7.

That very night, only a half hour later, Davos found her knocking on his door. He opened it and let her in, but the welcome he gave her was harsh and cold.

"You should leave, Milady" he hissed with a determination she had rarely seen on his face.

Melisandre looked genuinely surprised for a few seconds by that reaction, but soon recovered showing a little smirk.

"Is this because of what you saw? Are you jealous, Onion Knight?" she teased him, moving her face closer to his.

But where she expected to find some sort of fire, she was met instead with pure ice.

"I don't care about the men you bed, but it is a trap I don't want to fall in" he simply reply with no trace of anger in his voice. Actually, what she had mistaken for anger, was annoyance and a strange sort of fear. "'Cause there must be a purpose why you suddenly want to sleep in my bed every night. Seeing you with that man opened my eyes, you never do something for the sake of it… So tell me, what do you want from me?"

He wasn't resented for the fact that she was seducing other men, but mostly because he suddenly realised that she was treating him like them. Seeing her with the Hound was like having a flash of her and himself from outside.

Oh, he was afraid. Not of the night, but of her.

"Ser Davos" she started with a sigh "I have bedded a lot of men in my life, because I needed information or because my Lord told me to…"

"- Or to create a shadow baby killer"

"Exactly!" Her tone lost at once all the calmness at his ironic interjection. "If you hadn't noticed, Ser Davos, let me tell you that in all those nights we never had sex, nor I have tried to seduce you"

"Aye, and that scares me even more!"

Melisandre stared at him for some seconds, then let out a small chuckle and without saying a word started to remove her dress, until she was completely naked in front of him.

"Is this what you want? Does it make you feel better?" she asked approaching him even more. Her voice was sensual and hid just a little hint of sadness in it.

Davos was able to detect it anyway. Maybe because something in all the situation was making him sad too.

Of course he wanted it, of course he wanted her. But not like this, not when sex was just a mean to avoid talking and mostly if the lack of sex was actually the only proof so far of a strong connection between them.

So, he tried hard not to look at her body and instead kept his eyes locked on hers. "What I want is for you to tell me what the fuck you want from me" he repeated, more harshly. More desperately.

"Nothing. You are of no use for me, nor for the Lord of Light. Don't you see? I am here jus because I want to. I want you"

She seemed sincere in her words, even if her eyes were fixed on the ground. She was naked in front of him and yet she was only ashamed of her soul, that she had bared with the last sentence.

Among all the crazy things he had heard in time coming out from her mouth, that was maybe the craziest to believe. Visions in the fire? The prince that was promised? It all could make sense compared to her wanting him. Why on earth would she want him? But, on the other hand, he wanted her, he was sure of it, and until some days before that seemed an absurdity as well.

In the meanwhile, he decided not to decide anything yet. He took a cover and wrapped it up around her body, before he could change his mind, and just motioned to the bed instead.

"Come, Milady… It is best if we get some sleep"

And so they fell asleep, body against body once again.

8.

Two red-haired women were standing one next to the other , watching at the yard of the castle below them, where Brienne of Tarth and Sandor Clegane were training together. Or better, trying to kill each other.

"He is a handsome man, isn't he?" the older woman asked, hinting at the Hound "I went to his room last night, but apparently he has only one redhead in mind" she added with amusement in her voice.

Sansa Stark quickly looked away from the two knights and stared at the woman beside her in open disbelief. For a moment, she looked like the young girl she once was as a little blush colored her cheeks. She couldn't tell herself if she were pleased for the hint that Sandor liked her that much or jealous because that dangerous woman had tried to seduce him. But still she was turning red, more red than her hair, more than the red woman.

As for Melisandre, she just smiled. That reaction was exactly the point of all her doing. The previous night she had proof that the Hound was in love with the Lady of Winterfell, while in that very moment she was having proof that she felt the same toward him. Actually, that information were of no use for her, except for the fact that she felt some kind of sympathy toward the girl and wanted to help her finding a happy ending after everything she had been through.

"The burnt man loves you, it is clear to see. And you are attracted to him. I think you should give him a chance"

Sansa blinked, as if that little move could erase her young hopeful self. And in some way it worked, since she chuckled shortly with no emotion and now the stare to the Red Woman became a glare.

"I am no ordinary woman, Milady" Sansa replied coldly, stressing with irony the title "I can not show up in some men rooms, like you are used to do"

Melisandre kept on smiling, not at all hurt by that sideswipe. "You are right, Lady Sansa. You can't have all the lovers I have, but I will never know the joy of having just one man to be devoted to" she said, noting their difference "I could never be a wife, no matter if I ever thought about that. You see, I am no ordinary woman, as well"

With that said, the priestess started to walk away, thinking that she had already given Lady Stark enough to think about. But right before she could be out of sight, Sansa called her back.

"Lady Melisandre, what would you do if you were just an ordinary woman?" she simply asked out of curiosity, all the irony suddenly drained.

The smile was still on Melisandre's face, just a little sad and weakened.

"I don't know. Maybe I would just be happy settling down as Lady Seaworth"

But the voice turned out less ironic and more bitter than she had wanted to.

9.

Three days were enough for their routine to change, potentially for good. Jon Snow had decided to organize a group to go in exploration beyond the Barrer and Davos was asked to join. He had accepted of course, and all Melisandre could think about while hearing the news was that she wouldn't have been able to sleep alone.

The night before the dangerous journey was basically like every other, as they silently slept together, skin against skin. But the morning after, before he could join the other men, she held him in his room – their room – for a little longer. Nobody could ever suspect that the reason behind Ser Davos's late arrival was that the woman he so openly hated was kissing him with a passion that had instead the taste of love.

Because actually she was kissing him, with all the tenderness she didn't know she could find in herself.

The man was too astonished at first to have a reaction, but when he did and his mouth started to move against hers, she pulled away and just put a finger on his lips.

"Don't, Ser Davos. You'll kiss me back when you'll be back"

N/A: Sorry for the late, university is killing me. Anyway I have decided two things for this story: 1- there will be 6 total chapters (so we are halfway) and 2- someone is going to die before the last chapter, Davos OR Melisandre, but I promise the end will be bittersweet (like GOT finale is supposed to be lol). Hope you are liking the story so far, and also that you like the sansan little hint.