It was nightfall when they reached the Inn. It was much bigger than the last and by all means grander. They were shown to their room which had a bath already filled, a washbasin and jug on a table next to it. A large fireplace with a roaring fire heated the room. The bed was large and looked very welcoming after the bumping of the carriage. There was a table laden with food and a jug of wine.
"I sent word ahead that we would be arriving tonight and had them prepare the room for us," Sandor explained before she could ask, as he closed the door.
She smiled up at her husband for his thoughtfulness. He held her seat out for her and Sansa's stomach growled eagerly at the sight of the food laid before her. They both ate their fill and Sandor left her again after the maids had cleared their plates so she could bathe. He arrived back as she was getting into bed and undressed to his shirt and trousers once more. He extinguished the candles climbed into the bed without another thought.
V
Sansa dreamed a wonderful dream that night.
She dreamed of a man; tall and broad and strong, with his arms around her, kissing her with a scarred mouth.
She dreamed of his eyes open and honest, his voice gravely and rumbling.
She dreamed of his hands on her body, touching, stroking, kneading and feeling.
His mouth kissing and sucking and biting all over.
He breathed out her name and he spilled inside her, proclaiming his passion to the heavens and declaring his love for her.
The soft tug of pain at her head pulled her away from her blissful slumber and she found herself back in that cold inn, but wrapped once more in the heat of Sandor Clegane.
She tried to move, feeling almost suffocated by the intense heat radiating off him but when she moved a sharp jolt of pain burned at the back of her head. Her long hair was trapped beneath the bulk of his body and made her movements very limited.
He rolled suddenly and she was pinned beneath him. Somehow her thighs had parted and she could feel a strange hardness now pressing against her heat.
She whimpered, ashamed to find herself enjoying such a feeling and her hips bucked up involuntary. The man above her moaned and ground his hips against hers, she gasped at the feeling.
This wasn't right. The proper thing would be to wake him. She gripped his shoulders and tried to push him off but his weight was heavy on her in his sleep. His hips ground against her and she moaned at the feeling, her fingers gripping his arms.
His head was rested against her shoulder now and she heard her name breathed like a prayer against her skin, "Sansa."
She didn't think she had ever heard him say her name before now.
Guilt flooded her when she found herself shiver in pleasure and she forced herself to push against him again, "Sandor! Wake up!"
He groaned in his sleep then his eyes fluttered open. He blinked groggily then suddenly bolted up on his hands and knees above when he came to his senses.
"Seven bloody hells!" he proclaimed, his eyes took in the gravity of their situation and he growled out a curse, rolling off her like she had burned him.
He stood and his eyes looked everywhere but her as she sat up in the bed ready to apologize, "shit, little bird, I'm sorry i…fuck, forgive me," he rambled, then dressed quicker than she thought possible and left the room.
V
The carriage ride after that was in complete silence. Sandor sat as far away from her as was humanly possible. At one point Sansa feared he was going to jump out of the window he was watching it so closely. He refused to look at her save for one time when she had coughed lightly. His eyes had flipped to her and the look on his face – a look of complete disgust had made her blood run cold. His gaze had then returned to the view beyond the window and she had looked down at her clasped hands in her lap, willing the tears that blurred her vision not to fall.
She couldn't understand what he was so upset about. It has purely by accident what had happened. And they were married now; it wasn't as if it was improper. But that look, that disgust on his face. Was it that he found her completely undesirable? Sansa's spirits fell at the though, that had to be it. She had thought all this time that perhaps he held some – even a small amount of affection for her, be it just as a friend. But surely even friends would not act this way with her. She couldn't understand it. She couldn't understand him.
The sun was setting, casting an orange glow on the countryside around them when the carriage finally pulled to a stop. Sansa could smell salt in the air and she wondered if they were near the sea. Sandor wordlessly stepped out the carriage and held the door open for her but did not offer his hand to her.
She stepped out of the carriage and looked up at her new home – Clegane House.
V