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This was a terrible idea.
While Brienne was looking at the grooms with a cocktail in her hand – god, she didn’t even know what kind, but she had seen her chance when the waitress had walked by and she’d grabbed a glass from the tray – she once again realized what a terribly bad idea this was.
Renly and Loras looked fantastic as the bridal couple. Renly, looking great as always, beamed in his suit. Loras couldn’t take his eyes off him.
Brienne had been friends with the couple for years. She’d met Renly in high school. Brienne, who was over 6'3 tall, with broad shoulders, a nose that had been broken once too often and teeth too big for her mouth, had been the target for ridicule in high school. It didn’t help that she was incredibly shy and too afraid to stand up against her bullies. Her absolute low point came during prom. Of course Brienne didn’t have a date – who wanted to go to prom with big ugly Brienne anyway? – but her father forced her to go, despite Brienne’s protest. He said that he feared she would regret it if she didn’t go. So with fresh reluctance Brienne hoisted herself in a dress, which somehow made her look even uglier and more masculine. Without daring to look in the mirror, she went to the prom. Once she arrived no one made any ‘Brienne the Beauty’ remarks to her surprise. No one said anything about the way she looked. She actually thought she could survive the party without too much commotion. Until a number of boys took turns asking her to dance.
Brienne was still very naïve back then and she didn’t find it odd at all that suddenly all these boys had taken an interest in her. She danced with the boys one by one. Hyle was the friendliest and most charming of them all. She thought he might actually like her. Could you imagine? A guy being interested in her? Her heart fluttered at the thought. Until he stopped right in the middle of the dance, burst out laughing and uttered a “sorry, I can’t do this”, while wiping the tears out of his eyes. Since they were in the middle of the dance floor, everyone was watching. Everyone witnessed her humiliation. It turned out to be a bet who could take ‘Brienne the Beauty’s’ virginity. She felt herself become nauseous of shame, of anger and chagrin. She turned around with tears in her eyes, only to look down into the friendly face of Renly Baratheon. He took one of her hands and put it on his shoulder. He then grabbed her by the waist and started dancing with her.
‘Don’t let them see your tears,’ he said. ‘They are nasty little shits and nasty little shits aren’t worth crying over.’ She gritted her teeth, wiped her tears and danced with Renly. She had an amazing night and by the end of prom she had developed a huge crush on Renly. She stayed friends with him even after high school and admired him from afar. She knew he would never be interested in her, but that didn’t prevent her to secretly dream about him. Perhaps it was because she knew that he would never be interested in her like that, that it felt so safe to love him.
When Renly met Loras, the love of his life, it was obvious from the start that those two were meant to be together. Before she knew it Loras had asked Renly to marry him. Renly, who wanted her to come to the wedding, asked her with a soft, pitiful voice if she would bring a +1 to the wedding. As stubborn as she was she didn’t want to admit that she – as always – didn’t had anyone to go with, so she blurted out that she would bring a date to his wedding. There was only one teeny tiny problem: Brienne could count the amount of dates she’s had in her life on one hand and she had no clue where she had to magically find a guy who would be willing to accompany her to the wedding. Or at least, that was what she thought. Until she met Jaime.
Brienne looked at the insanely handsome man who was sitting at the table across from her, talking to Margaery, Loras’ sister, at the next table, and who was the epicentre of this terrible plan. Jaime was tall, almost as tall as Brienne – which didn’t happen often and it kept surprising her that she could look into his eyes when they talked – he had dark blond, almost golden hair, emerald green eyes that always had a spark in them whenever they were bickering and he was extremely muscular. He was wearing a beautifully black suit which accentuated his muscles perfectly. It wouldn’t surprise her if he had this V shaped muscles near his loin that disappeared into his waistband…
Brienne shook her head and tried to get rid of the image of a half-naked Jaime. ‘It’s fake, Brienne. He’s pretending. Don’t let it get to your head,’ she spoke sternly to herself. Again, it was a really bad idea to take him as her date to Renly’s wedding. He was insufferable. Not only was he handsome, he KNEW he was handsome, which made him terribly arrogant. He was also very stubborn, almost as stubborn as her, which had led to many heated discussions.
She had met Jaime at Renly’s bachelor party. Brienne has always been ‘one of the guys’, hence why Renly had invited her to his bachelor party. And because she could never say no to Renly, she soon found herself at a bar with Renly and a couple of his friends.
One of his friends was the infamous Jaime Lannister. He got his bad reputation when he tackled Aegon ‘The King’ Targaryen during a soccer competition at the university. Aegon broke his leg in three different places and could never play ball again. His career was over in one fell swoop and Jaime was nicknamed ‘The Kingslayer’. Some evil tongues even claimed that Jaime had tackled him on purpose in such a way to take him out once and for all.
‘Has anyone ever told you that you are as boring as you are tall?’ said a drawling voice next to her. Brienne turned around and blinked at him. Once. Twice. But the man before her really was Jaime Lannister.
‘What?’ she replied.
Jaime raised the corners of his mouth in what was supposed to be a half grin.
‘I asked if you are always as boring as you look. You are standing here in the corner, drinking what you’d expect to be vodka, since you are at a bachelor party, but what I’m pretty sure is water, staring at a man you’re most likely secretly in love with but who you could never get.’
Brienne’s jaw almost dropped and she looked furiously at Jaime. Where did he get the guts to talk to her like that?! Nevertheless his words stung and she felt pain flaring up in her chest, since everything he said was true.
‘I know who you are, Lannister, and you are certainly not in a position to judge anyone, or are you, Kingslayer?’
She thought she saw a flash of pain cross his face at that name, but she must have imagined it, because before she knew it he had that half grin on his face again.
‘Sharpe tongue, Sapphire. You should use it for other skills,’ he said with a devious wink. Brienne rolled her eyes and decided to ignore his remark.
‘Sapphire?’
‘Your eyes. They are so blue a man can drown in them.’
‘You probably say that to every woman.’
‘Only the ones I find interesting enough. And you, Sapphire, I find very interesting.’
Brienne rolled her eyes again. ‘You have a big mouth, don’t you Lannister?’
He leaned toward her. ‘That’s not the only thing that’s big about me.’ He pulled back with a grin. God, this man is impossible.
‘Too bad I’m not interested.’
Jaime burst out laughing.
‘I like you…’ He let the rest of the sentence fade away.
‘Brienne. Brienne Tarth.’
Well, Brienne Tarth. I have a proposition. My ex, Cersei, will be attending the wedding with her new boyfriend, Robert, who also happens to be Renly’s brother. And since I really don’t want to be sitting at the wedding looking at how they can’t stop touching each other, I need a date myself. A date who can make Cersei Jealous. Since you are the complete opposite of Cersei, you are the perfect candidate. It would drive her mad and she would definitely be jealous if I turn up at the wedding with you on my arm. So, what do you think, Brienne Tarth?’
Brienne looked at him. She didn’t know what to say and was utterly bewildered by the course of the evening. Was there really no vodka in the glass she was holding? Before she could stop herself she heard herself reply: ‘And what’s in it for me? It sounds like you are the only one who benefits from this deal.’ Jaime’s grin widened, became almost predatory. His emerald green eyes sparkled, as if someone had set a flame behind them. God, this man was handsome. Truly handsome. And he knew it. He knew exactly how handsome he was and how to use his good looks.
‘You get a date with me. And I know from experience a lot of women would do anything to get a date with me.’ After which he had the guts to wink.
Despite the fact that his words were extremely arrogant, his proposition actually suited her very well. She would never be able to get a date on her own to go to Renly’s wedding with on such short notice, and now it was practically thrown into her lap. She would be crazy not to grab this opportunity with both hands.
‘Pick me up for the wedding at seven. Be on time, because I don’t want to be late.’
Jaime grinned at her. ‘I’ll be there.’
‘Are you fantasizing about how good I look in this suit?’
With a shock Brienne came back to the present. She was so sunk away in her thoughts about their first meeting, that she hadn’t heard Jaime walking towards her. She felt herself turn red. God, why did she always blush so easily? And her blush wasn’t cute or pretty, like Margaery’s. No, her face turns beat red with spots all the way through her neck. There was nothing charming about it.
‘Of course, Jaime, because how can a woman think about anything else when she has seen you in a suit?’
To be honest that was exactly what she was thinking about earlier, but Jaime was arrogant enough as it is, so she wasn’t about to tell him that.
Jaime grinned, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking about. He didn’t say anything about it though, but instead said: ‘You look nice.’
Brienne looked down at her dress, as if she had forgotten what she was wearing. Her friend Sansa had convinced her to wear a dress, even though Brienne hated wearing dresses. Her shoulders were far too broad, which made her look masculine, and because of her height every ballgown turned into a mini dress. Eventually she had chosen a sapphire blue gown, which ended just above her knee. According to Sansa it made her legs stand out. The dress had short sleeves, so her shoulders wouldn’t look to broad in it. She looked back up at Jaime and gave him a questionable look.
‘I know what I look like, Jaime, and “nice” isn’t the word I would use. I know we are not really here on a date, so you don’t have to give me any forced compliments.’
‘Trust me, if I didn’t think you looked good I wouldn’t have said anything. You really look nice. Blue goes well with your eyes.’ He winked at her and Brienne involuntarily blushed again. For the first time since she’d put on the dress she really did feel pretty in it. She felt a small smile tugging at her lips.
The music swelled and Jaime extended his hand. ‘May I have this dance, my lady?’ he said in his best impression of a squire from history.
‘I’m not sure if that’s a good idea. I’m terrible at dancing.’ This was mostly true. Brienne was anything but elegant and she always was a head bigger than any of the guys she danced with. This didn’t apply for Jaime though, since he was almost as tall as her. Almost.
‘Ah, come on, Brienne. We have to make this act look believable. How do you want to do that if you are standing here by yourself and I’m sitting on a table across the room?’
She didn’t want to admit it, but he had a point. Before she knew it he pulled her towards the dancing crowd, positioned their hands and started dancing. After a few shaky steps, they soon fell into a smooth rhythm and she discovered that Jaime was actually a great dance partner.
‘Where did you learn to dance like this?’ She asked him. He looked at her with that familiar twinkle in his eyes.
‘My mum used to have her own dance school when I was younger. Because she didn’t had a babysitter and my dad was always at his work, she took me with her. In the beginning I hated it. But slowly I learned to appreciate it and I started following my mum’s dance classes. I had lessons till I was sixteen years old.’
‘Why did you quit?’
A gloomy expression crossed his face. ‘My mum got ill. Terribly ill. She had to quit her dancing classes, sold her school and after a short sickbed she passed away.'
‘I’m so sorry, Jaime’
‘Thanks.’
After this unexpectedly heavy subject they kept dancing in silence. After a while Jaime spoke again.
‘So… What’s your story Brienne Tarth? How did you end up on Renly’s bachelor party and wedding?’
Brienne sighed. After his openness she had to be honest herself. ‘Well, as you can guess high school was anything but fun for me. At my prom some guys had made a bet about who could take my virginity. I felt terribly humiliated and naïve that I hadn’t realised sooner that the guys were only nice to me because of a bet. Renly was my knight in shining armor. He danced with me the whole night and made sure I didn’t feel too bad about it. We stayed friends ever since.’ As she told her story, a dark look crossed Jaime’s face. As if he wanted to punch every one of the guys who had once hurt Brienne. But that look on his face quickly faded away, before she could think about it too long.
‘And that was the moment you developed a crush on him?’
‘Jaime!’ she exclaimed with a shock.
‘What? It’s obvious that you like him. Renly probably knows you have the hots for him, but he’s too kind to say anything about it.’
Oh god, she couldn’t believe it was that obvious. She felt extremely embarrassed, but luckily Jaime let the subject go. They danced some more and Brienne felt herself relax again. They were making small talk and the longer she was in his presence, the more she started to like Jaime. He was still way to arrogant and handsome than was good for him, but he wasn’t nearly as unkind as she thought he would be.
Jaime turned out to be really funny and he told the most amazing stories about his brother Tyrion. It was clear he loved Tyrion very much and he had this soft look in his eyes whenever he spoke about him. After they danced for about half an hour they decided to go get a drink at the bar. With the drinks in their hand they looked at the dancing crowd. She honestly hadn’t expected to have this much fun tonight and definitely not with someone like Jaime. But here she was.
Jaime’s eyes searched the crowd. Like he was looking for someone. And at that moment it hit her. Cersei. ‘Hasn’t she arrived yet?’ Brienne carefully asked him.
‘She should’ve been here long ago with her new boyfriend on her arm. After all, Robert is Renly’s brother.’ An expression crossed his face. Disappointment? Jealousy? She couldn’t put her finger on it. She hoped that Jaime would want to stay a bit longer, even though Cersei wasn’t here yet. The night was still young and she really didn’t want to explain why her date had left so early. Her fake-date, she reminded herself.
‘Why did you decide to agree to my offer to be my date tonight?’ Jaime suddenly asked her.
With a sigh Brienne looked at him, only to realise he was already looking at her. Frankly, she had expected this question much earlier and had secretly hoped to get out of answering it.
‘Because everyone expected me to come here by myself, as usual, without a date. And since one of my best friends is getting married I just once wanted to have a date. I didn’t want to be by myself, standing on the side, watching all the happy couples laughing and dancing. Like an outsider. I’ve felt like that too many times already and just for once I wanted to know what it was like to have a date. Even if it’s a fake one.’ A small smile tugged on her lips. ‘That’s why I didn’t hesitate to say yes to you. Your offer was actually pretty damn good to me.’
He gave her a smile, but she could see the pity in his eyes. Oh god, she certainly didn’t want pity from this man. She could handle his arrogance, his cockiness, his humour and his directness. But she didn’t want his pity.
She quickly changed the subject to something lighter. ‘So, what do you do in your daily life?’
The look in Jaime’s eyes changed. ‘I work at my dad’s law firm. Lannister & Sons is an established name in the legal profession and it has been a family firm for decades. My dad wants to keep it that way. He wants me to take over from him one day.’ Jaime sighed. He almost look… defeated.
‘But you don’t want that?’
Jaime shook his head. ‘I’ve honestly never cared about it, but if you knew my father then you would know that I have no choice. He is not a man you can say no to. My brother Tyrion would be a way better choice to lead the company one day. He is extremely clever and he is made for the job. Unfortunately he and my dad don’t get along, so the chance of him taking over is extremely small.'
Brienne looked at him. ‘What would you want to do? If you had the ability to choose?’
Jaime smiled. ‘I want to do something with history. Maybe I would like to work as a curator at a museum, or work as a history professor at a high school. The stories about the infamous knight with one hand and the first female knight in history, whose name they still haven’t discovered, have always fascinated me.’
Brienne looked at him with a smile. ‘I honestly didn’t expect that from you, but somehow I think that suits you perfectly.’
A genuine smile appeared on his face. ‘And what about you, Sapphire? What do you do for a living?’
Brienne rolled her eyes when she heard him use that nickname. ‘There is not much to tell actually. I work 40 hours a week as an accountant. I’m happy with my job and since my social skills really are not that great, I like working with numbers.’
Jaime laughed. ‘There is nothing wrong with your social skills.’
She had to admit that she really had an amazing time tonight, but something still gnawed at her. Before she could overthink it, she heard herself ask: ‘What is the true story behind Aegon, Jaime?’
Jaime looked away and seemed to swallow a lump in his throat. It was clear that he didn’t feel comfortable talking about it and she immediately felt guilty for bringing it up.
‘I’m sorry, that’s none of my business. I shouldn’t have said anything.’
‘No, no, it’s alright. I didn’t expect that question. Frankly, no one has ever dared to ask me about it.’
Brienne’s eyes widened. ‘No one? But it was such a huge incident. Someone must’ve been curious to know what happened?’
Jaime shook his head. ‘People really like to see what they want to see and not what actually happened. If people knew the true story behind the incident, then it would’ve taken some of the thrill away.’
He looked away into the distance. Staring at a point as if history were unfolding right there before his eyes.
‘The first time I met Aegon Targaryen at the university he seemed like a nice enough guy. But there was something in his eyes that told me I couldn’t trust him. My instinct turned out to be right. One weekday, after my last lecture, I happened to run into a girl named Lyanna Stark. I knew Lyanna was in a relationship with Aegon, and we’ve had some lectures together, but other than that I didn’t know her. With my thoughts still at the last lecture, I bummed into Lyanna in the hallway. That’s when I saw that her arms were covered in bruises. You could even see fingerprints on her wrist, as if someone had squeezed so hard that he had left finger shaped bruises. I asked her who did that to her, but she kept saying that it really wasn’t what it seemed. Eventually she collapsed and told me everything: that Aegon was abusing her, but that she was too afraid to do anything about it.’
Brienne looked at Jaime in shock.
‘The next day my team had to play against Aegon’s. And that arrogant son of bitch just stood on that field as if nothing was wrong. From that moment on I got a red haze before my eyes. So when Aegon got the ball, I just ran toward him. At no point I had any intention to play the ball. My only goal was to knock Aegon down. Our bodies collided and Aegon fell down painfully. He broke his leg on three places, which immediately meant the end of his career. I was temporarily suspended, but my dad made sure the suspension was soon withdrawn. I got to stay at the university, but was nicknamed ‘The Kingslayer’. I have never played soccer again after the incident.’
Brienne didn’t know what to say. ‘But if this is true, and if Aegon truly abused Lyanna, then the people should know about it, right? His demise isn’t your fault, Jaime. To be fair I think I would’ve done the exact same thing in your position.’
Jaime rubbed his neck and looked up at her from under his eyelashes with a half-smile. ‘You think anyone wanted to hear my side of the story? Again, the people only believe what they want to believe.’
That night her image of Jaime changed more and more. She had never suspect that behind that arrogant exterior was so much depth. Such an… honest person. Someone who would do anything for the people he loved. For those who have been wronged. Unless he made all of this up and this turned out to be one big joke to humiliate her… But she had seen the look in his eyes when he told her about Aegon. Saw the vulnerability that shone through it. Even the best actors couldn’t fake that.
‘I’m glad you told me, Jaime.’ She put her hand on his arm to emphasize her words. Jaime’s green eyes met hers. The world around her went silent and all she could see was the colour of emerald with that sparkle of fire in it. Eyes that belonged to a beautiful face. She leaned closer and she could swear Jaime did the same. It was almost as if…
‘If that isn’t Brienne the Beauty!’
Brienne was jerked out of her dreamworld and she suddenly ended up in the middle of her nightmare. This wasn’t possible. He couldn’t be here.
‘Hyle,’ Brienne said through gritted teeth when she turned around to look at him. ‘What the hell are you doing here?’ After what he did to her in high school she was sure that Renly didn’t invite him. In fact, she knew for sure that Renly didn’t even know that Hyle was at his wedding.
‘What? Are you not happy to see me? I thought you could appreciate this little reunion.’ He chuckled complacently. 'When my girlfriend asked me to be her date for a wedding I initially didn’t feel like going. I expected it to be a boring affair, but hey, I won’t say no to free booze.’ He glanced back at the table where is girlfriend was sitting. His date sat there laughing and talking with a group of guys. ‘When I heard it was Loras and Renly’s wedding, I suspected that it could be an interesting evening.' He smiled, but there was an evil look in his eyes. He leaned forward, allowing Brienne to smell the stench of beer on his breath. ‘Has someone already picked your flower, or do you still need help with that?’ He had the guts to wink at her.
Brienne felt herself turn red. Shit. She’d never expected to run into Hyle Hunt, of all people, here. She felt Jaime stiffen next to her.
‘They say ugly ducklings are supposed to turn into beautiful swans, but mother nature made an exception with you, I see. You are still the beauty you were in high school.’ After which he burst out laughing, as if he had made the joke of the century.
Words cannot hurt you. Don’t let him see that this still hurts you. He is not worth wasting your tears on. Brienne took a deep breath and let these words run through her head like a mantra. Just as she was about to say that Hyle could go fuck himself, Jaime was there. He came out of his immobility and took a step forward. His eyes shot fire.
‘Don’t you dare insult her like that again,’ Jaime said with a low, dangerous voice.
‘Oh yeah, or what?’ Hyle asked challengingly.
‘I’m glad you asked,’ Jaime replied with a dangerous grin, after which he lunged forward and punched Hyle in the nose. Hyle stumbled backwards, all the while clutching his nose. When he let go of his nose to examine the damage, blood was dripping on the floor.
‘From now on you stay away from her. Or your nose isn’t the only thing I’ll break.'
Hyle looked mockingly at Jaime. ‘Don’t think I’m afraid of you, Kingslayer.’ Still, after those words, Hyle turned around and walked back to his group of friends.
Brienne turned around to Jaime, who was clutching his right hand with his left. ‘Shit, that hurt more than I thought it would.’ She looked at his hand. His knuckles were already turning blue.
‘Wait here, I’ll get some ice.’ Brienne rushed to the bar. Fortunately, she had already seen that there was a bucket filled with ice cubes for the guests to use. She grabbed a dishcloth from the bar, tossed in about ten ice cubes and folded it to make a makeshift ice pack. She hurried back to Jaime, who was still clutching his hand.
‘Here, this helps against the swelling.’ Jaime gratefully took the dishcloth with the ice from her. ‘Thank you for standing up for me. But really, you shouldn’t have gotten into trouble for me. I had everything under control.’
Jaime grinned. ‘Oh, I just like to live up to my name. Besides, why would I have such a cool nickname and not use it?’
Brienne couldn’t help herself and burst out laughing. It did felt good to see Hyle being put in his place. She almost wished that she was the one who punched him in the face.
They stood there for a couple minutes in amiable silence. Brienne took the ice pack from Jaime and inspected the damage. His knuckles were blue and lightly chafed, but it didn’t appear to be bruised. Thanks to the ice there was no swelling either. She put the icepack back on his hand and moved her gaze to Jaime’s eyes. Only to discover that he was already looking at her. His gaze drifted to her mouth. Brienne’s mouth went dry and she couldn’t help but look at his beautiful face. His high cheekbones, sharp features and a jawline any model would kill for. Jaime’s head came closer and closer, until they were only a few inches apart. There seemed to be a sparkling electricity between them that could power the entire city. She felt his breath brush against her lips and she closed her eyes.
‘Jaime!’ a voice croaked next to them, which made Brienne open her eyes in shock and she quickly took a step back. Jaime looked just as startled as she was, until his eyes fell on the person to whom the voice belonged. His expression changed and Brienne couldn’t quite place it.
‘Cersei, I didn’t expect you anymore.’
Cersei. Jaime’s ex. The reason why he wanted to kiss her. Of course he saw his ex standing nearby and to complete their act and make sure Cersei would be jealous, he wanted to kiss her. He wanted to kiss her because of Cersei. Not because of her. Brienne shouldn’t have expected otherwise. Ater all, she knew what this deal entailed. Still she felt a sharp stab of pain rip through her chest. After she recovered from the initial shock, she took a closer look at Cersei. She had a beautiful slim posture and gorgeous blond hair. She was way smaller than Brienne – though that didn’t say much, since most of the women were shorter than her – and she looked like she walked right out of a fashion magazine. She was wearing a beautiful long red dress with a split on the side showing a long slim leg. Her lips were painted the same shade of red, giving Cersei something dangerous. Her grey-green eyes, however, were cold and did not radiate any warmth. What did Jaime see in this woman? Surely, she was gorgeous, but now that she knew Jaime better, she couldn’t imagine them together. Still, she understood what Jaime meant when he told her she was nothing like his ex. It was like comparing an elephant to a lion.
‘Jaime, can I talk to you? In private?’ Cersei asked with that cold look in her eyes. That look moved to Brienne and she could swear that she could feel the temperature drop five degrees. ‘Without your…’ It seemed Cersei didn’t know how to describe Brienne. Her gaze went up and down, as if she was giving Brienne an inspection, before her gaze pierced into Brienne’s eyes. ‘Dáte,’ she eventually finished her sentence.
Jaime looked like he was struggling and his eyes went from Brienne to Cersei and back again. As if he was asking permission from Brienne. Brienne wouldn’t know why he needed to ask her permission. After all, this was the whole reason Jaime had asked her if she wanted to be his date. Brienne swallowed. Mission accomplished. She tried to be happy for him. Jaime deserved to be happy. She took a deep breath and plastered a smile on her face.
‘Of course. It’s getting late anyway and I was already planning to go home. I’ll see you around, Jaime. Thank you for the nice evening. I wouldn’t have had such a great time if it wasn’t for you.’ She turned around and walked away. Since they had reached their goal and it really was getting late, Brienne decided to say goodbye to Renly and Loras and go home.
It wasn’t until she walked to her car that she noticed how cold it had become. A chilly breeze blew past her bare arms. This dress obviously wasn’t made for cold weather. Dusk had fallen by now and the world around her was dead silent. When she almost reached her car, she heard footsteps behind her.
‘Brienne, wait!’
She abruptly turned around, which almost caused Jaime to bump into her. Jaime could stop just in time before he crashed into her.
She looked at him with shock. ‘What are you doing here? Why are you not with Cersei?’
Jaime studied Brienne’s face before he answered her. ‘Because I realised something today, Brienne.’
Before she could do anything about it, her notoriously treacherous heart started to beat faster.
‘What Cersei and I had wasn’t healthy. We were almost obsessed with each other. I always thought she cared as much about me as I cared about her. But then she left me for Robert and I realised how little she actually cared about me. She loves the idea of me. That she can get me whenever she wants. She only has to snap her fingers and I come running after her like a faithful dog. But I’m done with that. I’ve had an amazing evening with you today and although this whole thing started as a ruse to make Cersei jealous, I must confess that I haven’t thought about Cersei the entire evening. What I did think about, Brienne,’ and his eyes grew darker and the grin on his face widened, ‘is what it would be like to kiss you. To taste your lips and see if they are as soft and warm as I imagined them to be the entire night. God, dancing with you was a torture. Do you know how good you look in that dress?’
Brienne wanted to protest, but Jaime beat her to it.
‘I know what you’re about to say and that you don’t see yourself like that. But has anyone ever told you that you have the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen? Or that your legs go on for miles and can force any man to his knees?’ He leaned over to her and whispered in her ear: ‘I’ve been walking around with a semi-hard cock all night, because I can’t shake the thought of those legs wrapped around my body.’
Brienne couldn’t help herself and peeked down after that comment. She indeed saw a big bulge in his pants. Instantly her eyes shot back up to Jaime’s, but it was clear from the look on his face that he knew exactly what she was looking at. Brienne blushed profusely and felt the heat coursing through her body. Butterflies fluttered through her stomach and heat clenched between her legs.
Jaime’s eyes darkened and radiated such a heat that Brienne had to push her legs together to feel some sort of release. Jaime didn’t miss anything and he almost grunted when he noticed her arousal. He tilted his head and slowly brought his lips to hers. As if he wanted to give her time to change her mind and push him away. Brienne did neither of those things and Jaime put his lips softly onto hers. The kiss was soft, exploratory. He moved his lips slowly against hers. When Brienne started to moan softly, Jaime seemed unable to contain himself any longer and he deepened the kiss. His tongue stroked hers and there was nothing gentle about it. He kissed her hungrily, as if Jaime hadn’t eaten anything at all that night and decided that Brienne would be his main course.
After what felt like an eternity they let go of one another to catch their breath. Jaime leaned his forehead against hers and his emerald green eyes met her sapphire blue ones. Despite the twilight she could perfectly see his handsome features in the dark. His beautiful eyes almost seem to glow in the dark. He smiled at her and she gently smiled back.
‘Brienne, would you go out with me? On a real date?’
Brienne looked into his eyes. How someone like him could ever want someone like her she would never understand. What she did know was that Jaime was sincere and that she wasn’t ready to say goodbye to him.
She smiled at him. ‘You’ve still got my address, so what do you think about tomorrow 7 P.M?
A genuine smile spread across his face. ‘I’ll be there.’