Chapter 181: Unexpected Encounters

I continued to walk through the hall, my mind still gnawing on the hurdle I’d met. Every few steps, my thoughts circled back to it — the problem, the complications, the what-ifs. I needed to clear my head. The bathroom called. A deep clean would help, wash away the tension along with everything else.

The cabin had gone quiet. Everyone was either dead asleep in their bunks or out on the deck, watching the stars drift across the black sky.

Only my footsteps broke the silence as I walked through the hall, the wooden floor creaking softly beneath my weight. Or so I thought.

I passed a doorway and froze mid-step.

My head cocked slightly to the side, ears straining. My enhanced hearing had picked up something through the wood. It was soft and distant but unmistakable once I tuned in.

’Moans...’

I backpedaled a few steps, barely believing what I was catching. I thought I’d misheard at first — maybe a creak of the ship, the wind through some gap in the hull. But the more attention I paid, the clearer it became.

This wasn’t my imagination.

There were definitely moans coming through that door. Quiet enough that normal ears would’ve missed them entirely, muffled by wood and distance — but with enhanced hearing, there was no mistaking it. The rhythm, the pitch, the slight catch of breath between sounds.

And the voice...

My face contorted the moment recognition hit.

’Nisha...?’

The first thing I felt was betrayal. Sharp and immediate, like a blade slipping between ribs when you weren’t looking.

But almost as quickly, I caught myself. Forced myself to stop and actually think.

’Hold on.’

It wasn’t like Nisha and I had anything defined between us. We’d fucked — that was true. Memorably. Intensely. But she hadn’t made me any promises, hadn’t called me hers, hadn’t asked me to be anything to her. I didn’t know who was in there with her right now, didn’t know what history they might share. For all I knew, I was the one who’d interrupted something that had been going on long before I ever showed up.

’I hope I didn’t...’

The thought twisted uncomfortably in my gut as I stepped away from the door, continuing toward the bathroom.

’Wait.’

My feet slowed again, another realization surfacing.

’Does that mean she cheated? That I helped her cheat?’

The idea threatened to drown me in a cold wave of dread. If she had a man — if what we did in that cave was her stepping out on someone else’s territory — then I’d been an unwitting accomplice. A weapon she’d used to hurt someone who didn’t even know I existed.

But even as the panic rose, my mind worked hard to build a defense.

I hadn’t known anything. She’d given no indication there was anyone else. And her behavior with me... she’d looked like she wanted more when we were together. Like she couldn’t get enough. That wasn’t how someone acted when they were feeling guilty about betraying a lover. That was how someone acted when they were starving and finally getting fed.

I wasn’t going to guilt myself for information I never had.

’Looking back... her strange attitude toward me kind of makes sense now.’

I’d noticed it before but hadn’t been able to place it. The way Nisha looked at me sometimes — like she wanted to reach out but kept pulling her hand back at the last second. Distant one moment, then leaning in the next. Cold on the surface with heat flickering underneath, visible if you knew where to look.

I’d written it off as her personality. Maybe this was just who she was when she wasn’t helping a random stranger escape from a kingdom. Some people were complicated like that. Walls up, doors locked, but always watching from behind the curtains.

But with this new piece of information, the behavior took on a different shape entirely.

’What if I’ve ruined her relationship?’

A valid fear. Because — and this wasn’t bragging, just honest assessment — I knew exactly how Nisha had sounded in that cave. The walls had been solid rock, and she’d still nearly brought them down with the noises she was making. Her voice had echoed off stone, filled every inch of that space. There was no way some thin metal door could’ve contained that kind of sound if anyone had been listening.

Hell, how had the room not come apart from the way she’d punched through solid rock with her bare hands?

There was no getting around it. Whatever I’d given her had been something new. Something that hit different from what she was used to. And now, having to go back to the usual...

That must’ve felt like a punishment.

’No wonder she looked so down...’

I shook my head on her behalf as I pushed into the bathroom, the thought lingering even as I stripped down and lowered myself into the round wooden tub. The warm water wrapped around my body, heat soaking into tired muscles, but my mind refused to settle.

’Who’s fucking her though?’

The question gnawed at me, wouldn’t let go.

Tristan? Derry? Levi?

I mentally sorted through the crew, trying to map out who Nisha was closest to. Running the calculus of proximity, history, chemistry. The obvious answer was Levi — they had history, comfort, the kind of easy rapport that came from knowing someone for a long time.

But trying to picture Levi and Nisha together... it didn’t fit. The image refused to form in my head, like two puzzle pieces that should connect but wouldn’t click together no matter how you turned them.

’They don’t have to be in a relationship.’

Still didn’t work.

’So maybe Derry? Tristan?’

I could see Tristan making a move — he had that energy, that confidence that said he’d shoot his shot without hesitation. But he’d been in Athermere for a while. Could they really just be casual partners who picked things up whenever the opportunity presented itself?

And Derry... if it was Derry in there with her, wouldn’t the whole damn cabin be shaking? Wouldn’t Nisha’s voice be a lot louder than what I was hearing through that door?

’You can’t judge a book by its cover. Derry could have a little peewie.’

Take me, for example. Small frame. Unassuming build. But mighty where it counted. Who would look at me and actually guess what I was packing? Not many.

My gaze drifted downward through the water, to where my dick rested beneath the surface. The thought made me smirk.

That was when I noticed the ripple.

Something in the water. Something that wasn’t me.

I yelled, hands slapping the surface as I scrambled back into a fighting stance, fists raised and ready to strike at whatever the hell was surfacing from beneath—

A figure rose from the water.

Red hair emerged first, slick and wet, plastered across a face that was slowly revealed as the water level dropped to shoulder height. The strands clung to skin like seaweed, obscuring features until the last moment.

My eyes went wide.

’Kassie?!’

A small frown creased her brows, like she was the one who had reason to be confused here.

"What are you doing?"

I fired back immediately, still half in my fighting stance. "I could ask you the same thing! What are you doing? I was sure I didn’t see anyone here when I got in!"

’Was I so lost in thought I completely missed her?’

Her frown deepened, her tone flattening into something cold. "And you’re still here?"

I started to move — instinct telling me to get out, give her space, act like a reasonable person who’d accidentally walked in on someone—

But then a different thought surfaced.

’Kassie’s in the water with me. How often am I going to get an opportunity like this?’

She must have seen the shift in my expression, the confidence climbing back into my face, because her voice came sharp and immediate:

"If you stay one more second, I’m going to kick you out of here and possibly destroy this wooden basin. Do you want that?"

"Wait wait wait wait." I raised my hands in surrender before she could move. "Listen to me. Just listen, okay?"

Kassie didn’t respond. Just fixed me with a dark scowl that promised violence if I said the wrong thing.

Since she wasn’t attacking yet, I took it as permission to speak.

"I don’t intend to do anything," I said, keeping my voice steady and my hands visible. "I just want to stay here. Have a bath. With you."

Her scowl deepened, suspicion carved into every line of her face.

"We both know you have a nasty touch," she said. "One I’m weakened to. You’ll—"

"I won’t touch you." I cut her off, holding her gaze. "I promise."

I let that hang in the air for a moment, watching her, then added:

"I just want to stay here. You stay there. We enjoy each other’s company. The warmth of the water. You don’t have to touch me either — the water between us is enough."

I meant every word.

Yes, I’d been fucking for the past few hours. And yes, if Kassie suddenly decided to spread her legs and invite me over, I’d be ready to go until she passed out again. That switch never really turned off.

But I was also content. Genuinely content with where I was right now. If I could just sit here, share this space with her, talk or not talk — I wasn’t going to ruin it by pushing for something more.

Kassie held my gaze for a long moment, her expression unreadable, water dripping from her hair into the bath below.

Then, without a word, she turned away from me.

’Yes!!’