Chapter 01

Audrey knelt before Mother Superior, head bowed. She was visibly distressed by Mother’s continued refusal to allow her to take her vows and become a nun.

“I know you think me harsh, child, to refuse you this again,” Mother Superior said softly, running a lightly caressing hand over the turned down head.

“Please, Mother, do not think I question your judgment and wisdom. But I am not idle, my voice is considered pleasing by the other members of the choir, my embroidery is moderate, I…is it because of my illegitimacy?” Her lower lip trembled as she murmured the last words.

She had never known her natural mother, an unmarried tavern wench who had died giving birth to Audrey. No relatives or a father had come forward to claim the babe for their own, so the convent had taken in the sickly babe with open arms.

“Audrey, you are soft hearted, gentle and obedient, and worthy of our convent. It is not this I question, but whether your destiny lies with us.”

“What?” Audrey gasped tremulously. “St Agatha’s is my home, my family. It is here that I have been raised, fed and clothed, educated and given shelter. I wish to devote my life to St Agatha’s for the gifts given to me. My destiny lies here!”

“Then my request will not alter your destiny, ” Mother said firmly yet kindly.

“But…”

“Audrey, neither Father nor I refuse your wish lightly. Nor are we sending you St Helen’s as some form of punishment. Should you wish to return after a years passing and take your vows, you may do so with our full blessing.”

“Truly?” Audrey whispered, sweet smile lighting up her delicate features as she raised her face to gaze up at the graying woman with beseeching eyes. “Then I may become a nun?”

Mother smiled in return, unable to resist Audrey’s warmth and charm. “Yes, Audrey, if that is still your wish.”

“Thank you…Thank you…Thank you!” Audrey cried as she leapt to her feet and wrapped her arms around the small frail woman who was like a mother to her.

Mother chuckled at Audrey’s enthusiasm. “Run along now, child, lest I can’t bear to see you go and change my mind.”

The old nun smiled sadly as she watched the young novice leave her chamber, and again asked herself had they made the right decision in sending her to St Helen’s?

Audrey was sweet and obedient, and cursed with an exquisite beauty that drew eyes to her whenever she went. Her creamy skin and silken chestnut waves were enough to draw attention unbecoming to a nun, yet the guileless dark blue eyes and pink bow mouth could only invite temptation among the men of the parish. The old nun knew it would serve her ill.

Mother knew Audrey needed a strong protector, fearing that a man who happened upon her alone in the deserted fields around St Agatha’s would not be able to resist Audrey’s sweet allure. The priest was old, unable to pose as a threat to any man who dared sample one of God’s servants.

The priest at St Helen’s was young, and a force to be reckoned with among village folk. And as much as Mother was terribly worried over sending Audrey from the protective confines of St Agatha’s to a bustling towns, she prayed that living among people would open Audrey’s eyes to a world outside of prayers and duties. And perhaps, in time, her beauty would attract a young man with moderate means willing to wed her.

***

Many questions about her new home for which there were no answers plagued her in the week it had taken to travel to St Helen’s by carriage. And now, as she sat silently with folded hands in her novice’s habit and white hood, her small wooden trunk at her feet, she felt as though she had entered a different world.

She gazed about the large hall in awe, noting the exquisite high arch windows filled with glorious colours, the grey stonewalls hung with richly woven tapestries, the solid timber furnishing and scattered rugs. A fire flickered in the large fireplace, adding to the warmth of the charming hall that was so different from St Agatha’s modest and austere surroundings.

Taking a deep, calming breath as she patiently waited for Father Mathews to greet her, she told herself firmly that time would pass quickly and soon she would take her vows with Mother’s blessing. Audrey knew with all her heart that she would still wish to be a nun when her time at St Helen’s was up, yet she would gladly do this for Mother and put any fears of her unsuitability to rest.

As Audrey sat silently, she slowly became aware of low moans and gasping cries coming from a partially open door at the far end of the hall that she knew to be Father Mathew’s chambers. She chewed on her lower lip, wondering at the strange, animal-like sounds. She tried to convince herself that someone must be pouring out their grief to Father Mathews, yet as the moans grew in intensity, a small frown marred her delicate features.

She squirmed where she sat, feeling their desperation and urgency wash over her, touching something deep inside. Finally she could bear it no longer, her curiosity driving her to her feet. Could Father Mathews have injured himself and be laying in pain, unable to call for help?

Swiftly and silently she crossed the hall to pause hesitantly outside of the priest’s chamber. She knocked twice and waited anxiously for a response. When there was no answer, only husky cries, Audrey drew up her courage and pressed the door open fearfully.

Her breath caught in her throat at the scene before her. A woman, her habit pushed up around waist, lay on a large mahogany desk, her soft thighs spread wide apart, the dark curls at their apex glistening with moisture. Audrey’s lips parted on a silent gasp as she caught sight of the nun’s hand thrusting a smooth, thick marble column between her thighs with urgent frenzy.

Audrey’s knuckles turned white where they gripped the door as her wide eyes were drawn in their own accord to the lush pink folds spread wide before her. She had heard whispers at St Agatha’s of nun’s touching themselves in sinful places, sometime inserting objects as a means to pay tribute to the devil. She had not understood the acts that had been whispered to her, yet even now she still recalled the wicked palpitation of pleasure she had felt between her thighs at the nun’s strange words.

Audrey felt that same heady weakness wash over her as she gazed upon nun’s ministrations, her lips parted softly as the nun’s obvious delight as she moaned and writhed on the table, her face red and scrunched up.

Audrey dragged her eyes away, only to find herself caught by the dark grey gaze of a man. He sat leaning back in a deep leather chair, his long tapered fingers beneath his chin. Long wavy blonde hair brushed against his priest’s collar, framing an intelligent face that hinted of cruelty. She felt pinned beneath the intensity of his gaze, stripped, her every thought transparent.

As she stood there, feeling her heart pound beneath her breast, the sound of soft cries slowly penetrated her drowning thoughts. Horror welled up inside of her, her cheeks stained pink as she tore her gaze from the priest and stumbled from the chamber.

She made her way back to pew on shaky legs, filled with shame and a deep mortification on intruding what must be the nun’s private confession to the priest.

She sunk down on the pew and squeezed her eyes shut, unable to evade the wicked images of the glistening marble sliding in and out of the pink channel between the nun’s spread thighs. Audrey had never dared to touch herself in that sinful place, yet sometimes a deep yearning overcame her when she was bathing or dressing, and she fought the temptation to stroke the soft pink lips with their silky down.

Her head lifted as the door to Father Mathew’s chamber opened, and a slightly rumpled and flushed nun appeared. Spying Audrey, the nun quickly walked to where she sat and said with a glowing smile

“Father Mathews is ready to see you now.” The nun bobbed slightly before hurrying off, and Audrey gazed after her, a dozen questions filling her mind.

The nun paused, and looking back over her shoulder at Audrey, she said in hushed tones “I’m sure you will like it here.”

With wide eyes Audrey slowly made her way to the chamber door and knocked. At the command to enter, she opened the door and stood at its entrance, eyes lowered, a flush creeping up over her cheeks.

“Come, take a seat,” the priest ordered.

She obediently did as he asked, smoothing her gown over her knees with trembling hands.

“I’m sorry I was unable to see you immediately upon your arrival. There were matters I had to attend to.”

Audrey shook her head and gazed shyly up at him through long lashes, feeling the blush deepen up as those devastating grey eyes moved over her face. “No, it is I that must apologise, Father,” she rushed out. “I thought someone was injured, and I didn’t realise that you were seeing to the nun’s affliction. I realise –”

“Affliction?” the priest queried softly.

“Ailment, malady, I am unsure how to….”

“Ah, yes.” The priest gazed at her for a long while, and as she opened her mouth to speak again, he raised his hand, signalling silence.

“Audrey,” he recalled, studying the lovely girl before him. “A novice from St Agatha’s, if I remember correctly. Here with us for a year.”

She nodded.

Father Matthew gazed down the earnest young woman before him as he drummed his fingers thoughtfully on the desk that the nun had only recently laid upon. “You will quickly come to realise we do things differently at St Helen’s, but I am sure, given time, you will adjust beautifully.”

“Thank you father,” she murmured, and another long uncomfortable silence stretched out between them.

“Before I have our one other novice show you to your cell, I must request that we establish the matter of your, shall we say, dedication.”

“Dedication?” she echoed in confusion.

The priest nodded and rose from his chair and she swallowed hard as he towered above her, noting the way the long black gown clung to his broad shoulders.

“Our intake of novices is very selective, and it only a personal favour to the priest at St Agatha’s that we accepted you prior to interviewing you. When novices come to us from other convents we generally we inspect them thoroughly. Once or twice in the past they have come to us preg… with evidence of their lack of dedication, and we have taken measures since to prevent such occurrences.”

“Oh,” Audrey murmured, still unsure of what was expected of her.

“Come, follow me. You will experience no pain from my initial examination.”

She rose and moved to where he stood waiting by a long wooden pew near the far wall, feeling apprehensive.

“I want you to straddle the pew and sit down, yes, that’s it.” He nodded in approval as she lifted her leg gracefully over the wooden pew and rested her bottom on its narrow width, uncertainty filling her dark blue eyes as she gazed up at him. “Now lay back.” His hands on her shoulders gently eased her down so that she lay on her back on the pew, then guided her small hands to rest on either side of her narrow hips.

His large frame straddled the pew to sit facing her, his knees bumping against hers, and she bit her lip. She was unable to prevent the flinch as she felt his fingers close around the hem of her habit and slowly draw the heavy material up to drape across her knees.

“Relax,” he murmured, sliding his warm palms up over the soft inner flesh of her thighs spread slightly apart by the width of the pew.

“I’m not sure how this-“

“Quiet, Novice, while I concentrate. It will be over soon.”

She swallowed hard, trying to remain passive as he forced her knees further apart beneath her skirt. She prayed in time that she would become used to his cool manner and of the strange effect his commanding ways seemed to have on her young body. Besides the quiet affection of Mother Superior, she had rarely been touched by another human being, especially that of a handsome grown male, and she was unable prevent the trembling in her thighs.

She breathed a sigh of relief when he lifted his hands from her flesh.

“I am going to ask you if you can feel my hands on your flesh, and I want you to answer me honestly. Do not think to lie to me.”

“No Father,” she mumbled, gazing fixedly up at the ceiling as she felt a light caress stir the soft curls between her thighs. A thrill rushed through her lower belly, and she bit her lip to keep from moaning as a vision of the nun’s wide spread legs came to mind.

She felt confusion over the fast beat of her heart, the uneven rise and fall of her tiny breasts, the strange fluidness invading her limbs at the strange intimacy of his inspection as his hands gently caressed her mound.

“Can you feel this?” he queried after a while.

Audrey bit her lip, trying to sense his touch, but she was suddenly unable to feel the pressure of his hands on her body. “No,” she uneasily replied.

“Okay, what about this?” Again silence as he patiently waited for her reply, and she shook her head slowly, a frown creasing her brow.

“Hmm,” he murmured under his breath, and she flinched as she felt his fingers pinch her nether lips together.

“I felt that,” she murmured breathlessly, and he nodded thoughtfully.

“Good, good. And this?”

His deft fingers gently parted her dry folds and traced a finger along the pink valley.

She nodded as a quiver shot through her at his soft touch, her relief at finally being able to feel him between her thighs overcoming her apprehension at being touched so intimately.

“What about this?” He queried, regretfully removing his fingers from her tender flesh as he gazed upon her sweet, flushed face.

“No-o,” she said after a while, frowning as she gazed at the ceiling in concentration.

He was silent for a long while, a look of concern on his masculine features, waiting, and slowly her gaze flickered to his.

“Please Father, try again, maybe this time…”

He hesitated for effect, gazing at her consideringly, then nodded. “You’ll have to trust me, without question, without hesitation.”

“I do, Father,” she nodded obediently with guileless dark blue pools.

Was it all an act, he asked himself? “Let’s continue then.”

Without question she let him push up her heavy skirts, exposing the length of her creamy white thighs and the silky thatch to his intent gaze as he bundled the material at her tiny waist.

He almost groaned aloud at the exquisiteness of her, the velvety skin and the soft curls that provided her sweet mound little protection from his gaze and soon his exploring fingers.

Gently, he parted her nether lips again, and found the little nub nestled in the lush pink folds. Easing forward on the pew, he gently stroked the sensitive flesh with the pad of his thumb. She bucked slightly beneath him, and slowly he increased the pressure, drawing a cry of surprise from her parted lips.

“Good,” he murmured encouragingly. “You can feel that.”

She nodded, moistening her suddenly dry lips as he began to gently tease her pink nub with knowing fingers.

Soon she was wiggling slightly on the pew, and he could feel a slight dampness coating his fingers as he coaxed a gentle response from her. He moved lower, the tip of his finger lightly circling her tiny entrance, and he felt himself harden at the thought of piercing her there. He pressed his finger against her experimentally, the tip of his finger probing her heat before moving back up to circle her nub before she became anxious.

“Oh,” she murmured, her bottom shifting on the pew, and she felt a trickle of moistness seep between her thighs. She nipped her bottom lip at the strange sensations flooding between her thighs as his fingers probed and played with her secret place. “It feels…”

“Yes?” he queried when she hesitated shyly, knowing instinctively that she was ready for what he planned to do.

“Strange,” she said with a tiny frown. “I’ve never…” She gasped as his finger slide up inside of her without warning, her hips arching.

Soon he felt her growing wetness as he began to work his finger in her tight pussy, massaging her slick walls that would feel exquisite around his cock. It was slow coming, yet slowly her young body opened up to his deepening caresses like a bud unfurling its petals in worship of the sun.

“Almost there,” he murmured huskily, slowly easing another finger up inside her slick heat. Her hips were arching off the pew as his fingers surged deeper up inside of her, forcing her tight walls to stretch around his fingers until finally he felt the thin barrier blocking his further exploration. The tips of his fingers gently caressed her maidenhead, and he murmured soothing words to her as she shifted restlessly on the pew, overcome by the strange sensations of being impaled on his fingers.

He teased her until she was gasping for breath, her body squirming on the pew, before slowly withdrawing from her. He knew he could take her then unaware. Her soft gasps filling his ears as he ruthlessly plundered her maidenhead.

Yet he would wait, for she was like soft clay, unformed, easily molded to his dark desires. He would wait until she begged him to fuck her between her soft thighs, knowing exactly what he intended to do to her.

She lay panting and flushed as he eased her gown down over her spread thighs, and he hid his smile at the sight of the small hard nipples tenting the fabric of her habit. Soon, he promised himself.

“You felt my touch deep inside you?”

She nodded shyly, her lashes flickering down to hide the confusion in her dark eyes.

“You’re dedication pleases me, Novice,” he spoke coolly, commandingly. She would soon recognise him as her master. “Go now, our other Novice will show you to your cell, and Mother Superior will speak to you on the morrow about your duties here.”

He watched her leave, intrigued by the blushing shyness of his sweet new novice. The evidence of her maidenhead showed she was innocent of men, yet he knew that might be mostly due to lack of opportunity.

The priest at St Agatha’s was elderly and possessed a fetish for strong muscular men. He would set one of the nuns to spy on Audrey when she retired to her bed that evening to discover if she pleasured herself as nuns were want to do with their busy little fingers.

In the meantime, he would inform the nuns of their new member, and warn them off being overly playful in her presence. Until she was ready to for her first man between her soft thighs, he wanted to ensure she didn’t reach her pleasure.

***

A young woman of eighteen or nineteen, the same age as Audrey, waited for Audrey as she left Father Mathew’s chamber. Audrey prayed her flushed features and the strange weakness in her limbs wasn’t discernible to the other woman as she smiled shyly in greeting.

The pretty novice introduced herself as Beth, and after helping Audrey carry her small trunk to her cell, Beth took her on a guided tour within the extensive tall stonewalls of St Helen’s. Soon Audrey was returning Beth’s bubbly smile easily as she was shown the gardens and buildings, making Audrey giggle at the witty little descriptions the novice gave as she pointed out items of interest.

It was at the evening meal that she finally met the nuns of St Helen’s. They ate in an informal manner around a long table in the warm kitchens, with crusty bread and deliciously thick chicken soup. There were six nuns, and one Novice, two including Audrey, and she found it strange that none were more than two score in years, except for the stern mother superior.

Mother was a handsome woman with cold blue eyes who rarely spoke. When she did speak, the other nun’s hastened to do her bidding as she requested salt or gave out instructions on how to clean pots, their laughter and chatter halting when Mother gave them a stern look.

Three nuns departed immediately following the meal, and when Audrey questioned Beth where they went, Beth bit back a smile. It was Mother Superior who answered “worship”.

Audrey was glad to finally collapse on her narrow pallet a small time later, worn from travelling and the strange events of that day. She curled up in a small ball, her thoughts a tired jumble.

It felt as though she had barely drifted off to sleep when she heard muffled noises coming from the hall. Turning onto her side, she pulled her pillow over her ears as she sought desperately to block out the sound and get back to sleep. The noises grew, and she lay wide-awake, agitated and flushed, feeling a yearning ache grow between her damp thighs.

Finally rolling off her pallet, she padded across the cold stone floor and drew back the curtain that afforded her cell a little privacy. The hallway was lit by the soft moon light filtering through the windows on the far end of the hall, almost full where it hung low in the dark cloudless sky. Her wide eyes latched instantly onto the source of the disturbance.

Tanned masculinity, naked and rippling, filled her vision. Strong muscular arms were planted on either side of a tiny nun pinned against the wall by his body, her gown bunched up around her waist as his hips bucked furiously against her. The woman gasped with each thrust as the man suckled at her neck, her fingers clawing at his broad back, her ankle hooked around his knee.

Audrey felt her nipples tighten and a low throb begin between her thighs. She stood motionless, her wide eyes taking in every thrusting motion of the firm cheeks. Slowly Audrey’s eyes lifted to the woman’s face, and moistened her lips. The nun’s mouth hung open, her pretty features slack, her eyes squeezed shut.

As if of its own accord, Audrey’s hand slid between her thighs, feeling the dampness soaking through her thin chemise.

“Oh, yes, yes,” the woman cried.

The words seemed to break the spell that held Audrey entranced, and she stumbled blindly back into her cell on trembling legs. She crossed to her pallet and dragged her sheets over her, the image of the lovers’ embrace burned in her memory. She lay gazing off into dark space for what seemed an eternity, her mouth dry, her heart racing. She imagined it was her being crushed against the wall by the stranger, her he was filling up as he bucked inside of her, her arms that clung to him as she threw her head back as she cried out her pleasure. Dear God, she thought, she must be cursed.

***

The peel of bells dragged Audrey from her uneasy slumber, and she lay blinking tiredly. The events of yesterday rushing back over her. The appearance of Beth urging her to wake telling her that it was time to bathe drove the last vestiges of sleep from her mind.

Audrey collected her small towel and soap and followed Beth’s lead down the steps of the dormitory and along a small dirt path. Eventually the sound of rushing water greeted her ears, and she gave a gasp of delight as the green bushes parted to reveal a cascading waterfall spilling into a secluded rock pool, the crystal clear water sparkling in the early morning light.

Nuns bathed themselves, laughing and splashing each other, and Audrey blushed when she realised they were naked, the water glistening as it spilled over their bare shoulders and breasts.

She became aware of Beth undressing beside her, tugging her shift over her head and tossing it down on a patch of grass before splashing into the water. When Beth realised Audrey stood shyly by the bank, she turned and smiled warmly.

“Come Audrey, wear your shift if you like. Soon you will be used to our ways.”

Audrey fingered her simple white shift with its thin straps that just reached her knees, before shrugging to herself and splashing into the water, soap in hand. It mattered little if it got wet, and she would feel better for its protective cover as she was too shy to strip naked before the other nuns.

The water was crisp and fresh, swirling around her ankles and knees as she slowly waded into its clear depths, feeling her way over the smooth pebble bottom. Soon it reached her waist, and she ducked beneath its surface before rising and sweeping her hair from her face with a gasp as her skin tingled from the coolness. Beth playfully splashed her, and Audrey splashed her back, unaware of how the thin material molded her gentle curves, or of the veiled gazes of the other nuns drawn to her young body. The delicious thrust of her tiny breasts with their hard rosy tips were clearly visible through the thin material, tantalising as they jiggled and swayed as she played with Beth.

Eventually she set about the business of bathing so that she would not be late for morning prayers, and she worked the soapsuds into her long, chestnut mane, beginning at the roots and slowly working down to the tips. She dunked beneath the surface, her fingers combing through the thick strands to release the suds to the water before rising for breath. She was squeezing the water from her mane, twisting it into a large coil over her shoulder, when she caught movement from the corner of her eye. Lifting her head, she gazed across the far bank curiously, her eyes sliding along the bushes until they came to an abrupt halt.

A tall man with hair like midnight caught back from a darkly tanned face as sinfully handsome as Lucifer gazed back at her. Her lips parted on a silent gasp, unable to move, unable to speak. Her wide eyes drunk in the full magnificence of him, clothed completely in black.

Her eyes moved over the supple leather tunic stretched across his broad shoulders and chest, down over the leather breaches that clung to his powerful thighs to rest on black leather boots, before sweeping back up to the masculine face watching her so intently. Her heart raced as she felt a strange heat wash over her, lingering between her thighs and making her breasts tingle. There was something strangely familiar about him, the line of his jaw, his brow, but her jumbled thoughts could make no sense of it as she returned his heated gaze.

She swallowed hard as she witnessed the silvery eyes drop to the creamy mounds with their hard tips thrusting against the clinging shift that left little to the imagination. He seemed unable to tear his gaze away from the sight of her breasts, rising and falling with her quickened breathing, the taut tips tightening impossibly harder beneath his molten gaze.

Some wicked part of her urged her to rise slowly from the water, to close the distance between them, and…

She moistened her suddenly dry lips as his eyes locked with hers, an insistent throbbing beginning between her thighs at the wicked images that crossed her mind. A blush crept over her cheeks and chest as she imagined him doing to her what she had witnessed in the hall the night before, his large body pinning hers, his shaft sliding up deep inside of her womanly heat as his mouth closed over her feverish flesh.

A seductive smile curved his lips, as though she had said her wicked thoughts aloud for everyone to hear, and horror washed over her at her wickedness. Her small hands rose to cup her breasts protectively as she swung away from him, presenting him with the curve of her back.

Beth stood but two arms length from her, but Audrey was unable to call out, to warn her of the danger. She was unable to stop herself from gazing over her shoulder, but even before her eyes had found the place where he had stood, she knew he had disappeared as the strange tension that had held her body in his thrall eased.

***

After the noon prayers Beth and Audrey slowly walked upstream from the waterfall, skirting and climbing over rocks, each carrying a woven basket as they searched for a hardy plant Mother Superior used in her poultices to reduce swelling.

Beth jumped across the stream at a narrow point to allow them to cover more ground, and Audrey seemed to fall further and further behind Beth as she took in the beauty around her. It was like they had passed into a different world, and she felt insignificant as she gazed up at the tall trees that seemed to reach to the heavens, streams of sunlight filtering through their leafy canopies.

She paused to tug up a plant nestled between rocks and deposited it in her basket, and as she was rising, she felt an overwhelming sense she was no longer alone. Dismissing it as wild imaginings, she nevertheless hastened her steps to catch up with Beth who had disappeared around a bend in the stream.

She had only taken two steps when she was dragged back up against a solid wall of muscle, a hand sliding over her mouth.

The basket fell to the ground from nerveless fingers as a large tanned hand splayed over the gentle swell of her belly, drawing her up even firmer against the solid warmth pressing against her back. She struggled wildly, her nails scraping the smooth skin of his forearm as she fought to free herself from his iron grip.

He muttered under his breath as he twisted her in his grip and forced her backwards until she felt the smooth bark of a tree pressing into her back. Her small hands pushed blindly against a broad chest as she sought to free herself, her hood askew.

“I mean you no harm,” he murmured huskily, tugging back her skewed hood as his large body pinned her against the tree, crushing her soft breasts against his chest.

She stilled as her eyes locked with silvery ones, only to begin struggling anew as she felt a thigh pressing between hers, her eyes widening in shock as she felt the pressure against her secret place.

Slowly he removed his palm from her mouth, but before she could scream his lips covered hers firmly, silencing her protests. He tore the hood from her head and tossed it to the ground before his fingers tangled in her silky mane, tilting her face to his as his tongue glided along her lower lip before slipping into the moist depths of her mouth.

Audrey whimpered against his mouth as he deepened the kiss, knowing she should fight him but swiftly losing herself to the heady sensations flooding her. Her lashes fluttered close as he seduced her with drugging kisses, her small hands relaxing against his chest.

Slowly she softened against him as his mouth coaxed hers into soft submission, and the heat of him seemed to scorch her skin through her habit as held her prisoner against the tree, her body throbbing where his muscled thigh pressed against her softness.

She paid scant attention to the feel of his hands bunching in the material at her thighs, of the cool air wafting around her ankles and knees as she drowned in his kisses. She was breathless and needy, lost in the sensual heat he wove around them.

It was only as she felt the heated trail of his fingers up over her hips, dragging up her skirt with them, that some sense of reality began to intrude.

“No,” she whispered as she tore her mouth from his, bruised and swollen from his forceful kisses. But he ignored her protest, his hands slipping up higher beneath her gown, up over her waist.

“I’ve thought of nothing but your delightful breasts since the moment I saw you standing in the stream, of how sweet they would feel filling my hands,” he murmured huskily as he gazed down at her pink stained face.

She trembled as he gently cupped their small weight, moulding them in his warm hands, and her knees all but crumbled beneath the exquisite delicateness of his touch as his caresses gently teased her nipples into hard tips.

She was unable to gaze away from the molten silver eyes that seemed to touch some hidden part of her. “W-what is it you want from me?” she murmured breathlessly, feeling a shameful excitement overtake her as his fingers rolled and plucked the hard buds beneath her gown.

“I want to be inside you,” he murmured, brushing his lips across hers as he pinched her nipples sending a quiver racing through her. She felt unable to control the wetness growing between her thighs as he played with her tender breasts. “To come into your slick heat, feeling it clenching around me as I move deep inside of you. And I know you want it too, little one.”

She moaned softly as a hand slipped down over her belly to cup her mound, discovering her wetness. It was wrong, so wrong, she thought to herself as his fingers parted her lush pink lips to delve in her dewy folds. Yet it felt so right.

“No,” she murmured unconvincingly as he gently stroked her. Her lashes fluttered close as a fire raged between her thighs, her hips arching against his hand, seeking, demanding.

“Your body can’t lie, little one.” His knee eased her quivering thighs further apart as his mouth pressed butterfly kisses over her cheeks and eyes.

Audrey shuddered against the body that held her pinned to the tree, feeling her body drown in sensations unlike anything that she had ever known as he worked his finger inside of her.

“No,” she cried softly, pushing against his wide shoulders as his finger massaged the walls of her slick pussy as his thumb teased her nub.

“Open yourself to me. Let me into your soft heat,” he murmured coaxingly as a finger slipped up inside of her.

“No, please, I-I can’t… I’m soon to be a nun.”

The gentle stroking of her lush pink flesh stilled. “You have never had a man?” he asked softly.

She turned her head, the silky curtain of her hair protecting her from his searching gaze. He caught her chin and gently forced her wide blue eyes to meet his.

The silence stretched out between them as she met his molten gaze, her lips softly parted.

“No.” It was a breathless whisper, yet he heard it. He kissed her softly, tenderly.

His hand gave her one last possessive pat between her thighs before he reluctantly withdrew it from beneath her habit and smoothed the flowing material over her limbs.

“You body cries out for a man between your thighs. In time I will show you that your calling is not to God,” he promised her huskily, gently tucking a chestnut strand behind the pink shell of her ear as he gazed down at her. “Tell me your name, little one.”

She bit her bottom lip. If he went to Father Mathews to ask about her…

The corners of his lips curled at her silence.

“Ah, my beautiful dove will not tell me her name.” A finger trailed down over the curve of her cheek to gently rub her soft lips. “I would know it for the pleasure it brings me as I dream of you, little one. But denying me will not prevent me from finding you again. And when I do, I will have you.” His lips gently brushed hers. “But not here, like this, with your friend so close.”

She trembled as he pressed one last kiss on her before striding away, and she leaned against to the tree, fearful her trembling legs would be unable to support her.

The word “Lukas ” floated back to her, tormenting her.

***

Her first week at St Helen’s passed relatively quickly, and Audrey was thankful of Beth’s mischievous presence that smoothed out the transition. Audrey knew from her inquiring glances on the way back from to the hall that day that her sudden quietness had not gone unnoticed. She was thankful that Beth hadn’t pried, for she did not know how to begin to explain Lukas.

Her face heated every time she thought of him and of what he had done to her, and she was still shaken by how shamefully little resistance she had offered.

She walked slowly to Father Mathew’s chamber, apprehensive at having her weekly confession with the priest. Did she dare lie to him, or confess her wickedness? She had almost convinced herself that Lukas had been a figment of her imagination.

The door was open, and she hesitated in the doorway, her anxious blue eyes flicking over the golden head pored over a scroll.

Unbidden the image of Lukas came to mind… darkly intriguing. She could have moaned aloud at his ability to slip into her thoughts without warning.

Some noise must have given her away, for Father Mathews gazed up, pinning her with his dark grey eyes. Her wickedness must be plain to see as his eyes moved over her intently as he rose from behind his desk.

“Ah, Audrey. Come, close the door behind you.”

She did as he bade and slowly moved further into the chamber, her heart picking up speed.

“You know what we must do at the beginning of each confession?” he queried, moving around to stand before his desk and folding his arms across his chest.

She shook her head in confusion, her wide eyes lifting to his.

“It would be remiss of me not to check your dedication, Audrey.”

Her sweet face paled. Did he somehow suspect that she had allowed a stranger to touch her breasts and between her thighs?

“Come, stand on this footstool for me.”

She followed his gaze to the large square footstool that rested in the centre of the room. Her wide blue eyes returned to his before darting away nervously.

Swallowing hard, she lifted her skirts with trembling fingers and gracefully climbed up onto the wooden surface to face the large oval windows through which the afternoon sunlight filtered. Her guilty mind never questioned his authority over her.

“Raise your habit,” he ordered, and gave Audrey a stern look when she hesitated. “Do not make this more difficult than it needs to be, Audrey. Your old Mother Superior wrote good things about you, and it would dishearten her to learn differently.”

Dropping her gaze, her fingers clasped her skirt and drew her habit to just below her knees.

“Higher.”

Squeezing her eyes shut, she slowly exposed her trembling thighs to his intense gaze.

“Higher, Audrey. Do not make me ask you again.”

She did as he ordered, tugging the skirt up to her waist and exposing the soft chestnut curls at the apex of her thighs, her head lowered.

“Shoulders back…feet touching the edges of the stool. That’s it.”

Audrey held herself still as hands circled her tiny waist before slipping down over her hips to gently caress her soft belly with his thumbs. She bit her lip, feeling strangely weak at his light caresses, her face stained pink. A moan escaped her as his hands moved around to cup her bottom, his strong fingers kneading the soft flesh as his warm breath stirred her curls.

She instinctively clenched her bottom together as Father Mathew spread her cheeks apart, and a shocked cry escaped her at the stinging slap he administered on her unprotected behind.

“Do not disobey me again, Audrey,” he commanded softly.

She nodded quickly, biting her lip as a tremor raced through her.

He smoothed his hands up her inner thighs until they brushed against her lips. Her heart raced as he gently peeled them apart before his dark gaze, feeling faint and hot. Before she could think to protest, his leaned forward and his tongue darted out, tasting her soft pink flesh.

She gave a startled squeak, her fingers clenching in his blonde mane as she fought for balance. He lapped at her dewy folds, his tongue lazily circling her pulsing nub before gently sucking on her.

“F-Father…” she cried in bewilderment at the exquisite pleasure bursting between her thighs, her legs almost giving way beneath her.

Without warning he thrust a finger up inside of her, drawing a husky cry from her. She arched against his mouth as his finger worked up inside of her, stretching her around him.

“Please,” she cried, drowning in the delicious sensations of his tongue stabbing her throbbing nub as his finger swirled inside of her. She was unable to prevent the soft moans escaping her as her young body opened to his caresses, feeling the moisture pool between her thighs. She shuddered against his mouth as her tight walls gripped the gently thrusting finger, her head thrown back. The tension between her thighs wound tighter and tighter, like a cord about to snap.

Her eyes widened in shock as she felt a finger pressing against the puckered entrance nestled between her cheeks.

“No!” she cried. She squirmed away from it, only to find herself impaled on a second finger as it thrust up inside her pussy. Her hips arched as he began to ease the fingers in and out of her as his tongue flicked at her nub, the threat forgotten.

When she felt a finger probing at her dark entrance, she struggled anew, almost stumbling from the stool, shocked at the intrusiveness of that determined invasion.

He withdrew from her, frowning as he gazed up at her. “You dare refuse your master?” he queried dangerously.

His hands spanned her tiny waist as he lifted her to the ground, and she tried to put some distance between them, but he caught her wrists, dragging her young body up against his.

She was unable to control her trembling as she met the dark grey eyes, knowing eventually that she would be unable to refuse him anything.

He was her Priest, her guide in all things, her connection to God. With every cell in her being she wanted to become a nun, and she would probably do everything he asked of her.

The thought of the dark stranger intruded her thoughts.

Mathew gazed down at her for what seemed an age, noting the dilated eyes, the flushed creamy skin, the unsteady rise and fall of her tiny breasts before he pushed her from him with a show of displeasure and turned his back to her.

“Leave me,” he ordered. He heard her flee, and knew that had she remained he would have taken her maidenhead with one hard thrust as he bent her over his desk. She was damp and lush, not the dry heat of her first time when he had to coax her body into taking his fingers inside her tight pussy.

He had known then that she was an innocent even before he felt her maidenhead, yet it had given him immeasurable pleasure to torment her as he sought physical proof. He was intent on playing more games with his delightful young novice, seducing her into complete submission, molding her to his desires before he fucked her sweet pussy.

***

Audrey’s chin rested on her hands as she gazed down at the courtyard from her tiny window, watching the play of shadows over the immaculate hedges and small stone statues. She felt restless, a strange ache filling her body as she was tormented by images of Lukas and Father Mathews. Her nipples felt tingly and tight, sensitive to the brush of her shift with her every movement, and she didn’t need to touch herself to feel the dampness between her thighs.

She didn’t know how long she sat gazing off into the darkness, her thoughts a confused jumble, when a slender figure darted across the courtyard, catching her eye. A blonde lock escaped the confines of a voluminous cloak.

Beth.

Audrey barely hesitated before gathering the soft folds of her dark cloak around her white shift and quietly slipping from her room. She didn’t question why she was following the other novice, or where she could be going at this late hour as she silently padded down the stone steps and pushed at the wooden door. She desperately wanted someone to talk to, feeling overwhelmed in her small cell by thoughts of wickedness and depravity.

The night air was crisp and cool, and she pulled the cloak closer around her as she followed her friend. She hastened her steps as Beth darted off to the left, taking a worn path that weaved through a thicket of tall trees that lay on the eastern reaches of the convent grounds.

Audrey felt swallowed up in the darkness as she moved beneath the arch of overhanging branches. Soon Audrey stumbled onto the edges of a ring-shaped clearing, an altar-stone at its heart. Pagan markings etched into the smooth solid stone table glowed in the moonlight, sending a shiver of apprehension through her. She hesitated, pressing herself against smooth bark of a tree as she gazed upon Beth where she stood, her back to Audrey, not ten steps away.

Her lips parted in a silent gasp as the cloak fell from Beth’s shoulders, revealing her voluptuous curves and full bottom to the cool night air, her smooth skin and long blonde hair glowing palely in the moonlight.

Shock held Audrey immobile as she gazed upon the novice, drinking in the sight of her uninhibited body. She didn’t notice the man cross the clearing from the opposite direction until he came to stand before Beth. He made no move to touch her as his possessive gaze roved over her. He stood imposing, intimidating, like a god, black robes flowing over his broad shoulders.

Audrey watched from the side with wide eyes as Father Mathews grabbed Beth by the hair and dragged her to the altar. He bent her over the edge of the table, her arms twisted behind her back and caught in one large palm as he kicked her ankles apart. Beth moaned as he stood behind her, grinding his pelvis against her bottom as he leaned over her to mutter something in her ear. He released his painful grip on her hair to slip it down between their bodies, dragging up his black robe before he gripped her hips with both hands.

Audrey’s breath shuddered from her lungs as he surged against Beth, beginning to thrust against her with long, forceful strokes. Each murmur, each groan, each pounding thrust echoed through Audrey until she felt a hot, burning ache between her empty thighs.

Her eyes were drawn to where their bodies joined, her mouth dry as she gazed upon the thick glistening thick shaft sliding in and out of Beth’s pussy as he pumped into her furiously from behind. Beth strained against him as he shoved himself into her without mercy, his hand sliding up over the curve of her back to tangle in her blonde mane and draw her head back as he bucked against her.

She gazed upon the scene before her, her lips parted, heart pounding, unable to tear her eyes away. She drank in the sight of Beth as she moaned in ecstasy as she writhed and shuddered on the thick shaft impaling her.

Audrey sensed a slight movement in the air around her, but before she could think to move, to react, a huge palm slid over her mouth, muffling her squeak of surprise as a solid wall of muscle pressed against her back.

“I’ve found you, my delightful little voyeur who refuses to tell me her name,” he murmured, his breath stirring the tendrils at her temple. She was enveloped in his warm strength, his clean earthy scent filling her nostrils, and her lashes fluttered close. The breath caught in her throat as a hand delved beneath the folds of her cloak, sliding up over her ribcage.

A strange weakness flooded her as his hand closed over a soft mound with its taut tip. She arched against him as he rolled and pinched it between his long fingers through the thin cloth, feeling it harden impossibly further as she moaned against the hand covering her mouth.

“Are you wet, little one?”

She whimpered as his hand uncovered her mouth to trail down over her neck and the valley between her breasts, down over her belly to cup her mound through the thin cloth of her shift.

His fingers gently rubbed her dampness through the cloth, drawing soft moans from her as she softened against him. His masculine heat scorched her through the thin layers that separated them.

“Oh, yes,” he groaned as he stroked her like a delicate harp. “Do you enjoy the sight of him pleasuring himself inside of her, wishing it was your pussy feeling a thick shaft sliding up inside its welcoming heat?”

Her lashes flickered open, her dark blue eyes drawn to the pagan altar, and the rutting couple upon it. She moaned in acquiescence as his mouth closed over the soft skin over her neck. His fingers tangled in the ribbon ties of her bodice, dragging the folds apart to expose the gentle swell of one creamy breast with its taut rosy tip to the cool midnight air.

Her eyes focused on the sight of Beth moving to kneel between Father Mathews’s spread thighs where he lay on the long stone table. Her small hands gripped his shaft as her blonde head bobbed down on its imposing length with luscious enjoyment, her wide mouth working up and down on him.

“W-who are you?” Audrey whispered, a tremor racing through her as his fingers closed over her bare breast.

He caressed her tiny mound as she leaned against him for support, arrows of ecstasy shooting down to the place where his other hand was gently coaxing her yearning body into melting submission.

“Anything you want me to be,” he breathed against her damp skin, sending a shiver racing through her.

Audrey quivered as she felt his fingers stroking between her thighs slid, down the length of it to curl around the hem of her shift. She was unable to take her eyes from the glorious sight of the wanton Beth moving to sit astride Father Mathew’s hips and slowly sinking down until she rested fully on him.

The breath shuddered from Audrey’s lungs as his palm slid up her inner thigh, teasing her soft quivering flesh until she ached to feel his caresses at the hot, melting core of her.

“Please, I want…”

Her legs almost gave way as fingers deftly parted her lush pink folds and slid along the dewy valley. She whimpered as he found the firm, pink nub nestled in the swollen, glistening flesh, coaxing soft cries from her as he tormented her with growing intensity.

She was unable to control the fire raging out of control between her thighs, licking at her melting flesh, consuming her innocent body until there was no thought of denying this man what he willed.

His hand on her breast and between her slippery thighs made her mindless with pleasure as she writhed on the fingers stroking her, her wide blue eyes fixed on the sight of Beth as she rode the man beneath her, her head flung back, her heavy breasts jiggling.

“Touch me.” His warm breath tickled Audrey’s ear as his fingers drew her small hand between their bodies to press against the thick hard pulsing length of him through his breeches.

Her fingers traced the hard ridge of him, sliding up to delicately explore the thick blunt velvet tip of him bursting over the top of his breeches, feeling the drop of moisture, smoothing it into his skin experimentally, before sliding back down the thick heavy shaft.

He groaned as her fingers closed firmly around him and boldly squeezed.

A whimper escaped her as his finger probed her dewy gate, slipping up inside her snug pussy.

“I need to be inside you, little one,” he murmured huskily as his finger massaged her slick walls, and she arched against him as a thumb brushed over her nub.

“No,” she protested weakly, a sense of reality came rushing back at what she was doing, of what she was allowing him to do as he pushed against her bottom. “I-I can’t–“

He groaned as his fingers explored the thin stretch of skin deep in inside of her. “Do not deny me this, little one,” he murmured against her ear as his hand guided his heavy shaft between her silky thighs. “Your body cries out for mine.”

She moaned softly as she felt the glistening velvety tip of him sliding in her dewy folds, rubbing her nub, before moving down to probe her melting entrance.

“I can’t,” she cried tremulously, tears filling her eyes as her body ached for the feel of his thick shaft sliding up inside of her tight pussy. She squirmed deliciously against him as he prodded her slick entrance, her body’s urges warring with her natural reserve. “I-I have to remain a virgin. I must become a nun.”

“If there was a way, little one, to leave you maidenhead intact, would you let me come inside you?” His fingers gently stroked her pink nub until she was writhing on the blunt head of his shaft.

She was unable to take her eyes from the sight of Beth straddling Father Mathews, his hands on her drawing her down to him as his mouth latched onto a swaying breast.

She nodded bewilderedly, wanting to feel him between her thighs with every fiber of her being, but knowing it was impossible.

He saw her nod, and it was enough. He drove his hips forward with a triumphant groan.

She squeaked as she felt her innocent flesh forced to spread around the spearing head as he pushed against her, and she tried to shift her helpless body away from him, but his fingers splayed low over her belly, holding her firm as he slid deeper up inside of her.

“Relax, there will be no pain, I promise you.”

Her small hands grasped the tree before her for support her. She had experienced anything as exquisite as the burning sensation of him sliding up inside of her tight pussy walls, forcing them to stretch around the huge thickness slowly filling her.

She whimpered as the head of his shaft came to press threateningly against the resistance of her maidenhead, and even as her body cried out to be filled by him, her mind fought for control. “No,” she protested feebly, a tear sliding down her cheek as a shudder ran through her.

“Trust me, little one. Open to me.”

He groaned against her ear as he slowly eased himself out of her before sliding back inside of her. His hands gripped her hips to prevent her writhing on him as he gently thrust into her with short, controlled strokes.

He kept his body under fierce control as her snug pussy squeezed the head of his shaft exquisitely as he gently rocked inside of her, careful not to breach the thin barrier that loomed against the head of his shaft with each stroke.

The sharp contrast of his head sheathed in her slick heat and the rest of his member experiencing the cool midnight air was almost unbearable. Every cell in his body urged him to drive himself into her to the hilt, tearing through her maidenhead, to possess her fully with his cock. He knew the wrath of his brother would be brutal if he discovered he had tasted her warm heat, yet he could not deny her effect on him. He was drawn to her unwillingly. He knew the twisted games his brother played with the nuns at the convent, and his chest tightened at the thought of her glorious innocence and breathtaking sensuality being corrupted by Mathew.

Audrey was powerless to fight the sensations he wrought in her as he forced his shaft into her slick tightness. She knew this was wicked, that she should stop him, but she was lost to the waves of sensation overwhelming her, sucking her into a spiralling darkness until she was incoherent of all thought. Her innocent body squirmed on the hard length of him, melting around the exquisite friction of him sliding up inside of her.

Her eyes were locked on the sight of Beth rolling beneath Father Mathews, his weight on his shoulders, his cheeks clenching as he worked himself between her splayed thighs.

“Don’t…move,” Lukas groaned against her ear as her delicious wiggling almost cracked his tight control. He stilled his thick length inside of her as his hand slid down over the gentle swell of her belly into the thatch of soft curls.

She moaned as his fingers found her, stroked and tormented her until she could fight the sensations no longer, waves of pleasure washing over her as she shuddered on the blunt head of his shaft. Her tight walls squeezed the tip of him as she clenched and unclenched around him as she pulsed with ecstasy, her head thrown back against his shoulder, her whole body arching as she exploded around him.

Her soft cries where like kisses to his ears as she climaxed sweetly around him, and it took all of his willpower not to ram into her like an animal, plowing her belly until he burst inside of her, filling her with his seed.

He drew out of her and stumbled back, taking deep laborious breaths as he fought for control. He squeezed his eyes shut to block out the delicious sight of her, but the scent of her drove him wild.

“Go,” he ground out harshly, trying to ignore his tight heavy shaft pulsing with need. “Go now, before I can no longer resist the lure of your sweet body and take what it is you seek to deny me.”

Only when he could no longer hear the crunch of leaves beneath her feet did his hand grip his shaft, jerking on its straining length until climax shook his arching body, his seed coating the earth at his feet.

Lukas shuddered in his hand, his thoughts full of the wanton innocent he had let escape him.

He knew then that he would stop at nothing to have her. He had turned a blind eye to his brother’s ways, feeling guilt over being the first born, inheriting their fathers’ estates and titles, and his brother nothing. Yet he would not allow his brother this.

Chapter 02

Audrey raced along the leafy path toward the safety of the convent, her way lit by thin fingers of moonlight. Her shift fluttered against her thighs as she ran, her trembling fingers clutching the torn edges of her bodice together. She felt breathless, her skin dewy and hot, pulses of tingling heat curling through her belly.

She knew he was back there, intensely masculine, terrifyingly seductive. All she had to do was turn around, to surrender herself to the madness he so easily evoked inside of her.

And destroy any chance she had of becoming a nun.

Even now Lukas’s words still echoed in her head. “Go now, before I take what it is you seek to deny me.”

She gave a soft cry as she stumbled and fell to her hands and knees on the uneven path, her ankle screaming in protest. She sat back on her heels and brushed her long chestnut mane back from her face as she drew gulps of air into her lungs.

She gave a squeak of horror as long fingers wrapped around her upper arm and dragged her awkwardly to her feet.

She gazed up, unaware of how her exposed breasts with their tender rosy tips glowed in the moonlight as she focused on the shadowy features of Mother Superior.

“Novice,” Mother said coldly in greeting. “How is it that I find you in a state of dishabille,” Audrey winced as Mother’s long fingers flicked her tight nipples painfully. “After curfew?”

Audrey hastily drew the folds of her bodice together, flustered at being caught and unsure how to begin to confess the multitude of her sins.

Even now, her body still throbbed where Lukas’s fingers had stroked her lush folds until she melted, the feel of him as he probed against her tiny entrance, sliding that shocking thick male part up inside of her and stretching her uncomfortably until he came to rest against the evidence of her chastity. Audrey shuddered, a guilty flush staining her cheeks as she gazed up into the shadowed eyes of Mother. “I-“

“Save your lies, Novice. Father will no doubt wish to see you after prayers tomorrow morning.”

Audrey barely held back a moan of horror. She would be forced to confess her wickedness to Father Matthews, and the mere thought of it scared her rigid. Would he discipline her? Would he lock her up? Would she be banished from the convent?

Audrey had known no other life than that within the confines of the convent. She had been raised by nuns who had cherished and loved her, and it was her sole wish to become a nun too so that she follow in their footsteps and help raise orphaned or unwanted children like herself.

It was only her old Mother Superior’s belief that Audrey would in time come to desire a husband and children of her own that led her to refuse Audrey’s wish to take her vows like the other novices. Eventually Mother had agreed that upon Audrey fulfilling a full year as a Novice at the convent at St Helen’s, if Audrey still wished to become a nun, she could do so with Mother‘s full blessing.

Audrey had arrived at St Helen’s a little over a sennight ago, and found herself struggling to cope with the many differences from the convent in which she had been raised. In many ways St Helen’s was freer, without the rigid codes of dress and conduct expected by the elderly Father at St Agatha’s. However, St Helen’s was in other ways stricter and more demanding on the person. At St Agatha’s, the body was viewed as a mere vessel, its functions to be tolerated and ignored. Yet at St Helen’s, Audrey had found that shame of the human form was discouraged while purity was carefully monitored.

Audrey had never felt so conflicted as she did in those moments when she had witnessed Father Matthews towering over Beth as she lay on the pagan stone altar in the forest clearing, his hard straining flesh thrusting between her quivering buttocks as Beth moaned and writhed beneath him.

She had been warned all her life against the sins of the flesh, of the depravity and wickedness that would result. Yet how was she to resolve this with what she had seen Father Matthews do the other young Novice?

As she was marched back to her cell by Mother Superior, Audrey realised that before coming to St Helen’s she had led a life sheltered from the sins and temptations of the flesh. She now wondered if she would ever be free of this yearning to have her young body caressed and to feel the hard press of male flesh between her melting thighs, and feared that her faith would be tested deeply in the coming year.

~*~

The kitchen was silent as Beth and Audrey washed the dishes after the breaking of fast the following morning. Audrey had not breathed a word to her friend of the intimate acts she had witnessed in the forest, and Audrey hated herself for the deception.

Audrey dried and put away the dishes as Beth washed, and together they wiped down the benches and put the chairs to rights. Audrey couldn’t prevent herself from yawning, feeling immensely tired and weary. She had been unable to sleep, her mind in a turmoil of guilt and discovery. The mere thought of what she had done, of what she had seen, had filled her body with a restless yearning that kept her on edge and needing, wanting, something more.

Had this been what lay behind her old Mother Superior’s refusal to allow Audrey to take her vows and finally become a nun? Had she wanted Audrey to discover the exquisite pleasure of a man’s touch before she finally chose to live her life in the convent, one of chastity, poverty and duty?

Father Matthews had told her upon her arrival at St. Helen’s that their ways were different. Had her old Mother known of this before sending Audrey to St. Helen’s, and intended perhaps for Father Matthews to take the same liberties with Audrey as he did with Beth?

Audrey was dragged from her whirling thoughts as Beth placed a hand over hers.

“Do not torment yourself so, Audrey. I know.”

“Y-you do?” Audrey gasped, blushing madly.

Beth merely smiled, looking suddenly older than her nineteen years. “I had hoped that you would follow me. I wanted you to see for yourself what it was like, to not feel frightened when your time comes. Father Matthews treats us all as his own.”

Audrey trembled, her lashes lowering as she remembered the feel of Lukas moving inside of her, of the exquisite pleasure he had coaxed from her innocent body. Yet at the same time she had felt a burning uncomfortableness, as though he were tearing her apart.

Would it be the same with Father Matthews? Oh, god, the mere thought of it sent a bewildering quiver between her thighs.

“B-but isn’t it wicked for a nun to lose her chastity and fornicate with a man?”

“There is no wickedness, Audrey,” Beth assured her. “Father Matthews vowed before God to love, cherish and educate the nuns and novices under his care, and he does so with the full assent of the Lord.”

“Oh,” Audrey murmured, chewing on her bottom lip.

Beth brushed back a stray chestnut tendril from Audrey’s eyes. “Let Father Matthews love you, Audrey, as only a priest can. As all of us at St. Helen’s do.”

Audrey was unprepared when Beth leaned forward, gently kissing the corner of her mouth. Audrey blinked, startled.

“We are all friends here, Audrey,” Beth murmured, giving Audrey‘s hand a squeeze. “I want you to know that you can ask anything of me. Anything.”

Audrey gazed into Beth’s earnest eyes, indecision warring within her.

“Beth, I-” Audrey hesitated, blushing, wanting to confide in her friend, yet she struggled to find the words to express the confusion and uncertainty that plagued her.

The girls jumped apart as Mother Superior strode into the kitchen. Stern blue eyes swept over the clean benches and empty sink before narrowing on Audrey. “Father Matthews will see you now, novice.”

~*~

Audrey hesitated before the closed door to Father Matthews’s chamber and took a deep breath, trying to calm the churning in her belly.

Throughout prayers she had been plagued with memories of the wicked ways in which Lukas had touched and caressed her, making her face burn until she thought the other nun’s could not help but notice her guilt. All the while she had been deeply conscious of the exquisite ache between her thighs where he had stretched her around him as he speared her with his hardness.

She could barely hold back a moan of shame as her nipples tightened into painfully hard buds beneath her habit. She was truly wicked! What would Father Matthews do to her once she confessed?

With trembling fingers she knocked softly against the door, all the while praying for God’s guidance.

“Come in,” a masculine voice commanded, and she opened the door with dread.

Father Matthews stood facing the large arch windows with his back to her, the morning sun turning his dark blonde mane to a rich gold.

He turned, and the breath caught in her throat as steely grey eyes pinned her where she stood.

“As you are no doubt aware, Mother Superior informed me of your nocturnal activities.”

His kept his gaze locked with hers as he moved toward her, and she swallowed hard.

“Yes, Father,” she murmured, feeling as though her every lewd thought was clear to his all-seeing gaze.

“Out of concern for you she carried out an inspection of your cell while you were at prayers.” He stopped before her, so close that the tips of her breasts nearly brushed his chest, and the proximity forced her to lift her face to gaze up at him.

She watched with wide, dark blue eyes as his hand reached up and caught a stray silky chestnut strand and rubbed it between his thumb and forefinger.

“She was shocked to discover lice in your pallet. No doubt a result of your late night frolics in the forest.”

Audrey’s soft lips parted in shock. “Lice,” she breathed, unable to gaze away from the penetrating grey eyes. She had overheard some of the elderly farmhands at St Agatha’s complaining of the malady, and the itchiness it seemed to cause, yet it was not something Audrey or any of the other nun’s at her old convent had ever suffered from.

“Yes, Audrey. Lice.” He gently tucked the strand behind her ear, and she shivered slightly at the brush of his fingers against her sensitive skin. “The solution, while bothersome, is a simple one.”

“It is?” she questioned hopefully, chewing worriedly on her bottom lip.

“Mother Superior has already brought to me the items I need to eradicate this pest from your person before it spreads to other members of the convent.”

“Oh,” Audrey murmured, gazing uncertainly at the items resting on a small stool by the desk that he indicated to with a sweep of his hand. A bowl of water, towelling, and a broad, flat blade rested on beside a small pretty pottery bowl containing a substance that looked like thickened cream.

Her fingers reached up to capture a soft, silky chestnut tendril. Her mane, falling in soft waves to just below her hips, was her single vanity. Vanity, she knew, was a sin, and something her old Mother Superior had despaired of Audrey every overcoming.

She knew that upon taking her vows as a nun that her hair would be shorn, but the eventuality had seemed a far time off. She gazed up at Father Matthews unhappily, but was accepting of her fate. If she were truly to become a proper nun, she knew she would have to suffer her punishments without bemoaning the consequences.

So Audrey was shocked when Father Matthews ordered her to remove her habit. At her hesitation, he pinned her with those all-seeing eyes. “You seek to disobey me, Audrey?” She quickly shook her head. “Then remove your habit.”

Under Father’s watchful gaze she fumbled with the buttons at her neck and slipped the white heavy gown from her shoulders. The habit pooled at her feet, and she stood there, head lowered, arm at her sides. She was unaware of how the thin shift she wore clung to the tiny thrust of her breasts with their taut rosy crowns, and did little to hide the triangular shadow between her thighs.

“Come, I want you here.” He motioned to the large mahogany desk that dominated the chamber, its bare surface polished to a gleam. She took one, then two hesitant steps towards the desk, and gasped when his hands captured her tiny waist from behind. He lifted and turned her so that she sat with her bottom on the edge of the desk. She shivered at the feel of his warm hands burning through the fine shift to the bare skin beneath, in stark contrast to the coolness beneath her bottom.

As he touched her, she couldn’t block the image of him, his large muscular form bent over Beth as she lay on the stone altar. Of his hand fisted in her mane as he thrust himself against the young novice’s quivering buttocks. Audrey felt her heart begin to race.

Without warning Father Matthews gripped her knees and tugged her unresisting thighs apart and eased himself into the gap. She squeezed her eyes shut as he slowly removed the pins from her hair, so that it tumbled down her back in a mass of silky curls.

She didn’t know where to look as his fingers lazily undid the ribbons of her bodice and drew the thin straps down over her shoulders until the tiny thrust of her breasts with their rosy tips were exposed to his steely gaze.

Her lashes fluttered close as his thumbs brushed across her tender nipples, before pressure on her shoulders forced her onto her back on the table.

She whimpered as she felt his hands drawing up the hem of her shift and the cool air swirl over the heated flesh of her secret place. She knew she should be used to him touching her there, yet each time she quivered, her body yearning for something more.


Audrey watched with wary blue eyes as he scooped up the soapy substance, and flinched at the coolness as he gently smoothed it over the triangle of chestnut down between her spread thighs.

“F-Father,” she gasped in confusion, struggling up onto her elbows as his impersonal fingers massaged her there, feeling a heady pulse begin between her thighs. “I don‘t think-“

“Quiet, Audrey,” he murmured as his hand splayed between her breasts pushed her until she was forced to lay back down on the desk. “I must attend to the breeding grounds of the lice, and it requires all my attention.”

“Oh,” she whispered, relief warring with shock as she realised he intended to remove the thatch of hair in her secret place, and not her mane.

She gazed up at the ceiling as his fingers covered every inch of her mound as he spread the cream over her, drawing soft whimpers from her as he stroked and tugged on her soft lips. Her breathing became hectic, her breasts rising and falling as he fingers touched her with a surprising gentleness.

A murmur of protest escaped her when the fingers stopped their magic. Her midnight blue eyes flickered open warily, only to discover Father Matthews kneeling between her spread thighs.

She shuddered as his hands forced her knees painfully wider. She felt breathless and weak, and prayed fervently that he didn’t notice the wicked dampness seeping between her thighs.

“Do not move from this position, Audrey, otherwise I’ll cut you.”

She steeled herself for the press of the blade against her there, and her lashes flickered as she felt its cool scrape against her skin.

She felt as though every atom of her being was intimately connected with each stroke of the blade as he slowly removed the protective thatch of chestnut curls from her mound.

Star Lingam Massage London

It felt as though days had passed as she lay there in unending torment, biting her lip to prevent whimpers from escaping her as fingers glided along her pink valley to grip a pouting lip, or peeled her pouting lips wide apart, allowing the cool air on her heated, damp flesh as he worked.

Her nub throbbed, and she felt depraved and wicked as the wanton heat between her thighs grew to the point of unbearableness. Relief washed through her when he dampened a cloth and gently wiped her between her parted thighs, catching up every last drop of soap.

The relief was short lived when the cloth slipped between her lush lips to stroke along the pink valley, lazily circling the needy nub hidden in their depths. She arched, her eyes flying to his, and her face flamed as she realised he had been watching her expressive face intently.

She was unable to gaze away as his finger, draped in the damp cloth, pressed against her entrance. She winced slightly, still sore from Lukas’s trespass, and his steely gaze dropped to her secret place, and a frown creased his forehead.

“You are chafed here,” he murmured, his fingers skimming down between her slick valley to probe the gate of her pussy. She squirmed as his finger pinched her plump lips and drew them wide apart as he inspected her without her soft triangle of curls to protect her.

“Have you touched yourself, Audrey?” he demanded, gazing upon her intimate pink flesh intently. Audrey froze, hating the blush staining her cheeks as the steely grey eyes lifted to hers, an imperious eyebrow raised.

She turned her face away from him, but he rose between her thighs, catching her jaw between his fingers and forcing her to look up at him. “Or did someone pleasure you, Audrey?”

She flinched guiltily, and his eyes narrowed. When she didn’t, couldn’t reply, he gazed down at her for what seemed like hours.

“Your loyalty to the sisters is to be commended, Audrey,” he bit out. “But I demand your complete obedience. Now answer me, did one of the nun’s touch you here?”

She whimpered as she felt his finger press against her gate, slipping up inside of her. She arched slightly as his finger delved deeper, searching, until he finally discovered the thin barrier of her maidenhead. She squirmed, wanting to close her legs, to hide her face from this humiliation but his fingers held her face immobile as he stroked his finger in her pussy. Yet at the same time she squeezed the invading digit, her young body’s resistance melting under the exquisite torment of Father Matthew’s finger caressing her tight walls.

As if aware of her body’s betrayal, he forced two more fingers into her tight pussy, and she whimpered breathlessly.

“You have one last opportunity, Audrey,” he commanded as a thumb pressed down on her throbbing nub, sending a shudder racing through her. “Tell me.”

She couldn’t speak as his fingers worked inside of her, lost to the sensations between her thighs. Helpless moans escaped her as his knowing fingers quickly drove her toward her peak, thrusting without mercy in her straining channel.

“Tell me,” he demanded coldly. She moaned, unable to speak, quivering on the edge of release, her hands clenched into fists at her side, her breasts flushed with desire.

She gasped in distress as he brutally withdrew his fingers from between her thighs and gripped her upper arms, dragging her up into a sitting position.

Her lips parted, yet before she could utter a protest his mouth closed over hers in a punishing kiss. It was brutal, dominating, without mercy. Her senses swam as his mouth moved over hers, her fingers clinging to his gown as she helplessly drowned in the searing kiss, so different from the coaxing kisses Lukas had stolen from her.

He tore his mouth from hers, gazing down at her trembling lips. “Then you will be punished until you tell me the name of the person who touched you.”

She had been schooled from birth to obey the dictates of the priest and nuns, yet his reaction to discovering her wickedness both shocked and frightened her. What would Father Matthews do to her when he discovered that it was a man, and not a nun, that had touched her?

As he left her to walk around the desk and pull open a draw, she hastily pushed down her hem and fumbled at the ribbons of her bodice with trembling fingers.

He came back to her, ignoring the tears trembling on her lashes and ordered her to “Stand up.”

She weakly slid her bottom off the desk and stood before him, gazing up at him with fearful eyes.

“Lift your shift and spread your ankles wide.” She did as he bade her, and watched in dawning horror as he clamped a silver triangular pouch-like object over her mound and clasped the two silver arms tightly around her tiny hips.

His hands on her waist roughly spun her around so that she faced the stained glass windows, and she quivered as he somehow threaded the strange thin chain that was attached to the lowest point of the triangular piece lodged between her thighs up through the back of the belt.

She squirmed as he drew the fine chain up between her bottom until it pressed snugly against her cleft and he somehow secured the contraption at the small of her back.

Audrey clenched her bottom instinctively as his finger followed the path of the chain between her buttocks, and he chuckled against her ear.

“Now no one can touch you without my permission,” he murmured as his finger traced along her inner thigh, his finger digging into her experimentally, yet he was unable to obtain access to her secret places.

“You will remain bound within the confines of the chastity belt until you reveal to me the name of the person who touched you.”

Audrey moistened her swollen lips as she contemplated the horrifying reality of being forced to wear a chastity belt. She felt tight and constricted, as though she couldn’t breath.

“Mother Superior is the only person beside myself that possesses a key to the belt. You will go to her should you feel the need to relief yourself.”

“Now get about your duties otherwise I will be forced to punish you further,” he told her, smacking her bottom with a force that propelled her forward

The priest’s lips curved in amusement as he watched little Audrey dart from his chamber, groaning at the delightful sight of her heart-shaped derriere as she bent over to pick up her habit and clasp it before her. As furious as he initially was to discover one of his nun’s had pleasured his innocent little novice with their fingers, and perhaps their mouth, he realised it could only add to his demure novice’s torment.

He doubted she would last more than half a day before the guilt forced her to confess, and he admitted to himself that he was impressed that she did not do so immediately. It seemed little Audrey had some steel beneath that exquisitely gentle exterior. Louis would enjoy seeing just how far he could torment her before he forced her to relinquish her secret to him, and eventually her maidenhead.

In the meantime, he would send for Mother Superior to discover which nun went against his express orders and played with Audrey, and impose a fitting punishment.

He was distracted from his musings by a knock on the door. “Come in,” he barked out, wondering if perhaps Audrey had returned. His shoulders tensed imperceptivity at the sight of the tall imposing figure dressed in simple, yet superbly cut black jacket and grey trousers.

“Good morning, Lord Montford,” Louis drawled, leaning against the edge of the large mahogany desk and crossing his arms across his chest.

Lukas’s eyebrows merely raised at the formality as he gazed around the finely appointed chamber until finally coming to rest on its occupant. “Surely there is no need to insist on ceremony between us, brother?”

Louis merely shrugged as Lukas settled his tall frame into a leather chair, stretching his long legs out before him and crossing them at the ankle.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?” Louis asked.

“I merely sought to enquire as to the progress of the renovations on the old kitchens,” Lukas said casually.

“They were completed just under two months ago,” Louis advised him dryly.

“Without mishap, I hope?” Lukas enquired silkily.

“One man suffered a sprained wrist, but I hardly see how this could be of interest to a man with responsibilities such as yourself.”

“I plan on having some repairs done up at the Hall, and considered engaging the same workers. I merely sought to assure myself of their capabilities.”

Lukas immediately regretted reminding Louis of the fact that by a twist of fate, the difference of several minutes meant that Montford Hall and all its encumbrances would eventually come to Lukas.

On their father’s death three years ago, Lukas had ensured that his brother’s advancement within the church was secured by the transferring the deeds to the lands of what now formed the grounds and buildings of St Helen’s.

However, Lukas’s intervention with the Archbishop was unappreciated by his brother once Louis discovered the truth, and the tension that always existed between the brothers increased tenfold.

“I noticed on the ride here that the convent has prospered greatly under your guiding hand,” Lukas continued, gazing around the sumptuous chamber far removed from the sparse chamber one expected of a pious priest. “You must have, what, five or six nuns in your Order now?”

“Seven,” Louis inserted firmly. “And two additional novices.”

“Novices? I think I’ve seen one about the Township, a blonde pretty thing? I vaguely recall another one, tall with brown hair?” Lukas lied calmly.

Louis frowned. “No, Audrey has only been with us for two weeks, and has yet to leave the grounds.”

“My mistake,” Lukas murmured, feeling his blood rush through his veins at finally discovering the name of the innocent temptress haunting his dreams.

He also felt immense relief at the knowledge that his brother had had only a little time to corrupt her. The convent grounds lay to the west of the thriving township that made up a small part of the Montford estates, and rumours of pagan rituals, sacrifices and other odd goings on up at the convent spread like wildfire through the town.

Knowing his brother’s fondness for depravity, humiliation and pain, such rumours could not be easily dismissed. Yet until Lukas had physical proof, his hands were tied. The relationship between the brothers was fragile at best, and Lukas did not want to act hastily.

“Before I forget, Aunt Agatha asked that I deliver this to you personally,” Lukas said smoothly, withdrawing a slim sheet of vellum sealed with their family’s crest from his inner pocket. “She kindly requests our attendance at ball she is throwing in honour of cousin Claire’s birthday.”

Louis took the invite and without a glance sat it on the desk. “Please convey my apologies to my Aunt, as I am committed elsewhere on whatever date she proposes.”

“Will do. I’ll let myself out, shall I? I’ll inspect the workmanship of the renovations before I go,” Lukas drawled.

Lukas strode from the chamber, conscious of the intensity of his brother’s gaze on his back and sensing that Louis hadn’t been fooled by Lukas’s reasons for visiting him.

~*~

Audrey kneeled before the overgrown flowerbed, tugging at the wildly sprouting weeds. The morning sun was warm on her face, and a cool breeze stirred the damp tendrils escaping her braid as she set about putting the garden to rights.

Unlike the herb or kitchen garden, the flower garden was often overlooked unless flowers were needed for the church altar. Gravel paths separated the sweeping flower beds with their gorgeous riot of colours and fragrances. The small garden was enclosed on three sides by the tall hedges that formed the edges of the maze, lending it an air of seclusion.

Lost in her work, she didn’t notice the man striding toward her until a flash of black out of the corner of her eye drew her attention.

Her heart stopped for an instant, and all rational thought departed as she caught sight of familiar broad shoulders and thick wavy black hair of the impossibly handsome man bearing down on her.

With a moan of distress, she dashed for one of the entrances to the maze as she sought to escape him, her white gown fluttering out behind her.

A small smile curved his lips as he began to jog after his quarry. It had taken a good half hour to finally find his delightful innocent, and he thanked whatever angel looking down on him that she hadn’t been attending to chores somewhere inside the convent.

Audrey was breathless and dishevelled, and lost within minutes of entering the maze. She was too short to peek over the tops of the hedges, and in her distressed state the clues scattered along the winding turns of the maze made little sense. So she was surprised to discover she had stumbled upon the heart of the maze.

She paid the warbling fountain and narrow stone bench scant attention as she dashed through the centre of the small enclosed area to the opposite entrance. She turned a corner, and gave a squeak of fright as she bumped into a mountain of solid muscle. Firm hands clasped her upper arms, steadying her, as silver eyes gazed down at her in triumph.

She gave a soft cry as his large hands encircled her waist and lifted her up, the movement pressing her softness full length against his muscled strength, and she clung to his shoulders, gazing up at him warily with dark blue eyes.

“Lukas, no,” she murmured desperately as he carried her toward the bench.

“Shh, little Audrey. You were made for me. For this,” he murmured. She whimpered as she felt the stone bench nudge at the back of her knees. She felt her nipples harden and shivery heat build between her thighs at the intensity of those silver pools locked with hers.

She moaned as he slid her to her feet, and her face flaming as she became aware of the hardness nestled between his thighs. She stood there with wide eyes as he sat down on the bench, and then gentle hands guided her down onto his lap. Long finders slid up over her nape, tilting her head backwards as his mouth brushed hers, his teeth nipping and nibbling on her soft flesh, sending liquid fire coursing through her veins.

“Lukas,” she moaned against his mouth before it moved hungrily hers, his forceful tongue delving between her soft lips, demanding, coaxing, seductive.

Her mind screamed that this was wicked, yet she was helpless to deny him as his fingers closed possessively over the thrust of her tiny breast.

Her small hands clung to his shoulders as his lips trailed down the sweet curve of her neck, nuzzling her neck. He groaned against her soft skin as he felt her hard nipple pushing urgently against his palm through the linen gown. “Sweet Audrey,” he murmured as he teased the hard bud, her mewling whimpers like music to his ears.

He regretted not taking her when he had the opportunity, a mistake he intended rectifying without delay. It pained him that her first time would not be in a soft bed, yet the possibility of such a delightful mixture of innocence and wanton temptress corrupted by his own brother tormented Lukas.

He would keep her locked up, or even tied to his bed if need be. He groaned, feeling himself harden impossibly at the image his mind conjured up: she lay sprawled across his bed, her hair a cloud beneath her as she gazed up at him shyly with those mesmerising midnight blue eyes, her rosy nipples begging to be suckled, her thigh bent modestly to hide the tantalising triangle of curls at their apex.

Lukas kissed her, hard, as his impatient fingers sought the hem of her gown. He felt her weak struggles as she pushed at his searching hand with hers, and he brushed it away as he tugged the gown up over her knees. She began to struggle in earnest as his hand settled just above her knee, his thumb teasing the silky flesh.

She broke the kiss, pushing desperately against his chest. “No, Lucas, don’t!”

“The pain will be fleeting, Audrey, I promise you. Then only pleasure,” he murmured as he caught her wrists against his chest in one hand as his other slid higher, drawing her gown up over the tops of her thighs.

Audrey pressed her face against his chest, unable to bear the look in his eyes once he discovered her shame.

She felt the moment he tensed, his swift indrawn breath.

“Audrey,” he breathed, releasing her wrists and capturing her chin, drawing her face up to his.

He quickly masked the searing agony filling him as he took in the tears sparkling on her lashes. “What is this?”

“A chastity belt,” she mumbled, so softly he almost didn’t hear her.

“I know that, little one. But why are you wearing it?” he asked calmly so as not to alarm her, his heady arousal of moments before quickly ebbing.

“B-because Father Matthews discovered that I was slightly chafed…in my secret place.”

Lukas took a long, deep breath. “And how did he discover you were…chafed?”

“He – he shaved me.” As Lukas stiffened, she quickly hurried on. “Mother Superior found lice in my pallet, and so he…”

“Shaved you,” Lukas finished.

Audrey bit her lip and nodded desolately.

“Did he…” Lukas closed his eyes for a moment as he sought to put the words delicately. “Breach you?”

Molten silver eyes searched her expressive face as she slowly shook her head.

She felt him relax slightly, and his hands on her waist gently guided her bottom onto the bench next to him. He rose gracefully to his feet and strode to the fountain. He stood with his back to her, his legs widespread, hands on hips. She watched him warily, unaware of the battle that was going on inside of him as he fought to restrain his fury.

“I won’t allow you to go back to him,” he finally declared as he pivoted and pinned her with his silvery gaze. “You’ll leave now, with me.”

She gazed at him, her lips parting on a soundless gasp. “I can’t!”

“You will,” he told her sternly.

“My life is here, among the nuns.”

“Audrey, you say this because you are an innocent. You know next to nothing about the joys that can be experienced between a man and a woman. You are an intensely passionate creature, Audrey. Had I taken you the other night, you would quickly have come to realise how life in the convent would pall without someone to pleasure your delightful little body.”

“So I am to leave here with you so I can become your w-whore?” she asked sadly.

Lukas was caught off guard. He had been obsessed with her from the moment he saw her, bathing in the river in a shift that revealed more than it hid. He knew then that he would do anything to have her, his mind tormented by thoughts of tasting her delightful little breasts and licking the honeyed channel between her thighs. Yet anything beyond the need to quench this all consuming desire to lay between her thighs had not occurred to him.

He saw the hurt in her eyes before she pushed past him, and he was too stunned to stop her.

“Audrey wait,” he called out, but the only was response was the sound of her hasty retreat as she disappeared into the maze.

~*~

Audrey kneeled before the altar, her head bowed, her palms pressed together beneath her chin.

She didn’t hear the approach of soft footsteps, her only warning that she was no longer alone was the light scent of lily water.

Her head rose in time to catch a fleeting smile on Beth’s face as she kneeled beside Audrey and crossed herself before the statute of the virgin Mary.

“You have been praying for hours, Audrey, long past the time for bed,” Beth murmured, smoothing a chestnut tendril behind Audrey‘s ear and brushing the backs of her fingers over the soft skin of her cheek. “Tell me what it is that torments you so.”

“Oh, Beth…,” Audrey began, feeling the tears she had tried so hard to keep at bay begin to well up. “I’ve been truly wicked.”

“Audrey, I find it hard to believe that you are ever that.”

She took a deep breath, her gaze hesitantly meeting Beth‘s inquiring one. “A man touched me. In the place forbidden by the nuns.”

“Oh, Audrey, is that what all this is about?” Beth asked gently. “Father Matthews loves you, just as he loves all of us. It’s not wicked for him to touch you, or for you to want him to touch you. It is merely our way at St. Helen’s to share God’s love.”

“No, no. You don’t understand. It wasn’t Father Mathews!”

“What!” Beth exclaimed, then hastily glanced around for signs of any listeners, but the chapel was empty, the nun’s having retired to their cells hours before. “Who?” she hissed in a low voice.

Audrey covered her face with her hands. “Please don‘t ask me that. Father Matthews is punishing me until I reveal to him a name. What is worse is that he suspects it to be one of the nun’s.”

Beth drew Audrey‘s hands away from her face and gazed deeply into the wide midnight blue eyes glittering with unshed tears. “Tell Father it was me. I will keep your secret.”

“Beth, I couldn’t,” Audrey gasped. “He would punish you too!”

“I am long used to his punishments, Audrey. And he would not beat me for long before he is distracted by other things.”

“No, Beth,” Audrey murmured, a tear trickling down her cheek. “I could never forgive myself if I lied to Father, and knowingly caused you pain.”

“This man who touched you. Do you love him?”

“I-I don’t know how I feel about him. But he doesn’t love me though. He just wants to – to put his thing between my thighs.” Audrey blushed.

“Did you let him?” Beth asked curiously.

“No. Well. Kind of.”

“Kind of?” Beth’s eyebrows raised.

Beth nodded guiltily. “It felt strange… and sort of nice.”

“Audrey, I think you were right not to tell Father Matthews about this. If he asks you again, please consider telling him it was me.”

“I cou-“

“Shh,” Beth murmured, pressing her finger against Audrey’s soft lips. “You are as yet unused to our ways, whereas I am. Father’s punishments are more demanding and thorough than anything you would ever have experienced at the hands of your old priest. But I beg of you, don‘t make your final decision now. Think about it, for tonight at least.”

Audrey gazed at her friend and slowly nodded.

“Good. Now we better return to our cells before Mother Superior catches us and paddles our behinds!”

Beth drew Audrey to her feet, and still holding her hand, accompanied Audrey back to her cell.

~*~

Louis watched Audrey shyly approach the desk, his eyes narrowing as they took in the sight of the exquisite little novice, noting the creamy skin and dark blue eyes, the tumble of silky chestnut curls. She was made for a man’s pleasure, demure and gentle, yet possessing an underlying sensuality that rocked him to the core.

It irritated him greatly that his questioning of the nuns had revealed no answers as to the identity of her seducer. One possibility, while unthinkable, taunted him. And necessitated what he was about to do.

“Come Audrey, do not prevaricate. Tell me the name of the person who dared to touch you?”

She bit her lip and shook her head miserably. She couldn’t lie, and stand by while Beth was punished for her falsehoods. Yet to tell the truth could only mean banishment from the Order, surely?

“Then remove your gown and shift.”

Audrey swallowed hard as she fumbled with the buttons of her habit. As the gown pooled at her feet, she fumbled with the ribbons of her shift before letting it too fall at her feet.

She stood before him, naked but for the constricting chastity belt, her rosy nipples peaking through the silky mass of chestnut waves, her face pink

Grey eyes moved over her, seeming to touch every inch of her. His hand moved from where it rested on the desk, revealing a tiny intricate silver key.

“Your insubordination is intolerable, Audrey. You know that your conduct forces me to punish you?”

Audrey nodded, her gaze dropping hastily to the floor. After several tense moments passed, she sensed him move, and felt the air around her stir as he moved to stand behind her. Warm fingers trailed along her collarbone, scooping up her hair and sweeping it so that it tumbled over one shoulder, exposing a small creamy breast with its pouting tip.

She shivered as he planted a gentle kiss on her shoulder, before his hands smoothed down her back to gently tug on the belt. She whimpered as she felt the tight constriction around her tiny hips ease. Warm hands drew the belt down over her bottom, slipping the silver warmed by her body’s heat down her soft thighs.

As the belt came to rest on her clothes, long fingers splayed over her belly, drawing her up against him so that she was fully aware of the growing hardness pressing against her bottom.

“Tell me the name, Audrey,” he breathed against her ear. Fingers trailed up her arm and gently circled a taut nipple, sending shivers coursing through her. She shook her head, the slightest of movements, and squirmed in his arms when he pinched the rosy tip, feeling the zing of pleasure and pain shoot between her thighs.

“Then I want you to bend over the desk with your elbows on its surface,” he commanded softly, gently pushing her toward it. She hesitated, gazing over her shoulder at him with wide troubled blue eyes. She couldn’t have known how much he enjoyed her resistance, making her eventual yet inevitable surrender that much the sweeter.

“Father, I-“

“Wilful disobedience is an unbecoming trait in a nun,” he advised her warningly, his steely grey eyes locked with hers. “Before I punish you, I want to examine your skin for any signs of chafing caused by the belt.”

“Oh,” she whispered, chewing on her bottom lip.

“That’s it,” he murmured as she did as she was bade. Her face heated at the thought of her creamy bottom exposed to his all-seeing gaze as she rested her weight on her forearms. Her body tensed as she felt the brush of his gown against her ankles.

“Wider,” he commanded, his fingers tapping against her inner thigh.

She inched her ankles further apart, biting back a moan of shame.

“Wider.”

Tears filled Audrey’s eyes as she forced her thighs almost painfully wide, until her belly came to rest on the desk’s cool surface.

“You are pink,” he murmured, a warm hand caressing her bottom. She gazed down at the polished surface of the desk, conscious of the rise and fall of her unfettered breasts as he stood silently behind her. He moved away, and returned with a small glass jar that he placed on the desk beside her hip.

“This will soothe the chaffing,” he said as he scooped up some of the substance and rubbed it between his palms. Audrey flinched as his hands settled high up on the backs of her thighs, before a soft sigh escaped her as firm hands began kneading the soothing cream into her tender flesh.

Audrey’s breasts jiggled with his strong circular movements, her head bowed, her breathing uneven. She bit her lip as his hands moved higher, his fingers digging into her bottom as he worked the cream into her soft skin.

He bit back a groan as the circular motions of his hands drew her cheeks apart, tantalising him with glimpses of the tiny rosebud nestled in their depths. She squirmed delightfully as his finger stroked her there, teasing the puckered little entrance. Time enough, he thought to himself as his fingers delved lower to caress her lush lips, discovering the dewy moisture gathered there with a groan of pleasure.

Audrey felt a wicked heat swirling between her thighs, and it took every ounce of control to remain still and not push back instinctively against the exploring fingers. Yet she couldn’t prevent herself from wiggling slightly as he stroked her bare lips and mound with tantalising softness, wanting, needing more.

The memory of Lukas pushing up inside of her, stretching her exquisitely, tormented her fevered mind until she was breathless and on edge, a helpless yearning filling her, almost drowning out the feelings of uncertainty and confusion that plagued her.

Her bottom quivered as the massage went on, soft whimpers and moans escaping her. She felt his warm breath gently blowing against her dewy heat, and almost slid bonelessly to the floor from the overwhelming need that swept through her.

“Tell me now, Audrey, and your punishment will end,” he murmured, his finger lightly tracing the valley between her pouting lips. Her only response to his gentle teasing was a soft moan. He chuckled softly.

Audrey arched as a finger probed her dewy gate, easing its way up inside of her tight pussy. She clenched down hard on the invading digit, her whole body a mass of quivering nerves.

As the finger began to glide in and out of her, generating an exquisite friction between her thighs, she began to protest weakly. Surely it must be sinful to experience such pleasure in the place the nuns had forbidden her to touch. “Please don’t,” she whimpered, and a gasp escaped her as Father Matthews slapped her bottom firmly.

He caught her upper arms and dragged her upright, the burning hard length of him pressing threateningly against her bottom.

“Do you seek to deny my right to punish you for your disobedience, and through me, God?” he demanded against her ear, his breathing uneven.

Tears flooded Audrey’s eyes as she felt him grind himself against her, and she shook her head desolately.

The breath caught in her throat as fingers trailed down over her belly and traced maddening circles on her bare mound. Her knees began to buckle as his fingers dipped lower, stroking the tender valley of flesh, and an arm around her waist caught her, anchoring her against him.

Moisture trickled between her thighs as his fingers toyed with her, and her head fell back against his chest, her breathing haywire, her nails scratching his forearms as she felt herself spiralling out of control.

She cried out as two fingers plunged up inside of her, the arch of her hips forcing her bottom to ride the hard pulsing flesh nestled against her bottom. He began to thrust his fingers inside of her, over and over, until she was pleading with him to end this torment.

“Kiss me,” he breathed, his lips trailing down over her temple and cheek as he sought her mouth. She turned her face toward his, and moaned beneath the heady onslaught of his mouth as his lips moved forcefully over hers.

She felt as though her body was on fire as his fingers rocked inside of her, her pussy squeezing down hard on his fingers and drawing a groan from him as the unbearable tension coiling low in her belly built to the point of unbearableness.

She whimpered in distress as his hand fell from between her thighs, her rippling pussy clutching at emptiness.

“Please,” she begged, feeling as though a mere brush of his fingers against her throbbing nub would send her toppling over the edge into the realm of ecstasy.

“Tell me,” he whispered against her swollen lips.

Tears of desperation filled her eyes, yet the words wouldn‘t come to her. She barely registered the hands circling her waist, turning and lifting her until she sat with her bottom on the edge of the desk.

She gazed up at him with wide midnight blue eyes as he gently guided her onto back, her hair spread out in a cloud beneath her. She lay, panting, dazed, her sweet features flushed, her arms sprawled out to the side. She offered no resistance as he drew her thighs apart, unable to murmur even a protest as his gaze lowered to feast on the glistening pink flesh between her thighs.

“Tell me how you feel, Audrey,” he commanded her, and she trembled as he moved to kneel between her parted thighs.

“Wicked,” she moaned, seeking to close her thighs against him, but he held them firmly apart with strong hands.

“Do you wish this wickedness to be drawn from you?” he enquired silkily, his hands stroking her inner thighs.

She nodded, quivering, fighting to bring her body’s weakness back under control.

“Then recite your prayers,” he ordered.

She did so, for what seemed like hours, her gaze fixed firmly on the ceiling as slowly the throbbing ache between her parted thighs began to abate. All the while his fingers traced lazy patterns on her trembling thighs, oh so close to the melting core of her.

She stumbled mid-sentence as fingers lightly brushed her glistening lips, sending trails of fire deep between her thighs.

Audrey’s eyes widened as she felt him draw her pouting lips abruptly apart, revealing the extent of her shame. Heat rocked through her as she felt cool air stir her dampness, before a soft firmness settled over her dewy core. Audrey tensed in alarm as she felt something probing in her folds, sliding over the wetness there, only to realise in dawning horror that it was his mouth exploring her.

She stiffened, and his fingers slapped her mound. “Did I tell you to stop your prayers?” he breathed against her, and she hastily continued, barely able to concentrate as quivers racked her.

The coiling, swirling tension low in her belly grew in intensity, undaunted by the words she quoted from the bible in an attempt to purge herself of the wickedness that seemed to overpower her mind and betray her flesh.

She knew she should tell him what he sought, to stop this punishment, yet she was lost to the delicious curls of excitement unfurling between her spread thighs as his tongue delved between her folds.

She was squirming, writhing, as she felt him probing her dewy gate, before surging up inside of her. His fingers dug into the tops of her thighs as he held her still as his tongue stabbed at her snug channel.

“Please,” she pleaded, shivering as his tongue swirled inside of her, her fingers raking along the desktop.

Audrey stiffened in bewilderment as a teasing finger slid along her glistening cleft to circle the tiny bud hidden there.

“No,” she moaned in distress as she realised his intent, yet he ignored her plea. A finger, liberally applied with cream, pressed against her there. She squirmed helplessly, the pleasure of his mouth dimming as the burning sensation grew. Slowly the tiny entrance began to yield and the tip of his finger slid inside of her.

“Open to me, Audrey. Accept God’s punishment,” he commanded, as his finger speared her relentlessly, sliding deeper inside of her clenched bottom as she arched against him.

Lightening flicked through her as his mouth applied a gentle sucking pressure on her throbbing nub, drawing gasping moans from her. She cried out as the ring of muscles gave way, and his finger surged up inside of her until she squeezed several inches of the invading digit.

“Oh, god,” she cried out, feeling herself quiver on the edge of a dark chasm as her bottom began to adjust to the shocking intrusion, her tight bottom clenching down hard on the finger as it thrust deep inside of her, seeking to expel it within her depths as she rippled and shuddered as tension built between her thighs.

She moaned as he withdrew from her, tears of frustration filling her eyes. He rose between her thighs, wiping his mouth on his sleeve as his gaze moved intently over her.

“Do you know what I’m about to do, Audrey?” he demanded huskily.

She squeezed her eyes shut, nodding shakily.

“Open your eyes. Tell me,” he commanded.

She blinked, her dark gaze slowly focusing on his. She had thought those grey eyes cold, yet they swirled with a burning intensity that both scared and excited her. “You – you’re going to push that hard thing between your thighs inside of me,” she whispered.

“Yes, Audrey. I’m going to pleasure your innocent body with my cock.”

She watched helplessly as he slowly removed his gown, his eyes never leaving her expressive face. She moistened her suddenly dry lips as her gaze flickered down over the muscular chest and flat belly to the thick shaft rising from its nest of curls.

Her eyes widened and she moaned in horror at the size of him. “No,” she whispered, trying weakly to climb up on her elbows, but a hand between her damp breasts forced her back down onto the desk.

“It will hurt at first, Audrey, and is fitting punishment for your disobedience. But soon you will enjoy the feel of me there, moving deep inside of you.”

She felt powerless to prevent him from drawing her legs up until her ankles hung over his shoulders. His fingers cupped her bottom, lifting her, and she moaned as she felt him sliding along her slick folds, seeking the dewy gate at her core. The head of him probed at her, until he lodged firmly against her tiny entrance.

“No,” she whispered helplessly, her body weak and flooded with pleasure, her hands pushing futilely against his flat belly.

She moaned as he pressed against her, instinctively squeezing her knees together against the feel of him slowly filling her.

“You have one last chance to avoid punishment, Audrey,” he groaned huskily, the tip of him sheathed in her snug channel.

She squirmed helplessly against him as he prodded threateningly against her there, wanting to confess her sins so this punishment would end, yet she was unable to form the words, her young body’s longing to experience the press of hard male flesh deep inside of her clouding her mind.

“So be it,” he said. His fingers dug into her hips as he begin to surge inside of her, forcing her painfully open to his invasion. Tears trickled down her cheeks as she felt herself stretched unbearably, her hips arching at the burning sensation of him sliding up inside of her. She whimpered as the movement only forced him deeper.

As he came to rest against her maidenhead, his gaze locked with hers, some semblance of reality returned. “I-” she began breathlessly. “It was L…”

“Shh,” he murmured huskily, his fingers closing over her mouth.

Relief washed through her as he began to withdraw from her, yet at the same time her traitorous body cried out for the feel of him sliding up deep inside of her.

She began to relax, but without warning he thrust powerfully into her, tearing through her virginity as he buried himself to the hilt inside of her and spearing her on his thick cock.

She screamed, her nails digging into his shoulders as pain shot up her spine. She gazed up at him in hurt disbelief, unwilling to move even the slightest for fear it would cause further pain.

“Please don‘t hurt me,” she implored him, her lashes fluttering close as she slowly adjusted to the burning fullness of him locked deep inside of her. What had she done? Through wicked disobedience, she had surrendered her purity and chastity, virtues that were sacrosanct to a nun.

She moaned as his slightest movement sent a quiver through her. “Stop,” she begged, her small hands pushing against his where they gripped her hips.

“Don’t fight me,” he groaned huskily, brushing her fingers away as his hand slid down over her belly. She whimpered as a finger slid between her dewy folds, teasing and caressing the nub nestled in their depths until she bucked and writhed on the hard length of him.

“Please don‘t do this,” she cried, and relief rushed through her as he began to finally ease from her, even as her body arched at the exquisite friction the movement caused between her thighs.

She cried out as he thrust back into her, forcing her tight pussy to accept him as he slid up deep inside of her. She tensed, but where before there had been a burning uncomfortableness, now there was only breathtaking pleasure.

He rotated his hips, drawing moans from both of them. She knew she could not let him continue her defilement, just as she knew that it would be a losing battle if she had to fight both him and the growing frenzy between her thighs.

She squeezed her eyes shut and pinched him on the arm. Hard.

He didn’t so much as flinch as he began to rock inside of her, driving the exquisite agony between her thighs to incredible heights.

As her fingers sought to grip the edge of the desk for lever her hand bumped against something solid. He began to take her with driving thrusts, forcing himself over and over into her tight pussy, and her trembling fingers clutched at the unseen object.

She was drowning in the flood of pleasure rippling out in waves from between her thighs as she raised the jar of cream, and brought it crashing against the side of his head. He staggered back from her, his heavy shaft wrenched from her tight pussy as his hand flew to his head, his gaze incredulous.

She was as shocked as he, yet the sight of her blood on his cock only spurred her on, and she slid from the desk on trembling legs.

“Audrey,” he muttered, his hand reaching out for her but she scampered sideways, and almost tripped as she scooped up her habit where it lay pooled on the floor. She clutched it to her breasts as she backed hastily away from him.

“Don’t – don’t touch me,” she murmured tearfully, unable to meet his steely gaze.

She bumped against the wall, and quickly turned and darted through the doorway.

Louis was stunned. The soft blow hardly caused more than a moment’s fleeting pain, yet this unexpected development made him pause.

He had known from the beginning that she was different from the others. Her innocence and naivety were unfeigned, yet her uninhibited responses to his exploring caresses was undeniable. Most if it not all the nuns tolerated his sexual demands, even enjoyed it to a great extent. Yet in Audrey Louis sensed a dormant sensuality that could easily match his own dark desires.

Louis had greatly underestimated the young novice’s strength of resolve and her commitment to a way of life that had been forced on her by circumstance. Yet this knowledge would not deter him from discovering a way to set her sensuality free.

And soon he would discover the name of the nun that had seduced her, and if need be, use them as a tool in overcoming Audrey’s senseless resistance.

Chapter 03

Audrey left the small chapel that evening long after prayers had ended. Still she had no answers for the confusion that plagued her. She had tried to erase the memory of what Father Matthews had done from her mind, but her body stirred at odd moments from the sensations his caresses had evoked.

“Audrey.”

Audrey stilled as the familiar, deep voice cut across her thoughts. She glimpsed Father Matthews over her shoulder, tall and intimidating as he pushed away from the stone wall and strode toward her. Steely grey eyes met her own troubled midnight blue ones. She swallowed hard as he came to stand before her, his cloak touching her hand. She gazed up at him, at the finely sculpted features, the inky black hair that looked as though it would curl if released from the queue.

Unbidden, the memory of him towering over her, thrusting into her, fluttered through her mind. The confusion and soreness, and for one startling moment, intense pleasure, as Father Matthews forced himself inside of her. It was the last that tormented her the most: that she had experienced shocking exquisiteness from an act forbidden to her.

“Father…” she began. Her thoughts were scattered by the brush of his thumb pad over the hollow at her throat. Fear and something else, something dark, bubbled within her, and she wanted to step back.

“I am greatly displeased with you, Audrey.”

“W-why?” This time she couldn’t help taking a step back at the cold implacability in those steely eyes. He followed her until she bumped up against the stone wall.

One palm planted itself against the wall next to her shoulder. His head dipped, and she turned her face away. She felt crowded, overwhelmed, feverish. Teeth nipped her earlobe.

“Don’t,” she whispered. Her lashes swept her cheek as seductive warmth leapt from his skin to hers from where he stood, barely an inch from her. “Please.”

His mouth glided down over the side her neck. His other fingers sunk into the chestnut curls at her nape as he tilted her head back. A shiver raced through her. “Do not deny me God’s will,” he whispered hotly against her damp skin.

“I – I made solemn vows of purity and chastity, I can’t…” A large hand cupped her small breast with its hardening tip. Her fingers clutched at his cloak as she fought to keep her knees from buckling beneath her.

“You made these vows to God. And it is in His name I act upon them. Your obedience is owed to me, and through me, to God. Perhaps herein lies the roots of your old Mother Superior’s concerns about your suitability of becoming a nun.”

Shock raced through her as her dazed blue eyes flew open. “What – what are you saying?” She bit her lip as his thumb toyed with the taut crest, sending frissons arrowing down between her thighs. A betraying whimper escaped her as he pinched the tip painfully.

“You old Mother Superior sent you here to demonstrate your worthiness of becoming a nun, Audrey. Are you capable of doing this?”

“H-how do you mean?” But she knew. The tenderness between her thighs where he had stolen her virginity throbbed in reminder.

“You must show your love for God, both spiritually and physically. You must allow me to cherish your body, and accept my member between your thighs. Only in this way will you become a true Bride of God.”

“But…it can’t be!” Her old Mother Superior had never spoken of this duty. Audrey imagined the round, elderly priest who had always been a father to her. She could not prevent a shudder at the thought of his heaviness on top of her, doing those wicked things Father had done.

“Bodily love between God and his children is the purest form of expressing devotion. You will find our ways here are much closer to what God intended.” He leaned against her, the shocking hardness stirring against her belly doing strange things to her. A hand glided down to caress her bottom. The movement caused her to arch unwilling against him.

His fingers followed the path of her cleft until they rubbed against her most secret place through cloth. Her flesh tingled, and she was tormented by the memory of his shaft moving hurtfully inside of her. A soft moan escaped her as she squeezed her thighs together.

Fingers tangled in the skirt of her habit, drawing it up over her knees. Her breathing was uneven as her small fists pushed against his chest. Yet his hand slid inexorably up her inner thigh. She moaned as the tips of his fingers stroked the sensitive flesh at their apex bereft of their protective curls. He coaxed her velvety lips apart and found the hidden jewel between them. Pleasure whispered through her. Her traitorous body arched into his hand. Even as she pushed at Father Matthew’s chest, his finger probed her tender nub.

“Please…” she breathed.

“Tell me what you want, novice.” he murmured against her ear. She rose up on her tip toes as his finger pressed against her, before gently massaging her in tiny circles. Her head fell back against the wall, her breasts rising and falling.

“I …” His finger teased and caressed her silken warmth. Tingles ran up the backs of her thighs, gathering between them. His mouth caught hers, teasing her lips apart.

“No!” Her wide eyes met his stunned ones for an instant before she twisted from his grasp. She backed away from him, before turning and fleeing on trembling legs.

Louis bit back a frustrated oath, allowing her to leave. Again. He had realised too late the day before that Audrey’s mind was as innocent as her sweet body when his shaft breeched her. Yet the damage did not seem irrevocable, for her natural sensuality rose easily at his touch.

Soon Audrey would yield to him fully, that much the richer for her earlier opposition. That she did not enjoy her first rites would soon be forgotten once he introduced her fully to the pleasures that awaited her as a novice at St Helen’s. But this waiting gave him little comfort. He had been forced to exhaust his lust on young Beth, the memory never leaving him of the bewildered look on Audrey’s sweet face as he stole her innocence.

Louis planned to handle Audrey’s seduction more delicately in order to overcome her resistance borne of her faith. When he finally spilled his seed in her, she would not struggle, but welcome him. Until then, Louis would have to accede to Margaret’s experience in dealing with the young novices in her care and opening their minds up to the pleasures of the flesh. For now.

~*~

Audrey was washing dishes after the remains of the morning meal when Mother Superior came to the kitchens. Her stern gaze settled on Audrey. “Come with me, novice.”

Mother abruptly turned without waiting for an answer and strode along the narrow hall. Audrey followed uncertainly at Mother’s curtness. The tense silence was only broken when they reached Mother’s chamber. Audrey was commanded to sit, and she did so, trying not to be obvious as she glanced curiously around her. The chamber was sparsely furnished, as befitting a nun, but what furniture there was, was heavy and ornate, hinting at a wealthy background. A large, mahogany desk sat beneath the arched windows, nibs and an inkpot resting upon it.

“Audrey,” Mother spoke sharply, and Audrey’s head swung back to Mother where she had seated herself across from her. “Your behaviour of late concerns me greatly. Answer me truthfully: have you yielded your body to Father Matthew?”

Audrey blushed, her gaze dropping to her lap where her entwined hands rested. “I am no longer a virgin,” she admitted shamefully.

“That is not what I ask, yet it is an answer in itself. Either your old mother has been remiss in her teachings, Audrey, or you fail to comprehend what is expected of you as a novice. Which is it?”

Audrey’s gaze flew to Mother’s in horror, unable to answer. Then it was true? Mother gazed back at her impassively, before rising and turning to face the window.

“If I called Father Matthew’s to my chamber, would you allow him to love your young body as God wills, novice?”

Again, Audrey could not answer. Was it not sinful, but instead a ritual she was expected to perform in order to demonstrate her love of God? Confusion, fear and excitement warred within her.

“It is as I thought.” The disappointment so evident in her tone made Audrey squirm. “You are beneath my care, Audrey, and it would be remiss of me not to punish you for failing His teachings.”

“Punishment?” Audrey’s eyes widened.

“Your willful disobedience cannot continue, Audrey. You must relinquish your body fully to Father Matthew’s demands, and only in this way become a true Bride of God. Get me my brush from my armoire,” Mother commanded, turning to face her.

Audrey lurched nervously to her feet and went to the armoire where the wooden brush rested. Her trembling fingers closed over the smooth brush with its wide flat head. Soft bristles teased her fingers as she placed the handle of the brush in Mother’s outstretched palm, eyes lowered. Her thoughts were a whirl of confusion. Was her resistance to Father Matthew wrong?

“Get on your hands and knees on the tea chest.” Audrey looked to the low chest nervously, finding it suddenly hard to breathe. At Mother’s frown, Audrey did as she was bade. Slowly, awkwardly, she first knelt on the chest and then placed her hands on the cool wood. She held her breath as Mother walked slowly around her before coming to stand at her feet. Audrey was unprepared for the rush of cool air on her limbs as her heavy skirts were flipped over on her back, baring her quivering bottom and thighs. Audrey belatedly brought her knees together to hide her soft flesh shorn of its thatch of curls, her face pink.

“No, spread them apart.” A soft whimper escaped Audrey as fingers tapped her inner thigh. “That’s it, wider.”

Audrey held herself stiffly, her face burning with humiliation at the impossibly open position. The habit was loose, its front drooping to lie on the chest. Audrey knew Mother could see her pale belly and breasts. Audrey flinched slightly as fingers smoothed over her bottom, before lightly pinching her.

When it came, Audrey was unprepared for the flat of the brush smacking her bottom soundly. She bit off a scream. She had barely caught her breath before another blow landed, and another. Never before had another raised a hand to her, let alone spanked her bare bottom.

Audrey squirmed and wriggled beneath the rain of blows, but it was no use. The strike of the brush seemed to instinctively follow her movements, its sound as it connected with her flesh tormenting her.

“Please stop, I…oh please!” Tears trickled down Audrey’s cheeks. Yet the torture only became worse as the brush began to smack her mound, forcing gasps from her throat. Her sex began to tingle and warm as the shocking blows danced over her most tender flesh.

“I will now cleanse you, Audrey. But before that, you will make me a vow.” Every word was punctuated with a dull smack that made her flesh quiver. “You must take a vow of silence in order to consider your sins. Swear to me, Audrey.”

Audrey knew she would say anything to prevent the mortifying punishment from continuing as heat seeped from between her thighs. “I swear a vow of silence to God. Should I break it, so must I be punished.”

To Audrey’s eternal gratefulness, the physical punishment ceased. She had heard of nuns punished by silence before. Those nuns had been consigned to a lonely existence, unable to speak for weeks, sometimes months on end for their disobedience. One had even declined until she no longer partook of sustenance. Audrey had to choke back a whimper.

“Good, Novice. You will obey this vow until such time as I release you.”

Audrey listened as Mother moved around the small chamber, her pink flesh smarting. From between silky strands that had come free from her plait, she saw Mother place a large porcelain bowl on the chair beside the chest. Mother then poured water from the pitcher into the bowl, before disappearing from view. She returned and squeezed drops from a tiny glass bottle with a little stopper. A familiar scent teased Audrey’s nostrils. Lavender flowers.

When Mother dipped a soft cloth in the scented water and laid it across Audrey’s pink bottom, it was blessed relief. Then soft fingers began to massage her sore flesh through the cooling cloth. Audrey’s limbs began to melt. The cloth was removed, dipped in cool water, before gently glided over her abused flesh in circular patterns. Audrey’s eyes widened when she felt the damp cloth dip down along the valley of her nether lips.

Again the cloth was removed, only to return to stroke at the throbbing nub nestled between her soft folds that seemed to fascinate Father Matthews. Audrey’s breathing turned shallow as she fought to keep still beneath Mother’s administrations. Humiliation burned through her as she felt writhing heat grow low in her belly. Mother’s fingers caressed her thrumming flesh, making Audrey’s back arch.

Still Mother continued, her fingers stroking back and forth along her cleft in shocking intimacy. A shudder raced through Audrey as the fingers wrapped in cloth came to rest against her dewy gate. No! Yet a finger pushed against her, forcing her tight walls to part against its invasion as it eased up inside of her. Mother’s whispered words as she chanted the purification and obedience rituals barely registered. The finger slid deep within her channel, stroking, searching. Audrey gasped as it discovered a sensitive spot. The finger rubbed it over and over, and Audrey bit her lip as she struggled to contain the overwhelming sensations building between her spread thighs. She felt as though she quivered on the edge of a tremendous peak, her every nerve ending alive. Audrey could have wept when the finger withdrew.

Margaret couldn’t help but be moved by the young girl’s distress as she came to stand before her. A gentle finger beneath Audrey’s chin lifted her exquisite face, pink and wet with tears. It had been a long time since Margaret had found herself so aroused by these games, and she struggled not to order the young novice to kneel before her and lick her own wet cleft. She could see why Louis was enamoured of the girl, more so than he possibly realised. The mixture of submissiveness, stubborness and wanton innocence would be an irresistible temptation to one with his controlling nature.

“You must go now, and think upon what I have said. You will find it will not be so terrible to have Father Matthews teach your young body the ways of worship. It is only in this way that can you demonstrate your suitability of becoming a nun, and take the final steps.”

Audrey swiftly tugged down her habit and scrambled from the chest. She curtseyed before Mother and quickly departed. The unsettling dampness between her thighs plagued her swift flight.

~*~

That night, Audrey tossed and turned on the narrow pallet, her chemise tangling around her thighs. Her dreams were scattered, her body hot and feverish, a strange, pulsing heaviness between her thighs.

Part of her wished she could go back to the time before she had arrived at St Helen’s. Everything had seemed so simple then. She had wanted nothing more than to raise orphaned children like herself, to cherish them with her love. She still wanted that. But something inside of her seemed to be growing, becoming louder, expressing a curiosity and wonderment about the intimate way in which a man fit inside a woman.

Father’s words about her suitability came back to her, and so to the image of him and Beth on the pagan altar. Had her old Mother Superior refused to allow Audrey to take her vows to become a nun because she unknowingly failed to give herself to the old Priest?

She remembered the feel of hard flesh moving inside of her, causing a strange thrill between her thighs. Then the memory of Lukas took over, until her skin felt hot and her nipples pinched. No! She pushed the wicked thoughts of the handsome stranger aside. She must forget him if she wanted to belong here.

Yet worry gnawed at her insides. Was her failure to give herself to Father Matthews due entirely to fear and uncertainty? Hard as she tried, she could not eradicate thoughts of Lukas from her mind. The wicked things he had done to her in the forest, teasing her nether lips with his manroot, the way he licked her nipples. Audrey groaned, curling up into a tight ball.

Finally Audrey could take it no longer. She scrambled from her pallet and padded silently down the hall. Pushing open the door, she slipped into the welcoming darkness and let cool air wash over her heated skin. Sleep would be long in coming.

~*~

Audrey waited patiently outside of Mother’s chambers the following morning after prayers until she was called upon.

She was no closer to overcoming the confusion that held her. Thoughts of Father and Lukas had become intertwined, until she wanted nothing more than to flee St Helens and return to the safety of St Agatha’s. But to do so before her year at St Helen’s was complete meant that her old Mother would not accept her vow to become a nun.

“Audrey!”

Straightening her shoulders, Audrey pushed open the door with trembling fingers and moved silently into the chamber. Following Mother’s pointed finger, Audrey knelt on the chest in the middle of the chamber.

Again her skirt was drawn up over her bottom to rest over the small of her back.

“Knees as wide as you can.” Audrey’s face flamed as her creamy inner thighs and bare mound were revealed to the older woman. Hands pressed on her back, forcing her into a shameless arch. She felt vulnerable and open as she waited dutifully for her punishment.

She bit her lip as Mother wrapped a scarf over her eyes and tied it in a firm knot at the back of her head. A tremour raced through her, and she struggled to get enough air in her lungs.

“Do not be frightened, Audrey. I seek to open your eyes to the light, to banish the confusion and darkness inside of you. Will you allow me to give you a taste of the light?”

Slowly Audrey nodded, struggling to dampen her uncertainty. She relaxed slightly as she heard Mother move away from her. She could see nothing, and in some way it was strangely comforting.

A quiver raced through her as she felt Mother behind her. She was close, so close to the heart of her that Audrey could feel her warm breath on her flesh. Audrey tensed as hands rested on the inside of her knees, pushing them wider until she ached with the strain.

Audrey silently prayed this would end before she did something to disgrace herself. She felt the tickling caress of Mother’s fingers along her inner thigh, and was unable to control the quiver racing through her. She felt thumbs lightly rub her pink lips, and it took all of Audrey’s control not to push insistently against them. It was then that she recognised the danger of the blindfold; every part of her being was focused on what was happening between her legs.

Heat swept through Audrey, consuming her as the fingers held her nether lips wide and teased the throbbing nub between. Her toes curled as the exploring fingers stroked her molten flesh, drawing soft gasps from her and making her squirm. Soon the feverishly dry skin of her sex became dewy with intoxicating sweetness.

She almost bucked off the chest as something warm and insidious slid along her pink valley. Audrey strained against the pulsing frenzy between her thighs, trying to control the sensations washing through her at the wickedness of mother’s mouth against her. The intensity of sensation seemed magnified a thousand fold by the darkness that enclosed her. Need for something more burned through her as the tiny darting weapon lashed at her. Her toes curled, small moans escaped her parted lips. Waves of pleasure lapped at her, dragging her deeper into a whirling pool of sensation. Her fingers clutched at the edge of the chest as she felt she would burst.

Her body went limp from frustration when Mother rose from between her thighs and slipped off the blind fold. Vaguely she heard Mother’s “Open your eyes, novice” and Audrey compelled herself to obey. She blinked several times against the light before, her dazed eyes taking in the sparse chamber as reality returned. Her knees snapped together.

“Answer me thusly, Novice. Are you ready to open yourself to Father’s Matthew’s member and become a true Bride of God?”

Her chest felt as though a fist clamped it. Fear and heat spiraled through her. Fear won out. Jerkily she shook her head.

Mother leaned over, gently drawing Audrey to her knees. Audrey was unprepared when Mother kissed her parted lips as she smoothed her habit down of her hips. She could taste herself on the other woman’s soft lips. Shock held her frozen. Mother said softly “you may go now.”

Audrey struggled to her feet on trembling legs. Need raged between her thighs, a heady, throbbing craving that ate away at her. Audrey moved across the chamber, unable to meet Mother’s gaze as she brushed hurriedly past her.

She almost ran into Father in the hall outside. He caught her wrist as she went to slide past him, dragging her to a halt. Slowly her eyes lifted to his. “Soon”, they seemed to say, before he released her. She stumbled down the hall and out into the sunshine.

~*~

“Come, Audrey.”

Butterfly wings tormented Audrey’s belly as she entered Father’s chamber. The scrap of parchment Beth had handed her at the morning meal had felt like a stone in her pocket as she waited until after prayers. Her emotions wavered between fear that he would try to put his hardness inside of her again, and curiosity about the way it would feel if he did.

As she pushed open the door, relief swarmed over her as she spied her friend. Beth knelt praying before Father Matthew’s beneath the arch windows made up of a kaleidoscope of colours. Beth rose and crossed to Audrey and caught her hands as Father turned towards them. She didn’t notice the other novice’s swollen lips or rumpled habit. Leaning forward, Beth lightly kissed her on the corner of her mouth before whispering “It will not be so terribly bad, you’ll see.” Audrey searched her friend’s pretty face, seeking reassurance. Beth squeezed her hands once more before leaving. It felt as though a weight pressed down on her chest as Beth closed the door silently behind her.

“Mother has told me of your concerning lack of progress, novice.” Father’s words cut through her, drawing her apprehensive gaze to him. Audrey swallowed hard, her eyes locking with steely grey ones. He moved to lean against the edge of the desk, his arms crossing over his broad chest. “Remove your habit.”

Audrey bit her lip. Taking a deep breath, she reached for the ties at the back at her neck. Her fingers fumbled with them, before the black cloth pooled at her feet. An unsettling warmth grew between her thighs as he merely looked at her in her wispy chemise.

“Closer.” He motioned with a curl of his finger. She stepped gracefully from her pile of clothes and walked to him, lashes lowered. When she stopped an arm span away he caught her wrist and dragged her closer until she stood with her knees nestled between his. Without warning he caught the hem of her chemise and dragged it up over her head, his warm fingers trailing over her flesh.

“Your continued defiance of our ways leads me to question mother’s form of punishments.”

Breathing became a struggle. She felt his gaze on her, touching her small, high breasts, her belly, her mound.

“Mother tells me of your wetness, here, when she punishes you.” Two fingers rested lightly against her mons. Her blushes deepened, turning her breasts pink. “She believes that this may be the cause of your problem.”

Audrey felt as though she would expire on the spot from humiliation. She didn’t know where to look.

“Do you like Mother Superior’s punishments, novice?” he queried softly, dangerously. He tugged on the ribbon holding her loose plait. Her hair unraveled down her back and he caught a lock, drawing it tight against her throat. “No answer? Then I will have to discover the truth for myself.”

Audrey quivered. Father abruptly rose, the movement bumping her back. The momentary sensation of his clothed body pressed fully against hers imprinted itself on her. Fingers slid around her waist, turning her as he moved. He caught her gazing longingly at the door. “You will soon learn to submit willingly to my punishments, Audrey,” he promised her, cupping her face as he pressed his lips against her forehead.

With a firm pinch of her nipple, he left her to stride around the desk. She watched with trepidation as he opened the top drawer of the desk and withdrew a short leather riding crop. She frowned, wondering at his purpose. He wouldn’t…surely?

His eyebrow rose at her worried glance. “You will also find that I am not as merciful in my punishment’s as mother is.”

Her wide midnight eyes were locked on his face as he lifted the tip with its soft leather tongue and gently traced it along her collar bone from shoulder to shoulder. He glided it down between the valley of her breasts. Audrey quivered at this unknown wickedness. She felt that betraying throb between her thighs as he feathered her nipple until it pouted, and squeezed her eyes shut.

Thwapp!

Her eyes flew open at the sound of the crop slapping the top of the desk. Audrey imagined the feel of the crop against her tender flesh. Oh!

“Bend over for me, Audrey.” At her blank look, he had to firmly guide her so that she stood with her legs awkwardly spread apart, her back arched, her arms stretched and holding onto the edge of the desk for balance. He stood behind her so that her bottom was pushed back into the cradle of his body.

“It gives me little pleasure to punish you Audrey,” Father lied. Louis was intrigued by her obedience to his direct orders, yet stubborn when it came to yielding what he wanted most. Her complete submission.

His hand slid down over her hip to rest against her belly. Soon, he told himself. Her long, heavy chestnut hair was kinked from her plait and spilled over the creamy column of her back. He swept it aside with the tip of the crop, and felt her shiver.

“I have long used a crop to instruct disobedient nuns, and have never been disappointed. You wouldn’t wish to disappoint me, Audrey?”

Audrey struggled to comprehend how she found herself in this position. The feel of the tender yet menacing crop kissing her skin as it trailed down her spine made chills blossom and her rosy nipples peak. She squirmed against him, feeling the potent hardness of him resting against her most intimate place.

Audrey could feel his strength in the way it touched her. Then he moved back from her, his warmth suddenly gone. It was soon replaced by the tongue of the crop sliding from the small of her back down to the follow the path of her secret cleft. Audrey whimpered as the tip discovered her secret shame. The tip swirled in her dewy heat, before following the line of her inner thigh. He tickled down along her leg and over the back of her knee until she wiggled.

It was only as she felt a sharp sting against her bottom like an explosion of light that she realized what that betraying hiss was. Tears trembled on her lashes as she rose up on her toes. Even before the pain subsided, there was another blow, and another, until she counted four blows. Audrey gasped, her knees threatening to buckle beneath her as she struggled to cope with this unknown punishment.

She felt his gentle hand again caressing her and bringing a strange relief. The heat blossomed, pooling in her fluttering sheath. She caught her breath on a sob as a wicked fire licked at her until she was trembling with a need for something dark.

Without a word the crop whistled through the air until it flicked the tender lips of her sex. Audrey arched, her fingers gripping the desk for dear life. Each stroke across her mound and bottom only fanned the heat between her thighs.

She knew then that she hated Father Matthews. That he could punish her so wickedly, and make her body ache and burn for something she didn’t want, something she didn’t understand.

As if sensing her capitulation, his fingers cupped her. A thumb delved to find the throbbing part of her that seemed to drown out every other thought. Need snaked in her belly, making her burn in humiliation. When he began to move his finger in circular motions, her pink bottom wiggled shamelessly as soft whimpers escaped her.

Louis ached with the need to seat her on the desk on her sore bottom and thrust himself deep in her tightness. Yet he wanted more. He wanted her to beg and plead for him to take what she had denied him, yielding her soft warmth to his every demand.

He forced himself to stand back from her and turned and placed the riding crop away. He found he closed the drawer with more force than needed.

His eyes met his novice’s, hardening at the sight of those wide innocent eyes surrounded by spiky lashes. He drew his eyes away from the pink nipples the peaking at him through long strands of chestnut hair tumbling over her shoulders. He fought off the male desire to conquer, to take. “I will discuss alternative punishments with Mother Superior on the morrow. You are excused.”

~*~

Audrey rose before dawn the following morning and silently made her way to the stream before the others woke. Letting her habit and shift pool at her feet, she waded into the crystal clear stream.

The soft fingers of the early dawn light gleamed on her naked flesh as the water rose up over her ankles and knees. Her nipples tightened and a shiver raced through her as the water clung to her thighs and hips with an intimacy that made her gasp. Taking a deep breath, she dived beneath the surface. Kicking out, she swam toward the beckoning waterfall.

Her feet touched the pebbled bottom and she rose beneath the deafening falls, sweeping back her long chestnut mane. Her face lifted to the spray, feeling its cleansing strength wash away her troubled thoughts. The water bubbled and frothed about her thighs as she stood in its cool embrace, rivulets racing down over her firm breasts and belly. Lost beneath the pounding water, she let its coolness calm her fevered skin. Her secret place pulsed, craving the feel of swollen flesh filling her.

Audrey remembered the feel of Lukas’s warm mouth on her tender nipples as his fingers had explored her beneath her shift, and her body clenched. Even as she thought of Lukas she imagined the feel of his hands circling her waist and drawing her back against his solid chest; his mouth against her neck as warm hands glided up to cup her tiny swells.

Oh! Would this torment of the flesh never end? There was nothing she wanted more than to raise young orphans and cherish them with her love. Yet her body ached to be taken, to experience the pleasure she had glimpsed on Beth’s face in the grove.

Would her fear of Father come to an end if she gave herself to him as he wanted? Perhaps. Would it would be so hard to bear this duty if she could care for the children at St Agatha’s? With so many nuns beneath his care, Father Matthews would surely only seek her out perhaps once, maybe twice before she returned to St Agatha’s.

Her path settled, Audrey swam calmly toward the bank and rose from the cool water. She shivered, crossing her arms over her belly as she moved toward the rocks where she had left her habit. The sound of leaves crushing under foot drew her startled attention, and she turned, her wet hair flying.

“Lukas,” she breathed. The rising sun was behind him, so that she couldn’t read his expression. But his intent was clear as his hand captured her wrist and drew her up hard against his chest. His familiar scent enveloped her, soap and something uniquely male. The fine cloth of coat and trousers teased at her wet flesh. His head lowered, his mouth settled over hers. She shivered as large palms slid up over her bare arms and shoulders to gently cup her face.

“Tell me your name. I want to hear it from your own lips,” he whispered against her mouth. His warm breath fanned her face. How long had he watched her?

He shifted against her so that she stood between his thighs, surrounding her wet, trembling body with his muscular warmth. Yearning heat quivered low in her belly, spreading. This was wrong, oh so wrong. Yet something held her captive, a burning need, a curiosity. Her hands lifted to his chest of their own accord, fingers splaying tentatively the fine linen cloth, feeling the firm flesh beneath. “Audrey,” she whispered shyly.

“Sweet Audrey.” A shuddery sigh escaped her as his mouth caught hers, softly tasting her. He pressed tiny, coaxing kisses against her mouth, his fingers tangling in her wet mane. Audrey squirmed against the hard, throbbing flesh cuddled against her belly. She remembered the exquisite pleasure she had felt at his caresses, of the tip of him nestled against her gate, so removed from the pain of Father’s forceful entry. And God help her, she wanted to experience that again.

Shocked by her own thoughts, she stepped back from him. Belatedly she pressed a hand over her breasts and cupped her mound as she tried to maintain her modesty. He gazed down at her, the intensity in those silvery eyes making her tingle and warm.

“This is wrong,” she whispered. Only then did she remember her vow. How did Lukas do this to her, make her forget her dutyso easily?

“No.” Her eyes widened at his flat denial. “I want to show you what it can be like at my side, Audrey.” He tucked a wet strand behind her ear. “That there is a world beyond these walls. Will you let me?”

“I – I can’t.”

“Then you leave me little choice, sweet Audrey.” She cried out as he picked her up, scooping her over his shoulder. His hand splayed possessively over her bottom as he strode along the river bank. Her eyes flew over the bank for her habit, but it was nowhere to be found.

Audrey squirmed in his grasp, her flesh wet and slippery, yet he held her firm. She didn’t know how long he carried her before he slid her to her feet. With his hands about her waist he lifted her onto a waiting stallion and quickly swung up behind her.

“Lukas, you can’t do this. I am indecent!” she cried, struggling against the leather pommel that dug into her mound. He kissed her ear, his arm anchoring about her waist.

“There is no one to see but me,” he murmured. He tweaked a pouting nipple, making her squirm. Without warning he set off at a gallop. The pommel pressed against her softness as she struggled, stirring unwanted sensations as they moved deeper through the forest.

“You cannot fight what is between us.” He kissed her shoulder, his tongue swirling over her skin. Fingers pinched and teased her tender nipples. The hardness of his shaft pressed against her bottom was undisguisable.

“No,” she whispered weakly, surrounded by the heat and scent of him. “You must take me back before they discover me missing.”

“I will not let you go,” he muttered against her damp skin. She turned her face up to his and he stole a brief kiss. Lukas’s breath caught at the vulnerability and fear in her deep blue eyes. She was soft and fragile, and he did not regret stealing her away from his brother. “I won’t make the same mistake twice.”

Chapter 04

Hooves pounded the earth as Audrey’s arm curled about Lukas waist, her glistening breasts pressed against his chest and dampening the fine lawn of his shirt. She sat across his taut thighs, extremely conscious of the muscled warmth upon which her bare bottom was nestled.

Long wisps of her wet hair lashed at the arm and face of her captor as he held her to him, the folds of his cloak covering her nakedness. His arm wrapped tightly about her tiny waist, his wicked hand slipping beneath the cloak to splay intimately between their bodies in a V that cradled her breast.

The horse beneath them traversed a hasty path along the river bank in the opposite direction of the convent. Her body rose and fell against Lukas with the rhythm of the horse’s strides, conscious of the friction of his clothes against her skin. His warmth and scent surrounded her, as much as prison to resist as the physical strength holding her possessively.

“Lukas, please, this is madness. You must return me to the convent.” Her head was cradled against his shoulder, her head tipping back to gaze up at his.

“Not madness, sweet Audrey. Sanity.” He didn’t glance down at her, merely tightened his hold about her waist.

What sanity was it that Audrey found herself naked atop a horse, having been stolen from the stream by the convent? If she were discovered alone with Lukas like this, she would never be permitted to become a nun. Audrey would be punished, and worse, shunned. And Father Matthews…

Something fat, brown and furry popped from beneath a bed of leaves, grunting and snuffling. The horse skittered and bucked beneath them, rearing up onto its hind feet. Audrey screamed, feeling herself sliding. Captive arms tightened about her, dragging her sideways. She felt herself falling in a tangle of arms and legs. Then the solid earth rose up to greet them hardily.

Lukas grunted, half beneath her, half behind her. Pain shot through her as Lukas’s arms slackened about her. Audrey lay still, dragging in much needed air, her eyes blinded by her hair and leaves. She gingerly rolled to her side facing away from Lukas.

The horse streaked away, disappearing into the forest as Audrey slowly sat up, cradling her tender wrist. Her ribs felt sore from where Lukas had squeezed her to him, hurting with each breath.

She gazed down at the outstretched palm of her abductor laying near her hip. Something about its stillness and the silence alerted her. Audrey peeked back over her shoulder, and gasped. Lukas lay unmoving on the grass, his face slack and pale.

Every instinct urged her to run, now, while Lukas lay unconscious. But Audrey was a novice first, a woman second. She could not leave an injured man untended. Twisting to kneel at his side, her gaze flickered urgently down over the broad shoulders and chest covered by slightly damp fine white linen, yet no injury was revealed to her. His long legs, molded by grey breeches, were sprawled out but not misshapen or bloodied.

“Lukas?” There was no response. She leaned over him, her small hands lightly shaking his shoulders, ignoring the pain it caused her. “Lukas?” Audrey swallowed hard, alarm sweeping over her. She gazed searchingly down at his silent, unguarded face, taking in the dark lashes resting against tanned cheeks, the parted lips that had drawn from her an unexpected need.

She cupped his face, lightly patting his cheeks with her fingers. “Lukas,” she whispered, and didn’t know why she was whispering. It was unearthly quiet besides the heavy drum of the waterfall in the distance beyond several bends in the river.

A soft male groan was his only response. “Lukas,” she murmured, cradling his jaw. Dark lashes flickered, before revealing cloudy gray eyes. He tried to smile as his hand tangled in her long chestnut hair, drawing her face down dangerously close to his.

“Sweet Angel,” he murmured before his lips tried to catch hers. Daring fingers brushed against her bare breast. Audrey didn’t move for fear of causing Lukas further injury. A thumb feathered across her pink nipple, and she bit her lip as it tingled and tightened. The pressure of his hand on the back of her head grew, and she covered his waiting lips with her hand.

“You must stop. You can’t touch me this way. It is forbidden.”

The hand cupping her breast tightened, before relaxing and sweeping down to rest at her waist. “I will not stop this time, Audrey. I will not allow you to go on hiding behind the strictures of your convent and deny what lies between us.”

She was unprepared for his strength drawing her across his body, one arm on the small of her back pinning her on top of him. The other swept her silken mane back from her heart-shaped face as she gazed down at him in vexation.

She writhed on him, her thighs falling to straddle one of his own as she sought to wiggle free. She froze atop him when he groaned, seemingly in pain. “Lukas? Are you hurt?” No longer resisting him, she became distinctly conscious of the hard bed of warmth she lay upon.

His hand swept down from nape to cup her bottom as his thigh rose between hers. The feel of him pressing firm against her there while the evidence of his masculinity was nestled against her thigh was making her throb in tumultuous aggravation. She couldn’t prevent the anxious squirm against him that only seemed to make matters worse.

His lips quirked. “A searing agony, my sweet novice, that has haunted me since that night in the clearing.” Relief warred with exasperation.

“I – Lukas, please, you must end this.” A wicked finger traced maddening circles over her soft flesh of her bottom. She bit her lip, suddenly finding it hard to breath. She knew she must rise from him, push away the hand firm on the small of her back. Yet something besides his hold on her held her caught in the tension between them.

Had she not secretly imagined being close to him, touching him? His stolen kisses and caresses had tormented her waking and sleeping moments, their wicked sweetness so different from the dark submission demanded from her by Father Matthews. Even knowing that Lukas merely amused himself with her did little to abate the overwhelming sensations the mere sight of him wrought within her.

“I am going to kiss you.” Audrey blushed at the guilty flare of pleasure those words brought her. Lips settled over her sensitive flesh just below her ear, tasting, teasing, before skimming down to the hollow of her throat.

“Then will you let me go?” she whispered, moistening her dry lips. She felt him shake his head. Audrey swallowed hard. His hands slid up to hook beneath her underarms. He righted her so she sat straddled upon his hips. Her hands swiftly rose to cover her breasts, her cheeks warming at his heated gaze.

His upper body rose from the bank and he kissed the back of each of her palms before gently peeling her small hands away. He drew them behind her back to hold in his larger one. He gazed upon the thrust of her breasts with their rosy crowns, rising and falling with her quickened breathing.

“I am going to touch you.” One hand cupped her breast, stroking the puckering tip with his thumb. She gazed down at his hand on her flesh, so dark against her paleness. She was mesmerised by the teasing caress that generated exquisite tingles between her thighs.

“Once you have touched me…you will release me?” she breathed.

Audrey bit back a moan as his mouth closed about her nipple, sucking and nipping. Her head fell back, her eyes closing as she struggled to maintain reason. He nuzzled her tender breasts until she was felt feverish and oddly expectant. She mewed in distress when his mouth relinquished her breasts. His hand fell from hers.

“Stand up.” He was letting her go? His hands on her hips helped her to her feet so that she towered over his dark head in bemusement. In a smooth action he was kneeling before her, his hands sliding around to squeeze her bottom. His mouth pressed soft kisses on her belly, down her hip, her inner thigh.

Her hands caught his shoulders for balance, shocked at this blatant intimacy.

When his mouth trailed higher, Audrey’s thoughts became scattered. With a squeak of surprise when his face and nose nuzzled the shorn flesh between her slightly parted thighs, Audrey’s shock quickly turned to wonder as he gently licked at her quivering flesh. She moaned as his tongue wiggled between her nether lips, her fingers digging into his golden skin. Whether to stop him or to hold him closer, Audrey didn’t know.

Audrey’s belly churned with excitement as his lashing tongue delved her feminine mysteries, his warm hands kneading the flesh of her bottom and dragging exquisitely on her quivering channel. When his tongue circled then flicked at the swollen ridge nestled in her glistening heat, Audrey arched as a surprising burst of intense passion caught her. Her heart raced as she struggled on quivering legs, unable to take her eyes from his as he gazed up at her, the breath puffing from her lungs. He smiled up at her, the golden skin crinkling around the luminous grey eyes, before he lowered his head.

She was soon lost in the magic of his mouth teasing her, the sweet pleasure ebbing as something urgent and frantic took over her. She was moaning and wriggling against him as again she felt that searing climax, only this time waves of heat washed over her as his mouth sucked on that sweet nub until she was pushing his head away, the pleasure too intense. She collapsed to her knees before him, his arms enfolding her against him as she struggled to draw in much needed air. She clung to him, quivering and sated, rubbing her cheek against his chest.

“Your body aches to be pleasured by mine,” he murmured against her hair. “Will my sweet novice lie to me and say that this is not so?”

Audrey bit back a moan, burying her head even further against his chest. Fingers lightly stroked the creamy column of her back. Between them was the undeniable evidence of his need, straining against his grey breeches.

“Tell me it is not true, and I will leave you alone forever.”

The thought of never seeing him again twisted within her. Her eyes blurred at the impossibility of it all. She could not lie to him or herself, and her captor knew it. Yet to give in to his seduction went against everything she was raised to believe in.

“Let me show you how it can be between us this once. And after, if you decide that your life is with the convent and not me, I will return you to the convent.”

“And if I refuse?” she whispered.

“Then I will keep you with me until I can convince you otherwise.”

Audrey squeezed her eyes shut. Both choices scared her, for she ached for something, and that ache intensified when he was near. But it was a different to that which she felt with Father Matthew. With Father Matthew’s, he drew from her a dark need that she didn’t want but was expected of her. She trembled at Father’s seeking touch with a mixture of dread and excitement. Yet with Lukas, she felt womanly and wanton.

He gently eased her back from him, his warm mouth settling over the pink crown of her breast, lightly sucking, as his hands drew hers over his shoulders. His fingers ran down her arms to tease the sides of her breasts before gently cupping them.

“Lukas,” she moaned, uncertain, confused. Would it be so bad if she had these stolen moments, before returning to the convent? She could secretly treasure them while she submitted to Father Matthew’s increasing demands.

“Let me show you how it can be between a man and a woman.”

Her heart raced as her fingers tangled in his silken mane. His mouth coaxed her breasts, nibbling and sucking on their crowns until she felt shockingly wet between her thighs. Could she? He had promised to let her go after he had …what? Put his shaft inside of her like Father’s Matthews, making her hurt with the shock of it. Audrey stiffened slightly in Lukas’s arms.

He growled against her breast, teasing her breasts until she felt a return of that exultant need. Perhaps if she allowed Lukas his way, he would lose his unknowing hold over her. And she could resume her duties at the convent with her complete devotion.

He shrugged off his cloak, spreading it down over the river bank. Next came his lawn shirt, and she drew a deep breath at the sight of his golden chest lightly furred with black hair. Then he lay down on his cloak, and drew her over him. Audrey gasped with surprise as she landed on top of him.

Without warning a finger began to probe her glistening gate, and her heart raced. It eased up inside her tightness, and her body clenched around it in disgraceful welcome.

Lukas shifted so that they lay side by side, his finger continuing to glide in her silken warmth. Her head tipped back on his arm to meet his, and their lips brushed, clung. Another finger eased inside of her, and she moaned, feeling heady and weak.

His sucked and nipped at her lips like gentle butterfly kisses, until she her arms slid around his neck as she deepened the kiss. She wanted more, her lips instinctively moving against his, her tongue delving into his mouth. He lay there, watching her, his mouth parted but unmoving against hers while his fingers and thumb teased her between her thighs.

Audrey moaned against his mouth, a tiny frown puckering her brow when he refused to kiss her back. She wiggled closer, pressing her body against his, her breasts thrusting impudently against his bare chest. His hand guided her thigh over his, spreading her for his attention, yet still he did not kiss her.

She moved her mouth against his, her tongue stroking his. When she whimpered in frustration, his tongue finally slid inside her mouth as he pushed his fingers deep within her weeping sheath. Gently he plugged her between her thighs as his tongue probed her mouth, and Audrey was dazzled by the sweep of pleasure as she came again on his surging fingers.

She lay defenceless before him, her head resting on his outstretched arm, her midnight blue eyes half hidden beneath the sweep of her lashes. His mouth pressed soft kisses over her face, down her throat, while his fingers sifted through the silken brown-red tresses.

His gaze was locked disconcertedly on hers as he guided her onto her back. The sight of his masculine form rising silently over hers was incredibly beautiful.

Her gaze fell to the breeches riding low over his hips and straining over a thick ridge before skittering away. She knew that was the part that fitted inside a woman.

She watched with wide eyes as he flicked at the buttons of that straining cloth, until with a soft groan he sprung forth. She squeezed her eyes shut, a blush stealing over her cheeks at the intimacy of that manly part. Soft kisses pressed against her parted lips, soothing her even as he shifted against her, nudging at her dewy core. Her dark blue eyes widened as she felt an insistent push.

He surged against her, his thick velvety shaft sliding slowly up between her tight walls. She tensed about him as his thickness stole deep. An anxious cry escaped her she waited for the pain. But there was none. Her body slowly eased around his, a soft sigh escaping her.

“That’s it, relax. I’ll never hurt you.” He lips captured hers, in soft, drugging kisses. Her channel quivered as he eased from her before sliding deeper than before. She clung to him as he did this over and over, teasing her to the point of madness. She was unable to think, only feel as he finally came to rest fully within her.

Slowly he began to rock inside of her, sending ripples of heat coursing through her. Her fingers dug into his shoulders as he took her with sweet, torturous thrusts, so different from her first time. His heavy breathing mingled with her soft pants as delicious tension wound tightly low in her belly.

Her mouth opened over his shoulder as his thrusts quickened. His fingers teased her bud as he worked his thick shaft in her tight passage. She clung to him, her breathing hectic, her hair a tumbled mass about her. Her gaze fell to where they were joined intimately, his glistening shaft moving between her thighs. Her dark blue eyes widened, her body clenching instinctively around him.

He groaned against her neck as his surged deep within her. Audrey struggled to bring her body back under control, but it was no use. Her hips rose to meet his urgent thrusts, taking him deep within her. There was none of the hurt when Father Matthews had taken her, only dizzying pleasure.

Every delicious stroke stretching her around him made it harder to breath. She writhed and bucked against him. She cried out as she finally came, heat bursting around his frenzied thrusts.

His hands gripped her wrists, pinning them to his cloak as he moved over her. He stroked deep within her yielding flesh, making her writhe and gasp. He shouted as he jerked within her quivering heat, hotness spilling deep into her womb.

They lay together, Audrey clinging to him, a sense of wonder filling her. His forehead pressed against hers as his shaft softened inside of her.

Her breathing slowed, her heart evening out. The chirping of birds overhead intruding on the passionate haze that held her prisoner. Reality slowly dawned. Shock held Audrey immobile as lips pressed over her temple and down her cheek. Then she began to squirm from beneath him as she struggled to escape his hold. Impossibly, he seemed to stiffen with her, making her whimper.

“Audrey, it is too late. It is done.” His hands captured hers, drawing one to his mouth. Both were intimately aware of his renewed desire throbbing within her.

Her mind whirled. What had she done? She had betrayed her vows of chastity and purity, with not one, but two men. Yet one of those men claimed he took her body in god’s stead, but the other…

“I know what he has done, Audrey. I knew it when I came inside of you, and that you feared my loving. I will not allow him to hurt you again. You are mine.” He moved inside of her, and her eyes widened as pleasure stole through her.

Her only thought was somehow he had discovered her shameful secret. He gave her no opportunity to mount a resistance as he took her with little warning. He moved within her with long, possessive thrusts. This time there was no discomfort or fear, simply languid heat as he stroked deep with an exquisite intensity. Her hips rose to his of their own accord, yielding to the demands of her body. Her hands moved down his back, luxuriating in the feel of him, her body softly welcoming.

On it went, until she had no thoughts but of him, this. His passion, dark and intense, stole over her until she was infected with a matching urgency.

He rolled over onto his back, taking her with him. With his guidance, she rose up, straddling his straining body. Their fingers entwined as he urged her to ride him, and she did, rising and falling on his thick heat with growing confidence.

Streaks of sunlight fell across her pale body and illuminating red sparks in her mahogany hair. Her head was tipped back, her nipples tight and hard, her breasts and hips swaying with the eager rhythm of her young body as she seduced herself on his wielding hardness.

Wanton need spilled over her, urging her on. It felt incredibly free to lead the way, to take as she wanted. And she wanted. Lukas was grunting beneath her, the cords in his neck straining, his chest glistening.

“I can’t hold on.” He tried to capture her hips, his lips tightening in a grimace, but still she rode him.

His fingers tightened painfully on her skin as he bucked beneath her, his warmth spilling within her as he fiercely jerked and flexed within her clenching heat. She cried out as pleasure stormed through her, seeking out every corner of her being.

She collapsed limply against his chest. His arms came about her, holding her close against the heavy beat of his heart. They lay there for an age, neither breaking the silence.

It was the crunch of footsteps that finally intruded. Audrey started guiltily, struggling off Lukas. He half rose, the movement making her slid to her side beside him. Her eyes widened in horror as Mother Superior, following the hoof marks in the earth, came around the bend, five yards from where Lukas and Audrey lay entwined. Then from behind Mother appeared Beth.