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Will Scarlet’s face was halved by that moonlight as he stepped into the carriage and shut the door behind him, showing the good and the bad in him.
My heart jumped to my throat. He neared me at the end of the carriage, blanketed by a green dress I’d helped Friar Tuck sew.
“W-What are you doing here?” I stammered in a whisper.
He crouched before me, his rough tunic and pants rustling as his face sank toward mine. “If you’re leaving tomorrow, then I need you tonight.”
I blinked at him, wide-eyed, in shock. “What—”
“You might never come back.” His head tilted, a sinister grin on his face. Or was that my vision playing with me in the darkness, and a softer smile than I realized?
His face was inches from mine. I lay on my side, but slowly rolled onto my back, bracing my elbows behind me. I stared into his brooding, dark eyes; his sharp chin and gaunt face. He was a beautiful man. I’d seen what he had underneath it all, too. Besides the corded muscles and immaculate physique, he held wrath at bay, coursing in his veins.
I could see that wrath, even now.
Yet my body reacted to his low hum of a voice, the possessive way he stared at me.
“I can’t get your pristine face out of my damned mind, no matter how hard I try,” Will said. “You haunt my dreams, even when I’m awake.”
My brow furrowed. “What am I supposed to do with that?” My voice was strained.
I hated feeling timid. As much as Will Scarlet could scare me at times, I knew he wasn’t an awful man. To others? Perhaps. To anyone on his bad side, or anyone who decided to hurt his family—William Elder or Merry Man alike? Absolutely.
But to me . . . he stared at me with adoration.
“You know what you’re supposed to do with it,” he answered.
His voice chilled me to the bone. I couldn’t fight off the spark of heat that bloomed in my belly, snuffing out the cold.
“You don’t even like me,” I said.
“Like has nothing to do with it. I need you. Don’t you see? You’ve changed me, and I can’t stand it. Can’t stand the way you pout and bite your lip, even now. The way your eyes flutter and search my face for signs of deceit and treachery. You see through me. I can’t stand you, my twisted little thorn.”
My jaw went slack. I wasn’t sure if that was supposed to be a compliment. Perhaps it was the closest I was going to get to one.
The brat inside me came out as the heat blossomed through my body. “You want to fuck me like you hate me.”
“As I said before.”
“Even though you don’t.” I cleared my throat. “Hate me, that is.”
“Twist it any way you want, brat princess. Just let me have you, or else I won’t be able to let you go tomorrow. Little John had you last night, so it’s my turn tonight. I must know what he’s found.”
My breath came shallow and weak, even as my pulse pumped with anticipation. I licked my lips, and he watched the whole time, readjusting himself in his awkward crouch, hand going south between his legs.
This young man, no older than I, had been my biggest detractor since coming here. He’d paid me little attention, and now he was admitting that he’d fallen for me . . . and I hadn’t even noticed?
I couldn’t believe him. Couldn’t believe I had this kind of power over him. It made me feel unruly and wild—feral, for this hateful man who wanted nothing more than to shut me up and make me his.
He clicked his tongue. His smirk felt more dangerous than mine. “Let me thank you properly for earlier today. I need to expel all the anger and indignation . . . inside you.”
Expel his . . . “Christ save me,” I huffed.
“Christ can’t save you from me, little thorn. No one can, living or otherwise.”
Robert said, “That’s not true. I can save you, Robin.”
But he couldn’t. My brother wasn’t here—he was only in my mind. He wanted to control my thoughts, while Will Scarlet wanted to control my body.
