Emily and the Priest (7 page)

“Well… what proof do you have about Emily and… and…?”
Alexis
couldn’t even say his name.

“Camera, hello!”
Jenny
pulled out her iPhone, waving it around. Then she did something none of them had expected. She snapped a photo of Eve and
Jenny
wrapped in each other’s arms. “There. Now I have proof that you’re both disgusting perverts. Wait until Bishop Avery sees this!”

“Get the phone!” Eve cried and Emily lunged for it, but she missed.
Jenny
side-stepped her easily and skipped out the door.
“Go! Get it! Get it!”

Emily tried, but
Jenny
’s years of soccer gave her a distinct advantage, and she was in her room, with the door locked, before Emily had made it hal
fway down the hall. Back in her
room, Eve and
Alexis
were up and getting dressed, pulling on panties and t-shirts.

“She’s got pictures,” Emily said miserably, sinking down onto her own bed. Eve had warned her, of course, but she hadn’t quite believed it was true until she’d glimpsed
a picture on Jenny’s iPhone—
a heated embrace
she remembered quite well
in front of the chapel. “She’s going to tell.”

“Maybe she won’t.” Eve sat on
Alexis
’s bed, pulling a sheet over her bare legs. “She’s pretty afraid of her mom and dad finding out she’s gay.”

“I feel kind of bad for her.”
Alexis
sat next to Eve, who nudged her angrily with her hip. “I said kind of!”

“Think they’ll let us all stay in this room for the year?”
Alexis
slid back under the covers, putting her head down on her pillow.

“Don’t worry, you two will make great roommates.” Emily sighed. “I won’t be here much longer to be roommates with anybody. They’re going to expel me.”

“Don’t be so fatalistic.” Eve yawned, slipping back into bed with
Alexis
. “I still have a key to
Jenny
’s room, remember?”

Emily had a brief, fleeting moment of hope as she watched
Alexis
and Eve fall back asleep. They were both obviously still pretty intoxicated, and they were probably going to regret the
ir high level of
alcohol consumption in the morning. Although, looking at the way they twined together, she doubted they would regret whatever else had happened tonight.

She got dressed for bed and turned out the light, listening for
Jenny
, sure she would come storming back down the
hall with Sister Francine
, ready to take names
and start expelling students,
but the dorm remained eerily quiet. Maybe it’s an omen, she told herself, as she started to drift off to sleep.

Maybe there was a small chance it would be okay after all.

* * * *

“Wow, déjà vu.” Emily squeezed Father Mark’s hand as they stepped into the chapel’s side door.

“I want to show you something.”

“Again?” she teased as he led her toward the front of the church. “I don’t think I can handle any more surprises this week. Did you hear that
Jenny
left school? Her parents came to pick her up yesterday.”

“I heard.”

“Poor Eve. She’s all by herself now.” Emily didn’t mention how often Eve
had
slept in her room
this week
, in
Alexis
’s bed. Who was she to squash a budding love affair? She was glad they were happy. Someone should be.

“Eve will be fine.
”
He led her to the front of the chapel, so different now in the light of day. He’d cleaned up the pillows and blankets and all the candles—and the wax drip, she imagined. There was no evidence they’d been there, right here,
making love all night long
. The thought made Emily blush, but it didn’t keep her knees from getting weak at the memory, and it definitely didn’t stop the ache between her legs when she glanced at him, reaching into his jacket pocket.

“
She and
Alexis
will be rooming together
before long, I’m sure,” he said, and she watched, puzzled, as he pulled something from his pocket.

“But
Alexis
is
my roommate…
” She frowned at him as he sank down to one knee before her.
“W
hat are you doing?”

He smiled.
“What does it look like I’m doing?”

“Whatever you’re doing, don’t.” She nudged his shoulder with her knee. He was wearing jeans and a regular shirt again, and it was far easier to think naughty thoughts about him when he wasn’t in his priest’s uniform. “
Get up. It looks like you’re proposing.”

Father Mark unpalmed a blue velvet box.
“That’s exactly what I’m doing.”

“What?”
Now her knees felt truly weak.

“Emily, will you marry me?”
He opened the box to reveal a white gold band containing a single diamond. It wasn’t big and fancy, but it was beautiful.

She tried to catch her breath.
“But… but priests can’t get married.”

“I’m not a priest anymore.”
His hand found hers, squeezing gently.

“You’re… not?”
His words hadn’t really sunk in.

“I’m yours, Emily. If you’ll have me.”

“But you can’t not be a priest!” she protested, her voice hoarse, barely above a whisper. “
What are you going to do if you’re not a priest?”

“Besides, hopefully, marrying you?
” He grinned. “
Well, my grandfather was a Baptist preacher. Maybe I’ll start my own church.
And you, if you say yes… you’re going to art school, like you always wanted.”

She blinked at him, trying to force the words past her ears, into her actual brain.
“What?”

“We’ll be fine, Emily.
” He cupped her palm against his cheek, turning to kiss it softly as he spoke.
“
I’ll take care of you. I promise. I’ll find my way, whatever path I need to
travel
.
Honestly, I don’t think God
will care what I’m doing
as long as
I’m
still talking to him.”

“Speaking of talking to your father…”
Emily smiled, rubbing her thumb over his cheek, at the very spot she’d painted a cross
. Had that been just a week
and a half
ago? It felt like a lifetime.

“Stop trying to change the subject!
” He laughed. “
But if you must know, I already did. I’ve done a lot of talking this week. My father,
Jenny
’s mother, Bishop Avery. It’s been a week full of confession.”

“Did
Jenny
tell?”
Emily asked, eyes wide. She hadn’t seen him much this week at all, had been afraid the night they’d spent together was just a dream. He’d promised he would talk to her, would meet her here today, that he had something he wanted to talk about, and she was sure this was it, that he was going to end things between them, and had steeled herself for it.

This—Father Mark on his knees in front of her with an engagement ring—was the last thing she’d expected.

He nodded in agreement. “Jenny
did
tell
.”

“But she didn’t have any proof.” Emily smirked. Eve had managed to get her hands on
Jenny
’s cell phone and
had
delete
d
the offending photographs.

He shrugged.
“It didn’t matter. I’d already made my decision.”

“So
then
why did
Jenny
go home?”

“If you must know, s
omeone tol
d her mother she was a lesbian.” He sighed. “
Apparently, they
emailed
her parents some incriminating photographs.”

Emily thought of Eve stealing
Jenny
’s camera. What else had been on there, she wondered?

“So
Jenny
decided to go home?”

Father Mark shook his head.
“No, her mother withdrew her from school. She
just
couldn’t accept her daughter’s sexual orientation.”

“Isn’t it a sin, according to the church?”

“I suppose,” he agreed slowly. “
But why should anyone be punished because of who they love?”

She blinked away the tears coming to her eyes.
“They shouldn’t.”

“It was just another reason that made my d
ecision to leave the church easier,” he confessed. “A
nd then there’s the matter of my being in love with you.”

“Oh Father Mark…”

“It’
s just Mark, Emily. Just Mark.” He smiled, pinning her with that green-eyed gaze of his.
“
I’
m just a man—a
man who is completely, desperately in love with you.
And if you didn’t notice, I’m still down here on my knees, asking you to marry me.”

“Oh Mark…”
she whispered.

“Will you?”

“Yes!
”

She threw her arms around his neck, tumbling them b
oth to the floor. The ring
bo
x snapped shut and went flying as she kissed him and they rolled, laughing, around on the floor in front of the saints and Jesus and his mother, Mary, and she knew it was probably a sin,
but she didn’t care.
And she was pretty sure God didn’t either. She couldn’t stop kissing him, she couldn’t help loving him, and repeating the answer that had always been hidden in her heart, over and over and over again, punctuated by kisses.

“
Yes! Yes! Yesyesyesyesyes!”

The End

POWER PLAY: KELSEY AND THE EXECUTIVE

By Selena Kitt

S
elena Kitt’s *Power Play*—where those uber-hot alpha authority figures take full advantage of their status to strike up all sorts of sexy naughtiness with their subordinates!

Kelsey never dreamed her first job out of college with her bachelor’s degree in hand would be as a secretary. Still, she’s grateful to have any job at all, with the economy at a standstill, and she consoles herself that she is, after all, an “executive” secretary to one of the most powerful men in the country. Oliver Pierce turns out to be a harsh taskmaster, and while her friends wonder how Kelsey got the job at all, with such a thin resume, Kelsey doesn’t have to wonder. It becomes quite clear very quickly that her lack of experience is exactly what Oliver Pierce was looking for, and she finds herself utterly seduced, happy to be his perfect blank slate, ready to be shaped and molded and made completely his.

Selena Kitt Single

Short Story—Big Bang!

(approx 5000 words)

Warning: This title contains hot, steamy nobody-writes-it-like-Selena-Kitt sex between alpha authority figures and their subordinates!

EXCERPT
:

“Kelsey, do you have short-term memory issues?” He leaned back in his chair, loosening his tie.

“N—no.” She could see where this was going, of course, but was helpless to stop it.

He crooked his finger, motioning her forward. “Then you do remember what I said about your wardrobe yesterday?”

She nodded, walking slowly toward him, feeling like she was in a dream. This wasn’t happening. Couldn’t be happening. Of course she remembered what he’d said. But surely one violation of the office dress-code didn’t warrant anything more than a warning.
Another warning.
Certainly not anything so dire as getting fired. Or worse.

A spanking?

“Did you read the dress code when I hired you?” Oliver inquired as she stepped around to his side of the desk as he indicated. He turned his chair toward her as she approached, her trembling knees almost touching his. She just nodded her response, looking down at him. “I must not have been specific enough, is that it?”

“I—I don’t…” Kelsey’s breath caught when his hand cupped her knee in her striped stockings. His fingers caught the fabric of her tights and pulled, letting them snap back into place.

“Striped stockings are not allowed,” he reminded her. “Black, navy or nude only.”

“Oh.” Of course she knew—but maybe if she played dumb? His hand was still on her knee. No, her thigh. Oh that felt nice. His hands were big, covering a lot of area.

“Do you know why?” His hand was definitely on her thigh. Nowhere near her knee anymore. She shook her head, making a little noise in her throat that she hoped might pass as an answer. “Distractions, Kelsey.”

Oh it was distracting indeed. Very distracting.

“There’s a natural polarity between the masculine and feminine, no matter their circumstances. Did you know that?”

She swallowed, nodding.

“Men and women—we’re like magnets, drawn together. It’s inevitable really.” His hand was on her inner thigh, slowly kneading her flesh. Kelsey could barely keep her breathing under control, trying not to show how excited she was, hoping he didn’t notice her knees quivering.

“It’s hard enough for men and women to work together, side by side every day, without distractions like these.” His hand moved lower, lightly stroking the back of her knee. “Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir.” She understood now, without a doubt, even if she hadn’t before.

He looked up and met her eyes, his expression unreadable. “Take them off.”

“Sir?” she breathed. He wasn’t serious. He couldn’t be.

“Take them off.” He leaned back in his chair, looking annoyed that he had to repeat himself, crossing his feet at the ankles, his arms over his chest.

Kelsey blinked, a part of her screaming that she should run straight to human resources and report this, but her hands moved to her hemline, trying to negotiate a way of taking her striped stockings off without having to pull her skirt up, and she couldn’t think of one.

If the thought of being spanked over his desk had been humiliating, this was far worse. Now she had to face him, watch the corner of his mouth twitch, almost a smile, as she realized she couldn’t do this without hefting her skirt up to hook her thumbs into the elastic tops of her tights.

Maybe he’s making you take them off so he can spank you?

The thought was horrifying. And exciting beyond words.