A Mate for Lazarus (The Program Book 3) (11 page)

Lance’s gaze moved across each of them before
stopping on Sarah. “You,” he growled. “You’re coming with me.” He smiled. “I
like a gutsy female and your pussy was pretty fucking tight. You—”

Lazarus was so quick that Alex almost didn’t see him
move. Lance’s head snapped back. Lazarus gripped Lance by the throat and
punched him in the gut with three, quick jabs. Lance groaned as he fell to his
knees.

“Do not disrespect another female again, are we
fucking clear?” He grabbed Lance by the jaw and forced the other vampire to
look at him. Alex was sure she heard a crack.

Lance moaned again, his hands were fisted at his
sides. His eyes were so bright it was freaky.

“Don’t make me break your neck.” Lazarus narrowed
his eyes and brought his face closer to Lance’s, whose skin was turning red.

Say what?
Alex swallowed hard.
Shirtless, muscled up, defending their honor. It was too damned much, she had to
squeeze her thighs together. If she’d put panties on they would be soaking. As
it stood, she’d been in too much of a hurry. Her body’s response to all the
testosterone was so inappropriate.

Lazarus cocked his head and squeezed harder on
Lance’s jaw. A low, terrifying growl erupted from somewhere deep inside his
chest.

“Yes,” Lance somehow managed to get out.

“Yes what?” Lazarus released his grip by a smidgen.

“I won’t disrespect the humans,” Lance forced out.

“Not just the humans, that goes for all of the
females. You may have had your heart broken but it doesn’t give you the right
to treat them like you do.” He spoke so softly it was hard to hear. Lazarus let
him go. “Come to me if you need to talk.”

Lance sprang to his feet. He spat on the ground in
front of Lazarus. “Thanks, but no fucking thanks.” His hands were fisted. His
jaw tense. He turned back to them. “Any of you
ladies
care to join me.”
He emphasized the word ladies. His eyes still had that crazed look.

No one moved. No one seemed to breathe.

Lance shrugged. “Whatever.” He turned towards the
castle. “I don’t need any of you!” He bellowed as he walked away.

When Alex turned back, Lazarus was talking to one of
the guys but his eyes were on her. Her heart rate actually kicked up a notch…or
two…or ten.

“I can’t believe that just happened,” Sarah said.
The vest was so big on her that it came to mid-thigh. Alex felt a twinge seeing
the other woman in it.

“You were magnificent.” One of the women purred,
drawing her attention back to Lazarus. It was the dark haired, mocha skinned
woman from the hallway. Her tiny shorts rode up, pretty much exposing her left
butt cheek. The dark haired beauty gripped Lazarus’ arm. “Such a big boy.” She
purred some more.

Lazarus was still looking at her. Now her chest was heaving.
Her mouth felt dry.

“I saw him first.” A really pretty lady in a little
blue dress stepped in next to Lazarus, she put her arm through his. Oh god! Her
boobs were ginormous. They spilled out of the front of her low cut top. She was
a walking wonderbra ad. That was for damned sure. Lazarus had a thing for
boobs.

He glanced down but there was no heating of his
stare, no staring at all for that matter. “If you’ll excuse me, ladies.” He
extracted himself, his gaze moving back to her. Ooooh! There it was. Heat,
desire and all for her. Oh wow!

Her heart did a somersault in her chest. Her pussy
gave a sharp clench of longing.

His big strides quickly ate up the short distance
between them. “Hello, Alex-an-dra.” Each syllable carefully pronounced.

She held up a hand and gave him a small wave. “Hi.”
Lame,
lame, lame
. For the second time in twenty-nine years, she was at a loss for
words. Her mouth was just too damned dry. Her brain was mush.

“Hello,” he growled low.

She nodded. “How is
what’s his name
? The hurt
guy, how is he?” She stammered. Not sure what to say or how to act. It felt
like all eyes were on them.

He gave her a half smile. Why did he have to be so
damned sexy? Her neck hurt from being so craned as she stared up. “I said hello
to you.” He gave a small nod like she was supposed to get some sort of hidden
meaning.

“I said hello back.” She raised her brows. Maybe he
had hit his head.

He raised his brows. “Isn’t there something you are
forgetting?” He gripped her waist with one hand. His lips brushed hers. Soft
and so damned delicious. He smelled like sweat, aggression and musk. She was
tempted to climb him. To stick her tongue down his throat. Then he released
her. “Hello,” he growled. His lips only millimeters away from hers. “It is good
to see you.”

“Um…” She bit down on her lower lip. His eyes
tracked the movement. “It’s good to see you too.”

“Come with me.”

“Um…” She turned her head to look at Sarah who was
smiling broadly. Sarah nodded like a bobble head on a dirt road. “You should
go.”

It was as if Lazarus noticed the others all of a
sudden. Like he had forgotten they were even there. “You did good, female.
Griff will be fine. I will send someone to take you to him.”

“Thank you. I appreciate it.”

Lazarus nodded once. “Let’s go.” He grabbed her hand
and began to walk in the direction of the castle. Her heart was beating like
mad in her chest. This was good. He was hopefully taking her to his apartment.
She could find out a ton more about how they lived. Did he have a coffin for a
bed? She chewed on her lip to keep herself from laughing. She somehow doubted
it. Maybe they didn’t even need sleep.

She doubted that as well. Aside from being really
tall and built. More so than human guys, they were otherwise pretty much the
same. They spoke a bit different and…she almost laughed again…they drank blood.
That was probably the biggest difference that she had picked up on so far. Oh
yes, they could die and come back from the dead as well.

They walked up a set of stairs and into the main
building. Alex had never been to this part of the castle before. The humans
were not permitted into the vampire accommodations without an escort. They also
needed a good reason to be here if uninvited.  

Lazarus slid his arm around her shoulders and pulled
her closer as they stepped through the threshold and into a large lobby which
led to a spacious double, volume sitting room. It was huge and pretty busy with
people…vampires coming and going. They all stopped mid-step to gape at her. The
women were at least as pretty as Allison. Wow! The guys were also seriously
impressive although not nearly as impressive as Lazarus. He was the biggest guy
she’d seen so far.

No one tried to approach them. One of the guys
stared a little too long as they walked past him and Lazarus gave what sounded
like a warning growl. The guy practically jumped in the opposite direction, his
gaze firmly on his feet.

“This way.” He pulled her in the direction of the
stairs. There was an identical staircase on the other side of the lobby. Alex
had thought that their human accommodations were up market and tasteful but
this was pure opulence. Of course, she had been in the dining hall last night
and from what she could see, the rest of the castle was much the same.

“Sheesh! This place is too much.” She sighed. Even
in the hallways there was no expense spared. The artwork was exquisite. She
didn’t know too much about it but she was sure that the pieces were the real
deal.

“It needs to be big. Two of the covens joined
together.”

“Does everyone stay here then?”

Lazarus shook his head. “The elite team. The guards.
Other important members of the staff. Some of the general population resides
within the walls but the rest all stay in the surrounding villages within our
territory.” He stopped outside one of the doors and opened it. The door wasn’t
locked.

“Um…you’re very trusting.”

He shrugged. “Vampires don’t steal from one another.”

“You’re lucky.” Alex said as she walked through the
door. The apartment was spacious. There was an open plan lounge, dining room
and kitchen.

Lazarus closed the door behind him. He shrugged his
massive shoulders. “There is no need. We are a wealthy species. We own plenty
of land and Brant has been highly successful with the stock markets. Our king
is a genius, he has an uncanny ability to know what stocks to buy, when to hold
on and when to sell. Zane inherited a large estate from his father.”

“Okay. I take it that they are generous then?” She
raised her brows.

“Yes. As the second-in-command of the elite and
first-in-command of the royal guard, I earn a really good salary. I don’t need
the money since I am well provided for though. It just goes into an account.
Should any of my people need the money, then it is available. We share and help
one another, unlike most of the humans.”

“It must be nice not to have to worry.” They walked
deeper into the apartment. Alex noticed that it had a stunning view of the
training grounds and the lake.

“Can I get you something to drink?”

“Sure…” Alex said. “Water would be great.” Her mouth
was dry. Her eyes dropped to his fantastic ass as he walked towards the
kitchen. She had to hold back a groan as he bent down to grab her a bottle.

He pulled out a plastic exercise bottle for himself and
popped the pull out top with his teeth. Then he walked towards her and handed
the water to her. “Do you mind?” His brow was wrinkled in a tight frown.
Lazarus held up the bottle in his hand.

“Do I mind what?”

“It’s filled with blood.” He shook the bottle and
her stomach lurched. He smiled. “Don’t pull such a face. I’m the one that
should be looking horrified. Not you.”

She made a snorting sound. “How do you figure that?
I’m the human. We don’t do blood.”

“Vampires don’t enjoy cold, old blood. This has been
treated with anticoagulants.” He grimaced. “It’s pretty nasty. It would be the
same as you drinking milk that is busy turning sour. It’s still drinkable but
would you actually want to drink it?”

She put her hands in her back pockets. “So why are
you drinking it then?”

“No other choice.” He took a big sip. His jaw tensed
as he swallowed. “It’s revolting.” His face took on a pinched look.

“There’s always a choice, I mean…what would you
normally do? Why do you have to drink that?”

“What would I normally do?” His dark gaze locked
with hers. “I would find a compatible female, rut and drink…simple.” His eyes heated.

“Oh…I see and couldn’t you”—she licked her lips—“just
drink from someone without having sex with them?”

He looked at her like she’d lost her mind. “I’ve
never just drank from someone…ever. Okay…when I was a kid but as soon as I hit
puberty…” He shrugged. “That was it. I’m sure this would have been a part of
your training. They would have warned you that drinking for a vampire is mostly
sexual.”

“So not always then?”

He took a step towards her, his eyes on her mouth.
“It is for me, Alexandra. Since we’re exclusive, I’m going to have to drink this.”
He shook the bottle again.

The thought of him with another woman didn’t sit
right with her. They were pretend dating. If he ended up fucking around it
would look bad. Shit…she didn’t like the idea of him messing around full stop.
While they were sort of together, she didn’t want him fucking around. Once she
left, different story but for now…no.

“What are you thinking?” His voice was deep.

“Um…just that…” She shrugged. “I guess I don’t like
the idea of you…with…someone else.”

He smiled. God but he was handsome when he did that.
Too handsome. Especially shirtless. Those shoulders, those abs…oh lord. He
cupped her chin, pulling her gaze back to his face. “If you keep looking at me
like that, I might just take you up on your offer.”

“What offer?”

“You’re fucking me with your eyes. I’ll return the
favor, Alexandra, but I assure you that it won’t stop at just eyes.” He licked
his delicious looking lips. He’d just been drinking blood but she still wanted
to kiss them. How fucked up was that? “I’m glad you don’t want me anywhere near
other females. I don’t want other females. I want you and only you. The thing
is though…” He paused and she had to work not to squirm under his intense gaze.
His fingers were calloused against her jaw. So big, so warm, so manly…she
almost stepped closer to him. “I’m not going to be able to live on this stuff
for forever.”

He broke the contact and shook the bottle. “I’m
going to slowly weaken. My need for blood directly out of the vein will grow.
It’s going to become an all-out need before very long. Your scent is fucking
delicious.” His stare dropped to the pulse at her neck and then down to…between
her legs.

Oh hell! Thankfully, he quickly looked back up at
her face. She wasn’t sure what he meant by scent, since she wasn’t wearing any
perfume. Her cheeks heated when she remembered that she hadn’t even showered.
Alex wasn’t really sure what it was that he smelled, but it couldn’t be that
great even though he’d said it was delicious. Like he wanted to eat her. The
thought of him between her thighs made her feel hot all over again and she had
to stop herself from fanning her cheeks.