48. A Tug of War
**Point of View: Dakota Black**
**DAY THREE**
“Well then, buy me a Cinderella dress if you hate these sheets so much on me.” Emara growls, following me out of the house.
I turn around, grabbing her by arms and halting together. I feel her jolt in my clutch, and the dark side of me like those tremors.
*It somehow excited my animal.*
I pull her even closer, feeling the heat between us. I can see it in her eyes, the tiny flicker of fear and it almost makes me grin.
*She can act brave, but not braver than the wolf.*
I lower my face to my scared kitty, until our lips are only a breath apart.
“Baby..” I whisper deeply. “I would rather see you walking naked in my house than in any cloth.”
Her body tenses, and I can practically feel the rush of heat flood through her, causing her heart to race.
*Hell!* I can almost *hear* it!
Her pulse is going wild, and I can feel my own blood getting hot by just watching her cheeks flush with that unmistakable redness.
“And I would very much like *that* view than any lingerie on you.” My voice low and dark, imagining her under me, all red and clothless.
I watch her, as her lips slowly part, and her breath hitches as she stares back at me with wide eyes.
There is no denying the way her body responds to mine, it only fuels my loins.
The way she is taking deep breaths, the way her chest is rising and falling, the way her nipples grazing the bedsheet and teasing my eyes, its driving me fucking crazy.
I am a man with refined taste in women who are elegant, orderly, and have a kick for good dressing. *And here she is..*
Her hair is a wet mess, barely combed, and that excuse for a dress she has put together looks awfully ridiculous, yet somehow, against all logic, I find her attractive.
*I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with me?*
“Now go inside.” My own breath fastens as I tell her, “I don’t want anyone else to see my house elf in this hideous dress.”
*Or any other bastard to lay eyes on my kitty!*
The thought itself infuriates me, and a possessive growl rises up in me.
I release her instantly, walking away and creating as much distance between us as possible. But with every step, it feels like I am fighting to escape that heat she left burning in me, pulling me right back to her.
*Damn her for making me feel like this!*
“You are such a double-faced, double-standard imposter in your skin.” Emara barks, catching after me as I get to my car, ready to leave.
“Someday everybody will see what a big mythical jerk you are, and all of your carefully created self-esteem will be destroyed.”
*What shit-in-bullshit!*
I throw my bag, jacket inside and pull out my wallet saying, “Here.” I hand her a twenty dollar bill and instruct, “Go buy some better insults.”
*Like seriously, how does she even come up with these stuff?*
She crumples the note in her palm and I get inside the car, like closing the topic.
“You are the biggest dickhead I have ever met!” Emara yells after the car, as it starts rolling away.
I scoff at her ridiculous mouth. *She speaks any shit!*
Loosening the knot of my tie and unbuttoning a couple of buttons on my shirt, I lean back into the seat.
I am hot, horny and hungry. *All because of her!*
Just then my phone buzzes with a text from Johnny- *She tried to bribe me with 20 bucks to run away. I sent her back with 40.*
*Unbelievable!* This girl tried to bride my own security guy with the same money I gave her.
“God, she is crazy!” I mutter, trying to calm down.
I hear Charlie, my chauffeur chuckling from the front seat.
“No kidding! Yesterday, she spat in my food and today, she tried to feed me the bread my dogs licked.” I tell him, shaking my head furiously.
*Even my demons fear how wicked this girl is!*
“And the day before that, she almost set my kitchen on fire. I can’t believe this girl! Why the hell am I even tolerating her shenanigans?” I ask myself, rubbing my sane mind.
“You already sound married to me.” Charlie says with a hint of smirk in his voice.
His words hit on the wrong side of my head, and I feel a glitch in my system, causing my heart to malfunction and skip a beat.
“Just drive.” I murmur, looking out of the window, and sinking into the thought.
*Marriage with her? I would rather drink bleach.*
I catch my reflection in the glass, and adjust my tie. Perfect. *Always perfect!*
It’s not arrogance, it’s just fact. I am the total package, the kind of guy who checks every box on every woman’s list.
Resources? *Check*. High Status? *Double check.* Money that would even make the devil envy? *Hell yeah!*
I am an Alpha male, whereas Emara is just bare minimum in human form.
*She is completely useless.*
Hell, she doesn’t even have survival instincts. How did she blindly get into a stranger’s house and here living with me?
*She is a complete gone case.*
I could have done way worse to her. Like, selling her organs or getting her trafficked to some red-light district.
*God! She is fucking dumb.*
I would never think of marrying a girl with zero skills, and definitely not someone who already fucked me over to save her pathetic excuse of a lover.
*I despise her.*
But then, I remember last night, how the words I love you just slipped out of my mouth, and it felt like they were not a lie.
*Fuck.*
I close my eyes, feeling a tug of war going inside me.
My heart throws open its doors, showing someone already lives in there, and then there is my dominant brain, which denies every proof that I don’t even have a heart, just a vascular pumping organ.
FUCK!
I whip out my iPad, open the notepad, and start typing in a desperate attempt to organize my thoughts.
Maybe if I break this down logically, I can see it for what I really like in her that got me so whipped. I can’t even think straight!
I create two columns, one for the Pro and another for the Con with the title- Emara, the Chaos.
In the Pros section, I write:
\-> She’s hot
\-> No idea why I am weirdly into her
I pause, staring at the list. That’s it. That’s all I have got to justify why I am drawn to her and tolerate her shenanigans.
*That’s all she got!*
Moving forward, in the Cons column, I write:
\-> Highly immature
\-> CRAZY
\-> Zero benefit
\-> Terrible cook
\-> No real skills
\-> Extremely silly
\-> Short height
\-> Cannot be trusted
I look at the list. It is telling me everything I need to know.
Emara is nothing but a distraction. An emotional pothole I fell into for reasons even I don’t get.
Maybe I don’t really love her.
Maybe I just love the challenge of controlling her.
Or maybe, it’s just the fact that she is the one thing I can’t control, and that fascinates me.
I close the notepad, lean back in my seat and watch as the city passes by like my life speeding forward.
Sure, I do want to settle down, but marrying someone like her, who is a liability will only slow me down in life.
I would rather choose someone who brings status, and wealth to the table. After all, marriage is a business deal, with sex.
And Emara seems like a total loss in the deal.
Gathering my stuff, I stroll into the office. All eyes lock on me as I walk in fifteen minutes late. That’s strike two in three days, all because of her!
I didn’t think arguing with her would tank my entire schedule.
Tossing my suit jacket onto the back of my chair, I pop a Xanax and chug deep gulps of cool water.
The pressure is getting to me, but I can’t let anyone see me crack.
I press the intercom and my secretary rushes in. “Schedule?” I quip, taking deep breaths and waiting for the pill to kick in.
“Sir, the D2R meeting started 7 minutes ago..” She doesn’t hesitate telling me I am late, because I was supposed to be in that meeting.
*Fantastic!*
Never in my life have I been off-schedule, and now here I am, running on my toes, being a bad example for my employees.
*Emara!*
I remind myself to add another point in the notepad to the Con’s section: *Causes excessive stress.*
As soon as I enter, the entire room goes huss and I can feel their eyes drilling into me with silent judgement.
“Sorry, I am late. Something urgent came up.” I give them my best excuse and dive right into the discussion. “Sam, can you fill in?”
The lead developer clears his throat, continuing the presentation on the screen. “The Beta testing for D2R has shown several significant issues like lagging on certain devices, a few security malfunctions, and UI isn’t fully optimized yet.”
He then glances at me, visibly tense. “We are realistically looking at another two or three weeks before the Beta version is polished enough for a solid release.”
Hell! Tomorrow is the release date.
I purse my lips into a hard line. “That ain’t happening. The release is scheduled for tomorrow. The marketing team is already on it to publicize it as a groundbreaking launch.”
I take a deep breath, feeling the weight of stress on me. *Three weeks delay or should I release the Beta as planned and risk a disaster?*
My fingers tap on the table, while I run my horses. “What’s the status of the prototype?”
“It is more stable than the Beta model, though it lacks some of the advanced features.” One of the project managers inform me. “There are still a few things that need attention. It is not perfect, but functional.”
Silence fills the room along with tension, as everyone stares at me, waiting for a decision.
Just then, my phone buzzes on the table, and I glance at the screen which shows a notification from my home security system.
*Access denied: Attempt to open the bedroom door.*
Huh? I tap the camera feed, and there she is.. Emara. *Of course!*
She is standing by my door, looking right up into the camera, and giving me the middle finger with that damn smirk on her face.
*God!* This girl.
*Why does she always have to play with my balls?*
I groan audibly, catching the attention in the room. I realize they are still staring at me, and I try to push it all down, getting back to the discussion, like nothing happened.
“Let’s move forward with the prototype release, since the Beta is still glitching.” I state, attempting to steer the focus back to work.
But mentally, I am already under her clutch.
*Fuck! This girl is a certified sociopath.*