Page 46 of The Protective Gryphen

“She cried, told me she hated me, and I drove away. She had a chance, and I…didn’t. I saw her when I got back from the Marines,” he said. “I saw her in a grocery store. She had three little ones, and was pregnant. Her husband was there, and she looked, happy.”

“I’m sorry,” Ian said.

He stopped him.

“Don’t be. I was in love with the idea of someone loving me. The sex…it wasn’t what I craved. When I left her, I realized I like dick. When I was away from her, I didn’t think of her at all. That’s how I knew. I only felt bad when I saw her life, and knew I could have destroyed that.”

“So you’re bisexual?” he asked.

“No, because after Sarah, I never slept with another girl again, and I never wanted to. I’m not turned on by women’s bodies. I’m turned on by men’s. I just couldn’t be a gay foster kid too. I needed normalcy. Getting off with a woman is harder.”

“I wouldn’t know. I’d rather not put my dick in one,” he said. “The idea of having sex with a barracuda like Elizabeth…”

He shuddered.

Gryphen laughed.

“I feel the same. She’s beautiful, but I’d rather be in her heart than her body. I’m very attracted to you.”

“Same,” Ian said. “I guess it all worked out.”

He laughed.

“You guess? We’re in a castle’s barn in Scotland petting a freaking fainting goat. That’s pretty much the definition of made it.”

Ian found him amusing.

“Agreed,” he said, kissing him on the cheek. “We made it.”

While they could sit there for hours talking, it was getting chilly.

When Gryphen stood up, he held out his hand, and Ian took it.

“It’s dark, so we shouldn’t wander too far from the castle, so we don’t get lost and have to hope someone rescues us,” he admitted.

Gryphen paused.

“What?” Ian asked.

He laughed.

“That was the most fucking absurd sentence I’ve ever said in my whole life. Once it was out of my mouth, I realized it and couldn’t take it back.”

Ian was just as amused.

“I know.”

“Let’s keep on touring,” Gryphen said.

Together, they closed the stable doors, and continued walking around. There was a path, and it looked like someone rode the horses down it at some point. The snow was worn down, and it was visible by the moonlight.

“Can we see what’s down there?” Ian asked.

He didn’t see why not.

“Yeah, Baby, we can for a bit. Just be careful. The ground is getting covered in snow and if I have to be rescued…”

Ian actually hesitated.

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