A/N: I had a dream the night of 5/5/13 about Klaus and Caroline, and I couldn't let the dream out of my head without writing it. That'd be such a waste. If you read it, please review it. I need the little bit of happiness I get from them. J
Her heart raced, her skin crawled, and her senses tingled with heightened awareness as she looked into the eyes of Silas. In every way, he looked so much like the man she refused to show attraction to, but she'd never wanted him more in her life than in this moment—as she stared him in the eye…
But it wasn't really him…
But she wanted it to be him…
But it wasn't…
Klaus…
"Get me Bonnie, or your mother is dead," Silas threatened. His beautiful eyes were fierce and full of hatred.
Without another word, he stabbed her in the chest with a large wooden stake. She could feel the edge of it scrape the side of her vampiric heart, but she couldn't pull it out right away, or even right after Silas disappeared into the image of another popular being.
…
…
…
"Klaus…"
The ground had heated up immensely when Caroline finally came back to consciousness. She could taste Klaus's sweet name on her tongue after she'd whispered it, which was no louder than that of a light breeze. It was gone sooner than it was there. She'd finally gained enough strength to grasp the stake that was so close to her heart. The excruciating pain overtook her body when she took hold of the wooden weapon. She was weak, and her whole body ached, but she managed to pull the stake out with only one blood-curdling scream. Her body collapsed back onto the ground floor.
She remembered what Silas had said, but she wasn't quite concerned with that right now. She'd pulled her phone out of her pocket to call somebody else…
"Hello, love," a familiar accent said over the other line after it picked up on the first ring.
"Klaus," Caroline said in a breathless tone, the pain still getting to her. Nausea set in, and she could feel herself feigning out once more.
"What's wrong, Caroline?" he asked, his voice now worrisome.
"Silas," she muttered, and she was out again.
Over the phone, Klaus could hear the breathlessness in Caroline's voice as she'd said his name, and also the thud of something hitting a ground of leaves near the phone…
And after she'd said Silas's name, he'd took the first car he could get his hands on, compelled the keys from the owner, and flew all the way back to Mystic Falls hitting nothing lower than a hundred miles per hour.
His mind raced faster than the car did, and his hands gripped the steering wheel so hard, he practically misshaped it with his fingers. His mind couldn't escape Caroline. Where was she? Did Silas hurt her? Could it be that Silas stole her phone and called him while pretending to be her? Should he turn around?
He knew the answer to the last question: no. As long as Caroline wanted him, he'd be there. She was the only person whose charm had truly affected him, and now that she was in trouble, he'd kill anybody that even attempted to hurt her. What would Silas want with him anyhow?
During his mental quarrel with himself, Klaus also called many people. Elijah stayed behind to hold down the fort in New Orleans, and Rebekah wouldn't speak to him. He tried calling Stefan, but his phone went straight to voicemail. Damon pushed the 'end' button after the second ring. When he called Caroline back, she didn't answer, and his anger levels rose due to his concern for the woman he loved. He tried one last number, and luckily, she picked up.
"What do you want, Klaus?" Bonnie said.
No hello. No 'how are you?'. No 'go screw off somewhere, you dirty, filthy, waste of space'. Simply 'what do you want?'.
"Bonnie," he said in exasperation. "Have you spoken to Caroline today?"
"No," she said. "Klaus, is she alright?"
It was so typical of Bonnie. She'd drop her emotions and hatred for people for the sake of the ones she loved.
"I don't know," Klaus replied. "She called me, said Silas's name, and then the line went dead. Do you have any idea where she is?"
"I have no clue," she said. "I could try and do a tracking spell, but I'm not sure how it'll work. How can you help, anyhow? Aren't you in Louisiana?"
"You'd be surprised how fast one can go when speeding," Klaus replied. "I've called everybody, Bonnie. You're my last resort. I just passed the Virginia state line. Please find her. I'll be there as fast as I can."
Klaus hung up his phone and pulled the car over. He'd be faster on foot, and so he shut the vehicle off near a cop post so that it'd be returned to its owner in, left the keys in the ignition, and ran off into the woods. Every step brought him closer to Caroline, and so he'd run to the end of the world for her.
He'd think of her fondly. The way her beautiful golden, wavy locks mussed when she'd give a genuine laugh that made her blush (if she'd have caffeine in her system). Her teeth were a beautiful white that made her smile gleam in any amount of light. Her blue eyes would always have determination in them. She was truly beautiful on the inside and out, and she truly shined as a vampire. Klaus couldn't imagine her any other way. The dullness of humanity held her potential back, and while he never saw her as a human, he did hear stories. Being a typical popular teenager of the twenty-first century didn't seem like her. Of course, that's because she's matured—in mind and body.
He'd remembered seeing her partially nude when he was in Tyler's body, and her lips on his as she trailed her fingers down his chest. Even if it wasn't his lips or chest she touched, it was still him that had experienced it firsthand, and that was only a tease. Ever since then, he'd truly longed for her to look at him the way she did then, but she was looking at Tyler like that…not him.
The dress he'd given her to wear to his family's ball had fit like a gem, and her light shone throughout the night, especially when she'd stood there with that horse in the driveway…now that was an image he couldn't get out of his head. It was so beautiful that he had to sketch it. He never quite knew what had happened to it, but he'd hoped she'd liked it. He simply wanted to make her happy. That's all he ever wants to do—make Caroline happy.
She had no idea—the effect she had on him. That sounded similar to a quote from The Hunger Games, which he picked up and skimmed through to pass time at a library once. He was helping stay out of sight that day, and nobody in the town seemed to read actual books anymore, if at all. They were all electronic these days.
Regardless, it was an accurate description for her. Her beauty was that of the rare sort—so rare that he'd only seen it once before in another person. His little brother, Henrik, was an innocent child who saw the world differently than the cynical people who'd been alive long enough to endure its evil. His beauty was enhanced in his youthful actions—playing pretend with his imaginary friends, gathering wood as if he was going on a dangerous adventure, and watching the werewolves change every full moon with curiosity. The last one had gotten him killed, and Klaus had always blamed himself for it. Perhaps that's why he was so fond of Caroline—he saw his chances to redeem himself centuries after Henrik's death since her sense of innocence left him in awe. Somewhere along that personal journey, though, he'd seen something in her that left him being more than just applicable for pardoning. He'd seen love again—potential that had sparked his humanity back in his eyes, and he didn't want to let that go.
Before he had time to truly process everything, Klaus was already in Mystic Falls, and his first destination was the Salvatore home. They always played a part in something. Truly, it was their fault for everything. If they wouldn't have gotten involved with Katherine, then they wouldn't have been involved with Elena, and Klaus would've never found out about her. Well, he would have, but it most likely would've been later rather than sooner.
Of course, then he wouldn't have met Caroline, either. So, in a way, he should thank them, but he'd never do that. It'd make him look weak, and Niklaus Mikaelson wasn't weak.
In their driveway, he'd listened to Elena's screams of pain, and he smelled burning flesh. That was a mechanism that he'd known all-too-well in his centuries—even conducted on occasion, but it was never to turn on humanity. It was more of a torturous thing for him.
Klaus pounded on the door. When there was no answer, he kicked it open. Open—not down. That door was too nice to break.
To his surprise, he found Rebekah and Matt sitting on the couch reading through high school text books.
"What's this?" he asked in his annoyed tone. "You couldn't answer?"
Without looking up from the book, Rebekah answered, "We don't live here, and we didn't feel like the person knocking was important enough to open up for."
"Your snide remarks are useless, sister," he replied. "Do you know where Caroline is?"
"Yeah," Matt said. "She was going home to get some stuff for a study day. She left about an hour and a half ago."
"You two do realize that she has vampire speed and doesn't live that far away, right?" he asked. "Did it ever occur to you that something is wrong?"
"It's Caroline," Matt said. "She goes all out on everything and always looks for a reason to shop. She's probably just at the store somewhere."
"That's where you're wrong, Matthew," he said in a low voice, "and I'm not going to stand here and explain it to somebody who doesn't seem to care."
Klaus ran back out of the house and was about to leave again when he saw Caroline's car in the driveway. That was when he knew she wasn't just shopping.
He took off for the woods and searched for her, calling out her name in intervals.
It wasn't long before he found her, but he wanted to kill somebody at the state she'd been left in. Her body was slumped on the ground. Her phone was in her hand, and her hair was a rat's nest of blood and dirt from the ground. A blood-coated wooden stake was at arm's length away from her, and there was a lot of blood on her shirt in the chest area. There was also a ripped hole in it, signifying that whoever had gotten her had really hurt her.
"Caroline," he said as he ran to her side. His hands rested on her shoulders and gently shook her to bring her to consciousness. She wasn't dead, or she'd be gray and desiccated like his siblings had been. She moaned, but her eyes didn't open.
Before he had time to think, Klaus's instincts had kicked in, and he took off towards the pond. He'd knelt down by the water, took his button-down, black shirt off, and submerged it under the blue. Quickly, he ran back to Caroline, and used his arms to sit her up—back against the tree. Her head was still slumped, and her matted hair covered her face, but he took his shirt and lifted her chin up while wiping off the dried blood from her forehead. The wounds weren't there anymore due to her vampiric healing skills, but the remnants of it, such as the blood, were still there. She hadn't opened her eyes when he'd touched her with his wet shirt, so he decided to go into her mind while washing her up.
He focused on her, and soon enough, he was seeing what she was seeing as well as him continuing to work.
Her mind was black. Everything was dark, and so he willed himself to call her name.
"Caroline!" he called. "You have to wake up!"
"Klaus?" a weak voice called in the distance. "Is it really you?"
He found her hiding behind a metaphorical rock in her mind. She was putting up barriers. "Caroline, please open your eyes."
"No!" she cried as she tried crawling away. "You're not Klaus! Get away from me, Silas. I told you I don't know where Bonnie is! She won't answer her phone. Please don't hurt my mother…or me. I'll try to find her, I promise!"
"Shh, love," he said. "It's really me. Open your eyes and you'll see for yourself."
Klaus wanted to kill Silas after hurting Caroline, and he felt so weak that the one person he truly had reason and intent to kill couldn't die.
After a five minute mental debate between the two, Caroline finally came into consciousness to find Klaus touching her chest.
"What do you think you're doing?" she asked half-heartedly, her voice low and rough. She didn't even try to fight him.
"I'm cleaning the blood off of you," Klaus said quietly. "Silas wouldn't do something like this, I can assure you. I give you my word, Caroline. It is me."
Slowly, she reached for her phone and dialed a number in it. In a few seconds, Klaus's phone rang in his pocket. Without stopping what he was doing, he took his phone out of his pocket and looked at the caller ID. He then proceeded to show it to her that she was calling him.
It seemed to put her at ease, and she let out a long breath. "That still doesn't give you right to touch me like you are."
"Relax, love," he said in a soothing tone. "I'm simply cleaning the blood off of your chest. I've left your brassiere intact, but your shirt was done for when I arrived. Besides, it was completely soiled anyhow."
Caroline groaned, and then coughed in a raspy tone.
"You've lost a lot of blood," Klaus noted.
When he finished cleaning off the last of Caroline's dried blood, he brought her to his chest, cradled her in his arms, bit his wrist, and then held it to her mouth. "I know it's not human, but it should get you going enough to find the real food."
She didn't protest, but simply took his wrist in her delicate hand, placed her mouth over it, and sucked gently as hints of her veins throbbed beneath the surface at the place under her eyes. The whites of her beautiful blue orbs tinged red, but it wasn't enough to believe she was truly trying to drink. They looked more bloodshot than anything.
Klaus tried to hide the fact that he felt as if he were flying on the erotic side of Cloud 9 when Caroline took his blood, even though it was because she needed it—not wanted it. In reality, though, it was a shorter almost-equivalent to sex.
When Caroline finished, she was able to stand, and she tried to take what was left of her shirt to hide her chest, but it wasn't working.
So, Klaus, being the good guy, took off his undershirt, while trying not to think that he saw Caroline look at his chest in approval (it could've just been him hoping). He then proceeded to slowly put it on her, and he gave a mental farewell to the wondrous view of her chest as his shirt slid over it.
The shirt, in general, was a black cotton undershirt, most likely similar to what the humans of this day and age would refer to as a "wife beater". It was longer on Caroline's petite frame, and a little wider, but it was tighter in her chest area, and so it looked good on her. Klaus began to wonder if there was anything that didn't look good on Caroline.
He stopped her before she had time to get out of the woods, and he grabbed her hand, "Let's just get you fixed up before you go back to Matt, alright?"
Caroline didn't have enough strength to argue even if she wanted to. Instead, she simply followed him as he made his way to her car in the Salvatore driveway.
"Here," she said as she stuck her hand out with her keys in them. Klaus gladly took them. Once in the car, he called Bonnie back, said he'd found Caroline, and told her about Silas hurting her because he couldn't find the person he was looking for. Her reply was that she was on her way to find him since she knew what to do now. He didn't ask further because he didn't care. Caroline was safe, and that's all he cared about.
Caroline slept while Klaus drove to his house. Silas was definitely strong if he could simply make Caroline want to sleep, especially since she was a vampire who only slept every few weeks.
She didn't wake when Klaus put the car in park when they'd arrived at his home. It took some effort to awaken her, actually, and when she did get up, she was still lethargic. He must've gotten in her head and rewired something, or maybe it was just the effects of being staked by a very old immortal person who could look like anybody at any time.
"What are we doing?" she managed to ask before Klaus had closed the door they'd just stepped through.
"I'm getting you up to par before you go back to the Salvatore home," he answered.
Luckily, there was still some blood bags left in the fridge from Rebekah. Klaus sat Caroline on the couch, went into the kitchen, grabbed a bag, and came back with it. Caroline looked at it with dreary eyes but grabbed it, bit the top off, and drank from it.
Klaus didn't watch her. Instead, he disappeared into the bathroom and came back about twenty minutes later with a shirt on.
Caroline could hear running water, "What did you do?"
"Well, love," Klaus began. "If you haven't noticed, your blonde hair is currently a dirty brown with mud caked through it. I'm sure you didn't want to go out looking like you've just allowed a bird to make a nest for her little ones to hatch on your head."
Caroline noticed her hair in a distant mirror then. Her eyes shot to the image of her head, and her fingers tried to sort out the mess that used to be her blonde locks.
"Keep calm, Caroline," Klaus muffled a laugh. "Follow me."
She got up slowly. The lethargy still obvious on her face even after drinking human blood. She then followed him into one of the near bathrooms. Everything was tinged with gold accents —the toilet handle, the mirror frames, the cupboard knobs, and even the tub faucet. The lights were dimmed so that they didn't hurt her sensitive eyes, and the old, footed tub was filled with water and bubbles.
"You simply pull this lever up with the faucet on for the water to come out of the shower head," Klaus explained as he showed her. "I thought you may prefer a bath right now, seeing as it takes less energy to stand. There's soap, shampoo, and pretty much everything you'll ever need behind you in the cupboard. The towels and wash rags are under the sink. Take all the time you need."
Quickly, before Caroline had time to react, he'd taken his shirt off of her, leaving her back in her bra and jeans.
"What was that for?" she asked, slightly irritated.
"It's my favorite shirt," he laughed. "I have to get it in the washer before the mud stains it. That also reminds me… Take off your clothes."
"With you standing here?" she asked, shocked.
"Caroline," he said breathlessly, "I'm over six centuries old. I've seen women without clothes. Nothing has changed through the years. It's not anything I haven't seen before."
Surprisingly, Caroline didn't debate it further. With a speed considered "slow" for a vampire (but still blinding to a human), she stripped down to her birthday suit and eased herself into the warm water, hiding her nudity under the bubbles.
Klaus didn't look long, but he wanted to. It didn't matter how many naked women he'd seen before; Caroline was the most beautiful, and nobody could ever compare to her.
Before thinking about it too much, he grabbed up her clothing and closed the door behind him as he exited the bathroom. While heading to the laundry room, he'd made a startling discovery.
From one little unbothered spot, he could see that Caroline's bra was supposed to be white…
Apart from that spot, it was a dark brown.
There was absolutely no way that the dried blood stains would ever come out of that article of clothing, so he threw it away when he passed a trash can. He emptied her pockets and placed the belongings on the coffee table in the living room and continued on his way.
Since she didn't have a shirt or bra, all he threw into the washer were her jeans, her underwear, and his shirt. He'd dumped a bottle of peroxide on the stains, and then pushed a button to wash them. Peroxide was the best for getting out blood without discoloring clothes. Klaus always had it in the washroom. Sometimes he got a little messy with his food, or other times they'd fight back, so it was just best to have it on hand.
From the room, he could hear water splashing lightly as Caroline cleaned herself. He wasn't quite sure how she'd fix that mess of hair she had, but girls always succeed at things like that.
He walked back to the door to the bathroom and cracked it.
"Caroline, what size bra do you wear?" he asked through it. "The one you had was unable to be spared. I also need your shirt size."
She gave him the information, and then he thanked her and shut the door. At a rapid speed, he ran up to Rebekah's closet, which was a room all its own. He then picked a shirt that she had more than one of, which was a simple green tank top. From what he gathered, Caroline and Rebekah wore the same size shirt. He then flew down the stairs, placed the shirt on the couch, called to Caroline saying he'd be back in five minutes, and raced to the clothing store down the street, locking the door behind him.
He entered the store, went straight to the female undergarment section, and then stopped. He knew her size, but he wasn't sure which one to choose. Would she like it? Does she prefer cotton or silk? Lace, maybe? Did she want a designed or solid colored one? Apparently there were different structures, too. Was there truly a difference between the ones with some sort of wire and the ones without it? He didn't know.
Instead, he figured he'd pick the one that he liked the best, which involved him imagining what it would look like on her. He rapidly went through the ones in her size and envisioned them on her. The one would be too harsh on her skin tone. The other one would be too stiff with padding. That one would be too sheer and may rip easily.
He had to be fast, and so the one he did finally pick seemed just right. It was a simple black silk with a wire that the label insured wouldn't come out of the seam.
The cashier looked at him a bit funnily, but didn't say anything as he rang up Klaus's single item. Klaus quickly left the building and then ran home at a very high speed.
By the time he unlocked and then walked through the door, Caroline had the shower on, which was probably to rinse her body of the dirty water she was sitting in after she'd gotten all the blood and mud off of her.
He'd went and gotten one of Rebekah's millions of unused brushes and came back downstairs with it. He then set it on the coffee table, poured two glasses of bourbon, and waited.
After ten minutes, Caroline opened the bathroom door with a towel around her body, and went into the living room.
"Klaus?" she said quietly. "Where are my clothes?"
"They're in the wash," he replied. "Wait right here."
He ran up to his bedroom and then came back down with his black, body length, silk robe.
"Here," he said as he handed it to her. "You can wear this until your clothes are finished washing and drying."
She put the robe on, and he wanted to melt at the sight of her. Her body was wet, and her hair hung in dripping strands. It was blonde again, and her blue eyes sparkled, although she still looked tired. She was also wearing his robe, meaning that it had him written all over it, and she had it wrapped around her delicate body. There was just something so beautiful and sexy about it.
"Here," he said as he handed her a glass of bourbon. "Sit down on that rug."
He pointed to the rug, and she gave a slight protest, "You have a bunch of empty furniture. Why can't I just sit on the couch?"
Klaus gave a quiet chuckle, "I promise the rug is comfortable, Caroline. You'll see why I'm telling you that in a minute."
She groaned a bit but complied. She imprinted her hand into the white shag, and she left a handprint. Her body relaxed as she slumped against the front of the chair.
Klaus stepped over her and sat down in the chair. He took the brush and pulled back Caroline's wet, golden locks and began to sort out the rat's nest, which wasn't that bad since conditioner works wonders.
He started at the ends of her hair and gradually worked his way up. The brush seemed to slide through her hair, and he adored running his fingers through it in an excuse to get excess tangles out. She smelled so good—vanilla, he believed. It permeated his senses.
As the brush massaged her head, Caroline could feel her head roll back. She loved to have her hair played with. The bourbon made her feel warm, and the fire lit the room intimately. It was still the early afternoon, but Klaus had black drapes that prevented any sunlight from getting in. His fingers worked wonders as they weaved through her conditioned tangles. She wanted to stay on the carpet forever. It was truly comfortable, and she was so content.
Klaus finished his brushing all-too-soon, and Caroline wanted to tell him to keep going, but she didn't. Instead, she took the towel that she laid beside her, and rapidly tried to dry her hair with it. Now that it was combed out, she felt better. She was clean, and she didn't hurt anymore. She sat on the couch adjacent to the chair, and began speaking.
"Klaus," she said. "Silas threatened to hurt my mom if I didn't find Bonnie. That can't happen."
"It's alright, Caroline," he replied. "Bonnie is taking care of it. Your mother will be safe, and he won't hurt you anymore."
A tear ran down her cheek, "Thank-you, Klaus."
"For what, love?" he asked.
"You were all the way in Louisiana, and you still came back to help me," she explained. "I could've called other people, but I bothered you."
"You didn't bother me," he smiled. "I would've come back to see you regardless, even if you wanted me or not."
"I've taken advantage of you too much," she said. "You're always so good to me. Why?"
He smiled sadly and looked her in the eyes, "I love you, Caroline. What more explanation do you need than that? You would've done the same thing for Tyler."
"You're right," she said and looked down, "but I don't know if I can say truthfully that I'd do it for you."
"You wouldn't," he said blatantly. "Tyler is your first love; however, I plan on being your last, meaning I'll go to the ends of the Earth for you, Caroline, because one day, whether it's in two days or two centuries, you'll return the feelings I have for you."
Her eyes widened. He blatantly said these words to her without remorse, and she wanted to smack him for his audacity. How would he know?
Another part of her wanted to kiss him, though. He said he'd do anything for her, and that he'd wait for her forever if he had to.
She also couldn't truly say that she hated him. If Klaus were to die right now and never be seen again, she'd break down and lay under a rock until she ceased to exist.
Elena was right when she said that Caroline thought about Klaus, fantasized about him, even, but she'd never confess to it.
She took a deep breath, "I'll admit that you mean something to me. I mean, I wasn't even thinking about Tyler when I thought Silas was going to kill me."
Klaus winced at the last phrase, "Thanks, love."
"For what?" she smiled slightly.
"You've made this return to Mystic Falls my favorite," he said. "I wasn't lying when I said I wanted to show you the world."
"I know," she whispered.
They sat in silence for a moment—Klaus staring into the fire with his glass of bourbon in his hand, and Caroline with her fingers stroking the silk of Klaus's robe with her eyes down. She was contemplating. She didn't think of Tyler much. When he did come around, it was only to say how much he missed her and then get her into bed. It was never just to talk…and he did cheat on her. He mistreated Vicki when she was alive, stringing her along, and then talking bad about her when she didn't comply with what he said. Technically, she left Matt because she liked him. He was either the cheater or the reason for cheating, and that was pretty sad.
Klaus dared her to go on a date, and he never tried anything. He never touched her inappropriately, and he stated his intentions clearly, whether they were good or bad. He would do anything for her, and they weren't even together.
Why was she even comparing them? It seemed so obvious who the better choice was, and she wanted to kick herself for not seeing it before.
The washer sang a little tune, signifying that it was finished.
"I'll be right back," Klaus said as he got up and went into the laundry room.
Before thinking any more on it, she grabbed her phone from the table and sent Tyler a lengthy breakup text message. She knew it was cheesy, but he wouldn't be back for a while, and she just couldn't stand it anymore.
When she heard Klaus's footsteps, she stood up and waited for him to enter the doorway.
He stopped to look at her, "What is it, Caroline?"
"Will you?" she asked.
"Will I what?" he said.
"Will you really be my last love?"
"With every ounce of my being," he stated, "I'll be your last love."
She ran to him and hugged him—genuinely hugged him. Her arms wrapped around his neck and his around her waist.
"Thank you," she whispered.
He nuzzled his nose into the crook of her neck and stayed there, taking in her scent as if it was the last time he'd ever smell anything. He held her, and she didn't let go, either.
"I'll be glad to show you everything vampirism has to offer, love," he mumbled, "but there are a few things I have to take care of in New Orleans first."
"I'll wait," she laughed. "We do have forever, after all."
"I will show you the world," he said again as he kissed her neck.
She pulled away and stared him in the eyes, "Then let's start now. Show me the world, Klaus, starting with your bedroom."
He raised an eyebrow, "Caroline, I don't know if you understand what you're asking—what you're implying. Are you sure it's not just the day's events talking? Silas can really trick people. Do you remember when I thought I had a wood splinter in my back?"
"I'm fine, Klaus," she said. "I know what I'm implying. I'm done trying to fight it. I do have feelings for you. I always told myself I'd never admit it, but I love you. It'll always be you."
Without another word, Klaus grabbed the back of Caroline's legs and pulled her up, wrapping them on either sides of his waist. He carried her up his steps.
The anticipation was building in Caroline's gut. She nuzzled his neck and played with the ends of his short hair. She knew what was about to happen, and she trembled at the excitement. She was afraid, but in a good way. She could feel the muscles in his back ripple under his shirt, and she knew he was smiling.
He kicked the door to his room open, and then closed it behind him with his foot. Caroline knew his room would be beautiful, but she didn't take in the surroundings. It was just Klaus, and the way he looked as he gently held the back of Caroline's head so she didn't hit the bed hard, the way he looked at her with bedroom eyes, the way his unnecessary breathing hitched when she brought his face to hers in a smoldering kiss. He laid her down softly, and untied the band holding his robe together.
"I love you, Caroline," he said to her between kisses.
"I love you, too, Klaus," she replied as she played with his buttons of his clothing. "Do you like this shirt?"
It was a simple black t-shirt, which he had dozens of, "No."
She ripped it off of him and flung it to the floor, "Good."
He gave a deep laugh and kicked off the rest of his clothes at lightning speed.
He then looked at her seriously, "Are you sure you want to do this, love? There's no shame in turning back now."
"Are you hoping I'll back out so you won't have to?" she teased.
"Oh, no, love," he said with a smile. "I've wanted to do this for a long time."
"Well, I'm not backing out," she smiled.
He leaned his head down to kiss her, and he sent her to oblivion and back with pleasure beyond her wildest dreams.
This was everything he'd ever wanted in existence. He wanted to love Caroline—to make her want him and only him. He was finally happy. He didn't care what chaos awaited him back in Louisiana. In that moment, he had her, and that's all that mattered.
He loved her.
She loved him.
There was no turning back from that.