Peccatum in Carne: Sins of the Flesh (The Three Sins of Mallory Moore Book 1)

by Coco Mingolelli

  "Dawn," Mallory moaned, warning and need lacing the appeal. "Slow down. You're angry."

  Angry she was, and Dawn's acknowledgment of the fact came as she scraped her teeth down the smooth skin near the earlobe that begged to be nibbled some more. The hips under her jolted upwards, which didn't help the situation any, but she ground herself down even more. A hiss of astonishment came from Mallory's clenched teeth, and she thrust her lower body up again. It wasn't an invitation join in the sensual action, but rather demanded it to stop.

  Mallory was holding back, and that burned far worse than Dawn's anger. "Fuck! Why?"

  In awe at the persistence, Mallory's eyes widened. This entire morning dared a challenge to her wisdom. She gave a long look of reproach to the young woman that uttered a curse for being foiled. "I seem to recall a time when you would at least hint at defying me before you did."

  When Dawn wriggled away from her and towards the headboard, her face crestfallen, she sought to explain. Sliding over to draw Dawn into her arms again, Mallory then kissed the edge of her forehead, just beneath her hairline. "Oh, amare. I want you, I do."

  Passion fleeing along with the deflation of her anger, Dawn asked again, but quietly. "Then... why?"

  Flushing with embarrassment, Mallory cuddled Dawn close beneath her chin, and wrapped her arms around tightly. "My leg. It's not healed much, and I feel hobbled and – "

  "Fine." Dawn snuggled her face into the crook of the neck she would have liked to bite, but that moment had definitely passed.

  Knowing that the real issues were far more complicated than an injured leg, which could certainly be worked around, Dawn still conceded. She reached down to draw the tangled sheet over their bodies, and closed her eyes.

  Laying together at the very least was comforting, and she could admit with a small degree of difficulty that her abruptness had been due to wanting to possess Mallory, the way that she had described wanting to possess her. It had stoked a fire, that statement. It ought to have felt completely wrong, but it felt so right. A yawn worked its way up her throat.

  The hands that had grasped around her torso relaxed to rub lovingly once she had, and Dawn yawned again. "D'you promise to hold me until I fall sleep?"

  "Always," Mallory assured, and ran a soothing hand through her tangled blonde waves.

  She would have given Dawn a thousand promises to make up for this morning, and gave herself one as well: Never again would she let her amare go.

  Chapter 23: Deus Aliter Visum (God Decided Otherwise)

  They moved through the cottage like two opposite ends of a magnet – unable to part from one another, but unable to come too close. Gentle smiles followed their stolen glances while they dressed. Eventually, they made their way down to the kitchen, orbiting each other while making a very late brunch. Few words were exchanged since waking; the sounds of cooking and the scraping of flatware across their plates making the only noise during the semi-silent accord. Both women were more than okay with this rare moment of tranquility between them.

  Mallory convinced herself over the very late brunch that she was doing so to give Dawn the proper space she needed to digest the morning's information. Even so, she knew that their simple meal of toasted muffins and eggs over medium had been a joint effort. "Thank you for helping.” Her eyes brightened by the minute with the caffeine.

  Dawn admired the clarity that befell those eyes. As of late, she had become used to seeing them addled by anxiety, pain, lack of sleep, or a mix of the three. Mimicking her partner in their odd dance, she chose not to comment on the change. The guilt that laid in her heart for pushing so hard upon her arrival home made the mild praise feel more like a glowing accolade – and she felt undeserving of such. "Well, you fried the eggs."

  "Indeed, I did," Mallory nodded, and sipped her tea again.

  Just as Dawn finished her last bite of muffin, there was a timid knock at the front door. As Mallory's hand came out to grasp her cane, Dawn shot up from her stool at the kitchen island.

  "I'll get it, I'll get it!" Dawn insisted, waving her hands frantically.

  It was hard not to cheek back at Mallory's doleful glare, but her hasty retreat into the foyer made it even easier. She knew that the woman would follow her; as she always did. But she wanted to answer the door; intent on doing whatever she could to make the day go more smoothly for Mallory.

  She peeked out the peep-hole in the old wooden door, and hefted it open when she saw a woman smiling pleasantly on the other side. Whomever it was had passed DS Reid's inspection, so she wasn't so much apprehensive as she was curious at the odd feeling of déjà vu. "H-Hello?"

  The woman was in her mid-fifties, or so it seemed. She was dressed well, but simply. Her short, mousy brown hair had been coiffed in waves quite common to ladies her age, but her blue eyes sparkled with joy when she saw whom had answered the door. They teared up when she peered over Dawn's shoulder, anticipating the woman who accompanied the step-thunk noise behind her.

  Dawn could feel Mallory's warm exhalations on her neck once the tell tale thumping of her arrival stopped. A hand crept around her waist to pull her a bit closer, which made her blush and grin at the same time.

  "Checks," the woman chuckled, realizing at Dawn's quirky smile that she hadn't identified her quite yet.

  Dawn smiled even more brightly. Suddenly, their visitor was all too familiar. How had she missed the strength in the woman's eyes; the fierce frown lines that creased her forehead and cheeks?

  Mallory swayed a little beside her. Digging her nails into Dawn's hip for balance, she then blew out a deep breath. "Eileen? My God, Eileen…"

  The nun nodded with a sniff, and then looked down at the front stoop. Beside her feet laid a quilted bag, full with crockery. "I've brought some food, you two. Some of your favorites, actually."

  Her tone didn't request entrance, but was assumptive that she would be afforded it. A gimlet eye was all the petition she gave, and it made both women back up to give her space to walk through the door.

  While Mallory started to protest about the food, Dawn crouched down to take up the bag, and opened the door wider for Eileen to enter. She grinned into the palm of her hand and turned away as Eileen and Mallory traded a sharply worded tete-a-tete about the goodies.

  Walking down the hallway and into the kitchen, she could hear the two older women following at a more leisurely pace. If Dawn remembered anything about Sister Eileen, it was that she liked coffee – a lot. Students used to say you were sure to be dead in the water if you made the nun angry before she'd had her morning coffee.

  The first thing she did after placing the bag of delicious smelling food onto the kitchen island was to turn and pour a cup of coffee for the well meaning visitor. Then, she began to unpack the food.

  Once she had, Dawn found herself biting at the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing aloud. Mallory argued about no longer eating chicken. Enlivened by the sudden arrival of Eileen and feeling a bit feisty from the overwhelming feeling of mirth from it, she slid the casserole that looked like chicken, broccoli, and rice covered with gobs of cheese over the counter towards her wildly argumentative girlfriend.

  The aroma already had Dawn salivating, and instantly had a blush creeping onto Mallory's cheeks. At once, all the fight in the woman's glittering eyes died out in favor of staring longingly at the food.

  'Yep, that's the favorite,' Dawn smirked.

  Eileen winked so quickly at her, it could have been a blink. She grasped the coffee cup that had been pushed her way and took a long swing before issuing a litany. "How in the world has she not wasted away living with you, Mallie? What, you think eighteen year old women can live on love alone?"

  Mallory's eyes took on an quarrelsome gleam again.

  Dawn was quick to interrupt, stepping between the two women to cut off their line of sight from one another. She knew that there was a lot being unsaid, though Eileen had been quick to address the biggest elephant in the room only moments ago. "Whyyyyy... Why don'
t we just sit in the living room, and find out what brings Eileen to our door today? You know, catch up?"

  "An excellent idea, Miss Rose," Eileen tittered, and swept her hand towards the living room. "Well, Mallie – lead the way. It's your home, after all."

  If one was completely unaware with how Mallory and Sister Eileen interacted on a daily basis, or hadn't observed such on a semi-daily basis for her time at the school, they might have thought the gesture insulting.

  Thankfully, Dawn knew how the two liked to trade barbs often. They always had.

  Mallory rolled her eyes and began to hobble towards her chair by the fireplace.

  Eileen grabbed the forgotten tea cup on the counter top, and pointedly looked at the casserole before meeting Dawn's gaze. She then bustled into the living room to take her place on one of the stiffer side chairs that boasted a side table, but not before placing the tea cup on the ottoman at the center of the room.

  While Dawn knew that Mallory and Eileen had known each other a long time, it appeared that she hadn't quite comprehended how long that was. The nun knew how to corral the teacher into thinking she had control, all the while taking it. She had compelled Dawn wordlessly to scoop three helpings of the casserole into bowls, and she walked into the living room to dole out the food before realizing she'd done so without a second thought.

  Too focused on the bewildering intricacies of behavior between the two women already seated, Dawn was amused at the revelation. Sitting down in her own chair nearest Mallory, she watched as both bowls of food were placed aside in a silent battle. Not feeling quite that stubborn, Dawn took a huge bite and made happy noises.

  "I see you've managed to calm her down a bit," Eileen muttered. "White hot ball of teenage terror, just like you."

  Mallory began to chuckle. Her face turned more red by the second, and her elegant facade quickly dissolved into fits of chortling punctuated by a snort here and there.

  It seemed to be the moment that Eileen was waiting for. She cracked a smile and began to laugh as well, clutching her gut before wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. "It's truly a wonder you haven't strung each other up by the toes. Thank God you can abide, even in your differences.”

  Dawn choked a bit on her bite of casserole at the joke, and took a quick sip of her coffee to wash down the shame creeping up her throat. No, they hadn't strung each other up by the toes. "S-So... why have you come to check on us? And why are you not dressed in your habit?"

  Eileen simpered at the questions as if they had obvious answers, and took a sip of her coffee to stall. "By the very nature of your curiosity, I presume that you two haven't been following the happenings via telly. Well, then," she pursed her lips, satisfied with that.

  "The trial went quite poorly for your father today. The prosecution dragged out their list of doctors – from the medical examiners in the 1998 case and the current woman, quite the smart young lady. Oh, they went though the horrible pictures, DNA samples, and even the official stamp of sanity from Dr. Sheehan for you, Mallory..." Eileen hashed out, a sad edge to her voice. "Mr. Rose, on the other hand, was described as quite the unsavory despot. Mad as a hatter, if you took Dr. Sheehan's word."

  She cleared her throat before leaning forward to place a supportive hand atop Mallory's knee. "Robin came to watch the trial with me today. Mallie, we suspected from what little the DCFS files told us – but my word. Why did you never – "

  "Robin, hmm?" Mallory interrupted Her leg slid away from beneath Eileen's touch, and she grunted in pain.

  It wasn't readily apparent to either Dawn or the nun if she had shrugged the comfort away out of resistance for the subject matter, or because the thigh truly pained her.

  Dawn placed her bowl aside, and drummed her fingertips nervously against her own thigh. "Who is Robin?" Whomever the man was, he had known Mallory as long as Sister Eileen had – which seemed to go back to when her love was a student herself at St. Augusta's.

  "Monsignor Flaherty," both Mallory and Eileen answered at the same time.

  There was a beat of silence before something close to humor lit up Mallory's face, and the corners of her mouth turned up. "Finally?"

  Eileen simpered, and leaned back in her chair. "Yes, finally. Do you honestly think we could stay with the diocese, knowing how they refused to help you or Miss Rose?" The temper that students had nightmares about was beginning to show. "We left. We had to leave... and went straight to the police station to enter our testimonies."

  "Right after you stopped at the courthouse to be married," Mallory smirked, gesturing towards the diamond solitaire ring that had joined Eileen's silver band of vocation, worn on her left hand instead of the right.

  "Yes, well," Eileen sputtered as she rubbed at the rings. "We can't all live like we've escaped the Garden of Eden without shame, Mallie." The slip of her tongue had the woman blushing, and she sighed heavily. "I'm sorry. I certainly can't fault you for wanting to protect Miss Rose, at the least."

  "So wait," Dawn squeaked, and lifted a hand into the air to be acknowledged. She then waved it off, and frowned. She wasn't a student any more. She was an adult. "You and Monsignor Flaherty... Oh my God!"

  Decades of ingrained religious etiquette had Eileen smacking lightly at Dawn's knee. "I'll not have you take the Lord's name in vain because I couldn't keep to my own vow of chastity, young lady."

  Dawn gawped at Eileen's blatant admittance to the goings on between both she and Mallory. The women laughed uproariously at her.

  That is, until Eileen slapped Mallory's knee as well. "Hush, you heathen.”

  Mallory startled, and glared at the hand. Tense seconds ticked on the mantle clock while she decided what to do next. In the end, she ignored the ribbing in favor of picking up her bowl of food. She shoveled a spoon of it into her mouth.

  Dawn sighed in relief. It a good decision, indeed.

  _____________________________________

  Eileen had finally left the cottage after four hours of regaling Dawn with tales of a young and naughty Mallory; fraught with a thrill for disobedience and danger that always set the Sisters' teeth on edge. Both she and Robin – how strange it was to know the former monsignor's real name – had tried to take the young woman under their care and tutelage. They were aware that the headmistress at the time often waited with bated breath at the end of the day, ready to beat the spunk out of Mallory. Her phone rang off the hook hourly from the schoolteachers' offices, regarding the exploits of the troublesome youth.

  Reminiscing on a carefree time in any normal teenager's life should have been funny, but the more Eileen described, the more tense Mallory became. Dawn suspected that Mallory never told Eileen or Robin the extent of the beatings, or the neglect that she'd suffered afterward.

  Her girlfriend at twenty-nine was a proud, brooding sort – it wasn't a stretch to imagine that the teenager had been much different. It hadn't been your run of the mill 'spare the rod' discipline either, from what she already knew to be true from Mallory's stories earlier in the summer.

  Frankly, it paled in comparison to the discipline Dawn had received growing up. Looking back on how she had felt about her nannies before, she felt embarrassed and somewhat ashamed for thinking she had it so badly. Mallory assured her after Eileen left that there were different ways to kill a child's spirit, and that they'd merely experienced the opposite sides of the same coin.

  Now, she lazed in their bed to read a book of Sylvia Plath poetry found beneath the bedside table. Mallory had wanted a bath to relax, and rebuffed her offers to help. Dawn secretly knew that it would eventually be asked for anyhow, so she had given in without much ado.

  "Ehm, Dawn..." Mallory called from behind the closed bathroom door.

  "Yeeeeeeees?" she drawled, folding over the edge of the page she was reading.

  Her bullheaded girlfriend cleared her throat loudly, but didn't utter anything further. Water sloshed over the bathtub and onto the floor.

  Dawn rolled her eyes. Placing the book on the t
able, she hurried to the door and opened it before Mallory could slip and fall.

  Fast as she was, she was greeted with the sight of her lover attempting to crawl her way to standing, hands grabbing at the wet bath tile while balancing on one leg.

  "And I'm the stubborn one..." Dawn chided, and carefully made her way towards the tub with a towel. The floor was slick with suds and spilled bathwater. "Don't move."

  Mallory huffed indignantly, the sound at odds with the shivering, drenched mess she was. "I wouldn't dream of it. It appears the only thing I managed to keep dry was my incision, and we have the waterproof suture bandage to thank for it."

  Humming in agreement, Dawn wrapped the towel around Mallory, and helped to guide her out of the tub. She then wrapped her arm around the taller woman's waist, and they shuffled slowly together into the bedroom.