Chapter 156

"Boyfriend? Don't I have a lot of them. And girlfriends."

"No. They're your friends who're boys and girls. But you can only have one Boyfriend. Just like I can have only one girlfriend. You must remain loyal to you boy or girlfriend as it is the next step of courting. In this step, we can be intimate with each other and spend more time with one another."

"How's it different from being man and woman?"

"Because if you don't like the boy after spending some time with him. You can break of your relationship without any repercussions aside from a broken heart."

"But… that's what we do in the North if we don't like the woman or man. If you don't like the man you're with and he's become weaker or lost a hand in a battle, you leave."

"Well… I suppose that's another way in which marriage is different down here in the South." He said "Here, marriages are permanent. For life until one of us dies. That is why we must be in a relationship for some time and see if we're compatible or not before we decide to marry."

Ygritte frowned at him "How come I never heard of Girlfriends and boyfriends before this."

He chuckled at her words making her frown even harder at him "Sorry. I was not laughing at you. You never heard of those terms because I made them."

"Are you making fun of me Domeric Bolton?" she asked and he quickly shook his head.

"No. I've been serious since the start of this meeting, if a little aroused." He told her, his hands reaching forward to cup her jaw with his thumb softly tracing her lower lip.

Noticing that she was not responding, he stopped his administrations and looked at her in the eye and spoke "I suppose you could call us fiancee. Or betrothed."

Ygritte's frown worsened at that.

"Isn't that girl… that Sansa who was here with her stick-up-her-butt mother your betrothed?"

"My betrothal with her is a facade." He told her "You see. Even since I became a Lord, my lands have prospered and have accumulated greater wealth and strength. Because of this, the Starks who rule the North have become afraid of me. A war between us would be extremely costly and might break the North. So the Starks wanted me to marry their daughter so that a war between us would never happen. And I had to agree because if I didn't then that would be a huge insult to the Starks and cause a needless war."

"So… you're going to marry her to stop the war?" she asked.

"No. By this point, my army numbers about 13,000 men most of whom are trained and are head and shoulder above any levy army that the Northern lords could muster up. If I raise my levies then that number goes up by another 10,000-20,000. I also have 60 giants capable of fighting. 40 direwolves. 16 wargs. And me. There is also you. An archer who could shoot the enemy lords from across battlefields" He said "At this point, I could easily fight against the Starks and come out as the winner."

"So why have you not done that already?" she asked.

"Many reasons. The first being that I have no interest in ruling the North. Because if I do that then I would have to share my limited time, wealth and otherresources with the whole North. Something that I'm not willing to do. There are also other factors in play. The Starks are the best overlords tha a person could ever ask for. Honorable and duty bound. Truthfully, I don't really want to fight them. Then there's the fact that King Robert is Lord Ned Stark's best friend. Aside from that, you know what we all saw in the True North."

Her expression hardened at the reminder of the White Walkers and he continued.

"In war people die. And I don't want my people dying in a meaningless war just to prove that I have the biggest cock in the North when the true enemy is preparing itself even now."

Ygritte nodded and climbed on his lap once again, laying her head on his shoulder as her other hand reached to cup and massage his erect cock, making him wrap his arm around her waist and tighten his hold on her as shivers of pleasure went down his spine.

"So… you're not going to marry Sansa?" she asked and he kissed her neck, trailing kisses up to her chin, making her breath hitch.

"No." He replied.

She removed his breeches and pulled his cock free from it's confines before she spat on her hand and started massaging his cock while his hands went up from under her dress and he pinched her nipples, getting a throaty moan out of her.

"And… will you marry me then?" she asked.

He did not like how vulnerable she sounded. Nor did he knew how he should reply to her.

"If this relationship work out. And if you don't betray me. Then yes. I'll most likely marry you."

She turned toward him and he lowered his head and kissed her lips, his other hand sliding down her breeches and cupping her slick mound.

"I'll take your word for it Domeric Bolton." She told him and he smiled in the kiss as his middle finger found her nub and gently massaged her sensitive spot making her back arch and an involuntary moan leave her throat.

"Good. That's all I ask." He replied.