VAMPIRE TEMPTATION

Sweet Temptation *** Klaus pov. I slam my fist down on the desk, which cracks. Fortunately, Ruby is already gone and doesn’t notice. Fuck. The ritual last night was strangely unsatisfying. It sated my hunger, but not my lust. The sweet temptation of walking around my office makes that impossible. The worst is, I can tell that Ruby is attracted to me too. Others view being a vampire as a curse, but I’ve never seen it that way. Apart from being immortal, I get to read human minds, which is extremely useful, especially in the business world. No one’s blood has ever smelled as good to me as Ruby’s. Nor has anyone’s body made my dick ache as hers does. Katherine breezes in without knocking. Klaus, are you done with the reports?” “Nearly.” It’s a lie, but vampires can’t read each other’s minds. Good. We have a new potential investor.” What do you think about bringing Ruby in on the secret? Katherine scowls at me. “It’s too soon. You know that. We have the rules for a reason.” I do know that, but that doesn’t make it any easier to resist her. “I guess so.” If it was anyone else, I’d do what I want regardless, but I need to be careful of Katherine. We have two covens in this office mine and

Katherine’s. We’ve agreed to mate, though I’ve been avoiding setting an exact date. I won’t be able to get out of it forever, though. I need this alliance. Vampire covens are always at war. I need tooNôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

keep the alliance with Katherine’s coven to try to protect my own. Katherine leaves, and too late I forgot to ask her to arrange the reports in priority order for me. It’s not really her job anyway. That’s why I got an assistant in the first place. I press the bell I got installed, which calls Ruby to me. She hurries in a moment later, smelling sinfully delicious. Arrange these reports in order of which I need to see to first.” I hand them to her, and her skin brushes mine. I clench my hands under the desk as the urge to fuck her and drink her blood becomes almost overwhelming. Control yourself, Klaus. Yes, Mr. Ethan.” Why does he have to be so hot? Damn, I could eat him up. I almost choke as her thought slaps me in the face, but of course, she doesn’t know I can’t read her thoughts. She leaves, and I breathe a sigh of relief. I find myself thinking about calling her back in, about fucking her hard against the desk. No, Ethan. You have the rules for a reason. If you ask, you could entice her without meaning to. That’s why you have all the humans sign forms when they’re at home, away from your influence, before you fuck them But she’s attracted to me too. That much is clear in her thoughts. I kick the leg of my desk, which makes an ominous cracking noise. The problem isn’t Ruby. I know from her thoughts that she’d welcome advances from me. The problem is Katherine. She already hates it when I take other humans at the ritual, but that’s necessary for our survival. If I take Ruby like this, out of the ritual setting, Katherine will be mad, and getting on her bad side isn’t pleasant. She needs the alliance too, but not as badly as I do. My coven has more enemies than her. My father fucked up quite badly before he was killed and I took over. I glance guiltily at my desk. I need to figure out another way to ease my frustration. Deciding I need some fresh air, I get up and head out. Everyone tenses when I appear, which makes me smile inwardly. I want to keep them on their toes. I’m intending to walk out without speaking to anyone, but something caught my attention. And if I see another mistake, you’re fired!” I understand, Katherine. If you could just tell me how you would like them organized -” Don’t you dare question me!” My blood boils. I storm over, exerting all of my willpower to prevent myself from shoving Katherine away from Ruby’s desk. Ruby is my assistant, Katherine! You don’t have the power to fire her. You will provide her with the information she needs to do her job, and I don’t want to see you picking on her again.” I don’t wait for Katherine’s angry response. She’s in the wrong and she knows it. She’s just jealous that I have such a strong reaction to Ruby and not her. Putting a stop to Katherine’s bullying soothes my conscience a bit, considering I’ve barely been treating Ruby any better. I hate that I’m being so brisk with her, but having her in my presence for more than a few seconds already strains my limits. It’s safest to keep her at arm’s length. For some reason, I don’t find the idea of Ruby having the same general fear of me as all the humans in the office appealing. I believe that being a good CEO means

making sure my employees don’t get too comfortable, but Ruby is different. No, she’s not different. Get your head straight, Klaus. You need to control yourself if you want to keep your alliance. I take the lift all the way down to the underground level, where the gym is. I can’t go for a walk with the sun out, not unless I want to get a killer burn, so the gym is the best way to blow off some steam. The treadmill is a specially modified one. Normal human treadmills don’t go nearly fast enough to provide a vampire with any kind of exercise. Sometimes, I envy humans, being able to go out during the day. I can go out, of course, but I’ll get in minutes the kind of sunburn it takes a human seven solid hours in the sun to get. It’s generally not worth it, even with

powerful sunblock. When I’m slightly calmer, I return to the office and drop Ruby an email, telling her to get someone in to repair my desk. Communicating with her this way is much easier. I find myself concentrating less on work as the day goes on, and more on picking up Ruby’s thoughts. Nothing I hear suggests she wouldn’t be open to a tryst with me – no hints of a boyfriend, religious reasons for not having sex, past trauma, any of the usual stuff. I know I shouldn’t do this, but I can’t help myself. Reading thoughts isn’t something vampires have control over, but I try not to do it deliberately. Still, I can’t help wondering if I might be able to have her. Exactly how pissed will Katherine be? Exactly how long can I control myself, regardless of Katherine. It would be one thing if Ruby didn’t want me, but it’s quite the opposite. I stiffen as she has another thought about me. Oh fuck, she’s fantasizing about me fucking her over the desk, the exact thought that has been in my mind almost constantly since I saw her. A minute later, she forces her mind back to her work. It’s a bit odd. I’m used to hearing the thoughts of the other humans in the office. Even the hard-working ones have errant thoughts every now and then about their lives outside of work. Ruby is focused almost entirely on her job, the only stray thoughts being ones about me. Maybe she’s just really dedicated. Or perhaps she fears for her job. I wouldn’t blame her, given how I’ve treated her so far. Guilt fills my stomach again. I’ve always prided myself on my self-control, but Ruby’s wrecking all of that. I know that some humans are just more tempting to certain vampires. I’ve seen it before, and I’ve had to fire a couple of new hires so that members of my coven can focus. I know it’s not fair to the humans, but I can’t have senior employees enticing the humans without first ensuring they would be willing, which is exactly what happens in these cases. I always make sure that those unfortunate cases get good jobs with other contacts of mine. I won’t do it, though. I’m stronger than that. I don’t want to fire Ruby. I’m so engrossed in my own thoughts that I don’t notice the knock on the door. Ruby poked her head in and her scent hits me like a speeding car. Fuck. I could grab her right now and take her. She wouldn’t object. No. At the very least, I need to browse her thoughts some more to ensure she won’t be opposed to it. I grip my desk again, causing the wood to crack further. I’m not sure I can resist her. I struggle to focus on her words You have to, Klaus. Don’t think about how she smells. Don’t you dare! T. B. C Dawn writes.