POV Eddard
"Glorious", Ned said out loud.
"Hmmm", Ash hummed sleepily, slowly moving from the crook of his arm where she was napping to his chest, her soft perky breasts pressed against him and looked Ned in the eyes. Ned unconsciously drew on the bond to memorize the picture that painted as she moved fully onto himself and brought her smooth hands to his hair, Ned could already feel his member starting to harden.
"You are Glorious. That's the word I was searching for, when I said the word beautiful isn't enough to do you justice. I heard some old veterans in my Lord Fathers guard use it to describe War, I have been in a fight or two, there never was anything glorious in it. But you, you are Glorious", Ned said with absolute conviction.
To that Ash let out a little chuckle and said, "You already got me into bed, Ned. There is no more need for flattery."
"I distinctly remember it being other way around," Ned smirked, "And I am not flattering, its just the truth. Its your due. I could spend my whole life worshiping you, Ash, you are a Revelation."
And he started kissing corner of her delicious smiling lips and worked downwards,her chin, her swan neck, her breasts and finally stopped to suckle at the hardening nipple, while Neds right index and middle fingers slowly slid into her wet clit and his right thumb started massaging her nub, his left hand fondled and played with her remaining breast.
Ash moaned low in her throat,"mumph, haaah, haah" ,and breathed in his ear, "whoever called you Quiet Wolf is a fucking idiot, haah, you should be called Eddard the Silver Tongue", and started nibbling at his ear lobe, her fingers in his hair became fists as Neds fingers upped the speed.
"Get inside me, damn you!", Ashara breathed harshly and as Ned entered her slick clit, Ash rose up, her back arched, her hands braced against his thighs and started riding him, her moans rose to fever pitch, a drop of sweat raced down her chin and slid on her glistening skin and rested just for an instant between her bountiful, bouncing breasts, Ned supported Ashs slim waist with both hands as their love making reached a crescendo and both finished within seconds of each other.
Quite spent, Ash flopped boneless on Ned as his member still inside her started softening, both panting harshly, with a pleasant ache bone deep, Ned idly traced her soft curves with his hands.
"Ash, we need to talk", Ned said.
Ash, who was sleepily nuzzling Neds neck stilled for a moment and slowly sat up, the silk sheets pooling in her lap, her breasts bare, and Ned himself sat up to lean against the beds headboard and she said, her face carefully neutral, "About?"
"About whats next, for us I mean", Ned replied.
"Whats their to talk? You will leave for your ship in three hours for your tour and when you come back after winter, you will marry a Tully girl", her tone still neutral.
"Doesn't last night change things? Shouldn't we get married? Ash, I lov...", she put a finger on his lips, shushing him from finishing the sentence.
"Last night changes everything and nothing. And don't speak of love, love doesn't happen in a week, it can most certainly start in a week and we made a great start, yet, real love takes years before happening. And there will be no talk of marriage, that's the Arryn in you speaking. Did the Norths need for cheap grain disappear because we had sex?", that last question had a whip crack to it.
Ned keeping an iron grip on surging emotions and slowly answered, "No, but I will think of something else. Ash, I want you."
"I want you too. But want is not good enough reason, is it? In this suite, I am Ash and You are Ned, once we unbolt that door, I am Lady Ashara Dayne of Dorne and You are Lord Eddard Stark of the North. Here Ash and Ned are enough. Out there, they are not. I know you enough to understand if you chose me instead of North, that choice will eat you alive. So tell me what these alternatives are and convince me", she was regal enough to shame a queen, saying that.
"We are building ships on our west coast, importing costs will decrease once we finish", Ned answered quickly.
"Grain filled to the brim in the largest of trading cogs cargo hold is barely enough to feed a middling village of five hundred for a year, you will have to build a fleet of hundreds of ships to feed all of North. Moreover sailing is risky business and building ships is a costly venture, one bad storm could just as well smash half your fleet to so much kindling", Ash replied just as quickly.
"We discovered mines of gems and silver. We can afford to pay for larger imports via land or sea", Ned proposed.
"Nobody knows how deep a mine runs, it could dry up in a year or last millennia, nobody truly knows. If the sellers believe that you have money, they will just rise up the price for greed of profits."
"My sister is going to be the Queen, I can keep the prices low", Ned replied now a bit desperately.
To that Ash scoffed and said, "Ned don't be a fool, most grain produced by smallfolk what they don't keep for Winter ends up sold to or taxed by local lords, who in turn stores some, sends some up to their liege lords and sells reminder to merchants, merchants who are most probably related to stewards of the lords or poor relatives of lords themselves. Essentially Lords of the Realm control most of the grain. As Seven Kingdoms are getting stabler and stabler, what with all these marriages, nobody has true upper hand, everyone has leverage. If Targaryens put their weight behind North to get lower prices, then there will be some other price to pay, that price is most usually a hand in marriage."
Ned almost defeated tried one last gambit,"My future fief has bountiful lands, I will make it a breadbasket for the North."
At this Ash outright laughed derisively, "I assumed Norths urgent need for grain is because of your desire to grow your population, exactly because you don't have enough smallfolk to tend the available land. Was I wrong?"
Ned sighed and bowed his head, "No,you are not."
"Oh Ned", Ash reached out to run her fingers through his hair and said, "Dorne shares most of Norths problems, much of spice and silk trade between Essos and Westeros happens through Dorne, Ned, we make enormous profits of it, yet we are second poorest kingdom after North, do you know why? Only about half of Dorne is cultivatable, even then only some of it suitable for grain. We have to import much of our food too, it is fortunate indeed that Winter doesn't touch us as often or as harshly, gives us more time. Our greatest trade partner is the Reach, in peacetime we pay ridiculous amounts of money for food, in wartime trade stops entirely, they can bear the loss of profits, but we can't bear starvation. Forcing us to import from Essos, who demand huge sums, because nobody wants to cross a sea, even if its a narrow one to sell grain, the profit margins are too slim for too much risk. Why do you think Doran married Elia to Baelor Hightower!"
"What am I to do then?", Ned asked sounding lost.
"What you were going to do before us. You care so much about your people Ned, as do I about mine. Thats whats makes it so easy to love you. Do you know just how many lords and ladies somehow believe that they are the Sevens gift to the world, they disgust me. I will not ask you to change the very thing about you, that made me fall for you", said Ash, drawing Ned close for a searing kiss.
"Wait, wait, you win the argument, but what if a baby comes of this, of us?"
To that she chuckled indulgently, "Ned, babies don't usually come out of one time, that only happens in fairy tales and little girls imaginations, it usually takes months of work."
Ned managed a smirk and said, "I distinctly remember it being more than one time."
With a smile on her lips, straddling Ned, Ash replied, "Women have their ways to take care of it, stop worrying. And Stop talking I have better uses for your mouth in mind. Start making love to me."
So he did.