Chapter 9
Shelly didn’t know how she got back to the Jeep. Mark must have carried her, though she had no recollection of it. That last orgasm had knocked her out. Literally.
Something earth shattering had happened there, but she wasn’t exactly sure what it was all about. She’d have to think about it later—when her brain had begun to function normally again. For now, she was toast. Happy toast. Satisfied toast. But still toast.
What had just happened had blown her mind, but she was okay with it. Surprisingly, Mark brought out the wild child in her that she’d never known existed. She kind of liked the woman she was when she was with him.
Uninhibited. Wild. Free.
None of those words had ever applied to her before. No, Shelly had always played by the rules. She’d been a good girl from a good family. Respectable. Proper. Almost uptight.
The old Shelly would never have made love in the grass with a circle of strange men looking on.
The new Shelly reveled in her new freedom.
Not that she wanted such displays to become commonplace, but she had sensed something special about what had just happened.
Something life changing. Destiny altering.
Or maybe she was just caught up in the fantasy. Magical Mark had shown her things she’d never experienced before. He’d given her a gift. One that she would never, in this lifetime, forget.
Whether there was to be a repeat performance or not remained to be seen. She certainly hoped there would be. If she had anything to say about it, she’d lock him in her bedroom and throw away the key. His kisses had been addictive enough, but his lovemaking was something else altogether.
He drove them back down the mountain while Shelly dozed in the passenger seat.
Mark had helped her dress. She remembered that.
And he’d buckled her into the Jeep, adjusting her seat so that she could recline a bit more.
He’d also stowed her pad and the small portfolio she kept it in behind her seat.
She’d been awake enough to remember that much, but the rest of the trip was accomplished in a bit of a daze.
She knew in her heart that her response wasn’t quite normal, but it also wasn’t dangerous. It was just…new.
“Hold on, querida, we’ll have you at the mansion in no time. And then, I want Abuela to look at you.” She could hear worry in his tone, but she didn’t have the energy to wonder too much about it.
“I’m okay,” she tried to tell him, but her words were slurred. It sounded like she was drunk or something. Odd.
He made calming sounds as he maneuvered the Jeep down the mountain trail.
It seemed like no time at all before they pulled up in front of the mansion, and she was in his arms once more.
Mark carried her up the steps as if she weighed nothing at all, and then into the room that she’d been shown earlier.
He laid her on the bed, and it wasn’t a minute before an old woman came into the room.
Shelly was confused, but still groggy, so she didn’t question it too much. Mark welcomed the old woman and led her to Shelly’s side.
Shelly didn’t really register what happened next until a jolt of…electricity? Lightning? Some sort of magic?
It lit her up from inside, shocking her system into rhythm once more. Like a light switch had been thrown, she started to become more aware of her surroundings and the strange old woman seated at her bedside.
Mark hovered over the old lady’s shoulder, his expression concerned. His gaze sought Shelly’s, and she could see the relief in his eyes as her vision cleared. Things began to come back into focus, and the hazy feeling departed.
“Was it your first time loosing your magic?” the old lady asked her. The question made no sense.
“My magic?” The old woman’s words didn’t make sense…and yet… “I don’t have magic. Do I?”
Abuela laughed. “Chica, it is flame I sense in your heart. Fire is your element and sparks your nature. You are well suited to this island and to the jaguar. Perhaps that is what woke your sleeping talent.”
“Fire?” It all made a strange sort of sense. “I felt sparks…”
“I felt them too. They scorched, but did not burn. And you released them into the ground. The obsidian heated beneath us and welcomed the fire magic like an old friend.” Mark was rather poetic when he wanted to be, she thought.
“The magic went to reinforce the wards I’ve already put in place. You added a great deal to the protections on our new home, mis hijos,” Abuela told them. “I will pray to the Mother of All in thanks for your strength. It will do our Clan good.”
“The Mother of All,” Shelly repeated, smiling. “I like that. Is that what shifters call Her? The Goddess?”
“You believe in the Goddess?” Mark asked in a shocked tone.
Shelly smiled. “I was raised with the Goddess. My father said the Howells have worshiped Her since the family began, and he wasn’t about to change things now. But I’ve never heard Her called that before. The Mother of All,” she repeated. “It’s a beautiful description.”
Abuela nodded in agreement. “Do you also have this saying—that the Goddess works in mysterious ways?”
“I may have heard something like that a time or two,” Shelly agreed, chuckling faintly.
The old woman laughed as she stood from the chair.
“I think I see Her hand in this union, since our Clan is sworn to the Goddess and Her Light. Now, I shocked you into wakefulness,” she said carefully.
“I think you were drunk on your new power and drained yourself a bit too low when you released it into the earth. You must learn what power level is best for your health. I can help you, if you wish, when you are recovered. You will sleep deep tonight, but you should be fine in the morning. Call me if you have any problems, Alpha. I will have Marie send up a tray for your dinner and make your apologies to the others.” Abuela winked at Shelly with a smile.
“They’ll understand. It’s not every day a new power awakens or a mate bond is forged.
There will be dancing in the jungle tonight. ”
With that rather odd declaration, the old lady left.
Mark saw her to the door then returned and sat on the side of the bed, taking one of Shelly’s hands in his.
He kissed the back and held it to his chest. She could feel his heart beating against her palm and knew the moment was a significant one, though she didn’t fully understand what was going on.
She was still a little foggy on the details.
“Don’t ever scare me like that again, querida,” he admonished in a gentle voice.
“I didn’t mean to scare you,” she protested weakly. “I still don’t really know what happened.”
“You rocked my world. That’s what happened,” he told her, grinning widely. “And then, you all but passed out after the most amazing light show I’ve ever witnessed. There were sparks shooting from your fingertips.”
“Really?” She held up her free hand and examined it. Looked okay to her.
“Really.” He lifted the hand he still held and kissed each fingertip in a gesture she found highly romantic.
“It tickled when the sparks hit my skin. It made the climax so much…more… Just more intense than anything I’ve ever experienced.
I knew being with my mate would be special, but this was…
” He shook his head. “I don’t have adequate words to describe it. ”
“That good, eh?” A little thrill of feminine pride stirred in her middle, though she’d never felt anything of the kind before. Mark was helping her experience all sorts of new and exciting things.
“Seriously, though…” He placed her hand back over his heart, his fingers linked loosely with hers. “We should probably figure out where your wild magic comes from. There must’ve been a mage or some kind of magical being somewhere back in your family line.”
“I doubt my father would know anything, but there might be some old records of ancestors back at his house,” she offered. She really couldn’t see that her somewhat aloof father would have any idea about magic, but then, stranger things had happened. Just this afternoon, in fact.
A gentle knock on the door preceded its opening.
Janice entered, carrying a large tray laden with delicious-smelling dishes.
Only then did Shelly realize she was really hungry.
She sat up in bed with Mark’s help as Janice set everything up on a folding table that had wheels on the bottom that she retrieved from the closet.
Janice left with a shy smile, and Mark served them both. They shared an intimate meal and didn’t speak of anything too weighty until they had finished their main courses and were looking at the selection of sweets Janice had brought.
“You know…” Mark began, his low tone alerting her to the fact that he was changing the mood of their conversation.
“Something very special happened today. I know you’re human, and I’ve been trying not to rush you, but you’re my mate, querida.
That means something very special to my kind.
Today only solidified the fact that we were meant to be. ”
“You believe in fated mates? That there’s just one person meant specifically for you?” she asked, curious.
He nodded slowly. “We do. And we spend most of our lives searching for that perfect mate. Sadly, it doesn’t happen for everyone, but for those who are blessed—as I have been blessed to find you—the promise of a lifetime of happiness with a perfect match is assured.
I am only concerned that you may not feel the same since you are human.
Although… You probably aren’t completely human if that light show is anything to go by.
” He tilted his head and gave her a gentle smile. “You have magic of your own.”