Shattered Legacy : A Dark Bully Romance (Gravestone Elite Book 1) by Caitlyn Dare (red seas under red skies TXT) 📕

“No, I would never… I’m just confused. Being with you was…” It was everything. I swallow the words.

“Yeah.” He concedes. “Things just got a whole lot more complicated.”

Bexley turns onto his side too, so we’re nose to nose. I really need to go clean up, but I don’t want this moment to be over. Not yet. He leans in, tracing the shape of my lips with his finger, chasing the trail with his mouth. We sink into the kiss, slow and tender. His tongue slips past my lips and curls around my own, stirring my body to life once more.

“Okay,” I breathe, pressing my hands firmly to his chest. “Stop. I can’t think straight when you do that.” It comes out teasingly.

“I could spend all night kissing you and it still wouldn’t be enough.”

His words wrap around me like a warm blanket, and I know I’m getting too comfortable. This is a dream, a fantasy. It can never be more. But for tonight, I’m willing to pretend with him. Pretend that I’m just a girl falling for a boy.

“You are so fucking beautiful, little mouse.” He pushes the hair from my face and leans in to kiss me again. When he pulls back, he’s full-on gazing at me.

“What?” I ask, my cheeks pinking under his intense regard.

“You were a virgin.”

I nod.

“Explain that to me.”

My brows furrow. “I’ve never found anyone worth giving myself to.”

“So it isn’t some prosapia bullshit?”

“Historically, Electi expected their prosapia to be untouched, yes. But I didn’t hold onto my virginity for the likes of Cade and his friends, if that’s what you mean,” I snap.

“Mia,” Bexley plucks my chin between his fingers, forcing me to look at him, “that isn’t what I meant. Part of me knows this is real. It knows that you fucking belong to Cade, knows that he rules Gravestone U and what he says is law. But part of me is having a real fucking hard time accepting it.”

“I hate this too,” I admit, pain lancing my chest as my eyes flutter closed.

“Mia, look at me,” Bexley demands, but I can’t do it. I can’t look at him. “Give me your eyes, mouse.” His arm slides down my waist and around my thigh, squeezing my ass.

My eyes fly open and he smirks. “There she is.”

Silence settles between us, and Bexley closes his eyes.

I whisper, “I wish this didn’t have to end.”

I wake cocooned in Bexley’s arms. His body curls around mine so close there isn’t a part of me not brushed up against a part of him.

“Hmm.” A sigh of contentment slips past my lips.

After our conversation last night, Bexley had dragged me into the shower and acquainted himself with every inch of my body.

I blush just thinking about all the ways he’d made me squirm and scream.

It was risky, letting him spend the night, but I didn’t tell him to go, and he hadn’t asked if he should. We’d just fallen into bed together in a tangle of limbs and frantic kisses… and he’d dirtied me up all over again.

“Keep doing that and you might not like how it ends.” Bexley kisses the nape of my neck, grinding his hardness right against my butt. “What time is it?”

“Early still.”

“Guess we fell asleep, huh?”

“Like you ever planned to leave.” A faint smile traced my lips.

“True.” His gravelly laughter makes my tummy clench in the most delicious way as he pulls me even closer.

“What happened to you, Bexley?” I whisper. I know he’s the Easton heir… but I don’t know the whole story. In fact, I don’t know much about him at all.

“When my mom found out she was pregnant, she fled Gravestone. She must have known life wouldn’t be easy for her, hiding an Easton heir here.”

“She wasn’t your father’s prosapia?”

“No.”

“Wow, I had no idea.” For as long as I can remember, there has been no Easton heir. I heard my father say once that their line would eventually die out.

“My uncle told me that until my father died, Easton had always been the dominant line, but when my dad died, Gregory Kingsley assumed leadership over Q.”

No wonder Cade is pissed that Bexley exists.

“It just all sounds so fucking unbelievable. I’m just a guy, Mia. I had friends, a life… football…”

I turn in his arms and gaze up at him. “What happened?”

“My parents started arguing, always at each other’s throats. They tried to keep it quiet, but I heard them. I even asked my mom about it once, but she told me not to worry. It was the summer before senior year and things got really bad. My dad came home drunk, got aggressive. Not with my mom or me or anything, but he was just so angry, you know?”

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, leaning in to kiss his jaw.

Bexley tucks my body against his and continues. “I started drinking, partying hard on the weekends. Some guys I knew liked to dabble with pills and coke. I guess escaping reality became easier than trying to figure out what the fuck was going on with my parents. Mom was always crying behind her glasses, Dad was never home, and I had the pressure of the team on my shoulders.”

“You played football?” I ask, because I remember hearing a few whispers back in high school.

“Yeah, I was one of the best quarterbacks in the state.” Bexley stiffens.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“I want to, it’s just hard… I had this friend, Remi. She was my best friend growing up. I guess I always thought we’d end up together.

“But her mom and dad split up, and Remi withdrew. The kids at school were cruel, especially the girls. Sterling Bay is a lot like Gravestone. Everyone cares more about what car you drive or how big your trust fund is than the kind of person you are. We grew apart, and then she met someone else. Ace Jagger.” He hisses the words as if they pain