Crow laid against Penelope with his arms wrapped around her, trailing one hand absently down the length of her back. It had been a long time since they had last slept together, and he had forgotten how much better it was to be with her than with any other women whom he didn’t care about in the same way. Even when he had slept with Rikki, a thief he considered to be his closest friend, he hadn’t felt the same happiness and peace that he felt afterwards when he was with Penelope. Being intimate with someone he loved was simply too different to compare.

At the thought of Rikki, he felt a wave of unease. He didn’t intend to tell any of his companions about his renewed relationship with Penelope, but it was going to be difficult to keep the secret from the female thief after they had established a rather physical friendship. If he wanted to keep her in the dark about everything, he would have to start thinking of excuses to put some distance between them and hope she didn’t question him about it too much. He just prayed she wouldn’t be too suspicious.

[color=fff79a][b]“Damn, I’ve missed you.”[/b][/color] Penelope’s dazed voice drew his attention, and he smiled, nestling a bit closer to her on the bed. There was no point in worrying about Rikki now. He had plenty of time to do that later, so he wanted to enjoy the rest of his time with the knight while it lasted.

“I think it’s safe to say I’ll never look at this place the same way again,” he laughed, glancing up at the room before he turned back to kiss her on the forehead. “I never thought desecrating the memory of my childhood home would be so much fun.”