Love's Broken Vow Read online

  “I’ll give you a call as soon as I can. But in the meantime, you better pray for your little friend. He’s going to need an entire flock of angels to protect him from me.”

  * * *

  Father Gregory bit into his bottom lip to keep from shouting out in pain when he tripped over the curl at the end of the Oriental rug. It had caused him to stumble in the darkness and pound his left foot against the end table. The persistent tapping at the door had awakened him from a restless sleep in the parlor of the parsonage. Father Rivera and Father Schmidt were upstairs in their bedrooms, obviously slumbering through the steady knocking.

  Luckily for the mystery late-night visitor, the senior priest at Lord of the Harvest parish had not turned in for the night. He was too worried and upset about the arrest of his mentee, Tyler Benson, to sleep. His on-and-off-again dozing on the leather chaise longue while flipping through Scripture was the only snippet of rest Father Gregory had enjoyed over the past few hours. He had intentionally remained in the parlor past his normal bedtime, hoping that Royce Phillips would call again but with good news this time. He didn’t want Tyler to spend the night in juvenile detention. He’d prayed and asked God to allow him to be released.

  Father Gregory shuffled to the front door with a throbbing foot, and he disengaged the locks. Certain that one of the nuns or deacons from the church was on the other side, he snatched the brass handle, opening the door wide. The next few seconds whizzed by in a blur. A warm and soft body fell into his arms as the scent of vanilla sobered his senses. The sound of pitiful whimpers and rambling words that he couldn’t comprehend were sure signs that Tyler’s circumstances were more serious than he’d anticipated.

  “They . . . they wouldn’t even let me see him! I couldn’t see him! He’s in . . . in that awful place overnight!”

  “Hush now,” Father Gregory said, attempting to console Royce. He enfolded her in his arms. “Hush now. Everything is going to work out just fine.”

  Royce, obviously overwhelmed with emotion, cried continuously as Father Gregory led her into the house. Her trembling body jerked in his arms each time she tried to speak. The sorrow in her stuttered words and whimpers broke Father Gregory’s heart. He pulled her body closer to his, and she pressed her face against his chest. He guided Royce down the dark hall in the opposite direction of the parlor. Father Gregory was afraid that her crying would wake the other priests. Mindlessly, he led her into the master suite for privacy. As soon as the door closed behind them, Royce collapsed in his arms. He embraced her and rubbed her back as she wailed out her sadness.

  “I told him to stay away from those bad boys. I told him. Why would he go to the mall and shoplift with them? Why?”

  “I don’t know. You’ll have to ask Tyler that. When will you be able to see him?”

  “He’ll appear before a juvenile judge tomorrow morning at eleven o’clock. My attorney will be there to represent him. Hopefully, the judge will release Tyler since he’s never been in trouble before.”

  “I believe he will.”

  The room fell silent. The sudden hush caused an acute awareness to strike Father Gregory like lightning. In his arms was the one woman whose heart and body he desired more than anything. She had come to him to be comforted from her emotional pain, and he had done his best to help ease her burden. Now, all he could think about was the pleasure her body was giving his in an innocent embrace. Her soft curves pressing against his rigidness caused his blood to simmer and rush to his penis. Father Gregory swallowed hard and tried to think of a Scripture to help him fight the mounting temptation. His mind went blank.

  Royce lifted her head from his chest and stared at his face. Slivers of moonlight peeping through the cracks in the blinds made it possible to see her eyes. They were swollen and red from crying, but Father Gregory noticed something more significant. Royce’s deep brown orbs were filled with yearning. She wanted Father Gregory. He saw it clearly.

  Without words or forethought, their lips came together in a smoldering, wet kiss with their tongues dancing and devouring each other. Royce tightened her hold around Father Gregory’s neck, meshing their bodies closer together. He moaned in delight when she thrust her hips forward and ground against his stiff, enlarged shaft. The feel of Royce’s soft hands sliding from his shoulders to caress his chest caused more blood to rush to his penis.

  Father Gregory grabbed Royce’s round bottom and squeezed it as her hot tongue darted in and out of his mouth. She rocked her hips, stimulating his manhood even more. His erection had become painful, and he needed relief. As if on cue, Royce slid her hands underneath Father Gregory’s white T-shirt and explored his pectoral and abdominal muscles. He threw his head back and growled in enjoyment when her fingertips toyed with the hair sprinkled about his chest.

  Royce snatched the T-shirt over his head and let it fall to the floor. Then she lowered her hand to his crotch and rubbed the firm bulge. Father Gregory opened his mouth to speak, but no words would flow. Royce kissed and sucked his nipples as she unzipped his jeans. She released the button and maneuvered her hand inside his boxers and started stroking his rock-solid dick.

  “Royce, ah, Royce,” he mumbled.

  “Yeah, baby, this is what you need.” She tugged at his boxers and jeans until they fell to his ankles. “Royce is about to give you what you need.”

  Father Gregory removed his feet from his underwear and pants and stood before Royce as naked as Adam in the Garden of Eden. She kissed him deeply again as she continued to stroke his hardness. He moaned, loving the feel of Royce’s hand caressing his manhood.

  She pulled back and removed her coat and tossed it on the chair. She unbuttoned her blouse, exposing her black lace bra. Father Gregory watched in awe as Royce did away with her tan slacks. He reached for her, and she took his hand and guided him to the bed. Royce pushed Father Gregory gently, and he landed on his back on the beige duvet comforter. Slowly, she removed her bra and panties while he watched in appreciation. Royce stretched out on top of him and kissed him passionately. He accepted her tongue and rubbed her bare ass. He squeezed and massaged it tenderly as if it were a priceless treasure.

  Royce lowered her lips to tease Father Gregory’s nipples with the tip of her tongue. She dipped her head lower to kiss his belly button and to slide her tongue in and out of it. Downward, her lips kissed his penis several times before she took it fully into her mouth. Father Gregory’s entire body quivered. Royce’s wet, warm mouth on his hardened manhood was an introduction to pure ecstasy. She snaked her tongue over the sensitive head repeatedly as she sucked him and massaged his testicles.

  “Royce,” he called out. “My sweet Royce.”

  “Yeah, baby, I’m all yours tonight,” she answered, lifting her head from his crotch.

  Father Gregory pulled Royce up and into his arms before he rolled over on top of her. He fondled both her breasts while kissing the flesh between them. His tongue circled one hard nipple and then the other one. He took one into his mouth and sucked it gently. Royce rubbed the back of his head and arched her back. Father Gregory rubbed her flat belly and whispered her name. He explored her body, caressing her hips and thighs. He reached lower to play with the fine hairs covering her vagina. Royce opened her legs wide to accommodate his trembling hand as his fingers entered her sweet wetness.

  “You’re so wet,” he whispered, sliding two fingers in and out of her dampness, stroking her erect, sensitive bud.

  “Mmm, mmm . . .”

  The heady aroma of sex lingered in the air as Royce’s nectar flowed like a stream under Father Gregory’s touch. She hummed appreciatively and spread her legs wider. He liked how her body responded to him. Giving her pleasure pleased him very much.

  He removed his hand from Royce’s wet, hot vagina and licked his fingers, tasting the moisture of her desire. He loved the flavor of her sex on his tongue. He lowered his face to the junction of her thighs and inhaled its feminine scent. It heightened his arousal to a brand-new altitude. His tongue p
lunged deep between her folds and stroked her hard clit. It was warm and saturated with her sugary liquid lust. Royce rotated her hips in response to the flicks of Father Gregory’s tongue against her stiff, drenched clit. She jerked and hummed as he licked her into oblivion. He felt her beautiful body convulsing. Her soft hums grew into wails. The bed rocked underneath them. The headboard tapped the wall incessantly.

  “Yesss!” Royce screamed and gripped the back of Father Gregory’s head nestled between her thighs. “Mmm, yesss, baby, yesss!”

  The jerking stopped, and Father Gregory lifted his head. He eased his way up Royce’s body and looked into her eyes. She panted and smiled. He kissed her lips with a hunger that nearly took his breath away. Royce wiggled her hips until the head of his erect penis was positioned at the opening of her wetness. Their eyes met and locked for what seemed like an eternity. With perfect aim, he entered her body and went completely still.

  “Royce,” he whispered on a shaky breath.

  She didn’t answer him with words. Her body took over. She thrust her hips upward as if inviting him in. Instinctively, Father Gregory began to move in and out of Royce slowly. He looked into her pretty brown eyes and got lost. He stroked her long and deeply. Her warmth and wetness fascinated him.

  His hardness was buried completely within her feminine walls, sliding in and out with measured thrusts. It felt amazing. He picked up his pace and plunged deeper. A foreign sensation gripped him from head to toe. Making love for the very first time was euphoric. Father Gregory’s body had never experienced physical gratification of such a great magnitude. With each powerful thrust, he felt his soul soaring higher and higher to some magical place far, far away.

  The edges of Royce’s fingernails pressed into the flesh on his back as she cooed, bucked, and rotated her hips in sync with his. She reached up and held his face between her palms and licked his lips. Her hot, wet, open-mouth kisses sent Father Gregory’s spirit ascending into the atmosphere, floating above the night’s clouds. His inner man defied gravity, looking down at his body as it shuddered madly from an orgasm, satisfying and sweet. He bucked and moaned as warm semen swooshed from his body into Royce’s womb.

  “Royyyyyce!” He belted out the one word from his soul.

  His release must have triggered her second one of the night. She wrapped her legs around his waist and bucked wildly underneath him, purring, “Mmm, Father Gregory . . .”

  Hearing those two words, his spiritual title and surname, snatched him from that mystical place and returned him to the real world. It was the world where he was never to lie with a woman, yet there he was.

  Chapter Eleven

  Royce opened her eyes wide, and instantly visions of making love with Father Gregory the night before replayed in her mind. A lone tear fell from her eye and slid down her cheek. Her heart ached, knowing that she’d had sex with a man of God. She was responsible for his fall from grace and into fornication.

  He was asleep, cuddling her affectionately from behind. Royce couldn’t move because his hold on her naked body was too tight. She stirred in an attempt to free herself. She wanted to go home so she could pray and cry as loud as she wanted to. She felt sinful, broken, and nasty. Her body was sore, too. She and Father Gregory had made love two more times before they finally fell asleep in each other’s arms. Each thrilling episode had been more magical than the one before it. Just thinking about the things they had done to one another caused Royce’s nipples and clit to harden.

  She pried one of Father Gregory’s arms away from her body and rolled out of his reach. He stirred in his sleep but didn’t wake up. Royce looked around the bedroom and finally noticed the clock on his dresser. It was almost four o’clock in the morning. She eased off of the bed and began searching the floor through the darkness for her underwear and clothes. She wanted to get out of the parsonage quickly before Father Gregory woke up. She couldn’t face him. What the hell was she supposed to say to him anyway?

  “Were you planning to leave without saying goodbye?”

  Royce closed her eyes and gasped at the sound of his hoarse voice. “I didn’t have the heart to wake you.” She picked up her panties and put them on with her back to him. “You were resting peacefully. I didn’t want to be inconsiderate.”

  She heard the headboard tap lightly against the wall. He was moving, more than likely getting out of bed. His hands gripped Royce’s shoulders. Tears flowed down her face. She wanted to scream. She wished she could escape to unconsciousness.

  “We need to discuss what happened here last night. I didn’t plan to take you, Royce. It just happened. One minute you were in my arms, and the next thing I knew we were naked in bed, making love.”

  “It’s not your fault. I shouldn’t have come here.”

  “Look at me, Royce.”

  She stepped away from him and shook her head, refusing to turn around. “I . . . I can’t.” She grabbed her bra from the floor and put it on. Her blouse and slacks were in the chair. She rushed over and put them on fast. “I’ll have Tyler call you this afternoon.” She grabbed her coat from the chair.

  “I’m going to court. I should be there.”

  “You don’t have to come.”

  Father Gregory walked over, took Royce by her hand, and gently turned her around to face him. She wiped her tears with her free hand. Her vision was blurred from crying. Father Gregory’s body was completely bare. Royce noticed it but dismissed it at the same time. Emotions, raw and jumbled, had overtaken her. She was confused, unable to think clearly.

  “I’ll be there to support Tyler.”

  Royce nodded. “Where is my purse?” she asked, pulling her eyes away from his face.

  Father Gregory found it on the nightstand. He picked it up and handed it to her.

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” He folded his arms over his chest. “We can’t avoid this subject, Royce. We will discuss it tonight. I’ll visit you after Tyler has gone to sleep.”

  Royce blinked as his words settled in her brain. “No! We don’t need to be anywhere near each other, especially not alone. I could meet you at a restaurant.”

  “And who will be home with Tyler?”

  “All right, you may come to my house,” she agreed reluctantly, realizing her dilemma. “But we—”

  “I won’t touch you, Royce. I promise.”

  * * *

  Father Gregory lifted his head and allowed the pounding spray of hot water to saturate his face. He’d put up a brave front for Royce. His cool and laidback demeanor in her presence had been an act. He was not okay, as he’d pretended to have been. The most sacred vow he’d ever made had been broken. His virginity was gone, completely destroying his commitment to celibacy. The long shower couldn’t wash away the guilt, pain, and degradation he felt. Sin was embedded in his skin, seeping into his blood, choking the life out of him.

  “Forgive me,” he whispered as tears fell from his eyes, mixing in with the water spray. “I have sinned against you and the church. I am so unworthy of your mercy and your grace.”

  Visions of the passionate experience he’d shared with Royce haunted him. He couldn’t escape them. They were too fresh and vivid in his psyche, intensifying his shame. How could something so beautiful and memorable also be immoral and unacceptable? Father Gregory had enjoyed surrendering himself over to the call of nature, although his actions were ungodly. Loving yet loathing the experience tore his heart to pieces. He was a broken man who had engaged in something so fulfilling in the arms of an amazing woman, but it had brought damnation to his soul.

  Father Gregory turned off the water and left the shower with mixed thoughts and feelings about the sin he had committed. At the moment he was as close to insanity as he’d ever been. It was a painful burden to bear, and he took full responsibility for what he had done. He would never blame Royce for reaching out to him in her time of need. As a priest, he should’ve exercised restraint and resisted temptation, but he didn’t. He had failed miserably.


  He rushed to dry his body and put on casual attire. Dressed in a pair of faded jeans and a sweatshirt, he chose a pair of running shoes and a Chicago White Sox baseball cap to complete his informal look. He hadn’t hopped on his Harley-Davidson Iron 883 since relocating to Atlanta. It was time to take his baby out for a spin to clear his head. A long ride before facing Royce and Tyler at court would give him time to talk to God and sort through his emotions.

  * * *

  “I will call you as soon as court is over, sis. I promise.”

  “I’m so nervous. I don’t want my baby to be in jail missing school and church.”

  “Kirk said Tyler will probably only get probation and be ordered to perform community service, if even that. He’s a first-time offender. The worst-case scenario is that he’ll be slapped with an accomplice charge. No game discs or other merchandise were found in his possession. Plus he had a pocketful of money. Tyler could’ve bought anything he wanted from that store. He didn’t even run when the security guard chased them. I believe he was clueless about what those thugs were planning to do. They went to the video game store with the intent to steal. Tyler didn’t.”

  “I hope you’re right, Royce.”

  “Trust me. Everything is going to be okay.”

  “Will Father Gregory be at court?”

  “Yes.” Royce pushed the single word out as his face appeared in her mind’s eye.

  “I’m glad to know that. I’ll bet he has a mouthful to say to Tyler. Tell him I said there is no need to take it easy on him. I want him to scare the hell out of that boy.”

  “I’ll give him your message. I’ve got to get dressed now. Kiss my brother-in-law for me. I’ll call you later. Bye.”

  * * *

  “Father, bless me and be merciful, for I have sinned.”