Silmarillion Writers' Guild

I am posting a new chapter of "THE MARRING OF BLISS" entitled "Almost Bliss". Please be careful to check the warnings for this chapter, as below.

STORY TITLE: THE MARRING OF BLISS
CHAPTER TITLE: ALMOST BLISS
AUTHOR: Digdigil
CHARACTERS: Celegorm, Curufin, and Aredhel
RATING: For this chapter and the rest of the story: NC-17
WARNINGS: Warnings for graphic descriptions of angsty, fumbling first-time teenage sex.
SUMMARY: Curufin decides to declare his feelings for Aredhel as she and the boys go for a ride and a picnic.



DISCLAIMER: The characters and places in this story are not mine, but are those of J.R.R. Tolkien, the Tolkien Estate and are the property of New Line Cinema as well. I will not be receiving any remuneration for this writing.

Curufin and Celegorm had been digging post holes all morning and had decided to take a break when they saw Aredhel riding up to them. It had been more than a month since the horse-losing incident, and Curufin had finished making the iron posts and rails for the new fence. The two brothers had volunteered to build the fence themselves as a goodwill gesture toward their parents. Aredhel was no longer staying in their house as a guest. It had been noticed that she was developing rather quickly into an adult and therefore Fëanor and Nerdanel had deemed that it would be improper for her to stay overlong in their house among their seven sons. Aredhel had ridden over from her own home upon her new mount, a lovely chestnut quarter horse that was a gift from her father that she was anxious to show off to her friends.

“Kurvo! Turko!” she called excitedly, but she and the horse had already caught their attention and they watched intently as she approached.

They had caught Aredhel’s attention as well. Her interest was greatly aroused as she watched them standing before her half-naked, taking alternate swigs from a water skin that they shared between them. Celegorm in particular was a glorious sight, with the golden hair and skin of the fair-haired, fair-skinned Elves. His blond hair gleamed in the sunlight and his well-developed muscles were in evidence as he stood shirtless and perspiring. When he turned aside and bent down to return the skin to the ground, the youthful curves of his perky backside were impossible to ignore and invited Aredhel’s silent admiration.

While Celegorm possessed a truly admirable physique, her heart skipped a beat at the sight of Curufin. Slightly taller than Celegorm, he was leaner also, yet still well-muscled. His hair was a rich chestnut brown whose red highlights gleamed in the sun. Worn longer than Turko’s, he had it plaited partway down its length and bound with a tie, but the hair around his face was coming loose and some of it was sticking to his cheek and neck. Aredhel found this endearing. She especially loved the way he would drop his head slightly and look up at her shyly from under his thick, dark eyelashes. She loved the curve of his lips also, and the way one side would tilt upward independently of the other when he found that something amused him.

“Nell, you are becoming as boy-crazy as all those other silly girls”, she thought to herself as she rode up to the brothers. “Whoa”, she said as she pulled her horse to a stop. When she was this close to Turko and Kurvo she realized that she loved being with both of them.

“Don’t you love my new horse?” she cried out in excitement. “Can you come for a ride?”

Normally the boys would not have hesitated to say yes. They may not even have gone to ask permission from their parents first. They probably would have dashed to the stables, saddled two horses as quickly as possible and rode off with Aredhel without a thought. But since losing Calimo and their realization that it was time to grow up, they had become much more responsible.

“I will go in to ask permission of Ada”, offered Curufin. “If he says yes, then I’ll bring out your clothes, Turko. What do you want to wear today?”

“Mmmm – brown doeskin breeches, blue shirt and brown vest”, replied Celegorm. “And thanks, Kurvo”.

When Curufin had gone into the house, Celegorm looked at Aredhel’s horse admiringly. “I cannot believe that Uncle Nolofinwë gave you this beautiful horse!” he exclaimed. “What is his name?”

“I called him Kurvo”, she said, “for Kur – for Kurv – phhh!” She could not finish as she caught Turko’s startled look and burst into peals of laughter. Celegorm started to laugh as well, the picture of the horse and Curufin looking similar striking them both as being hilarious at the same time. They fell into each other’s arms, laughing uncontrollably.

When Curufin emerged from the house fully dressed and carrying Celegorm’s clothing, he found his brother embracing Aredhel and she had laid her face upon his brother’s naked shoulder. Curufin’s eyebrows rose at this, but he did not think anything was untoward, and he was not overcome by jealousy; however, he felt a slight worry that bothered him a little. At that moment he knew his feelings for Aredhel were more than those of a friend, and that if he wanted her ultimately to wed him, then he had better do something soon to place a claim of sorts on her.

“Here are your things, Turko”, he said brightly, and held out the clothing. While Celegorm dressed unashamedly in front of Aredhel, Curufin turned to look at her horse admiringly. “What have you called him?” he asked. That elicited a new wave of sniggering laughter from Aredhel and Celegorm.

“Promise not to be mad, Kurvo”, said Aredhel, “but I have called him after you. Don’t be angry, though! He is beautiful! Look at him! His coat is the same colour as your hair! And he is just as sleek and slender as you, and he feels good to ride!”

“Why should I be angry?” he asked, and smiled at her sweetly from under his thick lashes, one corner of his mouth upturned. Her heart gave a little jump.

“I knew you wouldn’t be”, she said, and stood on tiptoe in order to kiss his cheek, moving a little strand of his hair out of the way as she did so.



~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~



It was a beautifully warm summer day, and the three friends enjoyed a good, long ride in their favourite pastures close to the swimming hole that Celegorm had discovered over a month before, on the day that they had lost Calimo. The boys had taken out two different thoroughbred stallions in order to keep pace with Aredhel’s quarter horse, since they still were forbidden to ride Calimo. After riding for a couple of hours they decided to stop near the pond. This time they had brought food with them: bread, cheese, fruit and a couple of bottles of wine, as well as water, and they spread these out upon a cloth on the ground.

After eating the food and drinking the wine, Celegorm said he felt like going for a swim, but Curufin and Aredhel decided to wait for a while before joining him. When Celegorm had gone and was out of sight because of the lower elevation of the pond, Curufin made up his mind to say something to Aredhel about his feelings for her. He decided to relax himself first and consider what he was going to say, and he lay back on the picnic blanket and sighed, stretching his arms above his head. Aredhel looked down at him with amusement. “Do you need a nap before your swim, Kurvo?” she teased. He caught her by the arm and pulled her toward him.

“Come down and talk to me”, he said.

“Oh, Kurvo, can’t you hold your wine?” she giggled. She was feeling a bit lightheaded herself. She let him lower her until she was lying crossways on top of him, her chest leaning upon his, but the lower half of her body was stretched out sideways on the ground. A few of the picnic things were knocked over and scattered as she rolled on top of them. Curufin grasped the back of her head and pulled her face down to his own rather roughly. His lips sought hers, but she pulled away.

“No, Kurvo, not like that!” she admonished him and raised herself onto her knees.

“I want to feel your lips on mine again”, he rasped in a throaty whisper.

“I do too, but not like that”, she said. She stood up and walked away to where the horses were tied beneath an apple tree. Its blossoms had faded and the fruit was just beginning to burgeon. A soft, soapy scent of lilac drifted faintly on the air from a distance away. Aredhel breathed deeply, closed her eyes and leaned back against a tree trunk. When she opened them again, Curufin was standing in front of her. She looked at him and saw that his face was flushed and his eyes were half open and gleaming. He came closer slowly, not smiling, but looking as if he were experiencing pleasure all the same.

“Kurvo”, she whispered, and tilted her face up towards his. He cupped it gently in his hands and placed his soft lips directly upon hers. As the kiss deepened, she parted her lips and his lower lip slipped between hers, so she sucked on it gently. She tasted the wine on his breath. It was warm, spicy and made her lips tingle. He became aroused then, and pressed her back firmly against the tree trunk. When the kiss ended they were both panting, and though neither of them had any experience in lovemaking, Curufin started to remove his shirt. Aredhel leaned the back of her head against the tree and savoured the memory of the sweet sensation of their kiss. A feeling of warmth flooded through her body.

“Oh, Nell”, groaned Curufin. “I love you. Will you marry me?” he asked abruptly.

“Yes”, she breathed, her breath coming in short gasps of excitement. “He loves me!” she thought with great pleasure. “Yes, darling, I will”, she said, and helped him to pull off his shirt. When it was off he started fumbling with the laces on his breeches. He could feel the tightening and the hardening inside them and the desire to remove the constricting clothing was strong in him. Aredhel remained fully clothed.

“What are you doing, Kurvo?” she asked. She was shocked. This moment was extending beyond her limits now, and she wanted it to stop where it had last felt good to her.

“Taking my clothes off”, he panted. “What does it look like I’m doing?”

“But why?” she asked, incredulous.

“I don’t know”, he replied. “I can’t stand having them on. What about you?”

Aredhel blushed a bright pink colour. “Oh, I don’t think –“she said, and then was stopped by the next kiss that Curufin planted upon her lips. This time he held her around the waist with one hand while the other slid up and caressed her breast. Frustrated by the feel of silk against his hand instead of flesh, Curufin began to slip her dress off of her shoulder. She groaned and started to protest, but he deepened the kiss and pressed his body harder against hers. He had removed his breeches but was still wearing his underclothing. The harder kiss and all the pressing made the blood pound in Aredhel’s ears. She relaxed and let Curufin pull her dress down, exposing her breasts. He cupped one and moaned against her neck as he slid his head down from her lips. Then he bent further to suckle her nipple. She wanted to shriek with ecstasy but managed to stifle it and let just a soft moan escape. She liked what he had just done and wanted him to do it again. But Curufin released her and bent down to remove his underwear as Aredhel watched him.

What’s that?” she shrieked, as Curufin kicked his underpants away and stood with a springing erection, fully exposed to her.

“What?” Curufin asked, red in the face and panting.

“That!” she cried, pointing at his very impressive erection.

“Aredhel!” he exclaimed. “You have two brothers! Have you never seen them –“

“Naked? Like that?” she squealed. “No! Never!”

“Well, trust me, it’s perfectly normal!” he said. “Do you want to touch it?”

“No!” she cried. She loved him, she knew, but she felt out of her depth now and did not know what to do.

“Nell”, he crooned in a softer tone and pulled her against him once more. “Darling”, and moved to kiss her again. She cringed and pulled away.

“Nell, please”, he begged. “Please. Just don’t look at it if it scares you. Here. Hold it. Please”. He took her free hand while her other one was pulling her dress back up over her shoulder, and held it to his erection, closing her fingers around it. “There. Does it feel so bad?” he asked.

“Ewwww – why is it wet?” she asked, and whisked her hand away. She held it up and looked at it. “Oh, Gods, I’m not wiping that on my dress”, she said.

Curufin, holding his own member and squeezing it in exasperation, picked up his shirt from the ground and handed it to her. “Here, use that”, he said.

Just then they heard a voice coming from the direction of the pond. “Help! Help!” The sound of panic could be heard in that voice.

“Celegorm!” cried Curufin. Not waiting to get dressed, he ran in the direction of the pond, and seeing that his brother was in some sort of trouble, he dove into the water, naked. With strong strokes he reached Celegorm, whose head was disappearing below the top of the water. Reaching down, Curufin grabbed a handful of his brother’s thick hair and pulled him to the surface. Then, clasping him around the neck, Curufin swam back to the shore, pulling Celegorm behind him. When he was safely lying on the bank, Celegorm raised his head and looked at his brother.

“You’re not wearing any clothes”, he spat out, coughing and spluttering.

“Neither are you”, Curufin retorted, indicating his brother’s naked body with a sweep of his hand.

“Well, that’s because I was swimming”, said Celegorm. “Why did you take yours off?” Then his eyes opened wide. “You and Nell!” he blurted out. “You didn’t!”

“No, we didn’t”, said Curufin, looking at the ground and sifting fine dirt through his fingers.

“Then why are you –“ Celegorm started to ask.

“We both said we love each other”, Curufin interrupted. “And that we would wed. I wanted to wed her right away, but she did not wish to do it so soon, I think. I think I may have frightened her”.

Celegorm regarded his brother carefully. “Ada and Nana will kill you”, he said quietly.

“Yes, well, they need not know about it!” Curufin hissed through clenched teeth. “So don’t tell them! Nell and I can wait some years before we finally do marry”.

Celegorm laughed and rolled over onto his back. “Oh, yes? You think you can wait that long when you couldn’t wait to get each other’s clothes off so quickly?”

Curufin punched him in the arm. “Shut up!” he cried. “Nell never took hers off”.

Celegorm laughed even louder. “Oh, no! Just you?” he guffawed.

Aredhel appeared suddenly on the brink of the slope, and shading her eyes against the afternoon sun she looked down toward the two boys. “Are you all right, Turko?” she called.

“Yes, fine! It was just a cramp!” he called back.

“You shouldn’t have gone swimming so soon after eating!” she cried.

Celegorm then sprang to his feet, followed by Curufin and they started climbing up the slope. Aredhel looked with astonishment upon the two naked boys and then, clasping her hand over her eyes, she turned and ran back towards the trees and the safety of the horses.