Page 38 of Goldilocks

Goldilocks flicked her hands away and took it from her. “It is mine,” he said, giving her a warning look.

Vi huffed. “Yes, I know. But you can allow me to borrow it, then?”

Sam’s attention focused on Yven. He had a thoughtful look; his eyes fixed on the notebook with concentration. “Perhaps you can part with one page?” Yven began tentatively. “Just the one with—”

“No,” Sam said sternly. Why was he focused on Connor? What did that ‘this is him’ mean?

Yven and Vi looked at Sam, surprise flitting across both their expressions. Sam didn’t know what Yven’s comment meant, but he didn’t want him to have the drawing of Connor.

“It belongs to Goldilocks and nobody else,” Sam said firmly.

Goldilocks took the notebook with a pleased look.

Vi pursed her lips but inclined her head. “Of course.”

Goldilocks jutted his chin, and the same woman who brought the notebook came and retrieved it. His golden eyes travelled to Sam’s empty plate, and he stood. His fingers brushed along the slope of Sam’s shoulders. The tips of his fingers teased beneath the collar of the silk robe. The touch reminded Sam that he was under-dressed and having a meal with two strangers, not that either Vi or Yven seemed to mind. “You are finished?”

Sam nodded.

“Come,” he said.

Sam wasn’t sure he liked these commands, but he was a little overwhelmed, and Goldilocks at least was familiar to him. He stood, murmuring to Yven and Vi that it was nice meeting them, and followed Goldilocks as he led him away.

“Did you like the food?” Goldilocks asked as they walked down a long hallway.

“Yes.”

Goldilocks hummed.

Goldilocks pulled Sam by the hand into a room that was filled with steam. Sam paused in the doorway, examining the layout as Goldilocks shut the door behind them. There was another one of those pools; the ones that seemed to go down forever, and next to it was a pool with a visible bottom. Steam rose from it, flower petals floating on top. The air was humid and fragrant, the scent of flowers pleasant.

Goldilocks stepped in front of Sam and pulled open the sash of his robe with a tug. He guided the fabric over Sam’s shoulders, and the robe slid down to pool at Sam’s feet.

The steam from the large pool warmed the air, and Sam wasn’t cold. His heart raced as Goldilocks’s fingers skimmed down his chest, over his ribs. His index finger hooked into the band of Sam’s boxers. “Off,” Goldilocks said.

Sam swallowed hard.

He wasn’t exactly the shyest guy in the world, but stripping down with a merman from another world staringrightthere was asking a whole lot. “Turn around first.”

Goldilocks lifted his gaze, meeting Sam’s eyes. He paused, before he nodded and turned his back.

“I have turned,” Goldilocks said after seconds passed, during which Sam just stared at the back of his head.

“Why do I have to get naked?”

“Do you usually bathe while clothed?”

Sam shifted his weight. “No, but—”

“Strip.”

“Stop bossing me around. You’re being rude.”

Sam didn’t see it, but he sensed Goldilocks’s top lip curl up. “I turned as you asked me to.”

Sam glanced between Goldilocks and the pool of steaming water. Even if he took off his boxers here, he would have to walk past Goldilocks naked to get into it. “Walk over there.” Sam pushed on Goldilocks’s back, and the merman walked forward willingly until they were side by side with the giant tub. Goldilocks’s back was solid muscle beneath Sam’s hand, his body an inferno of heat, even through his shirt. Sam stood, apprehensively looking at the back of Goldilocks’s head. “Are you angry?”

“I am not.”