"Hey there, BonBons." Bonnie spoke into her microphone like she was talking to close, personal friends. In a way, Caroline figured she almost was. The singer/actress-turned-lifestyle guru had a devoted following for her online brand, including a popular podcast that Caroline herself listened to religiously. She was still a little starstruck to have been actively recruited to join the week's discussion. "I'm Bonnie Bennett and welcome to Burnt Sage, where I share some hard-earned lessons in life and invite friends to do the same. Today, we're talking about social niceties and the uproar of opportunities available online for content creators of all kinds. My BonBons who are rocking their Etsy stores with homemade Sage merch, you know what I'm talking about!
"Right now, I'm sitting in the studio with some great folks you probably recognize, like my producer, Marcel. Marcel, why don't you introduce our guests?"
Winking at the other end of the table, Marcel read straight from his prepared notes. "Alright, Bonnie, we've got: Caroline Forbes, the blonde on a budget organizing every inch of your life from YouTube's Making Do; Stefan Salvatore, everyone's favorite Italian grandson cooking up nonna's recipes with mouthwatering close-ups on IGTV's Home Cooking; Elena Gilbert, best-selling author of The Cemetery Diaries and semi-reformed book blogger behind The Spine Collector website; and, Klaus Mikaelson, the coveted tattoo artist blowing up your Instagram and Facebook feeds because his work at Hybrid Design & Ink is that crazy good. Did I get them all, Bonnie?"
"You sure did, and I can't wait to dig into their success stories for some sage advice we can all use. But first, a word from our gracious sponsors." Marcel called for a five-minute break while he messed with his laptop. Bonnie leaned away from her mic, her assistant jumping up with a clipboard. They chatted quietly between themselves, leaving everyone else twiddling their thumbs around the table.
Caroline looked around the posh conference room sound-proofed to be a professional studio. She wasn't sure what to expect when Kat told her that she'd be recording at Bonnie Bennett's actual house, but the whole set-up was super impressive. While Making Do had finally grown into its business model, the channel wasn't paying for anything close to the audio equipment she saw. She made a note to pick Marcel's brain about that, wishing she could afford an actual sound engineer of her own. Hiring Kat was an investment in and of itself, though her roommate was turning into a hell of a business manager - the new sponsorships she'd nailed down in the last few months alone went a long way to make their lives comfortable. Still, there was room to grow and Caroline wasn't sure where to direct her efforts.
That was another reason she was so excited to join the panel discussion, to hear how other creatives dealt with the greedy needs of their ventures. Forget giving the advice to Bonnie's listeners, Caroline was hoping to get some for herself.
"Everyone good to go?" Marcel asked, startling Caroline out of her introspection. Bonnie glanced up for the all clear, shooing away her assistant when he nodded. "Okay boss, you're up."
Bonnie slid up to her microphone with a brilliant smile. "As I said before, we're talking social media success with some top content creators across the spectrum. With a little work and the right advice, maybe you can join their ranks, too. Caroline Forbes, you're the best example we have of a homegrown YouTube star. You started your first channel here in Los Angeles, right?"
Nodding, Caroline took a deep breath to calm herself before sharing her story just as she'd rehearsed with Kat. "Yep! I moved here from Virginia, fresh out of high school and ready to take over the modeling world with my pageant-queen smile. Miss Mystic Falls 2009, you can look it up. Waitressing and barista shifts were helping to pay the rent, but I wasn't exactly living my dream in a third-floor walk-up far from the rich and famous. I was determined to make the best of it, though, so I would scrape up the money to buy a cheap coffee table and enough paint and contact paper to let me pretend it came from a fabulous designer."
"One could say you were making do?" Bonnie quipped.
"Exactly," Caroline laughed. "I was living with my photographer boyfriend at the time, and Jesse used to tease me with his video camera, have me explain what I was doing like I had my own HGTV show. It was fun and silly, but he talked me into posting the video online. I figured my mom would get a kick out of it, my step-sister might comment 'get over yourself.' I had no idea it would get the attention it did until I woke up to about a hundred subscribers. It seemed insane at the time, still does really. But three years later, I'm still upcycling furniture and creating storage solutions for those tight on money and space, and I'm getting paid to do it. If you're out there, Jesse, thanks! This is all your fault," she joked, though her smile felt a little forced.
Talking about Jesse was a bittersweet pill for her, especially since she owed him so much for her career. He had landed a sweet gig in Vancouver shooting for a TV show, something stable that would allow him to settle down and away from the L.A. rat race. Caroline wasn't done with modeling, so she decided to stay. Mourning the breakup, her sudden singlehood did serve to motivate her dive into the world of YouTube, not to mention the need for Kat to move in to take over Jesse's half of the rent. Working her way through business school, she was also more than happy to use the budding brand as easy fodder for her client management course. The channel was up and running, and it quickly became more than a hobby that subsidized their big city budgets.
Marcel chimed in. "You're closing in on your first million subscribers now, aren't you?"
"Yeah, it's been a wild ride. Thanks to my awesome sponsors..." Caroline trailed off, not wanting to step on Bonnie's - or her sponsors' - toes, but she gave an encouraging nod. "Michael's craft stores, Jo-Ann Fabrics, and Home Depot are incredible partners in all of my projects, and I've been so lucky to be able to turn Making Do into a full-time job for both me and my best friend. I even get to use my modeling chops again, I just did a campaign shoot for Home Depot's social networks."
"Incredible," Bonnie said with a kind smile. "Now Stefan, I think we all know your nonna makes the best cannoli, but I'm dying to know what she thinks of your blood orange twist on the classic recipe?"
Releasing a nervous breath away from her mic, Caroline melted a bit into her chair. While she figured it would be a different experience than pressing 'record' on the camera in her own living room, she had no idea the pressure that came with performing live in a group setting - no reshoots. She glanced around, hoping no one hated her intro. Elena and Bonnie were avidly listening to Stefan go on about homemade ricotta, and Marcel was scribbling away at a notepad. Only the other guy, Klaus something, was even slightly paying attention to her; he looked up when she did, meeting her eyes with a blank expression until it pulled into a devilish smirk.
He was cute, distractingly so. Actually, she was glad she didn't really look at him until after she finished her first part because it might not have gone so well. In an attempt to be friendly, she gave a small smile before uncapping a bottle of water to drink.
Nodding, he raised his own bottle in a mock toast. Caroline's smile fell, unsure if it was a similarly friendly gesture or if he was laughing at her. Insecure neuroses crawled inside her head, dark thoughts she blamed on the unfamiliar setting and the lack of people she actually knew. L.A. had done a number on her ego, and it'd been a hard road back to the confidence she used to exude back at home. In Bonnie Bennett's house and arguably the nobody on the podcast? It didn't help.
Swallowing her discomfort, Caroline did her best to appear enraptured by Elena's personal journey from book blogger to becoming a famous author herself. As interesting as she wanted it to be, though, she wished she had her phone to give her hands something to do while the minutes dragged on. By the time Bonnie even got to Klaus, Caroline felt like she was back in elementary school wishing for recess.
"Klaus Mikaelson, you've been a favorite tattoo artist in L.A. for the last few years," Bonnie said. "Celebrities show off your work at every chance they get, an appointment at Hybrid Design & Ink is a hotter ticket than all the awards shows combined. How do you choose which clients get the privilege of your skilled hand on their skin?"
Caroline watched with sudden interest at the flirt in his eyes, the subtle deepening curve of admittedly pretty lips. "Stop, you'll make me blush," he teased with just enough charm that she almost bought a sense of sincerity. However, she got the feeling he was pretty detached from the supposedly friendly banter. "It's something of a family venture. My brother Kol handles the clients throughout the process so I don't have to interact outside talking through the final design. Buy him a drink, and I'm sure he'll bump you up the list."
"You don't enjoy interacting with your customers?" Bonnie narrowed her eyes. "Because your social engagement is off the charts when it comes to building and maintaining a pretty loyal following."
"I'll let you on a secret." Leaning toward his microphone, Klaus lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "The social media presence and outreach is all my sister. At the start, I used to bat her phone away during client sessions, especially when she cast a shadow while I was trying to start needlework. But Rebekah insisted, hyped up the client for permission to post photos or videos, got them to share rave reviews. I'm not sure I'll ever live down the gloating once she realizes I'm giving her the credit for my appointment book being filled until next year."
Finally, Caroline thought she saw some genuine warmth in his expression, even in the exasperation he showed at his sister's antics. But the smugness was not attractive in the slightest.
Not that she was focused on how attractive he was.
"So, butter up your brother, chat with your sister online," Bonnie summarized. "There's nothing a potential client could do to get to you?"
Klaus shrugged, looking a bit annoyed at the question. "I'm a private person, and I enjoy the work I do. The drawing, the techniques, the challenge of a living canvas." His hands raised to help make his point as he spoke. Glancing around, his eyes caught Caroline's, and he smiled when she didn't look away. "Tattoos are an extremely personal form of art for the client," he seemed to explain only to her, "and all I want is to give them art worth committing to their skin. And their Instagram accounts, apparently."
Okay, maybe he was a little attractive, Caroline admitted to herself. But only because she liked people who were passionate about what they loved.
With a wry smile, Bonnie nodded. "What a great introduction to the social media attention, I hope we get to dig into some of the nuances involved with how your lives are shared online. Marcel has been loving the likes he gets for that damn Mr. Clean smile of his."
"It's a curse," Marcel joked. "But you don't have any room to talk, Miss Best Twitter Personality three years running."
"You know what I get for those hard-earned follows? Fabulous sponsors that want to give my BonBons the best deal they deserve, so listen up for those promo codes." Letting out a deep, calming breath, Bonnie smiled around the table. "Great job, everyone. That's the last ad break I had to cue up, so now we can relax into a more casual discussion without interruption. Honesty time, who's nervous?"
For a terrifying moment, Caroline's hand hovered in the air all by itself until Stefan and Elena offered half-hearted waves as well. Only Klaus reclined in his seat looking unconcerned. She kept herself from shooting a scowl his way, but only barely. "This isn't something I'm used to," she told Bonnie. "My show is just a project and a camera, maybe a live demonstration at a convention. If I'm with other online creators, circumstances are usually informal and DIY-related. I'm not sure what I'm expected to add to this conversation. Stefan, you surely know your way around YouTube."
"It's not an experience I cultivate, though," Stefan answered thoughtfully. "Instagram is where I first found an audience that cared to interact with my videos."
Her nose scrunched at the familiar answer that did nothing to help her; she'd heard it from any number of her fellow YouTubers. "My Insta is mostly personal to my life. I might occasionally promote new videos or sponsored content, but I don't keep it exclusive to Making Do ."
"I'm the same way," Elena added in a reassuring voice. "While I might use personal accounts to document or reference my work, that's not its main purpose for me. Great marketing by not marketing, right?"
Forcing a smile, Caroline tried not to cringe; from Klaus's amused smirk, she probably wasn't all that successful. But she marketed, worked really hard at it, too. Instagram was just a safe haven for her to chill out and look at pretty pictures without worrying about the numbers behind it all - that was Kat's job.
Elena just continued without hesitation. "I feel pretty settled with how to engage online, either through the blog or my series. It's been a relief to just be myself without needing to sell the audience on my authority to talk about books. Or to sell at all, self-promotion has never been my strong suit."
"There's nothing wrong with selling the image," Stefan countered with an easy shrug. "If I'm not willing to share and promote my videos, why should I expect my fans to do the same? I put hours of work into what could get cut down to thirty-second highlights. I need more viewers to make that effort valuable, either in terms of time savings or sponsorship opportunities. It might have started as a hobby, by this is my career now."
"Then get a real job."
Every head in the room whipped toward Klaus, who hadn't bothered to drop an exhausted derision from his face. He shrugged at the various offended looks. "You can cook, can't you? Videos helped to get you notoriety, now you can leverage that into a better offer. A more reliable one."
Caroline sat up, a bitter taste in her mouth at his easy dismissal of online tutorials, what she considered a viable and fulfilling career. "Look," she bit out, "you might not be a content creator in the vein we are, but it doesn't make our jobs any less real."
His smile turned smug, and his dimples deepened when he faced her. "Love, I can walk into any tattoo parlor and show the skills that I've learned over the years of practicing my craft. Transferable skills of a marketable value - that's real."
"And if your sister stopped promoting you online?" she challenged, her arms crossing defensively. "Do you have the skills to take a decent photo or video, to edit and caption it in the most marketable way that keeps your followers excited about seeing more? How about interpreting your analytics to improve performance across channels? God, do you even know how to log into your accounts?" Biting her tongue to keep from yelling, she glowered when his eyes darted to the slight heave of her chest as she caught her breath.
Klaus leaned forward at the fight in her expression, his smile never wavering. "No." The admission was simple, but it sent a thrill of vindication through Caroline anyway. "However, my business doesn't rely on likes and shares. A client list is a client list, and the post my work plenty."
"You arrogant, self-centered ass-"
"Elena!" Bonnie broke in, smoothly deflecting the conversation away from her more contentious guests. The women fell into a conversation about the effect of fame and balancing work responsibilities while Caroline couldn't help but continue stewing in anger.
Klaus clearly didn't understand the realities of creating online content, let alone the pressures that came from trying to survive by it - in L.A., no less. For all that she and Kat were lucky to keep a roof over their heads, an underlying panic kept itself known in her mind that all of their success could crumble at any moment. At least for her, it was a motivating force rather than a crippling one. If she were to develop his overconfidence, though, she'd risk becoming too complacent and unresponsive to her audience. Obsolescence wouldn't be far behind.
"Once you have the momentum, it still takes effort to keep it going," she realized, only to feel embarrassed to have said it aloud. Having hit a lull in their talk, Bonnie nodded for her to keep going. "With YouTube, I have to work hard to not only earn new subscribers but also to keep the ones I already have loyal to my channel. If I were to deviate from their expectations in a way they don't like, then I risk a major swing in the wrong direction." She turned a hard glare on Klaus. "Like, writing off social media as banal and unnecessary. That might cause a dip in fans, which affects analytics, which make or break sponsor deals."
Klaus smirked, his chin jutting up just a hair. "Not if you have something to offer outside of your little videos."
Blinking, her ice-cold smile widened to show her teeth. "You mean like selling the refurbished furniture those videos feature? Thanks for the tip, I'll add you to the mailing list. There's a coupon code for joining."
Everyone else around the table chuckled until Stefan dove into his own story about moving influence past his content, but Caroline and Klaus held each other's charged gaze for a long moment.
For the next hour, things had finally calmed a bit, partially since Caroline made a point to ignore Klaus's comments. He kept trying to catch her eye, and she found herself torn between staring him down and avoiding him altogether. Honestly, it just fueled the fights she was imagining in her head, so she was happy when Elena pulled her into a discussion on rewarding a loyal audience.
By the time Bonnie and Marcel called the session a wrap, Caroline was exhausted and ready for a long, hot bubble bath. As she packed up to leave, however, Klaus stood nearby, expectant. "What?" she snapped, hoping he would have slipped away already.
"Easy, love, I certainly didn't mean to offend you," he offered without an actual apology, she noted. "How may I acquit myself?"
Her face scrunched in confusion. "Why would you want to? I'm just a little YouTube star without a real job."
Klaus grinned, his tongue sliding across that full bottom lip of his, she noted as well. "Perhaps I wanted to take you up on that mailing list," he teased. But she scoffed, so he at least made an effort to look contrite. "Really, I'd like to make it up to you. Say, over a drink?"
"Why?" Caroline asked again, no less confused as to the near earnestness he was showing. She strode down the hallway toward where she'd parked her car, only mildly distracted by the platinum records and movie posters hanging along the way. To her annoyance, Klaus kept up with her the whole way. "If you're trying to prove something by getting into my pants, I'm too smart to be seduced by you."
"I know." His answer was perfectly polite, even delighted. "That's why I like you."
Snorting, Caroline pushed open the door to the guest garage, still amazed such a thing existed. To live the life of Bonnie Bennett, she supposed. "Well, good luck with that." She waved to Stefan who'd also made his escape, while Elena must have stayed behind to chat. "Want to see me again? I post new videos on Mondays and Fridays."
With a charmed smile, Klaus nodded. "As you wish, love. But if you change your mind," he said, pulling out a pen and a business card from his pocket. He scribbled something on the back before handing it to her. "I might even be talked into letting you jump to the top of the client list."
She stared at the contact details for a second before noticing he was almost to his car. "Seriously?! You're hot, you don't need to bribe people for dates!"
"Maybe not," he shrugged. "But I hope it'll help motivate you to say yes one day."
Though she rolled her eyes, Caroline felt drawn to watch him leave, keeping a light hold on the card between her fingers. 'Hybrid Design & Ink' was surprisingly simple in its script compared to other tattoo parlors, but it was the note on the back that really got her attention.
Take a chance.
Along the bottom, the ass had written his cell number.
"Ass."
"Call him."
Caroline nearly choked on her drink at Kat's emphatic order. When she'd come home for a lazy night after the tense recording, the last thing she'd expected from her story was for her roommate to take his side. "What? No, he's a dick."
With an arched eyebrow, Kat smirked on the other end of their couch. "Obviously. You could use some dick to loosen up that tension you've been working out on that antique bureau. Power sanders are great and all, but a vibrator can do a lot more when directed to your-"
"Kat!"
Shrugging off her mortification, Kat scrolled through Hybrid's portfolio site. "He does gorgeous work, and you love your tattoos."
"I'm not going to get a tattoo just because he's offering to give me one," Caroline flatly denied. "It took me ages to settle on the ones I already have."
"Fine, then I'll get one." Kat's eyes widened at her look of annoyance. "Just because you're above taking favors to be courted doesn't mean I have to be held to the same standard."
Caroline laughed into her wineglass. "Courted? Really?"
"I won't know for sure until I see you two together," Kat explained, smiling at her betrayed silence. "You have to come with me to make sure he honors the deal. Or, you know, call him and set it up for me."
Narrowing her eyes, Caroline shook her head. "You're shameless."
Kat sent her an angelic smile. "Guilty as charged. Should I get a vine of thorns or biker roses?"
"That can be between you and Klaus because I'm not getting in the middle of it," Caroline said, her voice decisive with finality.
Then Kat pouted, showing her similar concept designs as shown on the website. "But look how pretty. Think of how nice this," she said, pointing to a vividly red rose, "would look on my shoulder blade."
Sighing, Caroline couldn't help a smile at how earnest Kat seemed about the whole thing. "Fine, fine! I'll...text him and ask if you can skip the wait list. Maybe then he'll transfer this weird crush onto you."
"I don't know," Kat teased. "It sounds like he's stuck on you, Care Bear. I can't wait to hear this podcast that Bonnie's calling 'fire' on Instagram."
"Really?" Snatching her phone from the coffee table, she opened the app to find Bonnie had tagged both her and Klaus in a video posted to her story. It was a snippet of that first spat, little flame emojis dancing under her face as she tore into his crappy argument. Klaus didn't appear cowed, though, just amused as his eyes latched onto her. "At least we'll get some good exposure from this."
Kat leaned over, letting out a low whistle. "Damn, he is hot. I totally would take him off your hands for you, but I don't think I'm his type, babe," she said with a pointed look. "Text. Him."
Turning to keep Kat from peeking, Caroline chewed her bottom lip as she watched the video again. She paid close attention to him, feeling warm at how attentively he watched her. She didn't think he'd been really listening to her - maybe she was wrong. Even as she flipped to her Messages app, she rationalized that it was just a favor for Kat. It had absolutely nothing to do with wanting to see Klaus or his work or the passion he seemed to have for his art. Nope, not at all.
And the fact that, by texting him, Klaus would have her own number barely registered. Didn't even factor into her decision.
Yep.
So she pulled the card out from her purse, running a thumb lightly over the blurred ink. Not allowing herself to think too long, she typed in his number and a quick text.
CF: This is Caroline, the girl who apparently needs a real job. If the timely tattoo offer is real, my best friend would love to take you up on it.
After an agonizing minute of waiting for a response, she belatedly realized she could have used Kat's phone. But she found she didn't really want to take herself completely out of the situation. Luckily, he didn't give her time to follow that line of thought.
KM: It is, though I wish you would be the one to take it. Tell your friend to show up at the shop around 2, I should have an opening for her consultation.
CF: That's it? And here I thought you were determined to be a pest.
KM: Unless that's an invitation, sweetheart, I know when to walk away. Leave you wanting more and all that.
She rolled her eyes, unable to quite tamp down the small grin at his obvious flirt. Kat made a kissy-face she could see from the corner of her eye, which had her throwing a pillow in that direction.
KM: Of course, you're always welcome to join your friend, if it means I get to see you again.
CF: Just don't screw up on her tat, or I'll never hear the end of it.
"Damn straight," Kat agreed, reading over her shoulder despite Caroline's elbow digging into her side.
KM: Whatever you want, love.
Kat laughed when Caroline tossed her phone to the side, clearly itching to respond. "Oh, he's good."
Super impressed by Klaus's intricate sketches at their initial meeting, Kat had been beyond annoyed had to wait for Klaus to process the final choices as temporary tattoos for her to try them out on her skin. Worse, she was too busy with wrangling potential Making Do sponsors to pick them up herself; it had taken a whole box of Caroline's favorite cupcakes to persuade her to help a girl out.
Staring up at the brick facade, Caroline realized she should have negotiated a better deal to compensate for the sudden burst of nerves. Hybrid Design & Ink was slotted into a surprisingly swanky block near Venice Beach, sandwiched between a fashion studio and a restaurant where she would kill for a slot on the reservation list. She had to brace herself before opening the thick, bronze door to the parlor, not quite sure what to expect. The front windows were huge but too frosted for her to get a good look without being the creeper peeking through the logo cutout.
With a deep breath, she pulled open the door to find an open, modern lobby. Though the industrial concrete and metal look wasn't her personal style, Caroline could admit it worked for the space. A few rugs, some more light fixtures hanging, and-
"Welcome, darling. How may I be of service?"
Caroline gave an icy smile, so far super unimpressed by the guy leering at her from the receptionist's desk. "I'm here to pick up prints for Katherine Pierce."
A familiar glint lit up in his expression, and Caroline wanted to roll her eyes at the family resemblance that seemed all too obvious. "You must be the brother, the one that handles clients."
"Kol Mikaelson," he greeted, smoothly offering a handshake that turned into his lips ghosting across her knuckles. "And if I'm not mistaken, you're Caroline Forbes."
She yanked her hand from his hold, something like alarm ringing in her head. Ever the sheriff's daughter, she ran through the most likely scenarios. "Did Kat call to let you know I was coming?"
But Kol shook his head with a mischievous grin she didn't like. "Big fan of your channel - only recently, mind you," he joked, "so I'll fail whatever trivia questions you're clearly pondering behind those suspicious eyes of yours. My brother seems to have taken a shine to your personal brand of organization. At least, that was his excuse when I caught him watching one of your videos."
"Kol." They both turned - Kol gleefully and Caroline stuck somewhere between creeped out and confused - to find Klaus leaning in the doorway to where she assumed the needles were. "Not another word, you're making our guest uncomfortable."
Raising his hands defensively, Kol sat back in his chair, swiveling just a little as kids do. "'Guest Relations' is right in my job title, Nik. I'm nothing if not the consummate host."
Klaus sighed in resignation, pinching the bridge of his nose and squeezing his eyes shut for three long seconds. When his face relaxed, he smiled at Caroline. "Apologies, love. Good help is hard to find, especially on the family tree." He nodded toward the room behind him. "I have your friend's prints back here."
Following him past a couple of studio chairs and a fastidiously tidy counter for his inks and tools, Caroline couldn't help but be impressed by how clean the whole parlor was. "Nice place. I wish I knew this was what a tattoo shop should look like when I got my first one. The artist herself was okay and abided by sanitary standards, as far as I can remember, but I don't think they even mopped their floors."
Chuckling, Klaus led her into an office covered with papers and sketchbooks; her fingers itched to bring some order to the chaos. "You don't strike me as the type to look past such conditions."
Caroline shrugged. "I was drunk," she explained. "At least for the first one."
"You have another?"
She raised an eyebrow at the curiosity burning in his tone, let alone the fact he seemed to know she even had one.
Reading her expression, he gave a sheepish grin. "Your close-up crafting segments," he admitted. "I noticed a small bird on one of your wrists."
"So you have been watching my videos." Caroline wasn't quite sure how to feel about that, though she didn't get the same oily vibe that his brother gave off. Still, she didn't want to satisfy his curiosity as to her other tattoo and instead brought up something else that bothered her about that exchange. "Kol called you Nik."
Klaus seemed pretty satisfied by her own show of curiosity. "Short for Niklaus. My parents and I didn't get along, so I preferred to make my own name in the world."
The urge to dig further burned, and Caroline had to fight back her nosy instincts. Biting her lip, she glanced around the messy room. "You could definitely use my help in here."
His lips tugged up into a full smile as he cleared off a chair for her. "It's more of a creative space for me, client paperwork and consultations happen out at reception. I just finished Ms. Pierce's designs this morning, however. Haven't had a chance to take them up front." Sitting at his desk, he rifled through the clutter until he passed her a manila envelope with Kat's name neatly scripted across the top. "Instructions are inside, and she can take as long as she needs to decide."
As she slipped the envelope into her tote, Caroline looked up at him with a mean smile. "I thought your appointment book was full until next year."
"For normal hours," Klaus nodded. "Your friend will have Tuesday sessions when she's ready. They're my usual day off, along with Sundays."
"Oh." She felt a flare of warmth at the gesture she thought he was making. "That's nice of you."
His smile turned wicked, and he leaned forward on his elbows, crinkling the papers underneath. "I'm not that nice, love, but I'm willing to make an effort for you."
Yep, like she believed that. "Pretty sure Kat's going to be the one stuck with you," she pointed out. "So knock yourself out with that charm offensive, it's not going to work on me." When she stood, though, he didn't seem put off in the slightest - she would almost call his expression thrilled at the challenge.
"I'll walk you out," Klaus said, those insufferable dimples making an appearance. They passed by Kol and Caroline tried to avoid making eye contact - not that it stopped him from calling out to her.
"As we tell all our clients, please do read all the instructions carefully." Kol smiled when she finally turned to him, knowing there had to be a reason for him to make a point of it. "Here at Hybrid, we are adamant on client support systems, and all clients must be accompanied by friends or family for each session. The artist, you see," Kol said, lowering his voice to a very loud whisper, "he isn't fond of the small talk. Prefers the canvas remain silent or at least leave him out of the conversation."
She blinked, looking back to a chagrined Klaus as she tried to process the implication. "You can't be serious."
Appearing to be embarrassed, Klaus rubbed his neck. The sleeve of his Henley rode up his arm slightly, revealing sudden bursts of color along skin Caroline realized she hadn't seen before; his shirts had all ended at the wrist, the non-needle hand even adorned with leather bracelets to match those necklaces he wore. But the tattoo ink underneath? That was new to her - not that she cared.
"Shop policy, I'm afraid," he finally answered, oblivious to her sudden focus on his arms. "Ms. Pierce can bring whomever she likes. While I admit to hoping you might oblige her request, I know you have reason to decline."
Her eyebrow arched. The confident facade was nothing more than that, however, as she was an anxious wreck inside. What did that even mean? Was it an acknowledgment that she might not like him? An attempt to entice her anyway with good manners and the fancy accent? She struggled to choose her words; she didn't want to make any promises that could be a reward for being sneaky with the policy, but a cutting reply didn't feel right either. "I'll let Kat know," she answered simply and left before she could consider the small smile on Klaus's face, knowing the memory of it would bug her all night.
Caroline almost managed to put her foot down and refuse to tag along for Kat's first sitting. Unfortunately for her willpower, Kat was talented at both big-eyed pouts and creative threats. Plus, even she could admit that she was looking forward to seeing the famous Klaus Mikaelson in action; he wasn't the only one who did some research. A deep dive into his parlor's Instagram account had kept her occupied for far longer than she would ever admit out loud, and the pictures he was tagged in were somehow more engaging. She almost committed the sin of liking photos way past their initial posting, and more than once. Sue her, his work was pretty. Missing out on seeing that work happen in person? It seemed like a wasted opportunity.
So she found herself following an exuberant Kat toward Hybrid, unable to do anything but laugh at the odd skip in her friend's step. "I can't remember the last time you were so excited," she teased.
"Don't be a bitch, Care Bear," Kat warned with a smile that spelled trouble, despite the lack of bite in her tone. "Who knows what stories I might tell Klaus while under the needle? You could be painted favorably in any number of them…or not. And since his opinion of you seems to matter so much…" She trailed as she let herself into the mostly dark shop, leaving Caroline to stew behind her on the sidewalk.
"Oh, my god-" But Kat had already sashayed toward the back, and Caroline didn't want to yell for fear of Klaus hearing. The last thing she needed was for him to catch a whiff of the nearly unlimited blackmail material Kat had collected on her over the years. Just the thought of what her roommate could spill brought a flush of embarrassment to her face. Taking a moment to calm herself, Caroline breathed in deeply before heading toward the lit studio where she found Kat already lounging in a chair and flipping through a lookbook.
Klaus was busy organizing his tools, ignoring Kat's commentary on his past work. It wasn't until she sat in the guest chair that he even looked up. "Hello," he greeted with a small smile, flattening to a more professional nod for Kat. "I'll be ready to start in a few minutes, I was too distracted this afternoon to set everything up."
"On a date?" Kat asked, grinning at Caroline to watch her reaction. She narrowed her eyes and remained quiet, literally biting her tongue to resist completely changing the subject from Klaus's personal life to anything less dangerous for her peace of mind.
His eyes narrowed as well, more out of confusion than a shared irritation at the blatant attempt to rile. "No, just a bit carried away with a sketch," he replied. He glanced to Caroline for a moment, though he quickly looked away and cleared his throat. Holding up the transfer sheet for Kat's elaborate tattoo, he said, "As you can see, it's easy for me to get lost in the details. Any final concerns before I get started?"
Kat shook her head, but Caroline pulled out the list she had made earlier - something of a distraction for herself, too. "Are you going through the whole outline tonight, or just the central design? Has everything been sterilized within the last two hours? When was the last time you checked expiration dates on the ink? Do you know the quickest emergency room should she have an allergic reaction? You are insured in case something goes wrong, right?"
To his credit, Klaus waited for her to finish her questions without the overwhelmed, wide eyes she was used to getting when faced with her over-preparedness. Instead, he smiled like he was charmed by it all. It threw Caroline off her game for a minute until he started answering. "The first depends on your friend. I'll be focusing on the central design. If she isn't too sore or cramped, then I can also add some of the outer details. I just finished sanitizing before you arrived, and my ink is a fresh batch delivered earlier this month. I don't know the closest emergency room-"
Caroline's mouth fell open to berate him even as she pulled out her phone to look it up herself, and Klaus held up a hand to regain her attention.
"-but I'm sure you'll want to call the paramedics anyway to ensure Ms. Pierce receives the medical attention she needs in a timely fashion. I believe their number is nine, one, one." He smirked when she rolled her eyes at that, and Kat eagerly watched the scene. "Should absolutely everything go wrong and you wish to sue Hybrid and me for whatever we're worth, then have at it, sweetheart. Kol has a trust fund, I suggest you add him to the suit as well."
Kat snorted as Caroline fought a sigh of relief that he actually managed to assuage her fears. Seriously, she was lucky that first parlor didn't give her an infection, and she'd learned her lesson for the second. She wasn't about to let her friend get hurt for a lack of due diligence, and she gave Kat a bracing smile. "You ready?"
"Yes, Mom," Kat groaned, winking before she turned to Klaus. Her voice lowered into a seductive lull. "How do you want me?"
Bristling, Caroline clenched her phone a bit. At least Kat had worn a backless halter, an option she wouldn't have to remove to keep her shoulder blade bare. She shook her head; it didn't matter what Kat did or didn't wear, because it didn't matter how Klaus would react to her gorgeous friend's semi-nude form.
With a small, focused frown, Klaus nodded toward the other chair. It looked like a gym machine with thick padding, covered with an inviting, soft leather. Kat leaned forward and rested her arms along the top, smiling as she faced Caroline. "This is comfy, you should make something like this for the apartment. Think of the creative uses."
"I'm not making you a sex chair," Caroline snapped without really thinking it through, only to flush red when they both smirked at her outburst. Pulling out a magazine she'd packed, she pretended to get absorbed in the sordid lives of the rich and famous; anything was better than getting caught watching Klaus's hands already at work with rubbing alcohol.
Kat shrugged, and Caroline fought the little thrill she felt at Klaus's scowl that she moved. "It would be a new challenge for your next re-purposing project. I'll even help," Kat promised before mischievously looking back to Klaus. "That is, if I'm not too sore."
Caroline grit her teeth, but Klaus remained stony-faced as he ran a razor over Kat's shoulder. "Please stay still," he warned without making eye contact - with her, anyway. He did glance up at Caroline. "Are these projects the furniture that you sell? You'd mentioned during recording."
"Oh, um, yeah," she answered, surprised he had remembered, let alone brought it up in conversation. So much for the anti-social, bring-your-own-friend policy. "A small writing desk and a coffee table." He kept working but seemed hopeful for her to continue. "Um, the desk started as a bookshelf, small but with nooks and crannies for storage. The fan that bought it said she would use it as a mini-office for her studio apartment, which I thought was nice."
Smiling, Klaus nodded as he prepared to transfer the outline onto Kat's skin. "Your work resonates with the audience, that's something to be proud of."
She snorted. "Yeah, right. Weren't you the one preaching that what I do online doesn't matter?"
"I'd argue that producing a desk isn't exclusively an online service," Klaus pointed out, "but I can admit that I didn't realize all that your…career entails."
With the way his lips twisted, Caroline wondered if it was supposed to be an apology. "That looked like it hurt to say."
Klaus's hands moved by rote to smooth the thermal paper along Kat's shoulder without smearing. "Did it? I merely hoped to acknowledge my callous mistake at our first meeting."
"Hear that, Miss Bennet?" Kat asked, startling them both. "Mr. Darcy admits to making a bad first impression."
Caroline buried her nose in the magazine to avoid looking at either of them. "Yep, it's totally a good idea to make fun of the guy about to stick a needle in you. Repeatedly."
Chuckling, Klaus prepared his machine for the ink. "I assure you, I'm a professional." He rubbed some ointment into Kat's skin, his smile polite but detached. "Are you ready?"
"Bring it on," Kat said, bracing herself against the chair as the needle whirred behind her. Her jaw locked at the first sting, though she relaxed after a minute of Klaus working quietly. She looked up to Caroline, who watched her face in concern. "Easy peasy," she said in reassurance. "Did you really cry for your first one?"
Caroline nodded, unashamed. "It was my eighteenth birthday, and my friends thought enough tequila would be like a painkiller. We were so wrong, and I couldn't walk back to the car by myself. High school hysterics," she explained at Klaus's worried expression. "The guy put a tiny star on my foot, and dramatic, drunk me is a whiner."
"Why a star?" he asked, curious.
She closed her magazine with a contemplative smile. "Growing up in a small town kind of sucks, you know? Everyone knows you, has known you since you were in diapers, therefore feels entitled to judge every aspect of your life. I wanted nothing more than I wanted to run away to the big city and do something…bigger with my life." Caroline thought of her mom, still happily patrolling the same streets with no desire to reach for higher aspirations.
Though focused on Kat's tattoo, Klaus nodded along. "Reaching for the stars, then," he assumed, not unkindly.
But Caroline shook her head in immediate denial. "No, the stars were the one good thing about living in the middle of nowhere. On a clear night, I could spend hours picking out constellations and making up my own. Nothing bigger than a star," she pointed out, feeling oddly exposed despite the fact neither of them was looking at her. "Anyway, it was a good, simple tat to start with - even if the tequila didn't quite do its job."
"Dulled senses can be quite dangerous, and I refuse to tattoo anyone too intoxicated to feel their face. I need neither the liability nor the cleanup if they can't handle their liquor while in pain." Wiping away some blood as he worked, Klaus allowed a small smile. "But it seems you managed to get over that first experience if the bird was your second."
Caroline huffed out a reluctant laugh, going back to her magazine to ignore Kat's pointed look. "You already got one story out of me," she demurred. Besides, this little trip wasn't about her. "How're you feeling, Kat?"
Once they settled into a friendly conversation, she couldn't help but notice that Klaus didn't engage again. Caroline wasn't sure if it was out of habit or necessity to focus, but she started to understand why his siblings handled client interaction if this was how he worked. He engaged with her just fine, though, whatever that meant.
It wasn't until Kat's third coloring session that Klaus finally managed to glean Caroline's motivation behind the bird suspended in flight on her wrist. She was surprised he hadn't managed to guess as she wasn't incredibly creative, and it must have been a common enough symbol for the freedom of moving away from home. "L.A. was an adventure, and I couldn't wait to fly. Cheesy, but true."
Kat rolled her eyes at the familiar story, turning up the music playing in her earphones as she tried to rest. The chair hadn't grown more comfortable for her over the four previous sitings, so she'd taken to zoning out as best she could without falling asleep. Caroline brought books or work to do while Klaus worked in silence as warned, but - oddly enough - he kept making an effort to chat with her.
He shared stories of growing up with Kol, how Rebekah didn't tell him about developing the Hybrid's social brand until his client list tripled for no apparent reason he could see. There were even more Mikaelsons than Caroline realized, with older brothers and another one younger. She might have hated being an only child and resented her step-sister for getting to live with her dad, but she had no desire to share a bathroom and didn't hesitate to tell him so. Klaus just laughed, "Call it a bonding experience no one enjoys, sweetheart. We may bicker and snipe, but I would kill for any one of them."
Caroline believed that and it certainly fit the Klaus she was beginning to know. Though she loathed the idea of giving Kat any sign that her stealth campaign to get them together was working, there was something about him that she just couldn't shake - that she didn't want to walk away from when Kat's tattoo was finished. From what she could tell, he was still intent on flirting with her, on learning about her work and just her. With only one more session to go, Caroline wasn't sure how to let him know that maybe he'd earned a chance to make a better impression after all.
"Why Los Angeles?" The question brought Caroline back to the conversation they'd been having, and Klaus smirked to have caught her daydreaming. "New York would have been closer to home."
"I'm not quite Scarlett O'Hara, but I'm still from the South," Caroline shrugged. "Snow looks pretty on TV and all, it's just not something I'm used to. Take me to a beach any day."
Klaus smiled at her emphatic declaration. "A sunshine girl, I should have figured. Nothing bigger than a star, right?"
Her mouth fell open with a surprised laugh that he remembered, and his grin widened. "I'm starting to feel our conversations are a little lopsided. You know about my tattoos, but I know nothing about what you're hiding underneath that shirt." As she sat through Kat's sessions, she kept trying to sneak a peek every time he reached for something or stretched out his arm. One time, his Henley was white and seemed almost indecently threadbare; unfortunately, the most she could see was the occasional thick line or general burst of color up his arm. No definition, no satisfaction - but he'd presented an excellent opportunity to pry.
"Uh," he hesitated, taken off guard. "Apprenticeships can be hard to come by in this business. I was fortunate to fall into the profession thanks to my birth father, but I found it easier to practice on myself than to beg clients to take a chance on my skills. Truthfully, my sleeve is the shoddy work of a beginner. I make sure to stay covered so as not to scare clients away."
Caroline wanted to see what he considered 'shoddy work,' but another tidbit stood out to her. "Birth father? You look so much like Kol, I didn't realize you were adopted."
His eyes darted up from Kat's tattoo, but only for a second before he regained focus. "No, um, our parents were married young, just out of high school. My older brothers came soon after, so Mother delayed university to care for them. By the time she started attending classes, the marriage was...deteriorating, to say the least. She had an affair with my birth father, who worked at a parlor near campus, and fell pregnant. She had already reconciled with my- with Mikael when she found out."
"Wow," Caroline breathed, overwhelmed. "How did he handle it?" she asked, clapping her hand to her mouth once the words were out. "I'm sorry, you don't have to answer. That's none of my business." Glancing to Kat, she was thankful to find her completely tuned out to what had become a way too personal conversation.
"That's alright." He looked up again with a grim smile. "Mikael was a hard man, and he never let me forget where I really came from. When I finally met Ansel, then, it was a relief. My mother gave me his name and address when I turned eighteen, and he welcomed me with open arms, to his home and to his parlor."
She liked how much happier he looked talking about Ansel. "He must be proud of you for doing so well with Hybrid."
Nodding, Klaus almost looked embarrassed. "He is, though he still makes fun of my beginner's sleeve. Have you any desire for more tattoos?" he asked, smoothly changing the subject.
"No," she sighed. Her nose scrunched at the massive effort it would take to even pick one. "I'm not so great at making decisions, and it would be a nightmare to even narrow down the options. A pompom from my cheerleader days? The state of Virginia with a little heart over Mystic Falls? Hell, even 'take me to a beach' could work."
"Well, since you like beaches," Klaus said, eyes not quite meeting hers but somehow still honed in on her expression, "there's a small cove not far from here, a personal favorite of my sister's for a bit of privacy. Though she won't thank me for sharing her secret, I'd wager you would enjoy it."
Her lips pulled into a small grin at how tentative his voice sounded as he made the offer. "That sounds like an invitation."
"It could be," he admitted, the tips of his ears flushed pink, "if you wanted some company."
Kat sniffed from between them and removed an earbud. "I have to meet with some wonks at YouTube, so I'll have to decline this little outing," she said with mock offense. "It was a group thing, right?" Her eyes lit with a challenge as she looked to Caroline's blushing cheeks.
"It sounds good to me," Caroline answered, not letting Kat get to her. Instead, she bashfully met Klaus's cautious gaze. "I'm always up for a new beach, and new friends."
"Perhaps dinner after?" Klaus asked, apparently pressing his luck for an actual date. His face was so earnest, and Caroline sucked in a breath at how cute it was.
Biting her lip, she nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, that'd be nice."
With dimples deep, Klaus's focus went back to the tattoo, his hand moving just a tad faster than it had earlier.
The beach was incredibly beautiful with craggy rocks jutting up against the clear, blue sky. She took plenty of pictures as they walked on the soft sand, just out of the water's reach. Their hands would occasionally brush against each other, both of them taking every chance to let it happen again. They talked and talked, about their projects, their plans, everything they wanted out of life.
"So, you're not just a tattoo artist, you're an artist artist?" she had asked when he mentioned the few art pieces in Hybrid were actually of his own creation. "Wow. If you're ever in the mood to hand paint furniture, let me know. I've got plenty of pieces that could use the extra selling point."
Klaus smiled. "I can't say that I've ever tried, but I have no doubt you could convince me."
There was something in his expression Caroline couldn't quite place, bashful almost came to mind. "Do you only do abstracts then?"
"No, they're just a good release from the intricate details of needlework," he explained, that passion she remembered from his introduction filling his voice. "Landscapes were my first accomplishment, perhaps my favorite. Sketches run far and wide, however. My sister doesn't appreciate how I draw her eyebrows, and my office is deceptively neat as shown in my notebook. There are days my fingers itch for a pencil, so I draw."
His ears flushed pink as he met her eyes before quickly looking away, and she realized it wasn't the first time. The question was out almost as soon as the thought occurred to her. "Have you drawn me?"
Slyly glancing toward her, his dimples cut deep as he licked his lips. "Yes. I should also admit to using your videos for reference when my memory didn't do you justice."
"This is where you tell me I'm beautiful," she assumed with a scoff.
"You are," Klaus confirmed, "yet my goal was to capture that spirit you exude with every word. You truly love what you do, and it's...captivating." Her breath hitched at the pleased sigh bobbing his throat, and they both smiled like idiots at each other for a moment. "Enough about me," he said, shaking his head. "I want to talk about you."
She laughed at the cheesy line, as flattered as she felt by the sentiment. "You've already heard my story, packaged in a nice five-minute intro with all the dirty details of my failed modeling career, the failed relationship. You know Kat, and she's definitely told you plenty. What else could you possibly want to know?"
"If it makes you feel any better, I've dated a supermodel or two, and I'm far happier walking this beach with you."
Caroline stopped dead in her tracks, and Klaus had to turn back to find her. "That... I don't know what that does," she admitted, pleased that he liked her better but also a little intimidated. "Who was- Actually, never mind." Holding up a hand, her mouth pulled down into a grimace. "That's not a productive rabbit hole to follow. Although, I was briefly engaged - if we're out to make each other feel weird about exes. My high school sweetheart bought me a ring, and I gave it back to him right before hopping on a plane to get here. Does that do the trick for you?"
Klaus gave it a show of serious consideration, and she envied his acting skills that he seemed completely at ease. "I'll certainly take it as fair warning," he decided, whatever that meant. Caroline was sorely tempted to chase him down those rabbit holes, and she hoped to have more chances to do so. "You couldn't fly with a husband clinging to you?"
Her smile turned sad as she reminisced. "Mystic Falls will always be home, but Tyler and I had different ideas as to what that meant. He didn't want to leave, and that was all I wanted, even though it meant leaving him behind. When I visit my mom, sometimes I'll see him around town with his wife and their kids. They look happy."
"Are you?" The emotional haze of memories cleared from her eyes as Klaus's hand slid into hers, urging her to continue their walk. "Happy?"
She looked down to their joined hands, beaming. "Yeah, I am. Kat and I are kicking ass, and she's so close to closing a deal with the DIY network for us to get real resources to take Making Do to the next level."
"What is the next level?" Klaus asked, sounding genuinely curious. "You strike me as the type to have plan after plan, and I doubt your channel is the end goal."
Frowning, she squeezed his hand in admonishment. "It is and it isn't. YouTube is my bread and butter, and there are channels that have lasted for years where traditional television deals fall through. What I really want is to expand the brand into more creative ventures, and my list is getting long . There is so much potential: an exclusive furniture collection, home organization guides, interior decorating competitions, lifestyle seminars to help people help themselves."
He smiled and pulled her to a stop, and Caroline was helpless as she smiled back up at him. Usually, guys grew bored when she talked about her business and her plans. But they'd spoken for an hour; the sun had started to set and Klaus just kept looking at her. "The sunshine suits you, sweetheart."
Coyly, Caroline pushed even further into his space. "I bet you say that to all the girls."
Klaus smiled with a slow shake of his head. "Just the ones without real jobs," he teased, laughing when she moved to shove his shoulder. "I do owe you an apology for that, I believe. For underestimating - undervaluing, rather, the way you make a living," he expanded when her brow fell in confusion. "Not only did you start and maintain a successfully growing business, but you do so with aplomb and by creating beauty where there was none before."
"What are you, a poet?" Before she could make another joke, though, he dropped his lips to hover over hers.
Temptingly warm, he kept a mere inch between them. "I'm sorry for what I said and how I said it when we first met," he murmured. "You're extraordinary, you and your career."
A smile tugged at her lips, and she could almost feel the blood rush to her face. She blinked away an unexpected swell of tears, something novel to the experience of a sincere acknowledgment of her feelings and atonement that made her all the more emotional. Though it felt like a habit to shrug off the intensity of the moment, Caroline found she didn't want to forgive and forget the slight. She wanted to forgive and watch him grow past the mistake; she wanted…more. A heady sense of elation floated up within her. "Thank you," she finally answered in a breath, until the words came out again. "Thank you, thank-"
Tired of talking, Caroline slipped a hand behind his neck to crush their lips together. Klaus cupped her cheeks, holding her close as he deepened the kiss. The gorgeous afternoon on the beach faded away as they focused only on each other, and the sun had long set before they managed to tear themselves apart.
The thought of dinner was easily forgotten as they rushed back to Hybrid, the parlor being closer than either of their apartments. Caroline landed in the contoured client chair, Klaus leaning over her as he continued to press kisses into her neck. his hand knocked into the tool tray next to it, though he paid no attention the ominous rattling that followed. Taking the initiative, she pushed the tray further away, not wanting him to have even a chance at being distracted. Her fingers threaded through his hair as his lips sinfully laved across her collarbone, her hips rocking up into his.
God, if she'd known he could work her into such a state with just his mouth, maybe she would have tried forgiving his terrible first impression earlier.
A part of Caroline warned her to be cautious, not to move too fast with someone she still didn't really know that well. But with Klaus's talented hands snaking up her legs to toy with the hem of her skirt, his mouth making her question every hangup about tongues and ears, Caroline was more than ready to tell that small part of her to go to hell.
"May I?" He asked in a hoarse murmur, his bottom lip running lightly down her jaw before kissing her more fully. He playfully tugged at her skirt when she struggled to process the question, only for her to answer by raising a leg to wrap around his hip. Chuckling against her mouth, Klaus reached to rub lightly at her knee with his thumb - moving no higher. "I'm going to need the words."
Caroline nodded. "Please," she said, trying to pull him closer. "Touch me." His hand finally moved to brush over her panties, the brief contact more frustrating than his initial delay. "Klaus," she whined, her back arching.
Smiling into another kiss, Klaus dragged a slow finger up the cotton covering her, not bothering to stop her from squirming. "Are you wet for me, sweetheart?"
"Why don't you find out?" she answered sharply, tired of waiting. When his finger circled her clit through the fabric, she sighed in pleasurable relief. "More."
Klaus palmed her center, letting Caroline set a pace with her hips to find a pattern that worked for her. As her hands spread across his back, he moved down to settle himself between her legs and dropped his mouth to the collar of her shirt, following it down the slow reveal of her cleavage. He brushed aside the loose neckline with his nose, sneaking his lips along the cup of her bra.
Giving up on her own exploration, she popped open the front clasp. Klaus greedily took the cue and wrapped his lips around a nipple, his unoccupied hand moving to play with the other. Caroline scratched at the back of his neck, grasping at the collection of necklaces when he hit a particularly good combination. "Right there," she gasped, arching against his palm below as she shuddered through a small orgasm.
He grinned against her breast before raising himself to kiss her through silent moans, her hips reaching for more. "You're glorious," he swore, backing away to peel off her underwear. She lifted her legs to help and pressed another kiss to her ankle. "I can't wait to taste you." And he kicked a small stool over so he could comfortably kneel before her bare center, wet and flushed with arousal. "So pretty," he said as he let a finger stroke her again without the barrier. "Tell me what you need, love."
Her knee hooked over his shoulder to haulm him where she wanted him most. "Your mouth on me, now," she demanded, too turned on to be self-conscious as he spread her legs wider. She was happily rewarded by such directness when he dipped his head to lap at the pooled heat of her pussy. "That's so good," Caroline moaned, only for a shocked laugh to burst out when his tongue slid inside her without hesitation. Her hands raised to run through her hair, breath escaping through her teeth as he pressed a thumb back to her clit. His fingers spread low across her stomach, the warm pressure there working for her. "Don't stop," she said, over and over until everything within her coiled into a tense spring. Words then failed to fall from her lips, nothing more than silent cries for release.
Klaus looked up, meeting her pleasure-hazed eyes with an intensity she wasn't prepared for. She whined as he lifted his mouth from her center, her voice cracking when he used his fingers instead, his breath skating across her overheated skin. "Come for me, love." He leaned down to tongue at her clit while he stroked deep inside her. Caroline learned the rhythm quickly, but all she could do was to lay back and let the inevitable climax rush through her. "That's it," he softly coaxed. The stubble of his chin scraped against the crease of her thigh as he watched her, greed thick in his expression. "Bloody perfect."
"I wish I could say the same," she croaked, smiling at how offended he seemed as she slowly caught her breath, "but you're still wearing clothes."
With a dangerous smirk, Klaus stood up and peeled the Henley over his head. She licked her lips as the sleeve of tattoos remained on his arm, the overlaid patterns fading up to a larger design just underneath his collarbone. Caroline found she wanted to trace the feather's soft lines, to stroke the birds inked into his skin. It looked like an old tattoo; the question was on the tip of her tongue - did he want to fly, too? - but she was far more concerned with undoing his belt.
"If I didn't know better-"
"Shut up and kiss me." Pushing down his pants, Caroline leaned back in the chair and dragged Klaus with her. She wasn't about to give him a chance to ruin the spectacular effort he had put forth since that podcast. Luckily for them both, he easily complied and settled himself on top of her.
Maybe they didn't have the most romantic start, what with their less than cute meet or the slightly tacky hookup in his tattoo parlor - but if Caroline knew anything, it was how to make do and have fun along the way.
"Are you ready?"
Caroline smiled at the slight hesitation in his voice, a rare occurrence in Klaus's usually unflappable demeanor. Who knew all it took was getting her own tattoo at the legendary Hybrid? Apparently, the legend himself was feeling nervous when it was her sitting in his chair. "Yes, I trust you," she promised. "You've let me take six months and easily a hundred different sketches to finally come to a decision, I can't have you doubting things now. Let's do this."
His thumb lightly rubbed at the skin behind her ear. "You followed the instructions I gave for clearing the area and applying the deadener cream? This is sensitive skin, and it's going to hurt more if you didn't treat it first."
"It was a list, Klaus, you know I love those." Taking advantage of how close he was, Caroline ran a hand up his chest to cover his heart. "And I love you. Please, calm down before I start freaking out."
Klaus chuckled, pressing a kiss to her temple. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. Just making-" His dimples deepened at her warning glare, and he couldn't help but lean down for a real kiss. "Making sure," he finished as his nose nuzzled hers.
Even after a year of dating, Caroline still blushed when he surprised her with that sappy nature he hid so well. "Okay, Prince Charming," she said, rolling her eyes. She settled herself comfortably in the client chair and tugged her braid to lay over her right should, baring the left side of her neck to him. "Impress me."
With a last brush of lips against her hair, Klaus reached for the alcohol and the transfer paper, trimmed to fit in the space behind her ear. The design was simple, an easy sun that would shine with the burning colors of a fading day. Her decision to ask Klaus for a tattoo was easy once they'd traded 'I love yous' - in the midst of a petty argument, maybe, but it was still a perfect moment in her mind. She had no idea what to choose, though, and Klaus had taken an annoyingly neutral stance. Too bad for him, then, when he was the one to inspire her final design.
They were nearing the anniversary since that evening on the beach, and Kat had only just broached the idea of letting their lease expire so they could move closer toward the studio where Making Do and its various spin-offs worked. Potential paths spun before her eyes as Caroline made her way to Klaus's apartment, hoping to start gauging his interest for moving in together. Not only did he boldly offer the invitation for her to start bringing things to his place, but he also finally removed the gauze bandage covering a new tattoo, hints of which he'd absolutely refused to share before then.
Caroline was straddling him in bed, teasing him with dirty talk about the organizational system she was going to bring to his closet when her hands slipped under his shirt. She expected her nails to catch on the bandage as she tried to remove his shirt, only to get completely sidetracked by the new bird inked on his shoulder. It was different from the others already flying on his chest, though it fit the design well; wings stretched wide in flight, the details matched those of the bird on her wrist. More than that, it was filled with the colors of a sunset - the same sunset from when they shared their first kiss.
Yep, he was a sap, and she loved him for it. His sunshine girl, indeed.
Lost in the memories, Caroline was quickly brought back to the moment when the tattoo gun powered up. The whirring rang in her ears, and she jumped, relaxing only when Klaus's hand fell to her shoulder. "You're alright, my love," he murmured. "Are you sure you're ready?"
Her eyes met his, and she wanted to sooth that concerned furrow of his brow. She was too happy for him to worry. "Yeah, I want this."
I want you.
Klaus smiled as though he could hear her meaning, and he kissed her again just because he could.
"Ugh, gross," Kat said, flipping through her magazine in the guest chair. "I've half a mind to call Bonnie Bennett and blame her for this gooey crap I have to witness on a daily basis."
Rolling her eyes, Caroline turned back to face her friend who had graciously agreed to accompany her, per Hybrid's shop policy. Klaus would have been fine, but he didn't want to get distracted when pressing a needle to her head. "You are the one who scheduled me to record that podcast," she pointed out, marveling at how long ago that day felt. "And you're also the reason I ended up spending more time with him."
Kat shrugged, smirking. "Then I deserve a hell of a maid of honor gift when he finally proposes."
Klaus's hand jolted, thankfully before he was about to start the tattoo, and Caroline glared. "Kat! Seriously?"
With a few deep breaths, Klaus managed to focus on his work while Caroline tried to relax. She also mentally berated Kat for nearly spilling the fact that she'd already found the ring - and that she couldn't wait to say yes.