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Twisted Christmas: A Taboo Christmas Anthology
Unwrap Him by Nyla K (An Age Gap, Taboo MM)
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Romance After Dark Taboo Anthology: Darkest Desires
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Double-Edged by Nyla K (A Taboo MMM) Coming March 21st, 2022!
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About the Author
Hi, guys! I'm Nyla K, otherwise known as Nylah Kourieh; an awkward sailor-mouthed lover of all things romance, existing in the Dirty Lew, up in Maine, with my fiancé, who you can call PB, or Patty Banga if you're nasty. When I'm not writing and reading sexy books, I'm rocking out to Machine Gun Kelly and YUNGBLUD, cooking yummy food and fussing over my kitten (and no, that's not a euphemism). Did I mention I have a dirtier mind than probably everyone you know?
I like to admire hot guys (don't we all?) and book boyfriends, cake and ice cream are my kryptonite. I can recite every word that was ever uttered on Friends, Family Guy, and How I Met Your Mother, red Gatorade is my lifeblood, and I love to sing, although I've been told I do it in a Cher voice for some reason. I’m very passionate about the things that matter to me, and art is probably the biggest one. If you tell me you like my books, I'll give you whatever you want. I consider my readers are my friends, and I welcome anyone to find me on social media any time you want to talk books or sexy dudes!
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[email protected], or my PA [email protected]
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Happy reading!
Through the River - Into the Woods
BY LEIGH LENNON
Copyright @2021 Leigh Lennon
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No part of this book may be reproduced in any written, electronic, recording, or photocopying without written permission of the publisher or author. The exception would be in the case of brief quotations embodied in the critical articles or reviews and pages where permission is specifically granted by the publisher or author.
Although every precaution has been taken to verify the accuracy of the information contained herein, the author and publisher assume no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for damages that may result from the use of information contained within.
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The E-book copy is licensed for your personal enjoyment and may not re-sold or given away.
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This book is a work of fiction and is the product of the author’s imagination.
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Editing by: My Brother’s Editor
Proofreading services by: Deaton Author Services and Horace Proofreading
Content Proofing: Ashley Cestra and Kelly Green
Created with Vellum
“Through the River—Into the Woods”
A taboo MMF romance
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My world falls apart with the loss of my parents, leaving me with the two most wretched good-for-nothing men—my stepbrother and godfather. Close proximity with the two of them is making me think things a young lady shouldn’t. But, unless I’m reading their own signs in the wrong way, they may be having the same impure thoughts. All under the pretense of Christmas, lines begin to blur—changing our world as we know it.
Chapter 1
Kenzie
The story of how my parents met is both tragic and wonderful. I’ve heard it more times than I care to admit. Mom chronicled the events of how she and my dad fell in love so often I tuned her out, as she’d replay it for my stepbrother and me. As I’m watching the caskets of my parents lower into the ground, I wish she was here to share their fairy tale kind of love over and over again, just for me to groan and moan at their sappy as fuck love story.
“It was a Tuesday. I was all alone. My life was about to change. And I was scared as fuck,” she’d recount. My mom actually used the word fuck. “The curtain had been pulled, and I couldn’t see the other person in the room. Tears flowed down my face because the man on the other side was so attentive to his wife. His voice was jovial. He couldn’t wait, telling everyone they were about to welcome their daughter into the world. I had no idea what the gender of my baby was. But, at any moment, I’d become a mother. I may have been alone, but I wouldn’t be for long. The thought both overwhelmed me and filled me with happiness I couldn’t describe. My cries had gotten the attention of the couple. The curtain swung open, and instantly I envied the woman in the other bed. Her man was gorgeous, so beautiful, but in love with the woman who was about to make him a father. The two together were out of this world beautiful. And at the end of the day, they held their little girl, and I held my baby boy.”
The story up to this point might have everyone confused. After all, I’m the little girl—born to the crazy-in-love couple, not the woman I had called mom. The story continues. It has to, or I never would have been able to call the woman who raised me, mother.
“We kept in touch—your mom and I. Tanya had become an older sister to me. She’d wanted a baby for so long; her ability to calm you was amazing. I could never do the same with River. Your mom and I had plans. Big plans. For two years, we were inseparable, and your dad got a little tired of me always being there. If I didn’t have dinner with them at least four times a week, Tanya and I felt cheated. Hell, most times, you and River shared a crib during naps, we were together so much. The day she was supposed to pick me up to shop for decorations for both your and River’s second birthday party, I was waiting and waiting on my front porch. I’d left River with your dad earlier in the day after taking both of you kids to the park. He loved River and tolerated me for Tanya’s sake. After two hours of not being able to reach her, I got in my car to go find her. I pulled up to the house, the street full of ambulances and police cars. Tanya’s mom held River, but Robert had you in Tanya’s rocking chair, hugging you tight. Tanya had an underlying heart condition and died in the shower of a heart attack. All alone.”
Mom knew how to tell a sad and somber story. I’d never known the woman she referred to as my biological mom. Shannon Mayes Hanson had been my mother—just as Robert Hanson had been River’s father after he officially adopted him, and Mom adopted me. But that part is coming.
“Anyway.” She’d always continue, after the saddest part of my biological mom dying. “Robert was lost. I’d come and sit with you at night. River would often sleep in the same room, and I’d clean or get meals ready for the rest of the week. I needed to be in the house that Tanya loved. After all, she was the one that had taught me how to be a mom. My loss was incredible, but nothing like your father’s.”