Chapter 3: Misread Signals
WARNING! Mature content to follow in this chapter. it is only suitable for adult readers. Please be respectful!
Lily awoke the next day to the gentle shaking of Gandalf.
"Come my child, it is time to move on." He said with a gentle smile on his wise old face. A look of concern quickly replaced his smile as he saw how ragged and tired young Lily looked. She could not meet his gaze as she rose up.
Immediately she could feel a pair of eyes fixed on her from across the camp, and she didn't need to see them to know whose they were. Gandalf looked behind Lily and then back into her morbid face, he could gather something had not gone well the night before.
"Come come, child, we have a long ride ahead." He said, ushering her to her horse. Lily mounted her horse in silence, and rode beside Gandalf in the back of the troop. After a while, Gandalf decided he had to investigate what had caused such bitterness between the two, and rode to the front beside Thorin.
After riding silently for a while, and casting dubious looks at Gandalf, Thorin finally spoke in low, threatening tones,
"Why did you bring her with, Gandalf? Was your plan to tempt me off my road to my family's gold? To turn me off of my quest, was that it?" Thorin asked, his eyes blazing as he looked fiercely up at Gandalf,
"Master dwarf, you forget yourself! I have brought Lady Lily along because she is yet to play a big role in your fate-"
"Enough of my fate!" Thorin roared. "I am in control of my fate, not some wench of man!" He said in a lower tone, but still audible by the others. He then rode ahead gruffly with his pony.
Gandalf puffed in frustration at the stubbornness of the dwarf king. He then turned to look behind him at the sullen face of young Lily. Deciding that trying to coax anything out of Thorin would be a waste of time, he went back to his former companion.
She looked defeated, her head low beneath her hood. Gandalf watched her with worry,
"My dear girl, someone of such a noble house has no reason to hang their head so low." Gandalf said in a cheerful tone, trying to get Lily out of her dark cloud. She merely raised her eyes, and looked sadly at Gandalf.
As a rain storm poured overhead, Gandalf went to converse with Bilbo for a while. Thorin could not help himself, he cast glances over his shoulder at the red cape. She did not look ashamed in that moment, rather, she looked...sad. Thorin shook this thought out of his head. She had rejected him. He roughly turned forward again and rode on.
Finally they reached an area by the foot of a mountain, where Thorin announced,
"We will camp here for the night. Bombur, get a fire going, we're hungry."
Lily rode into the camp site, and saw the ruined farmer's house. It did not bode well, and she saw from Gandalf's face that he felt the same. She sat near the dwarves in silence as they prepared dinner, watching Gandalf and Thorin speaking together in the ruins. After what looked like yet another disagreement, Gandalf stormed off into the woods. As Lily looked back at the ruins she locked eyes with Thorin, and a searing pain shot through her, forcing her to look down.
Suddenly Thorin began to doubt his earlier, hasty judgement of Lily. Could he have been wrong? No, now was not the time to doubt himself, he had a quest to complete, and did not need any unnecessary drama from a woman.
As the night drew on, Bilbo handed Lily a bowl of the warm stew. She smiled thankfully at the friendly hobbit, and ate in silence,
"What happened? Can I help at all?" He asked softly, kindly. Lily merely shook her head, and smiled sadly at Bilbo. He did not like seeing her in such distress, and yet, he noticed the king was distressed too. Was there some quarrel?
He had no time to think on it as Bofur asked him to go and give Fili and Kili their dinner by the ponies. Off he went, leaving young Lily in silence. Lily then sat in utter isolation, the other dwarves all sat around the fire, laughing merrily. Thorin moved in closer and sat on a rock not far from Lily, merely observing her. She still would not meet his eye. Just as Thorin began to open his mouth Fili and Kili came running down from the hills calling for help. Trolls!
Lily looked around sharply, she knew trolls were no good, and if they had poor Bilbo he would be lost! Thorin sprang up from his rock and started barking orders,
"Get your weapons, we must get our burglar back! We will attack from all sides, no mercy!" He shouted, and off the heavy-set dwarves ran into the darkness. Lily sat in bewilderment for a moment, she was alone. Her head suddenly raced, even with all their strength, they might not beat the trolls. She had to find Gandalf!
Lily got up and ran down the hill into the forest. She knew Gandalf well from when she was a child, he would be near water, most likely under a tree, smoking his pipe. She ran along the lower river for quite some time until she came upon the old wizard.
"Trolls!" She said breathlessly, "They've got Bilbo, and the others all went to help, but I fear they may need more help than they bargained for!"
Gandalf jumped up from his place with wide eyes, and began to run in the direction of the camp,
"Quickly my child, show me where they are!" Gandalf said in a booming voice.
Lily ran swiftly back up the path she had come. As they moved quickly back towards the camp Gandalf broke the silence,
"My child, you must tell me what had happened between you and Thorin last night." His tone was gentle, but worried.
"I do not wish to discuss it, it is none of your business!" Lily said, in a tone of defense.
"If it causes problems amongst you, it could ruin this entire quest. You must tell me so we can smooth things over!" Gandalf demanded.
Lily was silent for a moment before she opened her mouth with some effort,
"He...he followed me. Into the forest, after you left. He was yelling at me, demanding to know if I was with them or not. I...yielded, and he..."
Gandalf glanced at her from the side. So it was true, things were already falling into place quickly, but what had gone wrong?
"And then my child? What happened?" Gandalf pressed on, trying not to seem overly curious.
"After...we lay together, his expression suddenly changed, he withdrew from me, he would not meet my eyes, he turned his back to me, Gandalf!" Lily quickly burst out, fresh tears brimming.
"Did you say something to offend him? What did you do? Gandalf asked in confusion.
"Nothing! I did nothing, I said nothing, he just...recoiled..." Lily said, trailing off into silence.
"My dear child, he must have seen an expression on your face that he mistook for something else. He is very suspicious, and hasty to judge." Gandalf said finally, "No matter my child, that is easy to remedy, if he would only agree to speak with you."
At that moment they approached a light in the hills. They could hear the trolls speaking. Lily slipped in amongst some bushes and saw all the dwarves tied up, and the trolls tending the fire. Bilbo was trying to buy time. As Lily looked around she saw Gandalf running to find a location from which to best get the light of the sun.
Thorin felt eyes on him, and suddenly turned to see Lily hiding in the bushes. A wave rushed over him of joy to see her, and sadness that he could not express it. She raised a finger to her lips, and pointed to a large boulder not far from her. Thorin nodded in confirmation. Lily then disappeared from sight, causing Thorin to scout the surroundings, he could not see her anymore.
In that moment, Gandalf climbed upon the rock Lily had indicated and bellowed,
"You fools! Dawn take you all!" With that, he cracked the rock in two, allowing sunshine to stream in and the trolls turned to stone.
Lily had gone back down the hills, as fast as she could, to the camp site. She dared not wait and see what came next. They were now safe. She paced backwards and forwards at the camp site until the dwarves began to make their way back down. Thorin was at the head of the group. His pace was fast, and he was heading right for Lily,
"YOU!" He bellowed at her, "A word!" He demanded.
Lily turned slowly, her eyes closed, to face the king. She opened them slowly and tried to calm her features of the turmoil within. Thorin walked past her and into the woods, indicating with his hand to follow.
"Why did you recoil from my touch so when we lay together last night?" Thorin demanded, turning sharp on his heel, facing her in all his might. There was a venom in his tone, but Lily could recognize pain behind it, for she had that same tone herself.
"I did not my lord! You recoiled from me! I know not what you thought I had done, but I was rejected by you!" She burst, clutching at her chest, trying to hold back tears,
"Never had I felt so used!" She yelled at the dwarf king. Her answer shocked him, and he quickly recovered,
"But your expression! It was shame!" He bellowed, "Was I that disgusting to you, that as soon as you were sated you felt purely shamed at the thought?" He yelled, trembling with anger.
"No, my lord! There was no shame! I...I had not felt anything like that before. I did not know what to feel!" She admitted, her knees felt weak and she leaned against a tree for support.
Thorin's expression changed, "So you were not...disgusted by me?" He asked, in a deep, searching tone.
"No, my lord, never..." Lily said, in a soft tone.
Thorin paced back and forth, his eyes casting wildly about as he digested this new information. He had been wrong. His pacing abruptly stopped, and he turned to face Lily, now leaning heavily against the tree trunk with her back.
"Look at me." He said in a low, deep tone.
Lily hesitated only a moment, then raised her eyes to meet his. After a moment he began to slowly approach her, searching her eyes. There was no shame, he saw that now, only sadness. The realization that she did indeed feel the same as he did that night overcame him.
He slammed his hand into the trunk beside her head, to which she turned her head and squeezed her eyes shut. His breathing was ragged and shallow,
"Look at me..." He said in his low rumble. Lily turned and looked him in the eyes this time without fear or hesitation. Thorin then captured her mouth in his intense kisses. He devoured her lips, massaged her tongue roughly with his own, his passion pouring into her. He groaned with his need for her, he had had no sleep the night before, dreaming of her, and wanting her again.
Lily's knees felt weak at his assault on her mouth. She had needed him so badly, her fitful dreaming the night before had left her feeling unsatisfied. Feeling her turn weak, Thorin took his other arm and grabbed her around her waist, holding her firmly. Lily wrapped her arms around his strong shoulders, and returned his kisses with ardent passion. He pinned her firmly against the tree with his body, making sure she could feel his pressure.
"I heard you calling for me in the night." Thorin admitted, "I did not believe that you actually could want me. Call me now, as you did then." He rumbled into her neck.
Lily gasped at the request, her eyes closing shut, "Thorin...!" She gasped.
Without hesitation, the dwarf king lifted his lover and carried her into a soft patch of grass. He lay her down gently and quickly exposed her breasts. His strong thumbs massaged the hardened peaks, causing her to moan, followed by his mouth latching on and doing lazy circles around them. He kissed and sucked on them with such abandon, that Lily's head rolled from side to side, moaning with pleasure. His strong hands kneaded and massaged the pale lumps, enjoying their feel tremendously, just as Lily enjoyed his touch.
Her moans only made his need greater. He swiftly moved one hand up her thigh and pulled down her undergarments with a rough tug. He pushed up her hem gruffly, and sent a probing finger into her folds. The warm moisture welcomed him, and told him she had been waiting for him. He quickly undid his belt, and lowered his trousers, his manhood sprung forth, jerking every so slightly, and Lily's breathing became shallow as she saw the source of her pleasure.
She lay back into the grass, arching her back to expose her breasts more, to urge Thorin on, she wanted him. He did not need more invitation, as he slid easily into her warm folds, and began his violent rhythm again. Feeling him pounding against her, groaning with pleasure, made Lily succumb to her own passion. She moaned and sighed with a delicious pleasure. Thorin then captured her mouth again, unforgivingly invading her, his strong arms wrapped around her in a vice-like grip.
He ground deeply against her mound, causing her to moan louder. His rhythm was merciless, pounding fast and hard, then grinding hard and slowly. His sexual prowess was driving her to madness. Lily raised her hips to meet his battering, her need coming closer and closer to a head. Seeing her spiraling into her final release, Thorin moved faster and harder, he needed to feel her muscles clench around him again.
"Come for me, Lily, let me feel you..." Thorin said in a deep groan against her neck.
Feeling those familiar vibrations of his voice along with his unrelenting pounding gave Lily a shattering release,
"Oh, Thorin...!" She cried out. This was his signal to give in to his own release. He pounded hard into her, spilling his seed with a satisfied groan, before collapsing on top of her. He was heavy, with all that muscle, but Lily enjoyed his weight on top of her. It left her feeling safe.
Thorin then raised his head and began kissing her, more gently now, lovingly. She returned his kisses in the same fashion. They lay together for a while before going to the river and cleaning themselves. Each bathing the other between kisses. The lovers were content, at least for now.