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Chapter 14

I lay in Xander’s bed, basking in the pool of sun that shone directly over me.

The higher part of the windows contained stained glass. The sun streamed from the half-closed curtains and cast a rainbow of colours on my skin. It felt magical to see those dancing tints vanishing and reappearing from the movements of clouds in the sky.

Xander had left early, not wanting to wake me. I groaned at the thought. I hoped that was his idea and not out of regret. Faiths, I hoped it wasn’t out of regret. I hid my warm, red face in the pillow beside me to stifle my embarrassment.

I bit my bottom lip, thinking back to the steamy night I had shared with him and flushed a deeper crimson at the memories of his touch on my skin.

The bedroom door opened, and it startled me to see Xander walk in, his gaze finding me immediately.

I flashed him a stunning smile and bunched up the covers to hide my nakedness. He removed the vest of his black two-piece suit and sauntered to my side.

His hand slid up the length of my body and tossed aside my wavy hair that hid his mark. Xander kissed it, and it sent shivering ripples through my body. Wow, this is new, I thought.

I had not thought to look at the mark yet. Turning my head slantwise, I noticed the two half-crescent moons of Xander’s bite sitting on my left shoulder. They almost linked to make a complete circle. When I ran my fingers across it, I was a little dumbfounded to feel that it had already healed to a faded scar. Even the gashes on my arms had become pink.

I frowned, and Xander kissed my nose.

“Yeah, I forgot to mention that you’d inherit some of my abilities through the mark. It’s one thing that makes the mate bond special.” He said it like it was the most natural thing in the world.

“Oh?”

“You healed overnight because of my fast-healing ability.” He traced the outline of his mark with a light finger.

“Hmm, what else?” I asked while I did a long stretch over him. He had settled his back on the headboard and left one leg dangling to the side of the bed.

“You will feel some emotions through me, and I, you. The mate bond is a little mysterious.” Xander kissed the top of my head.

“What would you like to do today?” He raised a brow at me. “I could free up the rest of my day. We can do whatever you like.”

“How are you able to free yourself? I hardly ever saw you around while cleaning your quarters. You were like a ghost. I had half a mind of thinking you were a workaholic,” I teased him, propping up my elbow on his lap.

He shifted a bit awkwardly on the bed and cleared his throat. “Well… I was sort of avoiding you,” he said sheepishly. “When Leo told me you had felt ill and refused to leave your room, I guessed it was because of me, so I tried to not be in the area too much—to make you more comfortable,” He sighed, “to be honest, it was very selfish of me to put you through all of this. You were all I ever thought about, and it drove me crazy that you were on the other side of that door, but I couldn’t be with you.”

I understood the feeling. I had also felt the pull Xander had on me. The feeling lessened ever since he marked me, but the feel of it was different now. The want and need of him still lingered in the back of my mind. But now that there was a connection between us through his mark, it wasn’t as intense as before. It felt like I always had a hand on him, reassuring me he was there.

I lifted myself from the bed and moved closer to Xander, and pressed my lips to his softly before moving off and wrapping his bedsheets around my body.

“Is that a yes to spending the day with me?” Xander asked, placing both feet on the side of the bed and following me with his beautiful gray eyes. I was surprised I didn’t see his Lycan surface yet.

“Sure,” I smiled at him, “but I’ll have to borrow some clothes.” I had moved toward his closet and dresser.

“Unless you want me to keep wearing the maid’s dress?” I frowned as I had become a little confused. “Do I still need to work for you?”

He laughed wholeheartedly at the awkwardness I was exuding. Weirdly, a calming effect dissolved the panicking feeling creeping up, and I felt Xander’s mark tingle.

“I have some clothes you can wear that are a bit too small for me. I’ll order some dresses for you. And don’t worry, you do not have to work for me anymore. In fact, you’re fired,” Xander grinned and jumped off the bed.

“I’m working on something so that we can be together officially in the eyes of society. We’ll need to sit down so you can give me all your personal information; I’ll need it to make papers for you that says―”

I didn’t hear the end of his sentence. A buzzing noise rushed into my ears, blocking any sound. I shivered, and it was as though someone had dipped me in a frozen river. Cold sweat started seeping into the back of my neck, ultimately making my hair stick to my nape and bareback. I would have to give him my personal information, and he’d probably ask out of politeness to have information about my family.

I wasn’t ready to do this. I thought I was, but just now, I wasn’t prepared to reveal myself to Xander.

Tears burned in the back of my throat. I wasn’t ready to lose him just yet!

Strong arms wrapped around me, surrounding me in a warm, protecting way.

“Whatever you’re thinking, stop it.” Xander pulled away some of my hair and trailed kisses from my shoulder to my jaw. “I know you’re feeling guilt and fear about something, and I want you to know that if you’re not ready to open up to me about certain things from your past, that’s completely fine. You can just give me whatever information you are comfortable sharing with me.”

I sensed another blast of calmness trickling through me from the mark, and I understood Xander was doing this. He was trying to calm me through our connection. And he knew every stupid feeling I was having because he could sense them too.

Oh, how I hated that mate bond thing.

He let go of me, rummaged through his things, and returned with a black pair of pants and a soft green cotton shirt.

He pulled the shirt up beside my face and nodded, “Yup, this will go very well with your red hair and hazel eyes.”

My heartbeat picked up at the mention of my hair. I reigned in all the emotions that were about to surface. I didn’t want Xander to feel them.

I took the clothes from his hands and dropped the sheet to my feet. I could feel him ogling me while I walked over to the door leading to my room to get some undergarments. Maybe that would distract him from the marching drum playing in my chest.

Once I came back to his room, I dressed. I rather liked Xander’s clothes on me. It reminded me of my lessons with Otis when I dressed in men’s clothes. I had to roll up the bottom cuffs of the pants and put a belt to secure everything in place, and the shirt was too big for me, but I didn’t mind. Xander was right; it did bring out my eyes and hair.

I turned on myself to show him, and he smiled lightly. However, his thoughts looked like they were somewhere else.

He came up behind me once more and circled his arms near my chest.

“Why did you colour your hair?” He cautiously asked, nuzzling his face in the crook of my neck.

So, he picked that up. Drat. I groaned and placed my hands on his forearms affectionately. “Because my previous employers would hit me just for having red hair. I hid it under anything that could conceal it entirely or coloured it to avoid getting punished again.”

I heard him growl, then his grip on me tightened, almost possessively. We stayed like this for a few minutes; after that, he let me go so I could finish getting ready.

I pulled my hair up in a knot, and I picked up the shawl I had brought over from my room to cover my shoulders.

I had concluded that since Xander was a Lycan; he was naturally warmer than humans. That explained why the fireplace in his chamber was immaculate like it had never been used. He didn’t need fires to stay cozy during winter. But I did, so the shawl would have to do since it was nippy.

“Just so you know, Ida, Brunettes are not really my type.” Xander flashed me a quick smile and winked.

Well, that made me feel somewhat better.

I still didn’t know what we would do today. I was famished, which I thought was completely normal if I had been bedridden for two days. We could have dinner together?

Although, I did get something delicious last night. Seeing Xander grab the vest of his two-piece and slip it on, hiding his muscular chest and arms, only made me want to remove every piece of clothing he was wearing and have a repeat of the night before. I blushed, thinking of how crazy it would be if he played hooky just to stay in bed with me all day.

“If you keep thinking about dirty stuff, I can’t promise you I won't lock you up with me and have my ways with you all day long.” I heard Xander snicker on his way to the door.

I turned my head towards him, and I saw him wiggle his eyebrows. How did he even know?

As if to reply to my silent question, he simply tapped his finger on his shoulder to mirror where his mark was on my body, then flared his nose to show me he could smell it, and I reddened even more.

“I’m beginning to regret this bond thing,” I replied wryly.

“Hey,” Xander placed his big hand on his chest dramatically, as if my words had pierced him. He then recomposed himself and pressed a guiding hand on the small of my back. “It works both ways, Love. You just need to pick it up.”

And with that, we were out of the room and discussed our plans for the rest of our day.

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