Author's Note: New update for this week, though it's a pretty short one. It's mostly just a romantic moment, but I was feeling sentimental while writing this one. I had meant to put Sandor/Sansa in here, but I will save their scene for the next chapter (which will be posted in a couple of days). I just wanted to have a short little snippet here dedicated to Jaime and Amarah. Any way, read on!

After Amarah departed the great hall following a rather enlightening evening meal, Jaime soon took his leave as well. Commander Snow looked as if he would appreciate the opportunity to have a private conversation with his newly restored sister, and Jaime had no wish to intrude on their privacy. As he departed their company, the thought crossed his mind to search out Ilyn Payne to finish their abandoned sparring session. However, when he would have returned to the courtyard, his footsteps took him in the opposite direction, towards Amarah's room on the other side of the keep.

Following such an exhausting day, he had intended to grant her some small respite from their nightly bouts of lovemaking in order for her to regain some much needed strength. Despite those noble intentions, his mind was changed when he recalled the words that had been spoken regarding their relationship with one another.

He had been struck nearly dumb by her bald confession in the presence of her family that she intended to wed him following this cursed war. For most of his life, Jaime had become accustomed to loving a woman who used his affection as a source of power and manipulation over him while never acknowledging openly the relationship between them. He had become a sordid secret for over half his life, never knowing anything different.

It was a rather odd but liberating sensation to now hold the heart of a woman who harbored no shame of him. Where Cersei had rejected him time and time again, Amarah welcomed his love with open arms, not caring what her family or others around them thought of her affection. Her love for him was freely given, not dependent on the opinions of others or her own political aspirations. It was a rare and precious gift, and it was one that Jaime did not take lightly.

When he reached her rooms, Jaime entered to find only a few candles lit, signaling that she would be falling asleep shortly. At the other end of the room, he spotted her in the midst of undressing for the evening. One shoulder of her practical garment gaped off her shoulder while she struggled to work the other off. Her back was to him and his entrance quiet, so she was not aware of his presence at first. He watched her struggle for a few moments longer before breaking the silence.

"Would you like some help undressing for the night, m'lady?" he asked with a sardonic smile.

Amarah stiffened at the sound of his voice and turned around to grace him with a haughty look. "Playing the handmaid for me, m'lord?" she asked, mimicking his attempts at the lowborn accent of a serving girl.

Jaime smiled at her response and approached without answering back. Beckoning for her to give him her back, he slowly undid the ties she had been unable to reach herself. Slowly, the garment loosened from her shoulders before pooling in a heap at her feet. Jaime knelt down and moved the garment aside before standing again. As he rose, his hand skimmed the soft skin of her legs, slowly working its way up while caressing each sensitive spot along the way. When he softly tickled the delicate skin at the back of her knee, he heard her breath catch momentarily, and it set his blood racing.

"I had planned to leave you alone this evening," he murmured absently at her back while he continued his slow ascent up her body. His hand then rested lightly on her thigh for a moment before grasping the hem of her shift and slipping it up and over her head.

Amarah's breathing had grown short and labored due to the torture he was inflicting on her senses, but she managed to make a response. "I don't want to be left alone."

Once the shift cleared her head, Jaime turned her back to face him. When she was looking at him again, he made sure to keep his eyes locked with hers, despite the temptations revealed below. "I don't want to leave you alone," he confessed, all mockery and sarcasm absent from his expression. "I meant what I said, Princess. If I come out of this bloody war alive with my life and all working parts in order, I intend to wed you. I want to have a home with you. I want to give you the peaceful life you've always craved."

Amarah's gray eyes sparkled in the glowing candlelight with a hint of unshed tears, though she did not allow them to fall. "I've been too afraid to speak the thought aloud before, my wish to marry you," she clarified. "I'm afraid to allow myself the hope that I might have the life I've always wanted, with a family I love far away from the treachery and ugliness of this life I've always lived. It's almost like a tantalizing but unattainable dream meant to torture me. My heart has already been broken once, Jaime," she spoke softly, quickly burying her face in his neck as if she couldn't bear for him to see her pain. "I don't know if I could survive having it broken again."

"I understand your fears," he whispered in her ear while holding her close. "But it's pointless to live a life controlled by that. Our fates are decided, and nothing will change them, Princess. If you live your life in dread of what the future holds, you'll rob yourself of any happiness you can have now."

She digested that information silently for a moment before speaking again. "You make me happy," she whispered quietly, causing a warm sensation to blossom in Jaime's chest at such a simple confession.

Pulling back so he could see her again, Jaime let his gaze drop to the view he had avoided earlier. "I can make you very happy if you like," he informed her with a slow grin.

The somber mood that had dropped on them lifted with his playful remark, and Amarah's serious expression was swiftly replaced by one of anticipation. "I would like it very much."

With that, Jaime hoisted her up into his arms and carried her to the bed, where he fully intended to give them both as much pleasure and happiness as they wished. Once he had deposited her on the furs, he fell on top of her, simultaneously kissing each inch of bare skin beneath him while struggling to rid himself of his garments. Somehow he managed the task, and both were soon blessedly naked.

Jaime was tempted to sink deep inside her without sparing another moment, but something caused him to pause momentarily and drink in the sight of her lying beneath him, so beautiful in the fading candlelight. Amarah's eyes had been closed but opened again with a questioning look when he stopped. "What's the matter?" she asked breathlessly.

Jaime moved his golden hand to caress her cheek gently. "Nothing. I just wanted to look at you."

Amarah didn't seem as moved by the sentiment as he. "Look at me later," she answered back before reaching around to grab his arse and pull him forward to where she needed him most.

Once Jaime was inside her wet heat, he tried still to draw out the moment, beginning a slow penetration and withdrawal as he savored the feeling of closeness between them. Amarah was not as patient. Raking her blunt nails down his back, she writhed beneath him, rubbing her naked breasts across his chest as if she couldn't bear to have any part of their bodies separated.

"Please," Jaime heard her pant the word in his ear even as she used her body to urge him on. At the simple word, he couldn't force himself to hold back from her anymore.

With a loud grunt, he slammed inside her with a forceful thrust, and he heard a sigh of contentment fall from her lips. Beads of sweat ran down his brow as he continued thrusting in and out of her tight channel with sure strokes that were meant to bring them both to the completion they craved. Just when he thought he couldn't bear the strain of pleasure any longer, he felt her start to clench around him.

As soon as she fell into the abyss, he followed swiftly behind, his head thrown back in joy as he came to completion with her wrapped tightly around him.

Through the haze of his intense release, he somehow managed to hear Amarah say something to him. "I love you."

Unable to form any words himself in his current state, he simply pressed his mouth to hers and kissed her fiercely, mating his mouth with hers as he slowly returned to himself. Once he could rationally put thoughts together once more, he slowly withdrew from her welcoming heat and fell to his side. Looking over, Jaime found Amarah's eyes sliding shut as sleep crowded in around her.

Before he could succumb to the temptation of slumber as well, Jaime wrapped his arms around her and pulled her weary body snugly to his chest. He felt her murmur her words of love once more against his chest before her breathing evened and slowed, indicating she had finally drifted into unconsciousness. Just as Jaime's eyes closed to follow her into sleep, the brief thought flitted through his mind that he had never returned the words of love she so freely gave him. Before he could dwell too long on the thought, he was fast asleep in her arms.

Just for clarity's sake, I wanted to explain quickly that Jaime does love Amarah, but following an unfortunate experience with his sister, it is still a bit of an inner struggle for him to come to terms with those feelings. This chapter kind of touches on the fact that he's still coming to fully realize this new love he's found with this woman, and it's also meant to bring him closer to verbally acknowledging those feelings. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more! Comments, follows, and favorites are always appreciated!