Page 27 of Loched in Love

“What did it do?” I ask, pulling my hand from his before my body can begin betraying me in front of a very large audience. The man just doesn’t have a clue what he does to a woman. Or anyone else, from the looks of it.

“They’ll have no memory of what made them angry. Not to worry, all will be well,” Lachlan says. He peers out the big plane doors and then turns back to me and gives me a grin.

“So, do you want to call Bernadette and tell them we’re going to need a ride to London after all?”

“No.”

“Then how are we getting to London?” I ask deadpan.

“You there, how do you propose we get to London without flying?” Lachlan asks the security officer closest to him.

The tall man has a buzz cut and weathered skin, but the smile wreathing his face is sunshine itself. “You’ll need to get to the closest train station, or perhaps the bus route, but I think the train is the more scenic option,” he says.

From a short flight to London, to something else that will surely take hours if not days, to reach Great Britain… but I suppose it’s not the worst that could’ve happened with Lachlan deciding he’s not cut out for domestic travel.

I don’t blame him when the seats are razor thin, forcing passengers to practically have their knees pressed into the seatback ahead. It’s really no wonder customers feel squeezed and claustrophobic.

“I’m so very sorry for the current situation. Would you like us to procure you a shuttle to the nearest train station?”

My arms go over my chest as my face screws up into a look of confusion at how accommodating they’re all now being. “What did you do to them, and why am I not acting the same way?” I ask, wondering why I’m so unaffected while everyone is gazing at him like he hung the moon.

“It’s like a pheromone. Come on, let’s go see this shuttle they’re talking about,” Lachlan says, avoiding the other part of my question.

He sounds positively giddy at the prospect of riding in a shuttle though, and walks a few steps through the gate as everyone makes way and parts for him, allowing him through easily, stupid grins on faces all.

One of them actually takes our luggage from him, and I can just make out their assurances of taking care of it for him, while I try to make sense of what’s happening.

I do know of several insects that emit a calming chemical, like queen bees for example that keep the hive stable and the worker bees working, but this is insane. “And this pheromone doesn’t affect me like these fine people because?” I ask, as I step out of the plane back onto the boarding gate.

I glance around at the throng of passengers who seem to be the most relaxed bunch you’d ever seen, like they just had a full spa experience with the sheer amount of warmth and happiness exuding from them.

He turns around, his sharp greenish gaze meeting my own, causing my heart to pitter patter like an idiot again.

“Because you’re my mate.”

Chapter 9

LACHLAN MACBETH

My mate leans back in the opulent booth, her gaze searching around the confines of the train cabin. The decor is fantoosh, flashy in a way Vlad and Connor would like. The seats are a deep blue color, padded and comfortable, and are nearly twice the size of airplanes ones, thank you very much. Much rather plop my arse here and wait to get to my homeland.

The walls are glossy wooden like panels, and the theme of blue and gold covers the whole eating area that’s filled with more than a few tables. I just hope Elena likes it. It’s far too elegant for my tastes.

Although she’s not said anything concerning her being my mate since I admitted it, she’s not stopped blethering since we left the wee airport.

“This wasn’t on any travel site I looked up,” she says.

Elena sits elbows propped on the table across from me, her irresistible scent wafting in the air. When she spots me watching, her lips lift into an amazing smile that crinkles her soft blue eyes, and it makes my old heart skip a beat in its cage. The woman is darling.

“I asked for the best train,” I answer with a shrug.

“This is the observation lounge. There are three cars we can access along with the grand suite and our own bathroom, and there’s even a separate dining car for meals.” She snaps the brochure and map packet open, shielding my view of her but for her dainty hands on the edges of the thing.

“Do you like it?” I want only to please her, but never thought to ask her preference at the moment. I only meant to get us out of that cramped space and in a more pleasant and agreeable environment.

The soft rolling and rocking motion of the train is soothing and the space less cramped. Fleeting dark silhouettes of trees, telephone poles, and fence lines streak backward as the train swiftly pulls us toward our destination that I couldn’t help but marvel at. They move so fast, blurring into continuous dark masses, as the lady drones on about our accommodations.

“I think it’s the most luxurious experience a person can get, just like this pamphlet suggests. It’s just, I’m wondering how in the hell we can afford all this, or did you charm the whole train station too when I wasn’t looking?” she asks, her voice muffled over her reading material.