could provide and care for his woman, and the woman needed to bring money, land or something else valuable like livestock.
I don’t have anything to give him.
As she washed her face and cleaned her teeth with the provided toiletries, she tried to remember everything she had ever heard about the sky warriors and their marriage customs. Beyond the salacious sex rumors, she had only heard that they chased and claimed their brides with collars and preferred fertile virgins. She couldn’t remember ever hearing anything about their dowry customs.
What if Cipher expected her to have something to offer? Would it insult him if she brought nothing, not even a set of dishes or embroidered linens?
“What’s wrong?” Cipher asked when she emerged after a few minutes. “Are you in pain?”
“No.” She shook her head and tried to hide her embarrassment. “It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing.” He grabbed the box, swept her up in his arms and carried her back to the bed. After he arranged all of the tubes, he sat on the bed facing her and tipped her chin with his thick fingers. He forced her gaze to his. “Tell me.”
When he used that tone of voice, she was powerless to refuse him. “I’m poor.”
He frowned. “I don’t understand what that—”
“I’ve never had running water or an indoor bathroom,” she interrupted. In a rush, she said, “I grew up without electricity. I had to chop wood and keep a fire to stay warm. Almost everything I own is used or mended or handed down from someone else. The last new thing I was ever given was the dress my mother made for me before she died. I wore it until the seams gave. I didn’t go to school. All I have in the whole world is what’s in my pack. I don’t...” She glanced away as another wave of shame hit. “I don’t have anything to give you.”
His fingers gently tilted her chin again until she met his stern gaze. “You don’t have to give me anything, Brook.”
“I do,” she insisted. “If I’m going to be your wife, I have to bring something with me. If we were back on the mountain, I would have my cabin and my land, but I don’t have anything worthy of you—"
He silenced her with a very unexpected kiss. It was her first kiss—and what a kiss it was! Butterflies swarmed her belly, and the machine tracking her heartbeat sounded an alarm as Cipher’s lips moved against hers. They were both smiling when they separated, but she was breathless and trembling. Her flushed face must have given her away because he asked, “Was that your first kiss?”
Shyly, she nodded and started to tell him it was incredible, but the door to the room opened and Risk stepped inside with a frown on his face. “Can you wait to give my patient a heart attack until after my shift ends? Let Stinger handle the long reports this time!”
Abashed, Cipher grumbled, “Sorry, Doc.”
“Since you’re already awake, let’s get your morning checkup out of the way.” Risk placed his hands under a wall dispenser that shot a blob of green foam onto his open palm. He rubbed his hands together, and the biting, artificially clean scent filled the air. “How are you feeling?”
“Much better,” she said, fascinated as she watched him tap a glossy panel on the wall by her bed. It was some sort of data screen that had all of her medical information. He swiped his fingers over test results and the record of her vitals and adjusted the flow of her medications and fluids. “That is amazing.”
Risk grinned at her. “Wait until you get to your new quarters and see the entertainment console.”
“Entertainment console?” she glanced at Cipher.
“It’s a screen similar to that but larger. You’ll be able to watch all sorts of programs, attend classes, chat with friends. Things like that.”
“You’re lucky you picked Cipher,” Risk said as he clicked on a small flashlight and checked her pupils. “He gets first dibs on all new tech that comes on this ship. You’ll get to play with all the fun stuff before anyone else.”
Catching Cipher’s gaze, she said, “I’m very lucky,” and meant it.
“So,” Risk said and adjusted the ticklish tubes sitting in her nose, “we have you on supplemental air because your oxygen saturation levels are lower than they should be. While you were asleep, we did some testing. We scanned your lungs.”
She swallowed anxiously. “Do I have it?”
“It?”
“Purple lung?”
“No,” Risk assured her quickly. “You