The Red Viper and the Tempest.
An unlikely match from the beginning.
A moment of attraction, fleeting and memorable.
A hint of vulnerability, strong and lasting.
A spark of a flame, inevitable and ruining.
In the midst of storms and poisons, tw...
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Oberyn felt the sting of her running from him far worse than her slap.
He turned to his older brother with a glare before taking off after his wife. The last thing he wanted was to let her fester in all her suspicions.
Though she would not be too far off. After all, Doran had indeed asked him to make his wife fall for him. But he never said anything about returning her feelings.
And he did. He loved her and he would be damned if he lost her over this.
He would have told her. Once he was sure that she would not hate him forever but he never wanted her to find out this way.
He no longer cared about the letters. He no longer cared about the uprising. Everything else paled in comparison to Cassandra.
With his long strides, he was able to catch up with her soon enough, grasping her wrist and turning her to face him.
Her face was streaming with tears, eyes red as she looked up at him with all the hurt and betrayal in the world. It hurt more than any wound that he had been dealt with, seeing her look at him like that.
"Let go of me!" Cassandra demanded, struggling from his hold and wiping the tears from her face.
"Not until you let me explain things." Oberyn shook his head, holding on to her and refusing to let her go.
"Explain what? How you used me. How you lied to me. Just to find out about these supposed letters I know nothing about." She laughed bitterly, wondering to herself how such letters could cause everything to come crumbling down.
He answered, his dark eyes full of regret as he looked down at her imploringly. "I was wrong. I thought you were sending letters to your brother. I thought-"
Tears pricked at her eyes as she felt her heart slow in her chest, the pain that had disappeared before coming back in full force. "You thought I was betraying you. All this time, I-I have been falling in love with you and all you saw when you looked at me was a traitor."
His eyes widened at her confession, as if he had not realized, as if her every action had not shown him precisely what she felt for him. Even if he felt the same.
She had not expected him to respond in turn but his next words only caused the remainder of her heart to fall apart.
He uttered almost thoughtlessly, the very truth of his reasoning spilling from his lips. "I didn't know what to think. Elia was gone and I wanted to do what I could to protect the family that I still had left."
She couldn't bear to look at him then, looking away as she whispered. "Funny. You said I was your family too. Another lie, I suppose."
"No, it was not a lie. You are! You are my family." His hand reached out to cradle her cheek, to make her look at him but he paused when she flinched at his touch.
