CUCKOLD H & S Husband's Unfortunate Bet with an Alpha (Mask of Desire)

[Steel]

Kusha sat back, watching with smug satisfaction as Rakesh flipped through her concept art. In one sense, Rakesh had been correct. She had been forced to step out of her regular design instincts to create a design this forceful and masculine. But her skill and artistic talent had shone through in the end. She had knocked it out of the park.

Bold, daring use of color. Sharp, blocky angles. Stone, leather and bronze. All garish on their own maybe, but coming together to harmonize in a room that wasn't just something a knuckle-dragging "Alpha Male" would find impressive, but also looked fucking incredible. Even Rakesh looked impressed as he perused the portfolio of designs.

Kusha's ego had fully recovered from her embarrassing first meeting with Rakesh a few days ago. It had really been a perfect storm of bad luck and Rakesh's obnoxious ego, uniting to embarrass her and throw her off balance. That day had filled her with a burning desire to get back her dignity and show Rakesh who was really superior between the two of them. He had implied that she wouldn't be able to create a compelling and masculine design, and today she had her answer.

It helped her mood immensely that this meeting was happening in her office today rather than Rakesh's home turf. She felt calm, confident, and in her element.

Right up until Rakesh opened his mouth.

"I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised," said Rakesh with a wide smile, flipping the folder closed. "I really didn't think you would be able to capture the alpha male spirit. But this is excellent work."

"Well, it's not my usual aesthetic," admitted Kusha, not able to help preening a little, "but a good artist can adapt to other visual styles."

Rakesh chuckled, his eyes meeting Kusha with a mischievous gleam. "I'm sure that's true. But it's not what I meant. I thought you wouldn't have any insight into powerful, confident masculinity."

Kusha stared at the ugly man sitting across her desk, the smile fading from her face. The correct choice was to ignore his barb and conclude the meeting... but Kusha couldn't do that. It felt too much like letting the little toad have the last word. "There isn't much depth to so-called 'alphas'," she said icily. "It’s all just unearned confidence and thinly-veiled aggression."

Rakesh shrugged, flipping open the folder again and avoiding her gaze as he looked at the concept drawing of his new room. "I'm not sure how you would know that..." he said mildly, "considering you avoid dominant men like a disease."

Kusha rolled her eyes, trying to keep her annoyance under control. "Trust me, Mr. Kumar, as an attractive woman, I have plenty of experience with over-confident men. More than I would like, even if I actively avoided them. Which I didn’t."

Rakesh's eyes flashed back up to hers. "And yet you've only ever dated betas. Why is that?" He asked with a sharp voice.