Not Your Ex's Hexes (Supernatural Singles, #2)(29)

She ignored him. “I’m almost positive I heard sad little crying. They’re in here somewhere.”

“Seriously, Ro. Out now. One wrong move and this metal Jenga mountain will crush you into a witch-sized pancake.”

Rose gasped. She’d already shimmied herself a few more inches into Death Mountain. “Damian! There’s like six of them! Puppies! They’re soaked and so, so little. I’m not sure they can even open their eyes yet. I just need to squeeze in a little more…”

“Switch places with me.” Damian dropped into the mud next to her and shone his light inside … and sure enough, two feet from the edge of her fingers wriggled six little squirming bundles of pooch. “Come out here and hold the light. I’ll go in and get them.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m already here.” He practically heard her eyes rolling. “And I can barely squeeze my shoulders in here and you think yours will fit?”

“I’ll get Terrance to—”

There was barely enough room for her head to swing his way. Magical static crackled in the air as she drilled him with an annoyed glare, her golden eyes flashing.

Mud coated her chin and cheek, but it didn’t make her any less intimidating. “To what? Take a half hour or more to get here? We’ll be lucky if they last another few minutes, Damian. They’re cold and shivering, and while I’m not an animal expert, I expect they haven’t eaten in a few days. And you, Mr. Broad Shoulders, won’t fit in here. If I slide in another inch or two, I can pass them out to you. Now go get the damn carrier.”

He growled. “Do not move until I get back with the supplies.”

She opened her mouth to argue. “But—”

“Not. Another. Inch. Or help me, little witch, I will yank you out from under there by your ankles right the hell now.” Damian’s demon pushed dangerously close to the surface, surprising him in their joint need to remove her from danger. “Do I make myself clear?”

“Fine,” she growled back at him. “It makes you a bit of a bossy jerk, but a clear bossy jerk.”

With one final, warning look, he ran back to the truck and grabbed the supplies plus a few blankets he stuffed into the carrier. He’d been gone less than a minute and when he returned, she’d already begun commando-crawling deeper beneath the scrap metal.

“Be careful,” Damian warned sternly. “If anything looks unstable, you get the hell out. I mean it,” he added when he heard her intake of breath. “Say it.”

“If anything looks shaky, I’ll work quicker to get us all out.” With a coy wink, she shimmied deeper into the mud and muck.

He cursed himself for letting her do this. Hell, for bringing her along at all. Time ticked away, and by the time only her sneakered feet were visible beneath the rubble, Damian fought for each breath. A split second before reaching his breaking point, her calves came into view …

Then her rear end …

And then an arm popped out, a wriggling white lump of fur clutched in her hand.

Damian quickly grabbed the first puppy and after drying him off as best he could, tucked him into the carrier. By the time he turned around, Rose reached out to him with another. Five minutes later, they’d collected all six pups.

“Alright. Out. Now.” He touched her ankle, prepared to yank her loose if need be.

She slowly reverse-shimmied her way into view and came out grinning from ear to ear. “We did it!”

Damian’s fingers wrapped around the back of her head and with a low growl, he dragged her into a searing hot kiss. She leaned into him, dirty fingers fisted in his shirt as she held him until both their heads went slightly fuzzy from a lack of oxygen.

“That was a huge fucking risk,” Damian admonished, dropping his forehead onto hers. Fuck. He hadn’t meant to kiss her. And didn’t mean to keep touching her, and yet …

She glanced to the carrier of puppies. “That was fucking awesome, but we need to get them back to the clinic.”

“Yeah, we do. And quick.”

He took her hand as they hustled back to the truck. Rose climbed into the passenger seat. By the time he took his spot behind the wheel, she already had the heat vents on full blast and tilted toward the carrier sitting on her lap.

They bumped and swerved their way out of the junkyard and onto the main street.

Nibbling her bottom lip, Rose peered worriedly into the carrier to watch the puppies. “They’re not moving around as much … especially the little one.”

“They need more warmth.” He racked his brain, contemplating pulling over but that wouldn’t help. They needed an incubator and meds and definitely hydration.

Movement from the other side of the truck pulled his attention off the road. Rose tucked the carrier at her feet and grabbed a horse blanket from the back bench seat … and then her wet coat and shirt were off, and she sat there in a lacy pink bra.

“What the hell are you doing?”

One by one, she brought out each of the pups, tucking them against her chest. “Body heat … skin to fur. It works in the movies, so I figured…” She shot him a questioning look. “Will it not work? Between the body heat and the actual heater, I assumed…”

“That’s a great idea.” Damian barely masked a mystified chuckle. The witch was damn incredible. “Get them situated and then angle the vents straight at you.”