Impact
Suncoast Society
Impact
Tilly, Landry, and Cris all thought their lives had settled down and they could relax. Great careers and emotional healing lead Tilly to believe they have a charmed life. In her heart, however, she still mourns the fact that she can never have children. But secure with the love of Landry and Cris, and knowing they have a peaceful future ahead, helps her heal.
Then Tilly gets a call from Sofia, Cris’ younger cousin. The desperate new mother needs their help to escape a dangerous situation, and Tilly cannot turn her back on Sofia...or her newborn infant.
Unfortunately, the tragic impacts quickly escalate as Sofia’s troubles worsen and Tilly, Landry, and Cris find themselves guardians of a newborn. Can they fight relatives and old demons to regain their peace of mind and preserve their new family, or will Tilly’s heart once again be crushed by forces beyond her control?
Genre: BDSM, Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre
Length: 62,422 words
IMPACT
Suncoast Society
Tymber Dalton
SIREN SENSATIONS
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Siren Sensations
IMPACT
Copyright © 2015 by Tymber Dalton
E-book ISBN: 978-1-63259-822-6
First E-book Publication: October 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 Impact 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 Hubby and Sir.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Tilly, Cris, and Landry’s story is first told in Cardinal’s Rule (Suncoast Society 3). We learn more about Tilly’s inner angst regarding certain issues at the end of A Very Kinky Valentine’s Day (Suncoast Society 15), in Kinko de Mayo (Suncoast Society 21), and in Open Doors (Suncoast Society 27).
Tilly and Cris have a vignette of their own that is a direct follow-up to Cardinal’s Rule in Click (Suncoast Society 17). And Tilly and the others make appearances in several other books in the series, Tilly most notably in A Lovely Shade of Ouch (Suncoast Society 11), Friends Like These (Suncoast Society 26). Vicious Carousel (Suncoast Society 27), Vulnerable (Suncoast Society 29) and The Strength of the Pack (Suncoast Society 30).
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 and to not miss any backstory information 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
15. A Very Kinky Valentine’s 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
29. Vulnerable
30. The Strength of the Pack
31. Initiative
32. Impact
Some of the characters in this book appear in previous books in the Suncoast Society series. All titles available from Siren-BookStrand.
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
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
About the Author
IMPACT
Suncoast Society
TYMBER DALTON
Copyright © 2015
Chapter One
Then…
Cristo Guerrero lay curled up in a ball on his bed in the basement of his uncle’s house on the outskirts of Los Angeles. He couldn’t exactly call it his room because it was a bed shoved in the corner and an old dresser. The washer and dryer were also down there, as well as years of accumulated stuff—boxes of Christmas ornaments, sports gear, things forgotten and broken.
Much like he felt at that moment.
He’d barely been able to stumble down the stairs to collapse onto his bed after the beating his un
cle had just given him.
Life can’t be like this. There has to be more. This can’t be all there is. If it is, fuck this noise.
He was only sixteen. If this was what he had to look forward to for the rest of his life, why fucking bother?
He heard the basement door slowly open, then quickly close again. Even if he hadn’t heard the telltale creak of the fifth step down, he still would have known it was little Sofia. Only eight, and named after their paternal grandmother, Sofia had followed him like a shadow, adoration in her little brown eyes, ever since he’d been forced to move into his uncle Gonzalo’s house six months earlier.
His ribs hurt so badly from the punches he could barely breathe. That’s why he didn’t even respond when he felt her cool, tiny hand on his forehead.
“Are you okay, Cris?”
This time, he couldn’t lie. “No, Fi. I’m not.” That was his special nickname for her.
“Why does Daddy do that to you?”
He couldn’t protect her from the ugliness in the world, especially the one she lived with.
As the baby of his aunt and uncle’s brood of four, and the only girl, she was four years younger than her next older brother, and an accidental baby the doctors had told Gonzalo and Julieta Guerrero they’d never have.
Their little miracle.
With a lot of renewed pain that almost made him black out, he managed to roll over and stared up at his little cousin. He knew, in her eyes, he was an adult.
He couldn’t very well explain things to her in a way that she’d not only understand, but which wouldn’t earn him a heavier beating.
“I don’t know,” he finally settled on. It wasn’t exactly a lie.
The deeper truth was he didn’t know what drove someone to the level of visceral hatred his father and uncle felt toward him.
His family was convinced he was gay, a worse sin in their staunch Spanish Catholic eyes than being a criminal. No matter how he’d tried to explain it to them, they didn’t understand he liked men and women. He was, right now, guilty of nothing worse than his father walking in on him and catching him watching a gay porn clip on his laptop.
She knelt next to his bed. “I love you, Cris. I always will.”
He managed a smile for her sake. “I love you, too, Fi. And I always will.”
Her father never hit him in the face, marks that would draw the attention of any of his teachers. It was always in the gut, in the kidneys. His uncle insisted Cris needed to toughen up, to man up. That he was too weak, and that, by God, he’d beat the “sin” out of Cris until he renounced it to his uncle’s satisfaction.
Cris wasn’t even sure if there was a God at that point, but he damn sure wasn’t going to lie, even if it meant more beatings.
He knew when he turned eighteen he’d be out of there and in college. He’d already received word back from his early applications that he had a scholarship and grants waiting for him.
He’d have to work his ass off to support himself during school, because he knew he couldn’t count on his family.
But he’d be free.
If he survived his uncle’s “love.”
“Do you want me to bring you something to eat or drink?” she asked.
He didn’t want to get her in trouble. Despite how she was basically spoiled rotten by everyone, if her father thought she was giving Cris help or attention, he might turn on her, too.
Or turn her against him.
“No, sweetie. Did you finish your homework?”
She shook her head.
“Go upstairs and finish it. Then if you want, bring it down for me to look at. Okay?”
“Okay.” She leaned in and kissed his forehead before she turned and headed up the stairs.
He couldn’t see, but he could hear, how she carefully eased the door open just a crack, then slipped through it when the coast was clear before closing it behind her.
He carefully rolled onto his back and closed his eyes against the pain. It would fade, as it always did. He’d tough it out. Yes, there was more to life than this. He knew it.
There had to be.
The question was, was he strong enough to break free of his family’s hold on him and build the kind of life he wanted? To find happiness?
* * * *
Cris was genuinely shocked when someone loudly stood up and cheered for him as he marched across the stage at graduation.
He realized after the fact that he shouldn’t have been.
Once the ceremony ended, he struggled his way through the crowd to find her before nearly getting tackled from behind. Now ten, Fi was growing like a weed.
“Did you hear me cheer for you, Cris?”
He turned and hugged her. “Hey, yes I did. How’d you get here?”
That’s when he saw one of her brothers, Dante, picking his way through the crowd. Dante was eighteen, just two months older than Cris, and the second youngest boy. He extended his hand to Cris to shake.
In shock, Cris shook with him.
“She wanted to come. She asked me to bring her.”
“Do your parents know you’re here?”
“Heck, no. You crazy?” Dante nodded at her. “It’s a secret between me and the princess. They think we’re at a movie.” He smiled. “I’m proud of you. I know my dad’s been a real dick to you. I’m sorry I couldn’t defend you better.” He held up a camera. “Well, and Aunt Mariana knows. She asked me if I’d come and take pictures for her. And she asked me to give you this.” He handed Cris a card.
“Thanks.” He stared at the envelope. His name was written on the front in his mother’s hand.
Dante looked a little embarrassed. “I guess I’m officially in cahoots,” he said. “Aunt M gave me money for gas and to take you and Sofia out to dinner to celebrate.”
Cris fought back his anger. “Let me guess, my dad would have popped if she’d come.”
“Yeah. You know how he is. As big a dick as my dad can be.”
Cris had actually taken a city bus to get to the auditorium where their graduation had been held. Dante led them out to where he’d parked his eldest brother’s car.
“How’d you manage this?” Cris asked. “Or do I want to know?”
“Santino’s spending the day with his girlfriend. I told him I’d cover for him if I could borrow his wheels, no questions asked.”
After Sofia was safely buckled in the back seat, they headed out to eat.
“I heard Dad and Mom saying something about you moving out soon.”
“Yeah. As soon as I can get into the dorm,” Cris said. “It’ll be a couple of weeks, though. I’m going to do summer classes, try to graduate early. A friend of mine said I can crash at their house if things get too bad before the dorm opens.”
At dinner at a decent steakhouse, Sofia asked, “What if I need help with my homework?”
“You can always call me,” Cris assured her. “I’ll do my best.”
She picked at her food, a dark look on her face. “I don’t see why you have to move out.”
“I’m sorry, Fi. Your dad doesn’t like me. The only reason he took me in was Aunt Julieta talked him into it.”
“Family should stick together.” She looked up at him, her eyes red, near tears. “It’s not fair.”
“I know, sweetheart. Life isn’t always fair.”
* * * *
Cris nervously sat at the table and tried not to glance out the window every five seconds. His mother was nearly fifteen minutes late, and even though it was LA, that was unusual for her.
I wonder if Dad found out and put his foot down.
He’d been shocked to hear from her. He hadn’t seen her since he’d moved out, although he had called her after his high school graduation to thank her for the hundred dollars she’d put in the card. Now in the middle of his sophomore year at college, she’d been the last person he’d expected to get a call from.
When she hurried up the sidewalk, looking harried and drawn, he relaxed in some ways even whil
e his gut ratcheted up the tension within him. By the time she flashed him a weak smile after giving him a hug and then taking her seat across from him, he knew something was up.
“What’s going on, Mom?”
“I…” Her smile faded as her gaze dropped to the table. “I never could lie to you, could I?”
“I know Dad’s not dead, because you would have told me if that happened.”
“No, he’s not dead, but he’s been forced to retire. He had a heart attack and they found out he’s got severe blockage.”
“Oh.” He didn’t know what else to say. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“I was wondering…” She fiddled with her place setting.
“Wondering what?”
“Would it be possible for you to come visit him?”
“Did he ask to see me?”
She sidestepped the question. “I thought maybe you could, you know, tell him you’re dating a nice girl or something. Have one of your friends come with you. He wouldn’t have to know she’s not your girlfriend.”
He sat back in his chair. “I’m living with Landry. You know that. I told you that. He’s my boyfriend.”
Her lips tightened into a thin line across her face. “I’d rather not talk about that.”
The waitress appeared, ready to take their drink orders, before his mom could reply. When they were alone again, his mom forced a smile Cris knew all too well.
“I thought perhaps, for the sake of your father, you could come visit. It wouldn’t kill you to at least pretend.”
“I’m twenty, Mom. I’m too old for these kinds of games.”
“If you really love your father, you’ll do this for me.”