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Flower crowns and dark alcoves
Eilin kneeled to the ground and observed the families that were occupying the frozen shores of River Running this morning. Her misadventure with Karunn had left her rather raw and her dreams had been very disturbed, but the new light of day brought with it hope that not everything was as dark and menacing as she had felt it last night under Karunn's threats. Tauriel's tea and long conversation had calmed her down enough to return to her room and despite her nasty dreams she woke up rather, which today was a blessing as she had more than enough things to do under the orders of the princess.
She got dressed and was out the gates by first light of day, long before the bells of Erebor woke up the rest of the city. Today the masons were trying to lift up a new set of heavy hates, which was a nice change to the collapsed entrance. She gazed briefly at the huge dwarven statues left and right of the entrance and another optimistic smile brightened up her pretty face. When she reached the river she didn't expect to find so many families washing their clothes. Several children, despite the cold, were splashing at the shallow end of the river, proving the dwarven resilience against heat and cold rather impressively to her. Something that she really wanted to try, since she carried this blood in her, at least partly. Their laughter and easy going manner proved that the terror they went through a few days prior was already fading away. Even though it was the beginning of winter up here in the North, this day in particular was so sunny and bright that the thin layer of snow was starting to melt, revealing several winter flowers.
She left her bucket into the water and went to pick up some, when the voice of a young girl made her look up sharply.
"You can weave them".
Eilin looked up to see a pretty young girl with long auburn hair and eyes, that was wearing only her long underthings and was wet from head to toe, seemingly unaffected by the cold air on her skin. She was looking at Eilin's hands with mild interest. She pointed at the flowers once more, "you know…weave them to create a flower crown".
Eilin frowned at them, "Why would I?"
Girl flicked her shoulders, "Don't know".
Eilin's cheeks became crimson red and the heat that radiated from them moved slowly towards her neck, "I've never thought of making one until you mentioned it just now".
The girl smiled and kneeled down next to her, "Do you know how to do it?"
Eilin shook her head, "No".
"The flowers are very delicate, see their stems? They can break very easily, but if you take twigs like this…wait…" she searched around the snow, wiping it away, till she found three medium length twigs that seemed thin enough to twist and turn without breaking, "…you can twist the small flowers around them", she said and took two from Eilin's bouquet.
"But how can you make them stay on?" Eilin frowned.
"You need some thin rope…my mom's got some. Want me to bring it over?" The girl looked at her eager to help.
Eilin felt the need to say no, but the memory of Thorin's soft lips made her exhale in defeat and she smiled instead, "Sure, why not".
"Great!" The girl said and ran off.
Eilin frowned down at the twigs and tried to figure out how the flowers could fit around them without breaking their stems. If she was to make a flower crown, then she would damn well make a perfect job out of it for he deserved nothing less. The thought of giving him such an iconic token of romance was lacing her stomach with nervousness, but their kiss had been much more bold than this simple gesture. If there was a man she could possibly decide to give a flower crown someday, then he was the one. At the end of the day even if she didn't gather up the courage to offer it to him, she could at least settle in the thought that this was the first time she ever wanted to do such a thing. She stayed there letting her half forgotten bucket fill with cold fresh water as she tried to figure out how to make the crown and what leafs to add in order to enhance it when the girl returned with some rope made out of thin fabric. She informed Eilin that her name was Gylta and that her mom had taught her well how to make flower crowns so she could use them on her husband when she grew older.
Eilin understood that this was a skill that moms taught their children from a young age, as she remembered the iconic-by-now ten year old that gave the King a flower crown a few weeks ago. She accepted Gylta's assistance with pleasure and as the time rolled by, she completely forgot Karunn's assault. She twisted each flower separately with great care, aconites, crocus, snowdrops, winter heaths and even a couple of the more rare hellebores. They added leafs in between to cover up the rope and slowly the nasty little scar that adored her cheek this morning and the purple bruise of Karunn's fingers near her collarbone, was nothing more than a fleeting nightmare of the past. She forgot her destroyed braid and decided to let her hair free at the official lunch today and use them to cover up her wound, especially from his eyes. She would go serve them with a smile and go out with one, hoping that she could find a way to approach him during the day. Just to steal a kiss and a hug, or maybe both and even more if he was willing too.
All those beautiful thoughts uplifted her spirits and she left Gylta an hour later, holding the heavy bucket in one hand and the finished flower crown in the other. When she passed under the heavy gates, that were being hauled up, she received a lot of friendly smiles from the workers which she reciprocated, until she fell shoulder first onto Bofur.
"Argh!" He grumbled and turned around.
"Sorry…" she hissed.
He looked at her for a couple of moments and then smiled coyly, "Wow, you are glowing this morning. What happened to you last night?"
His question was innocent enough, but fired up her cheeks and she averted her eyes embarrassed, "Good morning", she hurried.
"Damn if you are going to get so flushed, don't answer the question. I don't want to know!" he said mischievously.
"Okay", she smiled and averted her eyes.
"Is this for me?" He nodded towards the flower crown with a smile.
She cringed heavily, "N-no".
Bofur's shoulders slouched, "Oh, I felt that".
"No, no, you don't understand. This is for no one. A girl gave me the idea down by the river. There are many families taking their bath and washing their clothes by the shore. It is a beautiful morning and she wanted company…well so did I and we ended up with this", she said as nonchalantly as possible.
Bofur smiled brightly, "I see, will you give it to her then, or let it wither? Because these delicate flowers won't last more than a day. Pity to let it go to waste".
Eilin shook her head and smiled, "I think I will keep the flower crown for myself thank you very much! I deserve me a gift".
Bofur pointed at her, "That's a good solution! Where are you off to with this heavy bucket?"
Eilin rolled her eyes, "to the kitchens. I need to prepare for the royal lunch".
Bofur scrounged his nose, "Heard about that one".
"Are you are not invited?" She frowned.
He shook his head, "Only the lords of the army and the delegations are".
"Oh, I am sorry," she lowered her head.
"Don't be! Me and several others are going to have a lovely night of drinking, singing and swimming into the river tonight! You should join us!"
She blushed, "No, I will be half dead by then, but thank you".
He harked, "We will have a nice company. Take your time to think about it".
She opened her mouth to say no, but stopped at the last moment. What if Thorin was also invited and she ruined a perfect chance to see him alone? "So who is going to be there?"
"Me and my brothers, Nori, Dori, Ori -if we manage to convince him to put his diary down for once-, Gloin, Oin, Dwalin who is a dead certain, but I don't think Balin will come. He will want to remain around the delegations. I will try to convince Fili who is too preoccupied lately with Dain and their battalions and of course Thorin who is up to his neck with everything, but always willing to take a break with us. Would have invited the grey wizard and our burglar if it wasn't for the fact that they left under Thorin's orders first thing this morning. They wouldn't tell us where they went", Bofur said.
"So you are certain about the royals joining?" She already felt the traces of excitement at the pit of her stomach.
"I haven't asked Thorin yet, but I think he will have too much in his hands with the delegations. As for Fili, I really don't know. Dain said he was meeting with his commanders tonight, so he's out".
"Will I be the only woman there?"
"No, don't worry. Nori will bring over a couple of ladies he met last night", Bofur reassured her.
She wiped away the perspiration on her brow. Ok, but what if Thorin refused that nightly gathering? She didn't want to go there, if he wasn't going to be.
"Don't overthink…" Bofur challenged her.
"I…uhm…" she muttered.
"Say yes!" He pressed on.
She closed her eyes, "wait for it!"
He drew back and chuckled.
"If everything turns out alright with lunch and my masters don't need me for anything, I will come yes", she said intending to get a hold of Thorin beforehand to make sure that he was going to be there. If he said no, then she was going to find some poor excuse to get out of the obligation.
Bofur smiled contently, "That's perfect"
She nodded, "I need to go prepare now".
"Before you go, how the hell did you manage that on your cheek?" Bofur frowned.
She bit her lower lip and a small vengeful part of her heart wanted to tell him everything that happened with Karunn and let him deal with her as he had done a couple of times before. She couldn't do that though without letting him know the reasons that woman attacked her and that was not something she wanted to reveal to anyone. So she inhaled deeply and closed her eyes, "Cut myself with a knife while I was trying to slash some twigs in order to make this flower crown".
"It doesn't look that fresh", his eyes thinned critically.
She smiled easily, "That's the cold weather. Helps with any kind of bleeding".
He flicked his shoulders, "Fine. Now if you decide to come, you will see our fires burning next to the River Running a couple of miles south on the left side of the bank. Pretty close to where we have been last time. Remember?"
She turned her back at him and raised her hand, "Sure do".
Bofur bit his lower lip happily and ran off to inform his brothers that Eilin was probably going to join them tonight. She continued her trip down to the kitchens where she spent most of her morning and noon preparing lunch, till it was time to bathe and change into official clothes in order to serve the delegation in the royal dining chamber close to the throne room.
Lunch had been a slow, torturous business. Thorin had to use all his patience to sit nobly through it and look like he was enjoying himself, a quality that had been instilled to him by Thrain since childhood. So he sat there surrounded by his court, enjoying only a small part of the company that included his friend Bjarki, Dwalin, Dain, Balin and Fili. While he had to join the boring conversations of the remaining envoys, he counted the minutes backwards to the end of this charade. He spoke kindly and answered all the questions of the people that had come to meet the Mountain King and not Thorin. The only one apart from his close company that truly drew and kept his attention without any effort was Servin.
Something that Dwalin noticed after a while, and leaned over to him, "You think he came to cause trouble?"
Thorin averted his eyes from Siv's brother, "I don't know about trouble, but I believe he came in search for answers".
Dwalin leaned back and crossed his arms.
"Why appear now, when all these years we haven't tried to see or talk to each other?" Thorin shook his head.
"Maybe because you have called all the families to Erebor and her family was quite prominent in the Blacklocks? Her brother was always a fierce warrior. It was almost inevitable that at some point he would become a commander. Rest of the pieces just fall into place", Dwalin reasoned.
Thorin's piercing eyes fell onto Servin's face again and his voice was deep, "No, this was not by chance".
"You are overthinking", Dwalin dismissed him and took a sip of his mead.
To which Thorin replied by huffing, "That's my job".
That is when Eilin came into the room with a big serving tray and his eyes rested almost gratefully on her. He admired her long red mane that was resting above her right shoulder, covering part of her face and followed her to the royal table, where she served his sister. Whenever she entered the room his whole face brightened up. She was the only woman in there that didn't have intricate braids or clothes. The only one with a clear, unpainted face and the only one he couldn't stop looking at. Her beautiful unprocessed face and attitude, were a safe haven for his troubled mind.
Every-time the door opened up, he looked up searchingly. If it wasn't her, his face fell and he leaned close to Dwalin and Bjarki holding his pipe for another interesting story from the Stonefoot stronghold. If it was her, his eyes lingered on her beautiful face way longer than was appropriate, feeling that he couldn't get enough of her. The need to talk to her as the time progressed became almost unbearable and as the plates were taken away from them and everyone split into small groups he felt the itch to go find her driving him mad. Especially since she was not coming in anymore to serve them.
The minstrels sang great ballads of bravery and the musicians offered the people a chance to dance, but he did neither. He laid back into his chair close to the huge hearth that held a comfortable fire under it and crossed his arms patiently, partly enjoying the dance and the merriment of the people around him, partly wanting to get out of there and find her. Dwalin was gossiping about how Valdis was trying to catch his eye all the time. He joked about Thorin escorting her for a dance and maybe finally giving her a hair bead just to keep Dain happy. Bjarki was laughing heartily at these jokes, but Thorin was turning sour and brooding instead.
At one point all thoughts about Eilin got wiped away from his mind temporarily, when he saw Dongar escorting his sister on the dance floor and his eyes darkened upon them for the whole duration of the dance. His mouth sucked in the old Toby like no tomorrow. When he wasn't inhaling weed, he was drinking wine, so when Valdis finally took up the courage to ask him for a dance, he denied much more bluntly than he had ever intended, "Choose someone else, madame".
She drew back surprised and looked dreadfully offended, but Dwalin took over and tried to gloss over his bad manners.
"Forgive him. He is mildly intoxicated, but truth is he never dances".
Bjarki joined in, "I've never seen him dance, that's true. I'll dance with you instead madame, unless you fear the wrath of my wife!"
His timely intervention made Valdis's offended countenance loosen up a little and she quickly accept his offer for a dance. Bjarki led Valdis to the dance floor and Thorin laid back quietly until finally Eilin opened up the door and brought in a large basket of fruits along with two other maids that followed her. His eyes burned through her as she place them on the table and when she closed the door behind her he exhaled a long trapped wavering breath.
"You need to tone it down a bit", Dwalin said quietly.
Thorin's fiery gaze turned to him, but he remained silent.
"I saw you at the training ground", Dwalin flicked his shoulder with a playful smile.
Thorin raised his brow and took a sip of mead, "figured as much", he whispered.
Dwalin pursed his lips.
"Thank you for keeping Balin out of it", he said in an afterthought.
"He suspects though and he isn't the only one. Rumours have been going back and forth all over the city. What you did at the archery lesson didn't go unnoticed and they have seen her wear your coat and ran after you on several occasions. Come to think about it, you both need to tone it down a bit, unless you want a scandal so close to you taking over Erebor's throne". Balin's words were heavy, but honest.
"I don't care about rumours", he hissed.
"Yet, you feed them. People will talk about the King bedding his maiden and that is innapropriate", Dwalin crossed his arms.
"You sound bitterly disapproving and you know how much I care about your opinion", he said quietly.
Dwalin looked at him long and hard before speaking again, "I would never stand in you way Thorin. Not after the day we found Siv dead, but my job is to protect you. Do what you wish, but be careful. Balances are very thin at the moment. You are exposing yourself, but also the girl and she is far more susceptible to harm. She hasn't got a heavy bloodline to protect her. She might become a target".
Thorin paled and his brow clouded, "I know".
"Then take care how you act in front of people".
Thorin lowered his head thoughtfully at his cup.
After a long moment Dwalin shifted next to him, "She really had you flushed up against that tree, didn't she?" He said all of a sudden.
The wine took a wrong turn and Thorin coughed. He grabbed his stomach as pain tore through him and looked up angrily at Dwalin.
"Don't look at me that way. She was fiercely possessive, despite her small size. Looked like a cat cornering a bear actually", Dwalin chuckled and patted his back.
Thorin shook his head and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
Dwalin relaxed back and crossed his arms again, "even though you were not so far behind into groping her".
"Shut up you corroded fossil…" Thorin hissed in disbelief.
Dwalin laughed heartily, "be glad it wasn't Balin catching you with your tongue buried into this girl's tonsils. Not even Vala Aule would be able to dig you out of that ditch".
Thorin was unable to hold his silent laughter at that one, "For that I am glad", he agreed.
Dwalin's laughter died down as they shared the ale and Thorin passed over his pipe. He inhaled deeply and then his face settled thoughtfully, "I feel blessed though…" he let the thought float in the air between them.
Thorin took back the pipe and leaned his elbows on his knees, "about what?"
"Seeing you happy after so long".
Thorin huffed, "happy is a heavy word brother".
Dwalin nodded, "First time I saw you pulling away from that never-ending darkness that always surrounded you after Siv's death. First time you are willing to let a woman get close to you".
Thorin cast him a thoughtful gaze, "Acting as if it was easy for you to get over Lilja's betrayal. After that, you wiped out the idea of another partner, didn't you?"
Dwalin's brows came together in disagreement, "I did".
"Why would I be any different?" Thorin gave him the pipe.
Dwalin inhaled deeply having lost all mood for playfulness.
Thorin shook his head, "Keep the word happy at bay brother. Whatever this is….it's too soon to label yet. As for happiness it's not a state one can obtain and keep forever. I cannot just be happy again and remain as such. Happiness is simple moments…such as this one".
Dwalin looked at him nostalgically, "Sharing weed?"
"And ale", Thorin raised his brow.
"Talking about women…." Dwalin raised his cup.
"That were…" Thorin raised it too.
"And maybe will be…", Dwalin clanked their cups and drank his in one go.
Thorin smiled and emptied his also. That is when they saw Bjarki returning with Valdis and Thorin sprang up, "time to make my exit" he whispered at Dwalin.
"Where are you going?" Dwalin looked up confused.
"I need to avoid her asking me for another dance," he replied.
Dwalin pursed his lips and looked at him dourly. Without wanting to linger a moment more he walked to the door, catching his sister's inquiring eyes for a brief second and answering with a calm nod that everything was alright before closing the door behind him. He leaned on it and closed his eyes for several moments feeling grateful that he had gotten away even if it was for a little while. Then his brain went into overdrive and he directed his steps towards the service rooms that were at the right corridor of the dining hall. The prudent words of Dwalin were not forgotten as he hid in a dark alcove that was created between two large columns. He stayed there patiently for several minutes. When she opened the door of the kitchens and came out his heart smiled. He bit his lower lip as his eyes rolled down her figure. She was holding a large basket of oranges and her long red hair was hiding half her face behind those long lose curls. Right then and there the urge to push her hair away and bury his face onto her neck engulfed him and he didn't allow her to go by. His hand came out and wrapped around her bicep. She opened her mouth to scream with wide eyes full of terror, but he was quicker than her. He pulled her in and drove her against the wall. Then in one swift and smooth move he did what his body was aching to do since he saw her again this noon. He sealed her lips with his firmly enough to draw out a small panicked cry that melted into a gasp of pleasure when she realised who he was. Her arms let go of the basket and all the oranges rolled away from the alcove and into the corridor. His firm kiss slowly extinguished into unbearable tenderness and then he smiled down at her, "your oranges my lady are making a run for it".
Her arms came around his nape and drew him down, "what took you so long?" She whispered and bit her lower lip.
"I couldn't get away from them", he frowned and captured her bottom lip between his teeth gently.
"I couldn't get closer to you, I was trying to find a way all bleeding day…" she began muttering, but he wanted to taste her so badly that his mouth sealed her open lips with a new impassioned kiss that made her shudder under his hands.
"I almost died of boredom in there", he murmured and his thumb traced the hairpin of her mouth.
"I almost thought I would never get to feel you this way ever again", she said and he frowned.
"What?" He pulled back slightly.
She lowered her eyes to his mouth and her forefinger and thumb trapped his bottom lip gently, "I thought that was it…that what happened in the forest was not going to be repeated".
His palm cupped her cheek and his thumb caressed her under the earlobe, "Not unless you order me to stop".
She beamed up to him and the inside of her elbow locked behind his neck never wanting to let him go, "Me ordering you?…don't you have this a bit upside down?"
His smile was unforced, genial and echoed in his eyes, "You have a carte blanche on me, Eilin. Use it wisely", the depth of his voice and the insinuation of his words made her sober up.
She touched his lips softly, "Fine then…please continue", she whispered.
His appreciative moan echoed through her spine and melted her against the wall. His mouth reciprocated her soft touch with the same fire igniting experience she had felt at the forest and she turned into warm honey from his sensual attention. His hands cradled her beautiful face as he explored her mouth fervently, letting the roughness of his beard become an arousing contrast to the softness of his mouth.
She tried to reciprocated his passionate kisses, with rough teeth on his mouth and nails at the side of his neck, reminding him of the tigress he had first seen at the forest. The fire that was hiding well under her prudent behaviour wasn't a figment of his imagination. Excitement and anticipation gripped him, when he heard her whispering encouraging words into his mouth and gave her hot kisses all the way to her ear not caring that he was moving too fast. Her flaming response fed him with courage.
"Thorin...I...", she tried to speak again, but instead her words faded into a gasp when his lips run a straight line down the side of her throat which ended up in an open lip kiss on her collarbone.
He drew in a patch of prickly skin and bit down on it lightly before opening his mouth to taste her. She remained quiet during that trial of his, until he decided to stop playing around and sucked the soft skin of her neck into his mouth. That is when all her resolution was thrown out the window. Her fingers got buried through his side braids and she threw her head back to the wall releasing a surprised cry of pleasure that echoed into the corridor. He pulled back with a deep hiss and placed his finger on her mouth, "Hush men urzudel**, softly".
She squeezed her eyes tight and tried to regulate her breath, "I am sorry…", she kissed his finger gently.
"It's my fault. I became too aggressive with you".
She opened up her eyes with a small frown, "I love what you are doing, I just cannot control what comes out of my mouth when you are touching me like this", she said with raw honesty.
He smiled gently and looked at her swollen lips, "Missed your awkwardness".
She caressed his hair and kissed his mouth softly, "only that?"
"Your warm lips, your soft skin and the volcano you are hiding somewhere deep inside you", his eyes looked at her face adoringly.
"And I missed everything on you, apart from this", she said and her fingers touched his golden coronet.
He smirked, "You don't like it?"
"I don't like what it represents on you," she said with a sad frown and her fingers caressed the braid that was twisting around the coronet at the side of his head, "you see I want this", her arms went around his body and embraced him tight, "...and this…this thing doesn't belong between us".
"but it is part of who I am", he frowned and brushed his fingers on the scratch of her cheek thoughtfully.
"I want to forget that part", she said honestly.
He sighed and rubbed his forehead on her wound tenderly, "Eilin, I cannot change who I am and neither can you….you have to let that go", his brows furrowed.
"I am afraid that it will undo whatever it is that we are trying to do here in the end", she looked at him with eyes that welled up.
"Maybe it will, but maybe it will not. You mustn't allow vague suppositions of the future destroy what we have right here…now", his thumb rested on her jawline.
She smiled sweetly back at him, "you are right".
"Can I have another kiss, without becoming as aggressive as before?" He asked and his hand cupped her neck as he looked down to see if he had left any nibbles on her sensitive skin.
"My pleasure," she said and her lips captured his with a gentleness that send a warm trickle down his spine, but he had seen something that didn't fade away from his mind that easily. His lips reciprocated her kiss, but his thumb traced around the place were he saw a purple bruise that resembled fingers. He pampered her lips softly until she closed her eyes and then pulled back carefully. He frowned down at her bruise.
"What's this?" His voice took on a bleak tone that passed quickly onto her.
She opened her eyes and understood what had drawn his attention, "Oh, it's nothing, just bumped into a chair in my room. Awkwardness you know…the thing you like about me?" She tried to jest.
His eyes returned darkly on her face and then his finger traced around the scar on her cheek, "chair did that also?" He said.
Eilin felt the blood draining from her face, "yes".
He scrutinised her with a brooding frown that made her jitter, "why didn't you braid your hair today Eilin as etiquette ordered?"
She raised her hands and caressed her head, "I know you like them wild like this".
His hand got buried under her mane and instead of her warrior braid he found the stubble. She leaned her head back and didn't try to stop the tears that came out unbidden, "Who did this to you?" His voice was grave and distinctly hostile. The feeling of guilt was overwhelming as his need to grope her had overpowered his ability to see that she had obviously been abused.
Her arms, that had never left his shoulders, tightened around him and she pulled him to her. Her head leaned on his chest and she shook it, "it matters not. I am happy where I am right now and nobody can stain that for me".
His jawline gritted and his arms wrapped around her body and pulled her away from the wall. He cradled her close to his heart, "The bruise on your neck resembles fingers. Fingers too small to belong to a man".
She sniffled, but remained silent.
"Who cut off your braid, who slashed your cheek and who bruised you?" His voice was equal parts aggressive and caring.
"It doesn't matter", she whispered feeling comforted and cared for beyond belief.
"It matters to me and unless you give me a name, the whole of Erebor is going down for it", his voice was heavy.
She pulled back with teary eyes, "No that won't be fair…"
He caressed her cheek softly, "No one touches you," he said with a possessive frown, "Give me the name of the offender".
"Thorin, no…" she said.
He leaned down and captured her lips between his, "her name," he murmured and his fingers run at the side of her neck until they reached her bruised collarbone. There his forefinger drew gentle circles on her purple skin until her eyelids fluttered shut and she exhaled in pleasure.
"It's of no use… I am always a target…I have always been one…." She whispered.
"Not anymore you won't be, not under my rule. The name of the offender," he repeated and licked the seams of her lips until they opened up for him eagerly.
"No…" she murmured.
His tongue entered her mouth and engaged hers with a gentleness that made her exhale through her nose hard until he pulled back, "name".
"What will you do to them?" She cupped his cheek and looked at his eyes.
"That remains to be seen", he said honestly.
She bit her well kissed lips and felt her eyes welling anew, "I can make another braid, it's nothing".
"I will make you a new one that's true. Now name", he commanded and his fingers entwined into her long hair, massaging her head softly. In the end he managed to make her lean her head back and close her eyes. Offering her neck as an unwrapped gift. That is when voices came from the corridor and she opened up her eyes in panic and her nails clawed him above his velvet vest, "Thorin?" She whispered.
He brushed his knuckles on her jawline and cheeks and she threw her head back easily for him once more. His mouth brushed near her ear and she tensed under him, "now silence, my beauty".
She nodded and swallowed heavily in expectancy. He leaned down and his mouth opened up on her burning skin. She felt the already twisted coil in her stomach tightening even more as he gave her open lip kisses all down to her upper chest. Then he slowly tasted his way up to the soft skin that was between her jawline and her ear, biting her softly until he felt her skin prickling, "name", he exhaled in her ear.
She shuddered hard and her leg came up against his thigh instinctively, "Karunn", she admitted not caring who he was going to punish at that moment. Only his lips on her skin mattered and his body against hers. Not even the voices that spoke of the idiot who spilled all the oranges mattered anymore.
He tensed against her for a brief moment, but he resumed his slow torture all around her neck, "Fain's oldest daughter?"
She nodded and bit her lower lip in anticipation, "She did it because..."
A small hostile wave came from him and he spoke over her, "I don't care about her reasons". She was just about to open up her eyes to check on him, but he didn't allow her. He buried his head to the hollow of her neck, drawing in her skin with a fierceness that left her breathless and made her whole body break out in goosebumps. Warmth trickled between her legs and instantly she wanted to alleviate the tension that was twisting inside her in any manner. Instinctively she rocked against his thigh, surprised to feel this motion feeding the fire between her legs instead of diminishing it and his fingers hooked under her knee keeping her locked there. Her chest rumbled as she managed to stifle her cry this time. He pampered her with wet kisses up to her earlobe, "Very good", he whispered, as the voices faded away slowly.
"For giving you a name or not moaning out loud?" She offered him a timid smile.
"Both my beauty", he said and cupped her cheek, "I am sorry you had to go through this", his brows became solemn.
She reciprocated the soft touch that came into such contrast to his visceral kisses a moment ago, "I am used to being treated this way".
His frown deepened, "Time to learn new ways…"
A wave of confusion rippled through her brows which got dissipated quickly as he captured her lips in a kiss that spiralled her out of reality and her rocking against him resumed, slowly thrusting her upwards, making her chest heave and her eyes to squeeze tight. Making her knuckles turn white around the fistful of tunic she had managed to grab from him, hoping that he wouldn't change positions and make her lose the pleasure that she was getting out of this. Unfortunately though a few fiery moments later he proved that he had other plans. Her bliss was not to last. Right as she was finding her sweet spot and could vaguely see the road to unwinding this accursed coil, he pulled back and gently caressed her face. Grounding her momentum rather hard. "Damn you Thorin", she panted and looked at him through hazy eyes.
"You are getting out of control", he frowned down at her.
"Maybe I want to get out of control, ever think of that?" she frowned back at him.
"Not here, not like this", he caressed her temple softly.
She exhaled and felt her heart thumbing so hard it was almost ready to jump out of her throat, "fine", she spat. She didn't know if she sounded pissed off, or aroused as hell and she didn't care. All she wanted was for him to resume his kisses and her lower body to pick up it's ecstatic labour against his thigh.
"You need to calm down", he said and cleaned her hair away from her cheek.
"Easy for you to say", she winced.
"Not easy at all, believe me", his mouth held a mischievous smile that made her stomach bubble.
"We have to part ways then?"
"Yes," he sounded regretful.
Her forefinger twisted around one of his warrior braids, "Will you go to Bofur's gathering at night?"
He humphed, "the river swimming endeavour?"
"Yes"
"I don't think so, you?"
"I will if you do", she said with a sweet smile and kissed softly where his neck met his collarbone.
"Fine, I'll come then".
She sighed in relief, "That answer is enough to make me forget what you did to me just now".
"Be patient", he said affectionately.
She tightened her arms around him, "I must go now, mustn't I?"
He nodded, "If you don't want my sister mad at you for missing so long, and my men worried that I suddenly bled away in some corridor, yes".
She chuckled and came on tiptoe to give him a quick kiss, "Send me away or I won't go", she smiled.
"Go-away men gehyith*", he said and kissed her back.
She pulled back regretful to lose the delicious heat of his body, and run to the corridor before stopping. She turned and gazed at him long and hard...before coming back. She fell on him with such force that he unwillingly backed up to the wall. Then she kissed him fiercely, until he exhaled in deep gratification. "Now the little dove goes away", she said happily and ran away.
He leaned his head back and looked at her long hair waving with her happy canter. His smug smile remained on his lips until he opened the door to the dining hall and met the raised brow of Dwalin. Then his countenance slowly sobered up and his eyes searched with cloudy deliberation through the whole room until they found Karunn. He approached his friend that was talking with Bjarki.
"What took you so long? Lunch is almost over", his friend said.
"I am sorry, I got caught up", he said absently.
"Caught up indeed in a spider's web. You look absolutely tousled", Dwalin noticed with a testy frown.
Thorin touched his hair and found that the side braids around his coronet had come undone. He winced annoyed and began fixing them, but his mind was preoccupied with matters much more important. He just returned Dwalin's glare with a raised brow of dismissal.
"Did you pass through a tornado or something on your way here?" Bjarki joked and looked at Dwalin slyly.
"I might have…." Thorin mused and finished redoing both sides quickly and effectively.
"Tornado indeed…Didn't we agree that you should tone it down a bit?" Dwalin pursed his lips annoyed and noticed that Balin was giving them many reproachful looks.
Thorin ignored him.
"That's not toning it down at all", Dwalin pointed at him from head to foot.
"What the hell are you two talking about?" Bjarki looked confused.
Thorin twisted his head and felt the cracks on his nape, strangely satisfying, "Dwalin, get Fain's oldest daughter for me. Bring her to the throne room".
Dwalin looked at her confused, "why?"
"Just do it", he said dismissively and turned to leave.
"What about lunch, are you leaving again?" Bjarki rejoined.
"Lunch is over for me," came the grim answer and he left the room.
"What the hell just happened?" Bjarki asked confused.
Dwalin who shook his head "I have no bloody idea".
A/N:
* my little dove
** My sun
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