Alpha Male Incorporated: Take Control (19 page)

You came into my life.

For one night only, I want to be the dirty girl.

You whispered about wanting in my ear.

I don’t care about the looks or stares.

We get from other people.

I only have one life to live and all

I want is for you to give me what I need, want and crave.

For one night only, I can leave the good girl image behind.

She doesn’t have to exist when you are around.

Let me prove that I can give you this to you
If it is for one night only.

People may gossip, but I don’t care about their words and neither should you.

I know they always say what you do in the dark may come out in the light.

Yet, I’m not worried about that. All I want is…

For one night only, I want to be the dirty girl.

You whispered about wanting in my ear.

I don’t care about the looks or stares

We get from other people.

I only have one life to live and all

I want is for you to give me what I need, want, and crave.

For one night only, I can leave the good girl image behind.

She doesn’t have to exist when you are around.

Let me prove that I can give you this to you.

If it is for one night only.

Well, I got what I wanted.

I have to admit it was the best night of my life,
But, it can never happen again.

See, the best thing about a one night only
You live in the moment and when you wake up you go.

So… For one night only, I got to be the dirty girl.

You whispered about wanting in my ear.

The second the final note left her mouth Sahara knew this was a song she would love singing as Coco. Her Uncle Frank’s advice about rewriting the chorus was brilliant. Just the perfect changes she needed to make everything a winner for her alter ego.

Turning on the bench, she was about to rise when Raya burst though the studio door and rushed up to her.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Raya demanded, slamming her purse down on the table next to her.

“Tell you what?” she questioned, standing up. She didn’t have a clue what her best friend was talking about. In all the years they had been friends she had never seen Raya this upset before. Something must have happened for Raya to yell at her like this.

“Thorsten told me today that I was his mate but he’s lying, right? You would have told me something like this. There’s no way I’m a
Unique
. He’s just trying to pull a fast one on me, isn’t he?”

Sahara stiffened at Raya’s words and glanced away from her. She didn’t know what to tell her. “Raya, I wanted to tell you the truth,” she said, looking back at her friend, “but Jax told me I couldn’t, especially since my big mouth almost ruined things with Zander and Sabrina. I had to stay out of it and let Thorsten tell you, but it was killing me to keep quiet. I swear it was.”

Raya took a quick breath of utter astonishment as she moved away from her. “You should have told me. I was totally unprepared for this news. I don’t know anything about being a vampire or….”

“I think if you stop being so angry about your past run-ins with Thorsten, you’ll see most of his bravado is show,” Sahara insisted. “Thorsten will be good for you. You need to get a life, and being with Thorsten will do you some good.”

Her best friend’s eyes narrowed at her. “That’s where you are wrong. I think you should keep your opinion to yourself. This is my life, not yours, Mrs. Irizarry,” Raya yelled. “Best friends tell each other things, and you should have told me.”

“Raya, don’t be like this. We have been friends too long for you to get this upset with me. There are rules I have to follow,” she insisted, wondering if her friend would ever forgive her for this. “I can’t break them, not even for you.”

Her friend’s eyebrows shot up. “But you can break them for Sabrina, a woman you hadn’t even known a hot second? Well, I guess it shows me how much our friendship truly meant to you. Maybe I should show you how I feel about you now.”

“Enough!” a masculine voice shouted. “Or you will regret yelling at Sahara in my home.”

****

Raya flinched at the thread of warning that echoed in the air. She spun around to find Jax standing there with his usual vivid green eyes now black as night and fangs barred. She felt the rage rolling off his body as he closed the space between them so fast, it was a blur.

“Are you threatening my mate?” he asked, spacing out the words evenly. His tone was velvet, yet edged with steel.

She had seen Jax upset before but she hadn’t ever been the target of his fury and it was unsettling how scared she was. She tried to speak but the words were frozen in her throat as fear knotted up inside of her.

Suddenly, she felt a hand touch her shoulder as Sahara gave it a light squeeze. “Honey, leave her alone. You’ve a way of scaring my best friend when you don’t mean to do it.”

Jax didn’t take his eyes off her. “I felt your distress and I came to see who was causing it. Raya has no right to yell at you. Every Irizarry vampire has a right to deal with his mate in the way he sees fit.”

“I’m not Thorsten’s mate,” she chimed in after she regained her voice. “He can’t tell me what to do.”

The chill between them seemed to melt away as all of the tension left Jax’s body. His eyes slowly turned back to their normal color and his fangs disappeared. “Thank God you weren’t chosen as my mate. I think I would have lost my mind dealing with your defiance.”

There was a trace of laughter in Jax’s voice that surprised Raya. She wasn’t expecting it, especially after their confrontation not two minutes ago.

“I wouldn’t want you, either,” she uttered.

“Will you two stop bickering with each other,” Sahara sighed, removing her hand from her shoulder.

“Jax, go back upstairs so we can get ready to go bowling. I want a few minutes alone with Raya.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, eyeing her.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Sahara insisted. “Raya and I need a few more minutes.”

“Don’t ever let me catch you threatening Sahara again or I will forget you’re her friend.” Jax’s eyes flashed at her for a second, then he vanished from the room without a trace.

“Don’t worry. Pretty soon you’ll be doing that, too,” Sahara said.

Turning, she found her girlfriend smiling at her like they hadn’t been in a heated conversation only ten minutes ago. She loved that most about Sahara. She never allowed any type of disagreement to tarnish their rock steady friendship, but she still couldn’t get over how she hadn’t warned her about Thorsten. Why would she not tell her and just break the rules?

“I won’t ever evaporate from the room like Jax just did. It’s just too creepy. I’m not anything like you. I like my independence and Thorsten doesn’t know boundaries.”

“Being overly protective and arrogant is in the Irizarry blood. Don’t let how Thorsten comes across keep you from accepting your fate,” Sahara said. “You were born to be with him and no other man in the world.”

“I think we are seeing this situation differently. I don’t find his attitude sexy and he will never compel me into giving him my blood again. Once was enough.”

Her best friend’s eyes suddenly brightened with pleasure. “You’ve already let Thorsten bite you?” she questioned. “Care to tell me when this happened, because you left this out on purpose the last time we spoke. Was it hot?”

The questioned hammered at her, but Raya didn’t let it get to her since she was done talking. “It’s a long story and I don’t have time to get into it with you. Look, I love you. I know you’re only trying to help but this is something we are going to disagree on.”

Walking up to Sahara, she hugged her and then stepped back. “I’ll talk to you later. Have fun on your date with Jax.” She pivoted, picked up her purse, and went back to the studio door, wondering if she wasn’t giving Thorsten a fair chance.

The thought barely crossed her mind before another one followed as she went out the door. What if she was supposed to give up her human side to be with Thorsten forever? Her future might be linked to his and everything in her life had lead up to this moment.

On the ride home from Sahara’s house, Raya wondered why she hadn’t figured out what was going on sooner with Thorsten. Hadn’t she already experienced it twice—once with Sahara and then with Sabrina?

Pulling into her driveway, she got out of her car and walked towards her house. She grabbed her keys out of her purse and unlocked her front door. Once inside, Raya closed the door and reset the security alarm Zander installed for her a few months ago. She wasn’t taking any chances with her life anymore. A single woman could never know who was lurking in the darkness.

Reaching across the table, she switched on the light by the window and then turned around. An earth-shattering scream flew from Raya’s lips when her eyes landed on Thorsten sitting on her couch.

Falling back against the table, she placed her hand over her pounding heart. “How did you get inside my house?”

She breathed in shallow, quick gasps as she tried to process what was going on. Thorsten was sitting in front of her like he had every right to be in her house. Slowly, she got her body back under some sort of control.

“I thought a vampire couldn’t come into a person’s house without being invited?”

“Darling, you have been drawn into way too many fictionalized stories about my people,” Thorsten chuckled. “Let me show you which ones are fake and which are real. I don’t mind giving you all the lessons you want.”

Raya watched Thorsten as he rose to his feet and sauntered towards her. She could see the determination shining in his eyes to get what he wanted from her. Would she be able to push him away this time after learning how much she loved his touches?

“Stop,” she warned, remaining motionless.

Do not push me.

She jumped at the sound of Thorsten’s voice in her head; it seemed odd yet so familiar in some way, but how?

He stood there, boldly intimidating.
Keep thinking, sweetheart, it will come to you.

“Will you not do that?” she asked, touching her temple. “It’s strange.”

Thorsten ran his thumb over her bottom lip. “To answer your earlier question, I was able to enter your home because you gave me the power to do it. I won’t ever need your permission to check on my woman. Your safety is my biggest concern and I wanted to see you again.

“I’m surprised by how much I missed seeing your beautiful face and hearing your soft voice. Somehow, it calms the restlessness in me,” he admitted. “You are what I have been searching for without even knowing it. I’m not about to give you up.”

The touch of Thorsten’s finger on her lip was slowly driving her crazy. She moved her hand away from his caress. “You really love touching me, don’t you? I might not like it as much as you think I do.”

They stared at each other in silence for a while until his eyes narrowed at her, and an unearthly gleam came into his eyes. Licking her lips nervously, Raya tried not to show how being this close to him turned her on. Her body was on fire, like her blood rushed through her veins looking for a release.

“I must warn you that it isn’t right for you to lie to me,” he warned softly.

“I’m…I’m not lying,” she denied, watching as Thorsten’s dark blue eyes glanced down at the front of her shirt.

“Are you sure you’re telling me the truth?” he questioned, trailing a finger over one of her swollen nipples. “I think you really like me and are fighting hard not to admit it. Baby, you won’t be losing anything, but gaining something beyond your wildest dreams. Give me a chance to prove it.”

She watched as he leaned closer to kiss her, then turned her head so their lips wouldn’t touch, so she felt his hot, wet tongue licking the side of her neck instead. Biting her bottom lip, Raya swallowed down the moan tickling her throat, begging to break free.

This is so wrong
. She shouldn’t be doing this. She should stop him from making her feel so good because he wasn’t the guy she thought about giving her every emotion and undying love to. He hadn’t earned it or anything else from here.

“Thorsten, you should stop,” Raya breathed, pushing at his shoulders.

“Are you sure?” he questioned in a low, gravelly voice. As his hand grabbed her ass, yanking her against his hard body, she jumped at the feel of his erection brushing against her stomach.

“Yes.” She didn’t sound the least bit convincing, but she hoped Thorsten brought it.

His tongue ran across her neck one final time before he raised his head. He smiled cockily at her, which only made her want to kick Thorsten out of her house for a second time.

“I have a very hard time believing you when I can feel the desire rolling off your body,” he said.

She arched an eyebrow and pushed at Thorsten’s shoulders again, but he still didn’t move. Instead, he placed his hand on the table behind them, bringing their bodies into closer contact. The heavy scent of his cologne made her realize even his smell was deadly. If she wasn’t careful, he might actually take her down a road she wasn’t ready to travel.

“Well, you should, because I’m telling you the truth,” she insisted.

“No, you aren’t. You do this thing that gives you away when you’re lying to me,” Thorsten told her before moving away. He left her and took a seat on the couch again.

“Now you’re lying.” She marched over to him and folded her arms.

He gave her another smug grin that made her want to toss something at his gorgeous head.
Hold up. Go back.
Did she just think Thorsten was gorgeous? She would make sure that stray thought never entered her head again.