Page 130 of The Hero Within
Johnny captured her face between his hands as he found his feet, though he had the feeling he'd never catch his balance again. "Angel? What are you—?"
Soft lips captured his, stealing the words from his mouth. Johnny moaned, drinking in the taste of her. But it was one thing to kiss her—something he'd been dreaming of for weeks now—and another to see her right back in Confederacy hands.
She came back.Right into enemy territory.
Who knew what Miles Wentworth's family would do if they heard she was back?
Johnny broke the kiss, breathing hard. He squeezed her tight, his mind still reeling. What was she doing here? What had she done to earn his freedom? He couldn't believe she was real. "You came back?"
For me?
"Did you think I was just going to leave you here?" she asked, a tear sliding down her cheek. Eden suddenly shoved him in the chest. "Damn it, Colton. Who do you think I am?"
The woman of my goddamned dreams.
He kissed her again, a silent apology for doubting her. Of course Eden McClain would storm the Confederacy to get him out. It was his own worth he'd doubted. Every inch of him ached with shock. He still couldn't believe she was here, running his hands up and down her arms as if to confirm the truth.
"Sorry to break up the reunion," drawled a very familiar voice. "But I'd rather we get the hell out of here before some Confederacy cumstain decides the only good wargs are either dead or leashed."
Johnny jerked away from Eden, his breath ragged.
"Wade." Johnny's breath caught in his chest when he saw who else was there. Luc Wade was the last person he'd have ever expected to see. The last time they'd met, Wade's woman put a bullet in his chest, and Wade decided against finishing the job. But he was almost grinning now, as if to see Johnny undone made his fucking day. "Long time, no see."
"Colton. Not long enough."
Eden gasped, but Wade merely held up his hands. "I owed you a favor, Eden. I'm here to help spring his ass, but I don't have to like him."
Definitely easier to pretend they didn't have a whole fucked-up history. He was dangerously close to feeling like the world was shifting beneath his feet as it was. "Aw, shucks. And here I thought we'd sit down and reminisce about old times."
"Which old times? When you kidnapped my daughter and shot me in the knee?" Wade asked coolly.
"I was kind of thinking of the night you barred the doors to the house I was sleeping in, and set it on fire."
"You got out."
"Lily was safe," Johnny pointed out. "I didn't let Cane touch a hair on her head."
Touché.Wade's eyes narrowed as his gaze collided with Johnny's. "You and I are long overdue a certain talk. But we can shelve it until we get the hell away from this place. It makes my skin crawl."
You have no idea.Johnny wrapped an arm around Eden's shoulders, still shaken by the fact she'd come back for him. "Agreed."
"Besides," Wade gave him a wolfish smile, "I'm kind of anxious to get home. There's a certain reunion I'm looking forward to seeing even more than this one. You and Eden? McClain is going to justlovethat."
"As you can see, Miss McClain, the Confederacy intends to hold up its side of the deal," said the general, who'd been watching the entire affair with a faintly disapproving look on his face. "If you would sign the agreement."
A secretary in a prim suit stepped closer, opening his briefcase and presenting a set of documents. Eden signed with a flourish.
"Eden," Johnny breathed. "What did you do?"
What had she given up to get him out of there?
"Don't worry, Colton," Wade mused, looking completely unconcerned by the idea of being surrounded by people who thought him an animal only good to be caged—but then he'd never been on the receiving end of their treatment. "Eden received the original contract terms for the Copperplate mine, except she managed to split the benefits between both Haven and Absolution. You're just a bonus. I think the good general thought throwing you in instead of the gold was a win-win situation, but you should have seen the fat little piggys in Absolution squealing about it."
Johnny stared at her, speechless.
"The settlements have a new agreement," Eden confirmed, sliding her hand into his. "We're going to be assisting the Confederacy with their new mine development program. The general has even offered us a helicopter ride home. Shall we?"
He couldn't think of anything he wanted more. The sooner they got out of here, the better. He squeezed Eden's shoulder. "Let's go home."
