Page 111 of Dustwalker

“Got sand in my eyes,” she murmured.

“Of course you did,” Ronin replied, smiling. He cradled her face between his hands, keeping it tipped up toward him, and gently stroked her cheeks with his thumbs. “I don’t truly understand what you are experiencing. I can’t. But I see, and hear, and smell, and touch, and I know how your feelings affect you, even if I don’t fully comprehend what those feelings are.”

Lara offered him a smile in return even as her heart constricted with the immensity of her emotions. Covering his hands with her own, she turned her head and pressed a soft kiss to each of his palms.

His gaze dipped to her lips, and she felt him go utterly still. There was no doubt in her mind that he was considering kissing her, but she knew he was always calculating—mapping routes, counting the time they had until sunset, right down to the second, weighing whether the moment it would take for their lips to meet would be one moment’s delay too many.

She chuckled and lowered their hands, making the decision for him as she released him. “We better get moving. Still lots of ground to cover.”

Ronin’s eyes lingered on her mouth before he finally nodded, turning his head to survey the land. “We’ll start veering north, away from the main road. It’ll be rough going, but it’s safer.”

With a groan, she pulled her scarf back up and followed him into the valley.

“At least we’ll be going downhill for the next minute or so,” he offered.

“Oh? I hadn’t noticed. Are you going to tell me next that we have a big hill to climb?”

The corner of Ronin’s mouth curled wickedly. “We do.”

“I’d kick you if it wouldn’t hurt me more than you.”

“We’ve already established that I have feelings. Those can be hurt, too.”

“But my foot would be hurting more. Besides, you know we’d kiss and make up later.”

“Wouldn’t it be more enjoyable for both of us to skip the kick and move directly to the kiss, then?”

“Take my frustrations out on you with sex?” She grinned, the thought sending a rush of excitement through her and making her core clench. “It might work.”

Ronin stopped and turned to face her, his vibrant eyes roaming over her.

He’s considering it!

“You’ve got more walking to do before you earn that privilege,” he said with a grin of his own.

“Oh, really? You know, on second thought, I’ll probably be too worn out for it by then anyway.” She walked past him.

“I thought you already are, with the way you’ve been talking.”

“Smart ass.”

“My ass is, at best, of average intelligence.”

Lara shook her head and laughed. His footsteps crunched behind her as he caught up.

Soon, she lost count of the hills. The irregular cycle of climbing and descending, of being short of breath with her muscles aflame going up and her limbs feeling heavy and rubbery going down, took a new toll on her. She pushed on nonetheless, driven by pride and stubbornness, but she couldn’t deny her relief and gratitude when Ronin finally took her in his arms and carried her.

Once again, his pace increased.

Large rock formations came into view as the afternoon faded into evening. Lara stared at them as they drew near, fascinated by their multilayered, strangely smooth stone. Her focus was so intent that she jumped at the first boom of thunder.

Ronin halted, twisting to look back.

Lara’s eyes widened. “Oh, shit.”

The sky, normally blanketed by a persistent, yellowish haze, was black with storm clouds in the east. Everything between the clouds and the ground was obscured by dust that stretched as far as she could see from north to south, a massive, moving wall of dirt.

Ronin spun, head turning as though searching, but Lara couldn’t take her eyes off the dust storm. Though it was distant, she knew it was coming toward them. And it was movingfast.