Page 54 of Sherwood
“Believe it or not, we haven’t had much time to talk about it,” Lox said dryly, “what with being on the run from the NSA and all.” We’d managed to talk to her a few times, but cell coverage on the Pacific and in the wilds of Alaska was spotty at best, and the conversations had been far too short. “But before I went to the house so you’d release Will, I told her the same thing I just told you.” Worry, such an unfamiliar thing to see on Lox’s sharply delicate features, pulled her winged brows together and tightened her jaw. “I didn’t want to kidnap you away from your lives, you know. I don’t want to hold you hostage.”
“I very much doubt you could make me do anything I don’t want to do,” I told her frankly. “And Marian wouldn’t have followed you if she wasn’t ready to give up the rest of her life, which was only the company anyway.”
“A company that meant the world to her,” Lox said unhappily. “And try as I might, I can’t see any way she won’t have to give it up entirely while she’s living with us.”
I didn’t either. Marian had appointed a proxy to run the company in her absence, claiming illness, but before long, more permanent changes would be needed. She could hardly run a multimillion-dollar corporation while the NSA was actively hunting for her, which after all of our disappearances from Sherwood, they certainly would be.
But.
“Marian isn’t going to play tower princess any more than I am,” I said, reaching over to slide my hand over Lox’s thigh. She stiffened for a moment—neither of us were used to physical comfort, or any touch at all that wasn’t related to war or sex—but then relaxed. “She’ll find her new life, just as I will. We both chose this. We both choseyou.”
“I know,” she said, her mouth twisting. “I just want to give you both something that’s worth that choice.”
“You already have. Robin, you’ve given us yourself.”
I only ever used her first name when I meant it—when we were fucking or fighting—and from this angle, I could see the way her chest rose as it caught on a breath, the way her long red lashes swept up and then back down again. I could see the slow way she swallowed, as if fighting back some powerful feeling.
“Thank you,” she said.
“I love you,” I said simply.
“I love you too. And I love her. And—I think—yes, this is it. Do you see it? Through the trees?”
It took another few yards, but then I saw it glinting through the branches and leaves, metal and glass and wood, all giant windows and steep angles to repel the inevitable snow.
But it was summer now, and so the house was sunk into a verdant meadow, green and fireweed-pink, surrounded by trees and linked by a path to a small lake. I thought I could see hints of other buildings around the lake, all built in the same style, and knew those must be houses and workspaces for the rest of the Merry Men, but all thoughts left my head as I caught a glimpse of movement through the floor-to-ceiling window at the front.
Bare feet, dark hair, a lilac sundress.
Marian.
ChapterFourteen
RAFE
Neither Lox nor I spoke,but I knew we were both feeling the same sudden rush of dark hunger, a hunger that we couldn’t sate with each other no matter how hard we tried—although I’d be lying if I didn’t say that the trying was still very enjoyable. But we still needed more and thirsted for more, and that more was Marian, it was her surrender, her willingness to crawl to the feet of us carnivores and show us her long, graceful throat.
The truck rolled to a stop, parked, turned off. And then there was only the clatter of seat belts and doors, and only us stalking up to the front door, both of us moving like predators who’ve just scented prey on the wind.
My cock was already thick and wedged against the zipper of my trousers, and my mouth watered for Marian, for Lox, for the three of us together. I wouldn’t be able to wait once I got inside the house. I needed to fuck now.Topnow.
“I hope she’s ready,” Lox said, voice full of dark promise, and then pushed open the front door and strode inside.
Marian was framed by the expanse of window behind her, turning when she heard us, her eyes as vivid as jewels. The dress she wore fell softly over her curves, and she wore no bra, so I could see the shape of her breasts and the pebbled juts of her nipples. The shadows of her thighs through the flimsy material.
She looked at us advancing on her, me in my Oxfords and Lox in her boots, and she gave us a wicked smile. “Green,” she said, before we could say a single word.
This woman.
My stride was the longest and so I was the first to reach her. I seized her with one arm around her waist and curled my free hand around her jaw and kissed her, exploring the soft shape of her mouth with my own before pushing my tongue past her lips to remind myself of how she tasted.
“We missed you, darling,” I murmured against her mouth. “Did you miss us?”
“Yes, sir,” she panted. I kissed her again, hard, keeping her jaw in my grip as I did. She tasted clean and sweet, like summer itself, and her mouth was so giving, so soft and warm.
I couldn’t wait to fuck it.
Lox was just behind me, and clearly impatient, because she tried to shove me out of the way, which was almost cute, given the extra foot and not negligible amount of weight I had on her. As a peace offering, I used my grip on Marian’s jaw to turn her face to Lox’s so Lox could kiss her too.
