Page 94 of The Hero Within
"It contains a bit of a confession too," she admitted, as his hands kept rubbing her neck, thumbs sliding along the sore muscles there.
"Now I'm curious."
"You know that letter that fell out of your pocket the night you were injured?"
"Yeah," he said, his voice roughening.
"I stole it when you were asleep and looked at it."
Eden glanced behind her as Johnny's hands came to a complete rest on her shoulders.
His face remained neutral.
"It was my letter," she whispered. "One I wrote to Adam, years ago. I know you took off with his bag when you slipped away after Rust city, but I guess... I guess I'm curious as to why you kept my letters."
A sudden chill swept over her, as the heat of his hands dropped away. Now he was reaching for his flask.
"Johnny?"
He took a mouthful of water, the muscles in his throat working. With a sigh, he lowered the flask, scrubbing a hand up the back of his neck. "What do you want me to say? I didn't realize they were in the bag until it was too late. I meant to burn them. I tried once or twice, but somehow I couldn't do it. I never forgot you. And sometimes it gets lonely out there on the Rim." Dark eyes flashed to hers. "Sometimes I used to read them, and pretend we hadn't met the way we did."
Her heart broke a little for him.
A smile curled over his mouth. "Mind you, I remembered you as this sweet, young girl who loved her brother, and hated my ass. I could picture you through your letters. Loving. Generous. Frustrated with a brother who wouldn't come home. Reminding him of everything he had waiting for him. I had this whole image of you in my head. My angel. Then you threatened to Taser my balls, and I kind of realized the Eden McClain I thought I knew was nothing like the real thing."
"Ha, ha." Her heart thrilled a little. "You had a thing for me."
"Darlin', I've had a thing for you since the moment I met you," he pointed out dryly, tipping the flask to his lips again. The smile vanished from his face. "Just never expected you'd ever look at me the way you did that night in Shadow Rock. Or kiss me back."
Butterflies took flight in her stomach.
"And I know it scares you, so I guess... What you do with that information is up to you."
Arik loped back down toward them. "How are you feeling?" he asked, in the carefully mild tone of a man who wanted to get the hell out of here. "Not a good place to stop, sorry. Got an hour to the tunnel, Eden. Can you do it?"
Right now, she felt like she could float away, those damned butterflies were fluttering so hard.
Walking though?
Maybe.
She took a deep breath and held her arms out so Johnny could slip the pack onto her back. "I've got this."
"We're getting close to patrolled territory now. Keep an eye on the sky for drones," Arik said, mostly to Johnny and Lincoln. "They sound like a swarm of bees, have heat-seeking abilities, and miniature rocket launchers attached to them. Heat-seeking range is generally two hundred feet, so we can't afford to be surprised. They're all run by AI back in Cortez—"
"A-what?" Johnny asked.
"Artificial Intelligence," Arik replied. "It’s all computer controlled, but they're designed to alert enforcement should they go down, or spot anything. If that alert gets sent, we'll be knee-deep in drones and enforcement will send a squad out to check. It's the last thing we want."
Eden stumbled forward, her thighs groaning.
And of course they were going up a small slope.
"You were a Confederacy prisoner?" she asked Arik, to take her mind off things as they trooped along a narrow track that looked like something goats would use.
He hauled his pack higher. "Yes."
Lincoln caught her eye and shook his head as if to say,don't go there.
