Looking down at her face, lax now in her slumber, he wondered what she’d think. How she would react to having him in her life. Smiling contently, he had a thought that his life, like hers, was never going to be the same again. He was going to enjoy the ride that he was sure was going to be fun.
He reached for his secretary, their link established when she had come to work for him. They were the same, the two of them, both wolves trying to make it in a human world without being killed. Sara would be happy for him. Scared too, but mostly happy.
I’ve met my mate. She didn’t ask him if he was sure, or even ask him where. She told him congratulations and asked him what he needed for her to do concerning his mate. I need to know all that you can find out about her. Not that I worry about her being in trouble. There is something very…I would say sad about her, and I’d like to find out what it is.
She may have a husband already, did you think of that. He hadn’t, but didn’t care and told her so. So her name? And how much information are you asking for? All of it?
Yes. Dig deeply and see what you can find on her financial situation. I have a feeling that she’s pinching pennies. She told him that she would. Her name is Andrea Marshall. She works for Manhouser Marketing. I don’t know what she does for them, but he does seem to like her from the emails that she receives from him.
I know that firm. You actually used them once when one of your clients asked for something that we could not do for them. He had no idea, but knew that Sara would know best. I have something.
He waited for her to tell him what she’d found and tried to straighten his body. He was kind of sore actually, and smiled at the feeling. It hadn’t been…well, it had never happened to him where after sex he’d felt both exhausted as well as satisfied. He could come with a woman, and had numerous times, but not as he had with Andrea.
She’s a marketing accountant that works for Manhouser, but in an independent way. She mostly works from home, and I have no address for that, but she has numerous awards for her work, as well as some claim to expertise from many of the clients that she’s worked for. Trevor asked if she was single. Yes. Single and…she might not be too happy with you as her mate. Not just you, but any man. In an article dated some years ago, she professes to never want to marry and has no desire to have any person, male or female, in any role in her life. She likes being alone.
Well, that was about to change. He not only had a large staff working for him at home, but he traveled a great deal with his own work. Not that he expected her to give up her life and job, but as a wolf, people were important to him. The need for company was innate in him.
Finally, unable to move any more, he held her to him until he was sure he could put her down safely. When he could, Trevor moved her to the top of the little sink and backed away from her. Sara told him that she’d get back with him on anything more she could find and closed their connection.
Andrea was gorgeous. Not only that, but looking like she did now…her bra torn from the snaps in the front, her blouse nearly strangling her as it rode up around her neck…he wanted to drop to his knees and sample parts of her that he’d not yet tasted. Her skirt, the tiny little thing, was up and over her hips, baring not just her pussy but long toned legs that he found he wanted to lick from toe to hip.
Pulling his own pants up and putting himself back together, he tried to think what he could do now. Staying in this little room with her until the plane was empty wasn’t going to cut it. And taking her to their seat was out as well, because there was no way he could carry her back to his seat without someone noticing.
Commanding the woman, the stewardess, who had been back here when he entered the bathroom with Andrea had been easy. But putting an entire plane of people under his command was more than even he could do.
There was so much about her that he’d been able to figure out by reading her messages and emails as she sorted through them. Some of the things he thought were true were small things, but enough to make him think that she was organized to the point where, if painstakingly made lists for everything were out of place or not where she wanted them, she’d be upset. Trevor wouldn’t be the sort of man that would move things to get a rise out of her either, tempting as it might be. But personal information was really all he was sure of, and there was very little of it.
He’d learned her name by looking at her work on her lists. She’d labeled them; Andrea Marshall’s home list, and the same for the one for work. She even had her name on her grocery list, pitiful as that was. There had been only a few things on it, and not a single ounce of meat. He’d have to talk to her about that, and was looking forward to the conversation.
Trevor had watched her work, while she sat next to him in the plane, through his half-closed eyes, until she got up to no doubt go to the bathroom. Tripping her into falling on him had been…well, wonderful. He’d do it again, knowing she was this hot around him.
Fixing her clothing back as best he could, he knew that he was going to have to leave her to wake on her own. There was no other option for them, not on a very full plane of strangers. He wanted her, wanted to take her back to his place and make love to her in a bed. Or on the table, the floor…anywhere that he could have her all to himself and all night long. But for now, at thirty thousand feet, he had to leave her.
Putting her shoes on the sink by her hand, he tried to make it look as if she might have just fallen back at some point. He reached out to the woman that he’d had guarding them and told her that Andrea had hit her head, to be concerned when she found her. As he turned to open the door, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card. Putting it in the pocket of her blouse, Trevor kissed her again and moved out of the small room before he changed his mind and did carry her back to their seats. He was seated just as the light over him came on, telling the passengers to put their seatbelts on.
It was perhaps the hardest thing he’d ever done, leaving his mate there. Even his wolf clawed at him to go and get her, but he calmed him with the knowledge that as soon as she came back to them he’d explain it all to her and they’d have her forever. He was pretty sure that it would be more difficult than that, but his wolf calmed a little. And right now that was the most important thing. Having a full grown wolf on a plane would cause a little bit of a problem, he thought with a chuckle.
Trevor Dean had a mate. Never in all his wildest dreams would he have thought that a chance plane change could make such a difference in his life. When his own plane had been grounded due to engine issues, through a fault of the airport that he’d landed in three days ago, he’d called his office and told them to gather information to sue the small airline. Now, he might have to give the person—who had managed to not just ding his plane badly enough that he’d have to have it down for several days, but also to inconvenience him enough that he couldn’t have left for several days had he not been able to get on this plane—a gift for what he’d done for him. He might have to use the time to get to know his mate, both sexually as well as verbally. Being a wealthy man did have its advantages. And being a wolf made his life a good deal easier health wise as well.
Trevor was an alpha wolf; not anything that he would brag about, but it was something that he was quite proud of. Since he’d left home and his old pack nearly ten years ago, he’d never thought of joining another one. It wasn’t as if he needed them, but he did let the alpha know that he was in the area and paid dues each year when he received the bill. Trevor was not really a joiner.
He knew that being an alpha in a mostly male dominated world should have been enough to get him more than he had now. If nothing else, getting into the world that he was working in would have been much easier. But he liked the way he was doing things and had no plans to change now.
He’d been so strong at his last pack, overriding the other alpha almost daily, that he’d decided that if he wasn’t going to take the job as pack leader then he had to get away before he had to kill the man. And it would have happened…no
t if, but when.
He had started out small—borrowing money that he paid back right away, and selling or simply not buying what he did not need—until he’d made the deal of a lifetime by selling a building that he had no more than ten grand in for much more when the city decided to put in a parking lot. After that, he’d been pretty lucky in his career of buying cheap and then selling high after making all the necessary renovations. Now, not only did he buy old buildings, but he’d started buying up failing businesses and making them work as well. Trevor had a good life now. He was a successful business man with more money than he could ever spend, several houses all over the world, as well as many women, should he need one.
Trevor glanced to the back of the plane when he heard someone open the door. The stewardess went into the bathroom, and he leaned back in his seat and let out a long breath. Now all he had to do was think of how to tell Andrea that she was his. And to explain to her that he was a man that could change into a wolf any time he wanted. Yeah, he thought, this wasn’t going to be the easiest thing he’d ever done. Laughing, he wondered if she would believe him or not, but was excited to share this with her.
The plane took a hard bounce just as he turned again to see Andrea coming out of the bathroom, being held by the other woman. It felt as if the plane’s engine had stopped for the briefest of moments before everything straightened out again. He started to rise, but the intercom made a noise like someone was going to speak, and he paused to listen.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we seem to be having some slight engine problems. Nothing to worry about, as we have it under control. But if you could please return to your seats and observe the seatbelt sign, I’d appreciate it. The staff will need to be buckled in as well, so any drinks or snacks that you have will need to wait, I’m afraid.” Trevor pulled on his belt and looked behind him again. The second hard bounce made Andrea fall to her left, and he nearly got up to get her when the plane twisted to the left. He fell back as soon as he was free of the belt and was standing up. This was more than a little engine problem, he thought, and terror filled his heart.
Reaching out to Andrea, he met a wall of fear. Fighting through it was going to cost him minutes, and for some reason, he didn’t think he had that long. As he moved toward her, the plane took another nasty lurch, knocking him to his knees just as he heard the pilot yelling in the cockpit for help. They were losing altitude as well as fuel. And there was something wrong with the co-pilot, as the pilot was screaming at him to wake up. “Mayday!” was being shouted by someone else, and he wondered if they were all going to die.
The plane was descending quickly now; the oxygen cannulas had fallen just as he stood up. Something was terribly wrong in his head, and it took him a moment to realize it was the loss of cabin pressure. Standing again, he was knocked back by the plane taking another dive. This time when he stood up, he saw a stretch of water and a field, but had a feeling it was much too late for them on that score. Trying again to get to his mate, he reached her just as the plane hit the ground. Then everything went black.
Chapter 2
Waking, she tried to discern where she was. Everything about her hurt, and she was sure that her arm was broken when just moving her fingers hurt her enough that she was sick to her stomach. Lifting her head up cost her, but she could see now that something was wrong with where she was.
Plane. For some reason she thought she was on a plane, but it looked…odd. Sitting up more so that her back was leaning against something firm, she tried to think around the pain in her head, and all she got for her trouble was more pain. Glancing up again when she felt she could, she realized what had happened…or at least some of what had happened.
She had no idea how or why, but just looking at the several arms hanging from seats in front of her made her think that there had been an accident. Enough to have flipped the plane on its top so that the seats attached to the floor were now hanging from above her. A woman was hanging with her arms down near Andrea. Still buckled in the seat, the person looked as if she’d been in some sort of bizarre ride and had been frozen in place. Then Andrea noticed that the woman wasn’t the only one hanging that way.
“Can you hear me?” Looking to her left, she saw a man standing there. He didn’t look familiar to her at all, but he was asking her again if she could hear him. When she started to nod, her belly protested the movement and she had to swallow several times before she thought she could speak without puking.
“Yes. I can hear you. What’s happened? Why are all these people on the ceiling like this?” He turned to someone behind him and spoke before looking back at her. “I think there are some really hurt people in here. Can you call the police? They might need help.”
“I can’t come in to get you because of the way the plane is sitting. Do you understand me?” She told him she did but was not sure what he meant. “The plane is balanced on a bridge right now, and we’re working to get it stable before we can come to get you. The cranes have been called in, and they’re working to keep it steady so that some of us can enter through the openings to get as many of you out as we can. Can you see if anyone else is alive?”
“Alive?” He nodded and she looked around. “There are so many hands hanging down from the seats, but I don’t know if they’re dead or not. I can’t…I can’t see anyone’s faces. I can see…there is a lot of blood here. Do you know why we’re on a bridge and not in the airport?”
“What’s your name?” She opened her mouth to answer him but realized she had no idea. And when she tried to think, the pain in her head made her sick again and she had to hold on. “Don’t worry about it, miss. We’ll get you fixed up. Just don’t move if you don’t have to, and see if you can see anyone moving for me.”
Laying back on the wall or whatever was behind her, she closed her eyes. The pain was making itself known to her now, and she felt her belly lurch up. She could hear things now, noises that she’d not heard before. A grinding noise. The sound of a large engine coming closer. There were people talking, low and far away, but she knew they were not within the wreckage that she was in. Opening one eye, she tested the pain and then closed it again, but noticed that things were more in focus than they’d been before.
“There’s a man’s head not far from me. I’m not sure who it belongs to, but he’s looking at me.” The man at the opening behind her told her not to look. “I can’t not see it now. Can you please come in here and get me? You’re so close now that it will only take you a second to get me. I want out of here.”
“We’re working on it. Tell me what you were doing before the crash.” She had no idea, but the quick image of a man, a very good looking man, popped into her mind. “Were you seated, or were you tossed to the back of the plane?”
“I had to pee.” She closed her eyes again, thinking as hard as her head would allow. “There was a man too. I’m not sure…he was next to me. He was nice. I think something happened to us. I’m not sure what, but…my head hurts really bad to think that hard, okay?”
“Yes. Don’t make yourself sicker. Just let it come to you. Was he your husband?” She looked down at her hands and didn’t see a ring, and felt sure that she wasn’t married. There was no earthly reason for her to have a ring on, but she had a feeling that if she was married to the handsome man, he’d want her to have a ring. She told the man that she didn’t think she was married, nor did she think that the man was related to her.
“The plane bumped twice before I hit my head. I remember thinking that I had to hurry to sit down and buckle in.” Glancing up again, she was sort of glad not to have made it. She was sure that those people, the ones with their arms hanging below their bodies, hadn’t made it. “Can you please come in and get me? I don’t want to be here anymore.”
“Trust me, miss. No one wants to come in and get you more than I do right now. But if I move in this plane, even a little, there are men under it that will be crushed should it fall.” He yelled to someone to hurry up, and she could hear the other
person tell him that he was working as quickly as he could. “Miss, can you tell me which seat you were in? Maybe something that you remember so I can mark your name off the list?”
“List? What sort of…I don’t want to be on your list. What sort of list am I on?” There was a spark of a memory about a list. Several of them, as a matter of fact, but it was gone before she could hold onto it. He told her what the list was. “Oh. No. I don’t know how to help you find out who I am. I’m sorry. I really wish I knew too.”
“Can you see the seat numbers from where you are? They might be—”
The plane shifted and she screamed. Her head exploded in pain again, but she knew that if she closed her eyes and let it take her under, the man wouldn’t come and get her. Fighting hard to stay awake, she counted. She was nearly to four hundred when the man spoke again.
“Are you all right, miss? Did you get hurt again?”
She opened her eyes and looked at where she was. This time instead of being on the ceiling of the plane, she was on one of the windows, and she could see the water rushing under them. If they fell, she knew that she’d drown before she could get her body out of the position she was in and to the top. The water was also going to be very cold, she realized as she noticed the ice chunks moving by her.
“I’m…I’m going to die, aren’t I?” He was speaking to her quietly, reassuring her, she was sure, but she knew…and she also knew something else. The people were all dead but her. “I can see them now. Most of the people, I can see them now. I can give you the seat numbers that I can see if you still want them.”
As she started telling him the numbers, the ones with people still buckled into them, she told him what she could see of their injuries as well. Number 41-E had been hit in the head. The woman next to him had the tray that should have been upright jammed into her belly. Another person’s neck was broken; two more around her were the same. The man without the head was in seat 34-B; his arms were now listing to his right instead of over his head due to the shifting of the plane. When she had told him as many as she could see, she closed her eyes again, wondering if when she got her memory back these new memories would go away and never return. She didn’t think it worked that way, but she could hope.
Chance Encounters Page 2