Gauravi's POV

We reached the airstrip, which was merely a clear ground, created there for those tourists who wanted to sample the feel of the jungle but didn't have much time to spend. And they could enjoy the trip in a day or two.

Three old single engined planes were standing there.

Oh, God!! They were so small. I was scared to death thinking that he was planning to try to fly one of them.

He was looking at them thinking something.

" Now what??" I asked when I could not remain quiet as I was tensed.

" What?? I am thinking about which one will be best for us. " He replied.

"You will steal one of them?? No way! "

"Well, I am not privileged like your fiance who owns a helicopter and private jet. Of course, we have to steal, they will not gift wrap it and give it to me. " He answered sarcastically.

" But who will fly it? " I asked further.

" I will. " he shrugged his shoulders.

" I am serious. "

" So am I. " He said.

"Can you fly it, the real one, not the paper plane? "

" I can, had taken a crash course... " he said.

" Really... Thank God!! " I took a deep breath and said, though I was surprised.

" Though I never finished it... " He grinned and I was shocked hearing that and felt that I was going to faint.

" Just kidding! I know how to fly it. Don't worry. " He said when he saw my expression. I just gaped at him, was still scared, and was not sure if I would be able to meet my family or not.

" Let's go! " He said and holding my hand he raced across the grass, near the plane, obviously I followed but was scared, tired, and panting as hell, matching his speed.

He climbed onto a wing and pulled me up behind him, then he slid open the cabin door and dropped in, and asked me to come in.

" Come in, what are you waiting for? " He said and I went in hesitantly. He pulled me to the seat and I was still scared.

He slid into the pilot seat and started touching and pressing some buttons, I was scared as hell just then the engine coughed, started, and roared into life.

Oh, my God!! It was moving, running on the runway and within seconds we were off the ground. I saw tiny people running towards us but we were already in the air, clearing the trees and climbing steadily towards the horizon.

Oh, God!! He was flying the plane...

" Are you alright now? " He asked looking over his shoulder.

" Yes!! You really managed to fly it. " I was feeling very excited as the panic was gone, I was bubbling with excitement. I smiled at him and hugged him out of excitement from the backside and he turned to look at me.

His eyes were fastened on me for an instant and we kept looking at each other. He touched his lips to mine again and before I could react to it, he winked and looked away.

" We will reach Bengaluru in less than an hour. " He said and I nodded though I was angry with him for kissing me but the excitement of escaping from the tricky situation and being in the air made me smile.

In an hour, I will be back to my hotel in Bengaluru and tomorrow I will catch the first flight to New Delhi.

" Tell me one thing, did you tell me to stay away from Arun because you knew about him? " I asked.

" Yes, of course! Why else would have I done that otherwise? " He replied.

" Why did you use the fake name and identity? " I asked the next question that has been bothering me.

" You don't need to know that as it is none of your business. " He replied.

Irritating man!! Why can't he tell me??

" But I am curious. " I said.

" Doesn't matter. Anyway, I was just surprised to see you there and didn't want you anywhere near me as I knew the reality and the danger that was involved, but had to come and talk to you as you asked him about the statues. He was already smuggling them and your stupid and impulsive behavior was surely going to land you in hot soup and it did as I assumed because you didn't bother to pay heed to my warning. " He said.

I was looking at him and saw his big strong body, the strong column of his neck, and the way his hair was cut neatly. But one of the slightly longer locks looked out of the place at his nape and somehow I itched to touch it.

What the hell!!

Are you out of your mind??

Don't even think about it!!

Just then the plane shook a bit, I felt that something hit the plane. All of a sudden, some red lights started blinking I heard him say a curse under his breath and before I could ask him anything, the cockpit was filled with smoke and the plane started falling into a steep dive.

I was so scared that I literally froze to see my nightmare coming true, ever since he said that we would fly. I was scared as he was not a qualified pilot.

My fingers were gripping the seat, while he was still trying his level best with the controls, fighting for our lives. I looked out and it felt as if the dark green jungle was coming up to meet us.

One of the wings crashed against the tall trees and there was a grinding noise as branches brushed against the plane harshly. My world was turning upside down and I was sure that we were going to die right here in the middle of the jungle and we might not even need a funeral. But then with a final jerk, we came to rest.

I opened and closed my eyes a few times and realised that we were still alive, he had managed to land our plane though there was not enough space to land it had landed half on a tree and half on land. It was tilted at an acute angle.

I took a few deep breaths stayed there in my seat and closed my eyes. Suddenly, I felt someone bending over me.

" Hey, are you alright?? " He asked.

" Yeah, I think so... What happened all of a sudden? "

" The engine caught fire. The problem was it was a small plane and had only one engine. " He said and I nodded.

" Okay come out of it. " He said.

" No, I can't move out. "

" You can, okay, hold my hand. We need to get out of this, it might blast if there is any fuel left in it. " He said, sliding open the door and pulling me half on my feet and then pulling me once again to get me out of it on the wing of the plane. Then holding me in his arms he jumped and let me slide against his hard body.

I landed on the ground but kept standing there in the comforting safety of his strong arms. I wanted to cry out of relief. But just then he released me and rushed us away from the plane, holding my hand.

We had landed near a river bank the nose of our plane was almost buried in the soft mud at the bank. I looked around and saw that we were standing in the middle of very tall trees. He managed to land in the small cleared area. If we had crashed only 10 meters away, we might have died.

" You...saved my life... " I bent my head as I was feeling too emotional at the moment as he had saved my life thrice in a day. I was about to burst into tears and I didn't want to look weak in front of him so I bit my lip and covered my almost pale face with my hands.

I felt him gently caressing my head and hugged me for a second, but the very next moment I heard him saying in a sharp tone.

" Never mind, I was trying to save myself. You take a rest, I'll go and check the damage. " He said and went back to the plane.

I was too tired and shocked to stand there on my legs so I sank on the ground and kept thinking about the whole thing that happened in the last 24 hours.

I was still thinking about all that when he came back and stood by me.

😲😲😲😲😳😳😳😳😳😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😍😍😍😍😍😍

Good morning friends

Here is my today's chapter I hope you liked it please let me know.

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Take good care of yourself and have a great day ahead.

Thanks
Chhavi ❤️❤️❤️