TITLE: After These Years AUTHOR: Carmen (sunrunner@mixmail.com) PAIRING: Merry/Pippin RATING: NC-17 SUMMARY: Merry and Pippin have been separated for eight long years. But Merry still loves Pippin, he can’t forget him... and he remembers... DISCLAIMER: I don’t own these characters, I make no money from this... It’s just fun. WARNING: At the beginning of the story Pippin is under age. After These Years. Today is Pippin’s thirty-third birthday. Today he comes of age. I haven’t seen him since... Since that day. That was eight years ago. I was thirty three then. He was only twenty five. He was too young, too innocent. A boy. At the tender age of twenty five he was only a boy, in the reckoning of the hobbits. I wonder how I can live without seeing his pretty face, his sunny smile, his bright green eyes... without hearing his voice, his laughter... I wonder how I can live at all. Sometimes I’d rather be dead. Every heartbeat aches in my chest. I don’t know what’s keeping me alive. My life is empty. I’ve thought about finishing with it... but I can’t, because my mind flies to Pippin and then I think that would hurt him and I’ve already hurt him enough. So I continue living. Maybe one day I’ll have the courage to see him, in the distance, where he can’t see me. Maybe. Sometimes I drink. I drink until I fall senseless. I know it’s stupid but it’s the only way to forget. My parents are worried for me. I don’t want to see anybody. I don’t eat very much. I don’t go out. When I do it I hear people murmuring and looking at me. I see scorn in their eyes and I know I disgust them, so prefer to be at home, in my bedroom, where I can’t hear the gossip. For them I’m only a depraved hobbit. Immoral. Perverted. Shameless... Some people say it to my face. I’m the hobbit who corrupted a boy, the one who perverted him, the one who used him to satisfy his lust. The boy was Pippin, yes. They didn’t understand. They didn’t see we loved each other. I still love him. I love him so much... I still remember the touch of his smooth skin, his mouth against mine, his tongue playing with mine. I remember his hands all over me. His loving hands stroking my body, setting fire to my skin. I remember how his body reacted to my caresses. His nipples got hard when I brushed them. He groaned when I licked them and he cried out when I took one of them in my mouth and sucked. He threw back his head and I kissed his throat, his neck, his ears... and he shivered. I kissed and licked all his body and then he did the same with me. He explored my body. It was the first time for him and he wasn’t sure about what to do, so he touched and caressed and kissed and licked... His inexperienced hands and mouth were driving me mad. I remember he nibbled my right nipple and I cried out in ecstasy. “Sorry,” he said and he looked into my eyes through long lashes. How I adored him then! I caressed his smooth cheek and I told him he hadn’t hurt me. He smiled and we kissed. I took him in my arms, feeling his naked body against mine, his legs tangled with mine, his hardness against mine. I stroked his stiff cock and he gasped. I didn’t stop. I caressed his organ slowly and he whimpered. His breathing was heavy. He had started panting. His hands were on my chest, on my shoulders... He buried his fingers in my back when I touched his moist cockhead and he groaned loudly. I had to stop doing that. I didn’t want him to come so soon. I wanted him to feel pleasure... as much pleasure as I could give him. I caressed his belly, his chest... To my surprise his hand took my erect cock and he stroked it. He was gentle and loving... A little clumsy at first but he learned soon. After some more caresses and kisses he asked me to make him mine. “Take me, Merry,” he said huskily “I want to be yours. Make me yours, Merry.” Then it was me the one who hesitated. I didn’t want to hurt him. I was dying for being inside him, for giving him everything I was but I didn’t want to cause him any pain. “It may be painful, Pip,” I told him “It may be painful for you.” “No,” he replied “I know you won’t hurt me, Merry. Merry, please...” I heard the need in his voice. He was ready. He really wanted to consummate our love. So I did what he asked. I had some oil to ease the penetration. I was behind him. His rump against my hips. I moistened my cock in oil and then I introduced one finger with more oil in his place. I massaged him. I saw he was relaxed, just waiting. My fingers entered his body. “Do you really want to do this, Pip?” I asked. I had to be sure. “Yes,” he said “Merry, please...” So I penetrated him. I went into him as softly as it was possible. He groaned in pain and I stopped. “I’m hurting you,” I said, worried for him. I was going to go out when he said “Stay. It doesn’t hurt. It was only a pang.” I moved a little bit, afraid of hurting him again but then he groaned in pleasure and I thrust into him. He cried out. He was groaning and squirming in my arms, exciting me even more. I had his sweaty body against mine. I was caressing him. His fair skin was velvety beneath my hands, so creamy... His hands were clutching the sheets. His cock was hard and dripping but I didn’t want to touch it. I wanted his pleasure to be intense, nearly unbearable. I wanted him to cry out in ecstasy. I wanted to see the rapture on his beautiful face... I came inside him. He closed his eyes and whimpered when he felt my hot seed filling him. I kissed his shoulder and his neck. Then I went out and turned him round. I kissed his mouth and I went down his body. I enveloped his smooth cock in my mouth and caressed it with my tongue. I sucked it. Pippin was groaning loudly. Hearing him was a delight. He was squirming in pleasure. Panting. His back arched and his hips jerked up. Then he came. He pulled my hair, crying out my name, shaken by the force of his orgasm. I drank his milky liquid. It was salty and creamy. It was his essence and it was delicious. I lay beside him and I took him in my arms. He was exhausted but happy. So was I. He leaned his head against my chest and I caressed his brown curls. I tangled my fingers in his silky hair. “I’m yours, Merry,” he told me “I’m yours forever.” I wanted to tell him I was his too. I had always been his. I wanted to tell him how much I loved him. I wanted to tell him what he meant to me but then it happened. The door opened and they saw us naked in bed after making love. They had come back from the stroll before we expected and I suppose they heard us. His parents. My parents. Suddenly I only wanted to protect Pippin. I got up, covered with a sheet but before I could speak my father came to me and hit me across the face, splitting my lower lip. “What have you done?” he shouted at me “Have you been fucking your little cousin?” Then Pippin reacted. “Don’t hit him!!” he shouted “He didn’t do anything I didn’t want to do!!” Uncle Paladin, furious, grasped his son’s arm and ordered him to shut up and to get dressed. He said something about a perversion, about something dirty and sickening. My father was telling me more or less the same things. I felt as if I had raped my beloved Pippin. He told me Pippin was only a boy, a child and I felt so dirty... Uncle Paladin was roaring, telling his son things like “brat” “whore” and “depraved”. He didn’t deserve those insults. My father went further. My ears ached. I prefer not to remember all the things he told me about fucking Pippin, about perverting him... I could hear uncle Paladin telling Pippin how unnatural it was what we had done. “The last thing I expected was you fucking with Merry!!” he shouted. I thought Pippin would start crying but he confronted his father in defiance. “We weren’t fucking!!” he shouted. “We were making love!! And I enjoyed it!!!” Uncle Paladin smacked his face. The beat hurt me more than Pippin. “He’s crazy,” murmured aunt Eglantine looking at her son as if she didn’t know him. Uncle Paladin dragged him to the door half naked. “I’m going to tell you a few things about what I think of your lust!” he said leaving my bedroom and taking Pippin with him. “I love Merry!” shouted Pippin, who had been struggling in vain to break free “I love him, and now I’m his! I told him to take me, and I liked it!!!” I heard Uncle Paladin’s hand hitting Pippin’s cheek once more. The cheek I had kissed and caressed. “You see what you have done?” my father shouted at me “Do you see it?” Then I heard Pippin yelling at the top of his voice “I love you, Merry!!! I love you! Don’t forget it!! I’ll come back!! Wait for me, Merry, wait for me!!” A slam. Aunt Eglantine touched my ashamed mother’s arm and went away. And that was the last day I saw Pippin. The hell began. I don’t know if my parents know anything about Pippin. I asked my mother once but she told me Pippin was happy and I had to leave him alone. I’ve never asked again. Sometimes I dream of him. I see him laughing, running to me... but it’s only a dream. When I wake up my eyes are full of tears. If I close my eyes I can still feel his warmth, his skin, his smell... but it’s only a memory... A bittersweet memory. I have in my hands a scarf he knitted for me. It’s a disaster; there are holes everywhere but it’s a treasure for me. I was ill. Nothing serious; it was only a cold but I had to stay in bed for some days. A nine-year-old Pippin came home with this scarf. He kissed my cheek and he sat down on my bed. “I knitted this is for you,” he told me giving me the scarf “So that you don’t get more colds. The wool is the colour of your eyes. I thought it would fit you good.” “It’s very nice! I love it!” I said putting it around my neck, and I meant it “Thank you, Pippin!” I embraced him. The scarf was full of holes but Pippin had knitted it with his hands and that made the scarf priceless. Years later we fell in love. We kept it secret because we knew nobody would understand love between two boys. It was something so pure, so wonderful... I remember the first kiss, the first caresses, the first time I held him tight. We never made love, for Pippin was too young. We never made love until that day and then what it was pure they turned it into something dirty... into a crime. Somebody is knocking at the door. I don’t want to open. Whoever it is will have to come later, when my parents are at home to open the door. I don’t want to see anybody. The visitor starts thumping. What a pest! He – or she – is going to knock down the door! I go to see who it is so that I can be alone with my thoughts again. When I open a hobbit throws himself into my arms and hugs me as if I was going to fly away. He’s crying and laughing at the same time. “Merry! Merry!” he exclaims with his head on my shoulder. I caress his brown curls, unable to believe he’s in my arms. “Pippin... Pip... is it really you? Am I not dreaming?” I say. “I told you I would come back... and here I am,” he says looking into my eyes. Then I see his pretty face and I wipe his tears. Tears of joy. He smiles, showing his white teeth. His green eyes are sparkling. “Pip... My Pip...” I can only say his name. I get a lump in my throat. He’s here. He’s grown up and he’s more beautiful than ever. I caress his smooth cheek. “I love you, Merry,” he says “I’ve never stopped loving you. I got up every morning saying ‘one day less to see Merry’. I’ve thought on you every day. I knew you’d wait for me. Now I’m of age. Nobody can tell me what to do. Nobody is going to separate us again, Merry.” “I love you, Pippin. I love you so much...” I tell him, and I hold him tight. He leans his head on my shoulder. His arms are around me. We both cry. I stroke his soft curls. My baby... The weight in my heart starts to disappear. My love is in my arms. I feel the warmth of his body, his breath. I take his chin and I bring his face up. I need to see his face. I brush his curls out of his eyes. He wipes my tears and he caresses my face. Then we kiss. Our lips meet eagerly and we kiss as if we needed the other’s breath to live. And maybe we do. “Happy birthday, Pip,” I tell him when we can stop kissing. “Merry! Oh, Merry! I forgot to bring you a present!” he says in dismay. I smile and I cup his face in my hands. “You’re here. What a better present could I wish? You are my present,” I say. Then he smiles. His smile is so sweet... His beautiful green eyes shine with happiness. I love him. I love what I see in his eyes when he looks at me. I’ve always loved him. “I can’t believe you’re here, with me!” I exclaim. He throws himself into my arms again and this time we laugh. I can hear again the sound of his laughter. No other sound could be better, not even music, or the most beautiful of the songs. My parents are back and we break the embrace. Pippin holds my hand. My parents are astonished. “Pippin,” my mother says. “What are you doing here? Did you run away from home?” asks my father. He’s annoyed by his presence and he doesn’t bother to hide it. “Yes,” says Pippin with assurance “I ran away. I was a prisoner in my own home. They wanted to make me feel guilty for loving Merry, but they couldn’t. They couldn’t! ‘Look, that’s the son of the Thain,’ people say when they see me ‘He’s a disgrace to the familiy. He loves a boy. His parents found him fucking with him. A boy rode him. Have you ever heard something so depraved?’ But I’m not ashamed of my feelings! I don’t regret having given myself to Merry! I wrote to him, but the letters never arrived. If he had received them, I know he would have replied. When my father discovered I was writing letters he punished me. He told me I had ruined Merry’s life. He told me Merry was considered some kind of a criminal for... for what we did. I heard things about Merry too.” Then his eyes fill with tears. I see the memory hurts him but he continues speaking “Terrible things. They condemned him for loving me. They turned an act of love into a crime... into something wicked... and I could do nothing to stop it. ‘You’re under age,’ my father used to tell me ‘and you’ll do what I tell you to do until you’re thirty-three.’ And today I’m thirty-three, so I ran away. There’s nothing they can do now. I can take my own decisions and I came for Merry. I love him! He’s been cruelly punished for loving me. They have shattered him, and he deserves to be happy. Why can’t we be happy together? Why, if what we feel is so wonderful?” Now he’s crying. I embrace him and I wipe his tears. He’s trembling slightly. He must have suffered a lot. I look at my parents. “Pippin is right,” I tell them “We deserve to be happy. I love him. I’ve always loved him, and you know it. He was under age and he was obliged to be with his parents. I couldn’t take him with me... and besides I didn’t want to complicate his life. You told me he was happy... but he was suffering. Now I’m not going to allow anybody to make him suffer one more second. If you can’t accept our love I’m very sorry, but we have a right to be happy together.” My parents look defeated. My mother goes to her bedroom and comes back with a packet. She caresses Pippin’s hair and she kisses his damp cheek. “Your mother and I should have never told anybody about you two,” she says “I’m afraid we relied on the wrong people. I’m very sorry, my lads. We never meant to hurt you.” Then she gives me the packet. “These are Pippin’s letters. We didn’t want you to read them and we hid them. We thought Pippin would forget and we didn’t want you to suffer for him,” she says. I take the packet. There are dozens of letters. I’ll need hours to read all of them! “I wrote to you one per week. Sometimes two,” Pippin says “Until my father discovered me. Then I had to stop writing.” I caress his face. I don’t mind what my parents may think of the gesture. “We shall read them together,” I tell him. He nods and he smiles. His every smile warms my heart. My father takes Pippin’s bag and for one moment I think he’s going to tell him to leave. “Unpack this, kid,” he says with affection “Welcome home.” Pippin embraces him and my father, moved, holds him tight. Then it’s my mother the one who embraces Pippin. She wraps him in her arms tenderly and she kisses his cheek. “We’ve missed you, Pip,” she tells him “We love you very much, honey. Stay with us... and let me write to your parents. They must be worried for you.” “I’m sure that they know I’m here. They’ll appear in any moment,” says Pippin. My parents love Pippin as if he was another son for them, and I’m glad about it. My mother laughs and ruffles his hair. My father is smiling. I think they understand at last we love each other. The fact that we’re boys doesn’t make any difference. They accept it, and that’s important for me. And for Pippin. He isn’t so tense now. Pippin is in bed with me. We were going to the guest bedroom to leave Pippin’s things there but my parents told us we could sleep together. My mother said we had been separated for too long and it was time for us to be happy together. My father added that we had always slept together, after all. Pippin blushed and I felt my face very hot, so I suppose I blushed too. And here we are, reading Pippin’s letters. He’s in the crook of my arm, with his hand on my chest. I see how miserable he’s been, how broken-hearted and comfortless he’s felt. However his letters are full of love, full of hope. “Don’t cry, Merry,” he tells me “I didn’t write the letters to make you cry.” Then I realise I’m crying. Pippin wipes my cheeks. “I love you, Merry,” he says. I lean down to kiss him. He huddles up against me and I feel the warmth of his body. Our kiss is deeper. Pippin groans softly into my mouth. We don’t need to speak. Our nightshirts finish on the floor and we make love. Slowly. We can’t make noise, just in case. It’s difficult for noisy Pippin not to cry out in pleasure. It’s even difficult for me. We come at the same time. We’re face to face. I’m inside him and his legs are around my waist. I have his cock in my hand, now full of his seed. It’s wonderful to see his face when he reaches the climax. We kiss, out of breath. Then I wipe my hand and Pippin’s cock with a handkerchief and we lie down. Pippin is in my arms. His head is on my chest. I’m stroking his brown curls and he’s fidgeting with his fingers on my belly. “You know, Pip, I think tomorrow I’ll wake up and all this will have been a dream and you won’t be here,” I tell him. He looks up and I can see his charming smile again. “But I’ll be here, Merry, because this is real. It isn’t a dream,” he says “Tomorrow when you wake up I’ll be beside you, I’ll hug you and I’ll kiss you and I’ll tell you I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you, my dear Merry. I could be all night long telling you how much I love you and I wouldn’t finish.” How sweet he is! How loving! I caress his cheek. I never get tired of caressing him, of kissing him. He props himself up on one arm and he kisses me. I stroke his back. His hand goes down my chest and his fingers brush my right nipple. We start anew. We make love once more. He gets into me carefully. He’s wet and hard. He thrusts into me with a groan of pleasure. He rides me. His hands are everywhere and the pleasure he’s making me feel is exquisite. When he comes he muffles a cry pressing his mouth against my shoulder. I feel his teeth biting me slightly but it isn’t painful; on the contrary, the feeling is pleasant. “Turn round,” he pants going out “Turn round, Merry.” I roll over onto my back and he takes my hard cock into his mouth. He licks it. He sucks it. He nibbles the head carefully and then he sucks it again. I’m squirming in ecstasy. He’s tormenting me with his mouth, with his tongue. It’s a sweet torture... I feel so much pleasure... So much...I have an orgasm and I come into his mouth. He milks me and he drinks my seed. He stays there a little bit and then he nestles up to me. I take him in my arms and we kiss. Soon after he falls asleep. He’s adorable. Pippin...My boy... My love. When I wake up in the morning he’s still sleeping onto his stomach. His lips are parted and his hair is tousled. He’s so beautiful... I can’t take my eyes off him. About twenty minutes later he stirs and he opens his eyes. He smiles when he sees me. “Good morning, Merry,” he says, stretching himself. The sheet can’t hide his morning erection. Mine has already disappeared. “Good morning, Pip,” I say “Did you sleep well?” “Oh, yes, very well, thank you. And you?” he asks. “Better than ever!” I answer. His green eyes shine and he looks so happy... He hugs me and he covers my face with little kisses. “I love you, Merry,” he says against my lips and then he kisses me tenderly. “I love you too, Pip,” I tell him when we break the kiss. He smiles again. He’s looking at me so lovingly... His velvety eyes caress me. They glow like emeralds and their green sparkles captivate me. I fall in love with Pippin every time I see him. “You’re the most beautiful of the hobbits, Merry,” he says. “And you’re the most short-sighted hobbit in the Shire,” I tell him laughing. He punches my ribs “I’m serious, Merry!” he protests. “So am I!” I tell him, tickling him. He starts laughing and wriggling. Oh, how much I love him! In the evening Pippin’s parents arrive. It’s pandemonium. Uncle Paladin looks ready to strangle his son for running away and troubling me. Pippin is angry. “Stop treating me as if I were a ten-year-old child!” he complains. “I’ll stop treating you as if you were a ten-year-old child when you stop behaving as a ten- year-old child!” says uncle Paladin. Pippin frowns. He’s so cute with that expression of anger on his face...! Before he can answer back I put my hands on his shoulders. “Pippin isn’t causing any trouble,” I say “I love him, and that’s the only thing I know.” Uncle Paladin understands but I see he’s worried. “Merry, love, after these years people still speak. We don’t want you to suffer, and if Pippin is here...” Aunt Eglantine says. “Then I don’t mind what people say because he’s with me,” I tell her “They can say whatever they want. You’ve had Pippin these eight years and they’ve been the worst years of my life, without seeing him, without knowing how he was... I know you only wanted to protect us, but...” “I don’t want to live without Merry!!” interrupts Pippin, convinced “I love him and I stay with him!!” That’s a good summary. I see uncle Paladin trying to hide a smile and my mother and aunt Eglantine glancing at each other. “Well, we all want our boys to be happy, don’t we? And now they are together and happy, so let’s celebrate it! They’ve suffered enough being separated!” says my father “If we don’t support them, who’s going to do it?” We have a great dinner. My father opens a bottle of good wine for the occasion and he proposes a toast. We drink a toast to Pippin and me, to our happiness. And we speak and speak; there are lots of things to say. Our parents accept at last that Pippin and I love each other. I suppose it isn’t what they wanted for us, but... they accept it. They see they can’t do anything to break the bond between us and they regret having tried it. The next day, in the evening, Pippin tells me to go to the inn. “Your mother says you don’t go out, and you have to go out, Merry,” he tells me. But I hesitate. I don’t want to go out and be insulted. And above all: I don’t want anybody to insult Pippin or hurt him in any other way. “We did nothing wrong. We aren’t going to hide or to lower our eyes just because one of us isn’t a girl. We aren’t ashamed of our feelings, are we? So here we go, and let them see we love each other!” he says. He makes me smile. He’s like a little warrior, ready to kill anybody who tells him our love is wrong. “That’s better,” he says kissing my lips when he sees me smile. He takes my hand and we go out. Some people look at us and whisper. I don’t hear what they say but I suppose it’s nothing nice. Pippin doesn’t mind it. I squeeze his hand. I love him, and nothing else matters. When we enter the inn we can hear more whisperings. People nudge each other and murmur. Pippin goes for a pair of pints and I wait for him, sitting down to table. The hobbits in the inn look at Pippin but he ignores them. I hear something about “the Took boy” and “unnatural hobbits”. Pippin thanks the innkeeper and comes with his usual self-confidence. He puts the pints on the table and then I hear a comment: “They slept together. That Merry fucked the other one. He was only a child then and...” Pippin hears that too and I see a sparkle of fury in his eyes. “It’s a pity you don’t have anything better to do,” Pippin tells them quietly “Stop the gossip and mind your own business! You should be more worried about your impotence!!” The inn fills with indignant exclamations. I want to disappear. I think right now nobody could distinguish my face from a ripe tomato. I stand up and I put my hand on Pippin’s shoulder to tell him we should go away but then he takes me in his arms and kisses me. His mouth is against mine and to my own surprise I find myself kissing him back there, in the middle of the inn. I hear some mugs crashing against the floor and people gasping. When we break the kiss Pippin looks at them with a mischievous smile and says: “There! Now you have something else to talk about!” They all stare at us open-mouthed. They don’t say anything. Then the murmurs start again but we don’t mind it. We sit down and we drink. “I can’t believe you did that!” I tell him, but I’m not angry with him and he knows it. “I did what? If you’re referring to the kiss let me remind you, love, you kissed me back,” he says with a broad and charming smile. We laugh, remembering their faces, their reaction. Little by little people forget us and we have a wonderful time in the inn. I see I’ve been dead these eight years and I’m beginning to live again. Pippin is my breath of life. He may be older but he’s still the playful hobbit he’s always been. I’m reading a book and Pippin is having a bath. I’ve already had one. I admit I’d love to share a bath with him but my parents and his are here and we don’t consider that to be prudent. They wouldn’t say anything but it would be embarrassing in some way, so we prefer to have a bath separately. Pippin is slow to have a bath. He splashes, he plays with the water and the lather, he sings... but today he’s being too slow and I’m beginning to worry, so I go to see if he’s O.K. I knock at the door but he doesn’t answer. I don’t hear him singing or humming and I open the door. “Pip?” He doesn’t answer, so I go into the bathroom and I approach him. He’s in the bathtub with his eyes closed. He’s fallen asleep. I wake him up shaking his shoulder gently. He grunts and opens his eyes. Then he looks at me and smiles. “Oh, Merry! Tell me you’ve come to have a bath with me!” he says. “I’m sorry to disappoint you but I’ve come to wake you up and to tell you dinner will be ready soon, and I suppose you don’t want to miss it,” I tell him. “Dinner!” he exclaims. He goes out of the bathtub and I give him a towel but he doesn’t take it. Instead of that he hugs me and kisses me. I gasp, feeling his wet naked body pressed against me. His warmth envelops me. His hair is dripping and drops of water run down his body. He’s exciting me. I feel his arousal against mine. Suddenly he breaks the kiss. “I’m going to dry myself and get dressed,” he says with his lips brushing mine “Dinner will be ready soon. That’s what you said, isn’t it?” “You’re a tease, Pippin,” I tell him. He kisses my lips tenderly. “No, Merry, you are the tease. I was sleeping peacefully and you came to wake me up. You tell me you won’t have a bath with me... and I want to touch your skin, I want to caress your body... but you’re fully dressed and I can’t. So, who’s teasing who, huh?” I laugh. “You are teasing me, my dear Pip,” I say “And you’ll have to make amends for this tonight.. Let’s see how you manage to muffle your cries!” He laughs, amused. I cover him with the towel and I kiss him. Then I leave the bathroom. We’ve found a place to live. It isn’t very far away from here. It’s a smial near the river, where we can swim when the weather is good and there is also a forest. Some things need repairing, like doors and windows but Pippin and I do it together. I like seeing him with the hammer and the saw, singing. Sometimes he throws me little pieces of wood and he laughs. I do the same with him. We also plant some vegetables and flowers in the garden. After some days working hard the smial is ready to live in, so we pack and we move. “We’re home, Merry,” says Pippin when we close the door dropping the last bag. We kiss and we finish making love right there, on the floor. Pippin can cry in pleasure at last; there’s nobody who can hear him. He’s quite noisy in that sense but I love it. I love everything in him. He’s full of life, full of energy and his good humour is contagious. He’s all smiles and as cheerful as a sunny day. I love even his stubbornness. After the climax he huddles up against me, breathless and delightfully sweaty. “Oh, Merry...” he whispers. “I love you, Pip,” I tell him stroking his curls. “I love you too,” he says. He closes his eyes. This time the pleasure has been more intense than ever. I thought that was impossible but it seems I was wrong. This time we didn’t have to be careful not to be heard and once without that fear... I caress Pippin’s cheek. He’s still getting his breath back. “Merry, I want you to know I’m only yours,” he says “I’ve never been in any other hobbit’s arms. I’ve pleased myself lots of times...thinking of you... but I’ve never made love again since that day... since my first time, Merry, not until I was again with you.” Lovely little thing. I kiss his head. “Neither have I, love,” I tell him “I didn’t want to touch anybody but you. How could I after making love with you, after caressing and kissing your skin?” “You waited for me,” he says, moved. I take his chin and I bring his face up to kiss him. “I love you, Pip,” I tell him. “And I love you too, dear Merry,” he says smiling sweetly. Minutes later we put on our clothes and we start unpacking to put every thing in its place. Our life together has just started. FIN