Immersion Playground
Book #3: Flight to Paradise
Chapter 7
"We're here," Mac says, pointing out his window with a jerk of his thumb, tipping the wing down so Kate can see.
"That's the lake you live on?"
"Lake Oroville."
"Where's the airport?" she asks, looking around her.
"You're looking at it," he says, banking the plane over harder and pushing the nose down.
"Where?" she asks, still looking around.
"Lake Oroville. We're landing on the lake."
"What!" she shouts, making him laugh and pull one headphone from his ear as if she had deafened him.
"Kate. This is a seaplane. It's what seaplanes do, they land on water. I told you this morning about landing on water." He begins to chuckle again as the plane drops for the lake.
"Holy
shit!
I thought that was some of that pilot lingo, like flying next to the edge and all that other shit. I didn't know you
meant
it!"
He begins to laugh harder. "Stop it! I have to concentrate," he teases. He reaches up and yanks two levers all the way back. She hears some whirring and a thump, as the entire airplane begins to vibrate. "We're going in low and slow to look for debris in the water. You can help. If you see anything in the water let me know. Hitting a floating log would piss me off."
"Okay," she says, then swallows hard as her heart begins to race. He turns the plane and she can see a boat in the lake right where he's heading.
"There's a boat right in the middle of the landing area. If it's a local they'll move when we come over," he says as the plane continues to drop toward the water.
He brings the plane in low, not more than twenty feet off the water, the plane feeling like it's just crawling along even as the engines roar. Low and slow is right! He tips her wing down, causing her to look at him. He's looking hard out of her window.
"What?" she asks, looking out of her window again, trying to see if there is anything in the water.
"I was looking at the windsock at the house. Almost no wind so it doesn't matter which way I land. We'll make a couple of passes then land to the south. Shorter taxi that way."
They fly for a short distance over the water then he applies power and pulls up. "Another pass to make sure," he says as he makes a long sweeping turn to give the boat plenty of time to clear the landing area. As they come around, they can see the boat sitting well away from where it was as he lines up for another pass over the lake. As they skim over the surface she watches out of her window while he watches out of his, pulling up as they cross a set of orange buoys sitting in the water.
"See anything," he asks.
"No, nothing. I hope I didn't miss anything," she replies, her heart thudding.
"If you did, I did too," he says as he brings the plane around to land. He lines the plane up on the buoys, reaching up and easing the throttles back, cutting power and letting the plane settle toward the lake until it touches the surface with a heavy vibration and roar of rushing water.
As the plane settles into the water, he cuts power and allows the airplane to slow to a near stop before he applies power again. "Now, we're a boat," he says applying more power to one engine to turn the plane toward shore before revving the other engine and driving the plane toward the house with the orange windsock on the shore.
As they putter along, she watches the boat they flew over racing toward them. "The boat is coming this way," she says as the craft approaches.
"They always do," he says with a grin. "Just let me know if they get close. We're not the most maneuverable thing in the lake."
She watches the boat approach then turn to parallel them, a small boy in the boat waving enthusiastically. She giggles and waves back through the window.
As they near the shore he lowers the landing gear with a thump then applies a little extra power to drive the plane up a concrete ramp toward a hanger, turning the plane 180° in front of the doors so it's once again facing the lake. He pulls the paper out of his seat pocket and begins flipping switches until the instrument panel goes dark and the engines fall silent.
Plane silent, Mac unbuckles and puts away his sunglasses before hanging his headphones on the back of the seat, Kate doing the same. "Welcome to my home," he says then smiles, "And thank you for flying Puddle Jumper airlines, where a water landing isn't necessarily an emergency landing."
She laughs as she climbs out of her seat and follows him to the back of the plane.
He opens the door and leaps out then turns, holding his hands up to catch her. He could put the steps down, but this will be much more fun.
She looks at his waiting hands. She can easily leap to the ground but jumps into his arms anyway, keeping her arms around his neck and pulling him down for a quick kiss as he stands her on the ground.
He smiles down at her as she breaks the kiss, taking her gently by the arm. "Come on, let's get up to the house and get you settled in." He clambers up on the nose of the plane using the hidden steps in the side, opening the hatch and reaching in to retrieve the suitcases. "Best thing I ever did was have these steps put in," he says after climbing down. "I got so sick of carrying a ladder everywhere I went just so I would have clean underwear."
"Why don't you just put the bags in the back?"
"Because I didn't want a forty-pound bag hitting me in the back of the head in the event of a hard landing."
"Ohhhh..." she says as realization dawns. "That would be adding insult to injury wouldn't it? Being knocked out by your own clean underwear."
"Yes, it would," he chuckles, walking her toward the hangar, the doors motoring open in response to his request sent through the net. He chucks the two suitcases into the back of an overgrown golf cart, painted in the same white and blue as the airplane, before he climbs in behind the wheel.
They ride up the climbing and curved paved path to Mac's house, the second of the two double doors going up on the garage tucked under the house as they approach. Mac wheels the tug into the bay and hops out, hefting the bags out of the back and walks toward a set of steps. She follows him, past a car shaped lump under a cover, a huge white Ford SUV, and a silver Mercedes of roughly the same design as the one he was driving in LA. They climb the flight of steps into the house, and step into a cathedral.
The vast open room is so tall that even Mac's towering height is dwarfed by the vaulted ceiling, a ceiling covered in light colored wood and supported by massive wooden beams the same honey color as the wooden floor. Directly ahead of them is a massive fireplace made from the same stone as the outside of the house, extending all the way to the high ceiling, with a large leather couch and two matching chairs parked in front. To the left is a dining table with six chairs, to the right, windows extending from the floor all the way to the highest point in ceiling, overlooking the lake, the view breathtaking in its beauty. Another couch and chairs, twins to those in front of the fireplace, face the glass.
"I told you I had a view that would knock your socks off," Mac says as they walk into the room and then turning down the hall. "Where should I put your bag? The guest room or in my room?"
She has to tear her attention away from the view. "What? Oh, guest room please," she says, knowing she won't be sleeping there. She follows him down the hall before turning right into the room with Mac.
He places her suitcase on the bed then steps around her. "Are you sure you don't want to sleep in my room?" he asks as he exits the guest room and walks a bit farther down the hall before turning left into another room. She follows him into the room, stopping in the doorway. His bedroom is massive, easily as big as the family room in her small house, but the defining feature of the room is another floor to ceiling window overlooking the lake.
She stands in the doorway and looks about the room. Just the thought of making love to Mac on that huge bed with the lake view in the background is almost enough to make her pant. "Well... maybe," she says demurely. "If you play your cards right it could happen," she says, though she can feel her color rising already.
He looks at her before he begins to snicker. "Okay. I'll be on my best behavior."
"Oh, god, I hope not," she breathes, then begins to laugh as well.
He tosses his bag on the bed then turns to her, waiting until she enters the room and oozes into his arms. He holds her for a moment before lowering his lips to hers. The moment their lips touch, the kiss explodes, taking on a life of its own as they ravage each other, and she molds herself to him like a second skin. After an eternity he breaks off the kiss.
"Jesus Christ," he mutters, his heart pounding as he takes a step back and releases her. He clears his throat, trying to gather his wits. "Uh... I have to go post-flight the plane and put it into the hanger, but... uh... look around... make yourself at home. Your bathroom is in your room, to the right."
She stands still as he backs away, trying to gather herself. She feels hot, sweaty, and ready to fuck, and it all happened in the space of one kiss.
Jesus Christ is right.
"Okay. Go do that," she finally manages to croak out. "I'll unpack while you're gone." She waits for him to make the first move, but he just stands there, looking at her, his color up just as hers is.
Are we going to go, right here, right now?
He finally shakes himself free of the spell she cast over him. "Yes, okay, good idea," he says, taking another step back then stepping around her. "I'll be back in a few minutes."
Mac speaking again finally brings her back to the here and now. "Okay. I'll... uh... entertain myself until you get back." Flustered she turns and follows him out of his room, wondering what the hell just happened.
She hadn't brought much, since it's just going to be three nights. Once Mac's gone, and she's able to start thinking clearly again, it doesn't take her long to unpack. She hangs up her few clothes, leaving her undergarments, including the racy nighties she plans to wear, in the suitcase. It's obvious she's not going to need one tonight. They'll be lucky to make it through dinner before tearing into each other.
Finished unpacking, she begins to explore. Mac's home has an interesting floor plan. The entire house is designed around the master bedroom and the enormous central room. In addition to the master suite, there are two more bedrooms, one of which he's using as a workout room. The guest bedroom that holds her clothes and the workout room share a large bath, situated between them with a door at each end, and a third door opening into the hall. The other side of the hall holds the laundry room and Mac's enormous bedroom with a pair of huge walk-in closets, one of which is completely empty, flanking his equally enormous bathroom.
As she wanders back into the main part of the house, she's once again captured by the glass wall and the view that nearly stops her heart. She has to tear herself from the view before walking to the massive stone fireplace while dragging her fingers along the back of the couch. She looks out of the doors on either side of the hearth, before opening one and stepping out onto a large deck with a long flight of steps and a wooden walk leading to the lake edge. She looks about, admiring how Mac's house appears to be plopped down in the middle of a forest with no hint of landscaping visible.
