“If you say so,” Crow shrugged. “I just wanted to make sure you know I’m alright with it if you’re not comfortable.” He admittedly felt a bit relieved that she wasn’t going to make him sleep on the floor. He hadn’t gotten beaten up nearly as badly as she had, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t in pain too. The idea of sleeping in a warm bed was much more appealing than tossing and turning on a cold, hardwood floor after such a long day. Especially since he would be next to her…

He glanced at Penelope and felt his heart beat a little bit faster. He knew he had to take things slow with her, but damn it was hard. [i]Just because we’ll be sleeping together in the same bed doesn’t mean we’re going to[/i] sleep [i]together,[/i] he reminded himself. He didn’t want to make her uncomfortable if she wasn’t ready, and that meant not making a move to be more physical than they already were.

As they stepped into the room, he faltered. [i]Well, this just got a whole lot harder,[/i] he thought, nervously eyeing the small bed in the corner. By the look of it, there was barely enough room for both of them to lay down side by side. He chewed on the inside of his lip as he tried, without much success, not to think about being intimate with Penelope. It was just so tempting. They would already be so close to each other. It would be easy to just kiss her a bit, and then move on to something a little more… [i]risqué[/i].

[i]No,[/i] he closed his eyes. [i]I love her. I can’t force her to do it if she doesn’t want to yet. I have to be patient.[/i] He turned to Penelope as she said that she would have bruises tomorrow, relieved to talk about anything that would stop his mind from wandering to less than tasteful imaginings. Although, by the blush on her face, it looked like she was trying to do the same thing.

Setting down his things, he took a seat on the edge of the bed. “Me too,” he gingerly touched his wrist where the mercenary had grasped him so tightly. “We’re lucky he didn’t do more damage than he did though. If he had actually cut off my arm like he was threatening to, I wouldn’t be able to complete this mission.” He grimaced at the thought. Losing a limb as a thief was practically a death sentence. He needed to be able-bodied, or his enemies would kill him easily.

“I’m just glad it’s over and we’re both still alive,” Crow looked up at her affectionately. “I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.”