The Scent of Winter — Tiffany Reisz

The 2016 Original Sinners Christmas story, free on December 20th.

Kingsley Edge thought he was being driven to the airport. He never expected he'd be kidnapped and relocated to a cabin in the middle of nowhere, Maine to help Søren celebrate his birthday. But it's not quite the sexy party Kingsley hoped for. Søren has been keeping a secret from Kingsley for several years and it's finally time to confess. But will Kingsley absolve his priestly lover of his sins or will this winter be the coldest one yet?

This novella takes place the December before the events of The Virgin and The Queen. Warning: Spoilers ahead--read through The Queen before reading The Scent of Winter. Stars Kingsley and Søren and a cabin in the woods...

Without any fanfare or counting down, Søren switched on the tree lights.
And just like that it was Christmas.
No gifts. No music. No crèche. Only lights. That's all it took. A push of a button. It shouldn't have been that simple, but it was. A little more light where before there was darkness. A little more beauty where before there was emptiness. All the bad things that were there before were still there, but at least there was one more small good thing in the world.