A Mate for Lance (The Program Book 5) (13 page)

“You had better freaking mean it,” a feminine voice sounded from across the room. “If you are rude to even one of my guests.” The queen pointed her finger at him. “Hell, if you are rude to one of the staff, I’ll crush your—”

“Lance will be on his best behavior, sweetness. I assure you. Where is my son?”

Tanya wheeled the stroller in. She put a finger over her lips. “Shhhh….he’s sleeping.” She smiled.

Females, they were a strange bunch. She just finished yelling at him not a half a minute ago and now she was telling them to be quiet. It didn’t make sense.

“Still takes his midday nap like clockwork.” With that, she wheeled the stroller through to another room.

“Well, that went okay.” Zane sighed. “She was quite nice to you, considering.”

“I heard that,” Tanya said as she walked back in. “I won’t take any shit. I understand that emotions were high. That you had just died and were in a bad place. You know what… I don’t understand. The things you did.” She looked at him with such disappointment. “Awful, cruel, demented.”

“I am deeply ashamed.” Lance bowed his head. “I can only hope that Stephany will be able to forgive me some day.” He meant it. He finally felt free. Ready to face his past head on.

“I wouldn’t count on it.” Tanya pursed her lips for a second. “Zane wants you as godfather to his son. I’ve done everything to try and change his mind.
Everything.
” She looked at her nails. “He wouldn’t budge.” Her eyes blazed.

“You’re killing me, Ysnaar.” Zane sounded pained. “Please can we move on? Please can you try and understand?”

It was both hilarious and disconcerting watching a grown male, an alpha in his prime, bow down to a small, weak female. It was laughable.

She stared at her mate for a second, her expression hard. Then it softened, her whole demeanor softened. “It’s been just as hard on me as well. I miss you.” She sighed.

Oh damn.

This was his cue. Yet again. Twice in one fucking day.

“No…” Zane growled. “I assure you that it’s been way harder on me.”

“You poor baby.” Such a ridiculous endearment. Humans loved it. He’d used it on them himself a few times and they lapped it up.

Tanya plonked herself on Zane’s lap and wrapped her hands around his neck.

“Can I be excused?” Lance stood up. Fuck! He couldn’t just leave. Zane might be his friend but he was still the king. He needed to be dismissed first.

Zane ignored him and nuzzled into his mate’s neck. One of his big hands squeezed her breast. Great. Zane would have his balls if he didn’t leave but he might have his balls if he left without being dismissed. The male was clearly no longer thinking clearly. No longer thinking, period.

“Um…my lady… I know you’re used to a third person in the room at such times but have mercy on me.” Lance growled his frustration as he watched the queen straddle Zane.

Tanya broke the kiss. “Why are you still here?”

“Go away,” Zane growled. “We’ll chat later.” He added between sloppy kisses.

Thank fuck. He high tailed it out of there, glad he was no longer a Royal Guard. Standing outside those double doors could be pure torture.

“How long have you been a part of the Elite Team?” Amber gave a shake of the head when the waiter tried to put a dessert plate in front of her. “No, thank you.” She added the last with a smile.

“It’s a dark chocolate torte and coffee ice cream with a caramel brittle. It’s the chef’s specialty.” Brynn smiled.

“I can’t believe how much you guys eat,” she said. “I really thought that you were all on liquid diets only.”

“Nah, we eat. Some of us more than others. We only really need a small amount of food but we wouldn’t be able to cope long-term without blood. Those of us that train daily and have higher muscle mass need more food, and more blood as well.” He paused, thanking the waiter as he put down a piece of pie. It looked amazing but she stuck to her guns. All of these three course meals were just too much. She didn’t need dessert every day.

“Vampires have ultra-fast metabolisms,” he added, as he picked up his fork.

“I noticed,” she mumbled, feeling a little envious at the narrow hips and lean physiques. They were pure muscle. Not an ounce of fat on any of them.

Brynn laughed. “It can be a bit of a pain. Blood both feeds and helps to slow down our metabolisms enough so that we can absorb the food we eat. If we don’t feed regularly our systems go into overdrive.”

“Bloodlust becomes a problem.”

He looked at her sideways. “They did a good job in training I see. Yup, bloodlust would become a factor.”

“They covered the most important things.” She gave a small shrug. “So, how long have you been an Elite?”

He looked shy for a moment, looking down at his plate instead of at her. Then he forked off a piece of chocolate tart before looking back at her. “A few weeks.”

“New then, wow, and you made
The Program
?” She was impressed. Brynn did strike her as a bit younger than the rest. “We were told that only the strongest, most badass vampires make it.”

He blushed. What a sweet guy. “Yeah well, I was involved in an incident some time back. My right arm was blown off and I lost part of my face.”

Amber gasped. She could feel that her eyes were wide. “That can’t be.” She touched his arm and it felt completely normal.

Brynn laughed. “My arm is real, I assure you. We have the ability to regenerate lost limbs, teeth, hair.” He paused. “Didn’t they teach you that in training before coming here?”

She shook her head. “No, that was not part of the curriculum.”

“Yup. The vehicle we were traveling in was hit by a short-range missile. I was lucky to be on the passenger side in the front because the vehicle was hit on the left.”

“Where did it happen? Why on earth would someone do that? Were they found? The guys that did it, that is.” She sounded like a blithering idiot but that couldn’t be helped.

Brynn held up a hand and smiled. “Um… I can’t tell you where it happened or why it happened. That’s classified.” He turned his eyes to the ceiling for a moment. “I probably shouldn’t even be telling you any of this; but it’s a bit late now, so I might as well finish. The guys who shot us were found, and that’s all I can say on that.”

“Good, I hope they’re rotting in jail.”

He lifted his eyebrows to signal that he couldn’t speak about it.

“Sorry, I’ll stop asking all these questions.”

“Thank you.” He smiled, looking relieved. “I’ll tell you what I can. The missile hit. It blew the vehicle up. We rolled a number of times. The SUV caught on fire. It was bad.” A haunted look crossed his face. “I managed to kick out the front windshield, which was surprisingly still attached. Badly broken but there. The smoke was thick. I could feel my skin burning… I’m sorry, are you very squeamish?”

“I’m glad I didn’t take the dessert but no, I’m not squeamish.” She shook her head. The poor guy. It sounded horrific. “Please, continue.”

He regarded her for a second, as though to make sure she was willing to hear more before resuming. “My first instinct was to get the hell out but then I remembered my teammates. Harris and Ben were good males. I couldn’t leave them…or at least…what was left of them.” His jaw clenched and she watched him take a deep breath as he composed himself. He put his fork on the plate in front of him. “They were in bad shape. Ben was…” He paused and blew out a puff of air. “He had taken the brunt of the explosion. I knew he was gone so I looked back at Harris. The male was seriously fucked up…like, seriously.”

Brynn had said that he was the lucky one and his arm was missing, part of his face gone. She couldn’t imagine how bad the others must have been. She didn’t really want to.

He gave a flat laugh. “I only realized that my arm was missing when I tried to grab Harris. I finally managed to get the male out and went back for Ben. I had to go back three times.”

“Why would you have to go back three…sorry—” Shit! His teammate had been in pieces. He had to go back so many times to bring everything back. The horror of what Brynn had suffered settled on her. “I understand,” she whispered, feeling a little light-headed.

Brynn nodded. “I got them out but sustained first degree burns across seventy percent of my body. If I want to get technical, I would say eighty percent since I was missing about ten.” He smiled. “My king named me a hero. Zane was proud; he said that I could’ve died trying to save the others.”

“I take it that they didn’t make it?”

Brynn looked away. His throat worked. By his reaction, she could see what the outcome had been and felt terrible for asking. “No. I had to try though. I know that both of them would have done the same for me. Any male for that matter.”

“You are a hero.” She touched his arm.

Brynn smiled. “I had already made the Elite Team and was awaiting transfer. Zane knew my feelings about human females and wanting a mate, so he offered me a place in
The Program
as a reward for my bravery. He said that I had proven myself as one of the very best.” His chest puffed out. It was so cute.

“And here you are.” Amber smiled.

“Yup. I almost didn’t accept the position. I felt guilty but Zane talked me into it and I’m glad he did.” Brynn sat back. He looked her in the eye. “Here I am. The luckiest male in the room because I’m sitting with the prettiest female.”

“I’m more than just a pretty face, you know?” she teased.

Brynn grinned. “For sure. You also happen to have a banging body.” His eyes drifted down.

“Hey.” She could see that he was teasing her but gave him a slap on the arm anyway.

“I’m only joking.” He laughed. “Okay maybe I’m not joking. You are pretty and you do have a banging body but there is more to you. So much more. I really like you, Amber. I’m hoping you’ll let me walk you back to your suite today. That you might let me in this time.”

She couldn’t do it. There was no way. The plan had been to take Brynn up to her room but not to let anything happen between them. In the hopes of Lance becoming jealous but now she realized she couldn’t use Brynn like that. Give him false hope and hurt him.

“I can see that you’re thinking about it, but I can also see that my chances are not very good.” He pushed a hand through his hair. “We don’t have to rut. I mean, we can if you want but we don’t have to. We could fool around a bit. Hell, we could just talk if it would make you feel better.”

“Look, Brynn…”

He made a groaning noise and scrubbed a hand over his face. But he smiled at her, giving it his best. Such a cutie. If it weren’t for Lance… It irritated her to even think it. He was nothing to her. He never would be yet here she was, unable to date the others because she was sleeping with him. Thing was, she wasn’t attracted to the others like she was to Lance. It was a dilemma. It sucked big time.

“Okay,” Brynn said. “Let me have it.” He squeezed his eyes shut.

Amber let out a nervous giggle when he cracked open one eye. Then he opened them both and was serious again. She licked her lips. “I just don’t feel that way about you. I want to, I really do, but I don’t. I don’t know what to say. I wish it were different.”

“Give it more time. We’ll—”

“I don’t think it’s going to help. I like you, Brynn, but more as a friend.” Amber couldn’t string him along. “It wouldn’t be right. There are others that might—”

“I’m not interested in anyone else.” He grabbed her hand and squeezed but then immediately released her. “I’m not giving up just yet.”

She shook her head. “You’re wasting—”

“No, I’m not.” Brynn leaned over and kissed her cheek. “It’s my decision to make. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He stood up.

“Have a good night.” What a lame thing to say. Argh!

He smiled. “I’ll try not to cry myself to sleep.”

Amber rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right.”

Brynn laughed as he strode away. Her gaze moved to her right and she had to smile. Bethany and Joshua were staring lovingly into each other’s eyes. They become inseparable since the guy had stayed with her when she had overindulged. He had stayed the whole night. He’d fed her the next morning. Literally held the fork and fed her. He never once tried to take advantage. Bethany had been the one to make all the moves, which did not surprise Amber at all. They had since done the dirty and her friend couldn’t stop raving about what a good lover he was. Something in her squeezed. There was only one thing to do about this Lance thing. She had to end it. He was holding her back. She couldn’t meet other people while they were sleeping together.

She sighed.

“Hi, beautiful.” Kai beamed at her.

Oh boy.

“Can I get you a drink?”

If she accepted, it would only be because she was trying to delay the inevitable. A face off with Lance. Being the egotistical asshole that he was, he wouldn’t accept her request that he leave her alone. He would think that she was being coy or playing games with him. Thing was, she was done playing games. Hopefully, she could get him to see that.

Best she get it over with. Amber shook her head. “No thanks. I’m bushed. I think I’ll head for my room.”

“You have an unhealthy fascination with your vibrator.”

She felt her cheeks heat. “Come again…” Then she realized that he would take the request as literal and quickly added. “No, I don’t.”

“Don’t get me wrong.” He gave her a half smile that most women would find incredibly sexy. “There’s nothing wrong with a healthy sexual appetite or sexual gratification. I just wish you would give the real thing a try some time. By your scent I can tell that you use the device frequently. Know that I am here should you change your mind.”

They had explained in training that vampires were very open about their sexuality. That this type of conversation was perfectly normal. She would never get used to it.

“I can see that I have embarrassed you. It was never my intention.” He laced a loose stand of hair behind her ear. “I like you, Amber. It wouldn’t be merely sexual. I hope you know that.”

She nodded, not sure what to say.

“I’ll leave you now.” Kai gave her a wink and left.

She really didn’t need another conversation like this. It embarrassed the hell out of her that they all thought she was…using her vibrator regularly. That they could smell it on her. It would be way worse if anyone found out about Lance though. She grabbed her purse and headed for the hotel. Titan fell in next to her.

He gave a little laugh.

Amber glared at him, wishing he didn’t know about her and Lance. Would they laugh at how humorous it was, like Titan was right now? “It’s not funny,” she said, pursing her lips.

“It really is.”

“No it is not.” She tried to sound stern but he wasn’t buying it.

“You do realize that there have been, no less than, nineteen orders placed for vibrators.”

“What?” Her voice was filled with disbelief.

“Yup.” Titan nodded his head. “Since the humans discovered that vampires like the idea of a female using one, many of them have placed an order. There have been plenty of orders placed from online clothing stores as well. All for business suits and dresses. You have made quite the impression.”

“They’re crazy,” she said, dumbfounded. “I don’t think using a vibrator is going to make a vampire want you more…would it?”

He shook his head. “Some of them are desperate…or so it would seem.”

“Wow.” She giggled. “And to think that I don’t even own a stinking vibrator. Not even one.”

“That’s what’s so funny.”

“It still isn’t funny though. Not really.” She chewed on her lip. “I have to break it off with him.”

Titan held up his hands. “I’m the last person you should be talking to. I’m bad with females.”

She frowned. “No, you’re not. I think you’re awesome.”

He shrugged. “Thanks. I told you that I almost hurt a female once, well, the vampire females know about it. None of them will give me the time of day.”

“Sheesh! That’s harsh,” she said, turning to face him. Her suite door was to her back.

He shrugged again, his face took on a strained look. “I deserve it.”

“You’re being a bit hard on yourself, Titan. Maybe if you let it go and stopped beating yourself up about it, others would too.”