La Arquitecta

Chapter 35

It was Friday night, two days before the Payback pay-per-view. Seth and Zelina were in Orlando, making the most of the fact they were not working by enjoying some quality time together. They had just returned home after a night out at what she had described as her favourite restaurant.

"Thank you so much for taking me there, Seth," she said as they settled down on one of the couches in their living room. "I'm so glad you enjoyed it too. I knew you would."

Seth put an arm around her and sighed as they cuddled up to each other. "I really did. Honestly, it was the company that made the night."

She chuckled. "I love it when you're corny. It's cute."

"I do my best," Seth grinned. He sighed contentedly, and they lapsed into a comfortable, happy silence, simply enjoying holding each other.

As had often been the case since she had been attacked by David Hernandez, Seth's mind drifted to thinking about how well she was coping with it. The night terrors were still a problem, though. She would wake up panicked and sweating, but he was always there to take her in his arms and remind her that it was all okay. David was gone, and he would never get near her again.

He also occasionally found her with that blank, distant look on her face. He knew that look meant she had bad memories of that afternoon running through her mind, so whenever he saw it, he would hold her and comfort her. It always seemed to work.

She wasn't the only one those moments happened to, though. Seth also experienced them from time to time. For him, it was usually a mental replay of the moment he had walked into her bedroom and found it exactly the way it had been after Dan Morton had rescued Zelina. Every time that image came to him, it made his blood run cold, not only thinking about what she had gone through in that room, but what even worse fate might have awaited her if she hadn't been rescued.

What he found astonishing was the fact that Zelina had the strength to be there for him in those moments, if she picked up on them. She would hug him and say something like, "It's okay, baby, I'm here." It was that strength they showed for each other that made him feel like their relationship was unbreakable. This wasn't something that would last a few months then fade away; this was the real thing. This was true love.

"Are you okay, baby?" she asked. He hadn't noticed that she had turned to look at him.

"Yeah," he smiled.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I was thinking about how strong we are together, and..." He stopped himself, not sure if he should put the rest of his thoughts into words.

"And what?" she encouraged.

Seth decided to go for it. "I was going to say I think we're so strong together, we're unbreakable."

"We really are," she agreed, looking adoringly into his eyes. "I was actually thinking something similar this morning. I've pretty much made a decision that I need to talk to you about. I've been waiting for the right time to talk to you about it. I guess this is it."

What decision?" he asked openly, since she had made it clear that it was something good.

"I want to sell my house. I want to live here with you. I want it to be our house - our home."

"There's nothing I want more than that," he assured her without needing to think about it. He gently pulled her to him and they kissed passionately.

"Seth?" she asked after the kiss, her voice shaking at little.

"What?" he asked, giving her another peck on the lips.

"We've not had sex since... you know. I want you to make love to me, baby. I want my man to make love to me. I feel like I need it."