Page 100 of The Hero Within
Johnny ground his teeth together and kept climbing. Slowly. "Put my knife in him," he growled out. "Hopefully the fall did the rest."
The second he made it to the top, Arik hauled him up to safety. Eden wasted no time. She threw her arms around him, wincing at the sharp ache as the harness's straps cut into bruised flesh.
"Oh, my God," she breathed. "Are you okay?"
There'd been blood on his jeans. And it washed in thin rivulets of watery gray down his face. Eden pulled back, hauling his shirt up and examining the claw marks there. "I need more light!"
"I'm fine," he murmured, capturing her hands.
"You're bleeding—"
"Just a scratch." Johnny gave her a faint, tired smile as if to remind her of the last argument they'd had about "scratches".
"That had better be a joke."
"It is. Nothing a night's sleep won't heal."
Capturing her face, he pressed a faint kiss to her lips. Eden grabbed his wrists, and kissed him back, her heart still pulsing like she'd run a race.
She'd spent days pushing him away and telling herself nothing could come of this.
She'd almost lost him—this time for real.
And suddenly she realized none of it mattered.
Not Adam. Not the threat to her heart. Not even the past.
She broke the kiss, trying to catch her breath. "Don'teverdo that again."
"Fall off the top of a high building?"
"No! Put yourself in danger. Get hurt. You almost—" She couldn't say it.
"It's okay," Johnny said roughly, his eyes dark and wondrous as if he saw exactly what she couldn't put into words. "I get it, Eden."
She hugged him tightly, resting her head against his chest and just listening to his heart beat, as he wrapped his arms around her.
"You scare the hell out of me," she whispered.
Because he'd been right.
There was something growing between them, and it had the ability to rip her heart clean out of her chest if something went wrong.
Johnny stroked her hair. "Right back at you, angel."
Eden slowly looked up.
"We'd better get moving," Arik called softly, hauling his pack over his shoulders. "Best-case scenario—the bastard's dead, and his superiors don't notice him missing until morning. Worst-case scenario? Well, I'm not sticking around to find out."
"Ready?"Arik whispered. "We're directly under a suburban area. It's just a quick climb, and then we should be able to haul ourselves out through one of the stormwater grates."
Johnny helped Eden to her feet. "Nearly there," he promised. "Then you can get dry and crawl into your bedroll."
She'd begun flagging badly, and though she wasn't limping, he'd seen the marks on her skin where the harness nearly jerked her over the edge with him.
They staggered through the dark, Arik leading the way. No time for the torch now.
Pausing beneath a stormwater grate, he watched Arik vanish through it. Then Lincoln. Johnny lifted Eden, and Lincoln reached down and hauled her through the opening.
