ForsakingEternity Read Online Free PDF Page B

dinner or would
the meal give way to something more? Adam hoped so. He wanted to take Ren home
with him.
    Would Ren know what to expect? Had he ever been down this
road before? Adam doubted it. Renatus was as timid as a virgin. Adam looked
forward to teaching him. He could hardly wait to kiss him, to lay him down,
explore him and teach him the pleasure men could find together.
    “I can see language is a subject for which you have a
passion.”
    Language, right. Right now Adam could barely remember
English. His body stirred and he leaned back, his face a bit warm. “I guess I’m
a bit enthusiastic. Sorry.”
    “Why apologize? I think you are much like me. You seek
truth.”
    How incredible. Someone who understood him. Even Adam’s best
friends thought his obsession with old manuscripts was odd. His quirk, they
would call it, trying to soften the blow of their teasing. Renatus not only
accepted it, he understood what drove Adam.
    “I will admit to having the same habits with legal
documents.” Ren pushed at his wineglass, scooting it across the table before
toying with the silverware. “When the translation of a single word can alter
the legalities, it is vital to understand those subtleties.”
    Their food arrived, and they spent the meal discussing translations
and language variations, the driest of subjects imaginable, but with Renatus,
the conversation was anything but boring. It was lively and amazing, another
language geek with the same eccentricities who actually wanted to hear more
about his dull collection of old texts.
    Adam didn’t realize how much time had passed until the check
came. A glance around the restaurant told him most diners had long since
cleared out.
    “I think we’ve outstayed our welcome,” he said, nodding
toward the nearly empty room and the handful of staff waiting for them to
finish.
    “I’ve had a most enjoyable evening.”
    “We don’t have to end it. The café is open until two. If you
like, we can go there.” As soon as the words left his mouth, Adam wished he
could pull them back. What was he doing? He was out on a date with a straight
man, one who would walk away.
    Yet every fiber of his being waited, tense with
anticipation, to see how far Ren wanted to go.
    Say yes. Please say yes. Don’t run from me, from us, yet.
    “I would like that. Very much.”
    * * * * *
    Ren picked through the nearly deserted tables outside,
finding one that was cloaked in darkness. This late, the streets were quiet and
most of the shops were dark. The only illumination in this corner of the café
came from decorative lights strung under the awnings and from the plate-glass
window of the shop.
    From where he sat he could watch Adam through that window,
standing at the counter and placing their order. As if sensing his attention,
Adam twisted to look at the window and flashed a smile that took Ren’s breath
away.
    “Hello, Angel.”
    Ren’s heart sank at the sultry feminine purr.
    “Greetings, Meela.” He forced himself not to react to the
unwelcome presence of the other being. A reaction would give the fallen angel
what she wanted and that would open a door he might not be able to close again.
But inwardly, he chastised himself. How foolish it had been for him to assume
Heaven was the only Realm from which to hide his actions.
    The demon wore her human form, a guise she had all but shunned
since her damnation, many millennia ago. Her face appeared much as it had when
she was an angel. Delicate and tawny-skinned, she had always been a great
beauty, even among those of the Realms.
    That, however, was where the familiar ended. Ropes of black dreadlocks
replaced her soft, bronzed curls. Heavy makeup ringed her eyes and blackened
her mouth, and silver rings in her lip and brow gleamed in the faint light.
    “What, is that all I get from an old lover?”
    She reached over the table to touch him but he pulled back,
out of the reach of her venomous claws.
    “I was never your lover.”
    “No? We