Bound By Honor: An Erotic Novel of Maid Marian by Colette Gale Page B

and closed his mouth. Then opened it. “My lady, I should never resort to such an assault.” He smiled comfortingly at her.
    “Clearly ’tis because you believe you would never have to. I vow, the size of your head is like to burst the walls of this house.”
    He watched her, unable to take his eyes away from her rich honey-colored hair, and the lift of her dainty chin. Let alone able to formulate a response to such a statement. No wonder John Little and the others had fled. He wondered how long they’d been cooped up in here with her.
    She turned away and paced across the room, the only sound that of her fine wool bliaud catching on the rough floor and a faint whistle through the trees. He watched the smooth curve of her bottom as it swayed enticingly with each step. Robin felt the urge to clear his throat, for it had suddenly become very dry.
    “If you believe that I am one of those foolish ladies who cannot resist the lure of an outlaw, you are dangerously mistaken. I will not be swooning at the prospect of your kisses. I demand to be returned to Ludlow immediately.”
    “I will return you, my lady. I vow it. But, if you please, will you not give me your name?”
    “Lady Alys of Wentworth,” she said with a great sigh. “Now that your curiosity is assuaged, shall we go?”
    “Alys,” he said, savoring the taste of it on his tongue. “A lovely name.”
    The fascinating woman he itched to touch, to see if she was as soft and smelled as good as he suspected, gave an indelicate snort. “And the next I know, like every other man, you’ll be waxing rhapsodic over my sea blue eyes, and the velvet of my crushed-petal lips, and my long flowing tresses of golden hair.”
    Robin closed his mouth again. Damn.
    She made a sharp gesture of dismissal at him. “Do you think I have not heard it all before, O Robin Hood? Do you think I do not know how tongue-tied and cow-eyed men turn when they are near me? ’Tis a curse,” she said, pacing the room in earnest now. “ ’ Tisn’t enough that I must deal with the frog-eyed barons or high-reaching knights greedy not only for my lands but for my person—but now I must be whisked away to a treetop hideaway and suffer the courtship of an outlaw.”
    “I do not court you,” Robin burst out in disdain.
    “Indeed?” She stopped and turned to look at him. “You do not court me. You do not intend to rape me. . . . Why, then, Robin Hood, are we still here? Ah. It must be that you intend to hold me for ransom. It certainly cannot be that you’ve been giving me mooning dog eyes and preening about like a cock so that I will kiss you.”
    “So that is what you want,” Robin said, his eyes narrowing in delight. A smile tickled his mouth. He was in front of her in a moment, his hands closing around her upper arms, his feet planted on the hem of her gown. “A kiss. Why did you not say so, Lady Alys?”
    Her blue eyes flashed sparks and her luscious mouth opened, but Robin found a most efficient way to close it. And to block out the pretend outrage in her eyes.
    He dragged her up against him, his mouth on hers, at last touching those lush, top-heavy lips. She stiffened against him, pushing. He was gentle . . . but firm. Alys tasted as sweet as he’d expected, her tongue small and slick and naive, tangling with his stronger one.
    He closed his mouth over that full top lip that so enticed him, gently sucking and licking it, unable to get enough of the taste, of the softness. Her breasts crushed into his chest, and the thick locks of her hair tangled in his fingers as he smoothed his hands up her slender back, pulling her close . . . melding her against him.
    At last she wrenched her face away and the next thing Robin knew, his right ear was ringing from the slap.
    He could not recall the last time he’d been slapped by a woman.
    In fact, he couldn’t remember any time that he’d been so rebuffed.
    “I shall have the sheriff after you,” she spit, her blue eyes furious. “How