Page 8 of Forbidden (Dark Delights #3)

Wolf insisted on getting Ira the latest iPhone—albeit in a sturdy case, because the man was right, their lives were perilous at the best of times. After a hearty breakfast and a shower, he even convinced him to get a few hours of sleep. But that afternoon, Ira was awake and ready to return to the Rink, so they picked up a stack of pizzas on their way there for the others.

Everyone else was already there when they arrived, along with a white work truck that neither of them recognized. Ramirez Construction was emblazoned on the side.

“We come bearing food,” Ira announced as they strode in through the front door. The air smelled far less stale than it had when they first arrived in the middle of the night. Lemon-scented cleaner tickled his nostrils, and there was significantly less grime around the room than he remembered. There were plastic booths on a checkered-tile floor to the right, with the old snack bar on the left. Wolf deposited the pizza boxes there on the glass case. Someone had taken the time to polish the glass, so it was at least a clean surface .

The power was on. Over the skating rink floor, rows of multicolored lights glowed in between the mirrors—though only about half of them seemed to be working—and an old disco ball hung at the apex of the dome, twinkling in the lights. It was all very… eighties. He absolutely loved it, and he could tell by the way Ira beamed up at the disco ball that he did, too.

Talon, Alex, Luke, and Malachi all stood in the area near the half-wall where a handful of old arcade games remained. The largest, an air hockey table, seemed to have become a catch-all. A couple of jackets were hanging over one corner, and multiple papers were scattered across its freshly wiped surface. Probably the most surprising additions to the room were a teenage boy and girl, both with chocolate brown curls and brown skin just a few shades lighter than Ira’s.

“Oh god, yeah,” the boy cheered, bounding over to the pizza boxes. “I’ve got you beat, though. I brought an inspector.”

“Your cousin, right,” Ira said, drawing the kid up short.

Wolf leaned in. “Who are the kids?”

Ira smiled up at him. “Zachary and Angela Alvarez. They were here when we found the place. It’s something of a sanctuary to them. They kind of come with the place.”

Buy a skating rink, adopt a couple of teenagers. Wolf doubted that was on the deed, but if Ira said it was so, it was so.

“What’d the owners say when you guys offered to buy the place?” Ira asked Alex and Luke.

“Oh, they were overjoyed to be rid of it. Wiped out most of the money we’ve made so far in our day jobs, but all things considered, it… was maybe a steal?” Alex said dubiously, looking around .

“Jury’s still out on that,” Luke said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder and leaning back against the half-wall. “Depends on how much work the inspector says it needs.”

“How long has this place been empty?” Wolf asked.

“Seven years,” Alex said. “There’s some rain damage in the back office, but it’s still in pretty good shape, all things considered. The wiring’s all still good, so we were able to get the power turned on. Waiting on him to give us the all-clear for the water pipes next.”

“In the meantime, we’ve got that,” Luke said, gesturing to the drink fridge behind the snack bar, which was packed full with bottled water and sodas. Someone had even brought an old coffeemaker and a package of styrofoam cups.

“Where did that come from?” Wolf asked, pointing at the drink fridge, with its shiny glass door and internal LED lighting. “Was it here already? Surprised it’s in working order, if it was.”

“No, I bought it,” Talon said proudly.

Ira quirked a brow. “They let you buy something?”

Talon snorted. “It’s a housewarming gift, so to speak. Basewarming?” He shook himself. “It cost me pennies, really, and we needed something to keep some things in, given how much time it appears we’ll all be spending here.”

“So,” Ira said to Angela, “you two decided to come back, huh?” He didn’t seem surprised.

“Yeah. We want to help,” she said.

Wolf studied her youthful face skeptically. “You’re like twelve.”

“I’m fifteen,” she said indignantly.

Wolf fought back a smile. “How is that better? What about you?” he asked the boy, who was mid-bite .

“I’m seventeen,” he said with a mulish scowl, as though daring Wolf to argue.

Ira elbowed him. “Be nice to our recruits.”

Wolf couldn’t stop the way his brows rose. “Our what?”

Luke bobbed his head. “The kids say they want to learn to fight.”

“I didn’t know we were recruiting,” Wolf said. “What exactly are we doing here?”

Ira pulled himself up onto the partition wall, swinging his feet. “We can’t ignore what we know about the world, and I can’t just stop having visions. We don’t want to do things the way the guild does, but we all agree that we do want to keep fighting—our own way. That’s what this will be. Not paladins, but something better. Something more understanding of the shades of gray that live in the darkness as well as the light.” He reached out, hooking his fingers in Wolf’s belt and reeling him in. “Not all demons deserve to be hunted down and killed, and not all humans are innately good. We will stand where those two collide, helping those who deserve it, whether they’re demonic or mortal.”

Silence followed his statement. Luke and Alex looked as hopeful as ever. Talon and Malachi’s faces reflected a lot of what Wolf felt. Not wholly doubtful but definitely reserved, if fondly so. They all cared about their humans enough to give this potential future a shot. But was it even what they wanted? And did their opinions even matter in the grand scheme of things? Wolf didn’t sign up to create a new demon-hunting group. Ira’s love made it worth it, sure, but none of this was part of the plan for him. Ira already said it wouldn’t be easy. For the first time, maybe ever, Wolf would just have to have faith that things would work out for the best. He’d never had much faith in anything except the passage of time.

“That sounds… very idealistic of you,” Wolf said carefully, leaning in to press a soft kiss to Ira’s lips.

“I know it seems that way,” Ira said. “Don’t worry. It’ll all shake out how it’s supposed to.”

Wolf smiled. It was so easy to just take him at his word, but he remembered what else Ira had said about their future: ‘ …it’ll be… hard. For a while. ’ When he’d first said that, ‘hard’ sounded like an understatement. It led Wolf to believe that they would be fighting tooth and nail for a while—and that may be true—but it was easy to forget about that when Ira was looking so soft and hopeful right now, standing in what would be a central piece of their future with a smile on his face and confidence in his soulful eyes.

The building inspector emerged from the back rooms damp with sweat but otherwise unbothered. He was a stocky man with broad shoulders and brown skin darkened by the sun, his dark hair cropped short. Smile lines framed his eyes, crinkling as he laid eyes on Angela and Zachary across the room. A dimple cratered beside his goatee.

“Hey yo Hector, there’s pizza,” Zachary said, his mouth full. “You hungry?”

Hector chuckled, glancing warily around at them all. “No, kid, I’m fine. Your dad know you’re here?”

Zachary’s smile dimmed. “Dad doesn’t care as long as?—”

“Zach,” Angela chided.

The boy looked chastened. “No, he doesn’t. Is that a problem?”

To Wolf’s surprise, Hector, a man likely twice Ira’s age, looked sheepish. “I guess not. I just want to make sure you two are safe.” He sidled closer and stuck his hand out for Ira, and then Wolf, to shake. “I’m Hector Ramirez, Zach and Angie’s uncle. On their mother’s side.” He tugged at one earlobe. “I don’t come around to visit the kids as often as I probably should. I work all the time, and… their dad and I have never really gotten along.” He stopped with a helpless wave of his hand.

“The kids are in no danger here,” Ira said. “We’ll send some pizza home with them and make sure they get home before curfew.”

Hector nodded. “Good, I’d appreciate that. Their dad is a little… okay a lot absent. But they’re good kids.”

“They are,” Alex agreed. “They’re safe here. We’re private investigators, by the way. That’s the business we’re planning to run here.”

“Out of a skating rink?” Hector asked doubtfully, looking around.

Malachi turned away to cover his snort of laughter.

“Real estate’s pricy these days,” Alex said with a mostly straight face, and Hector’s head tipped in agreement.

“How’d it look back there?” Luke asked, getting them back on track.

Water damage was their main concern. The electrical wiring all looked fine. The Rink would need a new roof, some new insulation, and the ceiling had fallen in over the old manager’s office, which would need to be re-plastered. More work than they cared for, maybe, but not unmanageable.

“Your company could handle most of that for a fair price, couldn’t you, Uncle Hector?” Angela asked innocently.

Hector sighed, shooting her a glare. “I could, yeah.”

“Great.” She swanned over and gave him a peck on the cheek.

“Damn kids, got me wrapped around their fingers,” Hector said, taking his phone out and typing a message while he shook his head in exasperation.

Wolf leaned closer to Ira. “Did you know the kids would help with the repairs like this?”

Talon glanced over at them from across the room, no doubt listening.

“Of course,” Ira said lowly.

Wolf hummed, and Talon leaned over to relay the message to Alex, who grinned.

At least they were all on the same page. Or—the rest of them were on the same page, and Ira was two pages ahead. That was probably how it would always be, though. Wolf was surprisingly fine with it. Maybe it wasn’t the life he’d envisioned for himself, but then, he hadn’t envisioned much of anything before Ira, had he? He’d drifted from year to year, working at the bar, with no change or end in sight. With Ira, the future was full of promise. It was different from anything he could’ve imagined, but as it turned out, different was exactly what he wanted.

They ate while they went over the plans for the building and decided what changes they wanted to make. The bathrooms would need a remodel, and Luke suggested including some showers and a locker room if they were going to be training here. They would also need training equipment and a medical room for emergencies.

“Where does the guild get the oil for their holy oil?” Ira asked, stretching one leg out across the floor and leaning into Wolf’s side. “That’s something we’ll need to stock for ourselves, right?”

Talon cocked his head. “Something the all-knowing prophet doesn’t know?”

Ira chuckled. “I don’t know everything . I especially don’t know everything about how the paladins operate. We’re kept pretty separate from them.”

“It’s just mineral oil,” Luke said.

“What, really?” Ira said.

Alex nodded. “For real. Mineral oil or liquid paraffin. We say the same rites over it that we use to make holy water. Boom, holy oil.”

“Wow, okay, that takes care of that, then,” Ira said.

“Wait,” Zachary said, “so anyone can make holy water?”

“Technically, yes, but you have to truly believe it. If you say the rites but don’t believe, it won’t work,” Luke said.

“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. You saved 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 surprise then , 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 left the 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, someone important , wanted to be with him. Had uprooted his entire life for him, in fact. It made him want to do great and terrible things. 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. It was 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.

“Take me to bed,” Ira said. “I want to turn my brain off for a while.”

Wolf reached behind himself and blindly shut off the water. “Gladly.”

They dried each other quickly, and then Wolf hooked his hands under Ira’s ass, lifting him up. Ira’s strangled noise of surprise was lost between their lips. He clung to Wolf, wrapping his legs around his waist and laughing as Wolf carried him from the bathroom to the bedroom.

“I could get used to this,” he said, grinning down at him. Wolf wanted to memorize the shape of his smile and keep it with him forever.

At the bed, he knee-walked onto the mattress and laid Ira down, blanketing him with his body. When he moved to fetch the lube, Ira grabbed him, reeling him in for a kiss instead. Wolf growled, resting his weight on his forearms beside Ira’s head. Ira’s legs were parted invitingly, and Wolf rocked against him, greedily swallowing Ira’s moan.

“Turn onto your side,” Wolf instructed as he moved away to fetch the lube. When he laid down behind Ira, he smoothed one hand up the prophet’s side, guiding him back against Wolf’s chest. Ira tipped his head back, and Wolf kissed his bared throat. “You’ve been working hard the last couple of days, haven’t you?”

“Mm-hm.”

“Well, don’t you worry. I’ll take care of you.” He slicked up two fingers and worked them inside Ira’s tight entrance. Ira muffled his moans in the pillow, and when he began rocking back on Wolf’s fingers, Wolf removed them.

“Wolf,” Ira moaned pitifully.

He chuckled. “Just a moment. So impatient.”

He curled an arm under Ira’s head while he slicked himself up. Ira bent one knee in preparation, canting his hips back eagerly, and Wolf nipped his shoulder as he pressed his cock against Ira’s hole. The man groaned as he eased inside. This position changed the angle into a languid grind rather than a thrust. Wolf bent one leg up with Ira’s and rocked into him, both of their moans filling the air.

Ira twisted his upper body so they could kiss. Wolf teased his nipples with his free hand, the other curling possessively around his throat, feeling the moans vibrating out of him.

“You’re perfect like this,” Wolf said, ducking his head and sucking a flat brown nipple into his mouth as he rocked his hips. “Giving yourself up to me, letting yourself become nothing but sensation. No more worries, no more puzzles to solve about the future. Just you and me and the pleasure I can bring you.”

“Yes, yes, yes. God, Wolf, you feel so good.”

“ You feel so good,” Wolf replied. “Like your body was made for me. You fit me just like a glove, seidhr.” He gripped Ira’s hip, pulling him back to meet Wolf’s thrusts.

“I’m not—I’m not gonna last,” Ira sobbed.

“You don’t have to. Touch yourself. I want to see you come.”

Wolf’s eyes were glued to Ira’s hand as it slipped down his stomach and wrapped around his cock. Part of the view was hindered by Ira’s hip, but he could see his hand on each pass over the head of his swollen cock. Ira’s moans reached a fever pitch, his thighs quivering and his toes curling as he came, crying out and shuddering. It was the hottest thing Wolf had ever seen. His body clenched around Wolf’s cock, milking his orgasm from him, and he muffled his groan against Ira’s shoulder.

“Fuck, you’re hot,” Wolf said, smearing Ira’s cum on his stomach.

Ira sniggered. “No, I’m not.”

“You so are. Hottest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Like the noonday sun. So hot I could just stay here,” he worked his softening cock in and out, “keep doing this until I’m hard again and keep going.” He chuckled breathlessly. “I’d keep you in my bed like this forever if I could.”

“Wolf, oh my God .” Ira’s body squirmed, arching and curling like he couldn’t decide whether to meet his thrusts or writhe away.

Wolf chuckled. “Or maybe another day.”

“Definitely. I love the marathon sex, you just have to make sure I have the energy for it.”

He hummed. “Good to know.”