Chapter XV: Everything shattered... Or so I thought

"Antonio, wake up!"

Morning came, and with it, my fears came true... I couldn't stand up or walk. Let alone sit...

"Cesare, I don't think I'll be doing anything today, just sleeping or lying down. It's not my fault you were so rough last night..."

"But I think it's partly your fault... Forgot what you were saying last night? Shall I remind you?" Cesare said in a calm tone.

"Well... It doesn't matter. I'm not getting out of bed for anything in the world..."

"Cardinal Borgia is back from vacation. Wasn't that why you came here?"

"W-Well, yes... But if he tells me to leave... What will I do?"

"I'll make sure nothing suspicious happens or that will pull you away from me... But..."

"Cesare, what's wrong?"

"I don't feel too well... It's like something inside me is burning... I feel terrible... Well, never mind... You have an audience with the cardinal at 11:00..."

"Wait, what time is it now?"

"I-I don't know... I think it's 09:00... I-I have to go outside..."

"Cesare, you're bleeding!"

Cesare's eyes were no longer the ones I knew; they had turned a dark red. Within seconds of noticing the strange color of his eyes, he started crying tears of blood.

"It's nothing, Antonio... I-I have to go... Ah!"

He rushed out the door. Thankfully, he was already dressed when I woke up. Still, what happened to him? It makes me think something bad is about to happen... Could it be... No, it's impossible. Even though he's so perverse and plays with people's minds around him, he can't become possessed. Still... The secretary bishop became possessed. But he had so many serious moral problems. Plus, he made a pact with the devil, so any similarity between the two is ruled out. But still, if... I hope it's not the case, but if it is, I'll use the powers given to me by God and try to remove that unclean spirit that possesses him.

Anyway, it doesn't matter. I have an audience today, and I can't go like this. First, I need to wash, change, and tidy up. Although I've met the Pope, meeting Cesare Borgia seems much more exciting. Plus, Cesare won't be with me at this meeting to help me through the critical moments.

Well, said and done. After a few minutes, I headed to the bathroom to wash up. Honestly, the action spots from last night hurt. A lot. I think I'd better call Sister Catherine after I get out of the bath. Who knows... Maybe she has some cream or something to soothe my pain.

"Sister Catherine..."

"Father Antonio, are you okay?" the sister asked, quite concerned.

"Well, you know... Last night..."

"You did it, didn't you?"

"Wait, what? How did you...?"

"Well, you shouldn't forget that you're not alone around here... With the noise you made, I think even the Pope heard..."

"Oh, Lord... Anyway, do you have any cream or something to soothe my pain?"

"Sure... Cesare is usually like that. However, I'm worried about why he left so early..."

"Well, I heard that Cardinal Borgia came, and I think he went to talk to the cardinal about me..."

"Oh, so that's it... Alright, here you go."

"What's this?"

"It's a herbal cream with miraculous powers... Believe me, it's very good for cases like yours."

"Thank you... Now, if you'll excuse me."

"Sure... Take care!"

It hurts like hell. This cream makes everything even worse. At least in the first moments after applying that cream, I thought I would die from the pain, but towards the end, it started to get better. I guess the sister was right after all.

Now it's time to leave. I've been with Cesare through Rome so many times, and I still don't know how to get out of the building. Of course, I met a priest who helped me get out of the building, showing me where Cardinal Borgia's office was. To my surprise, it was quite close, so it didn't take me more than 15 minutes to get to the building where the Prefect of the Congregation for Clergy had his office, Prince Macchiavelli, as some called him, the Pope's son, Cesare Borgia.

I've heard so many stories about him, and now I'm meeting him. I still wonder what kind of man he is. Also, I wonder if he even remotely resembles my Cesare, or are they two completely different figures.

I heard that to get an audience with the cardinal, you have to have high ranks in society or be recommended by someone powerful. Cesare is the powerful man who recommended me, and I thank Heaven for that. If I hadn't met Cesare two weeks ago, I would have had to go back home, or worse, I would have found my end in some of Rome's canals. After a few minutes of waiting, the door of the office opened, and two elderly cardinals came out of it looking very scared.

It seems that Cardinal Borgia knows how to exert his power over the people around him...

"Your Eminence, I am honored to meet you on this wonderful day. I have heard many things about Your Eminence, and it is like a dream come true to finally meet you," I said, kneeling as soon as I entered the office.

"Antonio, get up!"

Honestly, it was an office almost as large as the Pope's. Paintings of the Pope's family and, of course, a cedar wood desk with various documents on it.

To my surprise, as I approached the cardinal's desk, passing under the brightly colored vault of the room, I was completely stunned. Cesare, the humble priest I had been sleeping with for two weeks, was standing in place of the cardinal, dressed in his cardinal's attire. No, it can't be him!

"Cesare, if this is some prank of yours, know that it's not funny at all..."

"Hm, I think you forgot who you're addressing. A humble priest like you to address me by name... It's insulting to the entire Church..."

"Wait, what? Cesare, snap out of it! I told you I wanted to speak to the cardinal, so I can wait a little longer until he arrives..."

"Have you gone mad? Do you think this is some poor joke from a humble priest like you, huh? Try to remember the past two weeks and the doors that have opened for you!"

Wait, this can't be. It can't be that Cesare was the cardinal all this time... I knew there was something wrong with his name and his proximity to the Pope, but... It can't be, I don't believe that the person I loved was actually...

"Hm, it seems you've remembered. You know, because of you, I lost my secretary... I felt sorry for him, but I can't do anything about it because it was father's choice... Well, you have to pay for what you've done, don't you think?"

"Wait, what exactly? I just mentioned the immoral things the bishop was doing... Plus, he was behind my abduction and..."

"Quiet! How can you accuse a bishop of such things? Do you think he admitted to that because he was guilty? He admitted your accusations because you were the Pope's protege..."

No, this can't be. I can't believe this merciless character could have been Cesare... I don't care at all. If necessary, I will beg for money to return home. I can't stand another second with this scoundrel. And I thought I had finally met my other half...

"Well, Your Eminence, I apologize for the disturbance. I will immediately return to my homeland, and we will not see each other again from today on. Goodbye, Your Eminence!"

"Where do you think you're going? Don't you know that I have the power to remove you from priesthood with just a signature?! Come here, get closer!"

"No, damn it! I've had enough of this! I can't bear it anymore... To say that the bishop is not to blame for everything that happened to me? You're more wicked than he is... Now I know why the bishop became your secretary..."

"Antonio, what did you say? How dare you say such things? From today on, consider yourself removed from the clergy. No, consider yourself excommunicated from the Church... From now on, you are no longer part of the Church, and because you bear the stigmata, I will order you to be burned at the stake for heresy."

Wait, what? This wasn't my wish. This can't happen. If I die... I can't believe that the one condemning me to death is Cesare himself... My first love...

"Hahaha, do it! I really want to get rid of you and your supremacy... I really thought you were different from the others, but it seems you're not... You're just as diabolical as all the rest!"

Cesare, extremely annoyed, came towards me and slapped me with all his might. I fell to the ground with blood flowing from my mouth. It seems I shouldn't have spoken to him like that, but... I can't bear this anymore.

"I-I apologize, Your Eminence... You know, after everything that happened in these two weeks, I still can't get over the fact that you are Cardinal Borgia in person..."

"Hm, it seems you're becoming obedient... Alright then, come closer!"

I approached the place where the cardinal was seated. I can't believe this. Cesare, the one I spent two weeks with, believing he was just a humble priest, was actually the cardinal himself... I was deceived by everyone, including Sister Catherine and the Pope...

"Antonio, do you remember when I bought you this cassock?"

"Yes, Your Eminence, why?"

I didn't even get to finish what I was saying, as Cesare tore my cassock in half from top to bottom. No, I can't believe it... My first gift in this world became unusable in a few seconds... The most precious gift I had ever received was now torn apart just like my soul.

I started to cry. I can't believe this is happening to me... Why is this happening? Why do I have to go through this? I can't wait for it all to end once and for all.

Right after that, he pushed his chair back and pulled me between him and the desk... I can't believe this is happening.

"Antonio, do you want to remain in the clergy?" Cesare asked, no, Cardinal Cesare Borgia.

"Yes... I want to remain a priest so I can help people and be there for them..."

"Alright then, kneel!"

Wait, what? Nevertheless, I knelt before him... He extended his cardinal ring from his right hand, and I kissed it, while he unbuttoned his cassock with his other hand. He was naked underneath and had an erection. I took his shaft in my mouth and he guided my head, making me take him to the root this time. I stepped out of my briefs as he pulled them down my legs. It was my turn to moan and hold his head between my hands and luxuriate in his attentions as he took me in his mouth and gave a suck.

"One last time," he murmured as he pulled away from me and nudged me onto his lap, holding his cock erect with one hand, guiding me with the other hand on the small of my back, as I positioned myself on the cock head and descended on the shaft. He leaned forward, burying his head into my sternum, and grasped and separated my buttocks with his hands as, using the leverage of my feet on the floor on either side of his thighs, I raised and lowered my passage on his steel-hard cock. He sucked the aureole of one of my nipples into his mouth, in its entirety, and flicked the nipple with his tongue as he sucked it. I moaned for that and then again when he did the same with the other nipple.

I tried to show him I no longer was as open to him as before—as I had been the previous night when I'd gone soft and spongy for him and opened for him to go deeper into the vulnerability of me than he'd ever sunk before—but my own needs defeated me. My passage opened right up for the thickness of him as he went deeper with each downward pull, controlled by the cardinal now with hands gripping my hips.

My passage muscles rippled over the throbbing cock, blossoming open, stretching for him, coaxing him deeper and deeper inside me. I started to cry out in ecstasy, but sensing that, he gripped my face with a large, white paw, forcing a thumb inside my mouth, which I sucked on as I rose and fell on the cock with muted sounds of groans and moans.

He turned me around on the cock, lowering my chest to the surface of the desk. My arms shot above my head, scattering framed photographs aside. I gripped the edge of the far side of the desk, as he crouched over me from behind, one hand grasping my mouth, the other hand gripping my waist. There was no peaceful end to this now. He was pounding my ass, deep and hard, fucking me with fury as he'd never done before. I was gasping and groaning and moaning under his control, being fucked hard as he'd never done before. Being taken higher and higher. Gasping for breath, every ounce of my attention going to that huge cock battering at me deep inside, finding that I could take it. I could be soft deep inside again and still take his relentless pounding. Discovering that this was what I wanted from him, albeit having learned that too late.

We achieved a near-simultaneous ejaculation, the first time we'd managed it. The last time we'd tried, we both knew.

"Hm, I think it would be good if the Pope came and saw our activity, don't you?"

"N-No... Please..." I said with my last strength.

To my surprise, after a few seconds, the Pope himself entered Cesare's office and saw us while he was still moving inside me.

"Cesare, w-what are you doing?" Pope said visibly astonished.

"Hm, father, aren't you glad I'm back at the office after my two-week vacation?"

"Son, no... Antonio..."

"Holy Father, save me!" I began to say through tears of pain and regret.

"Hm, do you need help? Until now, you seemed confident, didn't you?"

After he said that, he withdrew his penis from inside me, leaving behind a black liquid. Wait, why is it black?