A Mate for Lazarus (The Program Book 3) (15 page)

“Wow! That is amazing.”

“We don’t have to worry about it since you don’t
ovulate when you’re on the pill. I’m going home tomorrow so I don’t have to
worry period. I’m actually looking forward to it.”

“I thought you wanted a vampire.”

“I thought I did.” She shook her head. “Lance ruined
it for me. None of the others will choose me…I don’t think I would want one of
the others anyway.” Sarah shrugged. “I’m cool with it. I’m more than ready to
go back home. I’m a school teacher, they’re using a substitute so my old
position is there for me.” She looked nostalgic. “I miss the kids they—”

There was a knock at the door. Sarah raised her
brows. “That will be my escort. I’ll see you later?”

“Definitely.” They both left together, walking in
separate directions since Alex went back to her room.

The rest of the day dragged by. There was some or
other excursion planned for the afternoon. It was by invitation only, something
along the lines of the picnic the day before. As expected, since Lazarus was
away on his mission, no one invited her. Alex would’ve respectfully declined if
they had.

Exclusive.

The word ran circles in her head. Dating. Oh god!
She was truly dating a vampire. What would her mother say? Then again, her mom had,
had countless boyfriends since her father’s death. First one, less than two
months after he passed. It had been a big bone of contention between them.

Alex put the phone down on the cradle. She’d ordered
in for dinner. The last thing she felt like doing was having to pretend that she
was having a good time. She was worried. Where the hell was Lazarus? This was
taking too damned long. Maybe something had happened.

She tried to sit back down to her writing but
couldn’t concentrate. Though she did feel like going out for a walk, she didn’t
want to run into any of the other women. To have to hear the spiteful remarks
or feel the stares as they scrutinized her. Lazarus was the new favorite and he
had made it clear that he was with her. They would be out for blood for sure.

There was a knock at the door. Alex sighed as she
got up off the sofa. It had to be someone dropping off her dinner. After
skipping breakfast and lunch, she had to eat something. With a turn of the
wrist, she opened the door.

Lazarus took up the entire frame. His face was tense
and his eyes were blazing.
Oh God!
He was covered in blood. His hands,
his arms and all across his vest and thighs. She could even smell its iron
stench.

“Jesus…what the hell happened?” Without thinking,
she grabbed ahold of him and pulled him into her room. Her gaze moved up and
down him, as did her hands. She needed to assess for damage.

“You shouldn’t be here. You need a hospital. How are
you feeling?” She was breathing too quickly and her voice sounded panicked, but
there was nothing she could do to stop the words that tumbled from her mouth.
“I know you’re a big, strong, superhuman but you are not infallible.”

Lazarus gripped her waist and pulled her to him.
“I’m fine,” he growled. “It’s not my blood.”

His eyes look haunted.

She swallowed hard. “It’s not?” She took a few deep
breaths, trying to calm herself down. “That’s good to know. Whose is it? Can
you tell me what happened?”

“It’s classified.”

Alex nodded, she dropped her gaze to his chest
before looking back into his dark eyes. “I understand.”

He made a frustrated noise and ran a hand through
his hair. “I’m going to tell you anyway. I know I can trust you, Alexandra.”

She nodded. It was true. He could trust her. A huge
burden lifted off of her shoulders. There was no way that she was going to
betray this man or the vampire people. It didn’t mean that she wasn’t going to
fight to run the story, it just meant that she was going to have to find
another way to do it.

She smiled at him. “I appreciate it.”

“First I need to shower. I need…never mind.”

“What do you need? Maybe I can arrange it for you.”
She walked over to the side table and picked up the phone. It was an internal
line only.

He shook his head, then ran a hand through his hair
again. “No. That won’t help me. Don’t worry about it.” He took two steps
backwards while he spoke, he turned and disappeared into the bathroom. The door
stood wide open and she heard the shower sputter to life.

Alex had to smile. If she took one small step to the
right, should be able to watch him. As tempting as that sounded, it didn’t feel
right so she turned and strode to the window. There wasn’t really much to look
at. There was just the courtyard in front of the hotel in the rear of the
castle.

For a moment there, she was sure that he had been
injured. Seeing all that blood had made her heart race and her palms feel
sweaty. The last time she had felt that way was when she was told about her
father’s accident. When she walked in to a hospital room and saw him lying
there for the first time. It was the worst moment of her life.

Alex squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to remember
anything about that day.

There was the sound of someone clearing their throat
behind her. Alex turned. She had to stop her jaw from dropping. She seriously had
to work to stop herself from making any weird noises. Lazarus’ hair was still
dripping wet. Rivulets of moisture ran down his naked chest. A fluffy white
towel was secured low around his waist. “I’m sorry.” He tucked the material in
more securely. “My clothes are ruined. Shouldn’t have come here first.”

“No, I’m glad you did. What happened out there?”

“Jenna was kidnapped by her dickhead ex-boyfriend. I
don’t want to get into too many details about that. It’s not my place to talk
about her private life.”

Such a gentleman.

Her heart warmed. “I completely understand and
respect that.”

“Jenna is Gideon’s mate. They’ve been seeing each
other. Again, I don’t want to get into that.”

“Gideon isn’t one of the elite ten? It is against
the rules for him to be dating Jenna. Again, I understand.” She held up a hand.
“I really do.”

There was a knock at the door. “I’m sorry. That
would be my dinner. Didn’t feel like going out.”

His eyes darkened and his jaw tensed. “I’m glad you
didn’t. I only wish you had gone to my place.”

She chewed on her lip for a few beats. “I probably
would have.”

There was another knock.

“Coming.” Jenna said, raising her voice.

It was another gorgeous vampire woman, this time in
a tiny little black dress complete with a little frilly, white apron. She wore
dangerously high heels and had the reddest, shiniest lips Alex had ever seen. In
short, she was a stunner. “Your dinner.” She held onto the tray in one hand.

“Um… Thank you. Come on in.”

Lazarus glanced at the woman who nodded her head in
greeting. He didn’t check her out like Alex expected. Not even one little bit.
His eyes stayed on her the whole time. Even when the woman bent over to put
down the tray.

“I appreciate that.” Alex said as she walked back to
the door and let the other woman out.

“My pleasure.” She gave a little curtsy and left.

“I’m sorry…you were saying?” Alex moved over to the
bed and sat down while watching as Lazarus folded his arms across his
magnificent chest.

“So, her dickhead boyfriend kidnapped her. Jenna
thankfully managed to convince him that the vampires would want her back and
that we would be willing to pay big money to make it happen.” He ground his
teeth. “Gideon organized the rendezvous point and went in alone. Then he went
against our entire plan and went after the fucker himself instead of waiting
for backup.” He uncrossed his arms and walked to the other side of the room.

It was really bad of her to notice in the situation,
but she couldn’t help it. His back was beautiful. Broad and muscular. Dripping
with water.

Lazarus turned around. “He was shot. The bastard
used silver bullets. One of the bullets nicked his femoral artery and Gideon
very nearly bled out. Fucking idiot.”

Alex could see that he cared for Gideon. “He did
survive though, right? And what about Jenna? I take it that she’s okay?”

“Aside from a couple of bruises and some scrapes and
scratches, his female is fine. Gideon will be down for a couple of days but at
least he will survive.” Lazarus’ eyes narrowed in on her. So intense in that
moment that he almost looked angry. “I thought about you the entire time. What
if it had been you instead of Jenna? What if something had happened to you? I
know it is soon, Alexandra, but…” He shook his head, looking agitated. He
scrubbed a hand over his face. “I shouldn’t be feeling things that I am
already, but I can’t seem to help it.”

Alexandra’s heart was pretty much beating out of her
chest. It felt good to hear him say that but it also scared her, mostly because
she felt the same way. “I know what you mean.” She bit down on her lip.

Lazarus closed the distance between them but didn’t
touch her as he stood before her. “I am touched that you were so worried about
me.”

She nodded. “I really was very worried…I also
pictured all these scenarios of what could happen.” Shit, they were having
another moment. A moment that would end with kissing which in turn would lead
to so much more.

“I’m glad, Alexandra.” He cupped her chin. “I’m
sensing that we are moving forward. That it is no longer a case of forwards
followed by backwards. I sense that you are onboard with us being together and
that you really mean it this time.” He stared deep into her eyes.

“I’m onboard.” She practically whispered. “I mean
it. I was so worried about you. I was scared that something had happened to
you. It made me realize that I want to see where this goes.”

He smiled. “You do realize that this cuddly teddy
bear can take care of himself? Humans don’t stand a chance against us. I’m a
good warrior. One of the best.” Lazarus’ cheeks heated just a smidgen.

He was so cute. So utterly adorable. Here he was,
trying to prove to her that he wasn’t a teddy bear. Even after earlier today on
that training field. Her statement had obviously gotten to him. She pressed her
lips together to stop herself from giggling. “Um…about that.”

His eyes narrowed but his grin widened. “Yeah…about
that…we will be discussing how you view me but not right now. Now is most
definitely not the time.”

“No?” Her heart leapt up into her throat. “We just
had a moment didn’t we?”

“Oh yes…one hell of a moment. I want you,
Alexandra.” She had a feeling he wasn’t just talking about her in general but
her body as well.

She bit down on her lip. “I guess I still owe you a
blowjob.” The thought of taking his cock back into her mouth had things
puckering and clenching again. She didn’t care that he would be able to smell
it.

His eyes wrinkled in the corners before they turned
serious. Lazarus shook his head. “No.”

“No?” A breathy sigh.

“I’m going to kiss you now, Alexandra.”

“We had a moment so it stands to reason that we need
to kiss.”

“I’m not giving you a sweet, we-just-had-a-moment-kiss
though.” A rough growl.

“You’re not?” She sounded like some virgin teenager,
her voice all breathy and high pitched. Everything that came out of her mouth
was a copy of what he had said directed as a question.

“No way.” He moved in closer, his legs touched her
legs. Alex was forced to fall back onto her arms so that she could maintain eye
contact with him.

He climbed on top of her, keeping his weight on his
knees which were on either side of her. “We’re going to have a we’re-about-to-fuck-kiss
and then we’re going to have a we’re-all-out-fucking kiss.”

She swallowed hard. Oh god, they were really about
to do this. She should be running. “Sounds good. I could totally get onboard
with—” His hot mouth covered hers and his tongue breached her lips. From the
onset, it was clear that Lazarus wasn’t messing around.

There was a tugging feeling and then a ripping
noise. Goodbye dress! Both his big hands squeezed her boobs in unison. There
was more tugging and another ripping noise and her breasts were in his palms
again, this time skin to skin.

Lazarus growled. “So damned soft.” He gripped her
under her arms and pulled her up the bed so that she now lay in the center.

He ripped off his own damp towel and lay more firmly
on top of her. Alex opened her legs, wrapping them around him. She could feel
his cock, hard and heavy, against her inner thigh and against her core.

Alex rubbed herself up against it. The cotton of her
underwear abraded her clit. “You feel so damned good.” She was panting. Already
halfway to coming.

He dipped his head down and cussed. Lazarus pulled
himself onto his elbow. His gaze firmly on her boobs. His eyes were dark and a
little wild looking. When he finally got himself under control, she could feel
that he was breathing hard. “Your mamm…breasts…are…” He squeezed his eyes shut
and actually looked really pained. “They are so utterly…” He squeezed her twins
together and then let them fall. She could feel how her flesh wobbled before
they settled. Lazarus cupped them again, this time squeezing a bit harder, making
a grunting noise. “I’ve never…I…” he grunted. “Fuck!” he growled, lowering to
savor her nipples with his mouth and tongue.