Love's Broken Vow

by Honey

Genres: African American Urban

Synopsis

Nicholas Gregory is everything any woman could ever wish for in a man. He’s towering in height, with a gorgeous chocolate complexion. Throw in the facts that he’s sexier than homemade sin and gainfully employed, and there’s no doubt he’s a certified keeper. So, why at age twenty-nine is he childless and a virgin? Stricken by a severe case of lust, Nicholas asks himself the same questions when he meets the irresistible Royce Phillips, a nurse turned health-and-fitness mogul. Her chance emergence into his world is more catastrophic than any natural disaster. For the first time in his life, Nicholas rethinks the decision he made as a little boy to become a Catholic priest. The raw essence of Royce causes him to long for romantic love and the intimate touch of a woman—both forbidden pleasures he’s vowed to never partake of. And Royce isn’t spiritually strong enough to lead him not into temptation. Now, fully indulged in the most sizzling secret affair of all time, Nicholas is living a double life. He’s a righteous man in the pulpit, preaching to his flock, but night after night, he’s anything but holy in Royce’s bed. The young priest is torn between his vow to God and his love for this woman who has grown tired of being his part-time lover. She wants more. She wants it all. So, Nicholas is forced to choose between the church and the love of his life. Heartbroken, Royce must learn to live without the man who made her feel born again, and a tiny, unexpected blessing gives her the inspiration to do just that. But while Royce embraces the next phase of her life, Nicholas realizes he can’t live without her. He takes a leap of faith, placing love before tradition. Happily together at last, tragedy tests the strength of their bond. Nicholas believes they’re being punished for the decision he made. He makes a new vow to God in exchange for a miracle, and this time, it’s a vow he plans to keep forever.

Release date: February 26, 2019

Publisher: Urban Renaissance

Print pages: 288

Sample

“Good afternoon, Sister Ellen Marie. We have a one o’clock appointment to see the senior priest. I know we’re late, but this little angel decided to take a detour after school,” Royce said, yanking her eleven-year-old nephew’s arm in frustration. She moved his lanky body from its position behind her to stand at her side.

Tyler frowned and freed himself from his aunt’s grip. “Ouch! What did you do that for?”

“You know why. Now, zip your lips, boy. I’m going to let the priest deal with you.”

The nun flashed a knowing smile and waved her hand, inviting Royce and Tyler to follow her down the corridor of the church’s office area. “Come right this way. He’s been waiting for the two of you.”

“God bless you, Sister.”

Sister Ellen Marie knocked once on one of the massive double doors before she opened them wide. She stepped aside. Once again, she gestured with a wave of her hand, causing the long, flowing sleeve of her habit to sway. “Father Nicholas Gregory, meet Royce Phillips and her nephew, Tyler.”

The priest turned around slowly from the bookshelf and flashed a smile so wickedly enticing that Royce instantly felt warm and lightheaded. She saw his hand extended as he walked closer to her and Tyler, but she didn’t want to take hold of it. Even in the holy confines of the priest’s office, Satan had managed to flood her mind with lustful thoughts. Royce fought the urge to throw herself into Father Gregory’s long arms and taste his full and sexy lips. They looked luscious underneath his thick, curly mustache. As a registered nurse turned certified fitness instructor and trainer, Royce could thoroughly assess a human body in detail with just one quick glance. The priest’s black, tailored cassock couldn’t hide his well-toned physique, standing tall and erect underneath it. His body was simply divine. And his flawless complexion reminded Royce of sweet, rich milk chocolate. Her taste buds began to betray her on sight. She nearly drooled. The new priest had enormous hands and feet, her wandering eyes couldn’t help but notice. If it hadn’t been for the flaring skirt of his cassock, Royce would’ve surely inspected the area between his thighs. That thought made her cringe with fear and shock. Undressing a man of God with her eyes in the church had to be a spiritual offense worthy of fire and damnation.

“I’m Father Gregory,” his deep baritone timbre rumbled. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Phillips.”

Royce blinked a few times to clear her head from its ungodly thoughts. She smiled and finally took the offered hand. “Hello. Where is Father McGreevy today? Tyler’s appointment was supposed to have been with him.”

Sister Ellen Marie touched Royce’s shoulder lightly. “He’s gone on to lead another parish. The archdiocese reassigned him to a church up in rural Pennsylvania. The move had been postponed for a few months until two weeks ago.”

“I had no idea. We haven’t been to church since New Year’s Eve.”

“I’ve heard lots of amazing things about you and your family, Tyler,” Father Gregory said, addressing the youngster directly. “Father McGreevy left notes describing you as a wonderful kid with an abundance of energy and creativity.” He offered Tyler his hand in a friendly shake.

“He did? He was a real cool dude. I hope you are too.” The boy shook and released the priest’s hand. He shot him a sharp stare. “You are cool, aren’t you?”

“I’d like to think so. Why don’t you and your aunt have a seat so you can tell me why you’re here today?”

“Um, I have to run,” Royce announced, glancing down at her watch. “I usually leave Tyler here with Father McGreevy and the nuns for a couple of hours or so to do chores around the church while I teach my afternoon Zumba class. Will that be a problem?”

“As long as Tyler is comfortable here with the sisters and me, it’ll be fine with me.”

“So, what do you think about the new priest? Is he nice?”

“I like him. He’s smart. He helped me with all my homework before we did anything else. Then after we finished updating the membership roster on the computer and helped the nuns fold blankets for the homeless, we walked around the corner to the park and shot hoops. Father’s got an outrageous jump shot, Auntie Royce. I never knew a priest who could play basketball before.”

I’ve never met a priest that damn fine before! The words almost slipped from Royce’s lips, but she swallowed them and smiled at her nephew across the kitchen table. “Where is Father Gregory from, sweetie?”

“He was born and raised in Chicago, but he moved down here to Atlanta from Boston. Can you believe he once lived in Barbados for an entire year? I saw the pictures in his scrapbook. He’s been all over the world.”

“That’s interesting.” A vision of the handsome priest dressed in a pair of skin-tight swimming trunks while relaxing on a white, sandy beach as waves from the crystal blue ocean crashed against the shore swept Royce away. She imagined beads of sweat glistening against his smooth skin under the bright Caribbean sun with the sound of seagulls squawking in the distance. In his hand he held a fruity, tropical beverage adorned with the cutest tiny umbrella of many colors. There were two straws in the cold, refreshing drink. One was for Father Gregory and the other for Royce. He leaned over and kissed her cheek, causing her nipples to become sensitive and as hard as a pair of marbles. Then in his deep, hypnotic voice, he invited Royce to share his thirst-quenching beverage with him and promised to satisfy her hunger for him later in the privacy of their oceanfront villa.

“So, is it okay with you, Auntie? I promise to be on my best behavior.”

Royce had heard Tyler talking to her the entire time she fantasized about a romantic beach rendezvous with their new priest, but she couldn’t pull herself out of the daydream, nor did she want to. The scene was much too mesmerizing. She grabbed a napkin from the dinner table and wiped her lips. The very idea of kissing Father Gregory and sharing a cool drink with him had teased her taste buds, causing her mouth to become overly moist. Royce’s sinful thoughts had also brought on a sudden gush of moisture in the intimate spot between her thighs. She crossed her legs against the dampness in her crotch and the warm sensations down there, all while hearing Tyler’s voice but not fully understanding his words. Her mind was reeling from the aftermath of her erotic vision. She was actually aroused. It had to be an abomination before God to lust after a priest. Royce was pretty sure she was going to hell if she didn’t check her thoughts about Father Gregory.

“He only has seven tickets, so I’ll have to let him know soon if I can go, Auntie.”

Royce’s senses finally left the beach and returned to her kitchen. She took a stabilizing breath and gave Tyler her undivided attention. “I’m sorry, honey. I have so many things on my mind. My brain is scrambled. Where did Father Gregory invite you to go with him?”

“He and Sister Eva want to take a few of the boys and one girl in our Sunday school class to a Hawks game Friday night. Can I go with them, please? I promise to behave in school and do well on all of my assignments. I’ll do every one of my chores around here without complaining if you’ll let me go.”

“You may go to the basketball game, Tyler, but I’m going to hold you to your word. And you can’t hang around those bad boys at school anymore. They’re nothing but trouble, and I don’t want you to be involved in their foolishness. Do you understand?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Royce hung up the phone after her brief conversation with Brandon, and she turned on the television. As she surfed through the channels with the remote control, snatches of their last date ran through her memory. No fireworks. Not even a tiny spark. The guy just did not do it for her. He was handsome enough, and he definitely knew how to show a girl a good time. Attorney Brandon Hartwell was also a big spender with an appetite for the finer things in life. More importantly, he had been a perfect gentleman so far. With so many good qualities, Royce couldn’t understand why she hadn’t melted under his romantic heat yet.

Her sister, Zora, had encouraged her to give the good-looking lawyer one more chance by going out on another date with him. Royce’s initial response to that suggestion had been laughter. She had already planned to serve Brandon a pink slip. She figured if he hadn’t lit her fire after five dates, he simply lacked the ability to do so.

But now that Royce had lost her mind and started salivating over Father Gregory as if he were a slice of chocolate cake, another date with a gorgeous, rich man seemed like a good idea. Hopefully, it would be the distraction she needed. So, Friday evening while Tyler and his friends would be cheering for the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena with the priest, she’d be enjoying spicy Jamaican cuisine and reggae music at the Golden Grove with Brandon.

Father Gregory placed the sterling silver bookmark in the crease of his open Bible before he closed the leather-bound book. He turned toward the window to take in the spectacular view of the setting sun. As splendid as God’s handiwork was on that fine, cold January evening, it wasn’t enough to distract him from his thoughts of Royce Phillips. She was an extraordinarily beautiful woman. Everything about her physical appearance was pleasing to the eye. For the first time in many years, Father Gregory had actually experienced an erection at the sight of a woman. And it troubled him.

At the early and impressionable age of seven, he accepted his calling to serve God and the Roman Catholic Church. Through his many years as an altar boy and later as a scholar of divinity in college and seminary, he had maintained his sacred vow of celibacy to God and the church. But he was human and he, like any other warm-blooded heterosexual male, appreciated the presence of an attractive female. However, there was one significant difference between Father Gregory and most men his age. He had never partaken of the intimate pleasures of a woman’s body before. He was a virgin. Sure, he had toiled with curiosity, temptation, and lust countless times over his twenty-nine years, but the Holy Spirit had always sustained his flesh. Miraculously, the devoted priest had remained free of sexual sin his entire life without ever coming close to crossing the line.

Father Gregory wasn’t perfect by any means, but he strived to live righteously through prayer before God, his spiritual superiors, and the parishioners he served. Some sins were easier to avoid than others, and according to Scripture, no temptation was common to man. In fact, Royce Phillips had presented him with a unique form of enticement. Her beauty, although a blessing from God, had the potential to be a curse for a celibate man. The silky and unblemished texture of her cocoa brown skin and her long, flowing braids blended perfectly together. Such fine features reminded him of a centuries-old portrait of an elegant African queen. Ms. Phillips’s svelte hourglass figure had more curves than a winding road. Her body had been magnificently created. She was absolutely gorgeous, yet she didn’t seem to realize it as she’d stood in his office earlier dressed in a coral two-piece exercise ensemble that hugged her shapely form just right. The combination of her good looks and the distinct vanilla scent of her perfume had ignited an unfamiliar flame of desire within Father Gregory so powerful that he had committed most of his time to fervent prayer and meditation after Tyler left the church.

There was something fascinating about Royce Phillips. She was different, special even. And it wasn’t just her outer appearance. She had a big heart and kind spirit. According to Tyler, she had willingly agreed to care for him in the absence of his parents—a doctor and his nurse-practitioner wife—who had traveled to the West African nation of Sierra Leone on a medical mission. The recent outbreak of the Ebola virus had weighed heavily on Dr. and Mrs. Benson’s hearts, influencing them to travel with a group of Christian doctors on an assignment of mercy. Their goal was to provide lifesaving medical care to the victims of the deadly disease. After careful consideration, one week before the trip, the Bensons made the decision not to take Tyler, their only child, to Africa with them. They felt that withdrawing him from school in the middle of the term to travel to a country plagued by disease wouldn’t be in his best interest. So, they’d left him in the care of his favorite aunt, his only aunt, who happened to also be his godmother.

Royce was a bachelorette with no children by choice. At least that was how Tyler had summed up her carefree lifestyle. He’d bragged about how successful a businesswoman she was, owning two full-service health and fitness centers that catered to dozens of celebrities and hundreds of other clients. In Tyler’s impressionable eyes, his auntie was loaded. Her knowledge and expertise in all things pertaining to physical health and nutrition had earned her an extremely comfortable standard of living.

Royce traveled extensively and was the owner of an impressive African American art collection that filled her lavish suburban-Atlanta home. Her all-white living room, which housed a baby grand piano of the same color, had always been off-limits to Tyler and any other child. It and all of the other spacious rooms in the home belonged on the pages of a décor magazine in the youngster’s opinion. That was, with the exception of his room. Auntie Royce had allowed her darling nephew to decorate his walls with posters of basketball greats, past and present, and hip-hop music icons. Tyler had every electronic gadget and video game imaginable in his private quarters along with a humongous flat-screen television, a touch-screen computer, and a state-of-the-art stereo system. He swore that the lovely Royce Phillips was better than Santa Claus any day of the week.

Aunt and nephew were very attached to each other. Tyler had said they had a special relationship, but in recent weeks he had begun to miss his parents terribly. That’s the reason he had started acting out at school and hanging with the wrong crowd, he’d explained to Father Gregory. He just wanted to have fun and be considered one of the “cool kids.” Skipping classes and participating in food fights in the cafeteria hadn’t earned Tyler any cool points with his aunt, though. His misbehavior had caused her major grief and concern. Turning her wayward nephew over to Father McGreevy was the only solution she could come up with at the time. But now that the elder priest had moved away, the responsibility of getting Tyler back in good standing with his aunt and his school’s officials had fallen into Father Gregory’s hands. He was sure he could successfully handle the task. His only concern was his keen attraction to Royce. It was a potential distraction. Yes, Father Gregory would keep his distance from her by any means, but he was fully committed to ministering to Tyler’s spiritual and emotional needs.

“I had a wonderful time with you, babe. You know, the night doesn’t have to end.” Brandon closed the small gap between him and Royce and encircled her waist with both arms. “I’d love to come inside for a nightcap.”

“That’s not a good idea. As I told you before, my nephew is living with me right now, and he’ll be here for the next several months. I don’t want to give him the wrong impression.”

“You’re an adult. Kids don’t have the right to interfere in the lives of grownups. He’s old enough to understand that men and women get together from time to time to indulge in grown folks’ activities.”

Brandon leaned in for what was meant to be a surprise kiss, but Royce had sensed it coming. She reacted quickly to thwart his efforts by turning her head to the side. His lips made contact with her long braids dangling against her cheek. Brandon opened his eyes, lifted his head, and gave Royce a puzzled look. She was about to address the issue of the kiss when a pair of bright headlights pulled her away from the moment.

The car stopped directly in front of her house. The sleek, red sports car was a two-seater. Sister Eva didn’t drive anything that stylish or fast. Father Gregory, a still, small voice within whispered. Royce’s body responded with a slight shiver to the name and became warm when an image of the man it belonged to suddenly appeared inside her head. She immediately took a step backward, freeing her body from Brandon’s unwanted embrace.

“Hey, sweetie,” she called out to Tyler the moment he exited the car. She watched him walk slowly up the long walkway in her direction. “How was the game? Did the Hawks win?”

“Who’s he?” Tyler’s eyes narrowed.

Embarrassed and slightly annoyed by the whole scene, Royce looked toward the sports car still parked in front of her house. The engine was purring, and the headlights were shining ever so brightly. She turned to face Brandon, intentionally ignoring her nephew’s question. “I think you should leave now. Tyler and I need to talk.”

Without protesting, Brandon descended the three brick, half-circle steps and left Royce standing alone on her stoop. She watched as he slowed down his pace and greeted Tyler, but he got no response from him. The obviously upset boy glared at him before turning cold eyes on his aunt. Royce braced herself for a confrontation.

Father Gregory honked his horn twice and sped away seconds after Tyler turned and waved good night to him. He couldn’t explain it, even if his life depended on it, and the reality of it all disturbed him beyond insanity: he was jealous. The sight of Royce Phillips in another man’s arms enraged him.

He rounded a curve leading to I-75 North, clutching the steering wheel tight with pure anger churning inside. Father Gregory couldn’t recall a single time in his life when he had felt so helplessly flustered over a woman. He had a mother whom he adored and two amazing sisters. He had never been jealous of their relationships with others. He didn’t even know Royce. They had no emotional ties whatsoever. He was her priest, her spiritual leader. And she was a member of his congregation. They weren’t lovers, and they never would be. But Father Gregory’s attraction to Royce had taken wings, and he lacked the power to control it. He hated to admit it, even to himself, but he wanted her. He craved her like the forbidden fruit that had caused Adam’s fall from grace in the Garden of Eden. Royce, a woman, was the one thing he, a Catholic priest, was sworn and avowed to never have. Yet she was the single thing he desired more than anything else under the heavens.

“Peace be unto you.”

“And also unto you,” the congregation responded in unison to Father Gregory.

He raised both hands high toward heaven. “Let us depart from this place with a spirit of peace and goodwill in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.”

The priest left the altar and made his way up the center aisle. He marched slowly behind the servers bearing the cross, candles, and the book of the Gospels. Hands folded in front of him, he focused straight ahead as the organist played, filling the sanctuary with “For the Beauty of the Earth,” the recessional hymn.

It had been a glorious mass, and Father Gregory’s sermon titled “Triumph Over Temptation” couldn’t have come at a better time for Royce. She had battled lust and other impure thoughts the previous week. She couldn’t rid her body or mind of her mounting magnetism toward Father Gregory no matter how hard she’d tried. And for that, she felt like a heathen.

It was a blessing to be able to come into the house of the Lord to pray to God for forgiveness and to partake of Holy Communion for the cleansing of her sinful soul. But even as she’d sat in a pew close to the back of the church in the right wing, she struggled with desires of her flesh. At one point during the sermon, Royce had expected God to strike her with lightning for allowing her imagination to creep underneath Father Gregory’s white and gold chasuble. She could’ve sworn she was able to make out his firm pectoral and abdominal muscles through the fabric. No priest had any business with a body that damn fine.

Thank God for the Scripture reading about Jesus’ temptation by Satan in the wilderness. Royce drew strength from what she’d heard. The words had enabled her to abandon her immoral thoughts and focus on the sermon being given by Father Gregory, her priest, instead of yearning for him as a delicious male specimen. She’d felt empowered and ready to fight all forms of temptation in the coming week. But now, watching Father Gregory’s towering, toned frame make its way up the center aisle, Royce’s forbidden fantasies had returned to her psyche for another visit. She was perplexed because she had never responded mentally or physically to a man the way she did to the new priest. It was just a silly crush, a brief phase, she’d told herself. But her heart and flesh mocked those words and struck her with the truth.

As shepherd over the flock of Lord of the Harvest Roman Catholic Church, Father Gregory’s divine order was to nurture Royce’s soul. But if she were able to wish upon a star and be granted her most-desired wish, he would no longer be her priest. He would be her lover.

“I read your next move. You’re too predictable.” Father Gregory shot the basketball he’d just stolen from Tyler straight through the hoop.

“I’m left-handed. It’s hard for me to go to m. . .