[Steel]

Kusha opened her mouth, to her own shock, she realized that she was about to say yes. It felt like she was under Rakesh's overwhelming power. Yes was the easiest option now. The one that would be the most satisfying.

Then Kusha saw the ghost of a smirk on Rakesh's lips, and she remembered the downside of doing what he asked. She would have to deal with his insufferable smugness. She would never allow this creep to celebrate his victory over her. She gathered up all of her willpower and changed her answer on the way to her lips.

"I’ll think about it," she croaked. Even that was a compromise that left a bitter taste in her mouth, but it was satisfying to see the sudden expression of shock on Rakesh's face as he realized that Kusha hadn't quite given in completely, like he wanted.

"Listen," said Rakesh with a frown, "I thought we agreed that..."

"I have another meeting coming up, Mr. Kumar," said Kusha flatly, carefully avoiding Rakesh's eyes so that he couldn't use his force of personality to change her mind. "I told you that I would think about it. And that's more than you deserve. Goodbye."

For a long, tense moment, Rakesh sat unmoving in the chair. Kusha didn't look up to see his expression, but finally, he stood. "Fine. I'm a patient man. But let's not drag this out longer than we have to. At our next meeting, you're going to tell me 'yes'."

He left, leaving Kusha alone in her office. She let out a long sigh and put her head in her hands. What the fuck was that? Why had it been so hard to say 'no' to him? And why had she gotten a little aroused just by the idea of giving in to him? She had managed to avoid agreeing to his ridiculous request, but only just barely. Somehow, his force of personality was a lot more effective than Kusha ever could have guessed. She needed to be more careful around him...

And more importantly, she needed to stop picturing him naked every time he spoke.

...