A Mate for Lazarus(10)

His gaze moved to between her thighs just before she snapped them shut. The pig. His eyes turned smoldering. “Mmmm.” A deep rumble. “Pink and wet.”

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.