5 | When They Can't Help Themselves

“Alright. Good. Try to get some sleep now. You’ve got a long day tomorrow. Oh, and do not open the door for anyone until it’s me. No. Not even for the milkman. I know you’re old enough, Nina. Just…just do what I say, please. OK? I don’t have the energy to fight you right now. Yeah. Fine. Good night. Bye.”

Disconnecting the call, Dhara sighed deeply in her chest and allowed her head to fall against the back of the couch. She had never left Nina alone at home. And even though her little sister wasn’t actually all alone, her best friend Poppy had agreed to stay for the night. Dhara couldn’t force down the awful anxiety gnawing at the middle of her chest, making her troubled and nervous.

“You know, I can still ask one of my men to keep a watch on your house. I promise they won’t engage until it’s absolutely necessary.”

Dhara couldn’t help but scoff at his words. “One of your men? You make it sound like you’re the don of some crime syndicate.”

“What if I am?” She could hear the grin in his voice. “Will you be running for the hills then or throwing yourself at me again? It’s hard to tell what kind of men women take a fancy to these days.”

Dhara rolled her eyes. Of course, he had to bring that humiliating incident up at the first chance he got. One more reason for her to get the hell out of here the moment everything sorted out. Little did he know it was the first time she had let any man this close to herself, and for some reason, she found it utterly awkward to look at him and not think about the press of his lips against hers.

Even now, when she thought about it, her lips throbbed with anticipation. Nothing about the entire incident felt real. It was as if she had transported herself into a very vivid dream (or nightmare), and now she couldn’t break out of it for the life of her.

Then again, even if it were a dream, it was impossible to conjure a man like him with only her imagination. He was too beautiful to be real. Dhara was absolutely certain her creative hormones couldn’t be that skilled, even if she tried her best. And that’s how she knew it was far from being a dream. It was a freaking reality.

“You don’t have to worry about me,” she turned her back toward him and focused her gaze on the sliding glass door leading to a balcony. “I’m not really into men.”

“Is that so?”

Clearly, he wasn’t buying any of her lies. It was as if his brain were programmed to catch utter lies.

“So…what’s going on?” rubbing her palm against the shorts she was wearing, she asked with a yawn. “Didn’t you say it wouldn’t take long?”

Dhara waited for his immediate response, something he seemed to have a thing for. However, when she heard him shuffling around instead of words coming out of his mouth, her head turned, and she glanced over her shoulder to see what he was up to.

Thankfully, after Nina and Viraj left, the Alpha guy stumbled on some senses and had put on a shirt. He had added some more lights in the room, improving the visibility of the entire place to the maximum extent. She would be lying if the gesture alone hadn’t felt overwhelming itself. He didn’t have to explicitly state it for her to know that he was trying to make her as comfortable as he could. Something she found sweet and unsettling at the same time.

Chiding herself for even letting such a thought meander about her head, Dhara pressed her lips and observed him with a steady gaze as he typed something on his phone. Her dark brown eyes followed the gentle stroke of his thumb across his lower lip, the way his large fingers scuffed against the two days’ worth of stubble.

She had to admit; that he was devastatingly good-looking. In her entire life, she had never come across a man as graceful and well-built as him. He was practically every girl’s wet dream. Tall. Tanned. Tempting as sin. He was a walking embodiment of perfection. There was no way a woman could be within ten miles of his proximity and not pine for his attention. He had that look. That wild air of confidence women fell face-first for.

And that was perhaps another reason she felt so mortified for herself. For her actions. Surely, it wouldn’t be the first time some crazy woman had thrown herself at him. But to imagine that she had become one of them sank her heart deep into the pit of self-loathing. She didn’t know what got into her when she threw caution to the wind and launched herself into his enormous arms. For every second, she hated herself for it. She really did.

Maybe.

Scowling to herself, she realized she was gaping into nothing, and as she forced her vision to return the world back to focus, her eyebrows pinched together. Where did he go? Her heart did a double-take. He was just right there, wasn’t he? Busy with his phone, she recalled. Now only an empty stool sat near the mini bar.

Her entire body froze.

Losing sight of him was even worse than having him in front of her. The thought of not knowing his whereabouts sent a shiver of uncanny fear down her bones. Her head barely snapped to browse the other part of the room when she came face to face with a pair of gleaming golden eyes.

“How did you? When did you?” She freaking didn’t see him moving. How did he cover that distance without her noticing? How long had she been lost in her thoughts?

“You know, you should be more careful around people you don’t know,” he said with a small smile, although there seemed to be a heavy trace of sincerity in his voice.

Dhara took her time to take in his position. With his body hunched over her frame, he sat on the armrest of the couch. She shuffled backward, suddenly overwhelmed by so much of him. Averting her gaze to avoid the way his eyes seemed to pierce into her own, as if hell-bent on skimming through her soul. Something, for some reason, she thought he might as well be capable of. However, a finger hooked underneath her chin, bringing her back to face him. Dhara blinked, confusedly.

“Who are you?” he muttered softly, caressing a loose curl of her dark hair behind her ear. His calloused fingers scraped her skin with the lightest of touch, searing her flesh so close to contact. Her heart raced underneath her chest. Her lips grew dry, all of a sudden dehydrated.

Dhara swallowed against the warmth spreading throughout her body, starting from the back of her neck to the tips of her toes. He seized her gaze as if it was his to hold, compelling her to look into him and reach for his heart if she wanted.

Dhara couldn’t tell what persuaded her to believe that it was alright if he was leaning into her, cupping her face gently and bringing himself closer until his lips hesitated inches away from her own.

Something about their compromising position seemed normal to her brain. Something that was meant to happen. Something she approved of with all her existence. There was nothing wrong if he wanted to have a little taste of her lips. She wanted to have a bit of his too. It felt like a fair trade. A trade of touch and the moisture of their mouths.

“Oops, am I interrupting something?”

A female voice, followed by a snicker, yanked Dhara’s senses back into place. Her eyes bulged out while her mind backtracked, shaking off the blurriness crowding her brain.

“What the hell? Not again!”

Panicked, she pushed him away. But immediately regretted it when he almost fell over. She tried to get a hold of his arm, but only a chunk of his shirt she could grab. He caught her wrist for support, but that only hauled her off the couch, and both of them landed on his back, with Dhara flattened on top of him.

She gasped.

He grunted.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry…” frantically muttering the apology, Dhara picked herself off him and bit her lip, pushing the loose curls out of her face.

“Fuck, man! Can you stop being such a violent mess?”

“Me?” She couldn’t believe he was accusing her of hurting him. Once again. Wasn’t he responsible? Why was he so close to her in the first place? “It’s you. You need to stop trying to kiss me every time you think it’s fine. Because it’s not.” She was breathing too fast.

“You think I can help it?” he growled, pushing himself off the floor and patting his hands against his pants as if dust caught his skin. “I don’t have the kink of forcing myself into random girls either, alright? I was doing fine until you showed up unannounced with your aggravating ass.”

“If I bother you so freaking much, then why don’t you let me go? I was ready to walk out of here. It was your demanding ass that forced me to stay.”

“Oh my, oh my! What the hell did I walk into?”

The same female’s voice cut through the thick air electrifying between them. Dhara tried to breathe through her nose while swallowing down the irritation delirious to surface. The Alpha guy, too, flicked his glare away from her and to someone who had entered through the unbolted door.

“Jasmine!” the Alpha guy greeted, stepping past Dhara and heading over to the dark-haired woman who seemed to have gotten there straight out of some strip club. The red dress clung to her lean body looked so revealing, Dhara felt her own cheeks flush.

“I broke three red lights, and probably someone’s leg on my way to get over here on such short notice, so this better be worth it,” Jasmine slurred with a tipsy grin, fluttering her long eyelashes up at him as he took her hand for a handshake.

“Of course, you’re drunk,” the Alpha guy muttered.

From where Dhara stood, she couldn’t see his expression but could trace the scraps of light-heartedness in his tone. “When was the last time you were sober?” he asked, releasing her hand and leading her further in.

“Ah well, let me think,” Jasmine made a thoughtful sound before shaking her head. “Nah, I’m too wasted to take that long rewind. Let’s say when you broke my heart on New Year’s Eve three years back.”

The Alpha guy chuckled while Dhara felt like a pathetic third wheel. “Still holding a grudge for that, huh?” he cocked an eyebrow, leaning against the minibar island.

Jasmine’s eyes skimmed throughout the room as she sauntered in before settling on Dhara. “First love and first heartbreak are always hard to forget. Am I right?” she asked Dhara with a mischievous wink.

“So…” shifting her attention back to the male, she exhaled dramatically, before throwing herself on the couch and bouncing a little with it. “What’s up this time? What’s the urgency?”

The Alpha guy pointed his gaze at Dhara. “She is,” he mumbled, jutting his chin out and running a hand through his hair.

“If you called me to make a love potion, you know I don’t do that stuff anymore,” Jasmine rolled her eyes, sinking more into the couch.

Barely being able to wrap her head around the conversation between the two people in the room, Dhara frowned at the mention of a love potion. What the hell was that? She thought.

“Not that,” he shook his head, switching weight from one foot to another. “I want you to look into her and see what you can find.”

Jasmine diverted her gaze to Dhara, scanning her with almond eyes. Deep and dark curiosity filled those blue eyes. “Why? What’s so special about her?”

“That’s for you to find out,” he shrugged, helping himself with another drink.

“Oh well, I almost forgot I’m the witch here,” she snickered. “Alright, come on, you little one,” she patted the empty seat next to her, a puckish grin curling up her red lips. “Let’s get on with it, shall we?”