She had a one o’clock jump but was told to be at the local airport two hours before hand to get suited up and receive instructions. She arrived on time and was glad for it. The others who were scheduled to jump that day were excited and she was able to lose some of her anxiety.
It was nearly time to load into the plane. She had a funny feeling and couldn’t figure out what it was. She looked back towards the airport and her breath caught in her throat. She had a hard time swallowing when she noticed Michael walking directly towards the airplane. He was suited up in a jump suit and was carrying a parachute suspiciously similar to the kind other instructors had who would be jumping in tandem. Michael walked directly up to her. He just stared down at her for a moment.
“Hello, Darcy. Ready to jump?”
“What are you talking about?” she gasped.
“I’m jumping with you,” he said.
Dave, her instructor came up behind them and shook Michael’s hand. “Good to see you again. It’s been a long time. You remember everything?”
Michael shook the other man’s hand and nodded. “Absolutely.”
Dave grinned and turned to Darcy. “You’re in good hands. This guy is one of the best,” and he walked off to partner up the other jumpers for the run.
Michael grinned down at her again. “Ready?” he asked.
“I’m not jumping with you,” she gasped, already backing up, afraid of being this close to the man. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be strapped to him for the jump.
“Good, you’re crazy to try something like this,” he said and took her arm to guide her off the airfield.
”I’m not leaving. But I’m not jumping with you.”
“If you’re jumping, you’re doing it with me.” He said sternly.
“No, I’m not,” she said and crossed her arms over her chest, her face grimly determined.
“Darcy, if you’re going to do this, you’re jumping with me,” and he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, to the delight and laughter of the other occupants of the plane.
He put her down on one of the benches inside the plane and Darcy fumed at his high-handedness. If the doors hadn’t closed at that moment, she would have shoved her way out and gotten off the plane. Michael sat down next to her, and all her anger over the jump dissipated and was replaced by other emotions that were just as strong and overwhelming as she felt his heat coursing through the jump suits, heating her skin and making her breathless.
A few minutes later, the plane took off down the runway. Darcy just sat there, fuming, determined to land with the plane. She didn’t really want to jump now anyway. She was terrified and wanted to have both her feet on the ground. And the idea of doing it strapped to Michael’s body, well, she couldn’t even contemplate that.
They had reached jumping altitude and the jump instructor was hooking up the first pair to jump. Michael stood up and pulled Darcy to her feet. By this time, she was too scared to even protest. When Michael checked her straps, tightening some and pulling on the buckles, she just allowed him.
The next thing she knew, she was strapped to the front of Michael, her goggles were pulled down over her eyes and they were given the go ahead to jump. Darcy wanted to scream no, but by the time she had the insight to do so, she was falling out of the airplane and a scream tore through her whole body. She had never been so terrified in all her life and she held onto the only solid object, which happened to be Michael’s thighs behind her.
Darcy ran out of breath and had to gasp, but then, the falling turned into floating. Darcy looked up at the sky, trying to figure out what was happening. Michael’s canopy was opened and they were floating slowly down to earth.
“You can breathe now,” Michael was saying.
Darcy looked around her. They were still thousands of feet above the earth and a breeze was wafting through the air, but it was a gentle breeze. She took a breath slowly, fearful that any movement might topple them back into the free fall they’d just experienced. Once that breath didn’t produce any ill effects, she took another. Then another, and another. Then she realized what flying was all about. She’d watched birds float along the air currents and now she was doing the same thing. She shouted with joy, then held on more tightly to Michael as her shout bounced them together.
Michael was thrilled with her joy and not immune to the thrill of sky diving himself. He was ecstatic that he could share the experience with Darcy and reassured her of her safety. “Don’t worry, I’ll get you down to the ground safely. Just enjoy the view,” he was saying through his laughter.
“Oh, Michael. How wonderful!” she replied. “I can’t believe I’ve never done this before.”
“Listen,” he said, close to her ear.
She stopped talking and laughing in order to listen. It was silent. The noises of the earth were non-existent at this altitude. She couldn’t hear the traffic or the birds. It was perfectly silent.
“Wow!” she said softly, awed by the experience.
“Exactly,” he agreed. “Amazing, isn’t it?” She only nodded in response as the tree tops came into focus below her feet.
The earth came closer and closer and she felt Michael tugging on the canopy strings as he guided them safely down to earth. Michael landed and took the brunt of the impact since Darcy was so much shorter than he was. He un-strapped them and Darcy was able to move away.
She looked around and smiled, grateful to be safely back on land, but thrilled beyond words by what she had just experienced. As soon as she turned around, she saw Michael gathering up his chute.
“Thank you,” she said.
Michael stopped and stared at her, the hunger in his eyes prominent. “You’re welcome,” he said softly.
Without warning, Darcy threw herself into his arms, kissing him with all the pent up energy she had been storing up over the past few weeks. In the back of her mind, she knew it was the adrenaline kicking in, but she didn’t care. She kissed him with all the passion she had.
Throwing her body into his toppled both of them to the ground and Michael took the brunt of the fall. Then he rolled over, putting her beneath him as the passion that was always just below the surface reared up and took over his self control. If she was going to throw herself at him, he was going to take it. One couldn’t deny a starving man a meal and he’d never been one to turn away a beautiful woman, especially one that had been driving him to distraction for weeks.