A year ago, maybe even a month ago, Hale would have let Pandora run away from him. And he would have seen her response as her problem not his because he told her exactly what she asked of him. Now, though, he refused to let her leave him like that. She was crying because of him. Hiding the deal he made with the king from her was despicable, but he really didn’t have a choice. Her father made sure of that. Pandora could hate all his excuses and reject every explanation her offered. He was still going to tell her why he agreed to her father’s deal. There were multiple reasons, and it wasn’t only to escape prison.

He ran after her.

He chased her down the hallway. The whisper of her sobs echoed behind her. Hearing and seeing her heartbreak made him more determined to pursue her. She led him up a few levels of stairs and down another long hallway. When she reached her bedroom, she went in and shot straight for her bed. She didn’t slam the door behind her. He stood in the threshold for a while to watch her and wait for her to calm down. He heard her cries even with her face hidden in the pillow. He hadn’t meant for it to turn out this way. Keeping that secret from her had damaged her heart. He couldn’t imagine what leaving her without telling her would have done. Pandora was strong enough to get over him, but doing what her father had asked of him would have been unnecessarily cruel to her.

When her crying had calmed, Hale approached her. He sat down at the very end of her bed. He wanted to give her distance. Yet he couldn’t leave her alone. He sat there for minutes, and she paid him no attention. She didn’t look at him or speak to him.

He reached out and rubbed the top of her bare foot. “Pandora, I’m sorry. You have a right to be angry. I didn’t mean to hurt you like this.”

She drew in her legs to her chest and held them with her arms. She was silent and stared distantly behind him. Hale watched the tears drip from her eyes onto her sheets.

“I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but I’m asking for it. I never meant to hurt you. I don’t want to leave you, but I don’t have a choice,” he continued.

“I understand that. But how could you think even for a moment that you weren’t going to tell me?” She refused to look at him.

“Your father made me promise. He didn’t want you to know. But I couldn’t keep it from you any longer. I couldn’t.”

“I’m furious with him too,” Pandora added, almost with a growl. “He wanted me to be lied to. He wanted me to hate you instead of him. How could you agree to that? How?”

“It was either that or he would leave me in prison. I had to.” He wished there had been another way or another deal, but her father made it very clear he wanted Hale gone. He was protecting his daughter, and Hale had planned to respect his wishes. The king had forgotten about one crack in his plan, the heartbreak his daughter would experience. The king didn’t know how deep Hale’s connection with his daughter went.

She met his eyes. “I could talk to him about you staying. I could try at least.”

Hale pushed himself closer to her and placed a hand on her side. He skimmed over her silk covered skin with his fingertips. Gazing only at her eyes, he wanted to see her reaction. She didn’t push his hand away like he thought she would.

“I couldn’t stay even if he let me. I know I haven’t told you much about my work life, but I have to go back and find work,” he said.

She propped herself up with her elbow. “Or you could leave it all behind. Here, you wouldn’t have to worry about that. It could just be you and me.”

By this time, Hale had moved next to her and lay his head down across from hers. “I wish. The thing is I have a lot of money that I owe to many bad people. If I don’t find work soon, they’ll send people to kill me.”

She sighed. “Why didn’t you just start with that? Then maybe I wouldn’t have been quite so dramatic.”

“You weren’t being dramatic. I never should have kept that from you, Pandora. Even though I promised your father.”

“I’m not going to tell him you told me, you know.” Her eyes were peering into his own with complete sincerity.

“I never thought you would, but he is your father. I just didn’t want to harm your relationship with him. He does care about you. It’s obvious even to me,” he said.

Her gaze softened toward him. “I appreciate your concern, but you don’t have to worry about ruining my relationship with my father. He’s doing just fine on his own.”

Hearing her talk about her father like that concerned him. Wasn’t it Hale’s fault that she was having problems with her father in the first place? While he might have not directly caused the issues, all of the issues revolved around him. She would be much better off without him in her life.

“Hale?”

“Sorry, I was thinking. Your father probably didn’t know what else to do with me.”

“You’re right, but I’m still angry with him.” She narrowed her eyes as she smiled. “And your only saving grace is that you told me about everything.”

“Right. I doubt I’ll forget that anytime soon.”

She shifted over a few inches and curled up to him. He turned on his back so that she could rest her head on his chest. Moving his arm around her, he played with her soft hair. She had forgiven him and was in his arms once again. The guilt of keeping a secret from her had slowly left his mind. He could peacefully enjoy the rest of their week together.

“One thing I don’t understand is how that deal means we can’t be together,” she mused.

Hale looked at her and found her eyes waiting for him. Her optimism was astounding. He could think of many reasons why they couldn’t be together, not ever. “Your father for one.”

“You don’t have much faith in me do you.” Her tone was humorous and light. “You don’t think I can change his opinion of you?”

“Well, I don’t think you have a long enough time.”

“True. Besides, I don’t always get my way, do I?”

“Most of the time you do.”

“Also true.”

Hale faced her with his body and moved down to align their faces. He closed his eyes and breathed in the scent he came to identify as hers. Only she could smell so sweet. As the distance between them vanished, the more he could almost taste her, and when he could, he wanted more of her. He wanted her to be completely his. She should never be, but that didn’t change his desires. If anything, that made them stronger.

Following his lusts never helped him gain anything long-lasting in his life. He repeatedly traded temporary satisfaction and excitement for happiness and real love. He had gone on for years without a thought and ignored his longing for something that was true. He could drink his guilt away whenever it became unbearable. He had survived like this. Who he hurt along the way mattered little to his numbed heart, until Pandora. Pretty soon after he met her, he realized he didn’t want to hurt her like the others. That was why he hesitated with her over and over again. Pandora thought it was because he didn’t want her, which was the furthestfrom the truth. Because he didn’t want something temporary with her was the reason he didn’t go any further with her. He figured he would be going after lust yet again.

As he kissed her now, he was beginning to realize he wanted her for an entirely different reason, something much deeper than lust.

Pandora ended the moment gracefully by backing away from him. “Hale,” she whispered. “We don’t have to say goodbye. Not ever.”

“What do you mean? I have to go.”

“You have to leave Elani, but you don’t have to leave me. I can come with you.”

Strangely enough, he hadn’t thought about that scenario, her coming with him. Not one time did he think that would be an option. He wasn’t sure about even now. Before his mind turned to all of the negatives, he thought of how incredible that could be, which was probably her influence. He could take her with him everywhere. They could see the galaxy together. While his ship had been his movable home most of his life, he might consider actually buying a house that would be their home. When he wasn’t working, he could spend all his time with her. He would never be alone again.

“What do you think? Please say yes.”

“Well… I—I’m not sure. I—”

Pandora kneeled over his chest, steadying herself with her legs at his side. Her satin nightgown bunched up around her thighs. She brought her soft hand to his face and caressed the underside of his lip with her thumb. He knew what she was doing. She probably knew that he knew. And she probably predicted that it would work regardless, which it was. After he managed to draw his eyes away from her legs, he looked into her eyes, nearly worshiping their violet golden brilliance.

Mentally, she had cornered him. He couldn’t think about anything except her.

“Answer me, Hale.”

He wanted to say yes. He never wanted to be without her. Shouldn’t he tell her the truth?

“If that’s… what you… want,” he said, struggling to form his words. He was completely distracted by her body, like she wanted him to be.

“I can’t let you leave. I’m not ready for that.” She leaned and planted kisses along his jawline.

“You know how to get your way,” Hale said, placing a hand on her back.

“I actually have another idea.”

“Go on.”

She tumbled off him and the bed. She skipped over to her dresser and came back with a square device. She typed something into the keypad on the side of the device, and a three dimensional holograph of a city and its surrounding lands appeared.

“This is a map of this city.” She pointed at the largest building in the center of the map. “My castle.” Then she brought her finger to a dark spot near the city outskirts. “This is entrance to the caves. I was thinking we could go there on our way out.”

Hale sat up and thought about what she was asking of him. “I’d have to agree. I think that’s our best chance.”

She wrapped her arms around him to hug him. “Thank you!”

“Your dad has given me a ship to leave in whenever I want to during the week. We can leave at night when it will be easier for me to sneak around. I’ll come get you so don’t worry about anything.”

Pandora grabbed a hold on the collar of his shirt and pulled him with her as she lay back on the mattress. For a while, he hung over her body, simply admiring her radiant skin. She placed both of her smooth, flawless hands onto his face waiting him to kiss her. He brushed his lips across her neckline up to her mouth. Purposely, he waited and stared into her eyes steadily. A couple times she glanced away in her nervousness. The last time her gaze returned to his, he finally kissed her as he desired. She hugged his neck and pulled him closer. Tempted by her, he found himself struggling to hold back. His heart beat was already running too quickly, but neither of them were ready to part. Hale wanted to get as close as he could to her.

He followed along her every curve with his hands. He imagined her skin being even softer than her nightgown. Taking his time, he pushed her gown higher and dragged his fingers along the newly exposed skin of her legs. Pandora’s hands found the bottom of his shirt and pulled it up over his chest.

“Hold… on,” he whispered.

He kneeled and took off his shirt, slinging it across the room. Her gaze intensified at the sight of his chest. He grinned at her reaction but really to hide the butterflies she gave him. He had no choice but to rely on his instincts that his experience had helped him to perfect. After he brought himself back to her, he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her waist and pressed kisses against her neck. Her warm breaths melted into his skin. Like an automatic hammer, his heart pounded against his chest, making him wonder if it would explode.

Hale reached down and started pulling her dress up to take it off. The higher her dress became, the more hesitant he was. Not too long ago they had been fighting. His most passionate encounters occurred most often after a passionate fight. While that wasn’t a bad thing necessarily, here it absolutely was. He really didn’t want their first time together to be making up after a fight. Looking into her eyes, He found there the same regret burning into his soul. Both of them knew better than to continue.

As Hale prepared to say something to her, he was interrupted by the sound someone knocking on her door. Hale pulled her dress down and mouthed I’m sorry to her. Pandora stroked his cheek gently before scurrying to the door.

She opened the door. “What do you need at this hour?”

“Your father has requested that we escort Hale back to his room.”

Hale placed his hand over his chest. He had gotten distracted by her that he forgot to keep track of his heart rate.

Pandora scoffed loudly. “I’m letting him stay. You tell my father to—”

Hale had made his way to her side and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I can just see you tomorrow. It’s getting late.”

“Hale, no. Don’t—”

“It’s not a big deal. We’ll have time tomorrow.”

Irritated but exhausted, she relented. “Goodnight.”

“Sleep well,” Hale said, following the guard. Having to leave her, his feet dragged. Considering everything that happened between them tonight, he hated to leave her alone. She might have been feeling the same mixed emotions as he was. While he wanted to be there for her, he needed time alone. He had much to think over. They had agreed that Pandora would come with him, but what would be the consequences of such an action. He hadn’t been able to consider all the doubts that now entered his mind.