Part 1 (1/2)

ONE RING.

Suncoast Society.

Tymber Dalton.

AUTHORS NOTE.

Amelias story is first introduced toward the end of Open Doors.

While all the books in the Suncoast Society series are standalone works which may be read independently of each other, the recommended reading order to avoid spoilers is as follows:.

1. Safe Harbor.

2. Cardinals Rule 3. Domme by Default 4. The Reluctant Dom 5. The Denim Dom.

6. Pinch Me 7. Broken Toy 8. A Clean Sweep 9. A Roll of the Dice.

10. His Canvas 11. A Lovely Shade of Ouch 12. Crafty b.a.s.t.a.r.ds 13. A Merry Little Kinkmas.

14. Sapios.e.xual 15. A Very Kinky Valentines Day 16. Things Made Right 17. Click.

18. Spank or Treat 19. A Turn of the Screwed 20. Chains 21. Kinko de Mayo.

22. Broken Arrow 23. Out of the Spotlight 24. Friends Like These.

25. Vicious Carousel 26. Hot Sauce 27. Open Doors.

28. One Ring.

Many of the characters in this book appear in previous books in the Suncoast Society series. All t.i.tles available from Siren-BookStrand.

DEDICATION.

To Sir. Always, and because.

Chapter One.

Amelia Parsons sat on the picnic table and watched the storm blow in off the Gulf. One of those grey, bl.u.s.tery, cloudy Sat.u.r.days, a late-winter weather system where it felt like Florida was simply phoning in its rep as the Suns.h.i.+ne State because it was too d.a.m.n hungover from partying with the tourists to give a s.h.i.+t.

She watched this frontal boundary coming in through the bulls-eye formed by pinching her wedding band between her left thumb and forefinger and staring through it. But peering through this ring didnt bring the Eye of Sauron swinging around to pointedly look at her.

It only brought her a lot of sadness.

There wasnt much left to do except file the paperwork and move out. Mike refused to talk, refused to go to a counselor, refused to see there was a d.a.m.n thing wrong with their marriage.

And now that her eyes had been opened, she couldnt look away from the truth burning a hole through the middle of her gut.

Her husband was happy phoning their marriage in. Had been for several years now.

Shed just been too blind to see it. Willfully ignorant, thinking this was the best it would ever get, that she was stupid and ungrateful to the Universe if she challenged the way things were.

That she was lucky he was a hard worker, had a decent job, and didnt cheat on her.

It saddened her even more to realize that, at some point, she had fallen out of love with him. She wasnt even exactly sure when that had happened. Did she still love him? Oh, absolutely. He was a good man, overall.

In love with him?

No. That s.h.i.+p had sailed.

And then it hit an iceberg and sank.

When shed first showed up at her friend Marcias house to talk about it three weeks earlier, Fate had stepped in. From what shed read via joining the book club Marcia had steered her toward, to accidentally discovering her friends secret hobby. Shed never suspected Marcia and Derrick were into anything kinky in their private lives, much less that they ran a BDSM club. Looking back, she could clearly see their relations.h.i.+p dynamic, yes, now that she knew what signs to look for.

After twenty years of marriage, her friends were still happy and in love with each other. Which proved it was possible. That Mike was wrong about how the pa.s.sionless rut theyd settled into was normal.

Just because itd been good enough for his parents and two older brothers and their wives didnt mean it was good enough for her. She refused to settle.

And now she knew why her two sisters-in-law always looked miserable at every family get-together, always grousing about their husbands. Why her mother-in-law always seemed to be grumbling under her breath about her husband”until he died”and about her sons and who knows else.

Im an idiot.

She and Mike, fortunately, didnt have any kids.

Then again, you usually needed to have s.e.x to actually have kids.

Im thirty-seven and have to start my personal life all over again.

She didnt know when her charming, handsome husband, whod worked his a.s.s off to win her over in college, had turned into a moss-covered rock.

Today, his big plan was to sit in front of the TV in the living room and watch hockey, or basketball, or maybe cricket or something. She didnt know. Sports. That was what hed said when shed asked him last night if he had plans.

When shed asked if hed like to go out to eat, or see a movie with her, the reply had taken a sledgehammer to what little hope shed held onto.

Youre an adult, Amy. You dont need me to go with you. If you want to go out to eat or see a movie, go. Or call one of your friends. I dont want to go anywhere or do anything today.

That was another thing. He was the only person who called her Amy. Everyone else called her Mel. Itd started out as a joke in college, when hed called her that and teased her when she corrected him.

At the time, itd seemed playful, and a wee bit attractive, that he had a backbone and stood up to her, took a little bit of control.

It was only later that she realized no, it was just him being stubborn and not giving a s.h.i.+t about her feelings.

It finally hit her.