Chapter 6 #2
“Did Mario get there all right?” he asked after a quick greeting.
“He’s putting my bags in the trunk right now,” she told Mark.
“Good. Can you put him on the line for a moment? I just want to make sure.”
Shelly walked over to the car and held out her cell phone.
Mark wanted to make sure…of what, exactly?
That Mario was who he claimed to be? That didn’t sound too safe.
If he was an imposter, Shelly would be in a very vulnerable position.
Still, she trusted Mark to know what he was doing.
Perhaps he would be able to do this in a way that wouldn’t put her in any increased danger?
“He wants to talk to you,” Shelly said as the driver turned to her. Suddenly, she saw faces in the trees.
Oh, they weren’t obvious, but she somehow knew there were shifters watching her every move from just within the trees that bordered her small yard. They were Mark’s people. If this driver was a threat, they’d help her. Once again, she trusted her instincts that said the watchers were on her side.
“Alpha?” the man who’d introduced himself as Mario spoke into the phone. Shelly relaxed marginally. He’d called Mark by the shifter title. The Jaguar Clan Alpha. Would a bad guy know to do that? Probably not. She hoped.
After a few words, Mario handed the phone back to her with a sheepish grin. “It’s okay. He was just checking,” Mario told her, rather vaguely, then went about closing up the trunk and headed around to the passenger compartment to open her door while she got back on the line with Mark.
“Um… Okay?” she asked him, not sure how to phrase her concern in a way that wouldn’t sound like it. It was too early to be playing word games.
“Yeah, Mario’s good. He’ll get you to the helo pad.
You can get in the car. And don’t be concerned if you see a few other cars following or ahead of you.
The security team is going to leave a small presence at your house, to make sure nobody tampers with it while you’re gone, but the rest are going to be escorting you to the plane.
A blond guy named Heinrich will be your chopper pilot. He’ll be in one of the security cars.”
“I’m taking a helicopter to the airport?” That was news to her. And kind of exciting. She’d never been in a helicopter before.
“It’s the quickest way. Is that all right?” he asked, almost as if he was unsure of his strategy.
“Yeah, it’s fine.” She tried to sound as if she flew in helicopters all the time but probably wasn’t very convincing.
A wry chuckle sounded at the other end of the line as she got into the limo. “Next time, I’ll be sure to run my plans past you before I spring them on you. Sorry for the surprise. I’m not used to consulting anyone else, but I’ll get better. Promise.”
Why he’d want to get used to consulting her on his plans was something she didn’t quite want to contemplate at the moment. He sounded so serious about her, but she was still getting used to the idea. It would take time for her to catch up to him.
That was new. Always before, in the few disappointing relationships she’d had to date, it had been her unrealistic expectations that had gotten her into trouble.
Or—maybe her expectations hadn’t been all that unrealistic.
Maybe the men she’d been expecting things from just hadn’t been quality candidates for the position of husband and life mate.
She’d been way more committed than any of her past boyfriends. As she’d told Mark last night, that had made her more than a little gun shy. She was hesitant to commit her feelings to anyone now. She’d been burned once too often.
In a huge switcharoo, Mark was the one who seemed to want to rush into full-blown future planning. She was on the other side of the equation this time, and it felt damned odd.
Mario was driving down the road as she finished the call with Mark, with a promise to see him soon. He’d be waiting, he’d told her. A shiver went down her spine at the thought of seeing him again.
This would be their third encounter. Possibly their second date, if being whisked away to a private island constituted a date. She thought it probably did.
Was it still too soon to consider sleeping with him? She hoped not. She was quickly running out of excuses. Her instincts said to grab the brass ring while it was close enough to touch. The future was uncertain. She should probably enjoy the time she had with this amazing man while she could.
As she daydreamed about what might happen on the plane, or when they got to the island, she noticed the cars he’d mentioned, following behind.
There was one in front, as well. She probably wouldn’t have spotted them if Mark hadn’t told her about them, but since she knew what to look for, it was pretty clear she had an escort.
When they reached a private heliport, she noticed that a total of three cars, including the limo she was in, drove straight out to a hangar in the distance. At least one other car stayed near the entrance, possibly to run interference.
Her limo drove right up to a helicopter that was attended by two tall, good-looking people—a male and a female, who nodded to Mario and helped move Shelly’s luggage from the trunk of the car to the back of the chopper.
A handsome blond man went straight from one of the other vehicles to the helicopter and started checking things over in a confident way.
The woman who’d been standing ready with the chopper conferred with him as they discussed points on a clipboard she held.
When Shelly’s bags were safely stowed, Mario took his leave of her and drove the limo back the way they’d come.
She was escorted into the helicopter by the man who’d helped Mario with the bags.
He made sure she was securely buckled in and gave a headset, plus a little basic instruction on how it worked.
Then he left, going back into the open hangar behind the helicopter.
By the time all that was done, the blond man was in the pilot’s seat, the woman beside him.
Both had donned headsets as they began to power up the machine.
Shelly didn’t want to interrupt them, though she found she could switch channels on her headset and listen in on their discussion of the pre-flight checks.
It was typical pilot jargon that she only half-understood, but it was reassuring, in its way, to listen to them talk so casually.
They obviously knew their stuff and were experienced pilots.
When they finished, the blond man turned in his seat to look back at her.
The passenger compartment was big enough to seat four comfortably, but Shelly had it all to herself.
“I’m Heinrich,” the pilot said over the headset. “This is Lucinda.” He gestured toward the woman in the copilot’s position. “Are you comfortable back there?”
Shelly gave him a thumbs up, as well as verbal confirmation. “I’m ready when you are. And I’m Shelly, by the way. It’s nice to meet you both, and thanks for the lift.”
Both of them smiled back at her, but it was Heinrich who spoke. “Happy to help. Sit back and enjoy the ride. It’s just a quick hop to the airstrip. Shouldn’t take more than ten or fifteen minutes.”
Shelly nodded as the pilots turned back to their instruments and the blades began to turn in earnest. Within moments, they were flying.
A near-vertical takeoff was new to Shelly and something to marvel at.
As was the scenery below them. She recognized the streets around her home as they turned toward the west, and then they were out, past her house, and headed for a nearby regional airport.
They were flying much lower than airplanes flew, and the sky was clear, so the views were spectacular.
Almost too soon, they were coming in for a landing next to a private hangar that was some distance from all the others.
Shelly saw a small jet waiting there and had to admire the shiny white vehicle.
She didn’t know all that much about jets, but she recognized the quality of the vehicle and the fact that it was close to brand new.
Only the best for the billionaire playboy who also happened to be the secret leader of a band of highly magical shapeshifters.
For a moment, Shelly wondered if she was hallucinating this whole situation, but then, she looked at Heinrich and Lucinda—two impossibly good-looking and lithe beings—and realized they were shifters. Probably golden jaguars with spots. Slinky. Sleek. And intensely powerful.
And Mark was their leader.
Faced with the proof of them right there in the helicopter with her, she had to admit, this was probably real and not a dream.
She waited for Heinrich’s signal that it was safe to unbuckle her seatbelt and then let the impossibly handsome and muscular ground crew open the door and let her know it was safe to come out.
She was escorted to the waiting plane without any delay, and she saw someone following with her bags.
She felt a bit like royalty, the way they were seeing to her every need.
As she mounted the steps up into the small jet, she noted Heinrich following close behind.
He veered left into the cockpit as she was ushered into the body of the plane, where Mark was already seated, waiting for her.
He got up to greet her with a kiss on the cheek, and she blushed as she became aware of Mark’s people watching them very closely.
Lucinda had also come aboard and was heading into the cockpit behind Heinrich.
Through the open door, Shelly spotted another man already in the pilot’s seat, flipping buttons and talking into a headset.
When the cockpit door closed, only Mark and Shelly were left in the cabin for a moment. Shelly had seen her bags being stowed in a closet near the door by the man who had brought them up into the jet. Then, he’d left again with a quick nod to Mark.
“Was the chopper flight okay?” Mark asked as he motioned for Shelly to pick a seat from the choices available.