Amber Eyes (Amber Eyes #1)

Amber Eyes (Amber Eyes #1)
Maya Banks



Chapter One

“She’s back,”Jericho said from his position by the window. Behind him Hunter got up and came to look out at the snow-covered ground.

A storm had blown all day, dumping a foot of snow on the high country cabin Jericho and Hunter shared between assignments. Now, just as dusk was falling, the wind had died down, leaving a pristine layer of heavy, wet snow. Thankfully they’d stocked up on supplies because they weren’t getting down the mountain unless they were up for a long walk in snowshoes.

“She’s hurt,”Hunter murmured over his cup of coffee.

Jericho nodded as he watched the mountain lion limp through the snow. Every once in a while, she fell heavily, encumbered by the high drifts. Then she’d struggle up and continue her slow trek toward the cabin.

It had been several months since they’d seen the mountain lion Hunter viewed as a pet. Not since the end of summer when they’d stumbled wearily into their cabin, washed out from another assignment.

The cat had been there, watching from a distance, as though she’d waited on them. But as always, after a day she’d disappeared back into the mountains.

Hunter set his cup down on the small end table by the couch and walked to the door.

“She won’t come in,”Jericho said. “She never does.”

She’d stand outside watching them, her nose quivering delicately as she inhaled their scent as though trying to decipher whether or not they could be trusted. They often left food for her just outside the front door. Though they never saw her eat it, it was always gone. Whether she ate it or another scavenger did, he couldn’t say, but he liked to think the cougar received their gift.

Hunter opened the door, and Jericho frowned as a blast of cold air shoved its way inside the warm interior. But Jericho kept his gaze trained out the window to where the cat pulled up as she scented Hunter.

Her ears flattened against her head, and she raised her nose, her nostrils flaring. Then, to Jericho’s surprise, she started forward again. Her limp became more pronounced as she waded from the heavier snow banks onto the freshly shoveled stone walkway leading up to the cabin.

Patiently, Hunter waited inside the open door as the cougar drew closer.

“Hunter, I’m not sure this is such a good idea,”Jericho began.

“She’s hurting,”Hunter said quietly, pain evident in his own voice.

Jericho shrugged. That the cougar was in pain wasn’t in doubt. Hunter had a soft spot for animals that didn’t extend to most people. Instead of ribbing his friend over his weakness, he gave thanks that Hunter could still feel anything.

Hunter backed away a few steps when the cougar stopped a few feet from the open doorway. Jericho moved so he could see better and also where his rifle was in grabbing distance. Hunter may trust the damn thing, but it was still a wild creature, and he had no desire to be lunch for a feline.

She sniffed delicately at the air, leaning forward and rearing her head up and down as her amber gaze swept between Hunter and Jericho. Then tentatively, she crept forward, her body low to the ground.

Jericho reached for the rifle hanging on the wall, lifted it and brought it down to his side. The cougar froze and began backing away.

“Put the goddamn gun away,”Hunter said harshly.

Jericho frowned and started to argue, but Hunter strode across the room and snatched the rifle from Jericho’s grasp. With a snarl, Hunter tossed the gun onto the couch then turned back to where the cougar was hunkered down in the walkway.

“Close the door,”Jericho grumbled. “It’s f**king cold in here.”

“I’ll close it when she comes in and not before,”Hunter said in a voice as cold as the air surrounding them.

Before Jericho could ask him if he’d lost the few remaining marbles he had, Hunter turned back to the doorway and began crooning to the cat in a soft tone Jericho hadn’t heard him use since Rebeccah.

He murmured soft words, nonsensical, but the soothing tone couldn’t be mistaken. There was a call to trust the man behind it, and Jericho, despite his initial misgivings, found himself keenly interested in whether Hunter would lull the wild beast.

Keeping a mistrustful eye on Jericho, the cat inched forward again, her ears twitching. When she got to the doorway, unease skittered along her spine, raising the fur as she jerked her head back and forth between Jericho and Hunter.

Hunter reached down, his movements slow and measured, and touched the top of her head. The cat’s eyes closed in pleasure, and she rubbed her head roughly against Hunter’s palm.

“I’ll be damned,”Jericho murmured.

“Open the door to the back porch,”Hunter said in his quiet, even voice, never raising it above the low pitch he used to calm the cat. “I’ll see if I can get her there.”

Jericho did as Hunter asked even as he wondered what the hell Hunter was going to do when he got her confined to the screened-in patio.

Hunter backed toward the porch, his hand extended, still talking nonsense. If Hunter weren’t so utterly serious, Jericho would give him hell about talking shit to a cat, but Hunter…well, he had his priorities. Animals and children were held high in his regard. Everyone else? Not so much.

“I know it hurts, girl,”Hunter said quietly as he coaxed her through the kitchen. “Just a little further and I’ll look at that paw. Got it caught in a trap, did you?”