Selene shifted in the rather uncomfortable chair that she was currently perched in. All around her the auditorium was steadily filling, the air filled with a babble of conversation so dense that it sounded almost like the buzzing of bees around a busy hive.

She dived in her bag and retrieved her phone, logging onto the message boards of the university, curiosity getting the better of her once again.

Just as she suspected there were the usual host of thirsty comments under the lecture announcement, the tags of people bringing it to the attention of others and people making plans to meet up and attend.

"He's certainly popular," she muttered to herself.

"Too right he is," someone beside her answered. "Is anyone else sitting here?" The young woman gestured to the row of empty seats beyond Selene, who was forced to shake her head in answer.

"Nope, it's just me today."

"Cool," the woman turned her head and yelled over her shoulder, "Girls! I found some free seats, hurry up!"

Selene attempted to lift her feet up out of the way as a hoard of girls shoved their way past her to get into the row of seats next to hers.

"Move down, Kerry!"

"Keep going, Jen, and put your coat on that seat for Carly, you know she's always late."

Selene dragged her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them as more girls appeared as if by magic.

"If she doesn't get here soon I'm calling Clare and telling her we have a seat spare."

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Watch me!"

"Anyone got a drink with them? Or some mints? I'm hanging something rotten and my mouth feels like I chewed on a beer mat."

"Here, pass em down, pass em down. No don't take that many, that's all I've got you greedy cow!"

"Georgia will you sit the fuck down, I can't see through your fat arse."

Selene breathed a sigh of relief when the girls eventually settled and she could put her legs back down.

"Is this your first time seeing one of his lectures? I don't think I've seen you around here before."

"No, I've seen quite a few of them," Selene started but was interrupted before she could elaborate.

"Gorgeous isn't he? Can't say I'm much interested in space but I could listen to him for hours, he just makes everything sound interesting."

"Not everything," Selene muttered to herself.

"What was that, mate?"

"Sorry, I said that I doubt he could make everything interesting, I bet he says plenty of things that are boring."

"Yeah, but would you care? It's not like you don't have anything good to look at while he's talking, is it?" her seatmate argued.

"There is that," Selene shrugged. "And he does have a nice voice to listen to."

"Nice? It's hot as hell. Have you heard what he actually does and why he only ever does guest lectures?"

"Yeah, I-"

"Oh, are you talking about Him?" another girl asked, arriving as if by magic in the aisle and butting into the conversation. Selene couldn't help but notice how she capitalised 'him' as if talking about a god or something.

"Carly!"

"Finally, it took you long enough."

"I was just sayin' about his day job," the one beside Selene answered as Carly shoved her way past everyone's legs to find a seat.

"Oh, Mariah knows all about his day job, don't you?" the interloper said, nudging another girl who turned around to insert herself into the mix when she heard her name.

"Yep, sure do, I've called a total of sixteen times over the last four years, all from different phones obviously. Almost got them out once, too. You know, that time I deliberately drove my car into the ford when it had been raining hard?"

"You did what?" Selene gasped, hardly able to believe her ears, she knew that John got a fair few prank calls but she hadn't thought they would be for this reason, bored kids were more the norm. "You deliberately put yourself in danger?"

"Too right I did, but he diverted the call to the fire service because they were nearer and capable of helping as I wasn't in life threatening danger apparently," the girl huffed, crossing her arms. "Really, I only call to hear him answer. You ever done that?"

"Called International Rescue without a real reason?" Selene clarified. "I'm sure he'd think so."

Selene had a policy of not lying if she could help it, but it really did seem like these girls had absolutely no clue who she was. She glanced down at her clothes which were rather sedate for her, just ripped jeans and one of John's old Space Camp hoodies as she hadn't known how cold it would be there. She hadn't bothered with much makeup and her hair was scraped back in a ponytail which Scott always said made her look like a cheerleader. Maybe she did actually look young enough for them to assume she was a student. Well, didn't that do marvelous things for her almost thirty year old self's ego?

She'd been to a few of his lectures before, mostly for moral support but also because it often meant a night away from everything in a nice hotel. Like she would ever say no to that. This time was different, this time she was here because she couldn't do anything else, he'd guilted her into it, besides she simply had to see it for herself.

John had been doing online lectures for years, before they had even met, but he'd only started appearing on video since they had gone public with their relationship and he could no longer hide. He didn't believe that there was a direct correlation between that and the fact that his lectures were now attracting almost double the amount of attendees than normal, but she knew better.

Usually online lectures attracted less attention than if he were there in person, normally only people in the same field that wanted to hear his more unique perspective on things, but now there seemed to be a large amount of people signing in that had never shown an interest before. Selene couldn't help but think that maybe they weren't really there for the learning.

She had just so happened to be in the vicinity when he'd done one of his monthly lectures and had ended up being drafted in as a moderator when one had been unexpectedly called away. No one had warned her, no one had prepared her in any way, shape, or form for the cattle market that it would turn into.

Sure there were the usual academics all studiously making notes and occasionally putting up a hand and waiting patiently for John to ask for their question, but they seemed to be a rarity. No, the rest of the spaces, for as far as the eye could see, were a sea of tiny boxes containing a carefully primped and preened woman (and a few men) all staring at her husband like he was a particularly tasty pizza and they hadn't eaten in a week.

The chat feature, which John always had turned off on his screen, was rolling with a steady stream of mostly thirsty and mildly inappropriate comments. The other moderators were quick to dive in and give a warning that they would be reprimanded and their lecture privileges revoked by their individual university if they continued, so that stopped quite quickly, but it didn't stop more and more people from entering the stream. Selene was sure that the entry code was being passed around on the student boards because she'd spotted a number of students either wearing hoodies or shirts from different courses revealing that they weren't even signed up for anything space related at all.

It was obvious, they were all there just to ogle her man. Not that she blamed them, he was very ogle worthy and honestly she was just finding the whole thing very funny.

Later that night she had told John everything that had happened as well as a few choice phrases that had been said. His reaction had been nothing short of dramatic, a full body shudder with an accompanying groan.

"I'd noticed that my lectures were drawing more of a crowd than normal but I hadn't considered that it might be for any reason other than the subject matter, not for… other reasons," he finished lamely, his cheeks heating with belated embarrassment.

"By other reasons do you mean the fact that you're the hot teacher that people can't take their eyes off of?" Selene asked innocently.

"I'm sure it's nothing of the sort," he sniffed, looking like he wished more than ever that he was anywhere but there having this conversation with her.

"Some of the girls must have been wearing their best push up bras, because even I couldn't wrestle my eyes away from their cleavages," Selene teased, making him whimper pathetically.

"Please stop," he begged. "Just stop."

"You should be grateful you weren't reading the comments that I was, if I was you I'd take a body guard when you next do a lecture in person, because they are after you. A few were discussing the best places to try to catch you alone for a little one on one lesson if you catch my meaning."

"Well they can't have me, I just got married," he pointed out, quite unnecessarily he thought, although it might have been some kind of elaborate ploy on her part to gain assurances that his heart was indeed true and that he was loyal to her. She was a woman, he wouldn't put it past her, they were strange that way.

"I'm aware of that fact," she drawled, sarcasm positively dripping off her tongue. "I was there when it happened."

"Yes, you were," he started, then paused, his scowl instantly replaced with a sly grin as his brain kicked up an idea.

"What's that look for?" she demanded to know.

"I decided that you were right," he started.

"That's a first. Pray tell, just how do you believe I was right?"

"I think you're right in the fact that I should take a body guard with me, someone to watch out for any students that might be so inclined to push for those extra curricular activities you seem so sure of them wanting."

"See, I knew you'd see things my way, I'll see if Virgil is fre-"

"Nope, not Virgil."

"Scott?"

He shook his head.

"Not being funny, but Alan would be too scared of those hussies to say a word to them and Gordon would be too busy basking in the attention and glory of being your brother, he'd let six slip past before he knew what was going on. Maybe Kay-"

"You."

"Me? Nah, no way."

"You are, as you also pointed out, my wife, and therefore it is your duty to protect your husband. Defend your property, woman!"

"You are so not my property," she snorted.

"You're still coming with me."

"Nuts."

"How many times have you called them then?" the woman, Mariah, demanded, bringing Selene back to the present and her current situation. She had two choices, she could admit who she was and take the torrent of questions that would inevitably come with it, or she could have a little fun with it. Unfortunately for them the devil on her shoulder out cheered the angel.

"A few, just for the sake of it, you know," she shrugged, adopting her most casual tone. "They rescued me once and after that I just kept calling back for a chat, trying my luck, as you do."

"They actually came out to rescue you?" someone else asked, shoving the first woman aside to get closer, studying Selene with an expression of rapt attention and just a little bit of awe. "What happened that you needed rescuing?"

"Well, I was travelling home from a festival and crashed my b-"

"You crashed your bike? Oh you poor thing, were you hurt? Did you get trapped somewhere?"

"I was flung into a tree," Selene said, sticking as close to the truth as possible. "So I called for help."

"Lucky," someone else whistled.

"See, I told you a ford wasn't good enough."

"I tried my best, OK? My insurance has gone up so much now and I didn't even get to see one single Thunderbird," Mariah protested.

Selene settled back into her chair as the women went off on a tangent about which Tracy they would take for a ride and exactly how they would join the mile high club with their chosen victim. She clamped her lips together, using all of her self control to not blurt out that she was a fully paid up member of the 22,400 mile high club, thank you very much, so beat that. It was a truly heroic effort on her part and she was rather proud of herself for managing it.

"Shame he got married, isn't it?" Ford girl Mariah, sighed, as if the knowledge of John's nuptials had destroyed her faith in humanity and every dream she'd ever held dear.

"Such a waste," her immediate neighbour agreed.

"Honestly I was heartbroken when I saw the announcement."

"Me too, I stalk all their social media and he hadn't been around for years. I heard he doesn't get out much, yet all of a sudden he's met someone and is getting married? Bit too unbelievable if you ask me."

"Not that special, is she?"

Selene raised an eyebrow at this.

"Nah, have you seen her, bit weird really."

"Think it was a pity thing?"

There went her other eyebrow, shooting up to join its sibling, almost vanishing into her hairline.

"Had to have been, because she's punching well above her weight with him."

"Do you remember how it came out that she was all over Scott? I think that something happened and she needed marrying off quickly and he stepped up to help his brother."

"Yeah, that makes sense."

Selene was so close to blowing her cover, so very close to turning around and setting the record straight but, thankfully for the girls who were about to get a piece of her mind, the heads of Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics and Biology and Planetary Science departments for Manchester University (the chosen venue) picked that moment to step out onto the stage and begin John's introduction. They were just lucky that she wasn't prepared to make a scene during her husband's lecture, but her self restraint was wearing decidedly thin.

John looked his usual confident self as he strode up to the podium. It was always interesting (as well as pride inducing) to see how differently he presented himself when he was in his element as he was now. He knew academics, they were his people, he knew universities and lecture halls, they were his territory almost as much as space was.

John, when he was comfortable in his surroundings, when he knew what to expect and, more importantly, what was expected of him, was a totally different person than the one most people met for the first time. Social situations were not his friend, they were a time when anything and everything could happen without his say so or prior knowledge which always made him nervous and uncomfortable. But here he was the one in control, he was the one in charge, radiating confidence and, even though she thought he was sexy a hundred percent of the time, she could see why he would be attracting the admiring glances and attention.

His voice, when he spoke to greet everyone and thank them for attending, was calm and controlled, the perfect mix of relaxed and knowledgeable. She loved to hear it, loved to hear the effortless way he commanded and held their attention. Damn her husband was amazing. She sighed softly, settling back in her chair to watch him work his magic.

"I've always been interested in how all the things we take for granted on earth must be adapted, must evolve, due to the ever increasing developments in space travel, to survive and flourish in the new and challenging environments of space," John began, as a hush fell over the audience.

At John's first words the girls beside her erupted into whimpers of delight, there might have even been a few moans that sounded vaguely obscene, but she didn't want to analyse those ones too carefully.

"Can I pay him to read to me?" a girl whispered to the one beside her. "Bedtime stories, in his bed."

"I wish."

"He's married," Selene felt the need to remind them yet again. "I'm sure his wife wouldn't want you in their bed with them even if he would do it, which he wouldn't."

"Married doesn't mean dead," Mariah assured her.

"Plants had never been an area in which I had much interest in relation to their growth and maintenance on earth, even though it is a well known fact that the care, maintenance and beauty of plants can have a positive effect on a person's mood. One of the side effects of prolonged time spent in space is not only seen on the physical body, but on one's mental state. Social interaction, fresh air and time spent outside of the home with room to roam are all things essential to our mental wellbeing that space just cannot provide. Small crews, small spaces, lack of sunlight and atmosphere are all downsides to a life lived in space, necessitating the need to find ways of overcoming these obstacles. And, while I have never found horticulture to come naturally to me, over time I have discovered that the subject of plant growth in the sometimes harsh conditions of outer space is rather fascinating."

He really is so good at this, she thought, watching proudly as he launched right in without a moment's hesitation. People always thought of her man as shy, unable to face any kind of public appearance, but she knew that wasn't the case. He just had to feel comfortable and in control of the situation and there, up on stage, talking about his world, he was in his element. He couldn't be more amazing if he tried and the stupid thing was he didn't even know it. He didn't notice the admiring glances, the people openly staring at him, the way that people hung off his words for so many different reasons.

"I have always had a desire to engage in experiments, to research and gain as much knowledge as possible on a certain subject and it was this need to know that led me on the journey of discovery that I shall be telling you about today," John continued, capturing and holding the attention of a large portion of the audience. Selene just wished his power extended to the females she was sharing her row with, then they might have shut up a little bit.

"I reckon I could still get him," Mariah was saying confidently, her voice distracting Selene enough that she missed what John said next, luckily she had heard the lecture a few times and so she wouldn't lose the thread.

"He's married," her friend reminded her yet again.

"And? That's never stopped me before, all men cheat. I've had three lecturers here and two are married."

"How did you manage that?"

"I've got tricks," Mariah assured her friend, fluffing her hair. "I can get any man I want and some I don't."

"That's true," another agreed. "Georgia, do you remember that bartender in Brighton that kept giving us free drinks so we'd put in a good word for him?"

"Pascal," the woman next to Selene answered. "Didn't get anywhere though, did he? But we got bladdered for free the whole week."

Mariah preened again, looking very pleased with herself. "So, do you think I should go for it?"

"With Him?" the woman beside Georgia asked, once again capitalising the H.

"No, I'm gonna track down Pascal," Mariah huffed sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Seriously, Kerry? For fucks sake, who else would I mean?"

Kerry wisely kept her mouth shut.

"In essence, Auxin characteristically flows in a fixed direction, from an aerial shoot, which includes the apical meristem and the younger leaves, towards the roots," John was saying from the stage. Selene dragged her attention away from her darling husband and back to the woman who was tapping her arm.

"What do you think?" Mariah demanded, pinning Selene with a calculating look.

"What do I think about you hitting on John?" Selene asked, trying to recall what the women had actually been talking about since she had only been half listening.

Mariah nodded, her arms crossed, almost daring Selene to disagree with her.

"I say give it a whack," Selene answered, trying so hard not to laugh in the woman's face. "What's the worst that can happen?"

"He could turn her down," the last woman, who must be Jen, sniggered.

Mariah speared Jen with a glare and the other woman seemed to wilt in her chair. Clearly Mariah was some kind of queen to these women if the way they deferred to her was anything to go by.

"Not that that would ever happen," Kerry assured Mariah, patting her arm reassuringly.

"Just you watch," Mariah told Selene, "after the lecture I'm going to march down there and introduce myself, he'll be putty in my hands in five minutes, I guarantee it."

"Good for you," Selene praised, sipping on her drink in an effort to keep the laughter bubbling up inside her under control. She turned back to the stage, showing with her body language that she was growing bored with the conversation and wanted to listen to John.

The other women did the same, settling down to stare at him dreamily while trying hard to look like they were listening. Selene didn't care what they did as long as they shut up so her man wouldn't hear them and get distracted and so that she wouldn't be forced to pull rank and start yelling.

"So, to sum up, while plant life does indeed rely on gravity, UV rays, nutrients and a good quality air system, we've found that it is perfectly possible to grow and cultivate a successful garden in a climate controlled, zero gravity situation with the right resources and knowledge. We predict that, with a little more testing and research done in conjunction with the Mars colony project, the future is looking very bright for self-sustaining food growth, as well as aesthetics, on a planet other than earth," John concluded, wrapping up his lecture. "As always I am more than willing to stay behind and answer any questions you may have.

A burst of enthusiastic applause broke out throughout the auditorium, which Selene joined in with, even throwing in a wolf whistle because why not? She was the only one there that actually had a right to be doing it after all.

Mariah shot a glare at Selene, like she was the one in the wrong that was encroaching on her patch rather than the other way around. Selene stared right back at her, smiling sweetly.

"When are you going to make your move?" Kerry asked Mariah, nudging her with her elbow, clearly seeing the standoff going down between her friend and Selene.

"I'm going to wait until the nerds are done," Mariah said, breaking their locked eyes to start fishing around in her bag for her lipstick, a bright garish red that she slathered on in thick, hard strokes.

Looking down at the stage Selene could see that the front of the stage was surrounded by the more academic portion of the audience, all wanting to talk to John and have their questions answered.

"Looks like you're going to have a long wait," Selene commented innocently, well aware that John could be there for at least another hour as he'd never be rude enough to say no to anyone that had taken the time to wait to talk to him.

"All the more time to make myself look more beautiful, not that I need much work," she tacked on quickly.

"Of course not," Selene agreed easily, her eyes on her phone as she busied herself with texting Scott a blow by blow account of what was happening, knowing he'd find it as hilarious as she was.

Selene waited patiently, half listening to the girls chatting as they made their plans, a few of them deciding that they might 'have a go' at him too, while the crowd around the stage slowly thinned as the more studious attendees had their questions answered and wandered off happy, making room for the decidedly more female element.

Looking down she could see a sea of women, all standing around looking far too dressed up for a simple lecture. It was no wonder that the ones beside her had dismissed her and her casual attire so easily.

"Right, ladies, let's move," Mariah commanded and as one they all stood up, leaving their bags and coats where they were. In perfect synchronicity they fluffed their hair, hoiked up their cleavage and strode down the steps towards the stage, Selene trailing along behind them, dragging John's laptop bag, her own bag and her coat with her.

"Try to think of a question to ask him that hasn't been asked before," Mariah instructed like she was leading a military operation. "That proves we were listening."

"Were you all listening?" Selene asked.

"A little," Kerry shrugged, "but it's not really my thing. Maybe I'll ask what Saturn's rings are made up of, that's not been asked before has it?"

"He was talking about the advancements in Astrobotany and his own experiments with nutrient solution, " Selene reminded her.

"Exactly, so Saturn hasn't been discussed yet, so I'll be the first."

"Excellent plan," Selene agreed, giving up completely and settling for patting her on the back in a show of solidarity.

"Touch him a lot," Mariah continued to school them all. "Men love that, it makes them feel connected to you and desired."

"He doesn't look much like he'd enjoy that," Selene protested half heartedly, knowing that, although John would absolutely hate to have strangers pawing at him he would be fine. He was now a master at deflection and had the uncanny ability to duck out of the way before the person after him even realised he'd moved. He had perfected the art of being dismissive but polite enough that they couldn't be mad at him about it.

"He's a man," Mariah sniffed. "They all love it unless they are gay, and he's married to a woman. But if you don't want to touch him, touch yourself, it helps get them thinking about touching you themselves."

"Lots of touching then," Selene nodded as if she were taking notes. Her poor man, she really should step in and say something before they made complete fools of themselves.

"He could still be gay," someone mused, looking over at him, "maybe that's why he got married."

"Nonsense," Mariah said, dismissing the notion. "He just needs a real woman to take him in hand."

Selene's eyes narrowed and right there and then she made the hard decision to throw her love under the bus. She'd tried to be nice, she'd tried to put them off and steer them in a different direction, but they hadn't listened. The only way they would learn was by humiliating themselves in the worst kind of way. The little devil on her shoulder had moved over to make room for the angel who was demanding that they perish.

The ones called Jen and Carly were shoved forward first and, much to Selene's amusement and their disappointment, John was exactly how Selene had predicted, polite but reserved, deftly moving aside every time Jen reached out a hand as if she would grab him by the arm or Carly stepped closer, trailing her finger along the neckline of her top. Once he had answered their question he smiled lightly and turned towards the next person effectively dismissing them in the exact way he did Gordon at his most annoying.

"Your turns," Mariah said, shoving Kerry and Georgia forwards.

John was obviously reaching the end of his peopling tolerance for the day because they were dealt with even quicker than Jen had been and soon shuffled back to the group, unsuccessful in their quest to snag a Tracy.

"My turn, watch the master at work," Mariah announced, plastering a flirty smile on her face. "Don't bother waiting for me, I've got a feeling I'll be busy tonight."

"Good luck," Selene called after her, trying to hold in the giggle that were trying desperately to escape.

John's eyes grew wider as Mariah sashayed (that was the only word to describe the way she advanced on him) her way over to him, her hips swinging like a pendulum, boobs trying to bounce right out of the too tight top she was barely wearing.

She tried harder than the others, Selene would admit that much. She didn't start subtly, oh no, she grabbed right on to John's arm and linked hers through it like he was her prom date. John stiffened, clearly uncomfortable and Selene had to fight the urge to rush over to rescue him. It wasn't that she didn't trust him, she had no worries in that department and never had, but she didn't want to come across as a jealous wife that had to stake her claim any time a female went in groping range of her husband. No, he'd have to handle it himself. He needed the practice, she would only get involved if it moved from mild discomfort to all out panic, besides, Mariah needed knocking down a peg or two, especially as she seemed to be making a habit of pursuing men that were not on the market. It would do her good to be rejected in a way that she couldn't blame on anyone else.

Mariah was working it as best she could, leaning in close to talk, stroking his arm, trying to brush imaginary lint off his shirt, but John was resolute in his desire to stay as far away from her as possible, even resorting to putting his podium between them once he succeeded in extracting his arm from her iron grip.

Selene could see that he was clearly telling her, very firmly, that he wasn't interested, even going so far as to lift his left hand and point to his wedding ring. He kept glancing towards the seats, his eyes desperately searching, but obviously not finding her, he resorted to burying his nose in his tablet as if he had suddenly remembered something important and ignoring Mariah completely.

She tried to get his attention back but in the end she was forced to give up, returning to their little huddle with far less spring in her step and bounce in her boobs than before.

"You still gonna give it a go?" Jen asked Selene.

"I wouldn't bother," Mariah sniffed, "if his head wasn't turned by these I doubt you'd stand much of a chance."

"Probably," Selene agreed, "can't hurt to try though."

"Maybe he is gay after all," Mariah bitched as Selene was nudged into motion.

"Go on girl."

"Go for it."

"Give it your best shot."

The girls, other than Mariah, seemed to be quite nice although obviously easily led, which was half the reason that Selene hadn't ripped their heads off, deciding that the road of passivity was by far the nicer choice.

She wandered unnoticed in his direction, his focus still on his tablet.

"Hi," she said as loudly as she could, offering her hand in greeting. "I hope you don't mind me coming over but I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your lecture, you really seemed to know what you were talking about."

John's head shot up, his eyebrow rising in silent question but, ever the well trained husband that was more than used to her antics, he played along.

"Thank you," he said, shaking her hand, still slightly bemused as to what she was up to.

Selene glanced over at the girls, who all made shooing motions at her, encouraging her to continue.

"Erm...do you come here often? You know, to lecture?"

Spotting the girls and realising their obvious involvement in her little charade, John simply shook his head and reached out to take his bag off her, which she was still carrying.

"I can't even leave you alone for an hour, can I?"

"You know what they say," she shrugged, "throw me to the wolves and I'll come back leading the pack."

"But did you have to lead them my way?" he sighed, slinging his bag strap over his shoulder and reaching for her hand so he could pull her in for a quick hello kiss.

Selene giggled against his lips as Mariah's shriek of shock and horror echoed around the stage area. She risked a glance in their direction, seeing five sets of wide eyes and open mouths staring back at her.

"Trouble maker," John scolded lightly.

"Yeah, but that's why you love me."

"One of many reasons, I can assure you, although one more stunt like this and I might have to rethink some of them."

"So you say."

"They're coming over," John hissed in warning, catching sight of them over her shoulder. "You're supposed to be here to protect me from them, do your job."

"Do we have time to make a break for it?"

"Unfortunately not," he groaned, not so subtly moving so that Selene was in front of him as a shield.

"What's going on here, then?" Mariah demanded to know, her arms crossed, bright pink talons tapping angrily on her biceps as the others flanked her like the good little lackeys they were.

Selene nudged John who took one for the team. She just knew she'd owe him big time for this.

"Ladies," he greeted them as pleasantly as he could. "I'd like to thank you for keeping my wife company during my lecture. No doubt she's sick of hearing it by now so I'm sure you helped make it a much more pleasant experience for her."

"They really did," Selene assured him. "We had a very enlightening conversation, I had no idea that universities could be so scandalous."

The girls were still standing in stunned silence, their mouths opening and shutting like a goldfish, faces bright red as they blushed furiously, obviously mentally rerunning everything they had said to and about her.

"If you'll excuse us, it's been a long day for us already and I promised Selene a quiet dinner and an early night before we head home."

Selene waved a cheery goodbye as they made their way out of the auditorium to freedom.

"Alright, so what was that all about?" John asked as soon as they were outside.

"That was me being a grown up and not feeling the need to stamp my feet and mark my territory by making a scene during your lecture."

"Care to elaborate?"

"Your fan club spent your entire lecture telling me all the many and various ways that they were going to try to steal you away from your wife, because she's obviously not worthy of you or simply a pity wife that you married for convenience."

"Is that so?"

Selene nodded.

"Could you not have simply told them who you were and put an end to the situation before it escalated to the point that I was relegated to nothing but a piece of meat to be obtained or you became a screaming harpy?"

"I could have, but I thought it would be better coming from you."

"Was it that bad?"

"Yep, they were placing bets on who would win the Tracy prize."

"And obviously, you won."

"I totally did," she stopped walking and, using her grip on his hand to pull him to a stop, lifted up to steal a kiss. "And so will you tonight."

"Is that a promise? Am I your prize?"

"You are indeed, and yes it's a promise that you have earned by being such a good husband who didn't fall foul of the young beauties intent on possessing your meat and two veg."

"It was a tough job, but I held strong," he deadpanned, "I will accept your exchange. Now, where were you thinking for dinner? Because the sooner we eat the sooner we can make use of the very nice hotel room the university is paying for."

"Perks of being the wife," she grinned. "I was thinking Italian, I've got a sudden craving for meatballs."