Part of Priest, book 4
First published 2026
Birdie Cooper works the night shift at a gas station, her art career destroyed by one mistake seven years ago. She lost her teaching job, her church, and her friend after kissing a student. Now she scrapes by to support her sister, carving sculptures in secret. Ryan Bell never stopped searching for the shy lecturer who vanished after their single kiss in college. When he discovers a statue of Lucifer carved in his exact likeness, he knows Birdie made it. He tracks her down with a proposal. He will pay for her mother's medical care for life if Birdie agrees to belong to him completely for one year. Birdie has nothing left to lose. Her sister needs help she cannot provide on a gas station salary. Ryan offers escape from her isolation, even if the terms feel like damnation. She accepts his bargain, but neither expects what happens next. The arrangement meant to free Ryan from his obsession might trap them both in something deeper.
Genres: fiction, romance, adult, adult-fiction, dark-romance, contemporary-romance
Vibes: dark, emotionally-charged, intense, intimate, obsessive, redemptive
Tropes: forced-proximity, obsessive-love, second-chance-romance, transactional-relationship
Setting: gas station
528 pages · Paperback · Bloom Books
Content warnings: emotional-abuse, sexual-content