Chapter 10. Aurora in flight training with Sky, her domineering (and not to mention hot) flight instructor
Whoop, whoop. ‘Thrust warning, loss of main engine one.’ Whoop, whoop.
The shrill warning bell caused the hair on the back of Aurora’s neck to stand on end. She thrust the throttles on the remaining two engines full forward. She knew Sky stood behind her simulation panel, probably smiling as she struggled to recover from the engine failure he’d just caused with the flick of a switch.
He'd been overseeing everyone’s progress and of course decided now to come over, waiting until she was at an extremely critical altitude before creating this failure for her to handle.
Whoop, whoop. ‘Stall imminent.’ Whoop, whoop.
Aurora knew she was approaching the aircraft’s stall speed, but the loss of a single engine made it extremely difficult to control the overly large shuttle. Her yoke shook, another warning that a stall was close.
Aurora had to resist the urge to pull the nose of the aircraft up.
"Aurora, you’re going to stall if you don’t increase your airspeed," he whispered right next to her ear. She jumped, accidentally pressing her foot down on the rudder pedal. She still felt his breath on her cheek. Sky’s constant hissing in her ear was more distracting than being yelled at.
“Shit!" She didn’t even have a chance to alter the course of events because she was at too low of an altitude to recover from the spin she'd just entered.
‘Terrain, terrain.’ Whoop, whoop. ‘Pull up, pull up.’
She wasn’t going to make it. It was like her last simulation flight all over again.
The screen cracked and blacked out when the shuttle hit the ground, killing everyone on board. This was followed by flashing red lights and a loud siren that alerted her and everyone else around her of the failure.
She slammed her finger down on the automatic warning system. The red warning lights swarmed around her, making her cringe in on herself. She already knew she had messed up; she didn’t need the incessant light show. If Sky hadn’t scared her half to death, she wouldn’t have stomped down on the rudder so hard at such a low speed. Okay, so maybe scared wasn’t the right word, but his breath on her face definitely distracted her.
"Damn it, Sky!" she said taking her frustration out on the one who was really responsible for her crash.
Now sitting down beside her, his large frame towered over her. He whispered in her ear, "Tell me why you crashed."
He was still too close. "Oh, I don’t know, maybe because you scared me half to death by hissing at me." She touched her ear. "Who does that? It made me stomp down on the rudder."
Sky grinned, showing off his dimples. "Are you saying you were distracted by my very presence?" He had the audacity to wiggle his eyebrows suggestively.
Heat ran to Aurora’s face, but instead of backing down like she normally would, she decided to wipe that grin off of his face. She'd had it with everyone treating her differently. It might not have been the best idea, but she flirtatiously leaned toward Sky anyway. His eyes widened in surprise.
Now that he was distracted, she discreetly pulled a piece of gum from her bag on the seat next to her. "Here, maybe next time your breath won’t cause so much trouble."
His mouth opened in shock, and Aurora took the opportunity to place the gum into his mouth. The instant she did it, she felt horrible. What was wrong with her? That was the most immature thing she’d ever done.
Sky calmly shut his mouth and popped a bubble, but the grin on his face was definitely gone.
Oh stars, he was going to make her regret that . . .
The Pledge Trilogy: The Pledge; The Essence; The Offering (The Pledge #1-3)
