His Temptation

by Dani René

  “You’re an asshole,” I bite out at my reflection. Cursing. I’m cursing at myself instead of trying to absolve. Heading into my room, I quickly dress in my uniform, the black and white feeling even more restrictive today than it did yesterday.

  When I step into the church an hour after my morning prayers, I find it empty except for one parishioner sitting at the front with her head bowed. My heart kicks in my chest, slamming against my rib cage, wanting to be freed.

  Shaking my head, I sigh, making my way toward her. “Mrs. Ellison,” I say in a soft tone, hoping not to startle her. When she looks up, she offers me a simple smile. The thirty-year-old woman who’s been back and forth with her husband since they couldn’t have a child has been in here crying more times than I can count. The asshole blames her, but refuses to see a doctor to find out what the problem is.

  “Father Reid, I’m sorry if I shouldn’t be here. I just needed time to think.” Her voice cracks, and I can tell she’s been crying. Her eyes are red, bloodshot, and puffy.

  “You’re welcome here any time. Is there anything I can help you with?” She shakes her head, the rosary beads in her hand make soft clicking sounds as she moves them through her fingers at an alarming rate.

  “I feel terrible burdening you.”

  “You’re no burden at all,” I assure her.

  “Have you ever . . . I mean, I know you’re a priest, but . . . have you ever wanted someone? Had a desire for someone?” Her big brown eyes meet mine with curiosity. I feel my throat close up at the thought of anyone knowing what I did yesterday. What I allowed to happen.

  Glancing away, I look at the window, which shows a scene of the Virgin Mary. Before I answer, I inhale deeply. “I have. It’s not easy living this life,” I tell her honestly. It’s the most honesty I’ve given anyone. Even my parents don’t know about my second thoughts. I can never tell them.

  “I can imagine. I mean . . . Sure you miss . . . I’m not sure, if you’ve—”

  “I do miss intimacy, yes. Before I walked this path, I was a normal man, but the road I was led down wasn’t a good one, and I needed to make a change. I needed to make sure I cleaned up my act.”

  “And this is what you chose?” She seems genuinely curious. I can feel her gaze on me, heating my cheeks. Before I have time to answer, another person walks into the church. I feel her immediately. As if my body recognizes hers, my skin prickles. And even before she says anything, I turn to face her.

  “Uhm, hello.” Her gentle and demure smile is enough to have my cock thickening. Why is it that a sweet, innocent lamb is so tempting?

  “Sage, what can I do for you?” I ask, my voice husky and rough to the ear. Suddenly, Mrs. Ellison rises and smiles down at me. Her hand on my shoulder, she offers a nod. The ominous gesture makes me stand. “You don’t—”

  “I best get back. Thank you for listening, Father.”

  With that, I’m left alone with the temptation I’ve been hoping to avoid today. “What did you want, Sage?” I ask, sounding harsher than I intend. When I glance her way, she’s staring at me as if I’m the sun in her darkened sky.

  “I . . . I figured I’d bring you something I made,” she says, holding out a small dish, which I didn’t notice earlier. “It’s nothing special. Just some choc chip muffins.”

  Sage

  “Thank you, Sage,” he says. His voice is so low, gravelly, and it sends a warm tingle through me. His eyes are sparkling in the low light, the green darkening just a fraction. He strolls over to me, taking the dish and popping the lid. The smooth chocolate icing coating each one is sugar-sweet and covers the entire top of the confection.

  “It’s a pleasure, Father Reid. I wasn’t sure you liked chocolate, but I figured you’d give them to someone if you didn’t. I mean, it—”

  “Thank you,” he says again, halting my rambling. His hand on mine sends a jolt of want over my skin, making everything more sensitive. My nipples harden, my core pulses, and my stomach twists in knots at his nearness.

  “Can we talk?”

  He doesn’t respond. instead, he turns and heads for his office. The same office where his fingers brought me to orgasm. As soon as we step inside, he makes his way across the room and settles in his chair. Lifting his hand, he gestures to the visitor’s seat opposite the large wooden desk, but I ignore the offer. With the anxiety swirling in my stomach, I can’t sit. I’m nervous because as much as I want to be here, I know I’m not supposed to. I like him. I want to know him. Learn who the man is that hides behind the white collar. Something tells me he’s not as righteous, and it isn’t because he finger-fucked me yesterday.

  I make my way to the bookshelf, running my fingers over the spine of each book. Bibles, encyclopedias, books of reference. “Do you read these?” He’s silent, probably wondering how to handle me being here. I saw the war raging in his eyes when he looked at me. Perhaps he wants me, but can’t find the strength to tell me. To confess that deep down he’s just a man who has normal desires.

  “Sage,” he sighs, but I don’t look at him. I walk along the wall, touching each leather-bound tome. “What do you want? You can’t be here,” he says, want and hunger dripping from his tone. I want to tell him I’m here for him. I also want to tell him the memory of what we did yesterday has been replaying in my mind all night, all morning. It’s like a loop of debauchery. And as much as I know I shouldn’t, I want it again.

  “I thought we could have coffee, eat those muffins together. Talk.” My voice is unsure, nervous even. And I don’t blame myself. I should be nervous. I should be petrified because I’m trying to taunt a man of the cloth. A man who’s already married.

  The thought sends more desire coiling through me. It’s a serpent. Temptation. A viper tightening around everything south of my belly button, and it’s about to attack.

  I turn to face him, his green eyes holding me hostage with a look so smoldering I can’t move. I think he’s about to chase me from his office, but instead, he crooks his finger, calling me over to where he’s sitting.

  “Come here,” he orders gruffly. His voice is sex, his body is sin, and the way he makes me feel is wicked. And that feeling has my feet moving forward.

  When I stroll over to him, his green eyes darken, resembling a dark moss similar to that covering the ground of the woods behind our house. There’s depth in them that makes my heart flutter. I want him to corrupt me as he devours my body inch by inch like it’s a sacrifice. I reach his desk, and the spicy scent of his cologne intoxicates me, warming me like a fire on a cold winter’s night. Only, it’s not cold; it’s hot, boiling, and I feel like taking my clothes off. Not to tease him, but to feel his heated gaze on me.

  Father Reid is everything you could want in a man. Handsome, rugged with stubble darkening his chiseled jaw. Sharp features look severe when he’s serious, but it’s when he smiles and those dimples peek through that he’s a temptation for any woman who walks through the doors. His tall, lean, yet muscled frame is hidden in black, and each time I see him, I can’t help but want to know what he looks like out of uniform.

  “Sit on my desk,” he grunts—rough and husky. I hop up, feeling the smooth, cool wood below my ass as I scoot beside his notebook, which has a pen engraved with his name. Reid Hale. “Look at me,” he orders, causing my gaze to snap up to his.

  “Father Reid—”

  “Listen to me, Sage. You’re too young for me. You’re innocent, sweet. I’m a bad man for even thinking about you. What happened yesterday . . .” His words trail off. His eyes drop to my dress, the hem slipping up my thigh as I swing my legs. The way his gaze burns through me tells me everything he’s saying to me is a lie.

  “Aren’t priests meant to tell the truth always?” I ask.

  “What?”

  “Well, you keep denying this”—I gesture between us—“but I can see you want me. I mean, it’s so clear you’re dying to see what’s under my dress right now. Isn’t that right, Father Reid?” I question him, tipping my head
to the side to regard him. Nothing can prepare you for desire. For need and want. It happens. Nothing like this is planned.

  When I first walked into service six months ago and saw him for the first time, I knew I wanted him. It wasn’t a choice. I couldn’t deny it. I didn’t want to. As wrong and taboo as it is, I need it. Yes, he’ll get fired, they’ll probably burn him at the stake, but he can’t deny it or hide it. He wants me too.

  “Sage—” I reach for his face. The scruff is a little longer than yesterday, and it tickles my palm.

  “Do you think about kissing me, Father?” Our eyes meet in a blaze of yearning, but he doesn’t answer. “I think about you, about your touch, your fingers inside me,” I continue.

  “You need to leave.” He rises from his chair, putting us at almost the same height. His voice lacks conviction, so I leap up from his desk and lean on my tip-toes. My mouth is so close to his, but I plant my lips to his cheek instead.

  As soon as we make contact, the connection between us sizzles with the forbidden.

  “Sage—”

  “Please, Father Reid, I want this. I want you.”

  “We can never have a relationship. I can’t be your boyfriend. Don’t you understand that? I’m committed to this life,” he responds. His voice is filled with frustration, so I question him.

  “Are you? Committed? Priests leave the seminary all the time. If you wanted me. I mean, really thought I could be someone you could be with. Surely, this could work. I like you, Reid. I do.” His gaze pierces me deep, right to my core. I see it in his eyes. They shimmer with recognition. He does want me.

  “You’re temptation.” I nod. He’s right. I am his temptation. Suddenly, his fingers are on me. His grip on my hips is painful as he tugs me closer to him. The hardness of his thick erection is pressed against my belly. “You’re a bad girl, Sage.”

  “Would you like me to kneel and beg for forgiveness?” I ask coyly. My lips curling into a sinful grin.

  “Yes,” he grunts out, his tone laced with lust. He pushes me down to my knees, then unbuckles his black slacks. “You’re going to repent, my dirty little girl,” he tells me as he palms his cock in the tight briefs. “And when you’re done, you’ll swallow every drop of my unholy seed.”

  Reid

  I’m losing control.

  She’s the fruit of temptation.

  I’m weak, just like Adam was, and I know as soon as I sink into her mouth, I’m going to hell. A one-way ticket, and there’s nothing that can save me. Her tongue swirls around the tip of my cock, causing a groan to fall from my mouth.

  “Swallow me,” I tell her, and she does. Like a fucking pro, her mouth slides over my shaft, taking me deeper than any woman ever has. When I hit the back of her throat, she looks up at me. Her beautiful eyes shimmer with tears as I feel her throat constrict around the crown when she swallows. The movement is enough to have me coming, but I bite down on my lip to hold off. I want to savor this because I don’t know if it will ever happen again.

  Perhaps I’m dreaming. Maybe it’s one of those vivid fantasies that feel real, but aren’t. When I grip her long hair in my fist, tugging her head back and forth, inadvertently fucking her mouth, I know it’s real.

  Her delicate hands come up, gripping my thighs. The sounds of her gurgling on my dick echo around us in an erotic masterpiece. My body tenses when she cups my balls, holding them firmly in her delicate hand.

  A knock on the door startles me from the pleasure shooting through every inch of my body. My ass finds the chair as I push Sage from my cock. “Stay under the desk,” I hiss at her. Her eyes are wide as she nods. I have a girl with plump lips from sucking my dick under my desk as I shuffle the chair in, hoping to hide my now softening hard-on.

  The door opens, and I’m met with the vicar walking in. His expression happy, with a smile I meet with one of my own. “Father Reid, I’m sorry for barging in on you, but I needed to have a quick chat about the picnic coming up next week. The fundraiser will benefit the local community, and I’ll need you to help with the set up,” he tells me.

  “Yes, of course,” I respond, my voice croaky. I’m about to stand when Sage tugs me out of my slacks and strokes my cock. I near enough jump out of my skin as her wet mouth envelops the crown of my shaft. “I . . .” My tone is raspy, and I have to clear my throat. “I’m always around, Vicar.”

  “Great! I think we should tell the volunteers to be here at seven that morning. What do you think?” he questions, settling himself on the chair opposite my desk. My hand flies under the wooden top to grip Sage’s hair, holding her still. But the naughty little lamb doesn’t obey me. She continues her torture of sliding me into her throat.

  “I can. We can. I think I need to . . .”

  “You okay, Father?”

  I nod before answering. “Yes.” Leaning back in my chair, I try to appear nonchalant, but I meet Sage’s teary gaze between my thighs. Her pink lips wrapped around the base of my dick has my release skittering down my spine and filling her mouth with jet after jet of hot semen.

  “Great, I’ll let you get on with it.” He smiles, reaching out a hand to me, which I have to accept. He offers me one last grin before leaving me to punish my little lamb for being a very bad, dirty girl.

  Once the door clicks shut, I’m up on my feet. She’s tucked me back into my slacks, thankfully, but I’m angry. I used to take chances before I joined the church. I used to do a lot of shit before I became a man of the cloth. Things like what Sage just did wouldn’t bother me, but I’m meant to be a new man. A better man. I reach for her arm, tugging her up from under the desk.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you? What if we were caught?” I grunt in her face, causing her to flinch. It’s the innocence in her expression that stills me for a moment.

  “I thought you liked the danger?” she questions easily. And I realize she’s right. I do. I fucking do. Every nerve in my body is alight with a spark I haven’t felt in a long time. That need to do things everyone deems as wrong. Memories flit through my mind of fucking a woman in public, the excitement of getting caught, having my dick sucked while she’s on the phone to her husband, sniffing cocaine from a woman’s cunt. Everything. I did it all.

  “I do, but this . . .” I meet her beautiful gaze, the one that seems to look right through me. The one that somehow makes me a man and not a priest. It frees me from the shackles I’ve chosen for myself. I know if I spend more time around this girl, my whole world will come undone. It will unravel like a thread, inch by inch. And I’ll be left in the disaster I myself have caused. “I can’t do this, Sage. It’s wrong.”

  “What? You can’t just shove me out of your life. Why do you deny what you feel for me?” she continues. Asking me things I don’t want to answer. She needs to leave. I can’t be around her without losing my focus. My mind should be on the church, on my job, but it’s not. Since I first saw her, since I touched her. It’s always been her.

  “Sage, you need to find someone who can give you a life. Give you love,” I tell her, not meeting her gaze. I know if I look at her, I’ll crumble. All my restraint will tumble to the ground, and I’ll do the one thing that will inadvertently shatter my world.

  I’ll fuck her.

  Sage

  He doesn’t turn to me. He doesn’t afford me the honesty by looking into my eyes and telling me to leave. Anger bubbles through me. I don’t want to leave. I don’t want anyone else. I want him.

  “Are you ever going to look at me?” I taunt. Taking a step closer, I feel the shudder running through him as my hand settles on his shoulder. His restraint is slipping. I can tell from the way his head shakes, his eyes trained on the floor, and his shoulders tighten with stress. I’m causing this. Sadness fills me then. It grips my heart, and tears spring to my eyes.

  “Sage.” My name is a tortured whisper on his lips.

  “I’ll go. But remember one thing, Reid; you’re still a man. It doesn’t matter what uniform you wear. And it doesn’t matter wha
t promises you’ve made. Underneath it all is still a man.” My hand slips from his shoulder, and I leave him. Heading for the door, I blink, and a tear falls from my eye. Just one. We’re not breaking up—we weren’t dating—but I feel the ache in my chest just the same.

  His taste is still in my mouth. I revel in it, knowing it will never happen again. I know it can’t. I’ve already done something so forbidden. My hand is on the doorknob when suddenly I’m pressed against the door. His hand comes out, flicking the key, locking us in the office.

  “I am a man. But you, sweet lamb, are a bad girl. You want me to let loose on you?” he grunts in my ear, his body pressing against me. I don’t know what happened between me walking away to this moment, but my body responds to his. As if we’re magnetized.

  “All I meant—”

  “Tell me, Sage? Do you want me inside you?” His words aren’t dirty, but they ignite every inch of my skin. I’m ablaze with desire coiling deep in my gut. My clit thrums in anticipation. “Tell me, my little lamb. Do you want to find out how the big bad wolf devours pretty little things like you?” His voice is gruff in my ear, and I nod. I do. I need it.

  His hands are on my hips as he drags me back toward his desk. He pushes me down wordlessly, my breasts squashed on the wooden top. Shoving my skirt over my hips, he grips the soft material of my panties and tugs. The ripping sound echoes around us, and I can’t stop the yelp that tumbles from my lips.

  “Reid, I—”

  “Quiet.” His order is husky, feral almost. Then he pushes my ripped panties into my mouth. “Open your legs,” he commands, and I do. I’m open to him, to his heated gaze, and I feel it trail over me. “Fuck, you’re perfect, Sage.” He growls my name, causing me to whimper.