CHAPTER <b>0034 </b>


    ric’s POV:


    Fuck. Me.


    It should’ve pissed me off that Meadow was willing to go to this length just <i>to </i>stop me from killing that


    bastard when she couldn’t even give me a reason not to.


    And it did. Pissed me the hell off.


    But the words she had just whispered appealed to me in a way that no one else would understand. Not even her. They appealed to a part of me I wasn’t ready to show her yet, and I could hear it calling out to <ol><li>me. </li></ol>


    It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Meadow wasn’t ready. Not yet.


    Raising my hand to cup her face, I stroked her cheek with my thumb. “You have no idea what you’re asking, Meadow.”


    She inhaled shakily, trembling beneath my touch. I could already feel the fabric of my pants tightening.


    Too innocent.


    Too damn innocent.


    “I think I do,” she whispered, removing her hands from my shoulders as she bowed slightly, like she was


    trying to hide from me.


    “Do tell,” I muttered, moving my hand from her cheek to the back of neck. I squeezed, and she looked up at me again, bottom lip quivering so lightly, I never would’ve noticed if I wasn’t watching her carefully.


    This woman was going to make me lose my fucking mind.


    She swallowed. “Spanking me…” she trailed off. It sounded like a question, like she wasn’t sure what I wanted to do to her and was really just guessing.


    I lowered my voice, leaning in slightly as I watched her doe eyes widen. Before I could prevent it, a dark chuckle slipped out of me.


    “There are many other beautiful ways I could punish you. But, say I’m giving you a spanking… you’re willing to atone for a sin that wasn’tmitted by you?” I yed with the back of her hair, watching her eyes flutter in response. “How heroic, Meadow. But what makes you think I’m willing to ept that?”


    Meadow dared to roll her eyes<b>, </b>and my mouth twitched. I already knew what she was going to say.


    “Come on, ric.” She bit down on her bottom lip. “Don’t pretend you haven’t been itching to punish me from the very first day I did something I wasn’t supposed to.”


    Blood rushed to my cock, and my pants tightened even more now. Meadow knew. She knew what she’d


    been doing.


    “So you know you’ve been testing me, yeah?” I asked. “Making demands, leaving the house without telling me.”


    I nced at the door, and when I looked back at Meadow, the expression in her eyes made me want to kiss her, and at the same time, punish her for being a brat. I continued. “Leaving the room when I specifically asked you not to? You’ve been on a roll, Meadow, so of course I want to punish you.”


    And then I leaned in, brushing my lips against her warm neck. “But I don’t deliver that kind of punishment using my bare hands, baby girl.”


    Meadow let out a soft gasp, whimpering as I pressed a kiss to the side of her neck and pulled back to look


    at her.


    And this vision? Her sitting on my desk, trembling beneath my touch…


    Wearing my damn t–shirt?


    She was my undoing. And I was going to punish her for it.


    She swallowed. “What do you use, then?”


    My jaw clenched. I considered telling her about the Tether room, but I wasn’t ready to show her yet. And I couldn’t tell her about it without showing her exactly what I used to deliver punishments. So I nced


    down between us at my belt.


    Meadow followed my gaze, letting out sharp breath when she saw what I was referring to.


    My belt.


    And maybe the bulge underneath it might’ve been part of what had her flustered.


    She cleared her throat nervously. “Your… your belt.”


    I ran my tongue along my bottom lip slowly, watching her flinch when my hand dropped to my belt buckle. But I didn’t pull it off. Not yet.


    Instead, I leaned in, nose brushing against hers. “Tell me something, Meadow,” I murmured. “Do you have any idea what that kind of punishment feels like?”


    She blinked up at me, lips parted as her chest rose and fell hard from the heaviness of her breathing.


    She didn’t say anything, but her silence was answer enough.


    “You’ve never even been touched properly,” I said tly, almost like I was talking to myself. My hand traced the curve of her thigh, where my shirt had ridden up so high. She shivered. “Not until I touched


    you<i>.</i><i>” </i>


    Her lips trembled as she tried to speak. Deny it, maybe, when there was <i>no </i>need to do that since we both knew she was a virgin. “That’s not-”


    “Want me to add lying to the list of sins you’vemitted tonight?” I cut her off, voice low and rough.


    She shook her head slightly. “No.”


    “Good.” I stood to my full height, looking down at her. “No one has ever touched you the way I have<b>.</b>” <b>I </b>trailed my hands higher up her bare thighs, watching as they disappeared under the shirt, making their way to her hips, her waist.


    Meadow gasped. “ric-<b>” </b>


    I jerked her to the edge of the table, and she let out a soft moan that made me tighten my grip around her tiny waist. “No one has ever made you feel the way I have, and no one will ever make you beg the way <b>I </b>will.” My jaw ticked. “So when I tell you that you have no idea what you’re asking for, don’t fucking doubt


    me.”


    Her eyes widened, but I didn’t stop.


    “I want to hear you cry, Meadow,” I breathed. “Not just from pain, but from pleasure so deep, it wrecks everything. And after tonight, you might get so terrified that you’ll want to stay away… or you’ll never let me go, unable to stay away because you want more.”


    Her thighs clenched and I felt my mouth twitch.


    “This is the only chance I’m giving you to back out, Meadow. I need to know you’re sure.” I paused, enjoying the sound of her heavy breathing. “Because once I start, I won’t stop until I’m satisfied.”


    Her breath hitched. Meadow was so fucking turned on, I bet she wouldn’t even know what to do with her pussy if I let her.


    Despite everything, she lifted her chin, her eyes narrowing at the edges. “And if I say no? Will you forget about killing Tyler?”


    I didn’t respond. I didn’t need to.


    Meadow only nodded. But that wasn’t enough. I leaned back in again, this time letting my breath ghost her ear. “I need to hear you say it, Meadow. You gonna be my good girl and take it?”


    She didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”


    I pulled back, narrowing my gaze at her. Meadow was willing to sacrifice herself just so Tyler would survive. But for some fucked up reason, it didn’t piss me off the way I thought it would. The way it


    should’ve.


    Maybe because she was right. I had been waiting for an opportunity like this.


    “Good.” I took a few steps away from her, my gaze darting down to her leg. “How much does your feet


    hurt?<b>” </b>


    “Not much.”


    “Perfect.” I slowly dragged my eyes to her face and-


    Fuck me. Her beauty was fucking surreal.


    “Get down from the desk.” My voice was rougher now.


    Meadow did as I asked, her frantic hazel eyes darting down to my belt as I slid the leather out of the hoops of my cks.


    “Now, bend over, baby.”