Excerpt
“Maybe I am wrong,” Iphigenia said. “And if so, I’m sorry to trouble you. I don’t think I’m wrong, but I truly don’t want to—to make things worse for you. If I’m opening a wound that’s healed, tell me. If it’s not still raw and bleeding, then I know I ought to let it be.” A deep breath from her, while everything else around him was still silence. “Say it hurts you less than it hurts me, and I’ll go, Mattie.”
Behind his eyelids, wetness stung. He laughed at it. “Nobody’s called me by that name in a long time.”
When he knew tears wouldn’t drip, he looked at her. While speaking, Iphigenia had lowered her head, and now she raised it again to meet his eyes. He could never say who moved first. One of them took a step forward, then the other. They came close enough to whisper.
“It hurts,” he said. “Of course it does. But animals lash out in pain, Genie. Human beings have a choice.”
Standing between him and the door, she took a small step aside—not far, but enough to give him a clear line of escape if he desired it. “I won’t steal a man away from God.”
“But you won’t let God steal him from you, either?”
Genie shook her head with a familiar twitch at the corner of her mouth. This was a real smile, or the promise of one. Gentle and sweet. She’d smiled like that before, when he was too young to really know what it meant.
About the story
No vow or social divide can keep them from uniting their bodies, hearts, and souls.
Nine years ago, cotter’s son Matthew O’Dallan and his aristocratic friend and sweetheart Iphigenia Haworth were separated when his parents promised him to the Church. Today, Iphigenia finds her way to his confessional. Their bond hasn’t weakened—in fact, maturity has made it stronger than ever, adding lust to their longtime affection.
She remembers the promises they made each other, and before God, she is ready to keep them. No matter how forbidden such a consummation may seem, she has faith in their bond with each other. And although he knows that it’s a sin, Matthew can’t help but find in her temptation the chance for a last touch of grace.
This 5,000-word story is for mature audiences only, featuring an emotional erotic encounter between a priest and the heiress who still loves him.
“A Last Touch of Grace” was originally made available by Enspire Publishing/Fantastic Fiction in 2016. This re-release has been newly edited but tells the same story of forbidden lovers reunited.
Find A Last Touch of Grace
There is a version of “A Last Touch of Grace” on Smashwords, but the publisher seems to have ceased operations and no longer pays me royalties. I’m looking into options there.
