6. Sylas

SIX

The musclesin my jaw clenched as I stared up at my pilot. Or, I should say, my former pilot, the woman I'd essentially fired this morning. It would be better if she'd gotten off the damn ship last night, but she'd stayed.

Of course she had. She was a spitfire, a feisty little thing.

You can't fire me. Not until you give me a chance.

Her eyes were bright, and from this close up I could see that each one was a different color, pale blue and green. Beautiful. That fact was undeniable. Those strands of reddish-brown hair were damp, spilling down over her shoulders like she'd just gotten out of the shower.

The sweet smelling scent of her shampoo wafted over towards me, and I did my best not to inhale it. God, now I was picturing her in the shower. What was that scent? I shut my eyes, willing myself not to imagine it.

I was her superior officer, for fuck's sake. There was no reason I should think about her like that.

This girl had balls, too. I would give her that. Not just anyone would show up in front of their captain to plead their case. Even if she had called me an asshole in the process.

"Did you really just call me an asshole while begging for your job back?" I almost smiled, feeling surprisingly amused by the whole situation.

"I wouldn't say I was begging." Aurelia's lips curved down. "But I will do whatever it takes to convince you." She was wringing her hands like she was nervous. Her eyes were a little red, and there was a knee-jerk reaction in me. "I'll even log extra hours, spend more time at the console, pick up other duties?—"

I thought back to what Orion had shared yesterday. My lips tugged down into a frown and I interrupted her. "Have you been crying?"

"What?" Her face looked incredulous.

"You just…" I let out another grunt. "Never mind." Thrusting my hands into my dark hair, I pulled at the strands. What was wrong with me?

The truth was, I'd been standing on unsteady terrain ever since I first saw her. And reading her file… damn. She was an exemplary cadet, an incredibly motivated student. No one had done so well during simulation trainings since, well… me.

Her scores were incredible. So why was I telling her no?

"Please." Her pleading eyes almost took me out. "This is everything I've worked for my entire life. I can't just sit on this ship and do nothing."

Then leave. That was what I should have said. Because there was no way I was going to be able to work with her under my skin. The moment I'd set eyes on her, I knew she would be.

"Fine." I ran my hand over my short beard. I normally kept it cropped, because it drove me crazy when it got too long.

"Sorry, what?" Her eyes widened, like she hadn't heard me correctly. I wondered what her irises look like close up, if I took the time to admire them. They were so intriguing, the different colors swirling around.

"I said fine." I cleared my throat, tearing my eyes away from her face. "You don't have to do nothing."

"But I?—"

"You want to prove yourself to me?" I asked, cutting her off. I knew I was being an asshole, but I couldn't bring myself to stop. Not when she looked so vulnerable, standing in the middle of my office. Not when her scent was overriding my senses, clouding my judgement.

Aurelia chewed on her lower lip before nodding. "Yes."

"Then do it. Show me what you can do."

"Is this a joke? Are you being serious right now?"

Quirking an eyebrow, I kept my face devoid of emotion. "I don't joke, Aurelia."

Her gaze met mine, and she didn't look away. One beat, two—I was ensnared by her beauty. Enraptured just from the feeling of her full attention on me.

"Thank you, sir. For giving me a chance. You won't regret it, I promise."

A grunt slipped out from my lips, breaking the spell as I looked out the window. I was going to get this attraction under control. I wouldn't let my new pilot distract me from my mission. No matter how pretty she was, or how soft her lips looked.

Fuck. I shut my eyes, focusing on something else. Anything else.

"Is that all?" I huffed out.

Her brows drew together before she gave me a nod. "Yes, Captain. That's all." Aurelia dipped her head in a small bow, taking a few steps away before turning back to me. "You'll restore my access to the bridge? And we won't have any other…" she trailed off, like she was trying to settle on the right word, "problems?"

"As long as you do your job, we'll be fine, Lieutenant Callisto."

Something flickered through her eyes, and then she was gone, taking that scent with her. What was it? Floral and sweet, yet pleasant to my nose. Huh.

I looked at the map in front of me, with the carefully plotted out plans all laid out in front of me. The mission would be fine. Five years would fly by, and I was sure I'd get used to her presence eventually.

Hopefully.

Later in the day,I settled back down in the captain's chair, noticing that Aurelia was now sitting at the Pilot's console.

It was hard to miss her and her bright energy. She looked at home on the bridge—clearly having assimilated well to her new surroundings in just a few hours. A big smile was spread across her face as Orion leaned over, showing her something on the screen, and I felt a flicker of irritation at my navigator being so close to her.

Which I shouldn't. Because she was nothing to me. Especially after I fired her. Almost fired her, I mentally corrected myself.

"She's good," my sister murmured. "It took less than fifteen minutes until she'd familiarized herself with the system. Most people who are new to the bridge fumble for a few days, at least."

I remembered. Even simulators didn't quite compare to having an actual helm at your fingertips.

"Good." I glanced at her, rolling my eyes at her shit-eating grin. "What? A good captain can admit when he was wrong."

Kayle patted me on the shoulder, her voice low. "You did the right thing."

"Shut up," I muttered under my breath, wishing my younger sister didn't have to be right in this instance. I wasn't a man who liked to be wrong, but giving her a chance was better than kicking her off the ship.

She hadn't done anything wrong, regardless. It wasn't her fault I couldn't look away from her.

A laugh sounded from the navigation console, and I narrowed my eyes.

"Status report," I barked out, gaining the attention of everyone on the bridge.

Aurelia sat up straight, her eyes finally leaving the man at her side as she looked at me. Giving me her full attention. Good.

"All systems are online and fully functional, sir." That came from Leo, who gave me a grin. Bastard. If he wasn't one of my best friends, I would have called him out for not respecting me. But I knew he was just doing it to fuck with me. To get under my skin.

Orion's eyes met mine. "We're approximately twenty thousand kilometers from the warp point, Captain. Just a few more hours, and then we'll be on our way towards the targeted system."

"Perfect. Lieutenant Alastair?"

"Comms are all optimal and there's nothing unusual to report. Everything is running smoothly from my end," Violet reported. "We'll be in satellite range for a while longer, and then after that…"

I was still focused on my pilot, who had said nothing.

What did I want from her? I growled under my breath at myself. Nothing. There wasn't a single thing I needed from her. At least that was what I was going to keep telling myself. But wanting and needing were two different things, and I knew that all too well.

"Good." I nodded to myself after a moment. "Commander Kellar?" I addressed my sister.

"Crew all seem to be settling in to their roles well, and everyone is ready to get this maiden voyage underway." My sister looked at me, a little smile creeping onto her face. "Captain." I could practically hear the snicker in her voice.

My eyes connected with Aurelia's, who glanced up at me from her console, those dazzling eyes distracting me from what I'd been about to say.

"Lieutenant Callisto."

"Yes?" she asked, her chair swiveling to face me fully. Her face was filled with surprise, as if she hadn't expected to be called on.

"How are you settling in?" I cleared my throat.

"Oh." She looked embarrassed by me calling her out individually. "Good. Thank you for giving me a chance, sir."

I dipped my head in response. "I expect you will not disappoint me."

It briefly occurred to me that I hadn't asked for her report. How she felt flying the ship, but when all of the faces in the room looked back at me in surprise, my brows furrowed. "What?" The question came out as a bark.

Kayle elbowed me from my side, her voice barely a whisper. "You good?"

A slight nod was my only response.

What else was there to say?

"Captain." Orion cleared his throat.

"Yes?"

"I believe you were about to give us our orders."

I smoothed a hand over my face. "Right."

Redirecting my attention, I quickly barked out commands to everyone before settling back in my chair.

It was going to be a long five years.

LeavingKayle in command of the ship later that night, I went in search of dinner before heading back to my office to fill out paperwork. No one told you how much of being in charge was just filling out mindless loads of forms and records until you were in the role—and then it was too late.

At least I had time to update my captain's log about everything that had happened over the last few days.

Unfortunately, my moments of peace were always short-lived on this ship—something I'd have to get used to. Leo, Orion, and Wren crowded into my office, piling onto the couch and chairs that were across from my desk.

"Who's on the bridge?" I asked, quirking an eyebrow. Sure, it could auto-pilot itself, and after a certain point in the night, no one really needed to be in there—there were plenty of fail-safes in place to assure nothing would go wrong even if disaster was imminent.

That didn't mean I wanted them all in my office, though, either.

Leo grabbed a green apple from my table, taking a big bite of it. "The girls."

Yup, eyebrows were still raised. "The girls?"

"Relax," he said, waving me off with the hand he held the apple in. "Your sister is in charge, and the ship won't explode or anything." There was another crunch of the apple, and he looked contemplative. "Probably."

"So why, exactly," I started, waving my hand to close the documents I'd been working on, "are all of you idiots in my office?"

Orion barked out a deep laugh. "They say you should never work with your best friends."

"Who says that?" Leo frowned, pausing his munching. "We're great."

"Dude," Wren rolled his eyes. "Everyone. Have you met yourself?"

My blond engineer flashed a pearly-white smile. One that I knew would have women's panties melting, which made me thankful it was just us guys here. "Of course I have. I'm fantastic."

"Shut up," I groaned, wishing I had something to lob at them. Maybe I needed some pillows handy. Or something harder. "I'm trying to get paperwork done, not listen to all of you bicker."

"Sure." Wren crossed his arms over his chest. He'd rolled up the sleeves on his gray jumpsuit, exposing more of his tan, tattooed arms. "Paperwork. Definitely not hiding from anyone, huh?"

"Hiding? I'm the captain of this ship. Who would I need to hide from?"

"I can think of a few people," Leo muttered under his breath.

Orion piped up with, "One of them sits right next to me."

I narrowed my eyes, balling up a piece of paper and throwing it in the waste bin behind my desk. "I'm not avoiding Lieutenant Callisto, if that's what you're implying."

"Hey, you said it, not me." Wren moved over to my drink cart, pouring himself a gin and tonic. If I couldn't even count on my second to have my back, who could I count on?

"She's good." My navigator watched me from the couch. "It would have been a shame if she'd left, you know." His fingers danced over his leg, like he was playing an invisible beat.

"Kayle won't let me forget it," I grumbled. I needed a drink myself.

"What changed your mind?"

I rubbed my forehead. There was honesty, and there was, well—telling them to get the hell out of my office. For once, I chose the former. "She came barreling in here, telling me I had to give her a chance. So I did. That's all there is to it."

"Mmm. Sure, sure." Wren gave me that look—the I see you look. He'd known me for too long for me to hide much around him. "So it has nothing to do with how gorgeous she is?"

A growl slipped from my lips. Damn, I really needed something to throw at them. I eyed the paper I'd thrown in the trash.

Leo's eyes widened.

"You know I can assign you extra duties, right?" I scowled. My Chief of Security really wasn't making me want to go easy on him right now. "I heard that scut duty is really fun." Not that I could actually do it.

"You'd know," Wren remarked, looking too cool and confident. "Since you spent half of our years as cadets with it."

"I gave her a chance, and that's it. Nothing more."

Or at least, that was what I was telling myself.

Even if it was a lie.

Because she was gorgeous, and no part of me should think that way. Not when she was my officer.

Not when a romantic entanglement was the last thing I needed on this voyage.