***CONTAINS MATURE CONTENT***

But it wasn’t a dream.  For as I opened my eyes, Thorin was there, cradling my head in his arm.  And he had just just kissed me. 

“You’re here,” I whispered.  “You were supposed to be in Fennhill.”

Thorin smiled wryly, his other hand caressing my face, his thumb tracing my scar. “And you were supposed to be at the camp.”

Somehow, after my ordeal that morning with the goblin and the realization that I’d almost crossed that threshold between life and death alone, Thorin’s smile unleashed something in me that I could not control.  So much like the tears I had allowed myself to shed earlier because I was alone, my body shook with sobs before him, as if my pride made way for something more elemental, a vulnerability I had never before allowed anyone to see.  

But that moment only masked something else so primal within me, for I pulled Thorin’s head down towards me and kissed him, tasting the sweetness of his lips mingling with the saltiness of my tears.  I ignored the pain in my shoulder as I began to unfasten the ties of his blue tunic, hearing him groan against my mouth as he kissed me back, his tongue slipping between my teeth, his arm bringing me even closer to him.

I inhaled the scent of him, a heady mixture of pine, sweet musk, leather and the fire and iron of the forge, inflaming me with a desire for him that I’d long held back.  I wanted something so much more from him, probably more than he was willing to give me. But I no longer cared.  I had almost seen death and I was going to rail against it, letting my body take over all rational thought, seeking sweet release.

But Thorin felt it, too.  And as his cloak slipped off me, leaving me naked before him, he covered my body with his, his mouth and tongue exploring me as I heard him utter my name.  His lips left my mouth and blazed a trail of kisses down my neck, making my body arch against him, molding with his own, his hand moving down to trace lazy circles along my waist and hip, his thumb lingering against the sensitive bone where my hip met my thigh.  When his mouth found my breast, nibbling, sucking each sensitive peak to attention, it was my turn to call out his name, my fingers pulling his hair as I lost myself to the new sensations that burst forth inside of me.

Molten heat swelled between my legs and shameless, I pressed my hips against him.  My hands pushed his tunic off his shoulders, gathering his dark undershirt in my fingers, undressing him as if I’d done it a hundred times before.  When Thorin returned to kiss my mouth, I felt the hairs of his torso rub against my breasts and my belly, and I moaned, my nails digging into the taut skin of his back.

“Frigga,” Thorin groaned as he pulled away from me, his eyes dark with desire, the heat of his own body burning through mine.  “We shouldn’t—”

But I did not want to hear his protests.  I wanted him as a woman wants a man.  I pulled him down towards me again, feeling his lips part to allow my tongue to explore him.  He ground his hips against me and I gasped, his delicious hardness pressing against the ache between my legs.

I undid his trousers, reveling at the feel of the hairs on his torso against my skin, sending goosebumps in its wake.  This time, Thorin did not protest.  He closed his eyes as he leaned his forehead against mine, our breaths intermingling as I felt his manhood spring free from the confines of his trousers.  My daring surprised me, for I'd never beheld a naked man, or dwarf, before now. I ran my hands along the length and girth of him, afraid and awed at my boldness as I held my breath just as he did.  A tormented gasp escaped his lips.  

“This is not a game, Frigga,” Thorin groaned, his mouth lowering towards mine, hovering just above me and I could feel his eyes watching me, the pupils dilated.   “I won't be able to stop.”

“I don't want you to,” I whispered, capturing his lower lip between my teeth and feeling his beard tickle my chin.  

I gasped as I felt him slide against the wet folds of my sex, the slick wetness coating him.  And I trembled for I knew then that I’d pushed him too far.  For there was no turning back now, not for either one of us.  

Thorin grabbed my hair in his fingers, forcing me to look up at him as he entered me, slowly at first.  I held my breath as I felt the fullness of him inside me, stretching me and pushing against the token of my maidenhood.  Fear came to me then, but the ache for him between my legs proved to be greater as I rocked my hips higher.  I saw his eyes narrow and his nostrils flare, his breath seething between his teeth, followed by a sweet surrender that made his body shudder.  As he drove himself deeper, a searing pain exploded deep inside of me but Thorin silenced my cry with a deep kiss that made my stomach clench as I bucked beneath him.  

“I promise it won’t hurt anymore,” he whispered as he slowly began to move inside me, the hand that gripped my hair now cradling me.  

And just as Thorin had promised, the pain was replaced by something else, a sensation that hummed with a delicious and shameless energy that vibrated from deep within my belly, powerful and intense, washing over me like a wave upon wave, upon sinful wave.   I rocked my hips against him, hearing his low growl from deep within his chest.  I wanted so much more of this sweet agony, and as he began to vary the rhythm of his thrusts, I sucked on the tender flesh of his neck, clinging to him.

So this was how it felt to make love, I thought.  I had never felt so open, so vulnerable before him and as his lips claimed one trembling breast and then the other, I writhed beneath him, my hips moving in tandem with his.   In that moment, my body learned how pain and pleasure truly felt like, the pain of loving a man so much and the utter indescribable pleasure of having him move in me, with me - as one.

Thorin left me breathless, my gasps of pleasure echoing in the cavern, blending with the crashing of the water upon the rocks below.  Through it all, as he watched me through heavily lidded eyes, my body throbbed with an exquisite agony that yearned for its release.  And when my orgasm claimed me, rushing through me with an intensity that shook me through the core, I shuddered, my fingers digging into his back, scratching his skin and marking him as my own.  

Thorin buried his face in my neck, finding the divine places that made me buck beneath him as I kept coming.  I felt his body tighten above me, his muscles tensing, his fingers tightening its hold about me.  And as Thorin welcomed his own release, I saw him at his most vulnerable, when he gave himself completely over to me, his body trembling as he came.  And at that moment,  I knew then that for as long as there was breath remaining in me, I was bound to him forever.

~~~

“You’re burning up,” Thorin said as I opened my eyes, startled by the feel of his cool hand against my forehead.  I must have fallen asleep, I thought, for I was so tired.  I wanted only to curl up and go back to sleep, the stone floor cool against my cheek.

“It’ll pass,” I said, forcing myself to sit up, my injured shoulder useless for I could barely feel it.  And as I looked down, I realized that Thorin had made a sling so that my elbow bent at a comfortable angle.  “It's probably from getting wet in the falls.”

“No, this has nothing to do with that,” Thorin said as he helped me sit up, his hand lingering behind my back for I swayed, the world spinning around me.  “This is from the goblin bite.  It's infected.  We need to go to your friend, Inge, and get it treated before it gets worse.”

As he spoke he pulled up the hem of my trousers.  The goblin’s bite had turned an angry of shade of purple and black.  It burned and throbbed.  Somehow he had helped me get dressed earlier though I had no recollection of it.  And as Thorin tightened the straps on my boots, he peered at me, his face drawn, lines of worry crossing his forehead.

“Did we…” I felt my face burn, immediately regretting my question though I could not finish it, the place between my legs still throbbing with a renewed ache for him.  It all seemed like a dream.

“It should never have happened.”

“Do you regret it?”  I asked, my face burning ever more as I looked away from him, ashamed of what I had forced him to do.

Thorin paused, and a faint smile graced his lips as his face softened and he brought his hands to my face.  “I do not regret it, and neither should you ever believe that I did.  Or do.  But I’m afraid I may have hurt you.”

“You did not hurt me, my prince,” I pulled him closer to me, kissing him lightly on the lips though my mouth felt too warm compared to his.  Thorin gently pulled himself away.  

“You're delirious.  Come, let us get you up,” he said.  “We can’t delay any longer.”

“I wish we could stay here forever,” I said.  Besides I felt so tired.

Thorin chuckled.  “I think that’s the fever talking, Frigga.  You don’t want to be here forever.  Not when it’s too dangerous.”

He helped me up, holding me till the world stopped spinning again.  He fastened my shoulder belt around my torso and I looked up at him, perplexed.  “But I no longer have my sword,” I whispered, the loss of Jürgen’s gift saddening me.  “I lost it over the falls.”

But Thorin only smiled as he bent down and picked up my sword from the floor.    I gasped as he handed it to me, holding it flat with both hands so I could see it.  “I found it in the rocks below, just before I found you in here,” he said.  “But not before I saw the dead goblin downstream, which means that more will return by nightfall.”

He let me inspect it briefly, my fingers running across the marks that marred the blade now, before slipping it into my scabbard.  But the weight of the sword made me sway and he grabbed my arm, holding me up.

“Can’t we return to the camp?” I asked, confused.  I could not understand why I was feeling this way, the burning sensation from my leg seeming to send tendrils of pain throughout my body.  As I stood, I could no longer deny how badly my leg burned where the goblin had bitten me.  The wound throbbed and hurt whenever I moved.

Thorin’s face clouded.  “The camp is gone, Frigga,” he replied.  “Wild men raided it yesterday afternoon, though I suspect Lialam sent them as a warning.  The dwarves broke camp at dawn, but I had to search for you after Arna told me that you left before the wild men came.”

“What do you mean, it’s gone?  Did anyone get hurt?” I asked, panicked.  It was just as I had feared, that Lialam would dare attack the dwarf camp after his men reported seeing me there.

“No one was injured, but we can no longer stay in Lialam's lands, not while he is after you.  But the master of Fennhill has offered the dwarves protection from Lialam and the wild-men that roam these parts.  We've done much trade with them, and the town master is not motivated by greed.  Or evil,” Thorin replied, his face clouding.  “They say Lialam is in league with the wild men and other foul creatures, that he takes the daughters of other town masters hostage - or as he calls them, his wives - so that his power grows throughout the Wilderlands.”

“I could have told you that,” I laughed drily as Thorin helped me out into the sunlight and led me safely down onto a flat clearing behind the falls.  There was so much about Lialam that I wished I could tell Thorin.  I could have told Bernd, too, but he yearned more for the power and riches that Lialam flaunted.  “But why are we returning to town?  Shouldn’t we go to Fennhill instead?”

“Because you cannot make the journey, Frigga.  Not with your leg, and not with the fever.  I tried to suck out the poison, and drain out the blood, but I waited too long.” 

Because I wanted you to make love to me first, I wanted to tell him, but I knew he was right.  For as he spoke, cold sweat gathered upon my brow and the bridge of my nose, perspiration cropping between my shoulder blades.  And though the day was warm, I shivered with cold.  

“She’s not too far from here,” I said, forcing myself to walk no matter how each step made me wince in pain.  Inge would know what to do.  But first, we had to get there.  “Her cottage is close to the hill where you saw Jürgen and I training that day.”

Thorin grabbed my good arm and slung it over his shoulder, holding me as we continued on, each step becoming harder and harder for me.  He made certain that we stayed along the path that was flatter, with less bramble and obstructions, always remaining alert to any sound or movement beyond our own. 

Damn the goblin, I cursed as I trudged through the forest next to Thorin.  Damn Lialam and his treachery.  Damn Bernd and his weakness for money and power.  Damn the dragon and his breath of fire that claimed mother and father.  Damn them all.

“Any more of this damning talk, and before long, you’ll be damning me, too,” Thorin muttered under his breath, and I chuckled, unaware that I had spoken it all out loud.  

“I did not know you had a sense of humor,” I said as we navigated a bridge made out of a fallen tree across our path.

“I don’t,” Thorin said. “But for you, Frigga, I’ll make an exception.”