Amber Eyes

by Maya Banks

  Chapter Eighteen

  The next weeks followed a predictable course. The days were spent with the cougar in front of the fire until she shifted back to human and went shivering into Hunter’s or Jericho’s arms.

  At night, she and Jericho made sweet love in front of the fire, their shadows transposing erotic images on the wall. And though she couldn’t always see him, Hunter watched from those shadows. Sometimes she left Jericho’s arms to find Hunter waiting. He took her into his bedroom and mated with her with such urgency that it was like lighting a wildfire inside her body.

  She had learned much from these two men, but she also had good instincts for what pleased them. Yet, despite the fact that that they’d made love to her together the first time, neither had made an effort to make it happen again.

  Why it was so important to her, she wasn’t sure, but even when each made such sweet love to her separately, she felt she was missing a vital part of herself. She wanted—needed—both of them to complete her.

  Tonight, the two men sat in the living room with her as they watched the glow of the embers in the hearth. It was the perfect opportunity to appeal to them both.

  She rested in the crook of Jericho’s arm, her head pillowed on his broad chest. “Jericho?”

  His fingers trailed lazily down her arm. “Yes, honey?”

  “Why haven’t you loved me together? Like the first time…”

  Her gaze drifted to Hunter as she spoke, and he went still, his eyes burning into hers. Hungry. It was the only word she could come up with to describe the gleam.

  Jericho’s hand stopped its casual trail over her arm.

  “Do you not wish to do so?” she asked softly.

  Hunter lifted his gaze to Jericho. She was aware of the silent communication between the two men, and she wondered at the sudden tension that filled the room.

  “We want to very much,” Hunter finally said. “We just wanted to give you time. In so many ways you’re still such an innocent, Kaya. We’ve got a hell of a lot more experience than you.”

  “Do we really?” Jericho asked softly. “Want to, that is?”

  Kaya turned her head up to see Jericho staring intently across the distance at Hunter. She frowned, not understanding what was going on between the two men.

  “Yeah,” Hunter said.

  “Are you sure?”

  Again, Hunter nodded.

  “Jericho?”

  Jericho looked down at her softly spoken entreaty and ran his fingers over her cheek. “What is it, honey?”

  “What is going on?”

  Jericho sighed then looked over at Hunter who slowly got up from his chair and walked over to the couch to sit on the other side of Kaya. Hunter took her hand and linked his fingers with hers.

  “I’m not sure how much of human relationships you understand, but having two…mates…is not normal.”

  “I know,” she said solemnly. “It’s why I feel so fortunate.”

  “Before we knew you, there was a woman that Jericho and I both loved.”

  “Rebeccah,” she said softly.

  “Yes, Rebeccah,” Jericho said.

  “You lost her.”

  “Yes, we lost her.”

  “How?” she asked.

  “She was killed in a rebel uprising in Africa. She…her foundation…furnishes medical aid to villages caught in the crossfire, particularly the children. Jericho and I provided the muscle—the firepower, so to speak. We often led a team in front of hers to clear the way so she could get into the places no one else could—or would—go.”

  “And this is where you went when you left the cabin each time?”

  Jericho nodded. “At first, before Rebeccah died, we stayed with her. After she was killed, we came here. It seemed easier. We could face going back if we had the distance between assignments each time.”

  “You do it to honor her memory,” Kaya said in understanding.

  “We made a promise,” Hunter said grimly.

  She smiled and touched his cheek then turned to offer the same affection to Jericho. “You are noble men.”

  “At any rate, we both swore we’d never put another woman between us again,” Jericho said, ignoring her statement. “That’s why I was making sure that Hunter is okay with this.”

  “But why?”

  Hunter sighed. “It’s complicated. Rebeccah…she didn’t trust our relationship. She was in essence waiting for it to fall apart. To fail. She didn’t believe we could continue on, two men loving—sharing—the same woman.”

  Kaya stared at him in dismay. “She didn’t trust you?”

  “She didn’t trust the situation,” Jericho corrected.

  “She didn’t trust us,” Hunter said in agreement with Kaya.

  Jericho went silent, his face turned away from them both.

  “I’m sorry,” Kaya said quietly. “No wonder you didn’t want to involve yourselves with me.”

  Hunter ran his finger up the underside of her arm. “But we do, Kaya. Despite our vow never to become involved with the same woman. You came into our lives, and neither of us is willing to let you go now.”

  “We didn’t plan it,” Jericho said. “But we aren’t going to fight it. We want you, Kaya. With us.”

  She reached up to palm his cheek. “And I want to be with you. Both of you.”

  Jericho captured her fingers and slid her hand over his mouth. He kissed the pad of her thumb and then each finger.

  “Do you trust us, Kaya? Do you believe we won’t hurt you or do anything to frighten you?”

  She smiled. “Just love me. I want you both.”

  Hunter slid from the couch and reached to pick her up. He strode toward the bedroom, Jericho just behind him. He laid her on the bed and took a step back to stand beside Jericho.

  For several seconds, both men stood over her, staring as she lay submissively, waiting for what they would do next.

  Jericho stripped off his shirt and hastily dragged his pants off. Hunter was more methodical, though, watching Kaya as he slowly undressed. Button by button, he bared the smooth texture of his chest and abdomen.

  He parted the lapels and pulled them back, the material sliding over his shoulders and down his arms. It fell away, and he reached for the button of his jeans. It popped open, and the sound of his zipper rasped over her ears.

  Jericho was completely naked now, and Hunter pulled his pants over his hips, freeing his cock from constraint. When he stepped out of the jeans, Jericho moved onto the bed, crawling onto the mattress beside her. He palmed her belly then slid his hand up her midline and then under one breast. He ran a thumb over her nipple, brushing back and forth until it tightened unbearably.

  She turned her head with a gasp when Hunter settled on the other side of her, his fingers sliding through the soft folds between her legs. She sucked in her breath again when he tucked one finger inside her opening. He left it just inside for a moment before easing deeper. He withdrew, added another finger and then opened her a little wider.

  “One of us will be here,” Hunter said as he stroked the inside of her sheath. He withdrew his fingers and ran them lightly up her belly, over her chest and up to her lips. They were damp with her moisture when he pressed them over her tongue. “And one of us will be here,” he said as he slid his finger deeper into her mouth.

  Her eyes widened at the images his words evoked. Hunter over her, thrusting. No, that would be awkward. Behind her, mounting her like her animal brethren. A low shudder worked through her frame as she imagined being mounted like an animal. Jericho in front of her, using her mouth as a second sheath.

  Both men closed in on her, lowering their heads until they each took a nipple between their teeth, sucking and nipping at the sensitive buds. She floated free of the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Dreamily, she ran her hands through their hair, holding them against her breasts.

  Then she closed her eyes, content to just feel, to experience the love these two men offered.

  Their mouths sco
rched over her skin. Hot. Breathless. Their ragged breaths filled the room, blew over her flesh. They turned her until she lay belly-down, and then their hands and mouths resumed their lazy seduction.

  One moved over her, pressing his body to hers. Hunter. His rigid cock settled in the cleft of her behind, rubbing up and down, dipping between her legs. He thrust against her, not gaining entrance, rather teasing her with what was to come.

  Beside her, Jericho turned her face until her cheek rested on the mattress and her mouth was accessible. Holding his cock, he brushed it across her lips, teasing like Hunter, but not gaining entrance. The tip grazed her cheek, then slid over her mouth and back again.

  “You’re so beautiful,” Jericho whispered. “Stretched out between us, your hair like silk.”

  She smiled, deep contentment sliding like velvet through her veins.

  Hunter spread her legs and gently pulled her backward until she was half off the bed.

  “Up on your knees,” he said.

  He helped to get her in place, his hands caressing, soothing and calm. His fingers found her again, delving deep into her wetness, pressing against the sensitive nerves in her passage.

  “I want you ready,” Hunter said. “I don’t want to hurt you in any way.”

  She turned her head to look at him over her shoulder. “You won’t hurt me, Hunter.”

  Careful hands turned her chin back until she faced Jericho. He pushed back her hair, stroking her cheek with gentle fingers.

  “Tell me if anything frightens you. We’ll stop immediately.”

  “I don’t want you to stop,” she whispered.

  He held her face in his hands as Hunter positioned himself between her parted legs. Hunter brushed the tip of his cock against her entrance and then carefully tucked it inside. Slowly he pushed forward as Jericho held his gaze locked to hers.

  There was something extremely soul-stirring about this shared moment when Hunter was connected to her physically and Jericho was connected to her spiritually.

  Hunter found his way deep inside, his movements so light and caring that her heart ached. It was as if they were discovering her all over again for the first time.

  She reveled in their tenderness, but something wild inside her strained to be set free. Rising hunger, burning need. She was a volcano waiting to erupt.

  She stared up at Jericho and parted her lips in sultry invitation. His hands tightened at her jaw, and one hand left to grasp his cock. He didn’t have to instruct her. Her need for him was inherent, a primal instinct that had nothing to do with the beast inside her. No, this was the woman within, screaming for what was hers.

  After so many years of restraining her human needs, of ceding to the cougar, she was poised to break free, to live. Really live and bask in her femininity.

  She sucked him hungrily inside her mouth. Both men reached their depths inside her body at the same time. They stilled as she absorbed the sensation. She trembled around them, her heart swelling, aching, loving.

  Their hands petted and coaxed her, caressed her and told their own story of their love for her. Fingers tunneled through her hair, ran sensuous lines down her back and over the slope of her buttocks.

  She moaned and stirred restlessly between them, moving back and then forward, encouraging them, pleading with them to take her.

  Hunter’s hands gripped her waist and held her in place as he plunged, harder now. Jericho tilted her chin upward, angling so he could thrust deeper into her mouth. She closed her eyes and gave herself over to their care, her trust in them complete.

  She couldn’t know how beautiful she looked, Hunter thought. Her neck arched to accept Jericho, her back in a delicate bow as she raised her hips to take him. Her hair cascaded over her shoulders and trailed down her spine, dripping from her skin like honey.

  He was completely taken by her even though it was him doing the taking. The desire to protect her and cherish her overwhelmed him, filled areas of his soul left barren. How had she done it?

  Her trust in them awed him. She had no reason to trust anyone, let alone two rugged men who came and went with the wind. And yet she accepted them unreservedly.

  He ached for release, but it was more than physical. This time he wouldn’t just give her his lust. He’d give her his heart and soul.

  He leaned over her as he plunged into her welcoming depths. His lips brushed her shoulder and then the thin line of her spine and down to the small of her back. And then he threw his head back as his orgasm swelled and burned in his groin, tightening his balls as he prepared to explode.

  The wet, sucking sounds of her mouth around Jericho whispered erotically over his ears, and he opened his eyes, wanting to watch as they both came, as she took what they both had to offer.

  Jericho’s expression was drawn tight in ecstasy, his hand tangled in her hair, his fingers clenched at the top of her head. He held her head in place and thrust one last time.

  Hunter began to unravel. He yanked out of her, his cock slapping against her bottom, and then his release surged onto her skin.

  Kaya existed in a hazy world of intense, sharp sensation. Her mouth filled, and still, Jericho thrust. His semen slipped down her throat. Some of it spilled down her lips as he withdrew, only to plunge again.

  Hunter held her hips tightly in his hands as the last of his seed pulsed onto her back. For a long moment, neither man moved, until she struggled and gasped for breath. Jericho released her immediately, and she sucked in big mouthfuls of air. Hunter moved from her then returned and wiped the moisture from her skin.

  Then he pulled her back against him, turning her so that he cradled her in his strong arms. He smoothed her hair, his hands everywhere, on her, stroking and loving.

  “Did we hurt you? Frighten you?”

  She twined her arms around his neck, wanting him close, needing his strength and his heat.

  “I am complete,” she whispered. And for the first time in her life, she knew she had come home.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The cougar bounded through the snow, her feet kicking up the powder as she forged ahead of Hunter and Jericho. She looked playful, not at all like a lean, powerful predator.

  She disappeared from sight, but then doubled back as if telling them to catch up.

  “Whose idea was this again?” Jericho grumbled.

  “Mine,” Hunter said when they stopped at the rise overlooking a deep ravine below. “I’m not comfortable letting her run free out here. Too many hunters. She could get shot.”

  “She’s survived for a lot of years out here.”

  “And I intend to see that she survives a lot more years.”

  “She wouldn’t be happy that you don’t trust her survival skills.”

  Hunter blew out his breath in frustration. Jericho just grinned. It was fun to yank Hunter’s chain. He was way too easy a mark.

  “It’s not that I don’t trust her. I worry…”

  “Yeah, I hear you. I was just messing with you, man.”

  Hunter looked around with a frown, his gaze scanning the snow-covered terrain. “Where the hell did she go now?”

  Just then a blur of caramel colored fur blew past Jericho and knocked Hunter on his ass. Jericho doubled over laughing as he watched Hunter being licked to death by an extremely playful cougar. She was standing between his legs, her front paws on his chest as he tried to fend her off.

  “Damn it, Kaya, enough with the licking,” he growled.

  She lunged off him and sauntered over to Jericho, rubbing against his legs and circling as if sharing a laugh with him. Hunter rolled to his side and pushed himself up from the snow, glaring at both Jericho and the cougar as he dusted all the snow and ice from his clothing.

  Kaya lay down in the snow and then rolled over onto her back.

  “Yeah, yeah, you’ve got natural insulation,” Hunter said darkly. “I’m going to freeze my ass off once this wet gets to my skin.”

  She went still and began to shake and tremble.


  “What the hell? Hell, no. Kaya, don’t you dare. I’ll kick your scrawny ass.”

  Despite Hunter’s ridiculous threats, a moment later a naked Kaya lay shivering in the snow, her eyes gleaming with mischief.

  Hunter fell to his knees beside her, tearing at his coat to cover her. He sputtered and cursed while Jericho tried valiantly to keep from laughing.

  Hunter was about down to just a shirt and his pants when Kaya rolled away and shifted back to the cougar.

  “You little… You did that on purpose.”

  Jericho snorted. “Of course she did. You’re so easy. She has you wound up like a clock.”

  Hunter picked each item of clothing off the ground, bitching and moaning the entire time.

  “Playtime’s over. I’m going back to the cabin where most normal people are on a day like this. Inside.”

  “Just remember it was your idea,” Jericho said mildly.

  Hunter stopped in his tracks then swung around to stare accusingly at the cougar. He stuck out a finger and closed in on her, wagging it like an old schoolmarm. “You set me up. You did this so I wouldn’t want to come out with you next time. Devious heifer.”

  The cat sank onto her belly and laid her head on her outstretched paws. She managed to look positively sorrowful as she gazed up at Hunter with those amber eyes.

  “I’m going to buy you a collar and a leash. Then we’ll see who has the last laugh.”

  Jericho lost the battle and died laughing. He laughed so hard, he had to clutch his middle as cramps knotted his midsection.

  Hunter threw up his hands and stalked toward the cabin.

  When Jericho had calmed down enough to catch his breath, he knelt on one knee in the snow and put his hand on the cougar’s head. “Come on, girl. We better get back to the cabin before he has a hissy fit.”

  She picked up her head and eyed him balefully.

  “Yeah, yeah, I know, he’s already pitched one hell of a fit.”

  Still, he rose and started back toward the cabin, hoping Kaya had had enough romping around in the snow for the day. He and Hunter were gratified that she was spending less and less time in cougar form as the days passed. They liked it a lot better when they knew exactly where she was and that she was safe.

  She trailed alongside him until the cabin came into view. Then she bounded ahead of him and butted against the slightly ajar door.

  When Jericho entered, he saw Hunter wrapping a blanket around a shivering, naked Kaya. Jericho picked up the change of clothes they kept by the door and started toward her.

  Something in Hunter’s gaze stopped him.

  “Go get dressed, honey,” Hunter said in a low voice as he turned her toward Jericho.

  Jericho frowned and held out the clothes to Kaya as he continued to stare at Hunter.

  “K-man radioed. We’ve been called out.”

  Jericho froze. It wasn’t entirely unexpected. They lived with the knowledge that they could be called away any minute of any day. But they’d spent the last weeks in denial of that possibility.

  “Are we going?” Jericho asked evenly.