We stopped by to see my father on the way, and let him know where we were going. He asked if I wanted him to come too, but I told him I'd be fine, and would come back to visit soon. As we hugged goodbye, he whispered that he knew Guy would take care of me and I nodded. He looked relieved that I was in good hands. We took our leave and continued on our way, the Sheriff in front, me in the middle, and Guy behind. It was an uneventful trip, although I wouldn't have been surprised to know that Robin was following us.
I maneuvered my horse next to Guy's as often as I could so I could watch closely for any signs of pain or fatigue. If our bedroom activities were any sign, he was almost completely recovered, but travel can be hard on an injured person. I tried to be surreptitious about it, though, in case the Sheriff looked our way. I needn't have worried, because he was too busy talking about himself to notice anything we were doing. I probably could have leapt onto Guys horse and let him take me right there and the Sheriff would have continued talking about his own brilliance.
Guy noticed, though, and used my attentiveness to give me suggestive looks. Yes, he was almost completely healed. I rolled my eyes at him, as much for his expression as for the Sheriff's unending monologue. He grinned at me, and I grinned back. If he knew I had just been thinking about leaping to his horse he probably would have held out his arms. I blushed at the thought, and he brought his horse closer so he could whisper that as soon as we were in our room at the castle he wanted to know what thought had caused that delicious color to tinge my cheeks. Grinning, I replied that I would by all means tell him.
When we got to the castle, the Sheriff went to his quarters to rest, and probably count some money or kill a bird. Guy took me to his chambers, which were now ours. Once inside, we both let out a sigh of relief, and then looked at each other and chuckled. I walked up to him and put my arms around his neck, feeling his go around my waist. I looked up at him with amazement.
"How do you listen to that nonstop drabble?" I asked with a sigh. "I haven't been around him that long at a time before, and I'm surprised that he hasn't lost his voice!" He chuckled.
"Perhaps you are now rethinking the wisdom of marrying me, since you will see so much more of him." I shook my head, and he smiled. "I have become adept at tuning out what I don't need to hear and knowing when to respond. Unfortunately, I don't think he will ever lose his voice, but we can always hope he will." We smiled at each other, and then I reached up to trace his jaw with my finger. He gave me his crooked smile, and I braced myself for the question.
"Now tell me what you were thinking on the way here," he requested softly, his finger tracing down my neck and along the top of my dress. I blushed again and then explained how far I might be able to go without attracting the attention of the self-absorbed Sheriff. He chuckled and agreed that it probably wouldn't, but suggested we test the theory some time, his eyes twinkling.
I pretended to give it some thought, and he looked at me expectantly. I replied that the Sheriff need not be present for us to try it out, and he suggested we could try it right now. Giggling, I told him that I would prefer we try it some time when we were home, not in the Castle, and he agreed, his eyes gazing heatedly at me. I felt desire bloom inside, langorously warming me, at the thought.
"Have you ever tried that before?" I asked, wanting to know and not wanting to know at the same time. He shook his head.
"It must take a lot of balance and a horse not easily spooked," he said softly, his eyes on my mouth. "My horse might be a bit too excitable, but yours is fairly docile." He said this as if he was talking about the weather, and I swallowed audibly. When I looked up at him, though, there was no mistaking the heat in his eyes. Now I couldn't wait to try it. My thoughts reluctantly returned to the Sheriff and our deception.
"Pretending not to hate him is harder than I thought," I said, laying my head on his chest. "How do you do it?"
"Honestly, it used to be how I really was. When I met you, what you saw was what you got. But I fell in love with you, and it gradually chipped away at me from the inside, until one day I realized I hated who I used to be. You changed me, just by being who you are." I raised my head, and he kissed me tenderly.
"Guy, I can't believe you were always like that. You must have been different when you were a boy. What happened to make you so hard and resentful?" He shook his head.
"I don't want to talk about that now." When I would have protested, he shushed me gently. "Yes, I will tell you what you want to know. I will answer your questions. But I am not ready. I am enjoying this time with you and I don't want to mar it with those memories just yet." His eyes were pleading with me to understand. I brought his mouth to mine.
"I shall try to be patient, my love, but there is so much I want to know. Please don't think that anything you have to say will change how I feel about you. That was the past. This is now." I kissed him tenderly, and he sighed softly. Then he captured my mouth with his and we ceased talking and started communicating in other ways, making our way to the bed.
Afterward, laying together in bed, I asked him what he had been thinking on our wedding night, back when he hid his emotions from me. He chuckled softly, and thought for a moment, his hand stroking my cheek. I snuggled up closer, laying my head on his chest, and listened to it rumble as he spoke.
"Although I was elated that you had shown up for the wedding, I thought you might back out, so when the priest pronounced us husband and wife I could hardly believe it. But I was still unsure whether you would be...willing to be married in the full sense of the word. I wasn't going to make you do anything, but I wasn't going to not try. When I came in to our bedroom, and saw you so nervous in the bed, it took away a little of my nervousness, but not much. I was so afraid you would tell me to leave, but you didn't." I traced his jaw softly.
"I was going to run, actually, but something kept me at the chapel and suddenly, there I was, married to you. I was very nervous, not knowing what to expect. Or, rather, I thought I did know what to expect. Your gentleness disarmed me, and your request helped me feel like I had a say in the matter. I think that if you had acted differently, I would have refused."
"I'm glad you didn't." His finger traced along my side, heating my skin where he touched it.
"So am I." I took a deep breath. "I had expected to marry Robin for so long that I assumed that what I felt for him was love. But what I felt for him pales in comparison for what I feel for you, Guy. It is tame compared to the all-consuming passion I feel for you." His eyes glittered at my admission. "You must have realized that when I let you take me on our table, when we were in the pond, and especially when I took over in the forest. I can't seem to get enough of you." Like now, I thought, as his hands continued to tantalize me.
"I was surprised, yes. But I have always known you were passionate about what you believed in. Feeling that passion directed toward me gave me hope that you might have softened your feelings toward me a little bit." I chuckled and leaned in for a kiss.
"You know me so well, Husband. Now, how do we keep the Sheriff from discovering our secret?"
"We shall have to hide it well, my love. Or, at least, you shall. He has known me to be susceptible to your charms for quite some time now, so I can act as besotted as I want." I gave him a playful punch in the arm.
"Oh, so you have the easy job, then! I have to do all the hard work!"
"You shall be amply rewarded for your efforts," he responded huskily.
"What form shall this reward take? I must know!" I replied archly. He leaned closer, kissing along my jaw. I sighed softly.
"Allow me to show you..." Which he did. Quite well, I might add.
Dinner was quite the affair. It was just the three of us, and the Sheriff played his favorite game -- talking about himself and how he could become more important, rich, and powerful. And a little smattering of how to get Robin Hood. I wanted to yawn, but decided against it. Who knew if Guy's protection covered being rude to the Sheriff?
We sat together on the bench, holding hands under the table. His fingers were lightly stroking the palm of my hand, which was quite distracting. Pleasantly so. It made the Sheriff's droning more bearable. When I had to disengage my hand to eat, his fingers moved to my thigh, teasing me. On the bright side, it gave me reason to give him an irritated look, which kept our cover in place.
The stew was piping hot and above average. The Sheriff didn't care about the quality of his food as much as he cared about money, prestige, and killing Robin. At the same time, he didn't want food that tasted bad. Guy's cook was a great deal better than Nottingham Castle's. Of course, he enjoyed the finer things in life, I thought, looking at him out of the corner of my eye. Suddenly I wondered what that meant about him choosing to marry me. What if he had loved me and I never came to feel that way about him? He had taken a chance, but it had paid off...for both of us.
Guy was the dutiful henchman, which mainly meant listening, and occasionally agreeing with something the Sheriff said. I busied myself by counting the minutes until we could go back to bed. I ended up going alone, as the Sheriff did his "best thinking at night," and Guy had to be there for it. I gave Guy what I hoped looked like an unwilling kiss and left them to their plotting.
When Guy finally made it to bed, he regaled me with tales of the Sheriff's plans. He had actually asked Guy if he had managed to "bed" me now that he had wed me, and I snorted at the audacity. I also found the question amusing because the Sheriff obviously knew he had. I started massaging Guy's shoulders as he told me how he had answered -- in the affirmative. I gasped in mock horror.
"You, sir, are no gentleman, telling him of our intimate encounters!" He glanced back at me with that crooked grin and my heart fluttered.
"He thinks I am no gentleman, and so I must act that way. He had already guessed as much anyway; he was just amusing himself with the rhyme. I think he has been waiting to use it for some time. I told him no details, however, just that I had. If I had told him any details, he'd have found us out right quick." Smiling back at him, I had to agree with his assessment. We concluded the evening with one of the detailed encounters that would have given us away.
Waking in the castle was so much gloomier than waking in Locksley. There was a window, and sun did come in through it, but it was smaller, and the walls were so much darker (being stone), that it didn't light the entire room. Our bed was also further away from it, so I didn't even feel a breeze. Some things were the same, though. Guy was curled up at my back, as always, his arm over my waist. He was snoring lightly, and when he exhaled it tickled the back of my neck.
Waking next to Guy in the castle was definitely a step up from waking by myself. Before the walls had seemed to close in on me. I had felt trapped, not only by the physical walls, but by the cage I felt myself in, having to marry Guy and pretend to be ok with what he did. I still felt it closing in, but I no longer felt marriage to Guy to be a cage. I felt safe with him now, not stifled. I would rather be with him in this claustrophobic place than by myself in the freedom of Locksley.
I heard activity outside, and wondered if part of the reason the Sheriff brought Guy in was for an execution. As the Sheriff's Man at Arms, Guy was expected to not only catch outlaws but be present at their hangings. It had been part of what I disliked about him so much, being on the side of the outlaws myself. We hadn't talked specifically about that part of his job, but I got the impression that he did what he had to in order to keep it.
As his betrothed, I had been expected to sit next to him and watch them, which I had hated. It was always a relief when Robin managed to free the poor souls on the scaffold. He somehow managed to find out, or maybe he just played the odds. Chances were that any given day would have an execution. It was the really special ones that he tried to thwart -- the ones that really got the Sheriff's goat when Robin won.
Now as his wife I was even more beholden, but knowing how he felt helped immensely. I thought for a moment how much better things would be with Guy as Sheriff, but then I wondered how much more he would have to do to stay in Prince John's good graces, and sighed. Must there always be opposition?
I felt Guy stir behind me, and his hand started caressing my stomach. I smiled, knowing it wouldn't be much longer before he was awake and ready to greet me. Part of him already was awake, in fact, and very eager to do just that. He nuzzled my neck and I moaned softly, his stubble rubbing softly against the sensitive skin. He pressed light kisses along the nape of my neck and I squirmed against him, causing him to moan.
Turning in his arms, my mouth found his and we kissed good morning. As usal, our morning coupling was slow and unhurried, as if we were rediscovering each other after a long break. I suppose a full night's sleep was a long break for us, although we did usually break up the night with a barely awake session. Now I gasped as his lips found a nipple, which he lavished with attention. The other wasn't lonely for long, as his fingers teased it in a similar fashion. He traded off, and I arched to meet his mouth.
When he entered me, I was already so close that a few strokes got me there. He wasn't far behind, collapsing on top of me afterward. I loved feeling his weight on me, and when he finally rolled off, I was always a little disappointed. Since it always preceeded him taking me in his arms, however, the disappointment never lasted.
"Good morning, Wife," he whispered in my ear.
"Good morning, Husband," I responded softly. "What is in store for today?" He sighed, not responding for a moment.
"An execution, in honor of our wedding," he finally said, and I got up on an elbow to look at him.
"For our wedding?" I asked incredulousy, and he sighed again.
"The Sheriff's idea of a present," he responded, and I shook my head.
"When did you know?" I asked, and he gave me a wary look.
"He told me last night, after you had gone to bed. I stopped by to see Allan on the way up here, and he left to take the message to Robin." I gave him a relieved smile.
"That will be a much better wedding present, which deserves ample reward." He smiled back.
"I always try my best to please you, Love," he responded huskily, and kissed me tenderly.
The execution went as well as Guy had planned; Robin showing up just in the nick of time to save the accused. The Sheriff had chosen a Knighton resident to really upset me. If the execution had been successful he would have upset me greatly. As it was I anxiously held Guy's hand until the man was safe, his thumb stroking the back of my hand to help me stay calm. The best part of the present, though, was when the Sheriff threw a fit when Robin freed the prisoner. I could hardly wait to get back to our room to giggle at the memory.