Beneath His Robes by S.K. Pryntz

As old desires resurface, the line between sacrifice and obsession blurs, threatening to draw them both into a place they cannot escape…

Elias:
I took a vow to God, to my faith, to my people. As a priest, I am bound by duty, but there’s something I can never escape—Ronan. He was my entire world. We were young, stupid, and full of dreams neither of us was able to express and when those feelings became too much, he left me.
I chose this life—a life of celibacy and sacrifice. I convinced myself it was what I wanted. To move on and let go of the past I could never have. To let go of him. But when he comes back whispering his sins and fantasies that all allude to being about me. His every word pulls me back where I can’t forget and awakens my own hidden desires.
I thought I had buried him—buried us—but the truth is, I never stopped loving him. He left to become someone else, someone who didn’t carry the weight of our love and I became suffocated within the confines of my collar. Now the temptation to cross every line I’ve sworn to uphold burns hotter than ever because he’s just within my grasp.

Ronan:
I should have never come back. But how could I stay away when the man I still love haunts my dreams? When I left, I thought I could move on, but the truth is—I never did. Despite the bodies I put beneath me, it was Elias I heard screaming my name. It was always him.
I came back seeking closure, but when I saw him again, standing there in his priest’s robes, cold and distant, I realized he wasn’t the sweet boy I had left behind. He had become a man—a man who made me realize I was still yearning to rekindle the fire I had extinguished out of fear all those years ago. I can’t stop myself from demanding everything I want and need from him.
I can’t stop begging for more. He may have made a vow, but I will show him that succumbing to me and allowing our fire to consume him will be greater than his heaven. I would worship every part of his body and soul. If he would just let me in…I would be his god.
Bound by duty and haunted by regret, Elias and Ronan are forced to confront a past that refuses to stay hidden. Elias, fixed in place by promises made long ago, is unable to shake the weight of a love that was never meant to be. Ronan returns like a restless force, pulling him back to what they once shared. Can they break free from the ties that bind them, or will they be forced to surrender to a past that still burns too brightly to forget?