The Jaguar Star (Tales of the Were: Jaguar Island Book 4), Bianca D'Arc [pdf e book reader .txt] 📗

not sure how to answer. She’d been thinking about the invitation ever since he’d issued it, but she hadn’t committed either way, though she’d been leaning toward accepting.

“You can stay at Mark’s mansion. There’s plenty of room. Or, if you prefer, I have a guest room in my house, farther up the mountain. You’re welcome either way.”

Was she imagining things or had his voice dropped even lower when he’d invited her to stay at his place? Holy cow! Was he coming on to her?

Oh, heck. Danger, danger, danger! She couldn’t allow herself to get intimate with him. Not for real. He’d break her heart and she wasn’t sure it would ever recover.

“The mansion sounds lovely,” she said firmly, wanting him to know she wasn’t going to be so easily seduced.

“Then you’ll come?” He didn’t seem quite as deterred as she’d hoped.

“I guess so,” she said, realizing she’d agreed.

Shrugging inwardly, she gave in. She did want to see the mysterious island and meet the people who called it home. After all, they were flying down as a group, and Ren had already reassured her about her choice of where to stay. She didn’t think he was the kind of guy who would blatantly lie to get a woman into a compromising position. She’d be safe enough with the others around, and above all, she trusted that Ren was a gentleman who didn’t need to bamboozle her—or anyone—into his bed.

Given half a chance, she feared she’d leap into it without the slightest encouragement at all.

*

Ren felt like strutting as he and the rest of his Clansmen got on the van headed for the airport late the next afternoon. They’d wrapped work on the set in good time to catch the private plane that was already waiting for them. With any luck, they’d be on the island just before dinnertime.

Franny sat next to Kat in the van, but that was okay. Fran had become close with Kat in a short time, and Ren was glad they were friendly. Still, he wouldn’t breathe easy until the jet was in the air, and Kat couldn’t change her mind about going to the island. He had big plans for the next day or two, and it all hinged on having her there.

Ren had spent a few minutes on the phone with Mark the night before, explaining the situation. Mark had been supportive and genuinely happy for Ren. He’d also been willing to talk over the idea of mating a non-magical human. He’d reassured Ren on a number of points. Of course, Mark’s own mate was highly magical, so it wasn’t quite the same situation. Still, the Alpha knew his Clan, and he had seen quite a few pairings like the one Ren wanted with Kat. Mark was able to calm some of Ren’s fears about possible incompatibilities. Mark also agreed that things would be much easier if Ren could just get Kat to the island, where the whole Clan could support Ren’s efforts to explain their world to her.

Every jaguar on the cast and crew was going home for a few days. Not that they all had residences on the island. Far from it. But Mark had set up his island as an oasis for all jaguar shifters, and he welcomed them all to come, visit, and stay, if they wished. There was plenty of room for the small numbers of jaguars left in the world, and by protecting them in such an out-of-the-way place, Mark hoped, in time, to restore the numbers of their people to what they had once been.

The jet was one of the larger planes in the jaguar fleet. Ren had only flown on it a few times before. It was a mark of how much the leadership valued each and every one of the Clansmen that Mark had sent the luxury private jet to bring them all home for just a few days. The pilots were a brother and sister team that were based out of Jaguar Island but did the majority of taking Clan members wherever they needed to go.

Lucinda—aka “Lucky”—Pendleton and her little brother, Keith, were well known among the Clan for being both fantastically gifted pilots and good fun. They were forever playing tricks on each other when they weren’t flying. Thankfully, their mischievous ways were limited to ground maneuvers. When they were in the air, they were all business. The consummate, competent professionals.

Ren felt a flush of satisfaction when Kat boarded the jet. There was a Clan member looking after the cabin. Lucky and Keith’s younger sister, whom everyone called Sissy. She was already learning to fly, but her siblings insisted learning every aspect of running the larger jets was a good idea. Plus, she could earn a little pocket money keeping the galley running and handing out snacks on the larger planes. It would be a few years yet before she was old enough to fly as a co-pilot, but she was working her way toward just that.

Ren nodded at Sissy, indicating where he wanted her to seat Kat. The plane was configured more casually than a passenger liner. The seats were larger and more spaced out. They were also placed in groupings where some faced forward and some faced back, so they could chat or eat together with others. Ren wanted to share one of the two-seat units with Kat so he could sit across from her while they ate and chat with her privately—or as privately as they could get with so many sharp-eared Clanmates around.

Ren arranged it so that he was the last one on board. He helped Sissy close the hatch and said hello to Lucky and Keith briefly before taking the only open seat in the cabin…directly across from Kat. He liked the way her eyes widened when she realized she would be sitting across from him for the flight.

They began taxiing, and everybody strapped in and changed the orientation of their chairs for takeoff, where possible. Sissy helped stow last-minute