or that she had yelled blue murder at his face without any consideration for his legacy.
"On the contrary I am glad you did", his long fingers buried through her hair on the temple and pushed them back away from her cheek.
"How come?"
"Because that led to your kiss, which I desired more than an endless vein of Mithril," he replied quietly.
She opened her mouth to speak, but only an ugly croak came up, and a single tear slid on her cheek.
"Now you are ready to tell me to stop talking to you like this..." he deducted with a lively smile and kissed her tear away.
"No, please don't stop! Continue making a stuttering idiot out of me...I love it!" She admitted with such honest that he laughed as she caressed his long hair.
"Also you saved me, remember? Now I owe you my life. You can talk to me anyway you like," he smirked.
"I did save you, didn't I?" She asked herself, feeling several waves of apprehension running through her as she remembered those terrifying moments when her aim was at the boar's neck and Thorin's life in her hands, "How could you have trusted me like that?" she whispered darkly.
He smiled down at her and flicked one shoulder, "It was actually very easy".
"At least now I am convinced I am not the only one that acts stupidly at times. You are prone to that malfunction also...", she shook her head, still in disbelief of how easy it was for him to lay his life into her incompetent hands.
"Hush your silliness and listen. You acted like a true dwarven warrior and you deserve your first warrior braid, I believe", he spoke softly and kissed her forehead.
She looked up at him mesmerised, "I do?"
"Yes, my beautiful lady…in fact I should be the one to make it for you, since I am alive today because of your brave act", he smiled and pulled back enough to allow her wobbly legs to step on solid ground. She didn't trust herself to be steady enough and she grabbed hold of his forearm. He turned her head a little to the side in order to gather a long thick piece of hair and smiled down to her, "this wild hair of yours is as much part of your beauty, as it is part of your untamed nature".
"You hate that?" she smiled up at him contently.
He shook his head, "no, I love it".
She closed her eyes and exhaled comforted beyond words, "I've never felt so much tenderness".
"On one hand I am sorry I am the first one to give it to you, on the other I am proud you chose to bestow that freedom to me, for I am certain there were many that tried", he said and she was instantly taken in by the breathtaking beauty of his azure eyes as he was concentrating on her braid.
She blushed down to her toes and her fingers curled possessively around one of his long braids and pulled him closer.
"I should have been the last in a line of many that you had denied", he explained.
"Stop talking to me like that…", she whispered and her smile was openly flirtatious. She was enjoying immensely her shameless need to tease him, "…or rather never stop talking to me like that".
He huffed and reached behind her head to release one of her small wooden beads, "very decisive". He placed it at the end of her warrior braid and looked at her proudly, "there, that's almost as perfect as you".
She grabbed his fur lapels and pulled herself up to him. Then wordlessly she kissed him as gently as she could, remembering vividly how smoothly he used his tongue and lips on her mouth. Making him close his eyes and hold her by her waist gently, until she pulled back, "was that better?" Her eyes were gleaming.
He sighed deeply, "Oh yes…even though I wouldn't say no to a bit more practice".
"You are offering yourself as my tutor?"
He frowned and cupped the back of her head, his fingers softly slithering through her hair, "I demand to be the only tutor in this particular lesson", his voice held a tone of steel that made the hair stand up in attention.
"No question about that", she whispered and then leaned in for another kiss. When she pulled back he still had his eyes closed and she admired his handsome countenance almost in disbelief of what had actually happened, "I kissed Thorin Oakenshield," she whispered, trying to make herself believe the improbability of what had just happened.
He opened his eyes and drew her in from the back of her neck, "No you've got it all wrong," she frowned as he pecked her softy once, "You kissed a poor sword-smith…who was totally taken in by you since the first moment he saw you".
She felt her heart singing back at him, even though he never heard it's song. She wrapped her arms around his neck, buried her nose under his chin and inhaled deeply. Trying to lock his scent securely inside her mind. They remained like that until it was too cold and too dark to stay still anymore. Then he led her to the horses and brought back the boar on his own, surprising her even more when he lifted it up to her horse unassisted. He tied it down securely and climbed up on his steed. When he offered her his hand to her, his precious smile warmed her heart and she climbed in front of him.
They rode back to Erebor with him embracing her warmly and with her fingers digging crookedly onto his forearm shields, afraid to let him go. Even though she was still somewhere between cloud eight and nine, with each gallop of the proud horse she felt her stomach dropping an inch closer to the ground. He may have laid her worries to rest about returning back to reality, but she knew that the complexity of their situation was not a figment of her imagination. They both had to deal with the fact that they were not alone in this world. That they were not bereft of responsibilities and -alas- from the history that burdened him especially. No matter how much she wanted to pray for Vala Aulë to make the rest of the world disappear and keep only them inside, she had to deal with reality...and she was terrified of how she would be able to do such a thing, even though his words had reassured her that she was far from being alone in this endeavour.
A/N: Happy Easter (to those of you that fall in that category). The next few days are very family oriented in my country and I will be away until Monday or Tuesday, when I will most certainly have a new update *.*
*************************...***************************
*************************...***************************