There was a knock at the door. Sarah raised her brows. “That will be my escort. I’ll see you later?”
“Definitely.” They both left together, walking in separate directions since Alex went back to her room.
The rest of the day dragged by. There was some or other excursion planned for the afternoon. It was by invitation only, something along the lines of the picnic the day before. As expected, since Lazarus was away on his mission, no one invited her. Alex would’ve respectfully declined if they had.
Exclusive.
The word ran circles in her head. Dating. Oh god! She was truly dating a vampire. What would her mother say? Then again, her mom had, had countless boyfriends since her father’s death. First one, less than two months after he passed. It had been a big bone of contention between them.
Alex put the phone down on the cradle. She’d ordered in for dinner. The last thing she felt like doing was having to pretend that she was having a good time. She was worried. Where the hell was Lazarus? This was taking too damned long. Maybe something had happened.
She tried to sit back down to her writing but couldn’t concentrate. Though she did feel like going out for a walk, she didn’t want to run into any of the other women. To have to hear the spiteful remarks or feel the stares as they scrutinized her. Lazarus was the new favorite and he had made it clear that he was with her. They would be out for blood for sure.
There was a knock at the door. Alex sighed as she got up off the sofa. It had to be someone dropping off her dinner. After skipping breakfast and lunch, she had to eat something. With a turn of the wrist, she opened the door.
Lazarus took up the entire frame. His face was tense and his eyes were blazing. Oh God! He was covered in blood. His hands, his arms and all across his vest and thighs. She could even smell its iron stench.
“Jesus…what the hell happened?” Without thinking, she grabbed ahold of him and pulled him into her room. Her gaze moved up and down him, as did her hands. She needed to assess for damage.
“You shouldn’t be here. You need a hospital. How are you feeling?” She was breathing too quickly and her voice sounded panicked, but there was nothing she could do to stop the words that tumbled from her mouth. “I know you’re a big, strong, superhuman but you are not infallible.”
Lazarus gripped her waist and pulled her to him. “I’m fine,” he growled. “It’s not my blood.”
His eyes look haunted.
She swallowed hard. “It’s not?” She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. “That’s good to know. Whose is it? Can you tell me what happened?”
“It’s classified.”
Alex nodded, she dropped her gaze to his chest before looking back into his dark eyes. “I understand.”
He made a frustrated noise and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m going to tell you anyway. I know I can trust you, Alexandra.”
She nodded. It was true. He could trust her. A huge burden lifted off of her shoulders. There was no way that she was going to betray this man or the vampire people. It didn’t mean that she wasn’t going to fight to run the story, it just meant that she was going to have to find another way to do it.
She smiled at him. “I appreciate it.”
“First I need to shower. I need…never mind.”
“What do you need? Maybe I can arrange it for you.” She walked over to the side table and picked up the phone. It was an internal line only.
He shook his head, then ran a hand through his hair again. “No. That won’t help me. Don’t worry about it.” He took two steps backwards while he spoke, he turned and disappeared into the bathroom. The door stood wide open and she heard the shower sputter to life.
Alex had to smile. If she took one small step to the right, should be able to watch him. As tempting as that sounded, it didn’t feel right so she turned and strode to the window. There wasn’t really much to look at. There was just the courtyard in front of the hotel in the rear of the castle.
For a moment there, she was sure that he had been injured. Seeing all that blood had made her heart race and her palms feel sweaty. The last time she had felt that way was when she was told about her father’s accident. When she walked in to a hospital room and saw him lying there for the first time. It was the worst moment of her life.
Alex squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to remember anything about that day.
There was the sound of someone clearing their throat behind her. Alex turned. She had to stop her jaw from dropping. She seriously had to work to stop herself from making any weird noises. Lazarus’ hair was still dripping wet. Rivulets of moisture ran down his naked chest. A fluffy white towel was secured low around his waist. “I’m sorry.” He tucked the material in more securely. “My clothes are ruined. Shouldn’t have come here first.”
“No, I’m glad you did. What happened out there?”
“Jenna was kidnapped by her dickhead ex-boyfriend. I don’t want to get into too many details about that. It’s not my place to talk about her private life.”
Such a gentleman.
Her heart warmed. “I completely understand and respect that.”
“Jenna is Gideon’s mate. They’ve been seeing each other. Again, I don’t want to get into that.”
“Gideon isn’t one of the elite ten? It is against the rules for him to be dating Jenna. Again, I understand.” She held up a hand. “I really do.”
There was a knock at the door. “I’m sorry. That would be my dinner. Didn’t feel like going out.”
His eyes darkened and his jaw tensed. “I’m glad you didn’t. I only wish you had gone to my place.”
She chewed on her lip for a few beats. “I probably would have.”
There was another knock.
“Coming.” Jenna said, raising her voice.
It was another gorgeous vampire woman, this time in a tiny little black dress complete with a little frilly, white apron. She wore dangerously high heels and had the reddest, shiniest lips Alex had ever seen. In short, she was a stunner. “Your dinner.” She held onto the tray in one hand.
“Um… Thank you. Come on in.”
Lazarus glanced at the woman who nodded her head in greeting. He didn’t check her out like Alex expected. Not even one little bit. His eyes stayed on her the whole time. Even when the woman bent over to put down the tray.
“I appreciate that.” Alex said as she walked back to the door and let the other woman out.
“My pleasure.” She gave a little curtsy and left.
“I’m sorry…you were saying?” Alex moved over to the bed and sat down while watching as Lazarus folded his arms across his magnificent chest.
“So, her dickhead boyfriend kidnapped her. Jenna thankfully managed to convince him that the vampires would want her back and that we would be willing to pay big money to make it happen.” He ground his teeth. “Gideon organized the rendezvous point and went in alone. Then he went against our entire plan and went after the fucker himself instead of waiting for backup.” He uncrossed his arms and walked to the other side of the room.
It was really bad of her to notice in the situation, but she couldn’t help it. His back was beautiful. Broad and muscular. Dripping with water.
Lazarus turned around. “He was shot. The bastard used silver bullets. One of the bullets nicked his femoral artery and Gideon very nearly bled out. Fucking idiot.”
Alex could see that he cared for Gideon. “He did survive though, right? And what about Jenna? I take it that she’s okay?”
“Aside from a couple of bruises and some scrapes and scratches, his female is fine. Gideon will be down for a couple of days but at least he will survive.” Lazarus’ eyes narrowed in on her. So intense in that moment that he almost looked angry. “I thought about you the entire time. What if it had been you instead of Jenna? What if something had happened to you? I know it is soon, Alexandra, but…” He shook his head, looking agitated. He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I shouldn’t be feeling things that I am already, but I can’t seem to help it.”
Alexandra’s heart was pretty much beating out of her chest. It felt good to hear him say that but it also scared her, mostly because she felt the same way. “I know what you mean.” She bit down on her lip.
Lazarus closed the distance between them but didn’t touch her as he stood before her. “I am touched that you were so worried about me.”
She nodded. “I really was very worried…I also pictured all these scenarios of what could happen.” Shit, they were having another moment. A moment that would end with kissing which in turn would lead to so much more.
“I’m glad, Alexandra.” He cupped her chin. “I’m sensing that we are moving forward. That it is no longer a case of forwards followed by backwards. I sense that you are onboard with us being together and that you really mean it this time.” He stared deep into her eyes.
“I’m onboard.” She practically whispered. “I mean it. I was so worried about you. I was scared that something had happened to you. It made me realize that I want to see where this goes.”
He smiled. “You do realize that this cuddly teddy bear can take care of himself? Humans don’t stand a chance against us. I’m a good warrior. One of the best.” Lazarus’ cheeks heated just a smidgen.