by Pam Godwin
She strained toward my raspy whisper, lifting on toes, fingers stretching across my shoulders.
I was a bastard, making her wait for that compliment. I wasn’t one to readily offer praise, but with her, I would spill the verities of my soul.
“My boobs are, uh…” She stared down at her chest and laughed at herself, her eyes dancing with mirth. “There’s a committee for what they are.”
“They’re elegant.” I rested my palms on her ribs, just beneath her perky little tits. “Beautifully proportioned.” Heat rushed to my groin as I swept my thumbs over flawless skin and dainty nipples. “Soft as satin, tipped with immaculate beauty.”
“Magnus.” Her breath shivered.
The tiny buds hardened beneath my touch, stiffening my cock.
God, forgive me.
I lowered to my knees and caressed my lips along the divine shape of her figure. She was a fantasy of flexible limbs and graceful curves. Angelic. Malleable. Slender shoulders. Narrow hips. Porcelain complexion. Not a freckle or blemish to be found.
While I learned her body, her hands traveled north along the back of my neck, exploring, teasing.
“I’ve wanted to feel your hair for so long.” She tangled her fingers in the strands.
Her flat stomach quivered beneath my mouth as I nipped and licked lower, lower, my pants growing tighter, tighter.
She shouldn’t be here. I needed to stop, but my hands and lips kept moving until I arrived at the ultimate forbidden destination.
The apex of her legs, the golden hairs neatly trimmed, the scent of her painfully enticing, crippling, robbing my brain cells. I raked my fingers through the soft curls and edged toward her clit.
She gasped, held still. Then she canted her hips into my touch, seeking friction, demanding. Sexy. So damn naughty.
I snatched my hand away, letting her know it wasn’t her decision.
Her pouty bottom lip pushed out. A gleam lit her eyes. Then she slid her fingers down her abs and sank them between her legs.
My cock ached to be where her hand was, encased in her heat, submerged in her wetness. I gripped her arm and moved it to her side.
“Do you masturbate?” She started to reach for her pussy again. “Are you allowed?”
I knocked her hand away. “Masturbation is forbidden for all Catholics.”
“For me, too?”
“You’re Catholic now, Miss Constantine, so no more touching yourself. Lust of the flesh is a worldly sin.”
“Oh, really? Then you should change the name of the school. Instead of Sion Academy of the Sacred Heart, it should be Sion Academy of the Dry Vaginas and Flaccid Penises. I mean, come on. No masturbating?” A laugh burst from her lips. “You can fuck right off with that.”
“I do.” I hid my smile.
“Wait. So you…?” She tilted her head, looking too gorgeous and tempting to be resisted. “You do touch yourself?”
Every day.
Over the past three months, I’d become a chronic, just-one-more, oh-fuck-I-need-her masturbator.
“Yes.” I leaned back and reached for the tampon on the vanity to occupy my hands. “In matters of lust, I’m not a tedious model of priesthood.”
“Sinner.” She grinned.
She was perfect, like no other woman. It didn’t matter that she didn’t fit the female construct I’d pursued in my youth. Maybe that was what made her so incredibly appealing. I’d never been with anyone like her, and unbeknown to me, I’d been waiting forty years for her. She was made for me. Intelligently, impeccably designed. For me alone.
Mine.
And here were those feelings again.
This predatory, possessive, kill-anyone-who-touches-her state of my mind was foreign and unsettling. But there was no denying it. Tonight, I’d been a twitch away from smashing Tucker Kensington’s skull. I didn’t trust that kid, and I sure as hell didn’t trust him around her.
“Give me the tampon before I make another mess.” She held out her hand.
“Widen your stance.”
“Uh-uh. Nope.” Her fingers went to her thighs, tapping nervously.
The stiff pose framed her arms around her upturned breasts, her taut nipples hard, pink, and… God, give me strength.
Resisting my body’s demand to kiss her tits, to suck and bite the sensitive peaks, was the worst kind of hell.
Needing a distraction, I unwrapped the tampon and examined the applicator.
“Have you ever used one of those?” she asked wryly.
“No. Looks simple enough.”
“Let me do it.”
“No.” I inched closer on my knees and met her eyes. “Widen your stance.”
She glanced down, trying to see between her legs. “I might already be leaking.”
My cock twitched. The only one leaking was me. Thank God my pants were black. Otherwise, I’d have a very visible wet spot.
I bowed my head and kissed her abdomen. I kissed and licked until she shuddered and gripped my shoulders. Then she slid her feet apart.
“Good girl.” I skimmed my fingers along her delicate, velvety slit, over and over, slipping deeper into the damp crease with each pass. “Tell me everything that’s breached this hole.”
“Um…” Her hands curled into trembling fists on my shoulders. “Toys, fingers—”
“Whose fingers?” I sank my own, just the tips, groaning at her tightness.
“Mine. And a few others. Guys I don’t remember.”
Jealousy flared, unreasonable and unnecessary. Those boys would never touch her again.
“No tongues?” I asked. “No dicks?”
“No. Just toys, fingers, and…that.” She gulped as I pressed the applicator inside her. Her hand shot out, finding a nearby shelf. “Holy fuck, Magnus. You’re ruining me for all other tampons.”
Laughter kicked from my chest, and she laughed with me. Then we both sobered as I pushed the tampon all the way inside.
I threw away the applicator, and when I turned back to her, she bent in and placed her finger beneath my chin.
“I’m insane to want anything with you, Magnus Falke. But if I could have just one thing, it’s you on your knees, inserting my tampons every month.” Her blue eyes sparkled with restrained humor. “You’re a natural.”
Rising to my full height, I cupped her face and ghosted my lips across hers.
“Maybe not so natural on your knees.” Her breathing accelerated against my mouth. “But you nailed the insertion part.”
I kissed her, open-mouthed and raw, my heart pounding and my veins afire with liquid desire. Gliding my palms down her back, I caught her at the waist, lifted her, and crushed her to my chest.
Her legs hooked around my hips as I trapped her between my body and the wall. Again and again, I took her mouth, devouring lush lips that parted so sinfully for me, matching my hunger.
She set my blood on fire, with her arms around my neck and her fingers sinking into my hair, yanking passionately. I dropped a hand to her bare ass and ground my hips against her core. She moaned into my mouth, our tongues tangling, heat flushing, bodies aching with want, lust, and more happiness than either of us knew what to do with.
I deepened the connection, overwhelmed by the sensation of this woman wrapped around me, her soft tits, graceful limbs, every muscle and bone vibrating with her need for me.
I never wanted to feel sexual gratification again. I didn’t deserve the pleasure of a woman, least of all, this woman.
But with her mouth raised to mine in benediction, she made me want to be a better man. She made me want to be deserving of any and every part of her she might throw my way.
I would happily commit sacrilege for her. I would condemn myself to hell in exchange for this one blessed, blissful moment in her arms.
The rhythmic tug of her sweet lips. Her body, hot and slick, beneath my hands. Her addictive, magnetic personality, sucking me in with every word, making me delirious with adoration. I was ripping apart at the seams. There would b
e nothing left to redeem by the time she was done with me.
“We have a couple of hours,” I said against her lips, “before the dance ends and the students get escorted to their rooms.”
“May I stay a little longer?” She trembled as if desperate to hold on.
“I’ll grab a shirt for you.”
With her body entwined around me and her lips brushing mine, she didn’t let go. Instead, she slid a finger down the placket of buttons on my chest. “I want the one you’re wearing.”
“It’s yours.” I let my head fall back on my shoulders, offering her my throat.
“You’re so goddamn hot.” She kissed the scruff along my jawline, taking her time.
When she reached the underside of my chin, she hooked a finger beneath the tab of white and slid the plastic collar free.
I twisted around and perched her on the edge of the vanity, standing in the V of her legs. The tampon inside her wasn’t an obstacle. If I lost control, I would just yank on the string and fuck her. Also, she had two other holes.
I wanted everything. All of her. But I couldn’t lose control. I couldn’t have her for all the obvious reasons.
So I would live in the moment—her, here, in my arms—for just a couple hours.
She set the plastic collar piece aside. Our gazes collided. Then our mouths. Our tongues. I tasted lemon drops, felt the lust in her body like an electric current, and savored the moans rising in her throat.
Her fingers went to work on my shirt buttons, our eyes meeting between wild, greedy kisses. The intensity of her desire made my blood sing.
I pulled back to growl, “You make me crazy, Tinsley.”
“It’s a good crazy, right?” She wrestled the shirt off my shoulders and arms, panting, kissing my biceps, and smiling infectiously. “Do you feel alive? Free? Nothing beats this feeling. I know we’re taking a big risk. But the reward?” She slipped off the vanity and sidled around me, running her mouth across my spine. “The reward is so damn good.”
There was something insanely erotic about the feel of her supple nipples sliding against my bare back. Every pleasure zone in my body lit up. I gripped the base of my cock through my pants, squeezing it hard enough to stave off the need to come.
“We should leave this bathroom before we do something we can’t undo.” She pressed her smile against my shoulder blade.
I’d already broken my vows and half of the school rules. But she was right. There were things I could still avoid, such as taking her virginity, knocking her up, and…
Getting caught.
If that happened, I would have to invest in an armory and a team of bodyguards. The Constantines weren’t a forgiving bunch. Especially when it came to their youngest princess.
On the heels of that thought, I buttoned up the shirt she’d borrowed and led her out of the bathroom. Before I could stop her, she darted past me and disappeared inside my bedroom.
I shouldn’t go in there. I really fucking shouldn’t. But my feet were already moving, chasing. I would chase her to the ends of the earth.
“Do you know why my mother chose Sion Academy?” Her voice cut the chilly darkness.
Crossing the small room, I found her on my narrow bed. She lay on her back, staring up at me in the gloom.
“Do you?” The anger in her tone gave me pause.
“No.”
“She negotiated a merger with the Kensingtons. The Constantines will increase their holdings, and the Kensington heir will get a virgin princess.”
“Tucker?” My stomach plunged into a free fall. “She expects you to marry him?”
“It’s a done deal. Trust funds are modified. Contracts are signed. I’m here to get to know my future husband and vice versa. Maybe I’ll be a good little girl and give him a blow job or offer up my virginity as an early down payment, an incentive for him to go along with this. You know, since that’s all I’m good for.”
Rage caught me in its strangling grip and painted my vision red.
I’ll kill him.
The thought bled into my awareness as I shouted, “Walk away from the trust fund. You don’t need her goddamn money!”
“It’s not that simple now. If the merger is already underway—I’ll confirm that tomorrow—I won’t be able to walk away. I would have to run, hide, and do both of those things better than her henchman for the rest of my life.”
“She won’t kill you.”
“No, but she’ll use any force necessary to ensure I’m handed over to the Kensingtons as part of this merger. It doesn’t even matter if I stay here or return to Bishop’s Landing. Nothing I do will change my future.” Her voice cracked. “This is the ten percent part, isn’t it? The part that’s happening whether I like it or not. That’s life.”
I set a knee on the bed beside her and tried to tame my furious pulse. Then I lay down with her and gathered her in my arms.
“I’m going to figure this out.” I kissed her tense brow and the silent tears collecting in the creases around her mouth.
“You aren’t going to do a damn thing, Magnus. Any interference will only get you killed.”
“Don’t underestimate me, princess.”
“Don’t underestimate my family.” She shifted closer, touched our foreheads together, and ran a hand through my hair. “Can we not talk about this tonight? If I only have two hours with you, I’d rather hear about your family or your life before Sion Academy or anything that’s not related to the future. We don’t even have to talk at all.”
For the next two hours, I set out to take her thoughts off Tucker Kensington. I held her in the dark and kissed her into mindlessness.
When we came up for air, I told her about my childhood with Crisanto and our skateboarding escapades around New York City. I talked about my parents, their monotonous life in the suburbs, and their realized dream for me to be a priest. I avoided topics related to my sexual history and the tragedy that had brought me here nine years ago.
When she broached that subject, I kissed her until she forgot to breathe.
I’d never engaged in a kiss that didn’t lead to sex. I’d never kissed a woman just for the sake of kissing. But I kissed Tinsley for two hours. I kissed her until our lips were numb and swollen and the taste of her mouth embedded itself in my soul.
Eventually, I helped her into her blood-stained dress and escorted her back to the residence hall.
The lights were out in the building. Everyone assumed she’d been at the church, safe with her teacher.
I needed to be that for her. Safe. Protective. Someone she could trust.
No more crossing lines. No more kissing. No more naked Tinsley in my private quarters.
I wouldn’t touch her again.
That was the biggest lie of all.
CHAPTER 26
MAGNUS
I lasted five days.
Five days of no touching. No kissing. No naked Tinsley.
She continued to earn punishments every day, which amounted to after-school detention with me and a Bible.
Her tardies and disrespectful mouth had become part of our routine. She gave me reasons to discipline her, and I used those punishments to make it impossible for her to participate in off-campus activities.
Since the Winter Formal, she hadn’t seen Tucker Kensington, and I would keep it that way by monopolizing her time.
Was I controlling? Absolutely.
Was I wrong to keep her close? Debatable.
We’d confirmed the validity of the Kensington-Constantine merger. It wasn’t public information, but she had her sources, and I had mine. When she’d called her mother, Caroline didn’t deny it. Tinsley was expected to marry Tucker, and I was ready to commit mass murder over it.
On the fifth day, after the final bell rang and my classroom cleared out, she sat in the front row and stared at nothing across the room.
“Ask me what your correction will be today.” I stood from my desk.
“More Bible readings.” She growled her displeasur
e.
“No.”
“What?”
“Ask me.”
“I don’t care.” She held my gaze, and her chest hitched with a resigned breath. “Fine. What cruel and unusual punishment will I be enduring today, Father Magnus?”
“I’m glad you asked.” I paced to the door and angled my head so that I could watch her as I turned the lock.
Click.
She stiffened.
My skin heated. “You’re going to scrub the floors.”
The sound of her sharp inhale surged blood to my cock.
“We’ve been here before,” she murmured. “We can’t do it again.”
“No, Tinsley. We definitely have not been where we’re going today.”
“What do you mean?”
“On your feet.” I prowled toward her, relishing her beautifully flushed cheeks.
Arousal looked so fucking delicious on her.
She pushed to stand and faced me with her shoulders squared. I expected nothing less from this sublime woman.
“We should skip this.” Her eyes watched me, sharp and unflinching. “We can just imagine it. Pretend that I make my usual sexy, intelligent retorts. You make your unintelligent gorilla sounds. I roll my eyes. You spank me, and we both go back to our sad little rooms in physical pain, bereft and aching, because let’s face it…” She lowered her voice, frustration written in her features. “Three months of foreplay isn’t fun, Magnus. It’s agony.”
“Remove your underwear.”
“Where’s the bloody pair that you never returned?”
“Clean and safely stored in its new home beneath my pillow.”
She floated into my space, her hands and chest sliding up my torso, her toes stretching, mouth reaching, hunting for mine. “You’re such a creeper.”
“Only for you.” I angled my lips away, denying her. I brushed my nose against hers once, twice, teasing her. Then I stepped back and held out my hand, mastering her. “I gave you an order.”
Her shoulders lowered, and her gaze hooded. Acceptance. Surrender. Desire.
Everything about Tinsley was a tantalizing, kinky, forbidden slow burn. I didn’t even need to touch her, and I felt like I was having the best sex of my life.