“I missed you,” Chloe said.

She’d never looked more lovely than when I met her at the airport this afternoon. She wore a pink top that made her skin glow and a short skirt that really showed off her shapely legs. I couldn’t wait to get her back in my arms. I was so eager to take my wife without interruption that rather than drive all the way to Lucinda’s, I checked us into the bridal suite of the nicest hotel by LAX.

We’d just entered our room, and she kept talking. “Being away from you like that made me realize that out of all the exciting new things in my life, you are the best thing, and of course the reason for all the other things like the bakery, the TV show—all of it.”

I smiled. So, she did appreciate me after all. I hoped one day she would, but I never expected it would happen so soon. “I want to make all your dreams come true, Chloe. And your dreams may not always dovetail with mine.”

“I know. Like the TV show. I’ve already sent Lucinda an email telling her I quit.”

“You did? When?”

“When my flight landed in New Orleans.”

“Hang on.” I got out my phone and sent Lucinda a text.

“What are you doing?”

“Sending Lucinda a text.”

“Saying what?”

“Just telling her not to open any emails she receives from you today.”

“But, why would you do that?”

“Because I can tell you like doing the TV show, and I want you to be happy. You don’t need to quit for me.”

“But I can’t be away from you so much. I’d rather just come home and build a life with you there.”

“What if I don’t want a life in New Orleans anymore?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I’ve resigned from the church. They wanted me out, and after a great deal of prayer, I decided it wasn’t worth it to me to fight to stay where I wasn’t wanted.”

“But, that’s just a few people. The rest of the congregation loves you. I’m sure ninety-nine percent of them want you to stay.”

I brushed a strand of hair out of her face. “That may be, but the few that want me out are determined. If I win this battle, they will come back for round after round, and it’s just not worth it to me.”

“You can’t just give up like that and let them win!” Chloe fumed.

I loved the feisty side of my bride, and it warmed my heart that she was ready to join my fight with Crawford Banks and his minions on the vestry.

“I felt that way too at first.”

“You don’t anymore?” She looked puzzled. “Why not?”

“Because after I prayed and prayed about it, I realized God has been leading me in a different direction.”

“Whoa.” She sat down on the hotel sofa with a thud. “What direction?”

I began to pace the floor while I talked. “When I was a teenager, the man I thought of as a father, Reverend Morley, my role model, was a priest.”

“Right,” she said.

“So, when I had a crisis of faith, I turned to the church for comfort.”

“What do you mean ‘crisis of faith’?”

“One night when I was in college friends of mine and I were out drinking and partying and we wound up getting in a pretty bad car accident.”

“That’s terrible. What how bad was it?”

“Pretty bad. One of my friends died, one of them is paralyzed for life from the waist down and the driver went to prison for vehicular manslaughter. I was the only one who walked away from it without life-altering consequences. I’ve been feeling guilty about it ever since.”

“So that’s why you became a priest?”

I nodded. “I think so. I didn’t have any place to go with my guilt and I wanted to make my life count, you know? I might not have done the time in a wheelchair or in prison or by losing my life and I felt crappy about that. I felt like I should have to pay just the way they did.”

“But Eduardo, that’s not how it works. Lots of kids do exactly what you did and they escape getting caught or hurt and they just go on with their life. I guess they’re the lucky ones.”

“Maybe, but I think that’s what started me down this path, then of course with Reverend Morley having been like a father to me, the priesthood just seemed like the perfect place to go. Don’t get me wrong—I do feel called to do God’s work. It’s not that I don’t want to be a priest anymore, I just feel like I might be able to do more with the backing of my father’s family. I mean, who has more influence than the Barneses?”

“The president?” Chloe laughed.

“That’s about right. Which is why I told them I’m going into the God business with them.”

“Eduardo, you are not going to do Lucinda’s church idea are you? You hated that idea.”

I chuckled. “You’re right. I did hate that idea, and I came out here to say yes to it so that we could be together.”

“You did not!” She looked horrified.

“I did, but fortunately Dynassy got to me first and pitched an idea that suited me much better.”

“What’s that?”

“I am going in with Dynassy and Hunter to form a charitable foundation where we will plan charitable projects not only domestically, but also internationally.”

“Oh, Eduardo, that sounds wonderful. And so needed. Sometimes it feels like everyone wants to help the people all around the world, but I’ve seen firsthand how many people need help in our country as well.”

“You’re right. That’s why we will have a United States branch as well as an international outreach program. Leo and Ivy are already thinking of other musicians who can join them for a project to help us raise funds.”

“Oh, that just sounds tremendous. I know that you loved your parish in New Orleans. I’m sure you will miss them and they will miss you, but you’re right, an organization like that will be able to help so many more people exponentially.”

“Yeah, at first it felt like my whole world was coming down when you left to come out here, and it looked like I was going to be usurped from my position in the church. Honestly, I felt completely lost. But I prayed about it and then Dynassy approached me and everything seemed to fall into place.”

“I’m so lucky to have a man who lets me follow my dreams.”

“I want nothing more than to make your dreams come true, Chloe. It’s one of the reasons I married you.”

She giggled. “One of the reasons?”

I nodded.

“What were some of the other reason?”

I pulled her in for a deep kiss. Grabbing her ass and pulling it towards me against my erection. “You know why.”

A mischievous grin spread across her face. “I may need you to remind me.”

“Not a problem, Mrs. Soto. Not a problem at all.”

We undressed in a rush. There would be time for savoring each other later, but we’d been apart too long, and the urgency I felt to have my skin touching hers was too strong.

Once we were naked, I lifted her into my arms and she wrapped her legs around me like a monkey climbing a tree. My hard cock rubbed against her pussy, and she cried out my name.

“Damn, I’ve missed you, girl,” I muttered into her hair, and I took a few steps so I was pressing her against the wall.

“Me too. I need you inside me.”

Unable to deny her, I shifted my pelvis so I could maneuver her onto my erection. It took some rearranging, but once I slid into her and her muscles clamped down on me, we both shuddered with the pleasure of coming together as one.

“Yes,” she breathed. “Oh, my God, you feel so good.”

Then I claimed her—with my mouth as well as my cock. I wanted to devour her, body and soul, and to give her everything I had to give. Every inch, every thrust, every kiss was a promise that she belonged to me, and I to her.

I pumped hard into her with deep, long strokes while she clung to me and moaned in my ear. The sound only fueled my desire, and it didn’t take long for us both to climax.

Afterwards, I carried her over to the bed where she covered us with the bedsheets and snuggled into my arms.

“What I want to know is how you got so good at sex. I mean, you have to admit, that’s not what you first think of when you think of a priest—that he must be good in bed.”

I chuckled. “That’s because you are missing the fact that God gave us sex. He invented it, and when he did he created the perfect way for a man and a woman to come together, physically, emotionally, even spiritually.”

“I never thought of it that way.”

“That’s because we’re taught that sex is shameful. That’s the way society curbs our impulses and tries to keep people from letting their hormones run wild. That part is more about sociology than theology, but it makes sex all the more exciting and mysterious.”

“It is, isn’t it?”

I nodded. “Yes, but it’s perfectly fine when practiced between a husband and a wife, my dear. So, in anticipation of having a wife one day, I did my research.”

“Research?” she asked.

I hugged her tight. “Yes, research. You’d be amazed at what you can find on the Internet about sex.”

She giggled. “No, I wouldn’t.”

“Not porn, naughty girl. There are articles . . . more scientific ones.”

She turned around and met my eye. “You’re saying you’ve never watched porn?”

I rolled my eyes. “What is this? The confessional?”

“Have you?”

“Of course I have. And I lost my virginity when I was seventeen under the bleachers in high school.”

“What was her name?”

“Shelly Rowland. Yours?”

“Tucker James.”

“Tucker?”

“Yeah, so?”

“Look, Chloe, the way I see it, all the women I knew before I became a priest and stopped screwing around, they were practice for when I found you. You are the only woman for me. The only one.”

She wriggled into my arms, grinning up at me mischievously. “I am, huh?”

“Yes,” I said, planting a kiss on her nose.

“Show me again,” she whispered huskily.

“My pleasure.”