Seducing the Sheriff of Nottingham, page 48
part #5 of A Kinda Fairytale Series
Her heart melted. “Lucky for me I did… Because, you are my favorite person in the world, Nick.”
Gray eyes glowed. “About time you noticed that.” He murmured.
“In the WUB Club, I was thinking about you non-stop. Wishing I’d done things differently. I knew you were my True Love. I mean, I couldn’t be completely sure, of course. But I could feel it, especially as I embraced my Bad side. I just felt it too late.”
“Whatever you needed to do to survive prison is nothing but Good.” His fingers traced up and down her back. “But, I do appreciate your Bad side. I always have.”
She rubbed against one of the stony sections of his chest, liking how the texture felt against her skin. “I would have stayed with you, either way.” She wanted him to know that. “True Love or not, I only want to be with you.” She chewed on her bottom lip. “Do you forgive me for ever thinking it was Robin?”
“Yes.” He scoffed, like the idea of not forgiving her anything was totally foreign to him. “If you chopped my arms off with a chainsaw, I’d forgive you.”
Marion wasn’t willing to let it drop. “I am so sorry, Nick.”
He shrugged uncomfortably, like almost marrying someone else was no big deal and she should just forget about the heartache it must’ve caused him.
Marion tried again. “Last time through, you said you were angry at me, for being with him.”
“No.” The denial was instant.
“It’s okay, if you are. I’d be angry, if you were ever walking around, professing your love for another girl. Like I would still be flipping the hell out. It would be a never-ending rampage of that bitch’s blood and tears.” Being a True Love always meant being a little clingy. And Marion and Nicholas both careened towards fanatically clingy. She could only imagine what he’d endured, watching her with another man.
Nicholas kept frowning. “I’ve never been angry at you. I must have been fumbling with words. I’m… I was angry that you never really saw me. I needed you and there was nothing I could do about it.”
Marion pointedly looked down at her naked body and then up at his face. “Nothing?” She repeated skeptically. “Seems like there was something you could do, once you decided to try. When you let me see you, it was inevitable that I would choose you.”
“You wouldn’t have chosen me…”
She cut him off. “Nick… I did choose you.”
He blinked, listening now.
It was instinctive for him to worry about Robin, the way it was instinctive for Marion to worry about counting on anyone but herself. She thought for a beat, debating what she should reveal about her most private insecurities and how much sharing them might help him.
“Robin tried to talk me into bed a lot of times, over the years. I think it was mostly purity tests, to prove how Good I was.” She said slowly. “It wasn’t just before he left for war, when he wanted to come on my breasts. He’d ask for something sexual every few months.”
Nicholas’ eyes sharpened.
“I always said no.” She rushed to say, because True Loves were also territorial and Nicholas was more territorial than most. It was because he’d been denied his place for so long. He needed a lot of reassurance. “I knew if I said yes, I’d lose value in Robin’s eyes. Being a Maid is all about virginity. So, it’s kind of a no-win situation. You have a man trying to seduce you and telling you pretty things. And if you reject him, he blames you for bruising his ego. But if you give in and get seduced, he then blames you for being… less.”
“You could never be less, duchess.”
Nicholas always knew what to say, even when he didn’t know that he knew it. She gave him a quick, grateful smile. “He asked me to do all kinds of things. And,” she swallowed, “I had no real trouble refusing Robin’s advances, even after ten years of being his.”
“You’re not his.”
Marion ignored that vehement denial, wanting to get this out. “But after a few days of hanging around with you, here I am. Naked in your bed.” Saying all this was idiotic. She knew that and still she was saying it, because Nottingham’s sexist bullshit had always played havoc on her thoughts. Even when she recognized what was happening, she felt vulnerable to it.
Nicholas studied her, like he was trying to read her mind. “I’m married to you. I’m you’re True Love. You’ve done nothing wrong by sleeping with me. You’re right where you’re supposed to be.”
“I know. But,” she took a deep breath, “I would’ve slept with you, anyway.”
His head tilted.
“I know me.” Marion admitted. “I know how hard I fell, once you let me in. And I know I would be here, with you, even if we weren’t married and you weren’t my True Love. Which is not what a virtuous Maid should be saying, but…” She trailed off. “I just want you so much that nothing else matters.”
Silence.
Marion waited, unaccountably nervous.
Nicholas’ face broke into a wide grin. “You’re honestly worried about this?” He deduced incredulously. “You’re worried that I’d be…what?... unhappy to hear that you’re helpless in the face of my magnetic virility.”
“Well, yes!” Marion blinked at his playful tone. “It doesn’t speak well of my chastity.” That was the primmest thing she’d said in a decade.
“I don’t give a shit about your chastity.” He said bluntly. “I care that you choose me, above everyone else.” He shook his head, like he was amazed that she couldn’t see this. “It wouldn’t have changed anything, if you’d slept with Hood. If you’d slept with the entire Nottingham army, I’d still be pining for you. I’d still respect you and be obsessed with you. I never wanted a Maid. I just want Marion.”
No other man in the kingdom would have said such a thing.
She exhaled heavily, beaming up at him.
Nicholas paused. “But…” He opened his mouth and then closed it again, hunting for words.
Marion’s brows slammed together. “But?” She prompted.
He winced slightly. “Um… since we’re sharing… I don’t hate the fact that you were a virgin…?” It came out as a question. “I don’t hate that you gave me something Hood wanted and can never have.”
She pursed her lips at his hesitant confession, trying not to laugh.
“I really don’t like the man.” Nicholas admitted, as if maybe she hadn’t noticed before. “I didn’t like that you were dating him. I didn’t like that everyone thought he had a claim on you. I’ve been a little jealous.”
Marion somehow managed to keep a straight face. “I did notice you were troubled, a few times.” She agreed in a serious tone.
Nicholas seemed relieved by her unruffled response. “Right. I didn’t like watching him touch you or dance with you or talk to you. I didn’t like it when you’d smile up at him, like he was a goddamn hero. I once saw you kissing him and I punched a hole in the garden wall, imagining it was his skull.”
“The stone wall? Around my house?”
He nodded.
“I wondered how that happened! You owe me fifteen gold pieces for repairs, you vandal.” She nipped his side in punishment.
Nicholas caught onto her amusement and relaxed. “So, I might possibly feel a bit of vindication, now that he’s the one on the outside. You’re finally touching me, and smiling at me, and kissing me. Like you always should’ve been.” He cleared his throat. “That’s all.”
“That’s all?” Marion doubted it. She could see there were still darker thoughts in his head. Watching his True Love pledge her devotion to another man had wounded Nicholas. Deeply. Getting it all out was the only way to heal him. “Tell me everything, Nick. I won’t be mad, if you want to talk about Robin.” She tried a cheeky smile. “I like it when you’re sexy and possessive.”
Nicholas hesitated.
Marion waited patiently, her chin on his chest. If you gave him time to figure out his own thoughts and settle on the words he needed, he could communicate just fine.
“Well…” Nicholas began in a slow voice, “there is a slight chance I’m pleased that Hood will never be able to call you his True Love, again.”
Marion nodded encouragingly.
His jaw tightened at the memories. “I fucking hated it when he’d say that. I sometimes think he sensed I hated it, so he’d just do it more. I wanted…” He let out an aggravated breath and trailed off.
“Go on.” Marion murmured, he needed to express all his feelings, so they could move past them.
“I wanted you. And he had you. And it killed me. For years. Every time you’d walk by me and I saw you…” He shook his head. “I knew you were supposed to be mine. I felt it. But, you’d be holding his fucking arm. So, I somewhat enjoy the idea that the tables have turned. Hood’s alone in those tick-filled woods, while you’re crying out my name and begging me to let you come.”
“That didn’t happen.” She denied piously, although it probably had.
“Hood will never know how soft and wet you are… And he’ll know that I do know. Every time he sees me, he’s going to think about what I have and he doesn’t.” Nicholas smirked a bit. “I may have briefly thought of how nice that will be.”
For some perverse reason, Marion’s insides flipped at his smug expression. She should ask Nicholas to share his thoughts, more often. They were delightfully wicked.
“And there is the remote possibility that I relish him finding out you’re my wife. Just mine. That I’ll be the one with all your ideas and your heart and your future. And there is nothing he can do to get you back.”
“Nothing.” Marion agreed firmly.
His eyes were clearer, now. “I really only care about you and me, Marion. That’s all that truly matters. I swear it.”
“But…” She prompted.
“But… on a petty and very inappropriate level? The news that you’re mine, for really real? When he hears that?” Nicholas sighed with arrogant anticipation, the cat who ate the canary. “It’s going to eat the bastard alive. And I fucking love that.”
Robin wouldn’t really care, but Marion didn’t want to spoil Nicholas’ fun by pointing that out. “Are you sure you weren’t born Bad?” She teased.
He lifted a self-deprecating shoulder. “I know I’m an asshole for thinking about any of this pissing-contest bullshit. It’s not even about Hood. It’s about you. And my terrifying lifelong obsession with you.”
“I don’t think you have an obsession. At least, not a terrifying one. It’s a harmless…”
He outright scoffed, cutting her off. “I need you so much, sometimes I can’t breathe, Marion. I want my handprints all over your body, so people will see who you belong to.” It came out in a rush. “I have memorized those letters you sent. I can recite them to you. I know how many kinds of perfume you own and which one you’ll pick, depending on your mood. I know the color of your favorite pair of socks. I’m insanely, incurably, passionately obsessed with you.”
“I’m your True Love. You knew that, on some level, at a very young age.” She touched his beautiful face. “So, you sought me out in any way you could. I think all your instincts went into overdrive and you grew a little bit troubled, when another man got close. But over all, it was perfectly normal.”
“I kidnapped you.”
“Okay, that part was a bit obsessive.”
“I would do worse. I would burn down the world to have you.”
“I am going to burn down Nottingham, because of what this town did to us.” She paused, wrinkling her nose. “But I actually am unhealthily fixated, according to the WUB Club’s psych evaluation. I warned you about that, right?”
“Yes. And I’m terrified you’ll one day be cured.”
“If ten years in prison and your death didn’t cure me, nothing will. Just resign yourself to being stalked by a felon forever.”
“Deal.” He kissed her forehead. “There’s a part of me that knows I should give you space to adjust to everything that’s happened. …But I can’t. It all feels too fragile. I’m paranoid you’ll run.”
“I’m not going to run.”
“You should.”
“Nottingham screwed up our perceptions of ourselves. They told you gargoyles weren’t worthy of True Love and they told me Maid’s shouldn’t enjoy sex. It’s all bullshit. We just have to sort through the last remnants of the lies and move on with our happily-ever-after, because we know better.”
He still looked a little pensive. “I can’t give you kids.” He said randomly. “I’m a gargoyle. We can’t reproduce.”
Marion rolled her eyes. The man was inventing issues, again. “Do you even want kids? Personally, all I want to do was drink on a beach, for the next decade or so.”
“I’m happy, just so I have you. You in a bathing suit is a bonus.”
“I’m happy with focusing on you in a bathing suit, too. So, problem solved.” She cuddled closer to his big body. “But if we change our mind later, carve ourselves a little gargoyle, just as perfect as you.”
He was satisfied with that plan. “Deal.” He said again. He lifted her hand to rub at the ruby ring gleaming on her finger and was silent for a long moment. She realized he was digging through his emotions, trying to find words. “What I really want is everyone to know you’re my True Love and that our marriage is irrevocable.” He eventually decided. “Because it is, Marion. We’d both have to agree to dissolve it and I’ll hang myself before I agree to that.”
“I don’t think it can be dissolved.” She nuzzled his neck, thrilled that he was sharing all his apprehensions with her. He really did trust her! “The marriage scroll isn’t in this timeline. It would have to be destroyed to get divorced and there’s no way to destroy it. I’m not even sure ‘when’ it is.”
Oh, he liked that quandary. She could feel him swelling beneath her. Marion sent him an arch look through her lashes and licked at his flat nipple enticingly.
He sucked in a breath. “No.” He warned. “You’ll be too sore.” His eyes fluttered closed, as she lapped at his sensitive flesh. “God, you were so tight.”
“I’m the perfect size.” Marion reached down to caress his growing erection. “You’re just very, very big.”
He swallowed. “Was it too much for you?”
“No, I loved it. I want to be a badass at sex. Teach me everything. Don’t worry. I’m a really great student.”
“Holy God…” He sighed in defeat as she stroked him, helpless against her touch. “You’re a Bad influence on me, Marion Greystone.”
She smiled at the name. “You like to be wicked. That’s why we fit so well, His Grace, Duke of Huntingdon.”
Nicholas stilled at the fancy-ass title that would now pass to him. “Shit.” He muttered, like it was just occurring to him he’d been elevated to the peerage and he wasn’t thrilled with his social climb. “Nobody’s gonna approve of a gargoyle being a duke.”
“Fuck ‘em all.” Marion kissed his stomach, her tongue running over the deep muscles, on to far more interesting plans. “You have such a beautiful body.”
He seemed startled by that idea. “You think so?”
“Yep. I want to do all kinds of naughty things with it.” Her mouth glided south. “Speaking of which… Are you going to miss your betrothal rights, now that we’re married?”
“I still have my betrothal rights.”
She glanced up at him, intrigued. “You want to keep your betrothal rights, even though we’re married?”
“Of course. They’re mine and I take them seriously.”
He did take them seriously. She hadn’t realized how much until right that minute.
Nicholas didn’t look away from her searching gaze. “You handed your body into my hands and I will always keep you safe. Married or not, that will never change.”
Instead of feeling panicked by that vow, Marion felt oddly reassured. “Okay. She whispered.
He liked that she finally believed his promise. His pleasure was very obvious.
Marion smiled and continued heading south.
Nicholas’ hips instinctively bucked, when she found a particularly sensitive spot. “Shit! Are you sure you want to be down that far?”
Oh, she was very sure.
“Since I’ve promised to take care of you, too, I want some betrothal rights, as well.” She decided. “I think I should get to touch your body, for a change.” She settled between his legs, her eyes bright with mischief. “And I’m thinking I want to try all the very Bad things Robin wanted from me. Only instead of doing them to him… I’m going to give them all to you.”
He stared at her, his gaze burning hot. “He gets nothing. I get everything.”
“Everything.” She was pretty sure it would help him get over his final worries about her ex, once and for all. “And don’t even think about stopping me. I have certain rights, under the law.”
His smile gleamed. “Claim all of them, duchess.”
She loved it when he was playful with her. “I’m probably not going to be great at this, at first.” She warned. The best way to deal with her internal conflicts and insecurities was to face them head-on. “You’ll have to teach me what you like.”
“I like you.” No doubt about that. If Nicholas got any more aroused, his erection would explode. “You don’t need to worry about being an expert. I promise you. I’m not going to last long, anyway. I’m already too far gone.” His fingers tightened on her tousled curls and his arousal nudged her lips. “I’ve dreamed of you doing this every single time you’ve smiled at me, for the past ten years.”
She rewarded his patience by leaning forward to suckle the very tip of his manhood.
“Marion!” His hand fisted in her hair, like he was afraid she’d disappear if he let her go.
Marion’s confidence skyrocketed. She adjusted her position to take him deeper, learning as she went. His reactions told her how to move to make him the happiest. Nicholas was usually the quietest man in Nottingham, but sex sure seemed to turn up his volume. He talked a lot in bed and he was loud, when he got happy.
“Christ, that’s good.” He was trying to hold himself motionless, so he didn’t frighten her. She could feel the strain in his muscles. “You’re so pretty. You’re so goddamn pretty, sometimes it hurts to look at you.” His body jerked involuntarily and he moaned. “Harder. That’s it. Let me in, nice and deep.”
