Amber Eyes (Amber Eyes #1)(16)

Hunter patted her hip. “Better get up so we can get you fixed up. Jericho’s going to burst a blood vessel when he hears what I’ve agreed to.”

Jericho strode over, a scowl on his face. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Hunter sighed and eased Kaya off his lap. “Why don’t you go take a hot shower while I explain to Jericho. I’ll leave some clothes out for you on the bed, and we’ll get a start on breakfast.”

Kaya backed off the couch and skirted cautiously around Jericho who wore an expression blacker than night.

As soon as she disappeared, Jericho rounded on Hunter. “What the hell is going on?”

Hunter grimaced, a sure sign Jericho wasn’t going to like what was coming.

“She’s leaving.”

“You want to run that by me again?”

“You heard me,”Hunter said irritably.

“Okay, now you want to tell me why the ever-loving f**k you’re just going to let her waltz out of here after we agreed we weren’t going to let that happen?”

Hunter sighed and ran a hand through his hair in agitation. “Look, I can’t explain it, Jericho. There’s something… I don’t even know. I just sense that this is somehow vitally important. It’s a gut instinct. She said she’d return tonight before it gets dark. She asked me to trust her. She begged me to trust her. What was I supposed to do?”

A rude noise blew past Jericho’s lips followed by a string of curse words that blistered the walls. “Your gut. You’re letting her go out alone in the bitter cold because your gut tells you to.”

“I made her a promise. I won’t go back on it.”

Jericho threw up his hands in disgust. “Well since you two have got it all figured out, I’ll just keep the hell out of your way.”

He turned and stalked into the kitchen, seething in irritation. It didn’t matter that Hunter was right. They couldn’t make decisions for her, but they damn sure could have provided a united front. Letting her go was stupid. Hell, she’d returned stark naked. In the f**king snow. And Hunter was willing to let her just walk out again?

He yanked out the pans to start on breakfast. He was standing at the stove a few minutes later when two small hands crept around his middle. He immediately tensed and looked down as her arms encircled him.

Her cheek pressed to his spine just below his shoulder blades, and her soft breath blew over his bare skin.

“Don’t be angry, Jericho,”she said. “I’ll be back tonight. I’ve given my word.”

He sighed and put down the spatula. Then he pivoted in her arms until he was looking down at her upturned face.

“I guess I don’t understand. Any of it. Where are you going? If I thought you were taken care of, it wouldn’t bother me, but Kaya, you are not being taken care of.”

He braced his hands on her shoulders as he said the last. Hell, he was tempted to shake some sense into her.

A sweet smile curved her lips and damn near turned him into jelly. Lord, but she was beautiful. And insanely stubborn.

“I am well taken care of, Jericho. I promise. I have a protector.”

Protector? As in a man? Boyfriend? And if so then where the flying f**k was he right now? Over his dead body would she be gallivanting around in the snow, bare-assed naked, if she belonged to him.

“I see. And where is he right now?”he asked in an even voice.

Confusion clouded her face. “Who are you talking about?”

“Your protector,”he said patiently. “The guy who’s supposed to look out for you.”

“I never said it was a he. There is no one for you to concern yourself with.”

Jericho shook his head. She was making him want to pull out all his hair. It was no wonder Hunter had caved. It was give in or beat his head on the floor.

He gave it one last shot. “I’m worried about you, Kaya.”

She leaned up on tiptoe. “Kiss me. Please? I want to know if it feels as wonderful as when Hunter kissed me.”

Well hell. Nothing like a little pressure. If any other woman had said something like that, he’d think she was playing them against each other, but Kaya said it without artifice. She seemed genuinely curious.

With that in mind, he squelched the urge to yank her up and kiss her breathless. A little finesse wouldn’t be amiss in the situation.

Slowly, so slowly he thought he’d go mad, he leaned down, gently pulling her to him. She licked her lips in nervous anticipation as their mouths danced, chasing to one side, hovering and then adjusting the angle. Finally they met in a hot, sweet rush, melting on contact.

The shock warmed him to his toes. A tingle raced down his spine, spread around his groin. His balls drew up and his dick hardened until he ached with wanting. All because she tasted like sunrise.

“How can I let you walk away?”he rasped.

Her eyes glittered, awash with the colors of autumn. Red suffused her cheeks, and her breaths came in rapid little bursts.

“I will come back to you,”she said.

The words so carefully rendered were a vow in the silence of the kitchen. In that moment he believed, as Hunter evidently did, that she would indeed come back and that she would be okay.

“All right,”he agreed in a quiet voice. “I’ll have something for you to eat when you return.”