She nodded, draping her arms around his neck, pulling him down to her, where she initiated a kiss of her own. He groaned. God, how he had been wanting her to desire him fully. She was now, her fingers squeezing his shoulders, cupping his face, sliding over his chest and arms. His hand slid down her front to her waist, feeling where the corset cinched tightly above her hips. Then his hand slid down over a hip, down the top of her thigh, and back up again in a slow caress that promised sin but didn’t quite touch any sinful part of her body.
“What are you doing to me, Rob?” She sighed.
“Making myself irresistible so that you cannot refuse me,” he murmured in reply, giving her the cocky grin he knew she hated yet adored. She smiled the most gentle, most un-Mariel-like smile he had seen. He nearly took her body in hand right then and had his way. There was no harshness or bitterness upon her brow, no guarded frown. It was a look of dreamy contentment just for him. “In all seriousness, I’ve come to realize in only some short days that you’re the only woman I care to keep at my side.”
“I could have told you that from the beginning, for you have refused to let me leave,” she jested, to both of their surprise. He laughed, and she hushed her giggle, but her smile persisted, rising to her eyes and turning the almond shapes into happy squints.
“Ah, my beauty.” He exhaled and rested his forehead to hers. “Do you know how much of a favor it is when you cast your smile at me?” he said. “Marry me. Elope with me. I’ve waited the whole of our journey home for your answer to my proposal and yet you still don’t give it. I suspect you’re compelled to flee, but I wish to hear you say yes. I know a priest not far from here who can marry us, if you but say the word.”
“Home. You say it so freely, like it really does belong to me, too,” she said wistfully.
“I’ve made the offer.” He shrugged. “It’s your home if you wish it.”
Still, she looked away. What would it take for her to throw caution to the wind and accept him? “Despite your declaration to protect me, I need to know for certain if marriage is truly what you want. I must hear you say you want it, or I will forever fear that you’ve only married me out of pity.”
Why is she being so stubborn? He gazed into her eyes, a darker green in the firelight. If deep down, he never had a desire to marry, why was he so persistent now to keep her at his side, yet still so afraid to put the simple sentiment into words? What was the pinch in his heart that plagued him at the mere thought of losing her? Did he really want to unite both their souls at the altar and was too afraid to admit it? Was he truly in love but too afraid to admit it? Together, they could make an incredible team, a lord and lady united in a common love for their fellow man, and woman…and for each other.
Lord, the idea of love made him more edgy than the idea of marriage. Did he love her? Did he want to marry her? His mind began to swirl with all his competing thoughts and desires. He was good at jesting, but he was no good at serious matters of the heart.
“You’re taking too long to answer,” she began, her face becoming impassive.
She was withdrawing from him.
“Give me time, Mariel,” he whispered, reaching to her arm that she had dropped from his neck to place it back, “to come to terms with what I’m feeling. To find the best way to describe how you affect my heart…I’m new at this.”
She scoffed, as if she knew he was a liar and a rake, but he continued.
“Believe it or not, I am. Can you honestly say you’ve been in love with a man?” She said nothing but seemed to hang on the last of his words. “We might have learned loving from others, but I’ve never been serious about a woman…until now. Give me time to find the words. But know that regardless, I plan to marry you. I plan on binding you to me. If you have faith in me, you’ll feel compelled to elope with me. For soon, your father will be briefed by his man, Teàrlach, and a hunt for you will be mounted. There’s no delay to be had between now and getting to the altar.”
He continued to gaze down into her eyes. “And I’ll refrain from taking any more liberty with you until I know God has witnessed your union to me, as proof of my true intentions. But believe me…” He paused as his hand came back up and over a breast, leaning down to kiss the skin at her throat, her collarbone, and then downward, resting on one pillow of her exposed chest in a fiery kiss. “Waiting any length of time to join with you will be my hardest test of strength.”
He reluctantly withdrew and pushed himself back up on his knees, giving her assistance to right herself in the restrictive corset she wore. They rose to their feet. He helped her smooth out her wrinkles, running his hands over her rear and legs to push the fabric into rights.
“Then yes,” she said, looking into his eyes. “I’ll marry you.” His mouth split into a grateful smile and he began to drag her against him, but she held up a palm to stop him, her eyes solemn. “I know you only promise the effort of fidelity, and do nay profess to adhere to it, and I suppose I must settle in that regard.” He didn’t like the sadness it brought to her face. Had he not convinced her he intended to be faithful? “But know that if you ever turn harsh toward me, I shall leave you as I did my sire and I won’t look back.”
He returned her gaze. He never wanted her to leave. But finally, he nodded once. “A fair agreement, woman. Which means you’ll be stuck with my arrogant arse forever.”
He grinned, and she deigned to laugh. He draped the dangling string from the pendent in her cleavage over her neck, loving the look of his mother’s adornment upon her.
“You’re overly confident,” she teased.
“Ah, but I’m also right,” he added, earning that huff and roll of her eyes he was coming to relish.
“Arrogant arse was certainly an accurate description,” she said, and he rewarded her jesting with a carefree chuckle. They walked to the door. “What were you and Will nodding about?”
“What?” He turned to her with a confused crinkle to his brows.
“In the hall, as we left, you nodded to him and him you.”
His comprehension dawned. Ah, she really was astute. He would get nothing past her in their union.
“You would really like to know?”
She took a wary step back. “Mayhap now I’m afraid to ask.”
“You? Afraid of something? Bollocks,” he said. “He wishes to court the Lady Charlotte and wanted my blessing to preserve the goodwill that exists betwixt cousins, in case I still had intentions toward the woman.” He brought Mariel’s hand to his mouth, giving the backs of her fingers a kiss. “I gave him my full consent, for the only interest I have is for a woman with barley-gold hair and the most beautiful green eyes I’ve ever seen, though I hear this woman is a hellion not easily managed.”
“Quite the cheeky bastard, aren’t you?” she retorted with a syrupy smile.
He winked as if she had just paid him a compliment instead of an insult. Pulling back the bar on the door, he opened it for her, ushered her out, and walked her down the corridors and around the gallery to her bedchamber, though he remained outside her door.
He eyed her bed, turned down and prepared by the maids. How easy it would be to share that bed with Mariel tonight. But he refrained and took her hands in his. They would consummate their union, and he would invite her to share his chamber, and she would be the only woman he had ever summoned to his bed.
“Sleep well, Lady Mariel,” he whispered in her ear as he leaned in for one more kiss. “Be at the upper practice yard on the morrow after breaking your fast.” She furrowed her brow, and he continued. “I wish you to train with my men, for I feel certain you now see the merit in stopping Nottingham and his kind.” She nodded, and he caressed his finger over her cheek. “And be prepared to elope with me soon. We mustn’t tarry in this endeavor, if there is any hope to protect you from your father.”
Chapter Nineteen
Mariel arrived to break her fast, s
tepping up to the dais. The morn was a quieter affair. Men and women, guards and artisans, filed in and out as their morning tasks permitted, sat, partook quietly of nourishment, and departed to either begin the day, or return to their given chores. She was thankful for it. It meant she wasn’t an object of spectacle.
Robert, however, wasn’t yet at board. Will sat two seats down, focusing on boiled eggs, when he looked up and smiled at her.
“Good morn, Lady Mariel.” He winked.
She froze at the familiarity, when she remembered all of Robert’s men had heard Teàrlach MacGregor call her by her given name in the forest.
And then, Robert breezed into the hall, donned in his handsomely slouched trousers and loose coat…with Will’s lovely cousin trailing a few paces beside. Despite the fact that Robert was trying to disengage himself, Mariel let out an irritated sigh. He had given her sweet words and devotion the night before, but the rogue no doubt was flattered by the attention. What man wouldn’t feel a boost to his ego, knowing women found him irresistible, even if the lady annoyed him? She bit her lip and frowned.
“Feeling territorial, my dear?” Will teased, leaning across Robert’s place setting to whisper in her ear.
She shooed him away like an irritating fly. “I’ve already informed His Lairdship that I’ll never be the maiden who falls all over herself just because an eligible bachelor bestowed a smile upon her.”
“Ah. Well if looks could shoot arrows through the heart, yours would have murdered my cousin Anna,” he retorted, taking out an eating knife from its sheath and using it to impale a cut of ham.
“No.” She turned and gave him a fake smile. “They would have indeed murdered him.”
Will tipped his head back and laughed as he plucked the morsel off the knife tip, tossing it into his mouth. “Sounds treacherous. He would do well to keep one eye aimed at his back around you, dear Mariel. My cousin Anna didn’t take the hint at supper yester eve,” Will said. “’Tis her heart that will learn the hard way that not all ambitions come to fruition. I tried to warn her when supper was through but, she only insisted more fervently that she would try anew. I’m certain she greeted him at his door this morn to double her efforts.”
“My, you walk so fast, my lord,” Anna said, flushed from the exertion as Robert arrived at his seat.
Mariel bit her tongue but knew her annoyance shone clearly on her brow.
“Why so grumpy, woman?” Robert smiled, leaning down to her ear.
“I’ve never been known for my rosy disposition, as you know,” Mariel retorted. “Thorns. Remember?”
He chuckled, sliding his arm free from Anna’s clutch as she reached to him again.
“I’ve quite a polite disposition, my lord,” Anna said, offering a doting smile, placing a hand on his arm again.
Mariel rolled her eyes.
“Lady Anna,” Robert said, looking to Will, who shrugged and gestured for him to continue. He rounded to face the young lady. “I have been ever patient with you, though I would like for you to watch one thing very carefully and tell me what you see.”
He looked at Mariel, snagged her chin, leaned down, and stole a slow, sensual kiss from her lips as Will whistled. His tongue pushed into her mouth, and he laved it across hers. Stunned, Mariel froze, then pushed Robert away, shaking her head at his cheeky grin.
Anna gasped.
“My dear lady.” He chuckled, ignoring Mariel’s admonishing frown and reddening cheeks. “I hope to leave no doubt in your mind. Whilst your conversations have been pleasant, I have tried, both gently and in more clear terms, to put off the notion that I wish for more than a kind acquaintance with you. The lady seated here, in the seat reserved for the Lady of Huntington, is the lady I pursue, and you do both her and me disrespect by flaunting yourself. I bid you enjoy my hospitality for as long as you wish whilst visiting Will. But I hold no interest beyond friendship with any woman apart from this one.” He took Mariel’s hand and squeezed it, then continued. “I have no doubt there is a lucky man out there who would be your perfect champion, Lady Anna, if you have faith enough to wait for him.”
Red-faced and with tears threatening to burst over her eyes, Anna took a step back and leveled a hateful glare at Mariel, who withdrew her hand from Robert.
“I shall pack to leave this day, my lord,” she muttered, bowing her head.
“Lady Anna,” Mariel said, dropping her napkin to her trencher and pushing back her chair. “You do not need to leave.” She sent a scathing look at Robert, who rolled his eyes and shrugged, a classic Mariel move if there ever was one, though he gave her a discreet wink.
She shook her head.
“No, he, eh, he makes his point clear,” Anna said, yanking her hand free and looking over Mariel’s tunic and trousers, now cleaned and mended, yet still shabby. “Try as I might, I cannot figure out what he sees in you.”
“Remain civil, Lady,” rumbled Robert with a rare coldness to his voice. “You speak to my woman.”
Mariel smarted and turned away with embarrassment. “’Tis all right, Rob.” She would step toe-to-toe with a man any day to defend herself, but what Anna said hurt.
“Anna,” chastised Will, now also rising. “What has come over you, cousin, to offer such rudeness?”
“’Tis not all right, love,” Robert said, returning his attentions to Anna. “Packing and leaving today is a sound plan, Lady. I bid you follow through on that arrangement.”
Anna shrank back at the unexpected backlash. Mariel’s eyes widened. To withdraw hospitality from a guest was rarely done, especially by the benevolent Earl of Huntington who welcomed everyone.
“’Twill be Christmastide soon, so I’ll be needed back in York,” Anna whispered, scurrying back out of the great hall.
Robert looked now to Mariel, standing silently with her mouth agape. He didn’t smile, didn’t speak.
“What are you staring at?” Mariel’s said with more of a bite than usual, then quickly tempered her tongue.
“You. You frowned reprovingly at me as Anna chased after me. As if you still don’t believe what I’ve told you. If you thought Will’s cousin or any woman held my interest, you were wrong. I pledged my heart to you last night, and at some point I expect you to start believing me.”
“You hurt her feelings,” Mariel said.
Robert scoffed. “I’ve dropped so many obvious hints to her my maids would need to sweep all the day long to collect them from the floor. There was no other way to let her down, Mari.”
“But now she hates me.” Mariel sighed.
“I hardly think her opinion of you is worth the concern,” Robert said, waving off the remark as he pulled out his seat and plopped down, helping himself to the eggs and ham laid out before him. Mariel slid back into her seat, too, and began eating. “She hates you because I like you, not because she knows you. And in truth, she’s jealous of your beauty.” Mariel rolled her eyes, inviting vehemence. “You think you’re not beautiful? You are. Beautiful and capable, and not afraid of seemingly anything, attributes that make Anna, and others like her, jealous, for they’ll never measure up. They seek a man to dote on them, lavish them in riches, give them status and thus, control over other women. It’s a game that leaves distaste in my mouth.
“Do you think that I like their attention? You think it feeds my ego and makes me proud? You’re wrong. When I was a lad, it was flattering. But I’m not a lad anymore, and I learned long ago that those females fixing their attentions on me only want the Earl of Huntington’s wealth and prestige. I sense that you favor me for other reasons, and I know this because you’ve tried to leave me over and over again, and I’ve had to fall at your feet to beg you to stay.”
Will, beside them, coughed at the revelation, though his intense focus on his food showed he tried to ignore them. Mariel remained silent. Why couldn’t she give in and trust him? She shook her head and fin
ished her meal while Robert remained equally contemplative beside her, until it was time to depart to Robert’s personal champ de tir, a yard detached from the castle and enclosed in a private wall with an expanse of green lawn.
The field was secluded, with no windows overlooking from the outer curtain wall except for arrow slits from the cornering towers. Few guards manned them, since the field was only used for archery training, and Huntington’s archers were currently attending other castle tasks. Jonathan climbed the stairs to the parapet and retrieved a bundle of quarterstaffs from a storage tower while Alan pushed a target into position down the field. When they were finished, Robert motioned for all to gather together.
“We know not when Nottingham will plan his next eviction,” Robert said, so we’re going to practice archery first, then the quarterstaff, then swordsmanship—”
“We’ve already perfected such time and again. And indeed I’m already a fine archer,” John grumbled, dropping the quarterstaffs in a pile.
“What’s the matter, Little John?” Robert teased. “You’ll get your chance to dazzle us with your staff soon enough. Most of us have practiced well with you, but Mariel needs to learn.”
“Little John?” Jonathan fumed. “Are you still persisting with that?”
“Well, the name does fit, man,” Will replied, ducking out of the way with a jovial laugh as the man threatened to land a jab of his staff upon his midsection.
“Why did I even agree to entertain this rabble?” Mariel sighed to herself, a hand perched on her hip.
Will shrugged. “You’re stuck with us. And you belong to Robert now. And I’m guessing you aren’t the kind of woman who’ll remain cloistered indoors, whilst your man goes out to have all the fun.”
She sighed and rolled her eyes. “I need not practice at archery.”
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