A Mate for Lazarus

by Charlene Hartnady

  No! No! No!

  This wasn’t happening. She wasn’t about to throw her whole career, her whole life away for some guy. Just because he was seriously hot and knew how to use his hands…okay and his mouth…okay and maybe he had a mammoth dick, but that did not mean that she was going to lose her mind over him.

  That’s what it felt like right now. Like she was losing her mind. Alex paced back and forth, she was still in his apartment. Still waiting for a guard to escort her out.

  She normally didn’t have sex with a guy until she was sure that she had feelings for him. Until she was falling for him. Although they hadn’t had all out sex, oral was close enough. If she was honest with herself, she had come very close to having sex with him on both occasions. In fact, if Lazarus hadn’t been called away they probably would’ve ended up having full blown, scream the walls down sex.

  Alex not only wanted to walk in her father’s footsteps, she wanted to forge her own path as well. She wanted recognition and to be able to stand up tall in her own right and not just because she was the famous Peter Stone’s daughter. She remembered being a little girl and looking up at him with stars in her eyes. Her only regret was that he wouldn’t be here to see her hit the big time.

  She refused to allow Lazarus to stand in her way. She didn’t want regrets.

  It wasn’t like she and every other red-blooded journalist in America hadn’t tried the legit route in order to get an interview. She was a Sweetwater local and everything but no, the vampires didn’t give interviews or press releases. Lazarus had also made it clear that it was never going to happen. The kings would rather be lambasted with speculation and half-truths than have their story told.

  She sighed. She didn’t want to go behind Lazarus’ back. It would feel too much like selling a piece of her soul. “Oh god,” she said to the empty room, running a hand through her hair. The thought of hurting him was unbearable. The thought of never realizing her dream was just as unbearable.

  What the hell was she going to do?

  The guy was sweet and sexy and badass. The best combination. He also had this insecure side as well, which was crazy considering how unbelievably sexy he was. It was endearing.

  There was a knock at the door. “Yes.” She said, walking towards the door.

  “Can I come in?” A gruff male voice.

  “Yes, you can.”

  It was the same guy that had driven the car with Allison yesterday. “Hi,” he said as he stuck his head around the jam. “My name is Titan.”

  “Hi…again.”

  “I’m here to escort you to the human accommodations.” He was really good looking. Then again, they all were. He was also really big. Almost as big as Lazarus. Almost. She had to suppress a sigh. She was at it again. Comparing every guy she met to Lazarus.

  It had to stop.

  “After you.” Titan held the door open for her. She noticed that he remained in the hall, for the most part, keeping his hands behind his back.

  “Thanks.”

  It sucked that she didn’t want this thing with Lazarus to stop. She really didn’t want to pretend date him anymore. Alex wanted to date him for real. She had this tightening in her chest.

  “Is everything okay?” Titan glanced down at her. He was frowning deeply.

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” Like hell. She was really worried about Lazarus. Something had definitely happened to Jenna. Lazarus had been called to help her. An incident, he’d said. “Is Lazarus going to be okay?”

  Titan’s frown actually deepened. “I’m not permitted to talk about it. Know that vampires are tough. Lazarus is just about the toughest son of a bitch I know. I’m sure he’s going to be just fine.”

  It didn’t make her feel any better, if anything, the tightening in her chest only increased.

  “You are afraid for him?” Titan asked.

  She sighed. “I guess I am.”

  They walked into the hotel lobby. “Thanks so much.”

  “Any time.” Titan nodded and began to walk away.

  “When will Lazarus get back?”

  “I have no idea.” He said, scratching his head.

  “Come on. Give me something…please?”

  Titan shook his head. “I’m sorry. Lazarus did say that I should escort you if you wanted to return to his suite.”

  She nodded.

  “Just call reception and have them contact me.” He smiled, turned and walked away.

  Right! Enough already. She was not going to sit around and mope because she was worried about Lazarus, she also wasn’t going to sit and agonize over this story. She was going to start to write the article. She could possibly show it to the kings…miracles did happen.

  They did.

  Maybe there was a way of doing this without going behind Lazarus’ back. She could get to know him better. Date him for real and if there was definitely something there…which she suspected Lazarus was right about…then she could give it to the kings to read and maybe they would be okay with it. Otherwise, no, she didn’t want to think about the alternative.

  Alex headed to her room and after a quick shower, she got to writing. There was a knock on the door and a glance on the clock on the wall told her that almost two hours had passed. Sheesh! Time always flew when she got stuck in a story. Her gut was on the money when it told her that she was onto something here. There was another knock.

  Alex stuffed the book under her pillow and went to open the door. “Hi.” It was a room attendant.

  “Can I please come in and clean your room?” The tall, utterly breathtaking vampire lady asked. She was any guy’s wet freaking dream in her French maid’s outfit. It was really short and really tight.

  “Sure thing. I already made the bed so you can leave that.”

  The lady nodded. Alex had to stifle a giggle. The vampire sex-kitten maid had a feather duster in her hand.

  “I think I’ll pop out for some fresh air.” Alex gestured down the hall.

  The sex-kitten maid nodded and smiled. She waited patiently at the entrance to Alex’s room while Alex grabbed her purse and put shoes on.

  “You’ll lock when you leave?” She raised her brows.

  The lady vampire nodded and smiled. “Of course.”

  “Thanks.” Alex walked up the hallway to the reception area, where she was given Sarah’s room number. Within minutes, she was knocking on the other woman’s door.

  “Oh, hi.” Sarah smiled. She had a towel around herself. “Come on in. I was just getting ready. Someone is taking me to that poor vampire just now. You know, the one that died.”

  “I think his name is Griffin.”

  “Yeah, that’s right. I can’t believe it when they tell me that he is okay. Still in bed but on the mend. I have to see it with my own eyes. He apparently wants to thank me.” She blushed. “It’s totally unnecessary.”

  “You deserve to go and see him, Sarah.” Alex smiled at the other woman. “You practically saved his life. You get ready and do your thing, I’ll come back a bit later.”

  Sarah made a negative noise. “Come in. They aren’t going to be here for half an hour.” She looked at the watch strapped to her wrist. “We have time to talk.”

  Alex shrugged. “Okay.” She walked in and took a seat on the wing backed chair in the corner.

  “I won’t be a minute.” Sarah grabbed the clothes and underwear that were laid out on the bed and disappeared into the bathroom.

  Within a few minutes, she was back. The other woman wore a pair of black slacks and a casual top. It was white with a blue flower print around the top part. She slipped on a pair of flats. “How was Lazarus?” She rolled her eyes. “By the way, watch out because he’s the new flavor of the day since Lance is out of favor.”

  Alex rolled her eyes right back. “We’re exclusively dating one another so I wish them luck. I don’t know him all that well, but I don’t think he’s the kind of guy that would fool around.”

  Sarah picked up a brush and began to brush her still wet h
air. “I don’t think so either. He would be crazy to go down that road. None of those women would even give him the time of day up until not so long ago.”

  “Um…” Alex licked her lips. “He’s gone on some or other mission to save Jenna. You were right to be worried. It looks like she is in trouble.”

  Sarah dropped the brush. “What happened? Where is she?”

  “Look, I don’t know the details. Lazarus didn’t have much time. He did say her name while taking a call and he did look worried. I overheard some of what King Zane said. I know he asked Lazarus to assemble a team. It sounded like a rescue operation.”

  Sarah’s eyes filled with tears. “Shit! I really hope she’s okay.” Thankfully she didn’t actually cry.

  “Sorry! Maybe I shouldn’t have told you. It wasn’t my intention to upset you.”

  The other woman made a flapping motion with her hand. “Oh please. I’m glad you told me.”

  “Try not to let it get to you. I know it’s asking a lot but just try. You saw them train; those vampires know exactly what they are doing. They will help her. Lazarus will sort it out. I’m sure of it.”

  “Oh my word.” Sarah giggled. “Your voice went all funny when you spoke about him. They are freaking addictive aren’t they? You’re falling for him…I can tell.”

  “It’s far too soon for that.” Alex shook her head but deep down she knew it was true. Really, really crazy but true.

  Sarah put the hairbrush down and applied some lip gloss looking like she was done.

  “Here…” Alex fished around in her bag. “I’m pretty sure that beneath all of that blood and gore there is quite a handsome vampire. I have just the thing for you.” Alex said as her hand closed on the round bottle. “Give yourself a spritz or two of this. Griffin won’t know what hit him. Maybe he’s just what you need after Lance.”

  Sarah looked at her like she’d just grown a pair of pink tipped fangs. “What?” She was tempted to get up and check herself out in the mirror just in case.

  “Oh my god. You’re serious?” Sarah shook her head. “What kind of crash course training did they give you? You should really complain. It’s just not right.”

  “What? Griffin seemed like a nice enough guy and he’s seriously hot.”

  “I’m not remotely interested in Griffin. I’m talking about that.” She gestured to the perfume bottle in Alex’s hand. “You should not be wearing any type of strong perfumes. Vampires have a fantastic sense of smell. Strong scents like that are offensive to them. Just in case you weren’t aware, they also have really good hearing so you shouldn’t talk shit about them while standing anywhere near them because chances are that they will hear you. They have fantastic vision and can see in the dark as well.”

  “Okay. Wow!”

  “Vampires are not referred to as superhuman for nothing.” Sarah pointed at the perfume. “So put that away right now. You’re liable to get yourself thrown out.”

  Alex felt just a little sick as she remembered how Lazarus’ nostrils had flared earlier. It was right around the time that certain parts of her had puckered, clenched and tightened. “Right, so they could smell if say…we were…I don’t know…afraid?” Aroused.

  “They can smell any emotion. Happy, afraid, scared, horny.”

  Oh no!

  “They can tell if you are on your period. They even know if a woman is ovulating.”

  “Really? You’re shitting me.” Alex felt her jaw drop.

  “Aside from unwanted pregnancy, it’s the reason we have to be on the pill. An ovulating woman is enough to drive the guys nuts. They have this built in need to reproduce. They can be really base like that.”

  “Okay.” Alex’s heart raced and she tried not to panic. Hopefully she had already ovulated this month. She had no idea about reproduction timetables in women. If that was even the right word for it.

  Her mom had struggled to become pregnant with her. It was the main reason her folks had never had any more children. Maybe the same was true for her. She really hoped so but she also wanted kids so at the same time she prayed not. This was ridiculous.

  Sarah touched her arm and she jumped. “You look like you’re having a silent panic attack.”

  “I don’t like the idea of someone knowing such personal things about me.” All true. Well mostly.

  “They are used to it so it’s not a big deal to them.”

  “I suppose so.” Alex still didn’t like it. She was probably going to have sex with Lazarus. “You said they can even scent ovulation?”

  Sarah nodded. “According to our trainer. Did you have Kathy as well?”

  Alex shook her head. “No, I had Ellen.” A total lie but what the hell else was she supposed to say?

  “That’s probably why you didn’t get such great training. Kathy was amazing and so in-depth….anyway, she said that they can even tell if you are about to ovulate. Sometimes even days before.”

  “Wow! That is amazing.”

  “We don’t have to worry about it since you don’t ovulate when you’re on the pill. I’m going home tomorrow so I don’t have to worry period. I’m actually looking forward to it.”

  “I thought you wanted a vampire.”

  “I thought I did.” She shook her head. “Lance ruined it for me. None of the others will choose me…I don’t think I would want one of the others anyway.” Sarah shrugged. “I’m cool with it. I’m more than ready to go back home. I’m a school teacher, they’re using a substitute so my old position is there for me.” She looked nostalgic. “I miss the kids they—”

  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.
<
br />   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.”