Page 35 of Forbidden

“And it’s hard not to believe when you know demons are real,” Alex said.

“So,” Angela said, waving a hand grandly in the air. “We’ve all seen demons at this point, but have any of you ever seen the opposite? An angel?”

They all glanced around at each other.

Talon was the one who answered. “The other side tends to be more hands-off with Earth than we are.”

“Well that doesn’t seem fair,” Zachary said, scowling. “There are monsters on Earth, and they do nothing? They just let them come here and hurt people?”

“That’s why we fight,” Alex said. “To protect people.”

“Yeah, but a little divine intervention would go a long way. And then you guys wouldn’t have to fight at all,” he said.

“Ah, from the mouths of babes,” Luke said, and Malachi reeled him in to kiss his cheek.

“Alas, until that happens, we fight,” Ira said. “Or—they fight. I’m just here to tell people where to go.”

“No, no, no.” Alex wagged a finger at him, and Ira blanched. “You can do better than that. Yousaved me last night. You’ve got the makings of a decent fighter in that skinny frame, and we intend to draw it out.”

“What?” Ira asked, dismayed, and Wolf turned his head to hide his amusement. “I don’t want to fight. I’m not a fighter!”

“You should at least be able to defend yourself from attack. What if you two are taken by surprise? You don’t want to be a liability to Wolf, do you?” Alex asked.

Ira cast Wolf a long pout, and Wolf thought back to the night they’d met. Wolf had been taken by surprisethen, and only Ira’s intervention saved him from a holy blade. They couldn’t deny that something like that might happen again.

“No,” Ira said hesitantly, and Wolf imagined his thoughts were following a similar track. “Fine, you can train me to fight.” He nodded at Zachary and Angela. “We’ll train together, huh?”

They brightened. “Sure!”

They leftthe Rink with a plan to return the next day and meet some more of the Ramirez cousins to get a quote on the water damage and roof repair. Wolf overheard Talon and Malachi discussing a way to help their humans with the monetary side of things without them knowing. Wolf understood the drive they felt to make them happy. A week ago, he couldn’t have imagined how consumed he would be by a single human’s presence in his life, but Ira was all he could see.

He still couldn’t believe that a prophet, someoneimportant, wanted to be with him. Had uprooted his entire life for him, in fact. It made him want to do great and terriblethings. Made him want to lay claim, capture Ira in his arms and never let him go. He didn’t know how to survive without him anymore, and he’d burn the whole world to the ground if anything happened to him.

Was this how Talon and Malachi felt?

When they got home, he ushered Ira inside the apartment and watched fondly as he shed his clothes on the way to the bathroom. He didn’t bother closing the door, and a few moments later, the sound of the shower filled the air.

Wolf considered that an invitation. He plucked Ira’s clothes from the floor as he went, depositing them along with his own into the hamper in the bathroom closet. Ira was visible through the glass wall of the shower, already washing the shampoo from his hair. Wolf paused with the door open. Steam rolled from the shower as he watched the bubbles sluice from Ira’s hair and down his lean body.

He smoothed his hands over his head and opened his eyes, meeting Wolf’s without an ounce of surprise to find him standing in the bathroom. “Are you just going to stand there?”

Ira was an enigma. He’d led the others to the Rink with an enviable sort of confidence. He spoke without fear to people like Talon and Shadrach. But other times, he was self-conscious and indecisive. If he knew what was supposed to happen, he led the way without doubt. When he had to make a choice and didn’t know the outcome, he froze. Wolf swore to himself, as Ira held out a hand for him to join him, that he would be there to help when Ira couldn’t find his way.

Water droplets clung to Ira’s eyelashes as Wolf joined him under the spray and drew his chin up for a kiss. Ira sighed into it, wrapping his arms around Wolf’s neck. Itwas soft and slow, lacking the heat that would normally lead to more. Ira’s body was pliant and relaxed. He and the other humans had cleaned some more from the back rooms after Hector left, working a few more hours before they’d finally called it quits for the day. They had a lot of work ahead of them still, but something in Ira seemed to have settled. It gave Wolf confidence, too. Ira knew this was the next phase, and moving into it together seemed only natural.

Wolf soaped up Ira’s washcloth and meticulously cleaned his body. They were both hard, but neither of them pressed for more yet. He wasn’t convinced Ira had the energy for it.

Ira guided them around so Wolf was more directly under the water. “Your turn,” he murmured between their mouths, taking the washcloth from Wolf and giving him the same treatment.

His cock jerked as Ira’s hands explored his body slowly, trailing through his chest hair, under his arms, over his ribs. He’d never taken the time to learn someone and be learned by them like this. It was more intimate than any sex he’d ever had. Ira’s fingers mapped the dips and curves of his body, his fingertips stroking softly, following the water beading on his skin.

When warm, wet fingers closed around his length, Wolf groaned. He cradled Ira’s face in his hands and crushed their mouths together.

“You don’t have to—” Caring about someone like this was still strange. He’d never cared much about how his sexual partners felt in the past. Sex was a selfish affair for both parties, but now, Ira’s comfort was his priority. He didn’t want him to ever feel pressured.

“I want to,” Ira said, and Wolf rearranged his expectations for the night.

Ira stroked his cock with languid slowness, both of them more occupied with the way their tongues tangled together.

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