Author: Sam

Story: Courting Fire: 2 of 2

Series: n/a

Spoilers: The first two chapters of Fellowship of the Rings.

Feedback: Yes, please? Especially constructive. samwise_baggins@yahoo.co.uk

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The guests were gone, the Hole was silent, and the fire was guttering low in the grate. With a happy sigh, Frodo turned to look over his home, tired eyes picking out spills which needed scrubbing, dishes which needed gathering, a score of tasks to set Bag End back to rights. It would take some hours to repair the damage caused by the party, but it had been worth it.

For the last thirteen years Frodo had been living alone, or as near alone a Hobbit in his own hole could live. He'd taken up the strange habit of celebrating Bilbo's birthday despite the older Hobbit's departure. Other Hobbits might talk about how odd he was, but it never stopped them from joining in the double birthday celebration. Another year would pass and Frodo would be one year older and one year lonelier.

Actually, as of that summer, his life had taken on a new twist. It wasn't lonely anymore. Frodo had found a lover. True, they hadn't actually gone to bed yet, but they'd only been admittedly, if secretly, courting for the last three months. If the Shire ever found out about their affair, though, it would most likely wreck both their lives. Frodo was halfway outcast anyway, so it wouldn't bother him to shout his love from the hilltops and take the exile that came with it. But he couldn't do that to the Hobbit he loved in a way which was all but forbidden in the Shire.

The sound of a door softly closing drew Frodo out of his reverie. With a soft smile, he glanced around, eyes lighting further as he confirmed his suspicions on who had entered. He held out his hands and sighed, "Hello... love."

Samwise Gamgee smiled, his weary green eyes immediately locking with his companion's large blue ones. Taking the soft hands in his larger, callused ones, the gardener of Bag End drew his master closer. With a happy murmur, he slid his strong arms around the seemingly delicate Hobbit and buried his face in the other Hobbit's neck.

It felt right to be here, in Frodo's arms. Since he'd been courting with Frodo, Sam had learned how to keep his love for the older Hobbit secret while still doing those extra things a lover might. Nobody had caught on, it seemed, and they had been spending nights talking and holding one another for the last three months. The only thing wrong with their entire clandestine affair was the fact that Sam wished Frodo'd go a bit faster. It had been thirteen years since they'd started looking at one another. True, Sam hadn't reached his majority until that summer, but now that he had, it only seemed right that they make up for lost time.

Only, Frodo didn't seem to be thinking along the same lines.

After a long moment, Sam pulled back from Frodo's embrace. He smiled and moved to pick up some of the dirty dishes left littering the room. A touch on his arm, tender and tempting, stopped him.

"Sam, come, leave it for now. You work far too hard as it is. You should enjoy my birthday as much as I do." The dark-haired Hobbit turned his friend around and smiled softly. "Come on, have a seat with me before the fire?"

With a nod, Sam moved towards the comfortable chair and slipped into it, only realizing after he had already sat that it was Frodo's customary seat. He frowned and looked around, but his own habitual seat had been moved across the room by a guest earlier in the evening. Sam prepared to get up to retrieve it when Frodo slipped surprisingly easily onto his lap, facing him.

Frodo straddled Sam's lap, arms going around his neck. Still smiling that soft smile, he leaned close into his love. "Sam? I'm going to kiss you..."

His heart started thudding against his chest. Frodo's weight was comfortable on his lap, natural, as if they'd sat thus on numerous occasions. As his master brought those beautiful, full lips towards his own, Sam drew in a breath and held it, sighing as their lips met. The kiss was soft, questioning. Sam suddenly felt as if he couldn't get enough of the taste of Frodo. He pulled the other Hobbit back just as his lover tried to end the kiss. That action caused the kiss to deepen as Frodo once more started to kiss him.

Long moments passed as the two of them explored one another's mouth, caressed the other's body, revelled in the feeling of completeness that had settled over the cozy scene. As Sam finally let Frodo draw back, both panting a bit for air, a hush seemed to descend around them and Sam blushed.

"Oh, Frodo... I..." He ran a hand up over Frodo's head, tangling his strong fingers gently in the dark curls he found. "That was like nothing I've ever felt before." How could he explain just how the kisses had moved him? How to talk about the tightness in his chest, the drumming of his heart, the beautiful scent and feel and being of Frodo? Sam didn't have the words and so fell silent.

A tender smile crossed Frodo's too pale face. He leaned over and touched his forehead to the younger Hobbit's as he enjoyed the comfortable petting from those sure, strong hands. "Oh, Sam... how I've wanted that for so long." He lay his head on his lover's shoulder, smiling dreamily. "Why was I foolish enough to wait so long to tell you how much I..."

Sam waited, breathless himself now, for Frodo to finish that sentence. He wanted those words... needed those words. The feeling he felt was ageless, despite their genders, and he wanted to hear the Hobbit he loved echo those feelings. Unfortunately, a long moment passed with Frodo's words left unspoken. Sam had to withhold a sigh of disappointment.

More moments passed as Frodo continued to cuddle with Sam. He could feel the disappointment in his lover, but he still couldn't speak the words. Calling Sam 'love' as a pet name and coming right out and admitting his deep feelings were two very different things. He wanted to, but something held him back. There was some last lingering doubt in his mind about turning Sam so completely away from the normal life of a good Hobbit lad. Could he really do that to Sam?

Unaware of the troubled thoughts in his lover's mind, Sam determined that it was up to him to expose his heart first. He thought Frodo might be uncertain or somehow shy. If he opened himself up, surely Frodo would follow? And when he did, Sam knew his heart would never stop singing.

"Frodo..."

Sam smiled softly as Frodo raised his lovely blue eyes. The Hobbit on his lap returned that same soft smile, and Sam's heart got ready to burst into song. A strange, nervous flutter went through his stomach, but Sam ignored it. "Frodo... I love you." He flushed, smiling and waiting.

Frodo blinked in surprise. Sam had just admitted their love out loud. He had just taken a brave, bold step that might never be erased or altered. He had given himself to this unnatural relationship between them. It made Frodo want to cry, it was so sweet. "Oh, Sam..." He cupped his servant's face and kissed him again, a deep kiss of hunger and need.

"My Sam..." The forty-six-year-old tried to say the words back to his lover, tried to be just as brave, but they wouldn't come. He fell silent, eyes sad and frown starting to fix itself in place. He could feel Sam's disappointment, as well. It was in the way his shoulders drooped just a bit and a dozen other bodily clues Frodo had come to understand. That strengthened his resolve and he tried again. "My Sam, I... I love you, too."

Eyes wide in wonder, Frodo met Sam's darkening green gaze. He smiled and Sam smiled back. Then their lips met in another searing kiss, this one including caressing hands starting an inexperienced quest over one another's body. A soft groan came from deep in Sam's chest as Frodo repositioned himself, accidentally thrusting their most sensitive areas together. Frodo lifted his head with a gasp.

"Oh, Sam... You..." Frodo kissed him again, forcefully this time. He tangled his hands roughly in Sam's strawberry curls, tugging him flush against his own yearning body. Suddenly, the years behind them seemed too long, the years ahead not long enough. "Oh, Sam, I do love you, I do! Kiss me, Sam..."

Sam complied, instinctively opening his mouth to let Frodo's tongue slide against his own. The taste was sweet, the feeling erotic, and Sam was beginning to lose himself completely. His lover's next words, however, acted as a bucket of cold water, effectively drowning the building passion and clearing Sam's fogging brain.

"You need a wife, Sam."

"What? Frodo, I love you." He looked confused, uncertain.

With a soft smile, Frodo pulled Sam back into another, more gentle kiss. "Listen to me, my beautiful Sam." He forced Sam to meet his eyes. "You were made to have a family. And you won't have one without a wife." Putting a gentle finger over Sam's bruised lips, Frodo silenced any protest. "Not now, Sam, but someday. I want you to look around a bit and find a nice Hobbit lass you can love. I want you to court her and marry her and have lots of babies. And someday, I want you to die a happy Hobbit."

"Mister Frodo," the words were instinctively formal. Sam was trying to protect his confused heart. "If we love each other, why would you push me away?" He hated how pathetic he sounded, whining about this.

Frodo heard the confused sadness in Sam's voice and kissed him softly. "Sam, I'm not pushing you away. I plan to be with you as long as may be. But you deserve a family. Trust me Sam, your heart will yearn for children one fine day, and I can't give those to you."

"I'll adopt, like Mister Bilbo did you."

"Oh, Sam..." Frodo laughed softly, but not unkindly. "Sam do you know how much I love you?" He didn't give Sam a chance to respond, answering his own question. "I want to live forever just to be with you until the end of time. I want to lie with you and let you possess me and to possess you. I want it to be just the two of us, and I want to shout it from the hilltops so everyone knows my heart belongs to Samwise Gamgee." He smiled.

Hesitantly, Sam smiled. "But if you want all that, why tell me to find a wife, Frodo?" Somehow, knowing all that made the request seem more of a joke than a serious demand. He was wrong, however. Frodo wasn't joking.

Running a gentle hand over Sam's sensitive, pointed ear, Frodo nodded. "Because I want to see and hold your children, my love." It was getting easier to say the words, and Frodo wondered why he'd even balked at saying them. "I want to dance at your wedding to a pretty young lass. I want to be able to show off the best Hobbit in town as the one that deserves most to be respected and loved. I..." he paused, but added the last any way, "I want everyone to think you're normal so you are never shunned, my love."

Sam took this all in, silent and thoughtful. After a very long moment, he nodded. It was a difficult idea, but he understood the reasoning. "Frodo, I will look. But please don't force me away? I love you. Will..." he frowned as he felt a sudden streak of jealousy, "will you also be wanting a wife?"

Frodo shook his head. "No, Sam. I'm not meant to marry. I'm meant to enjoy your children, but none of my own flesh. I've always known that." He stroked Sam's cheek with a quiet smile playing on his pale alluring lips.

The lighter haired Hobbit sighed, thinking. Slowly, so slowly, he raised his eyes to Frodo's and nodded. "Yes. I think you may be right, Frodo. I... I do want children to love and raise. And... and I do like the lasses, too." He flushed, feeling disloyal to his new love.

With a laugh, Frodo kissed Sam. "See? I knew it!"

"You aren't bothered, Frodo?"

"Why should I be? I know you love me, Sam. I love you. We'll be together as long as we may, but I'll rest easy knowing you've got a wife and children in the future sometime. But for now, let's think about us." Frodo started kissing his lover once more, this time purposely thrusting against Sam, feeling their building desire. This felt wonderful, exciting... right.

It was much later, wrapped in the heady embrace of Sam's strong arms, head still on that warm shoulder, that Frodo realized it had been his best birthday yet. Sitting there in Sam's lap in front of the fire, sharing words of love and soft kisses, imagining the still unknown passion their future would bring: Frodo couldn't think of a way he'd rather spend his forty-sixth birthday. The gift of Sam's love, and the return gift of his own, made the days seem more complete than they'd felt since Bilbo left.

What more could a Hobbit ask for?