A Mate for Lance (The Program Book 5) (11 page)

Lance walked down the hallway, heading toward Griffin’s suite.

The human was wrong about them being done. So fucking wrong it was scary. As far as he was concerned, they hadn’t even started yet.

Not even close.

She may be wrong about them being finished but she was right about the kissing part. Thing was, he liked kissing her.
Scratch that.
He fucking loved kissing her. He loved the way she reacted to his mouth, to his tongue. To his nips and caresses, when he kissed her…everywhere.

He especially loved her mouth. How swollen and pink her lips became after he devoured them. How her levels of arousal would sky rocket. She would go from slapping him to dragging him closer and all because of a simple kiss. From panting to moaning and all because of his lips being dragged across hers.

A kiss.

Who knew that kissing could be that good? Sure, he’d tried it…years ago. Females often associated kissing with something more than what it was. He hadn’t rated it enough to be worth the effort, so he had stopped doing it and had never looked back. Not until Amber. To be near her and not to kiss those lips would be a shame. To have her on vampire territory and not to take advantage of her lush as fuck body would be a sin. The female was so receptive. It heightened his enjoyment to know how much she was loving every moment. Even if it was against her better judgment. And his.

Exclusive
.

The word should be banned. Not happening. He couldn’t tell her that he hadn’t so much as looked at another female since tasting her. That touching one hadn’t even occurred to him. How could he? It wasn’t the way he did things.

He could tell she didn’t like the idea of him with other females.

Fuck being exclusive. Exclusivity meant commitment. Something more. Exclusive was a small step away from other things. Serious things. Things that made him break out in a cold sweat. Not happening. He wanted her, there was no doubt, but he didn’t want to spend the rest of his life with her.

He rang the bell and stepped back.

“You’re late.” Griffin gave him the once over before his nostrils flared. “Can’t keep it in your pants.” Then he frowned and sniffed again. His look turned humorous. “A human?”

“Don’t give me fucking grief. What of it? Pussy is pussy.” He felt instantly bad about the comment although he couldn’t fathom why.

“I thought that they all got too emotionally involved and that you…in your words…didn’t want to fuck with them.”

“Are you going to let me in?” Lance ground out, not wanting to talk about Amber out in the hall. It didn’t seem right. Had he just thought that? He mentally groaned. He was becoming a pussy. The female didn’t want others finding out about them and it was the least he could do.

“And? Who is she?” Griffin grinned broadly as he stepped aside to allow Lance in.

“No one.” Another twinge. “Okay, she’s special but not in the way you think.”

Griffin gave him a pat on the back. “You love the taste of her blood. Can’t get enough of her and miss her as soon as you leave her?” Griffin raised his brows.

Lance frowned. “Her blood is delicious. I can’t get enough of her pussy and miss it from the moment I leave her.” His frown deepened. “But she has quite the mouth on her.”
One made for kissing.
“I prefer to keep it busy since she likes to insult me at every chance she gets. Can’t wait to see it wrapped around—”

“Still crude as ever,” a feminine voice sounded. Sarah appeared around Griffin. Amusement shone in her eyes.

“Prim,” Lance could hear the genuine affection in his voice. “Still as prim and proper as ever, I see. Has my boy here not taught you a single fucking thing yet?”

Sarah laughed. Griffin scowled. And in that moment all was right with the world. It was the little things. His thoughts drifted to Amber. The way she pursed her lips when she was pissed at him. The way her eyes filled with fire just before she slapped him, which was often. The way those same eyes drifted shut as he sank into her…slowly, or widened if he thrusted…hard. He realized in that moment how good he felt, how relaxed. He felt balanced and calm. Fuck! It felt good.

“I think you like this human.” Griffin chuckled. “It sounds serious.”

Lance tried hard not to roll his eyes and failed. “She hates my guts. Can’t fucking stand me. The sex is off the charts though. I never knew I would enjoy being hit, kicked and bitten.” He paused, reconsidering his words. “Okay, maybe I knew about the biting part.” He had to chuckle, giving Sarah a wink. “It’s a match made in heaven.”

“She hits you?” Sarah’s brows were almost above her hairline. “As in…”

“She punched me once too, otherwise she prefers a good slap and the female can hit. I fucking love it.”

“You’re nuts.” Sarah looked horrified.

Griffin laughed. “Or in love.”

“Fuck that. She’s dating other guys. What we have isn’t like that. It’s just physical, nothing more,” he said, too quickly. “Can we talk about something else now? I’m getting bored.”

“Which one is she?” Griffin asked. “Can I take a few guesses?”

Lance growled, louder this time. He was not going to reveal Amber’s identity. He wouldn’t do that to the female. She’d hate even more and really make good on her promise to deny him, but to deny him would be denying herself, too.

“We have to be at that meeting in a half hour.” Griffin looked at his watch then at Sarah. “I would suggest you shower and change.”

Little Prim nodded. “Even I can smell the sweat, latex”—she wrinkled her nose— “and other things I would rather not talk about. Sometimes improved senses are not all that fun.” Her eyes darted toward Griffin, as though she hadn’t meant to reveal herself.

Griffin just grinned, looking happier than Lance had ever seen the male. “My female has started drinking my blood.”

“It’s about fucking time, Prim.” Lance smiled when she blushed. “Any buns in the oven?”

“Not yet.” Sarah smiled. “We’re not in any rush to start a family.”

“We won’t wait too long though.” Griffin pulled her into his lap and she squealed.

“That’s my cue to leave. I think I’ll go hit that shower now.” Lance made a gagging noise.

Griffin threw a pillow at his back. “I’ll see you at the royal suite in twenty-five.”

Lance glanced back, he noticed that Griffin’s hand was down Sarah’s top. “Don’t be late,” he suggested gruffly before leaving their suite and stepped into the hallway. Although he gave them shit and pretended that they disgusted him, the truth was, the two of them gave him a degree of hope. They made him finally realize things about his past. Maybe there was a female out there for him. Maybe someday. Then he laughed, a group of vampire females looked at him like he was mad as they walked past him. Maybe he was. Some of his tension returned. It was a feeling of unease. A driving need to…he wasn’t sure what he needed. There were only a couple of things that helped, fighting, fucking and getting away from others, from confined spaces. Being out in the open. Stop and smell the roses, as he liked to call it.

Lance rolled his shoulders. He needed a walk in the gardens before meeting with the kings, to center himself. It looked like he had regained some of his favor. The last thing he needed was to get testy with Zane and fuck it up now.

There were worse things. He might just pop Brant in the face for being a dick. The male could bring out the worst in the best of males. What then? If he was lucky he’d end up shackled in the dungeon and at worst, dead. His blood ran cold at the thought. He started jogging. Best he shower and smell some fucking roses since his human was not available.
His?
He grit his teeth. In a way she was, although, not in the classic sense. They weren’t exclusive and he had no plans on a relationship but she’d better not try and bring another male to her bed. Not if she valued the other male’s life in any way. If that made him a colossal prick and a bastard, then so fucking be it.

****

“Thank you for coming.” Brant adjusted his tie. It was pink. Made his king look motherfucking cute. Lance had to hold back a laugh. The male unbuttoned his double breasted suit and hung it carefully in a chair back.

Gold cufflinks caught his eyes. How could they not? They each had a black diamond and the male’s initials on them.

“Yeah.” Zane sighed. He ran a hand down his leathers. The male’s short sword was still sheathed at his back. They were so different, how they managed to share a female, to be in a relationship together, was beyond him. Then again, they had fallen into their separate rolls when it came to the running of the covens. They bolstered each other’s strengths and filled each other’s weaknesses so maybe the same could be said for the bedroom and, of course, their relationship in general.

“Let’s get down to business.” Brant strode back towards them and took a seat. “The human faction responsible for the abductions of the human women, and the near fatal attempt on Zane’s life, is becoming a nuisance.”

“Putting it mildly,” Zane growled.

“We’re done with taking the defensive on this. We’re done waiting to see what they do next.” Brant passed them each a file. “We’re done waiting to see what they do next.”

“Operation
Kill the Motherfuckers
, as I like to call it, commences next week.” Zane smiled, his fangs erupted and his eyes glowed a tad red for a split second.

Brant shook his head. “It’s called Operation Finding Nemo. We find the fuckers and make sure that they’re brought to justice. We will be working with human law enforcement on this.”

“Excuse my intrusion, my lord.” Titan leaned forward. “There was at least one Sweetwater police officer involved in all of this. Chances are that there will be more.”

Gideon’s upper lip curled back. He was quite obviously remembering the human that had abducted his female. The one that was now buried without a heart. Stealing weak human women to frame the vampires. These faction members were cowardice fuckers.

“That’s why we won’t be working with any of the local authorities,” Zane said. “The FBI is sending in a team, a special task force. The president wants this taken care of as a matter of urgency. This type of vigilante behavior could quickly turn south. The last thing he wants is war with the non-humans. Since it’s the last thing we want as well, we’re all in. We’re sending a team in of our own.”

“
The Program
is important to us. We want the newly mated couples to reproduce…” Brant looked pointedly at Gideon and then at Griffin. “We also feel that it would be best if males with females that are with child should remain on vampire territory. We don’t want to cause unnecessary stress that would put our future offspring at risk.”

Lance eyed Brant, frowning. What did this have to do with him?

He was not the right person to head-up such a task. Not a fuck. His fuse was too short. Dying for such a long time would do that to a male.

Lance continued to look around the room. York sat stony faced opposite him, the male was the leader of the Royal Guard and headed up the Elite Team. A position Lance had been stripped of. It left no bad taste since he deserved everything he had been dealt. He had gone over the edge and in a bad way. York was mated and his female was with child.

Then there was Lazarus, second to York. Not only was he mated, but his female was expecting the first vampire/human set of twins.

Gideon headed up the general guard. Mated to a female from his past. From his scent, Lance could tell that he was practicing hard for a baby. He bit back a smile.

That left Titan, Griffin and the young buck, Elliot. Titan headed up the human guard and Elliot and Griffin were his seconds. That left either Titan or Elliot.

He breathed out a sigh. It wouldn’t be him. Thank fuck. He would be happy to hunt down a bunch of human assholes—more than happy—but holding hands with human law enforcement while doing so…not so much. Bringing them in alive…wasn’t happening.

“We want you to head up that team, Titan. You will represent our people.” Zane gave the male a hard pat on the back. “We have the utmost trust in you to do right by us.”

“What Zane is trying to say is don’t fuck it up. We will be expected to bring them in. It’s not a witch hunt. The perpetrators will be expected to stand trial.” Brant leaned forward, elbows on his thighs. “But…the odd casualty is to be expected.” His expression turned outright predatory.

Titan shook his head. “I am not the right male for the job.”

Zane made a snorting noise. “You’re professional, level headed, and the decision has been made.”

“With all due respect, unmake it. I’m not…good around humans. I don’t understand them.”

“What’s to fucking understand?” Brant growled. “You are around humans every day in your current position.”

Titan clenched his jaw. “That’s different. Will I have to work closely with any human females?”

“Yes. Her nickname is Ball Breaker so I think you’ll be okay.” Brant looked amused.

Titan scowled. “I can’t do it then.”

“It happened close on a year ago. You were punished…fuck, Titan, leave it alone. Move the fuck on.” Zane narrowed his eyes on the male.