"Let us know if you need anything," Gwen called over her shoulder. "We'll send someone with dinner in a few hours, so don't worry about ordering anything."
I made a noise of agreement around the chunk of chicken I'd already sunk my teeth into.
After they walked away, Niall sat back down beside me. "How bad do you think a werewolf tastes?"
"I don't know. Not good."
He made a noncommittal sound. "I deserve acongratulationsfor not killing that fucker. If it wouldn't cause you problems with the Cabinet and your sister-in-law, he'd already be dead."
I put my hand back on his thigh. "Eat your food. It'll calm you down."
"If I'd so much as looked at Gwen, we both know I'd be burying a body right now."
I sighed dramatically. "So we're both twisted. It is what it is."
We demolished the food, and I went back to work.
Niall satunder the trees near me in his grizzly form for the next few hours.
Dinner arrived a little later than expected, and all of the supplies Niall had brought were gone by the time it did. He could still see fine in the dark, and when I talked him into staying one more hour, he grumbled but agreed.
My phone rang partway through the last hour, and I vaguely heard Niall answer it.
"Why are you calling my female, Lars?"
He was clearly still pissy. At least I knew it was the possessiveness speaking. That would help me snap him out of it later.
"She needs to rest tomorrow," Niall said after a long pause. "The rain can wait."
Larson must've wanted to fix the wards.
I would call him back and tell him I was ready, as soon as I snapped Niall out of his shitty mood. If he was going to insist on following me and taking care of me, I was going to at leasttryto make sure he wasn't miserable. It was the decent thing to do.
Plus, I did get where he was coming from. He hadn't been wrong about Gwen and the body burying.
"Fine. I'll tell her," Niall growled. "Don't count on it."
I was pretty sure he ended the call after that.
I reminded myself to ask him about it. Later. Much later.
It wasanother twenty minutes before I was done with my last batch of trees for the day. After sitting on my ass to recover for a few minutes while Niall fussed over me, he carried me back to my car.
I was too drained to even try to convince him to let me walk.
When he set me down on the passenger seat, I was filthy and exhausted and stunk horribly, but I tightened my arms around him instead of letting go.
"What are you doing, Livvy?" he asked into my hair.
"I want you to hold me." I said against his throat.
Niall managed to duck into the car, pulling me onto his lap and adjusting our positions at the same time so I was straddling him while we hugged. When I tightened my grip, he tightened his too.
We stayed like that for a while. At least a few minutes.
His touch may not have erased the price of my magic the way my fated mate's would, but it was bliss anyway. Pure fucking bliss.
"Are you pissed at me about the werewolf thing?" he finally murmured.
