Author's note: This series contains (occasional) descriptions of rough and forced sex, some of which crosses the boundaries of consent. If this is not up your alley, please click elsewhere! All sexual contact described occurs between adults aged eighteen years and older.
Part 10.
"Come in, Paul. It's nice to see you."
Reverend Bjornsson held open the door it as I walked past him in to a large, light-filled office on the lower floor of the church. Up close, I realized just how big he was. A huge bear of a man, probably 6'4 or 6'5, and built like a tank. Walking past him, I felt like a child called to the principal's office.
He shut the door and ushered me to sit. He walked around his desk and settled himself in a large, high-backed leather chair and folded his hands in front of him on a dull green blotter pockmarcked with indentations and splotches of spilled ink. His dress shirt, a shade of lavender just shy of flamboyant, was unbuttoned at his neck, revealing a wide V of thick, blondish chest hair. His sandy beard was graying slightly and long enough to have a slight curl, and his golden coloring set off his bright, gray-blue eyes, which he'd fixed on me with an expectant smile.
Jesus
, I thought, suddenly flashing to the dreams that I used to have about this guy--the great, burly preacher--and the things he'd used to do to me in those dreams... I tried to cast the thoughts out of my head, given how dangerously close I was to a raging hard-on.
"So, Paul. Your parents tell me you're off to college in a few weeks. Congratulations, son, that's a big step," Reverend Bjornsson said.
"Thanks," I said, trying to keep my voice steady.
"Tell me, what are you looking forward to?" he said.
I swallowed and rubbed my wrist. This morning, I had reapplied my mom's foundation to cover my black eye--fading, now--and the bruises on the rest of my body, but I hadn't done as flawless a job as Stacy. I hoped that Reverend Bjornsson's seemingly intense scrutiny of me wouldn't reveal anything.
"Um..." I said, "...well, I guess I'm looking forward to being in a new place, meeting new people, learning new things?"
Reverend Bjornssohn pursed his lips and nodded, thoughtfully. After a moment, he said, "And what about your spiritual development?"
"My spiritual development?" I said.
"Yes, Paul. How will you nurture the love that God has placed in you? The tireless, loving investment he's made in you as you've grown from a child into such a fine young man?"
Oh boy
. I realized, now, what this "talk" was going to be like. I felt a shade go down in my brain. It had been many years since I'd felt any shred of "God's love" in my heart.
"Well," I said, "I guess I haven't thought much... about that."
"I think that's why your parents are concerned, Paul. They're are concerned that you have been neglecting your spiritual side."
"They told you that?" I said. As religious as I knew my parents were, they were pretty buttoned up about it, as they were about everything. It just didn't seem likely that they would ever say something like that. At least not out loud.
Reverend Bjornsson shifted back in his seat. His shirt strained against his massive chest and my eyes tracked across his torso, involuntarily. The buttons down the middle of this shirt looked like they were struggling to contain him, and I envisioned them coming undone, the erupting of his hairy chest from the fabric...
"Well, not in so many words, son," he said, smiling. "But I know that they--that all of us--are concerned haven't been nurturing the parts of yourself that God loves."
I wrinkled my brow and looked down at the floor. My bare knees were poking out of a new-ish pair of khaki shorts. I tried to keep from fidgeting.
"Let's take a step back, son," he said. I watched him put his hands behind his head. His large upper arms bulged under the fabric of his tight shirt, and I saw faint traces of sweat darkening his armpits. "Your parents tell me you've taken a job this summer. Tell me about it."
I shrugged and shifted uncomfortably in my chair. "I deliver pizzas," I said, "for Pizza Hut."
"You've been working an awful lot, I hear," he said.
"Yeah, I guess," I said.
"And you have been spending a lot of time with your co-workers, after-hours?"
I nodded.
"Drinking alcohol and smoking tobacco, Paul?"
I looked back down at my shoes.
"Paul?"
"Yes sir, sometimes," I said.
In here, under his direct attention--the big, intimidating pastor--it felt dangerous to lie.
"Smoking marijuana?" Reverend Bjornsson said.
I looked at him and shook my head, then dropped my gaze.
"Hmm," he said. He took a breath and then exhaled, slowly.
"What about fornication?" Reverend Bjornsson asked.
"Excuse me?" I said, looking up at him abruptly.
"Fornication..." he repeated. He lowered his hands back to the desk and cocked his head to the side, still watching me with a friendly expression on his face. "... have you lain with any of your new friends, had any sexual encounters with women, Paul?"
"N-no," I stammered, feeling my face flush hot.
Reverend Bjornsson nodded, thoughtfully.
"What about men, Paul. Have you lain with men?" he said, dropping his voice low.
"Sir?" I said.
Reverend Bjornssohn wet his lips with his tongue and nodded at me, gravely. I was sweating, now--I felt my shirt start to soak through where my back was touching the chair.
"Let me tell you a few things, son," the pastor said, his face becoming serious. "Carnal urges are... well, they're an unfortunate burden of being a man. We men have a propensity to want things...
crave
things, that are, well, unnatural. We have desires that are... destructive to ourselves and destructive to God's love. Part of growing up is learning how to control those urges, put them in their proper place."
My face was burning red. I wanted nothing more than to get up and run out of here but I was rooted into my seat.
"You need to bury them, Paul,
bury
your urges. Here's what you do. You find a place, a box within yourself, into which you put your darkess. You keep it locked it away. Locked away from everybody--your family, your friends, and away from the wife and children that I know you will want to have, someday, Paul. The family that I know you ultimately
will
have, when you're older. Now, your urges may be inevitable, and constant, but if you keep them locked away, God will see your effort. He will feel your commitment, and he will know that you're worthy. Worthy of his love, of his grace. Do you understand what I'm saying, Paul?"