Page 13 of Forbidden

“You said Sloan declared open season on halflings. We’ll take care of your place first, but then we need to warn people.”

Ira’s face cleared with understanding. “Oh. Yeah, you’re right.” An uncertain frown crossed his face, and Wolf reached up to rub the furrowed brow with his finger.

“What’s wrong?”

Ira blew out a breath, offering him a weak smile. “It’s all really happening. In the past, I felt very removed from my visions. I saw things, I told my supervisors, and then the council handled things from there. I never saw the actual outcome. But now, I’ll be there. Front and center. It’s just going to take some getting used to, being an active participant in the events that will unfold.”

Wolf had trouble imagining what that was like, seeing things and knowing hewouldn’tbe allowed to see them through. It sounded like the prophets were too protected—maybe even coddled. Tucked away where they had no influence on the events they were blessed—or cursed—to witness.

Wolf didn’t like it. He tugged Ira closer, curling his hand around the ball of Ira’s shoulder. “Well, if you’re sitting front and center, I’ll be right there beside you.”

Ira bit down on a smile.

Ira wasquiet in the car. Pockets of light and darkness streaked past the windows outside, highlighting and shading his handsome face in turns. Wolf regretted that he’d driven, because he wanted nothing more than to stare, todrink in the sight of the strange human who had barreled right into his life and declared he belonged there.

Wolf had never experienced this kind of confidence in another being. He had friends, sure, and he’d had lovers over the years, but those relationships all feltmutedcompared to this. Suddenly Ira was all that mattered. It was as though Wolf had been asleep for centuries, and Ira had woken him. He wanted to reach out, ground himself with the warm press of Ira’s skin on his, but he was uncertain of his welcome. They still barely knew each other, after all, and Ira already seemed torn about what he was doing. Wolf didn’t want to push too hard and send him skittering away. He could be patient for as long as it took.

Ira’s apartment was a small studio about half an hour from Wolf’s place. Wolf lingered by the door while Ira grabbed a duffel bag from the closet and started packing. It was obvious he didn’t spend much time there. There was nothing but a calendar hanging on the white walls, in the dubious space that separated the kitchen from the rest of the room. He grabbed his toiletries from the small bathroom and then went to the dresser, grabbing clothes and stuffing it all into the bag. All in all, it took less than fifteen minutes for him to pack up his life. There was no need for furniture or food; Wolf already had those.

When he was done packing, Wolf took the bag from him. Ira grabbed a flavored soda water from the fridge and set his phone on the kitchen counter beside the door. He paused there, turning to face the apartment, and Wolf shouldered his bag, waiting. After a moment, he dug a notepad from the junk drawer beside him and went into his phone’s contacts. He wrote down a list of names and phone numbers and pocketed the paper.

“We’ll need those,” he said, and Wolf had never believed anyone more.

Next, he gently twisted the guild ring from his finger and left it sitting on top of his phone. The gravity of it hit Wolf as Ira looked around one last time at his pocket-sized apartment. He truly was leavingeverythingbehind because of Wolf. His home, his things, his whole life. Had he gotten up this morning with any indication that his life would change? Did he know before it happened? Did he have time to prepare anything? Was there anyone at the guild he’d wanted to say goodbye to? Did he have friends? And how the hell did this man choosehimover his entire life?

Despair filled him at the thought. Demons reinvented themselves all the time, but Ira wasn’t like Wolf. He was mortal, and this was the only life he’d ever known. How was Wolf worthy of this kind of abrupt devotion?

“Wouldn’t your life have been so much simpler if you’d just let me die?” he blurted, and Ira turned to look at him in surprise.

He paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts, and then admitted, “Yes. I considered it. In theory, it would’ve been the easiest thing in the world to go home and go to sleep and wake up in the morning exactly as I always did.” He smiled crookedly. “But I couldn’t. We’re… happy in my visions. In the future. None of it has happened yet, but I already feel like it has, because I’ve seen some of it. It’s stranger to me that you’re willing to accept me into your life like this without knowing what I know. I’m nobody to you.”

Wolf smiled. “A beautiful man who sees the future tells you you’re meant to be together, you listen.”

Ira’s mouth lifted weakly.

It wasn’t just Ira’s word that this was how things weremeant to be, though, and Wolf struggled to put his feelings into words. “And more than that… I see what Talon and Malachi were talking about now. They both claimed they took one look at their human and realized they were made for them. You’re it for me. I don’t want anyone else. I don’t want to go back to my life the way it was before. I want to take you home and feed you and give you orgasms until you can’t even remember the life you had before me.” The moment he’d arrived, Wolf had felt drawn to him. Some instinct deep down inside him had recognized Ira and reared its head.

Those brown eyes glittered. “Oh.” His cheeks darkened, and Wolf couldn’t resist crowding him against the cheap counter, ducking his head to seal their mouths together. Ira sighed into it, angling his head back to deepen it. His fingers skated up Wolf’s sides, and he pushed up on his tiptoes, gripping Wolf’s shoulders to keep his balance.

When they parted, Ira huffed, “I feel so short standing next to you. I’m almost six feet tall, y’know.”

“I’m six foot five, tiny seer,” Wolf teased.

“GoodGod, okay, so you’ve got like seven inches on me.”

Wolf chuckled. “I believe I was a viking in a past life, though I can’t say I remember much about it.”

Ira’s brows rose. “That… makes a lot of sense, actually.” He gently tugged Wolf’s braid over his shoulder, touching the golden strands like they were something precious.

Wolf sighed regretfully. “It’s a shame we have responsibilities to tend to. I’d bend you over right here if we had time.”

Ira’s forehead thumped against his collarbone. “You can’t say things like that.”

Wolf couldn’t stop touching him, running his hands upand down his back, exploring the soft curls on the back of his neck. Ira was like a drug. “Why? Do you not want me to bend you over?”

A shudder rolled down Ira’s spine, and Wolf wrapped his arms around him. “I plead the Fifth.”

“We’re not in a courtroom,” Wolf whispered in his ear. Urging Ira’s face up, he said plainly, “I won’t do anything you’re uncomfortable with, tiny seer. You have my word.”

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