It was peaceful here—and beautiful. That was something anyone could appreciate, not that he was doing any praying of his own. Quite the contrary… He was pretty sure that no one would approve that he was spending the time watching Alun, enjoying his beauty and trying to keep his dick under control. Damn, when he’d put his arms around him, intending to give only comfort, it had been startling and alarming to find he’d thrown a boner. That was so not what he wanted Alun to see. He was working hard to show the man that he wasn’t another asshole trying to use him for his own pleasure.
And staring at the guy wasn’t helping matters. He had to quickly adjust himself, which made him embarrassed, given where he was. He didn’t have to be a believer to know that it was just rude, getting hard in a church. To help with the problem, he stopped ogling Alun and used the time to admire the architecture and décor. The space before the altar was lovely and inviting.
Nice place for a wedding. Whoops! Where had that stray thought come from? Not only were he and Alun a mere step up from total strangers, but this was not a place where two men could get married. And that thought led him to the more disturbing and weirder one that Alun might not be into that idea at all. Ever. Sure, the guy seemed to like him. That could be habit. He’d been forced to service a man—a male alien—for a long time. Maybe he saw Craig as just another guy who had to be appeased.
Frowning at the idea, he looked once more at his object of desire and the way the poor man’s face was screwed up in obvious prayer, and his errant thoughts turned to…not pity, exactly. They were more like an overwhelming desire to do something, anything, more to make him at least put aside his worries for a little while. This church visit was comforting, sure, but Alun was at least as wound up as he’d been before. He needed diversion.
When the man finally got to his feet and made his last genuflection, Craig escorted him outside. The sun had set and the temperature had dropped a little more. He was glad he’d insisted on Alun putting on a jacket.
“Thank you again for this. It was just what I needed.”
“Find any answers in there?”
Alun gave him a wan smile. “No, not really. It helped, anyway. Sometimes you have to wait for God to answer your prayers.”
“Yeah, that’s what my mama says.” He also almost added that she’d said that sometimes the answer was ‘no’. Alun didn’t need that pessimistic reminder.
They got back into his SUV and he turned to say, “Do you like ice cream?” It might be a cliché to bury ones feelings in the stuff, but if so, it was for a good reason.
“I don’t know. I’ve never had any. There weren’t a lot of treats back in the castle—not for the sluts, anyway.”
Craig clenched his fists with a sudden fury. He had to work to keep his expression and tone of voice easy. “Can you please do me a favor and not refer to yourself like that?”
Alun dropped his chin. “Sorry. Force of habit, like.”
“Hey?” He used the side of one finger to bring Alun’s face back up. “It’s not for me. I don’t like that you’re thinking of yourself that way, and words have power. Try using better terms to describe what you were back there, like ‘victim’.”
“That would be wallowing.”
“It would be if that was where it ends. How about you were a victim and through your strength and courage, you’ve survived. Now you’re a strong person putting his life back together again.” Craig dropped his hand and turned to start the SUV. “Having ice cream for the first time is a good way to do that. You’re going to love it.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Alun smile. “I expect I will. You’ve been right about everything else so far.”
“Let’s hope my streak holds. The only real problem with the idea is you have to choose. There are a lot of flavors, and even if you get a big cone with three scoops, it can still be hard, narrowing the choices.”
“What’s your favorite, then?”
“Coffee Heath Bar and vanilla cream. I’ve tried adding a third scoop, but nothing else adds to that perfect party.”