Page 12 of The Hero Within
White exploded across her vision and Eden lost the Taser and the bag hanging from her shoulder. Her ears rang and she had a moment of disorientation before pain suddenly flooded through her jaw.
A hand wrapped around her upper arm.
The only thing that saved her was years of training.
Eden ducked under the grip, turning and disengaging as he reached for her. A punch directly to the solar plexus made the breath slam out of him.Ow. Eden stomped on his instep, fueled by adrenaline. It burst through her veins like rocket fuel.
She'd clearly taken him by surprise. Black Tom was a big, heavyset man.
But she was used to big. She was used to heavy. Adam had wrestled with her more times over the years than she could count, and her brother had at least two inches on Tom.
That didn't mean she was stupid.
A woman her size was better off with the element of surprise—and a weapon. And her ears were still ringing.
Eden scrambled for the Taser in the dirt, knowing there'd be no time to grab the pistol out of her bag.
Heavy weight came down over her back, and anoomphof breath slammed out of her lungs. A hand between her shoulder blades forced her face-first into the ground. Real fear began to bloom within her as she found herself coughing dirt in surprise. He'd recovered quicker than she'd expected.
"Get off me!"
A knee drove between her thighs, shoving them wide. Eden yelped, grabbing a handful of dust and flinging it back into his face. Black Tom swore, and his weight let up off her. She swiveled forward in the dirt, her fingers brushing against the grip of the Taser.
A hand around her belt hauled her back, and then a brutal knee drove into the back of her thigh. "Fucking... bitch."
He slapped her across the back of the head, catching her cheek a glancing blow.
Again.
"Help!" she screamed, flinching away.CJ!Would he even hear her at this distance?
"Deal's off," Black Tom snarled. "No money, no guide, but just for that, I'm going to take my pound of flesh."
Hands flipped her over onto her back and tugged at her belt. Eden tried to claw at his eyes, but another blow to the face made her sway. Fire bloomed across her cheek.
The world grew distant.
Noise subsided.
There were fingers unsnapping her jeans and shehad to stop him, but her body wouldn't obey her. She could just make out a dark blur moving over Black Tom's shoulder as the bastard tried to tug her jeans open.
The heavy weight of him suddenly vanished.
Sound exploded back into the world, as if her body knew it was now or never. Eden rolled onto her side and somehow got the top button of her jeans done up. There was a scream trapped in her throat, her heart galloping a mile a minute as she realized just how close she'd come to being overwhelmed.
Someone squealed, and Eden scrambled for the Taser, needing to feel it in her hands. She rolled onto her back, Taser held out and giving that little electric whine as she aimed.
She'd been expecting CJ, but a massive man dressed in strict black stood over her, his face shadowed by his hat, and Black Tom a crumpled heap in the dirt.
"Are you okay?" the stranger rasped.
Eden took stock of the situation, despite the taste of blood in her mouth. Her hands shook. What had happened? What had almost happened?
She'd never expected Tom to hit her while she had the Taser in hand.
You idiot. You hesitated. All her sessions with Adam, and when it finally mattered, she'd tried to talk her attacker down instead. Everything had happened so quickly.
"Maybe," she whispered.
