Page 20 of Survive the Night
Dee’s puppy blindly rooted against her middle, making squeaky grunting sounds. The little girl laughed, tucking the puppy closer. “I think this one’s hungry, Otto.”
“They’re almost due for their next feeding,” he said, and Sarah felt heat bloom in her belly at the sound of his gravelly voice. He had a distinctive way of speaking, as if picking each word carefully, and it made her want to listen to him for hours. He could read the dictionary to her, she decided. She’d expand her vocabulary and get to hear that wonderful voice at the same time. “They eat about every three hours.”
“Can they sleep with me tonight?” Dee asked Jules.
Tipping her head toward the cat that was perched on the back of the couch, looking affronted at the entire situation, Jules said, “Don’t you think Turtle might be a little hurt?”
Dee gave the cat a sheepish look. “Sorry, Turtle.”
“I’ll k-keep them,” Sam offered. “That w-w-way they w-won’t w-wake anyone d-downstairs.”
“Sure?” Jules sounded concerned.
“Yeah. N-no school tom-morrow.”
Not looking convinced, Jules absently started petting the puppy sleeping in Ty’s lap. “You have to get up early to work at the kennel, though.”
“I’ll do it.” Sarah was surprised to hear herself volunteer—what did she know about taking care of dogs? It wasn’t as if she’d ever been allowed to keep one. “I don’t have to go anywhere tomorrow, so I can sleep after Otto picks up the puppies.” She glanced at him, unable to keep her gaze off his face. Even puppies couldn’t keep her attention when Otto was in the room. “You’ll need to show me what to do, though.”
Otto walked all of them through preparing the formula in the tiniest bottles Sarah had ever seen. They looked like something that would come with a doll. After Otto fed one of the puppies for a minute, he handed the dog and bottle over to Sarah. She felt oddly nervous that she wouldn’t do it right, especially in front of Otto, who was so incredibly competent. It was trickier to bottle-feed than she’d expected, and the puppy flailed, searching blindly after the nipple slipped out of his mouth for the third time.
“Here.” Otto reached around her, his chest to her back, and put his hands over hers. Sarah stopped breathing as he guided her hands, one on the bottle and one on the puppy. “Rub the sides of his head like this.” His breath brushed her cheek, warming her skin. Exhaling in a rush, she forced herself to concentrate on what he was showing her. The puppy was sucking enthusiastically, and she gave a wondering laugh.
“This is amazing.”
“Yeah. It doesn’t seem that way at two in the morning, though.”
Sarah huffed another quiet laugh. Even though she had gotten the hang of feeding the puppy, Otto didn’t move away. Instead, he shifted his hands so they were wrapped around her forearms. It reminded her vividly of the feel of him gripping her waist, the way he held her with such care and strength, as if she was something precious. Looking down at his hands, at the way they covered almost her entire arm from elbow to wrist, she knew that it was too late to save herself from hurt—she was already addicted to his touch.
The puppy grunted as he ate, drawing her attention. Even as she marveled at the tiny creature eating so voraciously, milky bubbles forming around his nose and mouth, Sarah was hyperaware of Otto’s warmth, of the way his body wrapped around hers. Unable to resist, she allowed herself to subtly lean against his chest. He was so hard and warm against her back that she shivered a little, delighting in how amazing it felt to be in his arms. His grip on her tightened for just a moment, as if he’d felt her tremble, as if he knew how much touching him affected her. Her heart thundered so hard in her chest that she wondered if he felt that, too.
“Otto,” Dee said, and Sarah was brought back to reality with a snap. “Could you help me?”
He moved away, and Sarah’s back and arms felt cold. She couldn’t help but sneak glances at Otto, at the gentle way he taught Dee how to hold the puppy and the bottle. She shivered a little—from disappointment rather than pleasure that time. He was so careful and patient with Dee. It made Sarah like him even more, but it also made her wonder if she’d imagined his response. What if he’d just been teaching her how to feed the puppy? The heat, the attraction… Had he felt it, too, or was he just being kind to a friend of Jules’s?
Sarah glanced over at Jules and saw that the other woman was grinning at her. Raising her eyebrows in question, she gave Jules a what? look, but she only got a wider smile in response. Something about the look made her blush, though. When she looked over at Otto again, she saw him quickly turn his head away.
That speedy movement made Sarah’s insides do a little jump. Had he been sneaking glances at her? It could’ve been that he was simply curious about the newcomer, or that he found her odd, but a tiny bubble of hope still formed inside her.
Could her lumberjack Viking with a soft spot for puppies possibly have a soft spot for her, too?
* * *
The grunts and squeaks woke her before her alarm did, and Sarah groaned into her pillow before squinting at the clock. She’d only gotten to sleep for fifty-two minutes that time. Why had she volunteered to take the night shift?
The puppies’ tiny noises increased in volume, and Sarah sighed as she rolled out of her warm nest of a bed. She’d volunteered because she’d been entranced by Otto and the furry sausages. That golden glow had dimmed after the ten p.m. feeding, been tarnished even more by the next one, and now, at just after four a.m., all warm and fuzzy feelings were pretty much gone.
Grabbing the handle on the top of their crate, she unplugged the heating pad and carried them down to the kitchen. She tried to mix and warm the formula with her eyes closed, but Sarah quickly found out that was a bad idea when she spilled milk replacer all over the counter.
“Shoot,” she whispered, reaching for a paper towel to mop it up.
“Want a hand?”
Sarah jumped a foot and knocked over the bottle, spilling the little bit of formula remaining.
“Sorry.” Grace gave her a sleepy smile as she crossed the kitchen to where the puppies were frantically paddling their uncoordinated limbs, trying to find the source of their breakfast.
Cleaning up the last of the mess, Sarah smiled back. “No need to be sorry. I’m just…jumpy.”
