Her mind was a vast blank. That didn’t make sense. Made no sense at all. Because Nixie was a genie. She wasn’t a maiden who could give her heart away. She was a woman who’d been cursed to live a life in a land far away that she barely understood.
Danika framed Nixie’s jaw gently. “You, my dear, are seeing the story from its very inception. You see, Robin’s heart will be all the things the stories have made it out to be. And you…you will be the treasure he values most in all the worlds.”
“But Danika, I can’t be. I’m a slave to these cuffs for anther twenty years. He’ll use his wishes and I’ll be gone. My name is Nixie, not—”
“Threads of truth, Nix. Threads of truth. That is what your father taught you. Is it not?”
Nixie couldn’t answer that. Her brain was too full, too confused. How could this possibly be?
“Every story ever told about us, if you look hard enough, you can find the verity. The truth. But it’s always unexpected, the best stories are. You are who I say you are. I would not lie to you about that. But if you’re brave enough to accept facts, then no matter what comes your way, you can both weather it.”
“Do you know the rest of our story?” Nixie couldn’t believe she was actually validating this wild claim, and yet…she could not deny the instant connection, the instant draw she’d felt to him.
Was it really possible that she was Marian? But how? It just didn’t make sense.
“Aye.” Danika’s look was sad. “I do. The choice is yours, Nix. You can believe what I tell you and let fate work as it should, or you can fight it. Same goes for him.”
“But I can’t even let him touch me without suffering horrible pain. How could we possibly—”
Danika scoffed. “Love is more than meeting the lust of the flesh. Connect with the strength of the heart, of the mind. Help him to become the man Miriam said he should be. Nixie.” She gripped Nix’s hand tightly, her gaze unflinching. “Don’t be afraid of the impossible—it’s my job, it’s what I do, making the impossible possible. Robin is a work in progress, he is a man ruined by the world, glue him back together, and then, my dear, ohhh…” She sighed dreamily. “Well, you know how that story ends, don’t you?”
Her blue eyes twinkled.
“This is impossible.”
“Haven’t you wondered at the ferocity of the attachment?” Danika asked. “At the violence of it?”
She couldn’t speak, but Nixie knew Danika saw the truth of it in her eyes.
The fairy smiled. “It’s because this isn’t just love, my girl, this is legend in the making.” Laughing, Danika began to turn translucent, fading right before Nixie’s eyes, but not before saying, “A love that transcends the stones…”
Chapter 10
Robin’s head pounded. He’d stayed up through most of the night, thinking thoughts he had no right to think.
He despised the way the genie made him feel and yet…he craved her presence with a desire that consumed his every waking thought.
Smoke billowed from his pocket and he sucked in a breath as the tingling presence of her magic escaped the hidden lamp. Out stepped his obsession, gazing on him with dark, lovely eyes.
The sun was barely an hour from rising. The sky was a lighter shade of navy blue; soon they’d be back on their way. Tonight they should arrive back in Sherwood. He’d not have her to himself after this, they’d be surrounded by his men, his plans would be well underway, he’d make his wish, and she would be gone…
“About last night,” she said softly.
He held up a hand. “I should not have done what I did. I am…sorry.” He’d had to pull those words out of him, because he was in fact, not sorry at all. He only wished they’d gotten to finish what they’d started.
“Did you want to touch me, Robin?” She stepped slightly closer.
Nixie was dressed again, but all he had to do was close his eyes to remember the beauty of her naked form. Her body had imprinted itself indelibly in his mind. The fine curves of her breasts, the pointed tips of her dark nipples, the rising flush of her cheeks as he’d touched her…
He swallowed hard. “Yes,” he admitted in a broken whisper. “Desperately.”
“Do you want to touch me even now?”
The breeze picked up her scent, wrapping it around his nose. Robin inhaled deeply, curling his hands into his thighs. “Do you want to touch me?” he asked her, almost afraid to hear her answer.
Afraid if she said yes, he might attack her again.
“Desperately,” she said in a voice strong with conviction.
Only the memory of her writhing in pain kept him seated, but his brain was a riot of emotions. He clenched his jaw.
“Why do I want you this way?” he asked.
All night it’d bothered him. The desperation, the madness he felt for her. For centuries his thoughts had been focused solely on Crispin. Of regaining what he’d lost. Even when Robin had been with women, he’d sate his passion, but they’d never held his interest long.