Page 55 of Goldilocks

“Hey,” Sam objected. But his complaint lacked any real bite, turning into a chuckle as he felt Goldilocks’s chest flush against his back. Goldilocks’s entire body vibrated in a soothing purr, and he nestled his face into Sam’s hair.

He’s happy,Sam realised.And so am I.

Chapter Twenty

Sam woke up well-rested. His head clear, his body feeling amazing. The pillow against his cheek was soft. The blankets were warm and cosy. The arms locked around his waist were roasting. Sam didn’t even want to open his eyes. He was content to drift, doze. He didn’t want to move an inch.

The body behind him shifted. Warm breaths tickled the back of Sam’s neck, a nose nuzzled his hair and lips mouthed over the recently indented bite mark. Goldilocks had his teeth fitted over Sam’s nape before he could be bothered to speak.

“Sleeping, Goldilocks,” Sam murmured. He blindly reached back to bat the merman’s side.

Goldilocks hummed. His movements were lazy as he caught Sam’s wrist and pinned it to Sam’s stomach. Sam’s bare stomach…

Sam opened his eyes.

Daylight illuminated the inside of Sam’s cabin. The blankets that Goldilocks had brought him yesterday were heaped over them, and enough were under him that it almost didn’t feel like he was lying on a wooden frame. The cabin door knocked against the outer wall of the cabin with a thud. The hinges squeaked as it swung, but it stopped halfway open, and the next rock of the boat had it knock gently against the wall again.

Sam squinted his eyes against the daylight and saw Goldilocks’s tail spread out, the length too great to possibly fit into the cabin. The door swung open, hitting the golden scales with a gentle knock, before swinging back once more to the wall.

“Let me up a minute.” Sam eyed the stupid door as it swung open to hit Goldilocks’s tail again.

Goldilocks, kissing the back of Sam’s neck, ignored him. If anything, he did the opposite of Sam’s request and held him tighter.

“I just want to tie that so it stops hitting your tail.”

Sam winced as it hit him again. Unease cut through the peace.

“Goldilocks, you’ll bruise. Stop. How long has that been hitting the same spot?”

Goldilocks stilled. The blankets shifted as he pulled back. “Bruise?” he repeated. “You think that will bruise me?”

Goldilocks gave enough freedom for Sam to rise to his elbows. This time, when the door swung open, Sam saw the exact part of Goldilocks’s tail that got hit. His tail didn’t budge at all. In fact, the impact didn’t seem to cause even the smallest of trembles in Goldilocks’s body.

“Okay, no bruises are going to happen. Clearly. But I’m sure that’s annoying you, right?” Sam asked. It looked like daytime light outside the door, not morning light. Which meant Sam had slept through the night after falling asleep. Sam could see empty ocean, and there was enough chill in the breeze that he was confident he was in his own world still.

“No,” Goldilocks answered.

“We’re in my world right now?” Sam, after a moment of thought, collapsed back into the pillows, reclaiming the comfort. “You’re speaking. Full sentences, too.”

“Your world. Yes. Connor is nearby,” Goldilocks added.

Sam frowned at the skylight directly above him. Goldilocks said the second part of the sentence as if it was an answer to Sam’s statement. “Does Connor being nearby mean something?” he asked. He turned his head so he could meet Goldilocks’s eyes.

“It is easier,” he explained.

“What is? Speaking?”

Goldilocks nodded. “I have been practising,” he admitted after a moment. “It has been…difficult. The Worms learned sooner than I.”

Sam rolled his eyes. “The Worms? Really? Bee and Dew. You should call them by their names.”

“Connor calls them worms.”

“He only calls them that because of Adonis,” Sam pointed out. “And why do you keep talking about Connor like that?”

“Like what?”

Sam opened his mouth but hesitated. He cocked his head to the side and propped himself up on his elbow. “Hang on. I hear music. Though it sounds pretty far away.” He was loath to stand, but Sam did, only to grab the top blanket with a surprised cry. “I’m naked! Why am I naked?” He threw an accusing look at Goldilocks.