Alpha Male Incorporated: Take Control (8 page)

“Sorry about your luck. I guess you should have asked me instead of Sahara. Goodbye,” she said and hung up the phone. Raya tried not to smile because for once she got the better of Thorsten since their battle had started.

She still didn’t understand why the word “no” was so foreign to him. Nothing he did was ever going to make her see him any other way than as a self-centered guy who thought he could charm her with a few well-rehearsed lines.

Sure, she might like to lock horns with men when it came to her family’s company but that was business. Once she left work, she was like any other woman who wanted to be charmed by romantic gestures like flowers and cards or a gift to show his love for her.

Most men seemed to have forgotten the steps they used to do to win over a woman’s heart. Some people might believe she was living back before her time, but she loved to be caught up in falling in love with a man because he wanted more from her than her body for a night of sex. Maybe her views were one of the main reasons she was still a virgin at her age, and if a man didn’t come into her life that impressed her she might still be a virgin at forty.

Thorsten wouldn’t know how to do any of those things, even if someone paid him an armored truck full of money to do it. Nope, she had her sights set on a man who could live up to the qualities she deserved, and he wasn’t nearly close enough for her to bend any of her rules.

Blowing out a deep breath, Raya shoved the last of her thoughts concerning Thorsten out of her head and turned on her computer. One of the reasons the business was having a hard time getting back on top was its lack of approach to the new market investors wanted, but they didn’t offer.

More than one investor wanted ways to add diversification to their investment portfolios that could be used as an additional tool to reduce the risk to their portfolios being exposed. Using the amounts of diversification with profitable hedge funds could vary in money with multi-funds, multi-strategy, or a combination of the two or more which were very popular with the new investors she was trying to draw back.

It was possible for her to commit to this one option or employ multiple ones to allow flexibility for risk management to achieve more diversified returns for the big money investors that used to be center of her family’s management firm.

She wasn’t about to have dinner with Thorsten or anyone else until she figured out her new plan of action. She would spend the night here if it was needed to get done what she wanted.

****

Thorsten glared at the phone in his hand before tossing it across the room onto a chair several feet away. Why was she being so… He didn’t even have the word for how his mate was acting toward him. Over the past several months—not days or weeks, but fucking months—he had been struggling to get Raya to see him as the man of her destiny.

How could this be happening to him?

He was Thorsten Irizarry. Women flocked to him the second he walked through the door but not the female who was destined from her birth to be at his side as his mate for the rest of her life. Raya actually taunted him by informing him of her date with another man.

Who did she think she was playing with? She couldn’t allow herself to fall for another man. Life would end in a very painful and slow death for the unsuspecting soul who tried to take his rightful place in her life.

Last night at Raya’s house, Thorsten was shocked by the amount of jealousy that had taken over him at seeing her with another man. It was so intense that he almost had him revealed himself to both of them.

He gritted his teeth together to keep himself together, so he wouldn’t vanish over to her office and make another demand for her to cancel her date. Suddenly, an unspeakable thought hit him like a ton of bricks.

What if Raya wasn’t only seeing this guy but was contemplating a future with him? If that happened, she would break the thin bond they still shared. He wasn’t used to having competition when it came to a woman’s attention. Hell, he was a vampire that meant his sex appeal was more dominant, stronger, and captivating to the opposite sex.

Even as weak as it was, a tiny connection was there because he wouldn’t be able to push her buttons the way he did. Knowing what could occur to him if she got seduced into sleeping with another male shot him into action.

Rushing over to his desk, he snatched up his car keys. He was going over to see her and wouldn’t leave until it was clear in her head that she belonged to no other man but him. Spinning around, he ran into Jax not standing five feet behind him.

“Fuck!” he yelled. “Where in the hell did you come from? I thought you were at home with your wife.”

“I was until I felt your anxious energy then read your thoughts. You aren’t going anywhere near Raya ramped up as you are. You need to take a breath and calm down. She will never respond to your tactics. I keep telling you it will only push her further away and eventually into the arms of another man who will be human, by the way.”

Thorsten’s hand tightened around his keys hard enough to leave an impression, but he didn’t feel a thing. He was trying to keep from punching his bigger, faster, and more powerful cousin in the face. Jax might come off as laid back, but if anyone threatened his family the person would be dead within the blink of an eye.

“Alright, if I don’t go there and stake my claim on her right now what do you suggest I do instead?” he demanded. “She’s going out on a date in a few hours with some guy. I don’t know, I’m guessing it’s the one named Alec, but I could be wrong,” he ground the words out between his teeth.

“How do you even know about Alec?” Jax questioned. “I only met him once when he came to pick up Raya from my house.”

“You knew about this…person and didn’t tell me?” Thorsten hissed. “He’s trying to take Raya from me. Do you know he brought her back to her house from a bar? He was about—”

“Why do you care? Weren’t you the one who lied that you stopped dating women after you found Raya? Hell, you even saw Cordelia one last time and we both know she doesn’t like for men to dump her. This could be karma coming back to bite you in your conceited ass.”

He heard a heavy dose of sarcasm in Jax’s voice. His cousin’s remark grated at him because of the ring of truth. He had slept with a lot of women. He might even still be sleeping with Cordelia if he hadn’t laid eyes on Raya hurt in Sahara’s living room.

He had been so scared for her that he had dumped all of his lovers the same day she was admitted into the hospital. He started going after her the same week she got released from the hospital, but
nothing
he had done so far had made her like him.

“You’re right, but it still doesn’t give my
Unique
woman the right to go out with other men after I have staked my claim on her.”

Jax stared at him then burst out laughing. “Please tell me you aren’t serious. Raya isn’t a piece of property or business you’re trying to acquire. She’s a living, breathing human woman. You can’t approach her the way you are. It just won’t work to win over her heart.”

“What if I’m not worried about winning over her heart?” Thorsten asked.

All traces of laughter left Jax’s face as his brows drew together into an angry frown. His cousin moved so fast that he didn’t have time to react before his back hit the wall and he was staring into a pair of angry green eyes that were slowly turning black.

“Don’t ever let me hear you say those words again. A lot our family members have fallen to the “sleep of the dead” because they weren’t lucky enough to find their human mates. Hell, I could have been another one if it hadn’t been for Zander opening my eyes. I would have lost everything. If you want to pull yourself down you do it, but leave Raya alone.”

Thorsten loosened Jax’s grip from his shirt and shoved him away. “Why are you so concerned about Raya? I didn’t think she was your favorite person and vice versa.”

“We have an understanding,” Jax told him, watching him with his emerald eyes again. “She loves Sahara as much as I do. In addition, she’s my wife’s best friend, so she has my protection forever. If anything happened to her even a broken heart it would crush my wife. No one not even you will get the chance to make my mate feel pain again. She’s happy and she’s going to stay that away. Do you understand me?”

He stiffened as though Jax had struck him. “How dare you tell me you’re going to be the one who protects my mate? You are overstepping, cousin.”

Jax smirked at him. “Prove to me that you’re vampire enough to do it and I’ll fade into the background,” he said, then vanished from the room.

“Fuck!” Thorsten yelled then tossed his car keys across the room. They were the second thing he had tossed today because of Raya. He had to get himself together or everything in his office would be in shambles.

I want you. I need you.

Why don’t you let go and relax for a little.

I mean it won’t hurt for a few days to let

Me be the one who is the leader.

Let me take control of you. I mean I would

Give it to you so good, better than any other girl from your past.

How could you look at me and not want me to have my way with you?

I’m not trying to be self-centered, but I know I look good.

You have told me yourself that I’m the best looking female
You have ever seen.

Warm lips brushed against the back of Sahara’s neck as strong hands eased underneath her shirt, stroking her stomach. Sahara’s fingers stopped playing the piano and she rested her head back against her husband’s hard chest.

“Hmmm, I love the smell of you. I swear I could get lost in it sometimes,” Jax whispered against her earlobe, making her smile.

“I love a lot about you too, baby, especially the way you look when you’re asleep,” she said, running her fingers over the hairs on his arms.

Lifting her body off the bench, Jax spun her around in his arms. “How long have you been watching me sleep?” he asked, touching her hair. “I’m the one who is supposed to be watching over you.”

“Hey, watch the hair. I just got it fixed. You always want to touch it now since it has grown out.”

Her husband’s eyes flashed at her before he yanked her against his throbbing erection. “I can’t help it. I watch how it moves over your shoulders when you sing. It brings out the animal in me.”

“Jax, everything brings out the animal in you. I don’t know how you make it through the day without flashing home for a quickie. I could have died the time Tomas almost walked in on us in the recording studio. Thank God you were able to lock the door with your mind before he turned the handle.”

Jax frowned. “I still think you should get another dance choreographer. Tomas is still too fond of you for my liking. I see how he looks at your body when he doesn’t think anyone is paying attention.”

Sahara loved how her husband was jealous of other men looking at her, but he had her heart and if he still had a problem with Tomas she would fire him tomorrow and hire someone else in his place.

“Don’t fire him.”

“What?”

“I read your thoughts and you shouldn’t fire him because of me. He’s a damn good instructor. I want my beautiful wife to have the best teacher out there, especially with your upcoming concert in a few weeks.”

“Well…there might not be a concert,” Sahara said, easing away from her husband. She turned to walk away but he grabbed her arm, spinning her back around.

“Baby, what’s going on? Why won’t there be a concert? Is there something going on you aren’t telling me about? Is this what you have been hiding from me lately? Are you keeping another stalker from me? Tell me what is going on with you?”

“No, it’s nothing like that,” she answered, watching as the tension left Jax’s tall frame.

“Yes, I have been keeping something from you, but it isn’t what you think. My best background singer Mya got a job offer to perform with September Breeze overseas, and of course she jumped at the opportunity. I mean, what singer wouldn’t, but her quitting leaves me in a hold. I can’t perform with only one backup singer. All of my songs need two well-trained singers.”

“Can’t you hold some kind of audition?” Jax questioned, letting go of her arm.

“I could, but the last time I did. Everyone who showed up couldn’t sing the songs the way I wanted them. I don’t have two weeks to waste training another person.”

Pulling her back into his arms, Jax ran his hands up and down her back. “How about you use mind control on them and make them less difficult?” he teased.

Laughing, she shook her head. “Nice idea, but no. I want a singer who is actually good behind me and not because I tricked her mind into being better than they are. Seriously, I’m about out of options.”

“Darling, you’re beautiful and very talented. I have no doubt you will be able to figure out this problem. Besides, if you really get in a bind I’ll jump onstage and do it for you.”

Disbelief caused her words to lodge in her throat as Sahara stared at her loving, handsome husband. She loved Jax, but she’d heard him singing in the shower before and he wouldn’t
ever
be at any concert of hers as a backup singer. He had many wonderful traits, some noticeable and others well-hidden, but singing wasn’t one of them.

“Honey, I love you, but you can’t ever perform with me. You were blessed with many gifts like your sexy, green eyes and beautiful smile, but you’re tone deaf. I’m sorry.”

Jax stared at her for a minute or two then burst out laughing. “Baby, I never said I was any good, but I was willing to embarrass myself for my mate. Love will do that to a vampire who is as old as I am.”

Standing on her tiptoes, she planted a kiss on Jax’s firm mouth before he got carried away and took over. “We both know that you never had any reason when it came to me,” she teased.

“You’re right,” he agreed. “You had my heart way before I was ready to admit it. We are so happy. I just wish—”

Sahara heard the worry in Jax’s deep voice and it concerned her. She knew he was going to see Thorsten after he had mentally sensed something wrong with him. She had gotten sidetracked by her own problems that she didn’t even ask how his trip had gone.