“You’re used to taking care of everyone else before yourself, aren’t you?” Hal said at last. “I’m used to protecting everyone else before myself. But I do need people. I need my team, and I’m sorry as hell that I doubted them. And I need you. So I’ll take your deal. I’ll let you protect me and take care of me, if you let me do the same for you.”
Ellie’s eyes glistened with unshed tears. Her voice was husky as she said, “All right. It’s a deal.”
“And in token of my sincerity...” Hal handed her the first aid kit and moved to lay his feet in her lap. “My feet are killing me. Patch me up.”
She smiled at him, then drew in her breath as she looked down at his feet. He couldn’t see the full extent of the damage, but what he could see of his soles was a mass of bruises, deep gashes, and frostbite.
“Shifter healing,” he reminded her.
“Thank goodness for that. Otherwise, I’d be afraid you’d have to have some toes amputated. They look like you climbed Mount Everest barefoot.” She ruffled his hair. “Lie down. I hope you’re tired enough to fall asleep. Otherwise, this is going to hurt like hell.”
Hal lay back, letting his mate go to work. She knew what she was doing, and he trusted her. He closed his eyes, and let his mate take care of him while he drifted off to sleep.
Chapter Eight
Ellie
Ellie and Hal spent most of the next few days recovering in bed. They were both exhausted, and despite Hal’s shifter healing, it was some time before he could walk without pain. They did a lot of kissing and cuddling, but neither of them had the energy for anything more. They spent most of the time dozing or talking.
She would have expected to find the time boring and frustrating, but instead she found it cozy and healing. Ellie and Hal told each other stories, revealing their pasts and detailing their hopes for their future. When she slept, she dreamed of him.
But gradually, their energy returned. They began spending less time in bed, and more in the living room watching the snow fall or cooking in the kitchen.
To Ellie’s relief, there was a stash of clothing in the attic that fit her. It mostly consisted of dresses rather than her usual jeans and blouses, but she was so relieved to have something to wear other than the one outfit she’d ruined crawling around in the woods that she didn’t mind.
“Shifters always have lots of extra clothing around,” Hal explained with a laugh. “For obvious reasons. It’s considered basic hospitality to keep clothes in sizes you don’t wear, in case a friend or relative needs an emergency outfit.”
Hal had a trunk full of his own emergency clothing as well. To Ellie’s amusement, she spotted a box of condoms buried at the bottom.
“Oh, so you’ve brought girlfriends here before,” she teased.
Hal shook his head. “I just lived in hope.”
They were in the kitchen, with Ellie chopping potatoes and Hal peeling carrots for a stew, when Hal’s phone rang.
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He put down the peeler and picked it up. “Hello?”
She watched as his face shifted from interest to excitement to exultation. “Thanks. Good work, Rafa. Tell the team they did a great job. We’ll be back soon.”
Ellie already had an idea of what must have happened, but she didn’t dare believe it till she heard it direct from Hal. “What happened?”
“My team did the sting,” he said. “I was right about Kramer— he was the one reporting to Nagle. He and a bunch of Nagle’s guys showed up at the ‘safe house’ with explosives and guns. My guys caught them on tape talking about how Nagle sent them to kill us. My team took the tapes to the FBI. Kramer and Nagle were arrested, along with all of Nagle’s gang. The judge refused them bail, so they’re all going to rot in jail until their trials. Ellie, you’re safe!”
Ellie’s heart lifted and lifted, until she felt light as air. After all that stress and fear and danger, she could finally get back to her old life.
Better than her old life— her new life with Hal.
“Guess you’re out of a job,” she teased.
His tone was light but his expression was serious as he replied, “Nah, I don’t think I’m ready to give it up. You’ve got yourself a bodyguard for life.”
Her desire for him, which had been muffled before by exhaustion and stress, abruptly rose up within her, intense and irresistible. She couldn’t fathom how she’d spent nights in his arms and had done nothing but sleep. He was standing only a few feet away from her, but that seemed an unbearable distance.
“Ellie...” Hal’s voice dropped to a low rumble.
His eyes had gone dark with desire. She could feel the heat between them, palpable as if she was standing in front of an open fire. Her breath caught in her throat, her heart pounding, her palms tingling. She wanted to rush to him, but her own anticipation paralyzed her.