Forbidden love: A knight risks execution to flee with the princess he was sworn only to protect. She took his hand the hand of a soldier, scarred and calloused and pressed it against her cheek. “I would rather spend one month running through the mud with you than fifty years sitting on a throne next to a man I do not love.” ​The logic of the soldier died in his throat. In its place rose a terrifying, beautiful recklessness. Kaelen reached out, his leather-gloved hand tangling in her loose hair, pulling her just close enough that he could feel the frantic, matching rhythm of her heart. ​“Gods help us,” he breathed, his forehead dropping against hers. ​“They already have,” she whispered. “They gave us tonight.”