Her mouth was moist with anticipation. Tilting her head back, she received the warm kiss.
He was different, or so her instincts told her. He was tender, he would be kind to her. They would lie together in his tent and make love with more passion than anyone else could muster.
She was his, and he was hers.
------------------------------------
She sits, contemplating, reflecting.
She still remembers him, with his beautiful eyes and face. She toyed with his affections at the time, but now she looks back and her heart aches.
School-girl romances. She will always remember them, despite the fact she pushed him away after only a few months.
She had wanted Simon Middleton, the handsome devil. She had been attracted to Kartik, Gemma's lover. She had lain with a man she met a ball, but she had felt nothing for him, she hardly even remembers his name.
It was always Ithal, and no one knew. Everyone thought her cold and callous, unable to love anyone but herself.
But she knows herself; she knows she loves Ithal. If not, why does she still dream of him? Why does her mind often wander to the times they were with one another?
She sighs and tells her husband she is leaving.
She does not tell him she is never coming back.