World of Aquatica: When a human takes a dunk in a shark tank, he discovers a world he never knew existed.
Tortelion, Tort to his friends, is a tiger shark shifter. He spends his workdays awing human audiences with a few aquatic parlor tricks. To him, it’s a pretty good gig. Plus, the people who come to World of Aquatica learn about his kind... well, tiger sharks of the non-shifter variety, anyway. A day that starts the same as any other suddenly takes a turn for the better when a mishap sends two humans tumbling into his tank. Blood in the water tells Tort that one of them is his mate. Joining those taken to the doc’s office as a witness, Tort learns his mate is Kane Cornshun, a busy human graphic designer only visiting the area to see his sister and her kids for a few days. Tort has very little time to woo his unsuspecting mate. Can he convince Kane to give up his life and join him at Aquatica?
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Backstroking with a Tiger Shark
Copyright © 2017 Charlie Richards
ISBN: 978-1-4874-1419-1
Cover art by Angela Waters
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Backstroking with a Tiger Shark
Beneath Aquatica’s Waves: Book One
By
Charlie Richards
Dedication
To the readers who always ask for more...
Chapter One
“Welcome to World of Aquatica’s tiger shark show,” the tall, blond announcer called. He grinned widely, showing off a pair of attractive dimples. “My name is Gerard, and I’m your host for today.”
In Kane Cornshun’s opinion, the man’s mild Australian accent made him enjoyable to listen to. It went well with the man being easy on the eyes. He relaxed in the stadium seating, looking forward to seeing a tiger shark in action. Appreciating the view of the handsome blond announcer’s muscular legs—shown off by the less than attractive khaki shorts he wore—certainly wasn’t a hardship.
Gerard’s expression sobered as he told them, “Just a reminder to parents in the audience, this show uses raw meat to reward the shark for his efforts. If that’s something you don’t want your kids to see, then you’d best leave now.”
The man waited a good thirty seconds. “All right then.” Gerard grinned once more. “Then I’m going to tell you a little about this magnificent tiger shark.”
As if on cue—hell, it probably was—a massive metal hoop lowered toward the water. A large piece of meat hung in the middle. It tapped the surface of the water three times in quick succession before lowering halfway into the water. A huge shark appeared from beneath the water and lunged through the hoop. The shark swallowed the piece of meat hanging in the center.
Kane wasn’t the only one who gasped upon seeing the shark. The large cement and plastic stadium seating was nearly full—men, women, and children all gasped, awed, and cried out in surprise. From the sheer size and strength of the creature, how could everyone not?
The tiger shark had a large, blunt nose and massive jaws filled with rows upon rows of jagged teeth. The fish’s medium gray body was covered in dark, vertical stripes that appeared somewhat faded. The tall dorsal fin bisected the back of the beast, drawing attention as it sank back beneath the waves with hardly any splash.
“Now our boy here, affectionately named Tony, is just over sixteen feet long,” Gerard continued. “He’s a big boy, ain’t he?”
Just like many others in the audience, Kane found himself nodding. To his left, he noticed his sister, Clarice, doing the same. Kane was there with her and Clarice’s two children. Twelve-year-old Marie had her mouth open, and her eyes were wide.
Clarice’s son, Kent, had just turned ten the day before. Visiting World of Aquatica had been his birthday wish, so Kane had insisted he pay for the outing. The shark show had been extra, but even from that one little jump through the hoop, with the way Kent stared in awe, Kane knew it’d been worth the extra fee.
Gerard speaking drew Kane’s attention back to the show.
“Can anyone tell me why the tiger shark has earned the nickname wastebasket of the sea?”
When several hands went up, Gerard pointed at a teenager sitting near the front. “Because they eat anything.”
Nodding, Gerard responded, “That’s right. Tiger sharks are scavengers. They have excellent eyesight and sense of smell and will eat just about anything.”
Gerard pointed at a hoop being lowered toward the water. Another large piece of meat hung in the hoop, except this hoop stopped about a foot out of the water. Blood dripped steadily from the chunk of meat.
Within seconds, the dorsal fin of the tiger shark broke the surface of the water. The shark swam under the hoop, its fin hitting it, making it swing. A few feet later, the tiger shark turned sharply and leaped out of the water. It dove through the hoop, snatched the meat, and crashed back into the water with a splash.
The crowd whooped and hollered, applauding wildly.
After a moment, Gerard told them, “Because these sharks will eat just about anything, these guys are second only to one other shark for attacking people. Does anyone know what shark is number one for human attacks?”
“Jaws!” a young girl in the audience cried excitedly.
Gerard pointed at her. “That’s right! The shark in Jaws. Do you know what kind of shark that was?”
While the blonde girl shook her head, several other hands went up. Gerard pointed at an older-looking girl, and she promptly yelled, “A great white.”
Gerard nodded. “Yep. Great white sharks are number one in attacking humans, but do you know what the difference between them is?” He didn’t wait for a hand that time but immediately continued, “Where a great white will normally let a human go because they don’t really like the taste of us, a tiger shark will continue with his attack. You know what that means?”
Lots of heads shook.
Pointing toward a pair of humans that were working the controls of the booms holding the rings, Gerard stated, “That means our super smart and savvy trainers have to be extra careful, because even though this guy looks friendly enough... ”
Next, a line with a hunk of meat dangling from it appeared over the pool fifteen feet in front of the audience. The shark lunged straight up from underneath, the move showcasing its massive jaws. It grabbed the piece of meat and crashed back into the pool, sending a wave of water splashing over the first several rows of people.
Kane noticed most of them wore ponchos, so getting wet had obviously been anticipated.
“But this guy thinks about one thing. Food. Always be careful when you swim in waters that could be infested wi
th sharks,” Gerard continued seriously. “Because this guy looks pretty big, don’t he? But in the wild, they can get even bigger.”
Kane watched the rest of the show with avid interest. Gerard was a good host, interspersing facts about tiger sharks along with more opportunities to cause the tiger shark to leap from the pool. It showed off the massive beast’s proportions, its many teeth, and its agility.
When the thirty-minute show was over, Kane found he’d enjoyed himself immensely. The act had been short. After all, there were really only so many ways to draw a shark out of the water. It wasn’t like a dolphin show where the trainer could ride it or swim with it or jump off its snout.
It was a damn shark.
Kane actually appreciated the shortness of the show, since Marie was beginning to look a little squeamish. They’d planned to eat after the show, but he realized they’d probably have to wait a little bit. While those around him rose, Kane paused to check to see what exhibits were close.
Maybe there’s a nice mellow sea turtle exhibit we could check out.
“Can we go to the underwater aquarium?” Kent asked, excitement in his voice. “I want to see it under water.”
Kane focused on Marie, lifting a brow. “What do you think, Marie?” He paused and smiled at his niece. “What about you? Interested in taking a walk through the tunnel beneath the tanks? There are lots of other things to see down there.”
Marie nodded. “Yeah. Okay.”
“Watch your step, guys,” Gerard encouraged over his microphone. “Those stairs can be slippery.”
Five minutes later, Kane realized just how slick the steps actually were when a pair of teenagers slammed into him as they rushed down the steps. He grabbed wildly for the railing. Kane missed as another person shoved into him, following the other pair. He flailed, trying to catch his balance, but another youngster jostled rudely past him, followed by a third.
Kane crashed onto his ass and slammed his head against a stair. Pain erupted in his temple, and spots flashed across his vision. He couldn’t focus enough to stop himself as he skidded down the last several cement stairs, slamming into another body in the process, then slid under the railing and into the pool.
* * * *
Tortelion swallowed the hunk of meat, enjoying the heady flavor of raw, bloody elk. Most humans probably assumed he was fed beef during a show, but the owners of the marine park went all out. Once Tort had realized he loved elk, they always provided it when he put on the show.
As a tiger shark shifter, Tort had spent over a hundred and fifty years living in the sea with the occasional visit to small seaside towns to indulge his human desires. The changes in technology made living like that extremely difficult, even more so for the owners of the park—brothers Kaiser and William Roush. They’d approached Tort and several other marine shifters with their idea to open a marine park.
Ten years later, the doors of World of Aquatica had opened on the coast of northern California. Years later, it was still packed nearly every day. The fact that the Roush brothers worked with a marketing genius by the name of Gracin certainly helped.
After Tort had eaten the last treat of the performance, once again soaking the first several rows of the audience, he swam slowly around the large show aquarium. He swam close to the exiting audience members, but not too close, so they could take pictures of his back and fin. Tort was always careful to keep any true identifying marks away from the crowd... not that most would ever notice the subtle differences between Tort and the other two tiger shark shifters that did the show—River and Caden.
Tort knew that twenty minutes after everyone exited the stadium, the gate to a series of corridors would open. He’d head through the tunnel and into a massive underwater aquarium. The rest of his six-hour shift would be spent swimming in there.
The loud splash of something hitting the water sent tingles across Tort’s senses. Curious, he turned and swam toward the source of the noise. The thrashing of someone swimming in the pool piqued his curiosity.
Odd.
No other shifter ever swam in the tank during open hours.
The scent of blood teased his senses. Sweet iron-rich flavors flooded him. His mouth watered, but not with the same kind of hunger the blood of the elk caused. Instead, he felt something... else.
Desire, need, of a different sort surged through Tort. Confused and oddly aroused, he swam even closer. His sharp eyesight spotted four kicking legs, two bodies, and four arms. Blood dripped down the adult’s scalp and dispersed into the water.
Just as Tort drew close, the adult grabbed the child and thrust him into someone’s waiting hands. That caused the man to sink under the waves. He struggled, his limbs flailing, and bubbles erupted from his mouth.
More blood poured from the gash in the human’s forehead. The guy’s eyes appeared to roll into the back of his head. An instant later, the man’s eyes closed, and he stilled.
The realization that the human had just passed out from his head injury struck Tort just as another thought stabbed into his brain.
This human is my mate.
Acting on instinct, the need to care for his Fate-given other half of his soul, Tort dipped his head. He swam under the human and rose, catching the guy’s torso across the front of his back and his fin. Ever-so-carefully, swimming slowly, Tort headed to the side of the tank where Gerard was crouching.
Tort fought his desire to shift and lift his mate from the water. Instead, he closed the distance between himself and Gerard. Resisting the urge to pause in the water, to make it easier for his fellow shifter to grab his mate—hell, sharks weren’t supposed to be able to do that, after all—he kept swimming even as he passed Gerard.
Meeting his fellow shifter’s eye, Tort spotted the worry in Gerard’s gaze. Gerard heaved the human out of the pool and laid him out on the concrete ground. Tort circled, unable to help himself, needing to check that the human at least breathed.
Through the distortion of the water, Tort saw a shifter he recognized as Doctor Keller jogging toward the cluster of people around where Gerard had sprawled Tort’s mate. There was also a small boy wrapped in a towel—probably the young human his mate had saved. A woman had an arm around the bundled-up youngster, as well as her second arm around a girl who could have been a teenager or thereabouts.
Water gods, please don’t tell me my mate is married with kids.
Knowing he had to find out, Tort sank beneath the water’s surface and swam to the far side of the aquarium. He rubbed his side against a tile that appeared like any other. It depressed ever-so-slightly.
In each aquarium and tank, there was a button. If for some reason a shifter had an emergency and needed to leave a shift early, the Roush brothers had even planned for that contingency, too. Each location had a panel that a shifter could push with their snout, body, or even a fin. It would set off an alarm in the security office, and immediate action would be taken to have the shifter removed from the aquarium.
Tort had never used it before. He hadn’t ever thought he would, either. As a tiger shark, he was the toughest thing in his aquarium, and that was even if he hadn’t been able to think and plan as a human. He didn’t have any family, and as a shifter, he didn’t really get sick.
The idea of running across his mate had certainly never crossed his mind.
It took everything in Tort to swim slowly around the aquarium as he waited. He saw Keller help his human turn onto his side and hack up water. Relief flooded Tort even as jealousy swamped him at seeing the doc’s arm around the human’s shoulders.
At least he’s breathing.
Tort chanted that to himself over and over as he watched Gerard help Doctor Keller load his mate into a wheelchair and out of the area. Then Gerard ushered the remaining chattering guests out of the stadium. Seconds later, Eban and River entered. They closed the doors to the stadium-enclosed aquarium behind them.
Eban squatted by the water as River stripped down. “Cameras a
re off. What’s up?” Eban asked, his brows furrowing. “If you just want to know about the human, Keller thinks he’s going to be fine, but he’s taking him back to his office to give him the once over just to be sure.”
Willing his body to shift from shark to man, Tort felt his frame change. His tail split, his skin thinned and lightened, and his body and face contorted. Even under water, Tort could hear the crack of his bones, the creak of his tendons, and the pop of his ligaments as his human form took shape.
With a swish of his arms and a kick of his legs, Tort cleared the surface and sucked in a deep breath. He treaded water as he looked up at Eban. Blowing out a breath, he glanced between the other shifters.
“That human is my mate,” Tort claimed without preamble. “I need to go to him.”
Eban’s brown eyes widened while River grinned.
“Well, damn,” River responded with a grin. “Congrats, and get out of here.”
Tort’s fellow tiger shark shifter dove into the water and began to change.
Eban stuck his hand out, drawing Tort’s attention. “I’ll take you to him.”
Tort grabbed Eban’s hand and climbed out of the pool. He snagged River’s cargo shorts and yanked them on. Next, he picked up the blue polo shirt and tugged it over his head.
Once Tort had slid on the discarded sandals, he fell into step beside Eban. The great white shark shifter was a security guard—what a standard shifter group would call an enforcer. Eban knocked his elbow into Tort’s arm.
“Congrats, man.”
Unable to stop his grin, Tort responded, “Thanks.”
Now, if I can only figure out how to seduce the human.
Chapter Two
Kane’s eyes watered. His throat ached. Even his lungs felt as if they were burning. Every few seconds, Kane fought the urge to upchuck more water.
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