There was silence, except for the faint sound of thwapping
against the floorboards every time one of them tossed a bare bone to Huan. No
conversation passed between the brothers while the third person seated at the
table sat with her arms crossed over her chest.
“Sweetheart, you should really eat something.”
Luthien glared at Celegorm with a fury unmatched by any other woman. “I am not
your sweetheart,” she ground out, teeth clenched. “I will not eat the food of
thieves.”
“I am not a thief. I am an opportunist.” Celegorm grinned and tossed a scrap to
Huan, who caught it midair. “As for you being my sweetheart, you should just let
me practice. It will seem more natural once we are wed.”
“I will never marry you,” she vowed, and she picked up her untouched glass of
wine. Before she could throw the liquid at Celegorm, the other brother grabbed
her wrist and forced it back down.
“I would not do that,” Curufin advised. He waited until Luthien’s grip loosened
before letting go of her hand. As soon as Curufin withdrew and focused on his
meal again, Luthien swiftly pulled the glass into her hands and stepped back as
she stood. Her chair fell backwards, and it seemed now she was determined not
only to spill the wine upon him, but to strike Celegorm with the goblet as well.
Celegorm sat unfazed, still eating. “Go ahead, sweetheart. Give it a try and see
what happens.”
Luthien clutched the goblet so tightly she almost expected the stem to break.
She lowered her hands, having second thoughts, but when she caught the amusement
in Celegorm’s eyes, she flung the wine into his face and threw the goblet across
the room into the stone wall. Curufin froze, his gaze flickering between the
two, while Huan sat up on his haunches, upper lip twitching, tail still.
Celegorm threw the chunk of meat he had been eating from down onto his plate,
where it slid halfway off onto the table. He sucked the juice from his fingers
before picking up his own wine glass. It was twirled from one side to the other
before he drank from it. He set it down soundlessly, and then picked up his
napkin. He wiped his hands as Luthien smugly looked away, her gaze settling upon
Huan in his corner. In the split second that she looked away, Celegorm shot up,
kicking his chair back with such force it hit the wall and cracked up the
center. He grabbed Luthien by the upper arm before she had a chance to react,
and slapped her across the face with the back of his hand. He grabbed her chin
with his other hand, squeezing his fingers until her jaw ached. “Did you enjoy
that, sweetheart? Did you really think it wise to try to humiliate me in front
of my brother? Do you feel better now?”
“Let go of me,” she defiantly demanded. Her hands were clawing at his arms, but
Celegorm gave no sign that she was causing him any hurt.
Instead, Celegorm tightened his grip on her arm and moved his other hand down,
strong fingers curled around her throat. Huan began to bark now, dancing about
from side to side. Celegorm shook his head. “Do you think it delights me to hurt
you? It hardly pleases me to have to do so, sweetheart, but how am I to have a
wife who fights against me?”
“I will not be your wife,” she spat at him.
He closed his eyes and smiled. “We shall see, my dear. I am being patient in
awaiting your father’s reply, but darling, there is so very little keeping me
from taking you as my wife.”
“Even you would not dare,” challenged Luthien.
“Again, I offer my advice to you,” spoke Curufin, who had gone back to eating
again. “Do not push him. He is merely looking for an opportunity such as this.”
“Maybe we should just skip the formalities,” Celegorm said. The hand on
Luthien’s arm moved down, and he clutched her breast. He marveled at how firm,
yet how soft it was as he massaged her with his fingers. When his fingertips
brushed over the sensitive nipple, he smiled wickedly as she moaned, and pinched
it between his forefinger and thumb while leaning in to run his tongue along her
jaw.
As if suddenly regaining her senses, Luthien slapped at Celegorm’s face. He
laughed at her when she missed, banging her elbow on his shoulder instead. When
Luthien tried again, Celegorm simply closed the gap between them and craned his
neck, taking the lobe of her right ear in his teeth. As he gave it a tug, he
started to pull up the fabric of her dress.
Once he had access, Celegorm reached beneath her dress and undergarments and
began to roughly rub his fingers against the warm flesh he found. “You make such
idiotic protests, my dear. Why would you ever marry a man, when you can have an
Elf? Why marry anyone else when you can have this?” Celegorm withdrew his hand,
moving it around to clutch Luthien’s rear, forcing her against him. His other
hand was still at her throat. The bulge of his erection pressed between her
legs.
Luthien whimpered, and Celegorm threw her down into a pile of straw covered with
a blanket where Huan slept. “When you come to your senses, sweetheart, you will
make the right decision. I am sure of it.” He crouched down and grabbed a
fistful of her long hair, yanking her head back to look at him. “Until then, you
can sleep down here like the bitch you are.” He shoved her back down again and
left, with Curufin following soon after.
Only Huan remained now, and he barked a few times more, and then whined when he
saw Luthien bow her head and begin to cry. His decision made, Huan softly padded
over and laid down beside her.