Hidden Mage

by Sophie Stern

  “What about the cat?” Tabitha called out.

  “She wanders around. She’ll be fine. We’ll probably see her again later.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.”

  As the forest trees grew tighter together, their leaves overhead formed a sort of canopy. The result was that the area they were walking in was very, very dark, but it was also very, very dry.

  “Where are we going?”

  Felix had her cradled like a baby. She leaned her head against his chest. It was wet, and she knew her hair was, too. It was comfortable, though.

  “A safe place.”

  “You know this island well.”

  “I do.”

  “Have you been here a long time?”

  “No more talking,” Felix said. “Save your strength.”

  She wasn’t sure why he cared about her strength, and she wasn’t sure why she trusted him, but there was something familiar about Felix, and she knew, deep within her soul, that he wasn’t going to hurt her.

  She closed her eyes, and she nestled her head against him.

  She hated how safe she felt with this stranger.

  She hated how warm and wonderful he was.

  Tabitha had been running for a long time. She’d been searching, looking for answers, and she’d been trying to find a way to get revenge for what had happened to her people. She wasn’t used to feeling protected like this, but she was a little bit worried that she’d get used to the way it felt.

  She was here on a mission.

  She needed to remember that.

  Chapter 6

  The girl was strange indeed.

  In all of his days, Felix had never met anyone quite like her. She was soft and cute and sassy. She was mouthy. If it were up to him, he’d pull her over his knee and paddle her bottom until she was soft and compliant and tired. Then he’d slide his cock into her wet pussy and fuck her deeply until she came again and again, just for him.

  That was what he wanted.

  That was what he craved.

  He’d been with women before. He’d been with women who were older than him and younger than him. Some of them were magical and some were just ordinary humans, but he’d learned a lot during his life, and he’d learned exactly how wonderful it was to make a woman fall apart just by touching her.

  That was what he wanted for Tabitha.

  He walked through the forest, carrying her. He hadn’t planned on taking her anywhere at all, but he was curious about her desire to find Ursula.

  Oh, she would never find her.

  The witch was dead, and Felix had burned her corpse as soon as he was certain she was dead indeed. She wasn’t coming back. She wasn’t going to hurt anyone ever again.

  And Tabitha would never, ever find her.

  What did she want with the old witch, anyway? A girl like Tabitha should have stayed far away from a place like this. That was what he really wanted to know.

  Why had she come here?

  What was she after?

  There had to be a reason.

  Nobody met with Ursula for fun.

  At least, not in his experience.

  “Where are you from?” Felix found himself asking her. He hadn’t really planned to probe into her past, but he was curious. He’d been alone for so long that he wasn’t sure if he was being awkward or rude, but he felt a growing sense of interest in her. He liked her. She seemed sweet, but strong. It was a strange combination.

  “Planet Earth,” she said. Her teeth were chattering. She was getting cold.

  He was, too.

  Felix knew they needed to hurry. The weather could change in an instant here. This island had always been known to have particularly terrible storms, and he wasn’t interested in being stranded out here, even if it was with her.

  She was snarky, he thought, but that was interesting to him, too. The people Ursula brought to the island in the past had never been snarky. They’d been cunning, sure, and they’d been manipulative, but never snarky.

  A snarky girl was something Felix had only ever read about in books.

  It took about five more minutes of walking through the rain and the darkened forest before they reached the entrance to the cave. Despite the fact that it was now almost pitch black outside, Felix could see just fine. He’d always been able to see well in the dark.

  “Where are we going?”

  “A cave.”

  “Won’t it flood?”

  “No.”

  “How do you know?”

  “We’ve been walking at an upward angle, love,” he found himself being gentle with her despite the incessant questions.

  “Oh.”

  “We’re above sea level now. Besides, I’ve been in this cave before.”

  “You have?”

  “Many times.”

  “Is it like...your Fortress of Solitude?”

  “My what?”

  “You know,” she waved her hand vaguely. “Superman.”

  No, he didn’t know.

  He had no idea what she was talking about at all.

  Apparently, Felix had missed out on even more things than he’d thought. He knew she was speaking English, but if she was referencing some sort of modern story, he didn’t know what it was. One of the problems with Ursula had been that she’d severely restricted Felix’s access to anything and everything. She had been perfectly content with him relying completely on her.

  In fact, she preferred it.

  “Fortress of what?”

  “Superman is a hero on Earth,” she said. “Well, a fictional hero. He has a special place he goes to be alone.”

  “Then yes,” Felix admitted. “I suppose this is a bit like that.”

  He walked into the cave. The entrance was so high and open that he didn’t even need to duck down. This wasn’t a quiet, tiny cave where animals hid. This cave was more like an open hallway.

  “It’s dark,” she whispered.

  “I can see fine. Don’t worry.”

  Felix wasn’t sure why he was being careful with her, but he somehow knew that he needed to be. She was the kind of person who needed to be cared for.

  Protected.

  He carried her into the darkness and down the cave hallway. Suddenly, it ended abruptly. This was where most animals would stop, turn around, and go find a better hiding place. The end of the cave was visible from the entrance, which was why nothing ever seemed to come here.

  Felix did, though.

  He came here a lot.

  It was the one place Ursula had never seemed to be able to find him when he’d been allowed out of her home, which wasn’t much. It was the one place he’d been able to come to be alone and to hide the things he’d stolen over the years.

  Most of his life, she’d kept him chained up. Every so often, she’d allow him to walk around outside for exercise or to stretch. Whenever he was allowed that freedom, he took advantage of it. He’d scurried away, disappearing for hours upon hours. Eventually, someone always found him and dragged him back. There would be a beating or some equally boring punishment, but then the cycle would repeat.

  This was his special place, though.

  Nobody had ever found it, and he’d never shown it to anyone before.

  There was a large boulder at the back of the cave, and Felix set Tabitha down on her feet. He knew the floor of the cave was likely cold, and he hated the fact that she might feel uncomfortable for a moment, but he knew this was how things had to be, at least for now. It was only for a minute. He had to open the inner-room.

  “Stand here for a minute,” he told her.

  Then he pushed the boulder.

  It moved slowly, but not impossibly, to the side. He pushed it only far enough to allow them both access to the interior portion of the cave. There was a secret room back here. It was just the right size for both of them. He guided Tabitha inside, and then he followed close behind. There was another boulder inside of the doorway, and he pushed that one over, completely blocking
the opening from view.

  “What is this place?”

  “You might say it’s my Fortress of Solitude.”

  “Hey, you remembered.”

  “That conversation was like three minutes ago,” he laughed. “I remembered.”

  She shivered again, and he realized he needed to get moving. The cave wasn’t particularly cold, but they were both wet, and he wanted to help her warm up.

  “Can we have a fire in here?”

  “Of course,” Felix said.

  There were openings along the top of the cave room that would allow the smoke to leave, and that permitted fresh air to come inside. He started a fire quickly in the fire pit in the center of the room, and almost instantly, he heard Tabitha gasp.

  “Wow,” she whispered. “It’s beautiful.”

  He looked around the room and smiled.

  It was kind of beautiful, wasn’t it?

  He’d done this.

  He’d made this place.

  It had taken years, but he’d collected everything inside of the room, and he’d brought it here. He had paintings and books and even a couple of tiny statues he’d pilfered. Ursula was the only permanent resident of the island, but she’d had many guests over the years, and they’d brought things with them and accidentally left things behind. Whenever he could, Felix took advantage of that and took these items for himself.

  “Thank you.”

  “Where did all of this come from?”

  “From me,” he said. “Now let’s get you warmed up.”

  “I feel fine,” she started, but he shook his head.

  “You’re freezing.”

  He needed to get her out of the clothes, but he knew she was embarrassed. He could smell her nervousness, but he didn’t know what someone like her had to be scared of. She was lovely. Perfect. Soft.

  “I’m fine.”

  He sighed. He was going to have to do this the hard way, apparently. He reached for her clothes and she stood perfectly still.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m undressing you.”

  He thought it was obvious.

  “I didn’t consent to that.”

  “Do you consent to getting hypothermia and dying? I didn’t think so. Hands up.”

  Reluctantly, she held her arms up so he could tug off her shirt. He tried not to think about the way his hands ran against her skin, which was cold and damp.

  “Pants now.”

  He helped her out of the pants. He had to tug because they clung to her skin, but soon she was standing before him in just her bra and panties. She was just as cute without clothes on as she was with them on.

  “What about the rest of my clothing?” Tabitha whispered, looking up at him.

  “It needs to come off, too.”

  “Will you help me?”

  Something shifted in the room, and it had nothing to do with the cold rain falling outside of the little cave.

  “Yeah,” he murmured. Suddenly, his breath hitched. His body felt tight and wound up. Yeah, he could help her.

  Tabitha turned around and lifted up her hair. He reached for the clasp of her bra and unhooked it. She let the fabric fall to the ground. Then he reached for the hem of her panties and tugged downward, kneeling as he did.

  She spun around suddenly, to his surprise, and then he was facing her front. His mouth was right at her tummy, and he leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to her skin before he could stop himself.

  “Felix...”

  “Tabitha.”

  “You’re...”

  He was falling for her already. He could feel it. He’d never felt like this with a woman. Then again, the women in the past had only been with him in a transactional sort of way. Everyone wanted to fuck Ursula’s freak. Why wouldn’t they? Tabitha didn’t know he was weird, though. She didn’t know he was strange or awkward.

  She didn’t know how broken he was inside.

  “You’re wet, too,” she finally said.

  “I am.”

  “Let me help you.”

  “Help me?”

  Felix couldn’t think of a time in his life when anyone had wanted to help him. The idea felt foreign and uncomfortable to him now. She wanted to help him? She wanted to help the monster?

  That was strange, but he liked the idea.

  Maybe strange wasn’t always a bad thing.

  It was his turn to hold still as Tabitha tugged at his clothes, pulling them off. She took her time undressing him. Apparently, she wasn’t worried about his need to warm up. She just seemed to enjoy looking at him, touching him.

  She seemed to like the way that he was exploring her body.

  “You’re pretty damn hot, Felix,” she murmured.

  “Excuse me?”

  Nobody had ever talked to him like that before.

  “You’re hot,” she repeated. Tabitha reached for his abs, stroking his muscles. She touched him with her fingers, moving her hands from his abs to his hips. Then she touched him a little bit more.

  “Thank you,” he said.

  Somehow, Tabitha seemed to think that was very funny because she threw her head back and laughed.

  “What?”

  “That’s just a nice reaction,” she said. “Most people wouldn’t react like that.”

  “How would they react?”

  “Maybe by kissing me,” she said.

  Her hands moved a little lower, and his cock twitched. He wondered if she was going to move her hands even lower. Was she going to touch him there? Was she going to tease him? Taunt him? Play with him?

  Wouldn’t that be a strange surprise?

  He hadn’t seen another person in six months, and the first woman who showed up on the island was Tabitha: a gorgeous woman who was probably a witch, and who might very well be trying to hunt him and the woman who had kidnapped him.

  He didn’t care, though.

  Not now.

  “We need to warm up,” he said, clearing his throat.

  “Do you have some blankets?”

  Tabitha kept looking at him. She didn’t look around the cave. She’d seen his stacks of books, and the shelves he’d lined the walls with. There was a pile of bedding in the corner that he had hauled here. There was a quilt and a small soft mattress he’d made himself. Yes, there were blankets.

  “I can think of a better way to warm us up,” he whispered.

  Then he leaned his head down, and he kissed her.

  Chapter 7

  Oh, so they were going to do this, were they?

  Tabitha was quite on board with this executive decision. She would definitely be taking credit for seducing the strange man despite the fact that he was the one who had kissed her first.

  And yes, he was a good kisser.

  Felix kissed Tabitha with an intensity she’d never experienced before, and it was something she definitely wanted to experience again and again.

  “Oh,” she whispered against his lips.

  Oh indeed.

  He grabbed her wet hair, fisting it, and pulled her closer to himself. She liked the way he seemed to take control of the situation. He’d done that a few times since they’d gotten together.

  He’d taken her out of the rain, and he’d taken her into the cave, and he’d undressed her like it was no big deal at all. Well, it was a big deal. All of this was a big deal.

  Especially the kissing.

  She reached between them and found his cock was already hard. She’d expected that. He was kissing her deeply and passionately, and she knew that he was right. If he didn’t stop, they’d be warmed up in no time at all.

  Tabitha wrapped her hand around his cock and started stroking him as they kissed. Felix groaned ever-so-slightly, and the sound shot straight to her pussy. Soon Tabitha was soaked in more places than just her head.

  Soon she was craving him, wanting him.

  Needing him.

  “Felix,” she murmured.

  She wanted him.

  She wanted to ride his
big, thick cock right here in the cave. That was what she wanted more than anything else. She could worry about finding Ursula tomorrow. She could worry about finding the evil witch who had killed her people in the morning. It had taken her this long to find the island. What was one more day?

  And oh, she wasn’t about to turn down this experience.

  Not with Felix.

  She wanted to kiss him and tease him and make him feel like he could fucking fly because the way he was kissing her made her feel like she was floating. Felix definitely knew how to please a woman. There was no doubt about that.

  Something about kissing him felt familiar, as though she’d done this before. That was crazy, though. She’d never met him before. She’d never known he existed until just a little while ago.

  Felix lifted her, and she wrapped her legs around his body. She was high enough that her breasts were now even with his mouth, and he leaned forward and sucked one of her nipples.

  She threw her head back, unable to choke back the sounds that were escaping her lips. She wasn’t embarrassed. It felt good. She wanted him to know.

  “Hot,” he growled, taking a few steps forward. Soon her back was pressed against the wall of the cave. It wasn’t damp or wet or cold. It was warm from the fire, and perhaps from the heat their bodies were creating.

  “I want you,” she said.

  She was giving him permission, not that he needed it. Felix was huge and she was powerless. Even if she’d had her powers charged up, she had the feeling that being with Felix wasn’t something she’d be able to resist.

  “I want you, too,” he murmured, kissing her neck. He bit her gently even as his fingers dug roughly into her bottom, and he started grinding against her.

  “Please,” she whispered.

  “Please what?”

  “I can’t wait much longer.”

  “For what, little witch?”

  She tensed, stilling. He knew she was a witch. How did he know? Could he sense it?

  “Calm down. I don’t care,” he said. “Tell me what you want.”

  “I want you,” she said, breathing a sigh of relief. “I want you inside of me.”

  “Like this?”

  He teased the tip of his cock just past her folds. He gave her the slightest little bit of himself, and then he pulled back out. She growled in frustration.