“Goodnight, darling,” Crow murmured, pulling Penelope close to himself and closing his eyes. “I love you too.” Finally able to lay down for the first time that day, he could practically feel his tight muscles untwining. He let out his breath in a content exhale and nestled his head against the knight’s, enjoying the feeling of holding her in his arms. With the security of a roof above his head and her warm presence at his side, it didn’t take long before the thief drifted off into a light sleep.

--

The next morning, Crow woke up to the smell of cooking breakfast. Still half-asleep, he stretched languidly and yawned, reluctant to get up right away. Instead he lifted his head just enough to look around the room, noticing that Gavin and Olivia were both gone. It seemed like he and Penelope were the last to get up, which wasn’t surprising to him since he had been so exhausted the day before from his poor sleep, and she had gotten drunk at the tavern. Glancing towards the door, he was a bit surprised that Gavin hadn’t bothered to wake them up, himself. Usually, the knight seemed to want to get an earlier start to the day. He glanced down at Penelope, who was still sleeping in his arms. Her former suitor had probably decided to let them stay in bed a while longer for her sake, since she needed the rest to recover from the alcohol in her system.

Laying his head back down, he smiled softly as he studied her sleeping face. He found everything about her beautiful—the gentle curve of her eyelashes, the soft pink in her cheeks, even the way her rosy lips were slightly parted. He lifted his hand to brush a stray lock of brown hair from her forehead, tracing his fingers gently along the edge of her face as he did. She was so pretty. He felt like he could just stay and stare at her forever. However, he could already feel her beginning to stir as she woke up.

He leaned in and pressed a tender kiss to her lips, trailing his hand down from her cheek to rest against her jawline. He lingered for a moment before he pulled back to meet her gaze. “Morning,” he said, smiling at her fondly. “How did you sleep?”