Crow felt a little better when Penelope agreed not to go looking for Jaxon’s band of thieves without him. He still wished she would have just let it go, but he supposed this was the next best thing. As long as he was out searching with her, he wouldn’t be worrying about whether or not she was still alive all the time. Plus, having dealt with Jaxon before, he knew a little about how to handle the merciless thief. If or when they tracked them down, he would be prepared to face him.

However, the short moment of respite was broken when Gavin spoke up again, insisting on joining them. Crow glowered at him, disliking how quick the knight was to force his company on them. The challenging look in his eye didn’t make him feel any better either. It was almost as if Gavin was taunting him. He glanced discreetly down at Penelope. Whether she had caught on or not, it was clear to him that this man wasn’t finished vying for her affection.

Strongly opposed to the idea of the knight coming with them, he opened his mouth to tell him off, but Penelope spoke first. He turned to her in surprise as she accepted her former suitor’s offer to help. What was she doing? It was obvious that Gavin had only weaseled his way into the group because he wanted to stay close to her while she worked with a thief. He looked up at the knight again, uneasy with this new development. He wanted to tell the man that they didn’t need him, but now that Penelope had been convinced, it would be much harder to shake him off. He let out his breath in a disappointed sigh. It looked like Gavin was going to be coming with them whether he liked it or not.

“Fine,” he growled, tilting his chin up haughtily at the other man. “Just don’t get in my way.” Turning back to Penelope, he went on to speak with her as if Gavin wasn’t still there. “I haven’t decided if I want to get my companions involved in this yet, so we should meet someplace where they won’t be as likely to find us,” he paused to think for a moment before coming up with a suggestion. “Let’s meet at the edge of the road on the north side of Myrefall tomorrow morning. If we want to catch these thieves, we’re going to have to start looking for them as soon as possible.”

He shifted again, trying to think of anything else they might need to discuss before parting ways. Coming up with nothing, he gave a faint shrug. “I believe that’s everything we need to cover,” he said, casting Gavin another furtive glance. He was still annoyed that the knight had been so insistent on interrupting their time alone. He had been looking forward to seeing Penelope again for three days, and now their meeting had been spoiled by his unwelcomed presence.

Crow met Penelope’s gaze once more. “If I’m going to be forced to spend more time around [i]him[/i] in the coming days, I’m going to need some additional rest,” he tipped his head slightly towards her former suitor and then offered her a smile. “I love you. Please don’t do anything reckless before I see you tomorrow.”

Having said his parting words to her, the thief stepped forward and slipped his arm around the small of her back to pull her close to himself. In the next moment, he leaned down and pressed a passionate kiss to her lips, caressing her neck with his free hand. It was a bit of a spiteful move on his part, since he was well aware of Gavin’s eyes on them. However, the knight had intruded on their alone time, so he deserved every bit of discomfort the scene may have given him in Crow’s opinion.

After a moment, he pulled back again to meet Penelope’s gaze. “See you tomorrow, love,” he winked at her coyly and turned to head back into the woods that led to his camp.