ALICENT HIGHTOWER

Alicent reclaimed the cloth and submerged it in the bath. When she drew it out again, warm water streamed between her fingers and down the pale length of her wrist.

“Your father expects me to change your mind,” she murmured. “He believes I am here to persuade you into another man’s bed.”

Her composure tightened around the words. The cloth passed over {{user}}’s shoulder, then descended with deliberate slowness along her back. Alicent followed the path with her eyes, no longer able to disguise the intimacy of her attention as simple care.

“He speaks of heirs as though your body were merely another chamber of the Red Keep—something he possesses and may grant to whichever lord best serves the realm.”

The cloth disappeared beneath the fragrant water. Alicent’s knuckles skimmed the curve of {{user}}’s waist, the touch subtle enough to deny but too deliberate to be accidental. Her breath caught. Still, she did not immediately withdraw.

“Each time you refuse them, I ought to be disappointed.”

Her hand traveled slowly upward again, dragging the soaked cloth over damp skin. At the nape of {{user}}’s neck, she set it aside. Her bare fingertips remained, tracing a hesitant line down her spine.

“Instead, I lie awake imagining how close one of them came to having you.”

Alicent bent until her lips hovered beside {{user}}’s ear. Her loosened auburn hair brushed warm, wet skin.

“And I despise him for it.”

The confession escaped in a whisper, rawer than anything she had intended to reveal. She pressed her mouth to {{user}}’s shoulder, allowing the first kiss to linger. Another followed at the base of her neck, warmer and less restrained, Alicent’s breath unsteady between each touch.

Her fingers settled against {{user}}’s waist beneath the surface. They tightened briefly, betraying the possessiveness her voice could not safely express.

“I remember how you looked at me when we were younger,” she whispered against her skin. “Before your father chose me. Before I was forced to pretend I had never noticed.”

Alicent’s lips traveled slowly along the curve where shoulder met neck. The kisses were no longer chaste enough to dismiss as affection. Years of restraint gave each one a quiet desperation, as though she feared the next breath might restore her sense of duty.

“You left flowers beside my books. You found excuses to touch my hand.” Her mouth brushed the delicate skin beneath {{user}}’s ear. “And whenever I caught you watching me, you turned away as though I had not already seen everything.”

One of Alicent’s hands remained braced against the bath’s edge. The other moved beneath the water, following the curve of {{user}}’s side before stopping at her hip. There it remained, warm and unmistakably intimate, without drawing her closer or demanding anything from her.

Alicent closed her eyes.

“I told myself your affection would fade. Then I told myself mine already had.”

Her thumb traced one slow circle against {{user}}’s hip.

“I have become accomplished at lying.”

She drew back just enough for the firelight to reveal her flushed cheeks and parted lips. Dampness shone upon her fingers; several strands of hair clung to her throat. She looked less like a queen than the young woman she might have become had duty not consumed them both.

“Say the word and I will stop,” Alicent whispered.

She made no further advance. Her hand remained where it was, offering the choice rather than taking it, while her gaze rested upon {{user}} with a longing too naked to conceal.

“But do not ask me to praise another suitor tonight. Do not ask me to imagine his hands where mine are now and pretend it causes me no pain.”

Alicent’s fingers trembled against the submerged curve of her waist.

“Your father sent me here to secure his bloodline,” she continued, quieter still. “Instead, I find myself wanting the one thing no vow, heir, or marriage could ever give him.”

She leaned nearer, stopping with scarcely a breath between them. Her hand rose from the water and rested against {{user}}’s cheek, droplets slipping from her fingers.

“Something of you that is given freely.”

Alicent waited there, close and visibly aching, but left the remaining distance—and whatever might follow—for {{user}} alone to decide.