Chapter Text
Alicent couldn’t put her finger on exactly why she found herself feeling so restless at a quarter past six in the morning as she stood in her kitchen sipping her coffee nearly a week after her dinner with Rhaenyra.
She turned her back to the spot, the one that had been haunting her, taking another sip as she tried in vain not to care enough to recall in vivid detail how she had so willingly let Rhaenyra do as she pleased to her right there on her countertop. She tried but failed not to remember the delightful contrast of the cool, hard granite beneath her overheated thighs or the ease in which the young Alpha between her legs had played the taught strings of her body so expertly.
It wasn’t a big deal, she reminded herself.
It’s not like it meant anything special to either of them beyond the rather intense orgasam that it so undeniably was.
They hadn’t even kissed, she reminded herself further. Not properly. Rhaenyra’s lips had never ventured above her belly button, and now she found herself unable to stop wondering why that was.
Not that she actually cared or anything, because as she reminded herself yet again that it wasn’t a big deal.
She glanced over her shoulder once again, her fingertips tingling at the memory of soft silver waves tangled between them as she released a slow steadying breath.
“Stop being ridiculous.” Alicent murmured to herself, her eyes refocusing on nothing in particular outside of her kitchen window as the sun softly illuminated her back yard, “It wasn’t even that good.”
Trying, or rather lying, to convince herself to believe her own words did nothing to cover the fact that she had never experienced anyone in her life like Rhaenyra Targaryen.
From the first moments that they met she felt disarmed under the younger woman’s unearthly gaze. The warmth in those beautifully unusual violet eyes had a way of stripping her down to her absolute self yet didn’t leave her feeling completely vulnerable and bare. Instead, with unexpected ease, there was a lingering sense of reverence that made Alicent feel completely safe to let those violet eyes see as much of her that she chose to allow.
Alicent was not oblivious to the fact that some found her to be an attractive Omega so she was not unaccustomed to unwanted advances or the lustful gaze of Alpha kind. Lust was something that she was used to. She knew it intimately as it had once been so cleverly disguised that she mistakenly mistook it for love. However, the masquerade ended as he revealed his true colors when she divulged to him that she was pregnant with Aemond, her precious surprise that she loved more than anything in the world.
But now, her moments with Rhaenyra so far had felt so dissimilar to how it had with other alphas that she had dealt with before. Rhaenyra appeared so in tune to her, even picking up on slight changes in her scent easily, and she was soft around the edges that blurred her and her innate instincts. It was a refreshing change, how gentle she was in the way she made it clear what she wanted, yet never once had Alicent felt like she wasn’t the one in absolute control of every situation they found themselves in.
Unlike with others, Alicent had felt a comforting confidence just days before with Rhaenyra down on her knees so openly wanting her that if she had said no at any moment Rhaenyra would have gracefully complied and wouldn’t have tried to push her beyond her established boundaries. Furthermore, it did not go unnoticed that Rhaenyra hadn’t even attempted to convince her to provide the alpha a little relief of the rock-hard issue that she had felt against her hip as Rhaenyra held her close by the waist making sure that she was able to stand on her own steady feet. The older woman enjoyed the way that those violet eyes watched her with a pure intensity that she found endearing and how those hands felt almost protective in the way that they touched her. And that voice, sigh, it had felt like velvet fire against her skin.
“I’ve got you.”
Alicent absolutely believed her.
She wondered briefly, her eyes now affixed to that spot in her kitchen, why she felt compelled to throw all caution to the wind and let Rhaenyra touch her in the way that she did when she had not ever in her life behaved so unabashedly.
Why had Rhaenyra felt so good?
And why hadn’t she kissed her?
Again, not that it mattered.
But, kissing would have been nice, she reasoned. It was so basic, so foundational. It was something that she could mentally justify doing with a practical stranger, but never would she ever dream of asking so kindly to go down on one inside their kitchen. Rhaenyra, it seemed, did not share in her reservations.
And then that brazen Alpha had the nerve to behave completely normal as if Alicent hadn’t had to wipe up a bit after their mess on the countertop while Rhaenyra cooked their stir fry dinner. Not to mention the unexpected surprise of sharing wonderfully pleasant conversation together as they ate their meal afterward.
The afternoon as a whole was…wonderful, she had to admit.
And then it happened.
“And you have a son.” Rhaenyra added as Alicent talked about her life, who had purposely been avoiding the subject of her sweet boy.
It had become automatic over the years to put up protective walls around herself and Aemond.
She learned a most valuable, heartbreaking lesson from her son’s sire before he was even born that broke her in a way that lingered still. He taught her that nothing was guaranteed when it came to Alphas, especially young Alphas who cared for little else than burying themselves inside any warm, wet heat, blood, love, and responsibilities be damned. With him there had been no discussion, it had just been his seemingly easy decision alone when she told him that she was pregnant. After he ended their nearly two year-long relationship in a matter of seconds it had always been the same old thing on repeat. Some handsome Alpha would be interested, and maybe she would entertain their interests at times. She was only human after all. In time, they would all eventually find out about Aemond, and things would end after that like clock work.
She wasn’t mad in the least because not a single one of them had deserved to be in her and Aemond’s life anyway. As such, the walls that she had built came easy.
It had been hard at first to handle it all. The fact was that getting pregnant in her mid twenties by complete accident was never part of her plan nor was getting her heart broken by his sire and then again by her own father really took its toll. Dating with a toddler proved impossible and wasn’t ever a real priority, especially while trying to get her career to take off.
Now here she was again, staring down the barrel of the same cycle, once again dealing with a twenty something year old Alpha that was very well just like all the rest.
As she sat across from Rhaenyra, a warm socked foot resting against her own under the table, she felt a little saddened.
She had enjoyed this one.
But Aemond was everything and she would never let someone enter their lives that didn’t care for him.
She sighed, “I do.”
And then Rhaenyra smiled and said something that surprised Alicent once again that evening, “Tell me about him? You’ve mentioned before that he’s seven, but what’s he like?”
She found herself completely caught off guard by the question and the genuine curiosity that was so evident on Rhaenyra’s face, and also the fact that she had remembered how old he was even though Alicent had only mentioned it once in passing.
She felt a little taken in by the way that those alluring violet eyes never wavered, that adoring grin ever present. Those eyes were just as warm when they met Alicent’s across the table while she talked about Aemond’s new interest in basketball as they had been earlier out in her garage while discussing the door situation.
It was fortuitous, but she found herself wondering all the same if maybe there was a chance that Rhaenyra was as genuine as she seemed to be.
It wasn’t long after they finished eating that she needed to prepare to leave to get Aemond from her father’s but Rhaenyra insisted on helping her clean up the dishes while she did what she needed to do.
A kiss goodbye after such a lovely afternoon would have been nice she suspected, but Rhaenyra’s warm hand gently squeezing her own before pressing a quick kiss to her knuckles was what she had to settle for instead.
“Thank you for a wonderful afternoon, Alicent. I hope to see you again soon.”
Now, here she was, several days later sipping her coffee thinking about soon.
And violet eyes.
And those hands.
And the Alpha they happened to be attached to.
And the item in her online shopping cart that was at the center of her informal plan to see Rhaenyra Targaryen again.
She took a quick screenshot of the rainfall shower head that she was considering purchasing and opened up her texts with Rhaenyra.
A: | Hey there. Do you know anything about installing these?
She smiled to herself as three little dots popped up immediately even though it was still relatively early.
R: | I have experience.
She rolled her eyes playfully, giggling at what now had become a joke between them as another text came through.
R: | It would be no problem at all. I’m waiting for an actual challenge so that I can try to impress you with my talents.
She grinned and shook her head at the Alpha’s antics that she couldn’t help but adore.
A: | You can impress me Saturday afternoon by installing this and providing me with a superior shower experience. Aemond will be with my dad.
There was a warmth low in her stomach as she saw three dots appear and disappear several times before they stopped altogether. She couldn’t help but wonder endlessly what Rhaenyra was thinking as she was unfortunately likely typing and retyping some censored reply.
R: | Saturday sounds perfect. The best installations are always thoroughly tested. See you then, Alicent.
A: | See you then.
Alicent tucked her lower lip between her teeth fighting off a smile, locked in complete agreement with Rhaenyra’s sentiment. Her mind raced with possibility and thoughts of wet, impossibly warm lips against her skin and languid kisses and a ridiculously attractive very naked Alpha in her shower.
She wasn’t sure that she had ever ordered anything so quickly.
Alicent remembers very clearly growing up in a home that while strict in the followings of the Seven, it was still a happy home where she and her younger brother Gwayne felt loved.
Their parents brought them up with their own traditional values and beliefs teaching that devotion to others is secondary to devotion to the Gods. And for Alicent, her devotion waned with the passing of her mother when she was nineteen. To her, what good were Gods who wouldn’t even protect someone who honored them above all else.
Her father Otto, a Septon for more of his life than not, did not take her turning her back on their faith lightly at all, especially when he believed as he preached, that since the loss of her mother that they needed to look to the Gods more than ever for guidance.
She vehemently disagreed, but did her best not to voice it aloud to her father if she could help it. Eventually, though, their differences of opinion came to a head one night during an argument that had become a common occurrence between Otto and his eldest.
“You’re behaving like common filth. Your mother would be ashamed of you carrying on like this. You’re embarrassing this family, Alicent, and you will see reason. Our congregation looks to our family to lead by example and you are failing.”
Her carrying on entailed not going to the Sept three times a week nor spending time in prayer morning, noon, and night but instead included things like having a personal life outside of that Gods forsaken house and doing a single thing that was outside of his desired expectations of her.
She didn’t speak to her father for weeks after that, and when she finally did it was to let him know that she was going to be moving out in order to escape his snide, passive aggressive comments that he mumbled under his breath seemingly at every opportunity.
Being on her own for the first time was harder than she anticipated, but she made it work as best she could. She worked two jobs while starting college, dead set on earning her degree in accounting and finance. Due to university she accrued quite a bit of debt, but fortunately for her she hit the lottery professionally when several things happened at just the right time with just the right people landing her several high end clients that were in the market for a forensic accountant on the rise.
Meanwhile, her relationship with her father was on the mend, and they were working through their issues. Otto was working on accepting the fact that she was indeed her own person that could make her own decisions as well as to respectfully accept that his daughter felt that she could continue to have a relationship with the Gods and not have to practically live at the Sept as he had them do growing up.
As for Alicent, she was working on accepting that her father was a work in progress and that he did love her in his own way, no matter her choices. Which happened to be something that was put to the test yet again when she found out she was pregnant.
Aemond was quite the surprise to her as she had never once not used protection against such things. Not once. But, eventually, she saw it as it was and knew that the Gods' will would be done and felt it in her heart that he was always meant to be hers. A fact that became clearer with each pregnancy test that she took, all glaringly positive as they sat on her bathroom sink.
She felt excited, but it was fleeting.
She told him one night before dinner at her apartment, an anxious excitement bubbling inside her that was crushed as soon as the words left her mouth.
“I’m pregnant.”
“You been whoring yourself out? You don’t ever let me fuck you raw, so I know you gotta be. I’m twenty fucking five years old and not trying to be tied down with this shit. Here, put this toward getting rid of your problem. I’m out.”
Forty dollars mocked her from the placemat next to his full plate of food as the door slammed shut behind her.
Gwayne, bless his heart, was the only one in the world that was as excited for her as she was despite everything. She knew that it wasn’t going to be easy telling her father, but at nearly two months in she didn’t have much of a choice.
“This isn’t right, Alicent. It’s not how we raised you to be. It is not the proper way of things.”
She expected it, the speech on societal norms that would save face for their family at the Sept. What she didn’t expect was what he said after.
“What did you do? Perhaps you could persuade him to come back? Perhaps you could do more to make him happy.”
Him? Her father spoke of his happiness?
She could do nothing but laugh as she wiped the tears from her cheeks.
“What about me, Dad? Your daughter. What about my happiness? I will never beg someone to love us, and that includes you.”
She didn’t speak to him again until the day that Aemond was born. He had called of course, but she ignored him at every opportunity while poor Gwayne was stuck so miserably in the middle of his stubborn father and emotionally exhausted sister.
Things changed though the second that Aemond was born. Thanks to Gwayne, Otto was there at the hospital the day of and was all too eager to hold his grandson with his mother’s permission. His green eyes were shining with unshed tears when he held him for the first time.
“I wish so much that your mother were here today. She would be so proud of you and overjoyed by the sight of him. I am so sorry, my Darling. I will be a better father, I promise, and an excellent grandfather to our little…”
“Aemond. His name is Aemond.”
Her father had kept his word, but he was still her father. He was still slightly overbearing and just as intrusive into her business as he had always been. He called often just to check in and invited her and Aemond and Gwayne over for dinner twice a month on top of all the other times that he stopped by because he was just in the neighborhood.
She noticed that he was the same with Gwayne so she let go when he would ask a dozen questions if he ever had an inkling that either of them were seeing anyone.
“A father just wonders after his children, is all.”
No, she decided silently, a father is merely a nosey ass.
It was the way of things, but it was something that she could accept because at least they were getting along and they felt more like a family now than they ever had since before the passing of her mother. She was so very glad that he was present and felt so thankful for Gwayne so that Aemond knew that he was well loved.
Her heart soared when she witnessed the proof after her father let himself in through the front door.
“Alicent, Honey, it’s dad!”
Thundering feet could be heard on the stairs as Aemond ran down from his room and straight over to hug his grandfather, “Granddad!”
“Hi, dad.” Alicent greeted as she stepped into the entry way from the kitchen, “What are you guys getting up to today?”
Otto was smiling and squeezing Aemond’s shoulder excitedly, “Well, I thought we would go to the pond at the park and check some things out.”
Excited blue eyes grew large as they looked up at Otto, “You got the boat fixed, Granddad?”
“I did.” Otto confirmed, having just got Aemond remote control boat fixed the night before after it suffered a malfunction in its transmitter several weeks before while they had been at the park last. Aemond had been so upset over his boat that Otto had to wade out into the pond to retrieve it.
“Yes! Isn’t that awesome, mom! You’re the best, Granddad!” Aemond all but yelled as he hugged Otto again causing Alicent to smile wide.
“That is awesome, Bud!” Alicent replied, smiling, and feeling grateful for her father once again, “Thanks for doing that, dad.”
“Of course. We had to get Captain Aemond back out on the water. We will see you in the morning then. I love you, honey.”
“Love you too, Dad. And I love you.” Alicent said fondly, bending down to press her lips into her son’s blonde hair.
“I love you, mom.”
With Aemond happy as could be and on his way to the park all she had to do now was wait until Rhaenyra finished up with her work for the day in an hour or so. She found herself grinning once again at the thought of the Alpha and felt a mix of excitement and nervousness at seeing her again.
Rhaenyra was running a little behind schedule that afternoon, but Alicent found she didn’t even mind when the alpha arrived on her doorstep straight from some job site, her cheeks tinted pink from the heat, her black t-shirt still clinging to the undoubtedly damp skin of her abdomen.
Brown eyes wandered up from familiar work boots to slightly dirty jeans that sat so nicely across her hips, a worn leather toolbelt stuffed with a colorful assortment of handles sticking out from its pockets secured in one hand while the other brushed silver waves from her lovely face as a grin pulled at the very lips that she had just been thinking of.
“Ms. Hightower.” Rhaenyra greeted, her violet eyes burning in a way that made Alicent feel as if she could melt into a puddle under their gaze, “Sorry I’m a bit late. Work ran over.”
Alicent licked her lips absentmindedly as she opened the door wider for Rhaenyra to come in before she rhythmically slipped out of her boots, “No problem at all. I really appreciate you coming over after having worked all day.”
Rhaenyra eased closer, a smile forming on her lips as she replied, her violet gaze cementing Alicent’s feet to the hardwood floor beneath her, “I would never miss a chance to get to see you, Alicent.”
Alicent elected to ignore the brief glance of those violet eyes toward her lips in lieu of providing her best reply, “You are shameless.”
Rhaenyra’s grin faded away, her eyes appraising, “Does it cause offense?”
Alicent could have laughed at the absurdity of Rhaenyra’s concern if she hadn’t found it so endearing.
She wondered briefly how she could explain to Rhaenyra that she found no offense at all in anything that the Alpha had done. How could she explain that she wanted more of it? More teasing, more of the feeling of those eyes on her and the sight of that sexy grin that had just faded away.
Instead, she dug deep and found a shred of reservation that she normally had. She smiled, reaching to link her finger around one of Rhaenyra’s as she shook her head slightly, “I’ll let you know if it ever does. Are you thirsty?”
Rhaenyra looked almost smug as she replied, “Positively parched.”
Alicent rolled her eyes playfully before tugging her toward the kitchen. She felt a little flushed as the Alpha leaned casually against the counter in that spot while she poured her glass of lemonade from the refrigerator, curious if Rhaenyra too had thought about their tryst in her kitchen a week before even a fraction as much as she had.
She had wondered if things would become awkward in their moments of silence, but it really wasn’t. There was a hint of anxiousness settling in her belly, but had everything to do with taking Rhaenyra upstairs to work on her shower and consequently further into her life and nothing to do with the two of them remaining downstairs together engaging in easy conversation.
Rhaenyra accepted the glass before nearly downing the entirety of it, “Thank you. That really hit the spot. How has your week been?”
Warm. Soft around the edges.
Alicent smiled lazily as she spoke, talking of her week to include a bit about her and Aemond’s morning. Rhaenyra also talked about things going on with her, touching a bit on the remaining weeks of her last college classes going more into detail about her recent tasks at work.
It was like a shock to her system every single time she was reminded how young the woman that stood across from her actually was. She didn’t know because she hadn’t asked, but she suspected there may be a decade between them based simply on the fact that Rhaenyra was finishing up at university. If she hadn’t known that, she would assume a much closer age gap because this Alpha felt so relatable in her work ethic, in their commonalities, and the unapologetic way she desires leant to a different type of maturity.
“So, this is it then?” Rheanyra asked, pointing to the box that was partially open on the counter, “May I take a look?”
“Of course.” Alicent replied, helping Rhaenyra unbox the new showerhead that Rhaenyra was there to install for her, “Thank you again for your help with this. I steer clear of anything to do with plumbing.”
“It’s no trouble, really. Happy to help with all of your…plumbing needs.”
Alicent rolled her eyes playfully before replying as Rhaneyra grinned at the double meaning of her own joke, “Clever. A little cliche for you though, isn’t it?”
“Couldn’t resist.” Rhaenyra teased, before switching into work mode, “Do you want to show me where you want this?”
Rhaenyra pulled her toolbelt around her waist before buckling it into place so that her hands were now free to carry the box up the stairs as she padded along behind Alicent who was giving her a bit of a tour along the way.
Violet eyes took it all in, admiring the beauty of Alicent’s immaculate house and the way that the natural light poured into through the upstairs windows on the back of the house providing a glimpse of the inground pool that looked inviting in the back yard.
Having Rhaenyra walking around in the intimately personal space of her bedroom, those violet eyes roaming over every inch, felt a lot like she thought it might as her skin warmed and felt almost electric in the way that it was practically humming.
“Your house is beautiful, Alicent. It’s a wonder that the builder installed standard fixtures in your bathroom to begin with.”
Alicent hummed in agreement, grinning softly as she watched Rhaenyra manipulate her razor knife expertly to remove all of the pieces from hard plastic, mumbling to herself under her breath about how ridiculous it was that the builder had cut costs in Alicent’s master bathroom as that’s where a chunk of her home’s resale value was.
Rhaenyra asked for a towel so as not to get her socks wet when she stepped into the spacious shower and plucked out different tools to begin work. She hadn’t been wrong, it seemed, about it only taking a few minutes to get the job done. Alicent was pulled out of Rhaenyra induced reverie by her phone ringing from her back pocket.
“Hi, Dad.” Alicent greeted as she stepped out inside her bedroom to take the call.
Hi, Honey. Sorry to do this, but something has come up at the Sept so I need to go in for a little bit. Aemond doesn’t want to go, so I am going to drop him off back at home in a few minutes, okay?
Absolute panic landed in her stomach like a ton of bricks.
“Um, how long until you guys are here?” Alicent asked, praying that it wasn’t as soon as he made it sound.
Should be there in five.
“See you then.” Alicent rushed out, immediately ending the phone call before she took a deep breath as her mind raced, dread settling in her chest due to the fact that Rhaenyra was still working in the bathroom and the two people on the planet that she wanted to keep separate from her would be walking through the front door downstairs in a matter of minutes.
The words tasted bitter on her tongue as she spoke hurriedly while reentered the bathroom, “Rhaenyra, I need you to leave.”
Confused violet eyes found her own, “Is everything okay?”
Alicent sighed in frustration at the situation. This was not at all how she wished for the afternoon to go.
“My dad is dropping Aemond back off so I need you to go now.” Alicent explained quickly, the heavy feeling of dread sinking from her chest down into her stomach.
“Okay. Two seconds. I almost got it.”
“Rhaenyra, please…”
“Yes, Ma’am.” Rhaenyra replied, moving with more urgency now, “I think it’s squared away so it shouldn’t leak, but if it does just let me know.”
Alicent nodded in appreciation, but by the time they made it down the stairs Otto was already pulling into the driveway leaving her few options on how to proceed. But it was far too soon for them to meet, if ever was even appropriate.
“Shit.” Alicent cursed under her breath before making a choice, “You’re going to have to leave out the back door.”
Rhaenyra was a little taken aback as her boots were pressed into her hand and she was physically redirected toward the back door that led to the patio and the walkway to the front of the house.
“Mom, I’m back. Granddad said nobody knows how to do anything so he has to go to work.” Aemond sing-songed from the entryway as she was shutting the door in Rhaenyra’s face with a semi-apologic look, “Mom?”
“I’m here, my love.” Alicent responded, guilt seeping in, “Did you guys have fun at the park?”
Aemond began recounting every detail of his newly fixed boat and how they had driven it around between the geese that were floating around. Meanwhile, she knew that look as her father’s green eyes observed her almost suspiciously as Aemond rambled on.
“That truck out front, wasn’t it here a couple of weeks ago? Do you have company?”
Alicent drew from every single situation that she had wanted to keep her father out of over the years and replied, near desperate to sound as convincing as she hoped, “What truck?”
Otto raised a disbelieving brow, “The one out in front of your house, Alicent.”
As if ready to prove his point, he took a look out the window, “Mmmm, my mistake I suppose. It’s gone. Perhaps it was a neighbor’s friend.”
“Perhaps.”
Otto hummed, hugging them both before he departed.
Perhaps it was for the best. Perhaps Rhaenyra wasn’t a good idea, not even as something sweet to indulge in that she could keep just for herself.
“Mom, since it’s still early, can we get in the pool?”
Because it wasn’t just herself that she had to consider.
“Sure, Bud. Go get your trunks on.”
And as she told herself before, it’s not like it meant anything special to either one of them anyway.
Right?