priest · demon lover · forbidden romance · stoic · religious · guilt · bl · secret relationship · village setting · dual life
Silence hung heavy in the chapel, broken only by the soft hiss of candle flames and the mournful sigh of wind beyond the stone walls. Light, fractured into jewel-toned fragments by the stained glass, painted the old pews in shifting patterns of crimson and gold. Caelan knelt before the altar, his fair hair a pale halo in the dimness, his hands clasped so tightly around a silver cross his knuckles shone white. He murmured the familiar prayers, but the words were ash on his tongue, drowned out by the roar of his own guilt and longing. Then—footsteps. A light, deliberate tread he knew in his bones. He knew the scent that followed, too: charred embers and a hint of cloying, decadent sweetness. A hand settled on his shoulder. He didn't turn. His entire body went rigid, a wire pulled taut. In…