Together
You were thrust back into the forest then, back to reality, with the knowledge Sauron had provided you. He did not speak, for he knew better, he only sat down atop a log nearby that was covered in moss and dead leaves. You felt his eyes upon you but you did not shift your focus from the trees in the distance. It all began to sink in. Memories thought lost now flooded back, and you could see clearly the time you had spent with your father, and how his influence was great and troubling. At school you would bully children of the faithful, draw portraits of dead elves, and write stories about what you would do if you lived forever. At night, your father would tell you tales about the war of wrath, and the way it should have ended. There were more images flashing before your eyes, causing your head to throb, and letting out a deep breath, you somehow managed to force them back.
"I was raised in darkness... how did I not remember this?" you paused, turning to Sauron at last. "You are deceiving me!" you accused him, struggling to believe the evidence now before you.
"I swore to you that was not my wish."
"Then who or what buried it within me?"
"Surely you know." he spoke wisely. "Why do you think you felt her pull each time you saw her?"
Everything changed when your mother died.
"My mother... but how could her death push me towards the faithful? I could have sworn I just always felt this way all along."
"Because you were young. Easily swayed. Either way. Your father was too far gone, all he saw was the short life your mother had lived and how it had been robbed from her, from him. In her death he did not see, refused to see, what you saw. The good that came of it."
"My baby brother." you acknowledged.
"Once your grief passed, and as you cared for the infant, the darkness that your father had cultivated began to retreat deep within you. You saw the honour in your mother’s sacrifice, the duty. Her destiny. The notion that even though her time on this world was indeed short, it was filled with so much meaning. It had a purpose. Her death had a purpose. And she was to be rewarded for it in the next life. Despite how much you miss her, you understood this. Whereas your father... he delved even deeper where the light would never reach him."
"And he helped to bring ruin to the Southlands... my father did that. I am glad he did not have the satisfaction of seeing it."
Sauron smiled, and the butterflies you had felt when Halbrand looked at you this way returned. Sitting down next to him on the log, you had placed yourself so close that you felt his arm, his leg gently against your own. And for the first time in what felt like forever, you didn't flinch, you did not adjust. You just sat there beside the dark lord. Your king.
"I found a way back to the light... you can too." you implored.
"But the darkness is still in you, as it is in me."
"How do we fight it, my love?"
He pondered his response carefully. "We remember that our duty is greater than our own desires. We stay in the light, as king and queen of the Southlands, despite the evil appetites that tempt us. We pay them no mind. We pull each other back. We do this together. If we are parted then we will lose. I told you this was your destiny, to rule at my side. Now you know the reason."
Sauron let the arm closest to you roll slowly over until his palm faced upwards. An invitation. And it was an invitation you were now ready to accept. The darkness wanted to consume you both, and you had almost happily let it. So did he. With all truths now spoken between you, your love for each other could finally breathe. Smiling at him, you let your hand touch his, your fingers gliding to where they fit oh so naturally. He lifted it then, your skin meeting his lips, which he planted with delicate kisses, and you sighed having missed the sensation. You raised your free hand to cup his face, his lips not leaving it untouched either, and he clasped it too so then both your hands were his. The loving squeeze he gave them, you returned in kind, and suddenly the space between your faces was shrinking. You wanted to feel his mouth against you so badly, but you waited for him to make contact. Sending him a warm smile to let him know it was okay, he grinned in his happiness, then his smile faded as he finally caught your lips.
The kiss was fast and immediate, as if you were both making up for lost time. The frenzy of it, the passion, could not be contained, it had been bottled up for what felt like too long, and was bursting out of you both in every touch. Lips and tongues crashed into each other repeatedly like waves in a storm that could not be tamed. Hands ran everywhere they could reach, and quickly unsatisfied with the lack of skin to skin, made moves to change that. You both stood to undress the other, swiftly removing your footwear. Sauron unbuttoned the clasps of your exquisite crimson gown. "I'm sad to see this dress off of you..." he uttered with heated gasps, "...but I'll be glad to finally ravish you with its image fresh in my mind..." Kissing the fabric as he slowly let it fall to your ankles, he watched as you stepped out of it, your naked form now bathed in what moonlight broke through the canopy above.
"I'm also sad to see you parted from this..." you spoke as you undid his belt, then hoisted the blue grey garment up and over his shoulders. "This is truly your colour." Savouring the feel of the fabric in your hands for a moment, you then tossed it next to where your dress now rested. Running your fingertips over his naked torso, you relished the firmness of his chest, his stomach, just how strong and powerful he felt. Then you swiftly pulled off his trousers until the only thing that remained on him was the torc, all else now bare and exposed. Sauron raised his hands to remove it but you stopped him. "No... leave it on..." you breathed. He dropped his arms and stood there taking you in. "'I shall never not love this view..." he spoke, admiring your body.
"What about this?" you asked, placing your hand upon his most sensitive area, having him gasp involuntarily. "Do you love this?"
Sauron whispered your name, coated in lust, "Oh... yes..."
His responses to your movements had you grinning with glee. You loved the feeling of his hard length in your hand, and as much as you adored the times he had pleasured you, it was truly in these moments where you were in control that your head was buzzing the most. Sauron leaned in to kiss you then, but you denied him. This caused him to laugh, and he rested his forehead against your own, letting his mouth hover over yours, waiting to be accepted. It was then you felt his fingers now on your most sensitive area, causing you to cry out sharply. "Mmmm..." he moaned between gasps, "You're so wet for me, my love..." As he spoke, his lips made the lightest of brushes against your own, and you could deny him no longer. Your tongue achingly found his, and your sighs of pleasure grew with intensity.
"Get on the ground." you commanded.
"Yes, my queen." your king happily obeyed. If it was control you craved, then what you did next let you have it like never before. You set yourself on top of him, but did so in a way that your womanhood rested over his mouth, and his throbbing length rested under yours. He could only lay there and accept what you were offering, with both his pleasure and your pleasure under your control. And he loved it. The two of you hungrily devoured each other, taking his hardness into your mouth as deep as it could go over and over, while Sauron's tongue was lapping up your wetness and sucking on your clit.
As brilliant as this idea was, it soon backfired, as his mouth upon you started to prove overwhelming. Sauron had taken control. You released him from your mouth, unable to do anything else but let your ecstasy consume you. Collapsing, you gave your body over to him. Your eyes rolled back in your head, but then, in a brief moment of clarity, you decided to take control back. Knowing your orgasm was quickly approaching, you wanted to play a part in it, so you rose up, adjusting your body so you were crouched over his face, your shins in the dirt, and you rode his mouth, his tongue to the point where the forest was filled with your carnal screams. You saw white light in the darkness of night.
The moment you crumbled to the ground, Sauron was already hovering over your body, his erection grazing your tender entrance. "That was... you are so..."
"Is Sauron... speechless?" you teased, grinning at him, still catching your breath.
He chuckled in response, before correcting you. "Call me, Halbrand." he growled, and thrusted himself into you fast and deep, your gasps filling the air, shocked by the sudden sensation. Holding onto him, your fingernails dug deeper in his back with each movement of his hips. Halbrand's darkened eyes were fixed on yours, watching the ecstasy he was giving you manifest in your expression. Halbrand. He wanted you to call him Halbrand. Did he truly mean that or was he just caught up in the moment? You thought that calling him Sauron, a name that represents his true identity, would be exactly what he wanted to hear. Not the false name of a low man with a claim to a kingdom that wasn't his. Yet the way he growled the title at you, the animalistic way he was ravaging you now spoke a truth he needed you to hear.
The friction of him inside you had never felt better. It got better every time. And it got better again when he changed his position. Now with his shins in the dirt, Halbrand pulled your legs up across his delectable torso, and with your feet hanging off his shoulders, he hit your sweetest of spots with every single motion, the torc rocking against his collar bone with each thrust. Your moaning was untameable. "My queen... you feel... so good..." he somehow uttered between his own moaning, his breathing heavy.
"And you... my king..." you responded in kind, your words were gasps.
You were both lost to the bliss you were experiencing and it seemed never-ending, almost as if you had only ever known this existence, just your two bodies entangled and enraptured. The feel of the ground beneath you, of the grass, the dirt, the leaves, you knew it was there, but it was also fading, your body floating above the world, like you had temporarily ascended to the heavens. Then Halbrand placed his thumb on your clit and you were really flying. It only took one more thrust after that before your body surrendered to the pleasure once more. This was enough for your love, his head falling back as he cried out in ecstasy. When next he looked at you, a smile broke out on his face, before he collapsed onto you, your bodies trembling together until you were absolutely spent.
Halbrand wrapped himself around you on the forest floor, kissing you with what energy he had to spare. You lazily but lovingly returned the touches of his mouth, sighing softly in your contentment. Running his hand through your hair, the smile he wore was like one you had not seen. It wasn't evil, there was no trace of that in this moment. It was more than adoration, than affection, than love. It was pure happiness, it radiated with the definition of the word. He was happy. Truly happy. Realising this, your body was overcome with a different kind of ecstasy, and tears couldn't help but lightly fall. Though Halbrand knew nothing was wrong with you, he only let a tear fall from him then, and you both kissed each other joyfully, tasting the salt that had landed on your lips.
The sun's warm beams of light roused you from your slumber hours later, and as your eyes opened you smiled sleepily at the sight of your love still gazing happily at you, the torc he still wore reflecting the sunshine. His grin widened as he caught your eyes, then he greeted you with your name, his voice raspy, and he continued to gently stroke your head. "You are so dazzling in the light..." he whispered. You then took his hand and placed it to your lips, not breaking eye contact. "I don't think I have ever felt this good..." you announced.
"Nor I, my love." he spoke, moving his head closer to yours to steal a kiss. You held the touch firmly, his lips your prisoner. After a moment, you released him with a smile that he then returned. Laughter escaped from you suddenly, as your joy could not be contained. "I still cannot believe this... any of this... that you found me."
"It was you who found me. You wandered into my smithy."
"Only because the others were all shut." you spoke honestly.
"Oh so I'm a last resort to you then? The bottom of your very long list?"
His mockery caused you to laugh even harder. You went along with it, teasing him. "You weren't even on my list."
"Excuse me?"
"In fact, I showed the tools you mended to one of the other smiths, you know the one I should've gone to."
"The one who was closed?"
"Yes, that one, and he said he would've done a better job for half the price."
"I DIDN'T CHARGE YOU!" your love’s voice raised, feigning outrage.
You were howling with joy now, absolutely loving the way Halbrand was getting riled up by your words. Yet he was having a lot of fun, surprising for having his craft called into question, even if in jest. Celebrimbor did have a point after all, smithing was his love. Luckily, he loved you more.
"You know what else he said?" you prodded him further.
"Oh please tell me."
"He even said... he'd make love to me better as well."
"Did he now?"
"Uh huh. But I didn't want to hurt your feelings so I told him I was already spoken for."
"Really... that's fascinating!" His words were drenched in sarcasm.
"Wild isn't it?" you spoke with a snicker, struggling to keep the ruse going any longer.
"Can I ask you something?" said Halbrand.
"Anything."
"This other smith."
"The one who was closed?"
"Yes, that one." Halbrand chuckled. "Did he mention how he would take you, if you were in his bedchamber?"
"Let me spare you the details."
"Did he say he would do this?" Halbrand clasped your earlobe with his mouth, nipping and sucking on it gently. You couldn't stop the sigh that sounded from you. "No..."
"What about this?" he whispered, his breath tickling the skin he had made wet. Then he proceeded to kiss your neck hungrily, the way you liked. He stopped when you didn't answer him, queuing you. "N-no..."
"Or this?" He moved himself down your body, attaching himself to your breasts, dividing his time evenly between the two. Then his wandering hand slid down to where your aching for him was starting to grow. Halbrand didn't ask for a response then, well not with his words anyway. Only with his eyes as he looked up at you, one of your nipples caught by his teeth. "No.. nothing like this..."
Still searching for an answer that didn't exist, he moved himself further down, spreading your legs, and positioned his face over your womanhood, ready to devour you. "Maybe it was this?" Halbrand teased with a smirk, as he let his tongue glide up and down the length of your folds, find your sweet spot, and wreak havoc on you completely. Suddenly you found yourself forgetting the game you were playing. It wasn't long before he let two of his fingers enter you, and you gasped loudly, throwing your head back on the ground.
"Oh Sauron..."
Before you had time to think, he stopped. Looking up, you saw him roll back and sit at your feet, resting his arms on his knees, his brow furrowed. "I don't want you to call me that. Please don't call me that." he pleaded with you. It was then that you realised what you had said in your lustful haze, and you hadn't meant it, as you were more than happy to call him by the name he first wore for you. You had been thrilled to hear him ask that of you last night, because it truly meant so much.
"Forgive me, I just got caught up in the moment..." you sat up then, and shifted yourself closer to him so your legs were touching. "May I ask... why should I not call you... Sauron? That is your true name, yes?"
Halbrand sighed and bowed his head, closing his eyes. He let out a small chuckle before answering you. "My true name... is not that one they gave me. Mairon is the name I was created with. The only name I knew... before all the darkness." His tone was grave.
"Shall I call you that then?"
"No..." he stated, his eyes opening. "Mairon was so very long ago... he is not who I am anymore. And neither is Sauron."
You studied his face intensely as he explained it all to you. "I have had many names... and none of them are mine... the only one left... is Halbrand. With Halbrand... there is hope."
"Then that is who you are. Halbrand. Of the Southlands. King." You found his hands and gave them a loving squeeze. "My king." Halbrand kissed you quickly then pulled you into him in a thankful embrace. "I'm sorry." you spoke, worried you had caused him pain.
"Don't be. I needed to hear that name one last time to let it go. I told you we couldn't do this alone."
The two of you held each other for a little while longer before Halbrand interrupted the peaceful silence by pushing you back down on the ground. "Now... where were we?"