Arya sat on the edge of the bath and sobbed. Great gulping, wracking sobs. She didn't think she had ever cried like this, but then she had never been humiliated like this before. Her plan had crashed and burned. She had offered herself to him and he had rejected her. She never wanted to see him again, but she was trapped in his bathroom. Even if she phoned a taxi now, she would still have to get out his flat. Even if she went back to London tomorrow, she still had to walk past him today. The whole situation was just too awful.
She could still hear Robb's music and wondered if he had heard her shouting or could hear her crying. Oh, that whole thing was awful as well.
In the mirror she could see her smoky eye shadow all ruined by tears. She blew her nose on some toilet roll and tried to wipe them away, but the tears just wouldn't stop.
How DARE he lead her on and then just dismiss her. She might still be a virgin, but she wasn't STUPID. She was sure he had been just as up for it as she was, and then he had gone cold; told her to stop. What had she done wrong? Had she done something wrong? She had no idea, but it was enough for the stupid bastard to freeze on her and tell her to go home.
She cringed when she remembered their argument. Arya hadn't sworn like that at anyone before, but he'd made her so angry. It was all his fault, whatever way she looked at it. Bloody stupid bull headed bastard boy. She was going to walk out of here and never look back. He wanted to "call it a day." He wanted to "give ourselves time to calm down and talk about it later." No way. He'd blown it and she was out of here.
His flat was on the outskirts of the village. She guessed if she phoned a taxi it would arrive in minutes. She looked for her phone. Bugger! She had left her it in the pocket of his jacket. Never mind, she could phone from outside his flat and she wouldn't have to wait long. No way was she getting on that stupid bike again. Right, she knew what she was going to do. All she had to do was stop crying and get out of these stupid salopettes.
She pulled at the zip but it wouldn't budge - it was caught on the silk of her thermal vest. That must have happened when she went to the toilet in Hot Pie's pub. When she'd first zipped the bloody salopettes up, she had been able to lie on the bed in Gendry's spare room: the spare room where Robb and Talisa were… she shoved those thoughts to the back of her mind and focused on her immediate problem. She'd forced the zip up in a hurry and now could see silk poking through the teeth. Bugger. It looked like it was caught all the way down. Stupid Gendry and his stupid bike.
She collapsed on the edge of the bath again and this time tears of frustration came as well as tears of humiliation. When did she get to be so pathetic? She couldn't get Gendry and she couldn't even get a pair of stupid trousers off. While she was blowing her nose again she heard him at the door.
"Arya are you ok?" he said in a loud whisper. She ignored him so he said it again. She thought about telling him to "Piss off", but her fury of fifteen minutes ago was gone. All she wanted now was to get out of there and go home.
"No" was all she said.
"Please open the door so I can talk to you." Gendry said quietly through the door.
"No" again.
He tried to turn the handle but she didn't intend to unlock it. He might want to talk to her, but she didn't want to talk to him.
"Arya, open the bloody door or, God help me, I'll kick it in. Is that what you want?" He wasn't whispering anymore.
What she didn't want was Gendry making a scene by kicking the stupid door. What would Robb say about that? Jon had found Robb and Talisa in the bathroom, what would Robb do if he found Gendry with her? Probably give his mate a pat on the back. No, she definitely didn't want that.
She had no doubt Gendry was bull headed enough to break down his own door. Well, the old Gendry, the Gendry she used to know, would have done it, but maybe she didn't really know him anymore. She had changed so much in the last three years; perhaps it was naive of her to think he had stayed the same. Maybe that was her whole problem. She was too bloody naive. She had just assumed she would get what she wanted, like she always did. This time things had so not turned out like she planned.
There was nothing else for it – she had to let him in before he kicked his way in. She stood up and unlocked the door, but turned away so she would have her back to him. She might have to let him in, but she didn't have to look at him. He opened the door as soon as he heard the lock click, however she hadn't expected him to come in and lock the door again behind him. God, now she was trapped in here with him. She couldn't see him, but she could feel him behind her, radiating tension. She closed her eyes tight but she could still picture him standing there, doing that 'running-his-hands-through-his-hair' thing he did when he was angry. She daren't open her eyes. If she had to look at him, look at that gorgeous face, she knew she would start crying again; crying with humiliation at his rejection, but also for what she had wanted and lost.
"Arya, we need to talk about this." What was it with him and talking now?
"I don't want to talk about it. I made my feelings pretty clear and you made it damn clear you don't feel the same way about me – so that's it. Nothing to talk about. Now let me out and I'm going to get a taxi home."
Her voice was cold, but she still couldn't look at him. She knew she could only get through this if she didn't have to look at him. But he wasn't going to let her go that easily. He grabbed the tops of her arms, spinning her around.
"Look at me! Look at me while I tell you this!" She was taken aback by the fury in his voice. His hands were digging into her arms. His face was just centimetres from hers, his hot breath on her. She could smell his aftershave and feel his power through his steely grip. When she opened them, her bloodshot eyes were looking straight into his angry blue ones.
"I meant it when I said I don't want to just fuck you Arya. I want way more than that from you. Does it not mean anything to you that I kept a picture of the two of us? I want Robb and Jon and your father to know that we're together and for you to be proud to be with me. I want you to stay here with me and not go back to London. I want everything from you Arya, do you not realise that?"
The intensity of him overwhelmed her. What he said shocked her. She finally realised he'd kept that picture she had been so appalled by because he loved her. Waves of relief washed over her. He did want her. This changed everything.
If Gendry had just stopped there she would have forgiven him completely, but the stupid bastard didn't shut up. He just kept talking…
"But I don't like all this prick teasing Arya. It's only our first date and it's like you're begging for it. I can't bear you being so, so…slutty."
"Slutty?" She repeated. She felt like he'd slapped her with that one word.
"Yeah slutty. All this 'fuck me' shit. A Lady should never beg like that."
"How can I be slutty when I'm still a virgin?" she shouted back. Now she felt like slapping him.
"What?" He paused, trying to comprehend what she had just said.
"Don't mess me around Arya. I'm being honest with you. Now tell me the truth!" He gripped her arms so hard it hurt.
This was all too much for her. He'd said such wonderful things a few moments ago and now he was accusing her of lying about being a virgin. Although she hated herself for being so pathetic, she couldn't stop herself crying again. Here she was - crying in front of Gendry because he'd called her "slutty". Through her tears she sobbed
"Yes, I'm still a virgin and I wasn't being a prick tease because I really wanted to do it with you and I'd had such a great day and I thought you wanted it too… but I don't know what I'm doing 'cos I've never done this before… and you told me to stop and go home… and now I can't get these stupid trousers off …and now you tell me you do want me, but I'm slutty…so maybe you don't…" It all just tumbled out and probably didn't make sense but it was the best she could do because, at that moment, she felt like she was riding an emotional roller coaster.
He released his grip on her arms and pulled her into his, against his hard chest. He was cuddling her and kissing the top of her head, while she trembled against him.
"That's quite a bombshell you just dropped there Arya. How could someone like you not… you know… in London?" then he stiffened before asking
"It's not like you have to stay a virgin until you're married is it? Like that Lady Dina who married the heir to the throne? If you're a Lady do you have to do that?"
"No stupid!" Only he could think of a stupid thing like that. She tried to laugh
"I'm never marrying a Prince! Anyway, Sansa would kill me if I got one and she didn't." She gave him a weak smile. He looked relieved and hugged her tightly again.
"So we're ok then? We've got all summer together to do this haven't we?" He held her at arms length, watching for her reaction. She tried to smile for him. Was he really suggesting she wait all summer? She didn't know how she was going to feel about all this in an hour, never mind by the end of the bloody summer. She wasn't certain that she shouldn't still leave. Wouldn't that just be easier? He thought she was 'slutty'. She could find some other boy who wouldn't care how slutty she was; some other boy who wouldn't make it so difficult.
He seemed to take her weak smile as agreement they were 'ok' and changed the subject
"What's the other thing you said - about stupid trousers?"
"The zip's stuck" she mumbled.
"Ok, no problem. I'm sure we can fix that." His face flushed beetroot when he realised the offending zip was sitting right in the centre of her cleavage. It gave Arya a perverse pleasure to see him looking awkward and embarrassed. After his being so mean to her, she was quite happy to watch him squirm.
"Right, let's do this." He said determinedly, as if he was psyching himself up to run a marathon rather than tackle a zipper. He held the top of the two halves of the leather together with one hand and pulled the zip with the other. Arya had already tried that, so of course nothing happened. He hesitated and then decided he would have to try and pull the silk up, away from the zip. That involved him grasping the silk where it was stretched between her breasts. He fumbled so much it took him several attempts to catch a bit of the flimsy material between his fingers and when he finally managed it, the zip only moved a few centimetres exposing more of her breasts. He was really beginning to get flustered and Arya decided she might be able to have some fun with him after all.
"How about you keep the salopettes and you can use them next time we go out on the bike?" he muttered. She wasn't going to let him get off so lightly and anyway, how was she supposed to get out of them when she got back to Winterfell?
"I really want them off Gendry. I'm going to need to pee soon and I'm too hot now."
Actually, he was the one looking hot and bothered. She was pleased to note that, when he tried again his hands weren't as steady and a bead of sweat was trickling down his temple, past his floppy fringe. She had to bite her lip to stop herself smiling at him. Ooh, she was feeling quite wicked now. This was fun.
"Right!" he exclaimed as he gave up trying to catch the scrap of silk between his thick fingers. "There's only one thing for it, we need to cut this thing off."
"Can you not try again?" she asked innocently. "This top was really expensive."
"No I can't. It's either cut it off or you just wear them home." He huffed and there was the scowling, stubborn expression that earned him his "Bull" nick name. She had to try very hard not to laugh.
"Ok then. If you have to." She sighed dramatically.
He stomped off to the kitchen to find some scissors. Arya took the opportunity to try to wipe away some off the mascara that had run down her face, leaving her looking like a halloween Alice Cooper. Her hair was wild from the bike ride, but there was nothing much she could do about that. Her face was flushed and she remembered how happy and excited she'd looked in the mirror of his spare room that morning. She decided she liked how she looked when she was turned on.
He came back with a huge pair of kitchen scissors.
"You'd better be careful with them Waters" she warned him, eyeing the scissors warily.
He set to work, first cutting down from the neck to the zip. She had time to study him as concentration furrowed his thick black brows. He really was a bad girl's dream; all tight leather trousers, muscles and spiky attitude.
He had to stop cutting to dry the sweat from his hands after he reached the zip. He tried to wipe his palms down the front of his thighs, but his hands just slid down the leather in a very sexy way. He cursed and grabbed a towel off the rail, dried his palms and started again. This time he went around the bib, which meant around her breasts. They were now squeezed up and out of the leather by his earlier efforts. There was something very erotic about his rough hands, so used to working metal, trying to be careful and gentle with her. Every time he touched her, pulses of electricity shot straight south, ending with a tingling in her panties.
He was gritting his teeth as he carefully worked with the scissors. Soon he had to stop and dry his hands again. She was pleased to note that this time he also had to wipe his forehead with the towel. It wasn't that hot in here. She hoped it was her making him sweat.
After he finished with the scissors he exhaled loudly with something like relief and suggested if she slid the straps off her shoulders she could pull the salopettes down. Had he not noticed how tight they were? It wasn't going to be easy. She could have tried to do it herself – but where was the fun in that?
"Ok, but they're very tight so you'll need to help me." Arya wriggled her arms out the straps and he carefully pulled the pieces of cut silk away. Next she tugged at the leather of the salopettes at her waist. She sneaked a look at him while she was wriggling and tugging. He was still deep in concentration again, but this time on her jiggling breasts. Result!
With a pull and a wriggle the bib slid down under her breasts. One of her nipples had escaped from her wonder bra during the struggle. There it was – exposed like a big raspberry right in front of him. They both blushed scarlet. A slutty girl would have freed the other raspberry nipple from her bra to show him a matching pair, but he didn't like slutty, so she just pushed the offending nipple back in her bra - slowly.
Eying her warily, he reached up and gently cupped her breasts in his hands. He ran his thumbs over the soft globes, pushed up by black lace and leather. Although it felt wonderful, Arya wasn't going to let him off the hook so easily. Oh no! He wanted to wait so she was going to bloody well make him.
"Stop it!" she snapped. "We're taking it slow – remember?"
He looked guilty and dropped his hands.
"Yeah, of course. Do you want me to leave you to it then?" he muttered, not meeting her eyes and now trying to look anywhere but at her breasts.
"Well, that was the easy part, I need your help now. I don't know if I'll be able to get them over my… erm, bottom. If I push the top down will you try and pull?" she asked - again in her most innocent voice. He was getting really embarrassed. This was pay back time for calling her slutty. She'd see who was begging for it after this…
He put his big hands on her hips and tried to grip the corrugated leather at the sides. There wasn't much loose leather but he managed to grab a bit in each hand while she bunched up the leather on her waist to push.
"Right. One, two, three, go" She pushed the bib down and he tugged the hips. Nothing moved.
He had to stop to use the towel again on his sweaty hands. Then he sat down on the edge of the bath but bolted straight back up again as his eyes were level with her breasts, spilling out of her bra. The look on his face was priceless and she had to bite her lip again to stop from laughing at him. She reached up, put her hands on his shoulders and gently pushed to make him sit again. She wasn't finished with him yet.
"This time keep pulling and I'll push and try and wriggle out of them at the same time." She ordered.
She grabbed the roll of leather at her waist again and started trying to wriggle it down, snaking her hips from side to side. The big stupid bull just sat and watched her.
"Come on Gendry, help me!" and that galvanised him into action again. He pulled as she pushed and wriggled. Finally the leather started inching down, over her stomach and to the widest part of her hips.
"Nearly there. One, two, three…" and with a final push, pull and wriggle the leather was over her hips and down at her knees, taking her panties with it. She stood in front of him - naked where it mattered. She let him have a long look at the white bits that didn't get the spray tan and her London landing strip bikini wax. Slowly she bent over and pulled her panties up. They were soaking wet - probably had been since 10 am.
He was just staring at her, mouth slightly open. Oh, he was so easy to tease and she was so wicked.
"Thanks for your help. I couldn't have done it without you." she smirked and turned away to try to extract her feet but as she bent over he grabbed her hips so hard it made her stumble. He buried his face in the gauze of her panties, stretched across the cheeks of her arse. She could feel his hot breath down on her sex, stirring feelings she'd never experienced before. She couldn't bring herself to move. After what seemed like ages, he let her go.
"Have you any idea what you're doing to me Arya? He growled, his voice thick with desire.
She couldn't resist. "No. What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean. I want us to do this now."
"But you said we had to take it slow. We've got all summer. Remember?" She asked innocently.
"Fuck taking it slow. Come here." He tried to grab her, but she pushed his hands away.
"Oh, so it's slutty when I beg, but when Sir Gendry wants some, that's ok, is it?" She'd made her point.
"Don't prick tease me Arya. No games now. I'm not going to ask you again. Do you want me to make love to you?"
The effect those words had on her was electric. Arya turned back to him and boldly squeezed his cock through his leathers, giving him the answer he needed. He stood up and lifted her easily, one big arm around her shoulders, the other under her thighs. The two of them struggled to unlock the door but between them they managed and he carried her, trousers still at her knees, to his bedroom.