The Goblin Bride (Beneath Sands Book 1)

just an animal. She had seen enough of these creatures to know that he was just as much a man as her own people.
Getting out of the water would be more difficult now that she was suddenly self conscious.
“I’m ready to get out now.”
His feet retracted from the water and he seemed to disappear back into the shadows. The water was warm on her skin, but any skin that wasn’t submerged was ridged with goosebumps. The air was always so chilly here. It was nothing like the warm heat of the sands.
She heard stones being kicked as he walked back towards her. Never before had any of the goblins made such a racket when they were walking which led her to believe he was doing it for her. Jane could not understand this creature. He had no qualms about knocking her over the head when he thought she was a miner. Now that she was known to be a female, he treated her as though she was made of glass. She preferred it if he treated her like the rest of the men.
He grunted, the grumble carrying across the water until she could pinpoint where it was. It appeared that there was a few stone steps on the other side of the pool.
As much as she didn’t want to, it appeared that there would be no way to step out of the water without him seeing every inch of her. Her hands could only cover so much. Jane refused to be embarrassed. It was not her first time having someone else see her naked, why should this moment be any different from the other times? He was nothing more than an animal.
She started up the steps, startled for a moment to realize that the glowing strands had stuck to her. Even as her skin moved out of the water the blue lights clung to her in bright ropes. It looked as though she was glowing as she moved through the steam.
The globe lit upon him and the wide cloth he was holding up for her. It appeared that the goblin was trying to be even more chivalrous than she had expected.
By the time the water had hit her thighs, he was stepping in towards her to wrap the towel around her firmly. It was the same movement she had seen mother’s do on their children before. A quick towel hug before briskly rubbing the water off of their skin before they could feel the chill.
The goblin did the same to her, wiping her down until he heard the hissing breath she let out through her teeth when he touched her back. She could see his brows furrow in the blue light before he turned her and let the towel drop at her back.
The pads of his fingers feathered across her skin, those deadly nails avoiding even the slightest graze. She shivered, this time more from the touch than the cold. It was a daunting thought to know that he could have harmed her so easily. Yet his touch was nothing short of the warm caress of a human man.
“Hurt.”
“Yes.” She said, trying to look over her shoulder. “When I was back in the tunnel I scraped my back on the walls. Same with my hands and knees.”
She had been hurt worse in her life, even at the mines before she had seen the goblins. Her head was more of a concern than anything else.
The goblin obviously didn’t agree with her own assessment of herself. He seemed to be upset by the cuts that decorated her skin. The deep growl that vibrated in his throat made her tense. If his fingers hadn’t remained so delicate against her skin, she would have taken that sound as a bad sign. But he remained ever so gentle with her.
“They don’t hurt.” She said quietly.
She wasn’t so sure that he was listening to her.
“If you have anything to put on them, I would appreciate it.”
That seemed to snap him out of whatever revery he was stuck in while staring at her back. If she knew how to read their facial expressions, she might have seen it for the anger that it was. He was furious at the situation, that she had been harmed, and that he had not known it was her that was being harmed. He would have protected her if he had known she was female. They all would have.
She pulled the towel around herself firmly.
“Ruric, it’s cold.”
Slowly she was started to realize that if she said she was uncomfortable he would snap to attention. Perhaps one of the fine ladies in the City would have enjoyed such treatment. A part of her felt as though she deserved such recognition after the life she had lived. But a much larger part was uncomfortable from the attention. No one had done things for her and they certainly hadn’t gone out of their way to take care of her.
It was awkward to suddenly find herself in this position.
He stepped back from her, kicking rocks as he went so she knew where he was. She breathed easier when he wasn’t standing before her but the shivers running down her spine betrayed her want for his warmth as well.
She could hear swishing sounds but couldn’t see what he was doing until he stepped back into the dim pool of light she had around her.
He was carrying an armful of cloth like nothing she had ever seen before. It fluttered in his arms as he moved. The fabric was so light that the merest movement of air disturbed it. She saw too many colors in it to name, all of them seeming to bleed into the others so that there was never a hard line to define them.
“That’s too fine for the likes of me.” She said quietly, though every fiber of her being yearned to touch those colors.
“Arms.” The word was said softly as she blinked at him. She hadn’t known he could speak like that.
She let