Alaric’s POV: I had never been this confused about anything in my life. I always got it right, I always knew what to do, what to say, what to think.But this?It broke me so much that I couldn’t do anything but listen to her express her pain. All I could do was wonder if there was a way I could fix this. Hell—if there was a way to turn back the hands of the clock, I fucking would.But what Meadow wanted me to say… what she wanted me to admit.Fuck. I cared about this woman more than anything, but she didn’t know me yet. I couldn’t let her feel that way about me when she hadn’t seen all of me.I told her before that I was no monster, but I lied then.I was a fucking monster.Meadow exhaled slowly, pursing her lips. “You won’t say anything?” It seemed I couldn’t even say anything tonight. “You could at least lie, you know? At least that's something we both know you’re good at.”She shivered, crossing her arms in front of her chest again. She must’ve been feeling cold, but I didn’t brin
Meadow’s POV: His brows furrowed and something flashed in his eyes. He started to step forward again. “Meadow, wait—”“I don’t want you to feel me, Alaric,” I snapped. I hated the person I became whenever he touched me. And truthfully, I really didn’t want him to feel me. I didn’t want to see that relief in his eyes that I saw anytime his skin even so much as grazed mine.I wanted him to suffer, just as I was suffering.Alaric shook his head. “Don’t do that, Meadow. Don’t do that to me. Punish me however you want, but don’t deny me your touch.”My heart clenched so hard I had to physically reach for my chest as if it was going to fix anything. My eyes burned. “Why?” My voice cracked. “That’s not what you really wanted from me, is it?”“Meadow, that’s not—”“Answer me this, Alaric,” I cut in, thankful that he wasn’t moving toward me anymore. His hands were curled into tight fists, like he was trying to physically restrain himself. “Why did you decide to marry me? To get your revenge,
Meadow’s POV:My heart stopped beating.I must not have heard that correctly. There was no way… no fucking way what Nolan just said was the truth. Forcing my legs to move forward and into the light, my brows drew together.“Alaric, what… what is he saying?”I wanted him to deny it. To at least tell me that Nolan didn’t know what he was saying. But the expression on Alaric’s face told me that I wasn’t going to get anything of that sort from him. Or anything at all, to be honest.My gaze dropped to his bleeding lip. If this were any other situation, I would rush over to him so I could look at the wound. But this wasn’t any other situation.I just overheard my brother-in-law say that my father was responsible for their father’s death.But that wasn’t possible.It couldn’t be possible. Alaric said his father died twenty years ago. My father went to prison thirteen years ago. Yes, he was imprisoned on the grounds of manslaughter and embezzlement, but he didn’t…No.No, he didn’t. Not Ala
Alaric’s POV: A few minutes agoI hadn’t expected my brother to show up at the club. When I was heading to my car, another car had parked right across from me. It wasn’t until I heard Nolan call my name that I realized that it was him.And he did not look happy.My brows drew together in question. “What the fuck are you doing here?”He shoved his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket, coming to a stop a few feet away from me. And then he turned around, his eyes sweeping over the building. “Love what you did with the place.”“You’d love it better if you went in,” I replied flatly, my gaze narrowing at the edges. “Though something tells me that’s not why you’re here.”“Did Mutti tell you she was planning a memorial for our late father?”Nolan's voice had a certain edge to it. I watched him carefully, taking note of the set in his jaw and the hard look in his eyes.It had been a while since I saw that look in his eyes—one that I couldn’t decipher no matter how much I tried to. N
Meadow’s POV: Alaric didn’t say a word, but he grew tense behind me, and I could swear that I heard him swallow.I wasn’t done speaking. “But what I want right now… is for you to fuck me against this glass—whether these people are watching or not.”“Fuck,” Alaric cursed roughly. “You’re so fucking perfect, baby. So beautiful. Such a good girl.” He stepped backward to give me a little room. “Now, bend over for me, and don’t take your hands off that window.”I did exactly as he said.The glass was cool against my palm, and Alaric pulled my hips back against him. My fingers trembled—my entire body, in fact. My core clenched continuously, aching for him. Aching for his cock.I just told Alaric what I wanted, and now he was going to give it to me.“You have no fucking idea how hearing you say that made me feel, baby,” he rasped just as I heard the sound of his belt undoing and the distant sound of the zipper going down.The women in the room were still going at it, only now, they seemed t
Meadow’s POV: Was there something wrong with me?I had never labeled myself as an overly submissive woman. I mean, I talked back to Alaric a lot of times during sex, even though I got punished for it. But seeing that woman crawl up to Landon in such an obedient manner, watching the way she drank from his glass and the way she flushed in pleasure when he stroked her hair with his hand…I couldn’t deny that it did something to me. Hell, I wanted to be her. I wanted Alaric to treat me like that—like he… like he owned me.And I knew enough about intimacy to know that that level of dominance and submissiveness between us would take a whole lot of trust. And I trusted him, wholeheartedly. So did he.But why did it also terrify me? Why did the thought of completely surrendering myself to this man appeal to me and scare me at the same time?And why on earth did I want so much to be tied up so beautifully like the woman I was watching through the glass?When I told Alaric I wanted to use the