"Are we not friends, Aragorn?" Legolas' voice was soft with reproach.

"So I may hope," the newly crowned King of Gondor replied.

"Then why would you do such a thing to me?"

"Because if I had not, I would have regretted it the whole of my life. I must know, mellon. If, after tonight, you still do not wish to be my consort, then I will release you from the obligation. What I will not do is let you go without trying to win you."

"We are both male, Aragorn," Legolas said reasonably. "Who will give Gondor heirs?"

"I think I may count on Faramir and Eowyn to shoulder that onerous burden," Aragorn smiled.

"I do not find humor seemly in this matter," Legolas said stiffly.

"Forgive me," the Lord of the West said humbly. "May I tell you my heart?"

"Aragorn, I do not think . . ."

"Please, mellon," Aragorn beseeched the Elf.

"First hear me," Legolas said with an uncharacteristic flash of imperious temper.

Aragorn bowed his head and held his peace. Extending a hand in a regal gesture of permission, the king waited for the Elf to speak.

"How do you think I felt when my father, along with the Lords Elrond and Celeborn and the Lady Galadriel told me the glad tidings? That I had been chosen out of all the nation of Elvendom to be consort to the King of Gondor. That I was to be honored as the one who would reunite our two Races. That I was being awarded like a prize to the victor."

Aragorn looked up at the bitterness with which the last words were spoken. "That is not the way of it," he protested. "I have loved you since first I saw you."

Legolas' eyes widened. "And you never spoke a word in all the time we have known one another? After the trials that we have faced? We have saved one another's lives more than once, and you never thought to tell me that you loved me?"

"I dared not speak. I feared your reaction. I did not wish to lose my friend."

"Fear stilled your tongue?" Legolas said in disbelief.

"I feared the loss of your regard more than I feared ten thousand Uruk-Hai," Aragorn said sincerely.

"This is so strange to me," Legolas said. "I never considered that you might find me desirable. You seemed so . . . Manly."

"I am a Man," Aragorn asserted. "Yet I love you and wish to do the things with you that lovers do."

"Aragorn, I . . ."

"What is it?"

"Why could you not come to me as a Man and say, 'Legolas, I desire you.' Why did you let it be made into an affair of state? My father, Aragorn, King Thranduil bade me attend him at court and informed me, with those other lords, of the honor being done me. I could not hear the laughter behind my back, but I could feel it."

"You imagined it," Aragorn said. "Are you so ashamed of me?"

"Nay, you are . . . you are the sun and the moon, you are the stars that light my way."

Aragorn looked in wonder at the Elf. "It almost sounds as though you have some affection for me."

Legolas snorted in a most unElflike mannerism learned from Eomer of Rohan. "I love you, Aragorn. I have since first I saw you."

"Then why do you protest our union?"

"I am not what you need."

"And who made Legolas of Mirkwood judge of what I need?" Aragorn asked.

"You are right." Legolas chin dropped to his sternum.

"Stay with me this night," the king said.

"If that is thy command, I will obey."

"Nay, Legolas. Stay only if you wish it."

"What will happen if I stay?"

"We will go into the bedchamber and lie down together."

"As a bonded pair?"

"Yes, Legolas," Aragorn said, "as a bonded pair. I wish to make love to you. I know that Elves do not mate until they have bonded, but this is what I ask of you. I would bind my destiny with yours."

"I have sparred with you many times; why then should I fear this?" Legolas wondered.

"Fear, mellon?"

"Aye, fear of what I do not understand. Why do you want this body so?"

Aragorn's breath caught in his throat as the Elf opened the neck of his tunic and spread his arms.

"Because you are more beautiful than the light of Earendil," the king managed to say, "braver than Gil-Galad, more graceful than Luthien, more . . ."

"Enough, Aragorn. I believe that you find me attractive, but it still does not help me to understand why you wish to join with me. I love thee as much a Man may be loved, and I do not feel compelled to join my flesh with yours."

"Then I have made a terrible error," Aragorn's chin dropped to his chest.

King and Elf stood in freighted silence for long moments. Aragorn's mind was an agony of regret, disappointment, and impending loss. Legolas was frozen in indecision, unsure whether he should take his friend in his arms or walk away. Then the Elf gave in to the impulse to comfort the Man he had grown to love.

Aragorn sighed as the strong, slender arms wrapped him in secure warmth. He returned the embrace, careful not to let his passion spill over and ruin this tender moment. Alas, there was at least one muscle that refused his command to relax.

"Aragorn?"

"Aye?"

"Are you wearing a concealed dagger, or do I feel the proof of your desire for me?"

"Forgive me, mellon."

"There is naught to forgive, but I feel a strange stirring in my belly, and it is caused by the pressing of your hard flesh."

Aragorn tried to move away, but Elvish strength held him fast. "I do not wish to offend you," the king said.

"Do not speak of offense," Legolas said a trifle impatiently. "I am trying to understand this sensation. I have not felt it before. It is disturbing, yet quite pleasantly so."

Aragorn hardly dared hope that the exquisite Elf was feeling a stirring of desire for him. He scarcely breathed for fear of breaking the nascent spell.

"May I see?" the Elf asked without the shyness or embarrassment that would have accompanied a human's request.

"You wish to see my . . . Manhood?"

"If it would give no offense."

Aragorn's leggings were at his ankles before the Elf finished speaking. The Man's arousal curved out from its pelt of dark curls, yearning toward its fondest desire. The Elf took a long look at the rosy column of hard flesh before stretching out his hand to it.

"It is not so different; may I touch it?" Legolas asked a bit tardily as his fingers brushed the taut head.

Aragorn's breath hissed in through his teeth at the gentle touch and the Elf looked up at the Man's face. Legolas stroked Aragorn's erection again, fascinated by the swift change in the Man's expression. With more confidence, the Elf grasped the stiff rod. He felt it pulse against his palm and heat flashed through his groin. Legolas raised a curious eyebrow.

"Ah, mellon please," Aragorn groaned. "You do not know what you are doing to me."

"Does my touch please you?"

It occurred to the king that if he could hold Legolas' interest, he could coax him into bed. Therefore, Aragorn couched his answers in language to catch an Elf's fancy.

"Does the sun please the flower?" he responded.

Aragorn was rewarded by the sweet smile that curved the archer's perfect lips. Legolas lifted a hand to test the texture of the Man's hair under his palm. He stroked the broad forehead and the roughness of the short beard. None of these things were new to the Elf, but it was as if he felt them for the first time.

"I find myself strangely moved," Legolas said, as his eyes flicked downward. "As do you."

"Do not mock me, please," Aragorn said. "I do not deserve your scorn simply because I love you and cannot hide the proof of it."

"Aragon," the Elf said fondly. "You misunderstand. I am not mocking you. I am merely making an observance."

"I have become very human," Aragorn said apologetically.

"You always were."

"Now, you are mocking me."

"Aye," Legolas agreed equably.

Aragorn doused a spark of annoyance at the Elf who had lately complained of the king's levity. He had chosen to love one of Elfkind, and he must accept that their perceptions were not to be judged by human standards. Likely Legolas would not even understand why his teasing seemed so unfair to Aragorn. However, Aragorn judged it a small price to pay for what he gained. When next he spoke, his words reflected naught but sincerity.

"Come, Legolas, will you not give me an hour? Just one hour so that I may try and convince you to stay with me."

"I suppose your persuasion requires that you touch me?"

"If I thought I could win you with words alone, I would write poetry. If deeds of valor were your price, I would slay . . . One moment. I have slain hundreds of Orcs."

"You slew them for me?"

"Wicked Elf," Aragorn said, despite his recent resolution. "It was you chided me about the seriousness of this matter."

Legolas' indigo eyes widened in surprise, "Are you not allowed to by merry when making love, as Men call it?"

"Tis a strange phrase," Aragon admitted, "and, yes, it is permissible to enjoy it. . ." The Man paused as the sense of the Elf's words sank in. "Are we making love?" he asked slowly.

Legolas took the king's hand and held it between his own as he spoke. "Throughout the War from Bree to Mordor, you never gave in to despair, or aught else that I could see. You remained steadfast and true, once your course was set. You never said that you could not do a thing, until you had striven with all your might to do it. Even when you failed, you took new strength from the defeat. Even when I doubted you at Helm's Deep, you held to your honor and your duty and you never blamed me. Your love remained true. How can I face such a Man and tell him I have not the courage or faith to join with him?"

"Legolas," Aragorn began.

"Nay, mellon. No more words for a while. Men are far too enamored of speech. What we will do does not require that we speak." Legolas placed Aragorn's palm over his heart and raised his face. "It begins with a kiss, does it not?" he asked.

"That is generally the way of it," Aragorn answered, striving to match the Elf's new lightness of manner.

Both were intensely aware that they were a breath away from shattering the world, as they knew it. They stood on a threshold. One more step, and a line would be crossed from which there was no turning back. This change was irrevocable and, in his way, the immortal Elf tried to lessen the enormity for the Man to put him more at ease. Still, Aragorn trembled as he touched his mouth to Legolas' for the first time.

"Elenath!" Legolas breathed as their lips parted.

Aragorn looked into the Elf's eyes and saw them soften like sapphires melting in some unimaginable heat, hotter than Mount Doom. Then the Man was crushed in a fierce embrace, as Legolas' mouth sought his again. Aragorn returned the pressure and insinuated the tip of his tongue between the Elf's enticing lips. He felt Legolas' small startlement and then the silken lips parted for him and he went up in flames.

Legolas moaned involuntarily when Aragorn took control of the kiss and the Man's tongue slid sinuously over his. Why should the gliding contact of slick flesh cause this bloom of heat in his lower belly? It warmed his every particle and made him want to feel it again. No, not want, need; he needed to feel the delicious sensation again.

Aragorn was near overwhelmed by the Elf's response to a simple kiss, but he soon regained his balance and met Legolas' fire with his own. Deeming the moment opportune, the Lord of the West took between his hands the body of his promised Elven-Consort and used every means known to him to express his love and desire. Legolas shivered and gasped for breath, as Aragorn's tongue traced the whorls of an upswept ear before nibbling gently on the delicate point.

"You do not know how I have longed to do this," Aragorn whispered.

"You have longed to chew on my ear?" the Elf panted in disbelief.

Aragorn grinned. "I love you, Legolas, Prince of Mirkwood," he said.

"Less speech," the Elf complained, pressing his lips to Aragorn's.

The former Ranger thrust his tongue assertively into Legolas soft mouth as he pressed his straining erection against the Elf's groin. Reaching down, he confirmed what he suspected. A matching surge in the Elf's leggings betrayed the extent of his arousal. Twining his tongue with Legolas', Aragorn cupped the Elf's buttocks and ground their hard flesh together with a slow, rolling movement of his hips. Legolas pulled his mouth from the Man's and sucked in a great breath of air. His burning gaze fastened on Aragorn's, his face mirroring his need and his alarm at its intensity.

"I would never hurt you, beloved," Aragorn said softly. "You must know that in your heart."

The Elf's breathing calmed and he relaxed in the Man's arms. "I did not know it would be so powerful," Legolas said. "Never have I felt so full of life."

"Do you want more?"

"Until my flesh can no longer contain my joy," Legolas answered.

"I will give you all you can hold," Aragorn promised, taking the alluring mouth again.

Legolas jumped when the Man's hand squeezed his arousal through the cloth of his leggings and a wave of bliss foamed through him from crown to soles. Aragorn stroked the Elf gently but insistently, and Legolas began to moan as the waves of pleasure mounted. Blindly, the archer reached for the Man's staff and caressed it at the same tempo, whimpering when Aragorn released his shaft.

The king knelt and removed the Elf's boots and leggings. Legolas doffed his vest and tunic, denying Aragorn the pleasure, but the Man could hardly complain of the sight of the naked Elf. In fact, he stood so long in admiring contemplation that Legolas was moved to speak.

"Is it time to go into the bedchamber?" the Elf asked.

"Aye, melme nin."

Legolas raised an eyebrow. "Your beautiful one? Aragorn, I beg you, do not give me pet names. I am not a delicate flower or a dulcet dove. I am Legolas, as I always was."

"Forgive me," Aragorn inclined his head. "It is but surfeit of love makes me foolish."

"Is that the cause?" the Elf said gravely. " I have often wondered at your foolishness and I am glad to have it explained."

Aragorn's soft blue eyes widened and then he chuckled warmly. "How can you think that you are not my match?" he asked. "You are my equal, the mate of my spirit, and if the only way I can be part of you is to bed you, then I am thankful for that much."

"I am near convinced," Legolas said, "but we are not through with the consummation, are we?"

Aragorn took the Elf's callused hand in his and led him into the royal bedchamber. Legolas looked about at the sumptuously appointed room of sable and silver and then walked to the big bed. He seemed not at all impressed with Gondorian splendor.

"A pity our first joining cannot be among the trees," Legolas said wistfully.

Aragorn's heart soared at the implication that there would be more joinings as he knelt on the mattress and took hold of the Elf's shoulders. Gently, the king eased his consort onto his back and parted the long thighs. Legolas gazed up trustingly as Aragorn applied oil to his staff and then pressed a finger to the Elf's opening. The Man held his partner's eyes as he eased his oil-slick digit through the irised aperture.

"Lie back," Aragorn said when the Elf reached for his greased shaft. "Let me give you pleasure, mellon."

Legolas subsided only to arch off the bed again as the Man's stroking finger galvanized his body like a lightning strike. Aragorn took hold of the Elf's erection and pumped it at a gradually increasing pace as he stimulated the tight passage. Legolas' lovely face was transfigured by the sensations that coursed through him. He moaned and writhed under Aragorn's touch, as the Man prepared the narrow sheath to receive him.

"By the Valar, Aragorn!" Legolas cried out, clutching at the Man's wrists.

"Yes, beloved?"

"I - I do not know why I stopped you," the Elf said in consternation. "I felt as though I stood at the edge of a precipice over a vast chasm. I think I was afraid that I would fall."

"That is a reasonable fear," Aragon said gently, fastening his glowing eyes on his heart's desire. "I will not let you fall," he vowed. "I will always be there to catch you."

The Elf's supernal eyes glittered with sudden moisture. "Know you how sweet are your words?" he asked.

"If you were to say them to me, they would sound sweet beyond any sweetness I have ever known," the king replied.

Legolas smiled and then arched his back with a groan. "Ah, Aragorn, what are you doing to me? How could anything this side of the Grey Havens feel so good? What can I give you in return for such pleasure?"

"I would be one with you," Aragorn said.

"You wish to thrust your Manhood into my flesh," Legolas said baldly.

"Aye, that is what I wish to do."

"This is the part I fear, mellon."

"I will show you that there is nothing to fear."

Aragorn took up the oil and anointed the Elf's upstanding rod. Kneeling with his knees on either side of Legolas' slim hips, the king guided the Elf's arousal to his lower port. Legolas looked up at Aragorn in wonder at the trust implicit in this tender gesture. More to please the Ranger than himself, the Elf pushed slowly into the Man's rear channel.

"It hurts," Aragorn said in a strained voice, "but we have taken worse hurts."

"Enough," Legolas said. "This is not what I want."

Carefully, the king lifted himself off of the Elf's erection and bent to kiss the tip of the elegantly curved staff before kneeling between the long legs again. Legolas moaned as the Man pulled him up onto his muscular thighs and pressed the head of his arousal against the lubricated entry. The Elf squirmed a bit, and then went still as stone as he was breached. Aragorn soothed him with soft words and gentle caresses until he relaxed again.

"Are you ready?" Aragorn asked.

"I did not quail before the Gate of the Dead in Dunharrow and I will not turn back now."

Aragorn nodded his acknowledgement of the Elf's courage. With the same care and grace with which he sheathed Anduril, the king sank into the hot velvet of Legolas' scabbard. Snugly ensconced, he leaned in and kissed the Elf's sweet lips.

"Now I am complete," Aragorn said with a sigh.

"That is the whole of it?" Legolas said incredulously.

"The whole of my Manhood, or the whole of lovemaking?" Aragorn smiled.

"Now are you revenged for my gentle teasing."

"Gentle, my love? Your fierceness is legend."

"Then tame me to your hand," Legolas answered.

Slowly at first, but with steadily escalating speed, depth and power Aragorn took the body that had haunted his sleep and his waking dreams for decades. If he had any fears that the reality would not live up to the long held fantasy, they were blown apart by the passion with which Legolas responded to him.

As Aragorn drove urgently into the tight heat, he stroked the Elf's aching arousal while Legolas planted the soles of his feet firmly against the mattress to provide resistance for the Man to push against. Abruptly the Elf cried out in ecstatic surprise and pumped his hips, meeting Aragorn's thrust halfway. The Man adjusted his angle and pace to match Legolas' movements and the Elf cried out again.

"Yes, Aragorn," Legolas said, unabashed. "Just there. Do not stop doing that."

Aragorn did as the Elf bade him, plunging into the narrow sheath as he continued his attentions to Legolas' erect shaft. Drops of pearly fluid collected at the tip of the graceful rod and were used to further lubricate the pulsing shaft. The Elf lifted his pelvis, taking in as much of the Man's rigid length as he could hold and froze there when Aragorn squeezed the base of his rod tightly.

"Wait for me, Legolas," Aragorn panted.

"Be quick," the Elf groaned. "If I do not find release, I shall fly to pieces."

Aragorn rocked Legolas on his thighs, barely withdrawing before pushing back into the delicious heat and pressure. The Elf whimpered in need as the smooth, gentle penetration continued while the Man fondled his leaking shaft.

"Iesten, Aragorn," Legolas moaned. "Iesten."

A bolt of pure pleasure speared the Man at the passionate plea from his beloved and his staff twitched in the Elf's canal. A shudder ran through his frame, as his release began to unfurl. He thrust powerfully and Legolas' hips moved wildly, their groins meeting solidly.

"Now, Aragorn," the Elf wailed.

The Man clutched the sleek flanks of his mount and buried his spurting rod in the clenching channel. Legolas' staff spilled hot seed over Aragorn's fist, his sheath rippling in reaction to the intense orgasm. Aragorn groaned deep in his chest, his fingers sinking into the Elf's smooth flesh as his release reverberated in his every cell. He gathered Legolas into his arms and captured the sweet mouth in an ardent kiss. Legolas wrapped his legs around the Man's waist and pulled him closer.

"Say you will stay with me or break my heart," Aragorn said when he caught his breath.

"Do not, I beg you, ask me to speak. My senses are shattered."

"I love you, Legolas," the king said softly in one perfect ear.

"Mmmmm," the Elf purred.

"Will you stay with me?"

"Mmmmm-hmmm."

"Legolas."

"Ahhhh," the Elf sighed vexedly. "Will you still be talking? Lie here with me in this wondrous peace."

"I must know, Legolas."

Sharp, white teeth nipped the Man's shoulder.

"Ow!" Aragorn exclaimed. "That hurt!"

"Your consort is overwhelmed, Lord of the West. You have conquered me with your bare hands. I did not expect this and I need time to . . ."

"Legolas?" Aragorn said after a long moment.

A soft snore was his only answer. The King of Gondor looked down at his new lover sprawled artlessly beneath him, soft and sated. There was so much he wanted to say, so much he wanted to hear, but he must be patient. He had gotten what he asked for; now he must live with his choice. He would pay the cost gladly.

Aragorn lay down beside Legolas and spooned himself to the narrow back. He nuzzled the Elf's damp neck, inhaling Legolas' beguiling scent, and fell into a sleep filled with dreams of beauty, love and joy.