Chapter 24

He approached me, and we looked into each other's eyes. He raised his hand, and gently he dragged the back of his fingers to the line of my jaw.

"I want you to know that if it were up to me, I wouldn't let you go," he whispered.

I raised my eyebrows in wonder. "What do you mean? Why did you do something like that? "

He held me by the side of my neck. "That's why," he told me and pressed his lips to mine. His vehemence was so sudden, the contact of our bodies that a shiver went through my spine. The touch of his lips against mine was so tender like velvet. I detected alcohol in his breath, but this time, I ignored it.

At first, my eyes widened in surprise, but after a while, I closed them, and all my senses focused on the sensation of his lips on mine. My heart was pounding, and I felt my body numbing.

I couldn't move.

His free hand hugged me from the waist and pulled me closer to him. His kiss was mild, and I followed his lead, opening my mouth slightly, and that was a big mistake because when I felt his tongue coming into my mouth, I panicked; firstly because mainly I didn't know what to do and secondly this shouldn't be happening anyway.

I put my hands on his chest and pushed him slightly, but he didn't back down. On the contrary, he pulled me closer to him.

I was obliged to push him harder until he finally pulled back.

"What happened?" he asked me, and his voice was more horse as usual.

"This can't be done, Captain, no." I declared and left.

The night I lay down on my bed, I cried when I made sure that Brielle was asleep.

I cried because I, unlike the Captain, was feeling so many things for him, while I didn't think he felt the same. He just wanted a woman in his bed. And it was very convenient for him that at some point, I would leave, and he would get rid of me after boring me.

But on the other hand, he had said that he would not let me go if it was up to him. Why did he say that? Because he really meant it or to throw me on his bed, and then without giving it a moment's thought, he would get me out of it.

All confused, a tangle in my head, which was about to explode, my mind and heart were constantly in a war. I couldn't choose which of the two to follow and I suffered.

When my tears dried, I fell asleep on my wet pillow.

The next day when I went to deliver his breakfast, he approached me again. My heart was pounding at the thought of kissing me again.

He looked at me seriously. He had his hands behind his back.

"I see in your eyes, Serena, that there is something inside you for me" he stretched his hand and touched the vein on the side of my neck. I felt my cheeks burning, and when he noticed it, he smiled and removed his hand, putting it behind his back again. "You see? You can't hide from me. Your body is talking to me, Serena.

But something is holding you back, and I want to know what that is. Talk to me, Serena." His gaze was intense and made me feel weak at the knees.

I took a deep breath. He was right about everything. But I didn't dare to tell him what I had in mind. The ones that destroyed my logic piece by piece from the moment I had overheard the men, and since then, I haven't found peace.

How could I dare to tell him that I had overheard? And the worse part? Was it possible for him to learn that his own crew, the men he trusted, talked about him behind his back, no matter how harmless they thought it was? Because I know they didn't say all this with bad intentions.

It would be a disgrace of me to inform against them to their Captain, and indeed at some point, they would find out that was me. How could I ever look at them in the eyes again? They treated me so well, and this is how I will repay them? Never!

But I had to answer something.

"Since I am leaving the ship, I don't want things to get complicated between us. The closer we get, the harder it will be for me to get over it later. So I want to keep myself as safe as possible." That was a part of the whole truth.

"Stay with me Serena, here on the boat."

I wanted to scream at him, 'For how long? Until you get bored of me?' But it didn't come out of my mouth. Something kept me from doing it, and I didn't know how to explain it.

"I can't do that, I can't just leave Lady Brielle. She did so much for me. She offered so much the last years."

"Let Lady stay as well then," he told me.

I offered him a wintry smile. "I think you miss something here, Captain. I follow Lady Brielle, and not Lady Brielle follows me." I told him and left his cabin.

A few days later, when I went to the room to get Brielle's breakfast as every day, she hadn't yet got up. I approached her and noticed that she was very sweaty. I touched her, and my hand burned from the fever coming from her body.

I got panicked, and I immediately called the doctor.

He instructed me to change the sheets and put other clean and dry ones. And to wear a dry nightgown to Brielle.

Jimena helped me with that. The muscular strength she had seemed very useful in this case. The doctor assured everyone that it wasn't something infectious and told them that Lady had gone a few days before to see him because something had stung her when she was down to the river.

I stayed in her headrest most hours of the day. Next to me, I had a container of cold water mixed with vinegar along with a piece of cloth to cool her forehead. The first days passed without being able to get out of bed. She ate almost nothing, nor did she drink enough water.

The doctor told me to give her some medicine, but it was not always easy to administer it myself. I needed help.

Everyone was willing to help, and that deeply moved me.

For this very reason, I couldn't inform against them to the Captain.

One day, seeing Brielle in that bad condition, I couldn't stand it anymore. I left the room and ran to the deck.

I leaned on the handrail and started crying hard.

Suddenly I heard his hoarse voice telling me. "Come with me. Follow me."