They didn’t get the month in bed alone they wanted.
They got one night and half of one day before Adrianne’s family converged on them in their onetime safe house.
The house that was now theirs. The house they’d furnish together and—one day, hopefully—fill with children and laughter.
But right now, that house was filled with chaos. And noise. And more chaos.
Gatherings in Adrianne’s family were large and disorienting—like a natural disaster in the middle of a huge city. While the circus was in town.
This gathering was no different.
Tina was in the kitchen using every pot and pan in the place to cook…whatever she was cooking. And whatever it was, it contained a shit ton of garlic and a liberal amount of cooking sherry. Adrianne didn’t particularly care. Knowing Tina, it was going to be awesome.
Benny was sitting on one of the kitchen barstools, showing Lane some kind of card trick. Lane was perched on the counter watching his hands move with a sharpness in her eyes that made Adrianne think she’d only have to be shown the trick once before she had it down cold.
Mischa and Hunter were huddled together in the corner talking in hushed tones, and given the look in their eyes, they were not discussing Council business.
Seven and Lucas were involved in a very rowdy discussion with Nikolai and Quinn about which fictional television characters would be on their zombie apocalypse teams. Seven and Lucas were passionately arguing for Dean Winchester and Jason Bourne, while Nikolai and Quinn were going the Avengers route, which was a lazy choice as far as Adrianne was concerned. Violet and Marina (children napping in their laps) watched the chaos around them like they were completely entertained by it all.
Roan was sitting on the couch next to Haven, who had her arm looped through his and was talking his ear off. He looked like he was trying to be annoyed by her presence, but his eyes glinted with amusement as he frowned down at her.
Fluffy and Lucas’s dog, Lucky, were engaged in a very noisy, enthusiastic tug-of-war battle over possession of Lucky’s favorite rope. And Fluffy looked very adorable in the bumblebee costume Haven had bought for her.
Her father and Harper were sitting on the loveseat across from the chair Gabriel and Adrianne occupied. (Her ass hadn’t touched a chair since they got home. Every time she tried to sit down, Gabriel beat her to it and pulled her down into his lap.)
Riddick had his arms crossed over his chest and was giving Gabriel a pretty severe I-know-you’ve-seen-my-daughter-naked-and-I’m-trying-to-decide-if-I-should-kill-you-later look, while Harper just seemed amused by his whole overprotective dad act.
After what felt like an eternity of uncomfortable silence, Riddick asked, “So, what are you going to do now? Are you taking the job in Boston?”
And that was so not what she thought he was going to ask.
She frowned and glanced down at Gabriel. “We never really talked about what’s next for either of us on the professional front.”
His hold on her tightened. “Because we don’t have to talk about it. I’ll follow you anywhere.”
She sat up a little straighter. “You’d really go to Boston for me?”
He looked thoroughly amused by her question. “I followed you into a hell dimension. Do you really think I’d object to Boston if you wanted to go there?”
“What would you do there?”
He shrugged. “Whatever I can. Maybe I can work for Section 8 remotely. We do have access to someone who can open rifts to pretty much anywhere now. And if not…hell, Moonshine, I don’t care. I’ll keep your house clean and have dinner ready for you when you get home. It doesn’t matter to me. My home is wherever you are.”
Damn it! He was going to make her cry in front of her entire family! “I love you,” she whispered.
His smirk was 100% Han Solo and she was there for it. “I know,” he said.
“I don’t want to go to Boston.”
“You don’t?”
She shook her head. “No, that was pretty much out of the question as soon as I set foot here again.”
Riddick frowned at her. “You shouldn’t have to give up music just because—”
“Who said I was going to give up music?” She lifted a brow at him. “You think that just because I’m in love and don’t want a teaching job in Boston that I’m going to pick up a crossbow and go demon hunting with you every night?”
He scratched the scruff darkening his chin. “Well…yeah.”
She snorted. “Hell no. I don’t want to fight demons. But…I’m thinking that teaching is teaching, right? Why go to Boston when there’s a whole school here that doesn’t have a music program?”
“Holy crap!” Harper blurted. “What a great idea. That never even occurred to me!”
“It did to me,” Haven said smugly. “And I want to learn to play the piano, too.”
“I can help with that,” Adrianne said with a wink.
Lane caught her eye by waving her little hand and snapping her fingers, then signed, violin, when she had Adrianne’s attention.
Adrianne grinned at her. “I actually can play the violin, so, yes, I can teach you that.”
Benny leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Dude, you gotta teach me to play the saxophone. Chicks dig saxophone players.”
Quinn chuckled. “Maybe in 1989.”
Adrianne ignored him. “I can’t play the saxophone, Benny, but how about I teach you to play the cello?”
He mulled it over for a hot second before saying, “Yeah, sure. Why the fuck not? I can work with that.”
“Alright, dinner’s ready!” Tina called from the kitchen. “Come and get it.”
There was a dhampyre stampede to the kitchen at that point. Adrianne and Gabriel stayed put, deciding it’d be better to wait out the crowd. After all, no one wanted to stand between Harper and the buffet. Seven was known to throw elbows to get the first serving of dessert, too.
Riddick stopped on his way to the kitchen and turned back to them, laying a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder. “You know that if you hurt her, I’ll shove your own severed arm up your ass, then strangle you with your intestines, right?”
“If I hurt her, I’ll let you,” Gabriel answered solemnly.
With that, Riddick thumped him on the back hard enough to make all the air whoosh out of Gabriel’s lungs before saying, “Good. Glad we settled that.”
When he was gone, Adrianne laughed out loud. “You do realize that was the Noah Riddick official seal of approval, right?”
“I do. What about the official Adrianne Riddick seal of approval? Do I have that, too?”
“That’s Adrianne Malek to you, sir, and you’ve had my approval for years.”
They’d kissed plenty of times before. But when Gabriel took her mouth with his in that moment, it felt like the first time. Because after years of longing and pining for this man, he was finally, blessedly hers—and their life together as man and wife started now.
When he pulled back and rested his forehead against hers, he asked, “Are you happy, Moonshine?”
“Are you kidding? I’ve never been happier in my life. Nothing could ever make me happier than I am right now, in this moment.”
His eyes glittered with challenge. “I guess we’ll just have to see about that.”
And as it turned out, he was right. Because it only got better from there.
Stay tuned for more magical misfit adventures! And keep reading for samples of Caped and Dangerous, a grumpy, snarky superhero rom com, You Complicate Me, my first ever contemporary romance/romantic comedy, and in case you missed it, Semi-Charmed, the paranormal romance that started it all. All my stalker links and complete reading list are also there!