“I do notstealthem!”
Quinn arched her slitted eyebrow, her eyes on the dark purple Buc-ee’s hoodie I wore. “You’re literallywearingthe evidence, Sweets.”
“Hey, you gave it to me to wear while you were smoking outside, so I came into this perfect legal means!” It also matched my glittery purple bonnet perfectly, but that was neither here nor there. “Besides, youloveseeing me in your clothes.”
She smirked, her smolder making her eyes darken for a moment. “Now,thatI can’t argue with.”
I smiled.
We had just come in from Quinn smoking a blunt outside on the terrace. The smell of the dinner that Teddy and Quinn had made still lingered in the house despite all of us having eaten a couple of hours before. The cousins and the girls had already gone home for the night, and Teddy and Everett were in bed early after torturing me and Quinn that morning. I could hear their snoring when we passed their door to the bedroom. After the sparring match and once Everett and I had flown Quinn and Teddy back, Quinn and I had showered together and had an easy day of video games and hanging around the house. It was wonderfully chill and fantastically routine, reminding me of when Quinn and I played human for a day. It felt good to remember what it was like to do more than just survive.
The air between us now was just as cozy and soft. Cleo’s light matched the glow of the moon and stars outside my windows. Quinn stood in her boxer briefs and one of the few shirts I hadn’t admittedly taken from her to wear. She took her time taking her unfolded clothes out of her bag and laying them on the bed to be folded and put away.
Her brows drew together. Then, she pushed back her curls and glanced at me.
“Have you thought about it at all?”
I blinked, trying not to even look at how her bicep stretched her shirt sleeve even more with the lift of her arm. I decided to focus on her face. “Thought about what, babe?”
“You know, really moving in. Like… after all this is done? After everything settles down? Have you thought about building something… A life… With me?”
My heart fluttered like my wings when they were caught on a crosswind. I loved it when Quinn got all nervous like this over me. It was so adorable. “Of course, I have, pumpkin.”
Her head snapped up for her eyes to search mine. I could practicallyfeelthe way she was holding her breath through the bond. “Really? You mean it?”
“Are you joking?” I smiled fully. “You are my fated mate, babe. You are literallyallthat I can think about. If everything that’s happened has taught me anything, it’s that I want to spend the rest of my life withyou.”
“I want the same thing.” She rushed through her words. “I just… I know we bonded quickly, and we haven’t gotten a chance to really talk and date… I also know that you are demisexual, so I just… I want to make sure that you are okay and that you still want this—wantme.”
“Oh, Queenie,” I put Dinah down and reached across the bed toward her, disturbing Clarkson. They both made grumbling yowls and snorts, but I ignored them to take Quinn’s hand. “My love for you is the one thing you never have to doubt. I have always, and will always, want this with you. It’s the one constant I have in the midst of the chaos. Nothing will ever change how much I love you and what you mean to me.”
A smile curled her lips, and the relief relaxing her shoulders was strong enough to cascade off her in waves. She kissed my hands within her hold. “I love you so much,mi vida.”
“And, I you.”
She let me go, and I settled back against the pillows. Quinn picked up one of her shirts and started folding and rolling it up. “Where are you thinking we should go?”
I shrugged. “Honestly? I don’t think I want to leave Blackbell. I can’t imagine working anywhere else besides the Archive.”
“The Guardians are pretty great there. I like the Library.”
I lit up at that. “Youlike it?”
“Of course. You love it, which is enough for me, but I also got to see why you love it. The Guardians and the Library herself are pretty great,andthey love you. I like it there.”
I beamed. “I love that so much.
“So, what about the condo? Would you want to stay here?”
“I think Everett and Teddy might, but I want a backyard for Clarkson to run around in. Plus, we’re out of closet and bookshelf space, so we would need thatbadly.”
“Who are you telling? I have to put my clothes in the nightstand,” Quinn snorted.
“You are the one who decided to date and mate with a femme. I don’t know what to tell you,” I teased, making her smile. “What about you? What do you want?”
“Anywhere with you is exactly where I want to be,” Quinn said, simple and true, but she continued. “But, I will say that I would like ahugekitchen, one of those stupidly oversized ones where I can bake every day. A yard for Clarkson, of course, but also something close to town so we could still go to the markets.”
I fiddled with my mother’s pendant around my neck as I hesitated for a moment.Did I want to ask this? Was it okay?
