A Mate for Lazarus (The Program Book 3) (17 page)

He could see the drive written in her eyes, could
see the sheer determination. This was important to her.

“I will help you. We can speak with them…together,
but you need to let this go if it doesn’t work out. Promise me that you will
not go behind my back?” He picked up the notepad. “If this got out…” Everything
in him tensed. His heart clenched painfully in his chest. “You would be asked to
leave.” Lazarus cupped her jaw and ran a finger across the full expanse of her
bottom lip. “You are important to me, Alexandra. I have a feeling that you
might be everything to me and I hope to be able to have the chance to become
everything to you.”

Her lower lip quivered. Her eyes glistened.
Alexandra nodded.

“I’m not moving too fast am I?”

She shook her head and smiled. “I’m glad you
understand. I’m glad you’re going to help me and I’m glad about the other stuff
too.” She threw her arms around his neck and pushed herself against him.
Lazarus picked her up and carried her to the bed.

The
next day…

They went at it like wild animals all night long. Or
at least it had felt like all night. They had sex after he found the notebook.

Later, Lazarus had woken her up during the night.
Technically, his tongue inside her vagina had woken her up. It was sinful and
pure torture what he could do with his mouth.

The guy was an expert at holding back his orgasm. It
was something she had never experienced before. She could actually feel him
shaking from the sheer effort and could hear it in his voice when he finally
let loose and let himself go.

He had bitten her again.
Multiple-scream-the-walls-down orgasms had resulted. At least she had been
expecting the spine tingling pleasure this time round. Someone had screamed for
them to shut up. There was banging on the wall. None of it mattered. She found
that she didn’t care, at least not in that moment.

In the cold hard light of day, she felt like hiding.
Her muscles were sore. She hurt in places she didn’t even know existed. Her
vagina was tender. Walking like a cowboy was a new saying in her vocabulary.

Lazarus had left just before the sun rose. He kissed
her goodbye and told her that he would meet her at the event later.

The event.

She had no reason to feel nervous and yet, she was
feeling sweaty with clammy palms. Her tongue felt like it was plastered to the
roof of her mouth. Her lips felt dry.

“Hey.” Sarah arrived minutes behind her.

The guys were all at the front of the large room and
both Zane and Brant were in attendance, as was Griffin. By looking at the guy no
one would ever say that he was dead just yesterday.

“Hi.” Alex smiled at Sarah.

“Don’t look so nervous…you’re pale.”

“You mean more pale than normal?” Alex smiled and
this time it was for real.

“Well…” Sarah sighed. “My bags are all packed, but I
really am okay with going home. There is of course a small part of me that
wishes that things had been different.” She shrugged. “What can you do? It is
the way it is.” Then she narrowed her eyes at Alex. “You missed breakfast. I
heard that someone was making a ton of noise last night.”

Alex lifted her hands. “Who me? No way. You heard
wrong.”

“I don’t think so. One of the ladies is right next
door to you…” Sarah sniggered. “She said that aside from the screaming and the
grunting, that there was a headboard hitting against the wall repeatedly. I
think she may or may not have used the word marathon.”

Alex felt her cheeks heat.

“So the two of you are getting along?” Sarah
grinned.

She nodded. “It’s all going way too fast for my
liking.”

“That’s how they are though. Vampires know when they
have found the one. Sometimes even immediately. It happened that way between
Jenna and Gideon. The moment he caught her scent for the first time, he was
tickets.” Then her eyes widened like maybe she’d said something she shouldn’t
have. “I saw Jenna this morning.”

“How is Gideon?”

“What do you know about the whole thing?” Sarah
asked.

“Not much, just that he was injured. When Lazarus
arrived at my room last night he was covered in blood.”

Sarah nodded. “Lazarus is a hero. A real hero. Did
he tell you that he stuck his fingers in Gideon’s wound so that he could clamp
the artery shut and stop the bleeding?”

“Really?” Alex could believe it.

“Jenna was completely hysterical. Gideon lost
consciousness and was pretty much bleeding out. As you know, silver is
poisonous to vampires so if he had died then he may very well have stayed
dead.” Her eyes were wide and she spoke using elaborate hand gestures. “Lazarus
didn’t hesitate, just stuck his fingers in there, held on for dear life and
Gideon is going to be okay. He still has to gain consciousness. Jenna is beside
herself with worry.” The other female sucked in a deep breath. “According to
the healers it could be another day or two at least before he comes around. You
see he hasn’t been—”

“Good morning.” Brant stepped forward, his voice was
raised. “Welcome and thank you for taking part. Let’s quickly go over the
rules. Shortly, I’m going to ask each of our males to pick a female. The male
can decide as to whether or not he would like to pick someone. In other words,
he may decline to do this.” The king looked around the room, sure to look into
each and every one of their eyes from time to time. He wore a tailored suit and
tie. Zane was at his side, still in his full leathers. His arms were folded,
his dark gaze brooding.

“Should a male pick you…” He was sure to look around
the room. “Please know that you may decline and go home if you wish. None of
you are under any obligation to stay. Also know that you’re free to go at any
time, should you decide to stay. For those of you that are not picked”—he
paused—“you will be escorted back to your room, given three hours to pack and
to say your goodbyes and then you will be escorted from the property. In light
of some recent events, there will be a full debriefing before you are
integrated back into human society. Know that plans have been put into place and
that all of you are safe whether you remain here on vampire territory or
whether you go back.”

“What recent events?” One of the women asked.

Brant and Zane exchanged looks. Alex knew that they
were referring to Jenna’s abduction.

“This is not the forum for such a discussion so I
will keep it brief. There are fascist groups that would like nothing better
than to see the downfall of the vampires. They are angered by the program and
do not believe that we should be permitted to mate with human females. There
have been violent events.”

A murmur raced through the group of women.

“What violent events?” A woman shouted.

“Yes, we have a right to know.” It was the blonde,
Vanessa was her name.

It wasn’t lost on Alex that King Brant had said
events
instead of
event.
Which depicted more than one.

“You will in due course. It is our hope to roll out
The
Program
. To have many more of our males take human females. Rest assured
that you will all be properly debriefed and assisted with your reintegration.
Should anything go wrong, this would greatly affect
The Program
and I
for one would not stand for that. We greatly appreciate your efforts and you
will be well rewarded.”

On that note, the atmosphere in the room lightened
significantly. “Will we be able to come back?”

Brant pursed his lips for a few seconds. “It is not
completely out of the question. Though not for any of these males standing
before you, as compatibility was not proven. However, it is a possibility for
future males that enter into
The Program
.”

Again, his words seemed to appease the group. They
were still in with a chance then. The disappointment was still palpable as many
of the women knew that they were not going to be picked. Alex swallowed hard.
She tried not to look at Lazarus who was talking to the person next to him.

“Right, let’s get this over with.” Brant folded his
arms.

“You first, Griffin.” Zane growled.

The vampire in question took a step forward.
Swallowing hard, he crossed and uncrossed his arms several times before
stuffing his hands into his pockets. Then he shook his head. “Give me a
minute.”

“What is there to fucking think about? If you have
to think about it, you shouldn’t choose anyone.” Zane’s full attention was on
Griffin.

Brant raised his brows.

“It’s not as simple as that,” Griffin mumbled.

“Fine.” Zane shook his head and pointed at the next
vampire in line.

“No one,” the guy growled. Two more guys decided
that they weren’t choosing anyone as well. The next one however, did say a name
and the girl jumped up and down squealing.

Lance stepped forward. “No one.” His voice was a
deep growl. His eyes were so stormy that they looked dark instead of the beautiful
light blue she knew they were. It was a good thing that he hadn’t chosen
anyone. Hopefully he would be a bit more sensible in the next heat. Alex
somehow doubted it though. Sarah’s words ran through her mind. He did seem
wounded. Like someone had deeply hurt him. It didn’t excuse his behavior, but
Alex found herself feeling sorry for him anyways.

Two more guys stepped forward, each one of them
picked one of the ladies with the same reaction. Squealing, clapping, big
smiles.

It was ridiculous.

Did they have no control?

It was women like these that gave humans a bad name.
Then Lazarus stepped forward. Her heart was pounding in her chest. This was it.
Those dark intense eyes focused on her. He threw her a lopsided grin that had
her panties catching fire. “I choose…Alexandra.”

A squeal somehow managed to escape her. Instead of
prancing on the spot like the others had done, she pranced right over to the
big, beautiful vampire and threw herself into his arms. He caught her while
making a growling noise. The hilt of one of the swords and what felt like the
hilt of a smaller knife dug into her legs but she didn’t care. She kissed him.
Square on the lips. No holds barred. So what if everyone was watching.

“Enough,” Brant growled.

“Leave them.” She could hear that Zane was laughing.
“I can’t believe that this fucker found a human female that actually wants
him.”

Lazarus chuckled as well. “I will have you know that
my female thinks that I am a big, cuddly teddy bear.”

“Like fuck!” Zane snorted.

“I changed my mind,” Alex said.

“Yeah.” Lazarus growled low. “After you saw my
cock.”

“Shut up.” She slapped him on the arm.

“Quiet.” Brant looked pissed. “Griffin…it’s now or
fucking never.”

She slid down Lazarus’ body and turned to face the
vampire in question. Oh wow! He was actually sweating. Then he gave a god-awful
growl. “Sarah…I pick Sarah.” He looked torn. It was the only way to describe
it.

“What?” Sarah shook her head. “No! Why? No!”

“Are you refusing? Do you wish to return home?”
Brant stepped forward.

“Um…” Sarah’s eyes darted from left to right.

“She needs to think about it,” Alex blurted. “Can
she please have the three allotted hours?”

“I don’t need to think about it.” Sarah’s hands flew
to her hips.

“Be quiet.” Alex made her eyes wide. “Just take the
three hours. This has been a bit of a surprise.”

“Why did you pick me?” Sarah’s eyes narrowed on Griffin.

He shrugged and toed his boot into the woolen
carpet. “You tried to help me.”

Sarah grimaced. “You’re welcome. There, you’re off
the hook. I don’t want your pity. You didn’t have to pick me out of some false
sense of obligation.”

“Look…” His eyes blazed. “This is not about pity.”
He said through his teeth. “We can discuss it…in private.” His eyes darted
around the room.

Sarah sighed. “This isn’t a good idea.”

“Give it some thought…you know where to find me if
you want to talk.” He said as he spun around and left the room.

Sarah chewed on her lower lip, her eyes wide.

“I need to go to her.” Alex whispered.

Lazarus tightened his arms around her. “Let her have
some time to process this. She might want to go and see Griff…she should go and
see Griff…”

“I know…I need to go and talk her into it.” Alex
leaned back, enjoying the feel of his arms around her.

“No…give her some time and if she doesn’t go, then you
can go and talk some sense into her. Besides…” He leaned in so that his mouth
was against her ear.

A shiver ran up and down her spine. He inhaled
deeply. “You smell amazing.” Then he seemed to snap out of it. “I want to
celebrate.”

“And by celebrate…” She let the sentence die, knowing
exactly what he was referring to.

A loud wail drew her attention. Most of the women
had not been picked, including Vanessa who looked distraught. At least she
wasn’t crying. A couple of the women were sobbing openly though.

Lazarus brought her attention straight back to him
by grinding his hardening erection against her ass. “Are you up for it?”

“Certainly feels like you are.” She had to smile. “Vampires
are insatiable.”

Lazarus chuckled, his chest vibrated at her back.
“Pretty much. I hope that’s not—”

“It’s fine…better than fine. Let’s get out of here.”

Lazarus reached down and gripped her thighs, then he
threw her over his shoulder and gave her ass a slap. Alexandra shrieked. She
couldn’t help it. The whole move was so unexpected. Everyone in the room seemed
to focus their attention on them.

Heat rose in her cheeks but it was probably from
hanging upside down as opposed to feeling embarrassed. Lazarus had his big hand
firmly over her ass so that her panties weren’t showing. Alex tried to keep
herself from squirming. His meaty ass looked so good in the jeans he was
wearing.