bCHAPTER /bb0117 /b

Meadow’s POV:

I froze, my breath stuttering. For a second, everything just… blurred out. ric didn’t say another word. He just held me tightly. The water droplets on his skin felt hot all of a sudden.

“Oh,” I whispered, my throat tight as I tried to swallow.

ric didn’t look at me. His face remained buried in my neck, his breath uneven, as if just saying those words had cost him something.

I wrapped my arms tighter around him. “You should’ve told me.”

“I didn’t want to, Meadow. And I still don’t want to talk about it. All I need right now is you.”

That was when he pulled back to look at me. His eyes swirled with an emotion I couldn’t recognize.

“My mother…” His throat bobbed as he swallowed. “She wants to hold some kind of memorial for him.” He

scoffed.

My brows furrowed. “And?”

“I said no,” he answered firmly. I felt my eyes go wide, but before I could ask why, he continued. “My

father was an asshole, Meadow. Much like yours. Or maybe… maybe even fucking worse.”

My breath hitched.

“I-”

“And I would never understand why the fuck Mutti would want to hold a memorial for him when she was

the one he mistreated the most.” He shook his head. “Why does she want to remember him?”

“Oh, ric…” My voice was a broken whisper. There was nothing I could do or say that would make

things feel better. Both our fathers were terrible people, and that was as far as we could rte. How could

I give himforting words when I would never ept those words myself?

“I don’t want to fucking remember. It’s why I need to get away from all this right now. I do have work to

do, but I want you with me, Meadow.” He pushed my hair back. b“/bI need you with me.” His lips twitched.”

And to be honest, I can tell you need a break too. Don’t think I haven’t noticed your sister’s been trying to reach you.”

A gasp escaped my mouth. Of course, he’d noticed. I had no doubt about that. “Juste with me. It’ll be

for just two days. Maybe three, if you happen to like what I’ve been working on building–which I know you willb./bb” /b

My core pulsed. The way he was looking at me right now had me feeling super hot.

“What about dinnerb?/bb” /b

“We can have it on the jet,” he whispered against my lips.

A shiver ran down my spine. The way ric spoke so casually about luxurious things was so… I had no words to describe how it made me feel.

My mind was already made up. I was gonna go with him. We both needed to get our minds off the craziness around us. But maybe I just wanted to twist him a little bit first.

“Fuck…” he rasped, rocking his hips against me again, this time with the head of his cock at my entrance. My vision blurred.

“You know… we never did go on our honeymoon…”

ric scoffed like he was annoyed. “I would never take you to Vegas on our honeymoon, Meadow.” A gasp tore from my throat as he mmed into me. “Don’t underestimate me like that.”

“I wasn’t,” I breathed. “I just… mmmhm…” My head fell forward onto his neck.

A honeymoon was never in the cards for us, since this was just an arrangement. And to be honest, I never really thought about it. But as ric paused, I knew he was considering it.

“Do you want one?” he asked. “Because I’ll cancel every single fucking thing on my te and we would go

wherever you want.”

“Oh god,i” /iI whispered as more wetness flooded my core. I pulsed around his cock. “You have such a way with words, Mr. Ashford.”

ric let out a low, breathlessugh against my ear. “That’s all it takes? Sweet words and you’re a fucking water park?b” /b

“Shut up,” I gasped. Although I paid for that a secondter when his hand came down hard on my ass and he mmed into me at the same time.

bI /byelped, pulling back to look at him, and then he kissed me hard, thrusting into me with fervor, his piercings lightly scraping against my walls in such a delicious manner.

“Christ,i” /ihe growled as his lips moved to my neck, biting gently on my shoulder before soothing it with his tongue. “I’d give you the fucking moon if you asked for it, baby. Because you’re mine.” His hand wrapped around my jaw, forcing me to keep my eyes on him. “And right now, you’re mine to ruin.”

My breath hitched. “Oh, daddy…”

“That’s right,” he rasped, his eyes turning dark. “Say that again. Say you’lle with me.”

I scrambled to find the words in my head as the pleasure built higher and higher. “I’lle with you, daddy.”

My eyes rolled back in my head as ric mmed into me, hitting my g–spot every single time, driving me closer and closer to the edge.

“Just look at you,” he whispered fiercely. “Look how fucking beautiful you are. How angelic, how worthy. You deserve every good fucking thing in this world, baby. And right now, you’re going toe around my cock. Understandb?/bb” /b

He was barely even done talking when my orgasm mmed into me. My head fell onto his shoulder again, and ric held me tightly as my core pulsed around him, my body quaking nonstop.

He increased his pace, and it wasn’t up to a minute when he came inside of me, his cock pulsing so deliciously good inside of me.

I was on birth control now–ric made sure of that.

“Fuck,” he cursed as we came down from our high, our chests heaving, our breaths heavy. My face felt heated, and I hissed as ric pulled out of me, lowering me onto the floor and turning the shower on

instantly.

“Wear the dress I got you,” he said firmly, pressing a kiss to my forehead.

I nodded, biting down on my bottom lip. “Okay.”

It was official.

We were going to Vegas to forget our sorrows.