ForsakingEternity Read Online Free PDF

privacy for
couples. He shouldn’t tell Ren that, though. He seemed to be nervous enough
without Adam making such a blatant move.
    “Walking would suit me.”
    Adam released a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding.
“Walking would suit me too.”
    They walked silently down the sidewalk, their elbows
bumping. Each brief contact sent a spark of awareness through Adam. He wanted
to move closer, to turn that spark into something more and let it smolder.
Holding back was slow torture.
    But he still wasn’t sure what Ren was ready to handle. Would
too much intimacy in public embarrass him? Probably. He seemed the reserved
type, and if he was just curious as Adam suspected, more than this incidental
contact might send him running.
    He opened the door to the small restaurant and the warm
scents of garlic and bread drifted into the chilly night to surround them. The
owner greeted them in a flood of enthusiastic Italian and Ren answered with a
fluent greeting of his own.
    The owner led them to a back corner, away from the prying
eyes of other diners. This town might claim to be liberal and open-minded, but
the sight of two men together still raised eyebrows. The staff’s willingness to
provide privacy and the discretion the small eatery afforded was as big a draw
for Adam as the food.
    “So you speak Italian,” Adam said once the host had left
them alone with their menus. Ren’s accent didn’t sound Italian but perhaps he
was from somewhere near there. “Is that part of your job?”
    “I suppose it is. I must speak many languages. It is helpful
when traveling. But you must know this. You are a language teacher, yes?” Ren
opened his menu and glanced over it. “What foods would you recommend tonight?
I’m not overly familiar with these choices.”
    “I teach dead languages. Latin and ancient Greek. It’s not
the same. And I can recommend the vegetarian lasagna.”
    Ren nodded to the server, indicating he would have the
lasagna, and an irritating burst of flattered pride sent a flush of heat to
Adam’s cheeks. He was too old to be preening like a teenager. He quickly placed
his order for the same and added two glasses of wine.
    “You eat here often,” Ren observed as the server walked
away.
    “Fairly. The kitchen isn’t kosher but the vegetarian options
meet my needs and are very good.”
    “You follow the Law. You are a man of faith.”
    The comment brought with it the uncomfortable realization
that Adam’s meal choices had little to do with faith and everything to do with
habit. He watched the law the way a compulsive dieter counted carbs.
    “I follow it as much as is practical.”
    “These languages you teach, if they are dead languages, what
is their value?”
    “They might be dead, but they are the root of modern
language. Most of the western world has its base in Latin. If you know it, you
can decipher modern speech and writing.”
    “But this is not why you love it.”
    “How can you tell?”
    Ren tipped his head to the side and studied him before
speaking. “Because I understand truth. It resonates. Many things people say are
half-truths, or they speak a truth that is not their own. Very few speak the
whole truth. This need to evade is curious.”
    “You have me there. I have a simple love of language. I’m
fascinated with old texts. I have a modest collection of manuscripts written in
older languages or dialects. Finding them is a thrill. When I get something
new, I’ll read through it, do my own interpretations.”
    Adam shifted forward, leaning over the table. “As you know,
the words often don’t have a direct translation into English, so many subtle
variances and nuances of the original language can be lost. Common translations
can completely miss the true meaning and purpose behind the words.”
    Ren smiled, and Adam nearly forgot what they had been
talking about.
    Ren was beautiful. How had Adam gotten so lucky as to be
sitting across the table from this man? Would tonight end with