Floating with a Sea Cow

By Charlie Richards

Tyrone has walked—or swam—the Earth a lot of years. Most of that time he’s spent alone. Working with dozens of other marine shifters at World of Aquatica finally brings him close to others that are sort of his kind—they’re marine shifters, anyway. He works security, seeing as he can’t be in an exhibit because, technically, his kind are supposed to be extinct. When he spots a skinny human shoplifting, he catches him...and realizes the man—Braylon—is his mate. Tyrone convinces his boss and alpha not to call the police. Instead, they give Braylon several shifts of cleaning the park as a sort of community service. During that time, Tyrone has to go about doing something he hasn’t had to do in over four hundred years of life. Can he figure out how to woo a human so very different from himself?

• Language: English
• Publisher: eXtasy Books Inc
• Release date: Nov 24, 2017
• ISBN: 9781487416508

Book preview

World of Aquatica: When a foolish dare goes horribly wrong, a human has more than one eye-opening experience.

Tyrone has walked—or swam—the Earth a lot of years. Most of that time he’s spent alone. Working with dozens of other marine shifters at World of Aquatica finally brings him close to others that are sort of his kind—they’re marine shifters, anyway. He works security, seeing as he can’t be in an exhibit because, technically, his kind are supposed to be extinct. When he spots a skinny human shoplifting, he catches him... and realizes the man—Braylon—is his mate. Tyrone convinces his boss and alpha not to call the police. Instead, they give Braylon several shifts of cleaning the park as a sort of community service. During that time, Tyrone has to go about doing something he hasn’t had to do in over four hundred years of life. Can he figure out how to woo a human so very different from himself?

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Floating with a Sea Cow

Copyright © 2017 Charlie Richards

ISBN: 978-1-4874-1650-8

Cover art by Angela Waters

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

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Devine Destinies, an imprint of eXtasy Books Inc

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Smashwords Edition

Floating with a Sea Cow

Beneath Aquatica’s Waves: Book Two

By

Charlie Richards

Dedication

Life sometimes takes you into troubled waters, not to drown you but to cleanse you.

~Author Unknown

Chapter One

Do it, or we’re not going to hang with you anymore.

Braylon Whitney knew he should have refused, but it’d been nice to have friends to hang out with—ones that weren’t stuffy, pretentious jerks, anyway. He didn’t want to lose that. He’d never before felt like he was being included because of him rather than his name.

The guys—Daniel, Rian, and Curt—would invite him for lunch or ask him to join them at the club where they’d met or even just to hang out and play video games. He wasn’t even sure if they knew who his father was. Braylon would prefer to keep it that way, too.

Do it, or we’re not going to hang with you anymore.

Still, that didn’t mean Braylon wanted to shoplift. He didn’t understand why it was so important to them. Daniel had made the threat, but Rian and Curt had nodded. If it meant getting his friends to stop pestering him for a while, well—

Braylon wandered through the gift shop—Aquatica’s Grotto. He’d talked them out of trying to sneak into World of Aquatica—a huge marine park that boasted displays not seen anywhere else in the world, including a tiger shark show, a captive great white shark, plus the largest saltwater aquarium in existence. While Braylon understood that his friends seemed to get some kind of thrill out of petty crime, he knew better.

If I was ever caught, my father would tan my hide... even at age twenty-four. Then why did I agree to this?

You’re such a stiff. Do it, or we’re not going to hang with you anymore.

Right. That was why.

Braylon just wanted to fit in.

But is this the best way?

Braylon glanced through the front window of the shop. He spotted his three buddies through the glass—two sitting on a bench and the third standing near them. They appeared to be talking and laughing together, although Daniel met his gaze and mouthed, hurry up.

Heaving a soft sigh, Braylon turned back to the shelves. He stared at the pretty blown-glass figurines. They were small and would easily fit into his jacket’s pocket.

Turning away from them, Braylon took a few steps down the aisle. He was suddenly grateful for his six-foot height. While it made him too tall to be considered a cute, sexy twink at the club—which sucked—it meant he could see over the tops of the display cases and notice where the store employees were. A woman was behind the cash register, ringing up a customer. The second, a happily smiling black-haired guy, was chatting with a customer near a clothes rack.

Braylon turned again and headed back up the aisle. He swiped a figurine and quickly shoved it into his pocket. Even as he sauntered toward the store’s exit, doing his best to appear relaxed, he felt the hairs on his nape prickle.

When Braylon made it out of the store, he heaved a sigh of relief. He headed left toward his friends. Daniel and Curt rose from where they’d been sitting on the bench. Rian turned and focused on him.

Ten feet away from his friends, Braylon felt a large hand clamp onto his shoulder. Excuse me, sir, a deep voice sounded behind him.

Braylon immediately tensed and froze as his eyes widened. Daniel actually smirked as he turned away from him. Rian winced and quickly looked in another direction. All three of his friends started striding away from him.

Fear slithered up Braylon’s spine. Somehow, he managed to turn around. He looked up... and up... into the stern face of a thickset, deeply bronzed-skinned male with deep gray eyes and a serious pinch to his goateed face.

To Braylon’s surprise, a surge of arousal swept through him. The man had to be six-foot-eight, had short brown hair with a touch of gray at his temples, sported a goatee which did nothing to soften the stern tilt of his full lips, and had super wide shoulders. His arm and pectoral muscles could be clearly seen through his tan polo shirt, and even the small spare tire at his waist seemed to add