Page 221 of The Protective Gryphen

Gryphen made it, and this wasn’t his castle, so he wasn’t going to wreck the joint. The Blackhawks were kind enough to let them head here, and he was going to respect it.

For family.

As he stood there, Graham kept him company, placing everything where it needed to go.

When the last plate was washed, and then dried, they called that task complete.

Honestly, Gryphen couldn’t wait to see Ian again, and start spending his day with him. He was thinking about him, and how much he missed having him by his side.

“Well, that’s done,” he said, drying his hands. “Thanks for helping me get the room ready and clean it up afterward.”

Graham knew he needed to stall.

“It’s no problem. I’ll take that it was a successful seduction?” he asked. “Because you’re calm today. In fact, you’re the calmest I’ve seen you since you arrived days ago.”

Oh, he was aware.

Love did that to him. The nightmares were gone, he’d been able to have some wine with Ian, and was happily sexed. For the first time in his life, he had a partner who loved him for him.

It was a good day in his world.

Gryphen agreed.

“Yeah, I’m pretty calm. I feel safe here, and that’s paramount for Ian.”

He was glad.

“Ravensmire is a good place,” he admitted. “You can feel it when you come here—despite Ceit wandering around cursing the place.”

Yeah, he wasn’t sure he bought stock in that. Things were black and white to him. Ceit was all kinds of gray. Even though they experienced what they experienced, he didn’t want to believe that a soul could be trapped.

If that happened, what if he died and couldn’t be with Ian? That scared him to no end.

The man was his world.

“I agree on that.”

They both took a minute to have some coffee, and Graham had to keep this distraction going.

“It looked like your man had his hands full with you last night,” he said, joking around. “No wonder the poor lad needs to sleep in.”

He laughed.

“I was the one with his hands full. Ian keeps me absolutely focused. He’s the best thing in my life. I can just live and not think.”

“Aye, so you’re into kink.”

He leaned against the counter and sipped his coffee before heading out into the chill to work up a sweat.

“I don’t know if I’d say that. We like what we like, and we’re a new couple. We’re trying to navigate our way through this, finding ourselves.”

“Well he looked like you were definitely doing something right.”

Gryphen stared at him. He wasn’t sure why they were having this conversation, but it felt off to him. Oh, he might not be the smartest man in the room, but his gut saved his bacon more times than not.

“Is there something you want to say to me?” he asked. “I feel like I’m missing something.”

Graham knew it was difficult to hoodwink a soldier, and it was only a matter of time before the Marine caught on. Hopefully, he wouldn’t start swinging.

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