I was sorting through the usual parish post-bag one summer morning when I spotted the note. It was not in an envelope and did not bear a stamp. It was hand-written, in a flowery calligraphy. It took me aback and I had to read it twice, three times, to absorb what the words said. Here they are...
"Dear Vicar,
I dream of your mouth. I dream of your mouth pressed first against my neck, kissing me there where my pulse beats, and then the sweet lips of your mouth sucking gently on my stiff nipples.
Yours, Stella"
My first feeling was total horror. I only knew one Stella, Stella Norte, and she was a member of my congregation, an American who had only moved to Little Chiselford a few months previously. I was worried, because relations between the clergy and their flock are inappropriate and forbidden. And I would now have to deal with Mrs Norte, knowing that she had sent this lewd message. Maybe it was a mistake, I thought. Perhaps it was intended for another vicar. But that could hardly be the case. I didn't know what to do, so I went into the empty church for a little conversation with God, to see if he could advise me on how to handle Mrs Norte's misguided passion. I had heard about this kind of thing - us vicars are not totally unworldly - in the Church of England newsletter. No doubt about it; "relations" with parishioners always ended badly, from what I had seen. I sat at the end of a pew, alone with my thoughts, head bowed towards the altar, hands clasped together. I began to pray for guidance.
And then I began to think about her words. She wanted my mouth. Why? But more importantly, where? She wanted my mouth on her neck... and then... her "stiff nipples". As I tried to pray to God, I felt something rising down below in my trousers. I tried to fight the stirring in my loins, but in vain. All I could see was Stella, sat on my lap, peeling off her bra, showing me her flesh, offering the hard points of her nipples to my mouth. For me to suck. I remembered how she often wore low-cut tops, which showed off her full, big chest. I wondered how experienced she was; she must be a good 10 years older than me. I tried to blank out this vision with other, more appropriate images; of the Garden of Gethsemane, of how Jesus suffered for our sins. But it was hard to block the sight of Stella, her head thrown back, as she clasped my blond head to her bosom. I began to read out chapters from Psalms, out loud, to drown out the temptation.
When I returned to my office, I composed a note to Mrs Norte.
"Dear Mrs Norte,
I received your letter of Tuesday the 14th and I was surprised by the familiar tone of it. As your vicar, I believe you may have acted impulsively and inappropriately, and I would advise you to desist. You are always welcome within my flock, but I must urge you to avoid such messages.
Sincerely The Vicar."
I was glad to hear nothing of Mrs Norte and to see nothing of her in the ensuing days. But on Friday evening, while conducting evensong, I noticed her in the congregation. She was wearing a black dress, even more low-cut than normal, which exposed the creamy flesh of her cleavage. She was alone. I tried to focus on the rest of the church, and ignore her. But on the one occasion that she caught my eye, and held it, I saw her run her tongue, subtly, over her upper lip. I was trying to read the sermon, and stumbled over my sentence. Soon I regained the thread of my text, however, and the rest of the service passed without mishap. That evening, as I cooked a humble meal of shepherd's pie and carrots, I thought about the last woman in my life, Jane, who had left me seven years previously to become a nun. I had never seen her naked. Although once, while she was changing, I caught a glimpse of her in a bra. But we were not married, so we could not enjoy the sins of the flesh, and even our kisses were chaste. That night I prayed to resist temptation, and for God to block out the vision of Stella Norte, breathing heavily as she pushed her nipples into my mouth.
The next morning, the post-bag was full of the usual mail from the congregation, as well as electricity bills and so on. And then I saw it. Another, hand-written missive, in the same pen as before.
"Dear Vicar,
I noticed a bulge in your trousers today at evensong. What were you thinking of? Were you thinking of the moist, secret, swollen lips between my thighs and the way I dream of your long, slender finger separating those lips, pushing in deeply, deeply..."
When I read it I was shocked. So explicit. So shameless. So...disturbing. I held the letter aloft, ripped it in two, and hurled it into the waste paper basket. What on earth was she thinking? She knew how wrong this was, to put temptation in the path of one so holy. I sat at the kitchen table, head in my hands, wondering how I could confront her and tell her to desist. And then, temptation overcame me. I removed the pieces of paper from the bin, spread them out on the table, and re-read the message. So she wanted...my fingers...between her swollen lips. I tried to fight the feeling, the strange feeling, of arousal. I felt the stem rise between my legs, unbidden, unwanted. But I was angry too. What was Mrs Norte playing at? She was teasing me; that was what it was. This was a wind-up, surely.
I found a notepad and penned another note: This time, it was brief and to the point.
"Dear Mrs Norte,
I must please beg you to desist.
Sincerely The Vicar"
I did not hear any more for a few days, and had started to relax somewhat. This awkward scenario had gone away, of its own accord, I thought. And then the doorbell rang, while I was eating my morning toast and drinking a mug of tea while reading the Bible. I put down the good book and answered the door, only to see her standing there, smiling, in the morning sunlight. Wearing red lipstick and a different low-cut top. Her blonde hair freshly washed. I wondered where her husband was, whether he was on business again. (He never seemed to be around in the village, a peripheral presence, dropping in to tea parties for a few minutes before making his excuses, leaving his wife alone). Before I could say anything, she pressed a letter into my hands, before turning and heading back down the garden path. I noticed she was wearing high heels. What on earth was she playing at, I wondered. I was unnerved as I closed the door and sat back down in the kitchen, my hands trembling. I ripped open the envelope and read the letter: It said,
"Dear Vicar,
I realize you are a moral man and the response of your body, to my suggestions, may be distressing to you. We'll go very slowly. Try not to worry. And you mustn't worry if the ripe stem of your manhood rises to heated attention when I tell how I dream of sucking you, of kissing the velvet, mushroom head of your cock and then sucking the whole, hard length of you into my mouth. Tell me you aren't hard now, right at this moment, thinking of it...I cannot desist, Dear Vicar. And you don't want me to.
Yours, Stella"
I could not believe it! The nerve of the woman, to write such explicit and unchristian words. I wondered whether this was a test, set before me by the Good Lord, just as John the Baptist was tested in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights. I resolved then and there to resist, to reject and above all - to pray. I got down on my knees and remained there for an hour, working my way through Old Testament prayers and psalms. But there were images, unwanted and forbidden, trying to push their way into my head. Of Mrs Norte's mouth, around my stem, sucking. I realised that my length, between my legs, was once again hard. As much as I tried, I could not stop it from growing thicker and bigger. I felt a strong impulse to touch it, to cave in to physical temptation, but resisted it. I tried to banish the thoughts of her, to remain resolute, and continued chanting and praying. I asked the Lord to remove her from my life, to take her elsewhere, so that I could concentrate all my efforts on doing his Good Work. I then took a cold shower. Afterwards, I towelled myself dry and dressed in my robes and dog collar, preparing for the afternoon sermon. Please, God, I said under my breath, let not her be in attendance...
Some time later.... I still had a few hours before the afternoon service and was at a loose end, so I took my dog for a walk around the village, enjoying the light breeze, the shafts of light coming through the green branches above, the sense of a new season in the air. I tried not to think about Mrs Norte. When I returned, I spotted a letter on the mat outside my front door. The writing on the envelope was familiar. Not again; not another test of my willpower, I thought. I pulled it open, and was surprised when two photographs fell out, onto the ground. One skipped a few inches in the breeze. When I held them up close I was shocked. I looked around to make sure that no one else could see me. And then I looked again. One photograph showed a full pair of breasts, clad in a red and black lacy bra, which had been pulled down to expose them fully, squeezing them upwards like large balloons. Stella's breasts. I looked closely, and could see that the pinky-brown nipples were stiff and hard, pointing upwards. The other photograph was even more lewd. It showed a pair of thighs, spread open, and between them... the flower of her womanhood. She had on a matching pair of knickers, black and red, which she had pulled to one side with her left hand. With her right hand she was holding herself open, showing off her plump labia, demonstrating the pink hole within. It was framed by a modicum of neat, clipped hair. In a panic, I turned the photos over. Both had writing on the back, in that now-familiar hand.
"All of this is yours for the taking," said one of them.