Alpha Male Incorporated: Take Control (5 page)

“Raya, I believe Jax and I can get through to him a lot faster than you can,” Zander assured her. “Let us handle this for you and since you already know who has been sending you the text messages. I won’t have to send a guy to your office anymore. Why don’t you take the rest of the day off and do something for yourself? Don’t let Thorsten ruin the rest of your day.”

“I wish I could, but I can’t. I still have a lot to do, but if you could get Thorsten off my back for the rest of the day. It would help me out tremendously,” Raya admitted.

“Damn it, I’m right here. I can hear all of you talking about me,” Thorsten’s rich, deep voice cut in. “I don’t think Raya is really tired of getting attention from me. She’s just playing hard to get. As soon as she admits that she wants me, things will get a lot better between us. I know what I’m doing. I don’t need either one of you giving me any of your opinions about winning her over.”

Sighing, Raya refocused her attention back to the thorn in her side. Thorsten stood there watching her like he had every right in the world. She didn’t like the ownership in his eyes. She wasn’t sure what his problem was concerning her, but he better get over it quick. They would have to be around each other because Sahara was a part of his family. She could either deal with him or pretend he wasn’t even in the room.

The choice was his.

“I’m glad you can hear us talking about you. Maybe you will finally understand I want you to leave me alone. Why don’t you go and find some girl who will think you’re so gorgeous that you can’t do anything wrong? I’m not her and I’ll never be. We aren’t compatible.”

An easy smile played at the corners of his sensual mouth. “Raya, you’re just upset because of my deal with Cedric. I never wanted you to get angry with me. What I had going on with your brother was just business and nothing else.

“However, what I want with you is much more. I can back off when it comes to the hedge fund, but I can’t let you get away from me. What can I do to make you forgive me, sweetheart? I can’t have you upset with me. How is that any way to start off our relationship? We are going to be
so
good together.”

“We don’t and won’t ever have any kind of relationship,” she informed Thorsten, stepping back away from him. “I would never date someone like you. We have already been over this numerous times.” Raya continued moving back until she was closer to Jax and Zander than she was Thorsten.

“Just give me a chance to change your mind. I’m not as—”

“Listen, Thorsten. All I want is for you to stop bothering me. Any deals you made with my brother are worthless. I’m in charge now, not him, and I have the final word.”

“I—”

“Raya, I believe my cousin is going to take your warning seriously,” Jax said, cutting Thorsten off before he could finish his sentence. “How about you let me walk you back to the elevator?”

“I would like that,” she said, cutting her eyes over to Jax.

“Alright, let’s go.” Jax walked around her and went back in the direction of the elevators.

Turning on her heel, Raya started following behind Jax but halted when a strong hand wrapped around her arm and yanked her back into a rock hard chest. She gasped from the warmth of his fingers on her bare skin as her eyes darted over her shoulder and locked with a furious Thorsten.

“What are you doing?” she demanded. “Let go of me.” She tried shaking off his touch, but Thorsten wouldn’t loosen his grip.

“I want you to know this isn’t over. My cousins aren’t always going to be around to jump in between us. Raya August, you’re a beautiful woman and I want you. Once I make up my mind to get something or someone I don’t stop until I have it.”

Thorsten brushed his thumb over her wrist before removing his hand and taking a step back. Raya touched her arm was surprised to feel the warmth of his touch still there. She took one final glance at Thorsten before hurrying down the hallway after Jax.

The awareness racing through her after the way Thorsten’s caress on her body wouldn’t go away. She thought about going back and telling him off again, but her anger only fueled Thorsten’s interest in her. He liked their verbal battles. She wasn’t doing anything he might take as encouragement

****

“Do you ever think before shoving your foot in your mouth?” Zander snapped, standing beside him. “You’re trying to win Raya’s heart, not send her running away in the opposite direction, hating every experience or run-in she has with you. She’s your mate. You want her to love you, not be afraid to be in the same space with you.”

Turning his head, Thorsten shot his cousin a look. “Raya isn’t scared of me. She’s upset about this hedge fund mess, but I apologized to her so it’s over. She needs to understand that I’m the one in control, not her.”

An exasperated sigh left Zander’s mouth. “You actually think it’s going to be that easy to win over your mate. I know Jax told me about your crazy deadline; I thought he was just kidding with me. You seriously believe all that animosity Raya has towards you will just go away in a cloud of smoke and she’ll accept you?”

He was growing tired of hearing the doubt in everyone’s voice. His plan was going to work and once it did they would be the ones apologizing to him. Honestly, he thought the courting routine took way
too
long. Raya already knew about the entire family being vampires. Why should he wait for anything? She was his and he was going to claim her as fast as he could.

“Why do I have to romance her?” Thorsten sighed, thinking about the time he would waste doing it Zander’s way. “Raya already knows about the meanings behind Sahara and Sabrina’s birthmarks. We both know she has one that will enforce her connection to me. It’s what make her my one and only mate.

“All I have to do is see it and then explain what it means. She is also well aware of our curse. The ‘sleep of the dead’ shouldn’t be anything new to her. She’ll accept me because she wouldn’t want me to die from her lack of love.”

Zander cursed under his breath and gave him a hard glare. “Thorsten, you’ve dated hundreds of women, human and non-human, over the past few centuries. How can you be so clueless about the opposite sex? Raya isn’t Sahara or my wife.

“She hasn’t accepted you yet, and until she does with everything in her heart she can do anything she wants, which includes being with another man. There is no bond between the two of you. You can’t read her thoughts or feel her emotions because of her dislike towards you. It’s blocking your abilities to do these things.

“Even when I was standing back there next to Jax, I felt the dislike she harbors for you. You need to listen to me and pay attention to my words. Thorsten, you better start a different approach with Raya and soon. No amount of your charm is going to win her over if you don’t show her. You can change your ways,” his cousin said, patting him on the shoulder. He then walked away, leaving him alone to think.

He had to admit that Raya’s face didn’t light up when she turned around and saw him there behind her. She had come to Alpha Male Incorporated already upset with him over something else. Was Zander right?

Could everything change drastically between him and Raya if he adopted a new attitude towards her? Did he actually have to approach her differently than he had done other women?

Women still came up to him on a daily basis asking him out for coffee or something more, but he never accepted any of their blatant offers since finding Raya. She might not know it, but he was already mated to her in his mind. Vampires didn’t cheat on their mates once they found them, and being faithful was a huge part of their DNA.

Raya wasn’t jumping through hoops to accept a date from him. He was beginning to believe his cousin might be right, and it might be time to come up with a new plan of action. However, he wasn’t too worried. Raya might be challenging and a bit strong-willed, but he was stubborn and in the end he would win out over her just as he was supposed to do.

Raya walked next to Jax across the parking lot, wondering why he was escorting her all the way to her car. She wasn’t in any danger that she knew. He had to have come out here with her for a totally different reason that hopefully didn’t involve talking about Thorsten.

“Raya, I want to apologize again for Thorsten’s behavior. He had no right to grab your arm the way he did back there. He’s under this illusion every woman wants him and will do exactly what he tells them to do.”
She had to give Jax credit for stepping up and apologizing for Thorsten’s bad behavior. “Thank you, but I don’t think it will do any good. Anytime I tell him something, it seems to go in one ear and right out the other one. Thorsten has a very high opinion of himself, but you didn’t walk me to my car to talk about your cousin. Spill it. Tell me what’s going on. Does it have something to do with Sahara?”

One masculine eyebrow arched over a surprised green eye. “Sahara is constantly telling me how upfront you are, but I keep forgetting how direct you can be.”

“You’re worried about Sahara, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am. Something is going on with my wife. I have asked her about it and she told me it was nothing. I know she isn’t telling me the truth, but I don’t want to read my mate’s mind to find out. We share so much; however, she’s holding back from me this time.”

Thank God. It was her imagination. Jax also noticed there was something off about his wife. Sahara must be hiding a huge secret if she hadn’t even confided in her husband. She loved him with everything in her, so what she was keeping from the two of them?

“Jax, I have seen the same thing with Sahara,” she admitted.

“Has she hinted at anything to you?” he asked, concerned. “I can feel her pain but she isn’t opening up to me. It hurts me that Sahara doesn’t want to let me in, especially since I love her so much.”

“The only thing she did confess to me was how she was a little disappointed about canceling those five concerts dates.”

Running his hand down his face, Jax cursed underneath his breath. “Do you really think that’s what it could be? I know Mr. Edwards is locked away for a very long time. I still shouldn’t want to keep such a close eye on her, but I can’t help it. All I want to do is keep her safe, happy, and out of danger.”

Reaching out, Raya patted Jax on his arm. He had scared the hell out of her the first time they met, when he jumped out from behind Sahara’s bedroom door and pointed his gun directly at her chest. She hadn’t wanted anything else to do with him then. However, he slowly started winning her over. Now she could be alone with him anywhere and not feel like he was going to threaten her for no good reason.

“Jax, why don’t you just do it the old fashioned way and ask her?” she asked, taking her hand off his arm. “My best friend is crazy about you despite the fact you’re a creature of the night.”

Jax studied her closely for a few minutes. “Do you feel differently about Sahara now that she’s no longer human, but a vampire?” His question momentarily stunned her that she didn’t know what to say at first.

“Of course not, I love Sahara. We have been best friends way too long for something like that to make me look at her any differently. She’s the same person, just with a little extra in her now.”

Jax smiled at her. “Good answer. Do you mind if I ask you another question?”

“No, ask away.”

“Does Thorsten really bother you as much as you were telling him earlier? The two of you were in such a heated argument that I was beginning to wonder if you truly did hate him.”

“Yes, your cousin acts like he’s God’s gift to women and I don’t like that quality in any man. I don’t want to have that kind of man around me in my business or personal life.”

“He isn’t as bad as you think. He’s really a nice guy. Don’t you remember how he sat with you at the hospital after Tyler’s father attacked you? He never once left your side until Sahara and I were able to get there and see you.”

Raya didn’t want to bring up again how she felt finding Thorsten at her bedside. She came here to tell him to stay out of her business and she did. Now it was over and they didn’t have to deal with each other anymore.

“Jax, don’t try to make me see something with your cousin that isn’t there. He’s not like you or Zander. I can’t like someone who doesn’t do things in an honest way,” she said. “He rubs me the wrong way and I don’t think that will ever change.”

Turning away from Jax, Raya unlocked her car and got inside, closing the door behind her. She rolled down the window and looked back at Jax. “Why are you interested if Thorsten and I get along? We are seldom in the same room and when we are he doesn’t say much to me, which is just fine by me. I can only hear a guy talk about himself for so long.”

“Raya, listen. I need to—”

She held up her hand, cutting off Jax. “I don’t need to hear you tell me anything else about Thorsten. I’m more concerned about what is going on with Sahara. Tell her I’ll call her later. I hope you find out what she is hiding from us. She really isn’t acting like herself.” Raya waved at Jax, then started her car and drove off.

****

Standing in the parking lot, Jax slid his hands into the back pockets of his jeans and watched as Raya’s car headlights turned the corner. After talking with her, he was even more worried about Thorsten winning over his mate’s heart. He had started off on the wrong foot with her and it had only gotten worse over time by making bad mistakes.

Jax, where are you?
Thorsten demanded, telepathically touching his mind.
Are you still with my mate?

No, I’m not. She’s gone.

Did you talk about me?
he asked
. What did she say?

Raya isn’t your biggest fan,
Jax replied.
You need to find a different way to approach her and I mean fast, or you are going to be in a lot of trouble.

She told you that she didn’t like me?
Thorsten questioned.

Your mate didn’t have to tell me. I saw the dislike for you on her face. Take winning her heart more seriously, I’m warning you for the last time. If you don’t, I’m afraid you will actually go through ‘the sleep of the dead’.”