Page 37 of Sherwood
“You tried to kill me first, as I’ve already made clear,” he said tightly. “And I wasn’t trying to kill you, I was trying to stop you.”
“By killing me.” I didn’t have time for this. I walked to the bed and held out my hand for Marian to take. “Your choice,” I told her. “Come with me or stay with him.”
“And if I go with you?” she asked. “What does that mean? For me? For my work?”
I shook my head slowly. “I don’t know, Marian.”
“You won’t have committed a crime by going,” Rafe said. “But if you learn of treasonous actions wherever you’re at, then you risk becoming complicit in the government’s eyes. At the very least, you risk being brought in for questioning once we find you again.”
“And if I stay, I won’t be questioned?” Marian asked.
Rafe shook his head. “I can’t promise that.”
At least he was being honest. “If you stay, you will be watched,” I told her.
“If you go, you will be hunted,” countered Rafe.
She looked down at her hands, which were fisting and rubbing the tops of her thighs. “I can’t make a decision this quickly,” she breathed.
“Then don’t,” Rafe said. “Stay. Take time to think about it. If you still want to run off and play Robin Hood with Lox, then you can later.”
“He’s lying, Marian,” I responded quickly. “Later is too late. The choice is between youhavinga choice and him using you. The NSA watching you. For the next decade at least, you will be on their radar, and that’s thebest-case scenario.Please.”
She looked at him and then at me.
She took my hand.
“Don’t do this, sweet one,” Rafe said, and I knew I wasn’t imagining the pleading in his voice. “Don’t.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “Sir.”
ChapterNine
LOX
Jovanna was talkingin my ear as I led Marian to the back door of the club. “There’s no one in the side lot where you’ve parked your bike. Much says no one’s come close to it, so I think we’re fine when it comes to trackers, but I still think you need to take the long way to the castle just in case.”
“Copy,” I said, tugging Marian along behind me. She was barefoot and mussed, and I didn’t even know what we looked like, with me hauling her off to places unknown while she was shoeless and well-fucked, but at the very least, it wouldn’t look out of place at The Knot.
And anyway, it felt right to do—right to finally, finally take her to the world I’d built. Marian would be my queen fox after all.
I kicked open the back door, scanned the empty lot, and then lifted Marian into my arms without asking.
“Lox,” she protested, squirming.
I held her easily, although I still walked quickly toward my MV Agusta parked in the far shadows of the lot, because I didn’t know how long I could hold her if she really wanted to fight me on it. “I don’t know how much time we have,” I said. “Bare feet will slow you down. Here.”
We got to the bike, and I set her on her feet before reaching for the helmet I had strapped to the back.
“No,” she said when I tried to hand it to her. “Don’t you need one too? I can’t take the only one!”
“Not up for debate,” I told her tightly, guiding the helmet onto her head before she could try to argue any more about it. After that came my jacket, which luckily she accepted without a fight, and then I pulled the tangled silk of her hair out from under its collar. I mounted the Agusta, kicked up the stand, and pulled the key out from a chain around my neck. After the bike roared to life, I tilted my head at the seat behind me. “Get on, Marian.”
She didn’t hesitate, but it was obvious from the careful way she straddled the seat that she’d never ridden on a motorcycle before.
“Hug me tight,” I told her, and despite everything, my heart flipped sideways at the feel her hands sliding around my waist and pulling herself close. “Lean when I lean. Tap my arm if you need something.”
I felt her nod against me, and then I peeled out of the lot, checking behind me to make sure we weren’t being actively followed.
