Chapter Ten – Irresistible
Danny had no idea how to bring it up. After helping Ryder inside and placing him on the bed, with plenty of difficulty that he didn't want to admit to since it would make his guest feel guilty, he had noticed the bandages on the guy's chest. They had to be protecting a wound, a large wound by the size of them, and the wound had to be fresh. If it had been there the night before, he would have noticed it. But the police hadn't managed to catch Ryder and Jack, so how had Ryder gotten that wound to begin with?
It was impolite to ask such a question, but, at the same time it was crazy to house someone pursued by law enforcement, so normal rules didn't apply.
Ryder was oblivious to what his host was ruminating about and was hungrily eating the macros Vince had sent over with a very healthy appetite. However, he did catch Danny staring at him, so the question he asked right away was unavoidable.
"Are you worried you will get in trouble because of helping me?"
"Yes, that's natural," Danny replied. "I would be lying if I said that I wasn't worried, but I want to help you more. Does that make sense?"
Ryder nodded shortly and continued to devour the food. It amazed Danny just how much of it he could get inside himself while looking every inch an action hero. Supposedly, the stuff sent over by Vince was all of the healthful variety, but even so such quantities would have made anyone gain weight and, without any doubt, the aforementioned action hero to lose his prominent six-pack.
"May I ask you about the wound?" Danny asked out loud, acting quickly before he ended up losing the little courage he had mustered.
Ryder looked down at his own chest as if the sight of those bandages surprised him. Calmly, he removed them while getting up from the chair. "Thank you for the meal." He turned, while still fiddling with the used bandages.
"You can throw them in the trash can in the bathroom," Danny told him, following Ryder with his eyes.
Ryder obeyed without saying another word. Danny got busy wrapping up the leftovers, since his guest's appetite would most likely return in a few hours. If that was how Ryder usually ate, they might have a bit of an issue unless Vince, in his generosity, didn't delay sending refills and fast.
He stared in disbelief at Ryder's chest when the guy came out of the bathroom. There were a few faint lines across his chest, the signs of some light scratches. It struck Danny as odd that a guy as strong as Ryder would require bandages for injuries as small as that; maybe he was actually a big baby, so he patched up heavily after the slightest injury. That thought put a smile on his face.
"Danny," Ryder began, moving one hand over his chest, "this situation is dangerous and--"
"I don't care," Danny interrupted. "I am certain that you have your own reasons to rob stores that aren't worth robbing in the first place--"
"I wasn't robbing that place." It was Ryder's turn to interrupt him. "They had a dangerous item, and I had to remove it."
Danny's jaw went slack. "Something toxic? Radioactive?"
"Dangerous," Ryder said curtly.
"Oh, man, I've heard about big corpos poisoning our food and water so they have us by the balls and make us spend all our money on the things to deal with the toxins, but this is on a whole new level of evil. Are you one of those activists who intend to raise awareness by throwing tomato soup at paintings?"
Ryder gave him a dumbfounded look. Danny was pretty sure that his guest was an environmentalist fighting for a cleaner planet, only that he most likely didn't think of himself as one. He was just a man fighting for what was right.
"Then I don't feel guilty at all about helping you. Wait, did they hurt you? At that store?" He still couldn't tear his eyes away from Ryder's chest.
"Slightly."
"And the dangerous object? Are you sure you didn't get contaminated? You might need a real doctor--"
"I don't need a doctor. I will be fine soon. The food helped a lot, so please tell your friend how grateful I am."
Ryder touched his temple shortly and frowned. Danny's eyes grew wide. There was a small trickle of blood. He jumped from his chair and hurried to his guest.
"You are hurt!" he exclaimed. How had he missed that when he had been helping Ryder to the bed and after?
***
Having Danny fuss over him and apply ointments and small bandages over his injured temple felt good. He couldn't offer any explanations without making his host come to the wrong conclusions. He was glad he wasn't forced to tell the truth. He felt a cowardly sense of satisfaction allowing Danny to take care of him, but he couldn't help it.
The male shopkeeper had hit him with that weapon and, as Ryder had quickly figured out, that sort of thing had been made centuries ago with the sole purpose of injuring an alpha, if not even killing him. Ryder had been lucky that the wielder of the weapon had been a weak human. The force of the blow hadn't been enough to cause any real damage, although the fact that it had been vicious enough to break the skin unnerved him. Such a wound wouldn't heal quickly. There was dark magic imbued in the thing, and the weapon was still out there. Ryder couldn't recall what it was called, and he couldn't rely on the wisdom of his pack and the knowledge the elders shared about such things. Cassandra hadn't foreseen this. Ryder wondered briefly whether Jack, the city clairvoyant, had caught a glimpse of the wooden weapon. Some of the knowledge bestowed to him by the invisible powers that wove the threads of fate might be able to shed some light on the matter, but they had been separated and for a good reason. Wreaking havoc in Glasstone by fighting the police would reveal his true nature and begin a chain of events that would lead to more trouble for his pack.
"How are you feeling? I must warn you that I'm not a trained nurse by any means."
Ryder touched his temple. He didn't feel anything, but that didn't mean that the darkness imbued in the weapon wasn't still there. As he turned his head to thank Danny, the human's delicious scent filled his nostrils. He hadn't been exposed to the world of humans as much as other members of his pack, and he cursed his decision to remain unaware of it, because nothing had prepared him for experiencing this sort of attraction toward a mere human being.
But was Danny truly only that? According to the brightly-colored cards Jack had shuffled for him numerous times, an Average Joe was there, and he could very well be Danny. If that were the truth, Ryder didn't know what to do. The thought of this gentle human being caught in the machinations and tricks of fate that could very well lead to the demise of his pack filled him with rage and fear. A desire to protect Danny against everything engulfed all his senses for a moment.
Yes, it had to be because he had never been exposed to this sort of attraction before. Humans could be very handsome, too, and while wolves kept to themselves, who was to say that they wouldn't like to lie with such people? Ryder entertained the idea, and he would have even given in to it if it weren't for Theodore and the fact that he had a mate to whom he was supposed to offer all of his desire.
The moments passed, and neither of them moved apart. Danny was looking at him, wide-eyed, his lips slightly parted, reminding Ryder of the kisses they had shared only earlier. It had been for the sake of pretending they were lovers, to prevent any unwanted attention from the other humans caught in the hive of the city, but here they were alone and there was no one they had to pretend for.
Ryder took Danny by the wrist and brought his hand to his mouth. The pulse fluttered right under Ryder's fingertips, and the scent was stronger there. It made the wolf in him want to bite into the tender flesh and enjoy it more, only to lick it later and make it all better. A bit of that lovely scent transferred as flavor to his own body would heal him of all ailments.
Instead of doing that, he placed a small kiss inside Danny's palm. But it wasn't enough, and he knew it. He pulled Danny's hand down fast and then wrapped his arm around his host's shoulders, bringing him down to his level. Their lips moved together, parting at the same time. Danny moaned sweetly as Ryder kissed him. He wasn't resisting or pushing himself away; even more, he was kissing back.
The taste of his lips was even sweeter than that of the skin on his wrist. Danny was sweet everywhere – he had to be. Ryder didn't understand the human, however. Until now, he had heard Danny protesting feeling any sort of mutual attraction, but that had been only words from his mouth. He tended to do his fair share of lying, although it seemed like his lies weren't the kind to hurt anyone.
That wasn't entirely true. Ryder knew very well that he was a victim in all of this, one that had to surrender to the power Danny had over him by simply existing and offering his wonderful mouth to be ravaged like that. There had to be reasons why Danny denied the attraction he felt while his actions spoke otherwise. Ryder didn't know if he wanted to learn what they were. All he wanted was to keep kissing Danny's lips until they were his forever.
Such thoughts were dangerous. It wasn't unlikely that Danny had been put in his path to make him forget about his quest to mate with Theodore Pembroke. He didn't smell of betrayal, and he didn't seem bent on deceiving Ryder purposefully, which could very well mean that he was just a tool in the hands of the invisible forces that wanted the Luna's Sentinels to disappear without a trace.
He was the one to break the kiss. "Please accept my apologies," he said stiffly. With so much hanging in the balance, all he could think of was how to get this human to moan under him and offer his body completely.
"No, no," Danny protested right away, "I should be sorry. You're obviously shaken after everything that happened to you today, and you must be exhausted, and it looks like I'm taking advantage of your vulnerability--"
Ryder held Danny's hand. "No. You are helping me. You are also very attractive, and I keep forgetting myself when I'm around you. If you could please forgive my overstepping, I'd be forever grateful."
"Um, sure. I mean, no harm done," Danny mumbled. "But do you mean it?"
"I sincerely apologize," Ryder insisted while struggling with his need to embrace Danny again. He looked away in an effort to stave off the urges growing stronger inside him by the minute.
"No, not that. I mean, I believe that you mean it when you say it. But about that… other stuff. Do you really think I'm very attractive?"
Ryder couldn't understand how Danny didn't understand such a simple thing. His scent alone was heaven for a wolf, so clean and pure. But if he was a tool used by higher powers, he might not know such things. He must have been picked based on that alone.
"You're irresistible," he said, getting up abruptly. He needed to get away from Danny before he threw all of his caution to the wind and destroyed his pack's future on a whim or out of weakness.
***
Ryder had fled from him and was watching the news on TV without paying him the slightest attention. Danny was still reeling from the revelation that he was, apparently, irresistible. Since his guest didn't appear to be the sort to lavish compliments for no reason – and moreover, he appeared to be blunt in his assessment of other people – Danny knew it couldn't be a lie.
While the rest of the world considered him to be nothing but average, there was someone, a very handsome guy to top it all off, who believed the opposite.
Danny had no idea what to think. Was he really willing to let this thing go to his head? At the same time, right after kissing him within an inch of his self-control, Ryder had put some distance between them, which wasn't easy given the size of Danny's place. That meant that he didn't want to abandon himself to this thing, no matter how irresistible he found Danny. It was the same thing, all over again, as the night before.
But they were single, both of them. Was there a real reason why they couldn't do naughty things together? Danny blushed just at the thought of it. Sure, he was an idiot to think that Ryder, a guy with principles, would just jump in bed with him. Maybe his momma had taught him differently, to go on dates and maybe even propose before getting down to business. Getting down on one knee before getting down and dirty, Danny thought, making himself giggle.
Ryder looked at him. He seemed uncomfortable and it had to be because of the kiss from earlier. Danny still felt his lips tingling from it, and that was something he could dwell on for hours, like a teenager after getting a look from his or her secret crush.
"Are you saving yourself for marriage?" he asked the first thing that crossed his mind, and instant regret hit. He needed to control his mouth more, whether it was about talking or kissing a guy who seemed keen on not letting his baser instincts take over. Now that was the difference between them because Danny felt very much in the mood to let those instincts take him and make him run away with them for a change.
Ryder had a conflicted look on his face. "I can only mate with the one I'm destined for."
Mate. That same word Danny had heard before from Jack. Okay, so they used strange words and even stranger meanings for them in that family that had to live somewhere near a pine forest.
"Are you saying that you're in an arranged marriage type of situation?" He no longer felt giddy, as he had earlier. Ryder came from a world with strict rules, which meant that he couldn't just 'mate' with anyone he wanted.
What a damn shame. When there was one guy who finally thought Danny was irresistible, he had to be sworn to that sort of medieval arrangement. Of course, such things would only happen to him.
But, in a way, it was a good thing, because it meant that Danny was no longer average as fuck.
"Yes, I suppose you can say that," Ryder eventually replied, pulling him out of his fantasies of being irresistible to a guy who definitely looked like he could do a lot better than Danny.
Well, while that meant that they couldn't afford to fool around, it was still an interesting thing happening to him. Danny bounced off his feet and took a seat by Ryder's side in front of the TV. The incident from the store selling aromatic scents where Ryder had tried to unmask those people for being frauds and selling dangerous stuff seemed to no longer hold the headlines. In a city like Glasstone, terrible things happened all the time, and the viewers' attention was short-lived.
Danny was certain his attention span was a lot longer where Ryder was concerned. He took the remote and lowered the TV volume. "And how do you feel about it?"
Ryder looked at him, blinking a few times. "About what?"
"The arranged marriage. Do you really have no say in it? Do you even like this person? Is it a guy or a woman? I mean, it's none of my business--"
"It's a man," Ryder replied. "I am supposed to like him."
His guest's wooden replies didn't deter Danny from his new quest to make Ryder bare his soul. "Supposed to like him? Come on, I mean, I get it that your folks are old-fashioned, but forcing you to like this guy is a bit of a stretch. They must know you can't force anyone to love anyone."
Ryder frowned, and he appeared overcome by a strange sadness. "What if it's fate?" His voice was gruff and low.
Danny felt the need to frown, too. "Ryder," he said, taking the other's hand, "how old are you?"
"Old enough to know I cannot skirt my responsibilities and do what I feel like doing."
"Oh, man, that sucks," Danny mumbled. "Still, it's the twenty-first century. Arranged marriages are weird. And I understand that you don't want to disappoint Mom and Dad, but you're allowed to be happy, you know? And I'm not saying it only because we kissed and like each other and obviously we want to do the you-know-what--"
***
Ryder tuned out Danny's speech. Danny liked him. He was not the only one suffering from being so close to someone he wanted. He continued to study the young man by his side without comprehending a word he was saying. It was hurting him to realize that he could have what he wanted, if only for a few days, as long as he ignored his quest.
He couldn't ignore his quest. It wasn't only his life hanging in the balance. But the pain he felt now was the bittersweet kind, since he knew he was liked back.
Being liked was still something. Being liked by Danny, who also went by the name Average Joe. Underneath the fading scars given to him by Theodore, something else burst into blossom, blooming like a scarlet flower.
TBC