“Nooo,” Solenne complains, but while she’s complaining, Sofie arrives.
“Sofeeeee!” Solenne squeals in delight, scrambling from my hands to slam into her other favorite aunt, along with Arron.
“Ufff,” Sofie gasps, “You two are getting so big. When do you turn six? It’s close, isn’t it?”
“In eleven days!” Arron says proudly. “We took a picture on the wall so we can cross off the days!”
“Eleven days! Oh, my goodness. Are you going to get taller?” Sofie teases.
Matvei and his wife arrive next, closely followed by Adrian, Athena, and all the rest of them.
The penthouse becomes a bubbling, happy party of conversation as everyone talks at once, pouring drinks, biting into the snacks Selene prepared, and helping her carry the dinner dishes to the dining room table.
This is everything I ever wanted. Whether I knew it or not, it’s everything I could ever dream of.
As we all sit around the table, the noise level increases and the laughter gets louder. Matvei praises Selene’s cooking, making her blush. Adrian teases her about spoiling me too much, saying I don’t deserve it.
“Well, when you stop spoiling the twins too much, then I’ll stop spoiling your brother,” she taunts back.
“Oh, well, that’s not going to happen,” Adrian shrugs.
Matvei taps on his glass, and the sound brings everyone to a hushed quiet.
He stands and grins. “I just wanted to say a few things. I love these dinners. I love having my whole family around me. Nothing makes me happier than seeing Simon as happy as he is, and honestly, we never thought we’d be able to find him a wife, I mean, look at him, he’s…”
“Hey, watch yourself,” Selene cuts in.
Matvei laughs. “No, in all seriousness, Selene… thank you for these wonderful dinners you make for us. It’s easy for all of us to tell that your love language is cooking, feeding people, and making them feel welcome in your home. We hope that you know, from the bottom of our hearts, that you are a part of this family. Through and through. And we wouldn’t want it any other way.”
“Hear here!” My brothers shout.
Selene blushes, and I brush my hand over her leg under the table.
Dinner goes on late. Raya puts the twins to bed, happy for the chance because it’s one of her favorite things.
The rest of us make quick work of cleaning up, doing the dishes, and making the place look as good as new. Then, one by one, everyone says their goodbyes and leaves.
Adrian and Athena are the last to wave goodbye, and when we close the door behind them, Selene breathes a sigh of happiness.
“Are you tired, princess?” I ask, pulling her into my arms.
“I’m… content. I am so content that I couldn’t wish for a single damn thing to make me more content than I am right now,” she smiles.
I brush my hand down her back, cupping her ass and squeezing gently.
“You don’t need anything? Anything at all?” I smirk as I look down at her. Instantly, her eyes sparkle with mischief. “Well… need and want are different things. Although… I both need and want…”
I press my lips over hers to silence her with a kiss.
As soon as I do, my body spikes, heating with need. She moans against my mouth, her hands knotting in the fabric of my shirt as she pulls me closer, tugging at me.
I push harder against her mouth to deepen the kiss as I slip my hands beneath her jersey, slowly brushing them upwards and dragging the item of clothes off her. She leans back for a moment as I pull the jersey over her head and toss it aside.
My chest tightens when I see what she’s wearing underneath.
“Fuck I love these,” I growl as I brush my fingers over the sheer emerald fabric of her lingerie. “If I knew you were wearing these tonight, we never would have made it through dinner!”
She giggles. “That’s exactly why I didn’t tell you. I thought it would be a nice surprise.”
