Take Back the Skies by Lucy Saxon Page B

grinning.
    â€˜Come to give us a hand, Fox? Better than sitting around doing sod all, I suppose.’
    â€˜Yeah,’ Fox agreed, moving to stand beside Cat. ‘But why don’t we let the sprog give it a go. See how good he is.’ Cat huffed at the raised eyebrow Fox directed at her, her eyes slipping to the small triangle of exposed skin at the base of his throat.
    â€˜He’s good enough,’ Matt assured Fox. ‘But go on, then, Cat. See if you can find the problem.’ He handed her the screwdriver.
    Sweating uncomfortably, she turned to the encased gear plate. First, she unhooked the casing, eyes scanning the ordered entanglement of cogs, sprockets and chains. Before she could get too engrossed she was startled by a loudmetallic clang, followed by a short bark of laughter. When she turned, Matt was rubbing his forehead and scowling at a steam pipe protruding a few inches from the ceiling.
    â€˜Every bloody time,’ he grumbled, and Cat suppressed a laugh, meeting Fox’s amused gaze.
    â€˜You’ll get used to that,’ he told her. ‘Five years, and Matt still can’t remember which parts are lower than others.’
    Cat smiled at Matt’s sheepish look and turned back to her work. At first, everything seemed to be working normally … until she noticed a stretched link on one of the chains, which caused a bit of jarring when it passed between two gears.
    â€˜You need to change that chain. Is there a replacement in here or next door?’ she asked, turning her head. She was surprised to see that Fox had stripped to his undershirt and was working on tightening an overhead piston. Her cheeks flushed as she tried to ignore the sight of his tensed biceps. She felt a strange sensation in her stomach, which was quickly replaced by a feeling of dread. She’d heard other girls talk about that type of feeling at the government school she’d attended, and in her current situation, it didn’t bode well. No, she decided, this was just not the time. She had to act like a boy.
    â€˜Nice eye, lad,’ Matt said, rummaging in a box and handing her the correct chain, clearly unaware of her current dilemma. ‘You’ll have to be quick about it, though. We can’t have the steering offline for more than a few seconds.’
    â€˜No pressure or anything,’ Fox piped up wryly, ruining her hopes of ignoring him. Cat turned back to the gear plate, staring at the chain. It was awfully long, and the top was hooked to a gear very high up.
    â€˜I’m not sure if I can reach,’ she admitted, standing on tiptoe and stretching up to test.
    â€˜I’ll give you a hand, shortie,’ Fox assured her. She bit her lip as he stepped close, taking one end of the chain from her hands. The heat in the room seemed to increase tenfold as Fox leaned over her, reaching the gear easily.
    â€˜On three,’ he murmured, fingers poised and ready.
    â€˜One, two, three.’ On the last count, Cat quickly unhooked the chain from its cog, waiting two beats before looping the new one tightly in place, and clipping the two ends together before the chain could tangle. She stepped back in satisfaction, nearly colliding with Fox, the redhead squeezing her shoulder.
    â€˜Easy does it, brat. Not bad, though. Let’s see how you do with some of our more complicated pieces.’ As she turned, he wiped a hand across his forehead, pulled his undershirt off and dropped it to the floor to join his shirt and waistcoat. Cat’s cheeks turned a fiery red upon seeing his bare chest, and she resisted the urge to groan. She’d never been attracted to anyone before; why did it have to start now?

Chapter 5
    For the first time since arriving on the
Stormdancer
, Cat managed to wake up at the right time on her own. It had only taken her four days to get used to the schedule. She shuffled into the galley, rubbing her eyes.
    â€˜Sleep well?’ Fox asked as she slid