The Goblin Bride (Beneath Sands Book 1) Emma Hamm (best books under 200 pages .txt) 📖

was whip quick, he had left a lasting impression on her heart. Her dearest memories were of him when he was very young. He used to let her brush his hair with their mother’s comb because he had insisted upon keeping it long. Jane had been the only one who could brush it without making him squirm.

And when those memories became too painful to remember, she wiped away the tears that welled in her eyes. Those stories were dashed aside, instead she told him how the sun was hot against their skin, how it could sometimes burn them even though there was no flame.

But mostly she whispered of the sands. Like a lizard, she used to bury herself in them at night. The warmth from the sun would linger for a while. Jane had always dearly loved the sun.

She had thought he would fall asleep during her stories. That was the entire point of this wasn’t it? He should be resting after such injuries. But every time she looked up, his eyes were open. Every detail he seemed to drink in, wanting to know more about her and where she came from.

Ruric wanted to understand her. He wanted to know what it was that she was thinking and why she was so strong and proud. Very few of the humans he had brought underground were like her. Those that were refused to work for the goblins caused trouble wherever they went and most of the time had to be put down. They didn’t work well in the goblin tribe.

Jane wanted to work though. He would watch her hands sometimes, how her fingers would drum against her thighs. She constantly needed to move and her body was a clear mirror to showcase that. Ruric knew that he would be the same way if he were idle, but surely women did not have the same reactions?

Goblin women were as hard as their male counterparts, but they were not allowed hard labor. Their journey in life was to procreate and they needed to focus on that skill. Never before had he met a female that longed to work.

Goblin women enjoyed the soft feathers of their clothing and the pillows that were always fluffed for them. They wanted to lounge and have others admire them. It was the life that a female was granted to live. To not take advantage of that would have been foolish.

He would not consider Jane to be a foolish woman though. She was a fighter like him, a warrior made to work hard and not be satisfied until the job was completed. Perhaps that was why he admired her so.

Eventually she tired, her words starting to come slower and the pictures she painted in the air drifting away. His arm curled around her more tightly, pulling her against him even though his ribs and wounds protested. It was worth the pain to feel her heat against him. Every breath reminded him that they were alive and well.

It was a blessing on its own.

“Thank you for sharing your life with me.” He said quietly and pressed his lips against her golden hair.

“Someday I hope you will do the same for me.” She whispered. He could tell she was already drifting. The words were murmured against his shoulder as though caught halfway in a dream.

And as she drifted off into sleep, he watched her eyelids shut. Her beauty was not lost on him, neither were the alien qualities of her features. They did not have Gods down here, though he had heard the humans praying to them before.

Instead, the goblins worshiped creatures that gave life to the things around them. Stone gods and goddesses of gemstones were carved into the most elaborate of homes. Jane reminded him clearly of one that had been long been forgotten. He had found a temple of hers once in his exploration of the older caves.

A goddess of a lesser gemstone, but one that glowed the most brightly. It was too bright for the goblins to use and they placed her high above their homes. Rarely would the stones be looked upon. But Jane was that to him. A bright beacon of light that hurt him to look at, but one that remained within his reach when he needed it.

“I show you my world every day.” He said quietly in his own tongue, the melody drifting over her form and making a small smile cross her face. “And I will continue to do so, bright one. Perhaps some day you will learn to love it as much as I.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

SHE DREAMT THAT she was on fire. The world around her had burst into flames. The caves that had become so familiar to her melted underneath the licking curls. She was burning.

Her heart jumped in her chest and the air around her was too hot to inhale. Everything hurt. Her arms and her legs were held down by an unseen force. In her head she could hear screaming. The goblins she had helped save were not able to get away from the fire. Some of them crawled towards her, their skin peeled away as the flames mercilessly pulled at them. She could not help them, could not go to them.

Jane wanted to scream. She wanted to rage at the world that was so cruel to let these people die like this. They had taken her from her home, taken everything from her. But in return they had gifted her with a life she had not known possible.

The cold air of the cave had become a sanctuary. The quiet murmur of water dripping had become a symphony. She hated that she couldn’t save them, she hated that she couldn’t do something to help them.

But still the flames burned on.

It was her chest and left arm that hurt the worst. She couldn’t feel the arm at all anymore. The heat was worse than the sunburns she