A Mate for Lazarus(2)

Hell no!

This was even worse than being given a leg up because she knew James Armstrong. This was riding on the coattails of her deceased father and she wouldn’t stand for it. Alex shook her head. “Thanks, Uncle James. I really appreciate the offer but it’s important to me that I do this on my own. Otherwise my success would be meaningless and shallow.”

He clasped her shoulder. “Good luck, kid!”





Chapter 2




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. Cocktail. 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.