Alpha Male Incorporated: Take Control (16 page)

Flashing to the patio door, he paused for a minute and glanced back at Raya before going into the night. Outside, Thorsten used his keen sense of sight to make sure the area was clear. Before he closed and locked the doors with his mind, he placed a safety spell to keep Raya safe for the rest of the night.

Cordelia wouldn’t be able to get past the barriers he placed to keep his mate out of harm’s way. He took one last look in the darkness of the night, then vanished.

Sitting in Sahara’s family room the following morning, Raya twisted the ink pen between her fingers while waiting for her friend’s dance lesson to end. She had gotten here a little earlier and Tomas wasn’t done with his routine. She had only been here for about ten minutes, but it felt like a lifetime.

She was still trying to get her insurance to pay for her hospital bills after Sahara’s stalker attacked her, but they were holding out until she got some additional paperwork filled out. But, today the insurance claim was the last thing on her mind. Her thoughts were filled with the weird dream she had about Thorsten and the woman from the restaurant. She thought she had heard them arguing about her in her own bedroom, but that wasn’t possible.

Raya did have a tiny clue as to what caused her to have thoughts of Thorsten after she turned in for the night. She shouldn’t have eaten that delicious, cold chicken before going to bed. Anytime she ate and then went to sleep, something crazy happened in her subconscious.

Are you sure it wasn’t Thorsten’s kiss that made you dream about him
? her mind taunted.

No!
Raya instantly thought. She hadn’t gotten caught up in the white hot kiss that Thorsten planted on her last night after their horrible date.

The pen dropped from her hand, landing on the floor as her mind went back to how sinful his mouth felt against hers. She had been kissed by other men before, but never like that and she hated every single minute of it.

Nothing about having his lips pressed against hers was a turn on. She hated every minute of the experience.
Liar…liar
. The two words entered her mind before she could stop them.

Closing her eyes, Raya slowly counted to ten to clear her head of anything and everything Thorsten Irizarry. Yet, he was still drawing her in with his captivating eyes and winning smile. He was slowly getting into her subconscious. He actually showed her a side of him that she didn’t think was possible. He impressed her more than she cared to admit.

“I’m surprised to see you here,” a familiar voice said in a deep tone. “I wasn’t expecting to find you hiding out in my cousin’s house. Maybe at your office behind your desk, yes, but never here. I’m stunned your little admirer isn’t at your side. Alec was really trying to protect you last night. I’d have tossed him out sooner than you did.”

Raya’s eyes snapped open and her head swung in the direction of the voice. She tried her best not to stare when she locked eyes with Thorsten not standing twenty feet from her, looking mouthwatering and gorgeous in a tailored dark blue suit. The entire outfit probably cost more than half the shoes in her closet. His arresting good looks were slowly drawing her attention, but she was trying to fight it.

“For your information, I’m not hiding out here. I’m here to see Sahara, not that I have to explain myself to you. In addition, Alec doesn’t need to protect me from you. I can take care of myself just fine.”

“Really?” Thorsten said as his long strides carried him across the room. One minute he was standing there, and almost in a blink of an eye he was sitting next to her on the couch.

“I find that hard to believe, since you didn’t put up much of a fight last night when I kissed you. Are you admitting you wanted to kiss me?”

She leaned away from Thorsten, not liking how his body heat surrounded her. It was making her body tingle in places it shouldn’t. “How could I get a chance to do anything with the way you manhandled me?” she flung back. “Besides, I wouldn’t be bragging if I was you because you aren’t that good of a—”

The last of her words were smothered against her mouth as Thorsten grabbed her by the arms and captured her lips with his. Her calm was shattered by the hunger of his kisses. The touch of his lips sent the pit of her stomach into a whirlwind. His tongue traced her bottom lip, seeking entrance, and she didn’t deny him.

Parting her lips, Raya gave Thorsten what he was asking for. He slipped his tongue inside of her mouth, tangling it with his. In the back of her mind, she knew she shouldn’t be kissing him like this. They were sworn enemies, but for some reason she was powerless to stop.

Crushing her to him, he nibbled at her neck. She felt a slight sting against her skin as the touch of Thorsten’s rough tongue ran along her skin.

“Raya, you taste so good,” Thorsten whispered softly before easing away from her. He ran the tip of his index finger over her bottom lip.

“Did you bite me?” she asked, reaching up to touch the side of her neck. “I never had a man bite me before.”

“And you never will,” Thorsten growled before dropping his hand away from her mouth. “I can promise you, it will be the last thing he does.”
“Stop trying to tell me what do to,” Raya said. She jumped away but swayed when she got lightheaded.

“Be careful,” Thorsten said in a soft voice as his hand circled her wrist. He pulled her back down to the couch.

Pressing her hand to her head, she tried to get her bearings. Why was it every time she kissed Thorsten it left her weak and confused?

“Are you alright?” he asked, brushing his thumb over her wrist.

She noticed he was watching her intently as a warm sensation started underneath his thumb and worked its way through her body. Scared by her sudden reaction, she jerked her arm away and turned it over. Thorsten had been touching the birthmark on her wrist. She had touched it a thousand times but it had never felt so alive as when he caressed it with his finger.

“It’s an apple.”

“What?” She glanced up and found Thorsten watching her with a steady expression. “What did you say?”

He touched it again, causing the same tingling effect to happen, but he moved his hand before it got worse. “Your birthmark is an apple, the symbol of big things that come in small packages, and you’re definitely a testimony to those words.”

“Who told you this?” Raya looked at her birthmark. She actually saw an apple.

“Thorsten, how did you know what this was?” Looking back up, she found herself alone in the room.
Where did he go
?

It was like he had never been there with her. She didn’t understand how he could have left so fast with her sitting right there, but she would find out why, and how he knew what her birthmark was. It just didn’t make any sense. A nagging thought in the back of her mind told her to leave it alone, but she wasn’t the type to back down from a mystery. She wanted answers and she would get them.

“Raya, are you okay?”

She flinched at the sound of her name and found Sahara standing there.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she lied. “Are you done with your dance lessons?”

“Tomas kicked my ass, but we’re done for today,” Sahara answered as she walked across the room and set down next to her. “Are you really fine? I know how heated things can get between you and Thorsten.”

Raya gasped. “How did you know Thorsten had been here?”

“I can smell his cologne. Something happened, didn’t it?”

“Hmmm…” She hedged, wondering if she even wanted to speak the words out loud; it was still so shocking to her.

“Tell me.”

“He kissed me,” Raya finally blurted out.

“It’s about time. I thought he would never make his move. I think you and him are going to look so good together. Thorsten is a little rough around the edges, but you will be able to straighten him out.”

“Whoa…hold on a minute,” she said, holding up her hand. “I never said anything about us being a couple. We might have kissed a few times, but that doesn’t make us a couple at all. He only kissed me because of Alec.”

Sahara frowned at her. “Wait. You’re losing me. What does Alec have to do with Thorsten kissing you?”

“It’s a long story that I don’t want to get into right now,” Raya answered, rubbing her hand across the spot where Thorsten had nibbled. She still couldn’t believe he had done it. But, nothing about him should take her by surprise anymore. He loved doing anything he wanted without facing all sort of repercussions.

“If you think I’m going to let you blow me off with that comment you are so wrong. Now tell me what is going on.”

“God, I hate how you don’t take no for an answer,” she complained, dropping her hand.

Smiling at her, Sahara hit on her leg and then folded her legs underneath her body yoga style. “Don’t leave anything out. Tell me everything about you and Thorsten.”

“I guess I have been feeling a little lonely and that’s why I accepted Thorsten’s dinner invitation. I won’t ever do it again, because I went to the bathroom and when I was coming back to the table I spotted him holding hands with another woman. I should have known better than to trust him. I’m just glad Alec wasn’t busy so he could come and pick me up from
Haim’s
.”

“Why are you bringing Alec into this situation?” Sahara asked. “I mean, he’s a nice guy, but you and Thorsten are meant to be together. You shouldn’t have left without asking who the woman was. I mean, you were Thorsten’s date, not her.”

“Jax’s cousin and I aren’t anything to each other. I had every right to leave after what I saw. No one told Thorsten to show up at my house and then start barking out orders.”

“Oh, he came after you.” Sahara grinned. “I guess he wasn’t interested in that woman at the restaurant after all.”

“Sahara, I don’t see Thorsten the way you do,” Raya said. “Thorsten and I aren’t compatible. I think Alec is the man I should be giving my attention to. I’m having lunch with him after this. I want to apologize for the way Thorsten treated him last night.”

“No, you can’t do that,” Sahara said, shocking her. “He isn’t the one for you.”

“Why not?” Raya questioned. She had never heard her friend say a bad word about Alec until now. “Is there something you know about him that I don’t?”

Sahara’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “No, I haven’t heard anything about him.”

“Great.” She glanced down at her watch and was stunned by how late it was. She only had fifteen minutes to get to her lunch date. “I need to go.” She got up from the couch. “I left the paperwork for you to look over and sign on the table.”

Standing up with her, Sahara gave her a hug then took a step back. “I’ll look over them, but I still don’t think it’s a good idea for you to encourage Alec like this. If you’d only give Thorsten a chance, I bet he would and could change your mind about him.”

Raya didn’t want to get into an argument with Sahara over this, so she just gave her another hug and then hurried from the room. She couldn’t believe Sahara actually thought a man like Thorsten could change. He was only looking for a new flavor of the month to conquer, but it wasn’t going to be her.

“Can I get some advice from you about Raya? Everything I planned is going downhill fast and I’m running out of ideas.”

Jax stopped talking to his newest bodyguard and glanced at the person speaking to him. Something must be up for Thorsten to come on his own asking for advice. What in the hell had he done wrong now?

“Give me a second,” he said, then turned back to Shawn.

He gave him a few more instructions about tonight’s event and then told him to leave. Shawn gave him a quick nod, then left the room and closed the door behind him. Jax couldn’t wait to hear what Thorsten had to tell him.

“I’m not going to lie. I’m truly surprised to see you here, especially after the last time we saw each other. You made it pretty clear you weren’t interested in anything I had to tell you about Raya.”

Making his way across the room, Jax took a seat in front of a window overlooking the busy street below them. “Have a seat. Fill me in on what’s going on with your situation. Why do you think I can help you with your mate now, but not weeks ago?

“Please tell me you still aren’t trying to use her brother to get the hedge fund from her? I told you to stop, but you wouldn’t listen to me. How do you expect to win her love if she hates the sight of you? You’re supposed to protect her, not push her away by stealing her dreams.”

Not one cocky comment left his cousin’s mouth as he came across the room and took the empty seat in front of him. Jax sat up straighter when he noticed the worried expression plastered across Thorsten’s face.

Dropping his head into his hands, Thorsten raked his fingers though his hair and blew out a breath then glanced up at him. “I did listen to your advice and that’s why I asked Raya out on a date.”

Jax couldn’t speak. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Raya willingly went out on a date with you. You didn’t threaten or bribe her into doing it?”

A look of faint amusement passed over Thorsten’s face. “I wouldn’t say she was too thrilled about going out with me, but I took the choice out of her hands. After we got to
Haim’s
everything was going better than I expected. Honestly, I hadn’t enjoyed talking to a woman that much in centuries, but something happened to change the entire evening.” The smile left Thorsten’s face as quickly as it had come.

“What did you do?” Jax felt the tension in the air, as an eeriness seemed to take over.

“I didn’t do anything to Raya.”

“Don’t lie to me,” he warned.

“I’m not lying,” Thorsten replied. “I wasn’t the problem. Cordelia was.”

Jax shot up so fast that his chair slammed down on the floor behind them, rattling the pictures of him and Sahara on the walls.

Zander, get in here
. He telepathically sent the message to his brother downstairs in his office. Seconds later, Zander appeared in the middle of the room. His brother’s eyes darted around the area then back in his direction.

“Why did you summon me? What’s going on here?”