"You wished to see me, my Lord?"
"Ah, Legolas. I heard you were back early. There is someone here to see you. You can use my office. It affords the most privacy."
Legolas wasn't expecting a visitor. Who knew he was due back in Rivendell? "I was not expecting any visitors."
Lord Elrond's expression softened, "No, I do not imagine you were, but you have one."
The last person Legolas expected to see standing before the hearth in Lord Elrond's office was... He blinked because he couldn't believe his eyes, "Tauriel? Are you really here? Or have I conjured you out of my dreams?"
"I am here, my Lord."
Her words weren't enough to convince him. Legolas crossed the distance between them until only a few hand-spans separated them, but something in the stiffness of Tauriel's posture, the tightness in her expression stopped him from actually touching her. Or doing what he really needed to do... kiss her. "I sent you a letter before my last patrol."
Tauriel's eyes narrowed dangerously, and she put her hand into the pouch at her belt and pulled out a folded piece of parchment. "You mean this letter?" She waved it in front of his face, and then proceeded to open it. "The one where you claimed to miss me in one breath and in the next told me you are planning to join the Rangers permanently? That letter, mellon?"
Legolas realized how it must have sounded, like he didn't care, but he did. Legolas cared too much. He still loved Tauriel, if anything the love he felt now as stronger because of the long years of separation. "I was only thinking about the possibility, no decisions have been made. I enjoy traveling with the Rangers, Tauriel. You must understand. You told me you like life in Dale as advisor to the two new Kings."
"There is one problem with your plans, my Lord," Tauriel told him. "They do not appear to include me." Her voice broke and Legolas realized the depth of his mistake. He was an idiot. "My banishment is not meant to last forever. I thought... You still cared for me. I hoped... Have you found someone else? Is that why you did not think to ask me to join you?"
The pain in her voice and her eyes undid him. Legolas couldn't bear to see Tauriel hurting because of him. "I do care, Tauriel, and nothing will change that. Your letters bring me more joy than you can ever know."
"Well, your letters are no longer welcome," Tauriel huffed, then proceeded to reduce his letter to tiny scraps of parchment and tossed it in his face, bits of paper clinging to his hair and clothes.
She crossed Lord Elrond's office, leaving him to stare at her back, stunned. "Tauriel, listen to me. There has never been anyone else, and there never will be. You came all this way for something, tell me what it is that you want. An ngell nîn, le melin. "
"How can I ever go home if you are not with me?" The wood-elf asked him, sadly. "I love you, too."
"What of the Dwarf?"
She spun on her heel and scowled at him. "Legolas, I knew I loved you two hundred years before Kili was born, but I never had any hope, because I am Silvan and you are Thranduil's only son and such a match simply cannot be. Why dwell on what I can never hope to have?" She sighed, "Kili's love was pure hope and innocence, and even that ended before it even began." She was shaking with the effort of holding her emotions in; Legolas had seen it before when she confronted his father in Dale.
The Prince crossed the room and did the one thing he'd been desperate to do from the moment he saw Tauriel haloed in the light of the fire... Legolas kissed her, slowly, soft caresses of his lips on hers, until he learned the taste of her.
"Are you ready for us to go home, Tauriel?" He whispered against her lips.
Tauriel considered the idea and rejected it with a small shake of her head. "Take me wherever you want to go, Legolas. I wish to see the places you spoke of in your letters, but where we go matters little as long as I am with you."
Her answer earned her another kiss, and this time Tauriel's hands fisted in his tunic and held them together for several long minutes.
They passed Lord Elrond on the way to Legolas' room, and he merely smiled at them and wished the pair a fair evening with a knowing smile.
Once they were closed away in Legolas' bedroom, he gave a dramatic sigh of relief. Every soul in Rivendell stood between them and privacy when all he wanted was to spend the entire of the winter learning and worshipping every inch of Tauriel now that she confirmed that she was his.
"Mercy," Tauriel groaned. "If one more person wanted to stop us to make introductions..."
Legolas scooped Tauriel up and playfully dumped her in the center of the large, down-feather mattress. "We are alone, at last," he smiled down at her, "And you in my bed is even better than a mountain of Begetting Day gifts. I can't decide which part of you to unwrap first."
Tauriel returned the hungry smile with a smirk and the curve of one eyebrow, "I can unwrap myself, you know." Her fingers went to the ties on her vest, but she only teased him and waited for Legolas to object, which he did, of course.
"Where is the fun in that?" Legolas pouted.
She tapped her chin in a thoughtful expression, "I think it would be more fun to unwrap you first, my Lord."
"A contest it shall be then, my Lady." He made a bow to her, gently teasing her about the titles she seemed to be accumulating at an alarming rate outside the Woodland Realm. "What shall be the prize for the winner?"
Tauriel bared her teeth at him, "If I win, you have to let me lead in the pleasure this night, After you swear never to call me 'Lady' when we are in bed ever again."
"And if I win, Tauriel, know I am keeping you right here in this bed until you forget anything beyond this moment exists and you beg me to be your husband in body and soul."
The look she gave him said Tauriel had no intention of losing their little contest, but Legolas planned to cheat if she made it necessary. His love was not leaving this room until she pledged herself to him. It was long past time, and Legolas had grown weary of the specter of his father hanging over their love and driving a wedge between them in any way possible.
Legolas let her strip his tunic off over his head, but almost as quickly he had Tauriel out of her tunic and vest.
They kissed and explored each other's exposed skin with eager hands. It wasn't as if the Prince never laid eyes on Tauriel's pale creamy skin, or her his. They used the communal mineral baths after training with the other soldiers, and for different celebrations, but touching the King's son was anathema for a Silvan elf like Tauriel.
Until tonight, that is. "Touch me, Tauriel," Legolas pleaded between long, slow kisses. "No one, not a King or Elf-lord or any other can stop you from touching me or being at my side, ever again. I am yours." He helped her out by deftly removing his boots and hers, then halted her progress with removing his trousers by settling himself over her and catching her wrists in his hands and playfully, but firmly, pinning them to the bed. "You are caught, Tauriel. Are you ready to beg for my mercy?"
Her eyes widened with surprise when Tauriel tugged at his hold and realized he wasn't going to let go. She let out a small, adorable growl and Legolas chuckled down at her, and clucked his tongue, "No. Yield, and we will negotiate the terms of your surrender." Her heart was in her eyes as she looked up at him. "Who is your one true Lord, Tauriel?"
"You are."
"I love you very much, my fiery Tauriel. How did I manage to survive these last few years without you?" He rested his forehead against hers, her breath mingling with his. "Will you trust your body to me?"
Tauriel nodded, "I will."
Legolas removed her leggings and kissed his way down her body, lavishing attention on her breasts and flat belly, then the magical treasures nestled between her thighs. She like the last part best, of course. He teased and licked and sucked until she was gushing with her sweet, salty desire, and only then did he remove his leggings and show her his purple, throbbing erection.
Her eyes grew huge. "I do not see how such an organ will fit inside me."
The Prince bit his lower lip, considering the options available to them. "We do not have to do this part, if you are afraid." He didn't realized he had issued a challenge of sort until he saw her eyes flash.
"I am not afraid, just cautious," Tauriel told him, firmly.
"Why don't you straddle me and then you can control how deeply I enter you?" He rolled off of her and turned over onto his back.
Tauriel did as he gently instructed her, fitting their bodies together as male and female Elves were meant to, and moaning with pleasure as he slowly lifted his hips and helped her take him for the first time. It only took a few kisses and some gentle encouragement for Tauriel to make Legolas lose his mind from the pleasure of her.
Once she realized her power, Tauriel's usual confidence came back to her, and she made Legolas groan and plead for mercy before he finally exploded inside her tight heat.
"Why did we not do this two hundred years ago?" Tauriel panted in his ear, her cheek pillowed on his shoulder while they held each other, coming down from their first shared climax.
"Because two centuries ago you were on patrols at the eastern end of the Enchanted River, and I rarely saw you."
Tauriel lifted her head and looked down at him. "I guess we will have to make up for all the lost time..." She made her way down his body this time, and settled herself at his hips, nibbling her lower lip at the sight of his softened organ. "If I kiss you here, will you get hard a second time?"
"Eventually, yes."
"Good."
"Licking or taking me into your mouth and sucking on my organ will make me erect in less time."
"How many times do you think we can do this before sunrise?"
Legolas wanted to grin at her enthusiasm, but in a very serious tone he told her, "I do not know." It was the truth, he did not know.
"As your wife, I should find out. Don't you think?"
"Yes, please."