Marissa's Surprise

By Shiloh Darke

The first time Marissa saw him, she was training for the Olympics in the depths of the Sea. He was there for a moment, then she lost sight of him when he vanished beneath the waves.

Two years later, she has suffered some losses and is only beginning to refocus on her goals. Thoughts of her fleeting meeting with the man from the water still

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gypsy Shadow Publishing
• Release date: Mar 10, 2020
• ISBN: 9781619504615

Shiloh Darke

What to say about myself? Gee... I'm not sure. I'm a wife, a mother, and even a GRANDMOTHER... But call me MiMi! I LOVE to tell stories! It is just about my favorite thing to do. Ever since I was a little girl, I've LOVED a good romance. But not just ANY romance. No way! I have to have adventure, excitement, danger, thrills and chills as well. What's the point in just a regular old, PREDICTABLE romance? If I can tell halfway through the book what is going to happen, where's the fun in that? As if you can't already tell, I love to read about as much as I love to write! I read romance, mystery, horror, fan fiction (Mostly Harry Potter or True Blood) and anything else that catches my eye. I also write stories for younger readers age 14 and up; YA novels under the pen name of Rowan Shannigan. I'm working on my second novel in the first series I've started under that alias. Check it out at http://feeltheawareness.weebly.com if you are interested. Same CRAZY kind of stories, just a little less intense. If you don't try it, you don't know what you're missing!

Book preview

Contents

Copyright Page

Dedication

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

About the Author

Marissa’s Surprise

by

Shiloh Darke

All rights reserved

Copyright © August 13, 2014, Shiloh Darke

Cover Art Copyright © 2014, Charlotte Holley

Gypsy Shadow Publishing, LLC.

Lockhart, TX

www.gypsyshadow.com

Names, characters and incidents depicted in this book are products of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author or the publisher.

No part of this book may be reproduced or shared by any electronic or mechanical means, including but not limited to printing, file sharing, and email, without prior written permission from Gypsy Shadow Publishing, LLC.

ISBN: 978-1-61950-461-5

Published in the United States of America

First eBook Edition: August 26, 2014

Dedication

This world is a hard place to find yourself in sometimes. Reality likes to kick us in the gut and remind us on a daily basis just how cruel life actually is. My goal in the stories I tell is to give the reader a way out from it all. If only for a few hours, they offer you a reprieve from the stress of the day. Sometimes, these stories may seem a little lacking in the ending. But that, dear reader, is where you let your imagination take you wherever you may want it to go. Happy reading…

Prologue

Two years prior to when the abductions occurred

Savryk circled the portal, using his powerful tail to gain momentum. The vortex between the sister planets opened only once every few cycles, so his time was limited. The survival of his species depended on the chance that this planet held women whose DNA could be easily modified to enable them to survive within the waters of Meridia.

His brother of blood had undergone the appropriate tests to see if the land-dwelling females here could bear offspring with the Meridia races. Once the seed had taken root in the incubators, he had known the only thing left was to see if the race from Earth ever ventured into the waters of their world.

With one mighty dive, the Merman swam through the portal. The oceans of Earth were similar to the oceans of Meridia. But if the women there never set foot in their water, then Savryk knew he and his brothers of the depths were doomed.

As he swam out of the coral that protected the entrance to his world from prying eyes, he took notice of the creatures who occupied this sister ocean. Almost immediately, a school of dolphins approached him, curious about his existence. He watched them warily a moment, but couldn’t help smiling when they greeted him and joined him on his journey toward the surface of the water.

He could tell by the shallowness of the ocean floor, land was not far away. He couldn’t risk being seen, for obvious reasons: blue tinted skin, along with a tail would be very hard to play off as normal on this world. Luckily, his eyes could see easily at far distances, so he would only need to see if they were swimmers.

As he neared the surface, the dolphins, who bore close resemblance to the creatures his world called Pheldorns, sprang from the ocean, soaring powerfully out of the water and splashing each other as they did. He watched them frolic for a few minutes while he worked up his courage to surface and find out if there were any of what the Slavers referred to as humans, playing in or around the water.

Slowly, he broke through with gentle strokes, only rising above enough to let his eyes see. He stared intently at the sandy beach and the men, women and children who played there. Hope filled him as he saw women and children not only running through the shallows, but also some people, further out, swimming. They lacked the tail that he was able to grow when in water, but they still swam.

He was so excited by his discovery that he didn’t notice the girl until she spoke. Are you okay? What’s the blue stuff; some kind of sun screen?

Startled, he turned toward the voice, only to come face to face with the most beautiful female he had ever seen. Her hair, which he’d been told about, was light colored, even when it was wet, and floated in the water around the girl as she moved slowly closer to him. Her eyes were a deep color of blue. He could understand her speech, but he knew she would not understand him if he were to speak, so he remained silent, and simply nodded. If she thought it was sunscreen, maybe he could spend a few more moments in her presence.

She waited for his answer, but when he said nothing, she tried again. Do you not speak English? I’m surprised to see anyone besides myself out this far from the beach. She seemed to contemplate him for a moment before her face brightened.

Are you training for the Olympics too? I have two more years to get ready, and I figure if I can master these waves before then, it’ll improve my time in the pools. She chattered as he watched her in silent fascination. I’ve also been working on holding my breath underwater. I’m up to three minutes if I’m swimming and almost six if I’m just hovering.

When his eyebrow rose in