A Mate for Lazarus (The Program Book 3) (2 page)

Jenna
was a sight to behold. The red dress she was wearing clung to her every curve.
Gideon was one lucky fuck. He on the other hand was screwed and not in the way
he’d like to be either.

It
seemed that during the rest of the first heat, he was going to have to pretend
to be interested in Jenna. At least until Gideon grew himself a pair of balls
and faced the kings. It was easy to see that the male was completely head over
heels in love with the female. The only problem though was that he wasn’t one
of the elite ten that had fought their way in. Therefore, he wasn’t technically
allowed to date any of the human females, Jenna included.

The
male had been a complete idiot and had decided not to take part in the program,
citing that he had no interest in taking a human female or in starting a family
of his own.

Utter
bullshit.

At
least he wasn’t saying stupid things like
it’s not like that
or
it’s
not what you think
anymore. He had finally admitted that he had feelings
for the female. Lazarus must have a screw loose for agreeing to this whole
farce. He would need to pretend to really be into Jenna and even take her back
to his place later so that Gideon could have his way with her. Lazarus’ balls
were blue and throbbing, his dick seemed to harden up at even the most
inappropriate times. It was to be expected since he was no longer rutting with
the vampire females. The next female he took to his bed would be a human. And,
not just any human either. He wanted it to be someone he was serious about.
Someone who was serious about him right back. End of fucking story.

“Would
you like to dance?” He asked. He could scent how nervous Jenna was. How her
eyes kept moving around the room.

“Focus
on me. We need to act like we’re getting along. Right now, you have the
deer
in the headlights
look down pat.”

Jenna
chewed on her bottom lip for a few beats. “I’m sorry. It’s just that, you
know...” She made a pained expression. It was hard to believe, but the stunning
female in front of him was actually worried that Gideon might not show up.
Ridiculous! Up until now, she’d worn baggy clothes. The treasures she had been
hiding beneath the layers of fabric were obscene. Every vampire in the room had
his eyes on her and she was worried that Gideon wouldn’t show up?

“Everything
will work out. You will see.” He snagged a glass of champagne from the tray of
a passing waiter. “Down this,” he commanded. She already had one down the
hatch. Hopefully a second drink would help relax her more.

Jenna
shook her head. “I’m a cheap date and I’m not very pretty when I’m drunk. I’ve
been known to vomit on people.”

“Cheap
date?” He felt his brow furrow. “We don’t have to pay for the drinks, they are
on the house.”

Jenna
giggled and he couldn’t help but to smile right along with her. “No, silly,
it’s a human saying that means it doesn’t take much to get me drunk. Champagne
is the worst, goes straight to my head.”

He
nodded. “I understand. We are trying hard to learn the ways of the humans, but
up until recently, contact with you guys has been forbidden. We obviously still
have a lot to learn.” Lazarus downed the glass in one swig. The vampire
metabolism was far too quick for alcohol to affect them in any way. He
grimaced. “Not too bad, but it could’ve done with a shot or two of blood. About
that dance…” He raised his brows at her.

Jenna
nodded. “Alright.” She sighed. “I need to warn you, I have two left feet.”

What?
Come again. Before he could voice his thoughts, she carried on talking. “It
means I can’t dance to save my life.”

“Well,
in that case, don’t worry. I will dance well enough for the both of us.” He put
his hand to her lower back and ushered her towards the dance floor. They had
attended one social function after another during the last few days in an
attempt to try and enable the males to get to know the human females better.
Everything had been set up to mimic a dating environment. The idea behind it
was to allow the human females to be as relaxed as possible. For them to feel
at home.

With
this in mind, the large auditorium had been beautifully decorated. The humans
called it a cocktail party.
Cock
tail. The name made a lot of sense to
him since the program had been designed to ensure the continuation of the
vampire species. Their cocks would most certainly be required. Although not his
he reminded himself.
Not yet anyway.
Hopefully the next heat of the
program would be kinder to him. Or at the very least, his kings would select
females with a bit of fire in their veins to choose from.

The
dance floor was crowded. He put one arm around Jenna’s waist and his other hand
in hers. “Follow me and you’ll be just fine.” He winked at her.

Jenna
kept her eyes on him, oblivious to the eyes that tracked her. Those of the females
simply narrowed on her while many of the males took the opportunity to check
out her ass. Lazarus liked the female. He liked her a lot. For a moment, he even
felt a pang of jealousy when he thought about how he was going to have to hand her
over to Gideon later. Though he immediately felt guilty for even thinking that.
Although he liked Jenna and found her infinitely attractive, it wasn’t like
that between them. They were just friends.

Yet,
the feeling of jealousy over their connection lingered. How the hell was he
supposed to secure himself a female when they were so petrified of him? One
thing was for sure, there was no fucking way he was going to pretend he was
anything else other than himself. A vampire. Second-in-command to York. He was
the biggest and strongest of the elite. He may not be completely familiar with
human ways and sayings but he was no fool. Human females seemed to
automatically assume it though anyways. It pissed him the hell off.

He
pulled Jenna closer without actually touching her with his body. “Just relax
and follow my lead.” Lazarus kept it simple, using the hand on her waist to
move her where he wanted her to go. He smiled at her. “You most definitely
don’t have two left feet.”

Jenna
smiled back. “You’re being polite.”

“Who
me? Never.”

“Well
in that case, thank you. Please don’t try any fancy moves because this is about
as good as it gets with me as your partner.”

He
smiled at her as they continued to dance. His attention drifted to the far side
of the room. Vampires had superhuman capabilities. This included strength,
sense of smell, eyesight and hearing. Right now, Lazarus wished that superhuman
hearing wasn’t one of them.

A
few of the human females had gathered in a group. They were talking and giggling
amongst themselves. Lazarus wasn’t interested in listening in. He couldn’t give
two shits about what they were saying but he couldn’t help but hear them since
they were talking so damned loud.

One
of the human females, named Vanessa, had tried hard on the first night to win
over York, but when she failed she sank her claws into Lance instead. For the
most part, the male seemed to be amusing her. Lazarus didn’t think he was
genuinely interested though. Vanessa was some piece of work. Tall for a human
female with long blond hair and stunning blue eyes. With curves enough to make
a grown male forget how to speak coherently. Unfortunately, she seemed to have a
nasty streak to go with all that. It was like she was willing to do whatever it
took to get ahead, to get what she wanted, despite the consequences or how it
affected others.

She
leaned into the female next to her, using her hand to cover her mouth. “Looks
like the big oaf has a bit of rhythm.”

Lazarus
had to work not to roll his eyes. Why did they insist on talking so loudly?

The
female next to Vanessa giggled. “I dare you to go over and cut in. I’ve heard
that guys that can dance well are good in bed. It’s all in the rhythm.” They
laughed again.

Damn
straight. He was a fucking demon between the sheets, though he knew that none of
these females would give him the time of day or the opportunity to prove
himself.

He
could hear how Vanessa licked her lips. “A vampire that size must be hung like
an ox. No ways. He would split me in half.”

“Yeah.”
A third female joined in. “That is if you could get him to take his weapons off
prior to the actual event. He might end up accidentally killing you with one of
those way before he got his colossal dick anywhere near you.”

All
three of them laughed. “The first thing he said to me was that he thought I had
beautiful mammary glands… I kid you not… He actually used the words
mammary
glands
to describe my twins. How freaking caveman.”

They
all laughed.

“What’s
wrong?” Jenna asked. Her voice bringing him back to her instead of the distant
conversation.

“It’s
nothing. I worked out for quite a few hours in the gym today and may have
overdone it.” His body was tense as all hell but it had nothing to do with the
workout. It would embarrass him though to tell Jenna about what the other
humans were saying about him.

The
female in his arms smiled. She squeezed his trapezius muscle. “I’m sure you
have to work pretty hard to maintain a build like this.”

Lazarus
snorted. “Twice a day, six times a week. That excludes all the training
sessions on the field.” Lazarus frowned. “Can I ask you something?”

“Yes,
of course.”

“Am
I too big?” He sucked in a deep breath. “I’m damned tall and seriously stacked,
but is it too much? I’ve always worked hard at being the best, the strongest.
Vampire females love my physique yet human females seem to be afraid of me.” He
shrugged. “Maybe I’m not cut out for this program after all.”

Jenna’s
eyes softened and she chewed her bottom lip for a second. “Don’t say that.
Don’t listen to any of them. The truth is, is that you are a damn sight bigger
than most human men…” She smiled. “Come to think of it, I actually think that you’re
bigger than all the human men I have seen. That doesn’t mean there’s anything
wrong with you though, or that you can’t make a human woman happy. You have
amazing eyes, full kissable lips and really great hair. That whole 6 o’clock
shadow thing you have going on there, well, it really works.”

“My
eyes, huh?” A growling noise escaped him. “You called them amazing, yet they are
the color of mud.”

“They’re
brown.” She laughed. “They happen to be really dark and expressive. You have
really great eyelashes. Thick and black. Most women would kill for those.”

“What?”
He made a snorting noise. “I have eyelashes that belong on a female?” He shook
his head. “That’s terrible.”

“No
it’s not. I happen to think that a big, muscular guy with really beautiful eyes
is sexy.”

Lazarus
pretended to look around the room. “You’d better be careful, you’re going to
get me hurt talking like that. Gideon will break my nose… Again.”

“Shhhh.”
She put a hand to her lips. “No one can know.” She looked anxious as she spoke.

“Don’t
worry. It’ll all work out tonight, you will see.” He gave her waist another
squeeze, feeling another shot of jealousy.

Jenna
nodded. Gideon was definitely in way over his head with this female. Lazarus
did not think that there was any going back for the male. The way he looked at
her and spoke of her made it clear to Lazarus. It wouldn’t be long before
Gideon took Jenna as his mate. He could only hope that he would find a female
of his own as well. Right now, it didn’t look very promising. Not at all. He
had to suppress a groan of frustration.

The next day…

There
was no way in hell that she was accepting this treatment. No way whatsoever.
The letter in her hand clearly stated that she had been accepted into the first
heat of
The Program
. It stated that she would be notified of the
mandatory training session and final start dates.

No
one had contacted her and
The Program
had started without her. Her phone
calls to the vampires’ head office had resulted in her hair thinning from
pulling the strands out, since no one would help her.

Out
of pure desperation, she stood at the main gate. The guard had finally allowed
her onto vampire territory so that they could talk without being surrounded by
protesters. Not that being inside the gates was helping her any.

“There
is no way that you are one of the chosen human females.” The guard said, his
eyes weary.

“There
must be a way because I am one.” She put her hands on her hips and sucked in a
deep breath. “Call whoever it is that is in charge. This is completely
unacceptable. Read this letter.” She waved a piece of paper under the stupid
head’s nose.

The
idiot guard looked confused. His eyes were wide and a gigantic frown appeared
on his forehead. She was in for a treat if all the vampires were like this.

“It
doesn’t matter what that paper says,” he said. “All the females are here and
accounted for. My king will have my—”

Alex
sucked in a breath, intent on arguing.

“What’s
going on here?” A huge ass motherfucker stepped up.

Hallelujah.
“Finally,” she said, as she turned her eyes on him. Maybe this guy could help.
Maybe he had some sort of authority and could do something. Despite his bulging
muscles, his eyes glinted with what looked like intelligence. A girl could
hope. “I’m hoping you have a brain.” She looked up at the sky. “I pray to god
that you will be able to help me.” So help her she wouldn’t be responsible for
her actions if he couldn’t.

The
big brute frowned. His eyes hazed over. The guy looked less and less
intelligent by the second. Argh! Alex took a step towards him, having to crane
her neck to maintain eye contact. Damn but he was big. There was no way she
would allow him to intimidate her. One kick to the balls and he would fall just
as hard as the next guy. She kept her eyes on his. “Read this.” She thrust the
paper into his hand. “Do it now.” She had wasted far too much time already.

His
eyes glazed over even more and his nostrils flared nosily as he seemed to…to…be
sniffing her. “Hello…big guy…I’m talking to you.” Enough was enough. She gave
his arm a slap to draw his attention back to the letter in her hand and off of
her.

He
looked startled that she would dare put her hand on him, well tough, he would
have to deal. “Take it. Read it, dammit.” She tapped the document in his hand,
hoping he would catch a clue and read the damn thing already.

The
big guy held her gaze for way too long before finally looking down at the piece
of paper in his hand. His brows pulled closer together and then the glint from
earlier returned. This was the part where he would apologize and make a few
calls…maybe invite her in.

“Nice
try.” The big guy grunted, his voice was deeper than any human’s she had ever
heard. He gave the letter back to her and like an idiot, she took it.

“Not
you too.” She snorted and even rolled her eyes. She couldn’t help herself.
“Another brainless idiot.”

“Excuse
me?” He narrowed his eyes, his jaw tightened.

Oh
oh! Maybe she should try and be nice. Not! “Deaf too I see. What does a girl
have to do to get some help around here? I want to speak to someone of
authority, ideally one of the kings. You two are complete morons.”

“Well
that’s not going to happen.” He growled. An honest to god animal noise left his
throat. Interesting. Kind of sexy too if she was honest with herself but this
was no time for enjoying such things. He needed to know that she meant
business.

Using
her index finger, she poked him in the chest, loving how his mouth fell open in
shock. “Yes”—
Poke
—“It”—
Poke
—“Is”—
Poke
—“I’m done”—
Poke
—“Waiting”—
A
really hard poke just to be sure
—“I’m about to seriously lose my patience.”
She smiled while shooting daggers with her eyes. “You don’t want to see bitch
Alex. Bitch Alex will tear you apart and laugh while doing it.”

True
story.

“Do
you seriously expect us to believe that you are Alexandra Stone?” The vampire
brute narrowed his eyes at her for a second before his gaze dropped to her lips
and then down to her boobs. It looked like all men were the same, vampire or
otherwise. Their dicks overruled common sense…every time. Pathetic really.

“Eyes
up here, buster. Trust a man to think of sex at a time like this…”

“I
wasn’t thinking about sex…yet, I was checking out your—”

“Well
stop, dammit. I will be forced to burn your eyes out with a hot poker if you
put them on my boobs again. Do you hear me?” There was no way she was giving
him a chance to respond, instead, she dug in her purse and pulled out her
identity document. “Look at this instead.” She waved it in front of him. “It
clearly states that
I am
Alexandra.” She tapped her chest. A mistake
since his eyes tracked the movement and his pupils dilated as they landed on
her
tatas
.

The
guard let out an exasperated sigh. “It looks like she is who she says she is.
Maybe she’s telling the truth.” The moron actually looked upset at the
prospect.

“Yeah.”
Lazarus gave her the once over, keeping his eyes narrowed. He was clearly
trying to intimidate her. Pretending to give her the evil eye while checking
her out. She had to hold back an eye roll.

At
long last, his intense dark stare locked back with hers. Her neck almost hurt
from having to strain it to maintain eye contact. Even his jaw was strong
looking. His nose was quite broad and his lips were…she licked her own…they
were soft looking. They were the only thing about him that looked soft.
Everything else looked like it had been forged from steel. Including his eyes
which narrowed even more. “And maybe she’s just really good at talking
bullshit. I don’t buy it. You thought you could come here dressed like that and
get away with it? That we would just let you right in?”

Alex
looked down. “Shorts and a t-shirt. What’s wrong with the way I’m dressed?” She
looked back up and raised her brows at him.

“Shorts
that barely cover your plump ass and a tight shirt that showcases those.” He
pointed at her boobs, his eyes actually seemed to glow for a second. Then she
remembered that he’d just accused her of using her body to gain entrance.

She
clenched her fists at her sides. The nerve! “What did you just say?” She put
everything she had into those few words and was impressed with the growl in her
voice.

The
big guy took a step towards her and gave a half smile. “Who’s deaf now? You can
take your sexy ass back to the gate, human.”

How
dare he tell her that her ass was sexy?
How. Dare. He.
“Human?” She
shrieked. “Who’s your damned human? My ass and I aren’t going anywhere, thank
you. I am Alexandra Stone. It says so right here. You are the one that’s deaf
and an idiot.” She waved her ID document at him.

He
gave her a smile. “That could be fake.” He gestured to the document in
question.

She
felt her temperature go up about a hundred degrees…if not more. The urge to hit
him rode her hard, especially when his mouth twitched. The big jerk was
enjoying himself.

“Do
you really think it’s fake?” The guard asked, a huge frown appearing on his
forehead.

“It’s
not damn well fake.” She shouted at the idiot guard before looking back at the gigantic
asshole. “Just because you have big muscles and can growl like a bear doesn’t
mean that you can intimidate me.” To prove her point, she stepped towards him,
as close as she could get without actually touching him.

His
mouth twitched again. What the hell was wrong with this guy? “It’s fake,” he
growled.

Alexandra
couldn’t help but to snort. What a total asshole. What an idiot. She had to
work hard not to kick him in the shin, or better yet to kick him right between
the legs. There was no way she would miss with such a huge target.

“Fine,”
the guard growled. “I will escort her out.” He gripped her by the elbow and
pulled her along with him for a few strides. Alex tried to yank her arm free
but failed so she feigned cooperation.

A
deep rumble erupted from the big vampire. It was a definite warning. The guy
holding her eased his hold and she took advantage by breaking her arm free.
When the guard attempted to grab her again, she dodged his hand and smashed her
elbow into his side.
Bull’s-eye
! He made a grunting noise which was like
music to her ears. Alex’s victory was short lived because he lunged for her
again, bracketing both his arms around her and yanking her against him.

“Leave
me”—she tried to kick him—“alone!” She shouted, managing to nail the bastard on
the shin. His chest vibrated against her as he growled.

Alex
couldn’t help the whimper that escaped her. She clamped her mouth shut.

“Let
her go.” The big guy snarled, sounding seriously pissed. Next thing she knew, he
was at their side and actually yanking the guard’s arm off of her. “Let her
fucking go,” this time it came out in an even more terrifying snarl.

“Would
somebody be so kind as to tell me what the fuck is going on?”

Alex
turned to the newcomers. It was two guys. She instantly recognized one of them from
the television and newspapers since the vampires had received a ton of
attention lately. His dark eyes bore into her for a second before moving to the
big brute. It was King Brant. She didn’t recognize the other guy with him.

She
felt the idiot guard release her and she flexed her hand a few times to restore
her circulation. She might even have some bruises.
Dickhead.

She
was just in the process of turning to give the moron a dirty look when the big
guy pulled her behind him, putting himself between her and the vampire king.
Her heart beat a little faster. He was acting like she was in actual danger or
something. Which was utter bullshit. Though the gesture was both irritating and
sweet.

“I
asked what the fuck was going on? What is this human female doing on vampire territory?”
King Brant said. “Escort her out.” His eyes flicked to her for a second before
returning to the guard.

Alex
craned her neck around the big guy, who kept his hand on her waist.

“Wait.”
The brute growled at the guard who turned pale and looked down at his feet.
Interesting. It looked like the big guy might have some authority after all.

“Explain
and make it quick.” The king kept his eyes on the big guy.

This
was ridiculous. Alex tried to move out from behind the wall of muscle in front
of her but he held her in place, even giving her side a light squeeze. “This
female, Alexandra Stone”—he said in a deep, rich baritone that seemed to
vibrate right through her—“has an acceptance letter stating that she is one of
the females permitted to take part in the first phase of
The Program.
”

The
king frowned. “That can’t be.” Then he looked confused. “Her name is familiar
though. Let me see the letter.” He held out his hand.

“I
thought you didn’t believe me,” she whispered to the brute’s back, which was
ridiculously broad.

“I
was teasing you,” a rough growl, but it sounded like he was smiling.

The
freaking cheek. A snorting noise escaped. She should crack open his nuts for
pulling a stunt like that but settled on a sharp smack on the arm since he did
seem to be trying to help her. She shook her head, rolled her eyes and smiled
despite herself. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you manners?”

He
chuckled. It was a warm sound.

The
paper crinkled in King Brant’s hand, drawing her attention back to what was
actually important. Focus Alex. She was moments away from either getting into
the vampire program or of losing any hope of a story. The king’s frown
deepened. His dark stare moved to her and then back down to the document, and
then back up again. “This looks authentic.” He sounded shocked.
Finally!

“She
has an identity document that proves that she is Alexandra Stone. It looks legit.”
The big guy said and she tried to move out from behind him again.

What
the hell was wrong with him? King Brant wasn’t about to hurt her. “That’s what
I’ve been trying to tell you morons all along.”

She
shot daggers at the guard who had the good grace to look sheepish. The big
brute turned his gaze on her so she threw him the filthiest look she could
muster. His sexy mouth twitched.
The bastard
. She should smack it and
bust up his lips, then they wouldn’t be so damned sexy anymore.

“Apologies…”
The king said. “For whatever reason you were not informed that
The Program
has started. We have twenty five females present, so someone must’ve been called
accidentally in your place.” Brant shrugged. “I will have someone escort you
out. We could even give you a lift back home.” He raised his brows.