A Mate for Lazarus (The Program Book 3) (7 page)

Griffin frowned. “What do you mean? What her
intentions are?”

“With fuckers like Lance behind every corner…I need
to be sure. That’s all.”

Griffin nodded. Although what he just said was true,
there was more to this. He just couldn’t quite put his finger on what that was.
Lazarus wasn’t about to let himself just fall for this female blindly. He only
hoped in the end that he had a choice in the matter.

“So you’re the new girl.” A blonde woman with bright
blue eyes walked up to her. “Someone mentioned earlier that someone new had
arrived.” She smiled. “I’m Sarah.” She put out her hand and Alex shook it.

“It’s good to meet you. I’m hoping to meet a few
more of the ladies within
The Program
.”

Sarah frowned. “Well, I’m glad I got to you first.
We’re not really on friendly terms. It’s clicky and competitive. There are only
ten vampires and twenty-six of us. Don’t be surprised if you get a couple of
bitchy comments.”

“Seriously?” Alex paused for a few beats. “I
would’ve thought that us humans would stick together.”

Sarah laughed. “Like hell. Some of these women would
kill their own mother for a chance at marrying a vampire. They see other women
within
The Program
as major competition.”

“The competition part I get but is it so bad that
they would kill their own mother…really? I mean, besides the fact that the
vampires are seriously good looking. What do they really have to offer us?” She
needed some insights from the women that chose to put themselves out there and
join
The Program
. Alex only wished she could write this down. She would
need to do so as soon as she got back to her room.

“Aside from being big and beautiful, they’re amazing
in bed. I mean hectic good. At least, I’ve heard they’re hectic good. If I end
up sleeping with one of them and get sent home, I’m going to be in trouble.
I’ve heard that sex will never be the same again for those lucky women. Maybe
it’s better that I haven’t had my way with one of them.” She shook her head,
looking wistful. “Another reason to consider is that they mate for life. Did
you get any training before coming through?”

Alex needed to tread carefully but this was an
opportunity to find out more. “I received a crash course. It wasn’t the proper
in-depth training that you guys had. I would appreciate it if you could help me
out and fill me in on a few things?”

Sarah was really sweet. She smiled. “Yes of course. How
come you’re only getting here now? What happened?”

Alex rolled her eyes. “They forgot to inform me that
The Program
was starting and then assumed because I didn’t turn up for
training that I wasn’t interested anymore and brought in my replacement.”

“Sucks. What do you want to know?”

“You were just saying that they mate for life and
you have given me a couple of reasons why some of these women would sell their
souls for an opportunity to marry one of them.” Alex swallowed hard as her mind
wandered to one certain vampire. “Aside from the really awesome sex that is.”

“When they mate someone, they can’t get enough of
them and will do anything for them. I want that. I want it so badly it hurts.”
Sarah sighed, seeming lost in her own thoughts for a few beats, then her eyes
widened and she did a twirl on one leg. “Look around you. They are also super rich.
Children are considered a major blessing. Vampires make wonderful dads. The
whole community chips in and helps out. So in short, if a woman is successful
within
The Program
, she gets a gorgeous man who loves her with
everything that he has. She gets to be pampered and looked after for the rest
of her life as well. Who wouldn’t want that?”

Alex had to frown. “She also gets to have blood
sucked out of her veins and invariably has to become a baby making machine.”
She muttered the last more to herself, unable to keep quiet.

“Oh my word.” Sarah sounded excited. “I can tell
that you haven’t…then again I suppose you are new.” She gasped. “You totally
haven’t, have you?”

What the hell was this chick smoking? “
What
are you talking about? I haven’t what?”

“Shit!” She grabbed Alex by the arm. “You are in for
a treat. At least…” She sighed. “From what I have heard, you are in for a
treat.”

“Spit it out already.” Alex could hear the
frustration in her own voice. “What treat?”

“I am the only woman that hasn’t been with one of
the guys. From what I’ve been told or overheard, all the worries about blood
drinking are totally unwarranted. I’ve been told that it is amazing. It doesn’t
hurt one bit. In fact, the opposite is true. I for one am going to try and make
it happen. You need to try it too.” Sarah was gushing. Her eyes were bright and
sparkling. Her hand clutched Alex’s arm tighter. “I overheard that it’s
especially good”—she looked around the room to make sure that no one else was
paying any attention to their conversation—“during sex. Like not just good…mind
blowing. I just have one favor to ask though.”

Alex ignored the part about the favor. “I’m not
letting anyone drink blood from me.”

“You can’t mate with a vampire and not let him drink
from you. It just doesn’t happen that way. None of them will choose you to go
into the next round.” Sarah shook her head. “You have nothing to be afraid of.
You should have been told that in the training and I have seen it firsthand.”

Alex had to grit her teeth to keep herself from
saying anything more. It wasn’t happening but she wasn’t about to argue with
Sarah about it. These women were here for a whole different set of reasons than
she was. She had to pretend that she was one of them though. “I guess I’m just
a little nervous.”

“I’m also really nervous.” Sarah smiled. “Everyone
was nervous to begin with.” She chewed on her bottom lip for a few beats. “Trust
me when I tell you that they are not nervous any more. Were you by any chance
invited to go picnicking this afternoon?”

Alex nodded. “Yes, I was.”

“You didn’t happen to see Lance, did you?” Her
cheeks turned red.

“Who? Sorry, the only people I’ve met so far are
King Brant, his PA Allison and Lazarus.”

Sarah pulled a face. “Lazarus, as in the seriously
big guy with the hundreds of weapons hanging all over him? The one that growls
and grunts so much that it’s hard to hear what he is saying?”

“That sounds like him, yes, except he only has a
couple of weapons…hardly hundreds.” For whatever reason, Alex felt defensive of
Lazarus. “He growls and grunts quite a bit as well, but…” She shrugged. “It’s
pretty easy to hear what he’s saying.”
Most of the time
. He had a gruff
way about him which she thought was pretty sexy…
stop Alex
.

“Oh my god…did you go to the picnic with him?” Sarah
raised her brows. “No, you couldn’t have. Did you…go with Lazarus?”

Sarah was really nice, and really sweet, she was
also seriously irritating. “I did.” Alex left it at that, not wanting to open
any cans.

The blonde clasped a hand over her mouth, her eyes
widened. It took a good couple of seconds for her to compose herself. “No
wonder you’re afraid of letting a vampire drink from you. You probably saw him
drinking blood. He does that…all the time. Glasses of the stuff.” She pulled a
face. “He’s pretty over the top. Don’t let Lazarus scare you. The others
are…civilized.”

“He is a vampire.” Alex snapped back. “It’s what
they do.” She could feel that she was frowning. “You just told me to let one of
them drink from me.” She had to work not to pull a face herself. It didn’t seem
right considering the direction the conversation had taken. “Straight out of the
vein is fine, but out of a glass is uncivilized? That’s a double standard.”

Sarah shrugged. “I suppose you’re right.” She
smiled. “My friend Jenna really likes Lazarus.”

“Oh…” Why did she sound so deflated? “Where is she
then?” Hopefully she was…ugly or a really terrible person or something. Not
that it mattered. At all. It didn’t. “Are they like toge–…don’t worry about it…”
No! She wasn’t doing this. Alex found herself looking around the room anyway.
Women were coming and going. Headed to their rooms or to the pool area. Tall,
short, some were fair like herself and others had dark skin. Then there were
those that were somewhere in-between. The only thing that they all had in
common was curves. It looked like boobs, ass and thighs were a vampire thing.

Sarah frowned. “Are Lazarus and Jenna to…what?” She
looked confused for all of two seconds and then she smiled. “Together? Is that
what you were going to say?” Sarah shook her head and laughed.

Alex was appalled to find that she felt relief.
What.
The. Fuck
?

“No. They’re friends.” A shocked look crossed her
face. “I guess he isn’t as…I don’t know…caveman….around her.” She looked up.
“Maybe he isn’t as bad as I thought. She hangs out with him a lot. You like
him…I can tell.” Sarah narrowed her eyes, pretending to see right through her.

Alex needed to play it cool. She was one of the
girls. Trying to snag herself a vampire. “He’s hot and ridiculously alpha…” She
bit down on her bottom lip and then nodded. “Yeah, I guess I like him.”

Sarah squealed. “You need to meet the others as
well.” Her eyes clouded. “Just stay away from Lance…please. It’s all I ask.”

“Who’s this Lance? Are you guys…an item?” Then she
remembered that Sarah hadn’t slept with anyone yet. “Do you want to get
together with him?”

Sarah’s face became pinched and her eyes clouded. “I
really like him, so I’m hoping…” She shrugged. “He didn’t ask me to the picnic.
He seems to be spending time with a lot of different girls.”

“Just dating though right?”

Sarah chewed on her bottom lip and shook her head.

“More than just dating? Is he sleeping with a lot of
the girls too?” Alex raised her brows.

“It’s not like he’s in a relationship with any of
them. I’m pretty sure they mentioned in your crash course that vampires are
highly sexual. They need to test…compatibility before settling down. That means
lots of sex with various different people. I’m pretty sure he’ll stick with one
woman when he chooses for the next round. I hope he asks me out soon or it’s
going to be too late.”

“I wouldn’t count on it, Sarah.” Alex took in her forlorn
expression. “Are you saying that all the vampires are sleeping around? That
this is one big…” May as well say it like it was. “…fuckfest?”

Sarah shrugged. She didn’t say anything, which spoke
volumes. No wonder Lazarus was so forward with her. He was expecting her to
just put out like all the rest. The big asshole may have fucked half the women
in
The Program
but he so wasn’t getting her. Her cheeks felt hot and she
ground her teeth. Why the hell was she so angry about this anyway?

Dinner was in two hours, she was going to take a
long bath to try and calm down. So what if the vampires were manwhores. So what
if Lazarus was a manwhore. She would have to deal. Nothing had changed. If
anything, this knowledge would make it easier for her. It would make the no sex
rule easy to follow.

“What are you wearing tonight?” Sarah asked.

“I’m not sure.” Alex quickly answered. She hadn’t
thought that far ahead. Thankfully she’d thrown one or two nice dresses into
her bag as an afterthought. She didn’t have a clue what to expect when she
arrived. She was still in shock that they had actually let her in.

“Make sure it’s sexy. Vampires prefer it if women
don’t wear underwear.”

Alex chewed the inside of her cheek. “I’m sure they
do.” What kind of women were these anyway? Like hell she wasn’t wearing
underwear. The vampires could go to hell. Lazarus could definitely go to hell.

“It’s just, you only have two days to pique some
interest. You don’t want to be out of here like the rest of us.”

“You sound like you include yourself as one of those
leaving.”

Sarah pulled a face. “I really hope that Lance asks
me out. I don’t expect miracles though, but you never know.”

Alex didn’t know what to say. It sounded like this
guy, Lance, was a real piece of work. Sarah would be thankful in the long run
that he hadn’t chosen her. Even if she didn’t know it herself. Alex touched the
other woman on the arm, feeling sorry for her. “I’ll see you later.”

****

Heels in her left hand and her clutch purse in the
right, Alex ran down the hall. Why the hell did she let herself lie down in the
first place? She’d felt much better after a long soak in the tub. There still
had been plenty of time to get ready so she decided to lie down and watch a
little bit of television. It was better than letting her mind wander. The
problem was, that it kept wandering into places she didn’t want it to go.
Places that included a certain tall, dark and handsome vampire. She didn’t want
to think about Lazarus. Period.

She hadn’t expected to fall asleep and certainly
hadn’t expected to stay asleep for over an hour. Dinner had started twenty
minutes ago.

Oh hell!

She was new. Had yet to meet…almost everyone. She
was also very late.
Dammit
. One of the things that Allison cautioned on was
tardiness. It seemed that vampires were well organized and that everything ran
on a tight schedule. This included all of the activities within
The Program
.
This dinner, was one of those scheduled activities.

Alex picked up the pace, the muscles in her calves
and thighs burned. Her breath came in choppy pants. She was sweating dammit.
Little black dress…check. Hair and makeup…check. Accessories to match…check.
Sweat…double-check. The last one, she could’ve done without.