37 | God's Justice

**Third Person POV**

Maybe God was testing him, testing his loyalty and devotion.
For the last six years, he had no problem in maintaining his vow of chaste behaviour, but ever since he laid his eyes on Sienna, it seems that his entire world of sanity has gone for a toss.
For once, he wanted to commit sacrilege, break the shackles, to condemn himself to hell in exchange for this one blessed, beautiful moment in his arms.
And rightfully so, Sienna was struggling with her own feelings for Gabriel.
She had been starving for love and affection for so long in her life that she could not get a grip on herself around him. The very touch of tenderness and care was pulling her towards him, and even though she knew how wrong it was, she could not stop herself from yearning for it.
Gabriel peeled the covers gently and then slid next to hers, gathering her body into his arms and spooning her from behind. The air was filled with thick intimacy, the rhythm of their heartbeats falling together and a peaceful silence blanketing them.
Neither of them knew what this moment meant to them, but they knew it changed something. He was no longer the chaste priest in his heart, now chasing for a dream that could never be a reality. On the other hand, Sienna just lived in the moment. She did not want to think of the past or the impending doom that her future awaited—she just needed the present. She *needed* Gabriel.
“Do you think we would have met if I did not come to Mount Carmel?” Sienna asked, piercing the veil of stillness.
Gabriel buried his face in her nape and chuckled into her hair. “You mean, forcefully sent here and kept against your will?”
“Hey, I was trying to be nice for a change.” She looked over her shoulder with a scowl. “But yes, something along the lines of what you had just said.”
He slithered an arm around her, careful of her bruises and pulled her closer to his body. “I would not have visited New York, and you wouldn’t have come to Chicago. So, I don’t think so.”
“Chicago? Is that where you had lived before…” Sienna was groping for a better word when he prompted unhelpfully.
“Priesthood?”
A small laugh tore out of her throat. “I was going to say before you suckered into celibacy.”
“You don’t want to know the person I was before. I was different…immoral.” He sighed. Gabriel Sullivan, before he became a priest and a headmaster, was not a model gentleman.
*He was a sinner. Maybe, he still is*.
Sienna shook her briefly as an afterthought. “I have a feeling I would not be able to hate you, Gabriel. I mean, you drive me crazy all the time, but I don’t hate you. Not even when you…caned me.” The pain was still vivid in her memory, and so was the warm touch of his fingers.
“It was wrong, I knew it, and yet I could not stop myself,” Gabriel confessed helplessly. “I haven’t spanked a woman in years, much less someone as young as you are, but the way you responded, it fed on to my craving.”
“So, you are one of those controlling ones?” she asked.
“A *dominant*, yes,” he corrected. “My tastes were different, almost bordering on perversive. I might not have forced a woman ever, but I was high on the power exchange. They yielded easily under my hand and let me inflict the degree of pain I wanted.”
Once upon a time, a submissive had just refused to utter the safe word in order to please him. And because he was bastard and a seasoned sadist, he had almost belted her into oblivion. Gabriel did not want to live that uncontrolled life anymore.
“Is that why you had taken up priesthood? To control yourself?” She voiced.
“To some extent, yes.” He exhaled. “But heightened sexual gratification was not the only sin of my past. I don’t want to talk about it, Sienna, not now.”
Sienna silently took his hand and laced her fingers with his. “I understand. But one last question: why me? What is so special about me?”
Gabriel smiled, knowing she could not see him.
“You have a fire, Sienna Emerson,” he revealed. “You draw me in like a moth to a flame. *And you make me want to burn*.”

******

The Monday classes were over, marking the end of a school day as Irene walked back to the floor of her dorm room. She had already deposited her bag on the bed and headed out in the corridor, hoping to find her somewhere.
Eva had rarely stayed back in her room, even if there was a ton of homework. She’d eventually find someone else to do it for her, making sure she wouldn’t get caught because she was a classic bully. It was one of her many devious qualities.
Irene did not have to look any farther than the corner to find her outside the dorm room. Eva gave her a smile and beckoned her over.
“You look happy,” Irene commented as she got closer, knowing very well that Eva was enjoying the solo attention. “Has the great Sienna Emerson joined back? She was released from the hospital days ago.”
“Nope. Nobody has seen her around.”
“Strange.”
“Why are you asking?” Eva inquired, twirling her blond hair tied up in a high ponytail.
Irene shrugged and then mused. “Everything is so mysterious about her…don’t you think? She is bratty, arrogant, and obnoxious, and yet she gets away with it every time.”
The self-proclaimed blond queen snorted her disagreement. “Father Sullivan is too lenient with her. But he hasn’t shown us the same courtesy. Remember how he punished us?” She made a puke-ish sound with her throat. “I could not eat for days because I was stinking like a gutter. That bitch whispered something in his ears, and he just took it out on us.”
“I agree. Sienna should have been punished as well. I mean, she hit us back too.”
“Yeah, well, I tried to explain that to Father Sullivan. Apparently, his celibate brain would not function properly with a female voice.” Eva frowned.
“Well, justice has been served anyway.” Irene beamed brightly. “You took care of the Sienna problem once and for all. I don’t think we would have to deal with her for a good month.”
“Her injuries are not very grave,” Eva said unhappily. “Apparently, the bitch survived.”
“I am worried about you, though.” Irene leaned forward, whispering, “Are you sure no one saw you around?”
“I told you that I was careful. It is a good thing this school does not have a camera. Last time, I landed in trouble because of that.” She winked as a wicked smile played on her lips.
“I am still confused how you had pulled it off so impulsively. I mean, I would have to shit my skirts.” The girls giggled amongst themselves as Eva fanned her face mockingly.
“Well, the thing is,” she began. “I saw her near the staircase, and she was kind of…daydreaming on the edge of the steps. I don’t know what came over me, but I just went ahead and pushed her. She rolled down the stairs like a fat ball, screaming and crying for help.”
“Jesus.”
“Irene, I hope you are not thinking about spilling your guts to anyone else.” The blond one warned gravely. “And even if you do, remember that it is just *your word against mine*.”
“Eva, I am not the enemy,” Irene reminded her and then feigned a pout. “Besides, I am just upset that I missed the opportunity to see her fall. But are you absolutely sure that she did not see you? Or remembers anything?”
Eva shook her head confidently. “The way she hit her head against the steps, I don’t think so. I am sure her memory has gone for a vacation.”
“Wow! Your plan…was amazing. I…don’t know what to say,” came the slow, high praise.
Eva thought for a second, turning to her curiously. “You were not asking so many questions the first time I told you.”
“I guess I was still shocked and taking it all in.” She shrugged. “I hated her, Eva. I hated that bitch so fucking much.”
“We can celebrate, you know,” she offered. “My cousin is visiting me next week, and I told her to get me a few beer cans. It has been so fucking long I had chilled.”
“Yep, that sounds like a plan.”
“Same place, behind the altar?”
“Yes…yes,” Irene agreed readily.
“See you on Friday. Bye.”
“Bye.”
Instead of making her way back to the dorm, Irene chose to head another way. Before that, she made sure that she was not being followed. She climbed down the stairs and past the hall and knocked on the door of Father Sullivan’s office. The receptionist had probably left for the day as the desk was empty.
The door was ajar, so she pushed a little and peeked inside. “May I come in, Father?”
Gabriel looked up from the papers under his nose and nodded stiffly. “Miss Hutchins, please do come in.”
Irene strode in with slightly trembling legs and fished out a small device from her pocket. She placed it on his desk and demurely mumbled, “It’s in here. The *conversation*. What you wanted.”
Gabriel looked at the electronic device and then at her. And he just *smirked*.
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