Page 9 of Hollow House

I needed air.

The heat of my orgasm coursed through my body.

My cheeks reddened, and I remained frozen long after the Wraith slipped away into the crowd.

A waitress passed by with a tray of drinks in the little skull hand glasses, and I snatched one.

I drank it quickly, the faint taste of wine washing down the back of my throat.

It did little to settle the heat inside me.

Nearby, I spotted a sliding door leading out back, and I pushed through the crowd toward it. Sweaty bodies pressed against me, swaying and dancing to the music.

A body pressed up against my back, the muscular figure so close, I could sense their breathing. Had he come back for me?

Strong arms wrapped around my waist, and the figure bent down to whisper in my ear over the sound of the music.“Do you have a desire you’d like fulfilled?”

I didn’t recognize the voice. It was higher and different from the Wraith’s.

I turned to find a different handsome man staring down at me. He was the type I usually went after the few times I allowed myself a break.

“I’m just heading outside,” I said politely.

“Would you like me to join?” he asked with a questioning glance.

The question seemed good-natured, but for some reason, everything inside me screamed no. I still couldn’t get the other man out of my head.

Maybe Felix was right. Maybe I did need to get laid if a single orgasm had me this focused on a random man I just met.

Beyond the man, I caught sight of movement in the crowd. The familiar dark eyes caught mine, and I blinked a few times, wondering if I imagined them. A second later, the Wraith was gone. Maybe it was just a trick of my mind, or maybe the wine was going straight to my head.

Shit .

The guy still stared at me, now like I head two heads.

“Sorry, I’m okay. I just need some air. Too much wine,” I said with a weak smile.

I slipped away before he could say anything else.

Crisp autumn air slammed into me the second I stepped outside. An extensive garden greeted me, and I followed a small stone path into it.

This far into the season, many plants from summer had died off, but some clung to life still. Leaves crunched beneath my black heels, littering the ground around me.

The Wraith had not followed.

Had part of me hoped he would?

This was a house of pleasures, I reminded myself. He was here for that. He teased me and took pleasure from me, and now, he’d moved on.

My skin crawled with the feeling of eyes on me, even outside alone. I couldn’t shake the feeling I was always being watched.

I stopped in front of a group of dahlias, their orange and red colors deeply vibrant.

Instinct forced me to lift my gaze, and a shadow movement caught my eye. I tried to follow it but lost it in the darkness.

My heart raced, picking up in speed each second the silence remained, but I couldn’t find what had caused the shadow.

I stared across the landscape, narrowing my focus. Nothing else around me mattered. I felt like my sanity was slowly slipping.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

I jumped, startled by the sudden loud sound.

A pounding behind me sent a shiver down my spine. I turned, my heart racing, not initially finding anything. My gaze swept across the garden, and the pounding continued. I lifted my stare to the mansion, and movement in one of the windows on the second floor caught my eye.

My feet instinctively moved forward. The closer I got, I could make out the silhouette of a woman. The pounding grew more furious.

I stopped when I finally had a good view, and my jaw dropped. The woman in the window waved frantically to me. She glanced over her shoulder and pounded again at the window. I stood frozen with fear, watching in horror.

Where was she?

I had to get to her, to help her. Was she hurt?

A shadow crept over her, and the look of terror that spread across her face kept me paralyzed. All I could do was helplessly watch.

She mouthed something, and I swore it looked like help .

A hand wrapped around her and covered her mouth. One moment, she was there, and the next, she was ripped backward. I couldn’t see who grabbed her, but the second she disappeared, I moved.

I sprinted back inside, straight into the group of people still dancing to the music. I pushed through bodies grinding on each other, enjoying their pleasures on the dance floor.

“Help,” I said meekly.

No one paid me any attention.

“Help,” I said a bit more forcefully, drawing some attention, but no one moved.

I sprinted through the crowd and found the staircase I’d seen when I entered the house.My feet hurried, taking them two at a time. Fuck, why did it feel like I was moving in slow motion? Every second passed was one wasted.

Upstairs was more of a maze than the garden or first floor. Which window was it? A few down in the left of the house maybe?

I walked down the hallway and started trying doors I knew had windows facing the back of the house. The first door I tried led to an empty room. A single bed sat inside, alongside minimal furniture, but not the woman.

I tried the next one, the door locked. Fuck, I hadn’t thought about what to do if the door was locked. Was she inside? Could she hear me trying to get to her?

I pounded on the locked door, hoping someone inside would open.

If she was in there, perhaps my noise and persistence could stop whatever was happening.

I pulled back my arm again to hit the door, but it stopped.

A strong hand caught my wrist and pulled me back.

My body spun, slamming into a massive wall.

Not a wall—a man. The man from before stared down at me, still holding my wrist. He cocked his head, his eyes questioning me.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“That woman!” I said, trying to catch my breath. “She needs help.”

His brows furrowed only slight.

“What woman?” he asked.

“I saw her,” I said, trying to calm myself down and reasonably explain what I’d seen.

He didn’t ask anything further, instead moving me back from the door. I opened my mouth to protest until I watched him knock on the door.

“Open,” he demanded in a stern, powerful tone.

I watched, speechless, as the door cracked open, and the second the man behind it saw the Wraith, he opened it further.

“Apologies,” the Wraith started. “My love believes she saw someone calling out for help from outside.”

The way he said it out loud made me realize how insane I sounded, but there was also almost a threatening piece to it. He wrapped a hand around my waist, pulling me closer to his body.

“That was my fault,” a woman said confidently, stepping forward into view. “Got a little too into the role, I’m afraid.”

Her bright doe-like eyes stared at me with sincerity. The man on the other hand looked pissed at me for being a cock block.

“Sorry,” I said quietly, feeling foolish.

“Don’t apologize,” the Wraith said without elaboration.

I looked up to find him staring with gentle composure, almost sympathetic. The other man made a sound that resembled a scoff, and the Wraith glared at him, forcing him to back down.

These people listened to him, respected him.

I already suspected he was the one in charge. Perhaps he owned the entire estate, but this was all the confirmation I needed.

“We will leave you now,” the Wraith said and backed away, grabbing my hand and pulling me from my state of shock.

I followed wordlessly down the hall, trying not to let my embarrassment show. I’d disrupted their night, the single reason people came to Hollow House, to fulfill their desires. The thought stopped me in my tracks. My feet refused to move further, and my grip broke from the Wraith’s.

The Wraith stalked back toward me. With each step, I wanted to shrink further into myself. I was a nobody. Why was he so set on me?

“Come back to me, love,” he said and held out a hand.

“I should go,” I said but didn’t move. “This was a mistake?—”

“Was it?” he asked. “If this was truly a mistake, I’ll walk you to the gate myself.”

I wanted to move, to go home to my little house and curl up in my bed the rest of the night, but my feet betrayed me. I screamed at myself to move, and still, nothing.

His gaze had me pinned.“Tell me what you want, love,” he ordered.

To leave.

To write my article.

To run and never look back.

“You.”