Page 39 of I Dated a Retired Hero

Zera looked at Sergei. “What if you moved in with her until you settled?”

He blinked. “Here? Aksalla would let me reside here for a time?”

The prefect perked up. “We would as long as you agreed not to use your activation against any member of our citizenry.”

He looked around and shrugged. “I have no objection. I would like to see what your country has to offer.”

She smiled and nodded. “In that case, we just have to get Litha to agree to that.”

The prefect said, “It is far easier to get you here than deal with what has come to light about her.”

Zera watched the stunning Sergei settle in his seat. If he weren’t marked for Litha, she wouldn’t mind taking him for a spin. Sergei looked at her, and there was no intrigue, no attraction in his gaze. He knew she was looking at him as if he was a sweet, but he didn’t reciprocate. She rocked back in surprise.

Dmitri chuckled. “Every woman he has ever met has flopped over onto their backs when Sergei just asks them for a glass of water.”

Sergei shrugged. “Except Litha. The drive is there when she is there, and it fades when she’s gone. I can’t sleep when she’s not there.”

Zera blinked. “What is your activation?”

He chuckled. “Part of my mind is in the stars, and I can step from place to place or pull the silence of the vacuum out to tear vehicles or buildings apart. My body produces a normally ambient radiation, but I can withhold it from the surrounding area.” He smiled. “Now, why does Litha resist my efforts to flirt with her?”

Zera wrinkled her nose. “She doesn’t know you are. She wouldn’t know a pass if it hit her in the face.”

“She’s an attractive woman. Very attractive. The locals said she was a dancer.”

Zera nodded. “She was. I have been doing research, and some of the other women who didn’t like her position in the company claimed that she was hot or burning when she danced and got some of the males to agree to it. It started the rumour that she was distracted and leaked radiation. That rumour followed her until this week.”

“So, what of her past lovers.”

“None. Didn’t she say that? She’s normally fairly forthright about that sort of thing.”

Sergei frowned. “You aren’t serious. I know she is currently frustrated, but it is a transient state, no?”

The prefect shook her head. “No. She’s forbidden from taking anyone to her bed that hasn’t been confirmed radiation-resistant and willing. Everyone knows her reputation for turning opponents to ash, so they are not willing to risk it.”

Zera cleared her throat. “She is also aware of your, hmm, activities and the draw you have on women, so she is opting out to save herself pain. She’s older than the young women who fawn over you and feels it keenly.”

“How old can she be?”

Zera answered, “She graduated from university nearly twenty years ago. She was in her twenties.”

Sergei grinned. “So, closer to my own age than any of the others.”

Dmitri muttered, “Sergei, you are in your fifties.”

“I stand by my statement.” He looked at the old grizzled man next to him. “So, Father, what would you recommend to seduce an angry, deadly virgin?”

Zera blinked. That was blunt.

The old general looked around and said, “Find another woman.”

Zera looked at Sergei, and he looked furious. Dark tendrils started to leak from his eyes.Whoa.

* * * *

Litha had dropped offFeral’s ice cream with a spoon first, and then, Feral looked at her. “Get upstairs, quickly.”

Litha took the hint and went through the locks as fast as she could. She had the ice cream in the melt-proof container that she carried, and when the elevator let her out, she walked to the crowd that was facing the boardroom. Well, it had been the boardroom. Now, it was space.

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