“It must be nice not to have to worry.” They walked deeper into the apartment. Alex noticed that it had a stunning view of the training grounds and the lake.
“Can I get you something to drink?”
“Sure…” Alex said. “Water would be great.” Her mouth was dry. Her eyes dropped to his fantastic ass as he walked towards the kitchen. She had to hold back a groan as he bent down to grab her a bottle.
He pulled out a plastic exercise bottle for himself and popped the pull out top with his teeth. Then he walked towards her and handed the water to her. “Do you mind?” His brow was wrinkled in a tight frown. Lazarus held up the bottle in his hand.
“Do I mind what?”
“It’s filled with blood.” He shook the bottle and her stomach lurched. He smiled. “Don’t pull such a face. I’m the one that should be looking horrified. Not you.”
She made a snorting sound. “How do you figure that? I’m the human. We don’t do blood.”
“Vampires don’t enjoy cold, old blood. This has been treated with anticoagulants.” He grimaced. “It’s pretty nasty. It would be the same as you drinking milk that is busy turning sour. It’s still drinkable but would you actually want to drink it?”
She put her hands in her back pockets. “So why are you drinking it then?”
“No other choice.” He took a big sip. His jaw tensed as he swallowed. “It’s revolting.” His face took on a pinched look.
“There’s always a choice, I mean…what would you normally do? Why do you have to drink that?”
“What would I normally do?” His dark gaze locked with hers. “I would find a compatible female, rut and drink…simple.” His eyes heated.
“Oh…I see and couldn’t you”—she licked her lips—“just drink from someone without having sex with them?”
He looked at her like she’d lost her mind. “I’ve never just drank from someone…ever. Okay…when I was a kid but as soon as I hit puberty…” He shrugged. “That was it. I’m sure this would have been a part of your training. They would have warned you that drinking for a vampire is mostly sexual.”
“So not always then?”
He took a step towards her, his eyes on her mouth. “It is for me, Alexandra. Since we’re exclusive, I’m going to have to drink this.” He shook the bottle again.
The thought of him with another woman didn’t sit right with her. They were pretend dating. If he ended up fucking around it would look bad. Shit…she didn’t like the idea of him messing around full stop. While they were sort of together, she didn’t want him fucking around. Once she left, different story but for now…no.
“What are you thinking?” His voice was deep.
“Um…just that…” She shrugged. “I guess I don’t like the idea of you…with…someone else.”
He smiled. God but he was handsome when he did that. Too handsome. Especially shirtless. Those shoulders, those abs…oh lord. He cupped her chin, pulling her gaze back to his face. “If you keep looking at me like that, I might just take you up on your offer.”
“What offer?”
“You’re fucking me with your eyes. I’ll return the favor, Alexandra, but I assure you that it won’t stop at just eyes.” He licked his delicious looking lips. He’d just been drinking blood but she still wanted to kiss them. How fucked up was that? “I’m glad you don’t want me anywhere near other females. I don’t want other females. I want you and only you. The thing is though…” He paused and she had to work not to squirm under his intense gaze. His fingers were calloused against her jaw. So big, so warm, so manly…she almost stepped closer to him. “I’m not going to be able to live on this stuff for forever.”
He broke the contact and shook the bottle. “I’m going to slowly weaken. My need for blood directly out of the vein will grow. It’s going to become an all-out need before very long. Your scent is fucking delicious.” His stare dropped to the pulse at her neck and then down to…between her legs.
Oh hell! Thankfully, he quickly looked back up at her face. She wasn’t sure what he meant by scent, since she wasn’t wearing any perfume. Her cheeks heated when she remembered that she hadn’t even showered. Alex wasn’t really sure what it was that he smelled, but it couldn’t be that great even though he’d said it was delicious. Like he wanted to eat her. The thought of him between her thighs made her feel hot all over again and she had to stop herself from fanning her cheeks.
“I need to shower.” His gaze drifted to one of the closed doors on the far side of the lounge area. “Make yourself at home.”
“Okay.”
Lazarus walked to the door and her gaze moved back to his ass. Leather pants should be banned from being on a guy like Lazarus. She even found herself taking a step towards the door he had just disappeared through.
Okay, so he’d left the door wide open. Lazarus faced away from her. He was just opening his pants as he toed off his boots. Then he pulled off his socks one by one.
Turn around Alex.
Chapter 10
An impossibility. He peeled his pants down his thighs, giving her the perfect view of that solid ass and in all of its naked glory. It was tanned, just like the rest of him.
Alex couldn’t seem to make herself turn away. She was even hoping that he would turn around no matter that he would catch her staring. She wanted to see him…all of him.
“You’re welcome to join me.” He threw her a grin over his shoulder and sauntered through another door which she assumed was the bathroom.
Alex averted her eyes for a few seconds. Busted. Damn. In reality, she found that she truly didn’t care. The angle of the bathroom door was all wrong. She would have to go into the bedroom if she wanted to keep looking. How irritating!
Alex sighed. She couldn’t be that brazen. Seeing Lazarus naked would be a really bad idea. She might just lose all hold on her sanity and do something really stupid like jump on him and ride him like a pony…better make that a stallion. It was really hard but she managed to make herself turn away. Only just.
She took a minute or two to compose herself and then took a look around. The apartment was beautiful, just like the rest of the castle but it was also impersonal, like a hotel room rather than a home. There were no pictures, plants, or keepsakes of any kind. The view was just gorgeous. She watched swans and ducks drift on the surface of the large lake. There was a forest in the distance. There were still guys practicing in small groups on the field.
Her stomach growled.
Maybe she could grab something to eat while Lazarus was showering. It would take her mind off of the big naked vampire. He would probably take up the whole space in there. She could only imagine how magnificent he would look wet, lathered up in soap.
No way.
Not going there. She walked to the refrigerator and opened it, taking an immediate step back. Half the fridge was filled with blood bags. The kind you would find in a hospital. She swallowed hard. It put it all into perspective. Lazarus was not human. It should scare her, revolt her, but it didn’t. It intrigued her, just like she knew it would intrigue a lot of people.
It was big news. She really needed to try and force herself to stay focused. To write everything down. She also needed to message her Uncle James. Let him know where she was, that she hadn’t signed a non-disclosure agreement and that she was working on the story.
No, it would be better if she waited until she was definitely picked for the next round.
There were three of the plastic bottles Lazarus had been drinking out of in the door. Alex took a deep breath and moved back to the opened fridge door. She picked up one of the blood bags. Interesting. The unit said AB negative. She checked the bags in the fridge. They were all AB negative. Same as her own blood type, which was rare.
“When I said to make yourself at home, I didn’t expect to find you holding one of those. You’re most welcome to it, although I would recommend that you take from me instead…it’s more fun, I assure you.”
Alex practically threw the bag back into the fridge.
“Careful with those. They weren’t easy to find. I doubt I’ll get my hands on more any time soon.”
Alex turned to face him and then wished she hadn’t. He killed the cargo pants he was wearing. The green shirt looked so damned good but she still wanted to rip it off of him because dammit, it should be illegal to cover a body as great as his. “I’ll bet.” She managed to squeeze out. Alex took a deep breath. “It’s the rarest blood type that there is. Don’t tell me that vampires are picky about the blood they drink. Do you guys have flavors? Do the different blood types taste different to you?”
Lazarus nodded. “I’ve tried them all and this is my top choice. Each of the bags tastes different even though the blood types are the same. I prefer some more than others.”
“Oh wow! Seriously?”
He smiled and nodded. “I can’t help my tastes. The others are fine but this particular blood type works best for me.” He shrugged. “If I have to slum it by drinking old, cold blood…” He pulled a face again. “May as well pick the best of the blood groups. It’s just a pity that it’s so rare.”