Chapter 13
The next day…
They went at it like wild animals all night long. Or at least it had felt like all night. They had sex after he found the notebook.
Later, Lazarus had woken her up during the night. Technically, his tongue inside her vagina had woken her up. It was sinful and pure torture what he could do with his mouth.
The guy was an expert at holding back his orgasm. It was something she had never experienced before. She could actually feel him shaking from the sheer effort and could hear it in his voice when he finally let loose and let himself go.
He had bitten her again. Multiple-scream-the-walls-down orgasms had resulted. At least she had been expecting the spine tingling pleasure this time round. Someone had screamed for them to shut up. There was banging on the wall. None of it mattered. She found that she didn’t care, at least not in that moment.
In the cold hard light of day, she felt like hiding. Her muscles were sore. She hurt in places she didn’t even know existed. Her vagina was tender. Walking like a cowboy was a new saying in her vocabulary.
Lazarus had left just before the sun rose. He kissed her goodbye and told her that he would meet her at the event later.
The event.
She had no reason to feel nervous and yet, she was feeling sweaty with clammy palms. Her tongue felt like it was plastered to the roof of her mouth. Her lips felt dry.
“Hey.” Sarah arrived minutes behind her.
The guys were all at the front of the large room and both Zane and Brant were in attendance, as was Griffin. By looking at the guy no one would ever say that he was dead just yesterday.
“Hi.” Alex smiled at Sarah.
“Don’t look so nervous…you’re pale.”
“You mean more pale than normal?” Alex smiled and this time it was for real.
“Well…” Sarah sighed. “My bags are all packed, but I really am okay with going home. There is of course a small part of me that wishes that things had been different.” She shrugged. “What can you do? It is the way it is.” Then she narrowed her eyes at Alex. “You missed breakfast. I heard that someone was making a ton of noise last night.”
Alex lifted her hands. “Who me? No way. You heard wrong.”
“I don’t think so. One of the ladies is right next door to you…” Sarah sniggered. “She said that aside from the screaming and the grunting, that there was a headboard hitting against the wall repeatedly. I think she may or may not have used the word marathon.”
Alex felt her cheeks heat.
“So the two of you are getting along?” Sarah grinned.
She nodded. “It’s all going way too fast for my liking.”
“That’s how they are though. Vampires know when they have found the one. Sometimes even immediately. It happened that way between Jenna and Gideon. The moment he caught her scent for the first time, he was tickets.” Then her eyes widened like maybe she’d said something she shouldn’t have. “I saw Jenna this morning.”
“How is Gideon?”
“What do you know about the whole thing?” Sarah asked.
“Not much, just that he was injured. When Lazarus arrived at my room last night he was covered in blood.”
Sarah nodded. “Lazarus is a hero. A real hero. Did he tell you that he stuck his fingers in Gideon’s wound so that he could clamp the artery shut and stop the bleeding?”
“Really?” Alex could believe it.
“Jenna was completely hysterical. Gideon lost consciousness and was pretty much bleeding out. As you know, silver is poisonous to vampires so if he had died then he may very well have stayed dead.” Her eyes were wide and she spoke using elaborate hand gestures. “Lazarus didn’t hesitate, just stuck his fingers in there, held on for dear life and Gideon is going to be okay. He still has to gain consciousness. Jenna is beside herself with worry.” The other female sucked in a deep breath. “According to the healers it could be another day or two at least before he comes around. You see he hasn’t been—”
“Good morning.” Brant stepped forward, his voice was raised. “Welcome and thank you for taking part. Let’s quickly go over the rules. Shortly, I’m going to ask each of our males to pick a female. The male can decide as to whether or not he would like to pick someone. In other words, he may decline to do this.” The king looked around the room, sure to look into each and every one of their eyes from time to time. He wore a tailored suit and tie. Zane was at his side, still in his full leathers. His arms were folded, his dark gaze brooding.
“Should a male pick you…” He was sure to look around the room. “Please know that you may decline and go home if you wish. None of you are under any obligation to stay. Also know that you’re free to go at any time, should you decide to stay. For those of you that are not picked”—he paused—“you will be escorted back to your room, given three hours to pack and to say your goodbyes and then you will be escorted from the property. In light of some recent events, there will be a full debriefing before you are integrated back into human society. Know that plans have been put into place and that all of you are safe whether you remain here on vampire territory or whether you go back.”
“What recent events?” One of the women asked.
Brant and Zane exchanged looks. Alex knew that they were referring to Jenna’s abduction.
“This is not the forum for such a discussion so I will keep it brief. There are fascist groups that would like nothing better than to see the downfall of the vampires. They are angered by the program and do not believe that we should be permitted to mate with human females. There have been violent events.”
A murmur raced through the group of women.
“What violent events?” A woman shouted.
“Yes, we have a right to know.” It was the blonde, Vanessa was her name.
It wasn’t lost on Alex that King Brant had said events instead of event. Which depicted more than one.
“You will in due course. It is our hope to roll out The Program. To have many more of our males take human females. Rest assured that you will all be properly debriefed and assisted with your reintegration. Should anything go wrong, this would greatly affect The Program and I for one would not stand for that. We greatly appreciate your efforts and you will be well rewarded.”
On that note, the atmosphere in the room lightened significantly. “Will we be able to come back?”
Brant pursed his lips for a few seconds. “It is not completely out of the question. Though not for any of these males standing before you, as compatibility was not proven. However, it is a possibility for future males that enter into The Program.”
Again, his words seemed to appease the group. They were still in with a chance then. The disappointment was still palpable as many of the women knew that they were not going to be picked. Alex swallowed hard. She tried not to look at Lazarus who was talking to the person next to him.
“Right, let’s get this over with.” Brant folded his arms.
“You first, Griffin.” Zane growled.
The vampire in question took a step forward. Swallowing hard, he crossed and uncrossed his arms several times before stuffing his hands into his pockets. Then he shook his head. “Give me a minute.”
“What is there to fucking think about? If you have to think about it, you shouldn’t choose anyone.” Zane’s full attention was on Griffin.
Brant raised his brows.
“It’s not as simple as that,” Griffin mumbled.
“Fine.” Zane shook his head and pointed at the next vampire in line.
“No one,” the guy growled. Two more guys decided that they weren’t choosing anyone as well. The next one however, did say a name and the girl jumped up and down squealing.
Lance stepped forward. “No one.” His voice was a deep growl. His eyes were so stormy that they looked dark instead of the beautiful light blue she knew they were. It was a good thing that he hadn’t chosen anyone. Hopefully he would be a bit more sensible in the next heat. Alex somehow doubted it though. Sarah’s words ran through her mind. He did seem wounded. Like someone had deeply hurt him. It didn’t excuse his behavior, but Alex found herself feeling sorry for him anyways.
Two more guys stepped forward, each one of them picked one of the ladies with the same reaction. Squealing, clapping, big smiles.
It was ridiculous.
Did they have no control?
It was women like these that gave humans a bad name. Then Lazarus stepped forward. Her heart was pounding in her chest. This was it. Those dark intense eyes focused on her. He threw her a lopsided grin that had her panties catching fire. “I choose…Alexandra.”
A squeal somehow managed to escape her. Instead of prancing on the spot like the others had done, she pranced right over to the big, beautiful vampire and threw herself into his arms. He caught her while making a growling noise. The hilt of one of the swords and what felt like the hilt of a smaller knife dug into her legs but she didn’t care. She kissed him. Square on the lips. No holds barred. So what if everyone was watching.
“Enough,” Brant growled.
“Leave them.” She could hear that Zane was laughing. “I can’t believe that this fucker found a human female that actually wants him.”