“Yes, and I said ‘no’ nicely at first too,” Crow said flippantly. When she caught hold of his hands, he gave hers a playful squeeze, holding her gaze as she looked up at him. As was often the case when he took in her features, he felt a strong burst of fondness for the knight that made him relax as he leaned over her. He couldn’t believe how lucky he was that she had chosen to be with him—that she had been prepared to give up [i]everything[/i] for him before. The adoration he could see in her eyes was something he knew he didn’t deserve, but he was overjoyed that she was willing to give it to him anyway.

When she leaned up to kiss him, the thief leaned down to meet her halfway. He closed his eyes and let go of her hands, wrapping one arm around her lower back and using the other to cradle her head as he held her close to himself. Overwhelmed by the strength of his emotions for her, his heart fluttered in his chest, and he met her gaze with a slightly flushed face as she pulled back to speak to him.

“I know,” Crow sighed at her comment about waiting to wake up next to him every day. He trailed his fingers through her long hair, studying her face as he took in every detail that he found so attractive. “I’d marry you tomorrow if I could, but I think your father still isn’t very fond of me,” he shook his head. “If your mother hadn’t said anything to him, he would probably be trying to keep us apart right now.”

Despite the fact that they had managed to get past every other obstacle between them, there was still the matter of winning John’s approval. Before, Crow hadn’t cared much about what the older knight thought about him, but now that he was putting himself in a position where he would need to conform to at least some of the traditions and customs of nobles, John’s dislike of him carried much more weight. If he wanted to marry Penelope soon, he was going to have to pander to her father’s wishes, whether he liked it or not.

[color=fff79a][b]“Come on. Now that you’re up, we should get ready to go.”[/b][/color]

“If you insist,” Crow casted her a mock look of disappointment before breaking out in a teasing smirk. He pressed one more kiss to her nose before moving to disentangle himself from the blankets. Once he was free, he got up from the bed, put his clothes back on, and picked up his bag. Slinging the pack over his shoulders, he stood by the door to wait for her, ready to leave whenever she was finished with her armor.