Meadow’s POV:


    The water was quiet enough for me to hear my own thoughts. Unfortunately.


    I pushed off the wall and let the pool swallow me, the weight of the water pressing against my body from all sides. I used to be scared of pools once, scared to the point where I avoided bathtubs like the gue.


    My sister pushed me into our pool when we were eight years old. I couldn’t swim. All Juniper did was watch me il while she stood over me, giggling. I would’ve drowned had the housekeeper not heard the sshing and the gurgling sounds.


    When my mother found out about it, she was furious. Not at Juniper for pushing me, but at the housekeeper for saving me. She fired her.


    “You should’ve let her fucking drown!” She wasn’t even discreet about it. My mother never hid the fact


    that she hated me.


    And Juniper hated me because my mother made sure she did.


    The knowledge that someone could watch me drown and do nothing terrified me. So I avoidedrge


    waterbodies, until Nova made me face it yearster. She taught me to swim in our senior year of high


    school, and I forced myself to face my fears.


    No one could drown me if I knew how to swim.


    I found this ce nights ago when I was snooping around. And when I asked Mel, she said ric barely


    ever used it so it was easy to forget it existed. And all of a sudden, it became my favorite ce to be.


    Because the pool and I were kindred spirits.


    ric forgot both of us existed. 1


    I pushed to the surface, panting as I slicked my wet hair back. The entire point ofing here was to


    take my mind off him, but somehow, he had already managed to infiltrate my thoughts.


    And apparently–my space.


    I sensed him before I heard him.


    “Why didn’t you tell me you needed to go see Nova?”


    I turned to see him standing at the edge of the pool, his hands in his pockets and an expression I couldn’t read on his face as he watched me with narrowed eyes.


    My stomach twisted, heat and fury mixing together. “For whatever reasons you didn’t tell me you let my sister out of the facility,” I snapped, swimming toward thedder by his feet.


    ric hummed. “So… to protect me?”


    “ssic,” I scoffed. “You didn’t tell me my sister was out to protect me?” My hands reached for thedder and I slowly began to climb out. “Here’s a tip, ric. If you’re going to give some flimsy excuse, try something original.”


    ric’s jaw ticked, but he didn’t say a word. He just didn’t take his eyes off me as I got out of the pool. My skin prickled with heat despite the coolness of the water. Maybe it was my anxiety. Or maybe it was the


    fact that ric’s gaze was full of heat as he watched me.


    “Besides, men like you don’t need an excuse to do what they want to do, right? They just do it.”


    I stumbled on thest step, and I probably would’ve been able to catch myself with the railing, but ric’s


    quick hand reaching for me didn’t let me find out.


    He pulled me flush against his chest and I gasped as his body warmth enveloped me. “Careful,” he


    murmured as his eyes dropped to my breasts. I had on a blue bikini set.


    Definitely not an intentional move.


    I liked the way he was looking at me so much that I nearly forgot that I was supposed to be mad at him. I


    pushed away from his chest, stepping away from him. “Leave me alone, ric. I don’t want you here.”


    I started to turn around and reach for a towel but he pulled me back to him again, and this time, my back


    was flush against his chest.


    My breath hitched.


    “Are you sure about that, baby?” he rasped into my ear, and a shiver ran down my spine as he shifted my


    wet hair to the side. “Because it looks to me like all you’ve been wanting is my attention.” He lowered his


    hand slowly down my sides, caressing my waist. “So now that you have it, what are you going to do with


    it?”


    Something hot coiled in the bottom of my stomach. I thought it was anger, but as ric’s hand drifted


    even lower, I realized that it was in fact, desire.


    Hot, sizzling desire that made goosebumps erupt on my skin. On my traitorous body.


    “Thest thing I want is your attention, ric,” I lied. I hated the way my voice shook. Hated the fact that


    I melted from just one touch.


    “Is that right?” His voice went deeper. “Then what would you call your little disy outside, Meadow?<b>” </b>ric’s grip tightened on my waist. “You were BEGGING for my attention, and when you didn’t get it, you stormed inside the house like a little girl who’s pissed at her daddy.”


    My cheeks reddened. I was embarrassed. Embarrassed that I was letting him get to me, and even more embarrassed that heat pooled between my thighs while he was trying to belittle me with his words.


    I tried to pull myself out of his grip, but he refused to let go. “Let me go, ric,” I seethed as a sudden chill washed over me. “You did a fine job of ignoring me this past week. There’s no damn reason for you to


    stop now.<i>” </i>


    “Oh, I think there is,” he muttered. ric’s breath was warm against my skin, and his touch was fire. His teeth nipped my ear and I involuntarily leaned back against him, but I caught myself immediately and I fought to escape his grip again. “I have a very good reason to stop ignoring you. You want to know what it


    is?”


    “No,” I snapped.


    “Mmhm,” he hummed, pressing a hand against my t stomach. “Try again, baby.<i>” </i>


    My eyelids fluttered and I gritted my teeth. The quicker we got this over with, the quicker he would let me <ol><li>go. </li></ol>


    “Yes. Tell me what fucking reason you have to finally stop treating me like I don’t exist, your highness,” I mocked.


    ric let out an amused breath, probably not expecting that response. My breath hitched as one hand gripped the front of my neck gently, while the other remained on my stomach, his fingers drawing tight little circles on my skin.


    “I’ve been watching you, Meadow.”


    I froze. ric noticed and chuckled lightly. “Watching youe in here every night to spend hours in the pool.”


    There was no way he would know that. No one, not even Mel, was around whenever I swam. So how


    would ric…


    Dread settling in my stomach, my eyes roamed around the area, and it took almost a full minute, but I


    found it.


    The red blinking lights at a far corner of the wall. And then I found another one.


    Cameras.


    Cameras that were so damn tiny, you wouldn’t even notice them despite the blinking lights.


    I swallowed. “ric…”


    “And every single night, for a few minutes,” he continued, pulling me against him. And I could feel his bulge pressing into my lower back. “You would let yourself float.”


    My eyes feel shut.


    ric inhaled sharply. “And no matter how deeply annoyed you are with me, you would slide your


    fingers down this tight fucking body, and you’d make yourselfe with my name on your lips.” 1