Chapter 948: What is a Relationship Exactly?
Serika didn’t quite know where he was going with this, so she hesitated. But then she decided to entertain him, thinking aloud as she spoke. "I don’t know... I guess... It’s when people live together, share responsibilities. Maintain a joint household... Bear and raise children. Grow old by each other’s side... I don’t know. That’s what people say it is."
Quinlan shook his head slowly as his face formed a grimace. "That sounds boring, doesn’t it?"
"Boring?"
"Yes. It’s idyllic, romantic, whatever you want to call it, sure... but boring as fuck as well. Serika, be honest with me." He gave her a look that was half-challenging, half-playful. "Do I look like a man who wants his wives to be stay-at-home mothers? Do I want to go to war and have them patiently await my triumphant return from the battlefield?"
Serika’s lips instantly twitched into a smirk, a flicker of her natural confidence returning. "Not at all. You’d want them right there beside you. On the frontlines. Working together to carve out a future worth fighting for."
A sharp nod came from Quinlan. "Exactly. But let me be clear. ’Fighting on the frontline’ doesn’t always mean swinging swords or shedding blood. Jasmine, for example. Once she’s free of those chains... she’ll become a force. Not because she’s a killer, but because she’s a badass chick with incredible potential in the path she’s chosen for herself. She’ll fight for our family with her cunning, strategy, and spirit. She’ll fight using her strengths. And I love her just as much as I would any epic warrioress with whom I share the battlefield."
Then, slowly, deliberately, Quinlan stepped forward. His elemental presence exuded warmth and conviction, wrapping around Serika.
"To me, being partners means living through legendary battles side by side and then celebrating afterward with a fervor that suggests the world’s about to end. It means teasing each other during training until one of us snaps. It means steamy baths and passionate massages, and pillow talk under the stars after we just made passionate love to one another."
Another step. Close enough now for her to feel the simmering promise in the air between them.
"It means knowing you’re strong enough to stand alone..." His voice dropped lower, more intimate. "... but choosing to stand with someone else anyway. Not because you have to. But because you want to."
Her breath hitched as she blinked, trying to grasp his words.