Page 35 of Shattered Reign

We helped Amelia make enough popcorn for the four of us and then left the kitchen to head into the basement. The home theater had plush leather seats and wall-to-wall screens. I sank into one of the chairs and sighed. This was relaxing.

“Any preferences?” Oliver asked as he glanced at me. He was standing in front of an impressive collection of DVDs. “We also have access to all of the streaming platforms.”

“Whatever you guys want to watch is fine with me,” I said, not trusting myself to make a decision.

“Let’s see...” Amelia said, scanning the titles before she settled on something. “How about this one?”

“Perfect.” Oliver set the system up and dimmed the lights.

Easton sat down next to me as the movie began. As it went on, I tried to focus on the story unfolding, but my mind was still on what happened at my parents’. As I was grabbing a piece of popcorn, Easton’s hand slid over and grabbed mine. The warmth of Easton’s hand made me grin.

The movie ended and the lights slowly brightened. Easton squeezed my hand and I turned to look at him.

“Do you want to see the rest of the house?” he asked.

“Sure,” I replied, curious about what the rest of the house looked like. Also, it would be nice to get some alone time with him.

“We’ll see you both later,” Oliver said.

Once we left the basement, Easton led me through the mansion, pointing out rooms filled with expensive art pieces and furniture. We finally reached his bedroom, tucked away on the other side of the house. He turned on a lamp that was on a nightstand near his bed, basking the whole room in a warm glow.

The walls were painted a light gray, and a king-size bed dominated the room. The comforter was a dark blue and the rest of his linens seemed to be white. In one corner of the room, there were some weights that were collecting dust. In another, there was a cabinet that contained football trophies I assumed were from high school.

“Wow,” I said as I looked around the room. “This is nice.”

“I could give you a tour of every area of my room and show you how nice it really is.”

As I looked at him, Easton caught my face in his hands and pressed his lips against mine.

20

EASTON

Having my lips on her again was magical. Her body’s response to mine was all I could think about. I wrapped my hands around her waist and brought her closer to me. The heat and desire burning between us was almost unbearable, but I hoped it was never extinguished.

My hands made their way to her head and got tangled in her hair. Flashes of me defending her against her father shone through. Seeing the hurt look that quickly turned to shock when he acted as if he might launch himself at her did nothing but enrage me.

But I tamped down my anger at her father because I didn’t want to take it out on her.

Bianca broke away from me and said, “What’s wrong?”

I caressed her cheek as I looked into her eyes. “What do you mean?”

“You growled while you were kissing me.”

“It was nothing.”

Bianca rolled her beautiful eyes. “That’s a lie.”

“Couldn’t it have just been that you bring out my wild side?”

Her lips twitched in response. “I doubt that, but I wouldn’t mind exploring that side with you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Do it.”

“Do you want to pick a safe word? Or should I give you one?”

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