Crow glanced up at John as the knight questioned them, biting his tongue to keep himself from spitting a reflexive: “Do you really need me to explain it to you?” Even though he was embarrassed about having been caught by Penelope’s father, he was also getting a bit frustrated by how involved the older man was trying to be in their lives. Sure, the knight was her father, but what business was it of his if they wanted to sleep together? They were adults who were perfectly capable of making their own decisions, even if the decisions they made weren’t very traditional. It wasn’t John’s job to dictate the way they conducted their relationship.

He set his jaw stubbornly as the knight went on to say that they had been practically ‘begging’ to get caught. In his opinion, they hadn’t been [i]that[/i] careless. It was quite late, and the servants wouldn’t come by until the morning. If John hadn’t shown up, he felt certain they would have gotten away with it without anyone knowing. Besides, they’d mostly snuck out in the woods to be alone in the past. By her father’s logic, that wasn’t very safe either since there weren’t even walls, but when they didn’t have any other choice, they just had to make due with what they could get. Comparatively, a private room in the castle seemed much more secure.

At John’s comment about the fact that they weren’t courting, Crow felt a twinge of annoyance. It wasn’t his fault that they couldn’t have a traditional relationship. Given their lifestyles until this point, it simply hadn’t been an option. He was a thief, and she was a knight. By the kingdom’s culture, they shouldn’t have even been together to begin with, yet here they were. He didn’t think it was fair of her father to question the manner in which they chose to make their relationship work.

When the knight suddenly turned on him and questioned his intentions, Crow bristled, disliking the way John compared him to his father yet again. He opened his mouth to retort, but then faltered when the other man went on to ask what he planned to do if the situation had gone worse. The thief shifted uneasily, averting his gaze off to the side. Of course he didn’t want to get Penelope pregnant, but that was why he’d been taking precautions to keep that from happening. “We’re being careful,” he muttered defensively.

“‘Careful’ isn’t good enough,” John growled in response. “You can be as careful as you want, but that doesn’t guarantee that everything will go as you plan.”

Crow looked up again to meet his gaze with a frustrated glare. “Maybe not, but I wouldn’t just run if something happened,” he argued hotly. “I’m not my father. I care about Penelope. Even if she got pregnant, it would be my responsibility too.”

“There shouldn’t even be a responsibility to discuss,” John shook his head exasperatedly. “Because the two of you shouldn’t be risking this in the first place.” His eyes flicked between them before landing on Penelope as he went on. “This stops now; do you understand me? I am not going to allow my daughter to throw her life away over a man who isn’t even courting her for marriage.”