Page 16 of These Sinful Kingdoms

He cradled my face, eyes looking into mine with an intensity and love that shook me to my core.

“So beautiful. You are so amazing; Aurora and you feel so good. I can’t hold back with you.” I didn’t have the words to speak so I pulled his face to mine and kissed him, putting every bit of unspoken emotion into that kiss as he rocked inside me.

The orgasm that came was slow, warm, and steady. A wave that rolled through my body and pulled tears from my eyes. He kissed them away before he groaned his own release, holding himself inside me.

“Thank you.” He said after a few moments, and I frowned at him.

“For what?” I asked and he smiled, tracing my lips with his finger.

“For letting me be a part of your world as well. For giving me this chance.” We stared at each other, still locked together when Luca stuck his head inside.

“I hate to break this up, but the demon needs to go to school, and your phone is ringing, Ror. The lawyer wants to talk to you.” I chuckled as Kingston sighed and rolled off me, kissing my cheek before he got dressed.

I wasn’t complaining about my start to the day, I just hoped this meant things would continue to get better.

“I want to make a quick stop in to see Father D’Angelo after we drop off Fabian.” I said to Luca and Kingston as I walked out of the room, gladly taking the cup of coffee Luca had for me.

“So, you finally decided to make the right choice. Good. Just don’t keep me up with all the sex noises.” Fabian said from his spot at the table.

“What do you mean?” I asked, feeling a little self-conscious that my son was lecturing me like I was a teenager.

“I mean, the two men that have been looking at you like lovesick puppies for years. I’m twelve and I could see it. Took you long enough.” He turned to Luca and Kingston, giving them the stink eye.

“Just because I like you doesn’t mean I won’t put hair removal cream in the things you use, or worse. Don’t mess it up and don’t hurt my mom and we are all good.” He glared at them, and I bit my lip to hold back the laughter.

Luca and Kingston held their hands to their hearts.

“You have our word, little demon.” Kingston said with a grin, and he rolled his eyes, going back to his game as we all grinned like children at each other.

Yeah. I raised a good kid.

Chapter nine

Caleb

Wednesdaysinthechurchwere always quiet, I took the opportunity to do paperwork and attend to any maintenance that may be required.

The odd parishioner would come through, but most didn’t need my guidance, giving me time and space to my own thoughts.

Never a good thing.

I had been a member of the church since I graduated from school. At the time I thought it was my choice, the calling I was meant to pursue but as I grew older, I realized it was my father’s dream.

He had been a strictly religious man, a man who saw things differently from what society would expect. Traditional. Extreme. I still remember the first time I walked in on him practicing self-flagellation.

I can still hear the sounds of the leather cutting into his flesh, the iron tang in the air from his blood dripping down his body.

That kind of thing stuck with a boy. A boy who had grown up in a sheltered home and was homeschooled for most of his young life. It was only when I entered the world to attend the study and take the cloth that I realized just how different the world was.

My mother had been a quiet woman and now I recognized the signs of defeat in her eyes. The reasons for the bruises that marred her porcelain skin.

He had beaten her into submission for women were all sinners in his eyes. She died young and full of fear. I had been the one to give her last rites, much to the pride of my father.

That man lived in a nursing home now, alone in his dark thoughts and surrounded by others who believed as he did.

The day I was told that my mother had scars on her body from whippings that my father had administered, my faith broke. I remember that day well, the confrontation that ensued and his defense that she asked for purification.

You would think I would have turned from my beliefs, hung up the cloth but I had just accepted the position here at the Moretti Chapel. I had just met Aurora and her mother.

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