Page 39 of The Hero Within
She hadn't understood why Colton even obeyed the psychopath.
Hadn't given it a thought.
Just assumed he'd been there for the hell of it.
Do it often enough and you can twist even the most hard-core alpha to your will in a way he'll never be able to break....
Everything inside her went cold.
What if Colton hadn't been Cane's accomplice by choice?
What if Cane had used torture to break Colton at a young age, and he'd been forced to obey him? She'd heard enough of his conversation with CJ last night to understand how it might have been done.
Which meant all her preconceived notions about Colton were wrong.
Feeling breathless, Eden forced herself to mechanically chew the meal CJ had cooked when they finally stopped for the night, but the two wargs’ quiet words went right over her head as she tried to replay every interaction she'd ever had with Johnny Colton.
Sunlight drenched the street as Eden bustled out of the general store, lugging the basket of groceries she'd purchased. She was waving goodbye to Mr. Miller, all smiles and good humor, when she turned the corner and almost slammed into a young man washing his face in the water trough.
He had his head tilted back, and water tracked rivulets down the side of his face and his throat. A black Stetson hung on a nail on the wall, and he'd tugged his black shirt open at the collar to run his wet hand across the back of his neck.
Young, perhaps a couple of years older than she. All tanned skin and white flashing teeth. She'd caught him in a vulnerable, careless moment, but her tongue cleaved to the roof of her mouth, and Eden had the feeling she'd been punched in the chest.
Man, those jeans were tight. And he was the most attractive guy she'd ever met—which, granted, wasn't a great deal of men.
"I know we're in the middle of nowhere," she somehow managed to say, feeling tongue-tied and breathless, "but surely you can find yourself an actual bath."
Dark eyes locked on hers.
He froze.
So did she.
But there was a skitter of butterflies fluttering raucously in her stomach, and Eden tucked a strand of hair behind her ears self-consciously. Holy. Shit. Why had she said that?
"Hi," she said.
The stranger tugged his shirt together and started buttoning it back up. "Hello, angel."
"If you wanted an actual bath," she said, tilting her head toward the boarding house her father had run when he was alive, "I might be able to help you out."
The stranger stiffened.
"Eden," she said, sticking her hand out for him to shake. "Eden McClain. And my brother owns the boarding house now, so I'm fairly certain I could help accommodate you. There's a washhouse out back, and we don't have any lodgers at the moment, so you'd be welcome to use it, Mr...?"
"Colton. Johnny Colton," he breathed, staring at her hand as if it were dangerous. "Are you sure that's a good idea? You don't even know me."
"I don't know most of the people who stay with us." She rolled her eyes and dropped her hand. "Are you planning to hurt me?"
"No."
"Good," she'd told him, glancing coquettishly at him over her shoulder as she turned toward the boarding house. "Because if you were, I would have to warn you my brother taught me how to shoot and throw a knife, and he was pretty thorough about where to knee a man if he thought to get too friendly... if you know what I mean?"
The faintest of smiles softened Johnny's mouth and he stared at her as if he couldn't look away. He took one hesitant step after her. "Should I be worried about running into your brother too? Because if you're half as dangerous as you say you are, then I might not want to meethim."
He was definitely flirting with her now. Wasn't he?
"You havenoidea." Speaking of, Adam was somewhere in town. Eden glanced toward the main street, and then slipped into the shadows beside Johnny before anyone could tattle on her. "He's six years older than me, but you'd think he was my father. Plus he's a bounty hunter. Hunts wargs out there in the Wastelands. He's a total badass."
