CHAPTER <b>0079 </b>
Meadow’s POV:
ric had just walked out on me in my most vulnerable moment. My eyes were closed, and he just… left.
I should’ve known that his indifferent expression was just that. Indifferent.
He didn’t care.
My skin pulsed with a different kind of heat as I got out of the pool. Anger. Disgust at myself. Embarrassment.
Hatred.
I let him use me again. I let him talk me into doing what he wanted and he just left me high and dry.
Letting out a shaky breath, I reached for a nearby towel, not even bothering to remove my bikini from the pool before I stormed out of the pool room.
But I didn’t go to my room. No.
I went straight to ric’s room.
If he thought I was going to let him walk out on me and push me away after I just fucking bared myself to him, then he definitely had another thinging.
My towel was barely clinging to me, my wet hair dripping down my back, but I didn’t care. All I could
think about was the way he yed me again and my blood boiled hotter.
I shoved the door to his bedroom open, my breathing shallow as I opened my mouth to confront him. And
I froze.
ric was leaning forward, his knuckles on the desk, head hanging between his shoulder des.
I tightened my grip on the towel. “Was that you trying to hurt me again?”
When I charged into this room, I was prepared to release hell, but now, watching how tense his back was,
my voice was so small.
I was wary.
“ric,” I muttered. He didn’t say a word to me. Not until I stepped toward the desk, observing his knuckles. A soft gasp escaped my throat when I saw the blood.
“You’re not fully healed yet,” I snapped, taking his hands away from the table and turning them over in mine. “What’s going on, ric? Why did you just leave me there? And why are you hurting yourself again
“I can’t feel it, remember?” His voice was deep, soft. A huge contrast to the night before he left for Vegas.
“Doesn’t mean you can’t catch an infection,” I replied, my brows drawing together as I dragged my eyes up to his face. “You could literally bleed out and you wouldn’t even…”
I trailed off as something shed in ric’s eyes. Something resembling pain.
My throat tightened and I gently reached out to ce my palm t on his chest, right over his heart.
“It’s happened before, hasn’t it?” I asked slowly.
His jaw clenched hard and he looked away, hesitating before he replied, “Once.”
My pulse quickened.
“Sliced my palm open years ago because I wanted to feel something. It had only been months since I lost
my sense of touch and I was going fucking crazy.”
I didn’t move. I barely even managed to breathe. Because here ric was, telling me something about his
past.
What if I blinked and the moment disappeared?
“As expected, I didn’t feel a thing. Didn’t bother to patch up before I fell asleep so I didn’t realize that I was bleeding out.” He paused, throat bobbing as he swallowed. “If Mutti hadn’te into my room and found me passed out, I would’ve died.”
My lips parted but I didn’t know what to say.
ric’s eyes dropped to my hand on his chest and he took it in his. “I try not to let it get to me, but. sometimes, it’s fucking difficult, Meadow.” His voice was tight now. “But I always patch myself up.
Always.<b>” </b>
“Why are you telling me this?” I found myself asking.
ric was silent for a while. He reached out to touch my face with the back of his palm, smearing blood
all over my cheeks. But I didn’t pull away.
Instead, I stepped even closer.
“You said you wanted me to show you how intense things could get. And that night, you said you wanted.
me to let you in.”
I nodded in response, leaning into his touch as he stroked my now bloody cheek.
ric smirked. “But I still don’t think you’re ready for any of that yet.”
My heart fell. “But-”
“Let me finish, Meadow,” he cut in. “You’re always so quick to jump into conclusions.”
Heat crept up my neck. ric’s eyes glinted with mild amusement as he pulled back.
And then he stepped away from me, walking toward the bed.
I stood there, my grip tightening around the edge of the desk as I watched his back muscles ripple with
every movement he made.
He approached the bed, and then picked something from it. Something I didn’t realize was there when I
walked in.
“However…” he murmured. “I’m willing topromise.”
And when he turned to face me with the object in his hand, all the breath escaped from my lungs.
I had never seen it in real life before, but I had seen enough movies and read enough books to know what
this was. An adjustable iron bar with ankle straps attacked to it.
A spreader bar.
My heart skipped a beat as ric snapped it open without hesitation, startling me.
The smirk didn’t leave his face. “Do you know what this is, Meadow?”
I swallowed. “Spreader bar.” I couldn’t recognize my voice. My grip tightened around the towel and my
hand trembled.
Not in fear, but in anticipation.
What was ric going to do to me tonight?
“Come here,” he ordered in that deep, smooth tone of his that had a shiver running down my spine and heat settling between my thighs. Slowly, I walked over to where he stood by the bed.
My gaze shifted to the locked door.
As if ric could read my thoughts, he said: “I haven’t been through that door in a long time, Meadow.”
His hand reached for the back of my neck, pulling me against him.
A gasp escaped me.
“But tonight, I had to go in there because of you. Because I’m ready to make a deal with you.”
My pulse spiked, heart pounding against my ribcage as the anticipation grew. My eyes dropped to his mouth and back to his face. “What kind of deal?” I whispered.
ric’s eyes shed for a second, and then he spoke.
“I’m going to give you what you’ve wanted since the first night we met.” His other reached for my towel and ripped it off my body without hesitation. Hunger swirled in his eyes as his gaze raked over me.
I couldn’t think.
The one thing I’d been asking ric for was…
“You mean…”
His hand trailed down my ass and he squeezed. “Yes, Meadow.”
ric leaned in, grip tightening more around my neck until his lips grazed the shell of my ear.
“I’m going to fuck you tonight,” he rasped. “But only under my terms.”