High Flyer - Michelle Diener Page 0,5
He's not at my old base, but he could have been transferred. Wherever he works now, this isn't a military op. Those other people on his team weren't under military orders or there'd have been none of the backchat. And they'd have gone into the water.”
“What did he mean, that you never met a deadly situation you hadn't walked away from?”
She hesitated. “During the war there were plenty of situations where we were lucky to walk away unscathed. Soldiers get weird about luck.” She fluttered her hands.
“Weird, how?”
Her lips twisted. “They thought I'd save them. That there was something about me, some twist of fate, that made me indestructible. So they would always try to get me as their pilot. I was their lucky charm.”
“You've certainly been mine, so I can see how that would be.” He sounded thoughtful. “You're an exceptional pilot. Almost unbelievably so.”
She went still. Frowned but said nothing.
“How you evaded the missiles and then got us down was the most amazing flying I've ever seen.” Iver ran a hand down her arm. “If that's how you handled yourself in one of those old Dynastras the military were using in the war, I can see why they thought there was something special about you.”
She relaxed a little, although not all the way. She didn't know what was normal anymore. That was the fear lurking at the back of her mind since that fateful day she'd crashed in the Spikes and stumbled onto something she still didn't understand. That she'd forget what was normal and what wasn't, and give herself away.
That's why she wanted to go back. Look around where she'd come down and hopefully find some answers.
“I'm a good pilot,” she conceded. “That's why Lancaster hired me.” She cocked her head. “Speaking of whom, reinforcements should be coming any time now.”
Iver shifted behind her again, and her skin prickled in awareness.
Lancaster couldn't come soon enough.
Chapter 4
Lancaster should be here already, but he wasn't.
Iver leaned back against cold stone, miserable to the bone.
They'd gone back to Hana sitting between his legs, leaning against his chest. It was the most comfortable position for both of them in the confined space, except it wasn't comfortable at all.
He stared down at the curve where her neck met her shoulder. It called to him. He wanted to put his mouth there and . . .
She shifted, and he closed his eyes briefly, because of course his erection was poking her in the back again.
Fuck it. “You want to go back up? See what the hell's happening?” Because something damn well should be. It had been over an hour since Linnel and his crew had left.
They'd decided it made sense to stay hidden in their little scooped out cave until they heard the Sig Lancaster would most definitely send, but it did them no good if Lancaster couldn't find them.
“Even if Lancaster can't find our heat signatures, he would land, check out the scene.” Hana said what they both knew went without saying, but even so, she scooted away from him and jumped into the water, turning to take her pack from him.
She must be at breaking point with their close quarters, too. Although he hoped it was uncomfortable lust, rather than dislike, that had her moving with such alacrity.
He remembered how she'd looked at him when they'd first jumped into the river and calmed down a little.
Lust it was.
He followed her out.
They waded back upstream, the water splashing up his chest as he powered against the current.
It took much longer to get to the point where they'd originally gone in than he would have thought, and he realized the crew sent to kill him hadn't understood how fast the current was, and that's why they hadn't bothered to go into the water. They hadn't believed he and Hana could have gotten to the narrow ravine in the time they'd had.
He said as much.
“Amateurs,” Hana agreed. She shielded her eyes against the last light of Faldine's sun, and frowned. “Do we stay and wait?”
“It just isn't possible Lancaster hasn't been able to get any kind of runner since I called him. Even if he couldn't get a Sig and a pilot to fly it, there are other options.”
Hana turned to him, and the way she watched him had the hair standing up on the back of his neck.
“What?”
She hesitated, then lifted her shoulders. “If I'm wrong, you'll probably fire me for this.”
His mouth fell open, because it was the last thing he expected