= Chris POV =

  “ Chris, I have work in the morning; I can’t…Please don’t mark me; I don’t want to lose my job,” Sarah pleaded. She tried to move away, but I blocked her escape with my other arm, keeping her where I wanted her.

  "What if I wanted you to?" I said firmly.

  "How do I make you take back what you said about Ruby? How do I make you forget her completely? Will this much do?" I asked, cupping her face, turning it towards me, and kissing her gain.

  This time, Sarah pushed back against me, and I let her. However, I kept my body where it was even though I wasn't touching her anymore.

  "Tell me this is enough. Tell me you will fall out of love for her, or else I will be forced to do something more extreme" I said, looking at her, hoping that she would pick up what I was putting down...or more like, pushing down.

  Sarah’s breath was coming up short. She looked so sexy as her chest rose and fell rapidly. Her lips were glistening wet from my kisses, and she trembled as she looked up at me, completely under my power. However, with all this invasion of personal space, she still looked completely bewildered; maybe the wine was stopping her from getting the hint.

  I sat back again on my heels and sighed. Maybe I was coming on too strong again. I probably was being affected by the wine as well.

  This time Sarah backed up and sat on the bed, pulling her legs up and out of reach. Seeing her scurry away lit something new inside of me. I wanted to hold back. I needed to hold back. But I was finding it harder and harder to do just that, when she was this vulnerable, right in front of me.

  “There, there, it was only a kiss. You don’t have to run away from me,” I smirked, standing up and approaching the bed.

  “Chris please-“Sarah pleaded, and then she stopped herself, her hand covering her mouth.

  “Please what? I thought you wanted in on this contract. You begged me so sweetly. And I have agreed. Within a month you have invaded my life with all your stuff, all your debts, and now, you are starting to have doubts about your position in this house, in my life?” I growled, lifting one leg and kneeling on the bed.

  I leaned forward, forcing Sarah to lie down as I bent over her, my arms trapping her beneath me.

  “Sarah, are you paying for this room, this comfort, this security, with your money, or your body?” I asked her.

  "M-My body, but only for a month more; I will try to get a second job, maybe some night shifts," she said earnestly, her eyes wide as saucers. She reached up and put a hand on my chest while the other one wrapped itself around my wrist.

  "That still doesn't expin what any of that has to do with who I like. I can't just turn my feelings for someone off and on again. This is not a request I think I can fulfill for you honestly", she said breathlessly.

  I froze. My hands balled into fists on the soft sheets, and I felt that same stabbing pain again in my heart.

  I moved back and shook her hand off my wrist, standing back and looking out her window. I knew I had no right to have these feelings, but I did. Jealousy coursing through my body felt like nothing I had ever felt before in my life.

  "Chris?" Sarah said, sitting up and looking at me expectantly.

  I turned to her, feeling my heart grow cold. I stared at her, wishing that I could somehow erase all the events leading up to her meeting Ruby, but I had to admit it was my fault.

  I told her to find a job. I pressured her into it, and she complied. Nothing she had done up until this point was wrong at all. And yet I hated every minute of her working there, with that human koa clinging to her like she was a tasty eucalyptus tree.

  "It's a request" I finally said.

  "I'm sorry. Once again you are requesting that I stop having feelings for Ruby? Again, I cannot honestly do that for you." Sarah said, running a hand through her thick brown locks “ I would be lying to both of us if I agreed to that”

  "Yes. No. I mean..." I said and ran my hand through my hair " Ok my request is that you fall out of love with Ruby"

  "How does that-"

  "And until you do, I'm going to make you forget her" I added.

  "Make me?" Sarah asked, her eyes growing wide again.

  I leaned in so that our faces were inches away from each other.

  "Yes. Make you. Whatever she can do, I can do better, trust" I said and smirked, straightening up, feeling confident again.

  “And don’t forget that as long as you are under contract, the requests are not optional, and they are non-negotiable. Until you have transferred to me the full amount you owe, I expect you to live up to your end of this agreement.

  If you don't fall out of love with Ruby, and you don't make up the money you owe, you should probably find somewhere else to live - perhaps Ruby has a spare room,” I added and then grabbed her arm, pulling her off the bed. She dizzily stumbled forward, right into my awaiting arms. Her curls fluttered around her face as she, still breathing heavily, braced herself against my chest.

  I tilted her face up and looked into those rge eyes, full of apprehension and confusion, and I sighed. I wonder how she looked up at Ruby when she was in Ruby’s arms.

  “It’s getting te. Clean up, and come to bed,” I instructed, then released her, leaving her behind to her thoughts in her cute gamer-girl room.

  I walked into my bedroom and sat on the bed. Sarah hadn’t come in yet, and I was gd because I was freaking out. Why the hell did I have to go and say something so stupid? How exactly did I think this would work? Sarah was right; you can’t just turn off feelings for someone…if that were the case, I would have gotten over Sarah years ago.

  I put my face in my hands and silently screamed. Every day, being with Sarah felt like I was spiraling. There was a better way to handle this situation, but every time I felt like I had a handle on things, it was just the illusion of control.

  I sighed and leaned back against the headboard. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sarah walked out right now. What kind of an environment was I creating here for her? However, the thought of Ruby being the one to hold her…to touch her…to have her… was pushing me over the edge. I was doing everything in my power not to say it…but I wanted to say it. I wanted to request it so badly, but that…that would be the end of Sarah, and I couldn’t do that to her…right? She just got the job, I could request her to quit on the second day of work.

  I needed to separate them, but I couldn’t just outright ask her to…. no. That would crush her. But I needed to think of an alternative, or something, anything, to make sure that Ruby’s grubby cws didn’t sink into her any further than they already had. Sarah was mine.

  I heard footsteps approach, and I sat up. Sarah’s slender fingers reached out first and wrapped themselves around the edge of the doorframe as if waiting for something to happen. I heard her take a deep breath, and then walk in, and my breath caught in my throat. Just how tired had I been to not realize that I’d been sleeping next to, every night, a literal queen?