I soared out onto the street just in time to see Jodi close her front door softly and glance around her.

Interesting. Where's she off to?

She straightened her back and set off at a brisk towards the beach. I flew hard to catch up with her furtive form, darting into Elliott's beachside shack as the door fell shut behind her. I landed on the inside of the doorframe and extended my spiritual tendrils towards her. She gasped as we linked.

Elliott was bent studiously over his desk. His red coat hung off the back of his stool, one sleeve resting carelessly on the ground, and his shirt was unbuttoned at the collar. His expression was drawn, straddling the border between hyper-focus and exhaustion. The fingers of one hand drummed rhythmically against the side of his typewriter. His other hand supported his head. His heavy lidded eyes seemed to be staring more inwards than at anything in particular before his gaze slowly resurfaced to light upon his visitor. He brightened, jumping from the chair and grinning as he approached her.

"Jodi, dear Jodi, how have you been? What brings your sparkling presence to my humble abode on this otherwise lifeless day?"

Her small hand, worn tough and dry by years of endless housework, covered her mouth as she attempted to suppress a giggle.

"I thought I'd take a break from my glamorous life as a house-wife to see my favorite author."

He blushed, smile broadening.

"Your favorite? But alas, I have yet to finish the romance I swore I would write for you. I confess that I've found myself at a loss for inspiration. And then you arrived on my doorstep. What divine timing."

"Is it?"

Jodi perched on the bench in front of Elliott's piano, her legs tucking demurely to the side.

"Indeed it is. I've been thinking through a certain steamy exchange between my two main characters, but I just can't seem to pin down what it is that truly binds them together. What the essence of their relationship is, so to speak."

"And you think I could help with that?"

Elliott brought the back of his hand to his forehead and leaned against the wall dramatically.

"I'm desperate. I'm desolate with despair. I am completely without hope! I'm questioning everything about them, I might even start again from scratch. You, my muse, are the only thing that can lift me from this pit of devastation."

He looked over at her, eyes glinting mischievously. She giggled again, fingers still pressed against her lips. The clean citrus scent of dish soap rose from them.

"Sounds like I arrived just in time. And how, pray tell, can I help you?"

"It's simple. I need you to play one of the characters. Let me see how they would naturally interact."

"And who are your characters? Unless one of them's a bored homemaker I'm not sure how I would be of assistance."

He began to pace slowly, his arms crossed in thought.

"I'm uncertain now. I will admit that I was, in fact, basing the heroine on yourself. Did you guess that? And of course, all the basic combinations for such a story did run through my mind…a teacher and her student's father, a maid and her employer, a chef and her favorite customer…but those seem too plain for you. Your character, I meant."

He stopped in front of her an arm's length away. His hand reached out and hovered between them, wavering slightly. Jodi's gaze moved from the tips of his fingers, up his arm, towards his face. His smile held, but his eyes had grown dark as they fixated on her. A long, quiet moment passed. The sound of the ocean waves and a single, shrieking seagull filled the otherwise silent cabin. Slowly, gently, Elliott's hand extended towards Jodi. His fingers brushed roughly under her chin. He tipped her head slowly from side to side, examining her. When he finally spoke, it was with reverence.

"The way the light falls on you…the shape of those perfect, petal-like lips…the sweetness of honey in your eyes and in your voice…certainly you deserve something better for your story. My apologies for ever entertaining another thought. Perhaps more fitting roles would be…a goddess and her acolyte?"

She caught his hand in hers and brought it in front of her, clasping it cautiously in both of her own.

"With the thoughts I've been suffering from recently, a priest and his confessor might be a better fit."

Jodi's gaze dropped to the ground. I felt the heat rise within her body. I could not see her face from my vantage point near the door, but I didn't need to see it to know that it was flushed red. She brought his fingers to her chapped lips and kissed them before releasing them. His voice was serious when he spoke again, grave and heavy with intent.

"I see. Tell me your sins."

Jodi's voice was strained with uncertainty when she attempted to answer in character.

"F-father, I have been having certain thoughts…"

He drug the stool over and sat across from her, his back rigid, his hands pressed together in mock prayer. He shook his head, allowing his hair to fall behind him as his face took on a serious, priestly expression.

"Confess all to Yoba, and He will forgive you. What thoughts are these that you fear He cannot bear?"

"They're thoughts of someone in town. Every time I see him I find myself watching him. When I lay alone at night I think of him. I want him to…"

She dropped into silence. Elliot licked his lips and continued.

"I see. You've been having lustful thoughts about a neighbor, and about violating your marital bed."

She looked down at her legs. Her fists had clenched into the fabric of her blue jeans. A single, embarrassed tear landed on the back of her hand. When she continued, her voice was as soft and as mournful as a prayer.

"Yes, Father of Yoba. I think about him almost every night."

"And have you done more than just think?"

"I have."

"This is quite serious. I believe these thoughts need to be exorcized immediately to save your soul from perdition. Come with me."

He guided her over to his bed, gesturing that she should sit upon it. She sat heavily down, leaning far enough into his overly soft mattress to put her off balance. His hands found her face again. His thumb traced lightly over her lip before coming to rest there. Her tongue met it shyly, flicking over his fingertip. The salty taste of his skin sent a shudder down her spine. He bent and leaned over her.

"I fear that the sinful thoughts may have penetrated quite deeply. Allow me to be sure…"

Elliott withdrew his hand and pressed his lips to hers. Jodi fell back onto the mattress, and he followed her down. His mouth melted against hers as he rose above her, his hands tugging at the edge of her shirt. She broke the kiss just long enough to yank the garment up and toss it to the side, following it with her bra a second later. Elliott stood on his knees above her, looking down at her as he started to unbutton the rest of his shirt.

"Leave it on."

He cocked his head to the side and smiled. Her head turned away towards the window. Only white sand and blue water could be seen, stretching far beyond what a mortal like Jodi would be able to grasp.

"I like it…no one else here dresses quite like you, you know?"

"As you wish."

Her hands traveled up his sides, fingering the texture of his linen shirt as they explored.

"It seems that I was correct. The sin has been rooted very deeply within you."

His hand moved over her jeans, his fingers looped over the hem and tugged gently. Her hips lifted just enough for him to drag the garment down. Her sandals slipped off her feet and onto the ground beneath them. Elliott stepped back, taking the blue jeans and Jodi's underwear with him. They landed on the floor next to her shirt. He kicked her shoes away and stood between her legs at the edge of the bed for a moment as she continued to stare out the window. She waited eagerly for his touch, body trembling in anticipation. No such relief came. She turned her gaze up towards him. He was standing erect, his pants unbuttoned just enough to free his length into his hand. He worked it slowly up and down as he stared down at her, and smiled as her eyes met his again. She felt herself growing dizzy as she drank in that gentle, knowing smile.

"There you are."

He paused to move one of his hands between her legs, trailing a finger through the growing wetness. He pinched his fingers together in the air and parted them again, allowing the slick fluid to stretch between them without breaking.

"We'll use this holy anointment, blessed by the saints, to ensure your sin's full release."

He rubbed a bit of the wetness along his tip, staring down into his lover's eyes.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes."

He pushed her knees apart and rested his tip against her, guiding it carefully in as he pressed his thumb against her clit. As his hips began to slowly push forward he let his thumb move in equally excruciatingly slow circles. Her hands rose up to cover her mouth again as she let out a quiet, breathy moan. He worked himself deeper and deeper into her with one punishingly slow thrust at a time. I felt her body shudder backwards and be pulled back down towards the end of the bed over and over again as he moved, each circle from his fingers sending a jolt of pleasure up through her form. She bit her knuckle to stop from moaning at every thrust. Her body squirmed beneath his, tightening and shaking until finally, he was fully ensheathed.

"Now, for your penance. Repeat after me."

His hips drew back, leaving only his head within her.

"Confíteor Yoba omnipoténti…"

Jodi's uncertain voice whispered the unfamiliar syllables back to him. His hips shot forwards harshly, earning a gasp from Jodi that rang louder than the sound of flesh meeting flesh. She threw her hands out beside her, grasping his blanket tightly in her fists.. He withdrew himself again and paused.

"Quia peccávi nimis…"

She echoed the words and winced, bracing for a deep impact. He thrust home again, rocking her whole body back.

"Ah~!"

He dragged her back to the edge of the mattress again before pulling himself most of the way out.

"Cogitatióne, verbo, ópere et omissióne,"

She repeated the phrase imperfectly, as her whole body tensed and waited. He thrust in again, drawing forth another gasp. She waited for him to withdraw. Instead, he climbed onto the bed. He folded her legs back towards her chest as he leaned down, licked his lips, and whispered next to her ear:

"Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa."

Before she had a chance to echo this to him, his hips began to move. He rolled quickly against her, her body shuddering beneath his over and over again. Her arms looped around him, pulling her off the mattress towards his merciless frame. She moaned as they moved together, her voice a high-pitched keening sound that a passerby might have taken equally as either pleasure or grief. He drove her back down, grunting and moaning with the effort of maintaining his speed. His lips found her neck and left a trail of burning kisses along her collarbone.

"Mea culpa, mea culpa…"

He repeated, before letting his teeth graze over the sensitive skin there. Jodi gasped and strained against him, her own hand replacing his over his clit. She moved over herself quickly, hips twitching towards him out of time with his own motions. He bit down, and her vision whited out. The feeling of breathy, burning pleasure overwhelmed my own senses.

Elliott's voice pulled us both back to reality.

"There, there. You seem to be free of your demon. Now all that remains is to take communion…"

Elliott crawled up her body and stood on his knees above her, his hand clenching and stroking himself. Jodi's mouth opened wide. She barely had enough time to lift her head to him before he pressed himself into her mouth. His hot seed mixed with the taste of her own juices on her tongue. She swallowed it all, still catching her breath from her own release. He withdrew, collapsing on the floor with his back against the wall. Jodi rolled over quietly and looked around, wiping a stray tear from her eye.

"I'll be using that for inspiration for a while. What a talented muse you are…Where are you going?"

Jodi was already half dressed.

"Look at the sun! I have to get dinner ready for the boys soon, which means I need to get to the grocery store before that, and I should probably do the dishes, and…"

"I see. Godspeed, then."

She leaned down and pressed a kiss onto Elliott's sweat coated forehead. He smiled up at her.

"This was fun, Eli. But I have a life to return to, and so do you."

"Right."

She rebraided her hair and tucked it over her shoulder, straightened her blouse, and left without another word. My spiritual tendrils withdrew from her as she moved out of range.

I need to catch my breath…

Elliott stretched and turned his head to stare at his flower vase. A waterless rose wilted back at him. As his gaze sank inwards again, he whispered:

"Mea culpa, mea culpa,

mea máxima culpa.

Ideo precor beátam semper vírginem,

omnes angelos et sanctos,

oráre pro me ad Dóminum Yobum nostrum."

And dropped his head into his hands.