Page 19 of Sinned

“I can’t stop thinking about how soft your skin is and how much more of you I want to taste. I have to have you, but I can’t.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

Ava

My stomach knotted hearing his words, but I didn’t leave. I didn’t want him to break his vows. But I also knew I couldn’t compete with the Church. Charlie was a priest and despite how much I enjoyed being with him, I needed to stay away and not make things so hard for him.

Still dizzy from his kiss, I put my hand against his door to steady myself. I couldn’t deny it any longer. I wanted Charlie like I had never wanted any other man before.

Sighing, I walked along the balcony and looked at the flowers and trees in the courtyard below. My heart was still pounding in my chest, not only from his kiss, but from what he did at the clinic.

I had been jumped on, hit, wrestled to the ground before for not giving an addict in the midst of his disease drugs, and no one ever came to my defense. Seeing Charlie watch him like a tiger set to pounce and then knock him out, left me breathless. It was at that moment that I knew, despite how much I tried convincing myself I wasn’t falling for him, I was.

I glanced back at his door and stared at it, willing it to open. Not that I knew what I would do if it did open, but I wanted to see him.

What are you doing, Ava? Go inside and forget about him. He’s a damn priest! You shouldn’t feel this way. He’s untouchable.

“I should start therapy when I get back home,” I said to myself. “No woman in their right mind would fall in love with a priest.”

As I went down the steps, into the courtyard, it started to rain. I didn’t care about getting wet. I sat on a bench under the wide branches of a magnolia tree and watched as the rain came down harder.

A door slammed and Charlie ran down the steps. The canopy of the tree was so thick that he couldn’t see me. He ran out of the courtyard and into the street.

“Ava!” he called out, his voice echoing against the buildings.

What is he doing?

I got up from the bench and followed him. He was standing in the middle of the street looking distraught. He had changed out of his clerical clothing from earlier and was in jeans and a t-shirt that was stuck to his body from the rain.

He turned towards the hotel and I felt his eyes on me. With a few long strides he reached me. His hands reached for my face and our lips met. We slowly kissed, our tongues and lips tangling as his hands slipped down my body and lifted me up.

As we kissed, he carried me into the courtyard. The rain subsided, but our clothes were already drenched. He pushed me against the wall by the stairs as his hands ran up my body.

Breathless, he leaned his forehead against mine. “I want you,” he said. “I hate that I can’t have you.”

“You said it’s a sin. You told me to not open the door.”

“If what I feel for you is a sin, then let me be damned.”

He kissed me hungrily as I melted into his lean body. He picked me up and carried me up the steps and pushed open my door. As we entered I grabbed the door and swung it shut.

“I never thought I could feel this way about anyone,” he said as carried me to the bed. “I don’t know what tomorrow brings, or the day after that, but it’s only you and me here tonight. Tonight I am just a man, not a priest.”

We laid on the bed, him on top of me as we pawed at each other’s clothing. As we kissed, he unbuttoned my jeans. I lifted my hips as he slid them down.

“You won’t be needing these,” he said as he grabbed my panties and then tossed them to the floor.

He stood at the foot of the bed and slowly unbuttoned his shirt as he admired my half naked body. His chest was sculpted and muscular with a little bit of hair on his chest that narrowed and disappeared into his pants.

“Take off your shirt,” he said. “I want to see you, all of you.”

I pulled my shirt off and then unhooked my bra while he removed his slacks. Charlie had tight abs and a V-cut just underneath which brought my eyes to his large member.

As he climbed back into the bed, his lips traveled up my body. He paid attention to everything. He started by kissing my foot, sucking on the inside of my thigh, and later nibbling at a ticklish spot under my breast. But I felt impatient. Our friendship had been all the foreplay I needed.

His hands slid over my breasts before he sucked a nipple into his mouth and rolled his tongue over it. My heart was pounding and my hands trembled excitedly as they traced the lines of his muscular arms.

He kissed my neck as I wrapped my legs around him, but he pushed back as I moved my hips closer to him.