Chapter 22

I was dreaming of a cardinal bird flying in the sky. Its plumage was a majestic red, and each feather gleamed in the sun. It had perched itself on top of an old tree and surveyed the forest below, almost as a protector. Lightning flashed in the atmosphere, and the old tree caught fire. The flames consumed it within seconds, burning the cardinal with it. However, instead of falling to the ground charred by the blaze, the bird flapped its wings. As the fire scorched its feathers, they grew back, more robust and brighter than before. Once it had finished its transformation, the fire disappeared almost as quickly as it had started. The cardinal bird took to the sky, and a swarm of birds cawing and screeching blackened my vision.

As I flinched in my dream, I also flinched in bed. I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling. I placed my hand over my chest as I tried to calm my fluttering heart. I had not been gifted with the ‘sight,’ or at least Otis, my magic teacher, said so. The training he had made me do had been unsuccessful. The gift of future telling was another rare ability. My father had that gift and had known that there would be an uprising against him. I remembered Otis had said as much before he stuffed me in the library’s secret tunnel.

And this dream, it felt strange. I had an odd feeling about it.

Xander’s arm protectively came over my stomach. I turned my head to look at him. He still had his eyes closed and had slow, regular breathing. He seemed to be still asleep. Maybe he sensed something and unconsciously reached for me.

His hair had gotten longer and had fallen in his eyes. He looked so peaceful like this. He looked young and vulnerable. It wasn’t a sight I was privy to see often, and it only made me love him more.

We had been in the country house for a little more than a week, and we had not had sex in what seemed like forever. Xander didn’t want me to hurt my hand, and, thinking about it now, it would have been awkward since I had a wooden slab holding everything flatly. It almost looked like I had been holding a paddle. It was awful.

However, Diana had removed it since my fingers looked great. She had the piece of wood cut so that it was wide enough for my three fingers and fit from the palm of my hand to the tips of my nails. She had bandaged my broken fingers together along with the wooden rectangle and finished everything at my wrist, so it held nicely in place. It offered me more movement, and it was much more convenient.

I carefully removed Xander’s arm and moved next to him, so I was facing the delicious V shape of his lower abdomen. I grazed my left hand over his cock, hooking two fingers underneath the waistband. I trailed kisses starting at his navel and slowly went down as I lowered his loose-fitted pants.

I curled my fingers around him and lightly stroked, lowering my mouth over it. My movements were clumsy since it wasn’t my good hand, but I tried to make it work to my advantage. I sucked his tip, then swirled my tongue around it, swallowing it again.

His shaft had swollen, so I pressed my lips to give even more friction as I continued the up and down movements. With each stroke, he filled my mouth even more, to the point where I almost gagged from his length.

I heard Xander’s breathing hitch, followed by a low rumble in his chest. I felt his hand caress my backside, then hooked his arm under my leg that was close to his upper body and dragged it over his head, placing my sex directly over his mouth.

I sucked in a breath at the sensation of his tongue darting around my bundle of nerves. He lifted my rear a bit, and then I felt fingers gliding in my slippery passage. Xander massaged my clit with his tongue. It was distracting me from my actions to please him.

“Hmm, you’re so wet for me,” he whispered as he pressed his fingers deeper.

I needed more of him. I slowly raised my body, so his mouth no longer had access; still facing my back to him, I lowered myself on top of him and rolled my hips teasingly. My lips parted as the sweet feeling of my nub pressed against him, coating him with my wetness.

Xander impatiently lifted my ass and placed his cock at my entrance, slowly lowering me so I could sheath him in. He placed both hands on my hips and guided my rhythm. My red hair whipped my back with each descent I made. I shuddered at his entry but started moving, loving the overwhelming touch of him.

I felt a rise within. If we kept this up, I would surely erupt.

A deep moan escaped my lips at the same time as someone knocked on our bedroom door. I brought my hand up to cover my mouth, and Xander cursed under his breath.

“WHAT!?” He snarled at the unfortunate person who had disturbed us.

“It’s Diana. I came to inform you that breakfast is ready, and I wanted to change Ida’s bandages.”

Xander lifted me off him and repositioned me on my back. My legs wrapped around him, and he thrust himself in me harder. I crashed my lips on him to prevent any other sounds from escaping. He sucked on my bottom lip before his tongue invaded my mouth.

He doubled his pace and slammed into me relentlessly. My toes curled, and the pressure that had been building up inside of me snapped like a taut rope. My pulsing walls tightened around him and made him climax as well.

Once Xander withdrew, he pressed me close to him and kissed the mark on my shoulder, sending waves of shivers the length of my body.

“Milord?” Diana asked timidly, still at the door.

“Right. Uh, give us five minutes, and we should be down.” He said as he winked at me.

I felt my cheeks flush at the thought of Diana having heard what we were doing and that I would have to face her in a few moments. The colour of my face made Xander laugh. He came next to me and kissed my cheek, then grabbed my clothes and helped pull my skirt up and helped me get dressed. I was very grateful since it was difficult doing it with one hand.

He tightened and buttoned up my high collar, long-sleeved thick winter green dress and then resumed buttoning his shirt once there was nothing more to do with my attire. When he was finished, he took my mother’s shawl and draped it over my shoulders, then guided me through the door and down the stairs to the main room where Diana was waiting.

I sat near the fireplace and placed my right hand over the armrest. Diana had propped up a stool right beside me and started removing the splint and dressings.

“Woah, it’s looking excellent!” Diana said with a satisfied look in her eyes.

They looked better, and I thought I had to thank Xander’s quick healing ability for it. The swelling and redness had almost completely disappeared, and my fingers had a delicate flesh colour to them. Diana had removed the stitches that Saul had done a few days before, and every time she changed the bandages, she massaged where there would be scarring, to help prevent any skin stiffness.

She dipped my hand in her bowl that contained water and herbs, and while it soaked, she prepared the new bandages that would bind my hand for another day.

“Would you like to flex your fingers?” she questioned me.

“I–I can try.” I was dreading this part. What if I couldn’t do it? What if they could not move… ever?

Xander came and sat on the other armrest of my seat and placed a hand on my back encouragingly. I forced a smile and removed my hand from the water. I made small up and down movements with my fingers, and it shot tiny jolts down their length. I could feel the tightness of my tendons holding everything stiffly in place, but I could move them.

“That’s great, Ida! We’ll be able to do exercises tomorrow morning,” Diana cheered as she looked at my bending fingers. “You’ll be able to regain some control of them in no time!”

It relieved me to hear that. I had feared that I would no longer be able to use my hand correctly. It would be better than nothing if I could get back a little control.

Once Diana had finished tending to my hand, Xander brought me a plate of eggs and ham with a side of toasted bread and informed me of his plans for the day.

“I need to go to the salt mines and see why they have been slacking on their shipments. My father will expect a report on this soon, and if I don’t deliver, he might get suspicious and send someone here. I already suspect that some of the staff may spy and report back to him.” He had said that last part in a hushed voice.

I also shared that feeling. I kept my private conversations with Xander for our bedroom, not in front of the staff.

“I’ll be away most of the day, and I’ve cashed in a favour some men owed me. The snow has stopped, and the weather is nice and warm. I thought you, Diana, and Leo would enjoy a trip to Saltsburry. It would do you good to leave the house and move around a bit. Those men will escort you all into town.”

I slapped his arm.

“You hired babysitters? I’m not completely helpless, you know!” I was annoyed. Did he think I was a useless, fragile girl?

“Yeah? Then why didn’t you take care of my father when he attacked you?” He said a little too angrily for my taste.

He knew perfectly well why I hadn’t used my powers, and then I understood why he thought this was a good idea. I couldn’t defend myself without exposing myself as a wielder. I rolled my eyes and exhaled a bit dramatically.

“Touché,” I grumbled. I hated when he was right.

He kissed my pout and left to find Diana.

I stood and moved to the window. Xander was right again. It seemed like it would be a beautiful, sunny day. I thought that a walk around the city would do us some good. I knew that Diana and Leo would be excited to go. Diana kept saying that since we were near the ocean, the flora would differ from Seagull’s Bay’s freshwater. She wanted to get her hands on unique medicinal plants and look up the city’s apothecary for her healing store. Diana was very reserved, but occasionally, I would see her all giddy and very passionate about something. I was happy to tag along and undoubtedly hear her explain the different virtues of various plants.

One maid gave me my woollen coat as I walked to the door. I placed it over my shawl and buttoned the front. I hadn’t been able to comb my hair, and frankly, I rather enjoyed having it down as it helped shield my face from the cold. It was messy, so I pulled on it and brought it all over my left shoulder. It looked a little more kept this way.

Diana walked up to me, wearing her winter coat, and had her enormous wicker basket under her arm. She looked silly with her huge grin.

“I’m guessing you’re happy to be going into town?”

“Mhm,” she simply replied.

I linked my arm in hers and pushed open the door. Xander and Leo were already waiting for us near the carriage. There were three men there as well, conversing with Xander. I assumed that those would be our babysitters for the day.

They had their backs to us, but they were all tall and muscular. They were wearing nice clothes, and I thought they would blend nicely with us.

Xander gestured me to come closer. He then took my hand and led me in front of the men.

“Gentlemen, I would like to present my mate, Ida.”

I was a bit surprised he had introduced me as his mate and not his fiancée. I determined they knew what he was. I smiled politely at them. They were about the same age as Diana, maybe in their early to mid-forties, and they were all handsome looking. One of them seemed to gawk at me, for some reason. I frowned; it was making me feel uncomfortable. He had an air of familiarity to him, but I couldn’t quite place where we had met.

“P–Princess?” the man stuttered in disbelief.

My heart leaped to my throat as I finally recalled the man’s face from my memories. It was Gideon, the one who helped me escape in the forest on the day my family was killed.