Before (3 page)

“
You’re biting your lip again,” he muttered as his stepped into
her personal space and lifted his hand to brush a strand of hair
away from her face. Tiny beads of electricity followed the trail of
his fingertips. She hadn’t realised she’d been biting her lip that
time.

They stood this way with the mid day sun beating down on them.
She already felt hot enough with the sun’s heat but this heat was
one caused by Jack. She could feel the material of his trousers
brushing along her legs which made this seem more dangerous out in
public. They were standing so close together.

Was he waiting for the interruption? She could hardly believe
this may be happening. She held her breath as his arm slid around
her waist pulling her closer, his shoulders cocooned her, taking
away her ability to breathe. She smelt sweat and dirt as she took a
deep breath. She loved the smell of him; it never failed to remind
her of home, of him.

He looked down, the chocolate of his eyes melting with
need.“You know, I may just kiss you now,” he whispered close to her
ear, his lips brushed up against it causing her to
shiver.

She swallowed, trying to remember how to use her tongue to
form words. “I may not stop you,” she whispered back, feeling her
heart flutter out of her chest. Would they share their first kiss?
She’d dreamt about this moment for so long that she didn’t want to
get her hopes up.

His hand pushed her bobble free and caressed her hair as it
fell around her waist. She couldn’t see anything other than his
face as his strong arms wound themselves back around her. She
always felt safe wrapped up in his arms. She’d want to spend her
last moments on earth in his arms. She flicked her tongue over her
lips and that was when she heard his intake of breath. It was the
moment that she knew there was no turning back. It wasn’t like she
wanted to.

His eyes remained focused on hers as he moved into her, his
lips hovering so close she felt his breath brush over them. Was he
nervous? She could feel the quake in her knees and was afraid they
would crumble beneath her. What would happen if she couldn’t kiss?
She’d never thought about it before now. How did you know which way
to tilt your head? Questions suddenly bombarded her mind making her
feel more nervous. Was it usually like this for girls?

She held her breath as his mouth covered hers making the edges
of her mind blur. She responded immediately. She’d yearned for the
taste of his lips since the heat between them, the connection,
became so strong she couldn’t sleep at night for thinking of him.
She’d worried that if they’d taken their friendship further it
would risk ruining it. Her stomach quivered with pure lust as she
felt his toned body lean into hers. How could this ruin anything?
This kiss felt so right, so perfect, that they should have been
doing this before now.

She felt his arms tighten around her making her head spin all
the more. At that moment, she lost herself in him. All thoughts
simply floated out of her mind. Before their kiss became too
heated, Jack pulled away but continued to hold her in his
arms.

“
I love your lips,” he whispered, his forehead resting on hers
as he struggled to get his breath back.

She giggled feeling relieved that he’d loved the kiss. Her
head still felt light. “Yours are okay,” she teased.

His lips brushed tenderly across hers before kissing the tip
of her nose. “We need to tell them,” he whispered.

He was referring to their parents. She knew that they would
have to make this relationship between them official.

“
We will tell them soon.” She didn’t want her family
interfering in her life at the moment. What she and Jack had was
verging on something amazing. She wanted just the two of them to
savour their moment before things became too serious.

Brushing his finger across her cheekbones, he smiled and then
moved away to continue with his work. Despite the heat of the day
she felt suddenly cold where his body had held hers. She wanted to
stay enclosed in his arms forever. She walked to the horse,
stroking her in greeting before clucking her tongue moving her
across the field to help Jack with the rest of his chores. She
could do this, live life with Jack like this, forever.

3

5
^th
June 1610

After spending the evening with Jack and his family, she
walked home alone. Jack had offered to walk her, being the
gentleman that he was, but it was barely dusk, so with the little
light, she knew she could walk around the corner. She knew that he
wanted to walk her home for different reasons but knowing her luck
he would do it right outside her cottage and her mother would see
them.

She smiled thinking of their first kiss. It was rather strange
that the kiss had been so perfect, she’d expected it to be awkward.
The bumping of heads or what to do with their hands. Should they
have remained by her sides or on his face?

Even though all the questions had entered her head before the
kiss, once his lips had touched hers, she knew what to do; which
way to move her head, how to breathe, how to run her fingers
through his hair as his tongue caressed hers. You couldn’t begin to
describe a kiss like the one they’d just shared, there wasn’t the
right words, enough words to say how perfect it was.

Cora wanted to feel his lips on hers again, the pounding of
her heart told her the feelings she had for Jack were special. She
wondered how long it would be before they could kiss again. The
thought of his arms around her warmed her body as a cool breeze
travelled through the air. The wind circled her body, on it, sharp
spikes of ice seemed to prick at her skin. She hadn’t realised the
wind had been her one and only warning.

“
Witch! Witch! Witch!”

She stopped as fear roughly pushed aside the love she’d felt
floating through her body seconds before.

Three boys, ones she recognised from a nearby village, stepped
around the hedge. They had been hiding behind it, waiting for her
she realised, as she stepped back already conceding defeat. Why
were they waiting for her? What had she done to them?

“
I’m not a witch!” she snapped as she felt the wind pulse
around her.

“
Yes you are, we know, we’ve been told.” The tall boy stepped
closer to her making her heart thump that little bit
faster.

Taking a deep breath she told her body to relax. Nerves and
fear were fighting for pole position. The wind wouldn’t listen of
course. It had a mind of its own when the moment arose, she
couldn’t stop her element if it snapped. If it did snap, the boy
would know about it.

“
I’m not a witch, I don’t know where you have heard it from but
that person, whoever they are, is wrong.”

“
They weren’t wrong about how you dress.” The smaller boy with
bright orange hair that hung in curls around his shoulders sneered,
looking over her dress with disgust.

Her mother would kill her if the dress brought them this kind
of attention. Why did having her legs on show make her a witch? She
wasn’t wearing a cloak shadowed by a black cat.

“
You’re a witch that dresses strangely. Ladies do not do such
things with their dresses. Witches are strange!” The tall boy
hissed, his bright apple green eyes glaring distastefully at
her.

“
I’m not a witch,” she snapped, pushing at her dress trying to
make it appear longer. She’d calmly told them this statement three
times now and knew that they weren’t going to listen to
her.

She knew what they wanted to do; she just didn’t know how she
was going to defend herself if she couldn’t use her element. She’d
never hit anyone with her fist before. She’d never been forced into
that type of predicament.

One of the boys stepped close to her and pushed her harshly.
As she stumbled, she felt the sweet sting on her cheek as a hand
slapped it. Gasping and losing her balance, she fell to the floor.
As she did, she felt her dress rip all the more. Holding her hand
out, she told the wind to circle her, told the wind to protect her.
She shouldn’t have but there was no other way. It enveloped her
bringing with it a sense of calm. She took a deep breath and looked
at them. Her cheek sung but she ignored it.

They couldn’t see the wind, thank the Goddess, but they could
feel it which meant that she had to be careful, if it became too
strong they would sense it. They would know for certain it was
coming from her.

They were rearing up as a group, their goal, she knew, was to
cause her bodily harm. She could almost hear the cackle of the wind
as it processed the thought. The boys would be no match for the
wind; she knew she couldn’t face this without help from her element
but using it was against the rules. It would cost her.

The Corenthio Coven could come again and then what? She
couldn’t face them, Akina, the woman with the bright orange hair,
could manipulate her power with her deathly tendrils of white mist.
The lightning, Tabitha could be caged because she would try to
protect Cora, both her mother and Tabitha would fight to protect
her. Cora didn’t want them to have to face the Coven again. She saw
the foot come towards her and she was unable to avoid
it.

She felt the hard strike through the wind that tried to
protect her. With only the little bit of power she’d allowed it, it
couldn’t do its job properly. She couldn’t risk the gallows. She
couldn’t risk giving them proof of what she was. The foot hit her
nose and she heard the crunch just as the warmth of her blood
flowed down her face.

“
Leave her alone!”

Jack’s shout registered through the buzz in her head and she
watched as he charged at the three boys, his fist already making
short work of one’s face. He turned and looked at her. Anger
rippled over his features when he saw the damage to her
face.

Jack turned away from her but kept his body placed firmly as
her shield, and faced the two boys still standing. She knew that
Jack wouldn’t hold back his power. In a small way, she didn’t want
him to. She loved how he protected her, that he would do anything
to make sure she was safe.

She couldn’t do anything to help him. Her legs were like
jelly, so she could only watch as Jack punched and kicked and
punched some more. He held the tall boy with bright green eyes and
long blonde hair up with one hand; the tips of the boy’s toes were
trying to grasp at the ground. Jack’s element helped keep the boy
levitated.

As he did this, the small boy grabbed hold of Jack’s legs,
trying to knock him off balance. Holding the leader up by his neck,
who was now red faced and gasping for air; Jack concentrated on the
boy at his legs. He pulled his leg back and kicked the boy, sending
him flying across the floor. Jack had again pushed some of his
element into it. Jack turned his attention back to the boy
levitating next to him, he pulled his fist back and then watched as
a patch formed on the boy’s trousers. Seeing this, Jack let him
fall into a heap on the floor.

“
Don’t go near her again, you hear me?” he sneered at the boy
on the floor.

She felt Jack’s arm slide under her legs and was instantly
nestled against his warm body. Her head flopped onto his shoulder
as she pulled air through her mouth and could taste the sweet smell
of dirt that always seemed to cling to him. Her nose was blocked,
crusted with blood.

“
You should have used your power,” he said gritting his teeth
with anger.

“
I couldn’t, you know that. What would have happened if you
lost control of yours? You know the Coven will come and they don’t
hold back, Jack.”

“
I don’t care, I would deal with them. Cora, have you seen your
face? Anyone that does this to your beautiful face deserves to be
dealt with.” He looked down at her. She saw the anger build up on
his face, his eyes flashed, his jaw popped.

Her heart bumped as her head continuously replayed his voice
calling her beautiful over and over again. She loved hearing those
words leave his mouth, especially when they were aimed at her. Her
nose started to throb painfully bringing her out of her bubble of
bliss. “Is it bad?”

She could see the bulge and knew it had to be broken. The
blood that had dried around her mouth cracked as she spoke. She
felt the lump at her throat restrict her breathing. She swallowed,
hard, trying to push it away before it turned into
tears.

“
It’s nothing Alivia can’t fix,” Jack muttered.

Her grandmother could fix her, a small break was
easy.

“
Next time those boys come for you, I’ll be ready.”

“
Jack, you can’t,” she protested.

“
Watch me.”

She couldn’t blame Jack for his anger. The commoners were
pushing at their kind and this would only end badly.

They had always lived in peace and helped them when they were
ill, and for what? To be pushed around and cast aside as though
witches work for the Devil. It was only a matter of time before the
witches snapped. The commoners had nothing to be afraid of before
now. If they continued to anger the witches, the commoners have
everything to fear.