"Amrâlimê."
Tauriel felt Kíli's rough face against her shoulder. She murmured and shifted languidly as he kissed her again.
"It's nearly sunrise. Would you like to come and see?"
"Mmm. Yes."
She rose and drew on the robe that Kíli offered. As she belted it loosely about her, Kíli moved close and pressed his lips to the still-bare skin between her breasts.
"Have I mentioned that you are the perfect height?" he asked, tipping his chin up to offer her a roguish grin.
"Once or twice." Tauriel kissed his upturned face and followed him out to the balcony.
Kíli was right; dawn was just breaking. Below, the valley with its smoking cataracts was dim, but the sky beyond the lofty peaks of the Misty Mountains glowed. And then as they watched, the sun's burning disc cleared the peaks, and brightness like liquid gold flowed down into the valley. The flat grey mist turned to a sea of light, rich and thick, and every rooftop and stone outcropping in the vale was limned with white.
"Oh, Kíli," Tauriel breathed. "It's just as you described."
"I'm glad."
She looked to him and the happiness in his face warmed her more than the sunlight had.
"Melleth nín, you know that this—" she gestured towards the shining view "—is more beautiful because I stand here with you."
"I know." He took her hand and caressed it. "I love you, Taur."
She answered his words with a smile, and then, clasping his hand to her, leaned against the balcony rail to survey the morning that had opened golden before them both.
YOU ARE READING
So Comes Snow After Fire
Fiksi PenggemarIn the weeks since the battle, Kili has kept his meetings with Tauriel secret. Yet when a fierce snowstorm looms, he would rather dare Thorin's displeasure than leave the exiled elf unsheltered on the mountainside. Once Tauriel enters Erebor, of cou...
