Cuil Eden

Thank you everyone for your comments! :) I'm really sorry for the long, long wait. This chapter is a bit shortish and also ends on somewhat of a cliffhanger, but at least I have already written two thirds of the next chapter. This time I really hope that I can make up for the long wait by posting chapter 74 soon as well. :)


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73

“Either you take him home with you now, or we will leave so that you are undisturbed,” Eithellin said, her voice warm with amusement.

Legolas heard her speak, but found that the words made no sense, for Glorfindel's breath was ghosting against his throat so that he closed his eyes and moaned, his breath catching when Glorfindel nipped at the tender skin.

“He is truly very beautiful, Glorfindel. Beautiful, and sweet in his submission; you are a man to be envied. But there is no need to show off your good luck any more than you must. Why do you not take him back to your bed?”

Daerthón came up towards them and rested a hand on Glorfindel's shoulder, shaking his head in gentle admonition though he winked at Legolas.

"Or if you want to stay here, we can make certain that you remain undisturbed...?"

Legolas forced himself to resist the temptation of simply surrendering to Glorfindel. He knew how little it would take to make his Lord accept the offer - another moan from him, a sigh, even a single look - but with what little of his reason was left to him under the onslaught of Glorfindel's sensual might, he realized how potentially embarrassing it might be to remain in this room with Glorfindel, while Eithellin and her husband knew exactly what they were doing.

When he was close to Glorfindel like this, so securely under his spell that he would truly do almost anything to have his Lord touch him, there was no more thought of embarrassment - yet a hint of Legolas' natural modesty still remained.

"Your bed, my Lord...?" he breathed, eyes dark and unfocused with desire, his lips swollen from Glorfindel's kisses, gleaming wetly in invitation.

Glorfindel hesitated for a moment, breathing heavily as if he had been running while he stared at the tempting vision of the youth before him.

"I do not know if I can make it to our bed," he admitted hoarsely. "Not when you keep looking at me like that."

Another kiss to bruise Legolas' lips and make him moan with yearning and surrender, and then Glorfindel stepped back, unsteady on his feet as if he had partaken of strong wine.

"The things you make me want to do to you..."

“Oh, do tell us more!”

The familiar drawl broke through the haze of desire so that Legolas' eyes widened and he half turned, wanting to groan in embarrassment and exasperation.

Haldir. Of course it was Haldir. Was it not always Haldir, who seemed to have an unfailing sense of when it would be most inopportune for him to appear...?

“Had I known I would meet you here, and in such a state – why, I would have made certain to come earlier. What a fascinating view this is! Are you going to give us a demonstration of your many talents, Lord?”

When Haldir completely entered the small room, Ellonúr followed behind him, dressed not unlike Legolas in a flimsy shirt and loose breeches. Legolas tried to not let his feelings show, though he feared that like so many other times, he was not very successful. Haldir was intimidating at the best of times – though there had been the last evening, and Legolas wanted to squirm at the memory of what he had called Haldir. Had he truly called him kind, and noble? And would Haldir use it to mock him now?

“To chance upon you here – well, I am not surprised. Did you come looking for inspiration, or have I already missed all the entertainment?”

“We did not come to entertain anyone, least of all you. Though in a way, you did miss the entertainment.” Glorfindel's eyes were heavy-lidded and aglow with equal parts satisfaction and unveiled lust. He slid an arm around Legolas' waist, possessive and openly gloating as he stood before Haldir and Ellonúr, too affected by the erotic tension their entry had disturbed to care about how Ellonúr might feel at this display.

And at the moment, it did not seem as if Ellonúr was in any situation to care about the one who had supplanted him in his former lover's regard...

Ellonúr's gaze had been turned downward as they entered the room, but when he looked up his eyes were just as dark, as lost in pleasure as Legolas had been.

Legolas bit back a gasp, flushing a little with embarrassment as he could not help but wonder just what Haldir had done to bring that expression to Ellonúr's face. His own nipples still ached, adding to the erotic tension of the situation, and he felt breathless and weak; utterly helpless to whatever Glorfindel planned to do with him.

“Did I?” Haldir murmured. “Well, well... He does look a little excited. Did you try out Daerthón's wares on his skin? That would be a pity to have missed.”

His eyes were dark and intense too, so that Legolas shivered when meeting his gaze, despite their easy camaraderie just a day past. Yet Haldir's smile was lazy, replete as a cat after the hunt, so that Legolas felt himself blushing and looked away again, uncertain and unsettled by the strange current in the air.

“If you truly desire to know...” Glorfindel laughed softly, so that Legolas shivered again when his Lord's breath gusted against his ear. “I must admit that I am eager to show off my handiwork. And who would not be, with something so beautiful to unveil?”

Legolas felt light-headed when Glorfindel's fingers undid the first button of his shirt. He knew what his Lord was doing, and the thought of being bared to Haldir like this... It frightened him. It excited him. He could barely think anymore, and Glorfindel undid more and more buttons, until he could part the shirt and let Haldir see for himself how he had marked Legolas.

There was silence for a moment, and Legolas, who did not dare to raise his face to see Haldir's reaction, had to bite back a moan when his Lord brushed against a hot, throbbing nipple as if by accident.

"My, my... Now that is a surprise. It seems that we did indeed miss something worth watching."

Legolas could not help it, he felt his face heat even more when he at last dared to meet Haldir's eyes again. "Would you have liked to watch?" he heard himself saying, then froze with embarrassment and surprise at his daring.

"How can you doubt it? I am certain it was an...inspiring sight. Did you cry out? Or did you just allow your Lord to do whatever he pleases to you, so sweetly obedient that from anyone else I would think it but an overdone act?"

"Jealous?" Glorfindel laughed, one of his fingers delicately circling a pierced nipple again so that Legolas' breath grew more labored. "He was indeed as obedient as I could ask for today. He earned himself a reward..."

Legolas moaned softly, almost out of his mind from the light touches Glorfindel kept teasing him with, though at his Lord's next words, he was quickly returned to soberness.

"What sort of reward would you choose for him, Haldir?"

Haldir smiled slowly and came closer, until Legolas pressed closer against his Lord, feeling small and crowded caught between these two men, each of whom embodied power and raw desire in his own unique way.

"An interesting question. What reward would I give him, if I were you? I can think of a few things... Maybe I would mark him as mine in yet another way, with whip or cane, giving him welts to match his beautiful jewelry. Or I would allow him to use that pretty, pretty mouth to please me - does he enjoy that? I think he does," Haldir mused while Legolas felt his cheeks heat to an even darker red, well aware that his reaction told Haldir all he needed to know.

"But as I do not share his predilections, let us ask someone who has a more innate understanding of what might please your little prince. What do you think, Ellonúr? What sort of reward would you choose if you were Legolas?"

Legolas forgot to breathe for a moment when he felt Ellonúr's gaze come to rest upon him. Ellonúr disliked him, he was well aware of that - and after yesterday, he knew exactly what his Lord's former beloved thought of him. A child who knows nothing of love, not worthy of someone like Glorfindel...

But for once, Ellonúr surprised him. There was no derision, or even any trace of dislike on his face when he looked at Legolas. Instead he looked... he looked like Legolas thought he himself must look. Eyes dark and unfocussed with pleasure, or lust, lips swollen and moist as if Haldir had kissed him before they entered...

Legolas swallowed when he realized that he had moistened his own lips, yearning for another kiss himself.

"You already gave me what I most desired, master," Ellonúr said, and there was a breathless timbre to his voice. "The marks of a whip, wielded by your hands. It is the reward I would ask for, though I do not know if it would please the prince as much as it pleased me." He closed his eyes and swallowed, shivering slightly when Haldir passed a hand along his back.

"Glorfindel is a master in that, as in so many other things," Haldir agreed, his smile widening in satisfaction at Ellonúr's reaction. "It would make a fine reward. Bearing your mark on his skin for the days to come. Or perhaps something more immediate - more personal, like your hand on his skin? But that does not leave welts as a whip does, and certainly your little prince would look very fine with red welts on that fair skin. Do you not think so, Ellonúr?”

Haldir did not allow Ellonúr time to answer, but followed Glorfindel's example in quickly stripping him of his shirt. Beneath, Ellonúr's skin was marked by angry red welts that covered his entire back, and Legolas gasped when Haldir took his own hand to place it on Ellonúr's skin.

The whip marks where hot beneath his touch, and Legolas trembled, feeling frightened not because of what Haldir had done to Ellonúr, but how it made him feel. Legolas had denied that he wanted pain; he had denied that he wanted to be punished. Yet at this moment, he felt faint and small and helpless, and he only knew that he wanted.

He wanted...

He wanted Glorfindel. He wanted to belong. He did not want to doubt, to fear, to be forced to battle himself all the time, and heat rose inside him with the impact of lightning. Hurt me, a part of him begged Glorfindel silently, while another part of him trembled with his hand still on Ellonúr's skin.

Haldir looked at him, yet he did not say a word. There was no need; Legolas saw the heat in his gaze and knew that he understood. He felt like a small animal cornered by wolves, helpless and shivering, and when Glorfindel's arms came around him, he almost cried out in shock at the sudden touch. He felt like a taut bowstring drawn until it would burst, and at last it seemed that Glorfindel felt pity for him.

"Enough," he murmured and drew Legolas tightly against him, one hand sliding down Legolas' chest to cover his rapidly beating heart. Glorfindel's voice was taut as well, and Legolas opened his mouth in a silent moan when he felt his Lord hard and ready against his buttocks. "Enough, Haldir. He is young still; I will not whip him here for your entertainment. Had you shown more compunction earlier, I might have invited you to visit us this eve, but now you will have to earn such a privilege. Another time..."

"But you will whip him?"

Legolas whimpered at Haldir's words, but not from fear but something more, something that made him feel lightheaded and reckless.

Glorfindel smiled against Legolas' neck. "He is young yet, and inexperienced," he repeated as if to tease Haldir. "Do you know that the worst I have done to him yet was to use my belt? I shall not whip him, not now, though the thought is tempting. But there are other ways to leave my mark on his skin. Mayhap I shall let you find out for yourself tomorrow... Or mayhap I won't let you satisfy your curiosity at all."

Haldir gave Legolas a slow, appreciative look, his gaze lingering on the newly-pierced nipples until Legolas wanted to squirm. "I showed you my own little pet - let Legolas touch him, even. Are you certain you do not want to return the favor?"

"I repeat, Haldir, stood you higher in my good graces..."

Glorfindel did not end the sentence, and Legolas thought of Haldir's hand tracing the welts on his skin which his Lord would be certain to leave. He felt unsettled, and not because he remembered the day when Haldir had first touched him in such a humiliating, intimate fashion. The thought of his Lord showing him off as Haldir was showing off his own handiwork on Ellonúr's skin was arousing him with such an intensity that he almost felt frightened of the desire that heated his skin and threatened to sweep away all inhibitions. Then Glorfindel touched him teasingly between his legs, and Legolas whimpered and closed his eyes. He, too, was erect, and he tried to press himself against his Lord's hand beseechingly, almost wild with need.

"Oh, he is lovely!" Haldir's voice was hoarse, and when Legolas opened his eyes with another hot blush, he found that Ellonúr had been allowed to turn around again and was gazing at him with heated intensity.

"Are you not sorry now for how badly you behaved yesterday?" Haldir's voice was silk, and then threat. "You have not yet apologized."

Ellonúr fell to his knees without a word of protest, and Legolas' eyes were wide with uncertainty and confusion to have his Lord's former lover kneeling before him.