Page 24 of The Hero Within
Colton's gaze slid toward her friend. "No offense, kid, but are you even shaving yet?"
A growl echoed in CJ's throat, but he gave her a long-suffering look. "Edie, you know I'd do anything for you, but... you're like my older sister. There's ten years between us. I don't know if I could play the part of your protector."
"And while I'm sure your friend can gut anything that moves, CJ looks young and pretty enough that he's probably going to have to watch his back too," Colton added. "Reivers aren't always that fussy."
In a horrible way, it made sense.
"Cole," CJ burst out. "Only my friends call me CJ."
Colton nodded slowly, as if to concede he wasn't a friend.
The light was fading, leaving longer shadows. A fire burned ahead of them in a rusted metal barrel. Several unwashed men in leather vests and dirty shirts warmed their hands around it. A woman strode past with the sides of her head shaved and a bright orange Mohawk standing to attention. Not all reivers were men. And the women were often the worst of the worst, as they had a point to prove.
"Wahoo!" screamed a reiver in the distance, shooting his gun into the air.
Another laughed, and a pair of drunks staggered out of what looked like a nearby makeshift bar. One of them turned to tug at the buttons on his jeans, and she looked away swiftly before she copped an eyeful of something she didn't want to see.
Eden felt Black Tom's hands on her jeans again, a sick sensation curling in her stomach.
"Fine," she said tersely. "I'm your woman. Just keep your hands to yourself unless you want to lose them."
A hand squeezed the back of her neck, the gesture both protective and confronting. "Nobody's going to touch you," Colton murmured.
"Don't make promises you can't keep." She brushed his hand off her.
"Oh, I can keep this one." His voice roughened. "Because if anyone dares to lay a hand on you, I will gut them. This way. The Saucy Wench’s this way."
Eden settledher gear neatly in the corner of the room Colton had hired for the night, and then turned to stare at the narrow bed tucked against the wall. Barely enough room for Colton, let alone her. "You're on the floor."
Colton eased the door shut with a click, his large stride carrying him into the center of the room, where he dumped his bedroll. "I figured."
His presence seemed to absorb all the oxygen in the room, which was small enough to begin with. They'd be stepping all over each other. Trapped together. Breathing the same claustrophobic air.
Eden shivered. She and CJ had snatched a mouthful of food while Colton made arrangements for their descent in the morning, and purchased what looked like enough ammunition to mount a campaign on Cortez City single-handedly. The food had been terrible, and she'd felt the greasy stain of every reiver's eyes upon her. It had almost been a relief when Colton returned, because suddenly nobody was looking at her like she was a delicious morsel. He just had that air about him that said,screw with me or mine, and you're a dead man.
But being alone with him....
Sharing a room....
He set the lantern on the table and circled the room, running his fingertips over the walls.
"What are you doing?"
Colton paused, then leaned closer to where his fingers rested beneath a faded old framed poster that hung there, and examined something. Muttering under his breath, he took the frame down and hung his hat there, covering the pinhole.
Oh.
"I thought you said this was the safest place in town," she said.
"It is. Emphasis on the saf-est." Scraping a hand through his close-cropped black hair, he gave her a weary look. "Do you want me to fetch some water so you can wash?"
She would kill for some water and soap. The last two days had been hot and sweaty, and dust coated her skin like a glove. Everywhere. But there had to be a catch. "If you offer to scrub my back...."
Colton arched a brow. "My mother did teach me some manners."
The polite way he said it took her aback.
"Truce, Eden." He sighed. "One night of truce, okay? I'm tired and this is probably going to be the last chance I get to sleep for the next four days. Trust me. You want me as alert as I can be down there."
