Page 42 of SEAL's Angel
Chapter 10
Jake folded the blanket and tucked it into his pack. He held out his hand for Dawn to take, hoping he hadn’t fucked up the afternoon. He’d honestly forgotten about his last injury. He hadn’t lied to her or deliberately withheld the information. Not that he could have told her any details—everything was classified.
After a slight hesitation, Dawn put her hand in his. It was ice cold. He laced their fingers together and pulled her into his side. “You’re freezing.”
“I’m fine, really. I’ll be warm by the time we get back to camp.”
Jake shrugged off his sweatshirt and wrapped it around Dawn’s shoulders. It was huge, and she looked like she was playing dress up.
He smiled. “Better?”
“Yes. Thank you.” Dawn nodded and took his hand again.
“Before we see Rafe and the kids, you need to know that this afternoon was amazing. You’re amazing and I can’t wait until we can be together again.”
Dawn’s cheeks turned red and her eyes sparkled with mischief. God, he loved this woman. She had climbed into his heart after their first kiss and taken up permanent residence. He’d fought it for so long, but when she trusted him to keep her protected while making love to her, whatever resistance he’d been holding onto disappeared.
Dawn stopped walking and waited for him to meet her gaze and then slid her hands over his hips. “You think you can handle this?”
“Angel, you’re playing with fire. You keep poking the beast, and I’m going to make you scream so loud your neighbors will know my name.”
Heat flooded Dawn’s face, and her pupils dilated as she sucked in a breath.
Satisfaction probably made him look smug, but he couldn’t help it. The way she teased him and slid her tongue along her bottom lip made him groan. She wouldn’t be so playful if he’d blown it, would she?
Jake wanted more than just sex, but did she? Maybe it was just lust for her. Until he figured it out, he’d keep his confession of love to himself. The last thing he wanted was to scare her away.
They chatted about nothing while they made their way back to camp. When they reached their site, Rafe and the kids were sitting around the campfire roasting hotdogs.
* * *
Rafe looked up as they entered the clearing, but Jake knew he’d probably heard them long before. Checking their surroundings was ingrained in them from day one and came as natural as eating or sleeping.
“About time,” Rafe said as he made a big deal about checking his watch for the time. “We were about to come find you.”
“We weren’t gone that long,” Dawn replied.
Jake chuckled. “Almost three hours, angel.”
“What? Oh, my God. I’m so sorry, Rafe.”
Rafe studied his sister’s face. “For what? Leaving me with my niece and nephew? That’s crazy talk. Didn’t you tell me before that I need to get used to having kids?”
“Well, yeah. But—”
“No buts. We were fine. But Cindy got hungry, so we started on the hotdogs.”
“I’ll get everything else going,” Dawn said and tried to pull her hand from his grasp.
“Easy, baby. There’s no rush. It’s not like they’re starving. It’s not even five o’clock yet. Isn’t that when you usually eat?”
Dawn nodded and then looked at Rafe. “Yeah, so why are you eating so early? The kids weren’t hungry, you were?”
Rafe looked sheepish and then started laughing. “Thanks, Jake. Way to stick up for your teammate.”
“Nope, it’s on you, bro.”
Cindy handed her hotdog to Rafe and charged at Dawn.
