Okay, I just realized that all of the mind speech in my past chapters has not been marked as I had intended so from here on out, mindspeech will be denoted as ((...)).
Hopefully all of you have realized the difference between mindspeech and spoken speech in the past chapters (if not, it was speech that was not accompanied by quotation marks). Please forgive me for any difficulty in discerning the two apart.
As for why I haven't updated in a while, university has been taking up most of my time so I haven't been able to keep up with updates as much as you, my readers, would like. For that I apologize but I try to update whenever I have the time. Now I think you will all like this chapter, so I won't detain you any longer from it. Namarie!
So with Strider's arm wrapped around hers and Legolas' hand on the small of her back, Natasha allowed herself to be led, feeling the beginnings of fatigue creeping up on her, making her grateful for the chance not to have to guide herself.
Back in the Hall of Fire...
((Do you sense that, mellon-nin?)) Lord Elrond asked Gandalf as they listened to the song Bilbo Baggins had written about Earendil, though his eyes were following the departing trio.
((Indeed.)) Gandalf smiled around the stem of his pipe. ((Started in Mirkwood and getting stronger here.))
((I wonder what it means.)) the elf-lord mused, eyes taking on a distant look.
((Does it have to mean anything?)) Gandalf asked, eyebrows raised in inquiry.
Not having an answer to that, Elrond went back to the performance before him, though half his mind still chipped away at the question running though his mind. Gandalf smiled secretively, turning back to keeping an eye on Frodo while not appearing to do so.
Chapter 21
Even at night, the gardens of Imladris were breathtaking. Moonlight shone through the trees and fireflies danced through the dreamlike vista it created as Strider and Legolas led Natasha away from the House and to a hilltop where they would have an unobstructed view of the star-filled sky. There, they lay down on a blanker Legolas had thought to bring and talked about anything and everything for many hours. It hadn't seemed long before the music that had been floating up to them from the Hall of Fire stopped and only the crickets' song broke the silence of the night.
"We should be going inside and to our beds." Legolas said softly, careful not to disturb Natasha from her pillow of his chest.
"Yes, Ada would not appreciate it if we overtax you so soon after recovery." Strider continued with a playful poke into Natasha's side, making her squirm away from the half-elf. "Ah, I do believe our Natasha is a bit ticklish, melethron."
"Don't you dare!" Natasha warned through her grin as she tried to back away from them.
Exchanging mischievous glances, Strider and Legolas pounced as one, tickling Natasha's sides mercilessly, reducing her to helpless laughter and barely able to speak.
"O-o-okay…guys…st-stop it. That's---e-enough." Natasha managed between giggles as she freed herself and all three friends collapsed into a heap of exhausted laughter.
"One thing you still must learn about us, Natasha." Legolas said with a grin. "Is that we always dare."
Looking down on Natasha's flushed face, Legolas stopped breathing, she looked so beautiful with her hair spread around her like a halo and her eyes reflecting the light of the stars above. Without thinking, he leaned down and gently brushed his lips against hers, almost moaning at their softness and the wave of approval he could feel coming from Strider through their own bond.
((Valar, you have no idea how beautiful you both look, Las.)) Strider said into his mind.
Natasha stiffened at the contact, mind whirling with uncertainty even after Legolas slowly pulled away. He smiled lovingly down at her no doubt dazed face and caressed a strand of hair back from he forehead while she fought to regain her composure.
"Did you just…why did you…?" Natasha stopped, unable to form a complete sentence around the shock in her mind. Shaking her head to clear it, she managed to decide on a question but before she could ask, Strider gently turned her to face him and then it was his lips that were pressed to hers, ever so lightly that she might have mistaken its occurrence were it not for the tickling of his beard. Again, his lips brushed against hers, more slowly this time and with a bit more pressure as though the first time, he had been unsure of his reception. Eventually, after a few heaven-filled moments, he too pulled back to watch her reaction to this new development in their relationship.
"Wh-?" Natasha asked when she found her voice, again having to stop as she'd forgotten the question she wanted to ask.
"Why?" Legolas asked, amusement creeping into his sapphire eyes. "Because we have wanted to for a long time, at least as humans measure it of course." this last he added with a playful haughtiness to his tone in an attempt to make Natasha relax, which it worked, even bringing a smile to her beautiful lips.
"Almost from when we first met you." strider continued. "We felt drawn to you as neither of us has been drawn to anyone else."
"But I thought the two of you were…" Natasha paused, unsure of the right word for their relationship. It hadn't really come up in conversation whether they were merely lovers or were married or whatever the Elven equivalent would be. "bound lovers." ended up being what she decided on, though she felt this fell short of what they actually were.
"'Bonded,' I think, is the term you were looking for." strider said, a loving smile and a quick kiss were exchanged between the pair. "And yes we are. For nearly sixty years now. And we had thought we were exclusive, until you came alone. In fact, I think that had you not appeared when you did, we likely would have stayed that way. But, as I said before, we feel drawn to you, in a way that we have only been drawn to each other."
"We do not know why we feel this way," Legolas picked up the thread now. "But we have decided that we aren't going to fight it anymore. That is if you'll allow us into your life."
Two pairs of hopeful eyes looked at her as she sat up, drawing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. Looking between the two elves that had made her dreams a less lonely place to go, she was filled with longing to accept the love that was being offered, but still she held back, unsure of herself, unsure that she should accept them and allow them to go through the times she felt were coming ahead with her. Sensing her unease, Strider gently rubbed her back in soothing circles and shifted a bit further away to give her some room to breathe.
"We can explore this as slow as you would like, Natasha. We never want to hurt you."
Natasha nodded, closing her eyes as Nigel sensed her unease.
((Something wrong, Tas.)) he asked sleepily.
((No, Nigel.)) she smiled, realizing she wasn't lying. ((Go back to sleep.))
"We should go back to the House." Strider repeated Legolas' earlier suggestion, taking Natasha's silence to be rejection and standing, only to be stopped when she laid a hand on his arm.
"Not just yet, I think." she said in a lower, more intimate tone as she leaned in to kiss the ranger.
This time when their lips met, Natasha put enough pressure behind it that the bristle of his beard didn't tickle her cheeks and she sighed as Strider pulled her closer to him, his hands pressing gently, but firmly on the small of her back to keep her steady. She sighed as he deepened the kiss, his tongue gently seeking entrance, which she willingly gave and their tongues danced.
Reaching blindly beside her, Natasha searched for Legolas, tugging him gently closer to her and Strider and wrapping his arm around her waist so he wouldn't feel left out. He caught the hint immediately and began pressing kisses to her neck and nuzzling her hair, breathing in her scent deeply while Strider pressed her back against him. Together they held her up between them, occasionally breaking off their attentions to her, to enjoy some themselves, but always they caressed her arms and back, sending delightful shivers down her spine and throughout her body before the tingles finally settled between her legs.
"I can see this is going to take some thinking." Natasha mused out loud, when Strider finally released her mouth to join Legolas in kissing her neck, occasionally nipping at her ears and shoulders.
"Oh? How so?" Legolas murmured, his hands caressing her arms before stealing around her waist to cradle her more firmly against his chest.
"Well for one, I prefer to see the person, or people I'm kissing. But I only have two arms."
"Indeed. Well, we do know how to take turns, my dear." Strider and slyly, and Natasha quickly found her back to Strider's chest with Legolas leaning over her, caressing her hair and kissing her breathless.
They continued for some minutes In this new position, with Strider leaning over her shoulder to kiss Legolas and get an odd-angled kiss from her. Heat rose in Natasha's body as their hands roamed over her arms, sides and back, but staying well within, what she would have called back in high school, the 'make-out' lines.
'Man they're good at this.' Natasha thought as another set of tingles rushed through her body. 'And they feel so good this close. I wonder…'
((I do not need to hear that!)) Nigel shouted at her, making her jump, breaking the moment she had been enjoying.
((Well then don't eavesdrop!)) she shouted back at him while Legolas and Strider watched her with concerned looks. ((How long have you been listening anyway?))
((Long enough.)) her twin grumped.
"Natasha? Were-?" Strider asked, finally realizing that she was talking to her brother.
"No I was not talking to Nigel the entire time." Natasha snapped, but quickly calmed down with a deep breath. "Sorry. He was just eavesdropping and didn't like what he heard. Guess he can't handle hearing some of the thoughts he subjects me to when he's with someone, coming from me."
((I can too! Just not when I'm trying to sleep!)) Natasha chuckled before placing a thin block between them, so that Nigel could get back to sleep but still sense her. And so that she could enjoy whatever else happened that night, without interruption.
Chuckling at Natasha's explanation, Legolas and Strider stood and stretched sore muscles, then helping Natasha to her feet.
"It is just as well, I suppose." Legolas sighed. "Lord Elrond aside, I don't think Gandalf would appreciate us keeping his apprentice out all night, when she should be recovering her strength."
Chuckling, they returned to the House, several times stopping to claim kisses from each other until they made it to Natasha's chambers. There, Legolas and Strider each took their time with their good-night kisses to Natasha, and she entered her room in a blissful daze, leaning against the door she'd just closed to steady herself. That night, as she climbed into bed, he heart was full and she couldn't wait to wake up in the morning, something she hadn't felt in a long time. She was asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillows, her dreams filled with love, happiness and possibility.