Crow nodded faintly when Penelope said she didn’t believe Rikki was just trying to hurt him. He didn’t think so either, especially since she had told him that she was ‘doing him a favor.’ As twisted as her method had been, he knew her well enough to know that she had been trying to protect him in her own way from what she thought was a relationship with an expiration date. Still, it didn’t change the fact that she had tried to manipulate him. He wasn’t going to be so quick to let that go.

As Penelope reassured him that she wasn’t going anywhere, the thief felt himself relax slightly. Her warm embrace was comforting to him, and he wrapped his arms around her as well, leaning into her lips as she kissed him. He appreciated how well she was taking everything he had said. If their positions were reversed and she had told him that one of the knights had tried to bed her, he knew he wouldn’t have been nearly so mild mannered about it.

“Thank you,” he sighed, pressing a soft kiss to her cheek as she said she still trusted him. “For what it’s worth, I can promise you that it won’t happen again. I’m not going to let her get between us.” He rested his head against hers. Even now, he was already thinking of ways to prevent Rikki from catching him off guard again. When he got back to his camp, he intended to make sure she never had another opportunity to try and tempt him again. Of course, the best way to do that was to return with a right frame of mind.

In a more controlled and tender approach, Crow shifted to kiss Penelope along her neck, tracing his hands desirously over her supple waist. Though it had been difficult for him to confess to her what had happened between him and Rikki, he was glad she had questioned him. It felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. His initial urgency to sleep with the knight was gone, replaced now with a loving passion that gave him no reason to rush.

He met her lips again, holding her by the small of her back as he pulled her close him himself and ran his free hand sensuously over her body. For a while, he didn’t push for more. Instead, he simply enjoyed the sensations of being with her like that, until eventually, he slipped his finger through the loop of the fastening on her dress and gave it a gentle tug to pull it loose.