Page 40 of Goldie and Her Bears (Dirty Paranormal Fairytale Haremlan 3)

“What’s his story?” Her eyes held mine. They were like looking into my own little world.

I smiled. “That is his story to tell, but he’s more ashamed of what he’s become than any of us.”

“So, it was forced onto him?” she asked.

“As I said… he’s the one that needs to share that information. It wouldn’t be fair of me to divulge his secrets without his knowledge or permission.”

“That’s rather noble of you,” she said. A smile slightly teased the edge of her lips.

I was relieved to see that and more relieved to notice she had stopped crying. “Thank you. I hope you realize your secrets would be safe with me as well.”

She smiled and stared into her cup for a moment. “I don’t really have any secrets to tell.”

“Fair enough,” I said. “As soon as you finish your tea, we’ll head inside where it’s warmer. I don’t want you to catch a cold or anything like that. Might slow down the healing in your leg.”

“In a hurry to get rid of me?” she asked, playing coy.

“Oh, she’s joking now!” I laughed. Her playfulness was another great sign.

She giggled. I loved the sound. It was breathtaking. “Yeah. For now…”

“Bottoms up,” I said.

She sighed and downed the last of the tea in one long pull. She handed the cup to me and used the back of her hand to wipe off her mouth. I wanted to brush my thumb along the edge of her bottom lip and to suck on it. Just to find out if it tasted as sweet and juicy as it looked.

I cleared my throat and took the mug before standing from the swing. “I’ll take these in and come back out for you.”

“Okay,” she said.

I grabbed the cup sitting on the railing and took them both inside. Once I returned to the porch, she was staring out into the growing darkness, lost in thought.

“You ready?” I asked.

She blinked away whatever had preoccupied her mind and nodded. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

I nodded and bent over, wrapping my arms around her body so that I could lift her from the swing and carry her inside. She was so easy to hold. It was like our bodies were made for each other.

Pushing that thought aside, I carried her into the cabin and took her to Kai’s room.

She clutched me tighter. “No. Not there.”

“Having you take this room is Kai’s retribution since he took out Jasper’s,” I said.

“I don’t care. I would rather sleep on the couch than to put a hair into that room,” she said, still clinging to me.

I chuckled under my breath. “All right. My room it is.”

“You don’t have to give up your room,” she said. “I don’t want to put you out.”

“You aren’t,” I said. “Relax for once, would you?”

She did, resting her head on my shoulder. I breathed in her scent. Argan Oil covered her hair. She must like that stuff in her shampoo.

I turned around and headed back through the cabin and through the kitchen to the back room of the house. I flipped on the light and set her on my bed.

“This is your room?” she asked as she looked around.

I shrugged. “It’s not much, but it suits me.”

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