Sheriff Vaisey eyed the form of his Senior Lieutenant, Sir Guy of Gisbourne, from behind, licking his lips with perverted pleasure at the strong thighs and tight buttocks beneath their black leather casings, then frowned scornfully at Gisbourne's slumped shoulders and hanging head. His lieutenant presented a picture of abject despair.
Vaisey crept nearer. "Boo!" he teased, almost in Gisbourne's ear.
Drawing his sword, Gisbourne wheeled around in threatening fury, then angrily sheathed it when he recognized his tormentor.
"What's the matter, Gisbourne, hmm?" Vaisey asked, mockingly. "Peasants still don't like you very much? Wish Robin Hood could be Lord of the Manor again?"
"This has nothing to do with Hood," Gisbourne bit back.
"No? Well, it SHOULD! If you'd stop being such a moon struck ninny, suffering over a LEPER, we might catch Hood, and put ME out of MY misery!"
"With respect, my lord, we have captured Hood more times than most men can count, yet he still-"
"Well, la dee dah dee dah!" Thrusting a finger in Gisbourne's face, the sheriff threatened, "Word of advice, Gisbourne! Take your Lady Leper Friend NOW, and end your lovesick sufferings! I've had it with her distracting you!"
"We will marry when the king returns, my lord."
"When the king returns?" Suddenly, Vaisey's sneer turned to joy, and his eyes lit up, as a plan struck him. "Oh, yes! This is good, this is good!"
When he spied Lady Marian enter the room, Vaisey was already in an excited, devious mood. "Oh!" he cried, delightedly. "Speak of the devil, hmm, Gisbourne? If it isn't your Lady Leper Friend now! Have fun! The tongue-lashing she gives you over losing the horse will be just a foretaste of what you can expect when she becomes your wife! Enjoy!"
With a hearty, mocking laugh, Vaisey almost skipped past Marian, out the door.
"The sheriff certainly seems to be in a good mood," Marian began, wondering what would be the best way to uncover the scheme he might he planning.
She was still in a state of near-euphoria, walking on air after last night's romantic supper in Sherwood. Wanting to further help Robin and his men, after delivering several packages of left-over venison during the night, she'd come to Nottingham to see if she might learn information she could share with Robin.
"The sheriff enjoys mocking me at every turn," Gisbourne confessed to her, with an angry sigh.
"He doesn't appreciate you," she suggested, seizing an opportunity to break Gisbourne away from the sheriff's evil influence. "Why do you follow him, so loyally?"
Gisbourne did not answer. How could he tell the woman he longed to marry, that without the sheriff, he had nothing? Defensively, he sneered at her, "I suppose you've come to complain about the filthy horse trader, showing up at your house? Don't worry. I'll take care of him."
"No, Guy!"
Marian hadn't considered that Gisbourne might kill a tradesman, who was only doing his job. "I appreciate you giving me the horse," she began, thinking quickly. "But, as I told you, I could not accept him. I returned him, yesterday morning. I hope you're not angry with me."
When Gisbourne searched her eyes, mistrustingly, she quickly added, "Besides, I'll be able to enjoy a whole stable of perfectly pedigreed horses, when I'm Lady Locksley."
"Lady Locksley? You mean, of course, Lady Gisbourne."
"Of course."
She couldn't shake the guilty feeling that she was deceiving Robin by her words, but she silently reminded herself, "Maybe I will be Lady Locksley one day, wife to the real Lord of the Manor." The thought made her heart beat as if it were skipping rope. Euphoria returned, and she couldn't help smiling.
Gisbourne saw the smile with its lovely accompanying dimple, believing it all for him. His heart began beating faster, as well.
"You," he whispered, leaning his face close to hers, "are a liar."
Fear gripped Marian, at his all too true accusation. "I-" she stammered, nervously, wishing she were armed. "Guy, I only meant-"
"I know what you meant," he sighed, hotly, more in love with her than ever. "You were trying to spare me embarrassment, for my gift being repossessed. And I thought you would try to scold me, as the sheriff claimed."
"The sheriff is rarely right, you know," Marian reminded him, extremely relieved.
Unable to help himself, Gisbourne seized her around her waist and pulled her roughly to him. "Marian," he breathed, his breath hot on her cheek. "Be with me, now."
His hands were hot through her gown, grasping and powerfully possessive. She felt as though she were being strangled, though his hands weren't on her throat but only around her waist.
Pulling them off her, Marian struggled to be free from his amorous clutches. "Guy, I...Not now, please. I need to go."
To her vast relief, he released her.
He was at war within himself, burning for her, yet wanting her to be a virgin when he took her to the marriage bed. Both were trembling; she from fear, he from desire.
"My father is unwell," she begged her excuses, forgetting all about her plan to spy on the sheriff, in her hurry to get away. "I need to see to him."
"Would you like me to send my physician?" Guy asked her. "He lives in Batley Street."
"No, thank you. That's kind, but he only needs rest. Goodbye."
After she'd gone, elusive to him as a fabled unicorn, Gisbourne closed his eyes, seeing her in his imagination. He let his mind dwell on every lovely inch of her, especially the contours of her body. The perfect woman!
The sheriff had mocked that she would scold him for being unable to pay for the horse, yet she had come in kindness, with a lie to spare him humiliation. Never had he been treated to such kindness, such understanding!
To be understood, that was what he realized he'd never had, and craved, perhaps even more strongly than he craved her warm, silky, voluptuous flesh.
A faint scent of her perfume lingered, firing his senses. He pictured himself inhaling that perfume from between her breasts...from between her thighs.
She was perfect. She was pure and kind, desirable in every way. His union with her would wash away his sins, for didn't God regard husband and wife as one? He wouldn't burn in hell for his sins after all, but could do as he liked, and his sin wouldn't taint him as long as she remained pure, in heart if not in body. For her body would be his. All of her would be his.
Gisbourne found himself transfixed, frozen, and unable to think of anything except Marian.
Unwillingly, her simple lie to save a tradesman had changed Gisbourne's feelings toward her, making them stronger still, merging his feelings of lust and obsession to feelings of actual, true, consuming love.