Corvus (Stars and Sails, Book 1)

Twenty-one

Amelia Rose stared at the dark horizon. It scared her, but it also made her toes feel numb with excitement. She picked up her encyclopedia.

"We have to find shelter, Ai--Mr. Payne."

He shot her an odd look. It was so strange to call him that, but Amelia Rose was confused. Days ago, Holden had made them seem like allies. He even offered a generous proposal that accepted their marriage as the political front it was—that was as long as everybody else in town thought the marriage was real. And although Amelia Rose was free to be with Aiden, she wasn't sure she wanted to risk the only freedom she had for a whirlwind summertime romance with the dirty miner that killed her first fiancée. After all, she couldn't tell how deep her feelings were. It seemed like all she thought about lately was how good he might look without his shirt on.

He pulled his wrist from her hold and took her by the hand as he ran towards Nova. Amelia Rose looked back at the horizon. The dust wasn't as far as the ridges at Dead Man's Palm. They still had some time. She turned her attention back to Aiden. He was undoing the tack from Nova's back.

"Haworth is going to kill me for this," he huffed from behind clenched teeth. He tossed the tack onto the ground. Nova staggered as he gathered a handful of her dark mane and swung up astride. Amelia Rose reached for his hand, but he ignored her and leaned over. He wrapped his hands around her waist. Her eyes widened. He picked her up and lifted her onto Nova's back although she did attempt to help by pulling herself up. "I apologize for startling you."

"Mr. Payne, where will we go?"

"Stop calling me that," he said. "Just hold onto me. We've got to find shelter for the three of us."

Amelia Rose hesitantly wrapped her arms around him, pressing her new encyclopedia to his stomach. He felt infinitely warm. Infinitely safe. His shirt was worn and faded, but it was soft under her skin. Suddenly, Nova lunged forward and Amelia Rose held on tighter to Aiden, looking out from behind his shoulder. He was riding only at a trot, keeping Nova on the path. Amelia Rose wasn't sure where he planned on taking her, but she trusted him.

She looked back at the horizon and watched as the dust consumed the ridges at Dead Man's Palm. Her heart palpitated. It was getting closer, swirling and howling wickedly. It was a big wild wolf with snapping teeth and hungry dark eyes. Nova wasn't going nearly fast enough. Aiden seemed he wouldn't go past a trot for her sake. It wasn't safe to go past a trot on sidesaddle, but Amelia Rose had done it before. She nudged Nova with her foot. Nova hurried into a canter. Amelia Rose held on tighter.

"Woah!" Aiden yelled at Nova.

"No," Amelia Rose said. "This is fine. Let's go."

He guided the horse, taking sweeping turns that made Amelia Rose feel dizzy and feverish. She thought she might fall off, but every time they took a wide turn or jumped, Aiden would reach back and hold her to him. They had finally reached the outskirts of town, but there wasn't a lot of direction where to go next, if not only farther away from the storm. Aiden pulled the reins to the side and Nova turned, providing Amelia Rose with a view of the incoming storm. It had passed the sunflowers, consumed the mesquite and came bellowing. Aiden turned again into the center of town when a shadow began to loom.

Amelia Rose reached out and tugged the collar of Aiden's shirt over his mouth as a wall of sand hit them. Nova whined. Amelia Rose buried her mouth into Aiden's shoulder and closed her eyes tight. She couldn't help it though—she had to look. She peeked; just a peek at the dust surrounding them. It burned her eyes, her nose. She felt purifying tears streaking her cheeks. It looked like she was trapped in a dome of sienna. The dust darted around her and flapped around the skirts of her day dress, pelting her ankles with rocks. She held Aiden's collar higher up, and made sure it covered his nose too. She felt his lips move, but she couldn't hear what he had said. The dust storm was too loud. It thundered, then whispered words she could barely make out, but loved the sound of—the feel of. It was just her and Aiden and this horse and this great unforgiving, howling dome.