“You got your butt kicked by a tree earlier.” I could laugh about it now. “I’m not sure you’re qualified.”
“That’s not fair.” The car rocked when he twisted to face us. “I had already pulverized seven trees by the time you got there.” He cut me a scowl that highlighted his pulpy face. “Plus, I’ve got Ace up my sleeve.”
I shouldn’t have laughed, but I couldn’t help myself. He looked ready to climb in the back and shake me. Between the grinding and popping noises the seat was making, I doubted it would hold out much longer.
“Clay, you know you’re the only one I trust to hold my umbrella at the shitshow.”
A wide grin swept across his face, and he pumped his fist, leaving a dent in the roof.
With Asa’s head turned, it was hard to gauge, but I detected a lip twitch at Clay’s enthusiasm.
A single tap on Asa’s hand where it rested on the seat earned me his full attention.
“You had my back.” I searched his face. “I won’t forget that.” I stuck out my hand. “Teammates?”
His warm fingers wrapped mine and didn’t let go. “Teammates.”
“Details are in your inbox.” Clay grunted when he caught his hip under the steering wheel. “Let us—”
Snap. Crack. Pop.
A yelp shot out of me when the seat broke, dropping it—and Clay—into my lap.
“Hold still.” Asa set his hand on Clay’s shoulder. “You’re going to crush her legs.”
The golem twisted his lips, but that was all he moved. “Sorry, Dollface.”
“Accidents happen.” I was just glad Colby had gone in. “There’s a reason you’re a backseat driver.”
“I’ll have to shift to get it off you.” Asa lifted his eyebrows. “It’ll be a tight fit.”
“Do what you gotta do.” I wiggled my toes. “I’m losing feeling below the knee.”
Flame exploded down the length of Asa’s frame, igniting a change that resulted in the same beast from the forest sitting next to me. Mostly. He had to duck to make allowances for his horns, and his upper body required him to crowd me.
The daemon braced one wide palm on the seat behind me then cupped the broken front seat, shoving it upright and holding it steady while Clay contorted enough to ease out the driver side door.
“I’m clear.” He reached in and took the weight of the seat from the daemon, holding it off me. “Scoot out.”
“Stay,” the daemon ordered me then performed a contortionist act of his own to get out his door.
“I could just…” I hooked my thumb toward my open door. “I’m bruised, but nothing’s broken.”
The daemon didn’t appear to trust my self-diagnosis. He wedged a hand under my thighs, placed one on my back, and lifted me out of the SUV and against his bare chest. Now that he had me, he appeared torn on what to do with me. Wards prevented him from entering the yard or house, and the SUV was busted.
“You can set me down here.” I pointed to a patch of thick grass. “I promise not to budge.”
The daemon snorted, not believing me for a hot minute, but the movement brought his hair gliding over his wide shoulder into my lap. His burnt-crimson eyes watched me for a moment, daring me to play with it as I had in the SUV earlier.
Maybe it was an inkling that Asa viewed himself as monstrous that made me slide my fingers through the silken length while he purred around me.
“You really don’t want to do that,” Clay warned me. “Ace, put her down and shift.”
Wide fangs sharpened the corners of his smile. “No.”
As much as I hated playing the damsel, I had witnessed this type of overprotective behavior triggered in predatory males when their female partners got hurt before. Wargs were terrible about it. Gwyllgi weren’t any better. Big cat shifters might be the worst. Even vampires got extra bitey over opposite-sex partners.
Daemons must have the same instinctive drive to care for us puny females under their protection.