Page 10 of Bound By Destiny

“Why the sudden change in convictions?”

“One day they would’ve grown, you know?” I choke out. “With wings and feathers. Just like me.”

Dane’s lips twitch and I think he’s on the verge of breaking into a smile, but maybe I’m imagining things.

“You’re not any more related to chicken than you used to be,” he points out curtly.

I grimace. “I’m not so sure about that.” My hands go to the unfamiliar members that sprouted out of my back overnight. “Maybe not from an evolutionary point of view, but from a homoplastic point of view–”

“What?”

“As in, having similar attributes but deriving from a different ancestor,” I explain hastily. “Maybe chicken and I are not of the same species, but we now share features that are analogous both in morphology and function.”

A few seconds tick by as Dane observes me in stunned silence. I know that look, I’ve been on the receiving end of it many times: it’s the look of someone who can’t decide whether I’m a rocket scientist… or just off my rocket.

“You’re overthinking this,” he finally sighs.

I shrug as I grab my toothbrush. “I’ve been told that many times. But it doesn’t change the facts.”

Dane’s piercing eyes continue to follow me as I stare at their reflection in the mirror. He gazes at me with a frown, before shaking his head.

“What you need is a good fly around the mountains,” Dane states gruffly. “That’ll help you rekindle with your nature and get over all this chicken nonsense.”

* * *

Fast forward an hour long drive to the Santa Catalina Mountains as well as five hours of practice, and Dane doesn’t seem so confident anymore. I’ve just about ‘rekindled with my nature’ as much as a cat in a swimming pool.

The scenery is glorious up here. Terracotta orange peppered with dashes of green and crowned by a cloudless blue sky – where I should be gliding right now, rather than fluttering for a second or two before dropping hopelessly to the ground.

“Destiny, you just have to trust your instincts,” Dane growls in frustration. “You’ll never rise an inch if you don’t let yourself go a little.”

Careful what you’re asking for,I nearly snap right back at him.I think you’d be pretty shocked at what would happen if I actually ‘let myself go’.

Because how can I possibly trust my instincts, as he says, when everything within me is screaming to whirl around and kiss him passionately?

Yes, even I’m shocked at myself. For a woman who believed less than two weeks ago that she had no sex drive altogether, this man rouses me in ways I never thought possible. But then who can blame me? Dane just seems to have this animal-like magnetism that irresistibly pulls me towards him, for better or for worse.

Judging by the disgruntled look on his face though, the attraction only goes one way.

“I can’t concentrate if you keep touching me like that,” I hiss through clenched teeth.

Ever since we started these so-called flying lessons, Dane has been driving me mad with all kinds of distractions. I can feel his breath tickling my nape when he stands behind me. His fingers give me goosebumps when their calloused roughness brushes over my skin to position my arms to fly. I can’t help but speculate whenever his abs press against my back as he leans forward to give me instructions… Six-pack or eight-pack?

“Can youpleasegive me some space?” I beg a little too breathlessly for my liking.

At long last his infuriating presence disappears as he takes a few steps back. Now I can concentrate on the task at hand – only to realize this whole flying affair is a terrible idea.

“These mountains are about nine thousand feet high,” I point out in a small voice. “Did you know there was a plane crash here in 1943?”

Dane lets out an aggravated groan. “You’re not going to crash, Destiny,” he retorts impatiently. “Hell, even in the slim chance that you do, you won’t die! You’ll be reborn from your ashes.”

I send him an equally irritated look. “And that sounds like a lovely experience.”

He passes his hand through his titian hair, messing the strands in a way that makes his all the more sexy. I sigh in frustration as well.

“You’re filling your heads with all these useless facts,” he growls, “when all you need to do is let yourself fall. Trust me, your phoenix instincts will kick in right away, and by the time you’re soaring through the air you’ll be laughing about this.”

I gulp and cast a concerned look at the ground, sprinkled with cacti that look tiny from up here, but that are most likely twice my size.

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