The Goblin Bride (Beneath Sands Book 1)

the towel drop, holding her arms out straight. He made quick work of dressing her, respectful even in this exchange.
There was a wide hole in one of the pieces of fabric that she realized were all separate pieces. He dropped that over her head, leaving her sides open. The cut in the fabric dipped between her breasts and down her back which he quickly situated around her. Another piece was wrapping quickly about her waist, tucked into itself until it looked almost like a belt. Yet another was looped through that and he used both of the ends to criss cross around her chest. These were cinched around a metal collar he produced from the pile until he started on her legs.
The belt piece that he had first placed onto her appeared to be the one piece of fabric that held everything together. All the other pieces were tucked into that and let to fall on their own. It created the illusions of one piece of fabric when in reality it was many slices of fabric.
He stood back to look at her, large arms crossed on that wide chest once more. He gave a quick nod, the beads in his braids clacking together. “Goblin woman now.”
She looked down at herself, stunned at the weightlessness of the fabric.
“I can’t wear this, I’ll ruin it.”
“Keep.” He rubbed the smooth fabric between his fingers before stepping back once more.
Out of a pocket he pulled out a necklace, the crystals clacking together as he held them out to tie behind her neck. They were the same kind as the one she had seen in the tunnel. Firey deep within the stone, there seemed to be a swirl of colors that caught her eye.
It was overwhelming really. Jane had gone from a world of yellow and blue. Now she was immersed in colors so vivid that they nearly hurt her eyes to behold.
“Not best.” He seemed to murmur, his voice deep. “But good.”
Not the best? Not the best stone? Her eyebrows knitted together as she looked up at him, two deep grooves between her eyes appearing. He was quick to smooth them. His thumb pressed against the lines, stroking up until they disappeared.
It was an intimate move, too close for her to feel comfortable with. Apparently he shared the same sentiment since they both stepped back at the same time, and he growled, “Come.”
She followed him out of the cave, wondering why her heart was beating so fast.

CHAPTER SEVEN
THEY MADE THEIR way back to the cave, stopping at a few other crevices that she hadn’t noticed before. Jane remained outside while Ruric disappeared from her sight. He left the blue globe with her.
The first time he returned with a mesh bag that he tossed over his shoulder. The other times it appeared as though he came back with nothing.
She stepped into Ruric’s cave without recognizing it was his home. She didn’t think it was possible for it to be darker inside, considering that the entire place was a giant cave. But if darkness had shades, then the inside of his home was even darker than what she had been in before.
It was daunting, uncomfortable, and made the hairs on her arms raise. To be blind in a place she still considered to be dangerous was not a position she wanted to find herself in.
He moved around her, that pack on his back clinking as he went by. A few feet in front of her, he knelt, dropping to his knee with his back to her. Jane wasn’t certain whether this was something she was supposed to acknowledge or follow along with. It would be like her to completely disregard some kind of religious or even polite thing to do when a goblin walked into their home.
Of all the things she had expected, she had not thought that he would plunge his hand into the pack and pull out one of those globes. He shook it hard before setting it gently on the floor and rolling it to the other end of the cave. Over and over again he did this, sending the globes on their way until they tapped gently against the stone walls.
There were ten in total. Each one illuminated all the parts of the cave until she could see fairly well. It wasn’t as big as she had originally thought. With a high domed ceiling, it could only be described as clean. There were a few places where there could be seating and the opening that led into the back room was the bedroom. Other than that it was rather bare.
Lonely really.
He settled himself down onto the floor in a corner of the room where there were a few woven pieces of furniture that could pass as seating. At least she wouldn’t be sitting on cold stone.
Jane realized how horribly uncomfortable this was when she sat down. She was expected to sit there in companionable silence when she wanted to leave. This was no place for her! She didn’t want to sit and talk with him. Nor did she want to sit and stare into the darkness. There were things she had to do, places that she needed to go. Being a captive of goblin creatures did not fit into any of that.
He didn’t seem interested in her plight.
She settled herself down onto one of the mesh seats. Once she did so, Ruric sat on the floor a little ways away from her. There was another place for him to sit that looked much more comfortable than the stone, however he chose to leave it vacant.
The oddities of these creatures would never cease to amaze her. Comfort had always been a large concern for people Above. But the longer she was with the goblins the more she realized that comfort was relative. They didn’t seem to want the large pillows and soft blankets. They wanted something that would keep them off