Page 81 of Dustwalker

“I gave my word freely, Lara. I don’t ask anything in return.” His voice was soft, and his confusion was plain on his features.

“I gave mine freely, too.” Rising on her toes, she brushed her lips against his. “Unless…you don’t accept?”

“Part of me says I shouldn’t.”

“Oh.” Lara drew back with a sinking feeling in her stomach. Maybe he really didn’t understand.

Ronin gripped her hand, preventing her from pulling away. “I don’t want to put you in unnecessary danger. That’s been my existence, Lara…one danger after another.” Wrapping an arm around her waist, he tugged her against him. “But I haven’t been so damaged in the Dust that I could ever reject you. I accept.”

Dipping his head, he raised her hand to his lips, kissing her knuckles. There was a hint of a smile on his face as his gaze held hers. “Didyoujust kind of marryme?”

Something fluttered inside Lara. She grinned. “I don’t have a ring to give you, but yeah. I guess I did.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Lara sat on the windowsill in Ronin’s bedroom, using a small brush to clean the dirt and grime off her ring. Even hours later, she still couldn’t quite believe what had happened.

She and Ronin were married.

Perhaps that didn’t mean much to people anymore. It was an outdated remnant of a dead world, a concept that had lost its purpose and relevancy decades before Lara was born. But that didn’t matter, because it meant something to her. It meant something to them both.

After dropping the brush into the nearby bowl of water, she used the corner of her shirt to dab the ring dry. When she lifted the band into the late afternoon sunlight, her breath caught in her throat.

The gold gleamed, at once darker and brighter than she’d thought possible. The metal’s sheen rippled as she turned it between her fingers, but that couldn’t compare to the attached stone, which Ronin had called a diamond. It sparkled as though giving off its own light, drinking in the rays of sunshine and shattering them to cast little rainbows on her skin. This ring was unlike anything she’d ever seen. It was beautiful.

And it washers.

Tilting it, she skimmed the tip of her finger over the words etched inside the band. Words she couldn’t read. What did they say?

She knew the materials were valuable. Gold was worth a lot to bots, because they used it for some of their inner parts. It was essential tokeep them repaired and operational. Wasn’t that why they called it precious metal? They needed it to survive, just like humans needed food and water.

Lara struggled to imagine a world in which a person could take so much of this valuable material and shape it into a…a decoration. Someone had worn this ring on their finger, had chosen to do so, rather than trade it for food, clothing, shelter, or tools.

Had it been a display of wealth, a message to onlookers that its owner was so well off that they were above worrying about where they’d find their next meal?

The sound of running water in the bathroom changed as Ronin moved in the shower. There were three rooms with toilets in this house—three!—though only two had tubs. Why would anyone need so many places to relieve themselves? Was that another way to flaunt wealth?

Lara slid the ring back onto her finger. It was loose, but not so loose that it would slip off on its own.

Seeing it there was strange. Her hand had regularly clawed through dirt and debris, her nails had often been chipped, broken, and caked with dirt, and her calluses were only beginning to soften. Something so bright and shining seemed out of place on a hand like hers, and yet… It felt right.

When she’d found the ring, her only thought had been of the credits it would fetch, of the food it would purchase.

Now…she was married. Even if it was just between her and Ronin, without acknowledgement from a…representative of authority, or whatever, it was no less real. He wanted to keep her safe, to feed her, to make her happy. The ring had become a symbol of all that.

They’d had sex three more times after exchanging their vows, each time more intense than the last despite her growing weariness. For now, Lara’s body was sated, though her hunger for him was by no means diminished.

There’d been no talk of love. Ronin had displayed many emotions since she met him, but could he really love someone?

Could I…love him?

It wasn’t necessary for a marriage, and Ronin was already more than she could have ever dreamed. He was kind, patient, and caring, always placing her needs before his own.

She’d known many men who were Ronin’s opposites. Devon wasone of them. He fed and clothed the women who caught his interest, but only in return for sex, and only while they held his fickle attention. At the first hint of boredom or annoyance, he would cast them aside, leaving them with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

How many times had Lara irritated Ronin? How many times had she given him reason to be angry at her? If he were like Devon, he would’ve beaten her and thrown her out long ago.

The house had felt so empty while Ronin was away. She’d missed having his eyes on her, missed his calm, sometimes frustrating conversations.