A Mate for Lazarus (The Program Book 3) (6 page)

Not hardly
. “I didn’t realize
that vampires were colorblind. My panties are white and I’m not…” She sucked in
a deep breath. The rest of what she was about to say was an all-out lie. Alex
decided then and there that she would only lie if she really had to. She had to
draw the line somewhere. She clamped her mouth shut instead of answering.

“I was talking about your pussy. Pink and wet.” By
the look on his face she could see that he was being deadly serious.

She gasped, for about the hundredth time since
meeting him. “That’s disgusting.”

Lazarus shrugged. “Just stating facts. Do you want
to stay, Alexandra?”

She nodded even though there was a part of her that
knew she was about to navigate a slippery slope. “I do.”

Lazarus leaned forward, placing his elbows on his thighs
and clasping his hands in his lap. “We are attracted to one another. That much
is clear. I would like to get to know you better and see where this goes. If
you do not feel the same way then please, let’s save ourselves a lot of wasted
time. You should go now if that’s the case.” A deep frown marred his forehead.

Shit! He definitely smelled a rat. There was no way
that she was leaving, but she needed to proceed with caution. Her no sex rule
still applied…
big time
. It was even more applicable now that she knew
she was attracted to him. The whole no blood drinking rule applied even more.
She didn’t care if it was a deal breaker. It wasn’t happening. She would find a
way around it.

There was also the little pesky problem of his one
condition. She didn’t even know what it was yet. Maybe it was impossible. Alex
shook her head. “I don’t want to go. I would really like to get to know you
better.”

Lazarus huffed out a breath. He looked relieved.
Then he smiled. It was sweet and kind of shy. “I’m glad. I’m looking forward to
it.”

In that moment, Alex felt like the biggest bitch
alive. She had to force herself to smile back. She remembered something her
father once said. She hadn’t really understood it at the time.
Sometimes you
need to sacrifice to get the story. If the story is big enough, you might even
need to sell a piece of your soul. The best journalists are willing to do what
it takes.  

It suddenly felt like this was about to become one
of those times. One of those stories. She had this. She really did.

****

“You are a dick!” Lazarus growled as he advanced on
Lance. “Rutting that female in a place where all could see and fucking hear. I
was with a female…a potential mate. You could’ve fucked it up royally for me.”

The male shrugged, he didn’t look like he gave two
shits. “I’m sorry.” Like fuck he was sorry. “I didn’t even see you there. I
was”—he smirked—“kind of busy.”

Lazarus felt his temperature go up. Felt his muscles
tighten. “That’s not the point. Next time you take out your dick and stick it
into whichever human you’ve decided on for the day, make sure that you go
somewhere private. I don’t want to have to see your pale ass bouncing up and
down or hear your female’s pathetic cries ever again.”

“Pathetic?” The male frowned. It wasn’t lost on
Lazarus how Lance’s hands curled into fists. “Like fuck that was pathetic. She
came at least twice and damned hard.”

“I heard you guys talking and laughing straight
afterwards.” Lazarus smiled at the male. “Within five minutes you both walked
away. Sorry but that’s pathetic in my book. She should not have been able to
talk or fucking walk so soon after.”

“Fuck you!”

“No…fuck you, Lance! Next time I will excuse myself
for the two minutes it will take to rip your head from your shoulders. Are we
clear?”

Lance’s jaw tensed, his mouth became a thin white
line. His stare hardened.

“I said…are we fucking clear?” Lazarus widened his
stance, prepared to act if this loser didn’t concede.

The male knew that he was no fucking match for
Lazarus though. He tensed up even more before he finally spat, “Yes. We’re
clear.”

“Stop fucking around with the humans. They are not
like us vampires. From what I’ve heard and understand, they don’t rut with one
another like we do. They often place feelings with the physical act…especially
the females of the species. You are liable to hurt someone at this rate.” It
was always about number one with this dickhead. He had become impossible since
his mate had left him for another male. It’s not like they were really together
anyway. What the fuck was his problem?

Lance made a growling noise. “Don’t tell me what I
can and can’t do. With regards to rutting out there in public like that, I
really didn’t see you. I was wrong. It was supposed to be a quick fuck. No one
should’ve seen us.” His eyes shifted away from Lazarus. Like hell Lance had not
seen them there. He just didn’t care. The male didn’t seem to give a fuck about
anything but himself. He was a colossal prick in the first degree.

Then the bastard smiled for a second. “We are
permitted to rut with the humans at will. It’s open season right now. I hear
there’s new blood…a cute, little strawberry blonde.”

Lazarus felt his blood ignite in his veins. Felt the
air seize in his lungs. “Don’t fucking go there. She is mine.”

The pathetic excuse for a male all out smiled.
“Yours…?” He made a snorting noise and shook his head. “We’ll see about that.”

“Go near her and you die.” It was Lazarus’ turn to
smile.

“It’s open season motherfucker. Try and stop me.”
Lance’s smile turned into a shit eating grin. “I’ll show you who’s pathetic.
I’ll make her scream my name so many times that she will no longer be able to
say another male’s name again.” He made a groaning noise. “To have all those
lush curves bouncing on my—”

Lazarus saw red. He roared and leapt forward. “Shut
the fuck up!” Unfortunately there were others close by and they intervened by
grabbing both his arms. Griffin on the left and Jasper on his right.

Jasper was a big motherfucker, it was like a ton of
bricks weighed down that side. Griffin on the other hand was leaner muscle.
Lazarus managed to swing that arm and make sweet contact with Lance’s face. It
wasn’t hard enough to cause major damage but blood spurted. A third male
grabbed Lazarus around the waist. They pulled him back.

Lance laughed. He fucking laughed.

“Stay the fuck away from her,” Lazarus growled. He
knew that the male was goading him. That this was exactly the reaction the
dickhead was looking for, but he couldn’t help it. Feelings of possession
welled up inside of him. Fuck!

“You!” Griffin yelled beside him, his attention on
Lance. “Don’t say a fucking word, or so help me, I will let him go.” He made a
strained noise as Lazarus tried to break free. “Outside.” Griffin growled and
the three males jostled to the door. They dragged Lazarus with them.

He had to crane his neck as they moved but he kept
his attention on Lance who smirked and folded his arms across his chest. The
fucker planned to do it. Lazarus could see it in his eyes. He was going after
Alexandra. Lazarus growled, it would be the last fucking thing Lance ever did
so help him.

They were all breathing hard by the time they got
all the way outside. Once Lazarus could no longer see the other male, his anger
diminished to controllable levels. “You can let me go now.” He tried to yank
one of his arms free but Griffin held tight.

“Stop your shit,” Griffin growled. Lazarus forced
himself to relax.

“You’re not going to go charging back in there?”
Griffin asked, the male was breathing hard.

Lazarus shook his head. “No.” He shook himself free
and rolled his shoulders to try and relieve some of the remaining tension. It
didn’t help for fuck.

The other two males moved off. Griffin stayed right
where he was in front of Lazarus. “That was stupid.” The younger male shook his
head.

“He’s too fucking much,” Lazarus growled.

“All you managed to do was piss him off and alert
him to the fact that you have feelings for that new human. She went from being
interesting to a target.”

Everything in Lazarus tightened. “I’ll fucking kill
him if he-”

Griffin took a step towards him as he spoke.
“That’ll work really well. We both know you won’t actually kill the male but
you might end up hurting him enough to get yourself in the dungeon or worse yet
expelled from
The Program
. You’ll be exactly where he wants you. Out of
the way so that he can pursue that female.”

“Why the fuck is he even in
The Program
in the
first place?” Lazarus growled, frustration ate at him. “The last thing that
male is looking for is a mate. After all the shit he pulled, I can’t believe he
was even allowed to enter in the first place.”

Lance had only decided that he actually wanted his
estranged mate, Stephany, when she fell in love with a shifter. The deluded
male had gone after the shifter and had tried to kill him in front of Stephanie
while she clutched her newborn son. It didn’t get too much more fucked up than
that. There was a small part of Lazarus that had felt sorry for the male. Past
tense. Now, he was liable to kill him.

Griffin shrugged. “You need to learn to deal with
it. You forget that he almost died trying to save Stephany as well. That he is
a master with a sword and a loyal friend to our king.”

Lazarus nodded. All of those things were true. “He
has not been the same since Stephany left. That male is a little bit fucked in
the head and if he goes anywhere near Alexandra, I swear to God I will kill
him.”

“You only just met this female today right?” Griffin
smiled.

“Yeah…what of it?” Lazarus narrowed his eyes at the
other male.

“It’s just that you seem pretty into her already.”

Lazarus shrugged, trying to act nonchalant.

Griffin choked out a laugh. He shook his head. “You
need to keep in mind that she is a human. They do not possess our senses. They
like to use common sense when it comes to matters of the heart. They like to do
things slowly and methodically.”

Lazarus shoved his hands into his pockets. “I know
all of this.” He looked around for a moment before speaking again in an attempt
to change the subject.

“Have you found anyone?”

Griffin shook his head and smiled. “All the females
are taken. I will try again the next round.”

Lazarus frowned. “How can that be? There are twenty-five
females, make that twenty-six since Alexandra arrived, and only ten of us.”

“Lance has rutted most of them. There were one or
two that drew my interest early on but I’m not into sloppy seconds. Not where a
mate is concerned anyway.”

Lazarus rolled his eyes. “What is it that females
like about him so much? I don’t get it. None of them stand a chance of getting him
to mate them. I don’t know why they are wasting their time.”

Griffin shrugged and pulled a face. “I heard some of
the females talking. They say that he is pretty…”

Lazarus choked out a laugh. “Pretty?…You have got to
be kidding me. They think that fucker is pretty?”

The other male nodded. “Yup…he apparently looks like
some movie star. Only bigger and better looking…” Griffin held up his hands.
“I’m using their words not mine.”

Lazarus laughed.

“He projects this whole wounded, broken vibe. The
females know that he is fucking around with more than one of them and yet each
of those females is convinced that she can tame him. That she will be the one
that captures his attention and heart.”

“It’s not going to fucking happen. They do realize
that deep down don’t they?” One thing was for sure, Lazarus did not understand
human females. Not one bit.

Griffin shrugged. “I think it is all part of the
allure. I don’t understand it.” He huffed out a breath. “Let’s see what happens
in the next heat. I’m not choosing anyone to go to the next round. You? Are you
going to choose that cute, little human?”

Lazarus felt himself growl. He didn’t like that
Griffin was talking about Alexandra. Hated that he had called her cute. He was
so fucked.

Griffin laughed. “You have it bad. Really bad. I
never thought I would say this, but I’m actually glad I’m not you.”

“She fires my blood…that is for fucking sure, but”—Lazarus
shook his head—“until I know for sure what her intentions are…” He let the
sentence die. It was weird. Alexandra had seemed almost desperate to become a
part of
The Program
. Surely that meant that she wanted to be with a
vampire. The fact that she was willing to enter into this whole agreement in
the first place should mean that she was into him. Yet, it hadn’t seemed that
way at all.

Their kiss had been as explosive as fuck, yet she
seemed shocked about the whole thing. Shocked at her reaction to him. It didn’t
make any sense whatsoever. She wanted him but didn’t seem to like the fact.

Two more days until the next round. Lazarus planned
on getting to know her but he also planned on pushing her. Testing her. She
needed to convince him that she really wanted to be here. Now Lance planned on
fucking up his plans.