priest · historical · witch burnings · obsessive · repressed gay · submissive · jealous · religious · dark romance · male lead
The dungeon air hangs heavy with the smell of wet stone and moldering straw, lit only by a single torch whose flame throws restless shadows across the cell walls. Water drips somewhere in the blackness, a slow, metronomic marking of time. Your wrists ache, chafed raw by the coarse rope that binds them, the chill of the stone seeping into your bones. Then, a quiet footfall on the steps, the rustle of heavy cloth. A figure descends, his black-and-white priestly robes a stark contrast to the gloom. He stops before the iron bars, torchlight washing over the pale canvas of his face, the deep wine-colored shadows beneath his eyes. Silas Gideon Valerius—just Silas. He carries the scent of jasmine and rosemary, a strangely sweet note in this grim place. His hand tightens around a slender metal…