Page 21 of Protected By the Billionaire Ex-SEAL

I chuckle. “You and my sister sound so similar sometimes, it’s uncanny.”

“It’s called love, Christian. You should try it sometime.”

I shake my head. “No, thanks. Not my thing.”

She shakes her head, too, then returns to Raven’s side until the kids are distracted with an activity. The two women murmur to each other, and something Honey says has Raven breaking into the sweetest, widest smile.

And just like that, my entire body’s aching for things I don’t understand.

I swallow it down, then lock it in when Honey Lee takes over and Raven ambles over to me. She still smiles, but not as much, and the loss of that—and the remembrance of how cheeki-ly she smiled when I first met her—lingers in my mind.

“Nervous?”

Raven takes a deep breath, the only indication that she is. But she gathers it in.

“I thought I’d be faced with prim and proper kids, but I guess kids are kids everywhere.”

“Nah. These are intimidating.” I smirk. “They’re sinister. You better watch out.”

Amber eyes twinkle. “They’re so sweet. And bubbly.”

“You’re used to bigger crowds, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. But I like this small crowd for a change. It means I can focus on them better.”

I study her, noting that despite the nerves, there’s a relaxed vibe to her that she could only have gotten from the kids. It’s certainly a change from her semi-agitated state earlier, which brings me to thinking…

“How was your sleep last night?”

Her expression shifts, a glimpse of something I can’t read before she shuts it down. Anger streaks as I remember the first time that I comforted her from her nightmare and told her it’d be okay when all I wanted to do was find her piece of shit of an ex and break his face. Yes, not just his fingers.

I want him gone. I want her protected at all times, and I already know I’m going to make use of my full capacity to keep her safe. But that bastard needs to get his justice, and my fury might just be more than enough to make it happen.

To my surprise, Raven’s cheeks flush, a vibrant pink that draws my attention.

“Raven?”

She blinks and clears her throat. “It was a good sleep.”

Frowning, I sidle closer, my hand reaching for her cheek before I stop at the last second. “Any nightmares?”

The pink becomes an almost violent shade of red, then returns to that lovely pink tinge that mystifies me. She shakes her head.

“No.”

I can’t tell if she’s lying, but then again, I didn’t hear her scream last night. I ease up at that and nod.

“Good. No nightmare is good.”

Her gaze flicks to my mouth, watching it move as I speak to her in a whisper so the others won’t hear. Belatedly, I realize I haven’t moved away yet, and I can smell it: peaches, just a slight whiff that jumps in my blood.

You bathed in peaches? Almost slips out of my mouth, but it’s a good thing I still have some self-control because, hell…what else follows that line of questioning?

Was it good?

Did you enjoy yourself?

It’s toeing the line into the forbidden. And I can’t do the forbidden, no matter how tempting it is.

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