After telling Edna I must have been confused about Serena, I quickly said goodbye and hung up the phone. I doubted the elderly woman would press the issue later.

Outside, the rain had stopped, and daylight was beginning its persistent slide toward evening. In the bathroom, I stripped naked and stuffed my clothes in the hamper, out of sight.

I made sure the shower spray was hot enough to pinken my skin. With a rough washcloth, I scrubbed my body nearly raw. While soaping up my genitals, I did my best not to think of Serena, but her image forced itself into my mind, again and again. I feared those sensual memories would haunt me forever.

Releasing a frustrated cry, I succumbed to the urge to masturbate. Water pelted my back as I kept my free hand braced against the shower wall. All I had to do was recall the warmth of Serena's sex, and the feel of her nipple between my lips, and I was fully hard.

A whimper escaped me, for my grip was punishing. And I deserved to be punished for this act.

It took only minutes for me to come. Just before I did, I allowed myself to imagine Serena guiding me inside her. I fantasized about how it would feel to be enveloped by her flesh as she rode me. Would she flash that triumphant smile? Would she taunt me with the knowledge that I'd been defeated?

My semen shot forth in rapid bursts, each volley intensifying the shame I felt. I pumped away until the stimulation grew unbearable.

Once my breathing slowed, I mouthed a prayer. It was a plea for forgiveness. I begged God for the strength to shed my filthy desire.

Even as I stepped from the shower and began to towel off, I knew this penance wouldn't suffice. I would need to spend the evening in contemplation and prayer, and the church was my only refuge. There were too many temptations in this house.

Sick with remorse, I didn't consider eating dinner. I waited until all traces of light had been blotted from the sky. Wearing fresh clothes, I slipped out onto the front porch.

While the senior pastor's parsonage was located right beside the church, my house was a little more than a mile away. I usually walked to the church when the weather was decent. Tonight, I welcomed the chill seeping into my shirt and settling on my skin. Any discomfort I experienced was fitting.

Beneath the street lamp, a fine mist swirled. Fallen leaves scuttled at my feet. I kept my head down, with my hands tucked into my pants pockets. Already, I'd begun murmuring the Lord's Prayer.

The windows of the parsonage gleamed through the fog. I knew Michael was inside, probably having just finished dinner with his family. I didn't want to be seen, so I skirted around the other side of the church to a back door.

After letting myself inside, I didn't bother locking up behind me. No one would show up here on a Thursday evening.

Beyond a shadowy corridor was the sanctuary, its stained glass windows dimmed by night. The only illumination was provided by the faint glow of the street lamp I'd passed earlier.

My shoes sank into the sanctuary's plush red carpet as I strode toward the altar. Though pews were on either side of me, I fell to my knees on the floor. I bowed my head and fought the urge to weep.

"Heavenly Father, forgive me for my sins," I prayed while clasping my hands in supplication. "Please give me the strength to withstand temptation so that I may be a proper, faithful servant to you."

I continued like that for hours, until my mouth was desert-dry and my pleading drifted into incoherence. My very soul ached from the burden of my wrongdoing.

I froze at the sound of a door opening behind me. The same door I'd foolishly left unlocked.

With a prayer dying on my lips, I struggled to my feet. My knees, having been forced into the same position for hours, throbbed in protest at my sudden movement.

The icy terror I'd felt earlier in the day returned when I saw Serena enter the sanctuary. In the semi-darkness, I couldn't easily make out her features, but I had no question about her identity.

Wordlessly, she drew closer. I noticed she wore a pair of jeans and a ruffled blouse. Her feet were bare. I spotted the flash of her white teeth when she smiled.

"I wanted to return this to you." She held my Bible out to me. "You left it in my car."

Lunging forward, I grabbed the holy book, as if her touch could sully it.

"How did you know to come here?" Already, I sounded short of breath. My heart pounded hard enough to briefly cloud my vision.

Serena's smile widened. "You're not hard to find, Adam."

I clutched the Bible to me like a shield. "You're not Edna's granddaughter. How did you manage to get into her house to wait for me today?"

She merely shrugged. "I have my ways." Turning her head, she nodded toward the nearest pew. "Sit with me."

"I will not!" My shout ricocheted off the walls. "There's something wrong, something evil, within you."

She made no attempt to convince me otherwise. Instead, she entered the pew and sat down. Desperately, I wished I could see her better. I feared to turn my back on this woman.

"Sit with me," she repeated, "and listen to what I have to say. When I'm finished, you can decide if you want me to leave you alone."

I realized she was wearing me down, weakening my ability to resist. Yet I also knew she would continue this pursuit until I yielded. 

And I couldn't deny my curiosity, dangerous as it was, to find out what kind of creature Serena truly was.

As I moved to join her, she scooted along the pew to make room for me. I took care that we didn't touch. With my Bible in my lap, I stared straight ahead and waited for her to speak.

She leaned closer; I felt the warmth of her breath on my cheek.

"I know what you're hiding, Adam."

I bristled when she draped an arm along the back of the pew. Even now, I both dreaded and craved her caress, and I knew her fingers were tantalizingly near.

Turning toward me, she continued in a quiet voice. "I know how your desires torment you. You struggle to fight them, only to fail again and again. How often do you engage in the sin of self-pleasure?" Her tone grew mocking. "Every day, every time you get a moment alone. In your bed, in the shower, even in the restroom here at church. And once, in Pastor Michael's office, when no one else was around."

I jumped as if she'd sent an electric current through me. How could she know these things? Such private, sinful things?

Serena inched closer until our thighs touched. Her fingers toyed with my hair.

"You're obsessed with sex," she said, "so you deprive yourself of it. When you were younger, you thought you'd marry a good, Christian girl. But what godly woman would indulge your insatiable need?"

I closed my eyes. Something like a choked sob fought its way out of my throat.

Serena brought her lips to my ear. "I know what's in your nightstand drawer. You don't keep your Bible there, that's for sure!"

If I hadn't been so sick with self-hatred, I would have been tempted to slap her. As it was, my mind skipped like a scratched record. I still couldn't fathom how she'd learned these shameful details.

"I know about the magazines," she said, "with pictures of women who spread their legs and show everything to the camera. I know about the movies you watch, over and over. The ones that show women sucking men off, and going down on other women. Women taking big, hard cocks into their mouths, and their pussies." Her lips grazed my neck while she held my hair in a firm grip. "And in their asses. You love that, don't you? The filthiness of it. It makes you come in no time when you're jerking off."

"Stop it," I pleaded. "For God's sake, stop!"

But Serena didn't stop. "That's why you've never married. How could you keep such dirty secrets from your wife? She'd discover all your hidden fantasies."

She went on with her obscene talk until I began trembling. Though my mind recoiled, my body responded. I was soon erect, and I was certain she knew it.

Just as she knew everything.

"I'm not disgusted by you, Adam." Suddenly gentle, she released her grasp on my hair and began massaging my scalp. Despite my fear, I found myself relaxing into her touch. "You've done your best to be an honorable man of faith. Now it's time to give up this struggle. With me, you can fulfill your most sinful urges. I'll let you use me. I want you to use me."

"Why?" I cried. "Why are you doing this, Serena?"

She drew me toward her. I could have wept at her tenderness as she placed kisses on my cheek and along my jaw.

"I share your desires," she said. "I can free you."

Though I didn't have the strength to pull away, I managed to choke out, "You're a demon sent from Satan himself!"

Her hand settled upon my leg. "Or maybe I'm simply a woman with an obsession of my own."

My lungs felt constricted, as if I couldn't inhale a full breath. Panic had me close to hyperventilating.

But when Serena cupped her hand between my thighs and started to rub me through my pants, I mustered up the will to seize her wrist. 

"You will not desecrate this place!" I growled.

Unfazed, she rose to her feet, and I quickly released her.

"Then I'll wait for you at your house," she said before sliding past me to leave the pew. "Take as long as you need. I have all night."

I sat there, listening as she left. I heard the door close firmly behind her.

Again, I tried to recite the Lord's Prayer, but the words were thick on my tongue. I stroked the leather cover of my Bible. My parents had given me the book when I became a member of the clergy. Its cover was embossed with my name, the gold script simple and unassuming. The letters now felt unfamiliar beneath my fingers.

Finally, I rose from the pew. The shadows engulfed me as I placed the Bible upon the pulpit. I told myself I would retrieve it the following day. Already, I knew the Scripture would have no place in my house tonight.

I was careful to lock up the church when I left. My caution accompanied me on the short walk back to the road; it wouldn't do for Michael to look out the parsonage window and spot me at this hour.

My shoulders slumped under the weight of my shame, yet my steps were quick. It wasn't dread that I felt while making the short journey home. Serena's words had resurrected an abject need I'd tried so hard to bury.

Striding up my gravel drive, I looked around in search of her. The Buick was nowhere in sight.

Only after I reached the porch did she drift into view. Her fingers trailed over the rose blooms as she approached. Her movements had a slickness to them, a serpentine grace. How casually she'd entered my life, only to destroy it.

Neither of us spoke. She lingered at my side, waiting for me to unlock the door. Then she followed me into the living room without invitation. I'd left a single lamp glowing.

Hastily, I shut the door behind us. My anger morphed into a barely contained fury when I realized this woman was forcing me to sneak around my own home. 

Unable to control myself, I dropped my keys and lunged for Serena. She didn't resist, didn't so much as flinch when I yanked her to me. I pressed my mouth to hers, but it was more a punishment than a kiss. I gave her lower lip a bite intended to wound.

She merely wrapped her arms around me. I felt the warmth of her hands through my shirt. Before long, she was the guide and I was the follower. Her tongue slid against mine, and I let out a hungry whimper. The tension eased from my muscles until I sank into the kiss the way I would a hot bath.

Serena nuzzled my neck. "I just want to ease your burden. I want to show you that pleasure isn't a sin."

My eyes widened at the sight of her dropping to her knees. I grew utterly still as she worked at my belt.

My breath came fast and panicked, but I didn't stop her from tugging down my pants and underwear. At this point, I was shamefully hard. Serena turned her attention to my erection. The kiss she planted on my tip made my knees buckle.

I expected her to taunt me for my lust. Instead, our eyes met, and she offered a sweet smile. How could she look like an angel, kneeling before me like this?

Her fingers circled around my shaft. I reveled in the way she stroked me. With her other hand, she cupped my testicles. A groan issued from my throat, and my hands clenched into fists at my sides.

For so long, I'd craved this, and for so long, I'd denied myself. It was as if a dam had broken free within me, and I was now inundated by all those forbidden urges. I wasn't strong enough to resist. I wondered if any man would be.

Serena was suddenly motionless. Staring down at her, I furrowed my brow in confusion. I feared she would make me beg.

Rather than humiliate me, she extended her tongue as if partaking in an obscene communion. Immediately, I realized what she wanted.

With a trembling hand, I guided my penis to her mouth. My body heaved with a shuddering breath as I rested my tip on her outstretched tongue.

The heat radiating into the sensitive underside of my glans served to destroy any restraint I had left. I placed my other hand on Serena's head, then drew her forward.

How effortlessly her lips slid along my shaft to take me deep! I cried out at the feel of my tip pushing into her throat. The delicious constriction had me fighting the urge to buck my hips.

"Yes!" I moaned. "Oh, that's so good..."

She allowed me to weave my fingers through her hair and hold her in place. When I felt her tongue tease my scrotum, I feared I would orgasm within seconds.

Reluctantly, I pulled her away. She drew in a lungful of air while saliva leaked from her mouth. Already, she looked soiled by the filthy act. 

I drew Serena close yet again, and she eagerly opened her mouth. As I thrust between her lips, she made garbled sounds that reminded me of the women in those pornographic films I watched.

It ratcheted up my excitement when she gagged on my length. I remembered what she said in the church: I want you to use me.

My grunts were wild while I violated her mouth. More than once, I invaded her throat until her nose was buried in my pubic hair. It was wrong to debase her this way, wrong to delight in such sin.

Perhaps I was already lost.

I gave Serena a chance to catch her breath. By now, tears had streamed down her cheeks, and her lips were swollen. Tenderly, I smoothed her tousled hair and caressed her face. "I want to come in your mouth," I said.

She nodded without hesitation. There was no need to hold her fast, for she readily took me between her lips and started bobbing her head back and forth. I trembled at the heat and suction, and the way she lifted her hands to grab my buttocks. Now I was the one being held while her mouth reached the root of my shaft again and again.

I cried out, helpless to withstand her onslaught a second longer. It felt as though the climax was wrenched from me.

Even when I ejaculated, Serena didn't retreat. She waited until I was fully spent. Then she leaned back and opened her mouth so my semen spilled forth. I was still hard, and my erection pulsed at the sight of the milky fluid gushing down her chin and spattering her blouse.

"My God!" I placed a hand over my eyes to blot out the wicked image, but I knew I would recall it later when I was alone and engaging in one of my compulsive masturbation sessions.

I heard Serena climb to her feet. She drew my hand from my face before giving me a deep kiss. I released a muffled sound of protest when her semen-coated tongue explored my mouth.

Breaking the kiss, she beamed at me. In the dim light, her eyes shone with satisfaction.

"I want to stay here tonight," she said. "Will you let me?"

I made no attempt to conceal my growing anguish. "If I let you stay, I won't be able to stop this."

Her smile was soothing, her touch comforting as she reached between us to stroke me.

"Adam, we both know you'll never be able to stop this."