Page 15 of The Hero Within
And that was not her.
Sucking in a sharp breath, she pushed away from CJ and got her shit together as she faced Colton. The last thing she'd ever let this man do was turn her into something she wasn't.
She could handle this.
Claw marks raked Colton's cheek. His shirt hung awry. She barely recognized herself.
"What the hell are you doing here?" she demanded. Probably up to no good, if she knew him. "Why did you rescue me? Were you following me?" Too many questions raced through her. "What kind of sick game are you playing?"
"I had no idea you were even in town. And I was trying to stay fucking lost," Colton growled. "Untilyoustumbled into my bar and turned everything upside down—"
"Yourbar?"
"I've spent enough fucking coin in there. I might as well own it."
Eden glared.
Colton's eyes narrowed right back.
"Where'd you get the money from?" she asked hotly.
A shrug. "Here and there."
"Sounds like you're up to Bartholomew Cane's old tricks." She almost thought he flinched as she stepped forward, pushing him again. "I swear, if you're hurting people...."
He captured her wrists and snarled, "Cane's dead. And I'm free. I don't have to play his games anymore. I'm a bounty hunter, curse you. And there's good coin to be made hunting things no one else wants to hunt in the Rim and the Divide—"
"You hunt in the Divide?" CJ broke in.
"Yeah—"
"No," Eden snapped, turning to glare at her young comrade. No way in hell was she about to trust Colton again. "He's the last person we can trust."
Colton let her go with a rough laugh. "Don't worry, angel. The feeling is mutual. You're the last person I'd ever get tangled up with again." He stepped back and tugged the lip of his hat down over his eyes. "Didn't mean to upset you. But you shouldn't go walking around out here with strangers. The Rim's not a place for those who have any goodness in their hearts."
"You should know!"
"Wait. What's going on? You two... know each other?" CJ asked hesitantly.
"We have a history," Colton murmured.
Eden's eyes bugged out of her head again.A history?He made it sound as though the pair of them—
"Eden was the first girl who ever kissed me."
"That was before I knew what an asshole you were!" She seethed as she turned to CJ. "This is the dick who had a hand in turning my brother into a warg."
"I didn't turn him."
"No, but you were Cane's little lapdog. He'd never have gotten his hands on Adam, if you hadn't helped him."
CJ's eyes widened. "You'reJohnny Colton?"
"And you would be Adam's young protégé. You were helping him hunt me down two years ago. Spent months on my trail before I lost you down south."
CJ's hand went to his gun.
Eden slammed a hand out, warning CJ to back off. He didn't know what he faced. Johnny Colton was a dangerous man, and she didn't need to look at the hard bulk of muscle in his chest, and the ammunition on his belt to know nothing had changed in that respect.
