Gothicana

The breeze gentled around her, the moon hiding behind clouds as though giving her the privacy, the secrecy, the courage she needed. Lifting herself slightly from the rock to elevate her body, stretching her neck, Corvina raised herself and pressed her lips to her fingers over his mouth, their noses touching as she tilted her head and removed her hand, leaving that last inch of space between them.

“If this is madness,” she whispered almost against his lips, “drown me in it.”

“Jesus fuck,” the expletive left his mouth right before he closed the distance, crashing his lips over hers. Tingles spread out from the point of contact, radiating out over her body, making her legs too weak to hold her weight. She gripped his sweater with her hands, fisting them to hold her body in place as their lips stayed locked. He pulled back slightly, still leaning over her, his arms still on the rock on either side.

“If this is madness,” he told her, echoing her words against her lips, “I’ve already descended too far.”

His mouth came over hers again, this time with the weight of his large palm at her lower back, holding both their weights with one hand anchored on the rock. He opened his lips slightly, and she imitated under the delicious pressure, her hands fisting the fabric of his sweater as their tongues co

Their breathing grew ragged as she tugged him down harder, stretching as much as she could in the position to get as close to him as possible. Her breasts felt heavy, her nipples aching with a pain only touch could satisfy. She wanted those skillful, beautiful hands to touch them, hold them, play them, and set her afire. She wanted this deviant mouth that kissed her like she was his feast after relentless gnawing hunger to kiss her in places no one had. She wanted, she wanted, to the marrow of her bones, oh how she wanted him, without truly knowing him, knowing who he was or where he came from. It was madness. The molecules in her body recognized the molecules in his, the madness in her blood recognized the madness in his, the melancholy in her soul recognized the melancholy in his.

They kissed, and kissed, and kissed, spi

She felt a noise leave her throat, a noise that made him pause and pull back, the warm muscles of his chest under her fists heaving. They looked at each other for long moments, both of them getting their hearts under control before she saw his eyes flicker over hers, an expression pinch his face, his eyes moving to the side.

Regret.

He regretted kissing her.

Something warm, a different kind of warm, flushed through her body, an emotion she’d not felt enough to recognize it. She just knew she didn’t want to see the regret on his face. In fact, as he pulled back, she wanted to wipe the wanton way she had kissed him from his mind and never see him again.

Throat tightening, Corvina put a deliberate smile on her face, letting go of his sweater and sitting back down on the rock, collecting the cards that had fallen in the folds of her nightgown. “You don’t have to worry. It wasn’t serious. I have no expectations of this ever happening again.”

He studied her for a long minute, the line of his jaw hard as he clenched his teeth, his mouth still wet from her lips. “You should go back.”

Corvina tucked her hair behind her ears, still flushed, her nose twitching, and broke their gazes. “I’ll see you in class, Mr. Deverell.” If the earth didn’t swallow her whole, that is.

With that, she bent down to gather all the cards that had fallen down, her lips still tingling but determined to ignore it, aware of him going back to the piano. She didn’t know if he was going to stay the night but she had to leave, and possibly never be alone with him again, not if she wanted to avoid the embarrassment of kissing a man for the first time and having him regret it immediately. As first kisses went, it had been… extraordinary, right until the end. Her second would be better, she was certain. Hopefully with someone who wouldn’t regret it.

As she went to collect the last of the cards, her hand froze.

Three cards lay face up on the ground, the only three cards to be that way.

The Devil, The Lovers, and The Tower.

The same cards her mother had pulled in her nightmare.