Still, it was an uncomfortably intimate process, and Ren was kneeling before him by the end of it, a slightly glazed look in his eyes as he peered up at Micah, gripping the towel in one hand, knuckles white, while the other mindlessly thumbed one of the scars on Micah’s knee that he’d acquired playing baseball in his youth.

Ren’s pupils were blown wide, and there was no mistaking the want in his gaze.

If Micah could have shoved the man’s hand off him, he would have. As it was, all he could really do was nervously lick his lips – a move he immediately regretted when Ren’s eyes latched onto the movement.

Sure, Micah had known logically that Ren most likely only hated gay people because he was gay himself, but couldn’t accept it – and that part of the reason he’d chosen the victims he had was because they’d brought out those “unnatural” urges in him.

But knowing something and seeing it were two different things. And painstakingly aware of the fact he had no way to cover up – no way to defend himself from Ren’s gaze or his hands – made Micah feel helpless in a way he hadn’t ever in his life.

Then again… maybe Micah could use the man’s obvious attraction against him. He took a deep breath in through his nose. “It’s okay,” he said, making sure to pitch his voice low, keep it as soft – as soothing – as possible.

Ren’s fingers tightened almost painfully around his knee at the words, but he didn’t otherwise respond.

So Micah pressed on. “I don’t know who hurt you, or convinced you that being attracted to other men was some unforgivable sin, but it’s not. I’m not an abomination.” Micah waited until the man’s gaze finally shifted from his lips to his eyes, and then… “You’re not an abomination.”

Micah was anticipating it, but he still tensed when Ren suddenly stood, practically catapulting to his feet as he stared Micah down, his eyes a dark, bottomless pit. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting Ren to do in retaliation for calling him out. Yell? Smack him? Spew Bible verses? But Micah could safely say he did not expect the man looming over him to suddenly swoop down and press his mouth to Micah’s own – no finesse involved in the action at all, teeth clacking violently against teeth.

Micah yelped in surprise, nearly choking on the tongue suddenly invading his mouth, desperately seeking out his own, suffocating Micah with it.

Shock made Micah slow to react, but when Ren moaned loudly into his mouth, he finally regained his bearings enough to respond to the unwanted kiss by biting down viciously on the other man’s tongue.