Page 37 of An Earl for the Archeress

“Nope, not little,” Will replied, wiping a tear from his eye.

“Did he really just…” Mariel couldn’t complete her shocked words.

Her mouth gaped open and she threw her hands to her sides, striding purposefully for the door. Robert made chase again.

“I advise you to keep your bloody paws to yourself,” she warned him.

He ignored her demand, leaping in front of her once more, and grabbed both her shoulders.

She punched his arms away.

“They tease you now. I tease you, woman! I tease those that I like. John. You. I only tease. Stop…” He hushed his voice. “He didn’t, Mari. He boasted, certainly, but he kept himself concealed.”

With Robert blocking her only escape, she had no choice but to stop. She sighed, folding her arms and popping a hip.

“I tire of your antics. I’m leaving.” She flung her braid over her shoulder and moved to bypass him.

To her surprise, he finally stepped aside. Breathing a sigh of relief, she reached for the latch, when he dipped his head and placed his lips upon hers, offering a gentle yet intimate kiss. Stunned, she froze. He continued to kiss her, coaxing participation from her lips until eventually she returned it, albeit grudgingly.

A whistle from behind them snapped her back to reality, and she wrenched herself away. He smiled, wiping the moisture from his lips. “I knew you didn’t hate me,” he murmured, pecking her cheek. “John. She was making the point that you’re by far the most sizable man here, and no, she was not referencing your cock.” Just the use of the lewd word made Mariel throw her hands over her face again. “And if memory serves me,” Robert stated, taking her hand in his to coax her back into the room, “she was giving me a tongue lashing at the time for being inhospitable, whilst you, John, had been the only man to welcome her kindly.”

To Mariel’s relief, the tension thrumming through the room seemed to shift, but John was looking with puzzlement between her and Robert now, watching her lips.

“I’ll accept your apology,” he said grudgingly to Robert.

The perpetual twinkle in Robert’s eye sparkled as he looked at Mariel. “Assuming I’m offering an apology. To Elmer, I offer my deepest apology. To you, John, I’ll leave it to you to exact your revenge against me as men must do.”

With Mariel in hand, he brought her back to the table yet again. She couldn’t bring herself to look at any of them.

“Careful I do not exact revenge as well,” she muttered, garnering a round of chuckles from the others. “Honestly, how do each of you tolerate him?”

“With drink,” Will said, lifting his glass in salutation and taking another sip. “We tolerate Robert with copious amounts of drink. Will you join us? Robert hand-picked each of us to be on this council before his father died and has been searching for one more man, to no avail. You clearly made one hell of an impression on him.”

She looked to Robert, who, despite his antics had a genuinely hopeful look on his face, then at John, who appeared sullen yet curious. Alan seemed skeptical, and Will, eager. David was looking down but flashed glances at her.

“I would need to see what you do before I agree to help. If even one stolen copper goes into your coffers, I’ll know you’re a fraud.”

Robert grinned and tugged her against his side, turning to the others. “I believe my band of men is complete.”

“And woman,” she added.

“And woman,” he conceded with an exaggerated bow.

“Not until I see for myself that the money you take is—”

“You’ll see the truth of it soon enough,” he interrupted. “David tells me Nottingham is traveling home to his castle right now. Whenever he travels, there is a possibility that someone will be harmed and so, I’ll be ready for any news brought to my gates. We know he’ll be traveling back through East Anglia to continue his version of tax collection two days from now. In other words, he’ll be evicting another poor bugger and taking his last coin at the point of a sword.” He looked back down at Mariel, tucked beneath his shoulder.

“I thought you said David couldn’t speak,” Mariel remarked, looking at David.

Robert glanced down at her as his men chuckled again.

“Alas no, he cannot speak, but he can write like a Franciscan monk.” He winked. “Dressed as a serf, Nottingham never suspects him of being literate. What say you? ’Twill be the perfect time to witness our benevolence. Are you game, Elmer?”

She glanced at their faces once more. Lord, what was she getting herself into? “On condition you prove you’re the Samaritans you claim to be, then aye, I’ll help.”

She was met with grins.

“And for the record,” John said, still glancing uncertainly between her and Robert, “he calls me a lousy shot because I bested him with a bow and arrow once and he can’t let it go, because he’s the sorest little prick of a loser to walk God’s green earth.”