Realizations and Overdue Confessions
964 Words
I closed my eyes and nodded slowly, heart sinking. "I did, I'm sorry Oberyn. He said if I just did it, everything would be easier." I thought about Elson’s offer. I didn't want Oberyn to feel guilted into staying with me, but I felt like I had to justify what I had done. "He said if I made things easy, he'd let me keep you."
"But… you freed me." He said, eyeing me. He laughed a dark laugh. "You think I could bear to serve you after you wed someone else? That I would just happily tuck you into bed with another man?" His voice wasn't explosively angry, but it was grim in a calm and quiet way. "You have to know how I feel about you at this point. That would be like torture."
I opened my mouth, then closed it. I looked down at my reflection in the water. "You're right. I could never ask that of you."
He was silent for a moment, and I could hear the quiet sounds of the night outside the window. Crickets, owls and the wind all echoed in the stone chamber.
"I would do it though." He said, quietly. "I planned to leave after you were married, but if you asked me to stay, I would. If you asked me to plunge a knife into my own heart, Aire, I would."
"Don't-" I grabbed his arm. "Don’t say things like that. I want you to leave, to get away from here, and find your own happiness. You deserve to be happy."
He looked into my eyes. "What if I can't imagine being happy without you?"
I looked at him like I did the night of our dance. His skin seemed to glow in the dim light, like he was made of carved amethyst. His horns made him look intense, and his hair was tied back as usual. He was fit, athletic, like an exotic incubus, some temptation you’d see in old religious books.
I loved him more than anything. I always had, from the moment I saw him. The first night, when he decided not to leave- I loved him then. I loved him when he taught me how to ride a horse, or when he snuck me books I wasn't allowed to read.
I grabbed him, and I kissed him. He stumbled forward, landing half in the tub, but clutching me anyways. My hand found the back of his neck and laced into his warm, soft hair. He tasted peppery and sweet, and I nibbled on his tongue.
He moaned, gathering me up in his arms as if I weighed nothing. He lifted me from the tub and sat me back on the stool. I cupped his cheek as he pulled away to grab the towel.
Oberyn was soon back on me, using one hand to drag the towel up my chest, and the other to bring my face to his in another scorching kiss.
As his lips moved against mine, the towel moved to my shoulder, down my arm. Other shoulder and down my arm. Slow, sensual strokes that felt feather-light against my skin. He made my heart race.
My slave cupped one breast and I moaned in surprise. I could feel his warm hands just on the other side of the towel. He froze when I tensed, but I pulled my mouth away from his long enough to whisper "Don't stop."
He nodded as his mouth found mine again. He cupped and caressed my breasts so gently that the fabric dragged across my n*****s, giving me gooseflesh.
He dragged the towel down each thigh, then pulled me in close to dry my back. Then, pulling away from the kiss, he threw the towel aside and helped me slip into a robe.
Oberyn scooped me up again, carrying me to the bed this time. I held onto him, feeling safe in his strong, muscled arms. It felt surreal being close to him like this, more like a dream than reality.
But this was the same Oberyn that had convinced my parents to let me go to the market with him on occasion, to interact with the people of my kingdom up close. He taught me how to sing, how to fight. Not to mention years of studying magic.
The same Oberyn that had snuck me out of the castle to plant things in the Royal garden. He helped me fake being sick when I wanted to get out of my parents dreadfully boring dinner parties. He brought me cold rags and read to me when I was really sick.
He was my best and truest friend, despite how one sided our relationship seemed. My love for him grew throughout the years and blossomed into more. I think he knew, from the very first time he called me Dy'myl, that he loved me as well. Neither of us could know much this love would grow.
He laid me down in the bed, kissing my neck, as if his lips could drive away the marks Elson had left there.
"Oberyn." I said shyly, as I settled under the covers. "Do you remember when I was younger, and it would thunder?"
"Yes." He smiled, his bright eyes glowing slightly in the dim bedroom. He pulled his off soaked shirt, from when the picked me up, then kicked off his shoes and pants. Once he was stripped down to his under shorts he climbed into bed next to me.
His body was like hot coals, he was so warm. "I hope you don't mind. My clothes were a bit wet."
"I don't mind." I said, breathlessly. He pulled me up against him, spooning me. I held his hand to my chest, and he kissed the back of my neck.
"Please stay with me, like you used to." I asked quietly.
"Till the storm passes." He whispered, stroking my hair until I fell asleep.
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- Writer
