Amber Eyes (Amber Eyes #1)(23)

“I wanted to be with you,”she said simply. “I’m sorry. I’ll go back to Jericho.”

She started to slide toward the edge of the bed.

“No, don’t go. I didn’t mean it like that.”

She paused and stared back at him. “Are you still angry with me, Hunter? I’m sorry I broke my word. I was coming back to you and Jericho.”

“Angry with you?”He was astonished. “Kaya, it’s you who should be angry with me. I shot at you, for God’s sake. I’m the reason you broke your arm.”

She touched his lip with her fingers. He kissed them hungrily, and for the first time allowed all of the desire to well, unfettered and free. It overwhelmed him in a rush. He hadn’t allowed himself to feel since Rebeccah, and it was frightening in its intensity.

He shook with his need, with wanting. Beside him, Kaya studied his expression, her head cocked to the side in gentle curiosity.

“Will you keep my secret, Hunter?”she whispered. “I’ve never told anyone. It frightens me because now I feel powerless.”

He moved closer to her, careful not to touch her arm. Their mouths were now so close that he could feel the warmth of her breath on his chin.

“You can trust me, Kaya. I’ll protect you, take care of you. No one will ever know but me and Jericho. I swear.”

She touched his cheek with light fingertips. “Thank you.”And then she kissed him. Just one sweet brush of her mouth to his. It was the lightest of sensations, like a butterfly’s wings, but it electrified him.

Her eyes were glowing when she pulled away, and he stared, mesmerized, into her liquid depths.

“Will you tell me about the cougar?”he asked.

“Yes, I will tell you and Jericho. Could I…could I eat first?”

His stomach clenched. It sickened him to imagine how many times she’d gone without food or shelter.

“Do you want me to bring you something in bed?”

“I can get up. I want to see Jericho too.”

He reached over to help her sit up. She kept her arm flat against her chest, and her lips tightened into a fine white line as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed.

They met at the foot of the bed and stood staring at each other. She regarded him with understandable wariness, and yet he was shedding the protective layers he’d worn for so long.

“Come here,”he said in a low voice as he reached for her.

She settled against his chest at an angle where she could keep her arm from pressing against him. He wrapped both arms around her and simply absorbed the sensation of holding her. Emotions long buried fought their way to the surface, raw and painful, and yet he welcomed them like the spring thaws after a long, harsh winter.

She made a sweet sound of contentment that rocked him to his soul. Somehow she belonged. Here. With him and Jericho. He should deny that fact. He should push her away, but he could no more do that than he could stop the flood of want.

It wasn’t just sexual desire. It transcended the simplicity of lust and passion. He needed her and that scared the hell out of him. How could he need this slip of a girl who encompassed the soul of the cougar?

“Come on so I can get you something to eat. You’re too thin.”

He felt her smile against him. “I am hungry.”

He took her hand, unable to resist touching her. And then he dropped it, disgusted by his weakness.

She didn’t let him leave, though. She stopped him with an outstretched hand. Her fingers curled trustingly through his, lacing them together. She squeezed as if she understood the battle he was waging with himself.

“It will be all right, Hunter,”she said solemnly. “I know what it’s like to hurt, to be alone.”

Somehow he believed that. She’d suffered enough hurt and loneliness, though. If he could help it, she wouldn’t hurt again.

Stunned by the implication of his wayward thoughts, he pulled her toward the kitchen. Had he just committed himself to her well-being? It was more than that. He’d just locked his future with hers.

Fool. He knew nothing about her. She could leave tomorrow, and here he was forming attachments he had no business forming. The sad thing was, in the few days he’d known her, he’d already given her the power to destroy him as soundly as Rebeccah had.

And he only had himself to blame.

Chapter Thirteen

Jericho looked up when Hunter and Kaya entered the kitchen. He fought to keep his expression neutral. When he’d awakened to find Kaya missing, he knew she’d gone to Hunter. It shouldn’t bother him, but it did. This wasn’t new territory for him and Hunter, but with Rebeccah it had been different. The three of them had always just been. Theirs was a comfortable relationship. The way he felt about Kaya was wild and decidedly uncomfortable.

Kaya’s gaze met his, and she studied him with a hint of unease, almost as if she could read his thoughts. He stared back, holding his breath as he waited. For what he wasn’t sure, and then she told him. With her actions.

She walked directly to him, her courage bolstered and burning brightly in her warm eyes. Mere inches away, so close he could feel her slight warmth, she stopped. Her broken arm was clutched tightly against her body, but her free hand glided up his arm and then over his chest.

He caught her fingers, unable to resist touching her as she touched him. Curling his hand around hers, he brought her palm up to his lips and pressed a kiss to the pad of her thumb.