It was sweet of him to say so. “I’m going to be at the wedding, Nick. I’ll wear my tulle dress. You’ll wear your traditional bycocket hat. And all of Nottingham will be appalled and fuming over the cost of the reception.” She sighed in satisfaction. “You don’t have to do anything that you haven’t already done.”

  He scowled, only focusing on the final part of that assurance. “Nothing I haven’t already done? You mean kidnap you?” He paused, as if some brilliant idea had just entered his head. The man was so unpredictable. “I should kidnap you, again.”

  “I think technically I’m still kidnapped.” Marion mused, thoughtfully.

  “I’m serious. The wedding is in,” he checked the time, “fourteen hours. I could just keep you right here for fourteen hours and I could be sure. I’d be sure you’d show up at the church. I’d be sure no one stole you away. I’d be sure nothing went wrong.”

  “No.”

  He scowled at her refusal. “This was your idea!”

  “It absolutely was not my idea. And I’m not staying in this room with you one second after twelve. Not the night before we’re married. Are you insane?”

  “I can sleep on the floor, if you…”

  “It’s bad luck!” She interrupted. How did he not know this? “I can’t see you on our wedding day, until I walk down the aisle. It’s tradition.”

  He let out a frustrated breath. “I don’t care about luck or tradition, Marion.”

  “So help me God, if you wreck my dream wedding over your stupid paranoia…”

  “I’m saving your dream wedding, by making sure you show up.” He jabbed a big finger at her. “You’re kidnapped. Deal with it.”

  Marion groaned, tilting her head back in exasperation. “Is this about Robin? Are you still worried about him crashing through a church window to rescue me or something?”

  “No!” The way he shouted it meant “yes.”

  “Nicholas…”

  “Don’t call me that.” He muttered and headed back towards the door. “This plan will work. Just give it a chance. I’ll get you some food and then you can rest right here. I like seeing you in my bed, anyway.”

  “Robin’s not going to come for me tomorrow.” Marion called after him, pushed to the brink of madness by his idiocy. “He didn’t in the original timeline, either. That’s how you and I ended up married, the last time.”

  Nicholas stopped short, his hand on the doorknob. His head whipped around to gape at her. “What?”

  Marion tried to look casual and probably failed miserably. “We’re already married, snookum.” She shrugged, her heart pounding as she finally told him the whole truth. “It just hasn’t happened, yet.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  How It Happened the First Time…

  Robin Hood wasn’t coming to save her.

  Nicholas’ heart pounded as Friar Tuck droned through the wedding vows, his eyes cutting around the interior of the church. Gargoyles were stationed everywhere and there was no sign of Robin Hood rushing to Marion’s aid. Was that moron seriously going to let this happen?

  Shit.

  If Hood didn’t show up, Marion would be heartbroken.

  Nicholas’ eyes slipped down to her and saw she was already heartbroken. Marion knew Robin wasn’t coming. She’d figured it out too and she was sinking into shock. Hood’s betrayal had knocked her on her heels. She had no idea what to do now that her perfect hero had been thwarted by…

  Nicholas’ thoughts skidded to a halt and rewound.

  Hood wasn’t coming to save Marion.

  No one was coming to save her.

  A new idea suddenly whirled in his head. An idea so spectacular that he’d never even let himself consciously consider it before. It was already fully-formed in his mind, though, as if he’d been willing it to happen this whole time. Simple and straightforward and stunningly obvious. Gargoyles weren’t creative thinkers by nature, but this idea was so dazzling it instantly captured his imagination.

  I could just… marry her.

  For really real.

  Nicholas could keep Marion for himself and Robin could die alone in Sherwood. He’d rather catch a wife than an outlaw. The rest of the church was murmuring, but no one else had given up on Hood’s daring rescue. They weren’t going to rally quickly enough to stop him. No one could stop him. This was the opportunity he’d never dreamed of having.

  And Nicholas wasn’t a man who missed opportunities.

  Marion looked up at him. “Robin’s not coming.” She whispered and a tear rolled down her perfect cheek. “You can stop all this now. There’s no point.”

  “Isn’t there?” He sure as hell saw one.

  Friar Tuck paused his speech, like he wasn’t sure what to do next. He’d gotten to the part where the couple had to say their vows. His beady eyes darted around, still expecting Robin to magically appear.

  Only Robin Hood wasn’t coming.

  Nicholas realized he was breathing too fast, excitement filling him. If this was going to happen, it had to happen now. Before anyone had the presence of mind to protest. Before Marion ran away. Before lightning struck the church, or hyenas attacked, or any other random happenings happened. Before anything, anything, anything took her away from him.

  “Get on with it.” He ordered, glaring at the rotund man.

  Friar Tuck scowled, looking for a way out of this.

  “Do it or I’ll hang you and then find someone who will.” Nicholas snarled in the most serious voice he’d ever used in his life.

  Friar Tuck heaved an aggravated sigh. “Do you, Nicholas Greystone, Sheriff of Nottingham, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife…?”

  “I do.”

  “I wasn’t finished.” Tuck protested and started over. “Do you, Nicholas Greystone, Sheriff of Nottingham, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold…?”

  “Yes. Yes, to all of it.”

  Friar Tuck went back to the beginning again, buying Robin Hood time. “Do you, Nicholas Greystone, Sheriff of Nottingham, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, ‘til death do you part?”

  “I do, dammit!”

  “Wait, I forgot the ‘richer or poorer’ part. Let’s try, again.” Tuck cleared his throat importantly. “Do you, Nicholas Greystone, Sheriff of Nottingham…”

  Nicholas had had enough. He leaned closer, talking right over the friar’s latest stall- tactics. “We’re done.” He intoned and no one could have missed the threat. “I. Do.” He carefully spaced out each word. “Move on.”

  Tuck’s mouth thinned, but he didn’t push it any farther. He sensed how little patience Nicholas had remaining. “Fine.” He reluctantly turned to Marion. “Do you, Marion Huntingdon…”

  Nicholas cut him off. “She does.”

  “She has to say it. …And there really should be a ring.”

  Fuck. There should be a ring. In fact, there was one. His mother’s ring had always belonged on Marion’s finger. Nicholas had known that since boyhood. It just hadn’t occurred to him that this fake wedding would become real, so the ring was still safely stored in his bedroom. He could get it on her finger later. Somehow. Nicholas certainly wasn’t taking the time to go and get it now. Not when everything he’d always wanted was on the edge of falling into his granite clutches. He needed to hurry.

  “We don’t need a ring, for it to be legal.” He told Tuck.

  “No. Not technically. But tradition says…”

  “I don’t give a shit about tradition. I care about the vows. Finish them, before I finish you.”

  Tuck grudgingly ran through the whole damn spiel again, speaking as slowly as possible. Nicholas wanted to rip his hair out by the roots.

  When the friar was finally done talking there was silence.

  Marion hadn’t even heard him. She was still staring at Nicholas’ chest, a faraway expression on her face.

  Nicholas leaned closer to her, drawing her attention.

  Marion sniffed, gazing up at him, and Nicholas’ heart stuttered in his chest. She was the most beautiful creature he’d ever seen. “Is it over, yet?” She whispered.

  “I’ve given up on Hood coming to your rescue.”

  “Me too.” Luminous brown eyes were filled with humiliated tears.

  “When the chips are down, you can’t count on True Love to save you, Marion.”

  Hopefully, she’d listen to that advice and let Hood go. Hopefully, she’d finally understand he was unworthy of her affection and always had been. Hopefully, she’d realized there was another path for her, another man who would do anything for her, even if he wasn’t her destined mate.

  Hopefully, she’d see Nicholas.

  Marion swiped a hand across her eyes, still silently crying.

  It killed him to see her so sad.

  What was he doing? Nicholas hesitated. Her heartbreak was because of him and this new plan would only add to it. Marion was helpless, at the moment. He was preying on her vulnerability, when she’d never done anything but show him kindness. It wasn’t her fault that he was so in love with her that it had become an obsession. He should stop this, now. It was the right thing to do and he knew it.

  Do not fucking stop, you moron!

  Nicholas blinked as the screaming voice of his worst impulses, jarred him back to reality. He was seconds away from having Marion as his wife. For the rest of his life, she would be tied to him. No one else in the universe could be her husband, as long as he breathed. Just Nicholas. She would have to give him a chance then, wouldn’t she?

  His reverse conscience was right this time. He wasn’t going to stop. He couldn’t. Not with that kind of dazzling possibility dangling right in front of him. He wasn’t Good or Bad, but he also wasn’t stupid.

  Nicholas kept his voice low, so only she could hear. His heart was hammering so loudly, he was shocked she couldn’t hear that, too. “You want to get out of here, duchess?”

  He knew his expression revealed too much of his eagerness, but he couldn’t help it and she was in no condition to notice. He wanted her to say “yes” more then he’d ever wanted anything in his life.

  She nodded. “Please, Nick.”

  Hearing her say his name had his insides clenching in need. The name she’d given him and that only she used. His real name. He was so close to having her. To having everything he’d never thought he could have.

  “Say ‘yes’ and we’re done.” He promised. “I’ll take care of everything, Marion. We can get an annulment later, if you want. But, right now, let’s just finish this and go home.” He kept his voice gentle, but his hand tapped on his leg in agitation.

  Marion blinked in a bemused fog. “Say ‘yes?’” She repeated like his words were some gibberish from the forgotten language of witches.

  “Exactly.” He was praying that she didn’t understand exactly what she was agreeing to. “Trust me and say ‘yes.’” She shouldn’t trust him, but it was something he’d always longed for and the words were out before he could stop them. “Please, Marion. Trust me. Just this once.”

  “Yes.” She whispered.

  Yes!

  Nicholas looked back at the friar, his face like a conquering general. “She’s mine.” He said with ruthless finality.

  Tuck paled.

  Half the assembled guests cringed.

  Racing to the end, without waiting for the friar, Nicholas bent to brush Marion’s lips in the quickest kiss imaginable. He had to for the damn wedding scroll to be officially enspelled or he wouldn’t have risked it. He doubted anyone but Robin Hood had ever kissed her before. The brush of his lips lasted half a second and it still made his heart lurch.

  Marion startled at the contact, as if the kiss had jolted her, too. She blinked up at him, coming out of her shocked trance. “What…?”

  “I now pronounce you man and wife.” The friar intoned miserably, like he’d just pronounced them dead.

  On the lectern in front of him, Marion and Nicholas’ names appeared on the formal marriage scroll. Nicholas swallowed hard when he saw his name was spelled out as “Nick Greystone.” Right then, he knew that he’d actually done it. That it was all real. The magic binding them was fathomless and older than time. It knew the name he called himself. The one that Marion had given him. It knew who he really was inside.

  A marriage scroll was practically unbreakable. Both parties would have to go before a wizard and agree to the dissolution of the marriage, or the document would seal them together forever. And Nicholas would never agree to release his stolen bride. With any luck, Marion wouldn’t remember what he’d said about an annulment, because it would never happen. Atlantis had a better chance of rising from the sea. Gold cursive letters proclaimed Nicholas’ claim for everyone to see and he let out a ragged breath.

  He’d just grabbed hold of the biggest opportunity of his life. He had Marion.

  She gave her head a small shake, more aware since he’d kissed her. “Wait…” She stared at the scroll, like maybe it was a mirage. “What just happened?”

  “We just got married.”

  Marion’s head whirled around to gape up at him. Then, she burst out crying.

  Shit.

  Nicholas instinctively scooped her up and headed up the aisle. Marion’s arms wrapped around his neck, clinging to him. It was the first time she had ever reached out to him for comfort. The first time anyone had. She wanted Nicholas to soothe her tears. Wanted him to care for her and keep her safe. And that was what he wanted, too. It always had been. He hated to see her crying. It ate at him. But he had no idea how to fix things, now.

  Luckily, they had decades together for him to figure it out. Nicholas would spend all of them trying to win Marion over. He would do whatever it took to make this better for her. To make her smile. Just so she stayed with him, he’d give her every star in the sky. Marion was the entire reason he’d been created. Why he lived and breathed. There was nothing else that mattered to him. Nothing at all.

  This woman was his heart and soul.

  “I hate you.” Marion sobbed out on a hiccupped breath.

  He wasn’t surprised. “Maybe it will pass.”

  “I doubt it. I plan on hating you forever-after.” She wiped her nose on his uniform. “I still hate Robin more, though.”

  “Me too. See? We have a lot in common, already.”

  Marion buried her cheek against his hard shoulder and started crying in earnest again, barely hearing his feeble attempts to cheer her up. “I thought he loved me. But, he didn’t. He lied about everything. My whole life was a lie.”

  Nicholas held her close. “Hood is an idiot.” He murmured into her soft hair. He ignored the stunned and horrified faces in the crowd, as he strode by them and out of the church. Every primitive instinct in his body wanted his new wife safely ensconced in his room, where no Nottingham do-Gooder could interfere with his claim. “If it was me, I would have overthrown this whole fucking kingdom to get you back, Marion.”

  “My True Love abandoned me.” She whispered in a shattered voice.

  “I know.” He kissed the top of her head, intense satisfaction eclipsing the guilt he felt at taking advantage of her misery. “But, I’ve got you, now. And I’m not going anywhere.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Interspecies romance: The hot new trend that’s redefining modern relationships.

  Our foolproof guide on how to attract all the swooniest monsters!

  Alan A. Dale- “Nottingham’s Naughtiest News”

  Nicholas gazed at her, breathing hard. “We’re not married.” He shook his head, his eyes swirling with unnamed emotions. “We can’t be… Why would you…? No, Robin Hood would…”

  Marion cut him off, her voice raised to a yell. “Robin didn’t come to the church!” She felt her heart pounding, as she tried to make him understand. “Think about it: What would you do, if he didn’t show up? Would you just call the wedding off and send me home? Or would you,” she shrugged, “grab the opportunity?”

  Silence.

  …But he carefully closed the bedroom door, shutting them in together. Listening.

  “It happened before I even knew what was happening.” She explained, seeing she had his full attention. “Looking back, you were just thinking so much faster than me.” She snapped her fingers in rapid succession to indicate his synapses firing at top speed. “I told you before, you tricked me. I didn’t see it coming. At least, I don’t think I did. Maybe on some level…” She trailed off, because maybe she had known? Down in the very Baddest parts of her? “Anyway, I told you at the time that I’d hate you forever-after. But luckily for you, I got over it.”

  Nicholas stared at her so intently that he didn’t even blink.

  “You set your mind to your goal and nobody else could keep up, Nick. You hammered down all the obstacles. I’ve always admired how determined you are, but that day no one could have stopped you.”

  He gave his head a quick shake, like he wasn’t sure he’d heard her right.

  “When Robin abandoned me, I was crushed. I was so out of it, I wasn’t sure I’d even survive the heartache. You told me to just say ‘yes’ and you’d take care of everything.” She chewed her lower lip. “And so I did.”

  “You… said ‘yes?’”

  “I said ‘yes.’ So did you.”

  He scoffed at that, the sound a little wild. “Of course I would say it. Is that even in question?” He began pacing around, looking at everything but her. Trying to gather evidence, because that was his sheriff-y way. “Did I kiss you?”

  “Yep. And our names appeared on the scroll.”

  “What did my name say? Was it my full name?”

  “No. It said ‘Nick Greystone.’” She’d noticed that, even in the midst of her breakdown. Only Marion had ever called him “Nick,” as far as she knew. It caught her attention that the marriage scroll didn’t use his given name and title.

  Apparently, the nickname was a pretty big clue for him, because he swallowed convulsively. “You’re sure it said ‘Nick?’”

 

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