Cross Culture: Paranormal Romance Series Book I

By Cordelia Wood

Meet Dr. Philadelphia “Deli” Barnum. She is a young scientist whose expertise is needed to save another world. She teams up with Dr. Galen Tursiops, a sexy dolphin shifter from the world of Cetoceania, and together they join forces to save his dying planet. Can they find love amidst all the chaos of re-terraforming this once-beautiful realm?

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Dec 4, 2015
• ISBN: 9781504961387

Cordelia Wood

Cordelia Wood is a veterinary technologist by profession and a full-time wife and mother of two. Her unique background includes working with marine mammals, which gave her the idea to write a paranormal romance about dolphin shifters. In her spare time, she loves the beach, reading, and dog training. Cross Culture is the first novel in a two-part series about the exciting world of dolphin shifters.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

I started my Monday as I did every other day for the past six months. Get up, pee, shower, eat my Chobani and a bagel, feed my African grey, Reggie, and head in to work. Rinse. Repeat. I’d been pretty much going through the motions ever since I caught dear old Kyle-poo screwing a 20-year-old chippie he met on his overnight shifts at the hospital. Not that I’m bitter or anything. Trudging through my mornings really wasn’t that different than when I was married to Kyle, as he often wasn’t home anyway–especially the last few months of our marriage. At least now I could completely immerse myself in my career without any ‘personal’ distractions. Yeah, right. Maybe someday I’d have both my professional and personal life going well at the same time. Probably not anytime soon, though.

I said goodbye to Reggie and headed out to my little Volvo P1800. She was my little treasure that I inherited from my grandpa when he passed away a few years ago. She was a lovely forest green with a rich, butter-colored interior that I kept in mint condition. That was one of two things I made sure shithead would not get in the divorce. My baby Reggie and my baby Liza, as I called her. When I wasn’t driving Liza, I rode my mint-green Vespa to work, weather allowing. Now it only took me about 20 minutes to get to work since I was able to find an apartment close to the lab. I was originally commuting from St. Pete and traffic always sucked on I-275, especially at this time of the day. Now it was a piece of cake.

I pulled into my parking space behind the Mote Marine Laboratory reserved just for me. My space even had my name: Dr. Philadelphia Barnum, Chief Microbiologist, Department of Biotoxicology. I entered the back door and passed the security booth. Bill, the security guard, peered up at me over his glasses with his usual greeting.

Mornin’, Dr. Barnum-Tessen, he muffled out over his donut. D’oh! I mean, morning, Dr. Barnum. Sorry, still getting used to that. I could see his cheeks flush a lovely shade of crimson as he tried not to act all flustered. Bill has always been a little on the shy side, but once he discovered I was getting a divorce, he seemed to have gotten more flirty.

No worries, Bill. At least you’re not calling me Deli CaTessen anymore. I touched my finger to the corner of my mouth indicating the jelly spot he had on his mouth, winked, and smirked back at him. His face turned the same shade as the jelly on his face as he quickly swiped the sticky goodness away with his fingertips.

Deli CaTessen was a nickname my research assistant, A.J., coined when he first started working for me. A.J. Masterson was a brilliant young scientist who always kept everyone in great spirits. He had a nickname for everyone and was a lab geek like the rest of us, but somehow he managed to make his version of geekiness cool. With his dark brown, spiky hair and charcoal-colored eyes, he could don a bow tie and still look like he stepped out of the pages of GQ. He was one of those guys who sported tribal tats under all that tweed and chino. The guy lived in Florida and still wore a tweed jacket complete with elbow patches to work. But that was A.J. If I didn’t work with the guy, I’d definitely want a hunk of that hunk.

I climbed the chilly back stairwell to my office on the third floor. I hate exercise and that was the only thing I did to keep fit. I swiped my key card through the slot to get me onto the floor. Ever since PETA broke in and tried to release a bunch of animals from the public side of the aquarium, we had to beef up security.

I unlocked my little office and entered, wondering what was in store for me today. My office tended to be organized, once again another indication of the difference between my professional and personal life. Home and work always seemed to be in stark contrast to one another. I sat down in my swivel IKEA chair and fired up my laptop.

Scrolling through my emails, I stopped on one addressed from Calvin. Calvin Ng was the director of ecological and biological programs here at Mote, and emails from him usually meant good news. He tended to deliver any bad news in person.

I opened it enthusiastically and it read:

Deli,

We (meaning you) have been asked to be on the re-terraforming project team for Cetoceania. Dr. Galen Tursiops from the Atlantic Clan is spearheading a project to make their realm inhabitable again. After researching scientists from all over the planet, the Cetocean government was impressed with your work with the Pfiesteria organism. Dr. Tursiops believes there is a link with this organism and the toxin it produces with the devastation that has occurred in their realm.

Dr. Tursiops and his top two scientists will be arriving Monday at 10:30 am. We will be meeting in conference room B on the second floor.

Calvin

Holy shit! Me? Granted, I did my PhD dissertation on Pfiesteria, but I had no clue it could lead to anything like this. The toxin produced by this bug is what I believe killed my dad when I was young. Just the mention of the bug takes me back to my childhood days spent with him. I grew up in Petoskey, Michigan, and my dad was a boat captain and owned the Shetland Ferry lines that ran from Mackinaw City to Mackinac Island during the summer months. During the winter months he used to go down to Maryland to help my Uncle Neal with his fishing business in the Chesapeake Bay. Pfiesteria is a bug that blooms and produces a toxin that causes gross erosions in the skin of fish. At the time, doctors believed that if a human was exposed to the toxin, they would only have eye irritation and slight breathing problems. My dad became exposed to one of the ‘blooms’ when he helped my uncle. He developed breathing problems that gradually became worse. He died six months later from respiratory arrest.

It was then that I decided that I was going to become a doctor to prove all those other doctors didn’t know what the hell they were talking about. I did my dissertation on the organism and, it turns out, I was right. Who would have thought it would have led to me being some sort of authority on the subject?

The people of this world were ‘introduced’ to the Cetoceans in 2010. They came to us and made themselves known six months after the oil spill in the Gulf. Since we took such crap care of our oceans and let oil leak into the Gulf, the Cetoceans had no choice but to make themselves known. Our carelessness had caused their world to become decimated. The oil literally leaked into their realm and their world was slowly being destroyed, organism by organism.

The Cetoceans were a highly sophisticated society. They were a race of ocean and fresh water shifters. Sailors have described the legends of mermaids for centuries, but until 2010 everyone thought it was just that-a legend. While Cetoceans were not exactly merpeople, they were the source of mermaid legend and folklore.

For centuries they remained virtually invisible to humans other than a few chance sightings, but with the devastation of the BP oil spill, they could no longer remain in the shadows. Leave it to us humans to screw things up for another realm of existence. They have since integrated into our society rather seamlessly. It’s not like they had a choice. After all, we screwed up their world.

And now I had the chance to work closely with a society I had been infatuated with since I was an undergrad student. I’ve spent the last eight years trying to figure out how I could learn more about their culture. It appeared today would be that day.

CHAPTER 2

Okay, so it was only 9:00 am and I was finding it very difficult to concentrate on the business at hand. I still had an hour and a half for the meeting and the butterflies in my gut were starting to desperately look for an exit. Not only was I going to get to work on a project I’d long dreamed about, but I was also going to meet a shifter in the flesh. I felt a tingle up my spine in anticipation of how the meeting would go. My mind was reeling about the different possibilities of this whole situation. Ugh! It was time to turn off my internal dialog and concentrate on actually getting some work done in the meantime.

I finally decided to settle into some work when my Droid chirped the tune of the Batman theme. I jumped at the song and the vibration in my pocket, but I already knew who it was.

Hey, girlie, girl! my friend Carly squeaked as her usual greeting. Carly Hoffman was my long-time friend and best drinking buddy, especially since the divorce. She was one of the research scientists at the Center for Ecological Disasters that went in across the pier after the BP oil spill. We did our undergrad together at Michigan State and have been friends ever since. Whatcha up to?

I could hardly contain my enthusiasm. Oh, nothing much, I replied, my grin so wide she probably heard it through the phone.

Spill it, Deli, she added. I know that tone. It means either you finally got laid or you’ve got some really big project going on in the lab.

Well, it looks as though I’ve been asked to be on the re-terraforming team for the Cetoceans, I blurted out, hardly able to contain my dorky enthusiasm.

Are you shitting me? Does that mean you’re going to get to see their turf? Have you met anyone from there yet? What are they like? Deets, please.

I don’t know anything yet. Boss man emailed me with the announcement that there’s a meeting today at 10:30. I think I’m gonna pee my pants I’m so excited! I squirmed in my seat, acting like a tween about to meet New Direction in person.

Only you could get that excited about lab stuff, girlie. But I’m dying to find out what they’re like. Wanna meet after work for cocktails so you can spill it? Carly asked… I knew she was just as excited as I was about the news. She was a geek who hadn’t come out of the closet yet.

Sure, that sounds great, I replied. Is that why you called? To see if I wanted to go for drinks tonight?

You bet! I figured socializing with your BFF would be better than going home and stewing about jerkwad. BFF? What is she, 12? What time are you done today?

I glanced at my Outlook calendar. I’ll probably be done around six. Does that work for you?

Sure thing. Gator Club or the Ivory? I could hear how excited she was that I was actually going out for a change.

I pondered what I wanted to do for a second. I think I’m in the mood for some dancing, so the Ivory. Is that ok?

Are you kidding me? You mean you finally wanna go dance? Girlie, it’s a date! She squealed and clicked off the line. That’s the thing about Carly, she never said goodbye. I just had to assume the conversation was over by her hanging up. Kind of annoying, but I still loved her like a sister. Actually, I was closer to her than my brothers or my sister.

After trying to busy myself for 45 minutes, I decided to head down to the conference room and wait. I grabbed my lab coat off the hook, slid into it, and was off. I was 15 minutes early and getting absolutely nothing done in my office, the anticipation stripping my consciousness of any rational thought. Tick, tick, tick… A few minutes later the door creaked open and in walked Calvin with three people behind him.

I tried not to look too enthusiastic by looking up from my notebook nonchalantly, but to no avail. When they walked in, an unbelievable scent wafted toward me. It smelled like an ocean breeze with the faintest hint of cinnamon. I spotted the two women walking over to the conference table and my eyes slowly continued to the right. That’s when I saw him.

Holy effing shit! My heart slammed into my chest and I had that rush of heat fly up my spine, burning my cheeks, as though I would pass out. Who the hell was that? Before me was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen. I felt a surge of perspiration below my lower lids and I seriously thought I was going to keel over right there. I needed to get a grip.

Dr. Philadelphia Barnum, Calvin approached on the heels of the other three. I’d like you to meet Dr. Francis Vitulina of the Atlantic Clan, Dr. Hyla Lutris of the Pacific Clan, and Dr. Galen Tursiops, also of the Atlantic Clan.

Nice to meet you, I responded and shook the ladies’ hands. Please, call me Deli. When I got to Dr. Tursiops, I tentatively put my hand out, my voice eluding me and my palms sweaty. God, why did I turn into an instant blithering idiot whenever a hot guy was around? I casually wiped my hand on my lab coat. Dr. Tursiops, I barely croaked out because my heart was in my throat.

He shook my hand and the instant our fingers touched, I felt a zap of electrical current run all the way to my spine that collided with my brain. I quickly pulled away. Holy Jeez, did he feel that, too? We captured each other’s gaze and I saw his pupils constrict into slits. Wow! That was cool. I heard Cetacean shifters could do that, and holy hell it was sexy. He rapidly blinked three times. When his eyes returned to normal, they were the most beautiful shade of teal I’d ever seen. I was mesmerized. Our eyes remained locked on one another, as if we’d already established some sort of subliminal connection.

Ah, ahem, Calvin cleared his throat. Dr. Tursiops is the lead scientist of the RTF project for Cetoceania. He and his associates are here to collaborate with us to help with the organism reintroduction program, Calvin continued, and I was only half-listening at this point. I simply couldn’t take my eyes of this beautiful man before me. I quickly tried to assess my outward appearance, hoping I wasn’t being too obvious. Was my tongue hanging out of my mouth? Hopefully Calvin didn’t notice the connection the fine doctor and I made and my lack of professionalism, although Calvin was a pretty perceptive guy and didn’t get his prestigious position by being dense.

Calvin continued and I half-tuned him out. I couldn’t take my eyes off this man, but I had to in order to spare myself any further embarrassment. I quickly looked away, trying to focus on anything I possibly could. He was absolutely stunning. He had to be about 6' 2", broad-shouldered, with that perfect, V-shaped torso visible through his lab coat. I caught myself staring at his trousers longer than normal and my cheeks flamed. His body was like most men you see on the Olympic swim team. I couldn’t take my eyes off those teal-green ones of his. He had a chiseled jawline with just a small amount of facial hair on his chin, as all male dolphin shifters possessed. Dr. Tursiops had what looked like a five o’clock shadow, indicating he’d been away from the sea for about two weeks–at least that’s what I read happened. The longer a dolphin shifter was out of water, the longer the hair on his head grew.

We all sat around the table and discussed the project at length for about two hours. It was amazing to listen to them all talk about their theories of how to keep their world from dying out. Hyla and Francis did a lot of the talking while Galen remained pretty silent throughout. Even though he didn’t speak much, you could see a wealth of knowledge behind those eyes. When he did speak, all his points were remarkable and I became more impressed as the day went on. Brains and beauty. That’s a lethal combination for me. Plus he’s a shifter. Holy fuck!

Since these doctors were held in such high esteem, the equivalent of movie stars in their world, it was up to me to make sure all of their needs were met. Of course, I couldn’t let one of my lab assistants give them the grand tour: I had to do it myself.

I’d like to show you our facilities, if you are up for it. Please follow me. I led the way and suddenly felt self-conscious as I could feel a pair of eyes burning through my backside. Um, was he checking me out? Surely not. My scalp tingled at the thought and I felt my hips swaying in an exaggerated motion. Knock it off, Deli. I suddenly prayed I didn’t have my lab coat tucked into my pants or something embarrassing like that.

I showed them the different levels of the lab. The basement was the aquatic pathogens level; the first floor contained the general clinical path lab for the aquarium’s collection of animals; and the second and third floors were geared specifically toward research and development. It was these two floors that we would be working together most closely.

By lunchtime we were all starving and Calvin decided to take us all to lunch. Lately my lunches consisted of ramen noodles or Healthy Choice frozen dinners at my desk, so I was all for getting out of the lab.

We headed over to the Old Salty Dog, Calvin hoping our visitors ate seafood. He didn’t want to stereotype or anything, being marine animal shifters and all. The hostess sat us outside on the deck so we could enjoy the weather. October had to be the best month out of the year in Florida and we couldn’t have asked for a nicer day. Our waitress took our drink orders and we chatted for a while.

So, Dr. Barnum? Francis asked. "I have to say that we are all impressed by your CV. We scouted out several scientists in 40 different countries and your work with the Pfiesteria bug is what caught our eye. Galen believes you are going to contribute significant input into reviving Cetoceania." Francis Vitulina appeared to be a no-nonsense kind of woman. She was probably in her mid-thirties, with dark brown hair and the largest brown eyes I’d ever seen. Even though she had rounded features from being a seal shifter, she had a face that exuded elegance. She wore her hair in a loose bun that sported chopsticks. Seal shifters didn’t lose their hair the way the dolphin shifters did, so her hair was long and silky. Even though Galen was the lead scientist, I got the impression that Francis tried to run the show.

Thanks, and please, call me Deli. I am really looking forward to helping in any way I can, I replied and I noticed that Galen was watching me intently. My face turned pink, and his gaze was unnerving, as though he was trying to see into my soul. It was almost as if he purposely watched to make sure I knew he was looking at me. It was arousing and creepy at the same time. Good thing the waitress returned to take our orders and saved me from further awkwardness.

Since we’re at lunch, how about we talk about something else besides work, hmm? Hyla broke into the conversation abruptly, but ever so politely. We will be staying here for the duration of the project and Francis and I have been here for two weeks already and haven’t had the opportunity to see the sights. Galen just got here on Friday. So, where are the hotspots in the area? Hyla was a sea otter shifter from the Pacific Northwest. She looked like the poster child for a sun tan lotion ad. She had platinum blonde hair that reached her waist, tanned skin, and deep blue eyes. She was short and petite and completely adorable–very much like her alter ego. I imagine she had a hard time being taken seriously as a scientist and was probably often mistaken for a bikini model. I could already tell we were going to get along well. I knew all about not being taken seriously.

Well, it depends on what you’re in the mood for. Are you talking about nightlife or sightseeing? I asked. Calvin has been here over 20 years so he could tell you about all the sightseeing.

Well, Francis here isn’t much for the nightlife and Galen and I love to do both, Hyla stated. Why were they all speaking for Galen? Was he shy or bored? It was really hard to tell. I was having a hard time getting a read on him.

As far as nightlife, my friend Carly and I like two places downtown, depending on our mood. We like the Ivory Lounge if we want to dance, and if we just want to kick back and have a few beers, we head over to the Gator Club.

I really love to dance! Would you mind if I tagged along with you and your friend some time? I don’t want to intrude or anything, Hyla asked, realizing she didn’t want to overstep her bounds.

Sure, that would be great! As a matter of fact, Carly and I are heading there after work tonight. Why don’t you come with us? I looked at Galen, still trying to get a read on him. He was still focused in my direction, expression impassive.

What about you, Galen? Want to join us? Carly nudged him to get some sort of reaction out of him.

Thank you, but I do not want to intrude on a ladies’ night out. He smiled. I still have a lot of unpacking to do.

Suit yourself, but the first round of drinks is on me! Hyla exclaimed.

The rest of the afternoon flew by and I couldn’t wait to let Carly know