Tymber Dalton - The Denim Dom

Yes, I finally wrote Tonys story! LOL. For those of you who dont know, he also makes appearances in The Reluctant Dom and Domme by Default. While this book and those two are all standalone books, the events in this book take place following the others. Leah and Seth also appear in The Reluctant Dom. Tilly, Landry, and Cris, and Ross and Loren, appear in Cardinals Rule. Clarisse, Mac, and Sully appear in Safe Harbor. All of these releases are available from Siren-BookStrand.

Some people dont realize this, but its no secret that I am actively involved in the BDSM lifestyle. Thats one reason why I enjoy writing about it so much. While sometimes I draw characteristics for characters or inspiration from real-life events from my own experiences, everything I write is fictionalized to protect theeh, guilty, so to speak. However, the kind of play I write about is the same kind of play I witness at nearly every party or private club outing I attend. Or is even play we engage in ourselves.

As of this writing, the FetLife.com screen names I invented do not exist. So if they ever do show up, please dont bug the poor people about this book because they likely wont have a clue what youre talking about.

This book took me a long time to write for several reasons. Life got in the way, my health got in the way, my own paranoia of screwing it up and letting down my readers after the tremendous response for The Reluctant Dom got in the wayand we lost a very dear friend and mentor in the lifestyle to cancer. Quite frankly, that took my heart away for writing this for many, many months. The Reluctant Dom was my way of dealing with my grief over my grandmothers death, and I knew I couldnt handle recreating that experience with a ten-foot pole at this time. So I had to wait until I felt ready to write Tonys story with the energy and heart and clarity of mind to give him the undivided attention he deserved.

My friend will one day get her own story, but this book isnt it. It was never meant to be. It held its own set of experiences and emotions, and I hope it doesnt disappoint those of you whove waited so long for it.

While Sarasota and some of the landmarks mentioned in the area do exist, I use them fictitiously. FetishCon (called FetCon by many) is a real event held every year in Tampa, but Ive taken literary license with the event for my own purposes. The organizers of the convention have in no way endorsed or participated in the writing of this book. (But if you ever get a chance to go, you should. Its a pretty rockin good time!) Characters in this book are completely fictitious and creations of my own warped imagination.

Sunglassescheck. Coffeecheck. Laptop

Shayla Pierce glanced over her shoulder at the backseat. Check.

Shed been damn lucky to fall into this job. Last thing she needed was to mess up her first day by forgetting something important.

She put her Civic into reverse, then hit the brakes.

Crud.

Shifting back into park, she shut the car off and pulled the keys from the ignition. Might help to have my purse today. She jogged back to her apartment and found her purse sitting on the kitchen counter where shed left it. She grabbed it and returned to the car.

One more try.

This time she made it out of her apartment complex and down the street. She turned onto Clark Road and headed west toward US 41. Shed timed her drive already. She should make it to her new office in downtown Sarasota in under forty minutes.

Tropical Sarasota was a far cry from her snowy Minneapolis childhood, college days spent in Athens, Ohio, at the Scripps School of Journalism, and a year on the copy desk at The Plain Dealer in Cleveland before being promoted to reporter, when she got to write her own copy.

Now, at thirty-three, she was starting her life over again. Or at least that was what it felt like.

No more snow. No more ice. No more turtlenecks.

Her fingers tightened around the steering wheel. No more backstabbing, lying sack-of-monkey-shit bastard ex-fiancs named James I wasted eight years of my life on.

The publisher and editor in chief of Sunshine Attitude Magazine, Bill Melling, waved her into his office when she arrived ten minutes before eight.

He stood and offered his hand. Glad to see you didnt back out on us, Ms. Pierce.

You can call me Shayla, or Shay, Mr. Melling.

He smiled. Bills fine. Were casual around here. Weve got a morning editorial meeting at nine. We have them Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. He glanced at his watch. Thats in an hour. When Suzanne gets here, Ill have her show you to your desk and get you up to speed. A woman appeared in the office doorway. Oh, there she is.

Twenty minutes later, Shayla was seated at her new desk in a large cubicle with a window overlooking Ringling Boulevard. Not too bad. Not an office, but the only one with an office in this organization was Bill Melling, so that was fair. At least she had tall divider walls and more floor space than some of her coworkers.

She took a few minutes to quiet her nervous stomach. This has really happened. I did it.

The day after the discovery three weeks ago, shed been drowning her sorrows at a hotel bar with Allison, an old high school buddy. Finding out her fianc had robbed her of over fifteen thousand dollars to pay for Internet porn tended to upset a girl.

Allison had been supportive, sympathetic, and more importantly, had called Shayla two days later with a proposal.

Fortunately, Shaylas killer hangover had gone away by then.

I was talking to my brother about what happened, Allison said. His best friends uncle has a magazine down in Florida, dead-tree and web editions. Pretty popular. Its been around a long time. Theyre looking for someone to replace one of their staff whos leaving. A writer. You interested? Ive got the info. He called him already and asked if he could refer you.

Was she interested? Hell yes.

Shed called Bill Melling, talked with him over the phone, flew down three days later to meet with him in person, and got herself hired.

While in Sarasota she arranged to rent an apartment, and her whirlwind move began.

Shayla fought the urge to fidget while waiting for the editorial meeting to start. Instead, she rearranged her desk several times.

New job, new apartment, new life.

She smiled to herself as she looked out at the beautiful, sunny spring day. Palm trees swayed in the gentle breeze washing over the town from the Gulf of Mexico. This was, literally, a tropical paradise.

Its a whole new start. A whole new life.

A whole new me.

Fifteen people, including Shayla, gathered around the long conference table. As Bill introduced her to the rest of the staff, she nervously smiled and nodded to everyone. It didnt take her long to feel like part of the team even though she mostly sat back and listened.

The print magazine went out once a month, but they updated web content every week with exclusive Internet-only stories to help draw more readers and advertisers. They covered everything from local to national stories, from politics to entertainment, never shying away from controversial topics.

Toward the end of the meeting, Bill stood and walked over to a whiteboard on the wall. Brainstorm time. Lets get some good ideas cooking.