Adult-FanFiction.org : Lord of the Rings

Sleeping Beauty	By : SilentNiobe Category: -Multi-Age > Het - Male/Female Views: 6613 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own the Lord of the Rings (and associated) book series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 17
- 18
- 19
Author's Note: Yes, I am still alive. I came back from UK a few days ago and decided to have a week's break before I start writing my dissertation. I can only tell you life has been more than crazy and I hardly had time to eat and sleep... :-S But I got so many wonderful reviews and decided to finish this chapter and post it today, before the madness begins again. I'm afraid I won't be able to reply to any of them due to lack of time, but I have read each and every one of your reviews and will eventually reply to all of you; you are both my reason for writing and my reward. I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: See Prologue.
italics: thoughts
--italics--: flashback
Chapter 17 – Raining in Paris
“I think she just needs to get used to it. I mean, I didn’t freak out so much this time, I knew you were having a vision. But everything has happened so fast for her and she needs time to accept all this. She’s taken it pretty well, though, don’t you think? After all, she said she would take the week off before the full moon to come and help…”
Alice pinched the bridge of her nose and tried to fight off the building pressure in her temples. She never thought a love-stricken Johan could give her such mind-splitting migraines.
“Johan, I swear to God: one more word about Andrea and I’m going to throw you over this bridge and drown you in Seine myself!!”
“Jesus, why are you being so grumpy? It’s your own fault you aren’t dreaming of your elf Prince anymore!”
Johan watched the features of his cousin’s face acquire a sad hue, before she looked away to the river. That was a nasty hit below the waist. He hadn’t meant to snap at her, but she could be a little more excited about him and Andrea… She had been his first love and his moving to the United States had put an abrupt end to their relationship. Seeing her in London after a couple of years in the arms of her new boyfriend had torn him apart; he had ended up bedding one woman after the other to soothe his pain… Yet every time it was over, the emptiness inside him remained. But now he was given a second chance and oddly inspired by the sacrifice of the elf prince, he planned to do everything in his power to keep her beside him.
Alice had been right though; at least love had not blinded him so much as not to realize it. He hadn’t stopped talking about Andrea the whole week they had spent in Rome… on the plane to France… or ever since they had set foot in Paris last night… and it wasn’t really any help to his younger cousin.
“Okay, that was harsh. I’m sorry,” Johan said in a small voice and put his arms around his cousin.
Alice leaned her head back on his chest and let out a sigh.
“It’s okay, Johan, it’s the truth anyway.”
“Don’t say that, anyone would find it hard to believe… But I am really surprised he hasn’t appeared yet… I mean, he gave up too easily don’t you think? I would have tried a little harder…”
Alice smiled bitterly and shook her head.
“You cannot even imagine the pain he has been through, Johan. I felt it only for a few seconds and it was suffocating… He has been suffering alone all these years and nearly died of his broken heart… Then the spell makes him sleep for God knows how many years, only to wake up and endure more years like a living dead until I grew up, lost in a dark nothingness, alone with his thoughts, his pain, his memories… And when he finally gets his chance to meet the woman for whom he has gone through all this… when he gets a second chance at being happy… this woman tells him she is in love with another man and that he is nothing but a figment of her imagination… because she is so blind, and selfish, and stupid that she just ignores her heart screaming of the truth in his words…”
Johan turned his cousin around as her voice broke in the last sentence and took her face in his hands. Wiping her tears with his thumb, he gave her a small smile.
“But you are looking for him now. You are fighting for your love. You have travelled at the other side of the Atlantic to find him. Do not let this unreasonable guilt eat you up inside…”
“What if I’m late? What… what if he has faded away? I really don’t know how these spells work, Johan…”
“Ssshhh…He has not faded. I’m sure this Greyham will know more about the myth. Don’t cry, Freckles, I’m sure he’s alright… A little lonely maybe, but alright,” he finished with an encouraging squeeze of her shoulders.
Alice sighed and turned around to lean on the rock of the bridge again. She looked at the boats lazily treading the waters, tourists talking happily and taking pictures of the monuments. On the sides of the river, couples were strolling nonchalantly, holding hands and stealing kisses as the sun set over the capital of France and painted it with red and orange colors. Her eyes moved to the sky and for a while she just watched the black clouds approaching. It would start raining soon. What a strange summer.
“Do you miss him?”
Johan’s voice interrupted her thoughts and she looked down smiling.
“It’s weird, isn’t it? Technically, I know him for a week and I shouldn’t be struck so much by his absence. But then, these feelings… It’s as if they have always been there, you know? And the memories? The more I see, the more these feelings intensify… I feel as if I lost a vital part of my life and it doesn’t make sense, because we spent just a few nights together …”
Her voice trailed off and she furrowed her brows in thought. How was it possible? Why did his absence pain her so much when she had lived without him for practically all her life? Why did the memory of his touch unsettle her in such a way? Why did the thought of his taste make her feel like a starved animal? Why did the absence of his velvet voice make her so uneasy?
God, how I miss him…
The sound of her cell phone made her jump. It had been so long since the last time it had rung, that she had completely forgotten she even had one. She battled with the scattered things in her bag, until her hand came up with the buzzing object.
“Hello?”
“Thank God Alice!! Where the hell have you been?? I’ve been trying to call both you and Johan, but your cell phones were either turned off or out of network! We’re going crazy here!!”
Alice’s eyes widened at the sound of Jean’s worried voice practically screaming in the phone and she muttered a silent curse. She had completely forgotten to call her friends! Her parents had managed to reach her a couple of days ago… hadn’t they told her friends she would be staying longer than originally planned in Europe?
“God Jean, I’m so, so sorry, I got caught up with all this stuff about the myth…”
“The myth…? Wha-… You’re working?? Aren’t you in Germany??”
“Uh… we um… we had to fly to Paris with Johan to find this researcher... I’ll tell you all about it when I come back,” Alice bit her lip. How could she explain what was going on to her friends? She heard Jean sigh on the other side of the line.
“And when is that going to be?”
“I’ll probably need to stay for three more weeks…”
She held her breath and waited for the screaming to resume. However, there was only silence for a while, and when Jean started talking again she sounded surprisingly calm.
“Well, if it’s about Logan, I understand but… Has he… has he contacted you?”
Alice could tell by the hesitation in the voice of her friend what she referred to.
“It’s ok Jean, I know Logan moved out.”
“And… are you ok…?”
“Yes, I’m fine. I just need to take my mind off it for a while. That’s why I’m staying here longer than I planned.”
Johan looked at her pointedly. What? she mouthed back; what was she supposed to tell her friend over the phone? That she had to wait for the next full moon to wake up her elven Prince…??
“Alright, just… just give us a call once in a while… Everybody’s worried, Alice. Your boss called a couple of times as well. I’ll let him know you’ll be gone from work for another three weeks.”
Alice rolled her eyes. Her boss’s relationship with his computer was hopeless.
“Tell him to check his e-mails once in a while, I have already informed him of my whereabouts. Kiss everyone for me and don’t worry; seriously, I’ll be fine.”
“’Kay Alice. We all miss you.”
“Miss you too,” the red-head replied in a soft voice before hanging up. She met the stern look of Johan and put up a hand to stop him.
“Not right now Johan, I’m not in a good mood.”
“You have to tell them at some point.”
“I WILLtell them when I have actually something to say,” she replied with an annoyed tone and crossed her arms over her chest. “Why didn’t you remind me to call them, anyway?”
“Me? They’re your friends, not mine!”
The lightning in the sky followed by the deafening thunder ended their childish bickering effectively.
“I think we better get back to the hotel,” Johan muttered as he looked up at the black mass of clouds in the sky.
Alice nodded and they both started walking in a quick pace to the underground’s entrance across the road. The ten-minute ride was quiet, but the drenched people getting on the train after the third stop made them exchange a disappointed look: they wouldn’t make it back to the hotel dry.
They stepped off the train when it arrived at their stop and looked for the exit closer to their hotel. Once they reached it, they both let out a groan.
“Awesome,” Alice grunted in a sarcastic tone and looked at Johan. “Now what?”
“Now we get wet,” he replied with a challenging smile.
“Johan, it’s raining cats and dogs out there, there’s no way I’m-…”
Her sentence was cut off by the scream she let out when the heavy rain hit her. Johan was dragging her along with him as they run to their hotel in the wet chaos around them. Both sighed in relief when they reached the building, laughing as they walked in the carpeted lobby like a pair of drenched cats. Ignoring the stares they received, they stepped in the elevator, chests heaving and water dripping from their hair and clothes.
“That was so crazy!” Johan exclaimed in amazement and turned laughing at his cousin.
His laughter was cut by a groan, however, when he noticed his cousin had frozen and her eyes had started losing their focus.
“Not again…” he muttered, as he caught her before she sank to the floor and picked her up in his arms. At least her vision had found them inside the hotel.
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“I thought you promised you would not stay out so late again.”
The voice behind her caught her off guard and she whirled around, knife in hand, to protect herself from her unknown attacker. However, her wrist was gripped with inhuman speed inches away from the stranger’s throat and the musical laughter that spilled from his lips sounded too familiar.
“You do not plan to kill anyone with this sample of a knife, do you?”
Alysse glared at the elf and after two failed attempts, she managed to rip her hand from his grip; or it was probably the elf who had decided to let her go.
Their heated gazes met in silence for a few moments. Alysse could feel herself fuming. Legolas had disappeared for almost four months, leaving her confused at his last hurtful words. She had tried to forget him; he was right after all: he was the Prince of Mirkwood and she was nothing but a mortal girl. Yet, his face had haunted her dreams; the memory of their kiss made her more frustrated day by day; and she could not stop the echo of his velvety voice in her mind. After all these months, she still hadn’t figured out his anger that night, or the arrogant words that had shattered her heart like a delicate glass. And she hadn’t understood her pain either; she had met him only a couple of times and shared a brief kiss – wasn’t it foolish to be heart-broken when she barely knew him? And how even more foolish that she should be heart-broken over the son of the Elvenking!
“The sun has almost set and you are still here. Are you so desperate to get yourself killed?”
“I have been taking care of myself just fine long before you came, your Highness. Your concern is unneeded.”
Alysse watched with triumph as the elf stiffened. He really seemed to hate it when she used his title… and her ego really wanted vengeance for the way it had been wounded at their last meeting.
“What a fine job you do. Last time my arrow hit the orc just in time before it killed you with its axe,” the elf replied, his tone as bitter as her own.
“And I will always be grateful for what you did, your Highness. Is this what you came for? To hear my thanks for a second time?”
A shiver run down her spine as she met the same deadly look she had seen in the Prince’s eyes when he had slashed the throat of the orc. She balled her small hands into fists and took a deep breath: she would not let him intimidate her just because he was the Prince of Mirkwood. The thunder that broke the silence, however, made her lose her demeanor and she jumped like a jittering maiden.
“’Tis going to start raining heavily in a couple of minutes. You will not make it home in time even if you run,” Legolas said more to himself than her, as he looked up at the sky. Was that concern in his voice?
“I will be fine,” she muttered in a cold voice as she picked her bag from the ground and threw her knife in it.
“This childish certainty got you in trouble last time!” the elf exclaimed with a frustrated sigh and crossed his arms over his chest. “Where is this boy who accompanies you every time you stay out so late?”
“He was busy with th-…”
Alysse stopped mid-sentence and stared at him wide-eyed.
“How do you know about Aedan?”
She didn’t move as the first drops reached them and neither did the elf.
“We should at least find you a shelter, you will catch a cold,” he replied in a quiet voice and approached her but she flinched back.
“Have you been watching me?”
The elf was silent for a few moments. The only sound around them was the rain steadily growing heavier, as it fell on the ground and the lake making their hair and clothes cling on them like second skin.
“My patrol sometimes brings me as far as your town and I have happened to see him escort you back home from the woods a few times.”
She shook her head laughing.
“For being the wise, immortal elf Prince of the Wooden Realm, you sound terribly unconvincing!”
“Mind your tongue, Alysse; you forget your place.”
“You reminded me of my place quite effectively last time and I really do not see the reason why you came to do it again!”
“I am here only because you seem to forget how dangerous this place has become and that silly boy let you stay out here alone in the dark and the rain!”
Alysse stared dumbfounded at the elf’s outburst.
“He was just needed elsewhere! Aedan is a very responsible man!”
Legolas huffed dismissively.
“He is just a boy.”
“And I’m just a mortal girl, isn’t this what you told me last time?”
Alysse pushed her dripping hair away from her face and bit her lip to keep back her tears. He would make her cry. Again. Every time he was around her, she could not recognize herself.
She hated him. Him and his race and their beauty and their mesmerizing voices and the way their eyes could look into her very soul and the pain he caused her heart because she was stupid enough to fall in love with the Prince of Mirkwood!
“What do you want from me…? I asked you to stay away…”
Her voice broke as a sob escaped her lips. She could feel the tears running down her cheeks; they were warmer than the cold raindrops. Alysse did not move as the elf closed the distance between them. His face had softened and his touch was gentle when he cupped her cheek.
“I tried.”
Her breath caught in her lungs at the pain in his voice.
“By the Valar, I tried. But it is beyond my power, Alysse.”
“I don’t understand,” she whispered as a shiver run through her and she hugged herself with her arms; her wet clothes were making her cold.
Legolas noticed her discomfort immediately and wrapped his arms around her, looking around for shelter; he would not be able to keep her warm when his own clothes were as wet as the girl’s.
“There is a small hut beside the woodman’s storehouse,” Alysse said in a trembling voice and let out a gasp when the prince scooped her up in his arms again –she had never understood why the elf thought her so incapable of walking on her own.
“I know where it is.”
Once under the shelter of the trees, the rain did not fall so hard upon them. The hut was not far from the lake and they reached it within minutes. Legolas pushed the door open with his foot and walked inside the dark house. It was too dark for Alysse to see anything, so she followed Legolas’ advice to stay where she was while he looked for some dry wood to start a fire. Soon enough, a fire was burning in the fireplace and she walked towards its heat. Taking off her boots, she kneeled on the fur lying on the floor in front of the fireplace and brought her arms closer to the flames in an effort to get warm. She startled as a blanket wrapped around her and she looked up to meet the elf’s concerned gaze.
“Take your dress off and wrap yourself in the blanket,” he softly instructed.
Alysse felt the blood rush to her cheeks and she shook her head wide-eyed.
“I will most certainly not!”
“You most certainly will, or you will be burning with fever by morning! Stop being so stubborn!”
Alysse watched as he let out another exasperated sigh and turned around to give her privacy – so much for the legendary patience of the elves. She turned her face away as well when she realized he was unfastening his tunic and took a deep breath to steady herself. Keeping the blanket around her, she shrugged awkwardly out of her dress, realizing that it was indeed the wet garment that made her feel so cold. Her flimsy undergown was miraculously hardly damp, but her dripping hair would not help it stay that way.
She didn’t look up when the elf picked up her dress and draped it over a chair near the fire to dry, too embarrassed to face him. However, she was startled to feel his presence behind her, as he moved her hair over her blanket to keep it from dripping on her back; Alysse would never understand the magic of his people that made them move so silently. His breath tickled the side of her neck when he moved his hands to her hair once more and she closed her eyes at the strange sensations enveloping her body. He gently wrung the water out of her red waves and ran his fingers through them for a few times, before he moved to sit beside her.
“You have such beautiful hair”, he said in a whisper. “Its color is fascinating.”
Alysse’s cheeks were burning and she was not sure which was the cause: was it her embarrassment for sitting in her undergown next to the Prince of Mirkwood… his touch and his compliments… or perhaps the heat of the fire? From the corner of her eye, she caught the elf staring at her and his gaze unsettled her. It made her dizzy… her breath uneven… and a strange burning had started spreading in her body.
“You have to stop this.”
“I told you, I tried.”
“Then try harder!” she exclaimed in a breathless voice and turned to look at the elf.
His hair had taken a dark golden hue and was dripping over his bare shoulders. She made the mistake of following a droplet as it ran from a strand resting on his collarbone over his sculpted chest down to the muscles of his abdomen, to disappear in his leggings; her already uneven breathing had stopped for a few seconds. Her gaze travelled back up over his strong arms, his broad shoulders, neck, angled cheeks and rested on his eyes. She was surprised to find the same turmoil of emotions in their darkened orbs as the one inside her; she thought she had come undone, but the elf looked completely shattered.
“I cannot. I will not. I do not want to.”
She was certain the elf could hear her heart thundering in her chest, but she had no more control over it.
“But… but I am just a mortal girl…”
“And I am just an elf.”
“You are the Prince of Mirkwood!”
Legolas gave her a bittersweet smile.
“Isn’t the Prince of Mirkwood allowed to fall in love?”
The fast beating faltered for a second.
“You are in love with me…?”
Her amazement made her voice so small, that she doubted the Prince would have heard her if not for his elven hearing.
The rain fell with rage outside, the steady splash of the raindrops on the wooden hut almost deafening in the silence that stretched before them. The crackling of the fire intensified as a burst of wind managed to sneak through the chimney. Alysse could hear the symphony of the stormy night’s sounds and they accompanied beautifully the creature of the woods before her. But soon, the sound of his breath coming closer and the blue in his eyes blocked all her surroundings. She closed her eyes, as his face almost touched hers and his lips hovered over her parted ones. Was he hesitating because he had kissed her against her will the first time they met? But was it really against her will? Hadn’t she fallen in love with this magnificent being the first time she had let her eyes on him, gloriously bathed by the first rays of the sun?
Their skin made contact. He was moving closer, then a little further again, as if mapping her face. Did he plan to drive her to madness? Just when she thought her heart would burst out of her chest, his lips touched hers in small, soft kiss. He pulled away slightly, his mouth still inches apart from her own, then kissed her again. Alysse almost let out a moan when he pulled away a second time; his lips held a hint of something sweet and she suddenly felt an urgent need to discover what it was. Before she had any time to protest, his hand sank in her hair cupping the back of her head, and he brought his lips to her mouth more surely and demanding this time.
It was all Alysse needed to lose control. Her pent-up hunger for his kiss and his touch muted all warnings of propriety and she moved her hands to his neck, drinking from his lips like a thirsted woman. She moaned as his tongue moved past her lips and she finally tasted him… Gods, did he really taste like honey? So drunk was she by this divine nectar, that she moved to straddle him, her hands boldly moving over his broad shoulders and strong chest. She felt Legolas groan beneath her, his own hands moving around her waist to hold her close as their mouths began a wild dance.
It was the Prince who brought his hands at her face and gently pulled away. Their foreheads touching, they both tried to ease down their hard breathing, as everything around them came to life again… and suddenly Alysse became aware of being pressed up against the elf’s chest, the blanket that sheltered her sheer undergown from his eyes laying somewhere on the fur and her whole body burning as if on fever. Had she caught a cold as the elf had warned her?
“I never understood why I felt so drawn to you that day,” the elf suddenly said in a soft voice and run his thumb over her cheek.
She met his eyes and almost looked away at the weight of the feelings held in their blue wisdom. Youthful his face might seem, but his eyes carried his immortal soul and her young heart was afraid it would not be able to keep their grandeur in its fragile mortal shell.
“I never understood why I kissed you. I never understood why you never left my thoughts after that day, or why I sought you out again. I never understood why I felt you were in danger even though I was so far away, why I felt my world crumble just at the thought of you coming to harm…”
The elf paused for a second and shook his head, his dark eyebrows drawn over his eyes.
“I was so confused… I felt angry, rejected, disappointed with myself and yet I could not stop thinking of you no matter how hard I tried; I could not stop myself from seeking you out.”
He was distracted by a red strand falling on her face and with gentle fingers he moved it behind her ear; a ghost of a smile played on his lips when his fingers traced the round shape of her ears.
“I did watch you. At first I thought I just wanted to make sure you were safe, but then I realized I had become addicted to your carefree smile. And it drove me to madness that you gave it to this boy so freely.”
“You were jealous of Aedan?” Alysse asked in a voice that did little to hide her amazement.
Legolas looked away. Was it embarrassment in his eyes that he tried to hide from her?
“I do not like the way he looks at you.”
“Aedan looks at me in some way?” This time her tone was amused.
“I may be blind when it comes to my own feelings, young one, but I can decipher the feelings of others very easily.”
“And what can you tell of my feelings?” She asked in a whisper, her heart thundering in her chest once more.
“I can only tell you that the Valar are playing with both your and my feelings in a most rare way. But I am not one to go against them. Nor would I refuse the bliss your touch brings to me. I am not going to fight against my love for you Alysse, not anymore. It is pointless to fight what has been decided for me long before I was born. But I would not deprive you of the benefit of choice…-”
Alysse cut him off with a dramatic sigh.
“Do you not realize I do not have a choice in the matter either? That I have foolishly fallen in love with you against my better reason?”
“I know,” the elf said with a playful smile. “I just wanted to hear you say it.”
Coming up next: the dreaded meeting with Greyham...
- 17
- 18
- 19
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Sleeping Beauty