The Book of Jethro: A Dark Captive Southern Gothic Romance (Hellbound Mountain Men #1)

The Book of JethroShe prayed for salvation. He answered with sin.

Delilah
They locked me away to save my soul. My father—the most feared preacher in Mercy Creek—calls me temptation wrapped in a red dress, a danger to men who claim righteousness while reaching for sin. Now they’ve chosen my a husband older than God, a man with four dead wives and room in his bed for one more.

So I ran.

I thought I was escaping damnation. Instead, I ran straight into him.

He’s a bounty hunter with a price on my head and a deal to deliver me back. He doesn’t ask questions. Doesn’t care what happens to me once I’m returned. But the way he looks at me—the way he touches me—tells me I’m not just a job to him anymore.

I should be afraid. Maybe I am. But the longer I spend in his hands, the more I wonder if I ran from one cage only to be caught in another.

Jethro
I should turn her in.

Twenty grand is twenty grand, and I don’t ask questions about the sinners I haul in. But Delilah Samuel ain’t just any runaway. She’s got the kind of fear in her eyes that don’t come from guilt. And the kind of body that makes a man think about breaking rules.

She says she ain’t a sinner, but the way she looks at when I touch her tells me she’s got darkness in her too.

I tell myself I’m just keeping her close to keep her from running. That she’s a job like any other. But every time she looks at me with those green eyes, whispering things she shouldn’t, I stop thinking about the money.

And I start thinking about keeping her.

🔥 Captive Romance ⛓️ Forced Proximity 🩸 Dark Obsession 🌾 Small Town Cult Vibes 🙏 Religious Guilt & Sinful Temptation 🖤 Ruthless Bounty Hunter Touch Her and Die Vibes

She ran for freedom. He caught her instead.