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Jon Snow stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror.

His gray eyes wandered over his reflection and lingered on the purple and red marks on the skin of his throat and shoulders.

Looking down a little further, he admired the red marks and the reddish, swollen lines. He would undoubtedly see even more marks exactly like those if he looked at his back and his buttocks.

With a proud smile, he gently touched one of the purple marks on his throat. Fortunately, despite its appearance, the area wasn't sore. However, the same couldn't be said about the nail marks. But despite the slight pain on his marked skin, he was happy and proud of those marks. They sent a clear message to anyone who saw them: he belonged to someone. They were a reminder that last night hadn't been a dream or a figment of his enamored and disillusioned mind.

Jon looked at his reflection for a few more seconds and admired the work she had done on his skin, how she had marked his skin with the years of separation and suffering, how she had marked his skin to claim him as hers, how she had marked his skin as their bodies finally came together as one.

He couldn't help but smile contentedly. He was happy in a way he'd doubted possible until last night. Until she came back into his life. Until she, his Dany, kissed him.

With silent steps, Jon left the bathroom and returned to his room. He leaned against the doorframe and watched the woman asleep in his bed.

Daenerys Targaryen lay asleep on her stomach, her body exposed and bathed in the growing light of dawn, her sun-kissed skin contrasting with the red sheets. He allowed his gaze to wander over her curvaceous form, over every inch of her exposed skin that he had also taken pleasure in marking. He couldn't help but be grateful for the warm weather of Sunspear that made it possible to sleep naked and that now allowed him to have this stunning sight.

Despite the woman of his dreams being asleep in his bed after a night spent exploring each other's bodies and whispering confessions between moans of pleasure, and despite the marks on his body, Jon feared waking up at any moment and discovering that it had all been just a dream, that his Dany remained as unattainable as the most distant star.

Jon had loved Daenerys for as long as he could remember. He had loved her first with the innocence of childhood, when she was his best friend and his favorite person, until his cousin Arya entered his life and the girl began to share that position with Dany. However, Arya's entry into his life had shown him that the love he felt for each of them was different.

He had realized that he loved Daenerys the way his parents loved each other. Daenerys was his first love. When that happened, he was old enough to understand that it was normal to feel that way, that it was natural. And he had felt lucky that his best friend was his first love until the day his parents told him they were moving from King's Landing to Starfall in Dorne. He had been more devastated by the idea of ​​being separated from his best friend than by having to leave his home and everything else he knew behind.

Dany was just as devastated as he was, and their parents had promised them they could travel to see each other during holidays and school breaks. Despite the sadness of the separation, they had accepted their parents' word and promised to stay in touch in every way possible.

Contact was facilitated by the internet, and in the first months of their separation, they spoke on the phone every day. Jon sent her photos and videos of everything: the new house, the new school, the new city, his family. It was because he wanted to share everything with her that he ended up developing the habit of writing. He wrote down everything he wanted her to know when they reunited, things he couldn't convey over the phone. And his friend had been delighted when he gave her the first journal with his entries when he traveled to King's Landing to visit her the following year. Dany had surprised him by handing him a beautifully decorated shoebox where she had kept letters she had written to him and small mementos, such as stones and dried plants, movie tickets, feathers and shells that she had collected to share with him. With enthusiasm and an impressive amount of detail, she had recounted all the events that were connected to each object inside the box.

The following year, it was her turn to visit him in Starfall, and Jon enthusiastically showed her everything. As would become a kind of tradition, he gave her a new journal, and she a new box. Jon told her practically everything about his life, except for his feelings for her. They continued like this until they both turned sixteen, and Dany gave him the news that her parents had offered to send her to a boarding school in Pentos, one of the Nine Free Cities in Essos. She was hesitant, as she didn't want the distance between them to grow even greater, but since she had always been interested in learning other languages, she eventually accepted the offer.

Before she left for Pentos, they spent a week together in Starfall. During that visit, Jon had been determined to tell her about his feelings, to say that he had always loved her, that he wanted them to be more than friends, that he would wait for her. But all the courage he had been gathering for years evaporated when he saw her in person.

Dany looked more beautiful than ever, her enthusiasm for the adventure ahead made her shine like the moon. Yes, they had spoken and seen each other via video call and exchanged photos in recent months, but it was only upon seeing her live, face to face, in flesh and blood, that Jon realized Dany deserved to embark on this adventure without the weight of the truth about his feelings. Even if she reciprocated her feelings, which Arya swore was true, Dany had the right to embark on a journey free of any ties to fulfill one of her greatest dreams.

And as she spoke to him about how excited she was for the trip, about her fears and expectations, Jon felt at the same time his love for her expanding and a suffocating fear of losing her. As he listened, he was overcome with the certainty that she deserved someone better than him, that he would never be enough for a girl as wonderful as her.

Hidden from their parents, they had gotten matching tattoos: the heads of an albino direwolf and a black and red dragon facing each other. At the end of the visit, they both promised once again that distance would not separate them, that they would always keep in touch as they had done in recent years. And amidst tight, tearful farewell hugs and promises not to forget each other, he gave her the journal he had written and she the usual box with letters and mementos.

Dany had left for Pentos and, for a while, it seemed that things would work out, that they would be able to keep in touch and that their friendship wouldn't weaken with distance. She had made new friends easily and enjoyed sharing everything they did together with him. Despite feeling jealous, Jon was happy that she was adapting so quickly and easily and couldn't deny that he had liked most of her new friends.

In the first few weeks after her departure, he had noticed that Dany seemed anxious during their conversations, as if she were waiting for something, but she always said she was fine. And when she had asked him if he had read her last letter and he had replied that he had and thanked her for her words as he always did, her anxious expression had saddened. His best friend had seemed devastated instead of happy with his words.

The truth was, he hadn't had the courage to read that last letter. The day she gave him the box, Jon had waited until he could be alone in his room to open it. Inside, instead of the many objects he had expected to find, there was only an envelope. He held it in his trembling, anxious hands, but then an irrational fear invaded his heart, and he put the envelope back in the box. Something told him that if he read that letter, he would lose his best friend forever, and unable to overcome that fear, he chose not to read it.

Jon was bothered by the lie, but since she didn't bring it up again, he didn't say anything more either. His friend sent him postcards and letters recounting her life in Pentos and her walks around the city. She sent him photos and videos of her new life, and he did everything to show how, despite the overwhelming longing, he was very happy for her.

Then the weight of their responsibilities and the time difference between them increased the distance between them and decreased the amount of messages and contact between them in general.

It wasn't long before the messages that had once been daily and plentiful became weekly and scarce. Because of the intensity of their studies and the time difference, they rarely managed to talk much on the phone, and when they could, the conversation didn't seem to flow as it used to.

With Dany absent from his life, Jon had made other friends, and his friendship with his cousin Arya had become even stronger and more vital to him. His cousin, of course, knew of his true feelings for Dany and had encouraged him to tell her everything before her trip to Pentos. Arya believed that Dany loved him as much as he loved her, but Jon had been so afraid that his cousin might be wrong, so afraid that telling the truth would change or destroy their friendship, that he always chose to keep his feelings to himself.

It was the distance that made him rethink his decisions and face his fears. And he had decided that he would tell her how he felt when they met in person again.

However, when the end-of-year school vacation arrived, Jon received the news that she wouldn't be returning to Westeros. Her family had decided to visit her in Pentos, and afterwards Dany would be taking a trip with her friends through the Free Cities. She had even suggested that he join her and her friends, but Jon had felt betrayed and abandoned by her and, despite the overwhelming longing he felt for her, he refused the invitation. He ended up regretting his impulsive decision days later, but his pride kept him silent, and he followed her trip through the photos and messages she sent him.

His worst nightmare began the day she sent him a photo with her friends, and he noticed how one of them, a gigantic Dothraki, was possessively holding her waist, and Dany was leaning against him with obvious intimacy. He tried to convince himself that he was wrong, that he was seeing things that weren't there because of jealousy, but three weeks after receiving that photo, his friend told him that she was dating the guy in the picture.

And Jon's world crumbled.

He had tried to be happy for her. He had tried to hide his disappointment, his jealousy, his broken heart. He had tried to hide from her his suffering, his unhappiness, his pain at knowing that the woman he loved was in the arms of another man. That was the first time Jon had felt grateful for the distance that separated them, because if it weren't for that, he would have gone to her and laid his heart at her feet. He would have told her how much he loved her and begged for her love.

After that, communication between them dwindled until they barely exchanged messages, and phone calls became so rare that they seemed more like strangers than best friends.

Disillusioned and bitter, Jon ended up getting involved with a girl named Ygritte when he traveled with his parents to Winterfell to spend time with his mother's family. He naively thought he could forget Dany if he tried to love someone else. And although Ygritte had her charms, his heart remained stubbornly closed to her. He felt guilty for looking for Dany in Ygritte and was frustrated by not finding.

Dany had questioned him when Arya told her about his relationship with Ygritte, and Jon had even thought his friend was jealous, but he quickly dismissed the thought, as she seemed in love and happy with her boyfriend. That had been the longest phone call in months and served mainly to make Jon realize how much he missed her and how much he wanted to be with her and not Ygritte.

Despite it being a long-distance relationship and the two having few interests in common, his relationship with Ygritte lasted almost a year. While he was with Ygritte, Dany ended her relationship with the Dothraki man whose name Jon had refused to learn.

For a while it seemed their friendship would return to what it was, but it wasn't long before he discovered that their friendship awakened not only jealousy but also the worst in Ygritte. She demanded that Jon distance himself and cut off all contact with Dany, and he refused. The relationship didn't last long after that, and he couldn't help but feel relieved by the breakup.

The end of both their relationships brought them closer together, but it seemed an invisible wall had risen between them. Jon had hoped everything would return to normal when she went back to Westeros. Dany had always wanted to study at the University of King's Landing, and he had planned to study there too so they could be closer and, perhaps, he would finally have the courage to confess his feelings. But his plans were thwarted once again when Dany informed him that she had decided to study at the University of Meereen.

Even though he was sad and disappointed, he had accepted and supported her decision. Jon followed his plans and moved to King's Landing where he studied Journalism while Dany studied International Relations in Meereen.

The distance between them grew to the point where months passed without them contacting each other, and their interactions were limited to congratulating each other on their birthdays. But even all that distance did not diminish the love Jon felt for her, nor did it change his desire to spend the rest of his life by her side. After graduating, he got a job at Sunspear and returned to Dorne, and Dany did the same in Meereen.

For all those years, Jon had continued to write journals for her as he had done in his adolescence, but he hadn't had the courage to send them to her and kept them, just as he had kept the truth about his feelings for her. At least until a few days ago when he received a call from her.

A phone call in which Dany informed him that her current Tyroshi boyfriend, whom Jon knew about through social media, had just proposed to her, that her heart had told her to call him before giving her boyfriend an answer, and that, even though she didn't understand that impulse, she had followed it.

Jon was so surprised and frightened by the news that it took him a few seconds to process everything she had told him. His Dany had been proposed to, and he was about to lose her forever to another man who had been far braver than him. Understanding that this might be his last chance to confess his feelings, Jon bluntly said, “I love you, Daenerys Targaryen. I have loved you my whole life.”

Silence followed his words, and fear gripped him until he heard Dany ask softly, “You love me?”

He wished it had been a video call so he could see her expression when he said, “Yes, Dany, I love you. And I doubt I’ll ever stop loving you. I wish I’d ​​been brave enough to tell you this sooner, years ago, but I was afraid of losing you, afraid of destroying our friendship. However, our friendship hasn’t been the same for a long time, so if I lose you for good, at least I won’t carry the weight of never having told you I love you, of never having said that I always wanted you by my side.”

He heard her take a few deep breaths before she asked in a choked voice, “Is there anything else you want to tell me, Jon Snow?”

His heart filled with panic at the thought that this was goodbye, that this might be the last time she spoke to him.

“Yes, there is,” he replied in the firmest voice he could muster. “Please don’t marry him,” he pleaded. “If your heart tells you to call another man before giving an answer, don’t you think that’s a sign that he’s not the right man for you?”

“And are you the right man for me?” she asked, and he heard an unmistakable hint of anger in her voice.

“Maybe I’m not, but now you know you have another option, Dany,” he replied, feeling insecure and inadequate. He took a deep breath before adding, “I am and always have been yours and only yours, and I want you to know that I will wait for you until the last day of my life. As long as there is life in me, I will have the hope that you will love me as I love you, I will have the hope that we will belong to each other.”

On the other end of the line, Jon heard the unmistakable sound of a sob and knew she was crying. Before he could say anything else, she hung up without saying a word, without even saying goodbye.

Jon stared at the phone for a few seconds, unsure what to do, and finally decided to call her. But Dany hadn't answered any of his calls or replied to any of the dozens of messages he'd sent her. Panic gripped him at the thought that, at that moment, the woman he loved might be engaged to another man, that he had lost her once and for all.

Even knowing that his best friend had every right to make her own choices, Jon couldn't bring himself to put down his phone and kept trying. A few hours later, still unable to contact her, he felt crushed by the knowledge, by the certainty that he had lost not only his best friend but also the great and only love of his life.

Knowing that much of his misery was due to his cowardice, that he had waited for one of the worst possible moments to confess to her, only increased his suffering.

The following days had been the worst of his life. He had constantly hoped someone would text or call him to tell him about her engagement, but the days went by without him hearing any news.

What he hadn't expected was that Daenerys herself would appear at his door. It was past eight o'clock at night and he had been working in his home office when the doorbell rang. He found it strange that someone would visit him at that hour, but it never crossed his mind that it could be her. The two had last seen each other in person four years earlier, and although Jon had followed her life through social media, seeing her in person had taken his breath away.

Dany was dressed in a light violet dress, made of a lightweight fabric suitable for both the climate of Meereen and Dorne. The dress reached mid-thigh, leaving her sun-kissed skin exposed. Her long, silver-blonde hair was styled in a long braid draped over her left shoulder. On her right shoulder, just below her collarbone, he could see part of the tattoo they had gotten together in their teens. Her full, cherry-colored lips were still as alluring as he remembered. But her violet eyes were different from the last time he had seen her in person. There was a hardness there that hadn't been there before.

He tried to speak. He tried, but he could only look at her. It was as if his brain had lost the ability to use words to communicate.

The two stared at each other for what seemed like a lifetime before Dany asked in a neutral tone, "May I come in?"

Unable to find his voice, Jon nodded and opened the door wider for her to enter. She glanced around quickly, and Jon was grateful that he wasn't a messy person and that everything was in its place. Dany turned to face him, and when he realized she was watching him intently, he felt embarrassed by his disheveled appearance. His long brown hair was tied up in a messy bun. He was barefoot and dressed in an old black t-shirt and sleeping shorts.

Their eyes met, and Jon felt as if the vastness of the narrow sea still stood between them. He tried to read her expression, but failed, and his heart ached as he remembered how easily he had once been able to read her. But that easy intimacy between them had vanished during the years they had spent apart.

“I…” he began, but nothing more came out. His brain remained completely incapable of forming a coherent thought.

“What you told me on the phone,” she began in the same neutral tone, “were you telling the truth?”

Jon nodded once and forced himself to say, “Yes, every word I said was true,” and, having finally found his voice, added in a desperate tone, “I’ve loved you all my life, Dany, and I couldn’t let another chance pass, perhaps my last chance, to tell you.”

To his surprise, she closed the distance between them and slapped him across the face hard enough to make him lose his balance and take a step back. He stared at her wide-eyed and saw that she was seething with rage.

“Why did you do that?” he asked indignantly, ignoring the urge to caress his burning skin. “I know what I said ruined our friendship, but you didn’t need to come all the way to Sunspear just to hit me! You could have just sent me a message saying you didn’t feel the same way and letting me know you didn’t want to talk to me anymore!”

His words caused her violet eyes to fill with even more anger, and he feared she would hit him again.

“I didn’t come all this way to hit you, Jon Snow!” she retorted angrily. “Nor did I come all this way because I wanted to end our friendship in person. I came all this way because I couldn’t believe what you told me was true. I needed to hear what you told me on the phone in person, looking you in the eyes.”

He ignored the pain on his face and said, “I swear every word I said is true and…”

“You had no right to say all that to me, Jon!” she interrupted him indignantly. “Do you have any idea what your words caused?”

“I didn’t mean to…” he began to reply, but she interrupted him again.

“I’ve been thinking a lot these past few days. I’ve thought a lot about everything I know about you, and I could only think of one reason why you chose such a bad time to tell me everything you said.” Dany took a deep breath before asking in an accusatory tone, “You didn’t read my letter, did you?”

Confused by both the question and her reaction, he asked, “Which letter? I haven’t received a letter from you in years, Dany.”

“The letter I gave you when we said goodbye when I went to Pentos!” she explained in an exasperated tone.

Oh.

She was referring to the letter he had never had the courage to read.

The letter that he had told her he had read years ago, but which he had simply kept.

Ashamed of having lied, he admitted, “No, I didn’t read it. I didn’t even have the courage to open the envelope.”

She stared at him incredulously and asked, “Why didn’t you read it?”

“Because I was scared. I was afraid to read what you had written,” he began to explain, feeling like a coward for admitting it. “When we said goodbye, I felt like I would lose you forever if I read that letter.”

He saw her anger subside and her expression relax a little.

“There was nothing there for you to fear, Jon,” she had assured him in a calmer tone. Dany sighed before adding, as if speaking to herself, “Our lives would have been very different if you had read that letter.”

Her words filled him with a mixture of curiosity and urgency, and he pleaded, “Please, stay here. I’ll be right back.”

Without waiting for her reply, Jon went to his office where he kept all the letters, postcards, and everything else she had given him, as they were his most precious treasure. The letter he hadn't had the courage to read was at the bottom of the box, so he spent some time carefully removing everything on top.

With trembling hands, Jon picked up the envelope, yellowed with age, and opened it. His eyes hurriedly and anxiously scanned the phrases written in his best friend's beautiful handwriting, and his brain gradually registered what she wanted him to know.

Some phrases were etched into his conscience as he read them:

I love you, Jon. I've always loved you.

I didn't know it was possible to love someone this much.

My heart doesn't beat, it aches for you.

I'd like to be more than just your best friend, if that's what you want too.

I can't imagine another man by my side. It's in your arms that I want to sleep and wake up every day. It's with you that I want to have a family. It's by your side that I want to grow old.

Jon finished reading the letter, unable to believe what he had just discovered, but the paper in his hands was real, as were the words written on it. He reread the letter, and every sentence was there, her feelings, dreams, and hopes expressed with fervor and clarity.

Dany reciprocated his feelings. She felt the same way he did. She wanted the same thing he did: for them to be more than friends, for them to have a life, a family, for them to become one.

Daenerys Targaryen loved him! The proof had been within his reach for a decade! And it had taken him years to find out because of his cowardice.

All those years wasted because he hadn't had the courage to read a letter!

That discovery had shaken him deeply, but the most painful part, the part that tore his heart apart, was at the end.

At the end of the letter was a simple request: If you feel the same, I beg you to let me know. Or I will interpret your silence as a NO, and everything will proceed as if I had never written this letter.

Then their estrangement began to make sense. Dany had thought he didn't reciprocate her feelings and had moved on with her life.

It was no wonder she had slapped him! He had made her spend a decade believing that her love was unrequited and then told her that he had loved her all his life when she was about to start a life with a man who loved her.

How could he face her after reading that letter?

What would he say?

A simple apology would be insufficient and inadequate!

He had hurt her, made her feel rejected and unwanted. How could he ask her to stay with him, to choose him again?

How could he fix things? How could he make up for all that lost time?

How could he even look at her without feeling ashamed?

Jon wished he could disappear, but the woman waiting for him in the living room deserved, at the very least, an explanation and a sincere apology. No, she deserved him to crawl at her feet and beg for her forgiveness, even though he didn't deserve to even breathe the same air as her.

So, gathering all his courage, he returned to the living room holding the letter. Dany stood by the open window, observing the landscape outside. The light night breeze fluttered the white curtains and her light lavender dress, making her seem like an ethereal being, straight out of his dreams.

Their eyes met, but he couldn't hold her gaze.

“Did you read it?” she asked in a neutral tone when the silence lingered. Jon forced himself to meet her gaze and nodded. Dany nodded after a few seconds and added in the same tone, “Now you know the truth.”

He nodded once more, then found himself going to her and kneeling before her. However, he remained unable to find the right words to ask her forgiveness for hurting her, to apologize for making them both waste so much time. To beg her to give him a second chance.

Perhaps because she knew him so well, or perhaps because she was feeling merciful and wanted to ease his misery, Dany slowly raised a trembling hand and placed it on the cheek she had slapped. Her touch sent a delicious shiver down his spine and gave him the courage to lift his head.

“My heart is yours, Daenerys Targaryen. It always has been. I am yours too, I always have been,” he managed to say when their eyes met and she lowered her hand. “And I know that nothing I say will erase the last decade, will erase your suffering, will fix things, will give us back the lost time. I made you believe that I didn’t reciprocate your feelings… worse, I made you believe that I was indifferent to them when in fact being with you is what I’ve wanted most in my life.” Then his voice broke and he fell silent.

“You’re right, Jon, nothing you say will change what happened, it won’t give us back the time we lost.”

Tears filled his eyes and, without saying a word and without breaking eye contact, he stood up.

“I’m so sorry for lying about the letter, Dany,” he forced himself to continue. “I’m so sorry for all the time we wasted. Above all, I’m so sorry for making you suffer. And I know it’s asking too much, but I beg you to forgive me for all the suffering I caused you.”

She reached for the sheet of paper in his hand, and he handed it to her. Her violet eyes wandered over the words written by her younger self, and Dany let out a strangled laugh before commenting, “I was so full of hope and expectation when I wrote those words. I had so much hope that, at our next meeting, we would be more than friends.”

Her eyes filled with tears, and she closed them and took a deep breath to stop them from falling.

“That’s what would have happened if I hadn’t been such a coward,” he commented bitterly, wanting to take her in his arms and comfort her, but he restrained himself. He couldn’t be the cause of her suffering and the source of her comfort at the same time. And he had no doubt that the last thing she should want at that moment was to be comforted by him. “You’ve always been braver than me, Dany. I needed to be hit with the news that I would lose you to someone else to be able to gather the courage to say how I feel.”

“Writing this letter was a huge mistake, and I’ve spent years wishing I could go back in time and stop myself from writing it,” she said bitterly, then crumpled the sheet of paper and dropped it on the floor.

His heart ached as if it were being ripped from his chest.

“No, you didn’t make a mistake writing the letter, Dany. I made a mistake saying I had read it,” he retorted. “I was the coward in this story, because I spent months gathering the courage to tell you how I felt, but when I saw how happy and excited you were about your trip, I didn’t want to burden you with the weight of my feelings. I should never have let you go without knowing the truth, and I’ve spent the last few years of my life regretting it.”

“My heart was shattered when you told me you’d read the letter and acted so indifferently,” she whispered. “I had opened my heart to you, revealed every one of my feelings, dreams, and hopes, and you…”

“I made you think I was indifferent, and I didn’t fight for us when I noticed we were drifting apart,” he finished, and she nodded. “Oh, Dany, I’ll never forgive myself for causing you, and both of us, so much suffering.”

“I should have told you how I felt before I left,” she had said, her voice breaking. “That would have saved us both from suffering.”

Her words made Jon realize that she felt guilty, at least in part, for what had happened.

“None of this was your fault, Dany,” he retorted. “I’m the only one to blame in this story.”

Tears streamed down her cheeks, and he didn’t hesitate to wipe them away. The touch of his skin against hers made her body tremble, and Dany gasped as she looked him in the eyes.

He couldn't help but notice how close their bodies were, with only a few centimeters separating them, how they were practically breathing the same air. Despite his overwhelming desire to embrace her, Jon restrained himself. His eyes wandered to her lips, and he was overcome by the incandescent urge to close the distance between them and kiss her.

But that impulse vanished when his mind reminded him that Dany deserved someone far better than him. Probably that someone was waiting for her in Meereen.

“Did you tell him about me?” he heard himself ask.

“Who?” she asked, her eyes meeting his again.

“Him,” Jon replied, referring to the man who had asked her to marry him.

“No, I didn’t. I was trying to forget you, so talking about you with him would be counterproductive.”

“Do you love him?” he had asked, dreading the answer but desperately wanting to know.

“Not like I loved you,” she had whispered so softly that he wouldn’t have heard if he hadn’t been so close to her.

“Are you going to marry him?” he had asked, unable to contain himself.

Jon hadn’t understood why he had asked those questions until he realized he was being consumed by jealousy.

“What do you think?” she had replied, and he had noticed that anger had returned to her voice and expression.

“Although I have no right to, I hope you won’t,” he had replied, and pressed, “Have you accepted his marriage proposal?”

Her expression remained unreadable when she replied, “Do you think I would have left my life there and made a nearly twenty-four-hour trip to come all the way here if I were engaged to another man?”

He had studied her expression for a long time, but, besides anger, he couldn't find an answer there. Whether or not she had accepted his marriage proposal, he would have to keep insisting until she gave him an answer.

“I think you would have left your life behind and made such a long journey to come all the way here to put me in my place,” he replied sincerely. “I deserved the slap. In fact, I deserve many more. I deserve any and all suffering you wish to inflict on me.”

“I didn’t come here to punish you, and I don’t intend to stay either,” she explained. “Like I said, I just wanted to make sure what you told me was true before moving on with my life.”

They fell silent again, and Jon felt a pain in his chest and tears well up in his eyes as she took a step away from him and turned toward the door. Without thinking, he grabbed her hand, but Dany refused to turn back to him. He knew that if he let go, she would leave his life again. And this time it would be forever.

He could feel the rapid beating of her heart against her wrist, and it matched his own. Dany didn't ask him to let go or try to free herself, and, still without looking at him, she asked, “What do you want, Jon?”

“I just want to be yours, Dany,” he had replied sincerely. After ruining his chance to be with her, Jon had promised himself he wouldn't hide anything from her anymore. “It kills me to imagine you with anyone else and I… I have no right to ask you to be mine, I know I don't deserve a second chance, but I'll never forgive myself if I let you leave my life again without begging you to give me another chance.”

Jon let go of her hand as she took another step away from him. She turned and their eyes met again.

“You still haven’t asked the only question that matters, Jon,” she said sadly. “You still haven’t asked me what I want.”

His heart raced as he asked, “What do you want, Daenerys Targaryen?”

She stared at him for so long that he feared she wouldn’t answer.

“You. I want you, Jon, and I shouldn’t want you,” she replied, a mixture of anger and despair in her tone and a flame of hope igniting in his heart. “After all these years, after so much suffering, I shouldn’t want you as much as I do.” She paused and took a deep breath. “I thought I would be okay with just being friends, but… I don’t think I’ll ever be over you,” she confessed in a whisper, and unconsciously, he took a step closer to her. “Do you have any idea how much I've longed to be with you all these years? I looked for you in every man who came into my life and was filled with hope when I found something of you in them. But I was always disappointed because none of them were you. I have been in love with you my entire life, and I realized that I could never love another as I do you, even if I wanted to. And believe me, I wanted to. Ten years weren't enough for me to forget you, weren't enough for me to stop loving you. And I tried, Jon. I tried, but I couldn't.” She took another deep breath before adding, “That's also why I came here. I needed to tell you this, and it couldn't be over the phone.”

Moved by her words, he heard himself asking, “Do you still have a place for me in your life? Do you think there’s still a small, really tiny chance for us?”

She watched him for a few seconds, and he felt her violet gaze scanning the darkest corners of his soul. Right then and there, he knew she was making her choice, and he waited.

“Even against my will, my heart held onto hope. I kept waiting for you, and I know I would have waited until my last breath,” she said, her voice breaking. “It is you I love, Jon Snow. It always has been you. And it always will be you. It took a long time, but my wait is finally over.”

It was difficult for someone who made a living using words not to be able to find the right words to express everything he had felt upon hearing her.

“Nothing will take me from you, Dany. Not even death,” he heard himself say, and he knew that not even death could keep him away from her now that he knew she loved him too, that she still wanted him in her life.

Jon took another step, closing the distance between them once more. They were so close that if either of them took a deeper breath, their bodies would touch. His eyes wandered over her face and stopped at her lips. To his surprise and delight, Dany placed her hands on his chest, and he allowed his hands to rest on her waist.

He watched her eyes fix on his lips, and when she moistened hers, he heard himself confessing, “I would very much like to kiss you right now,” while at the same time she asked, “Will you kiss me until I'm breathless?”

Despite having spent years longing to hear those words and nights dreaming of that moment, Jon took a few seconds to understand her whispered request. They looked into each other's eyes, surprised. There was longing and desire burning in her beautiful violet eyes, and he was sure she saw the same in his. Jon took one of her hands and, without looking away, kissed her palm and wrist, making her gasp. Then he placed it back on his chest and, with both hands, gently cupped her face. Dany closed her eyes in anticipation and, the next second, his lips touched hers in a chaste kiss.

Then Dany wrapped her hands around his neck, stood on tiptoe, and pressed her mouth against his, and he understood the message. Without hesitation, he deepened the kiss and discovered that her lips not only had the color, they also tasted of cherries.

Although this was the first time their lips had touched, Jon knew it wouldn't be the last, and from the way Dany held him, he knew she had come to the same conclusion.

Jon groaned loudly when their tongues met and danced a dance that seemed to have been rehearsed for years. Kissing the woman he had loved all his life made him feel as if he could finally breathe after having spent all that time holding his breath.

Jon kissed her until they were both breathless and rested his forehead against hers, his eyes closed as he reveled in the wonderful sensation of having the woman he loved in his arms.

“I knew I would love kissing you, Dany, but this was…” he whispered as he tried to catch his breath.

“Even better than your dreams?” she had suggested in a teasing tone.

He had given her a crooked smile and replied, “Yes, much better than my dreams. How do you know?”

“I dreamed of this moment too,” she confessed. She took her hands from his neck and undid his bun, then ran her fingers through his hair and combed it to frame his face. Then she pressed her lips to his before continuing, “None of the Jons in my dreams compare to the real one.”

He smiled, but then felt a pang of fear as he remembered she still owed him an answer. He stepped back enough to look her in the eyes.

“Please, Dany, tell me you’re not going to marry him,” he pleaded. Despite what had been said, despite the kiss, he needed a clear answer.

“I ended things with him after I hung up the phone that night,” she explained, and the relief that washed over him made him feel like he was floating. She placed a hand on his cheek and stroked his lower lip with her thumb before adding, “You are everything I’ve ever wanted and more! You’re mine and I’m yours. I’m yours and yours alone.”

He was hers and she was his.

Despite working with words, Jon once again found himself unable to find the right words to tell her everything he felt at that moment. So he kissed her and tried to put into that kiss everything he felt and how he wanted to spend the rest of his life by her side. His Dany kissed him back with the same intensity, her fingers digging into his hair and pulling him even closer to her, and he felt his body reacting to her. Inside his shorts, his cock began to harden.

“I love you, Dany,” he whispered against her lips, and she gave him a bright smile. He began showering her face with kisses, interspersed with “I love you.”

Dany laughed and pressed herself against him. Her moan warned him that she had noticed his body’s response to her. The next second he felt her hand landing on his half-hard cock and giving it a light squeeze that made him groan.

“I want you, Jon,” she whispered against his lips, her hand slowly caressing his cock through his clothes.

Feeling breathless, Jon pleaded in a hoarse voice, “Tell me exactly what you want, Dany, and I’ll give it to you.”

“I think I’ve made my intentions clear,” she replied, pressing herself against him. “I want to make you mine.”

Before he could think of anything to say in response, Dany kissed him with such intensity that it left him breathless and mad with desire.

“You have no idea how much I want you!”

“Oh, I think I have an idea of ​​how much,” she commented, giving his cock one last squeeze. “Now, let’s stop wasting time with conversation, Jon Snow.”

He nodded, and with a smile, Jon held her as she wrapped her legs around his waist. All he wanted at that moment was to free his cock from his clothes and bury himself as deeply inside her as possible until it was impossible to tell where one began and the other ended. But he had waited, dreamed, desired, longed for that moment for far too long, and he would do his best to make it last, to make it pleasurable and memorable for both of them.

“I dreamed of your legs wrapped around my waist,” he commented against her lips. “Now I’m sure they were made for it.”

Jon carried her to his room, and Dany took advantage of the short journey to explore his neck and elicit moans from him. He gently set her down when they arrived at their destination and turned on the bedroom light.

“You’re wearing way too many clothes for what I have in mind,” she had said, and the next second she grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it off. He felt proud watching her observe him as she undressed him, how her eyes had wandered over his body and grown increasingly filled with desire.

Once she had left him completely naked, it was his turn to undress her. He kissed her lips slowly while his hands searched for the hem of her dress. His hands caressed the bare skin of her thighs and slowly moved up until they reached the middle of her legs, and with his right hand, he touched her sex. He groaned into her mouth, and his cock throbbed as he felt the soft, soaked fabric. His lips parted from hers so he could remove her dress. She wasn't wearing a bra, and Jon felt his mouth open at the sight of her. She was even more beautiful than he had imagined. He'd had many one-night stands in recent years, but none of them were as beautiful, as perfect, as Dany was.

The crystalline sound of her laughter filled the room, and he heard her comment, “I'll take it that you like what you see.”

Her comment made him realize he was staring at her with his jaw dropped, and in response, Jon kissed her again until she was breathless and began to move down her neck until he reached the tattoo they shared. He kissed it slowly, reverently, and began to move down until he reached her breasts.

“Do you know how long I’ve been thinking about this? How much I’ve longed to have the chance to kiss and explore every inch of your body?” he asked, and in response, she groaned and gripped his hair tightly.

Jon feasted on her breasts like a starving man. Her breasts were the perfect size to fit in his hands and his mouth. Dany groaned loudly and pressed her chest against his face as he focused his attention on her hardened nipples.

“Jon, please…” she pleaded in a hoarse whisper.

“Don't worry, my Dany. I'll take good care of you.”

Jon took her in his arms and gently placed her on the red sheets of his bed. He allowed himself to savor the sight for a few seconds before joining her, grasping the sides of her panties and sliding them down. Dany lifted her hips to help him with the task, and when she was completely naked, Jon observed the work of art that was Daenerys Targaryen, naked on his bed and completely at his mercy.

“Now, be a good girl and spread your legs for me,” he instructed.

With a mischievous smile and dark eyes full of desire, she obeyed, and he positioned himself between her legs. His mouth watered at the sight of her pussy, its pink lips swollen and soaked with arousal. Unable to control himself, he leaned in to inhale her scent before giving her pussy a long, slow lick, her juices filling his mouth and wetting the skin of his face. He heard Dany moan and her hips lifted, trying to maintain contact with his mouth.

“The taste of your cunt is like a drug,” he praised. “I have dreamed of this, but this is so much better.”

He licked her folds slowly before letting his tongue plunge into her wet, slippery entrance, her hands gripping his hair. Her walls tightened, and she moaned as his tongue left her to suckle her clit, and he inserted a finger into her hot, tight and moist channel. She was so wet that his finger slid inside her with extreme ease. He added a second finger and fucked her with them while licking from her folds to her clit. She moaned as he increased the pressure on her clit, and he smiled, satisfied.

“I love hearing you moan like that,” he whispered against her skin. “Now, your moans are my favorite sound.”

“More… please, more…” she asked, and he granted her request by inserting another finger.

Dany let out a louder moan and her body trembled as he found her most sensitive spot. Delighted to hear her gasp and moan, he focused on that spot and her clit. Even though he wanted that moment to last longer, it wasn't long before he felt Dany reaching her climax. She gripped his hair even tighter and moaned his name as she let herself be carried away by the wave of pleasure, and he continued to fuck her slowly with his fingers, her walls contracting and squeezing them, his tongue massaging her sensitive clit to prolong her pleasure. He stopped only when the spasms in her body subsided.

Satisfied with himself for having given so much pleasure to the woman he loved, Jon made his way back, kissing her belly, her chest, her throat, and finally returning to her cherry-flavored lips. Dany held his face in both hands and kissed him back vigorously, not caring that his mouth had feasted on her pussy. When their lips parted, he pulled away to look at her and loved seeing her rosy cheeks covered in a thin layer of sweat, her languid gaze after climaxing, and a satisfied smile that made his cock ache with the desire to bury itself in her.

“Your tongue is truly extraordinary,” she praised him when she caught her breath. Holding the hand that had been inside her, Dany took his fingers, still soaked in her juices, and licked them clean before saying, “Your hand feels so much better than my own.”

Jon was desperate to bury himself inside her, and, holding his member, he slowly rubbed it against the juices of her pussy, making them both groan. Dany surprised him again when she pushed him back, and Jon found himself lying on the bed. Soon after, she straddled his hips.

“No, not yet,” she had said, pinning his hands to the bed beside his body. “I’m not done with you yet, Jon Snow.”

She gave him a mischievous look that reminded him of the naughty little girl she had been. That was the look she always gave him when she was about to get exactly what she wanted. Dany leaned over him, her lips tracing his throat, barely touching his skin; her warm breath tickled his sensitive skin, and she giggled softly, satisfied, noticing his reaction before kissing him passionately. Then she broke the kiss only to return to exploring his neck, making him groan as she sucked hard and nibbled at his skin.

“I’ll ruin you for anyone else, Jon Snow. And you’re going to thank me for it,” she whispered in his ear.

Jon wanted to tell her it was too late, that she had already done that when she came into his life, that she had always been the only woman he had ever wanted, but he was unable to find his voice. Again.

His breathing became rapid and shallow as she began to suck on the skin of his neck, leaving hickeys wherever she went, marking him as hers, while her hands slid over his chest, his arms, feeling his muscles and causing delicious shivers on his skin. Her soft, warm mouth descended and explored and marked his skin and played with his hardened nipples, making his cock twitch against his stomach.

“Condom?” she asked, and he took one from the nightstand drawer and gave it to her.

Aroused and full of expectation, Jon had thought she would put the condom on him and finally allow him to bury himself in her, but his Dany had something else in mind. Just as he had delighted in and explored her pussy, she wanted to do the same with his cock.

She gently held his cock with both hands, and he couldn't help but smile proudly when he saw that her hand couldn't encompass its entire circumference.

“You have the most beautiful and perfect cock I've ever seen, Jon Snow,” she complimented him, and he gave her a proud and grateful smile.

“Thank you, Dany,” he said in a hoarse voice.

“I wonder... is it as delicious as it is beautiful?” she asked, as if talking to herself.

Without waiting for a response, Dany looked him in the eyes and slowly licked her lips. Without breaking eye contact, she stuck out her pink tongue, lowered herself slowly, and with maddening slowness, licked the tip of his cock while one of her hands held his balls, making him groan.

“Yes, please keep doing that,” he begged.

“Do you like my mouth, Jon Snow?” she asked in a teasing tone.

He nodded. “Yes, your mouth is perfect, Dany. You are perfect!” he replied and waited for her to take her mouth back to his cock, but only her hands continued to caress it slowly so as to make him even harder and mad with desire.

“You are such a tease!” he accused breathlessly, his hips moving unconsciously in search of more friction. “You have no idea how badly I wish I was buried inside of you, my love.”

She gave him a satisfied smile and, in an accusatory tone, said, “You made me wait years for this, Jon,” she gave his cock a slight squeeze for emphasis. “I think you deserve a punishment for this crime.”

A shiver of anticipation ran through his body. What kind of punishment did she have in mind?

In response to his unspoken question, she brought her mouth back to his cock and slowly licked from his testicles to the tip. Jon couldn't help but wonder how he would endure that delicious and pleasurable punishment forever if Dany were the one inflicting it.

Dany remained focused on her task, her tongue swirling around the tip, passing under it and making it twitch and him groan with pleasure. And when she finally took it into her mouth and he felt her warm, full lips closing around him, Jon thought he would die of pleasure and needed all his concentration not to come. Unconsciously, he moved his hips and his cock went deeper into her mouth, making Dany gag. He didn't have time to feel guilty or apologize, because soon after recovering, she took it all into her mouth, leaving him completely amazed.

He then forced himself not to move, not to hold her head and vigorously fuck her mouth, to let her regain control, and was rewarded when she slowly began to lift her head until his cock was almost out of her mouth and then slowly lower it, while using her teeth and tongue to stimulate it and her hand continued to massage his balls. Soon enough, he felt the signs of his orgasm approaching.

“Dany, I’m going to…” he began to say, and her mouth immediately abandoned his cock. He groaned in frustration when even her hands left it. Their eyes met, and he saw that she was extremely pleased with herself.

"We don't want it all to end so quickly when we're having so much fun, do we?" she asked, and he could do nothing but nod as his heart slowed.

Dany picked up the condom and opened the package before looking him in the eyes and asking, “Did you know I’ve fantasized about this moment for years, Jon Snow?” He nodded again, unable to speak. “In my favorite fantasy, I rode you like you were one of the wild stallions I saw on the Dothraki Sea.” His body burned with desire as he visualized her fantasy in his mind. He watched and groaned as she nimbly put the condom on his cock and slowly stroked it to make it even harder. Their eyes met again and she asked, “What do you think of the idea of ​​me riding you? Would you like to be my wild stallion?”

Jon nodded vigorously and heard himself eagerly saying, “Yes, please!”

Her eyes lit up as she sensed his excitement, and Jon let out a sigh of relief when she shifted and positioned herself over his hips. One of her small, delicate hands landed on his chest for support, and the other grasped his cock, sliding it through her folds, which were even wetter than before, and Dany positioned it at her entrance. His hands rested on her hips to help balance her, and with both hands on his chest, she began to lower her body slowly and carefully as he watched his member disappear inside her, impaling and stretching her.

“That’s it, my love. Just a little bit more,” he encouraged her. “Gods, you’re so tight!” She smiled and continued to impale herself on his cock slowly, her eyes closed and her mouth open from the pleasure that threatened to consume them both. “Your body fits perfectly with mine,” he whispered in wonder when he was completely buried inside her and their bodies fit together perfectly. “We are meant for each other, Dany.”

She nodded before saying, “You feel so good, Jon! I’ve wanted to do this for so long.”

Dany took a few deep breaths and, when she was ready, began to ride him slowly, her hips rising and falling, and Jon groaned with both pleasure and surprise when he felt her nails scratching his chest.

Their eyes met, and he saw a mixture of possessiveness, fear, and desire in her eyes.

“Every mark I leave on you is to remind you who you belong to, Jon Snow. I want everyone to know that you belong to me,” she had declared in a possessive tone that had made his heart melt. He had never wanted to belong to anyone other than her and was more than happy to be marked as hers.

“Yours,” he had said, his voice choked with emotion and pleasure. “I am yours and yours alone, Dany!”

Her breasts swayed as she rode him with increasing vigor and enthusiasm, and unable to resist the temptation right before him, Jon sat up, wrapped his arms around her waist, and closed his mouth around one of her nipples, making her moan and her walls contract around his cock.

“Mine,” he growled against her skin.

“Say it again,” she pleaded, pressing herself against him.

“Mine,” he repeated.

“Yours, Jon! I will always be only yours.”

“Tell me again how good I feel,” he asked as his mouth moved to her other nipple.

Her nails scratched his back before she said, “You feel like heaven, Jon!”

Dany moaned as he began thrusting his hips upward to meet hers, penetrating her harder and deeper.

“Yes!” she moaned as he hit her most sensitive spot. “Keep doing that, Jon!” she urged, and he obeyed.

While his mouth focused on one of her nipples, one of his hands found her clit and began to massage it slowly, increasing the pressure little by little. Her moans grew louder as she approached her climax.

“Jon, I'm going to... I'm going to...” she began to say, but her orgasm hit her and drowned her words.

Jon needed all his willpower and concentration when Dany came on his cock. She had fantasized about riding him, and he was more than happy to fulfill her fantasy. Now he wanted to fulfill his fantasy too.

Quickly and carefully so as not to slip out of her, Jon shifted their positions so that he was now on top of her. He watched as small tremors shook her body and she reveled in the wave of pleasure. Her beautiful violet eyes opened and she gave him a satisfied smile. Dany wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to kiss him slowly and lazily. She swallowed his groan as she contracted her walls around his painfully hard cock, and Jon took that as a sign that he could move again.

Jon then began to fuck her slowly, his eyes on hers, his hands gripping her hips so tightly that it would surely leave a mark on her skin, for this had been his recurring fantasy: to be able to watch her while he fucked her, to see her expression as he gave her pleasure.

“Faster, please…” she had asked, but before he could fulfill her request, he leaned in and kissed her lips for a long time.

“I love you so much, Dany,” he whispered against her lips.

“I love you too, Jon,” she replied, her arms wrapping around his neck and her legs around his hips, pressing him against her and making him go deeper.

He hissed and increased the pace of his thrusts as she dug her nails into his buttocks and up his back to his neck. He then pulled one of her legs higher so he could bury himself deeper inside her.

Dany closed her eyes, and then he stopped moving before asking, “Look at me while I make you fall apart, Daenerys Targaryen,” and she obeyed.

With her gaze locked on his, Jon began to move again, his rhythm increasing with each thrust, his member sliding easily into her soft, wet pussy, the sounds of their bodies filling the room and joining her moans and whispers of “Harder” and “Faster.”

“Tell me who you belong to,” he pleaded.

“Yours,” she assured him between moans. “I am yours and only yours, Jon. Yours!”

Jon felt his own orgasm approaching, but he needed her to come one more time first, so he asked, “I’m so close! Please, touch yourself,” and Dany obeyed and began to massage her clit.

His thrusts became even faster and more brutal as he sensed the signs that her climax was drawing ever closer, and this time, when his Dany came, he allowed himself to come along. He felt wave after wave of pure pleasure as he spilled into the condom and her walls pulsed around his cock.

Clinging to each other, they were both breathless, exhausted, and satiated, and for a few seconds, neither of them was able to speak or move. Jon forced himself to pull away from her and stand up to dispose of the condom. He grabbed a box of wet wipes and cleaned himself before doing the same to Dany. He wanted to clean her with his lips and tongue, but after three orgasms, he knew she was too sensitive for that.

He lay down beside her when he was finished and pulled her close. The light breeze coming in through the open window helped to lessen the heat of their exhausted and satiated bodies.

“I love you, Jon,” she whispered, snuggling closer to him, and his arms held her against his body. “I'm finally right where I belong,”

Back in the present, Jon thought about how his Dany had masterfully fulfilled her promise. She had indeed ruined him for everyone else, and he was grateful that she had done so, because by doing so, she had made it clear that she had forgiven him and that she wanted him back in her life. And there was nothing he wanted more than to spend the rest of his life going to sleep and waking up next to her.

With a hopeful smile, Jon went to the bed and lay down again next to his Dany. He kissed her neck and slowly moved down, kissing her skin until he reached her back.

“Good morning, my love,” he said when she woke up.

“It’s nice that your voice was the first thing I heard today,” she said in a voice hoarse from sleep.

Dany turned over in bed so that they were both lying on their sides, facing each other. Jon held her hand and kissed it, making her smile.

“Are you hungry?” he asked after placing a soft kiss on her lips.

“I'm starving.”

“Good. I'll prepare our breakfast, but first I need to ask you a question,” he began, and she nodded encouragingly. “Marry me,” he asked.

“What?”

“Marry me,” he repeated.

“Jon, I can’t stay here with you,” she replied in a sad tone, and there was a hint of hopelessness in her voice. “My career, my life is waiting for me in Meereen.”

She had told him the previous night that she had no intention of staying, so he had already expected that answer and was prepared.

“If you can’t stay here with me, then I’ll go to Meereen with you,” he said without hesitation.

Her eyes widened at his words, and she stared at him for a few seconds before asking, “Would you do that for me?”

“Yes. I can’t imagine my life, myself, without you anymore,” he replied. “So, if you want me in your life, I’ll go wherever you go.”

“And what about your career and your job? And your family?”

“I can be a journalist anywhere and my family will be ecstatic when they find out that we’re finally together.”

Dany gave him a stunning smile and kissed him with enthusiasm and passion. When their lips parted, she said, “However many years we have left, I want to spend them all with you, Jon Snow.”

He stared at her for a few seconds, unable to believe her answer.

“Is that a yes, Daenerys Targaryen?”

“That's definitely a yes, Jon Snow!”

Then his Dany threw herself upon him and kissed him with renewed passion and enthusiasm. His body immediately responded to the contact with hers, but he was in no hurry, for although he knew he could not recover the lost years, he knew he would do everything in his power to make the years ahead of them the best.