and I take the big plunge by averytinylizard  

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Chapter 3

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The cave where Maedhros had taken her was dark. Barely any Tree-light went in, and they needed their lamps. In spite of that, it was beautiful. Far from Tirion, it was deep underground, with shining gems on the walls and ceiling and a lake clear as crystal. It felt as if Varda had put a bit of the sky in there, deep in the earth. Maedhros took their blankets, thick and soft, from their packs and laid them on a flat bit of ground.

"Do you and your family come here often?" Aredhel had come on their travels a few times, but she preferred the excitement of the hunt to this. It was quiet, mostly a matter of study and curiosity.

"No. Most of the time, we like to travel somewhere new each time unless we find something particularly interesting. We came here… three times, at most?" She was taking off her boots, and rolling up the cuffs of her pants.

"Only three times? To a place like this? Is it not beautiful enough for you lot?" She lay down on the blankets and looked at the gems on the ceiling. She made new constellations out of them.

Maedhros sat by the lake and put her feet in. "No, no! It is, but how many beautiful places would we miss if we came only here? There are seas where it feels as if you could fall off the edge of the world, and mountains with shapes so wondrous that it looks as if they should crumble, and valleys created by fallen stars, and forests with the strangest beasts that you have ever seen. This cave doesn't have any ores of strange metal, or waters especially deep. It is, however, beautiful." She turned to Aredhel then, and smiled. "That is why I come here, sometimes, by myself. It's why I invited you."

Aredhel felt herself flush. She hoped that it was dark enough that Maedhros didn’t notice, or at least that the blue light from the lamps washed her out. “Do you come often, then?”

“Sometimes. When I feel the need to be alone, mostly.”

“I prefer hunting for moments like that. I need the thrill and the blood to not get bored. This place is too beautiful, too still.”

“I suppose I just have enough excitement most days that I welcome boredom. When I was eighty-five, I came here after an argument with my father. We got so angry at each other, screamed for hours on end, and I told my mother I would be leaving for three months, and that she shouldn't try to find me. It took me a long time to calm down, but this place helped. Now I simply come here, usually for a week at most, before reaching that point.” She sounded a little sad now. But she got up, and walked to where Aredhel lay. "Would you like to take a swim?"

Aredhel didn't answer. She simply took off her dress and stays and unlaced her boots. Maedhros removed all her clothing as well, took her hair out of the plait she wore it on, and took their lamps close to the lake.

"Careful from where you jump. It's hard to see how shallow it is in some places, and there are sharp rocks in a few parts."

"Sounds like a nightmare."

"Nonsense, cousin." Whatever melancholy had gripped her was gone now. She walked over to a place on the shore she judged safe. "It is one of the most beautiful caves in this land." And she dived in. Aredhel watched her swim until she was far enough that she could jump in.

"This is freezing! Fuck!" She was shivering. "This place is a nightmare. You're awful."

"Just swim until you warm up!" Maedhros was laughing, swimming and staring at the ceiling.

Aredhel glared at her, but did as told. The waters were calm, at least, and so clear you could open your eyes underwater without worry. It was beautiful, like floating among the stars, but that didn't stop it from being awful. She swam a few laps and got used to the temperature and started floating while staring up.

"What do you do, when you're here?"

Maedhros stopped swimming to answer. "Swim, mostly. Explore the woods. Bring any unfinished projects that can be done far from home. Once I think I hit a stalagmite with a hammer. I yell, a lot. Mostly things I can either do by myself, or would be embarrassed to do somewhere people could see or hear."

"Why not the hunt, if what you want is to let out some aggression? We would like to have you there."

"The last thing I want when I am upset is a weapon in my hands. You are skilled enough to not hurt anyone. I do not trust myself, especially in those moments, to do that."

"Fair enough." Curiosity gripped her then. "Have you ever brought anyone else here?"

"No. Most people would come look for me here if they knew this is where I came when I was upset."

"And I am selfish enough not to do that? What flattery." She smiled as she said it, tried to show she was not offended.

"No! You simply strike me as independent enough to understand my needing time alone. Your brother, or my parents, or many of my friends, as much as I love them, would just try to help me. They do not understand that if I wanted help, I would simply ask."

"So nobody else knows."

"Exactly. Why do you ask?"

"You said something about doing things you didn't want people to see or hear. Maybe you brought all your friends here to… enjoy yourselves."

"By the Valar, Aredhel. No, this is not my secret sex cave."

"Well. Sounds to me like a waste of a cave."

Maedhros swam over to Aredhel. They both were floating in place now staring at each other. "You want to rectify my mistake, I suppose." Aredhel could barely see her in the dark, even standing so close. The only clear features were her eyes, light gray and bright. She could imagine her, however. Her hair, a darker red than usual, sticking to her neck and floating around her. Her legs and shoulders strong from swimming and the forge, pillowed by a layer of fat. Her breasts buoyant in the water, the silver rings glinting. Her face flushed from the cold. She liked that image, so she kissed her. It was messy, both more worried about staying afloat than holding on to each other, and their mouths were cold, but Aredhel could feel Maedhros breasts floating in the water, and that was more arousing than anything she could imagine. "We should go somewhere shallower."

"Lead the way." Maedhros swam somewhere close to the lamps, and they could both stand there. Maedhros stood further in, but the two inches more of depth weren't enough that she didn't still tower over Aredhel. The blue light of the lamps washed her out slightly, but she was still one of the most beautiful people Aredhel had ever seen.

Maedhros kissed her this time, leaning down and grabbing her face. Her tongue was plundering Aredhel's mouth, making her out of breath so quickly. Feeling Maedhros's body touching hers warmed her, not just from the outside, but from the inside out. She grabbed one of Maedhros's breast, feeling her nipple already pebbled from the cold, massaging it, pulling the ring. Her other hand was at Maedhros's thigh, large and soft.

She felt one of Maedhros's hands leave her face, caressing down through her throat, shoulders, stomach, until it landed between her legs. She felt two fingers enter her, and her thumb rubbing at her clit. Her knees buckled, but Maedhros moved her other hand to her waist and could hold her with no trouble. She was light enough in the water and Maedhros strong enough that she could bear her weight with no trouble. Aredhel wrapped a leg around Maedhros's waist, holding their bodies flush to each other, and let herself revel in the strange sensation. The thumb at her clit was merciless, pressing against her with such strength. She wrapped both legs around Maedhros, trusting her to hold her. Maedhros was kissing her neck now, biting it, and sucking bruises on it.

Aredhel did not bother holding back any moans. She gripped Maedhros’s shoulders, scared to lose her balance. She could hear Maedhros breathing against her and their movements in the water echoing against the wall. The gems on the ceiling shone, and Aredhel could have sworn that they were alone in all of Arda. She came as that thought came into her mind.

She untangled her legs from Maedhros waist, stood on unsteady legs. Maedhros removed her fingers from her cunt, but she still held on to her waist and held her up. She caught her breath, her head against Maedhros’s throat, and held onto her. She could really notice the cold water now. “We should go to bed,” she mumbled against her.

Maedhros hummed in assent, and walked with her to where their blankets were. They lay down next to each other, looking up, until Maedhros spoke. “Do you feel like we could keep going?”

“Of course. Do as you will.” Maedhros smiled at that, kissed her neck, and moved between her legs.

Maedhros kissed her thighs a hundred times each, it felt like, before moving where she wanted her. Still, she felt very sensitive, and gasped as soon as Maedhros's mouth touched her. She sucked her clit into her mouth, not bothering to keep her touch light. One of her hands was on Aredhel's thigh, holding it up to give herself more space to work. She moved her mouth down, pushed into her with her tongue. Aredhel touched her own breasts, and laid her other hand on Maedhros's hair, still wet and dark, just to have something to hold on to. The tongue inside her rubbed her walls for a little while before moving up again. She kissed her, quick and light, before slowly stroking her with her tongue, up and down. She flicked her clit with her tongue, while the hand on her thigh was tight enough to bruise. Aredhel pulled Maedhros’s hair, trying to get her closer, and Maedhros sucked her clit again. She hummed against her, and Aredhel pressed her own breast, and that was all it took for her to fall apart.

Maedhros put down Aredhel's leg and laid her head on her stomach, rubbing small circles on her waist. "I did not tell you to stop." Maedhros kissed her stomach and went back down.
She pressed two fingers into her, and rubbed her walls. At the same time she bit her inner thighs, sucking so many bruises that her legs would look like a mess come morning. When she moved up, she kissed her all over, but never where she wanted, while her fingers crooked up and down, pumping into her again and again. When she finally kissed her clit, Aredhel tried to lift her hips, but Maedhros stopped her. Her hand, over her stomach, pressed down, keeping her in place. Now, she paid attention to her clit. Sucking it, licking it, flicking it with her tongue. And her fingers were merciless, rubbing with such force against her. And then she added a third.

"Your fingers are– ah– so long!" Maedhros hummed in acknowledgement. Aredhel tried to move, but couldn't. She pulled Maedhros's hair, desperate to keep her there. "Not that I– I don't love your mouth. But– keep going, please– your fingers are so very skilled." She sucked on her clit with such strength, then, and her fingers pressed up while the hand on her stomach pressed down, and Aredhel wailed. Her mind was blank, and nothing existed but the hand on top of her and the one inside her and the mouth on her. She couldn't form words, she couldn't breathe, she could only cry out.

Maedhros pulled up and kissed her, soft and sweet, not even bothering to touch herself. That did not seem fair. Aredhel was boneless with pleasure while Maedhros simply gave.

"Maedhros." Her voice was pathetically breathless. "Do you ever touch yourself when you come here?"

"Sometimes." She was peppering kisses at her jaw.

"Can you show me?"

Maedhros stopped kissing her and knelt over her. "Show you?" She smiled, and from this angle she looked as tall as a mountain. "I would love to."

She didn't start by putting her hand between her legs. Instead she touched herself all over. Her waist, her breasts, her throat. She caressed them, took delight in the shape of herself. She ran her fingers through her hair and stroked her thighs. She would squeeze and hold softly in turns. After teasing herself for some time, she laid down next to Aredhel and, one hand pinching her nipple, moved the other between her legs.

Aredhel knelt between her open legs but did not touch her. She simply stared at her folds, wet and glistening, her freckled shoulders, her beautiful hands. Maedhros drew circles around her clit, soft, unhurried. She wasn't making any sounds yet, nor speaking, just breathing a little harder than normal.

Aredhel spoke first. "I think about you sometimes, while I do this." Maedhros was not the only person who she imagined at night, but she was the one she slept with most often.

Maedhros's hand moved faster. "Do you? How so?" She sounded out of breath.

"All the things I could do to you. All the things you could do to me." She considered what to say for a moment. "I've often thought about you teasing me, seducing me during a party. Touching me in almost indecent places, whispering filth in my ear, standing too close to me while we dance. Nothing you couldn't plausibly deny, but we'd both know."

"And what then?" She pushed a finger into herself. "What do you do to me then?"

"While you are talking to someone of great importance, I grab you by the wrist, drag you to some hallway and take you against the wall."

"Anyone could see us." She sounded delighted.

"Your dress would be ruined, and I would mark you in places impossible to hide. Even if they didn't see us, they would know what happened. Especially after you went back to whoever you were talking to."

"Fuck… Find a room with a lock, and I'll do it." She was thrusting with two fingers now. Aredhel tried not to think of how Maedhros's cunt would feel like, throbbing around her fingers instead. "What else?"

"Do you bring any toys when you come here?

"Sometimes." A smile. "It's in my pack."

Aredhel brought it to Maedhros. She didn't push it into her, simply handed it over. Maedhros slicked it with her own juices and pushed it in, giving out a small moan when it went fully in. She thrust in and out of herself at a mellow pace, holding her breast with her other hand. Aredhel stood on all fours over her, not touching her, not kissing her, but teasing her with her presence.

"I think of you coming to the hunt with us, and you using one of the monstrous cocks of ivory we have on me. You would push me to the ground, the blood hot in our veins and thrusting into me so hard it hurt. You would hold my hands down, not even letting me touch myself, and make me come on your cock alone."

"Vána's tits, Aredhel." She thrust the cock into herself a lot more roughly now. "You want me to– ah– to be cruel to you?"

"Not cruel. You would be giving me exactly what I want. I have people who can hurt me, and people I trust not to do so. There aren't many I trust to hurt me in the right way." Maedhros moaned, a loud, pretty sound she wouldn't have dared make back home. This was a bad idea. Maedhros was actually being loud for once, and Aredhel was not touching her. "You would tear my clothing, hold me down, and fuck me in your leathers. You would not kiss me while we fuck, simply bruise me, because I would be fighting against you, and you would still stand triumphant over me. But you would be very sweet afterwards, because you, cousin, are a sap."

"Aredhel…"

"I think you should tell me now. What do you think about, when you touch yourself?"

"Right now? You– fuck– I am thinking of you."

"Flatterer." She grabbed Maedhros’s wrist and made her drop the toy. A whine, almost pitiful, was her only response. Aredhel grabbed the cock instead, thrusting in and out with almost too much force. She wouldn't do this to many other people, but Maedhros seemed to be enjoying it, if the way small sobs of please that fell out of her mouth were any indication. "Tell me. You know what I was asking."

"I– oh– you want me to think like this?" Judging from the way she drew fast circles around her clit and pulled on the ring through her nipple, she liked the challenge.

"I just want you to return the favor. I told you some very intimate things, and you do not reciprocate. It is not an unfair demand. Speak."

"I've thought about– sweet Valar– about you using me to pleasure yourself."

"I am not sure I understand."

"You rubbing your– your cunt over me. And I cannot move, or touch you, or touch myself… If you touch me in a way I- oh please please!– a way I like, it is only to get yourself off. I might as well be a toy."

"Shit. Sounds like a lot." But she could play along.

"You tie me down. Gag me."

“Good idea. No matter what noises I make, my family will assume I am alone.”

"You can– ah!– use my stomach– please– or my– my thighs, just to…" Maedhros was sobbing. She kept trying to speak, but Aredhel would push the cock in so forcefully it punched out the breaths from her lungs.

"You would be wearing a cock, I think, so I have more options. I would ready myself, making sure I was wet enough by coming twice, once against your stomach and once against your thigh." Aredhel could imagine it, one of Maedhros’s beautifully fat thighs between her leaner ones. ”Then I would ride you, while you are unable to even thrust up. I would cling to your chest for support, and that is the only real attention I will pay to your breasts. A pity, really. They are so very pretty.” Maedhros pilled on both her nipple rings at once, then, and keened.

"Aredhel– please– I…"

"Do you think you could come just from the cock rubbing against your clit?”

”Maybe? Oh, fuck, I… I would, wouldn’t I?” She sounded distressed by the idea. Aredhel couldn’t understand, but she tried to calm her.

"I think you could, but I would not let you. I would pull it out of me once you started making too much noise, and drag myself up to your face. I would sit on your chest, maybe, while I undo the gag."

"I– there, please– fuck, Aredhel!"

"I would sit on your face, then. Pull your hair, rub my cunt all over you, until you are so desperate to do anything you beg me to at least sit on your mouth, so you can take pride in doing something."

"And? Please, Aredhel, do you let me– fuck!’ Aredhel could listen to those broken whines forever.

"Of course. I let you devour me. You would be sloppy, but I can feel how desperate you are, and that brings me so much more pleasure. I have the most beautiful maid in Valinor tied to my bed, and she is desperate for my touch. How could I not fall apart the second her tongue breaches me?"

"But you… but you keep going."

"I do. I keep going until it hurts. Until the thought of coming again is unbearable." She is merciless in her thrusts, making Maedhros's breast bounce. "And then, finally, I put my hand between your legs, because you deserve it after being so good and–"

"No." For a second Aredhel feels only terror. That she did something wrong, that somehow Maedhros is hurt, that somewhere things went bad. But Maedhros keeps talking. "You– hah– you untie me, and you clean me, and you– fuck– you hold me close. But you don't touch me there."

"Right.” Aredhel cannot say she understands this fantasy, but she won’t judge. ”I only leave you to find some wet cloth and some water. But I do not touch you there at all."

"Yes! Please! I– fuck, Aredhel– I need…" Maedhros is rubbing her own clit roughly, pinching it. "I love how you fuck me, and your smell, and I will let you use me in– Varda help me…" And she didn't speak after that. Her moans were loud and short, echoing all around them, but there were no words among the cacophony. She couldn't even beg, just rub her clit and pull her own hair, and moan in rhythm with Aredhel's thrusts. And then she gave out a longer moan, too wrecked for it to be a scream, and her spine arched and she suddenly stopped moving the hand between her legs.

Aredhel pulled the toy out slowly. She kissed the top of Maedhros's head and grabbed their flask of water. They passed it back and forth, until they both felt a bit more grounded.

"You gave me quite the show, huh."

"Only thanks to the audience. She was very involved." Maedhros put her mouth against Aredhel's throat.

"Hard not to be. The noises you made."

"Thank you. You were very beautiful as well." She was kissing and biting her throat now. Apparently, Aredhel ought to be more bruised. "You know, we could do that second thing you said tomorrow. We would have to make some adjustments, but we can do the important part."

"Ask me again tomorrow. I want to sleep." It sounded nice, but it was late. Maedhros seemed to agree, because she did not speak for quite a while. Still, she did speak, just as Aredhel was falling asleep.

"Do you think there is a joke here, about caves and water?" Maedhros sounded a little gleeful. "Plundering underground lakes? Making water drip from your cave?"

Aredhel could not be blamed for kicking her in the shin.