Page 10

BENNIE

After he had asked me out on a date last night, I had imagined we’d be talking about religion amongst other themes, but ever since meeting up at five earlier tonight, neither of us had spoken a word about that.

When we first met, me losing my faith was all we had talked about, and because he was a priest, I hadn’t thought there would be any other dynamic between us. But here we were, with our tummies full, and walking along the small lake located behind the restaurant.

Joska had his hands in his pants’ pockets, and I had mine in front of me, fidgeting with my fingers, and trying not to pick at the skin around my nails. I wasn’t nervous around him, but I didn’t know what to say now that we had practically talked about everything back at dinner.

Although we had been silent for a while, it was a comfortable silence. At least, for me it was.

When I looked at him, he turned his head to face me. His expression was soft, but there was a certain gleam in his eyes. One that excited me when I looked into them.

I bit my bottom lip to hide a smile, but I was unsuccessful. The corners of my mouth curled up, and I lowered my gaze to my hands, thinking about words to say.

“I had a really good time,” I told him, meeting his eyes again.

“I had a great time too. And I think we should do it again.”

That shouldn’t have surprised me. Joska was direct and honest, which was something I truly liked about him.

He stopped walking, and I slowed down too. I turned toward him, not questioning why he stopped.

“So that second date is still on?”

I noticed how fast my heart was beating. I hadn’t noticed before, probably because he had been making me feel extremely comfortable at dinner. But now, standing by the lake with the moon shining down on us, and him looking at me the way he was, I slowly started to realize what was happening here.

And I was liking it.

“Yes, definitely,” I said. I didn’t want to sound so breathy, but it felt like he was coming closer, which made it hard for me to focus.

God, he had an effect on me. Whether he meant to do that or not, he already had me wrapped around his little finger. There was no going back now. At least not for me. And if I was interpreting this wrong, and he was simply using me to have some fun, then I’d really have to question my intuition, which usually was really good when it came to people.

My gut feeling was rarely wrong.

“Good.” Joska smiled, and there was this comfort in his eyes again. “Your place or mine?”

He was giving me a choice.

“Mine.” I pursed my lips, rethinking my decision. “Although…I would love to see how a priest lives.”

He chuckled. “My place is nothing special. Definitely don’t live in a penthouse like Tabor, but I have my own little house in a nice neighborhood.”

“Then we’ll have our second date at your place. I wanna see it,” I admitted with a grin.

“Fine with me. And what should we cook?” he asked, taking a step closer to me. He placed one hand on my hip, and without telling me what his intentions were, I moved backward until I was standing against one of the tree.

I leaned back and tilted my head to keep looking at him as he came closer. Normally, I wouldn’t have let him get this close on our first date, but I had been breaking rules lately anyway, and this one seemed like one I had to break too.

“I’m really good at cooking steak,” I told him proudly.

He was amused, but not in a condescending way. “Yeah? That’s kinda hot.”

I laughed out loud, unable to hold it back.

“You’re laughing now, but a woman who looks like you cooking a nice, big steak sounds like a reoccurring dream I’ve been having for the past forty years or so.”

I couldn’t stop laughing, but I tried hard to calm down. I slapped his chest, then grabbed on to his jacket with both hands. “You’ve been dreaming about a woman cooking steak?”

“Hell, yeah. You got me excited there. We can cook steaks and steam some vegetables. How does that sound?” he asked, grinning at me while his hands moved along my sides before he rested them on my hips.

“Sounds really good to me,” I said once I managed to calm down.

“And maybe we’ll make a nice dessert for after,” he suggested. His voice kept going lower, and so did his eyes. They moved from my eyes to my mouth, and they stayed there as I sucked in my bottom lip.

“Mh-hmm,” was all I could say.

There were many thoughts rushing through my mind, but not one was negative. Which was weird, because just a week ago, I would’ve been feeling anxious and confused about my life. But since meeting Joska, something had changed.

I watched as the tip of his tongue came out to lick his bottom lip, and when our eyes met again, my heart skipped a beat like it had never done before.

Damn him for making me feel this good.

And damn every guy before him who never did.

“I don’t want to rush things with you, but I really think I have to kiss you now.”

Yes.

I thought so too.

“Okay.”

I couldn’t have stopped him even if I wanted to. But I didn’t want to anyway. I wanted his lips on mine. Hell, I wanted this hot priest to kiss me.

His hands came up to cup my face, and once he had me locked in and unable to move, he leaned in and covered my mouth with his. A fire immediately ignited between us, and my heart exploded in my chest.

He kissed me slowly at first, but when I melted into him, with my body pressed against his, he deepened it by sliding his tongue into my mouth. He curled it around mine, and I moaned, surprising myself by the noises I was making because of him.

His fingers moved into my hair, gripping it gently while he tilted his head to the side a little more. His tongue dipped into my mouth again, sensually moving it with mine.

I was out of breath quicker than I wanted to be, and after pulling back for just a moment, we picked up right where we left off. He kept one hand in my hair and dropped the other to my hip. He pushed one leg between mine, pressing his thigh against my pussy. It was then when I noticed how much it was throbbing, and the sexual tension between us exploded instantly.

Joska was making me feel things no other man had, and in a way, I was glad that he was the first to make me feel so sexual.

I moaned again, and with my hands, I held on to his shoulders so my knees wouldn’t give in.

I could already see Sin’s grin, knowing she’d be so excited to hear what happened tonight. She was all for this. Me going out with Joska. She knew I’d have fun with him, and I was glad I trusted her. Tabor, on the other hand, would have to listen to me complain about the way he talked about his brother earlier today. I knew siblings were often mean to each other, but Tabor truly put Joska in a bad light, and I wanted him to know that I had a good time with his brother.

I was out of breath when he pulled back, and I kept my eyes closed as he rested his forehead against mine. We both took a moment to let the kiss sink in.

He moved his hand from my hair to my cheek, cupping it gently while caressing his thumb along my cheekbone. I opened my eyes to look in his, and I smiled, unable to hide my happiness.

“That was nice,” I whispered.

He smiled and pressed a small kiss to the tip of my nose, then one to my lips before his eyes met mine again. “Good, because that was only the beginning.”

Those words excited me.

I knew things about him that I definitely wanted to explore, but I also wanted to get to know him like this.

As Joska.

Not as Joska the priest who did naughty things.

Although…after that kiss, I was curious to know just how sinful his dark side was.

JOSKA

In all honesty, if Bennie hadn’t already stolen a piece of my heart, I would’ve treated her like any other woman I ever went out with. When we got introduced to each other, I hadn’t really planned on getting attached, but as we sat outside talking that night at Luca’s birthday, I was immediately obsessed with Bennie.

I couldn’t explain why she had been the one to make my head spin, but the more she talked, the bigger the urge to get to know her better became. Luckily, she hadn’t turned down my number, and although it had taken her a week, she had texted me.

There were some things I had done in the past that she didn’t know about, but I was willing to tell her all about it if she asked. I might not have been on serious dates in a long time, and I might not have been willing to emotionally open up to a woman in a while, but for Bennie, I would.

She was such a saint, so damn sweet and kind-hearted, but she was curious too, and that side of her was the one I wanted to explore more.

When she told me all about her crisis, she made me start questioning my own damn faith. Maybe because I had been doing weird shit all this time I’ve been a priest, and I’ve been going against what should’ve been my morals for years. But ever since Bennie, I knew something had to change.

I had been caught once before, having a threesome on the altar of the church I should’ve started working the next day, and though I had been very careful after that, the risk of doing something stupid and getting caught wasn’t slim.

We were walking back to the car after the intense kiss we shared, and I was holding her hand in mine with our fingers interlocked. It felt right. All evening long, everything had felt right. And she was the reason.

I brushed along her thumb with mine and squeezed her hand gently as I looked over at her with a smile. “Everything okay?” I asked, having noticed her silence.

When her eyes met mine, I immediately noticed her contentment. She smiled back and nodded. “Everything’s perfect.”

We stopped once we got to my car, and I pulled her in front of me, placing both my hands on her waist. She moved closer and rested her hands on my chest, with her gaze dropping for a second before it met mine again.

“I had a great time with you,” she told me, her voice soft and genuine.

I lifted my right hand and brushed back a strand of her hair, tucking it behind her ear. “Me too. I can’t wait to see you again.”

A small frown appeared between her brows. “You’re not going to take me home?” It sounded like a trick question, but my answer was a prepared one.

“No, not tonight, sweetheart.”

Not that I didn’t want to, but it was for the better. I wouldn’t be able to hold back, and I truly didn’t want to ruin the night we had by moving too quickly.

“Okay, good.” She smiled again as a challenging look flashed in her eyes. “That would’ve ruined this thing between us.”

Good thing I wasn’t thinking with my dick tonight. If it were up to my body, I would’ve definitely taken her home to show her what kind of man I was. But my heart, and ironically my good faith, were leading me tonight. Bennie wasn’t a woman for a one night stand, and I didn’t want to ruin the dating scene for her. Not after learning about her abusive ex.

Bennie was meant to be cherished and loved, and I wanted to show her that no matter what she thought of me, I would give her all the respect she deserved.

Of course, she was fucking hot, and any man would’ve been lucky to take her to bed. But I needed to take it slow and give her time so I wouldn’t scare her off.

“I’m glad I’m making the right choice, then.” I leaned in and kissed her again, needing to taste her once more before getting into the car and taking her home. She kissed me back without hesitation, and after a long, slow kiss, I moved back to look at her again. “Ready?”

She nodded, her expression gentle. She stepped away so I could open the door and help her into the car, and once she was inside, I closed the door before walking around the front to get to the driver’s side.

Once inside, I put on my seatbelt and made sure she had hers on as well. I started the car and drove onto the main road, and without thinking about it too much, I placed my hand on her thigh, needing to touch her.

“When are you free next week?”

“For our date?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

She thought about it for a moment, then shrugged as she placed one hand on mine. “I’m free every evening after work. But we can do the weekend again. That’s fine with me too.”

“How about Wednesday?”

“Sounds perfect.”

Pleased with her response, I turned my hand, with my palm facing up, and interlocking my fingers with hers again. Wednesday was three days from now, and I already knew that I wouldn’t be able to go one day without talking to her.

Hell, I just knew that once I got her home, I would immediately feel the urge to text her.

I’d never been consumed by anyone or anything before, but Bennie could be the one to change that.