Marian couldn't believe Robin's gall, being asleep in her bed! How dare he? Did his impudence know no limit?

She needed to awaken him immediately, and shoo him away, before her father might discover his presence and jump to incorrect conclusions.

But something stopped her. She couldn't admit it, even to herself, but she didn't want him to go. He was asleep, and therefore incapable of his typical smug and clever remarks. She could look at him to her heart's content, without his bold blue eyes pouring over her, studying her as if she were some intricate puzzle, sending butterflies fluttering and cascading about inside her.

Marian dropped to her knees at her own bedside, and slowly leaned over Robin, studying his sleeping face. She took her time, barely breathing, carefully examining his unruly tousled hair, the faint but already present creases on his skin, his soft eyelashes and smooth brows, the tip of his nose and chin, each touched with a slight indentation, as if he had been folded in half. She longed to gently kiss each eyelid, but looked instead at his lips, full and somewhat pouting as he slept, tempting her even more strongly to kiss them. His strong neck, liberally sprinkled with rough whiskers, made her want to rub her cheek against it to feel those whiskers scratch her skin.

"Oh, Robin," Marian sighed. "Why couldn't you love me enough to have stayed?"

She jumped back in alarm when he blissfully breathed out her name, bringing her back to the urgency of the moment.

He couldn't stay here. She had to get him out of her room, at once. Grabbing him by his shoulders, she shook him as forcefully as she could.

Robin sat straight up, startled awake from his pleasant dream. His outlaw tag fell onto the floor, and Marian scooped it up and threw it at him.

"You have some nerve," she scolded, in a loud whisper. "What do you mean by invading my room and sleeping in my bed?"

"Good evening, Marian," Robin answered cockliy back, hanging his outlaw tag around his neck. "It's good to see you, too."

"I'm not laughing, Robin. What are you doing here?"

"Just thought I'd pay you a visit."

"In the middle of the night? You keep strange hours."

"So do you, it would seem, since you weren't here. Where were you, Marian? It's unwise to offer yourself up as target practice for the sheriff's guards, you know."

"People are hungry, as you well know. Someone has to help them. Robin Hood, in spite of what people believe, can't do everything."

"He can do more than a lone woman, traipsing around in the dark in boy's clothing! You don't have to do it anymore, Marian."

"I'll do whatever it takes to help people, whether you approve or not. And I don't traipse. Now, get out of my house."

Robin stood and peered deeply into her eyes, his own eyes pleading. "I wish you wouldn't, Marian. You're likely to get hurt."

Marian gave an involuntary gasp of air, and looked away, She couldn't hold up under his intense gaze. "And you're not? Why should I care about my safety, when you flagrantly disregard your own?"

She hadn't realized until the words were out, that she had offered him another chance to tell her what she longed to hear. He felt the opportunity beckoning him to confess his true heart to her. Four little words, "Because I love you," were on the tip of his tongue, but the fear of her cold, cruel rejection held them back.

"You need to think of your father," he said instead. "Think how he would feel, if you were hurt or captured."

"My father?" she echoed, dryly. How cold of him! She did think of her father, constantly. How could he imply she did not?

"Get out, if you've nothing better to say than that! And I'll thank you to stay out of my affairs, from now on. Don't even think about showing your scruffy face here again. Do you hear me?"

"I'll stay away, if you'll keep out of my house."

"I'll go wherever I like, if I'm invited."

"And the gallant Sir Guy of Gisbourne is certain to invite you again! What's it to be, next time, Marian? An intimate dinner for two, followed by, what? Seduction in front of my fireplace?"

"Grow up."

Unknown to them, the volume of their voices had increased in anger, awakening Sir Edward.

"Marian? Who's in there with you? Are you alright?" he anxiously asked, his voice growing louder as he approached her room.

"My father!" Marian cried. "Get out!"

"Kiss me goodbye?" Robin couldn't help asking, even angry as he was.

With a furious huff, Marian shoved him toward her window and almost threw him out.

"Go back to the forest and stay there! You don't belong with civilized people. Go!"

"I'll be back, Marian," Robin told her, from the ledge outside her window. "Your bed's too tempting to keep me away. It's so warm and soft, I mean."

With a cry of fury, Marian slammed her shutters closed, then turned to face her father.

"Marian?" Sir Edward asked, suspiciously, having recognized Robin's voice. "Who was with you in your room?"

"No one of any consequence, Father," she answered. "Don't worry. I'll take care that he never bother me again."