Love, Honor, and Betray by Roby, Lawson (ebook reader ink txt) 📕

because I am sold into slavery, with sin as my master. I don’t understand myselfat all, for I really want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do the very thing I hate. I know perfectly wellthat what I am doing is wrong, and my bad conscience shows that I agree that the law is good. But I can’t help myself, becauseit is sin inside me that makes me do these evil things.”

Curtis took a deep breath. Why is this happening? After all this time of doing what’s right and being content with it. Why, God? Why am I so tempted to sleep with another woman?

It just didn’t make any sense, regardless of how bad his marriage was because, like Paul, he knew right from wrong. He’d knownthe difference between the two since he was a child, so there was no excuse for the way he was feeling. His thoughts and actionswere uncalled for, but, also like Paul, he simply couldn’t help himself. He knew the best thing for him was praying and askingGod for help, but shamefully, he hadn’t. He hadn’t gotten on his knees the way he normally did whenever he wanted to conversewith God about a serious matter, and he knew it was because he’d enjoyed his time on the phone with Sharon. He’d tried totell himself that she was nothing special, but in truth, he was fascinated with the sound of her voice and flattered by hergreat desire to be with him. She was so easy to talk to and seemed willing to do whatever he wanted on a moment’s notice.

Another half hour passed, and Curtis struggled with the idea of calling her again. He knew he shouldn’t, but it wasn’t longbefore the good in him lost the battle and he dialed her number.

“Hello?” she answered.

“Hey. How’s it goin’?”

“Wow, three times in one day. I’m impressed.”

“Is that right?”

“Yes. I’m glad you called back. Although I knew you would.”

“How?”

“Just had a feeling is all.”

“Not sure I like that.”

“What?”

“Being predictable.”

“Well, I don’t see anything wrong with it.”

“So what are you doing?” Curtis leaned back in his chair and flipped on the flat-screen television mounted on the corner wall.He did this for added sound, just in case Charlotte did decide to come downstairs.

“Lying here thinking about you,” she said.

“Yeah, right.”

“I’m serious. I told you I want you. And I meant that. I wanna do the kinds of things to you that some folks might considerillegal.”

Curtis’s body heated up. “I don’t know if I like the sound of that.”

“Trust me. You’ll love it, and you won’t be able to get enough of it. You’ll crave everything about me from then on.”

“Sounds to me like some sort of voodoo,” Curtis said, slightly laughing.

But Sharon stayed serious. “No, nothing like that. But once you’ve been with me, you definitely won’t be able to think aboutmuch else. You’ll be back again and again and again.”

Now Curtis got serious. Years ago, he would have taken words like that to heart. He would have seen them as a challenge andwould have been out the door, in his car, and on his way to prove that he was the one women couldn’t stop thinking about. Not after having sex with him. It had been that way for years, and while hehadn’t slept around as of late, his skills hadn’t changed. He still had the ability to drive any woman mad if he wanted to.

“So you think so?” he finally said.

“I’m positive.”

“Well, maybe we’ll have to see.”

“I agree. And since you’ve decided to put it out there, I say there’s no time like the present.”

Curtis hated the way she kept tempting him. She was doing all that she could, trying to get him over to her place and intobed with her, and he could barely contain himself. She was driving his curiosity wild, and he wasn’t sure about anything anymore.But maybe if he went to visit her that would be enough. Maybe once he saw her again, he’d realize she wasn’t all that andhe’d be over her just as quickly as he’d become attracted to her.

But Curtis knew that wouldn’t happen because he was attracted to her. He didn’t know her from a bag of jelly beans, but he already liked multiple things about her. Her boldness,her beauty, and her irrefutable willingness to please him. So what was a man to do? How was any man expected to ignore a womanlike Sharon and just forget about her?

“All you have to do is get in your car and drive over here. It’s as simple as that.”

“No, I don’t think so,” he struggled to say.

“Curtis, please. Please just give me a chance. Let me satisfy you.”

Curtis sighed and rolled up his shirtsleeves. It was the second week in February and exceptionally cold outside, but he feltlike turning on the central air. Sharon was starting to get the best of him, and he wasn’t sure how much longer he’d be ableto deny her. He knew he shouldn’t go to her, but at the same time, he didn’t know why he shouldn’t. Especially since Charlotte had decided to drop off the face of the earthfor an entire weekend like a single woman. He’d tried to convince himself that maybe she truly had taken a trip all by herselfand, as she’d said, “just needed to get away,” but his gut told him otherwise.

But was it really that? Did he really believe Charlotte was having an affair? Or was he merely looking for a way to justifyhis own thoughts and desires? Was he mainly just trying to find a way to rid himself of guilt?

Curtis glanced over at Romans chapter seven again and came to his senses. “I can’t.”

“But why? Why won’t you come to me when you know you want to so badly? I can hear it in your voice.”

“Because I’m married.”

“I realize that, but you’re not happily married. You won’t admit it, but if you were happy you wouldn’t have called me inthe first