Chapter Sixteen – It Is Enough
Ryder woke up with a start. He had slept through the night very peacefully, so he couldn't say what had prompted this abrupt reaction. Running a hand over his face helped a bit as he tried to put his thoughts in order. The previous night came rushing back at him, all at once, making him understand why he had woken up feeling like he'd been stung by a bee.
It was his guilty conscience telling him a thing or two about forgetting about his mission to save his pack. Instead of continuing down the same narrow path drawn for him by fate, he had chosen to take a break and abandon himself to Danny's loving arms.
Why had he been thinking like that? Danny was a city dweller, a human, and he believed in people having sex without being destined for each other. He, Ryder, was the only one in this situation who was mistaking things for… something like love. Given who his fated mate was, there was a good chance he would never know such a thing. And he needed to admit and brave that truth before he ended up messing up even more than he had already done.
"I called work and pretended to be sick. I had a few days of leave and--"
Danny's sudden chatter brought Ryder's thoughts to a halt. The human serving as his host – and bed partner – was dressed in nothing but a pair of skimpy shorts, and his naked body displayed all the proof that last night truly happened.
Their eyes met, a good reason perhaps for Danny to forget what he'd been meaning to say. Ryder knew wolves could be mysterious and alluring for humans, but it worked both ways in their case. He didn't care about what Danny had wanted to say. It couldn't be important if it only took the two of them staring into each other's eyes and wanting nothing more than to go back to bed and pick up from where they had left off to cut Danny's words short.
Ryder moved slowly, his eyes never leaving Danny. The red marks on Danny's legs and arms, chest, and even belly, were his doing. He had claimed this human as his own. The sun was up, and a full moon was nowhere in sight, yet he felt so possessive of Danny Wilson, who wasn't – Ryder needed to remind himself over and over – his mate.
Danny appeared to have fallen prey to the same spell Ryder had and was now waiting to be devoured.
The ringing of a phone intruded upon their thoughts.
"I should get that." Danny turned, dispelling the charm of the moment.
Ryder shook his head, cursing inwardly at all the witches in the world and their hatred for wolves. He quickly got up and made a beeline for the bathroom. A cold shower would clear his head. As soon as he met Theodore, Danny would be gone from his mind, his pack would be safe, and he would have his entire life to spend with his fated mate and learn to love him.
He would need to tell himself that very same thing over and over until he understood he had no choice in the matter. The quicker he understood that much, the better everyone's lives would be, including Danny's.
***
"So, are you saying that you're willing to risk it?" Danny moved the phone from one ear to the other while listening to Jack, apparently the mastermind behind their newest plan. Ryder had looked at him earlier with so much hunger in his eyes that Danny had thought he should suggest skipping breakfast in favor of fooling around.
Jack's phone call – he was calling from Vince's phone – had saved them from falling prey to malnourishment. And things were about to get real.
"I'm like a squirrel," Jack said, full of self-importance. "I'll be in and out before anyone can notice me."
"I don't know," Danny said slowly, "I'm worried that Theodore attacked Ryder. How much will that guy care about money when he has his future husband telling him that he should stop poisoning the environment?"
An awkward silence followed on the other end. "Yeah, right, I mean, can you believe this guy?" Jack said quickly when Danny was about to ask him if he was still there. "A totally unapologetic corpo. I mean, and Ryder can't even stand the smell of incense. I get it, because that stuff makes me puke."
"Not only incense. He can't stand any artificial smells," Danny said, wanting to show Jack that he, too, knew a thing or two about Ryder's likes and dislikes. "Have you been involved in this long, Jack?"
"This?" The question came off as cautious.
"Being an activist, fighting for a cleaner planet," Danny explained, although he didn't understand why he had to explain it to Jack, since he was supposed to be a militant who broke into posh stores to express his beliefs.
"Right, right," Jack said right away. "Nope, I can't say that I've been involved with tree-hugging for long. It's all very new to me."
Danny thought Jack was a little loopy, but that was something he planned on keeping to himself. Ryder had to appreciate his partner for what he was, not how he was.
"Okay, I appreciate your commitment. You are very brave."
"Wow, thanks, I've never had anyone say that about me," Jack replied cheerfully. "Although, just for the record, I should tell you that I might be a little touched in the head to get involved in this whole thing, but it's exciting, and I'm starting to like it. Ah, it looks like Vince wants to talk to you. Bye, Danny. Tell Ryder our plan."
"How was your night?" Vince asked directly. A long yawn at the other end told Danny that his friend hadn't had a full-night's sleep, either. It wasn't like Vince to skimp on his rest, so it must have happened because of certain factors, like someone who described himself as being 'fast as a squirrel'. That brought a smile to Danny's lips.
"My night was…" he lowered his voice and moved to the corner that was the farthest from the bathroom door, "amazing."
"Did the two of you finally realize that you can't fight attraction?" Vince asked smoothly. Another yawn, shorter this time, followed.
"Something like that," Danny admitted. "And it was—no, I can't tell you."
"Okay. But at least tell me if it was good."
"Didn't I say that already? It was… just fantastic."
"Are you sure you don't want to give me any details? Was it short and sweet, or long and dirty?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Danny teased his bestie. "Thing is, Vince, it was more than I expected."
"He has a huge dick. I called it," Vince said with satisfaction.
"It's not only the size that matters," Danny protested. "It was everything you said, except for short. And it was pretty wild. Really, I don't think I'm giving terrible spoilers if I tell you that we went at it like animals in heat. Wow, I can't believe I said such a thing out loud. Heck, I can't believe it actually happened to me." He ended his sentence in a small squeak and bit on his fist to stop himself from getting carried away. If Ryder heard him, he'd find him weird and, most likely, not worthy of a repeat performance.
There wouldn't be a second chance, though, and Danny knew it. His elation died, as he realized that he had just talked to Jack about getting Theodore to meet Ryder. After they talked it out, they would most likely realize just how great they were for each other and then they'd ride off together into the sunset while Danny stayed behind, waving the white flag of surrender.
"Are you going to let this guy go?" Vince asked the most difficult question he could ask Danny at the moment.
"Do I have a choice? He's fighting the good fight. I mean, yeah, the sex was great, but is that enough?"
***
Ryder noticed Danny's hunched shoulders and the secretive manner he was using to talk on the phone. His sensitive ears caught the last words; it was just as he had expected: for Danny, a human like many others, it had been a fleeting night of passion. Ryder was the only one to believe it must have been more.
The fact that his host didn't think much of it should have made him feel relieved. After all, the complications that emerged from bedding a human while he was a wolfshifter were endless. Danny, in his generosity – as well as his flippant manner that defined him as a human – gave him an easy way out, and he had to take it.
If only he wasn't feeling like his heart had just been ripped out of his chest, he might consider it.
"Ryder," Danny exclaimed as he turned. He pressed the phone against his chest with a guilty look on his face. "That was Jack, I mean now it's Vince, and they have a plan ready. Jack is going to deliver the message and then we'll go with you to the meeting point. If Theodore is as honorable as he pretends to be, he will not refuse."
Danny was babbling, and Ryder had a hard time focusing on his words when all he saw was that enticing bottom lip moving and quivering. It made the hunger from before grow inside him with an even greater intensity.
He shook his head. Danny had said as much; sex between them had been great, but was it enough? Ryder refused to contemplate what should have followed the word 'enough'; for him, it was, but he couldn't force a human to accept a wolf in his life as his—
His mate was Theodore. And now, with the help of the young clairvoyant from the city, he would meet him again.
The weather was beautiful today. Ryder let his eyes stray to the window. Through the rectangle that allowed him to see the sky, he could see the world outside, and it was one in which he and Theodore Pembroke were fated mates. The much smaller world of Danny's apartment didn't matter. It would contain the memories of the night he had spent with Danny, but who would be left to care about them?
"Ryder."
Danny's voice finally reached him, forcing him to shake away his forlorn thoughts. "I apologize," he said, "I let my thoughts run away with me for a moment. What were you saying?"
"Would you like some breakfast?"
Ryder allowed himself another moment of admiring Danny's body. In the years to come, he would think of these moments and cherish them. Although no one knew what the future held – not even clairvoyants like Jack and Cassandra – Ryder had a good idea that he would never be happy again once he told Danny goodbye for good.
***
He was quick to grab a pair of pants and a sweatshirt, while Ryder dug into his food with a stone-like expression on his face. It had taken him a moment to realize that he was too undressed for polite company, and Ryder's somber eyes had measured him so curtly that he had felt a lot more naked than he actually was.
The night was gone, and in the light of day they had obligations to consider. Ryder needed to fight for a better world by getting Theodore Pembroke to sit down and talk to him. Danny needed to—well, he had no outstanding obligations, except for scheduling a self-pity party. But that would have to come later. Today, he would make sure that his guest enjoyed the few hours they still had to spend together.
"What would you like to do today?" he asked in a chirpy tone that wasn't him at the current moment. "Jack will have to go to deliver the message first, but then we will have to wait for a reply, which leaves us with plenty of free time on our hands. And I took the day off, and the day after tomorrow, and—what would you like to see while you're still in Glasstone? Not that you might not end up spending more time here, once you clear the air with your fiancé, I mean, your fated mate--"
Ryder setting the glass down on the table hard interrupted his weird speech. Danny looked at the tension in Ryder's fingers, still curled around the glass. It looked like he'd said something wrong, and now his guest was pissed at him. Maybe he shouldn't have said anything about having free time; maybe he shouldn't have taken the day off at all.
"I would like to spend the day here with you, if you don't mind," Ryder said quietly.
"Oh," Danny said slowly. "Of course. I'm stupid, right? You're wanted by the police, and it's not like we can go around the city, grabbing popcorn and going to the movies. Who knows who might recognize you? Please forgive me. I don't know what's going on with my head. It's true that before tonight, I hadn't had sex in like years, but—that's too much info, right?"
Ryder's dark eyes were on him again. "Why must you be so enthralling?"
"Um, that's a bit of a difficult question to answer," Danny replied. "If I said that I wake up like this every morning, would it help?"
"No," Ryder replied curtly.
Danny felt his heart melting. This guy was such a straight shooter. He looked at Ryder, at his naked chest, remembering the way his fingers had moved over the marks on that handsome body. They were as good as gone now. Whatever Theodore had done to hurt Ryder, his actions no longer mattered. It was as if Danny had managed to erase them somehow.
Damn, he needed to get his head under control. Those wounds must have been really superficial, although that was still some insane healing rate. Country boys. They really didn't make them the same in the city.
"We could watch movies," he suggested. "And we don't have to go out to have popcorn and enjoy the latest blockbuster. We have movies at home."
Great, now he sounded like a bad ad.
"I don't care about movies," Ryder said.
"What would you like to do then?" Danny asked. "I'm open to suggestions. Also, we'll be waiting for a response from Theodore after Jack delivers the message. So, let's not delve too deeply into a trilogy or something."
"The only place I want to delve is into you."
Danny knew he had to get a move on and pick his jaw up off the floor. "Ryder," he said in a stifled tone, "I don't think we should." Even as he said those words, he knew they were wrong. "You have Theodore to think about. And last night--"
No, he wouldn't say something stupid like it had been a mistake. He didn't regret it. Not one bit.
"Last night, you showed me what happiness feels like," Ryder said calmly while he picked up the empty plates from the table and took them to the sink. With slow, methodical movements, he started washing them.
He was a dream come true. Danny felt his entire chest caving in inside, pressing hard against his lungs. "Ryder," he whispered softly, "I think you're right. Forget silly movies and all that. We should just fool around."
"I'm not fooling around," Ryder said, his back still turned. "For me, this is more than I've ever experienced with anyone else. It's as if I'm destined to be with you."
Danny had to swallow hard, but whatever had gotten stuck in his throat refused to go down. "Isn't Theodore your fated mate, though?"
"Unfortunately, yes," Ryder replied. "I realize that I have inconvenienced you by proposing to spend the day together. You are under no obligation toward me. Please, proceed about your day as you usually do."
"Do you mean, watching romantic movies and crying my heart out because things like that will never happen to me?"
Ryder finally turned to face him. His jeans were stretched over his muscular thighs, showing off his package, and Danny couldn't believe that he was talking about romance while having such dirty thoughts. His mind was a pornographic artist when it came to detailing Ryder's cock as he remembered it from the night before.
"Why wouldn't those things happen to you? What things? Name them, and I will bring them to you." There was so much fierceness in the way that speech was delivered that Danny didn't want the moment to end. Even if they ended up getting freaky on the sofa later, it didn't mean that he was willing to let go of this feeling. There was a guy in his small kitchen – the area he called that anyway – a guy who looked like an Adonis and had the manners of the sort of boy anyone would be proud and ready to bring home to mom, and he was saying that he wanted to give Danny the world. Well, not exactly, but Danny knew that Ryder would promise him that too if he chose to ask for it.
"Ryder, I'm going to be really, really honest for a moment here," Danny began bravely. "Don't freak out," he added, to prepare in case he received a plain and harsh rebuttal.
"Please, be honest," Ryder said.
Danny felt his entire body going through the slow process of melting under that direct stare. "I think that I wouldn't need more than two days, or two hours, or two minutes, to fall for you when you talk to me like this."
Ryder appeared shocked by the sudden declaration, but it only took him a moment to regain his composure. "Then I will continue to talk to you like this."
That was the sort of romantic cliffhanger Danny had dreamed of all his life.
TBC