Page 25 of The Hero Within
Eden. The word sat heavy in the air. So too did his request. She wasn't usually this bitchy.
"Truce," she whispered.
Colton nodded slowly, his dark eyes never leaving her face, and then he turned toward the door. "I'll fetch the water."
The second the door shut, she turned and stared blindly around the room. What was she doing? Embarking on a dangerous trek with her most hated enemy?
Doyou hate him?
Or do you hate what he had a hand in doing to you?
She sank onto the bed, finally picturing the face of her true enemy.
Growing up in the Wastelands, she knew monsters. But there were monsters—wargs, revenants, shadow cats—and then there weremonsters. Bartholomew Cane haunted her memories like a ghost, and for someone who'd been dead for three years, his image was easy to recall.
A match flared in the darkness, and hot, dangerous eyes lingered on her in a way that made a young Eden's skin creep. Cane's rugged features held the taint of cruelty, his heavy mouth sloping down as he lit his cigar, and shook the match out slowly.
"You got what you wanted," a younger, not-as-world-weary Johnny Colton said, stepping between her and Cane. "McClain's going to give you Luc Wade. Now let me take the girl home. It's done."
Ugh.
Eden dragged her hands over her face, trying to banish Cane from her mind. By the time Colton had returned with a bowl of water that even looked clean, she'd almost succeeded.
"Thank you."
A half smile twitched at his lips.
"What?"
"You're welcome," he said. "I'll go next door and make sure Cole knows how to barricade his room."
"You really know how to settle a girl's mind."
Colton's smile faded. "I don't want your mind settled. I want you wary, angel. But you should be safe tonight. Take the time to wash."
He headed for the door.
"Knock," she suggested. "And don't open the door until I grant you permission."
"Yeah, I got it." Dark eyes scoured her briefly, reminding her she was intending to get naked.
Eden's breath caught in her throat.
"I'll give you a couple of minutes," he muttered, and then slipped out through the door.
Her gaze slid to the bowl. There was barely two inches of water in it, but oh.... She burst into a flurry of movement, fetching the small bar of soap Riley had packed for her and the thin washcloth. Voices murmured next door, the walls paper-thin. Stripping out of her clothes, she knotted her hair loosely on the top of her head and set the bowl on the floor so she could stand in it and not waste a drop. Next door, the door slammed firmly, Colton's boots ringing on the timber floors.
The slick glide of soap over her skin felt like heaven.
A thin band of light stretched under the door and she could make out the large shadow standing guard, right in the middle. Water dripped into the bowl and the shadow shifted. Eden paused, the flannel draped over her right breast. A single panel of timber separated them. It felt intimate in a way she hadn't expected, and she could hear Colton shifting, hear the soft rasp of his breath.
Knew he was listening to water drip down her naked skin and splash in the bowl.
Damn it. Heat flared deep in her abdomen. Despite everything, her body hadn't quite gotten the message Johnny Colton couldn't be trusted.
You don't have to trust himfor what you want to do to him....
He's an attractive man, she told herself, knowing denying the facts wouldn't make them untrue.
