“Allan,” I said, breathing in the smell only Rob had, of pine and ash and ocean. “Go now.”

“My lady,” he said, and that were the last of him.

Rob’s eyes were fierce and hard and they glittered down at me. “Please explain in some small measure, Scarlet.”

“Allan? He’s a thief, from London. Kindred soul,” I said.

“Gisbourne.”

My eyes shut. “Rob, I had to.”

“No, you didn’t. You told me you would never go back to him. You told me you understood that he would kill you. And what is wrong with your hand? Is it broken? You went to him with a broken hand?”

“Rob,” I said low, not daring to open my eyes. “My hand’ll be right again. And as for killing me … well, he hasn’t yet.”

“Scarlet.” My eyes flew open and his were shut tight, his head bent. Hurting, I pushed my forehead to his. His hands came up and held my face, leaning as if he were ’bout to kiss me. His eyes opened a sliver and met mine, and he let me go, swearing and turning from me.

“That’s why, Rob,” I told him soft.

“Why what?” he snapped, turning back round.

“Why I went to Gisbourne. Because I need to kiss you, to touch you, to hold on to you through your awful dreams. Without us both wondering if we’re doing a sin.”

He turned back to me and caught me, one arm round my waist pulling me off my feet and the other in my hair tugging my head back. I caught his eyes, fixed on me in a way that made heat rush over me in a breaking wave, and I couldn’t breathe.

Our lips touched. His were dry and rasped over me a bit, like it were so chaste it weren’t even there. Then his mouth opened and it weren’t dry anymore. His lips were perfect against mine, more soft than I would have never guessed, and warm like the sun hitting the water.

My blood ran hot and fast and I felt more than human, like I were powerful beyond every measure. His mouth opened more and his tongue ran against my lips, and my whole body sparked like tinder. I bare had a thought, but I wanted more of him, so much more, and my hands were desperate for it, fingertips running like they could keep whatever they touched.

My back nudged up against a wall, somewhere shaded from the sun and prying eyes, but I didn’t never remember moving. His head twisted and our lips broke for a bare instant before he touched them back again, twisting his head the other way. His lips pressed my bruise and I jerked.

His arms went tense and hard around me, and the kiss broke apart. His nose nudged me like a dog giving orders, and I obeyed, moving my face to one side. Hot hands running my sides, his mouth touched impossible gentle to the bruise by my mouth from Gisbourne. Rob’s lips left, then dropped soft small kisses on the bruises that he had laid. He kissed my closed eyes and without wanting it, water dripped out from my eyes. He kissed that away too.

“I’m sorry, sweet,” he whispered into my ear. “I’m sorry I pushed you to this.”

My hands twisted to fists in his shirt. “I never should have married him, Rob. I should have found another way.”

“We’ll get out of this,” he said. “I’ll get better, and you can walk away.”

I shook my head a tiny bit. “I’m getting that annulment. They call me Marian, Rob, and they act with so little honor it’s a horror to call them nobility.” I pushed my head to his. “They took my name, Rob.”

His lips touched mine again, more puffed and soft now, burning against mine. When he stopped he didn’t go nowhere, speaking straight into my mouth. “They can have your name. I know who you are, with or without it. And I won’t ever let you lose that. My love. My Scarlet.”

I pressed a kiss to his mouth. “Say it once more?” I asked.

He kissed me. “Scarlet,” he breathed. Another kiss. “Scarlet.”

I didn’t need strength. My heart were so full to bursting that I could have run to London and back without food, drink, or rest. My body were burned over and over with the feel of him, and it were all I needed to stay strong.

It were an awful sin, and I didn’t care. Kissing Rob made me an adulterer, but wedding Gisbourne when he weren’t the one in my heart made me an adulterer too. I didn’t for a breath believe a kiss would make Robin better, but it were all I needed to hold on to everything I were doing this for.

Church bells rang out, and I broke the kiss, listening for the hour. “I have to go,” I whispered against his mouth.

His nose rubbed mine slowly, then his mouth pressed against mine once more. “Do you know how often I’ve imagined kissing you?”

My breath stopped, and I opened my eyes to search his. “And?”

“You cannot tell me to stop now and watch you walk away,” he said, his breath running into my breath. Another kiss. “Especially to him.”

My ring felt heavier then, and I pulled back from Rob. I stroked his cheek slow with my good hand. “I’ll make it right, Rob. I’ll get the annulment and then I can kiss you in public. All day long. Till the village wives wring their hands at us.”

He smiled, leaning into my hand. “We’ve always been good at causing a bit of chaos.”

I stepped away from him with a sad smile, but he tugged my good wrist and brought me back for one more kiss. Then he let me go and I walked back to the castle, every step dragging and slow like I were fighting against a tide.

Chapter Nine

The servants were laying out a fancy dress and brushing it flat and free of dust and dirt when I came back to the room. The long bit were gold, shimmering and bright, and the shorter bit that fit over it were tufted red velvet, the same color as my old ribbons. It were an awful expensive thing, and it felt like soft moss beneath my hand.