Crow shrugged when Penelope said they didn’t have the gods’ favor and leaned in to meet her lips as she kissed him. He wasn’t sure whether he believed they did or not. On one hand, they had been through more dangerous ordeals than anyone else he had ever met and had nearly been killed on multiple occasions. But on the other hand, they weren’t dead yet. Who was to say whether the gods were involved in their dumb luck? Perhaps they were being looked upon fondly for some reason, but he wasn’t going to make any assumptions about it. After all, he had never tried to live his life to please the gods before, and he certainly wasn’t going to start just because of a slight possibility that they really were watching him.

As Penelope asked about his wound, Crow smirked. “As long as we’re careful, I’ll be fine,” he assured her, touching a playful kiss to her forehead. “Besides, if you’re really that worried, then you could do most of the work this time, and I’ll just make it up to you the next.” He winked at her jokingly and then took on a more sultry look as he leaned in to meet her lips in a deep kiss. After waiting so long to be intimate with her again, he didn’t want to put it off any more, regardless of his injury. However, he really did believe it would be fine. The wound had barely begun to ache by the end of their walk that day, and it wouldn’t get worse as long as they were careful not to put pressure on it. It wasn’t that big of a risk, in his opinion.

Heart pounding with excitement, the thief slipped his hands underneath the hem of Penelope’s shirt and slowly lifted it over her head, trailing his fingers sensuously along her sides as he removed the clothing. Once it was off, he followed suit by taking off his tunic and tossing it aside, meeting her lips again fervently when that was done. It had been so long since the last time they’d been this close that the feeling of her bare chest against his sent thrills up his spine and made him press into her all the more passionately.

“Gods, I missed this,” Crow murmured breathily as he shifted to kiss her along the base of her neck and collarbone, trailing his hands down the length of her body as he reached to remove her pants. “You’re so beautiful, Penelope.”