A quick fix before the new episode!
Pod's song trailed off, and an eerie silence filled the hall. They all let it sink into their homes like the chill of the North so often did.
"Well I'm off to try and get what little sleep I can." The onion knight left without Tormund unfortunately. Brienne had been unable to keep her eyes from drifting to Jaime since she had retakes her seat as a knight of the seven kingdoms. She doubted he understood the magnitude of the gift he had given her, but every time he caught her eye and graced her with a small smile she could feel the wildling's eyes on her.
"We should do the same Podrick." Brienne got to her feet, shifting close to Jaime's side. "Thank you." She whispered in his none of the others could overhear. He looked over with wide eyes, momentarily shocked, but he smiled up at her.
"Right, goodnight all." Pod excused himself as instructed.
"Goodnight sir Jaime... Tyrion." She said as an after thought , only just realizing her rudeness.
"Sir Brienne." Jaime rose when she moved to leave , putting mor e respect in his farewell to Brienne than he had his greeting of the queen.
"I will come with you. Make use of what could be our last night. Fucking makes a man fight like a bear!" Tormund grinned and got up to follow her.
"No! No, I only wish to rest." She tried to bite back her deep desire to prevent his following her, and maintain her manners. Jaime tried to hide the bark of laughter that bubbled up at the look on her face. His eyes followed her as she left, waiting for her to be long gone before sitting back down.
"I'm going to make giant red haired babies with her!" Tormund said with a far of look of perversion.
"No you are not." Jaime said without thinking, even in his drunken star Tyrion arched a brow at him.
"I will! You see the way she looks at me. She is glorious, and our babies will conquer the world." He wandered out of the hall, and all Jaime could do was shake his head.
"That's four now." Tyrion said, he looked over to prompt future explanation.
"Four times you've acted out of character for sir Brienne of Tarth. If I didn't know better I might think you were pining after her." He sipped at what precious little wine he had left in his cup.
"Don't be absurd, I am serving under her tomorrow, and she more than deserved a knighthood. I can think of two dozen knights who aren't even half as true as her." Jaime tried to explain away his actions.
"Alright, I can accept that, but you still search her out in a crowd, and jump to her defense when others make advances. In fact now that I think of it you also brought her to King's Landing. You've never brought a woman to a place you knew Cersei would be." Tyrion had seen them in private consort more than once during her stay, and he knew his sister had as well.
"How could I not, she was under my protection." He stared into the fire to avoid the prodding that made him think too deeply in his actions.
"Under your protection. I thought you were her prisoner. Though she did say you saved her I suppose, and lost your hand for it." Tyrion watched his brother carefully as the memory played out. Such mixed emotions crossed his features.
"Yes, I convinced the Tarth was called the Sapphire isle because it's wealth of sapphires. I tried to push my luck when it worked, and lost my hand for it. She spoke to me as I wallowed in self pity as very few ever had. I was so ready to give up when I lost my hand... Unfortunately my interference did more harm than good for her as well as myself. The ransom offer they received though more than generous for Tarth seemed insulting because I had convinced them of the wealth of Tarth. Had I not returned for her the bear would have ripped her apart." Jaime smiled when he remembered getting in the man's face, and succeeding in freeing her.
"The bear?" Tyrion moved to the edge of his chair, suddenly fascinated by the tale.
"Yes, they had her fighting a bear in an awful dress with only a wooden sword. Had I not jumped in to save her she wouldn't have had a chance." Jaime looked over at Tyrion's shock, not quite sure why he was so awestruck.
"You jumped into a out to save her from a bear? With a crossbow, or a sword?" Tyrion seemed to be evaluating his madness.
"Niether. I was a prisoner of my own right. I knew they wouldn't let me die." He shrugged, this conversation was beginning to annoy him.
"Let me get this straight. You jumped into a pit, unarmed, to fight a bear, in order to protect Sir Brienne. Then brought her to King's Landing, and even though she worked for the Stark's amred, and armored her, setting her free without a second thought, and you say you don't love her?" Tyrion sucked down the last of his wine in disbelief .
"Of course I love her. She is my friend, perhaps my only true friend outside my family. She has saved my life more than once, and I have confided in her of things I hardly allow myself to think about. I am not however in love with her. She is as..." He trailed off, not sure what to like her with. No one had ever collection a place in his life.
"As a sister to you?" Tyrion smirked as he spoke, and Jaime frowned.
"Brienne is so far the opposite of Cersei that it can't even be expressed. She is honest to a fault, with a purer heart than any I know." Jaime snapped, he didn't know why the comparison angered him so.
"No, of course not. Even in looks they're opposite. Cersei despite her many flaws is beautiful. Unlike our giant friend. She looks more like a man. " Tyrion weighed his words, watching Jaime scowl in response.
"Brienne may not be a frail, or elegant lady of the court, but her eyes are as blue as the waters of her homeland, and having seen her naked body I assure you she has far more feminine appeal than her armor reveals. " Jaime found that hearing Tyrion dismiss her like that bothered him even more than his previous assumptions.
"You've seen her naked?" Tyrion went wide eyed, Jaime smirked, the memory. burned into him as if it had happened yesterday. The ferocity, and respect she commanded even without a stitch in made him shudder. A woman with the strength to defy those around her had always made him stand at attention.
"When we were captives, yes. We shared a bath. I admit, perhaps if I had not been in love with Cersei I would have been tempted." His words teetered dangerously close to the feelings he had been hiding from himself since he lost his hand.l
"Do you still love our sister? Do you truly expect to survive this, and return to her?" Tyrion set his cup down and rose from his chair.
"No. I suspect I will die tomorrow. Even if we win I don't think I am skilled enough to survive the fight without my hand. Even still I would never return to her after what she did." Jaime whispered , Tyrion put his hand on Jaime's shoulder.
"Than why are you not tempted?" He whispered back in kind before he left Jaime in silence before the fire. It frustrated him how his brother made mad ideas seem so plausible. He got to his feet, as if his body had made the decision his mind had yet to fully accept.
"I do not want your company! I respect you as a fighter, and perhaps even a friend, but no more! Leave my room!" Brienne's anger echoed through the hall, and Jaime bit back a
"This is news to me! Is it that crippled man? I will fight him for you!" Tormund puffed up, Brienne feared if he didn't leave soon she would fighthim.
"I assure you she Brienne is more than capable of fighting in her own behalf." Jaime spoke from her doorway, startling them both.
"So it is him! I could crush him with one hand, but then woman often choose strange men. When he does in the battlefield know that you're still welcome in my bed!" Tormund shoved past Jaime , who couldn't stop laughing.
"I'm glad you're amused by my torment. What are you doing here? Not that I don't appreciate you ridding me of the wildling, but I did plan to rest." She moved towards him, and for one minute he wondered if he should simply kiss her, but her tirade at Tormund made him cautious. Instead he let her close the door to let the hearth warm the room.
"I wanted you to know why I left King's Landing. You spoke for me when you didn't have to, you said things that I've needed to hear since the day I killed the king, and I thought you deserved to know that I left for you. I don't know, or care about anyone here, except you, and my brother, in fact that could be said of all of Westeros at this point. When she asked me to betray you to appease her I couldn't. I chose you over her, and I don't fully know what that means, but I know you're the only person I have ever made that choice for, and I wanted you to know." He couldn't look away from her, the way her sapphire eyes bore into his soul.
"I'm sorry it came to that. I promised you once that I would never ask you to betray your house." She slumped back to sit on her bed. She had stripped off her armor, but still wore the thick winter clothes of the north. He moved to sit beside her, and she didn't protest.
"No one else could have." He whispered, moving his good hand to rest gently on hers. She looked down at there his skin warmed her fingers.
"Have you ever loved anyone besides Cersei?" Her voice shook, he risked a glance at her, his face nearly her equal in it's blush.
"Not in a physical sense, thought of late my affections have found purchase in an unexpected place." He met her eyes, and she quickly looked down at the floor.
"You are the only man who has ever touched me outside of battle, or the forced etiquette of a ball." She whispered, it made his heart thunder against his chest to hear her say it.
"I... Hearing Tormund's blatant sexual advances towards you angered me more than I expected. I don't want anyone else to touch you." He shifted to face her, his hand moving up to brush his fingers across her cheek in question. When she leaned into his touch he guided her to face him, leaning in to press his lips to hers for the barest of moments.
"I'll never be her, I am nothing like her." Brienne felt tears well up in her eyes as his brow leaned gently against hers.
"Never have any words been such a comfort to me. She inspired the worst in me, and I never understood how twisted I had let myself become until you saw the honor in me. Please Brienne, I am not the man she made me. Let me stay with you tonight, so I can stand with you tomorrow as the man you believe I can be." He brushed his fingers through her hair, and she pushed forward to capture his lips.
What she lacked in experience she more than made up for with passion. She tangled her fingers in his hair, pulling him into her until he could breathe her in. His gold hand pressed into her back sending a shiver of cold through her tunic. He nipped at her bottom lip, earning a gasp that allowed him to deepen their kiss. They both tastes of wine, and she pulled back. For a moment he thought pressed too far.
"Take it off. It's so cold." She ordered, before returning to their kiss. He fumbled with the ties behind her back until it clattered loudly to the floor. He brought his arm back to their embrace, catching awkwardly at her shirt, which rode up, letting her heat seat his skin where he touched her bare flesh.
"Stand up!" She got to her feet, and for a moment he froze, mesmerized by the path of her hands as she pulled her tunic over her head.
"Now." She said, and he sprung up, trying to rip off his clothes, but the ties of his armor made his hasty one handed attempts even more clumsy than ever.
"I could use a hand." He looked up at her sheepishly with his cloak off, but caught in the clasp of his armor. She laughed, her bare chest heaving in delight, and again he found his focus distracted. Between the two of them it took only moments before they were bare before each other for the second time. All the confidence, and urgency in Brienne drained away while he stared.
"Lay back." He whispered , his hand brushing along the curve of her hips so lightly she could have been imaging it. She sat down on her bed, and laid back as she had been told. To her surprise instead of moving over her, and taking his pleasure as she had heard it said men often did he knelt at her feet, his hands gliding up her long legs.
"You are a goddess." He whispered , leaning down to kiss the inside of her thigh.
"Jaime!" She gasped when he swiped his tongue up the center of her most intimate place. His hand moved up to caress her breasts while his crippled arm held him up.
"Let me worship you." His voice against her sex made her hips raise to his mouth, and he dipped his tongue inside her to take the sweet honey there. He brought his hand down to thrust into her while his mouth went to work just a bit further north. He didn't know how long they had, but he needed her to feel his love for her in every inch of her body in a way he couldn't yet express in words.
He felt her quiver around him as her whole body lifted from the bed, and a strangled outcry of what he thought might be his name left her lips. Her whole body shook as she slumped back, and he finally lifted his sodden face with a smile of satisfaction. He moved over her, his cock so hard he could hardly think, but he waited for her glazed over eyes to find his once again while his tip only pressed against the slick inferno of her sex.
"Do you want me to stop?" He whispered, leaning down to kiss her neck. She moaned, cleaning to the side to afford him better access. Instead of answering she wrapped her long legs around his waist, and pulled him without warning all the way into her. She gasped at the sudden twinge of pain her careless action had caused, and he nearly collapsed on top of her, noting into her pale skin much harder than he had intended.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have..." She looked away from him, she didn't know what she was meant to do, but she felt bold with him.
"No, you feel so good around me I nearly lost myself. Did I hurt you?" He kissed the deep purple mark on her pale neck, blowing in it gently.
"No, I... I liked that." She touched the mark. She had scars, and each one made her proud, the idea of him leaving his mark on her body made her squirm beneath him in excitement.
"Do you want me to do it again?" He spoke into the hollow of her neck before sucking gently there. He could admit marking her have him an unexpected thrill. He had never been allowed to leave a mark of Cersei.
"Yes, please Jaime. I'm not some fragile lady of the court. I want to see your touch on me." She takes her nails down his back, causing him to buck into her hard while he nipped at her neck.
"Get on top." He said, cursing, not for the first time, how difficult his missing hand made everything.
"I will crush you." She went wide eyed, he said out of her, and into his back.
"You will not, I need my hand." He reached over to dip his fingers into her sodden heat when she didn't move. She groaned, shifting over him. He positioned himself, and used his arm on her hip to hide her down. She gasped at the new angle, rocking forward wantonly.
"That's it love, ride me." He bucked up into her, his fingers working her clot while he sat up to ravage her breasts.
"By the Gods, Jaime! Jaime! Yes!" Any pretense of silence escaped her as she fell over the precipice of ecstasy. Hearing her come undone, and feeling her tight around him overwhelmed his self control. He spilled into her, jerking as the sensation swelled to a bliss he had never experienced before. She collapsed onto his chest, both slick with sweat, and breathing hard. He wrapped his arms around her, content to remain as they were forever.
Just as his eyes drifted Shut the horn sounded. The night had come. They donned their armor as quickly as they could, and charged out into the biting cold to lead her men. Even if he died before the sun rose he would die happy.