Page 209 of The Protective Gryphen

He yelped.

“Why did you leave my bed, Ian?” Gryphen asked, holding him trapped to his body.

He was turned around, and Gryphen found his mouth with his.

The kiss was possessive, demanding, and left nothing to the imagination.

Wrapping his arms around his neck, he let Gryphen control the kiss. When he finally broke it, he could see his eyes in the moonlight, and he wasn’t angry.

He looked relieved.

“I really don’t like waking up without you beside me, Ian. Do we have to have this discussion again?”

They heard crying.

The sound was full of pain, and Ian didn’t get it. She’d been laughing seconds ago.

“Oh, Jesus.” Gryphen said. “I’m asleep. I’m asleep,” he said over and over again.

Ian had bad news for him.

“You’re wide awake, and so am I. She’s why I’m up. I heard her,” he said. “I was lying beside you, watching you sleep, and I heard her singing. She was happy, and now, she’s not. I don’t know what changed to make her sad.”

He held him.

When he woke, finding him gone, he didn’t panic. He didn’t freak out. Truth be told, after their evening of sex and lovemaking, and Ian’s declaration of what he wanted, Gryphen felt secure.

There was no longer that fear he’d lose him, since Ian told him he needed him to be free. That bound them together, as they found what they both needed.

Gryphen had someone who craved and needed him, and Ian had someone who brought out all the things he’d hidden about himself.

“You could have woken me up, Baby,” he offered. “I would have come with you despite hating the fact that I’m hearing a ghost.”

“She told me to bring her home, Gryph. She’s lost and she wants to come home.”

He stared at him in the moonlight.

“She told you?”

He nodded.

“I asked her what she wanted, and she told me to come home. Then, she pointed at this room, and I was compelled to come in. Did you really want to chase ghosts in the night with me?”

Absolutely not.

“Of course, Baby,” he said, lying his ass off because if your sexy bedmate wanted to chase ghosts, you chased the goddamn ghosts.

Those were the rules of a relationship.

At his words, they made Ian fall for him all over again. So, he rested his head on his shoulder.

“Oh, Gryphen,” he said, enjoying how strong he was. “I appreciate that. You got quite the workout. I wanted you to sleep. I need you recharged,” he said.

Gryphen smiled.

“For anything in particular?” he asked.

He grinned wickedly.

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