The Goblin Bride (Beneath Sands Book 1) by Emma Hamm (good short books TXT) 📕

just her and the darkness around her. She listened to the shallow breathing of the goblin she now relied on. The least she could do was stay with him. Jane settled herself down on the ground next to the hammock, not wanting to lend her own heat to an already overheated body.

And for the first time in her life, Jane prayed.

She had never been a woman that believed entirely in the Gods. There were too many bad things that happened to good people. It made little sense that they were forced to go through such hardship if someone was looking out for them.

So she spent much of her life ignoring that it could be a possibility. But in this moment as the globe at her feet slowly dimmed, Jane didn’t want to feel so alone. She needed to believe that Ruric would survive.

She bowed her head and murmured to whoever was listening. She asked for the guidance to do what was needed. She asked for the strength to remain here until she was no longer needed. She asked for the kindness of the Gods to look after her siblings that were never far from her thoughts.

Over and over again she whispered the same prayers. They echoed in the cave, soft words that she hoped were not falling upon deaf ears. Perhaps the Gods were listening.

Time passed. She did not know how long she spoke or how long she sat with her hand on the edge of the hammock. Her fingers barely skimmed the heated flesh of his arm, yet Jane wanted him to know she was there. Throughout the fever, throughout the chills, she sat as still as a stone.

“Jane?”

The murmur seemed to send a shockwave through her. The shudder spread across her shoulders and spine as she slowly looked up. She had been seated for so long in the same position that her bones seemed to creak.

“Ruric.”

She inhaled sharply, looking at him with wide eyes that he could barely see in the dim light of the globe.

“What are you doing on the ground?”

“You had a fever.” She whispered, her voice strangely hoarse.

“I do not know this word.” The way her spine was bent and the sound of her voice made him nervous. The hammock swung sharply as he moved until he was seated on the edge.

She remained between his legs, framed by his large knees.

“Among humans if you get a fever, it means you might be dying. Our bodies heat up to fight infection or disease. If we get too hot we can die.”

His mouth was dry, it made it difficult to swallow. “Goblins do this every time we are wounded. The heat helps cleanse the body.”

“What?” She seemed surprised, flinching back from him so hard she landed on her backside against the cold stone. “That was normal? Why didn’t you tell me? I was worried!”

He shrugged. “I thought you knew. I thought humans were the same.”

“We’re not.” She couldn’t fault him for assuming that they were though. She had done the same to him, thinking that he was dying when she should have considered it might just be a goblin reaction to being injured. The words were still choked when she said them though. Worry and exhaustion played havoc on her emotions.

Ruric could see the turmoil playing across her features. He knew that it was likely she was confused, angry, and probably a little guilty with herself for causing worry. He was touched that she would worry about him.

It had been a long time since anyone had worried over him. He was at fault for allowing her to feel this way and he found he did not like seeing these emotions on her face. Jane was a strong woman, that was the way he would always remember her.

“Jane,” he said quietly. In the two months that she had been here, he had come to know her well enough to understand that she wasn’t going to want him to point out her worry.

“Come.” In an echoing call to a memory of the first time they had been in these caves together, he stood slowly and held out a hand.

The first time he had done this, she had hesitated. She had never wanted to touch him. In fact, she likely had feared him. Yet this time there was no thought other than curiosity about what he was doing. Her small hand slid into his and when his claws closed down upon the delicate skin. She did not flinch away.

Jane hardly noticed the claws anymore. They were as much a part of him as her blunted nails and smooth teeth were a part of her. Touching him no longer made her feel uncomfortable. Touching him started a fire deep in her belly, made her feel the lingering heat of his palm against hers.

As though she was covered with the algae that made this place so beautiful, wherever he touched she glowed.

He guided her through the caves, past the wide eyed stares of others that looked at the blood stains on the bandages around his ribs and exposed upon his thigh. They looked again once they saw her. Her expression of enthrallment that made her eyes bigger than normal and her movements more graceful was not lost among those who were just awakening.

Their fingers remained linked the entire journey. Claws brushed gently against the back of her hand, never scratching or breaking skin. Every now and then her thumb would skate across the top of his knuckles and every time gooseflesh seemed to jump along his spine.

She protested when he moved to pull her to him once again, hooking her arms over his neck so that he could start climbing down with her. Ruric said nothing through her scolding. She warned him over and over again that he was going to hurt the wounds he had obtained just yesterday. There was no way for her to know that he would be considerably healed already.

Strong hands brushed down the soft skin under her