Crow felt his heart begin to race excitedly as Penelope agreed to be with him as long as they were quiet. He was glad that she didn’t object, since he knew it was unlikely that anyone would be dropping by until the morning. They had all the time in the world to be together that night. As she began to kiss him along his neck, he sighed softly, slipping her pants off and chuckling at her words. “Me too,” he murmured before moving to meet her when she pressed a passionate kiss to his lips.

Pulling back slightly, he shifted to allow her to remove his tunic and then reached to hold her by the waist when the clothing was off, adjusting the way they were lying on the bed so that they would be more comfortable. Once that was done, he hovered over her teasingly for a moment before carefully sliding her shirt over her head, trailing kisses from her stomach to her chest as he did. He closed his eyes and dropped her shirt to the ground, enjoying the feeling of being with her like this. After going so long without her intimate touch while he’d been recovering, he was more grateful for the opportunities they found to get away lately. And now that he had his own private room in the castle, they wouldn’t have to worry about sneaking off to find someplace to hide. It was nice to have such a luxury.

Crow met Penelope’s lips again with zeal, guiding her hands to his waistband and allowing her to remove his pants as he kissed her. His heart pounded in his chest, and he ran his hands sensuously over her body, shifting on the bed as he got ready to take things farther. However, just as he began to meet her, the thief tensed as a knock sounded on the door. Someone was coming inside.

With no time to hide, Crow spat a curse and reached for the blanket that was folded back at the bottom of the bed, fumbling in his urgency as he pulled it over both of them and making sure to cover Penelope’s head as he did. It was still obvious that he had someone with him in the room, but he didn’t want whoever was about to enter realize that someone was Penelope. If it was Hunter or one of the other servants or—gods forbid—[i]William[/i], he needed to make sure they didn’t spread word to anyone else that the two were together. So, even though it was a rather clumsy attempt, he hoped it would be enough to deter the unknown visitor from asking any questions.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t that easy.

As the door opened, it wasn’t one of the servants, but John who stepped inside. Crow met his gaze across the room, staring a bit dumbly as his mind failed to come up with an excuse to give the other man. John wasn’t much better off. The older knight stiffened by the entrance as his eyes flicked from Crow’s flustered face to the clothing piled haphazardly on the floor to Penelope, covered by the blanket the thief had thrown over her.

For a long moment, neither of them spoke a word, until Crow managed to overcome his shock and cleared his throat awkwardly, “Umm… I wasn’t expecting company…”

John said nothing at first, but the thief could tell he wasn’t happy. His jaw was set, and his lips were pursed into a thin line as he folded his arms over his chest and turned back to his daughter. “Penelope, is that you under there?” he growled with clear displeasure.