It didn't take long for her to help him remove his armor. She gestured to the pallet. "Lie down." "Not yet." He pulled her into his arms and held her against his chest. This is what he was fighting for. Not just for himself, but for all men to hold their women in their arms - and to raise families free from tyranny.

She must continue to live life one day at a time. Neither the past nor the future existed for Eva. She clenched her fist around her reins, drilling in the words she must never forget: 'there can only be the now.

Jostling in the saddle against an iron shirt of mail wasn't half as romantic as the books made it out to be.

A wee beverage afore the next dance?" Her green eyes widened mischievously as her tongue slipped to the corner of her mouth. "Yes, indeed." She took the goblet and drank a healthy tot. Before she downed it all, he stopped her. "Ye might want to ebb your thirst... for I have plans involving the both of us this night, and it will be all the more fun if ye are awake to enjoy it.