A Mate for Lazarus(20)

“He picked up his fucking sword and I finished it. We’re the elite…this team is not for pussies. Griffin needed to learn that.”

“Griffin is an excellent warrior. He didn’t need to learn shit from you.” Lazarus took another step towards Lance, bringing him within range of the other guy’s sword. Alex wouldn’t put it past him to use it on Lazarus, who had discarded his own weapon when he had taken off the vest. She held her breath.

Lance snorted. “And I don’t need to learn shit from you either. I’m fucking done.” He pierced his blade into the earth between them. Lance swung around, his eyes scanned the crowd of women. “I’m in serious need of some blood and a fuck.”

This guy was too much.

Lance’s gaze moved across each of them before stopping on Sarah. “You,” he growled. “You’re coming with me.” He smiled. “I like a gutsy female and your pussy was pretty fucking tight. You—”

Lazarus was so quick that Alex almost didn’t see him move. Lance’s head snapped back. Lazarus gripped Lance by the throat and punched him in the gut with three, quick jabs. Lance groaned as he fell to his knees.

“Do not disrespect another female again, are we fucking clear?” He grabbed Lance by the jaw and forced the other vampire to look at him. Alex was sure she heard a crack.

Lance moaned again, his hands were fisted at his sides. His eyes were so bright it was freaky.

“Don’t make me break your neck.” Lazarus narrowed his eyes and brought his face closer to Lance’s, whose skin was turning red.

Say what? Alex swallowed hard. Shirtless, muscled up, defending their honor. It was too damned much, she had to squeeze her thighs together. If she’d put panties on they would be soaking. As it stood, she’d been in too much of a hurry. Her body’s response to all the testosterone was so inappropriate.

Lazarus cocked his head and squeezed harder on Lance’s jaw. A low, terrifying growl erupted from somewhere deep inside his chest.

“Yes,” Lance somehow managed to get out.

“Yes what?” Lazarus released his grip by a smidgen.

“I won’t disrespect the humans,” Lance forced out.

“Not just the humans, that goes for all of the females. You may have had your heart broken but it doesn’t give you the right to treat them like you do.” He spoke so softly it was hard to hear. Lazarus let him go. “Come to me if you need to talk.”

Lance sprang to his feet. He spat on the ground in front of Lazarus. “Thanks, but no fucking thanks.” His hands were fisted. His jaw tense. He turned back to them. “Any of you ladies care to join me.” He emphasized the word ladies. His eyes still had that crazed look.

No one moved. No one seemed to breathe.

Lance shrugged. “Whatever.” He turned towards the castle. “I don’t need any of you!” He bellowed as he walked away.

When Alex turned back, Lazarus was talking to one of the guys but his eyes were on her. Her heart rate actually kicked up a notch…or two…or ten.

“I can’t believe that just happened,” Sarah said. The vest was so big on her that it came to mid-thigh. Alex felt a twinge seeing the other woman in it.

“You were magnificent.” One of the women purred, drawing her attention back to Lazarus. It was the dark haired, mocha skinned woman from the hallway. Her tiny shorts rode up, pretty much exposing her left butt cheek. The dark haired beauty gripped Lazarus’ arm. “Such a big boy.” She purred some more.

Lazarus was still looking at her. Now her chest was heaving. Her mouth felt dry.

“I saw him first.” A really pretty lady in a little blue dress stepped in next to Lazarus, she put her arm through his. Oh god! Her boobs were ginormous. They spilled out of the front of her low cut top. She was a walking wonderbra ad. That was for damned sure. Lazarus had a thing for boobs.

He glanced down but there was no heating of his stare, no staring at all for that matter. “If you’ll excuse me, ladies.” He extracted himself, his gaze moving back to her. Ooooh! There it was. Heat, desire and all for her. Oh wow!

Her heart did a somersault in her chest. Her pussy gave a sharp clench of longing.

His big strides quickly ate up the short distance between them. “Hello, Alex-an-dra.” Each syllable carefully pronounced.

She held up a hand and gave him a small wave. “Hi.” Lame, lame, lame. For the second time in twenty-nine years, she was at a loss for words. Her mouth was just too damned dry. Her brain was mush.

“Hello,” he growled low.

She nodded. “How is what’s his name? The hurt guy, how is he?” She stammered. Not sure what to say or how to act. It felt like all eyes were on them.

He gave her a half smile. Why did he have to be so damned sexy? Her neck hurt from being so craned as she stared up. “I said hello to you.” He gave a small nod like she was supposed to get some sort of hidden meaning.

“I said hello back.” She raised her brows. Maybe he had hit his head.

He raised his brows. “Isn’t there something you are forgetting?” He gripped her waist with one hand. His lips brushed hers. Soft and so damned delicious. He smelled like sweat, aggression and musk. She was tempted to climb him. To stick her tongue down his throat. Then he released her. “Hello,” he growled. His lips only millimeters away from hers. “It is good to see you.”

“Um…” She bit down on her lower lip. His eyes tracked the movement. “It’s good to see you too.”

“Come with me.”

“Um…” She turned her head to look at Sarah who was smiling broadly. Sarah nodded like a bobble head on a dirt road. “You should go.”

It was as if Lazarus noticed the others all of a sudden. Like he had forgotten they were even there. “You did good, female. Griff will be fine. I will send someone to take you to him.”

“Thank you. I appreciate it.”

Lazarus nodded once. “Let’s go.” He grabbed her hand and began to walk in the direction of the castle. Her heart was beating like mad in her chest. This was good. He was hopefully taking her to his apartment. She could find out a ton more about how they lived. Did he have a coffin for a bed? She chewed on her lip to keep herself from laughing. She somehow doubted it. Maybe they didn’t even need sleep.

She doubted that as well. Aside from being really tall and built. More so than human guys, they were otherwise pretty much the same. They spoke a bit different and…she almost laughed again…they drank blood. That was probably the biggest difference that she had picked up on so far. Oh yes, they could die and come back from the dead as well.

They walked up a set of stairs and into the main building. Alex had never been to this part of the castle before. The humans were not permitted into the vampire accommodations without an escort. They also needed a good reason to be here if uninvited.

Lazarus slid his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer as they stepped through the threshold and into a large lobby which led to a spacious double, volume sitting room. It was huge and pretty busy with people…vampires coming and going. They all stopped mid-step to gape at her. The women were at least as pretty as Allison. Wow! The guys were also seriously impressive although not nearly as impressive as Lazarus. He was the biggest guy she’d seen so far.

No one tried to approach them. One of the guys stared a little too long as they walked past him and Lazarus gave what sounded like a warning growl. The guy practically jumped in the opposite direction, his gaze firmly on his feet.

“This way.” He pulled her in the direction of the stairs. There was an identical staircase on the other side of the lobby. Alex had thought that their human accommodations were up market and tasteful but this was pure opulence. Of course, she had been in the dining hall last night and from what she could see, the rest of the castle was much the same.

“Sheesh! This place is too much.” She sighed. Even in the hallways there was no expense spared. The artwork was exquisite. She didn’t know too much about it but she was sure that the pieces were the real deal.

“It needs to be big. Two of the covens joined together.”

“Does everyone stay here then?”

Lazarus shook his head. “The elite team. The guards. Other important members of the staff. Some of the general population resides within the walls but the rest all stay in the surrounding villages within our territory.” He stopped outside one of the doors and opened it. The door wasn’t locked.

“Um…you’re very trusting.”

He shrugged. “Vampires don’t steal from one another.”

“You’re lucky.” Alex said as she walked through the door. The apartment was spacious. There was an open plan lounge, dining room and kitchen.

Lazarus closed the door behind him. He shrugged his massive shoulders. “There is no need. We are a wealthy species. We own plenty of land and Brant has been highly successful with the stock markets. Our king is a genius, he has an uncanny ability to know what stocks to buy, when to hold on and when to sell. Zane inherited a large estate from his father.”

“Okay. I take it that they are generous then?” She raised her brows.

“Yes. As the second-in-command of the elite and first-in-command of the royal guard, I earn a really good salary. I don’t need the money since I am well provided for though. It just goes into an account. Should any of my people need the money, then it is available. We share and help one another, unlike most of the humans.”