VAMPIRE TEMPTATION

The End.

***

Klaus

I struggle to think. I have to save Ruby. I have to.

Do you have a desk?”

Yes. Why?”

“Let’s go there.”

Elena leads me into an equally elaborate office. I point at the desk.

Bend over it. Don’t speak.”

I close my eyes again, once more pretending it’s Ruby. I ignore the little things that tell me it’s Elena and lose myself in memories.

I thrust two fingers into Elena’s pussy. She pushes back against me, quickly soaking my fingers. I start rubbing my cock against her ass, breathing a sigh of relief when it hardens.

I’d better get this done now before it goes down again.

I grab Elena’s hair as I thrust into her. I start moving, hard and fast, panting as my thoughts recede. Soon, nothing matters except my impending release. I’m as hard as a bar of iron now.

I grab Elena’s hips, changing the angle so that I can get my cock even deeper inside her. Her hand is on her clit, and I can tell from her movements that she’s close.

I flip her around so that we’re facing each other. We need to be face to face for this.

My balls draw up and my cock finally releases its come.

Elena screams as she is impaled on my pulsing cock in a final thrust.

I lean down and sink my teeth into her neck. She does the same with me. We drink each other’s blood as we come, sealing the mating bond.

A frizzle goes through the air, a reaction to the power of what we just unleashed.

We are now mates for life.

I pull out of her and walk away. “I will be in. contact with you tomorrow to discuss the merging of our covens.”

Elena doesn’t try to stop me. She got what she wanted.

And I lost everything.

**

Ruby

I wake up in my bed. That shouldn’t be unusual, but it is. Somehow, I expected to wake up somewhere else.

Memories slam into me and I sit up with a gasp.

The last thing I remember was the anesthetist putting me under. The surgeon was going to remove the chip from my liver.

My middle twinges with pain, and I pull up my shirt to find a thick bandage.

Someone must have brought me back while I was asleep.

I bet Katherine pulled some serious strings to get me released from the hospital.

Maybe she thought it was too obvious a location for Elena to look and thought I would be safer at home, though I don’t see why she didn’t bring me to Klaus’s apartment.

As I reach over for my phone to call Klaus, my hand brushes over a piece of paper on my dresser. I pick it up and find that it’s a letter addressed to me.

Dear Ruby,

I’m so sorry to do this by letter, but I think it’ll be easier this way.

Elena was only willing to trade one thing for your life: me. She insisted on the mating immediately. She and I are now bound by a vampire mating bond. This bond is irreversible.

I cannot be with anyone else.

It broke my heart to do, but it was the only way to save your life. I’d rather you have a life and a chance at happiness, even if it can’t be with me.

Elena has agreed to adopt my standards for the treatment of humans, so the office is safe. I leave it up to you whether or not you return to work but know that if you do, it will be as my employee only.

This is the end for us, Ruby.

I’m sorry.

I love you.

Klaus.

I stare at the message, tears running down my face. No. This can’t be.

I crumple the paper in my fist.

I’m not going to give up.

Glancing at the clock, I see it’s halfway through the workday, but Klaus will forgive me for being late.

There are painkillers in the drawer, which I gulp down with a glass of water before heading to work.

***

Ruby

Ruby! What are you doing here? You’ve just had surgery. Here, sit down.”

Amelia tries to usher me to a chair, but I brush her off.

“I’m fine, Amelia. I need to see Klaus.”

I’m not exactly fine – my abdomen hurts quite a bit and I’m already exhausted from the short trip to the office – but my need to see Klaus overrides that.

It’s impossible not to notice the changes, even as I make a beeline for Klaus’s office.

All of Katherine’s people are gone, replaced with Elena’s. It’s easy to tell who the humans and vampires are.

The humans are all thin and pale, their eyes wide and they jump at small movements. Up until recently, they’ve been prisoners.

Klaus’s people are working too hard to teach them how to run the business, though I’m not sure if they’re all qualified.

Klaus is waiting for me.

‘You shouldn’t have come.”

I ignore this and fling my arms around him.

Klaus returns the hug for a moment but then steps away with a sigh.Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

“We can’t do this, Ruby. We can only have a working relationship.”

“Why? We were together before, with Katherine.”

“Katherine and I weren’t mated. Please, sit down.”

Klaus looks so lost and hurt that I can’t bring myself to argue with him right now. At least until he’s done explaining.

I sit opposite his desk, hating the space between us.

When two vampires mate, it’s impossible for them to be with another vampire physically. They can only get aroused for their mate. That’s why we can’t… why I tried to do everything except a mate.”

“I don’t understand. I’m human, not a vampire. So what’s the problem?”

“The problem is that if I’m with you now, I’ll just fall even more in love with you than I’ll already be. What then? My options are watching you age and die, or turning you into a vampire, and thus ensuring I can’t be with you.”

But… you could…” I struggle to think of a way out, but the answer is staring right at me out of Klaus’s dead, hopeless eyes.

I wish I was strong enough to be with you and watch you die, but ľ’m not.”

I never should have opened my heart to anyone again. I knew how dangerous it was, and now look what I’ve done. Please understand, I can’t spend a lifetime with you only to lose you.”

Perhaps I should be mad, but ľ’m not.

I can’t even begin to imagine what it’s like to be immortal, to watch those around you die over and over again.

I can’t say I’d do any better than Klaus in those circumstances.

“There has to be some way to undo the mating. I’m safe now. We just need to reverse it.”

Klaus smiles sadly.

“I know you want to fight for us, and I swear, if there was a way, Id be right beside you.

“Don’t you think that vampires over the ages have wanted to end matings? It’s been tried more times than I can possibly count, by people a lot smarter and more knowledgeable than me. It’s not possible.”

I’m shaking my head, but no words will come out. The door to my happiness is closing rapidly, and I can’t see any way to stop it.

I try to change the subject, to buy myself time to think.

“What about the other humans here, the new ones? Will they be working with us?

For now. Not all of them are suited or qualified for this business, but I’m taking them on until they regain their feet. Most of them are traumatized and not able to rejoin the wider world yet.”

I’ll give them a job as long as they need it, and then help them get a new position somewhere else if they decide to move on.

“The business will probably run a bit slower. Elena and I had a fight about it, actually.”

“I assume she objects to common kindness?”Apparently.”

She says that it’s a bad business decision to hang onto workers who probably won’t be able to contribute much for weeks, and even after a few weeks, only some are qualified to be in this field.”

It probably is a bad business decision… but it’s a good moral decision.”

Klaus rolls his eyes.

“Try telling that Elena”

I fidget with my sweater, not sure what else to say. Klaus seems to have no such problem.

I’ll send the work I need you to do to your email. I think it’s best to limit in-person interactions between us. It’ll just make things easier. If you want to participate in the ritual, you can, but it won’t be with me. It’ll just make things harder, I think.”

Just like that, I hear the door slamming irreversibly closed on my chances for happiness.