Page 47 of I Dated a Retired Hero

“How do you react when lifted?”

“It’s been a while.”

“Can we try some trust exercises?”

“Like a fall? It doesn’t scare me. I never hit the ground.”

“Like lifts.”

“Oh. Um. Okay.”

What started as something cute turned into a night of torment as he slid his hands around her ribs, between her thighs, and her most vulnerable spot. Under her arm.

To have a man staring down at you while you collapsed in giggles wasn’t something she had experienced before. He reached for her, but when his fingers grazed her triceps, she shrieked in laughter.

He was grinning as he crouched. “This is possibly the most shocking thing I have learned about you.”

She wheezed. “It happens a couple of times a year, and apparently, this is one of those times.”

“You don’t say.” He scooped his arms under her and lifted her onto his lap, sitting on the floor.

Litha wiped tears from her eyes and cleared her throat. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. That was fun. You are scarily self-contained.”

“I am aware.” She huffed a calming breath.

He stroked her jaw and tilted her chin. She frowned and looked up, but his kiss came in place of more gentle mocking.

He kept the contact light as he brushed his lips over hers again and again until she moved to catch him for something firmer.

She couldn’t catch him and backed away, confused. “Um, okay. Showers and sleep.”

He blinked. “I thought we were getting along.”

“Were we? I have no clue.” She levitated out of his grip and removed her pointe shoes, putting on her puffy boots.

She walked past him and said, “Please turn the light off when you are done.”

* * * *

Sergei watched herwalk across the yard and get back into the house. He contacted Dmitri. “Cousin, I have some confusion.”

“Nelith is with me. Is that a problem?”

“No. It might be helpful.”

“What is it?”

“I was kissing Litha, and it was going well. I was teasing her a little, and she suddenly pulled back.”

Dmitri looked to the side and said, “Idiot. Moron. Twit. I am translating for my dear wife.”

“Right. Can you ask her what I did wrong?”

Dmitri kept his head cocked. “Litha was homeschooled. Her parents were researchers. She doesn’t know what physical affection feels like, and if it never progresses, she thinks it won’t. Nelith was assaulted several times in her lifetime, so she understood the entire spectrum of things. Litha hasn’t been allowed to be near anything and just sees people coupling up around her. Intellectually, she knows things, but she has no physical idea of what happens next. If things stall out, she assumes you lost interest.”

“Oh. So, if I was a teen, a girl kissed me, and that was it. I didn’t know what was coming next, so I couldn’t expect what came next. But she knows what comes next and knew that it wasn’t heading that way.” Understanding crashed around him. “Thank Nelith for me, Dmitri.”

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