Work Text:
Tapping her foot along to the gentle strumming of the guitar and the twang of the singer’s voice, Daenerys found herself watching the bartender not for the first time since she entered the bar.
He was easy to look at, with his gentle blue eyes and welcoming smile that she had truly had only seen sent in her direction.
Sipping on her lemon drop martini, she took a moment to look around at the other patrons but her gaze was quickly brought back to man on the other side of the bar counter.
Daenerys took this time to truly look at Jorah, the sharp angles of his cheekbones and the strong shape of his jaw, the soft curls that teased the back of his neck and the broad width of his shoulders. All in all, he was a gorgeous man and Daenerys found herself uncaring about the few greys that she had seen in his hair and beard.
She stared at him as he worked, mixing drinks for other needy bar-goers and making small talk with those other people when he should be over with her, talking with her.
Daenerys huffed into her drink, wondering when this small sense of jealously reared its ugly head in regards to having his full attention. And she did enjoy having him all to herself. She enjoyed listening to him talk or talking his ear off and knowing that he was actually listening to her and what she said.
He understood her in ways that no one else ever had or cared to.
Straightening up as he made his way back to where she was seated, at her favorite place at the bar, and she tried her goddamn hardest to school her expression and reign in any jealousy she felt at having to share him with the other bar-goers.
“Busy night.” She said by way of starting a conversation as she took another sip of her drink.
Jorah chuckled softly and nodded with a glance around the bar.
“Aye. It is Friday night after all.” He agreed and grabbed a wash rag to clean a spot off of the counter, though she wondered if he did it more to keep his hands busy since he seemed like the kind of guy that always likes to be doing something at all times.
Now that he was back over by her, Daenerys found herself tongue-tied and unsure what to talk about.
It was fine though. The silence between them was comfortable and she simply enjoyed his closeness.
“How is your work going? Correct me if I’m wrong, but you’re a social worker right?” Jorah questioned her and she smiled at him, surprised yet not that he remembered that tidbit of info she had given him weeks ago.
“Yeah, I am. It’s been slow so far.” Daenerys swirled the remainder of her drink as she sighed.
That’s what happens when you up and move to a whole new city with no proper plan.
Daenerys was sick of dealing with the everyday hustle and bustle of the city life and decided to take her company to a rather small rural city town. Which is where she found herself now and while she loved the wide open fields and the clean country air, many of the people gave her a wide berth on the street.
She was fine with it though, Daenerys knew that she would have to earn their trust and she saw it as a challenge to overcome.
Jorah had been the only welcoming face and she found herself drawn to the man in ways that she wasn’t sure she wanted to overthink right now.
“I’m sure it will pick up with time.” He said before being pulled away to deal with another person’s order.
In the time that she waited for Jorah to return to her side, Daenerys found herself reminiscing back to the first time she had visited this bar and met the sweet man that sent her heart all aflutter whenever his eyes met hers.
****
A few weeks ago...
“I’m sorry miss, but we’re closed for the night.” The bartender’s voice drifted through the empty bar from where he was sweeping the floor and startled Daenerys as she walked in the front door. She sheepishly smiled over at him, caught in his curious stare.
“I know. I’m afraid I left my purse though. I was hoping that it would still be here” She told him, hoping that someone had found it and turned it in case the owner returned to retrieve it. Though she knew it was just as likely that someone found it and kept it for themselves.
“Aye. I have one behind the bar, it’s probably yours.” The man told her and Daenerys let out a soft sigh of relief and walked closer to the bar counter. She smiled when he placed her bag on the top of the bar.
“Thank you so much. I was so worried that I had lost it for good.” Daenerys grinned widely at him, the sickening feeling that one gets from realizing that they had lost something important released its grip on her gut.
“You’re new around here aren’t you?” He asked, surprising her slightly but she nodded nonetheless.
“Yeah. I just moved here a few days back.”
If Daenerys thought it was strange that he knew she wasn’t from around here, she didn’t say anything, getting the feeling that the community around here was a much tighter knit one than from where she was from.
He didn’t release his hold on her purse, even when she raised an eyebrow at him curiously and it sent her heart racing strangely when his gaze drifted over her face and paused for a moment on her lips and for a split second she wondered if he was going to kiss her.
And for another second she wondered why she would have been okay if he did.
“I’ll give this back on one condition.” He seemed to snap out of whatever state he had gotten lost in and startled her slightly.
Daenerys gave him a suspicious look, furrowing her brows at him and pursing her lips.
“And what would that be?” She was grateful that he had the decency to at least look sheepish at her unimpressed and displeased tone, his tanned cheeks turning the most adorable shade of pink.
“Can I have your name?” He blinked at her, his blue eyes sparkling under the dimmed lights of the bar as he stared at her and she smiled at him.
“Daenerys. But now I feel like I deserve to have your name in return.”
“Daenerys...” He said, trying out the feel of her name on his tongue and she shivered at the deep timbre of her name in his voice. “I’m Jorah.” Holding his hand out to her, she gripped his rough and calloused fingers in hers and shook his hand.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you Jorah. So can I have my purse back now?” She questioned with a soft smile, her violet eyes watching his glance away for a few moments before looking back over at her shyly.
“Could I at least have a dance before you go?” Jorah voice wavered slightly asking her and Daenerys found the blush on his face to be irresistible and even though it confused her, the comfortable ease she found chatting with him had her agreeing in a heartbeat.
***
The lights were dim in the bar, the wooden floorboards creaking slightly under their weight as Jorah slowly spun her to the tune that crackled through the radio’s speakers.
Daenerys was drawn into his gaze, the depths of his blue eyes encompassing her in a magical sort of way that she had a hard time finding words to explain. She held his hand in hers and felt his other on the small of her back, gently pushing and pulling her as he led her through a non-choreographed dance between two people that felt the pulls of attraction yet didn’t yet have the courage to chase after what their hearts desired.
She, because of the fear of the unknown, and he, because of the fear of rejection.
As the song neared its end, the last strum of the guitar strings echoing through the empty bar, Daenerys took another step closer to Jorah and tightened her grip on his hand, wordlessly telling him that she wanted to dance another time with him as the next song picked up.
Jorah, ever the gentleman, took her nonverbal cue and pulled her against him, their chests pressed together as they swayed to the music and got lost in the presence of the other.
His hands were calloused and his face weathered, but Daenerys thought he was the most handsome man alive in that moment. And it may have been just a hopeful wish, but the way his eyes sparkled as he looked at her, she got the feeling that he thought much of the same of her.
When the next song ended and the radio host’s voice came through the speakers, going on about something that Daenerys didn’t care enough about to listen to, the motion of the two stopped, yet they didn’t separate.
Jorah stared at her, his eyes flicking down to her lips again. Fluttering her eyes at the thought of him going through with the kiss this time, Daenerys felt her heart stutter and begin to race in excitement.
Only to be disappointed when he dropped her hand and took a respectable step away from her.
“Thank you for the dance. I quite enjoyed it.” Jorah said, clearing his throat and smiling gently at her.
Daenerys enjoyed their dance as well, surprised at the connection that she felt for the man that she barely knew. She may have never even talked to him had she not accidentally left her purse when she exited the bar earlier and for the first time in her life, Daenerys thanked whatever gods were out there for her mistake.
“I did too. I haven’t danced in years.” She told him, brushing a wayward strand of hair behind her ear and watched as he fetched her purse from where it sat on the counter.
“You could have fooled me.” Jorah softly told her, finally handing over her black bag and meeting her eyes when her delicate fingers brushed across his.
She almost wished that Jorah would ask her to stay with him, not wanting to leave him in the wake of this easy bond that was being formed between them. But when he offered to walk her out to her car, Daenerys knew that their night was coming to an end and she didn’t want to rush things and make a mess out of another relationship.
*****
“It’s noble of you. Protecting all those children.” Jorah continued their conversation when he returned to her side like it had never been interrupted. Daenerys nodded meekly. She didn’t do it to look ‘noble’ or anything like that...she just didn’t want any child to grow up like she had.
“So Mr. Bartender, you have any jobs before this one?” Daenerys questioned, wanting to get the topic off of her and onto what she kept coming here for beyond the fact that the bar was the closest and most convenient establishment between her small office and her home.
Gleaning information about him and whether he had someone that was waiting for him back home, maybe a couple of blue eyed kids and a pretty wife.
Jorah was quiet for a long while, the glass he was washing in his hands garnering the entirety of his attention.
“Aye. I did.” When he didn’t elaborate further, she cocked an eyebrow at him and leaned closer.
“Well...I’m waiting with bated breath to find out what the great Jorah did before he was a bartender.”
He huffed in amusement, his expression hard to read as he stared at her. Looking around the bar, as if he was ensuring no one was listening into their conversation, he leaned in towards her and spoke in a conspiring whisper.
“I was an agent.” Standing upright again, he sent a wink her way and put the glass he was drying down on the rack. She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to determine if he was being serious or just pulling her leg.
“An agent? Like...a talent agent? Or a secret one?” Daenerys asked, but he just chuckled and went to deal with another patron.
As she waited for him to return, Daenerys glanced around the bar and let her foot tap along to the country twang of the guitar that was playing over the radio, the singer’s southern drawl made her smile as there was something more genuine about the words that were sung compared to the garbage that her ex had listened to.
Sipping on her lemony drink with the hope that it would give her the courage to finally ask Jorah if she could take him out to dinner one of these days, Daenerys found her eyes drawn back to the man himself.
Daenerys wasn’t sure what it was about him that made her feel like a lovesick teenaged girl, but it was in those moments that she was psyching herself up to just ask him out that she found herself tongue-tied.
Jorah, unaware of her inner troubles, returned moments later and grabbed her empty glass.
“You want another one?”
She looked up at him, her eyes having dropped down to his rough fingers as they wrapped around the dainty glass stem.
“Oh...no thank you.” Daenerys met his gaze for a moment, watching as he washed her glass and put it up then placed a glass of water in front of her. “Do you have any recommendations on another drink?” She asked, though she didn’t normally like going out of her comfort zone with what she ordered, she was willing to try something else...perhaps it would help her figure out what he liked to drink.
“Ah...that depends. You want something similar to this or something a little more daring?” Jorah questioned, cocking an eyebrow up at her with a slight smirk on his face.
Her mind short circuited at that moment and she wasn’t sure if she didn’t flush a bright red, but she was at the same time saved and foiled by a group of women that required the bartender.
Jorah went further down the bar to deal with the other women’s requests and Daenerys used this time to cool her cheeks and bring her mind back around. She was a grown ass woman and she shouldn’t be sent off kilter by a man’s smile, sexy or not.
Sure, it didn’t help that Jorah kept his plaid shirt’s top two buttons undone and tucked into his jeans, the slightest amount of ginger chest hair teasing her and making her wanting to just reach out and run her fingers through it.
The women giggled coquettishly at something one of them said and Jorah replied, causing one of the girl’s face to flush prettily, the air between them light and friendly.
Too friendly.
They grabbed their drinks before walking off, but not without sending a flirty look Jorah’s way.
He didn’t seem to notice though and returned to her, unaware of the flare of anger she felt at the other women’s lingering gazes.
After another minute of debating, Daenerys ordered a new drink. Something simple sounding and Jorah got it for her, placing it in front of her with a soft upwards quirk of his lips.
“So, have you lived here long?” She questioned him, starting up another conversation and took a small sip of her drink with an attempt to hold back the grimace the sharp taste tried to pull from her.
“Aye, for about four years now.” Jorah told her, his expression growing wistful as his mind wandered to the past for a few moments. He refocused on her with an almost forced smile. “I grew up in the far north though.”
“Oh? What made you decide to move down south?” Daenerys felt like it was odd for a northern man to move down where it was certainly warmer year round.
Jorah was silent for a long while, absentmindedly washing the counter with the rag before his hand just...stopped moving altogether and his eyes dropped downward.
“It...wasn’t that I necessarily chose to leave my home...more like I had no choice but to.” He said with a pained sigh before dragging his gaze up and meeting her eyes with a profoundly sad look.
Daenerys didn’t know what to say to him.
She wasn’t sure what had happened in his past to cause him to be forced from his home, something that obviously was still an open wound for him.
Many people would give him a fake platitude, saying they are ‘sorry for whatever had happened’, but Jorah came across as the kind of guy that wouldn’t appreciate it, so she remained silent and sipped her drink as she tried to conjure another conversation topic that they could talk about.
Hopefully one that wouldn’t leave any sour notes.
“So...being a northern boy, do you know how to ride?” She looked up at him underneath her eyelashes, glad to see that his expression had lightened immensely and even became somewhat playful.
“Ride horses or girls?” His eyebrow cocking suggestively and she was suddenly very grateful that the low lighting hid the darkening of her cheeks at what he was implying.
“Oh...uh...both I suppose?” It was strange, she thought, the crackling of energy that always swirled around them whenever she showed up to the bar. Energy that seemed to push and pull them together in an easy way that just felt...right.
Jorah chuckled and shook his head, his own cheeks turning that cute sort of pink that ran all the way up to his ears and he rubbed the back of his neck embarrassingly.
“Well...perhaps if you come by my place tonight, maybe you can figure it out.” He told her blushingly right before he was called away by another patron for a refill on their drink.
While he was gone, Daenerys took a few deep breaths to calm her racing heart, pounding in her chest like a horde of horses. She knew that she should be focusing on her meeting she had with the government official tomorrow, knowing that the resources that she would be requesting were essential for the survival of her small office and the dozens of children that she was responsible for finding better homes for and better lives than the ones that they had been dealt.
Yet...here she was, flirting with the hot bartender and seriously considering on taking him up on his offer on going to his place tonight. She knew what that entailed, she had heard much of the same in the past from both Drogo and Daario. And here she sat, on this lonely barstool surrounded by faces of people that didn’t care enough to even try and talk to her, thinking that somehow Jorah will be different from her two previous boyfriends that had only wanted her for her body.
So, when he came back over to her, having dealt with the other person, she smiled at him.
“Did you really mean it?” She questioned and saw the confusion flit across his face.
“Mean what?” Jorah furrowed his eyebrows as her face dropped slightly and she wondered if he had only been joking about his offer.
“About coming to your place tonight?” Realization lit up his face and he made a soft noise that sounded somewhere between a chuckle and a huff.
“Ah right...aye. But only if you want to of course.” His eyes were kind and his expression soft, so she nodded with a grin on her face. “Okay then...you’ll have to wait until I get off at eleven though.”
“That’s fine. I don’t mind waiting around a bit.” And she really didn’t, as long as she got to talk to Jorah on and off throughout his shift, Daenerys was fine with sitting at the bar and listening to the voices of country artists floating through the air.
She would worry about the meeting with the government official tomorrow.
Eleven rolled around quicker than she would have thought and she watched curiously as Jorah chatted with his replacement for the night as he finished up his shift.
The short blonde man laughed loudly at something Jorah said before patting the much taller man’s back, eyeing her curiously. He said something that she couldn’t hear and Jorah practically growled at him, his expression betraying his annoyance at his co-worker.
With a huff, Jorah looked to her and nodded his head towards the door.
Hopping down from her barstool, Daenerys wondered why her heart had started to race again, whether it was from excitement for what was to come later tonight...or fear that she would find out that Jorah wasn’t what she had assumed he was.
She followed him out into the warm summer night, crickets singing their songs and her hand warm in his as he grabbed hers, his fingers rough and calloused from years of hard work.
They walked in a comfortable silence for a long while, but eventually her curiosity got the best of her and she turned her head to look at him.
“Who was that man? Back at the bar?” She inquired, though she was secretly more interested in what the other man had said to irritate Jorah.
“Oh him? His name’s Tyrion. He is a big little pain in the ass...but he is a good man overall.” Jorah told her, rolling his eyes with an amused upward twitch of his lips.
“Ah, I see. It looked like he said something that bothered you?” She nudged her shoulder against his playfully, her violet eyes sparkling in the bright moonlight.
Jorah grumbled and she giggled, resting her head on his bicep and lacing their fingers together as they walked.
She didn’t push him on it further.
They reached his little house. It was a modest log cabin surrounded by a few acres of wide open land, the dark silhouette of a barn barely visible in the distance.
It felt...cozy in ways she couldn’t explain.
Daenerys was surprised when a horse trotted over to them, whinnying in greeting and stopping in front of Jorah to paw at the ground impatiently.
Jorah chuckled quietly and pressed his hand to the stallion’s nose before turning to meet Daenerys’ gaze.
“He doesn’t bite...if you want to pet him.”
And in that moment she realized that she may have misunderstood Jorah’s intentions a bit back at the bar.
But, she found she didn’t mind all that much as she laid her hand on the horse’s soft nose and was rewarded with a gentle puff of air from his nostrils.
“He’s a beautiful horse.” Daenerys said to Jorah, letting her hand drop down to her side as she took a step towards the stallion’s owner and pressed against his shoulder.
“I’ve got a few more in the barn, if you’d like to meet them.” Jorah told her with a boyish smile and she let out a chuckle, resting her head against his arm and tilted her head to look up at him.
“Maybe tomorrow? For now we could go inside perhaps...” She trailed off, watching as his eyes widened slightly for a moment and he had to glance away from her.
“Uhh...aye. Sure. I have...food? If you are hungry?” He rambled somewhat nervously and Daenerys wondered when the last time he had female company over.
“That sounds nice.” With a genuine smile, Daenerys laced her fingers with his and walked with him back up to his house. Unlike her more modernized apartment building, Jorah’s house felt like something straight out of an old western movie, the porch light buzzing in its socket and moths fluttering around the bulb as the two of them made their way up the three rickety wooden stairs.
His door was unlocked and he didn’t lock it behind them when they entered. Jorah flicked on a light, the inside of his log cabin revealing itself to the newcomer and Daenerys was pleasantly surprised to see that it was clean and tidy.
“You seriously have a bear rug?” Daenerys couldn’t help but giggle when she saw the skinned bear rug, something that looked cliché yet Jorah somehow managed to have it work.
“Oh...aye. It reminds me of home.” He told her softly, sounding almost embarrassed about it, but she just smiled at him and gripped his hand in hers.
“I’ve heard that they’re wonderful for making love on.” She said nonchalantly, inwardly grinning at the way her statement flustered the older man.
“I...suppose so? You hungry?”
She snorted at the way he changed the subject and thought about it for a moment, then nodded.
“A bit.” She admitted, though she forewent adding ‘for you’, since she didn’t want to give the poor man a heart attack.
Daenerys followed him into his minimalized kitchen and watched him move around the room in search of something to make up for them to eat.
The grilled cheese sandwich wasn’t the best she had ever eaten, but it was the first thing that any man had made for her so it was the most special sandwich and it was the thought that counted.
Jorah stared at her as she finished her food and Daenerys met his gaze curiously and questioningly. She reached her hand out and laid it on his when he glanced away, hiding his blue eyes from her.
Now that just won’t do...
Standing up, Daenerys offered him her hand and watched his eyes follow a path from her palm to her face. Silently she urged him to grab her proffered hand and she grinned when he placed his large hand in her much smaller one.
**
Finding herself in Jorah’s arms, her bare feet brushing against the soft carpet as he spun her slowly, Daenerys got lost in the moment, there with him.
The music played and they held each other close though she couldn’t explain the overwhelming sense of belonging that engulfed her. It was a feeling that she never wanted to let slip through her grasp and would fight to keep.
So when the record stopped playing (she had no idea that they had been dancing for as long as they had), Daenerys went out on a limb and chased after the warmth she felt with Jorah.
Leaning forward, she pressed her lips against his, nothing more than a chaste brush of skin, but the surprised grunt he let out had her tilting her head up to look at him curiously.
His brows were furrowed and his eyes wandered her face with an aura of being lost and perhaps even a little bit of hope.
No one could say Daenerys Targaryen ever did anything in half measures, so she kissed him again, this time with more passion and fire. Her fingers carded through his hair and pulled his head closer as to deepen the kiss.
Jorah stood there for a good long moment, his mind slowly catching up with him and Daenerys smiled when he became an active participant in the kiss. His hands came to rest on her hips and he pulled her against him.
With a gentle moan, Daenerys gripped onto his plaid shirt and used it as leverage to bring him closer to her. Her heart pounded rhythmically in her chest and she would be surprised if Jorah hadn’t been able to hear it.
His hands ran up from her hips to her lower back to her shoulder blades, his rough fingers catching on the fabric of her shirt as he touched her reverently. Jorah’s beard was scratchy against her face, the prickling wasn’t unpleasant but enhanced the sweetness of his mouth and made his kisses addicting.
When they pulled away to fill their lungs with air and try and return their racing hearts to a normal level, Daenerys couldn’t and didn’t want to stop the way her face was brightened by a beaming smile. Jorah smiled back, his own much more reserved yet the small upturn of his lips was more than anyone else at the bar had squeezed out of him and it felt immensely special to her since she was the only one that he smiled at.
“I’ve wanted to do that for a long time now.” Daenerys told him, running her fingers through his greying ginger locks and fluttering her eyes at him.
“Truly?”
“Yes, truly Jorah. Don’t sound so surprised.” She chided him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Although I’m thinking I may have misinterpreted your invitation slightly.”
He blinked at her, his brows furrowed and his mouth opening as if to speak but no words came out for a moment or two.
“Oh.”
She giggled and shook her head, running her hand down to rest on his chest right above his heart and felt the gentle thumping of his life running through his body.
“I like you Jorah.”
“...I like you too Daenerys.”
“I really like you Jorah.”
“...Oh.”
She cocked an eyebrow at him, seeing his face turn red as he dipped his face down as if to hide it from her.
“I...I really like you too Daenerys.” She smiled and shook her head in exasperated amusement, tilting his face back up to look at her before she placed another kiss on his lips.
“Come on then northern cowboy, ain’t you going to show me how you ride?” Daenerys teased, trying to keep her face deadpan, but couldn’t and burst into laughter when his eyes widened in shock and he sputtered embarrassedly in response, nothing intelligible coming out.
“I promise I’ll be gentle.”
****
Chance was a funny thing.
Chance had had it that she would leave her purse in the bar that night and she would have never imagined that it would have led her here.
She could have missed the pain that losing something so important had caused her, the anxiety and fear that all of her valuables were gone...but then she would have missed the dance she shared with Jorah that night.
The dance that had started the kindling of the relationship that was being stoked into not a raging inferno, but something steadier and longer lasting.
Her forehead met his, the both of them sweaty as their bodies danced a different sort of dance than what they’ve shared before. She wrapped her legs around his hips, digging her heels into the taut muscles as Jorah moved within her.
Daenerys tried to find purchase on his back with her palms, not wanting to ever be separate from him again. Fingers gripping into the hair on the broad expanse of his shoulders and upper back, Daenerys let her head fall back onto the pillow, her hair fanning out around her as Jorah buried his face into her neck.
He was breathing just as hard and deeply as she was and Daenerys could tell he was trying to hold himself back, not wanting to finish before her and if she wasn’t feeling so damn good right now, the notion may have made her want to cry with how sweet he was, but goddamn was he a skilled lover.
When she felt herself plummet over the edge of her pleasure and he followed shortly after, Daenerys held onto Jorah tightly and pressed her face into his shoulder, her arms trembling from the exertion and the sudden jolt of emotion that crashed into her.
Never had she felt like she was home or so loved than in that moment.
Chance would have it that she met the man that she would spend the rest of her life with that night she lost her purse.
She didn’t know this yet (neither did he) but she was getting there (so was he).
From a young age she was lost in a world much too large for a girl like her to wander alone. It wasn’t until she was much older that she found a purpose to live for, yet she still found herself lonely even when surrounded by other faces.
When he was a young man, he had a purpose to live and strive for. It wasn’t until he was older that he lost that purpose and found himself wandering in the large world all alone, lost and cynical.
Chance had brought them together and they found purpose and strength in one another.
****
Peeling her eyes open, Daenerys buried her smile into the furry chest her head was laying on.
“Good morning.” Jorah’s sleep deepened voice rumbled through his chest and she tilted her head to look up at him.
“Morning. Did I wake you?”
“No. I’ve been awake for a while.” He ran his hand through her tangled hair and she leaned into his gentle touch.
“You could have woken me up you know.” Daenerys yawned then laid her head back down over his heart.
Jorah hummed, but otherwise stayed quiet. Instead, he continued to pet her hair tenderly which only tempted her to return back to dreamland, no matter how much she wanted to stay awake.
“Wait! What time is it?” Daenerys shot up quickly, all sense of tiredness flying out the window when she remembered that she was supposed to meet up with the government official today to try and get funding for her business.
“9:30. Why? You late for something?” Jorah questioned and sat up, his fingers running down her back as she relaxed.
“No. I’ve just got an important meeting today at noon.” Leaning back against him, she sighed in contentment when he wrapped his arms around her and pressed kisses to her jaw languidly.
“You should probably get ready then.” Jorah said, yet he didn’t stop from touching her and brushing his lips down her neck.
“I’ve got a few hours yet.” She argued and turned in his arms so their chests were pressed together.
“Still...it wouldn’t hurt to be prepared so you don’t end up being late.”
Daenerys cut off his sense of reason with a passionate kiss and a twirl of her hips against his.
***
Turns out Jorah was right.
Pushing open the door to the diner, Daenerys practically dragged Jorah in behind her all the while ignoring his amused smirk at her expense.
He had tried to warn her that she should get ready sooner, but she had wanted to have him again this morning and of course she had to have her way and of course he would be more than willing to oblige her.
Daenerys glanced at her watch and sighed in relief when she realized that it was only 11:58, two minutes before she had arranged to meet up with the government worker.
So in her mind, she wasn’t too late.
Not releasing her hold on Jorah, she looked around the nearly empty diner, her eyes landing on a single, older man. He met her gaze, his eyes pale and kind looking.
“You must be Mr. Selmy.” Daenerys greeting as she made her way to his table, shaking his hand when he offered it to her.
“Barristan works just fine. Ms. Targaryen I presume?” He smiled gently at her, but his eyes darkened when they landed on Jorah, who looked like he had seen a ghost, the blood draining from his face.
“Daenerys is fine. This is Jorah, my...” Daenerys trailed off, unsure what to categorize their relationship as at this point.
“I know Mr. Mormont and I must say I wasn’t expecting you to be involved with him.” Barristan informed her, his kindly tone from only moments ago having been lost in the near physical tension that blanketed the two men.
“And I wouldn’t have thought the great Barristan the Bold would stoop down to coming all the way to a small town for business.” Jorah grumbled back, the color returning to his face along with a deep set scowl.
“Surely one would have thought you would have learned your lesson with your ex-wife, but it seems that old bears don’t...” Barristan’s deep voice broke off when Daenerys cut in angrily.
“Look, we’re not here to argue about whatever bad blood you two have between you. I’m here to ask for funding.” Daenerys garnered the attention of both men, her fiery violet eyes running over Barristan first before cooling slightly as she turned her gaze upon Jorah.
“You’re right...I should leave you to it. Good luck Daenerys.” Jorah kissed her forehead and left the diner, his shoulders slumped in what looked like defeat.
Daenerys sighed then plastered a smile on her face as she turned back to Mr. Selmy.
“I’ve got the office already set up and I’ve got a few clients already. Business is slow, but with extra funding for supplies I should be able to...” Daenerys started on her rehearsed pitch, but paused when the old man sighed and sat back down heavily.
“I’m sorry Ms. Targaryen, but I’m just unsure whether I can, in good faith, back someone who is involved with...that traitor.” He seemed apologetic, yet Daenerys couldn’t believe the words that were spewing out of his mouth. Sitting down with an irritated huff, Daenerys frowned at him.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not following you here. Did you just call Jorah a traitor?” That she found to be unbelievable. Jorah had always seemed to be a good man, so what could he have possibly done to warrant this response from Barristan.
He sighed and took a sip of his water, an obvious ploy to buy himself some time to determine how best to answer her.
“Jorah and I used to work together under the Lannisters. He was good at what he did, I won’t deny him that...” He started and Daenerys cut him off, a conversation she had with Jorah a while back coming to the forefront of her mind.
“Like...secret agents? You guys are secret agents right?” He seemed surprised that she knew that, yet he shook his head negatively.
“Not any more. We were though. He told you about that?” Barristan frowned and she just shrugged. Jorah really hadn’t told her one hundred percent that he used to work as a secret agent and she had thought it a joke, but now she knew he wasn’t joking (she hadn’t known that he had worked for one of the biggest families in Westeros, but she’d keep that to herself).
“Anyways, he was on a rather unimportant mission, somewhere far up north I forget where...” Waving his hand to brush away that detail, he continued. “He was eager to get home to his young wife and was getting increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress.”
He took a moment to take another drink, his eyes watching the waitress wander through the diner to help another couple that had just entered before he continued.
“To make a long story short, he sold out the three targets he was supposed to keep safe to try and return home early, thinking that he would get away with it. Obviously, he didn’t and...” Daenerys cut in then, finishing off his statement.
“He was effectively exiled from his home in disgrace.”
He nodded to her statement and let out a long, drawn out sigh that betrayed disappointment and exhaustion.
“His name was dragged through the mud after and he ran away instead of facing punishment like a man...which honestly didn’t help his case.”
Daenerys sat there for a moment, thinking about everything that Barristan has told her. It was hard to imagine that Jorah would do all of that.
“And what happened with you then?” She eventually asked, meeting the older man’s sad gaze.
“The Lannisters fired me to bring in someone more threatening with violent tendencies. I’ve been working for them for decades and the new boss just threw me to the side.” Daenerys could hear the resentment the man had for his old boss and she wondered if she could use that to her advantage.
With a grin, Daenerys leaned against the table, her elbows resting on the off-white tabletop as she tried working her trademarked Daenerys Targaryen magic.
****
“Can I look now?” Daenerys asked with a gentle laugh, her hands coming up to try and remove Jorah’s from over her eyes, but he just chuckled.
“Not yet.”
“When then?”
“Soon love, I promise.”
Daenerys wasn’t a patient woman, though Jorah knew that by now.
“Okay, now you can look.” Dropping his hands to her hips, Jorah watched as her eyes fluttered open and she gasped.
Daenerys turned to look at him in shock and he just smiled at her, pleased that she seemed pleased.
“Is she...?” Daenerys took a few steps towards the silver mare that was currently munching on some hay, her soft ears flicking slightly at the approaching woman curiously, yet not fearfully.
“She’s all yours love.” Jorah informed her and she couldn’t help but grin and run her hand over the mare’s slightly dappled flank. “Now we can go riding together.”
She laughed softly and nodded, closing the distance between them and kissing him.
“So what’s the occasion?” Running her hand over his bearded jaw, she looked at him under hooded eyelids and felt, not for the first time, the overwhelming sense of love she had for this man.
“It’s been a year since we started dating.” Jorah smiled bashfully at her when she laughed and kissed him again.
“Jorah Mormont, you are a sentimental old man.” Daenerys teased him in good nature, rubbing her nose against his. “I love you.”
The first time she told him as much, he stared at her dumbfounded for a good minute, certain he was either drunk and hearing things wrong or asleep and dreaming.
Now, he still was surprised hearing it from her, but he knew that she meant it every time she said it. He had told her on multiple occasions that he was the luckiest man alive to have her by his side.
(News flash Jorah, she was the luckiest woman in the world to have him)
“I love you too Daenerys.” He pressed his forehead against hers, his eyes exuding all of the love he held in his heart for her.
Daenerys’ silver mare broke them out of their little world when she knocked over a pail of apples, the metal container making an awful noise that made the both of them jump.
They laughed it off and while Jorah picked up the wayward fruits, Daenerys led her mare into the stall that would hold her until she got comfortable enough in her new home that she could be let outside in the paddock with the other horses.
Grabbing onto Jorah’s hand when the horse was secured and the apples recovered, Daenerys started leading him back towards their house, her smile growing as she took in the recently renovated log cabin that was now hers and Jorah’s home.
“How was work my love?” Jorah asked as they walked, his boots crunching the crushed gravel under his feet as they made their way up to the house.
“It was good. Barristan managed to bring in a pair of twins that had been abandoned and we got another foster family signed up that is willing to take them on.” Daenerys was beaming happily that her business was thriving and she was helping so many families each day. Barristan had proved himself to be a loyal and hardworking business partner. Daenerys was happy to have him working with her.
She was even happier that Barristan and Jorah seemed to have iron out the wrinkles in their relationship and could now spend time together without sniping at one another.
In fact, Jorah had invited Barristan over for dinner tomorrow night and the older man had accepted the offer, pleased to have an old friend back.
“Must you go into work tonight?” Daenerys mocked sighed, pressing her shoulder against his as they walked into their house.
“Aye, unfortunately. Tyrion doesn’t have anyone else to work the shift.” Jorah brushed her hair out of her face before kissing her temple. As tempting as it was for Daenerys to try and convince him to call in and get out of work tonight, she didn’t want him getting into trouble with Tyrion.
While she knew that the little Lannister wouldn’t fire Jorah for missing work, she knew Jorah prided himself in his work ethic and Daenerys still enjoyed spending hours with him at the bar, just chatting with him while he was waiting for an order.
But her favorite thing was when he was closing up the bar, placing the chairs up on the tables and sweeping the dirt and stray garbage up from the floor as some song came in through the crackling speakers and filling the near empty building with music.
On many of these nights, after he was finished with the cleanup, Jorah would extend his hand to her and smile when she accepted it giddily before he pulled her into him.
Their first dance held a special place in her heart, but there was another, more recently, that she would never forget for as long as she lived.
****
The bar was empty, Jorah finished wiping the counters down as Daenerys put the chairs and barstools up. They worked together to quicken cleanup so they could return home sooner.
Daenerys, throughout the night, had caught Jorah staring at her more than once before looking away swiftly when he noticed that she had caught him doing so.
She wasn’t sure why he was suddenly embarrassed about being attentive towards her, they had been dating for close to a year by now and had been intimate a very healthy amount in those months.
Turning towards Jorah when she heard the sound of his heavy footfalls on the wooden floors, Daenerys felt her heart skip a beat at the look on his face.
He was equal parts determined and nervous.
Dropping down to one knee, Jorah pulled a diamond ring from his pocket and held it out to her.
“Marry me?”
Daenerys could feel the breath leave her lungs at those two words and no words left her mouth for a long, long moment. She was stunned and blindsided, not having expected this one bit. His earlier behavior suddenly making a lot more sense to her.
“I’ll only marry you on one condition.”
And so they danced.
The floorboards creaked underneath their feet, the lights of the bar turned down low as they moved in perfect sync to one another to the music that played through the old speakers.
Her heart beat with an excitement that thrummed through her entire being, the warmth of Jorah’s love bleeding into her as he spun her on the bar room floor and pulled her back to him.
Daenerys couldn’t stop smiling even if she wanted to (she didn’t) and Jorah was looking at her like he couldn’t believe she was real and had agreed to marry him.
After the music stopped, Daenerys stepped closer to Jorah and wrapped her arms around him, closing her eyes blissfully when he pressed his forehead to hers and their noses brushed against one another.
“I love you Daenerys.”
****
“I love you Jorah.”
He looked a bit surprised by the sudden turn in conversation, but smiled nonetheless and brushed a lock of her silver hair behind her ear.
“And I love you...but Tyrion still needs me to come in tonight.” Jorah teased, knowing his fiancé’s tactics in trying to get him to stay home with her.
Daenerys laughed. It wasn’t her plan to try and convince him to stay, she merely wanted to let him know and remind him that she truly did love him dearly.
(If it had convinced him though she wouldn’t have complained though)
“One of these days, I may have to have a talk with Tyrion for taking up so much of my soon to be husband’s time. I don’t like to share.”
With a chuckle, Jorah placed a kiss on her cheek before kissing her right.
She let him for a time, reveling in the feeling of his slightly chapped lips on hers, then pushed him away with a playful smack on his chest.
“You best get going before you’re late and Tyrion starts to wonder what you’re up to.” She teased him.
“Alright, but tomorrow I’m taking you out for our anniversary.” He told her, kissing her briefly. Daenerys rolled her eyes good-naturedly, only her sentimental bear would think it necessary to celebrate their first date anniversary.
“Only if you dance with me afterwards.”
Jorah laughed and nodded once, his expression soft and exuding the depths of his feelings he held in his heart for her, something that never failed to set her own heart racing. A feeling that she knew she would never tire of.
“It’s a deal.”