Alpha Male Incorporated: Take Control (26 page)

Why would she do this when he cared about her so much?

No, damn it. He didn’t care about her. He loved Raya. He wanted her at his side for all time. Just not for a short period in his bed. Raya had done something in one night his past lovers weren’t able to do in weeks of them being together.

His beautiful, sweet, yet unbelievably sexy mate had won over his heart. He was no longer concerned about how fast he could move on to something more exciting. He wanted to spend time with her and be there when she needed someone to acknowledge her fears to about anything.

Sahara might be her best friend since they were young, but he was her mate—her man. The responsibility of helping Raya fell to him, but not if she wouldn’t allow it. Before, he wanted to use all of his powers to force her into compliance, however, he never would think about doing it now. Raya had to come to him of her own free will, or it would mean nothing to have his woman at his side without her everlasting love.

A slight change of the air sent the wind blowing in his direction and over his body, making him realize he was standing on his porch buck naked, but he didn’t care. He lived too far outside of town, away from humans, that no one could see him. Besides, he had more important issues to overcome if he had any chance of getting Raya to see past his former insensitive ways.

Thorsten decided now would be the perfect time to show Raya how much he adored her. Over these past months he hadn’t treated her with the respect and kindness an Irizarry vampire was supposed to show his female. Raya was more than a woman who should jump at his every command.

She was his one and only love. Turning on his heel, Thorsten went back into the house, closing the door behind him, ideas already working through his mind for proving his adoring love for Raya.

Two hours later, Raya rushed out her bedroom down the hallway to answer the phone before the person hung up. She had been trying to find something to wear for Sahara’s party tonight and had forgotten to bring the telephone into the bedroom with her.

“Hello,” she answered, quickly hoping it might be Thorsten.

“Hi, Raya,” Alec’s voice said.

Great
! She thought, swallowing down her disappointment at hearing the other man’s voice. She didn’t have time to talk to him. He was a nice guy, but it was way past time she told him there would never been anything but friendship between them. She hoped he wouldn’t take it too hard.

“Raya, are you still there?”

“Yes, I’m here,” she replied, sitting down on the couch and trying not to think about Thorsten and why he hadn’t come to see her since she left his house.

“I want to talk to you about something. I was going to come over, but I thought it would be better if I did it over the phone.”

“Okay, what is it?”

“I think you’re a really sweet person and the lunch we had was great, but I don’t think we should try to pursue being a couple. It’s just not going to work out. Besides, you aren’t my type, like I first thought you were.”

She sat there stunned, wondering if this conversation was a dream. Did Alec actually dump her before she had the chance to do the same exact thing to him? He had been the one chasing after her, not the other way around.

“I don’t know what to say,” she answered.

“I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings, but I think it’s for the best if we were only friends. I know you won’t have a hard time finding another guy because you’re gorgeous.”

“Thank you for the compliment,” Raya said without trying to laugh.

Alec sounded so sincere that she couldn’t take this moment for him. Thorsten did tell her to get Alec out of her life and he was doing it all on his own. She wouldn’t have any dirty hands.

“It’s true. I have thought about this for a while and I believe it’s the right decision for the both of us. I wish you all the luck at finding someone new. Why don’t you give Thorsten a shot? I remember seeing him at your house and the two of you did look very good together.”

She bit the inside of her mouth to keep from telling Alec how right he was. “I’ll think about it, but I need to go,” she lied.

“Okay. I hope we can still talk to each other every once in a while,” he hedged.

“Sure, Alec, why not? We have known each other far too long not to keep in touch. Bye.”

“Bye, Raya,” he told her and then disconnected the call.

Moving the phone away from her ear, Raya glanced at it for a few seconds then tossed it down on the cushion next to her. She couldn’t believe that really just happened to her. Alec actually thought she wanted him and he called to let her down easy. She couldn’t wait until she told Sahara this one. Better yet, what would Thorsten’s reaction be?

A pounding on her front door drew her thoughts away from the craziness Alec had put her through.
Who could that be
?

Going to the front door, Raya opened it and didn’t get a chance to say one word before Thorsten barged in, looking mouthwatering good in a tight gray t-shirt, blue jeans, and a pair of cowboy boots.

“Hey, you can’t come into my home without me inviting you in,” she complained, closing the door behind her.

Spinning around, Thorsten gave her a look before yanking her into his arms and kissing her. The kiss only lasted for a few seconds, but she felt it down to her toes. Moving back from her, he brushed his thumb over her bottom lip.

“Why did you leave my bed this morning?” he asked, surprising her. “I wanted to cook you breakfast and then spend the afternoon at my ranch outside the city. “I know you probably aren’t up to riding after our night of lovemaking, but I could’ve showed you my horses.”

She was momentarily speechless Thorsten had made plans to cook for her? He was an ever-changing mystery that she thought she had figured out, but she was wrong. She didn’t know how to prepare herself for the new man standing in front of her.

“Hmmm…I had to leave this morning. I felt like everything was closing in on me. Besides, I didn’t think you would miss me. You know how we usually get into some kind of argument over nothing.”

Thorsten shook his head at her. “Baby, I missed you from the second you left me until I got to see your pretty face again,” he confessed. As their eyes met she felt a shock run through her.

“I know you weren’t expecting to spend the day with me, but will you do it?” he asked.

Raya hesitated, torn by conflicting emotions. Thorsten actually asked her instead of demanding she do it. She was so close to falling in love with this softer, gentler side of him, but how long would it last once he got her to agree to be his forever? She felt him touch a part of her soul last night that she never believed he could.

“Are you going to keep staring at me or will you give me an answer? If you don’t want to see my hideaway, we can do something else. I only want to spend the day with you. Nothing about work or anything else will be brought up unless you want to talk about it with me.”

She saw the hope in Thorsten’s eyes and the idea of spending the day with him excited her.

“Why not? I think it would be a lot of fun,” she admitted.

Pulling her back to him, Thorsten planted a kiss on her mouth then nibbled at her bottom lip. His hands ran down her back and cupped her ass, making her moan.

Heat filled her body when Thorsten’s erection rubbed against her stomach and his mouth trailed kisses along the side of her neck. She was slowly beginning to have other ideas at how they could spend their day, and visiting his horse stables wasn’t one of them.

“Okay. You have to stop. I need to change clothes,” Raya said, pushing Thorsten away from her.

Stepping back, Thorsten’s dark blue eyes raked over her white and pink sports bra and matching yoga pants. “I think you look extremely sexy, but you’re right about changing your clothes.”

“I’m glad you see it my way,” she said, then turned and went back towards her bedroom.

“Do you need me to help you out of those clothes?” he yelled after her. “I’m pretty good with my hands as you know from experience.”

“No, I think I can handle it,” Raya said back. “However, if you’re really good to me on our little date, I might let you help me out of them later.”

Standing in the middle of a meadow covered with enchanting wildflowers, Raya held the picnic basket while Thorsten spread out the checkered blanket for their picnic. She watched him in awe. He was putting forth such an effort to show her a nicer, sweeter side of him. So, why shouldn’t she admit that all of his efforts had changed her first impression of him?

If he had opened up to her, maybe it was time for her take Sahara’s advice and compromise by telling Thorsten how she felt.

So much had transpired between them, it was a lot for her to take in all at once. She required some time alone. Truthfully, she would still be worrying over everything if he hadn’t showed up in true Irizarry male fashion and found the right words to get her to come to this stunning location with him.

“There, I think it looks perfect. What do you think?” he asked, moving back from the blanket. “I think it’s the ideal setting for a romantic picnic with my woman.”

She looked at how Thorsten positioned the blanket directly over the view of the pond and the wildflowers growing around it. “I can’t disagree,” she replied, handing him the basket. “Do you need my help with anything?”

Raya stared as he removed their food from the wicker basket then laid it out for them to sample. The biggest surprise came when Thorsten told her everything was already prepared for them by Chef Sonny from
Haim’s
, the restaurant where they had their horrible first date.

“No, I have it. Why don’t you get comfortable and let me put the finishing touches on our meal?” he suggested.

“Alright,” she answered, sitting down in the center of the blanket. She wondered why the scenery seemed so familiar to her, then after a few minutes it dawned on her.

“The painting at your house was inspired by this, wasn’t it?” she asked Thorsten as he sat down in front of her.

He gave her a small smile. “I’m glad you finally noticed. I was beginning to think you wouldn’t. You liked it so much. I thought this would be a great place for us to spend some time together.”

Thorsten poured each of them a glass of wine and then stretched his legs out in front of him. “Dig in anytime you want,” he encouraged, pointing to the sandwiches directly in front of them. “I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I had Sonny fix more than one kind.”

Holding her glass in one hand, Raya reached for a mini turkey with Swiss on Hawaiian bread and took a bite. She chewed it then swallowed.

“My God, this is so delicious,” she moaned. “They never taste like that when I fix them at home.”

“I have to agree with you,” Thorsten replied. He took a ham and Swiss off the plate and ate it all in one bite.

For the next few minutes, Raya got lost in the incredible food and the serenity of the outdoors surrounding them. She loved the simple pleasures like he was showing her right now. He didn’t have to do anything overly exciting or glamorous to please her. She liked this picnic so much better than any dinner reservation at a trendy, expensive restaurant.

“Care to tell me what has you in such deep thought?”

Raya glanced over to her left and found Thorsten watching her. There would have been a time she would have told him to stay out of her business. Now, she didn’t mind sharing a part of herself with him.

He was so genuine with her by not showing her the conceited side of his personality that never impressed her. She usually saw right through him.

“I was thinking about how much you’ve changed since I first laid eyes on you. Before, I couldn’t tolerate being around you because you had a way of not making me feel good about myself. You were constantly bragging about how other females knew how to handle your charm and I didn’t or couldn’t.”

Thorsten placed his glass down and then took hers aside before pulling her into his arms. “Sweetheart, I want to apologize for everything I did to you since we first met each other. I was trying to get your attention and I went about it the wrong way,” he said, staring into her eyes.

“Are you telling me you aren’t interested in my hedge fund anymore?” she inquired. “I mean, you were like a dog with a bone. I find it hard to believe you don’t want it after all the hard work you were putting in to take it away from me.”

Thorsten understood why Raya was so hesitant to get involved with him on a deeply personal level. He hadn’t truly seen her for the beautiful woman she was. He had spent too much time trying to get something from her instead of giving his mate what she deserved.

“Raya, I haven’t treated you with respect or love. I should have shown you how special you were from the very first moment I laid eyes on you at Alpha Male Incorporated, but I did the exact opposite. I pushed you further and further away from me with my uncompromising attitude.”

“You weren’t the most warm or inviting person. Half the time, I didn’t know if I should hate you or laugh in your face at your domineering ways. Sahara kept telling me I should look past your outer image Even Jax tried pleading your case to me about you not being as self-centered as you came off.

“Yet, every time I thought I might be judging you
too
harshly, you always did something to prove me right like what happened at
Haim’s
. I was really hurt seeing you kiss another woman on our date. I couldn’t help but think, what kind of man does that when he’s out with another woman?”

He heard the lingering pain in Raya’s soft voice and it hurt him. He didn’t ever want to be the one who caused his mate any kind of anguish. It was time for him to come clean about everything, and he did mean everything—including his last night visits to her house.

Reaching out, he ran his thumb over Raya’s full bottom lip, lost in the dark beauty of her brown, soulful eyes. He hoped the truth wouldn’t destroy the fragile bond he had made with her.

“I have some things that I need to tell you,” he admitted, removing his hand. “I don’t even know where to begin, but I hope after I’m done it will bring you closer to accepting me as yours forever.”