Page 54 of Sweet Thing

Simeon's hands fell from his face. He was surprised by the declaration and understood the rightness in those words. “So are you pissed with me… about the painting?”

“Noh…” Bastian exhaled, his hand batting away the comment. “I was angry at the time because I was so lost inside my head. I behaved like a brat. But I’m in a different place now, and wise enough to know money cannot buy happiness, and it cannot buy love. A painting could never fill me in the way getting close to you has. So you may have spent two hundred thousand Euros, but I think I got the better deal.”

Simeon’s eyes widened and watered with tears. He was sure he was going to cry. He slid his hand across the table and laced his fingers with Bastian’s again, reveling in the spark of connection.

A wry grin lit Bastian’s features. “Happy Birthday Simeon. Shall we eat?”

****

After the meal, Bastian suggested that Sim should relax on the couch in front of the fire while he tidied up.

“Then I will give you your birthday present”, he announced, piling the dishes on top of one another and heading for the kitchen.

“You didn’t have to buy me anything. Seriously, I want for nothing”, Sim called after him.

“What I have for you, money cannot buy”, Bastian retorted cryptically. He glanced over his shoulder to see Simeon was in a daze watching him, and he returned the affection in that look. “Why are you still sitting there? Off you go. I will tidy,” Bast reiterated. He returned to the table and took hold of Simeon’s hands, then dragged him to stand. Sim looked at Bastian with the kind of adoring stare that made his balls constrict with desire. He spun Simeon around and gave him a playful slap on the ass to urge him away from the table. “Go!” he commanded.

The slap on the butt was an affectionate, flirty, gesture but Simeon was overcome by a rush of lustful heat through his veins. He was confused. Did he really want Bastian to spank him again? Not if he ended up bruised, but a light slap or two during foreplay might be arousing.

Sim strode across the room and threw himself onto the comfortable couch. He sighed out his contentment, and closed his eyes for a few minutes, listening to classical music, and the clink and tinkle of crockery and cutlery as Bastian loaded the dishwasher.

****