Page 243 of The Protective Gryphen

“Oh, well, my Lord, we’ll explore that possibility,” he teased, and then, he hit up his mug too.

Gryphen slapped him on the ass, feeling proprietary as hell.

Because he loved how his mate was watching him, Ian went the extra mile. He tossed the berries into a pot, and added sugar and some water.

Then, started making pancakes.

Gryphen sipped his hot cocoa, and he was really turned on by watching Ian move around the kitchen. He just assumed he didn’t cook.

An educated man who had a powerful job? That screamed restaurants and takeout. At least that had been his experience with the men he’d dated and slept with.

“I didn’t know you could do this.”

Ian was honest.

“As a bachelor, I can make a few things. I can cook enough to pack my lunches for the week, and I like a crockpot. I can set it and forget it. I worked crazy hours.”

He watched him flip pancakes.

Yeah, Ian was good at it.

“I know that feeling. I’ll be working crazy hours when I go back, and Will is in prison. I have to go back to protection duty.”

That scared him.

He actually stopped moving.

“Ian?” Gryphen asked, sensing the mood change in the room. “Are you okay?”

He needed to know.

“You’ll be safe working?” Ian asked. “And you’ll come home to me every night, right? Because I know that Elizabeth is in non-stop danger, and the idea of you dying…”

He saw the fear.

“Hey,” he said. “I’ll be good. You have to believe that I’ll be safe. Ivan is really good at seeing an issue coming, and we tend to ride with Saint and Demeter too.”

That didn’t make him feel better. He knew that they tended to be in danger more often than not.

Gryphen saw that this might be a problem for Ian.

“If it bothers you, I can ask to be moved,” he offered, willing to do that for him.

He stared at him.

“Is that a possibility?”

Gryphen was honest.

“When Elizabeth and Ivan found me, after I lost my job at the White House, they offered me a position, and it was to be on kid duty at The Fort. I made it a day, and then told them I was resigning the next day.”

“Why?”

He shared.

“Because little kids scare me. I fear protecting them. I fear being a second off of my game and one of them dies. I’d be destroyed if Dolly got hurt.”

Ian suspected he knew why.

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