Page 6 of The Vampire’s Receptionist (Charmed Away Temp Agency #4)

CHAPTER SIX

Kian listened to the conversation with a strange amount of jealousy.

He knew Dorian had a feeder. Not only had he mentioned it, it was only logical.

But after that experience in the breakroom, he kind of hoped for a repeat.

He probably shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up.

A man as important as Dorian probably had a harem of feeders.

Kian just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

He pushed away from the wall, heading back to his desk.

After portaling home and getting himself off embarrassingly fast to deal with the issue that had popped up during the feeding, he’d intended to check in on Dorian and discuss him taking better care of himself.

It seemed like the vampire was aware of his misstep and making strides to handle it.

It was a good thing. Kian didn't have the time to babysit right now.

He sat at his desk, irritated for no good reason.

Maybe he needed to start dating again. His last relationship ended in a spectacular explosion of drama, a lot of cruel things were said, and he’d sworn off dating ever since.

Random hookups held no appeal, since more often than not, once they noticed his eyes, they changed their minds.

That would only make his mood worse. At least on dating apps, he could be upfront and only the people who were interested would contact him. He never hid his eyes on his profiles.

He was considering the pros and cons of opening himself up to dating again when the phone rang. He answered it automatically, his customer service voice a little more sharp than usual.

“Spellbound Corps Medical Division, this is Kian speaking. How can I help you?”

“Kian? Is everything alright?” Morana asked, sounding concerned.

His brow furrowed. “Of course. Everything is fine. Why?”

“Morgan came to see me about you reassigning him. He made vague comments about being uncomfortable working around so many unstable supernaturals, and when I pressed him, he said he was almost attacked while having lunch with you. I thought you would have called right away. Who tried to attack Morgan? Do we need to make a report?”

The irritation swelled. He knew he should’ve taken the time to make Morgan swear a vow. He couldn’t even do anything about it now, since Morgan was probably going to be reassigned by Morana.

“There’s no problem. The vampire didn’t realize he was hungry until Morgan got a paper cut. He’s going to meet with his feeder now. It was a simple mistake, and no one was hurt. I didn't call because there was nothing to report.”

There was a weighty pause, and he knew Morana didn’t see it that way.

It was true, if Morgan had been there without him, he might have gotten hurt, but after seeing how hard Dorian fought against his instincts, he doubted it.

The vampire probably would’ve told Morgan to run, just like he did with Kian, and locked himself away until his feeder could arrive.

Dorian struck him as the responsible type.

He wouldn’t have let himself hurt someone else.

“If you think this is going to be a regular occurrence–”

Kian cut her off, firming his voice. “I don’t.

It was an accident. Accidents happen. Humans are more sensitive to that kind of thing.

I promise, no one was in any danger. You know I’m not the kind of person to let that kind of thing stand for no good reason, Morana.

If I thought it was a problem, I’d say something.

” Or do something reckless. But that was neither here nor there.

Morana sighed. “Yes, I’m aware of that. Alright, I’ll trust your judgment. I got your email about reassigning Morgan. Did you see the behavior firsthand from the werewolf?”

He went over what he heard while talking to Morgan on the phone.

Innocent enough to get away with in an office, but just on the wrong side of uncomfortable for someone who wasn’t receptive to that kind of attention.

Morana agreed that Morgan shouldn’t be forced to stay there and deal with that kind of behavior.

Especially because he was human and had no way of defending himself.

Kian shuddered at the thought. He couldn’t imagine being without his magic. He’d feel so exposed.

“Well, I contacted Poppy and explained the situation, and she’s agreed to switch out with Morgan.

She did warn me that she wouldn’t be polite about turning him down.

You might want to brace yourself to deal with that.

I don’t want any problems with Spellbound, but I’m not going to let my people be harassed, either. ”

“I’ll handle it,” Kian assured her. “Thanks, Morana.”

“Any time. Check in with everyone else for me and make sure they’re comfortable where they’re at, then send me a report. I’ll talk to you again soon.”

He agreed and said his goodbyes before hanging up. Leaning back in his chair, he sighed heavily.

“You didn’t need to defend my actions. If Morgan feared for his life, a report should be made,” Dorian’s smooth voice informed him.

Kian startled and nearly fell out of his chair, righting himself before he could completely eat it. He shot a dirty look at the vampire, pulling his chair closer to the desk again.

“We both know you wouldn’t have actually hurt him.

It was an accident. But Morgan is human and prone to dramatics.

He’s being reassigned anyway, so it doesn’t matter.

” He was being dismissive, he knew that, but he was annoyed with the whole situation and didn’t want to talk to people about it.

He had felt off since feeding Dorian and needed time to get his head on straight.

“He’s being reassigned? I was hoping to apologize to him,” Dorian said, frowning.

“He’s uncomfortable working around so many supernaturals. He’s better in more mixed companies. We’re switching him out with someone who can handle the environment. I can give you his email if you want to apologize, or I can ask him to meet you if you want to do it in person.”

Dorian considered it carefully, and Kian couldn’t help himself from checking the man out as he did.

He looked better than he had that morning, now that he’d eaten a little.

The bags under his dark brown eyes weren’t as intense, and he no longer looked like he needed to find the nearest bed and pass out.

His cheeks had a little more color to them, and now that Kian wasn’t looking at the major signs of sleep deprivation, he could see how handsome he was.

Pale gold skin, straight nose, full lips.

Silky black hair, parted to one side and falling carelessly onto his forehead.

His suit was well fitted, showing off his lithe frame.

He probably looked more put together when he wasn’t starving, but the slightly disheveled look with his messy hair and his loosened tie brought him more down to Kian’s level, which made it easier for him to talk to the man.

“I think in person is best. I hate that I frightened him. I wanted to apologize to you, too. Things have been hectic since I took this position. It’s no excuse for letting myself get that close to losing control, but I wanted to let you know it isn’t a normal thing here.

Spellbound does not allow it. I already sent a message to Supernatural Resources to alert them of what happened and am taking measures to make sure it doesn’t happen again. I’m sorry you had to be involved.”

His stomach tightened uneasily at Dorian’s formal tone.

He did the right thing, and Kian respected him for seeing the problem and taking immediate action to make it right.

Everyone made mistakes, and he didn’t try to pretend nothing happened.

But he didn’t like how Dorian spoke to him.

After a blood donation, it felt wrong that the man was being so stiff around him.

“I told you, it’s not my first emergency blood donation. I’m not offended, nor did I fear for my life at any time. I’ll let Morgan know you want to apologize and see if he’s open to meeting with you, but you don’t need to worry about me. I’m fine.”

It looked like Dorian didn’t believe him, which only irritated him more. He really wished the guy would walk away.

Dorian could see the dismissal in Kian’s eyes. He wasn’t happy, but he wasn’t willing to discuss the incident further. Dorian wished there was some way for him to make it up to the man, but he wouldn’t get anywhere if Kian wasn’t open to talking to him. He dipped his chin once to acknowledge him.

“Alright. Let me know what Morgan prefers, if it’s not too much trouble. And a representative from SR will be stopping by today or tomorrow to write up an incident report. I’d appreciate you answering their questions honestly. I’ll leave you to your work.”

Something flashed across Kian’s face before he masked it and gave him a nod, dismissing him completely by turning back to his computer.

Dorian went back to his office, still riddled with guilt and something else he didn’t want to think about.

Feeding from Kian had been… intense, for lack of a better word.

He’d never shared the euphoria his feeders experienced during feeding before.

It was just a means of distraction for them so he could feed without them feeling any pain.

But Kian’s euphoria had invaded his senses, and it took all of his concentration to not take more than what he needed.

He wanted to sink into it, which felt a little unnerving.

Even with Harlem, whom he’d regularly fed from, he never felt the urge to overindulge.

He took only what he needed and not a drop more.

So why was he so hungry for more of Kian’s blood?

Perhaps it was his fae side. He’d never fed from a fae before.

Fae were rare amongst the feeder community.

It was seen as shameful to share their blood or magic with anyone.

Their race was one of the more xenophobic races and generally quite isolated in their own realm.

Only a small percentage ventured over to this realm for more than a short trip.

Brushing that thought away, he focused instead on what he needed to get done this afternoon.

The list was ever growing, but he hoped it’d be easier to manage now that the majority of those who sided with Aristeos had left to join him and were no longer making things difficult here.

It had been a complicated decision to have SR step in and check the entire division’s loyalties.

Some felt it went against their rights, but Maverick stepped in and pointed out their contract allowed for them to ask questions when loyalties were in doubt.

There was a mass exodus of staff who refused to allow the inquisition, and several more were let go after proving to Brennus that they were only staying to supply information to Aristeos.

The temps were brought in to cover the deficit while they hired replacements.

He was elbow deep in paperwork when his phone rang. He answered it without looking at the caller ID, tucking it between his ear and shoulder while he signed the document in front of him.

“Dorian Kuramori.”

“Mr. Kuramori, you have an Elijah Washburne here to see you. Can I send him back?” Kian asked blandly. Still mad, then. Dorian felt his chest tighten at the reminder.

“Yes, that’s fine. Thank you, Kian.”

Kian didn’t even say goodbye before hanging up.

He flinched at the click on the other line.

He would need to work with the man for at least a month until they found his replacement.

He couldn’t have picked a worse person to lose control around.

It would make their working relationship awkward, at the very least. He hoped Kian wouldn’t be hostile on top of that.

A soft knock on the door drew him to his feet, and he came around his desk to open it and invite Elijah in.

He wasn’t surprised they sent the telepath, he was always the first called when improper magic was involved in the office.

Brennus was overjoyed when he was hired, and incidents in the company dropped significantly now that he could see exactly what happened from each perspective.

He offered the man his hand, opening his mind to the connection so that Elijah could do his job.

Elijah smiled at him. “Hello, Dorian. Thank you for agreeing to meet with me.”

“Thanks for coming so quickly.”

“Thank you for being so upfront with us. Can you tell me what happened?”

He felt the probe of Elijah’s magic on his mind and resisted the urge to bat it away. It was hard to penetrate a vampire’s mind, especially one as old as him, so it took effort to allow it to happen.

“I waited too long to feed. It was entirely my fault. I should have paid more attention. While getting a coffee, one of the new temps cut his finger, and I lunged at him. I was stopped by Kian’s magic, and he used a portal to send the man away.”

Elijah nodded, his eyes a little distant as he saw for himself how the events occurred. “And then Kian offered a donation?”

“Yes. I appreciated that, as at the time I didn’t feel like waiting for my feeder would have ended well. He was fully consenting, and no magic was used to sway his mind.”

“I can see that.” He blinked a few times, clearing his vision, and Dorian felt his magic pull away again. “Well, I don’t see anything major, but I agree an incident report is justified. Do you feel alright now, or do you need to take the rest of the day to meet with your feeder?”

He shook his head with a resigned sigh. “I’m fine. I did apologize to Kian, and I plan to do the same for the other young man, but he didn’t come back after the incident. I’ve asked Kian to make the request for a meeting for me.”

That seemed to satisfy the SR rep, and he pushed to his feet. “I’ll speak with them both and send you a copy of my report when I’m through. Thank you, Dorian.”

He didn’t really feel like he deserved a thanks in this instance. He was the one who did something wrong. It was only right to report it.