Rita Remembers

Author's Note: This story is set in the 1930's before Vatican II. It is a love story between a Roman Catholic priest and a woman he comes to love while he was in Rome, Italy. If this type of story offends you, read no further. If you like a love story, then enjoy.

Thanks to my best friend and soul sister for all your help.

Rita Remembers Chapter 1

Mrs. Rita Thompson was a middle age Korean War widow. Her husband had been an Air Force colonel when his plane was shot down over the seas off of North Korea and he was killed. Her two children were in their teens now and spending part of their summer at camp while she was visiting with her diplomat parents who were now re-assigned to the new Italian government. Her Dad was now the Ambassador to the Italian Government where he and her Mom were settling in at the newly redecorated American embassy.

Rita had come to help her Mom; but also to remember. Just a few days before, as she was packing to fly to Rome, she had seen a short article in the New York Times about a new bishop of Hartford, Connecticut. The name had stood out in flaming letters and her hands had shook. She remembered him so well. He had changed in looks, but she would know those steel gray eyes anywhere. She had always wondered what happened to him. It was as if he had vanished. Now as she sat in a pew of the small church near the Vatican walls, she thought back almost 20 years.

Rita was a typical American young lady –if there is such a thing for any young woman in 1930. The Depression had hit her family, but since her Father was an American Deputy Ambassador from the US Congress to the Italian government, and they were based in Rome, Italy, she was far less affected than her friends at home.

Rita spoke English of course, but also fluent Italian and French. She had an ear for languages and an eye for the intriguing people who spoke these words. She had glossy brunette hair, curling softly down to her mid-back and vivid dark brown eyes that seemed to glow with interest. She was also a student of the many styles of architecture available in Rome, and kept her slim figure fit and trim by walking all over Rome's seven hills! One sunny Spring afternoon, she was hurrying down one of the staircases of the DelaRosa Musee, not really paying attention to where she was going when her left foot slipped and she fell against a tall stranger with broad shoulders and a fine sense of balance. He caught her before she fell and held her against his chest with strong arms. She looked into dark eyes that seemed to see into her soul. She saw only his eyes and didn't pay any attention that he was wearing a black suit and a Roman collar. He was a Roman Catholic Priest – but she only saw the man.

With a hasty "Excuse me, I apologize for bumping you," she retreated and blushed at her terrible faux paux.

You weren't supposed to be in the arms of any priest let alone in public and chest to chest and being tightly held -- no matter the reason. "It is quite all right Miss. Are you sure you're steady now? Let me help you to the bottom of the stairs."

He held her elbow and guided her down the stairs to a broad bench at an alcove at the bottom of the stairway. "I am Fr. Francis O'Connor but my friends call me Fr. Frank."

"Thank you again for helping me," she replied trying to smile. "I know I would have fallen had you not been there. I'm Rita Moore and my family and I are from Baltimore. My father is Deputy Ambassador." She looked down at her ankle. "I guess this sudden hot weather has me a bit shaky...I think I need some ice for my ankle. But I also need some for my stomach."

"I know a solution," he said. "If you will lean on me while we go across this courtyard, the museum has a small trattoria where we can get your ankle some ice and perhaps a coffee and some gelato for your empty tummy." She agreed and he helped her limp slowly across the courtyard to a shady table in the corner where she was able to elevate her left foot and ankle. They ordered gelato and coffees and ice for her ankle.

As they waited to be served, she asked Fr Frank if he had seen the new exhibit of French and Spanish religious art. "I know some of them are copies but the chance to see all of these Old Masters and the photographs of the churches that they belong in is such a great opportunity," she enthused. Fr Frank agreed and they talked of the artists and the various statues and paintings through the gelatos and the coffee and the melting ice on her now recovering ankle.

Rita and Fr Frank knew they had to leave since it was now dark and the trattoria was closing, but Fr Frank knew he could not easily rise from his chair. Their open and honest conversation –her lively eyes and bright smile and her obvious intelligence as they had discussed the art intrigued him! He was only 28 and had been a Priest for almost five years. Rita was 31 but then she was a diplomat's daughter and she has been based abroad for much of the last 15 years.

He willed his obvious physical interest in this exciting young woman to subside...these were very unaccustomed feelings and he had been surprised at his erection even if it was hidden under the table. Finally he was able to get up and he made a definite effort to assist her in also rising and then slowly walking to the nearest exit. As they walked he was able to really look at his companion. Rita was quite tall. She was almost as tall for a woman at 5'10" as he was for a man at 6'2". His broad shoulders had come from sports he had played from high school through college and into the seminary...football and now soccer, baseball, and even tennis had been activities to take the physical urges that he needed to resist and turn them into physical activities that involved the mind and the body. But now his body was ready to betray him.

He helped her into a waiting taxi and then slowly walked the long blocks to the North American College near the Vatican and St. Peters. He needed to pray and meditate – he knew he could not see her or be with her again. She was the worst kind of temptation – the biggest temptation he had had since he was ordained a Priest. Intelligence and beauty and understanding all wrapped into one intriguing package! And she spoke not only English but also French and Italian.

Praying and meditating didn't help that much and he spent hours on his knees; but then he would look at one of the pieces of artwork in the chapel and all he could see was her face; the shining eyes and that special smile that seemed to be for him alone. His next afternoon off he returned to the Della Rosa Musee but she was not there and he was rather disappointed. Several days passed and he was in the new exhibit at the Vatican Library –which had not opened to the General Public yet – but there she was! "Well Fr Francis! How nice to see you again! I was hoping that you might be here. Were you involved in this new exhibit in any way? I know the Society of Jesus has several things in it own collections that are quite extraordinary."

"Ah Rita, how nice to see you also. But really, call me Frank –all my friends do." "Well Fr Frank it is then." He chuckled as his eyes held hers. "That is fine until you are comfortable enough to just call me Frank."

They walked through the exhibit commenting quietly about the displays of church ceremonial plates and small art work and relics. They often were bent over the same cases and their heads were close together. Frank inhaled deeply as her soft perfume wafted from her hair and her white shoulders into his line of sight. Her hair was pinned up against the heat of the late Roman Spring and he had the strongest desire to remove the pins and run his fingers thru her glossy brown curls until it fell down her back.

They had only spent an hour or so at the exhibit but Frank knew he wanted to spend time with her and afternoon tea seemed to be a way to keep them in public but also allow some privacy. He mentioned it to her very quietly and she smiled. "I'd like that," she replied.

They walked to a nearby café and ordered afternoon tea and some gelato for the heat. They talked of everything...where she had traveled with her diplomat family and where he had traveled as he had spent the 14 years of a Jesuit seminarian's education and then ordination. He was finishing his Masters' thesis and he was also an assistant pastor at one of the local small churches near the Vatican walls. Time together for them stretched into hours and the trattoria served them a fine antipasto, and then pasta Alfredo and bread with a light dry red wine to accent the flavors in the sauce. Hours passed and he knew that it was time to leave. They held hands as they moved along the dark sidewalks but they didn't hurry. It was as if time now meant nothing. As they crossed around a shaded corner, he stopped and turned her into his arms and she leaned forward. They kissed. Frank thought she might slap him but no--instead she leaned against his shoulder and they kissed again.

Pulling back slightly from her warm, willing lips, he whispered, "Go home with me." It was neither a question nor a command. He waited at her slight hesitation, and then she nodded. "Yes."

Moving slowly up the stairs her hand in his, she moaned softly and there in the stairwell they kissed again and her tongue danced over his lips. Opening the door, he brought her inside and they stood in the tiny one room apartment. It has his single bed on one wall and an old lumpy dilapidated couch on the other wall. They stood in the middle of the floor for a few moments...words were not necessary. They kissed again and then she started to lead him towards the bed. He stopped and she spoke softly "You don't have to do this. I do know what it means for you. If you do not want to do this, I will leave and not return. It is your choice." She looked at him so clearly and with such understanding. "Yes it is my choice and yes I choose YOU!" and he reached up and pulled his Roman collar off his shirt.

Rita reached over and began undoing his buttons and he softly unbuttoned her summer sundress that buttoned all the way down to the hemline. His fingers soon were softly stroking her breasts and her nipples were hard beneath his shaking fingers. She was trembling also...from need and emotion. Soon his shirt was open and her fingers were circling his neck and down across his slightly hairy chest with the strong muscles. He groaned when she stroked first one of his nipples and then the other and followed these with a kiss on his left ear and then down the left side of his neck. Frank closed his eyes and though that he might actually faint with the sudden rush of blood from his head down to his strong erection. He could feel the pulsing rub against the zipper of his pants.

He looked at Rita's soft strong body as he gazed in wonder. She was not his first, but it had been a long time since he had made love with a woman. As he was looking, she reached up and hooked her panties with her fingertips and slipped them down over her hips and then her knees to her ankles. Stepping out of them, she handed them to Frank. He felt the dampness and softly raised them inhaling her scent of passion.

She reached across and slowly unzipped his pants–carefully easing the zipper past his straining erection. He was large and long...perhaps the longest penis she had ever seen...over 9" and almost 3"in diameter.

His pants fell to the floor and she knelt down and grasping first one ankle and then the other helped him remove his shoes and then his pants. Sliding her strong fingers down his thighs; down to his ankles, she slid off his socks, and dropped them into his shoes. As she stood up his hands drifted into her hair and she felt him taking out the large pins that held her hair up –one by one –and her hair fell down her back in soft curves.

Clad only in soft peach silk panties, she felt his strong hands slip down her curving abdomen. She moaned softly as he slid the panties down and off, and then return to dip into the silky curls hiding her mons venires. His fingers moved softly as he felt the forbidden lips...the heart of a woman he never expected to experience again after his Ordination. His fingers dimly remembered and then he slid them into her wet and quivering pussy. Her hands were not idle and she slowly slid his tight briefs past his strong erection hearing it slap against his stomach. He seemed to grow even larger.

Again she fell to her knees and this time she softly took his proud cock into her mouth...first licking and tonguing the head and then softly working her way around first up to the head and then down the shaft into the hair at the base of his balls. "Oh yes –please more...please Dear God more!"

Rita knew that she could not swallow his huge cock but she could work with him and using her hands could bring him pleasure and relief. She could only swallow the head but using her tongue and hands together she moved the sensitive skin at the back of the cock into her mouth and then sucked strongly but gently. Tonguing his shaft under the corona, she found the vein that ran from the tip down to the base. It was very sensitive and as her lips found it –Frank groaned loudly. He knew he had to stop her or he couldn't control his cumming! He knew she would stop if he began to give her the loving strokes and tongue that he wanted.

Urging her to step back two steps and then lie across the narrow bed, he opened her thighs with his knee and kissed her deeply starting at her mouth and then working down her sweet soft body....breasts and then graceful curves of her abdomen and then wiry curls from sweet sex. Long years before...his experiences had been brief encounters and heavy petting. Seminary brought the usual lectures about the sacred vows –and about the temptation of women within a parish environment. But this was different.

As he kissed and sucked and nibbled, his right hand had softly reached into her vagina. She was wet –juicy wet but very tiny. And that would just NOT do for Lil Frank and his needs for release! He stroked her first with one finger and then slid the tips of both his index and his middle finger into her. Circling the soft folds, he pushed against the sides of her pulsing pussy stretching her tight muscles. Murmuring soft words, he whispered "Relax, honey." while his fingers slipped even higher and pushed more strongly.

Rita's vagina was pulsing around his fingers –almost mini-orgasms in her excitement. His erection was dripping with pre-cum and he pressed her more deeply into the bedspread as his weight pushed his cock slowly into her slippery pussy. He bent her knees up and they hugged his hips; and as he thrust forward he took her legs and placed them on top of his broad shoulders. His next thrust took him deep into her –so deep that he felt her cervix.

Moaning even louder, she closed her eyes. "No Rita...Open your beautiful eyes, I want to see them as we make love!" he commanded. Rita opened them and looked deeply into his blue gray eyes. "You are filling me so deeply –I have never felt like this before!" He began moving rhythmically and faster as she relaxed and opened to his thrusting. His thrusting triggered her strong orgasms and she pulsed around him...pulsed and moved so strongly that he held onto her shoulders to keep her centered. He could not stop his thrusting and he was so deep that he thought he would go completely into her ...cock and balls and all. He knew he had to pull out, but before he could --he exploded and his cum filled her vagina. Hastily he did pull out and his cum pulsed out of her pussy and around his cock. Laying down beside her, they both trembled and breathed deeply as if there was not enough oxygen in the room.

"I didn't mean to let go inside you...I meant to pull out." Frank spoke softly. He was upset -- his voice showed it. "It is all right or it will be. I can go to the Farmacia at our Embassy and get a box of condoms.", Rita spoke quietly trying to calm Fr. Frank's fears. Frank rose and got a wet cloth from the tiny bathroom, and stroking softly wiped her wet thighs and dripping folds. He opened her just enough to clean her gently as he sat next to her raised knees and lovely strong buttocks. His mind was racing – he knew he wanted to see her –to be with her again. This was not going to be a one-time thing...they had an attraction and it was special. Fr Frank and Rita talked. They had to plan so that they could meet when he had time -- when his duties allowed. She had started to rise to get dressed but Frank spoke words she had never expected to hear. "Don't go. I want to wake up next to you in the morning."

"Do you think that is wise? she asked. "Can what we are doing stand up to the light of day?" "I don't know right now," he said, "but it is what we both want and it is what we both need right at this moment."

Rita understood and she walked into the bathroom to clean up. They both knew the Church's stance on what they had done, and especially whom she had done it with. She softly said a Hail Mary and crossed herself before opening the door and turning off the light. She went back to the small single bed and as she slipped naked into it, his back was against the wall and her hips fitted into his as if they were two spoons nestled close together. They talked of their feelings as they had made love and then they talked of his schedule tomorrow...or rather later this morning as it was after 1:00AM. He had to do Divine Office and he was scheduled to do the 7:00 AM Mass at his small church. She went to sleep in his arms, but it was over an hour later before he slept as his mind wrestled with his guilt over his broken vow. He didn't feel enough guilt to think that this was so terribly wrong and must never happen again. He wanted her...wanted to be with her. He knew it would happen again. Finally he slept with his arms around her and his soft but present erection nestled between the cheeks of her buttocks!! Her hair caressed his face and even tickled his nose as he tried to sleep. Finally his racing thoughts stilled and he slept deeply.

A few hours later, they both stood together in the small shower, their hands stroking in intimate ways as they learned what each touch meant to the other. Hurriedly he dressed in his clericals and as he closed his Roman collar, he seemed to be a bit more distant to her. She finished buttoning her sundress and looked at her silk panties lying on the end of the bed. He picked them up, folded them into a small square and tucked them into his pant's pocket. Kissing him lightly, she said "I will wait for your call late this afternoon." And she went quietly out the door and down the stairs into the early dawn.

Fr Frank began the prayers of Divine Office as he walked the blocks from his apartment to the small church where he was assistant pastor. He kept on praying even as his thoughts raced between his broken vow and his strong sense of guilt and other thoughts of her beauty and how truly wonderful it had been to make love with her. He also thought about what terrible things would happen if his superiors at the North American College – the Jesuit world headquarters – would do to him if they found out about his transgressions. Censure and meetings and retreats and even the threat of not being able to give Mass or the Sacraments would only be the beginning. Certainly he would be sent back to the United States in disgrace. As he said Mass that morning, he felt terrible unworthiness and wondered how he could ever get through the entire service. But in the early morning, the few parishioners did not seem to notice the brief quiet faltering of his movements and his clear voice uttering the Latin words. He finished the Mass and went to the silent sacristy where he removed his vestments and cleaned the Chalice. As he said the special prayers for after the Mass, his thoughts were centered on Rita.