Sapiosexual [Suncoast Society] (Siren Publishing Sensations) Read online

  Suncoast Society

  Sapiosexual

  Chelbie Larson’s turned on by intelligence, but the creative, snarky, feisty woman knows she’s too much for any one guy to handle. The picky sapiosexual refuses to settle for less than what she wants, which is why she’s still single. Her parents have a solid marriage, and she knows that’s the quality of love she yearns for.

  Enter Nick and Rich Hurst, fledgling kinkster twins. One is a computer expert, the other a talented musician. And they’re no stranger to showing a woman a good time. Chelbie’s not bashful about showing them what she wants. Just when Chelbie had given up on finding a guy, they show her maybe dreams can come true.

  But when Chelbie’s attacked out of the blue, the truth about the triad’s relationship doesn’t make her parents happy. Now she faces a difficult choice between appeasing her parents…or deciding to follow her heart.

  One thing’s for sure—her life will never be the same.

  Genre: BDSM, Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre

  Length: 43,796 words

  SAPIOSEXUAL

  Suncoast Society

  Tymber Dalton

  SIREN SENSATIONS

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED: Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on your own personal computer or device. You do not have resell or distribution rights without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner of this book. This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not want this book anymore, you must delete it from your computer.

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Siren Sensations

  SAPIOSEXUAL

  Copyright © 2015 by Tymber Dalton

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-63258-915-6

  First E-book Publication: January 2015

  Cover design by Harris Channing

  All art and logo copyright © 2015 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  Letter to Readers

  Dear Readers,

  If you have purchased this copy of Sapiosexual by Tymber Dalton from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

  Regarding E-book Piracy

  This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.

  The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.

  This is Tymber Dalton’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Tymber Dalton’s right to earn a living from her work.

  Amanda Hilton, Publisher

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  www.BookStrand.com

  DEDICATION

  To Chuck1111. Nice, friendly, sweet, kind. There can be no better epitaph.

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  This is Chelbie’s story. She is Mallory’s best friend from His Canvas. While 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. Cardinal’s 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 Bastards

  13. A Merry Little Kinkmas

  14. Sapiosexual

  Some of the minor characters who appear in this book also appear in other books in the Suncoast Society series. All titles are available from Siren-BookStrand.

  Also, the “Silencer” is a real toy.

  Yes, ouch.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Author's Note

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  About the Author

  SAPIOSEXUAL

  Suncoast Society

  TYMBER DALTON

  Copyright © 2015

  Chapter One

  Chelbie Larson pointed her fork at her best friend, Mallory. “You, my friend, need to get off my case.”

  Mallory grinned from across the table. “Oh, no, you don’t. I recall a certain someone literally dragging me over to meet Kel. You don’t get off that easily.”

  Now that Mallory and Askel were happily engaged, Mallory had made it her life’s mission to find Chelbie someone.

  “Look, not just any Dom’ll do me,” Chelbie said. “Well, do for me,” she clarified. “I’m sure there are some asshats out there who will nail any vagina with two legs, but I’m not looking for a guy like that.”

  “The last nine guys you’ve gone out with, you only went out with them once.”

  “Not true. I went out with that one guy twice.”

  Mallory arched an eyebrow at her. “Filing a restraining order against a guy is not considered a date.”

  Chelbie stared down at her food. “It is in my book,” she mumbled.

  “Obviously it’s time to let me and the others start hooking you up with guys.”

  “I’m perfectly happy.”

  “No, you’re not.”

  “Maybe I’m gay.”

  Mallory arched an eyebrow at her again.

  “You need to quit doing that,” Chelbie groused.

  “Doing what?”

  “The Dom eyebrow thing. You’re imitating Kel too much.”

  “Then suck it up, buttercup, and put your big girl pan
ties on. And no, you’re not gay, so stop it.”

  “Maybe I’m bi.”

  “Are you bi?”

  Chelbie scrunched up her face at Mallory. “No, Miss Smarty Pants,” she finally shot back.

  “Okay, then. I’m going to start setting you up on dates.”

  The two of them had many friends throughout the Suncoast Society munch group. Most of them were paired already, either as a couple, a poly triad, or, in one case, a poly quad.

  What they didn’t have a lot of were eligible single male friends who blipped Chelbie’s interest radar. Chelbie had tried meeting local guys via FetLife.

  That hadn’t worked out so well for the snarky, creative young woman with a borderline genius IQ level.

  “I can’t help it that I’m Sapiosexual,” Chelbie said.

  “I think the term you meant was intellectual snob, but whatevs.”

  “I am not a snob!” Chelbie jammed a forkful of salad into her mouth. A little too much roughage, actually, but she refused to let that show, instead choosing to try to chew her way through the mouthful of lettuce without choking on it.

  Mallory set down her fork and leaned in. “You refused a second date with that one guy only because he liked Nickelback.”

  “No, not true.”

  Mallory gave her the eyebrow again.

  “Okay, fine, it was partly true, but mostly because he had no idea who Beck is. I’m sorry, I can deal with a little bit of crappy taste in music, but that guy was beyond help.”

  Mallory picked up her fork again. “Uh-huh. Snob.”

  “You say that like it’s a bad thing. Besides I’m not a snob, I’m choosey. Big difference.”

  “Snob.”

  “Not like I care if a guy has money or not. Although I’d prefer someone reasonably self-sufficient enough not to be living at home with his parents—”

  “Says the woman living at home with her parents.”

  “—when he’s in his thirties,” Chelbie finished. “Or older. And, FYI, I’m moving out in six weeks, thank you very much.”

  Mallory snickered. “Yeah, into our apartment that we’re renting to you.” Technically it was Kel’s apartment, the one over his office in the warehouse unit that literally was on the other side of the back wall from Venture, the BDSM club they frequented.

  “And I’m paying my bills myself.”

  “No, seriously, I’m proud of you. But I’m giving you back in spades every single ounce of ball-busting you gave me before I met Kel. Payback’s a bitch, and so am I.”

  “Remind me why I’m not siccing Tilly on you?”

  “Because she luuuves me,” Mallory teased. “And because she’s on my side in this. She’s putting out feelers, too.”

  “Greeat.” Mallory picked at her salad. “Maybe I don’t need a guy.”

  “Maybe I’ll sprout wings and fly out of here while dollar bills shoot out my ass.”

  “Hey, I’d pay good money for that show. Since when did I become the pet project for everyone? The let’s-get-Chelbie-paired-off show. Maybe I just need a vanilla guy with an open mind who’ll let me have play partners to get my kink fix.”

  “Yeah, like that’ll work.”

  “It could.”

  “In what reality? Seriously, Chel, quit digging your heels in and let us help you out.”

  “Just for the record, I’m not looking for some guy looking for a doormat.”

  “Do you honestly think I’d set you up with someone like that?”

  “I’m just sayin’. That’s all.”

  “You want a creative, intelligent, preferably employed guy who has some charming quirks and a kinky side, but who isn’t a domineering asshole.”

  Chelbie stared at her. She shook her fork at Mallory. “You shoot one of those out of your ass, you can take that act on the road.”

  “Am I right?”

  “Okay, yes, fine. You’re right. Happy?”

  “Not yet.” Mallory smiled. “But once we find you a guy, I will be.”

  “You’re working on the presumption that I have a need to be a relationship to feel whole when I don’t.”

  “I didn’t say that. I never said that, and I wouldn’t say that because I know better. What I know is that I’ve seen you watching others at the club and at the private parties. When you think no one’s watching you. How you get that sad look in your eyes.”

  Mallory reached across the table and took Chelbie’s hand. “I’m not saying some magic prince is going to come riding in and sweep you off your feet. But I’ve also seen how you’re trying to pull away from people over the past couple of months and that’s not my Chelbie. That’s not my bestie who will kick someone’s ass if she even suspects they’re about to do something to one of her friends. That’s not the sweet, outgoing woman I know and love.”

  “Aww, you love me. Maybe you’re bi?”

  Another dose of eyebrow.

  Chelbie dropped the act. She should have known better than to try it with Mallory anyway. “Yeah, I’ve had a crappy run of luck with guys lately. So what? I’m young. I’m not even twenty-four yet. I’ve got decades before I’m even close to getting desperate. If it happens, it happens. I’m sorry I’ve been withdrawn. I just…”

  Her train of thought faded.

  I just what?

  Chelbie let out a sigh. “I see everyone else getting their happy-ever-afters,” she quietly admitted, “and it’s taking me a little while to get used to the fact that there isn’t one in my immediate future. Marriages, proposals, collarings. Babies. I’ll be fine, really. I am a patient person.”

  Mallory squeezed her hand again before letting go. “No, you’re not patient. But why didn’t you just say that from the start, hon?”

  “You know me. You even have to ask?”

  “True.” Mallory picked up her fork again. “We’re still going to set you up on a couple of dates.”

  Chelbie didn’t bother hiding the eye roll. “Fine. I know you and Tilly won’t be happy until you do.”

  “Damn right.”

  * * * *

  Lunch was on Mallory, who, thanks to a trust fund wrested from her uncle’s clutches, turned out to be loaded. She enjoyed being able to take her friend out and do things for her. Chelbie knew that, and after years of friendship, taking Mallory under her wing since the other woman’s parents were dead, she was more than happy to let Mallory foot the bill. Today, they’d lunched at the Columbia, a Cuban restaurant on St. Armands Circle, one of Mallory’s favorite places to eat.

  Especially now that Mallory could afford it. She was finishing up her degree at Ringling, where Chelbie also attended, and would be helping Kel with his photography business, as well as focusing on her art. With careful management of her trust fund, she’d never have to work, if she didn’t want to.

  But she wanted to. And Chelbie was overjoyed her best friend not only had a happy ending in the relationship department, but was no longer worried about her financial future, either.

  At least Chelbie had a set of loving parents as her safety net. She knew if worse came to worst, she could rely on them. She always had a place to live if something happened.

  Until Mal met Kel, her friend really hadn’t had anyone. Well, except Chelbie and her parents.

  Fortunately, Mallory’s damn uncle was out of her life now, and wouldn’t be coming back.

  Not unless he wanted to violate a restraining order.

  Outside, the women parted company at Chelbie’s car, Mallory giving her a long hug.

  “Thank you for standing by me,” Mallory said. “I love you, sister. You know I do.”

  “I know. That’s why I’m putting up with your nonsense now,” Chelbie joked. “I’ll let you and Tilly get your jollies watching me flame and burn until you get tired of the emotional sadism and move on to another target.”

  “Stop. Don’t be pessimistic. What’s the worst that can happen, seriously? We can’t do much worse than Restraining Order Guy.”

  “True. He was a piece
of work.”

  After their final farewells, Chelbie climbed into her car, cranked the AC, and headed east over the Ringling Causeway toward home.

  I don’t need a guy.

  She tried to focus on the road.

  No, she didn’t need a guy, but maybe there was more than a kernel of truth in what Mallory had said. She knew she was a bit of a snob in some ways. Intellectually, for sure.

  The world was populated with stupid people. There wasn’t a law requiring her to associate with them. She was forced to deal with them enough on a daily basis, she damn sure didn’t want to be in a relationship with one, no matter how handsome he was.

  And she’d met some fairly handsome dumbasses in college. More than her fair share. There also appeared to be an assholish ratio in direct proportion to their dumbassery and handsomeness. Meaning the cuter and dumber they were, the more they naturally expected any woman to give her left nipple to jump into bed with them.

  Actually, sometimes it was fun to mess with them and turn them down. It would piss some of them right the fark off. Like how dare she say no to their boudoir skillz.

  With the z being all too—unfortunately—visible in the way they said it.

  Sigh.

  If she were to misquote movie lines, her most overused one would probably be, The dumb is strong in this one.

  For realz.

  With a deliberately ironic z.

  Chapter Two

  Nick Hurst sat on his IKEA sofa with his MacBook in his lap. On the TV played reruns of Firefly. A marathon, he thought. He wasn’t sure because he wasn’t paying attention.

  Right now, he was trying to debug his friend George’s website. The dumbass had tried to customize the template and ended up farking it all to hell.