Page 33 of Goldilocks

Sam jerked in surprise, twisting to meet a furious glare.

“No, no,” Connor said quickly, “it’s—”

The air warmed as a strange haze blurred Adonis’s legs. They merged, lengthened, and Sam fell forward with a yelp as the bar he was leaning against abruptly gave way.

“Crap,” Connor cursed.

Sam fell overboard with the detached railing, the screech of shearing metal piercing through his skull like a physical blow. Heat clipped his ear. He hit the water on his side, plunged beneath the waves, and in just a few seconds, his wrist was grabbed. He was pulled through the water, up to the surface.

Sam broke the waterline, coughed out a mouthful of saltwater and blinked in surprise to see it was Devil’s beautiful face in front of him. “Oh.” The saltwater burned his eyes, and he rubbed them with the back of his hand.

“It was a turn of phrase, Adonis,” Connor was saying up above. “It meant he behaved in a certain way, and I wished I had seen the behaviour. I didn’t mean I wanted to see his dick.”

Sam looked up to see Adonis’s true form. His giant tail had, to put it bluntly, just wrecked the entire railing of Connor’s yacht. Connor had his arms wrapped around Adonis’s torso, keeping a hold of him. Adonis glared at Sam as if he were about to drown him.

Devil moved between them, head tilted back as he, too, gazed up at the growling Adonis. He drifted backwards until Sam’s legs were butting up against his tail as he kicked to keep his head above water. Devil reached back, caught Sam’s wrist and held him firmly. With his arm as a brace, Sam could float without kicking his legs and hitting his tail.

“I think I’ll head back to my boat,” Sam called, seeing that Connor’s words weren’t doing anything to lessen Adonis’s ferocious glare. Connor had warned Sam before never to mention the fact that they’d dated in front of Adonis; and he could see that had been a very smart precaution on Connor’s behalf.

“Are you hurt?” Connor asked, concern in his voice.

“Not at all.”

Devil pushed back, creating distance between them and the yacht.

“Let me throw down the ladder. I’ll bring you back.”

“You know what?” Sam thought about it for only a second. Devil spent most of his time tormenting Sam, but he was also pretty sure that he would take care of him in the water. He had when he’d fallen in earlier, after all, and just now he’d been there to grab him right away. “I’ll swim over with Devil. It’s not that far.”

Connor burst into laughter. “‘Devil’?”

“Goldilocks! I said Goldilocks!” Sam burned crimson.

Devil, Goldilocks, slowly turned his head. Sam wanted to sink beneath the waves and stay there. “I said Goldilocks.” He knew his damned skin had turned bright red. His golden eyes met Sam’s, bright against the dark blue that surrounded them. Small droplets of seawater shook loose from his golden lashes as he blinked.

Devil frowned, his gaze sliding sideways to Sam’s temple. His hand lifted from the water, his fingers pushing back a lock of hair. Warm fingertips brushed the edge of his ear. Sam winced, the touch stinging. He guessed it had been sliced by the railing, hopefully not too badly. Devil’s top lip twitched, threatening that sneer he usually cast at Sam when he delayed painting him for schoolwork, and his gaze moved from the injury to Adonis. The sound that hummed from Devil’s chest was low; it had goosebumps prickling over Sam’s arms.

Connor’s smile faded. And for a moment, looking up at him, Sam thought that Connor’s eyes were glowing. “It was an accident,” Connor said. Calm, if not for the unnatural stillness that washed over him.

Adonis tensed as all traces of aggression left his face. The sneer vanished. The glare ceased. Adonis pressed his cheek to Connor’s chest, his low whine filling the air.

Devil’s eyes moved from their fixed position on Adonis to Connor. And in that swap, the growl lessened. The two of them stared at each other, and Sam’s instincts were telling him that he was looking at two apex predators about to get into a fight. And he didn’t understand why Connor felt like the one who was more dangerous.

Sam shook himself internally. He made himself look harder at Connor: he wasn’t sitting on a throne, just a yacht with a mangled railing. He was wearing green shorts that Trevor had probably bought him and Nick’s hoodie that Trevor had insisted he wear to keep warm. The wind had his hair in tangles. The blue yacht lights only gave the illusion that his grey eyes were glowing.

“Connor,” Sam interrupted. “Do you mind? I’m cold.”

Connor’s gaze stayed on Devil, unyielding; it was Devil who broke eye contact, turning his back on Connor to face Sam. He slipped his grip from Sam’s forearm to his hand and, with a swish of his tail, began to move. Sam’s boat was in the distance. Too far for him to confidently swim to alone, but with Devil tugging him along, it was more than doable.

Sam looked over his shoulder to Connor, who, after a final long look at the back of Devil’s head, mouthed, “Sorry,” to Sam.

“Adonis, let’s see if you can bend that back into place for me.” Connor’s voice carried over the water.

Chapter Twelve

Sam kicked his legs to contribute to their momentum. Without pausing, Devil turned onto his back and gave him a very pointedstop thatlook. Sam stopped.

At the boat, Devil boosted Sam over the railing and Sam shook himself out. “At least the ocean isn’tthatcold now,” Sam said, immediately beginning the workout of peeling wet clothes off. A few months ago, he’d have had to worry about hypothermia after a few minutes in the water. Still. Anything above bathwater temperature, and Sam had no interest. He liked being warm far more than he liked swimming. He entered the cabin, opening his tub as the boat tilted to the side under Devil’s weight.