Page 53 of Hell Yes

“I'm helping your crew get rid of this rubble so we can get you the hell out of here, that’s what I’m doing!” she yelled back.

“Get out of this tunnel right now, woman!” he shouted back.

“Jesse’s right,” Xander added. “We’ve had another part of the ceiling fall down already. Get out of here.”

Val looked around but the ceiling in this part of the tunnel was fine. She ignored their comments and just kept working, along with the other members of the crew.

A half hour later, the wall was waist high, and they could finally see Xander and Jesse clearly on the other side.

“Of course, you didn’t leave. Stubborn woman,” Jesse grumbled when he spotted her, then he smiled. “Fuck, I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life.”

“Me neither,” Xander replied, both their faces coated in dust and dirt.

The breath that Val had been holding onto since she left Jesse’s cottage, finally released.

“Aw, thanks Jesse,” Dante replied with a smug grin.

“I ain't talking to you, idiot.”

Val’s face flushed as Jesse and Xander gave her a heated look. She was half tempted to crawl over the wall as is to get to them. Instead, she ignored the stares of Dante and Gage and watched as Jesse and Xander crawled over to get to her.

Val stepped back to give them room and she was hit with immediate relief as Jesse and Xander stepped gingerly over the rubble and landed on the other side.

She didn’t hesitate to go to them, wrapping one arm around Jesse and the other around Xander.

“Don’t ever scare me like that again.”

CHAPTER 19

XANDER

Xander never doubted his crew would be there on the other side.

He knew they'd get out eventually.

But knowing Val was here too? That she'd been working for the past hour to help free him and Jesse? His respect—and something else that he didn’t know how to define—grew.

And his need to kiss her, to claim her again, was hitting him hard and fast. Nothing like a hunting trip to get his libido going. But this was Jesse and Val. And his instinct told him this was so far beyond fucking. It already was. He’d almost kissed the two of them now that they were free of the tunnel.

But as he watched Jesse whisper in Val’s ear, he remembered the injury. Jesse’s arm. Shit.

“Someone’s gotta take care of Jesse’s arm,” Xander stated. “He was hit.”

“I told you, the bullet grazed me, that’s all.”

“You’re bleeding.”

“Let’s get you guys out of here and back to your place,” Dante replied.

“I can do what’s needed,” Val offered, her voice confident and strong. “I’m not a nurse or anything, but I can probably stitch his arm up if need be.”

“Are you sure?” Gage asked.

“I can walk her through it,” Jesse added.

“You sure you don’t need a hospital?” Gage asked.

Jesse nodded.