Between Friends

“Friendship is Love without his wings” – Lord Byron

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The following morning they reached the southern boundary of their scouting territory and headed back toward Rivendell over the Misty Mountains. Legolas was again in the lead, avoiding Annowe’s eyes, afraid she might detect his ever-increasing desire for her and realize that he had taken to pleasuring himself to release the tension.

She sensed his aloofness and wondered if she had angered him by kissing him. It didn’t seem to upset him at the time but she couldn’t be sure. For what seemed like the hundredth time, she cursed her boldness and wished he would he would forgive her. She was more determined than ever to keep her feelings under control.

When she had apologized to him and asked his forgiveness he had insisted that there was nothing to forgive and she had believed him. But now he had grown cold and distant, plaguing her with thoughts that he was too shocked and upset by her behavior to confront her.

More than anything she wanted things to return to normal between them but feared that her kiss had ruined any chance of that happening. They had just begun to relax around each other when she stupidly allowed his beauty and sensual presence to overwhelm her good sense.

Adding to her sense of helplessness and frustration, a thick snow fell as they climbed the mountain. Unlike Legolas, Annowe could not walk on top of it but sank down to her knees in it, making for slow travel.

“Have I ever told you how much I hate the snow?” she asked him as she was slogging her way though a particularly deep snowdrift. Her feet and legs were nearly numb from the cold and she stumbled, exhausted and irritated.

Legolas grabbed her small wet hand and pulled her out of the drift.

“But it is just frozen water,” he told her mockingly. “You’re at home in the water, aren’t you?” He smirked and his dark eyes twinkled playfully.

She stopped in her tracks and gave him a look that would have frozen Mount Doom but he just laughed at her and walked away. He sensed her frustration and felt he was partly to blame. Certainly she could not discern his lustful thoughts. He was just being foolish.

Annowe was stunned by his sudden change. Perhaps he was not angry with her after all. Well, curse his hide for teasing me so cruelly! She thought, frowning.

“You hateful devil!” she hissed at him instead and threw a handful of snow at the back of his head, catching him squarely on the neck.

He stopped in his tracks and slowly turned around to look at her. The sight of her, half covered in snow with the color high on her cheeks and her eyes narrowed was completely endearing to him.

She drew herself up and puffed out her chest, placing both hands on her hips and scowling menacingly at him but her eyes were laughing.

“Am I supposed to be intimidated by this show of force?” he asked sarcastically, his lip quivering with the repressed smile. He desired nothing more at that moment than to scoop her up in his arms and carry her away.

She bit back her own smile. “If you had any sense, you would be, my pointed eared friend,” she threatened, her heart pounding in her chest with excitement.

He raised an elegant eyebrow at her and returned her volley of snow, hitting her in the chest.

She stared at him incredulously. “You realize that I am going to spank your behind for that,” she said and shook her finger at him as if talking to a disobedient child.

For an answer, she received another volley of snow in the chest. With a shout, she grabbed a handful of snow and hurled it at him. He ducked and the snow whizzed over his head. She threw another and then leaped at him, but he nimbly sidestepped her and she landed face down in the snow with a grunt.

“Now you’ve done it,” she warned – grasping for his leg in an effort to pull him down so she could stuff snow in his tunic.

“You have to catch me first,” he taunted, making a show of turning his back to her and walking slowly away, swishing his hips and tossing his flaxen head in defiance.

She grinned at the impressive view she had of his backside as he sauntered off before she slowly got to her feet and shook the snow from her clothes. For the next few hours she kept a close eye on him, plotting her revenge on the little monster.

But he managed to stay just out of her range until the sun began to set. He slowed down, searching for a place to spend the night. Suddenly she was upon him like a tigress, knocking him into the snow with a shout of victory and scrambling to hold his flailing arms and legs still so she could rub snow in his face.

He tried to roll away but she clung to him like a burr, pulling him back down into the snow and sitting on his chest. They wrestled for several minutes, he trying to escape from her clutches and she trying to stuff as much snow down his tunic as she could.

Her body squirmed against his as they wrestled and he thoroughly enjoyed the sensation. He had forgotten how physically strong she was despite her small size and it took most of his elven strength to keep her from succeeding in burying him in a snowdrift.

Wet snow covered hands flailed, legs kicked and bodies writhed as they tumbled over each other, each trying to gain the upper hand. Legolas could feel Annowe’s hot breath on his neck and he shivered involuntarily, sending a jolt of lust through her body.


Finally, she managed to roll him over onto his side, pinning one of his arms beneath him and rendering him vulnerable to her efforts to fill his tunic with snow. Her legs squeezed his waist tightly in an effort to hold him still and he lessened his escape efforts to enjoy the feeling of being between her strong thighs.

It was just the opening she was looking for, instantly he felt her small snow covered fist thrust deep into his tunic and slap wetly against his bare skin. He howled with indignation and frantically struggled against her. She clung to him fiercely and laughed evilly at his predicament as he squirmed under her.

Slowly her eager hand slid over his supple chest as she withdrew it from his tunic, allowing her hand to linger there for a few moments. At her touch, he felt the now familiar tightness in his loins and his skin burned with unquenched pleasure. He shifted under her, trying to keep his arousal from becoming obvious to her.

Laughingly, he called a truce before he could become fully aroused and unable to be discreet about it. Her body was flat against his side now and he could feel her breasts heaving against his ribs as she panted from exertion. He closed his eyes and willed himself not to think of it.

Reluctantly, she released him slowly extracting herself from his vice like grip to sit near him. He rolled into a sitting position facing her, his body still aching from being so close with hers, even for such a short time. It was as close to physical intimacy as they had come and his body craved union with hers.

She was smiling smugly and he couldn’t help but grin back at her. Their excess energy and tension seemed to be released by their impromptu wrestling match and he was certainly glad. He had enjoyed it thoroughly on many levels and she seemed to be quite pleased and relaxed as well.

“I guess this is camp for the night?” she asked breathlessly, looking around to find shelter.

“There is a small cave just over this next rise,” he pointed in the direction of the setting sun. “I saw it earlier before you attacked me.”

They got to their feet and walked the short distance to the mouth of the cave.

“I didn’t ‘attack’ you,” she told him, plopping down on a rock inside the cave and trying to regain her breath.

“What do you call that, then?” he wondered, looking around for anything to start a fire with.

“Defending myself,” she said simply. “You mocked me and needed to be taught a lesson.”

He gave her The Look that few males could ever master, causing her to clap her hands and laugh with delight at him. The tips of his ears turned pink at her compliment and he turned away from her before she could see the longing in his eyes.

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