Page 26 of The Prayers We Pray (The Path of Temptation 5)

Not that it made the mornings any easier to tolerate, so when the alarm went off, I didn't want to get out of bed. For a moment, we all lay there waiting for someone else to move first. Surprisingly, it was Ela who actually gave in. With a loud and dramatic groan, he rolled out of the bed, smacked the button that hushed the metallic clanking, and staggered towards the dressing room to use the bathroom on that side.

One by one, the rest of us followed - except Anver. His days started earlier than ours, yet I hadn't even noticed him slipping out of the room. Zeal called him the Shadow, and it seemed that he could move as quietly as one. The bigger question was how he'd woken up. He clearly hadn't set the alarm, because if he had, then the rest of us would have noticed. As I got dressed, I decided that I would simply be impressed and not worry about it.

After the reaction to my visit to Sandrest last year, I decided that I needed to make an impression in case the same thing happened again this year. That meant fixing my hair and painting my face, as well as choosing clothes that would make a statement when I walked into the room. I went with my tallest heeled boots, leather pants that were so soft they looked almost like they were made of liquid, a vibrant red shirt - with lipstick to match - and a black corset over that.

Once Ela saw what I was wearing, he went back to the closet to change into something that would match. No, not the colors, but at least the level of effort. Talin and Wraythe had it easy. They just had to wear black to look formal. And yet, when we headed up the hall, the few priests that were out and about at this hour all turned to look. That made me feel like my appearance was a success.

When we reached our Advanced Sexuality for Entertainment class, even more people turned to stare. I noticed, but pretended not to. Ela didn't have that problem. He made a point of standing at the end of the row as he rolled up his sleeves, then leaned in to kiss me before taking his seat. With Wraythe on his other side and Talin sitting beside me, my partner's actions effectively put me on display. The strange thing was that I actually liked it.

Eventually, Saval made her way into the classroom. She paused at the desk placed near the front, then dropped into the chair behind it. The woman looked exhausted, and it made me wonder what she had been doing over the winter holidays, or if it was simply from helping Amerlee last weekend. Either way, now was not the time to ask.

"Okay, class," Saval said, getting all of our attention. "For the rest of this semester, Priest Roek will be stopping in when needed. Otherwise, he'll spend the rest of his time monitoring the Protection courses. Guardians, if you have any issues, he is still available to talk to about them, as am I."

Then she clapped her hands together, although it didn't truly come across as an excited gesture. More like she hoped it was. "Now, I'm sure that all of your brains are still on vacation, so we're going to start easy today. Last semester, we focused on how your sessions as disciples will operate. You have all now had interactions with people who are not priests from this temple. However, that is only half of what you will need to know. As Entertainment specialists, when someone is seeking to learn new sexual techniques, there's a good chance that duty will fall on you."

"What about the Sensuality specialists?" the girl at the front asked.

"For the easy things, sure," Saval agreed. "But one of the many duties of Entertainment are the displays. If someone wants to know what is involved in bondage, as an example, they will naturally want to see it first. In most instances, this will involve you going through a sexual act with another Priest of the Body. In some cases, it will require you to lead a patron through a session, making sure they learn healthy and safe habits. So, today I want to talk about what it is that makes a good display."

From there, she went on to talk about the difference between sex for pleasure, sex for pleasing another, and sex for viewing. With the last, it seemed that the point wasn't necessarily to achieve orgasm, but rather to make sure that the few who were watching saw something appealing. Often, that would require uncomfortable positions, and overly dramatized use of toys to get the point across.

I took notes. I had a funny feeling this was going to be part of what Ela and I would spend the rest of our life doing. He was a beautiful man, and it was quickly getting out that he was willing to have partners of either sex. Combined with my willingness to do multiples, it meant our display sessions would often end up as play sessions by the time we were done.

Plenty of questions were asked, and plenty of answers were given. Not once did Saval laugh at us. If anything, she encouraged us to ask whatever crossed our minds, because this was important. If we were worried about it, then that fear and concern would hamper our ability to perform under pressure. Any session we had with a patron was technically considered to be "under pressure."

When the class was over, we were all given an assignment to read a chapter and answer the questions at the end, then turned loose. The moment I stood, Talin's hand found my lower back. This time, his touch wasn't simply polite. As he guided me before him, his hand slipped around to my hip, and then his chest pressed close against my back. Unable to resist, I leaned into his body, loving it when his other arm curled around my waist.

In truth, I was tired of trying to hide the fact that my guardian was more than simply my protector. Saval knew their rings didn't work. I was pretty sure that Roek did as well. That meant there was no reason to pretend like things between us were completely platonic. If the High Priest knew, he would probably try to have those guys ringed again, and yet Zeal would simply remove the teeth once more.

Talin's arms tightened around me slightly, and a deep masculine noise of approval rumbled in his throat. "Keep that up, and you'll start a few new rumors."

"What, that I can seduce even a guardian?" I glanced back, meeting his perfectly blue eyes. "I don't see the downside."

He chuckled but continued to steer me towards the exit. Ela and Wraythe followed behind us, and I heard my partner mumble something about how if Wraythe loved him, then he would hold Ela the same way. Wraythe's responding laughter was the best part of that.

Yet when we reached the hall, the last member of our group was there, leaning against the wall, waiting for us with a smile on his lips. "How was class?" Anver asked.

"A lot later than yours," I taunted. "What I want to know is how you managed to sneak out without waking me."

His smile grew a little more. "That's the benefit of befriending a god. Zeal made sure I didn't miss class. He also said you look too cute when you're sleeping, so I should make sure not to wake you up."

"Yep, sounds like him," I agreed, thinking about the time he'd let Ela sleep through one of our conversations. "Have you seen Tishlie yet?"

The question was barely out of my mouth before the woman screeched Anver's name from halfway down the hall. "Anver! Where the hell were you all weekend? What was I supposed to do if I needed to talk to you?"

"I have now," Anver replied to me, completely ignoring the woman making a fool of herself. "I have a funny feeling it's not going to go well."

Tishlie simply stormed right up into his face and then crossed her arms over her chest. "Well?" she demanded.

"You know where I'm spending my nights," Anver assured her. "If you have a session or any sort of formal assignment, you can easily send a Priest of Obligation over. I can assure you that they won't mind running that message."

Tishlie grumbled under her breath and made a point of rolling her eyes. "I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with you. You're completely impossible!"

Another woman's laugh joined our conversation, but it sounded snide. "Tish, I told you to stop worrying about it. Anver is a lost cause, and you know we're already destined for better things. I mean, just look at the catch we got on the Darkest Night." Ciella moved to Tishlie's side and turned her eyes on me. "It seems you must be losing your touch, Nari."

All I could do was shake my head at their foolishness. These two were the biggest joke. All of the drama they tried to start was laughable. The things they thought were so important amounted to nothing in the end. Neither one could figure out that there was no such thing as the "best" Priestess of the Body. Each of our patrons would have different desires, and the point was for us to specialize in what we were good at so the people who came to our temple would have options.

Instead, they acted like they could somehow get ahead by being bigger bitches, more juvenile, or more stupid than anyone else. It would've driven me insane if I had the time in the day to even worry about what they were doing. I also knew this was Ciella's best attempt to make sure everyone knew she'd thrown herself at the Baron of Temptation on the Darkest Night. What she didn't realize was just how much I hated that man.

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