Trapped (Book Three of the Hollow City Coven Series): A Witch and Warlock Romance Novel

by Hazel Hunter

  “It seems you’re not done,” he murmured, still kissing her, his words thrumming against her lips. “That’s good.” He drew back, gazing down at her and grinning. “Because neither am I.”

  Suddenly he was gone. As Gillian closed her eyes and tried to slow her breathing, she was dimly aware of Mathias putting on a condom. Her body was feather-light, as though she might float away. When Mathias came back to the bed, he simply mounted her, as though that’s where he belonged. As he pressed down, his weight felt exactly right.

  “I could look at you all night,” he said in her ear. “Beautiful tits like yours, cute little ass, do you know how hard that gets me? Here, feel.”

  He pressed his hard shaft against her thigh. He nudged the bulbous tip into her cleft. It was enormous, and she wanted nothing more than to have it inside her. With a wriggle of her hips, she tried to take him in.

  “Seven hells, look at how much you want it,” he said. He laughed lowly and put his lips on her ear. “You want me inside you,” he whispered. Even if the room had been full of people, only she would have heard. “You want me fucking you raw, don’t you?”

  His words touched something deep and primal inside her. It was as though he’d seen her fantasies, knew every single one. A fire lit in her belly as surely as if he’d pushed inside her. Her hips pulsed upward under his weight, but she couldn’t move him. She grabbed his hips, but her strength was no match for his.

  “Not so fast,” he whispered. “Not so fast.” His fingers wound into the hair at the back of her head and tightened. He pulled back, tilting her chin up. His mouth was on her throat. “Say it,” he hissed. “Tell me that you want it.”

  Desire twisted inside her. Wet warmth flooded between her legs.

  “I…I want you to fuck me raw.”

  “Gods,” Mathias rasped. “Look at how hot you are. You’re going to feel so good. Spread your legs.”

  She spread them wide, clutching his shoulders. His cock pressed into her clit.

  “Oh, please,” she whimpered, as pleasure pulsed there.

  She ground herself on it, trying to satisfy her aching need, but all she managed to do was spike it higher. Mathias spread her plump, wet slit with the length of his shaft.

  “Tell me,” he said. “Tell me what I’m going to do to you.”

  “You’re going to fuck me,” she gasped, images flying through her head. “You’re going to spread me.” The words began to tumble out. “You’re going to fill me, fuck me, make me come.”

  Mathias laughed, let go of her hair, and pressed into her entrance. The engorged tip of his cock nudged inside. Though she thought he would thrust into her hard, he moved slowly, making her wait.

  “Tell me,” he growled.

  “Oh gods, you’ll fuck me hard. You’ll–”

  He plunged into her.

  As her back arched, she cried out. The sudden fullness of him was almost too much to take. The deep penetration was unrelenting and exquisite, but she enveloped him completely.

  “I feel you squeezing around me,” he moaned. “Do you know what I’m going to do to you next?”

  She didn’t hesitate this time.

  “You’re going to take me hard and fast, pound into me, over and–”

  His hips flew back and then forward. They connected with a thud that drove the air from her. Pure ecstasy thrummed in her clit. Searing fullness stretched her walls. A high whine was torn from her throat. Then he did it again, this time faster. Then again, even faster.

  The entire bed rocked as each thrust forced more pleasure from her. It spiraled higher and higher, coiling ever tighter. She needed to come so badly. She needed to tip over that peak. But each pounding onslaught only brought her higher and put her climax just beyond reach. Dizzy with pleasure, she tried to tell him, but only incoherent whimpers came out. Mathias held onto her with an almost bruising intensity. He was breathing hard, grunting, but he didn’t stop.

  Without warning her entire body shook. Mathias immediately plunged into her so hard that she thought her body would split. Her climax broke on her like a tidal wave, tearing her apart. As though her body had stored every sensation, they erupted all at once.

  Mathias thickened within her, his shaft jerking and trembling, as he came. Pulse after rippling pulse of ecstasy flooded from him, and her body drank it in. She clenched on him, making him hiss. He forced himself deeper, making her cry out. There seemed to be no end to it, as one fed the other, but finally the tide of ecstasy ebbed.

  Mathias withdrew, and flopped to his back next to her. For several minutes, all they could do was stare at the ceiling and gasp for breath. Finally, Mathias got up, disposed of the condom, and came back. He rested against her, one hand companionably draped over her belly. They lay in silence for several long moments. It was Mathias who broke the quiet first.

  “Gillian, who are you?”

  She stirred against him.

  “I could ask you the same question,” she said.

  For a moment, Mathias looked as if he was gathering his thoughts. When he spoke, there was a hesitation to it. It wasn’t as if he was lying, Gillian thought. It was as if he didn’t want to lie.

  “I’ve never been to a place where stars came down to dance above a glittering ballroom. I’ve never looked across a room at a girl who had those same stars in her eyes. What I felt when I saw her…I’ve only felt that way once in my life.”

  “When was that?”

  “When I came into your room.”

  “Mathias…”

  “It doesn’t make sense,” he growled. “I’m me, and I’m not me. You’re her, and you’re not her.”

  Gillian swallowed hard. She knew that what she was about to say made her sound utterly mad, but she still had to say it.

  “I remember a young woman, taller than me,” she whispered. “She has white hair and her eyes, they’re so black. She’s happy to see me. She’s always happy to see me.” She paused. “You’re always happy to see me.”

  Mathias made a wounded sound. Gillian couldn’t tell if he wanted to hear more or not.

  “This part of the country is strange,” he said finally.

  Gillian shivered. “Tenebris.”

  “Maybe Tenebris is a part of it. Maybe it isn’t. Whatever it is…”

  Mathias shook his head. He got up from the bed so abruptly, she didn’t have time to reach for him.

  “This part of the country is haunted,” he said. He refused to look at her.

  “Mathias?”

  “I think I should leave.”

  “No,” she said, sitting up. “Please…”

  As Mathias pulled on his pants, he glanced up, a guarded look to his eyes.

  “You’re trouble,” he said bluntly.

  The words struck her with the force of a blow.

  “No,” she said, weakly. “It’s not me.”

  “Yeah, yeah it is.” His voice was firmer now, as if he had come to a decision. “Look, I’m not like Shayne. I don’t have an imperial mandate handed down from on high that tells me that I need to stand by all Wiccans who need my help. On this trip? I’m a paid guide.”

  “Need your help?” she whispered, bewildered. She gazed down at the bed where they’d just shared something she’d never thought possible. “But we–”

  “Hey, no hard feelings, right?” asked Mathias, pulling on his shirt. He couldn’t backtrack fast enough.

  “Mathias, I don’t know what’s going on,” she tried. “The way I know you, and you know–”

  “Look, we had a good time together. Let’s not spoil it.”

  “I’m not going to spoil it,” she said, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. “As long as you don’t pretend–”

  “I tell you what. Consider this a freebie.”

  She’d been about to stand, but the words caught her off guard.

  “A what?”

  He headed to the door.

  “If you like it,” he said smoothly. “I can give you my rates for other
services of a like kind.”

  The chill of the room settled on her like ice.

  “Get out,” she said quietly.

  To her relief, he did just that.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  HOW LONG SHE sat there on her bed, Gillian didn’t know. Max had climbed from the open backpack and managed to make his way to the bed. He curled himself against her thigh. Only when she moved to stroke his little back, did she realize she was covered in goosebumps. Though Max protested with a tiny squeak, she stood, shivering, and put on her clothes. The thought of a tepid shower was less than inviting, but a cup of tea might warm her, and maybe help to calm her jangled nerves. With Max tucked safely in a pocket, she cautiously opened the door. The hall was clear. Quietly, she made her way to the kitchen.

  Of course, it was just her luck that Shayne was seated at the table. The remains of what looked like a meat pie were on a plate in front of him, and she could clearly smell mint tea. Though she’d paused in the doorway, he’d seen her immediately. Though his eyebrows furrowed after looking at her for several moments, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he put a teacup at the place next to him, and pulled out the empty chair for her.

  As she sat down, he poured tea for them both.

  “When did I become such a screwup?”

  She didn’t realize that she’d said it out loud until he looked up at her, a frown on his face.

  “You’re not,” he said. “Why would you think that?”

  “I don’t want to get into it,” she muttered. “It’s just that… Gods, I don’t even know.”

  He picked up his teacup.

  “He’s, um, not easy.” She glanced up at Shayne. “Beautiful, yes. Charming, yes. Passionate. Well, I guess you know now.”

  Gillian thought that she couldn’t blush any longer, but she was wrong. She cringed at the thought that Shayne might have heard them.

  “We have history,” Shayne said, almost to himself. “A whole hell of a lot of it, truth be told. Every time we split apart, it’s usually for the same thing. He’s unreliable. He’s selfish. He thinks only of himself and his needs. That’s hard for me.”

  “You’re different people,” Gillian said, trying to be noncommittal. “You have different needs.”

  “To say the least. If you want someone fun, well, there’s really no one that compares. If you want someone reliable, maybe look elsewhere.”

  You mean like at a Magus Corps officer who has put his life on the line for me over and over again?

  She bit down on the words until the urge to say them passed. Instead, she only nodded, taking a sip of her tea. But it was as if he’d heard her.

  “You should get some sleep,” he said standing up. “We’re likely starting early in the morning. If all goes well, this might be the last time you get a real bed for a while.”

  Gillian nodded. The tea had worked. But more than that, just a little chat with Shayne had helped. She’d been about to thank him, but he was already heading into the hallway. With a sigh, she pushed away from the table and headed back to her room. She closed herself in, fell down on the bed, and draped an arm over her eyes.

  What the hell am I doing?

  CHAPTER SIX

  NO MATTER HOW Gillian tried to arrange the head scarf, it slipped around as though it couldn’t commit.

  “I need eight extra pins or four extra hands,” she mumbled distractedly.

  “Here, let me.”

  To her surprise, Shayne had appeared in the open doorway.

  As he’d said, morning had come early. She’d heard him and Mathias moving around before it was even light.

  There had been a certain distance between her and Shayne since he had decided to step back from their initial closeness. Whether it was their encounter in the kitchen last night, or whether he’d heard her with Mathias, she didn’t know. But Shayne seemed more like his old self. As she watched in the mirror, he tried to take the utmost care with her hair and the scarf.

  “There,” he said.

  She almost burst out laughing. The whole arrangement was asymmetrical. Curls of her brunette hair escaped every which way. If she turned her head too quickly, she was sure that it would simply fall off entirely.

  “I tried my best,” Shayne protested.

  “It’s not that I don’t appreciate the effort…” she said, trying to decide how to take it apart.

  “Mathias,” Shayne called out.

  Her heart leapt into her throat. He was the last person who’d want to help, not that she even wanted it. But after only a few seconds, Mathias poked his head in the door. For a moment, she thought he was going to refuse. After what he had said last night, she wouldn’t have been surprised if he had declined to do anything except what was explicitly asked of him. Instead, he made a tsking sound and came over, examining the scarf’s current configuration with tolerant amusement.

  “Wow.”

  “I did my best,” Shayne repeated defensively.

  “I can see that,” Mathias replied.

  Shayne rolled his eyes as Mathias removed everything. Gillian did her best to sit still and not go rigid. She hadn’t told Shayne how badly things had ended with Mathias. But apparently Mathias was as ready as her to put it behind them. Without actually looking at her, he deftly wrapped and tucked the fabric into place.

  “There. Now are we good to go?” Mathias didn’t wait for an answer. He moved quickly to the door and was out. But from the hallway, he said, “Shayne, do you need your shoes tied too?”

  Though Shayne might have made some retort, instead he only offered Gillian a little grin. Then he was gone too. Whatever had passed between her and Mathias, it had been smoothed over. A bit of relief washed over her. Only then did Gillian realize that’s exactly what Shayne had intended.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  THE LANDSCAPE OF Cappadocia and Göreme in particular was as foreign as the moon. Though Gillian spotted bits of foliage here and there, most of the landscape consisted of beautifully pale rock, sculpted into spires by wind and rain.

  “Billions of years ago,” Mathias said, “it was violently volcanic. The rock that we see here today? It all came from the lava flow. It’s not granite or anything hard like that.”

  “I’m surprised people came here to live,” Gillian said, peering out the window.

  They had left the paved road behind some time ago. Now they were on a dirt track a little wider than the SUV.

  “The longer you’re alive,” Mathias said, “the more you realize people have lived everywhere.” He pointed to spires in the distance. “In fact, the volcanic tufa is soft enough to carve out rooms, even entire homes, in some places.”

  Shayne was only half-listening. Once again, he shared the back seat with her. Mathias’s wildcat seemed content to ride shotgun, and Max seemed content with that as well. But the longer they were on the road, the more Shayne glanced backward. Now Gillian did the same.

  “What do you see?” she asked.

  Mathias glanced at them in the rearview mirror.

  “It’s what I don’t see,” Shayne said.

  Mathias checked both side mirrors.

  “There hasn’t been a sign of anyone for miles,” Mathias said.

  “Exactly,” Shayne said. “We’re getting more remote by the minute.”

  In the span of seconds, the beautiful trip through an otherworldly landscape had turned tense. Rather than see the amazing, wind-carved spires, all Gillian could see were the shadows they cast.

  As the road became more indistinct, Mathias had to slow down. Eventually, he swerved so far left and right to avoid potholes and small boulders, there didn’t seem to be a road at all. Behind them, the wheels kicked up a trail of billowing dust. The SUV rocked back and forth on the uneven surface. Even so, Mathias pressed on. Though at times it seemed to Gillian that they could probably have walked faster, she wasn’t anxious to find out. Eventually though, as Mathias checked his GPS, he brought the SUV to a stop.

  “We’re on foot from here on o
ut,” he said.

  He’d parked the car so close to a patch of scrub bush that Shayne had to shove and hold the door for Gillian. At the back of the SUV, Mathias opened the hatch. There were two big backpacks. While Shayne removed them and set them on the ground, Mathias was busy cutting branches from the surrounding plants. Though at first Gillian thought it was to clear some space, he began tossing everything onto the SUV. Then he and Shayne piled more behind it.

  “We might not be back this way for a few days,” Mathias explained. “I’d rather not have anyone come by and give us a helpful tow.”

  Despite the cautionary words, and the way he and Shayne kept an eye out, Gillian was excited. No matter how many times she’d visualized this moment, the reality of it couldn’t compare. The morning sun still hung low on the horizon, painting the stone spires and monuments in brilliant oranges and reds. The flinty smell of the fine sand filled her nose. Though Max drowsed in her pocket, Vlasti circled silently overhead, and Kabarik wound circles around her shins. She shouldered her own small pack. Tenebris was close.

  With Mathias in the lead and Shayne bringing up the rear, they set off along a narrow trail that felt like little more than a goat track. Sometimes, it disappeared entirely. Gillian had thought that she would be uncomfortable in her modest clothes, but they actually kept her warm. Though Cappadocia was dry to the point of desiccation, it was winter, and there was a faint but real chill in the air.

  When the sun climbed overhead, Mathias stopped them for lunch. He’d been carrying a separate bundle which he now unwrapped to reveal slices of meat pie, dried figs, and flat bread.

  Though they’d made their way into a narrow valley, leaving most of the spires behind, the sunshine was still brilliant. They took seats on some low rocks.

  “It’s amazing how dependent we are on you,” Gillian said between bites. “I’m pretty sure if you left us here, we’d be lost.”

  Shayne snorted.

  “Speak for yourself. We might not make it out as quickly, but we’d be fine.”

  Mathias nodded, distracted, scanning the rocks and cliffs around them.