A Mate for York (The Program Book 1)

by Hartnady, Charlene

  “I was with the human when she left. It wasn’t lost on me how you didn’t make another sound after she was gone.” Gideon shook his head. “The humans inside are stunning, or so I have heard. You need to give it a chance. Maybe you will meet the right one.”

  “You haven’t seen them yet?” York asked.

  Gideon shook his head. “It’s been hectic out here since early evening. Somehow information about tonight must have leaked despite the heavy confidentiality clauses. I have my hands full.” He shrugged. “Besides, it’s not like any of them are here for me, so what’s the point?”

  They arrived at the large double doors of the club. “Why didn’t you try out for the program?” York asked. “You could easily have made the top ten.”

  Gideon shrugged again, looking distinctly uncomfortable. “I’m not the settling down type. I don’t particularly want a mate or children for that matter.” His eyes darkened.

  It didn’t make sense to York. Most males he knew would give their right testicle to be included. “I can’t say I understand but whatever makes you happy.”

  Gideon glanced at the growing crowd. “I need to get back to work.” He clenched his teeth. “If this gets any worse I’m going to have to call for backup. The kings insisted that this whole thing take place at Aorta. They felt the human females would feel more comfortable in a relaxed setting. Fucking crazy if you ask me.”

  York nodded. “Especially with the recent attempt on Zane’s life.” His chopper had been shot down by a group of fascist humans with a vendetta against the vampires. Particularly the kings. The group was not thrilled at the prospect of human women being taken as mates by vampire males. They had managed to capture one of the members that had shot Zane but in a fit of rage, Brant had killed the male before he could give up much information. It left them in the dark as to how many of them there were? How organized and skilled they were? More importantly, as to whom they were and what their futures plans were.

  The threat could be nothing and it could be very real. They were treating it as the latter.

  York nodded. “Thanks for seeing Cassidy off the other day and for the advice.”

  “For the record, I know you didn’t use her like Brant thinks you did. You need to know that it doesn’t help to go against the system. Our rules are in place for a reason.” He sighed heavily. “We may not like them, but we have to obey them.” Gideon smiled. “Now…go inside and find your future mate.”

  York nodded back. “I’ll see you later.”

  “Sure thing.” Gideon turned and walked away, he already had a phone to his ear within two strides. All business.

  York turned back to the entrance. The guards at the door greeted him with big smiles.

  “You are so fucking lucky.” One said as he walked past.

  “They are just as sweet as we have been told.” Another remarked.

  He ignored the male. Ignored them all as he walked inside.

  An upbeat song played. The club was not very big as it was specially designed for vampire patrons only. The interior was distinctly modern and highly tasteful. It was Brant’s club, and that meant that no expense had been spared. Marble, crystal and silver were the main finishes. Light, clean and elegant with a minimalistic flair. He’d always enjoyed coming here. He’d always picked up a vampire female on the few times he’d been here during leisure time. Would he get so lucky tonight? Did he even want to? Thing was, he really needed to move on. Once and for all. One night with Cassidy was hardly a relationship. They had both been clear that it was a one-time thing.

  Fuck!

  Why was he even thinking about her again? She had probably already left town like she said she wanted to. York was sure that she had moved on without another thought. No more dwelling on what could never be.

  There were a lot of females in attendance. Delicious scents tantalized his senses. A quick count brought the total number of females, he could see, to twenty-two. Ten males and at least twenty-two females. Brant was obviously fucking useless at math.

  Griffin had his arm around one of the females. She pressed her body against him and whispered something in his ear. Some of the guys were talking with more than one female. Lance had three females surrounding him. A pretty boy fucking player regardless of whether the female was human or vampire. It seemed that his whole brooding, intense thing worked on all females. It turned out, that despite a foul temper, Lance didn’t have bloodlust. Only one of the males was afflicted. A quiet, reserved male. Go fucking figure.

  “About damned time.” Lazarus appeared from nowhere. His friend wore a tank top exposing thick, well muscled arms that would surely scare away the timid humans.

  “It doesn’t look like I’ve missed much.” York folded his arms across his chest.

  Lazarus made a groaning noise. “Just heaven…they are so damned pretty.”

  “So why are you here talking to me instead of them?”

  Lazarus took on a pained expression. “I’m not much of a talker.” The male was right, he grunted more than he spoke.

  “I tried to start up a conversation with that little blonde over there.” He pointed to the bar. A woman in high heels and a seriously tight dress was ordering a drink. “I introduced myself and then panicked.” Lazarus’ eyes darkened and he sucked in a deep breath.

  “What did you do?”

  He looked down at his feet. “I told her she had fucking stunning mammary glands.”

  York had to laugh. “We were taught to go easy on the compliments. You should’ve talked about her eyes or her hair.”

  “Yeah but look at her.” Lazarus growled as the female turned around and sure enough, there was enough cleavage in her low cut dress to sink whole ships. Big cruise liners for that matter. “I suck at this. You should’ve seen her face. I’m surprised she didn’t slap me.”

  York chuckled. “Relax. We have plenty of such meet and greet sessions planned over the next few weeks. There are more humans than males, I’m sure one of them will be interested in a testosterone riddled, huge motherfucker like you.”

  Lazarus flexed his muscles. “Better fucking believe it,” he growled.

  “About that though.” York made for the bar and Lazarus stayed next to him. “You should look for a shirt like mine.” York ran his hands down the dress shirt he was wearing. “You could also use a pair of jeans.” He glanced at the other male’s leather pants. York choked out a laugh. “And for fucks sakes lose the knives.”

  Lazarus had a blade strapped at his thigh and another on his belt. He knew that there would be more concealed weapons on him. The other male scowled. “What if we are attacked?” His jaw ticked. “I need to be ready to protect the humans. They are weak and easily hurt.”

  “They are also easily scared as well.” York ordered a drink for himself. He decided on a beer. It was a perfectly acceptable human drink. He noticed that many of the males had one in their hands. “Do you want anything?”

  “Blood…hold the ice,” Lazarus growled.

  York raised a brow at the male.

  “What?” Lazarus put up his hands. “Okay fine”—he huffed—“blood and a double shot of vodka.”

  “You can’t fucking drink blood in front of the humans.” York kept his voice low. “Were you not paying any attention in the training sessions?”

  “I’m a fucking vampire.” Lazarus growled so loudly that he made one of the females to the right of them shriek and grab her chest. “Sorry,” he growled while taking a step towards her.

  She visibly paled. The female swallowed hard and nodded. “It’s f-fine.” She stammered, her eyes wide in her head.

  As soon as Lazarus turned back towards him, the female slunk away glancing back in their direction every so often. Human females were terrified of him. Then again, full grown vampire males were terrified of Lazarus so he didn’t blame them.

  “I understand that you are a vampire but you can tone it down while they are getting to know you. This is new to them.”

  “Fu
ck that. I am who I am.” He answered, in true Lazarus style.

  “Don’t listen to me then. You can order your own fucking blood,” York said, keeping his voice down. He noticed that there was a female sitting at the end of the bar. She looked lost, her eyes kept moving around the room. It was like she was searching for something…or someone. “Take those blades off and hand them in at the bar. Let’s go and speak to that female over there.” He pointed her out to Lazarus without making it obvious.

  “Yeah,” Lazarus growled. “She has stunning eyes. So very big…” He bobbed his eyebrows up and down. “And her hair is fucking lush and curvy…I mean wavy.” He bobbed his brows a second time. York had to laugh. He noted that the male removed the visible knives, but he didn’t end up ordering anything to drink.

  They made their way over to the female. York held his beer, taking a sip every so often. It tasted pretty shitty and the alcohol content was too low to even give him a mild buzz. If it made the humans feel more comfortable though, then he didn’t mind drinking it.

  The female seemed taken aback that they had approached her. She didn’t look particularly happy by the way she pressed her lips together and she pulled her purse more tightly against her midsection. Her heart rate picked up.

  “Would you mind if we joined you?” he asked. “You look a little lonely sitting all the way over here on your own.”

  “I’m fine over here on my own…” Her eyes widened. “But I wouldn’t mind talking for a while.” She emphasized the word talking. Contrary to how quickly he and Cassidy had ended up in bed together, human women tended to prefer a drawn out courtship. He didn’t understand it. This must be one of those females.

  “I’m York and this is Lazarus.”

  “I’m Jenna.” She shook both their hands in turn. The good news was that she didn’t seem too afraid of Lazarus. She even gave him a shy smile. “Is everyone here?” She asked, still craning her neck to take a good look around the room.

  “I’m not sure,” York answered. “I think all the females are here. How many of you made it through? I was only expecting for there to be ten. Since there are ten of us.”

  Jenna finally turned her gaze back to him and Lazarus. “Um…there are twenty five of us. We were warned that not all of us would be chosen.” Then her eyes swept back across the space. “I was talking about vampires. Are all of you here tonight?”

  Lazarus gave a grunt of affirmation.

  The female even lifted slightly off her chair to get a better view of the club.

  “Are you looking for someone?” York had to ask. It was glaringly obvious that she was.

  Her face turned bright red and she vehemently shook her head. “No…I mean yes…one of the other girls. I said I would keep an eye out for her. She must be in the ladies room or something.”

  “All of the males are here.” York said, watching her face cloud in disappointment.

  What the fuck?

  “Hi there.” A really pretty female came up and joined their small group. She moved in right next to York, turning her eyes on him. “I’m Vanessa.”

  “There you are.” The shy female smiled broadly. “This is York and that’s Lazarus.” Jenna gestured to each of them. Maybe she had been waiting on her friend after all.

  Vanessa had long blond hair and just about the bluest eyes York had ever seen. Like all the humans that had been chosen for them, she was both tiny…in a way that only a human could be and curvy…also in a way that only a human could be. Her hips were wide, made for holding onto. Her ass was so fucking lush, it should’ve had his hands itching for a grab.

  Her breasts were like two pillows. The perfect cradle for both his mouth and head. His dick should be jumping out of his pants by now, yet…nothing. Not the slightest fucking twitch.

  The female visibly flinched when she shook Lazarus’ big hand and even took a step closer to York. She scented of cinnamon bathed in vanilla. His mouth didn’t so much as water and his fangs stayed firmly in his gums.

  Fuck!

  York took a quick look around the club, really looking at the human females for the first time. When it came to looks and scent, Vanessa was right up there. One of the sexiest humans in the room. Lance glared daggers at him. Two guesses on who the male had picked as a possible prospect. It almost made York want to put his arm around the female.

  If only he was in the least bit interested.

  “So.” Vanessa pulled her full lower lip into her mouth for a few beats. “I’m seriously hoping that since you are here, that you are one of the eligible vampire bachelors.”

  York nodded. “Yeah, I am.” Maybe if he chatted with her for a bit. “What made you decide to be a part of all of this?”

  “What? Are you kidding? You guys are so incredible…you live in a castle…are seriously wealthy. What girl in her right mind wouldn’t jump at the chance? By the look of the mass of women”—she giggled—“and even a couple of men…out there, I’d say that loads would agree with me.” She smiled, looking up at him through her lashes.

  “Reality can sometimes be very different from fantasy.”

  “Honey…” Her eyes moved over him in a way that should’ve had something firing up inside him. “I’m looking at the reality and you’re even better than any fantasy I have ever had. May I?” She put a manicured hand out, wanting to touch him.

  York grit his teeth. Surely her hands on him mingled with her exotic scent would rouse him from whatever it was that was wrong with him. He nodded.

  The scent of her arousal kicked up a whole lot as her hand smoothed over his chest, her fingers brushed lightly over his pecs before crossing to his biceps where she gave a squeeze. “Wow!” She breathed the word rather than said it. “You sure are stacked. Makes me want to know if you’re like that everywhere.” She kept her hand where it was for a few beats, her eyes stayed locked with his.

  For blood’s sake! The female didn’t waste any time. The last thing he wanted was for her to think that he was interested because he really wasn’t. Not even a little.

  “I’ve decided to take my time getting to know all of the human females. I don’t want to rush into anything and neither should you.” He sounded like a total pussy. It almost felt like the roles had been reversed.

  Vanessa licked her lips. Her tongue slowly dragged over them in a sensual, well practiced move that did fuck all for him. Normally this type of display by a really hot female would equal equally hot sex. The problem was that he wasn’t here for a fuck, he was here to find a mate. Sure, compatibility would need to be tested but there needed to be more there to begin with. York suppressed a yawn.

  Vanessa must have sensed that she was losing him because she pressed herself against him. Her lush curves should have felt really good but all he could think about was Cassidy. Her unique green tinged eyes, her honeyed skin, the splash of freckles across her nose. She had no idea how utterly intoxicating she was. How sensual and sweet. It was a combination that had brought him to his knees then and made him want to find her now.

  Vanessa cleared her throat in an effort to draw his attention. “That’s exactly what I’m suggesting…that we get to know each other a bit better. We were briefed on how sexual vampires are. You don’t have to hold back on my account.” Her eyes traveled the length of him. “I’m game if you are.”

  “We are not permitted to fuck tonight and I’m a stickler for rules.” York said, trying not to growl at her.

  Lazarus barked out a laugh that sounded raw and gravelly. York threw his friend a dirty look, hoping he would shut the fuck up.

  Vanessa shrugged, her fingers played on her skin in the vicinity of her cleavage. It was an invitation to look. York declined by keeping his eyes on hers.

  “There are plenty of other things we could do. Besides, we’re allowed to have at each other from tomorrow on. Tonight could be a practice run.” She was clearly used to getting her way.

  “Thank you, but I would rather we…” Damn but he had turned into a serious pussy. “
Talk.”

  This resulted in another laugh by Lazarus. He and the shy female were, at least, making small talk.

  The female in front of him, looked crestfallen for a second before her eyes hardened up. “Suit yourself. I can see that you’re not interested.” She turned and headed back to Lance, draping herself over him. Much to the dismay of a sweet looking female who had been talking with him. The idiot male put his arms around Vanessa, he even cupped her ass with both his hands.

  York felt nothing but relief.

  As much as he wanted a female and a family, he couldn’t move on without properly explaining things to Cassidy. It ate at him that she thought badly of him. That she thought he had used her. The worst part of it was that it would affect her self-confidence and her ability to trust again. The thought of her with another male angered the hell out of him but the thought of her all alone made him feel even worse. He had to set the record straight. Then, he would actually be able to give one of these females the time of day.

  Unfortunately, Gideon would know exactly what he was up to if he tried to leave early.

  “What made you join the program?” Lazarus asked.

  “I’m looking for a vampire,” Jenna answered.

  Lazarus gave a rough bark of a laugh. “You came to the right place.”

  “I sure hope so,” the female answered. She didn’t seem afraid of Lazarus but she also didn’t seem interested in him. In fact, she didn’t seem in the least bit interested in any of the males.

  “Can I get either of you a drink?” York interjected. If he was going to have to hang around, he would try to make the most of it.

  There was screaming from outside. Loud, hysterical screaming. Guards streamed into the club, at least ten of them. They positioned themselves at various points within the club interior. York noted that the entrances were all covered.

  Jenna pulled her bag closer to her chest. Her eyes became saucers in her skull and her heart rate kicked into overdrive. York could scent her fear.

  “What the fuck’s going on?” Lazarus growled at one of the leather clad guards. The male looked alert and ready.