From The Depths
A Deep Water Inspired Romance Anthology
Harpie Alexaner
Octavia Kore
Dani Morrison
S.J. Sanders
Charity Wells
Diana Rose Wilson
Contents
Drashar Aquatic Aliens of Sa’Thulia
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Epilogue
About the Author
Ecstasy from the Deep - A Verona Mate Novelette
Alien Word Glossary
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Epilogue
Also By Octavia Kore
About The Authors
Opportunity’s Chase
Chapter 1
About the Author
Sirei in Exile - A New Sirenx Romance
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Epilogue
Other Works by S.J. Sanders
About the Author
Under the Lake
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Also By Diana Rose Wilson
About the Author
Waves of Desire
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
About Charity Wells
Also by Charity Wells
Copyright © 2020 by They Come from Beyond Anthologies; S.J. Sanders, owner
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without explicit permission granted in writing from the author.
DRASHAR: Aquatic Aliens of Sa’Thulia; Copyright Harpie Alexander. All Rights Reserved. Used with Permission of the Author.
ECSTASY FROM THE DEEP: A Venora Mate Novelette; Copyright Octavia Kore. All Rights Reserved. Used with Permission of the Author.
OPPORTUNITY’S CHASE; Copyright Dani Morrison. All Rights Reserved. Used with Permission of the Author.
SIREI IN EXILE: A New Sirenx Romance; Copyright S.J. Sanders. All Rights Reserved. Used with Permission of the Author.
UNDER THE LAKE; Copyright Diana Rose Wilson. All Rights Reserved. Used with Permission of the Author.
WAVES OF DESIRE; Copyright Charity Wells. All Rights Reserved. Used with Permission of the Author.
From The Depths Blurb
The depths conceal and harbor that which it takes into its abode. Anything could lurk beneath the surface, waiting for their moment to make their claim.
Six authors have come together to share tales of romance and wonder in watery abodes with heroes of most peculiar species. The love that awaits may just be beyond imagining.
Join Harpie Alexander, Octavia Kore, Dani Morrison, S.J. Sanders, Diana Rose Wilson and Charity Wells for six tales of love from the depths.
Drashar Aquatic Aliens of Sa’Thulia
By: Harpie Alexander
Drashar
Aquatic Aliens of Sa’Thulia
Harpie Alexander
A short & steamy alien romance set in an aquatic world with a guaranteed HEA between one determined female human and a sexy male Jellyfish.
Her ship is plummeting into the ocean and there’s no escape pods left. With the help of a few women and one wetsuit, Raschelle dives into the ocean and swims to safety. But then everything gets worse. She’s separated from her group and gets attacked by a terrifying creature hell bent on devouring her. It isn’t until one jelly fish decides to save her life that Raschelle still has a chance. The problem? He brought her to his den with no way of escape.
Prologue
Raschelle
“Damn it’s crowded in here tonight,” Raschelle muttered to herself, noting she still had two hours left and a plethora of tasks to do before her shift ended. She worked at Wednesdays, the women’s only bar on Expedition Starship Unity Fifty-Four. Most of the time she loved her job, but tonight was not one of those nights. She sighed. It was obvious that she would be staying late again if she didn’t want to get fired and given some cruddy job position like scrubbing toilets or whatever.
The ding signaling the arrival of a PA had Rachelle stopping her immediate task of serving beer to listen to the upcoming announcement.
"This is Captain Ramirez. A fire has broken out in sectors four, five and six. All maintenance personnel are required to assist—"
Boom!
A series of explosions somewhere deep in the ship had vibrations rolling throughout the country-themed bar. Frowns and looks of shock lined several women’s faces while glasses of alcohol and plates of country fried steaks clattered across the table, some dropping onto the metallic floor. The combination of mixed brews not only stunk, burning Raschelle’s nose, but was also an accident waiting to happen.
"What the hell was that?" a blonde security officer asked the women she sat with, nervously searching around.
"It’s probably just engineering fucking around again," a brunette responded, flipping over the wet hands she just soiled from the table.
“No! Didn’t you hear? He said sectors four through six. Engineering is deck two. How could engineering set off explosions several decks higher than them?” the blonde officer asked another question.
"Hell if I know. Maybe they engineered it,” the brunette joked then wiped her hands on the lower parts of her blue pants while no one watched.
“At least it wasn’t that dickhead Admiral Jones," a quiet short woman in their group interjected.
Raschelle listened to the group of women talk while she soaked up the fluids on the floor by their table, then scooped up their sloppy leftovers.
“Do you ladies want a box for this?” Raschelle joked as their conversation about the brief incident continued.
Well at least someone thought it was funny. That someone, of course, was her.
She had to agree though. She was glad it wasn’t that good for nothing Admiral calling people in for detention while babbling on about their ‘misdeeds’. They were on a scientific expedition vessel to save Earth for heaven's sake, and that was the man they put in charge? It was asinine. Either Earth officials had lost their minds during the chaotic downfall of civilization, or Admiral Jones had a lot of money or held loads of power. Either way, Raschelle thought all of them were idiots. There was no changing her mind.
The ship jerked again, harder this time. The momentum and slick floor caused Raschelle to slip, but a wooden table beside her saved her from a fall.
Endless questions filled the air as thick smoke poured from the vents above the liquor cabinet.
Shit.
"Fire! Quick someone grab another extinguisher," Raschelle barked, scooting towards the side of the bar. She smashed the glass with an elbow and pulled the extinguisher from the socket, readying the nozzle at the first sign of a flame
.
Several people started coughing, standing up to leave while some watched from their wooden stools with fearful eyes. Those that were smart enough to not stand around, tripped over each other as they tried to shove through the exit all at once.
Boom!
Several more explosions rippled. The ship groaned, and Raschelle lurched forward, dropping the extinguisher to the floor. The sound was muted by a deafening grinding that pierced her ears like a flash bang grenade from an old military movie. She looked to the device. The nozzle had cracked and had turned at an odd angle.
"Shit. Shit. Shit."
The PA dinged once again.
"Abandon ship...it’s tearing apart...fire is spreading...the Captain is dead...water planet. Get to the escape pods...emergency bea—," the PA system turned to static as the ship grumbled and groaned.
"Raschelle. Hurry, come with us! We need to get to the escape pods." Sam, a short haired brunette with determined brown eyes grabbed onto Raschelle's arm with a strong grip, and pulled her towards her group; Erin, a tall beautiful blonde with green eyes and extra meat on her bones; and Mandy, a short woman with captivating blue eyes and a lengthy black fauxhawk with sides that were nearly shaven.
She knew the women fairly well, given that Raschelle had been serving them for quite some time, and often indulged in heavy conversation. They were scientists, often complaining over hard work and boring things like soil analysis’.
"Over here," Mandy waved at the side entrance leading towards the east end of the ship, where the pods were kept.
Raschelle and the others followed Mandy, zipping past people, many of them were yelling and scrambling to do things that seemed unlikely to help their current situation. The hallways became more crowded the closer they got to the pods, which wasn't far at all. Wall to wall, people elbowed and pushed frantically toward safety, ignoring their humanity in the process.
"Out of the way. I'm level three. I need to be on that escape pod more than you," a man spat in Raschelle's face, forcing himself between her group.
"Hey! I'm level four. Get out of the way you useless bartender." Another man placed his hands on her, shoving her aside as he barged through the thick crowd.
"Ow!" she yelled, rubbing the arm that she smashed into the wall. "What the hell is wrong with people?"
Raschelle watched as people fought and argued for their rights to jump the line. She glanced at Sam, who bit her lip so hard it bled.
"This is crazy. What's taking so long?" Mandy tapped her foot nervously.
Erin threw her hands into the air. "I don't know, but this is fucking ludicrous. We're all gonna die at this rate."
As if the ship was listening to their conversation, it obliged in another series of quakes and shakes. People stumbled as they lost their footing, bumping into each other. More fights broke out.
"Only five more escape pods," a male shouted from the front, hollering over the angry crowd.
Raschelle’s blood stilled. She didn't want to die, not when there were so many things she wanted to do with her life.
"Holy fuck. Only five?" Erin blurted, standing on her tiptoes to get a better view.
"We don't have time for this." Sam turned to Raschelle. "They said water planet, right?"
"Yeah, I believe so. Why?" she replied, eyebrows drawn together in confusion.
"Let's get to the lab." Sam ignored her question as she bolted down the hallway towards a door. "Come on, let's go." She waved her arms in exasperation.
"That's like four decks up. Shouldn't we just go for the other escape pods?" Mandy asked, racing down the hall towards Sam.
"I agree. We might not make it that far before everything goes to shit." Raschelle followed the other women, shooting a quick glance over her shoulder at Erin, who shrugged back. "Don't look at me. Looks like shits gone to hell already. Besides, Mandy's team lead."
Sam pulled the door open, pausing for a second with a scowl on her face. "Forget about team leads. If there's not enough pods on the busiest level, you really think there's going to be enough on the other floors? We don't have much time. Let's get to the lab and grab—"
"The wetsuits!" Erin and Mandy interjected excitedly.
"Wetsuits?" Lines of worry forged on Raschelle's forehead while she hurried up the flights of stairs.
Popping her head over the railing above her, Sam replied, "If we crash into the ocean, wetsuits will be the next best thing."
"If we crash into an ocean," Erin corrected.
They continued onwards, traveling a few decks up towards the science sector. The ship continued to moan and groan, sometimes shaking with such force, Raschelle and the other women clung to the walls for support.
"Here!" Sam shouted, heading into a room with a sign that hung above the door that said lab equipment storage.
"Finally. I swear that took much longer than it should have." Erin whizzed past Raschelle, and then Mandy who remained quiet as ever.
Just as they entered the labs equipment storage room, the ship lurched, pressing everyone forward as they slid across the floor. Equipment fell and glided past them.
"Shit. We must be entering the planet's atmosphere. We don't have long." Sam ducked her head as a microscope pressed past her, shattering to the floor. With a grimaced face, she grabbed the counter and used it as leverage to reach the locker. She pulled out several wetsuits and masks. "Take these. Put them on as best you can and remove as much clothing as possible," she commanded, hurriedly tossing a set to each woman.
"You have a lot of energy for someone who is typically reserved." Raschelle smiled weakly, gladly picking up her white wetsuit before removing her clothes. She mimicked the other ladies, zipping and latching pieces until everything was on correctly. "Holy hell, this thing is baggy!"
Sam gave Raschelle an apologetic look. “Sorry, it’s all we had.”
"We need to get to the escape latch. There’s one close by, just down past the maintenance junction," Mandy reminded, dashing out the door like a bolt of lightning.
Everyone followed suit in haste, but just as Mandy had said, it didn’t take long to arrive. The ship lurched again and a grinding roar filled their ears while smoke filled the halls to the brim.
Raschelle coughed. Smoke filled her lungs, but that didn’t stop her from helping the women with the latch wheel.
The wheel opened into a small room. Everyone dashed in and collectively worked to close the seal behind them.
"Brace yourselves and don't lose sight. The wetsuit has a small navigational unit and can connect you to us." Sam glanced at Raschelle. "Just ask the computer for assistance. I wish I could explain more, but there's no time. We need to get out of the ship before it sinks too deep."
"This is going to be a shit show," Erin complained. There was a lack of fear on her face, as if she was enjoying the thrill of the ride.
On the count of three, the four women opened the second latch together. Icy water blasted inside. Everything that had happened after became as black as night.
Chapter One
Drashar - Several daylights earlier...
Drashar jerked awake from his sleeping cycle. He tasted something delicious in his feeding mouth, a large opening beneath his bell margin where he ate most of his prey. Opening his jaw again, he registered the new maddening flavor, but the desire to devour anything and everything crashed through his system all at once.
What is this?
His taste receptors were having such a hard time deciphering the foreign flavor, one that he’d never detected in his life. He didn’t realize he was already swimming away from the safety of his den, towards the lower tunnels that led out to the open waters just so he could hunt it down.
Hunting during the daylight was not something Drashar took easily. If his budded brothers had survived, he would have hunted with them, but sadly, they never made it past the first stages of their life, so alone it was. It was dangerous and foolish to go out alone, especially when all the other famished creatures were making th
eir rounds to fill their bellies too. He would much rather hunt during the dark, when most creatures were fast asleep in their dens.
Of course, that was not the only reason he preferred to hunt at night. Sometimes, after feasting on his prey, if time allowed, he would delve deeper into the oceans and watch the dazzling swirls of flora growing along caves and coral reefs. They were mesmerizing colors that seemed to have no limits. It enchanted him, but Drashar presumed that was part of the mating pull. When a female Aq’aith was ready to breed, she would take the seed of her chosen male, and mix it with her egg until it was fertilized. Once ready, she would then release it among colorful flora in the hopes it would provide both her and her offspring protection from predators until the polyp formed and budlings emerged. After that, they were solely on their own.
During all his time, he had never found a breedable female, or even one tending her polyp. Just the rare sighting of a freshly bred female on her way to deposit.
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