Chapter 10
Mark leaned down and kissed her, just once. Moving only far enough away to look into her eyes, he spoke in an intimate tone.
“I’ve never been surer of anything else in my life.
I want you for my mate, Shelly. I know you’re human—and magical, though you still seem to be in denial about that—but I hope you can feel the same need.
The same draw. The same imperative that we must be together.
” He held both of her hands in his, against his beating heart.
“If you agree to be my mate, I will love you, and only you, for the rest of our lives. I will never stray, and I will be the best mate I can possibly be. I promise.”
Whoa. Her head was spinning again, and it wasn’t just from that light show she’d been part of yesterday. Mark was getting a little too intense for her. She was so confused about everything. She needed a little room to think.
She was saved from having to make a reply by the arrival of the security guy named Mario. He had a pained look on his face while he apologized for interrupting, but he brought news. The tigers had arrived.
Mark was suddenly all business. She realized how important this visit was to him by the way he reacted, and she vowed, then and there, to help him win over these shifter monarchs in any way that she could.
Mark was a good guy, and his people deserved all the help they could get.
Whatever little thing Shelly could do to help that, she would do.
“Is everything ready?” Mark asked Mario as they all headed back into the mansion.
“As ready as we can be,” came the quick reply. “Janice is setting up refreshments in the back parlor and said to tell you that, if they want to stay overnight, the best guest suite is ready and waiting.”
“Let’s see how this goes first,” Mark replied as they walked into the house.
“I don’t want to jinx anything by thinking too far ahead.
They may have a schedule to keep, which wouldn’t surprise me.
Plus, it’s a first visit to unknown territory.
They’ll be cautious.” Mark ran a hand down his shirt, as if searching for wrinkles, then he turned to Shelly. “Do I look okay?”
She thought he looked perfect. Of course, she always thought that.
Mark was one of those lucky individuals who looked good in anything and always seemed to have stepped off the pages of a magazine.
He was just that good looking. Male model handsome with an intellect matched by few. He was the whole package.
But she took his question seriously. “How formal is this?” she asked, wondering if his neat polo shirt and khakis were appropriate.
“Business casual, I’d guess,” he stated. “Any intel on what they’re wearing?” he asked Mario, quickly turning back to the other man.
“Golf shirt and jeans for the male. Jeans and a T-shirt for the female. A little less than business casual, but still neat, is what Lucinda reports,” Mario said, tapping a small earpiece Shelly just noticed as he drew attention to it.
“They’re coming up the walk from the landing strip now.
ETA five minutes. And you should know, Kensi is missing again.
I think she got curious and went down the path to see what all the fuss was about.
She’s been doing that more and more, according to Judy.
She’s going down to try to find her now. ”
“I don’t think the tiger king or his lady would harm her,” Mark said, then looked to Shelly as if for confirmation.
“They’re civilized people, aren’t they? And if they hurt a baby, these aren’t people you’ll want to deal with at all,” Shelly said immediately.
“We’d better get out there. Maybe we can avoid an incident.” Mark looked worried, and Shelly caught the tension in the air. She raced out of the house with him, Mario on their heels.
They took off down the path, slowing only at the bends in the path to peer out cautiously before they hit another straightaway. They didn’t want to look like they were rushing to intercede before Kensi possibly intercepted the newcomers, but they also wanted to get to her first, if at all possible.
They had just slowed for another curve when the approaching party came into view.
A beautiful woman with big blue eyes and luxurious blonde hair was holding a familiar jaguar cub.
Kensi had indeed found the royal couple first, but from the way the woman was smiling as she cradled the baby jaguar, they had been worried for nothing.
It was clear Kensi had captured another heart. It was also clear that the tiger couple was not going to eat the child. Far from it. They both seemed indulgent toward her. Both were smiling as she batted at the king’s tickling fingers. Shelly thought the image boded well for what was to come.
Mark breathed a sigh of relief and gathered himself before stepping forward to meet the tiger monarchs. His smile was broad and welcoming and perhaps a bit on the relieved side, but hopefully, the newcomers wouldn’t notice that.
“I see you found our little escape artist,” Mark said in a friendly tone as the two parties approached each other.
“She’s adorable,” the woman who must be the tiger queen said. “Is she yours?”
“She is mine the way all of my Clan are, but her parents should be along any moment, now that word is spreading that she’s been found.
” Mark gestured toward the headset Lucinda sported.
Apparently, the appearance of little Kensi on the walk up from the landing strip had already been reported, but Mark and Shelly were too far ahead of Mario to have heard the news.
“Aw, did you worry Mommy and Daddy?” the tiger queen spoke in a soft voice to the baby jaguar still held in her arms. “You shouldn’t do that, sweetheart.
You should always tell your parents where you’re going so they can watch over you, okay?
” She waited until the little jaguar head nodded up and down before snuggling the child close once more, calling her a good girl.
Right then, Shelly decided this woman was all right.
To say Mark was thrilled with the meeting wouldn’t be overstating his reaction to the tiger monarchs.
They were very nice people, in addition to being good rulers over their Clan.
Mark had a chance to discuss Clan affairs in more detail than he’d expected with the tiger king, who’d asked Mark to call him Mitch.
Likewise, the queen was also on a first name basis with Shelly and Mark within the first five minutes of meeting.
Mark knew she was a medical doctor in the human world and was known as Queen Gleda among the tiger Clan, but she’d asked them to call her by her nickname, Gina.
Mark liked them both, and the feeling appeared to be mutual—at least as far as he could tell on first meeting.
He thought, though, the relationship had begun on firm footing and would grow from there.
One thing that had surprised him was Mitch’s knowledge about the geological foundations of the island. He’d come right out and asked if the volcano was still active. Funny thing was, he had directed his question to Shelly, which had struck Mark as odd.
“I only just came here yesterday for the first time,” Shelly had replied. “I don’t know all that much about the island yet.”
“As far as we know, the volcano has been dormant for centuries. Our shamans say we should not have any trouble for many years to come, which is why I chose this place,” Mark added.
The Tig’Ra looked at him strangely for a moment, then seemed to make up his mind about something before he spoke again.
“I suppose you know our place of power is in Iceland, right?” Mark nodded in answer as Mitch went on, “Thing is, our palace is built on the side of an active—a very active—volcano. I’m actually connected to it in some magical way that I don’t completely understand.
That’s how I recognized the echoes of that power here.
You might be able to tap into that, somehow, to help protect your people. ”
Mark was nonplussed. He’d never heard that about the tiger king, and he’d thought he had excellent intel on the tiger Clan in general.
Apparently, there were still some secrets they’d managed to keep from the other cat shifter species.
Mark realized a moment later that he shouldn’t have been so surprised. His own Clan had many secrets, as well.
He bowed his head. “I’m not a mage,” he replied, honestly.
“You may not be, but she is,” Mitch nodded toward Shelly, who had a deer-in-the-headlights sort of expression on her face.
“Uh…” Shelly stammered a bit, but Mark couldn’t help but come to her rescue.
“If she is, that’s something that’s only just come to light. Shelly grew up human. If she has mage blood, it’s news to her,” Mark told them.
“I grew up among humans,” the Tig’Ren put in, patting Shelly’s hand in a sympathetic way. “I’ve lived a normal human life most of the time, but I always knew I was a shifter. I had a firm foundation. I can’t imagine what it must be like for you to have all of this happen to you at once.”
“It’s a bit much to take in. I only found out about shapeshifters a couple of days ago,” Shelly admitted. “The sparky thing that happened yesterday was…” Shelly trailed off, seeming unable to complete her sentence.
“We were up at the caldera.” Mark decided to come clean.
If the tigers knew about volcanoes and the magic the way they claimed, they might just be the only people who could help.
“Something happened, and red sparks came from Shelly’s fingers.
They seemed to be absorbed by the obsidian rock up there.
I swear it looked and felt like the rock was welcoming the sparks. ”
Mitch eyed Shelly with a speculative glance. “You might just be a fire mage. In which case, you would be amply suited to commune with even a dormant volcano.”