Page 19 of The Hero Within
She reached across the table, snagged the small shot glass he'd filled with liquor, and tipped it to her lips, her mouth resting exactly where his had been.
The muscles in her throat worked and when she slammed the glass on the table, her lips were wet and slick with whiskey. Tempting. A droplet of sweat slid down between her breasts, and—
She'd said something.
Johnny blinked back into the here and now, finding her knowing gaze locked upon him. "Eyes up here," she said in a scathing manner. "I kissed you once, before all this mess begun. It'sneverhappening again, so get that look out of your eyes."
He wasn't usually this slow to react. "What were you saying about going home?"
"I said you're right. It's a bad idea for CJ and me to cross the Divide. We don't know the lay of the land or the monsters that lurk within. Then there's the Confederacy and their walled cities. They're not very keen on strangers breaking into their territory."
"So you're going home?"
"I didn't say that."
Here it was. The catch. And his brain had finally started working again. "Go home, Eden."
"If I go home without a cure for the plague, then the people I love will die. Hell, there's no telling whether I'll die myself. I've been careful but we don't know how virulent this thing is. And if you think I haven't considered the risk, then you don't know me very well, Colton."
He didn't know her at all. But he recognized the look of a woman about to try and sell him something.
Johnny took the shot glass from her and poured himself a drink, tasting her lips on the rim of the glass as he sipped it.Fuck. Instinctively he looked toward the exits, but Eden slammed a hand over his as if she knew he was about to bolt.
"We need a guide. One who knows the Divide. One who won't slit our throats in our sleep."
"No."
"You didn't even hear me out."
"I don't need to. I know what you want." Shoving his chair back with a squeal, he reached for his hat and tossed a few coins on the table to cover his bill. It was one thing to help her brother escape, but there was something about Eden that had him running scared.
"You promised me."
It haunted his dreams at night. Her name was only one on a long, long list. He'd thought himself free of Cane after he killed the bastard, but seeing her again brought the truth to the surface.
How could he ever be free?
Eden didn't move, simply licked the whiskey from her finger. "Then why don't you tell me whatyouwant?"
Johnny slammed to a halt as she slowly looked up at him. He didn't dare breathe. Didn't dare look away. "WhatIwant?"
The devil in front of him merely smiled.
Oh, that did it.
He rested his knuckles on the table and leaned toward her. "What I want," he said, in a soft menacing tone, "is to see the dust of your bike heading back west and to know our paths are never going to cross ever again. I want to forget you, Eden."
"Do you think you can?" Those dark lashes fluttered and the hot, direct gaze she shot him almost disemboweled him. "Because I can't forget. No matter how hard I try."
His breath caught as the past rose between them.
A young, innocent girl.
His uncle's vicious demands.
And Eden McClain screaming and writhing in his arms as he tried to lock down all the choking feelings inside him, as he did his uncle's bidding and forced her inside the hut where her brother was chained.
Eden rose to her feet and glared back at him, face-to-face. Fearless. "If you don't help me, Colton, then I willneverforgive you for what you did to me."
