Reconsider Me Read online

  Suncoast Society

  Reconsider Me

  Fenton had a bad experience in college. It left him with one hard limit he’ll never budge on, the same hard limit that’s tanked every relationship he’s had and resulted in his trust being repeatedly shattered. When he meets Joel, courtesy of matchmaking friends, he senses something different in the Top and wonders if he’s the real deal. Especially when Joel receives the Snoobug seal of approval from Fen’s young niece.

  Joel’s first impression of the fricking adorable side is that he’ll break if Joel so much as looks at him wrong, much less plays with him. Fen’s limit isn’t a problem for Joel, because the Sephora-loving, Broadway-musical-singing, essential-oil-diffusing subby slid right past all of Joel’s emotional defenses like no other. And looks can be deceiving—Fen is much tougher than people assume.

  After a family tragedy, when Joel’s past returns to strike where he’s most vulnerable, can Fen step up, swing hard, and save them with his cast-iron will?

  Genre: Alternative (M/M, Gay), BDSM, Contemporary

  Length: 56,481 words

  RECONSIDER ME

  Suncoast Society

  Tymber Dalton

  

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  RECONSIDER ME

  Copyright © 2017 by Tymber Dalton

  ISBN: 978-1-64010-653-6

  First Publication: October 2017

  Cover design by Harris Channing

  All art and logo copyright © 2017 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.

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

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  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  DEDICATION

  For Hubby for putting up with me and always taking care of me. And for Sir, because He knows why.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Tymber Dalton is the wild-child alter-ego of author Lesli Richardson. She lives in the Tampa Bay region of Florida with her husband (aka “The World’s Best Husband™”) and too many pets. Active in the BDSM lifestyle, the two-time EPIC award winner is also the bestselling author of over one hundred books, including The Reluctant Dom, The Denim Dom, Cardinal’s Rule, the Suncoast Society series, the Love Slave for Two series, the Triple Trouble series, the Coffeeshop Coven series, the Good Will Ghost Hunting series, the Drunk Monkeys series, and many more.

  She loves to hear from readers! Please feel free to drop by her website and sign up for updates to keep abreast of the latest news, views, snarkage, and releases. You can also find all of her Siren-BookStrand releases under all four of her pen names on her author page on the BookStrand site.

  Honest reviews are always appreciated! They really help with a book’s visibility. Thank you!

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  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  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 and to not miss any backstory information is as follows:

  1. Safe Harbor

  2. Domme by Default

  3. Cardinal’s Rule

  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

  33. Liability

  34. Switchy

  35. Rhymes With Orange

  36. Beware Falling Ice

  37. Beware Falling Rocks

  38. Dangerous Curves Ahead

  39. Two Against Nature

  40. Home at Last

  41. A Kinkmas Carol

  42. Ask DNA

  43. Time Out of Mind

  44. Happy Valenkink’s Day

  45. Splendid Isolation

  46. Similar to Rain

  47. Happy Spank Patrick’s Day

  48. Fire in the Hole

  49. Pretzel Logic

  50. This Moody Bastard

  51. Walk Between the Raindrops

  52. Rub Me Raw

  53. Any World That I’m Welcome To

  54. Heartache Spoken Here

  55. Roll With the Punches

  56. See You Sometime

  57. Borderline

  58. A Case of You

  59. Reconsider Me

  Ben and Jake were featured in Home at Last. Keith was featured in A Turn of the Screwed. Leo and Jesse were featured in Vulnerable and The Strength of the Pack.

  If you haven’t read Walk Between the Raindrops and Rub Me Raw, you might want to for a little extra minor backstory.

  Some of the characters in this book appear in or are featured in previous books in the Suncoast Society series. All titles available from Siren-BookStrand.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  About the Author

  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

  Landmarks

  Cover

  RECONSIDER ME

  Suncoast Society

  TYMBER DALTON

  Copyright © 2017

  Chapter One

  A little after eight o’clock on Tuesday morning, Fenton White glanced at his desk, where his cell phone currently buzzed with
an incoming call.

  Tom.

  Right now, Fen had too much to do to pull his focus from his current project. He was finalizing the plans on this valve for a customer, and the machine shop had to get the prototype started that afternoon on the CNC machine.

  Not to mention Fen’s feelings still stung from last night’s encounter between them.

  Fuck him. He can wait.

  Three months into their relationship, and Fenton was ready to declare it over. Not that he wanted to, because Tom was smart, hot, well-educated, had a great job, and had his life together. Tom also seemed to have it bad for him. He was great as a Top in the dungeon and in bed.

  Maybe it is me.

  Tom was the latest in a line of guys who had either broken up with Fen, or he’d broken up with them before they could pull the trigger.

  His phone stopped buzzing as voice mail finally picked up. Fenton nudged his wire-rimmed glasses farther up his nose and went back to work, hoping he could delay this conversation. Considering how he’d stormed out of Tom’s house last night after their fight, he wasn’t looking forward to their next talk.

  The voice mail alert didn’t buzz, but a moment later, a text message arrived.

  Can we PLEASE talk about this? I’ll be home tonight by 7.

  Fenton stared at the message and struggled against the urge to cry. There wasn’t really anything to talk about. Frankly, he was done talking about it. If one little thing was such a big deal to Tom that he’d be willing to tank their relationship over it, then Fen wasn’t going to give him the chance, no matter how right the rest of things were.

  He was tired of putting himself out there—putting his heart out there—only to get stomped on time and again. Why should he always be the one expected to cave in?

  He was always honest with them up front. Why the fuck couldn’t other people be honest right from the start, instead of thinking they could later talk him into changing who he was and trying to be sneaky about it?

  Maybe I should turn myself into one of those selfish bastards, holding back, not letting people inside until they prove themselves.

  Being the nice guy wasn’t working for him so far.

  He waited until lunch to finally return Tom’s text.

  Not much to talk about is there? You made yourself perfectly clear last night.

  Fen set his phone aside and took another bite of the sub Ben and Jake had brought back for him. He was still working on this project and didn’t want to leave until he had the file sent to the shop.

  Tom texted him back almost immediately.

  PLEASE come over tonight to talk about this.

  The last thing Fen wanted today was an emotional back and forth in text messages with Tom when he needed to have his mind completely focused on his job.

  It wasn’t like they would come to a productive solution in text…or in person, most likely.

  Wasn’t Fen’s first rodeo. He knew how this would inevitably play out.

  Fen would finally break down and agree to talk to Tom. Tom would either apologize and back off for a little while before trying again, or try to wheedle and argue his point right up front.

  Push.

  Convince him.

  Tell him how unreasonable Fen was being, and try to prove to Fen he wasn’t like other guys, that he was special and should be given a chance to show him why, even though Fen had been up front with him at the start and Tom had agreed to Fen’s hard limit.

  Aaannd they’d end up back at square one, which was when they first met and started dating, when Fen had been totally honest and up front with him, and Tom had said sure, fine, no problem.

  Just like nearly every other guy he’d dated for any length of time had said.

  Bottom line?

  They’d all lied.

  * * * *

  Fen finally sent Tom a text that he’d be there around seven thirty. He knew he’d regret this, but it was better that than a protracted text battle that would only end the same way while distracting him from his job.

  Might as well get it over with tonight so I can grieve and move on to the next failure.

  At least Fen got the project file sent to the shop so they could begin work on it. Once he’d done that, he sat back in his chair and removed his glasses, laying them on the desk. Then he rubbed at his temples.

  He had one hell of a headache already, and knew it’d only grow worse by the time he finished his “talk” with Tom. Fen was reasonably sure Tom would try to seduce him into bed tonight, because that was Tom’s MO when they’d bumped against this wall in the past. Sweet-talk him, seduce him, and get Fen to agree to give Tom another chance.

  Cue repeat of the cycle.

  This would make the fifth time, if he didn’t step out of the cycle, and Fen was finished playing the game.

  Done.

  It was obvious Tom wasn’t going to change his mind, and Fen wasn’t going to change his.

  I’m a physical masochist, not an emotional one.

  He was going through his work e-mail when Jake stopped by his cube. “How you doing? You look a little…stressed. Is the project going okay?”

  Fen leaned back in his chair. “I already sent it to the shop. Just…personal stuff.”

  “Anything I can help with?”

  Fen shrugged, forcing a smile. “Help find me a decent guy who means what he says at the start of a relationship.”

  Jake winced. “Sorry.”

  Another shrug. “It is what it is, and I am who I am. I’m not compromising myself to make someone else happy if it makes me miserable in the process.” Fen dropped his voice so only Jake could hear him. “That’s not my idea of ‘submission.’”

  “Ah.” He seemed to be mentally weighing something. After a long moment, he spoke. “How would you feel about me and Ben putting out the word and talking to others and seeing if we can’t help you out?”

  “Why not? I’m damn sure not doing a good job by myself.”

  “Cool.” Jake pulled out his phone and sent someone a text message. “You free this weekend?”

  “I will be,” Fen muttered as he stared at his phone, at the text thread with Tom.

  * * * *

  Fen didn’t go home after work, even though he had plenty of time before he was due at Tom’s. Instead, he headed to his favorite sushi restaurant and splurged a little, eating enough to fill himself, knowing damn well he wouldn’t feel like eating after.

  And also eliminating one excuse Tom might try to use to spend more time with him, offering to cook him dinner, or take him out to eat.

  Knowing that Fen wouldn’t want to be rude, and that he could wheedle Fen into agreeing to either option.

  Another reason Fen hadn’t dropped the ax yet. Other times he’d tried, that was how Tom had manipulated him.

  Finally, he headed over to Tom’s. With tense shoulders and a feeling of impending doom swaddling him, he parked in the driveway, next to Tom’s Lincoln Navigator, and headed up the walk.

  He was reaching out to ring the doorbell when Tom opened the door, a smile on his face.

  It made him feel even worse. “Hey,” Fen quietly said.

  “Hey.” Tom reached for Fen, to hug him. Fen let him, but he knew Tom could feel the stiffness in his posture.

  That he really didn’t hug Tom back.

  Tom shut the door behind him. “Look, I’m sorry, baby. Can we please sit down and talk about this?”

  Fenton stepped back and hugged his arms around himself. “You made your position pretty clear last night. I’m only here to finish this.”

  Tom cocked his head at him. “Can we at least talk about this before you get pissed off?”

  “I’m not pissed off.”

  “You sure as hell acted pretty pissed off last night when you stormed out of here.” Tom headed toward the kitchen, obviously expecting Fen to follow him.

  Eventually, Fen did, knowing the conversation wouldn’t happen if he didn’t.

  “Look, can we please get this over with?�
�� Fen said from the kitchen doorway, where he’d stopped.

  Tom finally turned. “We can’t even talk about it?”

  “I’m not changing my mind.”

  Tom leaned his six-four slab of gorgeous self against the counter. Shirtless, his broad shoulders tapered down to a trim waist. He spent regular time in the gym, and it showed. A pair of loose shorts didn’t do much to hide the fact that the guy had a nice ass and well-defined thighs. He got himself waxed on a regular basis, smooth chest and back with every muscle clearly defined.

  Always left Fen wanting to climb him like a squirrel and eat his nuts. The scale was about right, too.

  “I’m not the one who hurt you, Fen. You’ve never even given me a chance to show you I’m not like other guys.”

  “No, I did. You’ve had three months, and then you blew it by acting exactly like pretty much every other guy I’ve dated. We talked about this at the start, and every time you’ve pushed the envelope I’ve still let you talk me back. Not doing this again.”

  “Come on, babe.” He smiled, the playful grin that usually made Fen’s cock twitch with interest. Gorgeous blue eyes—Fen was always a sucker for guys with blue eyes—that sparkled with a sexy invitation. “We don’t have to do it right now. I wanted you to know it’s a goal I’d like to reach with you at some point in the future. At least let me have a chance to show you whoever made you hate it was a clueless fuck. I’m not like that guy.”

  Cue mental record screech.

  “Yeah.” Fen stared at the floor. “You are. You just proved it. Look, I’m going to grab my shit out of the bathroom, and then I’ll go.”

  Tom’s face fell. “What? I told you we don’t have to do it right now, and—”