CHAPTER 2: GOOD GIRL’S PENANCE

“Jade? I saw you come in,” Father Elias called out again. “I was glad to see you at today’s service. You’ve grown so much in the past year you’ve been away.”

I leaned my back against the door, my chest heaving, the cool painted wood the only thing supporting my buckling knees.

The object of my desires was standing right outside, likely staring at the wood that separated his holy reputation from my absolute depravity.

My hand resumed moving again; the heat between my legs was a pulsing, rhythmic ache that demanded attention.

I slid two fingers into my pussy again, and a low whimper escaped my lips. I clamped my free hand over my mouth, my eyes wide and fixed on the door handle.

"Jade?"

His voice was muffled by the door, but it was still vibrating through the marrow of my bones. It was lower than his preaching voice, stripped of the performative warmth he used for the congregation.

"I’m... I’m here, Father," I managed to say.

I began to work my fingers, sliding them slowly into my own heat. I imagined it was the fingers that had touched my tongue that were now exploring the depths of my body. I thrust my fingers deeper, a slow, agonizing slide that made my toes curl against the linoleum. I was imagining the way he looked at the pulpit, the way his chest had heaved when he noticed my nipples peaking through my blouse.

"Are you alright in there?" he asked. I heard the shift of fabric as he leaned against the door now. "You looked... distressed when you left the sanctuary."

I let out a shaky breath, my hips bucking involuntarily as I pushed a third finger inside. The friction was incredible, but the knowledge that he was just inches away, unaware yet entirely complicit, was what really pushed me over the edge. I was being watched by a man who couldn't see me, and the voyeurism of the moment made my walls tighten around my own hand.

"I’m fine," I lied, my voice strained. "Just... period cramps. They hit me all at once."

"I see," he replied, then there was a long pause. I could hear his steady, rhythmic breathing.

I moved my thumb to my clit, circling the sensitive bud with a frantic, desperate energy. I was close; I was so goddamn close.

"The burden of the flesh is a heavy one, Jade.” He suddenly said, his voice back to that low tremor he used when comforting and advising. “…but you must remember that God provides strength to those who endure."

I began to thrust faster, my breath hitching in my throat as his voice washed over me like a rough caress. I bit my lower lip so hard I tasted copper in my bid to stay quiet, my eyes squeezed shut as I pictured him standing there, draped in black, speaking scripture while I desecrated his church.

"I’ll pray for you," Elias continued, his voice dropping an octave, becoming a husky, private murmur. "God hears the prayers of the faithful. And I know he’ll answer you because you’ve always been such a good girl."

The words good girl hit me like a physical blow.

My entire body jolted, the muscles in my thighs locking. It was the most erotic thing I had ever heard. I needed to hear it again. I needed him to say it while I was so near my peak.

"What... what did you say?" I whimpered, the words barely more than a breath. "The last part... say it again."

I heard him take a sharp, jagged breath. The silence that followed was heavy with a sudden, mutual understanding.

He knew.

There was no way a man who had been a playboy wouldn’t know the sound of a woman’s voice when she was mid-climax.

But instead of leaving or rebuking me, I heard the sound of what I guess was his hitting the door.

"I said," he rasped, his voice now thick with an unmistakable, dark arousal, "that you’re a good girl, Jade. A very... good... girl."

That was it. The dam broke.

I arched my back, my fingers buried deep inside myself as the first wave of orgasm crashed over me. I bit my lip until it bled, keeping the sounds coming from my throat from becoming a scream. My body is shaking with a violent, beautiful intensity.

I came so hard, my vision blurred, the world narrowing down to the sound of his voice and the heat of my own release. I stayed like that for several seconds, my hand still pressed between my legs, listening to the sound of his heavy, labored breathing on the other side of the door.

"The youth meeting starts in five minutes," he said eventually, his voice sounding strained, almost breathless. "Hurry up and join them. Don't make me come looking for you again."

Then his footsteps retreated, sounding so fast like he was keeping himself from running.

I scrambled to fix my clothes, my hands trembling so much I could barely smooth my skirt. I wiped my face, tucked a stray hair behind my ear, then cracked the restroom door open just a sliver.

I watched as he paused at the doorway and reached down to adjust the front of his trousers, the movement frantic and uncomfortable.

Even from a distance, I could see the prominent, heavy ridge straining against the fabric of his slacks.

He was hard because of me.

I pulled back and leaned against the sink, a wicked, triumphant smile spreading across my face. The shepherd was hungry, and I was the only one who knew how to feed him.