
Unholy December
They called him Father. She called him forbidden.
Ayana Marcus thought coming home for Christmas would be simple—a few weeks of family dinners, church services, and small-town nostalgia before returning to her real life in Boston.
She didn't expect him.
Father Nelson has been her father's best friend for two decades. A priest. A pillar of their tight-knit community. A man who's supposed to be untouchable, unshakeable, holy. But when Ayana returns after four years away—no longer the sheltered girl who left, but a woman who knows her own mind—everything changes.
One look across her family's dinner table, and she sees it: the way his dark eyes linger a second too long, the tension in his jaw when she speaks, the white-knuckled grip on his glass when she laughs. Father Nelson isn't just her father's friend anymore.
He's a man on the edge of breaking.
One stolen kiss beneath the mistletoe shatters two decades of self-control. What begins as a single moment of weakness spirals into a secret affair that threatens to destroy everything—his priesthood, her family, their souls.
He tells himself he's corrupting her. She knows she's awakening him.
In the cold December nights, between whispered prayers and desperate touches, they discover that some sins taste like salvation. That the line between worship and desire is thinner than either imagined. That love—even forbidden, impossible, unholy love—can be the most sacred thing of all.
But in a town where secrets don't stay buried and the church sees everything, their passion will cost them more than they ever imagined.
He's twice her age. Her father's best friend. A man of God.
She's everything he's denied himself for twenty years.
And this December, they'll learn that some gifts are too dangerous to unwrap…
But impossible to resist.
Baca
Chapter: Chapter Five: Dangerous TerritoryNelson didn't show up for Sunday service.Ayana sat in the family pew, hyperaware of the empty space where he should have been. Her father kept glancing toward the door, frowning. Her mother whispered speculation about illness. Catherine shot Ayana knowing looks that she steadfastly ignored.But Ayana knew exactly why he wasn't there.Last night had changed everything. They'd kissed until her lips were swollen, touched until they were both shaking, whispered confessions that couldn't be taken back. He'd told her things about Sarah, about the accident, about twenty years of grief so heavy it had crushed the life out of him.And she'd held him while he broke apart.She'd left at dawn, both of them knowing they'd crossed a line that couldn't be uncrossed. He'd walked her to her car, kissed her one more time soft, reverent, terrified."I don't know what happens now," he'd whispered against her lips."We figure it out together."But apparently "together" meant him avoiding church while she
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-11-27
Chapter: Chapter Four: Late Night Confession Ayana couldn't sleep.She lay in her childhood bed, staring at the ceiling, replaying the way Nelson's hand had felt covering hers. The desperation in his voice when he'd said i won't stop. The hunger in his eyes before Raven interrupted.At 1 AM, she gave up. Threw on leggings and an oversized sweater, grabbed her coat, and slipped out the back door. The December air bit at her cheeks, sharp and clarifying. Her breath misted as she walked with no destination in mind.Her feet carried her to the community centre.The building was dark except for a single light in the back—Nelson's office. Of course, he was still there. Working himself to exhaustion. Punishing himself with productivity.The side door was unlocked. She slipped inside, her footsteps echoing in the empty corridor. She could hear classical music playing softly from his office—something melancholy, strings, and piano.She didn't knock. Just appeared in his doorway.He looked up from his laptop, and the exhaustion on his fac
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-11-25
Chapter: Chapter Three: Volunteer WorkThe Millbrook Community Center looked different in daylight.Ayana stood outside the brick building, watching kids stream through the doors for the after-school program. Bright murals covered the exterior walls—children's hands reaching toward painted stars, words like HOPE and FUTURE in bold letters. She pushed through the doors into warmth and controlled chaos. The main room buzzed with activity—maybe thirty kids of various ages, half a dozen adults supervising. A bulletin board announced upcoming programs: job training, college prep, holiday food drive, winter clothing distribution."You must be Ayana!"A woman in her thirties approached. Raven Cole, according to her name tag. Volunteer Coordinator."Guilty," Ayana said, extending her hand. "My father said you could use help with the tutoring program?""Absolutely. We're always short-handed." Raven's gaze traveled over Ayana's jeans and fitted sweater—appropriate but not dowdy. "Your father speaks very highly of you. Says you stud
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-11-25
Chapter: Chapter Two: Dangerous GroundAyana sat directly across from Nelson at the dining table, acutely aware of every breath, every glance, every shift of his body. Her mother had outdone herself—pot roast, roasted vegetables, homemade rolls, apple pie cooling on the counter. The kind of spread meant to impress.It was working, but not the way her mother intended."So, Ayana," her father said, cutting into his meat with enthusiasm. "Boston treated you well. Your mother says you're considering staying up there permanently?"The table went quiet. Catherine's fork paused mid-air. Her mother's smile turned brittle."I've been offered a position," Ayana said carefully. "At a nonprofit. Working with at-risk youth.""That's wonderful work," Nelson said, his voice neutral. But his knuckles were white around his fork. "Important. Those kids need advocates.""Thank you." She met his gaze, refusing to look away first. "I think it's where I could make a real difference.""Could?" Her father's laugh was strained. "Sweetheart, your h
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-11-25
Chapter: Chapter One: HomecomingThe Georgia snow fell like a warning.Ayana Marcus pressed her forehead against the cold window of the Greyhound bus, watching Millbrook emerge through the white flurry like a ghost town she'd tried to forget. Four years. Four years of freedom in Boston, of late nights and loud opinions, of being Ayana instead of Pastor Marcus's perfect daughter.And now she was back."Millbrook, final stop," the driver announced.Her stomach twisted as the town's main street came into view—unchanged, frozen in time. Patterson's Drug Store with its faded awning. Miller's Diner advertising pecan pie in peeling letters. And there, at the end of the street, the white steeple of her father's church rising against the grey December sky.The bus hissed to a stop. Ayana gathered her leather jacket—the one her mother would definitely have opinions about—and stepped into the cold. Snow caught in her newly cut hair, the shoulder-length waves a small rebellion her family hadn't seen yet."Ana!"Catherine burst t
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-11-25