Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Lara slipped the last bite of jerky into her mouth as she stood looking over the items spread across the worktable.
Tools, scraps of metal and plastic, spare bot parts, and a few power cells.
It was more than she’d found in years of scavenging, and most humans would’ve strained to carry such a haul more than a mile or two. How far had Ronin traveled with it?
“You got all this in two days?” she asked around a mouthful of tender meat.
Ronin nodded. He was leaning against the wall beside the window, arms folded over his broad, bare chest.
Lara couldn’t stop her eyes from lingering upon that chest. God, she’d had her hands all over it, had it pressed to her breasts while he lay between her thighs, had felt it thrum when they’d climaxed. The temptation to brush her fingers over its firm expanse was acute.
Did he realize how sexy he looked right now, with his hair tousled from her fingers?
She swallowed thickly and forced her gaze up to his. “Why’d you come back early?”
“Because I didn’t like the thought of you being here alone.”
It was the last answer she would’ve expected. Before they’d coupled, as he had put it, before their physical closeness had revealed their deeper feelings for one another, he’d been thinking about her safety. She would’ve preferred it if he’d stayed with her to begin with, but…
During her time here, Ronin had often watched her.
Whenever they were in the same room, his eyes were always locked on her, rarely deviating.
She’d pretended not to notice. It would’ve been easy to dismiss it as creepy bot behavior, but she knew better now.
There’d been so much more beneath the surface.
Had Tabitha shared something similar with the bot who’d taken her in? Mutual curiosity, mutual admiration, care for one another’s wellbeing? Maybe she hadn’t done it solely for the food, shelter, and security.
What if…what if Tabitha was happy?
The thought gave Lara pause. Was she happy? It seemed wrong in the wake of her sister’s death, but beneath the gloom of grief, there was light. And why else would it be there, if not for Ronin?
Lara couldn’t guess what drew him to her. There were many prettier women in Cheyenne, even without counting the female synths, who would’ve been both far more eager to accept his deal and far more grateful for it. But Ronin’s interest in her was genuine. He wanted her to be safe and content.
Had Tabitha’s bot tried to protect her too?
If so, that bot had obviously failed in the end, but how could he have succeeded? Even without any details, Lara knew in her gut that Warlord was responsible for their deaths. No one person, whether human or machine, could stand against Cheyenne’s ruler and his fanatical thugs.
Why? Why had they murdered Tabitha and her companion?
Lara’s brow furrowed. “Am I in danger, Ronin?”
Ronin’s pupils dilated and refocused on her, those green eyes as intent as ever. “Everyone is always in some degree of danger.”
“But you came back early, even after arguing with me that you needed more time out there. Something must’ve crossed your mind.”
“I had a sizeable haul, and I realized that I’d rather be with you than digging through the dirt for a few more pieces of scrap.”
Heat bloomed on her cheeks, and she dropped her gaze to the worktable.
She knew there was more to it, more he wasn’t saying, but that didn’t change how she felt.
Lara took a deep breath and released it slowly.
“I missed you. I know you weren’t gone for long, but I got used to you being around, and… I missed you.”
He was silent. After a few moments, she looked up at him
Head canted to the side, he continued staring at her. “Missed… That’s a good term. It was like I was missing a part of myself.”
Lara’s breath hitched.
Oh… That…that was quite a confession.
His words made her heart constrict and filled her with warmth.
Ronin pushed off the wall and reached into his pants pocket. “There’s one more thing I found.”
He held out his fist and uncurled his fingers. A ring lay on his palm, the band gleaming in the morning light. It was familiar, a relic from a lifetime ago, but it had only been weeks since she’d last seen it.
“I think this is yours, Lara Brooks.”
She stared at the small metal band in disbelief. “How did you….”
“When I left town, I passed the place where you were scavenging in the rain. I stopped, caught up in the memory, when I noticed this in the debris.”
“I thought it was gone.” Lara carefully took the ring between her forefinger and thumb and lifted it from his palm, half expecting it to disappear. Though slight, it had weight; it was real. “Thank you.”
Turning it from side to side, she studied the ring, fascinated by the play of sunlight within its clear stone despite the dirt built up within the surrounding prongs.
She grinned at Ronin. “You know, when a man gives a woman a ring, it’s usually because he’s asking her to marry him.”
His brow creased. “I fail to understand why humans still practice that custom. Isn’t marriage just the recognition of a coupling by a representative of authority? And what role does a ring play in it?”
“Quite the romantic, aren’t you?” She closed her fingers around the ring. “It’s a tradition, one people have held on to despite…you know, all this. There’s hardship, yeah, but people still fall in love.”
Gary and Kate immediately came to mind. They were always affectionate and supportive of one another.
“I don’t know what you mean about...well, that other stuff you said. Representative of authority?” She wrinkled her nose. “The hell does that mean, anyway? And what does it have to do with people getting married?”
The corners of his mouth dipped. “My data is incomplete. Most of the relevant information is lost in the corrupted portion of my memory. There used to be…” He lapsed into a brief silence before shaking his head.
Would Ronin ever regain his lost memories, or were they gone forever?
He scratched his cheek. “Can’t remember. Just means that back then, the people in charge had to acknowledge a marriage. You mentioned love. Is marriage required for love?”
“Um, no. It’s not. Some people just like tradition. I think it’s because we’ve already lost so much. Feels good to keep something old alive.”
Opening her hand, she ran a finger around the ring’s loop.
“Someone told me once that a ring means eternity because it’s a circle, and circles never end.
When a man wants a woman to be his wife, he’ll find something to use as a ring, like wire, a cheap bit of a metal, or even some twine, and ask her to marry him.
“If she says yes, they both wear a ring to show they’re taken and devoted to each other. They make their vows to each other, usually with some other people watching, and then they’re married. Not that it means all that much to everyone. Heard about a lot of people who broke their vows…”
She frowned at the ring as sorrow filled her. Humans had lost so much that even these small symbols of love, these old romantic traditions, often meant…nothing. Lara sighed. “Maybe you’re right. I don’t know why we still bother.”
Ronin reached out and plucked the ring from her palm. He raised it to eye level, turning and tilting it, examining even the inside of the band. Then he took her hand and slipped the ring onto her finger.
Lara’s breath caught, and her eyes widened.
He grasped her chin and tipped it up, forcing her gaze to his. “You still bother because it means hope. Hope that everything will be okay, some day. Because it means a chance at a future even in a world that wants to destroy us. It means you are not alone.”
He covered her hand with both of his. “Let this ring be my vow, Lara. To protect you. To provide for you. To give you all you need that’s within my power, and to find a way to give you whatever’s not.”
The air fled her lungs. “Did you…did you just kind of…marry me?”
“I’ve given you my vow.”
She searched his face. This was one of the many times when she couldn’t read him, couldn’t tell how to interpret his words.
After what she’d just told him, how could this be anything but him becoming her husband?
The idea of being married to Ronin wasn’t as disagreeable as she might once have thought.
He was a man, regardless of what was beneath his skin, and he’d treated her better than anyone apart from Tabitha.
Lara eased closer to him, drawing their hands to her chest. “Then I vow to protect you, too, to the best of my ability. To place my trust in you and never break yours. To remind you, every day, that you are alive.”
“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. “Did you just kind of marry me?”
Something fluttered inside Lara. She grinned. “I don’t have a ring to give you, but yeah. I guess I did.”