close to midnight

He breathed a sigh of relief when she sat down next to him again, and he allowed her to coax him onto his back, but he took a hold of her hand, bringing it to his lips to press a little kiss to the back of her fingers. “They had good reason to think so… but still. I’m glad you waited,” he didn’t care about what may have happened in the last ten years. She was here now, and so was he.

“No one could ever steal my heart from you, Marian,” he told her, although he did kinda like the idea that Marian was jealous of an imaginary woman. He wouldn’t tell her he hadn’t touched another woman in the last decade, but he also wasn’t going to bring it up unless asked a direct question. “When I finally came back, all I wanted was to go home, drag you into bed and keep you there until next spring. If it seems like I’m too invested in fucking with the Sheriff… well, it’s because he got in the way of doing that.” He wrapped his arm around her again, pulling her back against his side.

His words were a balm on her halfway broken heart. Marian didn’t care what either of them had done with others in the past ten years. As long as they still loved each other, as long as they were here now...they had both waited in the ways that mattered. She’d loved Robin since they were children and even when he’d been forced to leave, she hadn’t been able to picture a life without him in the end. It was a dream to think he’d continued loving her, too. “Only until next spring?” she purred, curling against his warm body. Maybe it wasn’t smart to encourage this. She knew exactly where it would lead, and he’d barely been able to sit up moments before. But she was selfish. At least with him.

“I promise, Marian. I went in there to get you.” He looked up to meet her gaze, hoping she would believe him. It was the truth, he’d never have left her in the Sheriff’s clutches if he’d known where she was, not least of all because it would be too easy for the Sheriff to use her to punish him for everything he’d been doing since his return. 

When she admitted that she thought he might not care for her anymore, he knew he had to come clean. “When I came back, and everything was… just gone, I didn’t look for you at first because I thought you might’ve… moved on. Married someone else. It was ten years, and everyone else thought I was dead. I thought you might’ve too, and I didn’t want to find you and see you with someone else.” He admitted, hoping it wouldn’t make her too angry. “But that’s only because I love you, and I want you for myself. I knew it was selfish, expecting you to wait, but… I’m really a selfish prick, Marian.”

Marian crumbled at that promise. She knew he wouldn’t lie that directly. Not to her. Maybe it hadn’t been fair to jump to conclusions, but ten years had passed...and the memories of those who mocked her for believing he’d return hadn’t quite faded. A few tears slipped down her cheeks as she sat down beside him. “Everyone told me you were dead. I couldn’t bring myself to believe them, or to marry anyone else.” She wouldn’t do him the dishonor of lying about whether she’d entertained other flirtations, even if she’d never considered anything more serious or long term. It wasn’t as if she believed he’d been as holy as a monk in the decade apart.

One minute, Marian was curled up by his side, and everything was right with the world, and the next, she was back on her feet, and Robin was trying to catch up to her ranting. “What? No… well, only a little,” he couldn’t deny it now that he’d admitted it, but it was only an added bonus. “I didn’t know you were in that house until now, Marian! I came for you as soon as I knew,” he pushed himself up, wincing at the pain but refusing to stay lying down as she paced around the fire.

“Of course I want you, come back and I’ll show you,” he reached for her hand, unsure how they’d gotten here. Surely she didn’t mind that he wanted to hurt the Sheriff? How close had they gotten while he was gone? “It was about you… showing him up was just… an added perk.” He tried to catch her hand so he could pull her back to him, but she was moving so damn fast. “Marian, stop, you were the only thing I thought about when I was–” he cut himself off, dark memories flooding back to him, and changed what he wanted to say, “–when I was in the Holy Land. I thought of you, waiting for me,” usually naked, but he didn’t think that would help, “and I was always going to come for you.”

Marian desperately wanted to believe Robin. Seeing him hurt brought her no pleasure, and she knew him well enough even after all these years to be keenly aware he would not lay back down until she did. But the way he’d so swiftly brought up the Sheriff’s humiliation...it wasn’t that she cared about that awful man one bit. The only reason she hadn’t tried to run away was so that she could gather information to use against him...and learn of Robin’s fate once she’d learned he was alive.

“This isn’t even that bad… I’m not even bleeding.” Robin protested, although he stopped himself from telling her this was far from the worst he’d experienced in the last decade. “Injuries happen, Marian, it’s not like I planned for this to happen… but I planned well enough that we made it out despite the injuries.” 

He reached up to wrap an arm around her when she leaned down to kiss him, pulling her against his side. “You’re my woman, it’s my job to protect you. If I have to die saving you, it’s worth it,” he answered, as if that should be obvious. “Besides, if you got yourself out, I wouldn’t have the satisfaction of knowing I’d taken something else back from that bastard. Now he has to deal with the humiliation of having the woman he wanted to marry stolen by an outlaw.” He couldn’t help the self-satisfied little smirk that crossed his lips.

She might’ve accepted his ridiculous ‘injuries happen’ excuse. In fact, she likely would’ve curled up next to him and coaxed him back to sleep so that she could give him a proper thank you once he was less sore. But the fool had to open his mouth again. Every muscle in Marian’s body pulled taut. For a long second, perhaps the longest of her life, all she could do was stare down at his face blankly. A face she had dreamed of seeing, had hoped and wished and prayed she’d get to kiss and love again.

Robin groaned as he recognized the tone of voice that meant he was about to get a lecture. “I’m still alive, and you’re free, sounds to me like a very successful rescue,” he pointed out, carefully lifting a hand to cover the one she’d placed on his chest. He may have gotten injured, but she seemed all right, and that was all that really mattered to him.

“You’re being dramatic,” he scoffed, but even that was painful, and he flinched at the effort. “You were mad at me for taking too long as it was, you don’t get quality plans when you rush it, Marian! We had to move before the Sheriff put you somewhere else… or worse, acted on those threats of his.” Robin would’ve done something a lot more reckless to make sure she didn’t marry his nemesis. “You really want me to apologize for saving you? That’s not fair at all.”

“See! You can’t even speak properly without causing yourself pain!” Though she continued to give him the piece of her mind she’d been waiting to unload the past few hours, Marian didn’t pull away. “You’re not listening to me! I’m not asking you to apologize for rescuing me! Which, you did take a good, long time to do. I’m mad that you made me watch you injure yourself after I just got you back!”

“Mhm, such sweet nothings,” he murmured, then groaned in pain when he tried to sit up, and the pain forced him back down. His torso had been wrapped in bandages after they’d confirmed he had broken a rib, but other than that, his injuries should heal on their own. “This is exactly the kind of treatment I rescued you for,” he teased, his voice soft and husky.

He lifted his head just enough to confirm where they were. Located deep in the woods, the ruins had been forgotten by everyone, and provided shelter for the outlaws. There were underground tunnels they could use for storage, shelter from the elements, or to escape in a pinch, but so far none of the Sheriff’s men had been able to get this far. Then he let his head fall back, feeling satisfied that his half-cocked plan had succeeded.

Marian instinctively put a hand on his chest, ready to prevent him rising if his own body didn’t do the job for him. “You’ll hear no sweet nothings from me tonight,” she warned him, though that tone of his made her muscles tighten in the best sort of way. “You nearly got yourself killed. That stallion was close to stomping on that fat head of yours! Some rescue it would’ve been if I’d watched you be walloped to death by a horse!”

Robin’s brow furrowed, sweat beading on his forehead with the effort of simply staying upright on the horse, while his body shuddered with pain. Adrenaline was the only thing keeping him conscious for the moment, and he knew he had to get Marian to his men before it ran out, or else who knew what idiocy she’d pull. 

With three riders behind them, he knew he had to act, but even as he readied himself to turn off the path, he noticed Marian slowing in front of him. Damn it, she was trying to sacrifice herself. He swore under his breath, fully intending to throw himself off the horse if it meant stopping her own foolishness, when a familiar band of brigands burst out of the forest around them, chasing down the guards who’d come for them. A whistle off to the right, and Robin nodded for Marian to veer off the path to follow it, where a big man with unruly hair awaited them. 

That was about as far as Robin made it before collapsing, tumbling off the big stallion, he was out cold before he hit the ground. 

A dwindling fire cast an eerie orange glow on the space. In the hours since she’d arrived at these ruins, she’d had little to do but take note of every little detail. Ruins, Robin’s men had told her. Ruins they’d commandeered and turned into their own base. Had she not been so distracted by Robin’s condition, she might have remembered more of what they’d said. Or which one of them had told her.

It was reassuring to know that she still worried about him, even after they’d spent so long apart. He couldn’t help but worry that Marian would forget about him and move on with her life, and even though he knew it was selfish, he’d been afraid of losing her. And he definitely wasn’t about to lose her now.

“After three decades, I’d think you’d know me well enough to know me better than that,” he groaned, but doing foolish things really was what she should expect. Not right now, though. That fall had taken its toll, and even Robin wasn’t spoiling for a fight now. He spurred his horse on after her, glancing back to make sure they weren’t being followed… yet. He could only hope they’d make it to the crossroads without anymore trouble.

South. Marian repeated the direction to herself with every step her horse ran. It wasn’t as if she would forget the simple order. Instead, she was afraid that if she allowed her mind to wander from the current task, reality would hit her too hard, too fast. Once all of this was over, once her hair wasn’t whipping out of its half-up, half-down braid from the wind and speed of her ride, she would allow herself a moment to think clearly. But not yet.

“Because you’re supposed to trust that I know what I’m doing, Marian,” he managed to roll his eyes, staggering towards the stables. He knew he wasn’t in fighting shape, but the truth was he’d fought through worse during the war. Somehow, he didn’t think Marian would find that entirely reassuring. “Don’t worry about me,” he told her, sheathing his sword as he chose a stallion; he’d need a bigger horse in case he needed to outrun the soldiers to lead them away from Marian. This would all be for nothing if the Sheriff managed to capture her again.

“We need to go south, my men will meet us at the crossroads,” he told her, just in case they did have to split up. He took a deep breath before he pulled himself up into the saddle, clenching his jaw to keep from groaning again. He didn’t want Marian thinking she had to look after him. “You ride ahead, I’ll watch your back.”

Marian mounted the mare with enough ease that she was confident her own bruises wouldn’t stop her from riding hard and fast. “After three decades, you should know I never stop worrying about you.” The bite of her tone was belied by the softness in her eyes. Even if they’d spent one of those decades apart, not one day had gone by where Marian hadn’t worried about Robin.

On top of gasping for air, Robin’s ears were ringing from Marian’s scream –no problem with her lungs, at least– and it took him a bleary moment to recover from the fall. But Marian was quick to untie them, and by the time he could sit up, they were free. “I’ll be fine,” he groaned, although he wasn’t completely sure he didn’t have a broken rib or two. They’d figure that out later. 

“Stables, Marian, horses.” He grunted out the last bit of the plan. They had somewhere to go, and the fastest way would be on horseback, hence why they’d dropped here. The way was supposed to be clear, but it wouldn’t be if they waited around much longer. He pushed himself up, clutching his torso for a moment before he managed to wriggle free of the haystack. “Follow me,” he waved her to follow him, drawing his sword just in case there was anymore trouble.

“How am I supposed to know if you’re doing the smart thing and taking the horses or running on foot?” Marian refused to admit her thoughts were so scrambled that she hadn’t so much as considered where they were. Color stained her cheeks, but she didn’t let her embarrassment slow her down. Every muscle in her body ached as she rose to her feet. One look at Robin had her cringing. “You aren’t in any shape to fight, now,” she muttered, creeping after him like a ghost on his tail until they passed by the stall holding her favorite mare.

It took all of his strength to hang onto either end of the bow, Marian’s added weight making his arms burn. He’d perhaps forgotten the last time he’d did this he was alone, and the stable was approaching a lot faster than he’d planned. He may have had a retort for her sass, but he could hear the fear in her words, and he refrained. “Just hang on!” But then she mentioned they were cutting the rope, and he swore under his breath.

“We’re almost there, just–” he was cut out as the rope suddenly went slack above them. Fortunately, they had almost reached the stables, and it sent them plummeting into a well-placed haystack. Robin groaned as Marian, still tied to him, landed on top of him, knocking the wind out of him momentarily. 

Marian hated herself for screaming, but the moment she saw a guard’s sword swing clean through the rope, her thoughts emptied. It wasn’t until she felt the scratch of the hay and heard Robin struggling to breath underneath her that she realized that hadn’t simply fallen to the earth and splattered like eggs. Gritting her teeth to stop her shaking, Marian sat up the best she could and scrambled to untie them. “Are you alright?” she asked, fingers fumbling with the fraying edges of the rope. It was perhaps the first thing she’d said without any intention of sass or bite. She couldn’t handle the thought of gaining him back only to lose him so quickly - especially at her expense. Her body already ached from the fall, and she knew she’d have bruises from where their bodies had struck one another. But none of that mattered.

“You could make it more obvious, by just saying it,” he teased her, but there was a lightness to his steps as her pulled her up the stairs behind him, an elation at having her back and knowing she still felt the same way about him as she had before he left. “At least we’ll go out together,” he joked, but Robin had no intention of dying here.

It only took him seconds to take aim and shoot the arrow into the support beam of the one story stable. “Not this height… higher, actually,” he answered, tugging her back towards him, he took a second length of rope and wrapped it around the both of them, tying them together. He could hear the clang of armor as the guards thundered up the stairs behind them, and he knew they didn’t have much time. “Hold onto me,” he ordered her, taking back the sword and putting it into his sheath, he hooked his bow over the rope, and then jumped off the tower before Marian could try to talk him out of it. 

Handing over the sword, Marian’s eyes darted to the stairs one last time. If the guards reached them before they fled...even if she was afraid, she wasn’t going to risk Robin being captured. So she threw her arms around him and ignored the bite of the rope as it caught their weight during the fall. Her lips parted in a silent scream, but she couldn’t make herself shut her eyes. The stable drew closer and closer, and Marian’s grip on Robin was so tight she thought she might actually be hurting him. “I’m never doing this again!” She told him, though her sass was less impactful when she was so obviously frightened. And...despite that fear, there was a sort of thrill to it. She wasn’t sure whether it had to do with the escape itself or this daring maneuver.

Robin breathed a sigh of relief when Marian pulled her down to kiss him. He’d been worried about what may have happened in the ten years he’d been gone, that she may not even want to see him at all, but with one kiss she managed to crush those worries, and he squeezed her, returning the kiss hungrily. “Mhm, I missed you,” he murmured, smiling despite her snapping at him.

“Yes, Marian, I have a plan to get out of here,” he sighed, unwinding his arms from around her, he tugged her towards the stairs. “We just gotta go up first,” he told her, squeezing her hand. “You can tell me all about the Sheriff’s sweet nothings once we get out of here.” He assured her as he lead her up the stairs, all the way up to the tower, where he handed her his sword. “Hang onto this,” he told her as he took out his bow, tying the end of a rope to one of his arrows, and the other end to one of the support beams. 

“It’s quite obvious I missed you too,” she huffed. It was difficult to remember her anger when his lips felt so right against hers. But she had good reason to be upset! Even if the wild beat of her heart had nothing to do with the danger they were in. Ten years apart, and she was still rendered a fool by one kiss. She let him lead the way, though her eyes widened almost comically as he started up the stairs.

Robin couldn’t help but crack a grin at that information. Of course the Sheriff wanted to marry her, she was even more gorgeous than he remembered her being. “As if he’d be able to handle you,” he chuckled. He only tightened his grip when she shoved at him, ignoring the danger they were presently in for the moment. “I expected you to be in my bed, in my home, on my lands! How was I supposed to know some nobody was going to steal everything that was mine while I was risking my life for the king?!” 

The truth was, Robin hadn’t gone looking for her right away. He’d figured if everyone thought him dead, Marian would too, and she’d have moved on and married someone else. He didn’t want to know that, though, so he’d prioritized his vengeance over looking for her. It wasn’t until he had news that she was here, under the Sheriff’s thumb, that he’d made plans to come get her. He wasn’t going to tell her that, though, since he had a feeling it would only make her even angrier. “Dammit woman, do you have any idea what I went through getting here? You could at least pretend to be happy to see me.”

Planting a soft hand on both of Robin’s stubbly cheeks, Marian dragged his face down to hers. She still had to stand on her toes to claim his mouth in a crushing kiss. No matter that they weren’t yet out of harms way or that the Sheriff could come waltzing through the door with reinforcements at any moment. Eyes blazing, she pulled back and snapped, “I am happy to see you, you stupid man! Why do you think I’m so angry?”

Even Faye couldn’t manage a sassy retort while her mouth was full of Archer’s considerable cock, but the promise of a good ass-fucking later on was enough to keep her obedient. Her eyes rolled back in her head as he fucked her mouth, her eyes watering as drool and precum leaked from her mouth, her jaw aching with the effort of keeping it wide for him as he used her like his own personal cocksleeve. She couldn’t help but obey his taunts, genuinely choking as he pushed past her gag reflex, her throat making glucking noises as he filled it again and again, and she could swear he was giving it to her even harder than usual –something she hadn’t really considered possible before. Even so, Faye was determined to take whatever Archer managed to throw at her, despite how her lungs were starting to burn for oxygen. 

A thrill went through her as she felt how his cock twitched against her, aware of just how much he liked hearing her say such lewd things. She knew he took pride in having educated her in all things sensual, so he could be sure that any naughty words or deeds she knew, she had learned from him. Except for the occasional surprise she picked up from her less-than-chaste maids, of course.

She smiled as he carried her to the altar, pushing the straps of her skimpy dress down off her shoulders to expose her pert breasts, and all the runes painted onto them, for his inspection. “Mhm, according to the priestesses, tonight I am not just your queen, or your wife. Tonight I am your goddess, and you should show me how you worship me,” she spoke more boldly than she had before, heart thumping in her chest, and reached a hand into his dark hair, tangling her fingers in his curls and pushing his head down between her legs enthusiastically.