SEAL's RESOLVE - Rebecca Deel Page 0,43
cargo pants, pulled on his boots, and went across the hall to Kristi’s room.
He paused in the doorway, his heart turning over at the sight of the beautiful woman sleeping peacefully. Rafe hated to wake her, but the early start gave them the best chance of arriving in town unnoticed.
Rafe walked to her bedside and trailed his fingers over Kristi’s cheek. Her skin felt like velvet against his own rough skin. He’d never felt anything that soft in his life. “Kristi.”
She sat up. “What’s wrong?”
He sat beside Kristi and wrapped his arms around her. “Nothing’s wrong,” he murmured against her ear. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Kristi relaxed against him. “It’s still dark out. Why are we awake so early?”
“You said you wanted to go home today. The best time to do that is under cover of darkness.” He cupped her cheeks, leaned in and kissed her. “I’ll make you tea while you change clothes.”
“When do we leave?”
“As soon as you’re ready.”
“Give me a few minutes.”
Rafe left the room, closing the door behind him. Already in the kitchen, Rio turned when Rafe walked in. The rest of Wolf Pack was gathered around the table with breakfast wraps and mugs of coffee.
“Your coffee and breakfast are ready,” the medic said.
He accepted the plate and mug of coffee Rio offered him with a nod of thanks.
“I can prepare a wrap for Kristi as well, but I wasn’t sure if she’d be ready to eat this early.”
“I doubt it, but you can ask.” Unlike the operatives, she wasn’t used to waking at all hours of the night. He nuked a large mug of water with two chamomile-mint tea bags, then ate quickly and drank the excellent coffee while her tea steeped. “Thanks, man. I appreciate this.”
“No problem.”
“Thanks for your hospitality, Rio.” Eli rose with his empty plate and coffee mug in hand.
“Our door is always open, my friend.”
“Yeah, you say that now. I’m betting the offer doesn’t stand the next time we’re at PSI for training.”
A quick grin from the medic. “Only if you’re injured and need TLC.”
Light footsteps sounded on the stairs. Rafe turned as Kristi walked into the kitchen. As he studied her face, tension melted from Rafe’s muscles. Kristi’s color was better. He met her in the center of the kitchen. “How do you feel?” he asked as he drew her into his arms again. Yeah, he was becoming addicted to hugging this woman.
“Better. No wonder you and the others swear by that anti-nausea patch.”
The men around the room chuckled.
“How’s the headache?” Jackson asked.
“Manageable.”
He handed her a packet from his pocket. “Take two capsules in an hour. Don’t try to tough it out or you’ll be in the same shape as last night.”
She wrinkled her nose. “No, I won’t wait again. That wasn’t fun.”
“Are you hungry?” Rio asked.
“It’s too early for me to even think about food, but thanks for the offer.” She glanced at the empty plates around the table. “I’m guessing the same isn’t true for the rest of you.”
“We learned to eat when we could. During missions, we don’t always have time.”
“More chamomile-mint tea?” Rafe asked her.
She brightened. “That’s perfect.”
“Here.” Rio handed Rafe a large to-go cup. “This should hold her tea. To-go coffee all around?” he asked Wolf Pack.
“You are a true friend,” Cal said.
The medic smiled. “I’ll remind you of that when you return for a refresher course.”
A scowl. “That wasn’t an invitation to ramp up the difficulty of our training.”
“I thought you wanted to prove that SEALs are tougher than Delta Force soldiers.” He leaned back against the kitchen counter. “In case you wondered, they aren’t.”
Rafe poured Kristi’s tea into the travel mug while his teammates teased Rio about the perils of being an Army grunt. When Kristi joined him at the kitchen counter, they prepared travel cups of coffee for all of the operatives.
When they finished, Rafe dropped a light kiss on Kristi’s mouth. He turned to his teammates. “We need to go. Clock’s ticking.”
“Load up,” Eli said. “We leave in five minutes.”
As Wolf Pack left to retrieve their gear, Rafe looked at Rio. When the medic gave a short nod, Rafe turned to Kristi. “I’ll be back in a minute. Stay with Rio.”
He took the stairs two at a time, checked the bathroom to be sure he hadn’t left anything, then scooped up his Go bag, and returned to the kitchen and Kristi.
“You don’t have to do that,” Rio was saying to her. “Darcy wouldn’t expect you to do anything