Page 17 of The Vampire’s Receptionist (Charmed Away Temp Agency #4)

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Kian’s eyes felt gritty after waking so often to feed Dorian.

He slept hard between each feeding, but he didn’t entirely feel rested when the sun spilled across his bed the following morning.

He got up because his bladder demanded it, and once he was upright, his stomach made demands of its own.

He put in the effort to brush his teeth and run a comb through his hair, but couldn’t conjure up the energy to care for much else.

He trudged out of his room and down the stairs, following the sound of voices in the kitchen.

“Kian! You’re awake!” Avery said brightly.

Kian’s nose wrinkled in the face of such an upbeat tone so early. “Why are you smiling right now?”

Someone snorted on his right, and a quick glance over his shoulder showed three new semi-familiar men sitting at the counter. It was too early to think of people’s names right now.

“Coffee?” Avery asked, a little more hesitant this time.

Kian nodded. He knew he wasn’t a pleasant person before coffee. Especially after such a rough night. He followed his nose to the coffee machine, hovering at Avery’s side while he poured him a cup.

“Cream and sugar?”

Again, he nodded. Was it possible to get an IV of coffee? He could use one right now.

Avery’s lips pursed, like he was fighting a smile, but he didn’t hesitate to doctor the coffee with cream and sugar before handing Kian the mug.

Kian managed a polite nod in thanks and leaned heavily against the counter as he took the first few blissful sips.

As the caffeine jump started his brain, he took stock of the room and finally remembered who was who.

“Hi, Tony.”

Tony sat between his mates, a worried frown on his face. He brightened when Kian acknowledged him.

“Hi, Kian. How are you feeling?”

He shrugged. He hadn’t had enough coffee or food to answer that question yet.

“I made you some oatmeal,” Avery said, pointing to the bowl at the counter next to Taron. “I looked online for vegetarian friendly breakfasts with lots of iron. Oatmeal was the top suggestion.”

Kian actually loved oatmeal and shuffled toward it automatically. Avery had added blueberries and raspberries on top, as well as some honey, which was delightful. By the time he finished, he was much more awake and could actually manage a decent conversation.

“Thank you, Avery. That was great.”

Avery beamed at him, pleased with the praise. “You’re welcome. Do you want another coffee?”

“Please.” He offered the mug to Avery before leaning around Taron to look at Tony. “Looks like you avoided any tripping hazards on your way in.”

Taron snorted again, this time his shoulders shaking so hard, there was no hope to hide it. The thunderbird reached around Tony to smack him in the back of the head while Tony groaned and hid his face in his hands. Kian shot a questioning look at Avery, who sighed, a small smile on his face.

“So Tony did actually trip on the rug by the front door. Zephyr caught him, so he’s not injured, just a little embarrassed.”

Kian raised his eyebrows at Taron. “You think it's funny when he falls?”

His laughter cut off, and he looked horrified at the thought. “No! It wasn’t that he fell. It’s how Zephyr caught him. I turned around, and it looked like they were in the middle of a dance. It was adorable!”

“Taron!” Tony whined, still hiding behind his hands.

Taron spun around, immediately cuddling his mate and whispering in his ear.

From what little Kian could catch, he was lightheartedly teasing him to get Tony to smile again.

Those two were cute. The other one less so.

He still looked suspiciously in Kian’s direction. Asshole.

Dorian shuffled into the room a moment later, distracting him before he could call the thunderbird out for being such a dick.

He blinked blearily in a way Kian had grown used to over the past week.

He wasn’t awake yet. Slipping out of his seat, he pushed Dorian into it instead before heading to the coffee maker and pouring him a mugful.

Dorian gave that mug that same devoted look he gave his coffee every morning, and it was Kian’s turn to fight off a laugh.

Avery edged closer, frowning as he murmured low. “I thought he couldn’t have anything other than blood?”

“It’s got no nutritional value, but it wakes him up just the same.”

Technically, it probably went straight through him, but he knew plenty of vampires prepared to face the consequences to get their morning coffee.

He didn’t need to mention that to Avery, though, since he didn't want to embarrass Dorian by talking about his potential bathroom habits.

He only knew because he took a few classes on different physiologies when he became a paramedic.

He preferred having as much knowledge as he could to face each problem.

Taron looked between Kian and Dorian, a smirk on his face. “Are you both unable to function until you’ve had your coffee?”

“I can function,” Kian protested. “I just don’t like to. My coffee pot is on a timer, so it’s ready when I have to get up in the morning.”

“Mine too,” Dorian murmured, his voice gravelly with sleep. Words were a good sign. He was more awake than he had been the past week after his first cup of coffee. And despite the lack of caffeine, he didn't look like he was moments from keeling over either.

Kian sipped his own cup, studying the vampire for a moment more, before giving his attention to the other men in the room. “Do you normally have a party here every morning?”

Avery snickered, shaking his head. “No. Ozen had a meeting, so Taron volunteered to come play chaperone, but since Tony is Taron’s assistant, where Taron goes, Tony goes and–”

“And we love our gorgeous thunderchicken too much to leave him behind,” Taron interrupted, batting his eyelashes at his mate.

Kian snorted. “Thunderchicken. I’m going to use that,” he murmured to himself. From the narrow-eyed look he got from the thunderbird, probably not quietly enough. He just smirked. If he wanted Kian to be kinder, he needed to not be such an ass.

Dorian let out a resigned sigh, frowning down at his coffee.

It tugged at something in his chest, and he moved automatically to put his hand on Dorian’s forearm.

It was embarrassing enough for Kian to have chaperones in the room.

But these were Dorian’s friends. It must have been ten times worse for him, knowing he needed them around to keep him from hurting someone accidentally.

Surprisingly, Taron both noticed Dorian’s turmoil and didn’t tease him for it. He threw an arm around Dorian’s shoulders, hugging him lightly.

“You’re alright. I don’t actually think you’ll hurt him. I’m just around as a precaution.”

It was the same thing Ozen said the night before. One by one, his friends were reassuring him that they didn’t see him as a monster. The question was, was it enough after the way they treated him when Dorian first came to after his attack?

Kian decided to take a shower and get dressed before feeding Dorian again.

In part because he fully believed he’d need a nap afterward and didn’t think he’d have the energy later, but also because he wanted to try to…

relieve some tension beforehand to see if it helped with his reaction to Dorian’s feedings.

He tried really hard to think of anything other than silky black hair and that shiver-inducing chuckle, but in the end, it took maybe a few minutes of thinking about the feeling of Dorian feeding from him to actually get him off.

This was bad. Really bad. What were the chances the stupid druid would have answers for them when he came for his visit this morning?

He showed up last night but only stayed long enough to make sure Kian wasn’t suffering from the small feedings before leaving.

He didn’t have any answers then, nor would Kian have been awake enough to actually hear them at that time.

Dressed in a comfortable sweater and yoga pants, because he wasn’t going anywhere today and wanted to be comfortable, he was in the middle of drying his hair when he heard a knock at the door.

He shut off the blow dryer long enough to call out, “Come in!” before getting back to it. He hated leaving his hair wet.

“Kian?” Dorian’s voice called in question.

“I’m in here,” Kian said, his attention on the mirror and his hair.

It took work to keep it looking nice, work he put in every damn morning, only to pull it back into a ponytail because he was too busy to let it get in his face.

Maybe he should cut it off to make his life easier.

He made a face at the mental image. No, he really didn’t want to do that. He’d put up with the maintenance.

Dorian appeared in the doorway, fully dressed as well in a button-up and slacks, which must have been casual for him with the lack of tie and jacket. Kian was grateful he hadn’t rolled up his sleeves. He would completely ruin the effects of the tension relief in the shower, looking like that.

“Is something wrong?” he asked over the sound of the dryer.

Dorian shook his head quickly. “No, nothing like that.” He hesitated, discomfort etched into his face. Kian shut off the blow dryer to give the man his full attention.

“What is it?”

“I–” He sighed heavily. “I hate to bother you, but I’m supposed to be in a meeting in a little while. I was wondering if we could push the feeding up a little. I would wait until later if I thought I could get away with it, but…”

“But there’s no way I, or any of your friends, would let you get away with that. Sure, that’s fine. When is your meeting?”

“In twenty minutes,” Dorian said, his shoulders slumped in defeat.

“Give me five to finish this. Do you happen to know if I can get someone to forward my work phone to my cell while I’m here? Might as well make myself useful while you’re busy.”

“You shouldn’t push yourself,” Dorian argued.

“Neither should you,” Kian shot back, pointing his comb at the vampire.

“If you can work while recovering, so can I. It’s not like my job is that difficult right now.

I answer phones and make appointments to meet with you.

I can do all that with a notebook and my cell phone without breaking a sweat. ”

Dorian’s expression flattened. “I find I don’t enjoy how easily you undermine my decisions. I hurt you yesterday and continue to make demands of you. The least I can do is give you time off to recover.”

“If I felt the need for it, I’d happily accept. But if you make me sit around all day with nothing to do but rest, you’re asking for trouble. I don’t do well with boredom.”

Instead of continuing the argument, Kian turned the blow dryer back on.

It was definitely to make the vampire stop talking, and Dorian absolutely noticed if the scowl was anything to go by.

Kian was still grinning a few minutes later when he joined Dorian in his room for his next feeding.

Why was tormenting the vampire so much fun?