Lake of Sin (Prince of Lust #4)
Prologue
PROLOGUE
N ow the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:19-21
Pleasure is a sin.
Some will debate this. Some will flounder through the Bible for glimpses of God dallying in joyous things. My brethren would say the world we occupy is fallen, that perversions are inevitable, and that pleasure as God knows it is impossible to have here. But I say: Our pleasures are unobtainable for God Himself. I say: Pleasure is a sin, for God is jealous. God is jealous ! God doesn’t want other things in life to usurp His place; He is as covetous and paranoid as a jilted lover; He falls into the sin of His own designs.
He had a body in Christ. He would have tasted the pleasures of satisfying hunger, of thirst, of the pulsing pull of arousal. I ask: Is that why His Son had to die? Is that why He removed Himself from the face of the earth, if just to free Himself from the burden of desire?
The Bible says: Delight yourself in the Lord , and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4
What bullshit. I wasted my life waiting for Him to absolve me of desire. After my time with Furfur, I knew a sweetness could be achieved in pleasure. I realised that in seeking pleasure, I had been seeking punishment, too. Not the kind I revelled in, but the kind that would truly hurt. I sought the pain not for absolution, but for confirmation of this truth:
Not only were the bishops and my fellow priests right to question me, but my disgrace was inevitable. I threw the words destiny and fate around and hoped they were as real as the Devil himself.
But what if I had chosen this? What if I had taken back my life and chosen to give it to hedonism, and pleasure, and joy, and to forsake everything else?
What would that mean, then?
Could that mean I might approach Asmodeus and my ascent to its throne not out of duty, but out of desire? Out of want?
Would that not make me even more worthy to sit by its side?