For Ashfae

[shieldofrohan]

There is a sadness to being married, a sadness that has hung around all things since the war - a sadness that comes from faces that are not present, spaces that are not filled. Neither of them have parents, and she feels the void at Faramir's side, the shape of a brother she will now never know. She feels Theodred's absence likewise, and Theoden - how he would have loved to see her wed!

But for all that, she is happy. A new day has dawned on her, like spring from a hard frost. The scars on her arm and side have begun to fade, and some of the grief is lifting from her eyes. And now, as she steps inside the Steward's chambers - their chambers - there is only joy in her.

Joy, and a little nervousness. They have kissed, of course, and there is passion there she had only dreamed of ere he came into her life, but they have done little more than kiss. She has her honour, after all, and though she may trust him more deeply than she would ever have imagined, she will do this rightly, or not at all. So she has kept herself chaste, and though she knows not what experience he has - and will not ask - she knows she has none. Nor is she certain of how he will react to the scars she now bears - he knows that she has them, but has not seen more than the edges of the knots of pink-white scars that mar her fair skin.

No. She will not be nervous. She is the Lady of the Shield-Arm, she is the hero of Rohan, the killer of the Witch-King... yet when she turns to face him, she is only a young woman, her cheeks pink and her eyes shyly lowered, her stronger right hand anxiously smoothing the green and white silk of her wedding gown.

"So, my lord husband..." She smiles, worrying faintly at her lip. Husband has such a pleasing ring to it, in this moment. "It seems you have tamed yourself a maid of Rohan."

It feels she has been waiting for this moment for an age. And yet, now it is here, she is unsure what she can say that has not already been said, what she can do that will not overstep the bounds of this unfamiliar new relationship. He has ever been the one of them who can find the better words.

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[shieldofrohan]

She laughs, setting his shirt aside and letting herself be drawn against him. Her face turns up, and she presses another kiss to his jaw. "What a fine prince I have bought," she murmurs, tracing one hand down the curve of his clavicle, over his chest, and looks at him with sly amusement. "I pray he thinks as well of the bargain."

From her tone, she doesn't particularly doubt it. Yes, there is still lingering doubt about her scars, about the marks of the battle that broke them both - but she knows she is fair, and she knows that he loves her. No woman, she thinks, could look at the light in his eyes and the smile on his lips and doubt that he is happy with his bride. No woman could feel the lightness of her own heart and doubt that their joy in each other is well-founded.

Emboldened, she reaches up to loosen her own laces, meeting his eyes all the while. The gown she wears is heavy and elaborate, as befits a King's sister on her wedding day; when she lets it fall around her ankles and stands there in her fine, clinging shift, it is as if she has shed a too-tight skin. She feels she can breathe easier, even as her eyes scan his face to see his reaction - to the toned lines of her body, slender but not soft; to the press of her breasts against the thin fabric; and most of all, to the ugly knot of scar tissue that runs from below her elbow almost to her shoulder, fading now but still prominent.

[whattheydefend]

Holding and kissing Eowyn while only half-dressed is already a more potent experience than while clothed, especially as she is so willing to explore the skin she has revealed. Faramir sighs his contentment as her hand wanders over the planes of his chest, the lines of bone. If he had any doubts as to whether she would be pleased with what she saw, they are dismissed by the look in her eyes as she takes him in.

Then she pulls away to remove her gown, and his breath catches and his hands fist by his sides as each lace is undone and the heavy cloth slides off her shoulders and falls to the floor. She tries to hold his gaze but his eyes dart from hers to every inch of pale skin that reveals itself, to her flushed chest and back to her kiss-swollen lips, and the light in his eyes burns with desire as much as love. When she is clad only in her shift he moves forward again, placing his hands on her shoulders and sliding them down her bare arms, including the scar, taking all of her in. Instead of speaking he kisses her again, but instead of the hungry, laughing kisses of earlier, this one is slow, deep and scorching.

[shieldofrohan]

She is about to make another light, teasing comment - perhaps to ask him if he finds her fair, if she meets with his approval - but the heat of his kiss robs her of breath, and of her laughter. There is no room for joking in that kiss: levity would only scorch into banality in the light of that fierce desire.

Not only his desire, but hers, which is every bit as clear in her answering kiss. She lets her hands come to rest on his waist, and her eyes flutter almost closed; she sees him as a blur, from under her lashes. She can smell him, taste him, feel the heat of his mouth and of his skin... ai, is there anything sweeter?

Without breaking the kiss, she steps out of the pool of her gown, kicking it to one side. Normally, she would show greater care for an expensive garment, but now it, like everything outside of their embrace, is unimportant. Her hands shift on his waist, tracing back to his spine as she wraps her arms around him and shifts closer still; her body presses to his, and the touch of his skin on hers makes her tremble.

[whattheydefend]

She is not the only one who trembles, who has forgotten the world outside of their embrace. His arms wrap around her, gathering her in as close as he may. The fall of her hair brushes over his arms, and the thin cloth of her shift does little to hide the warmth of her. One hand slides up to cradle her head, the other drifts over her back, her side, her hip.

In one swift moment he stoops and lifts her, never once breaking the kiss they still share. She is not a small woman, but he still carries her easily, crossing the few steps to the bed and placing her gently on it, then joining her there, laying his body alongside hers, leaning a little above her.

Only then does he pull away, and only far enough to look into her eyes, his own features wondering and amazed. Gently he kisses her eyelids, her forehead, her cheek, the curve of her jaw and the slope of her neck, murmuring quietly in the Elven-tongue. No other could do her justice.

[shieldofrohan]

She gasps in surprise but lets herself be lifted, aids him in it by bringing one arm around his neck, her long and well-muscled legs coming up around his hips. She can feel his muscles shift under her as he carries her; can feel, too, the heat and press of his arousal. As he lays her down, she moans softly against his mouth, unwinding her legs from him with little care for how her shift has rucked up to the hips, barely covering her.

His kisses, his look of wonder, the words he speaks that she does not know... it feels like a dream, from which she never wants to wake. But the feel of the bedclothes under her and his body against hers, that is real. This is real. She smiles, wondering at the splendour of the moment, and arches her neck as he kisses it, her fingers trailing lightly across his shoulders and the nape of his neck.

[whattheydefend]

The little moan she utters fires through him like a burning arrow, and his thoughts focus to one aim: to make her sound like that again, and again, and more so. He scrapes his teeth lightly against the delicate skin of her throat, nips slightly where neck meets shoulder, pushes the glorious fall of her hair away from her ear and explores there, nuzzling and nibbling and kissing.

His free hand moves over all the bare skin he can find, her chin and neck, shoulder and arm, sliding down her side to her hip and back--and then, daring further, over her shift, as he runs his palms over the swell of her breasts. His own breath draws in sharply at the feel of those curves.

He pauses at that, leans up and looks at her. "You will tell me, will you not, if I do aught you dislike?"

He trusts she will; Eowyn has ever been forthright, never one to refrain from speaking her mind. It is one of the things he most loves about her. But this situation is new for both of them, and he wishes to be certain.

[shieldofrohan]

She laughs, but it is not like her earlier laughs: this is throatier, deeper, as she takes the opportunity to steal another kiss from his lips. It does not linger, but there is still passion in it, a fire that only rises by the moment. Turning onto her side as she kisses him, she runs one foot up the side of his leg, and smiles.

"I will tell thee," she promises, and runs a fingernail lightly down his spine. Her other hand comes up to cover his, pressing it a little more firmly against her breast. Again she laughs, her breath whispering warmly against his cheek. "And I dislike that you have stopped, husband. Since you ask."

She draws back a little, biting her lip, her eyes meeting his. Her pale skin is flushed and her chest heaves against his hand, heat all but baking off her.

[whattheydefend]

He draws in his breath sharply as she uses her nails on him, his eyes darkening, and his answering chuckle is low and amused. "I pray you will forgive me, my lady wife," he murmurs, moving his attentions to the other side of her neck for a few moments. It is more awkward from this position, so he does not linger, but when something is pleasing on one side it's always wise to repeat it on the other. "Let me make amends."

She's made her wishes clear and he's quick to obey, stroking her breast with more firmness, rubbing his thumb over the nipple and then pinching it slightly, ever attentive to how she moves under him, how her breathing changes, any signs of what pleases her. It is the sweetest research he has ever done.

And then hands are not enough and he moves his mouth down her chest, lips brushing against her collarbone, and looks up at her with something like mischief in his eyes before covering her still-clothed breast with his mouth, sucking until the cloth is soaked, so that when he switches to the other is clings to the nipple. He replaces mouth with hand once more, then abruptly raises himself up so that he might tug the shift upwards. "Let me see you. All of you."

[shieldofrohan]

She needs little encouragement. Arching up off the bed, she helps him to tug her shift up and off, shivering as the wet fabric peels away from her taut nipples. Tossing it aside, to lie in a pool of fine linen by the bed, she lies back as naked as the day she was born, looking up at him from under her lashes.

Her body is not as toned as it once was; she's recovered most of her strength, but not all the years of hard work. Still, the muscle is clear under her skin, her thighs hard and belly flat. The scarring mars her ribs all down one side, a patchwork of damage that puckers the skin of her breast on that side, all radiating outwards from the still-dented spot where the Witch-King's mace struck.

But she is no longer thinking about that. She is thinking, rather, about the look in Faramir's eyes, and how she longs for him to suck on her like that again, now without the restriction of cloth between them. Her hand comes up to trace his cheek, and she smiles, moving her legs together in a way more meant to draw attention to the coarse-haired mound between them than to hide it.

"Now you see me, my lord." She traces her thumb over his lip, meeting his eyes. "Does it please thee?"

As if she really needs to ask.

[whattheydefend]

His mouth is dry as he stares at her, the look in his eyes equal parts love, desire, and something like worship. When she cups his cheek he covers her hand with his, turns his head to kiss her palm, as he tries to find words for a sight that leaves him wordless. "In all my life, in all the places I have ever been and all the books I have ever read, I have never seen nor even imagined anything so beautiful as you."

He kisses her palm again fervently, then moves his mouth down and kisses her wrist, before letting her hand go in order to bend over her and take her mouth again. He wraps an arm around her waist to pull her against him so they can lie barechested together, body heat mingling. It also means she can feel plainly the hard length straining almost painfully against his breeches, further evidence of how much he longs for her.

[shieldofrohan]

She laughs, but it comes out low and thick, strangled by her own wonder at the look in his eyes and the warmth in his voice. All her life she has been called fair, but never has she felt it as she does now, with the heat of his body against her and the heat of his mouth on her skin.

And then that mouth covers hers again, and she arches against him, thoughts of her own beauty forgotten in her enjoyment of his, of the hard muscle that shifts under her palm as she runs her hand down his back, and the soft fall of hair that tickles her throat. Her hand runs flat and warm down the curve of his spine, onto his backside, and she leans gladly into his kiss, her tongue pressing into his mouth.

[whattheydefend]

He groans into the kiss, helpless to hold it back and truthfully not making the attempt, for her tongue is a heated brand in his mouth, and she is pressed so close against him, her hand leaving fire in its wake as it skims down his back. He had not realized, when poets wrote of lovers burning together, that they spoke so truly.

He uses the arm wrapped around her to pull her on top of him, rolling onto his back, delighting in the feel of her weight on top of him, of her warm and willing in his arms. His hands wander over the curves of her, hips and thighs, then settle on her ass, cupping her buttocks firmly. He can't help but roll his pelvis up against hers, and the friction combined with the echo of the act to follow makes him groan again, and he must break off the kiss in order to catch his breath for a moment.

Looking into her eyes, he strokes one hand back up along her spine, then brushes a finger wonderingly against her face, part of him still amazed that he is able to do so, that she permits it, welcomes it. That any of this is real rather than a fever dream.

[shieldofrohan]

When he rolls his hips against hers, the press of his erection hard against her, Éowyn cries out, low and wondering. She shifts on top of him, instinctively, to kneel as she straddles him, her body curving up against his, breasts pressing soft and taut against his bare chest.

She gives him a scarce moment to catch his breath, to trace the line of her jaw - then quickly finds his mouth again, kissing him hard and passionately, with all the thirst of a woman lost for an age in the desert. One hand comes up to touch the hand against her face, to caress the soft skin inside his wrist, and then she slides it down between them, slowly but with purpose, towards the place where his cock strains against the cloth that binds it. To kiss, to embrace... these things are good, but they have waited so long already for this night, that now it is hard not to long for the wild and immediate.

[whattheydefend]

One hand stays on her face, cradling it gently, as though she were the most precious creation in all of Arda--as he would swear she is. His other hand explores, stroking the curve of her hip, the flat plane of her back, her shoulderblades. He threads fingers through her hair before pushing it to the side that he might scrape his nails lightly down her spine, seeing how she reacts to this sharper touch.

But her own hand is wandering, and blessed Valar, that is a sweet distraction. He pauses his own attentions as she draws nearer to his waist, breaking their kiss and raising an eyebrow at her. "We are unequally armored, lady." His voice is hoarse, stretched taut with anticipation. "Would you have me amend that, or do you wish to tend to it yourself?" He reaches down to join his hand to hers in thumbing at his waistband, eager to remove the last obstacles between them.

[shieldofrohan]

She arches and shudders at the scrape of his nails, her breath catching, and smiles at him. There is a teasing kind of coyness in that smile, in the glitter in her eyes.

"Is it not a wife's duty to attend her lord?" Her voice is light, but there is a throatiness behind it too, a thrum of desire that is not overwon by humour. Her fingers work their way to the fastenings of his leggings, fumbling blindly until she feels them loose. Then - not without some regret, for his warmth and the touch of his skin is a sweet and potent drug to her - she pulls away a little, shifting onto her knees to better undress him. Her eyes flick up to his face, and she smiles, then pulls his leggings off, not hurrying, enjoying this moment of revealing between them.

[whattheydefend]

Faramir had thought his patience tested by the past year of waiting. It is tested again now, more viscerally, as he watches her undo the laces and remove the last of his clothing, willing himself not to help or rush her. There is an anticipation to it, to all of this, but anticipation is beginning to pall compared to the reality. Already his hands miss her, already his skin misses her warmth and the weight of her, even though they have been separated for bare moments.

Even so he lies back, lifting his hips when needed, helping her work the leggings over his knees and ankles, his mouth quirking with amusement at the glint in her eyes and smile. She will have seen unclothed men before, he knows, in her healing work, but he does not know if she has ever seen one in...his present state. Dutiful indeed.

And then it is done, and there are no more barriers. Faramir leans up on his elbows, giving her an eloquent look. "Is it well?"

[shieldofrohan]

There is high colour in her cheeks, but no shyness now in her eyes as she gazes on him, drinking in the sight of him: her husband, with naught but air now between them, and soon enough not even that. Her tongue darts out, briefly, and she wets her lips, tossing his leggings thoughtlessly aside.

"Well indeed," she answers, and there is not only warmth in her eyes, but a smouldering heat and want. Her hand drifts, feather-light, back up his leg, tracing with a kind of wonder over the bare skin and the muscle beneath, and she shifts to kiss him again, her lips brushing the line of his jaw. Her hand, drawn by a fascination she will not fight, drifts higher still, hovering uncertainly a hair's breadth from his erect shaft, before with a little huff of self-conscious laughter, she presses her hand against it fully, exploring the feel of him.

[whattheydefend]

His eyes darken with want as her hand teases its way back up, and when she kisses him he returns it in force, even though most of his attention is still focused on her wandering hand. When it hovers above his cock, it twitches, leaping a little towards her palm.

When she finally closes her fingers around him he groans, his head falling back on the pillow, his hips moving upwards despite himself. "Éowyn--" It's more a gasp than a name, and he reaches for her face, his fingers tangling in her hair as he crushes his mouth against hers, kissing her with unrestrained hunger. If she wanted passion, it is hers, without question.

[shieldofrohan]

That passion kindles with hers, mingles and strengthens it. Their kiss is so hard as to be almost violent, and all the better for it, for the sheer ferocity of feeling. She doesn't answer his moaning of her name, except by pressing the kiss that little closer, her tongue now exploring his mouth without even a hint of uncertainty, even as her fingers explore the uncharted territory of his body.

Her thumb traces over the head, and she marvels at the change in texture, at the wetness beading at the tip, the way the skin moves under her hand. For all the fire in her kiss, there is a measuredness to the way her hand moves, taking in all she can, excitement tempered by curiosity. Her other hand comes down to join the first, tracing over the thin skin of his inner thigh and the coarse hair above it.

[whattheydefend]

The kiss is often broken by his gasping as her fingers wander over him, the touch measured, unhurried. It's wonderful and almost agonizing; he aches for more, he knows he should stop her lest this be over too quickly, but he wants her to never stop, he wants all of her, he wants...it has been rare in his life that Faramir has ever given himself up so completely to any personal longing, but now he entirely surrenders to it.

One hand keeps her head placed so that he can continue their bruising, desperate kiss, and the other reaches down, covers her hand with his around his shaft, shows her how firm to grip, how to stroke upwards, and as their fingers work together he finally breaks their kiss with a loud groan, leaning back with eyes closed, flushed and breathing hard. The hand that had clutched her head now presses against her back, pulling her to him in a hard embrace.

[shieldofrohan]

His excitement inflames her, her heart thundering in her chest as his hand covers hers, as he guides her between the warmth of his hand and the heat of his cock, as the soft skin of his shaft moves over the hardness beneath. She gasps for breath when he pulls away, her colour high and her eyes bright, and speeds her motions a little, revelling in her power to undo him, in the knowledge that it is her hand that draws those sounds from him, her acts that make his breath catch and his heart race.

Pulled against him, she kisses every part of him she can reach, lavishes kisses on his throat and jaw and shoulder, and between her kisses, she murmurs endearments in mixed Rohirric and Westron: ai, hjartað, ai, my love, my lord...

[whattheydefend]

He has thought about exactly this more than once, during the months leading up to their wedding, has lain in this bed touching himself and imagining it was her fingers, her mouth on his skin, her voice whispering to him, her hair caressing his chest from where it falls over her shoulder...oh, he has thought about this. But the reality is potent beyond anything he imagined, dangerously so, for he can feel the tide rising in him already, surging, and he longs to let it overtake him.

Reluctantly he returns his hand and lays it atop hers, this time stilling her fingers, slowly removing them and keeping them clasped hard in his own. "Not yet." The words are a hoarse murmur followed by a kiss on her hair, and he uses his other hand to take her chin and tilt her face back up for another slow, scorching kiss. "Not yet."

And then he laughs, twists under her and pushes her on to her back, drags his mouth from hers to her chin, the delicate skin of her neck, down her chest, trailing a line of kisses between her breasts. "My beloved, my bold shieldmaiden, my Éowyn..." There is laughter in his voice as he moves down, slow and deliberate, his hands following in the wake of his mouth, caressing and teasing.

"Surely you would not want me spent so soon..." His tongue dips briefly into her navel, and there he changes direction, moves back upwards and captures one breast in his mouth, laving and sucking, and only when the nipple is hard and pebbled and aching does he move his attention to the other, giving it the same treatment. One hand slides under her, splaying on her back, pressed to the sheets beneath them; the other continues its teasing route downwards, pauses to tug playfully at the darker, coarse curls between her legs, slides against her thigh and pushes just slightly, encouraging her legs to part. "Not when there is so much more yet to do." He looks up at her for a moment, his eyes twinkling with mirth and affection. "You know I am most attentive to all my duties."

[shieldofrohan]

Éowyn is not a woman much accustomed to being overpowered, and if she was ever asked, would have said it was the last thing she would ever want. But the boldness and surety with which he pushes her down, the strength with which he grips her hand, sets her heart racing even more, until she could swear it will burst out of her chest. It is more than she could have hoped, to have him hold her so, to feel his mouth trace the trembling skin of her belly, his hand drawing lines of fire on her pale chest.

And then it is his mouth that covers her breast, and, oh!, she had wondered how it might feel but never grasped until now just how different it would be to her own hand, to have his lips close on her nipple and his tongue trace that delicate skin. She stifles a cry, and fumbles a hand up to cup the back of his head, bites her lip at the exquisite intensity of sensation.

The hair between her legs is damp to the touch, and his little tug sends a delicious shiver through her; she delights in the anticipation, and needs little encouragement to spread her legs for him. Cool air brushes the sensitive skin inside her thighs, shivers over the mounting heat inside her.

"I would have thee never spent, Faramir," she tells him truthfully, and laughs - but the laugh seems to catch in her throat, turns husky and raw. "I would have us never leave this bed, even if it keep thee from all other duties. I would have thee linger and love and show me all thy husband's ways." She strokes her fingers through his hair, and when she meets his eyes, her own are heavy with lust, bright as burnished iron. "And at the same time, I would have thee delay no more, and fuck me here and now, for this is some sweet torture."

She blushes a little as she says it, unused to such coarse language, but if ever there was a time for it, that time is now - what else could express that raging desire in her to rut like a bitch in heat, make up for all this waiting by furious action, as if this were the last night as well as the first?

[whattheydefend]

Faramir is a scholar, and can speak some three or four languages. He's also a soldier, and can swear in at least six. His eyes widen at her choice of words, but not from shock or disapproval; instead it is mirth and satisfaction, that she is so impatient as to use words so base. Deliberately, he bends down and flicks the tip of his tongue over her nipple once more as she watches, then soothes the area with light, teasing kisses.

"Mm...it is torture, maybe, but I promise you that will make it all the better in the end." The hand on her thigh moves upward, cupping that mound of curls, pressing, before he gently parts her, dipping one finger in and running it over her slit. He finds wet heat there, and his eyes darken again at this evidence of the truth of her words, and he looks at her with renewed intensity. "So you must be patient a little while yet." His thumb joins his finger, searching for and finding the nub that he knows his the key to all her pleasure, and pressing it even as he bends his knuckle inside her. "Only a little."

[shieldofrohan]

That satisfaction on his face makes her smile, and she wets her lips, aware of her own coarseness and revelling in it. There is a transgreasive kind of thrill in knowing that she need not be a lady here, need not be genteel and dignified. He knew who it was he was marrying - and should know that Dernhelm, too, spent time around the soldiers' fire and heard how they talk.

She hums her approval as his hand cups her where no hand but her own has been, and she is opening her mouth to answer him, though she knows not what she will say, when the press of his thumb against her clit catches the breath from her lungs, makes her gasp and buck her hips, her head falling back. It is not so different a feeling to when she has touched herself thus - except that it is all the difference in the world to know that it is his calloused hand, not hers; that he can feel the swelling of her clit and the wetness against his hand; that she is open to him, and that he knows it.

It helps, too, that he has an angle that she has never managed for herself. She rakes her hair back out of her face and laughs, from sheer delight and wonder. Torture, yes, to wait - but with his clever fingers at work on her, what blissful torture this is!