Moonbeam

Chapter Sixteen

With a deep grunt that came from her toes, Tara pushed hard against the guard, knocking him off-balance and sending him crashing to the floor. Stepping around him, she eyed him challengingly to get to his feet and continue.

"Very good," a deep voice said, and she looked up to see Thranduil standing just inside the room. "You have improved."

She tilted her head in acknowledgement. "Thankyou," she said.

The guard scrambled up from the floor and bowed to her, turning to bow to his King as he left the room.

Thranduil followed him with his eyes, then turned back to her. "You have not practiced with me recently," he commented.

"You have been busy," she replied, lifting a towel from the shelf and drying her face and neck with it.

His eyes tracked her movements. "I am never too busy to train with you," he told her.

She smiled. "One of the guards said you were in a council meeting, so I did not disturb you," she said. She lowered herself to the floor and tugged her boots off, flexing her toes. "That feels so much better."

"You have not practiced with me as much recently," he observed. "Have I offended you? Or hurt you during training?"

"What? No, not at all," she replied hastily, a faint pink blush on her cheeks. "No, do not think that. If you are doing other things, I just find someone else to train with. I do not wish to interrupt you from what you do."

How could she tell him that whenever they came into physical contact, her body screamed in submission? That she craved nothing more than for him to completely control and dominate her body until she screamed with passion? That she yearned to feel his naked flesh hot against hers, his mouth on hers, and his hardness deep inside her?

She couldn't.

"How is your shoulder holding up during combat?" he inquired. "The healers tell me that outwardly it has healed, but is the pain still there?"

"Sometimes," she said, getting to her feet and stretching her legs. "But only when I move certain ways, or do certain movements. I try to be careful so I do not aggravate it any more than necessary."

He nodded his approval. "Good," he said. "Will you walk with me?"

She nodded, padding barefoot after him, sensing a change in his demeanour. "Is everything alright?"

"Of course," he answered over his shoulder. "Why would you think otherwise?"

"You seem...different," she said.

He clenched his teeth. He couldn't tell her that he lay awake night after night, imagining her naked body in his arms, her legs around his waist as he thrust into her. Or that when he did sleep, he dreamed of soft, sweet kisses and gentle caresses. Or that the first thing on his mind when he awoke was being in the same room as her, hearing her melodic voice, seeing her dark blue eyes.

And he especially couldn't tell her that he wished nothing more than to personally gut whichever guard she trained with.

"I may be preoccupied with the strategies at hand," he replied. "We shall be moving out within the next day or two to drive the spiders from our lands completely."

She stopped, and he turned to her as he sensed it.

"I wish to accompany you," she said.

"Absolutely not," he said instantly. "I forbid it. You will not come with us."

Her face fell. "I have good reason to wish to see their demise," she pointed out.

"I understand, Tara. But my answer remains the same. I do not want you out in the forest battling those beasts," he said. He lifted a hand a tucked her hair behind her ear. "You are too important, my little moonbeam. I will not have you put at risk."