Lydia felt an excited tingle travel through her body as Gabriel kissed her. It definitely wasn’t lost on her that this was the first time they’d had a chance to be truly intimate since she’d lost her powers.
The last night they had spent in Ellesmere was over before it even began. Tired from the struggles they’d just overcome, both Lydia and Gabriel had fallen asleep right after the foreplay.
Luckily, Gabriel laughed off the sight of the coat. And the chill in her bones was nearly gone as his passionate kisses warmed her entire body.
Gabriel lifted her undergarment and planted kisses all the way down her abdomen. Lydia moaned as Gabriel’s tongue slid over her already wet pussy.
He gently worked his tongue in circles, making Lydia arch her back in pleasure. She grabbed Gabriel’s head and pressed his face tighter to her pussy.
Lydia’s body shivered with delight.
Gabriel finally came up for air, and Lydia took the chance to flip him on his back. He kicked off his undergarments, and his unsheathed sword stood erect before her.
She licked the shaft from base to tip, already tasting his salty cum.
When Gabriel was fully engorged, she couldn’t fit all of him in her mouth. But that only made her even hotter than before.
Wasting no more time, she crawled onto his lap and felt his rock-hard cock rub against her leg.
Lydia gripped his shaft and guided it inside.
Tendrils of shadow rose from Gabriel’s chest as he pulled Lydia closer. For a moment, she tried to return the magic with her own burst of flames, but those would never come again.
Lydia pushed away thoughts of her lost magic. She kissed Gabriel passionately and listened to his moans as the tendrils continued to snake around her.
She moved her hips back and forth as the shadows engulfed the entire room. His moans filled her with a sexual energy that carried her to her first climax.
Gabriel gently turned Lydia over onto her back. His shadow tendrils wrapped around her body and lifted her off the bed, giving him more leverage for his thrusts.
Lydia grabbed hold of the shadows and held on tight as another volley of orgasms began to pulse through her body.
Lydia could feel Gabriel’s hands pull her hips into him, one thrust after another. His touch made her body ache with desire.
Gabriel pulled out of Lydia and rubbed his throbbing cock, shooting hot cum all over her chest and abdomen.
She could no longer burn the bed down with her fire, but that didn’t matter. Lydia still had the power to make her man erupt—and that was all she needed.
Lydia had woken up feeling full of life and energy. Making love to Gabriel had been just the thing to revitalize her senses and help her focus on the task at hand.
She thought about all the things she could be doing now that she was back at the castle, but one thing stuck out to her the most.
She hadn’t been home in ages—and not just her home with Gabriel.
Lydia hadn’t been back to the home she had shared with Lucius until her eighteenth birthday.
It was a difficult decision to make, but Lydia knew it had to be done. Today, she would be returning home to lay Lucius’ ashes to rest.
The morning was cloudy with a chilly breeze that blew lazily down the long dirt road.
Lydia poked her head out of the carriage. Up ahead, she saw the small house on the hill, surrounded by trees and a few overgrown shrubs.
The carriage was coming from the small village where Lydia had grown up. She saw her fair share of friendly faces that filled her with a burning nostalgia for her childhood.
She wasn’t much older than the teen she had been when she’d left, but she felt as if she’d aged decades in a short time.
The villagers gave their condolences for the loss of her grandfather. Lydia thanked them, but it dawned on her that this was the second time she’d lost Lucius.
The old man had faked his death the first time when a pack of rogue werewolves had supposedly torn him to shreds. Lydia had been absolutely heartbroken by the news.
Now, she couldn’t help but smile at the thought of Lucius letting werewolves get the best of him.
Lately, Lydia had imagined that Lucius had faked his death as well. The old drunk was probably holed up in some bar on the coast of Freyr, drinking elven rum to his heart’s content.
But as much as her imagination liked to soar, Lydia knew the cold, hard truth.
She’d watched her grandfather die in her arms. It was difficult to wrap her head around how someone she’d known her entire life was now gone.
And this time, Lucius was never coming back.
After she was finished seeing old acquaintances in the village, she asked the driver to take her to her childhood home.
The moxars plodded slowly up the dirt road until they were right in front of the house.
Lydia stepped out into the chilly air and hugged her coat.
Winters had always been cold and dreary, but it never felt uncomfortable living with Lucius. Lydia realized her powers had played a significant part in that.
Lucius’ presence, even if it was dour and moody, seemed to add extra heat to her fire.
She walked up the stone path to the front door and pushed it open. The inside was dusty and dim, with cobwebs clinging to the corners of the room.
Several empty bottles of elven rum were scattered around the room, along with some dirty dishes and clothing.
It would have been highly unlikely for Lucius to leave behind anything so important to him…
Lydia stopped in the middle of the room and wiped away a few fresh tears.
She would never forget the old wizard, who was more a father to her than Decimus ever could be.
Lydia placed the dirty dishes in the washbasin and promised herself that she would come back to clean them. Her old house needed a good cleaning, and she had all the time in the world.
Lydia walked down the hallway to her room and looked inside. It had been fixed up, with the covers on the bed tucked in as if she had only been away for no longer than a day.
Her room was mysteriously not as dirty as the rest of the house, and it slowly dawned on her: Lucius had been here since her departure.
He had no doubt wiped down her small desk, making sure to keep her books and other items in tip-top condition.
Lydia shut the door to her room and hoped she would be able to visit it once again. There were still many fond memories of her past, and she hoped to never forget where she’d come from or who’d raised her.
Out in the backyard, Lydia shook her head at the thistles and ivy growing unkempt. She could spot a bed of beautiful flowers poking through the weeds, but their beauty was nearly lost in all the tangled vines.
If she had had her power, it would’ve taken no time at all to burn away the overgrowth. She looked around the yard and found a rake.
It took longer than she would have liked, but in time the flowerbed was cleared of everything except the flowers.
Lydia even worked up a sweat. She noticed that her new shoes and dress had dirt and grass stains.
The sight made her smile, and she wondered what Lucius would have thought about her actually doing some chores without complaining.
She slipped the urn filled with Lucius’ ashes from her satchel. Lydia had no idea what the old wizard had wanted her to do for his death, so she’d decided on her own funeral.
She unlidded the urn and spread his ashes throughout the flowerbed. But she refused to stop there. As she walked the entirety of the backyard, she sprinkled his ashes along the ground.
If some of the ashes ended up in the ivy’s vine, she didn’t think it would matter all that much to the old man.
He’d lived a mysterious life and had been entangled in his own addictions and regrets. Lucius would appreciate the irony of his final resting place.
With the urn now empty, Lydia placed it back into her satchel and stared at the yard filled with flowers and weeds.
Part of her didn’t want to leave this home. But there was nothing here for her, at least not at the moment. Lydia knew she’d be back sometime in the future to clean up and make it her house once more.
She felt tears forming in her eyes. There were too many to stop, so Lydia let them flow freely down her cheeks, wetting the ash that lay on the ground at her feet.
Lydia made her way to the carriage waiting on the road. The driver smiled warmly as he held the door open.
She was about to step inside when a noise from the countryside caught her attention.
“Did you hear that?” she asked.
The driver cocked his head and listened.
“I can only hear the rustle of wind through the leaves, madam,” he replied.
Lydia looked at her house and imagined Lucius’ ghost trying to stop her from leaving.
She shook the thoughts from her head and laughed.
Then she heard it again!
But it wasn’t coming from anything human…
Without waiting another moment, Lydia took off toward the woods surrounding her small house. She walked down the hill and approached a small grove of trees.
She could hear the meows but couldn’t see any sign of a cat.
Lydia was about to enter the trees and look for the poor thing but suddenly couldn’t move.
A familiar, but almost forgotten, energy blossomed within her body. She could sense the presence of someone she’d known but hadn’t seen in a long time.
Lydia looked at her feet and could see a small, ghostly cat making its way toward her.
Her breath caught in her chest.
What she was seeing couldn’t possibly be true…could it?
