Chapter 20

The next day I helped Lucas with the fishing nets, and we have done with this trouble.

By noon, as the Captain had calculated, we had entered the river. I was very impressed by how extensive it was, and it looked more like a sea than a river.

The water was crystal clear, and at the bottom, I could see the stones that covered it, as well as the many fish that swam into the depths.

There was dense vegetation on both sides of the river. Wherever we looked, it was green, and the view was amazing.

"A place such that, it must have plenty of animals to hunt," commented Lucas, who was next to me. We both leaned on the handrail of the ship and watched everything.

"Are you going hunting too?" I asked him.

"If I am one of those who the Captain chooses to go, then I go. We all know how to hunt. But what I want to tell you is that we never leave the ship unattended only. Always some of us stay behind to guard it and if something happens then they warn us to come back."

"I understand," I told him abstractly.

His words reminded me of the Captain, and my mind started traveling back in the morning when I went to get his breakfast.

He had treated me like the night before. He only greeted me formally and nothing more. But… the way he looked at me didn't change. His gaze was the same intensity. In his eyes, I saw the same flame burning and burned me too.

He didn't try to talk to me; he didn't refer to the incident.

He seemed to have forgotten, and that would be the best. But was that the truth?

Maybe the spectacle I unwittingly offered him wasn't anything significant for him after all.

I remembered the men's words about the many women who had passed by his bed.

Brielle had told me the same things, and she hadn't heard what I had heard from the men. That it wasn't the first time the Captain had seen breasts.

I felt my blood boil and clenched my fists in anger and… jealousy?

I had a hard time admitting it to myself, but yes, I've started to miss his touch.

But maybe it would have been better things remain in that way since, in a few days, Brielle and I would leave the ship forever, and then everything would end.

"Hey, Serena! Don't you hear me talking to you?"

"What?" I replied as if hypnotized.

"I talk to you and you don't answer, basically I was a little scared because you didn't even move your eyelids." Lucas told me and hugged me by the shoulders.

"Are you okay?" he asked me gently.

"Yes, I am fine. I am sorry, I was absent-minded for a while. What did you tell me? "

"If you would like to watch fishing."

"That would be great. But first I have to discuss it with Jimena, because she told me she wanted us to wash some clothes."

"Okay then. Tell me when you know."

"When will it be done?"

"The ship must stop first."

"Nice! I will know until then."

"Very well."

While Lucas and I were chatting, I stole a glance at the Captain.

He didn't leave Ian's side for a minute, giving him instructions whenever needed.

Captain seemed so forceful and imposing whenever he was holding the wheel or being next to it. Something was changing in his look that I didn't know exactly how to identify.

The men had gathered the outer sails, sailing only with the middle one, and the ship's speed had slowed down.

"Odin, Alan, Peter!" The Captain suddenly called the men.

The three men appeared immediately in front of the Captain. I couldn't hear what he was saying to them, but I saw him pointing somewhere in front of them.

The men nodded and headed to a corner of the ship and uncovered a small boat.

"Drop the anchor!" the Captain raised his voice.

Lucas, who was next to me, left immediately to carry out the order. Tobias and Victor went with him.

When the boat stopped moving, Odin, Alan, and Peter lowered the boat into the river.

What happened? Was there any problem? Did I have to start worrying?

I searched for Lucas to ask him, but I didn't see him anywhere on deck. Where had he disappeared?

As my gaze continued to search for Lucas on deck, it met the Captain's eyes looking at me.

He beckoned to me to approach him, and my steps led me to him.

"What's going on? What are you looking for?" he asked me, tilting his head to the side, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.

"I was looking for Lucas. I want to ask him what is going on. Why the boat went down to the river? Do I have to start worrying or not?"

His soft laugh made my heart flutter.

"No, you don't need to worry. Come here." he told me, and I moved on until I reached next to him. "Do you see over there?" he asked me, pointing somewhere in front of us to the river, but I didn't understand what exactly he was showing me.

"No, Captain. I don't see what you are trying to show me."

Still looking in front of him, he bent down, bringing his head to the height of mine. Our cheeks were almost sticky, and this made my heart kick in my chest.

"There. Can you see there?" he told me, pointing to the spot in front of us again.

I followed with my gaze the strained finger of his hand at the spot he was pointing, and then I saw it! It was a small bay created by the river.

"Yes! I think I can see it now. It is the small bay, isn't it?" I turned and looked at him, and he did the same.

"Yes, it is about it." he stuttered.

Our lips were within breathing distance while we were still staring at each other. The familiar scent of sea sending out of his body flooded my senses, and I felt dizzy.

His gaze slipped down to my lips.

Without realizing it, my lips opened slightly, and then the magic disappeared. He straightened his body abruptly and took a step away from me.

"The boat went down to check the bottom of the river," he informed me, looking elsewhere.

"Thank you, Captain," I said and dragged my steps to the kitchen.

Why did I feel so frustrated? I should not. Even if the Captain made a move towards me, I shouldn't give in.

In the back of my mind, there would always be the information I had overheard. That women for the Captain were a kind to be consumed and only that. Would I like to be one of them? No, never!

My mind spoke to me logically, but my heart refused to understand its words.

It would be ideal for me if the disgrace I felt after the unfortunate incident managed to banish everything I felt when I was near him. The problem would be solved, and I would find my peace again. But that didn't happen. The shame I felt didn't go away once and for all except in the beginning when I didn't want to see him because the shyness I was feeling prevailed.

The fact that the Captain seemed to have forgotten the incident helped me a lot so that the shame calmed down inside me. But it was not completely gone. Did he really forget about the incident, or did he pretend to have forgotten? I wasn't sure which of the two was in force.

Nothing of all this didn't matter anyway because I realized that I was still attracted to his presence, and his penetrating gaze still had the same effect on me.

My legs turned to water and nailed me down.

My mind was unjustly screaming to me to turn away from him, to stop feeling all those things I was feeling.

The battle of mind against heart was raging inside me, and I thought I was near losing my mind.