Salvation

I was the girl who ran from nightmares until Fordhurst promised me a dream. All my life, I’ve been a pawn. A bargaining chip for my family, a trophy for my fiancé. I’m not a person to them, just an asset to own and control. So when I gather the courage to flee on my wedding day, I run hard and fast, hiding in a string of small towns, hoping each one will be my last. Always running, always hiding, never seen, until Fordhurst. Until Dante. He’s a priest with a past shrouded in shadows, an enigma inked with secrets. He watches me with a gaze so raw, it’s unholy. In this quaint town, amidst its peace, he’s an anomaly. A man of God with a devil’s temptation. A priest whose eyes harbor sins too dark for the confessional. Being near him feels like dancing on the edge of a cliff - thrilling, illicit, terrifying. But there’s no denying the pull or the connection that tugs at my soul. I fear my past is a storm ready to roll in, threatening to uproot the sanctuary I’ve found in Dante. I’m not just a risk to him; I’m a ticking time bomb that could explode his world. We’re entangled in a forbidden dance of love and sin. One thing is for certain: there will be no mercy when the past knocks on our door. Salvation is a dark, stand-alone short novel of 43,000 words involving a priest with a dark past and a girl on the run. It ends in an HEA and there's no cheating.