HIS DOE, HIS DAMNATION (An Erotic Billionaire Romance) novel Chapter 96

Meadow’s POV:

“I–I…” I stuttered, trying and failing to form words. I definitely did not think this through. “Alaric…”

I sat up on my elbows, my throat thickening as he pulled away from me.

His eyes left mine again and returned to the receipt. I could practically see his expression getting darker with every second he spent looking at that paper.

When I’d first read it, it hurt, because it felt like a direct message to me—and at the end of the day, our marriage really wasn’t serious.

But now, the look in Alaric’s eyes made me wish I could turn back the hands of time and shred the paper.

“Don’t make me ask again, Meadow.” Alaric being calm at this moment scared me so much.

“It’s nothing,” I whispered quickly. “It’s nothing, okay? Just a stupid receipt. I was at a restaurant earlier today and some waiter wrote it and…”

I trailed off, realizing that speaking about it was only making the situation worse.

Alaric ran his palm along his jaw, rising to his full height.

“Some waiter,” he echoed in a low tone. “And judging from this note, he knew you were married and still made a move on you.”

He wasn’t asking.

I looked away, saying nothing in response, and then I felt his hand on my jaw as he turned me to face him. My grip on the sheets tightened. He was standing over me, his face dangerously close to mine.

I swallowed as he lifted the receipt between us. “And why was this in your bra, Meadow? Did he touch you?”

“What? No!” I answered quickly, shaking my head. “He didn’t touch me.”

Alraric’s brows furrowed for a second like he was trying to figure out how it ended up in my bra. And then, as if it suddenly hit him, something flashed in his eyes.

Something dangerous.

“You put this in there yourself, didn’t you?” he rasped. “On purpose.”

How was I supposed to tell him that I’d gotten home, changed out of my outfit, took a fucking shower, slipped on lingerie and stuck the receipt into my bra so he would see it?

What exactly would I say was my motive? I couldn’t tell him that I had been with Clarissa, and that she’d told me she was with him and I was annoyed by the fact that he got drunk with her and talked about Juniper.

“Alaric, I-”

“Why?” he cut in. But his voice wasn’t hard anymore. There was something else in his eyes now. The heat was back, along with the anger. His thumb brushed the corner of my mouth and I inhaled shakily. “Why did you want me to see it?”

My lips parted but no words came out. Why was I so mute all of a sudden? I thought I had enacted the entire plan in my head but now my brain was blank. Alaric’s grip tightened on my jaw.

“What? All of a sudden, you can’t defend yourself, Meadow?” He let out a breath that would’ve seemed amused had he not been glaring at me.

Alaric’s voice dropped to a low growl. “Tell me where.”

“What?” I breathed.

“The restaurant. The waiter’s name. I won’t repeat myself, Meadow. And I can just as easily find him, but I want you to tell me his name.”

I opened my mouth, not sure why I was hesitating. The waiter was a pervy asshole who wouldn’t stop staring at my boobs and wouldn’t back off even after Clarissa’s warning.

But I think I was scared. Not of Alaric, but FOR the waiter. I had never seen Alaric being violent, but the time Tyler called me to insult me and Alaric found out, he really looked like he was going to kill him.

Until I offered my ass to be whipped in order to save his life.

“Alaric… What are you going to do to him?” I asked again.

His eyes flashed as he leaned in, brushing his lips against my cheek. And then he whispered: “Nothing to concern yourself with. I’ll take care of this after I’m done with you.”

And before I could even comprehend what he was saying, he pushed me down onto the mattress, flipping me onto my stomach in one swift motion.

A gasp tore from my throat as Alaric pulled my hips up, forcing me onto my knees. I tried to ground myself with my hands but he pushed my head down with a… gentle force–if that meant anything. So now my ass was in the air while my face was on the bed.

My core clenched with need.

“You see, you’ve been a naughty girl, Meadow,” he continue, sliding his finger down my spine slowly until he got to the curve of my ass. He rubbed it tenderly. “You kept this receipt, knowing it would drive me insane. You wanted my attention, no matter the cost. Just like when you defied me by wearing that dress the other night.”

By ‘the other night‘, I instantly knew he was referring to his mother’s party–when he had made me orgasm in only two dresses and I picked the third on purpose.

Yeah, he never did punish me for that.

His palm was warm and heavy on my ass. “Well, now you’ve got it, Doe. Every last bit of my attention.”

I heard the sound of his belt being removed and my heart stuttered, chest tightening in anticipation.

He said it before that he never delivered punishments with his hand.

I wanted him to punish me, just like I wanted him to that night Tyler called me.

“And now you’re going to take your punishment like the bad girl you wanted to be.”