"Wow," Sansa sighed as soon as she stepped out of the limo that had taken her from the airport to the mansion, "this place is beautiful!"

A light breeze started blowing, and Sansa pressed her hand against the top of her huge sun hat so that it wouldn't be blown off her head. She walked away from the limo, looking wide-eyed at the beautiful mansion in front of her and it's spectacular surroundings. Following Joffrey's instructions, Sandor had taken her on a trip to the place he himself had chosen: Sapphire Isle. He had made that decision because it was a quiet place, a bit isolated and very beautiful. Judging by Sansa's delighted expression, he had made the right choice.

The mansion was located near the beach, with perfect views to the Narrow Sea. It was of a light creamy color; it had only two floors, but it was immense, covering a lot of terrain. Sansa climbed the three low steps that led to the main entrance of the mansion, which was guarded by four iconic columns that held a balcony over them. The door was unlocked, and so Sansa entered the mansion without difficulty. Once Sandor saw her entering the place, he picked up her luggage from inside the limo and carried it with him; he had expected Sansa to take lots of heavy luggage with her, because it was what he thought that women like her did whenever they travelled. However, once she learned they were going to a beach house because Joffrey wanted her to "have some rest", she had only packed two small bags, one with normal clothes and the other one with beach clothes. Sandor was grateful for that, because he didn't feel like carrying around all her stuff.

He entered the mansion behind Sansa, locked the door, and took a look around. He had been there a few times, many years ago, and he had almost forgotten what the place looked like. It was more modern that all the other mansions in which his bosses and their friends had always lived in, which were over the top and ancient, from many, many, many centuries ago. The mansion in Tarth (the island to which he had taken Sansa) was more modern, but was still classic, having none of that bullshit that modern mansions had and that Sandor found incredibly ugly. The main hall was made almost entirely of white marble, which made the place seem bigger and luminous and spacious and clean. It had two staircases at the sides, and they joined at the top, where the hallway that led to other rooms was. Sandor's eyes followed Sansa as she walked around the main hall, checking every piece of furniture, smiling at the mirrors and curiously eyeing the decorations. After she had taken a good look at everything, apparently liking what she had seen, she walked towards the window doors that led to the backyard of the mansion, opened one of them, and walked out to explore. Again, Sandor followed her like a lost puppy, not sure of what else to do if not. He just left her luggage on the floor and walked quietly behind her, observing her as she explored the place. There wasn't a proper garden in the backyard, but there was an enormous pool with perfect views to the beach and the sea. Sansa gasped with surprise and delight, and even Sandor had to admit that the views were amazing. The water surrounding the island was the brightest, deepest, most stunning blue that he had ever seen, like the color of a sapphire. No wonder Tarth was referred to as the Sapphire Isle!

"Oh, Sandor!" the young woman sighed, not taking her eyes off the sea. "This is really beautiful!"

"You already said that before," he rasped, but he couldn't hide a little smile from appearing in the corner of his mouth. It twisted and pulled at his scars in the creepiest and most gruesome way, but he didn't mind that much at that time, and Sansa didn't seem to mind either when she finally turned around and looked at him.

He was amazed when he saw her face. It looked livelier, her expression was more cheerful, her smile was wider than the fake one that she had had back with the Baratheons… And her eyes at that moment were more stunning than the waters surrounding the island; their color made the Sapphire Isle poor and lifeless in comparison to it. He had to make an effort not to gape like an idiot while he looked at her.

"Did you really choose this place?" she asked. The breeze started blowing again, and she held her sun hat like she did before so that it wouldn't fly away. Sandor narrowed his eyes and shrugged.

"I don't know. I figured that you would like it here more than some other buggering mansion in the inland."

"Well, you were right!"

"I can see that."

He was about to turn around to go inside the mansion again, but then Sansa's voice stopped him. She only managed to mutter the beginning of a question, but then she fell silent and lowered her eyes, hesitating whether if she should speak or not. Sandor stood there, patiently waiting for her to finish the question that she seemed to want to ask. Finally, Sansa nervously lifted her gaze to meet his and tried again:

"Can I take a swim?" she asked shyly, reminding Sandor of the first time that he had met her, and how she wasn't even able to talk to him properly at first. It was like she had two totally different personalities, one strong and confident, and the other shy and hesitant and scared. "In the pool, I mean."

Why is she even asking me this question?, Sandor wondered, frowning, feeling really confused. She didn't have to ask him for fucking permission to go for a swim; she was the boss now! And he was just a bodyguard assigned to take care of her, for fucks sake!

"Of course you can," he answered, a bit annoyingly and perhaps harsh. She noticed the confusion in his voice, and she hurried to explain:

"It's just that… Joffrey never lets me do anything without asking him for permission first," she murmured, lowering her gaze with shame.

That statement made Sandor frown even more, but not because of frustration at her; he was annoyed with Joffrey. He was mad because of the way that he treated Sansa like an object of his possession, to the point where the poor girl couldn't even enjoy herself a bit!

He took some steps towards her, gently took her chin with his fingers, and carefully raised her head so that she would stare at him in the eyes.

"Listen to me, little bird. Joffrey isn't here. He is very far away, and he cannot see you now. You can do whatever the fuck you want. You can swim in the pool, sleep 'till noon, and throw the entire fucking house out of the window if you please," he said, trying to sound as serious as humanly possible. "Understood?"

She nodded.

"Yes…"

"Good. The only thing that I'm going to ask you to do is not to leave the mansion. I can't allow you to do that; it's the only thing. I don't want to get in trouble."

"I understand," she said, smiling again.

"Alright… Now go and get changed, I suppose you are not going to jump into the pool with your pretty dress still on," he said, eyeing the short violet dress that she had worn for the trip. It was cut just above her knees, and it hugged her slim waist perfectly. And the cleavage... well, it wasn't giving him any good ideas.

Noticing that his mind had started wandering around places that it really shouldn't go to, he shook his head and grunted with frustration (startling Sansa in the process) and he turned around to leave. He reentered the mansion and picked up the girl's luggage again. He climbed the staircase up to the second floor and walked towards what was to be Sansa's room during their stay in that place. It was the master bedroom, the biggest and most central one. It had it's own balcony, and the views were even more amazing than they were from the pool. It felt like they were right above the sea.

He placed the luggage on the bed, so that Sansa wouldn't have to pick it up by herself to be able to take out her clothes more comfortably. After he did that he turned around and found her staring at him standing in the doorframe. He stared back at her in silence, unsure of what to do or say at the moment.

Seven fucking hells, dog, you are getting stupider every day that passes, a voice in the back of his mind scolded him.

"Well, I'm going to change," Sansa suddenly blurted out, breaking the awkward silence. She nervously pointed towards her luggage on the bed and smiled a bit, and Sandor stepped away from it. He rubbed his hands together and then he rubbed them against his pants at the sides of his thighs. He hated that sensation that he had just acquired all of a sudden of not being able to keep his hands quiet, but not knowing what to do with them!

"Yeah, I'll let you do that... Alone," he said as he mentally slapped himself. However, he didn't move, he just kept awkwardly standing there in silence.

Once again, Sansa smiled. This time she pointed towards the door where she was.

"Well, I'll see you downstairs in a bit, then," she said. What a polite way of telling him to get the fuck out of her bedroom while she changed!

But she was right, he had to leave!

Move, you fucking idiot!, he mentally commanded himself.

He hesitantly took one step forward, with his eyes still locked on hers. He felt like there was an invisible rope tied around him and pulling towards her, but he had to fight it. He was going to make a fool of himself if he wasn't capable of putting his thoughts in order and walking away from there. His steps slowly took him closer to Sansa, and he stopped when the distance between them was considerably small. There was a heavy tension in the air, and Sandor felt like the temperature in the room was similar to that of Hell, he was burning up from the inside out. He watched Sansa's eyes leaving his own and exploring the rest of his face for a few moments, and then she stared at him again. Her breath caught in her chest; it was just then that Sandor managed to turn his face away, and he stormed out of the bedroom.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, he muttered in his mind while he raced down the staircase towards the main hall of the mansion. Fuck!

What in seven hells was he doing, acting like a buggering green boy who had never been around the presence of a beautiful woman?! While he cursed himself, he headed towards the bar that was in one of the rooms next to the main hall. He got behind the counter, took a glass and searched for the bottle of whiskey; he knew there must be one, he remembered well. Once he found it, he poured the drink into the empty glass and drank it all in one quick gulp. He left the empty glass on the counter, and he felt compelled to pour himself a second drink but he decided against it. That wasn't a good time to get drunk, while he was on the job and alone with his boss's fiancée in that place.

"She must think I'm an idiot," he muttered to himself between gritted teeth, staring down at the bottle of whiskey that he had put down.

When he raised his eyes and looked through the window to the pool, he saw that Sansa had already gone down from her room changed into a more appropriate attire for swim. Sandor suddenly wished she had stayed with the dress instead.

She was wearing a black bikini with little tiny crystals sewn on it. For the thousandth time, Sandor wondered if there was any other woman in the world who could look so incredibly stunning in black. His eyes then wandered all over her body, which was the pure image of perfection. He felt his own body reacting bot that sight, and he slammed his fist against the bar counter, frustrated.

He saw Sansa turn around then, looking for something around the pool and then inside the mansion. Could she be looking for him?

Yeah, to make sure you are nowhere around her, I'd dare say, the voice in the back of his head mocked him.

Not finding him or whatever it was that she was looking for, Sansa turned around to face the pool again. She was wearing a ponytail, but she grabbed her hair band off and let her hair loose. It cascaded down her back in perfect auburn waves that looked fiery red in the sun, and Sandor grunted again like a wild beast. He kept watching as Sansa head-dived into the deepest part of the pool and reemerged in the surface a few feet away, looking like a real life mermaid.

Sandor had been annoyed by her dozens of times since he knew her. He almost hated her at first, believing her to be some kind of selfish slut who was marrying her pick of a fiancé only for the money and power. However, now Sandor felt so much differently. He saw in her a kind person, fragile on the outside and strong in the inside. Sandor didn't know her story, but from the little tiny bit that he knew, she had put up with a lot of shit in recent times, and yet, she wasn't breaking down. She was putting up with all that shit and carrying on, and she was managing to still be kind and sweet.

He was still very annoyed, but it wasn't she herself the thing that annoyed him. It was the fact that such a woman was going to belong soon to that prick that was his boss. If only...

Stop right there, dog, the voice in his head scolded him again. Don't even think about it. A woman like her would never look at a man like you, not even in your dreams. Forget it. It's a childish dream, just look at yourself in a mirror!

Sandor sighed, feeling miserable. He didn't know how long they were going to stay in that place, but he knew that it was going to be the Seventh Hell for him.

Ten minutes later, Sandor walked out of the mansion again, holding a tray on his hands with a drink on it. He was never, ever, polite to his boss and never did anything nice for him or anything that wasn't a direct order; he didn't do favors. But Sansa was different, and he had promised to himself that he would make her have a good time during her stay there. That's why he thought that maybe she would like a sip of mojito. After all, it was very hot outside, and a mojito was always welcome.

He left the tray with the drink on a small table a few feet away from the pool, and then he watched Sansa while she swam underwater. Once she reached the end of the pool, she went back to the surface and moved her wet auburn hair out of the way. She opened her eyes and blinked a few times when she saw Sandor standing there in front of her. She smiled.

"Hey!" she smiled cheerfully.

"Swimming has put you in a good mood," he observed with a small smile on his face. He never usually smiled, but the gesture came so naturally to him lately. It was easy to smile when Sansa also smiled. "I brought you a mojito, I though you might want a drink."

"Oh, thank you so much!" she said, delighted. She sat on the edge of the pool, with her body covered in water droplets that sparkled in the sun and made her look like a fairy-tale goddess, and Sandor handed the drink to her. She took the glass murmuring a soft "thank you" and took a sip of the mojito. "Uuum! This is delicious!" she exclaimed, graciously licking her licks with the tip of her tongue.

Sandor's eyes followed the movement of the tip of Sansa's tongue over her lips, and he wished that it was his tongue licking those perfect, full, red lips; he wished he could taste the flavor of the drink on her, and also he wished to know how she tasted like.

Seriously, stop it, the voice in the back of his head scolded him yet again in less than twenty minutes.

He felt the temperature rising and he loosened the black tie he was wearing before he started feeling like he was choking. Sansa noticed it and she frowned, looking concerned.

"Is it very hot? You must be boiling with that black suit, it's so sunny!"

"Don't worry, I'm used to it..." he rasped, trying to look somewhere else that wasn't her chest covered only by that bikini top.

Sansa shot him an skeptical look, raising her eyebrow in a perfect arch.

"Sure... Well, it looks like you are burning up," she said, seeing him completely removing his black tie and throwing it to the side and unbuttoning the first bottoms of his shirt, leaving some space for the air to enter and cool him down.

He saw her looking at him, and he realized that she wasn't looking at him in the eyes anymore. Her amazing blue eyes were fixed on the skin that he had revealed after unbuttoning his shirt a little bit, and he believed that there was a certain spark of interest in her eyes. The way that she was looking at him... it didn't look at all like the way that she used to look at people, with her usually innocent and apparently clueless and tame gaze. No. Her look at that moment was feline, like a tiger... And hungry, like that of a wolf's.

Great, dog, you are insane, he mockingly congratulated himself in his mind. He was hallucinating for sure. You should get some fucking sleep and stop thinking about such made-up bullshit. She isn't looking at you in any special way! You are an old ugly worthless dog!"

He was starting to get tired about his little mental ramblings, to be honest. Wasn't a man allowed to have dreams, no matter how fucking ridiculous and foolish they were?!

He came back to reality and cleared his throat.

"As I said... I'm used to it," he rasped again. "It is no warmer than King's Landing or the Westerlands in the summer."

"Oh, but the temperatures there are terrible! I personally like the summer in the North, it's not so hot, and it snows a little bit, but you don't freeze either," she said with a sad smile on her face, remembering her homeland and the place that she had left to pursue her career and to wait for her wedding. Her sad smile disappeared when she lifted her gaze and her eyes met Sandor's again. "Why don't you take a dip in the pool?"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me! The water is cool and it's so nice in here!"

Did she just ask me to join her in the pool?

"No, thank you," he grunted.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm working. Do you want to get me fired?"

Sansa chuckled. "Of course not! That would be a pity! ... By the way, are there any cameras around here?" she asked, searching around to see if she could find any.

"Only in the main entrance, the garage door and in the back exit through the garden," he said.

"Then no one will see you, so you don't have to worry about getting fired! I promise I won't rat you out."

"I said no," he rasped, feeling uncomfortable.

She narrowed her eyes and inspected him, with interest clearly reflected in her pupils. She finished her mojito and then she stood up on the edge of the pool, splashing a bit of water around her. She advanced a few steps towards the bodyguard, slowly, until she was uncomfortably close... It didn't feel uncomfortable because Sandor didn't like the extreme closeness, but because he was forbidden from enjoying it. He fought the strong urge to wrap his arms around the young woman's tiny waist and pull her completely against him. Her face was close enough to his that he could easily claim her mouth right there and then if he wanted to, if he dared to...

"Does my company annoy you, Ser?"

"I'm no sodding Ser," he muttered between his teeth.

"You haven't answered my question."

For fucks sake, she could be terribly annoying sometimes, indeed!

"It's not appropriate," he rasped, saying the first credible thing that came to mind. Really, he wasn't lying. It wouldn't be appropriate if he tried to get as close to her as humanly possible in the most indiscreet ways, which he would try if he got alone in the pool with her. He could barely restrain himself at that moment with her standing in front of him, almost naked, covered only with that bikini.

"Oh," she murmured. Her red lips formed a perfect 'O', and Sandor felt the burning desire to bite them again. She slightly nodded her head with comprehension. "I see..."

A playful grin appeared on her face, lighting up her features and making her look quite seductive. Her eyes roamed once again all over his features before returning to his grey eyes.

"Sandor Clegane, I didn't take you for a man who cared much about what is appropriate and what is not..."

Seven fucking buggering sodding bloody hells, what was that? He was seeing a side of Sansa Stark that he hadn't seen before, a version of her that was a subtle seductress, playful, joking, fun. Not the scared girl that he met in King's Landing. And he fucking liked it, though he did not understand it!

Sansa gifted him one last smile, and then she turned her back to him and walked away to get inside the mansion again.

"It's getting late, I'm going to get a bath... Have the rest of the day for yourself, Sandor, please."

That was the last thing she said before disappearing from sight, leaving the memory of her glorious backside fixed in Sandor's mind. He stood there still for a few seconds, unsure of what to do. Then he decided that the best thing to do would be to follow Sansa's previous suggestion of taking a dip in the pool, because he really needed to distract and cool himself down a bit.

He went inside the mansion and to his room to get changed. He had only one pair of swimming trunks that he had put in his luggage because, being stuck on an island for an uncertain amount of time, he was bound to go swimming at some point. After putting the swimming trunks on for later, he put on a robe and left his room. He went outside and dived into it.

He stayed there, swimming all along the pool, for a long time. Before he realized it, the sky had turned dark over his head and the stars were starting to decorate it. He had lost track of time lost in his own thoughts, but once he realized that he had been in the water for hours he felt a chill run down his body, and he decided to get out of the water before he got sick.

He dried himself with a towel, and again, he got distracted. It wasn't hot outside anymore, though the night was a bit warm, but from time to time a cold breeze would blow. When it did it made Sandor shiver. Suddenly he felt something else... like a presence behind him.

He turned around, but there wasn't anyone there. He frowned, thinking for a second that he might have imagined it, but when he raised his head he saw the little balcony of Sansa's bedroom... And he saw the curtains moving behind the window.

Had the little bird been spying on him while he swam in the pool and dried himself, just like he had watched her before when he thought that she wouldn't notice? He wanted to think so.

A massive grin appeared on his face.

He woke up all of a sudden, and cursed when he realized that he had fallen asleep without noticing it.

After going back to his room, already dry after swimming in the pool, he took a shower and changed back into his bodyguard black suit. He would have liked to wear more comfortable clothes, but he was a professional, and while Sansa had given him the rest of the day off, he had a duty to attend to. He had to stay awake until late, making sure that everything was alright around there at night. After all, he was the only person there apart from Sansa, and he had to make sure everything was safe.

However, he had laid down on his bed to relax a little bit... and he had fallen asleep. When he checked his wrist-watch, he saw that he had slept for more than an hour, and he cursed again. He had relaxed too much.

He yawned and then he stood up from the bed after rubbing his eyes to fight off the drowsiness. After that, he left his bedroom.

His footsteps took him almost directly to Sansa's bedroom. The door was almost closed, but not entirely. Sandor supposed that the girl was inside, fast asleep already. However, he wanted to check on her to make sure everything was alright.

He didn't knock on the door because, in case that she was sleeping, he didn't want to wake her up with the noise. He slowly opened the door a bit more, taking care that it didn't make any loud noise, and the light from the hallway illuminated the interior of the master bedroom of the mansion, but not enough. He could see the bed at the other side of the room, and he tried to see of she was there sleeping.

"Sansa?" he whispered slowly, in case she was awake and maybe needed something.

He didn't get any response, but when he listened carefully he also didn't hear any other sound. It was like the room was empty.

He frowned.

"Sansa?" he repeated, louder this time. Still no response.

He walked inside the bedroom and approached the bed. Once he got there, he saw that it was empty.

Sansa was gone.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me, girl!"

Right after he said that, he heard the noise of something falling and breaking downstairs.