Panther shoved his Aviators back on and walked away, and I couldn’t help my grin. A raging Panther was hot.
7 Panther
I NEVER KNEW I could be capable of murder until this morning, but it was possible, and it could happen at any given moment.
As if running into Solo here wasn’t bad enough, he had to be my partner for the duration of the competition? Was this some kind of cruel karmic joke coming to bite me in the ass? I didn’t remember doing anything bad enough to warrant getting stuck with the notorious pilot. If he went off the rails and screwed my chances at the top spot, there would definitely be a death later.
Once I reached the plane I’d been assigned, I went through the preflight check, as beside me Solo did the same.
Forget him. Keep your mind on the hop. Stay calm and ready for anything.
After running through the checks, I closed my eyes as I sat in the cockpit and took a deep breath before letting it out slowly, clearing my head. This is what I’d been born to do, and no one was getting in the way of me proving it.
I slipped on my helmet, attached the mask, and then waited for my cue. Solo was positioned to take off ahead of me, and as he got the go-ahead, he tore off down the runway.
Here we go.
Adrenaline was already pumping through my veins, giving me a buzz not even alcohol could. I’d been flying for years now, and one thing I hadn’t expected when I first started out was that it never got old. The high of flying a jet was unlike anything I’d ever experienced in my life, and as I got the go-ahead to take off, I punched the engines and roared down the runway. My entire body vibrated as I increased the speed, more, more, and then the jet was airborne, soaring into the clear blue sky, not a cloud blocking the view.
My heart hammered in my chest, though I maintained the smooth control I always did when flying. Up ahead, I caught sight of Solo and continued the rise to thirty-one thousand feet, where he’d leveled out.
Play it straight for once in your life, Solo.
The mission that had been laid out in the brief today was straightforward and to the point. The commander wanted to see our basic fighter maneuvers and how we handled ourselves in a dogfight. This was something we practiced repeatedly. A midair showdown where we each tried to maneuver ourselves behind our opponent’s aircraft and intercept the perceived intruders in an attempt to drive them off course and leave the area.
If they didn't leave? Well, that was when you better pray that you knew what the hell you were doing up there.
The roar of the slipstream as I turned made my wings flex, and it was a sound I’d never grow tired of hearing. I moved into formation with Solo, around ten feet from where his jet was tearing up the sky. Then I checked my wing line and longitudinal references to make sure I was in position.
As his wingman today, it was my job to keep an eye on my lead at all times and make sure the wingtip to nose-tail separation was exact, to keep our flying safe. As lead, it was Solo’s job to delegate tasks within the flight to ensure the mission was safely accomplished.
I knew I’d do my part with the utmost diligence and responsibility, but as for Solo, who knew what stunt he’d pull.
“Panther, nice of you to finally join me up here today. Looking good on my six, over.”
If there was one thing I, and most other pilots, hated, it was a chatty Cathy over the comm. The term “zip up and shut up” didn’t come from men who wanted to have a full conversation in the sky. But somehow, Solo didn’t strike me as the type to give a shit about that one way or another.
Lucky me. “I’m in position and got you in sight. Let’s get this done.”
“Aww, what, no small talk?”
“I’m not here to entertain you, Solo. I’m here to win.”
“Can’t you do both?”
I was just about to tell Solo to shut his damn mouth and focus when Gucci’s plane appeared from out of nowhere and locked on to Solo's position. Then, just as it always happened up here, things went from intense to insane in a matter of seconds, as Solo shot off and began to climb, clearly about to implement some serious repositioning maneuvers.
I had no choice but to go with him, and the two of us punched our jets in gear and began one of the fastest, most extreme ascents known to man. We were on the straight-up vertical now, and the thunderous sound of air rushing by as we pulled some serious fucking Gs made my entire body vibrate and come alive.
The rush of living this close to the edge, the knowledge that you were doing something only a handful of men and women could physically and mentally do, took a high-octane mixture of ego and guts, fear and intelligence, and when Solo finally reached the pinnacle of his climb and banked left before executing a hard dive, I knew I was witnessing the ego and guts firsthand. Crazy motherfucker.
As Gucci followed suit, Solo began a series of high-speed turns and rolls, each one reactive to Gucci’s attempt to lock him in for the shot, but there was no way he was about to get a clear go at a plane executing the moves Solo was.
Keeping pace with my lead, I had to admit Solo was one hell of a pilot. He was fast, fearless, and precise, and today he was playing by the rules. It was obvious he was here for a reason, and as the two of us outmaneuvered and outpaced Gucci and Whiplash, we managed to get behind them and zero in on our targets for the kill.
Well, I’ll be damned—maybe this wouldn’t be the disaster I’d feared all along.
“Hell yes,” Solo called out through the comm as we won the first hop. “I told Gooch he wouldn’t beat me today. Not fucking today.”
“Not bad,” I said, relief flooding through me. I’d been prepared for the worst, but he’d flown clean and we’d kicked ass right out the gate.
“Not bad? Is that your idea of a compliment?”
“Your ego’s big enough. Let’s head back to base.”
When Solo didn’t respond, I took that as an agreement and made a hard right back to NAFTA. It wasn’t long, however, before I realized he wasn’t following.
“Solo? There a problem?” Glancing around, I found him heading straight up, leaving contrails in the sky. “What are you doing?”
“Just showing Gooch whose is bigger.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake. “Cut the shit and get back to base.”
“Can’t. Gotta make it long and thick.”
“Make what long and thick?”
“My sky dick.”
“Your sky…” I lost my voice as Solo began to descend, and sure enough, a penis began to form from the line of contrails he was leaving behind. I watched in horror as he began making figure eights at the base of the phallus.
“Yo, Panther, how are my ball’s lookin’? Are they big enough?”
I didn’t respond. There was no way in hell I was getting involved in this, because those contrails weren’t dissipating, and I’d be damned if I lost marks for this prank.
“Come on, man, I can’t have wonky balls. Just tell me if they’re the right size.”
Ignoring Solo, I began my descent as the runway came into view, and just as I touched down, I heard him say, “Man, that’s a beautiful penis. Look up and tell me how hot my dick is.”
It was impossible to miss the massive drawing in the sky, and it was also impossible to miss what exactly it was.
I’m going to fucking kill him.
8 Solo
THE DRESSING DOWN I received alongside Panther wasn’t one of the top ten moments of my life, but I couldn’t say it hadn’t been worth it. It’d been a big FU to my best friend, who thought it was funny as hell, unlike my instructors.
Hey, it wasn’t my fault the contrails had lasted longer than they should’ve. I figured the design would be up for a few minutes max, but it was still there, and now the office was getting complaints.
Whoopsie. Not.
As we walked out of Commander Levy’s office and headed to the locker room, I could feel the tension radiating off Panther, though he hadn’t said a word to me since we’d landed. So uptight, this guy.
“Well, Commander Levy wasn’t too impressed with my dick,” I said casually. “I gotta say, that’s a first.”
“Shut. Up,” Panther said through clenched teeth.
“Did you find it impressive? You can tell me the truth.” I glanced around at the empty halls. “No one’s around to hear you admit you liked it.”
It would’ve been funny the way Panther’s fists clenched if I hadn’t thought he’d actually use them on me. He probably would.
For some reason, even the thought of getting hit couldn’t stop my mouth. “So we got spanked on the ass. It’s not like we got disqualified—”
As we rounded the corner into the locker room, Panther shoved me up against the wall so hard the breath left my body. Eyes blazing, he stared me down, his face only inches from mine.
“What the fuck were you thinking?”
“I—”
“Thought it’d be a good idea to go rogue and disrespect not only me, but the Navy? It wasn’t enough to win the hop, you had to go fuck it up after? You think this shit’s funny?”
“I’m guessing you don’t.”
“You’re lucky you’re here. You’re lucky you’re still here. And because I’m the guy who got stuck with you, it’s up to me to make sure you don’t pull that shit again.”
Damn he was hot. Something about getting Panther all fired up pushed every single one of my buttons, and being up against the wall with his strong body practically vibrating against mine? There might be another sky penis in my future.
“They aren’t gonna put up with this kind of thing, Solo. You need to pull your head in.”
I glanced down between us at my obvious erection. “Too late.”
When Panther looked down, surprise lit his face, taking over the anger that had been there, and then he jerked away from me.
“I don’t get you,” I said, pushing off the wall. “You act like you’re so scared of cock, both up in the air and mine, when I know that’s not true.”
Panther’s eyes widened as he whipped his head around, looking for our peers. “Keep your fucking voice down.”
“Or what?” I took a step toward him. “You gonna hit me? I know you want to.”
Panther lunged, grasping my flight suit as he jerked me forward. “Let’s get something straight. You don’t know me. You don’t know anything about me, and I plan on keeping it that way.”
“Because I’m ‘trouble’?” I grinned, wrapping my hand around his wrist where he held me. “And trouble scares you?”
“I’m not scared of you.”
“Oh, so just yourself, then.”
Panther’s jaw twitched and his fingers flexed in my suit. “Can you for one second in your life try to act like this means something to you.”
“You getting all up in my face? Oh, trust me, that definitely means something to me.”
Panther shoved me away and pointed his finger at me. “You’re impossible.”
“I’ve been called worse.”
“Why am I not surprised.” Panther turned on his heel, and as he began to storm away, I quickly followed, letting my eyes trail down over his broad shoulders and trim waist.
“You know, maybe if you loosened up a little you wouldn’t find me so—”
“Infuriating?”
My lips twitched as he stopped in front of his locker and yanked it open. “I was thinking more…distracting.”
Panther gripped the metal door of his locker and aimed a fierce glare in my direction, and if I’d been anyone else I might’ve felt intimidated. But that was the last reaction my body was having. I was one hundred percent turned on by the anger radiating off him, which wasn’t all that surprising.
I totally got off on the rush of danger, and right now Panther looked like the kind of danger a person would be smart to back away from.
But where was the fun in that?
“You know, I’m trying to decide what it is about me that seems to piss you off the most. That I can match you in the sky, that I know how to have fun and you clearly don’t, or the fact that even though you seem to loathe everything about me, you still totally want to fuck my brains out.”
Panther pressed his fingers so hard into the metal of the door that the tips turned white. I could see a vein pulsing at the side of his temple now, and honestly, I was shocked he hadn’t slammed his fist in my face. At this stage, we both knew I deserved it.
It was like the guy was made of stone, and hell if I didn’t want to grind up against him.
“Did it ever occur to you that not everyone here thinks with their dicks? That some of us are here because we are proud to serve our country and not just to have some hotshot job that’s guaranteed to land us some ass whenever we talk about our occupation?”
Panther then looked me up and down, and when his eyes came back to my face, there was nothing complimentary in his stare. He looked unimpressed and unaffected, and if it hadn’t been for the white-knuckling still going on, I might’ve bought into his uninterest.
“I got here through hard work and determination. I’ve had to prove myself ten times over to both my instructors and father to earn the right to say I belong here. And now I’m stuck babysitting some reckless, immature little boy who can’t prove himself unless he’s talking about his cock or how big it is. Do you know how unappealing that is?” Panther leaned in and added, “I might’ve wanted to fuck your brains out last night. But ten seconds into class this morning, I was happy to know my instincts about you had been right. That’s the difference between going with your gut and playing it safe. Now unless you’re going to apologize for fucking up my first day here, get the hell out of my way.”
9 Panther
I’D NEVER BEEN so angry or humiliated in my life. First day at the most prestigious aviation academy in the world, and I’d been called into my commander’s office and been reprimanded for something I didn’t do.
Great. This was just fucking great.
As I threw my gloves into the locker, I was happy to see that Solo seemed to have finally gotten the picture and fucked off, because I swear on all that was holy I’d been about two seconds away from planting my fist in the guy’s face—something that was totally unlike me.
But God, there was just something so damn infuriating about him. Whether he was jerking off and using seventy-million-dollar planes as crayons in the sky or running his mouth about things I wish I could forget, Solo knew exactly how to push my buttons.
“Holy shit, that was the most epic thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” Gucci said as he strolled into the locker room, followed by the rest of the guys. He fist-bumped Solo and they both began to laugh, shooting the shit like what he’d done hadn’t almost cost us our spots in the program.
“It’s all over social media, dude.” Phantom scrolled through his phone and then showed the screen to Solo, whose smile grew even bigger. I glared his way, and when he looked up at me, his smile hesitated. Then he shrugged and began to regale the others with his “epic” adventure, but I wasn’t about to stick around for it.
I slammed my locker shut and ignored the looks my way as I left the locker room, Houdini hot on my heels.
“Hey, hey, wait up.”
I kept my pace, winding through the halls to grab a quick lunch before the next class began.
“So what happened? You get in trouble for it, too?”
“Well, I didn’t get fucking bonus points.”
Houdini snort-laughed, grabbing a tray when we entered the mess hall and continuing to follow me. “You gotta admit, the guy’s got a sense of humor.”
“More like a death wish.”
“Eh, that too. The more he pulls that shit, the higher I climb in the ranks.”
Turning around, I shot Houdini a glare. “And you don’t think that shit affects me? That that little stunt isn’t going to follow me through the rest of my time here? Through my career?” I grabbed a turkey sub off the line and loaded by plate up with sides.
“It’s not like you d
id it.”
“No, I’m just the lucky bastard who got partnered up with a suicidal pilot.”
“Hate to say better you than me, man, but…”
“Yeah.” Forcing myself to breathe and calm the hell down, I moved down the line and paid for my lunch. Houdini joined me at a booth, keeping quiet as my anger subsided.
My father had always said it was important not to react to history, but to focus on what was going to happen next. Everything happens too fast in the air, and you only have time to rely on your training and react. And even though what Solo did wasn’t technically part of the hop, it wouldn’t do me any good to linger on his fuck-up. Nothing I could do about it now, though I had a feeling my father would have a few words for me about what had gone down.
Once I’d finished off my sandwich, Houdini said, “Do you think he’s doin’ it on purpose?”
I wiped my mouth and took a swig of my drink. “What?”
“Solo. You think he’s sabotaging himself on purpose?”
“Why would anyone do that?”
“Hell if I know. Maybe what happened to his brother messed him up in the head.”
I thought about that for a moment and then shrugged. “I’m not gonna sit here and try to understand the inner workings of Solo’s brain and why he does what he does.”
“Just curious, is all. I’ve never seen anyone defy orders on the first day and live to see the second.”
“Guess he’s not only reckless but lucky too.”
Danger Zone (The Elite Book 1) Page 4