He passed no one as he headed towards Cat's chambers that night; the castle was asleep. Ned walked slowly, enjoying the silence and the solitude usually only offered to him by the heart tree in the godswood. He passed the children's' rooms, but did not look in on them. They woke easily, now. Before Robb and Jon had found the direwolf pups, his children had all been deep sleepers, difficult to rouse. However since then, the direwolves had slept with the children and awoke at the slightest sound. Curiously, though they barely lifted their heads, the children awoke as their pets did. This seemed to trouble Cat, though he himself had not given it much thought until he saw it happen several times with Rickon, who was by far the deepest sleeper of their own pups.

The wolves had also taken to following Catelyn around the yard since an incident a week earlier when she had accidentally been struck by an overexcited hound that had been returning from a hunt. Nymeria and Grey Wind had been in the yard at the time and had savagely attacked the clumsy hound, seriously injuring it before Arya and Robb were able to call them off.

Ned frowned, lost in his thoughts, and almost walked into the door to his lady wife's bedchamber. He smiled, shook his head, and pushed the thoughts away with the door.

Catelyn was sitting on the windowsill with a fur around her, as was her custom. She was brushing her hair absent-mindedly, staring out over the wolfswood. He walked behind her and circled his arms around her. She never started at this action anymore, having grown accustomed to his silent greetings, and instead rose her arms to rest on his. He pressed his face into her hair and enjoyed the feeling of her against him.

He must have been enjoying it for a while as she remarked, "My lord, I do believe there is a perfectly serviceable bed for sleeping in not five paces from this sill."

He huffed a short laugh and pulled her off the ledge.

"Well noted, my lady. I too am of the opinion that we ought to make use of that perfectly serviceable bed." He retorted.

"The hour is late, my lord. Are you not tired?" She questioned, half-teasing, as they found themselves at the bed.

In answer he kissed her fiercely and pulled her to him, his body confirming that sleep was far from his mind.

He reached to touch her through her shift and it felt as thought there was indeed a fire there, not just an area that looked like a fire. She moaned into his mouth as her stroked her through her clothes.

Before long, he gave a grunt of annoyance and pulled off her shift roughly. She fell back onto the bed. Sitting on the edge, she reached for his face and their mouths reconnected almost violently as she started to deftly divest him of his clothes. He took this opportunity to explore her body blindly, his hands guiding him along familiar paths. The feel of the soft skin of her neck, her breasts, her back, fueled him as Cat finished her task and moved her hand lower to tease his stiff manhood.

She wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him close. He groaned loudly as he connected with her and she shouted his name.

He moved rapidly inside her, his thrusts hard and deep. She cried out every time and threw her head back in pleasure. The fire that had started low in his belly had now spread to his entire body, his mind utterly lost to it. He was nearing his release, as was she.

It was then that he felt a sharp pain in his left leg.