His first instinct was to smile back at her, which he did. He watched her eyes scan slowly over his body before she gave him another perfect smile. She more than lived up to the stories about the gorgeous Cryys women told by smugglers and pilots through the years. Her violet skin looked almost glass-like whenever the light hit it. And now that he was close to her, her face was more alluring than he had first thought. The dancer’s white hair, held up in a high ponytail, glowed blue in dark club.

With her slender body turned towards Hale, she leaned against the bar and sipped a pink cocktail. Normally, he would have made the first move because there was no denying that she was attractive to him, but he couldn’t bring himself to pursue her.

After she finished her drink, she moved closer to his side, her eyes staring more intensely. Evidently, she grew tired of waiting for him. “You’re Hale Verdun, right?”

He swiveled his chair around to face her. “Who’s asking?”

“Just me.” She smirked, swinging her ponytail back.

She changed the position of her long, bare legs, drawing Hale’s attention temporarily. As soon as he looked, he turned back to his empty glass. “And you are?”

“Impatiently waiting,” she replied.

Hale sighed, hinting his annoyance. But he was curious. “For what?”

“A good dance partner,” she said, with all seriousness.

He couldn’t stop the grin that spanned across his face. “Do you have a name?”

“Clara,” she answered. “My sister Keira and I were recently employed by Trey.”

“He told me,” Hale added.

“So you’re a friend of his?” Clara asked, clearly interested.

Hale ordered another drink. Then turned to her. “I don’t know if I’d refer to it like that.”

She leaned her back against the bar, her legs crossed and her elbows on the countertop supporting her body. “What brings you here then?”

He stole another glance of her with his peripheral vision and swallowed hard.

“Business is my best guess, knowing who you are,” she mused.

“You could say that,” he replied, attempting to stare at anything but her. “Can I help you?”

Clara laughed. “Oh, I’m not looking to hire you,” she paused, giving a suggestive glance towards him. “Well, not exactly.”

He set his drink down and returned the look with his blue eyes. “What exactly do you have in mind?”

Clara patted him on the shoulder with her glistening, violet hand, and then she turned around to the bar. She called the bartender and paid her tab. She started to walk away, stopping to look back at Hale. “I’d prefer to go over the details at my private suite.”

Hale inhaled slowly. What she was offering him would make most men go along with her without a second though thought. He could easily be one of those men. And the way Clara looked and the fact that she wanted him made certain desires of his go into overdrive. He decided to pay his tab, and then walked to her with every intention of going through with her offer.

Her smile indicating she was pleased, Clara began leaving the club with Hale following close behind her. Though she wore cumbersome platform heels, Clara’s gait was light and graceful. Her ponytail waved in rhythm with the swaying of her hips.

As they left the club and walked through the hangar together, his shoulders grew increasingly tense. He leaned his head to the right and massaged one shoulder with his hand. He followed her into the main elevator.

The door slid shut, and they were alone.

Clara pressed a numbered button beside the door to take them to the level her suite was on. Hale’s extremities felt numbed, and he could hardly sense the floor beneath him. He held himself up by leaning against the back wall.

She turned towards him and sauntered forward with ravening eyes. Standing close to him, Clara ran her hands up his chest.

Hale stared blankly in front of him, not at Clara, at the small space between them. He couldn’t stop thinking about another woman. A woman he wished he could forget. Then there would be nothing holding him back from Clara, who actually wanted him.

Clara pulled away, shaking her head. “Never mind. You clearly don’t want to be here.”

Hale huffed from his lips and turned his head to the side. “It’s not you.”

Clara narrowed her eyes bitterly. “I wrongly assumed Hale Verdun would be different.”

“Sorry I don’t live up to your expectations,” Hale growled.

With a scowl, she distanced herself from Hale and crossed her arms.

His expression remained the same, unfazed by her sudden rejection. He was too absorbed in his own thoughts to care, finding his own behavior in this situation frightening. Clara was spectacular in every way, and he could easily see himself with her. But her offer was one he couldn’t accept.

The elevator slowed to a stop. The door whirred open, and he looked up to watch her leave with an icy glare.

Hale remained in the same position for a while, considering again what he had turned down. Instead of being here, alone, he could have been intertwining with her in paradise, right about now. Though he was annoyed and disappointed with himself, Hale didn’t regret his decision.

When Clara was with him, he wasn’t envisioning nor eagerly anticipating where things were leading with her as they stepped closer and closer to her suite. He was all too consumed with removing his hope of Pandora from his desires. And Clara had only made that more difficult. Each time he had looked up at Clara, he wished he saw Pandora.

Hale threw his fist at the elevator’s control panel, hitting the button to take him back to the ground level.

He banged his head against the metal wall to release his building anxiety burning inside. He was enraged because he was allowing Pandora to ruin him. And it was becoming increasingly evident.

He had turned a gorgeous Cryys woman down.

And what was worse was that Pandora had the potential to disrupt his life much further.

Hale spent the next half hour waiting in a corner of Trey’s hangar and stared at the energy shield ceiling. He stayed far from the club.

Hale glanced across the hangar at the projection of the time on the wall. Trey’s hour was up.

And Hale had to force back the hurricane, that was his confusion, churning inside his mind, and he replaced it with a sad substitute for indifference, although decent enough to let him seem in control of his emotions in Trey’s presence.

Hale pounded on the entrance doors to Trey’s office. If Trey didn’t answer soon, he would have to worry about losing much more than his money.

Nearly a minute passed and no answer. Hale was tempted to kick down the door, but he reluctantly decided that patience would be better in this situation. Besides, he wasn’t really in the mood for fighting off Trey’s security. Not this time. He was in too much of a rush to complete this transaction. He didn’t want to be the reason it took forever. He would leave that to Trey.

Hale hammered on the door and planned to continuously until it was answered.

He did so for another minute, stopping when he heard the door mechanism releasing within the wall. The door slid open and revealed Keira, the Cryys dancer with the rose skin, Trey’s “girlfriend.”

Keira frowned sourly. “What do you want?”

“Is Trey here?”

She stepped to the side so that Hale could see Trey, sitting at his desk. He was giving Hale the same irritated expression. Hale evidently had interrupted something.

“Come back in a half hour?” Trey called to Hale. “Keira’s on break.”

Hale proceeded to brush past Keira into Trey’s office. Unlike his private residence, Trey’s office was mostly utilitarian in form, spare the column viewports on the back wall and his intricate glass desk. The walls, floor, and ceilings were metallic and somewhat shiny. Two rectangular lights, practical rather than decorative, were laid along opposite sides of the ceiling.

Hale stood a few feet from the desk. “Not much of a break, for her.”

Trey glowered and looked to Keira. “I’ll see you later, Baby.”

She waved goodbye to Trey but glared at Hale before leaving the room.

“You said one hour,” Hale stated.

“I know. I just figured you’d be... well... occupied,” Trey replied.

Hale crossed his arms. “Did you send Clara my way?”

“No, definitely not. But she knew you were coming.” Trey grinned curiously at him. “So she did talk to you?”

Hale scoffed in disgust. “Of course.”

“And?”

“I’m only here for business, idiot.”

Trey leaned back in his chair and crossed his ankles over the desk. “Wow,” he chuckled. “I’m speechless.”

“Evidently not,” Hale mused.

“You’re in trouble.”

Hale knew what Trey was insinuating from the way he had said “trouble,” and he could guess what Trey would say next.

“That girl. She’s done the impossible,” Trey continued.

“Which one?” Hale asked, pretending he didn’t know who Trey was referring to.

Trey pointed at Hale, laughing hard. “That princess. You do like her.”

Taking a few short breaths, Hale refrained from snapping back at Trey. If he wanted to refute the accusation, he must appear collected. “You enjoy making something out of nothing,” came his slow response.

“The fact that you aren’t with Clara right now is evidence that I’m right,” Trey argued.

Hale bit back his frustrations, remaining silent.

“C’mon, admit it, Hale,” Trey pushed.

“What exactly do you want me to say? That she’s attractive?”

“No, I want you to admit that you were wrong. That you can’t go through life without falling for someone,” Trey stated with a wide grin.

Hale pictured several ways he would respond to that. One included his fists. One included his pistols. And another included both.

“Liking is much different than falling for her,” Hale strained through his clenched jaw.

Trey nodded. “Yes. But only one of those would result in you turning down Clara.”

“See!” Hale’s voice rasped. He stepped up to Trey’s desk and slammed both fists on it. “This is why I hate coming here.”

Trey straightened rigidly to correct posture. “Maybe you wouldn’t have to come here at all if you knew how to manage your money.”

Hale looked directly at Trey with deepening anger. “I wouldn’t go any further down that road.”

With a shiver, Trey pushed his chair back against the wall to put more distance between them. “Fine.”

Hale lifted his hands off the desk and stepped back. “Can we get this over with finally?”

Trey nodded.

Hale reached a hand in one of the pockets along his pants, pulling out two translucent cards inscribed with tiny detail. Flicking his wrist, Hale hummed them onto the desk, landing before Trey.

Trey picked them up and inspected them carefully.

“They look legit?” Hale remarked, purposely sarcastic.

After Trey finished his inspection, he looked up at Hale. “I have to make sure. Especially with you.”

Trey lifted a small box-like device with a single slot and set it on the desk. He inserted both cards one at a time into the slot. A holograph projection appeared above the device and displayed the number of credits the cards were worth.

Trey’s face was surprised. “Must have been a good couple of jobs.”

“Yeah.”

Trey tapped on the side of the device and the number on the holograph dwindled, stopping at zero. Once all the credits were transferred to Trey, he placed the box back in a drawer.

“When can I expect you next?” Trey asked.

Hale shrugged. “I don’t know. The next deadline, I guess. I have some others I have to pay off first before I can come back.’

“Alright.”

Without another word, Hale turned to leave. He reached for the control panel beside the door to open it. Hale thought he was in the clear, until Trey coughed, obviously to get Hale’s attention.

“What?” Hale growled, facing the door.

“There’s something I should tell you,” Trey admitted.

Hale faced Trey reluctantly. “Make it quick.”

“Coran offered me a deal,” Trey admitted carefully.

The rage Hale had been forcing back the entire conversation began to simmer in his chest from the mention of that name. Trey had managed to bring up Pandora again, and that had nearly been more than he could bear. But by mentioning Coran too, again, Hale doubted he would be able to restrain himself.

“And I accepted it,” Trey said.

It must involve me. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be mentioning this, Hale thought. He stared at Trey’s eyes to help figure out his underlying motives.

“I agreed to let his men enter my territory—” Trey paused and swallowed slowly. He looked to the side. “For your... capture.”

Hale said nothing at first. He couldn’t. All the strength he possessed was directed to containing his powers within himself. Fire ignited by his rage smoldered beneath his skin, awaiting to be released to burn and consume. Hale was almost willing to allow it.

This wasn’t the first time he was double-crossed by Trey. But that wasn’t the cause of Hale’s anger because Hale had betrayed him before too. This betrayal was different because Trey was selling him out to Coran. Hale had thought he was their common enemy. It seemed he had assumed wrongly.

Trey frowned. “Say something, Hale.”

Hale’s mouth remained shut. If he spoke now, he wouldn’t be able to concentrate on his powers. Though he had betrayed him to Coran, Hale wouldn’t allow himself to kill Trey. That would cause more problems for Hale than regret.

He centered his mind on coldness to calm the heat. And extended the frost to his hands, stopping before his skin’s barrier.

Confusion overcame Trey’s expression, his eyes remaining fearful. “I hope you can understand.”

Having partially subdued his rage, Hale could divide enough of his focus to speak. “What? That it’s good for business?”

“Yes. If they catch you, Coran stays out of the fifth quadrant for one month. As you can see, it’s a good deal.”

“You don’t really need the money. And is it really worth striking a deal with Coran,” Hale argued.

Trey shook his head. “If I thought like you, I wouldn’t have all of this.” He motioned his hands outward.

“You’ve done just fine without Coran so far.”

Trey laughed dryly. “Look, this deal only works out for me if they catch you. I’m telling you this to warn you. He’s planning to attack you as soon as you leave my station.”

Hale’s anger was diminished to a flicker. “A warning doesn’t make up for what you’ve done.” He turned to walk away. “But at least, now you don’t have to worry about me killing you.”

Trey scoffed. “You’re acting like you’ve never betrayed me.”

“Let’s just forget this. I have to go.” Hale strode to the exit. Before leaving, He turned to Trey. “You realize you’ve given up the money by warning me.”

Trey grinned ironically. “You never know. I might get lucky.”

“Maybe,” Hale said as he exited the office.

* * * *

The airlock shifted open, sending a chill down her spine. Pandora heard the release from the bedroom. Hale was here. She leaped to her feet and darted about the room, readjusting everything to its original position. As she made the bed, he started calling her name from the bridge. Desperation echoed in his tone, and she dropped the sheets and rushed to him.

When she came to the bridge, Hale turned around to face her. And he let his guard down entirely, the moment she met his blue eyes. She saw relief in his gaze as he looked upon her, and for an instant it seemed as if he were... happy to see her. He almost smiled.

But soon enough, his beautiful face was overcome with his usual empty, seriousness. “I’ve made a decision.” His voice was hoarse. “I’ve decided to help you.”

She stared at his eyes; he wasn’t making a cruel joke. He was being truthful. Her heart pounded harder in her chest, and her lip began to tremble. “Th—thank you. Thank you.”

To her, it didn’t matter that he was seemingly reluctant when he agreed. She was just so grateful, because now Elani had a chance of survival. Pandora reached for one of his hands and clasped it tightly. “Thank you, Hale,” she whispered, tears building in the corners of her eyes.

Hale gazed into her eyes and, once more, let his guard fall. He moved closer to her, and his other hand held her hand that had been at her side. His touch was so warm and so gentle, though his hands were calloused. She shouldn’t have felt safe with him, but she did. And she wondered what it felt like to be held by him.

His eyes fell to her lips, yearning for them, until he closed his eyes. And let go of her. In two long strides, he was in front of the ship’s control panel, his back facing her.

Pandora watched his shoulders rise and fall from his slow breathing, unsure if she should say something or not. His frustrated sighs and tense grip as he handled the switches on the control panel gave her the answer. She stepped back.

He slouched into the pilot seat and clutched the yoke. He broke his ship away from Trey’s station and started the engine.

Before he hit the thrusters, an alarm beeped. Hale looked over to the radar screen on the panel and slammed his fist on it. He engaged the thrusters and moved farther from the station. His eyes darted up to the viewport. A fleet of five ships was approaching them, having just left hyperspace.

Curses left his lips as he strapped himself in and gripped the steering yoke.

“You should buckle up,” he said, without turning to her.

Pandora quickly listened and sat down. “Who are they?”