TEN

KAINE

I worked on my sermon until my vision blurred and I could barely keep my eyes open. 

When I looked away from the document, my clock read 1:17 am. Exactly twenty-four hours ago, a captivating beauty named Magdalene walked into my life and I could not seem to get her out of my head. 

With a sigh, I shut everything down and turned off the lights. I had to get a full night of sleep in order to be in top shape for delivering this sermon tomorrow. 

I went into the bedroom and paused when I looked at my bed. The sheet on her side was still rumpled and pushed back. If I laid down on that side, it would probably still smell like her. 

My cock twitched at the memory of her naked back, the wings of her shoulder blades on display as she wrapped her arms around the underside of the pillow. 

Angel wings. 

No. 

My hand drifted to my cock and I yanked it away. I already selfishly pleasured myself today. Twice in one day would be abhorrent. 

I peeled off my shirt and collapsed down on my usual spot, making a mental note to wash the sheets tomorrow after church. The sooner her memory faded, the better.

Of course, my sleep was plagued with lustful dreams of her. 

Her image was so vivid and real that I could feel her hot, slick thighs quivering as they gripped me. My heart hammered against her small palms on my chest as she rode me, rolling her hips and letting out the sweetest moans every time she impaled herself on my length. Her nipples pebbled into tight little mounds as I squeezed them between my fingertips. 

But best of all her gorgeous face, flushed and wild-eyed, exuded pure bliss and ecstasy. This was all she needed, all she wanted. And I was the only man who could give it to her.

Her eyes rolled back in her head as she came and I knew it was a divine experience. For a moment her soul left her body and she floated among the other angels. When I released my seed into her tight, greedy pussy, I was right there with her. 

Waking up was the most hellish disappointment. I had kicked the sheet off in my sleep and the first thing I saw was my morning wood pointing straight up at the ceiling. 

Well, only one thing to do about that. 

My muscles ached as I swung my feet to the floor and stood. I really pushed it hard in my workout yesterday. Today, on the holy day of rest, I needed to go twice as hard to exorcise these lustful cravings from my body. 

I pulled on my gym shorts and did the heaviest, most intense nonstop workout I could manage before getting ready for church. When it was time to shower, I practically crawled into the bathroom to turn the water on. 

My erection was gone but thoughts of Maggie still lingered. I said a silent prayer in my head as the scalding water massaged over my achingly sore muscles.

Dear Lord, please allow these sinful thoughts to be removed from my mind when I'm in Your house, guiding Your people. Let me deliver this sermon with purity and light in my heart, and release me from this temptation. Amen.

***

"Thank you all for joining me on this blessed day." 

I scanned the crowd, watching the last of the stragglers filing into the chapel as I began my talk. 

It was a perfect day for a church service. The sun was high and shone through the stained glass windows, casting a bright glow across the open, airy chapel as people settled into their pews. 

Some faces were new but many were familiar. The new eyes gazed up at me curiously, waiting to see how I would interpret the will of the Lord. 

The familiar eyes were more suspicious. They knew I broke the sacred vow of marriage and as their religious leader, held me to a higher standard than their neighbor or friend. I hoped this talk would resonate with the newcomers but I would be speaking directly from my heart to those who lost trust in me. 

Just before I ascended the pulpit, I prayed fervently to earn their forgiveness and be welcomed into their hearts again. 

"Today, I'll be speaking of knowing the difference between when God is speaking to you versus the devil," I began. 

Low murmurs came up from the crowd, barely audible to the untrained ear but I heard it all the same. 

"It might seem like a no-brainer," I continued, making gentle eye contact with those who watched me. "It's easy to blame the devil when bad things happen to us. And it's easy to praise God when everything is going well.

"But we all know," I raised my voice while taking a dramatic pause, feeling fully in my element as a pastor. "That life is not easy, nor is it simple. And that is for a very specific reason." 

All eyes were raptly glued to me now, bored expressions gone. I knew that would be the hook. Everyone wanted to know why at least one aspect of their life always sucked. 

"Humanity was doomed with sin the moment Eve plucked the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. This was our downfall as we were no longer perfect, but perhaps it was also our greatest blessing." 

You could hear a pin drop in the chapel. Everyone sat perfectly silent waiting for me to continue.

"For how could we ever love and appreciate paradise without the knowledge of suffering?" My voice echoed powerfully off the walls. "God would not bless us with loving homes and families if we did not pour our blood, sweat, and tears into them."

Each person in the room felt like I was talking directly to them. I saw smiles, nods, and tears as I spoke and held eye contact with as many people as I could. This was my true calling, what I was born to do. The word of God moved through me so much that I no longer glanced down at my notes but spoke directly from the heart. 

The words came out of me like He spoke through me Himself. Until I looked into a pair of eyes that mirrored my own. 

Then the words stopped. 

My eyes fell to the pair of red lips that I nearly kissed and dreamed of being wrapped around my cock, which now rose to attention. 

I blinked and quickly rubbed my eyes. 

She was really there. Truly, physically sitting in my chapel with an older couple who I assumed were her parents. 

How? Why?

I didn't believe in coincidences. Everything had divine meaning. She was here for a reason. 

My Magdalene, always pushing boundaries. Her clothes were entirely black and barely church appropriate. The skirt showed just a little too much creamy thigh and the blouse just a tad too much breast. Her mother squirmed uncomfortably next to her. 

I didn't recognize her parents. They must have been newcomers. What the hell were the odds? 

My gaze dropped to my notecards. I knew I had taken an unusually long pause and had to jump back into my career-saving speech with a massive hard-on hidden behind the pulpit and the reason for it sitting out there distracting me.

No pressure or anything. 

"2 Corinthians 11:41 states that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light," I continued. "The devil is sly and takes on many forms beyond just that of a serpent to tempt and seduce us." 

I intentionally looked away from Maggie and her family as I continued speaking but could feel her eyes on me all the same. 

"By the same token, the Lord can seem so cruel. Good people run into hardship after hardship until they fall to their knees and cry out, ‘why have you forsaken me?’ But little do we remember that God places obstacles in our path as stepping stones to greater, future blessings."

I paused dramatically once again, feeling steadier as long as Maggie wasn't in my field of vision. 

"So how do we know whether God or Satan is communicating with us?" I asked, leaning forward over the pulpit. In turn, everyone in the crowd leaned forward toward me, anxiously awaiting the conclusion to my speech. 

"When you are at a crossroads," I said in a low voice, making them listen harder. "When you have a choice you must make, do what's hardest." 

I paused again and a low murmur rose from the pews. 

"If you find yourself uncomfortable with what you must do, imagine Christ's suffering!" I exclaimed, beating my fist once against the podium. "There are no shortcuts! We must always push through suffering!" 

I paused and lowered my voice to a near whisper for the final time. "Because we would never appreciate Heaven, we would never know peace, without suffering."