Page 253 of Primal Bonds

Against her belly, his cock jerked and lengthened. “You’re a bad woman to tease me right now.”

“Am I?” She extended a single claw and scraped it down his cheek, shadowed with his night beard. “I think I like being bad.”

“Hold that thought, okay?” He put his mouth to her ear. “When we get out of here, I’m going to fuck you, so hard. But right now we have a maze to solve. And I have an idea. The illusions are designed to trick our senses, right?”

She pulled back to look up at him. “Yeah. Why?”

“The eyes are easier to trick than the sense of touch. So why don’t we try closing our eyes? Then we can feel our way along the wall and—”

“We should be able to tell what’s really there,” she finished, hope springing up in her. “Let’s try it.”

They agreed that Fane would lead while she held onto him so they wouldn’t lose each other. She looped the fingers of her left hand through his belt, setting the other hand on the wall.

“Ready,” she said, closing her eyes, and he started walking. Within seconds, the wall changed and straightened out.

She caught her breath. “I think it’s working.”

“Me, too.” He picked up the pace.

Another ten minutes had passed when they heard a high-pitched gibbering. Goblins, and from the sound of it, headed straight for them.

Her eyes flew open.

“This way.” Fane jerked her into a tiny alcove with barely enough room for them to stand side by side.

The gibbering grew louder. A small pack of the short, wild-eyed creatures streamed around a curve, animal skins draped over their shoulders and tied around their thick waists as loin cloths, pointed teeth gleaming. Their stench hit her like a shovel to the gut.

She slapped a hand to her mouth and tried not to wretch. “No illusion.”

“Yep. Pretty sure those fuckers are real.” He took short, shallow breaths.

“Take this.” She released the catch on her switchblade and shoved it at him. “I’ll fight clawed.”

“Have I mentioned I haven’t a bloody idea how to use this thing?”

“It’s iron. You don’t have to know how to use it.” She kept her gaze on the screeching goblins. “Just cut them anywhere and it will hurt. Even better, aim for their eyes—or balls.”

“Remind me never to make you angry.”

The pack was almost upon them—only five goblins. Sindre was giving them a sporting chance.

She bared her teeth and took a fighting stance, knees bent, claws out.

Beside her, Fane mirrored her stance, the switchblade up and ready, his other arm bent at the elbow to block blows. He gestured with one hand. “Come on, you bastards.”

In spite of their danger, she let out a huff of amusement. The man was a fast learner—or a talented actor. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was a trained soldier.

With a howl, the goblins were upon them.

But this time, Marjani and Fane had the advantage. The two of them might be outnumbered, but they had their backs to the wall, so the goblins had to attack them head-on.

And she had cat-fast reflexes. Even Fane was slashing the knife through the air lightning-fast, parrying each attempt to jump him. So he hadn’t lost that part of his Gift, maybe because it wasn’t magical, just part of his genes.

A goblin aimed his sharp teeth at her leg, but she slammed the toe of her sneaker into his balls and he collapsed with a groan. She tore out its neck with her claws—and then spun to the left and took out another goblin’s eye.

A third jumped at her—a female, this time. She caught her in mid-air and wrenched her head to one side. Her neck broke with an audible snap. Two more goblins came at Marjani—the one with the missing eye and a new one, and she quickly and efficiently took them down, too.

She turned to the last goblin just as Fane got in a lucky jab to the goblin’s throat. Blood spurted from the goblin’s artery, and he wavered and then crumpled to the tiles. They’d won, with only a few minor cuts to show for it.

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