Summer closed her eyes with relief, virtually climbing into his lap to return his kiss. After a moment it shifted from tender to more passionate, and she pulled back, breathing hard. “Isaac,” she whispered. “Not only did you win the tournament, but you did the thing no one else could do — no one else would have been able to do. My father would give me to a barbarian out of the steppes if that man had done those things.”
She brushed her fingers through his curls again. “He doesn’t even know about our history together. To him, you are merely the knight who rescued me from Sir Kit, and that is all. And now you are the knight who has completed his tasks.”
He wrapped his arms around her, fingers splaying out innocently across her lower back, the material of her dress crumpling as he curled his fingers slightly. “You have no idea how much I missed you…” he choked out thickly, voice wavering tellingly as he shook his head, before he quietened, listening to her talk. Then, he smiled a little wider and nodded, leaning to kiss her once more, unable to move away from her for even one moment.
“Are you ever going to tell him? Even if you come back with me, you…he won’t let you go just like that, I’d imagine, and I can’t turn my back on my family. Would he agree to a compromise, do you think?” He pursed his lips, brows furrowing together for a moment, his forehead resting against hers.
“You don’t understand,” she whispered, smiling gently. “There’s no need for compromise. Once we wed, he has no control over me.” She glanced down, and added, “It was my sister who truly wanted me, and she’s not here anymore.”