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.