A Mate for Lazarus (The Program Book 3) (14 page)

“Yeah. There was no time to explain. She’s in danger
and I need to go.” He leapt up, tearing his clothes off as he headed for the
bedroom. It took all of three minutes to dress and strap his weapons to his
body.

When he returned to the living room, Alex was back
in her jeans and sneakers. She turned to face him as he walked into the room.
“Stay here. I’ll be back later,” Lazarus said as he strode towards her.

She shook her head.

“I don’t mind.” He would love to come back to this
female, to find her here in his space.

“I will go and find Sarah. I need to shower and
change. I’m a mess.”

“You’re beautiful.” He tilted her chin up and kissed
her softly on her swollen mouth. It reminded him of where her lips had been
minutes ago and his dick hardened up all over again.
Not right now
. He
broke the kiss. “Sit tight. I’ll organize an escort.” He turned to leave.

“Lazarus.”

He turned back. “Yeah?” She kissed him. It was quick
but oh so fucking good.

“Goodbye,” she whispered.

Lazarus grinned. “You’re catching on.”

The last thing he felt like doing was leaving but he
needed to be a part of the team that saved Jenna. Her ex was going to wish that
he had never been born. If that bastard so much as touched a hair on her head,
Lazarus would make it his personal mission to ensure that he suffered before he
was permitted to die.

“Good luck!” She yelled after him as he left. Her
heart raced. It seemed as if she was scared for him. “Oh and be
careful…please.” She was fucking scared.

His heart swelled in his chest. “I’ll be fine.” He
closed the door and headed down the hallway. Despite the adrenaline and the
angst over what had happened to Jenna, he felt alive inside. He felt like the
luckiest male in the whole world.

No! No! No!

This wasn’t happening. She wasn’t about to throw her
whole career, her whole life away for some guy. Just because he was seriously
hot and knew how to use his hands…okay and his mouth…okay and maybe he had a
mammoth dick, but that did not mean that she was going to lose her mind over
him.

That’s what it felt like right now. Like she was
losing her mind. Alex paced back and forth, she was still in his apartment.
Still waiting for a guard to escort her out.

She normally didn’t have sex with a guy until she
was sure that she had feelings for him. Until she was falling for him. Although
they hadn’t had all out sex, oral was close enough. If she was honest with
herself, she had come very close to having sex with him on both occasions. In
fact, if Lazarus hadn’t been called away they probably would’ve ended up having
full blown, scream the walls down sex.

Alex not only wanted to walk in her father’s
footsteps, she wanted to forge her own path as well. She wanted recognition and
to be able to stand up tall in her own right and not just because she was the
famous Peter Stone’s daughter. She remembered being a little girl and looking
up at him with stars in her eyes. Her only regret was that he wouldn’t be here
to see her hit the big time.

She refused to allow Lazarus to stand in her way.
She didn’t want regrets.

It wasn’t like she and every other red-blooded
journalist in America hadn’t tried the legit route in order to get an
interview. She was a Sweetwater local and everything but no, the vampires
didn’t give interviews or press releases. Lazarus had also made it clear that
it was never going to happen. The kings would rather be lambasted with
speculation and half-truths than have their story told.

She sighed. She didn’t want to go behind Lazarus’
back. It would feel too much like selling a piece of her soul. “Oh god,” she
said to the empty room, running a hand through her hair. The thought of hurting
him was unbearable. The thought of never realizing her dream was just as
unbearable.

What the hell was she going to do?

The guy was sweet and sexy and badass. The best
combination. He also had this insecure side as well, which was crazy
considering how unbelievably sexy he was. It was endearing.

There was a knock at the door. “Yes.” She said,
walking towards the door.

“Can I come in?” A gruff male voice.

“Yes, you can.”

It was the same guy that had driven the car with
Allison yesterday. “Hi,” he said as he stuck his head around the jam. “My name
is Titan.”

“Hi…again.”

“I’m here to escort you to the human accommodations.”
He was really good looking. Then again, they all were. He was also really big.
Almost as big as Lazarus. Almost. She had to suppress a sigh. She was at it
again. Comparing every guy she met to Lazarus.

It had to stop.

“After you.” Titan held the door open for her. She
noticed that he remained in the hall, for the most part, keeping his hands
behind his back.

“Thanks.”

It sucked that she didn’t want this thing with
Lazarus to stop. She really didn’t want to pretend date him anymore. Alex
wanted to date him for real. She had this tightening in her chest.

“Is everything okay?” Titan glanced down at her. He
was frowning deeply.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”
Like hell
. She was really
worried about Lazarus. Something had definitely happened to Jenna. Lazarus had
been called to help her.
An incident
, he’d said. “Is Lazarus going to be
okay?”

Titan’s frown actually deepened. “I’m not permitted
to talk about it. Know that vampires are tough. Lazarus is just about the
toughest son of a bitch I know. I’m sure he’s going to be just fine.”

It didn’t make her feel any better, if anything, the
tightening in her chest only increased.

“You are afraid for him?” Titan asked.

She sighed. “I guess I am.”

They walked into the hotel lobby. “Thanks so much.”

“Any time.” Titan nodded and began to walk away.

“When will Lazarus get back?”

“I have no idea.” He said, scratching his head.

“Come on. Give me something…please?”

Titan shook his head. “I’m sorry. Lazarus did say
that I should escort you if you wanted to return to his suite.”

She nodded.

“Just call reception and have them contact me.” He
smiled, turned and walked away.

Right! Enough already. She was not going to sit
around and mope because she was worried about Lazarus, she also wasn’t going to
sit and agonize over this story. She was going to start to write the article.
She could possibly show it to the kings…miracles did happen.

They did.

Maybe there was a way of doing this without going
behind Lazarus’ back. She could get to know him better. Date him for real and
if there was definitely something there…which she suspected Lazarus was right
about…then she could give it to the kings to read and maybe they would be okay
with it. Otherwise, no, she didn’t want to think about the alternative.

Alex headed to her room and after a quick shower,
she got to writing. There was a knock on the door and a glance on the clock on
the wall told her that almost two hours had passed. Sheesh! Time always flew
when she got stuck in a story. Her gut was on the money when it told her that
she was onto something here. There was another knock.

Alex stuffed the book under her pillow and went to
open the door. “Hi.” It was a room attendant.

“Can I please come in and clean your room?” The
tall, utterly breathtaking vampire lady asked. She was any guy’s wet freaking
dream in her French maid’s outfit. It was really short and really tight.

“Sure thing. I already made the bed so you can leave
that.”

The lady nodded. Alex had to stifle a giggle. The
vampire sex-kitten maid had a feather duster in her hand.

“I think I’ll pop out for some fresh air.” Alex
gestured down the hall.

The sex-kitten maid nodded and smiled. She waited
patiently at the entrance to Alex’s room while Alex grabbed her purse and put
shoes on.

“You’ll lock when you leave?” She raised her brows.

The lady vampire nodded and smiled. “Of course.”

“Thanks.” Alex walked up the hallway to the reception
area, where she was given Sarah’s room number. Within minutes, she was knocking
on the other woman’s door.

“Oh, hi.” Sarah smiled. She had a towel around
herself. “Come on in. I was just getting ready. Someone is taking me to that
poor vampire just now. You know, the one that died.”

“I think his name is Griffin.”

“Yeah, that’s right. I can’t believe it when they
tell me that he is okay. Still in bed but on the mend. I have to see it with my
own eyes. He apparently wants to thank me.” She blushed. “It’s totally
unnecessary.”

“You deserve to go and see him, Sarah.” Alex smiled
at the other woman. “You practically saved his life. You get ready and do your thing,
I’ll come back a bit later.”

Sarah made a negative noise. “Come in. They aren’t
going to be here for half an hour.” She looked at the watch strapped to her
wrist. “We have time to talk.”

Alex shrugged. “Okay.” She walked in and took a seat
on the wing backed chair in the corner.

“I won’t be a minute.” Sarah grabbed the clothes and
underwear that were laid out on the bed and disappeared into the bathroom.

Within a few minutes, she was back. The other woman
wore a pair of black slacks and a casual top. It was white with a blue flower
print around the top part. She slipped on a pair of flats. “How was Lazarus?”
She rolled her eyes. “By the way, watch out because he’s the new flavor of the
day since Lance is out of favor.”

Alex rolled her eyes right back. “We’re exclusively
dating one another so I wish them luck. I don’t know him all that well, but I
don’t think he’s the kind of guy that would fool around.”

Sarah picked up a brush and began to brush her still
wet hair. “I don’t think so either. He would be crazy to go down that road.
None of those women would even give him the time of day up until not so long
ago.”

“Um…” Alex licked her lips. “He’s gone on some or
other mission to save Jenna. You were right to be worried. It looks like she is
in trouble.”

Sarah dropped the brush. “What happened? Where is
she?”

“Look, I don’t know the details. Lazarus didn’t have
much time. He did say her name while taking a call and he did look worried. I
overheard some of what King Zane said. I know he asked Lazarus to assemble a
team. It sounded like a rescue operation.”

Sarah’s eyes filled with tears. “Shit! I really hope
she’s okay.” Thankfully she didn’t actually cry.

“Sorry! Maybe I shouldn’t have told you. It wasn’t
my intention to upset you.”

The other woman made a flapping motion with her
hand. “Oh please. I’m glad you told me.”

“Try not to let it get to you. I know it’s asking a
lot but just try. You saw them train; those vampires know exactly what they are
doing. They will help her. Lazarus will sort it out. I’m sure of it.”

“Oh my word.” Sarah giggled. “Your voice went all
funny when you spoke about him. They are freaking addictive aren’t they? You’re
falling for him…I can tell.”

“It’s far too soon for that.” Alex shook her head
but deep down she knew it was true. Really, really crazy but true.

Sarah put the hairbrush down and applied some lip
gloss looking like she was done.

“Here…” Alex fished around in her bag. “I’m pretty
sure that beneath all of that blood and gore there is quite a handsome vampire.
I have just the thing for you.” Alex said as her hand closed on the round
bottle. “Give yourself a spritz or two of this. Griffin won’t know what hit
him. Maybe he’s just what you need after Lance.”

Sarah looked at her like she’d just grown a pair of
pink tipped fangs. “What?” She was tempted to get up and check herself out in
the mirror just in case.

“Oh my god. You’re serious?” Sarah shook her head.
“What kind of crash course training did they give you? You should really
complain. It’s just not right.”

“What? Griffin seemed like a nice enough guy and
he’s seriously hot.”

“I’m not remotely interested in Griffin. I’m talking
about that.” She gestured to the perfume bottle in Alex’s hand. “You should not
be wearing any type of strong perfumes. Vampires have a fantastic sense of
smell. Strong scents like that are offensive to them. Just in case you weren’t aware,
they also have really good hearing so you shouldn’t talk shit about them while
standing anywhere near them because chances are that they will hear you. They
have fantastic vision and can see in the dark as well.”

“Okay. Wow!”

“Vampires are not referred to as superhuman for
nothing.” Sarah pointed at the perfume. “So put that away right now. You’re
liable to get yourself thrown out.”

Alex felt just a little sick as she remembered how
Lazarus’ nostrils had flared earlier. It was right around the time that certain
parts of her had puckered, clenched and tightened. “Right, so they could smell
if say…we were…I don’t know…afraid?”
Aroused.

“They can smell any emotion. Happy, afraid, scared,
horny.”

Oh no!

“They can tell if you are on your period. They even
know if a woman is ovulating.”

“Really? You’re shitting me.” Alex felt her jaw
drop.

“Aside from unwanted pregnancy, it’s the reason we
have to be on the pill. An ovulating woman is enough to drive the guys nuts.
They have this built in need to reproduce. They can be really base like that.”

“Okay.” Alex’s heart raced and she tried not to
panic. Hopefully she had already ovulated this month. She had no idea about
reproduction timetables in women. If that was even the right word for it.

 Her mom had struggled to become pregnant with her.
It was the main reason her folks had never had any more children. Maybe the
same was true for her. She really hoped so but she also wanted kids so at the
same time she prayed not. This was ridiculous.

Sarah touched her arm and she jumped. “You look like
you’re having a silent panic attack.”

“I don’t like the idea of someone knowing such
personal things about me.” All true. Well mostly.

“They are used to it so it’s not a big deal to
them.”

“I suppose so.” Alex still didn’t like it. She was
probably going to have sex with Lazarus. “You said they can even scent
ovulation?”

Sarah nodded. “According to our trainer. Did you
have Kathy as well?”

Alex shook her head. “No, I had Ellen.” A total lie
but what the hell else was she supposed to say?

“That’s probably why you didn’t get such great training.
Kathy was amazing and so in-depth….anyway, she said that they can even tell if
you are about to ovulate. Sometimes even days before.”