Page 80 of Gothikana

‘No,’ he reassured her, his thumb rubbing her lower lip. ‘She’s subdued because she knows I’m on the Board. And she knows I’m on the Board because I asked her to send you an offer of admission. She wouldn’t have done that without knowing I had the authority.’

The knot in her chest loosened, her eyes falling to his neck as he gazed at her warmly. ‘You wouldn’t have liked living on campus with one of my old lovers either,’ she reminded him, flushing under his scrutiny.

His grip on her chin tightened, pulling her face up, his other hand cupping her ass in a proprietary gesture. ‘I would’ve thrown him off this mountain rather than have him on it, little crow. Even my evil, beastly form in your dream didn’t share. Your mind knows well enough I never would.’

God, she didn’t understand why it turned her on so much when he claimed her like that.

‘I need to call Dr Detta,’ she whispered, hoping he would give her the privacy to do so.

He rubbed her lower lip. ‘Then call him. I’m not leaving. There’s nothing in your file that I don’t know already.’

He brought the phone toward her without moving or letting her move. Corvina sighed and dialled the number she had memorised years ago, one she called everyfew months.

She brought the phone to her ear, her finger fidgeting with the wire as his hands cupped her lower back, rubbing soothing circles across it.

The line rang on the other end four times, each one making her heart beat faster, until she was asked to leave a message.

Corvina took a deep breath, waited for the beep, and spoke. ‘Hi, Dr Detta. This is Corvina Clemm. I hope you’re doing well. I’m at the University of Verenmore now. For the last few weeks, I’ve been hearing voices, not just Mo’s but others. And I’ve been seeing some things. The worst was in the bathroom one day. I think I hallucinated, but I’m not sure. That’s the thing, I have no idea if these… things I’m experiencing are really happening or if they’re in my head.’ Her muscles tightened as she took another breath. ‘Given my history, I… I just want to know. I know my tests were negative last time but maybe something changed. Please tell me what to do. I—’

The message cut off.

Corvina exhaled and handed the phone to the man pressed into her, the one watching her like a hawk with silver eyes.

‘You didn’t tell me about the bathroom,’ he stated, his eyes narrowing.

‘I didn’t know I had to tell you.’ She tensed. ‘It was a while ago anyway.’

He wrapped an arm around her, tugging her into his body and pushing her chin up, her head tilting back as he leaned down. ‘Understand this, Corvina. I don’t know how this thing between uschanged and I don’t care. You’re not alone. Not anymore,’ he said patiently, his eyes fierce. ‘If something like that happens, you tell me. If you need help, you tell me. If you need comfort, you tell me. Whatever it takes. I get to be the only madness inside you, you understand?’

Her throat tightened.

She wasn’t alone. But would it last?

‘We don’t know how long this will last,’ she echoed her thought, her eyes on his neck.

‘Look at me,’ he commanded, and her body complied, her gaze locking with his. ‘I am the grandson of a serial killer. I was raised by him, taught by him. His legacy is mine, his blood is mine. I will never be a good man. But you don’t need a good man, do you? You need a devil to fight your demons because you don’t want to fight them alone. You’re self-sufficient but you don’t want to be. You want that beast on the throne who would take charge for you, the beast who could fuck you raw in a room full of people gone mad and still make you feel safe. Am I wrong?’

Corvina felt naked, skinned, gutted, her insides strewn on the floor of this office as he bluntly looked through them.

‘No.’ Her voice was barely a whisper.

‘Some things are beyond our understanding.’ He pulled her closer. ‘This began the day old lady Zelda told me about purple eyes. This’ — he stroked her cheek with his thumb — ‘began the day I found your mother while looking for a friend, the day I saw you outside Dr Detta’s office.You were sitting in a corner of the waiting area, all in black, huddled in your skirt, these eyes staring off into space.’

A tremor went up her jaw as he spoke, matching the tremble in her heart.

‘I saw you then, I found you then. Bringing you here was a way for me to assuage my curiosity, nothing more. I never intended for you to know my secrets. But here we are, and this, this will last, Corvina.’ His ferocity filled her entire face as he leaned closer, his lips a breath away.

‘This will last until the day roses on my grave stop sharing roots with the roses on yours,’ he declared. ‘I will have you even in death, little witch. I am your beast. I am your madness. And you, you’re my afterlife.’

‘And if, one day, I become like my mama?’ she whispered, the deepest, darkest fear in her heart.

‘You won’t,’ he murmured. ‘Your mother didn’t have anyone. That she raised you as she did is a miracle in itself. But you have me. I’m not letting you go anywhere. Do you understand?’

A tear fell down her cheek as he kissed her, his lips brutal on her lips, his hands brutal on her face, his words brutal on her heart.

Corvina surrendered to him like sand under an ocean wave, letting him take her wherever he wished, leaving trails of her past behind this moment. Kissing him in that office, drinking in the words of a man she still didn’t understand completely but knew she’d willingly spend a lifetime trying to, Corvina surrendered, felt something lost inside her finally come home.

CHAPTER 22

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