A/N: So, firstly, I was notified about #25daysofklaroline happening on tumblr, and this short drabble of sorts had already been in the works, so I've decided to use it as a contribution for Christmas! This is for Day 17: Klaroline + Royalty whereby Klaus is Caroline's personal bodyguard. Yes, I used that trope because I couldn't help myself.
Enjoy!
xXx
CeruleanBlues
Falling For You
She was furious.
No, fuck that; she was absolutely livid.
Fuming and seething with rage, Caroline burst through the door and marched towards the center of her dorm room. Her gaze involuntarily fell onto the bed, its sheets still rumpled and duvet strewn about, and the sight sent a fresh wave of ire coursing through her veins. They had shagged each other senseless just hours ago, when they had been simply two people who understood each other inexplicably, and now, she realized he had been nothing but a stranger all the while.
Tears clouded her vision, the betrayal stabbing through her heart like a poisoned blade, burning, but damn it, she refused to cry; refused to be the fragile, weak little girl her parents perceived her to be.
Hastily swiping a hand over her wet cheeks, she whirled around, blonde hair flying, when she heard him enter just seconds later. She glared at the git, chest heaving underneath her thick coat, cornflower blue eyes flashing, and conjured about a million and one different ways to cause immeasurable bodily harm to his scheming, lying ass.
"Look, Your Highness, I can explain—"
She slapped him, unable to bear hearing another deceitful word that rolled out of his tongue; the same one he had used that very morning to bring her to immeasurable heights of pleasure. The loud crack rang high in the air, like a whip lashing against naked flesh. Her palm stung—fuck, it was growing slightly numb—but at least she forged a small sense of satisfaction from the red imprint she had left upon his infuriatingly handsome face. His jaw twitched, fists clenched tight at his sides as his lean muscles rippled beneath the soft cotton of his Henley, and suddenly there was no question why he was perfect for the job.
I hear my heart like the beat of a drum.
You take me up to a high I've never known.
"I trusted you, Nik," she spat out. "I fucking trusted you. You could've told me who you were from the start and be honest with me, but you didn't. You staged an entire charade and lied to me."
His voice, when he spoke was nothing but calm and composed.
"Your Highness, I would gladly explain—"
"Don't call me that!" she shrieked. "Did my mother set you up for this?"
"She just wanted to make sure that you were safe—"
Her patience snapped. "Oh, my God, that is just like Her Majesty to do something like this even when I specifically instructed her not to. All I wanted was a normal college experience where I don't have to care about being a fucking Princess. For three years of my life, I just wanted to be like everybody else and forget about all the stuffy rules and proper etiquette, and when I met you, I thought it was finally possible." Damn those stubborn tears; she couldn't hide them from him fast enough. "Was there anything you told me that were even remotely true? Paris? Rome? Tokyo? Were those just made-up fables you spun so you could get into my pants? All those romantic drawings and—"
There ain't no way we can slow this down.
This train's too fast to ever turn it back around.
He surged forward and grabbed onto her arms. "Caroline, as much as I would love to disprove those ridiculous allegations, we really don't have much time. We need to leave. Now."
"You have to be fucking mental to think that I'm going anywhere with you—"
There was a crash, and it was all the distraction Nik needed to take her around the waist and steer her out the door.
"Time to go, Your Highness," he growled low in her ear. "Salvatore and my dear sister can only hold them off for so long."
Her temper flared once again. "Stefan and Bekah? They're part of this too?"
He didn't respond; only laced his fingers through hers and trudged down the corridor with a single-minded determination of a man on a mission. His strides were long and purposeful, forcing her to stumble along behind him, and the gorgeous pair of Louboutins was so not meant for running. Couldn't he have at least warned her into wearing something practical that evening if he had known that there would be an attempt on her life?
The window at the end of the hallway shattered, spraying shards of glass onto the carpet, and Caroline collided straight into Nik's strong back when he skidded to an abrupt halt. A cylindrical canister sailed through the air, landing with a thud not a few feet away.
"Shit!" he hissed as white smoke—tear gas, it had to be—began flooding the hallway, and his grip on her hand tightened. With wide-eyed vigilance, he darted those striking blue-green orbs in all angles, scanning for an escape route. "This way, love."
She barely heard him, her heart pounding in her ears, and then they were bolting in the opposite direction, back to where they came from, completely bypassing her room to the one across, three doors down. Vaguely she registered the jiggling of the knob, but Nik's frustrated string of curses meant that it was locked. Stealing a glimpse over her shoulder, Caroline gulped as she watched the ivory cloud approaching.
"Nik, hurry up!"
Disregarding school property, he rammed his heel into the hollow wood and effectively kicked it open. Some distance away, the heavy thumps of combat boots announced some unwanted company. Light gray silhouettes appeared amongst the blanket of haze—big, burly men with protective gear and firearms—and she managed to count four of them before finding herself unceremoniously shoved through the threshold. Without needing further instructions, she headed straight for the only source out of those four walls: the window.
"We'll need to jump."
She turned to him with a deep scowl etched in her features. "Gee…that didn't occur to me at all. Thank you, Captain Obvious."
He arched an eyebrow, apparently not expecting the sass and sarcasm during such a dire situation. So sue her, she didn't train with the Swiss Army or diving off airplanes in her spare time, but the prospect of jumping from two stories high and hoping to land flawlessly—what, with her uncanny history of broken bones—was slim to none. Nik caught the way she swallowed audibly as she peered over the ledge and the corner of his lips quirked slightly at her unease.
"Is there a problem, Your Highness?"
She gave him a withering look. "You are so fired, Mikaelson."
In an act of sheer defiance, he leaned inexplicably closer; purposefully invading on her personal space to place their noses barely inches apart. The intoxicating scent of his cologne impeded everything that made her coherent and left her slightly dizzy. His intense blue-green eyes bore into hers, searing and unrelenting in a way that sent a delicious shiver running down her spine. Fuck, was he seriously trying to seduce her in the midst of a life-threatening crisis?
"The last time I checked, Princess, you weren't the boss of me."
One strong arm went around her waist and hauled her roughly against his unyielding chest. A startled gasp departed from between her lips as she reflexively clung onto him to catch her balance. His responding smirk was devilishly wicked; teasing her in the manner only he could produce with those sinful, God-forsaken pair of dimples.
"Hang on tight, love," he winked, and she was granted with only a beat to react before he was soaring through the air.
I don't wanna think too much.
Let me get lost in your soul.
Wanna feel that freedom lettin' go.
Wisps of blonde hair whipped against her face as time seemed to stretch for eons. A loud bang echoed behind them, and then muted silencer-enhanced gunshots were fired. Somewhere in the deeper crevices of her consciousness, Caroline was thankful that almost every sociable soul in her dorm were at that end-of-term party—the one that she had painstakingly organized—on the football field. This would've been very tedious to explain to three hundred students.
They landed ungracefully on the solid ground, but Nik's firm body cushioned the impact of the fall. His hold on her never once faltered as they tumbled and stopped with her draped inelegantly on top of him, both breathing hard and labored from the ordeal. Shit, that was insane, and she was miraculously unharmed, her limbs still intact and her ass slightly numb, but otherwise she would live to see another day.
"Not that I don't enjoy you being on top, sweetheart, but—" A bullet whizzed past inches from his head, and then another and another, raining on them like the damn Fourth of July fireworks. "Now isn't exactly a good time to give me a raging hard-on."
Witty banter would have to wait. Hastily scrambling to their feet, Nik swiftly picked her up, wrapped her long legs around his waist, and sprinted across the quadrangle. Over his shoulder, she chanced a glance up at the window where two men were positioned; their sniper rifles perched in aim.
A trigger was pulled, and with it came an outcry.
"Nik!"
His steps wavered for a second, but otherwise he kept on moving.
"Nik, put me down, please," she whispered in alarm, knowing that somewhere, he had taken a hit, and she wouldn't want him overworking himself and bleeding to death. "I can run, just put me down."
"Not a chance," he grunted, his words strained. "Your safety is my priority right now, Caroline, so would you please stop squirming and just let me do my fucking job?"
Not a blink later, she heard the piercing squeal of tires as a black SUV arrived in front of them. The door to the passenger's side flung open, and she vaguely recognized Rebekah's frantic voice before she was aimlessly thrown in the back seat. Nik slid in as three shots made contact with the car, and without wasting another moment, they peeled down the road, out of campus grounds. She craned her neck around, watching for a brief instant as the building grew smaller into the distance and sank into the leather upholstery with a sigh of relief. They hit a bump and a groan of discomfort jolted her attention to the man slumped on her right, his face in a grimace and an arm over his stomach with his hand pressed into his side.
"Oh, my God, Nik!" she exclaimed, reaching up to swipe the damp strands of blonde curls off his forehead. He was panting, his eyes unfocused and glazed over, and the blanket of horror and panic that enveloped her at once felt like chilling terror seizing her being. "Oh, my God; guys, he's been hit!"
So hold me now.
I'm fallin', I'm fallin'.
Just lay me down and steal my heart tonight.
"What?" Stefan called out from behind the wheel.
"Nik's been hit!" she repeated, nearly shouting as she fearfully trailed her trembling fingers down to delicately cup his cheeks. "We need to go to the hospital now!"
Rebekah twisted around, and gone was the usually calm composure of a special agent, replaced by one of sheer worry for her older brother. "Shit, hang on, Nik. Keep talking to him, Care; put pressure onto the wound and ensure that he stays conscious."
There's fire in your eyes.
There's magic in your touch.
Seeing that the man was drifting off, Caroline gathered him up as best as she could in the restricted space, flinching when he winced, and gingerly shifted him to settle his back against her chest, keeping his head pillowed between her breasts. His ragged inhales and exhales were almost too much to bear in her helpless state, but she wasn't going to be a weak little girl, for fuck's sake. Surely she could handle a bit of blood—Nik's blood—on her pristine clothes. Dropping a quick kiss to his temple, Caroline allowed her lips to graze over his ear, whispering soothing, mellifluous nothings to keep him awake.
"I'm sure I'll be yelling at you a lot after this, but in case I forget, thank you, Nik."
His long eyelashes fluttered with a ghost of a grin, and his reply was nothing but a low, inaudible murmur that she wouldn't have heard if she hadn't been listening for it.
I still want you to stay.
But it feels like us so.
Hold me now, I'm fallin', I'm fallin' for you.
"Anything for you, my love."
She wasn't allowed to contact him in any way—not to visit while he was recuperating, and not even to send him a text message—due to standard protocols following an attempted assassination, and Princess Caroline loathed every second that she wasn't able to see his roguishly handsome face or kiss his undeniably full lips. As soon as she was shortly summoned—under the King and Queen's orders—to return to Mystic Falls, the royal couple's only heir had been forced to a stern bodyguard accompanying her every move, her parents breathing down her neck every waking hour, and her freedom restricted to nothing beyond the castle grounds.
It was a reminiscent of her adolescent years all over again.
Personal tutors, strict schedules, chaperoned activities, and whatever limitations the head of security could think of.
"Elijah?" she prompted the stiff, impeccably-dressed man shadowing her footsteps as they made their way to the main dining hall for dinner.
"Yes, Your Highness?"
"Have you heard from your brother?"
He hesitated before answering, because like her, he knew that the walls had ears. For official purposes, he was always fixed with a microphone—which was a terrible pain in the ass when it came to personal matters such as this one—but Elijah was nothing short of tactful and patient with her endless whims and enquiries. With a quick survey of their surroundings, he sidestepped into the nearest powder room and held the door open as he gestured her in. He crossed to the sink and turned the faucet on, allowing water to run while he clicked his earpiece off.
"I've been trying to get through to his cellphone but I keep getting a dial tone," she said, keeping her voice low despite the precautions already taken by her escort. "Look, I know that I'm not allowed to call him or whatever, but I just need to know if he's alright."
His usually impassive features softened infinitesimally, and she was reminded of how dashing he truly was beneath that stoic demeanor. "Caroline, I hope you realize that I am unable to disclose classified agency information to you. Unfortunately, my position doesn't allow that, and therefore, please accept my deepest apologies should that disappoint you."
She tried her best not to seem too affected by that, but it seemed that she wasn't quite the actress she had perceived herself to be, because the man in front of her empathetically placed one hand on her shoulder.
"However, as a brother and as a friend, I would tell you that he has made a full recovery and would be returning to the field soon."
Hope blossomed in her chest.
"Really?"
Elijah nodded, a hint of a smile gracing his lips, though it didn't quite reach his dark chocolate eyes. There was something he wasn't telling her.
"But…?"
"He has requested to be reassigned a new station."
Son of a bitch.
The news was a punch to her gut; her lungs constricted and a lump lodged in her throat, and it was as though somebody had yanked the rug from right under her feet. Anguish and hurt rippled through her soul, the implications of his decision tearing her from the inside out, and Caroline wanted nothing more than for a vortex to open up and swallow her whole.
Did he honestly want nothing to do with her anymore?
It must've been plainly written on her expression, for Elijah hooked his index finger underneath her chin and tilted her head up to meet the pure, unadulterated honesty mapped on every crevice of his façade.
"He'll come back for you, Caroline, I promise."
"How can you be so sure?"
This time, his smirk held a smidge of humor.
"Because I am quite certain that Niklaus is very much in love with you."
It was a long five months and four days later until she finally saw him again. Elijah hadn't mentioned anything at all throughout the evening, so it came as a complete surprise when he subtly gestured for her to turn around, and the only thing she could fathom was the effortless way in which Nik was weaving through the throng of nobles and their gold digging wives, his stunning sea-blue eyes trained solely on hers.
Her gaze roamed his immaculate form, committing his perfection to memory because she didn't think she had ever met someone who filled up a light gray three-piece suit the shade of platinum quite like he did—Elijah notwithstanding, of course. His matching tie was a calm azure, his shoes a gleaming polished black, and her fingers tingled from the urge to run them over his delectably inviting scruff.
For proper decorum purposes, he respectfully bowed his head, but there was a glimmer of mischief in those twin pair of dimples when he all but took her hand and placed a lingering kiss upon her knuckles. Heat crackled in the air; the unexplainable spike in temperature had a flush blooming into her already blushing cheeks.
Damn his charming British ways.
She was suddenly finding it incredibly difficult to remember that she was still mad at him, but the pompous bastard probably already knew that. In the company of others, she couldn't risk telling him off without drawing any attention to them and making a scene; it wouldn't be appropriate princess behavior after all.
You kiss my lips.
I can feel that spark.
And that's all it takes.
Shadows dancin' in the dark.
"Good evening, Your Highness," he drawled, the lilt of his accent melting on his tongue like the finest of wines. "May I have the honor of this dance?"
Fighting to stay aloof, Caroline primly nodded, keeping her tone as detached as physically capable. "Yes, you may."
I don't wanna think too much.
Let's follow where it leads.
Just as long as you're right next to me.
It wouldn't deter him; rarely anything did—not her stubbornness, not her overbearing, neurotic, control-freakiness, not the weeks of constant persistence it had taken him until she had finally agreed to go on a date with him—and even in a room full of judgmental nobilities, he was a picture of outmost poise. Leading into the crowd, he smoothly swept her up in his arms, a palm pressing gently against the small of her back as she rested hers atop his shoulder. They fitted seamlessly like two pieces of a puzzle, the soft curves of her body responding to his hard angles, and it was getting increasingly more difficult to resist the desire to simply surrender into his sweet embrace.
As much as she hated to admit, she had missed this—him—terribly.
So hold me now.
I'm fallin', I'm fallin'.
Just lay me down and steal my heart tonight.
"What are you doing here, Nik?"
He twirled her around and then pulled her even closer, the fabric of their clothes rustling against each other. "Would you believe it if I told you that I had been personally invited tonight?"
She regarded him with a degree of suspicion. "Oh, God, please tell me that you're not actually on duty right now because I don't think Lady Carol Lockwood would be too happy that you're skiving off to canoodle with her guest."
Without missing a beat, he leaned in, his mouth hovering next to her ear. "I'm surprised Elijah hadn't told you, love."
"Told me what, exactly?"
"The Mikaelsons—my family and I—we've been the King's Royal Guards for centuries, The Originals," he quietly disclosed, still very much aware of where they were and who could be listening in. At her sharp intake of air, he chuckled lowly. "I take it you've heard of us, then. The thing is, Caroline, unlike every other security officials, we're not hired to serve the sovereign. It's a calling. It's in our blood and our ancestry; there's really no way out of it. You're stuck with me for life, sweetheart."
Princess Caroline wasn't quite sure why that made her smile, and instinctively, she pulled him in, not caring if it looked possessive and territorial to everybody else as she buried her nose in the crook of his neck. He smelled brilliant and familiar; musky with a tinge of spice. "You were reassigned a new station, were you not?"
His thumb made lulling circles at the base of her spine. "Kol thought Finn was doing a rubbish job at tracking and hacking, so he offered up his post."
She balked, one eyebrow raised. "Surveillance? That's what you've been doing for five freaking months?"
There's fire in your eyes.
There's magic in your touch.
"I knew you would be in safe hands," he shrugged.
"You could've at least told me, Nik," she retorted with an indignant huff. "All that time, I believed that you were deliberately avoiding me. All those dumb protocols—"
The dance came to an end; people clapping politely all around, but for Caroline, the buzz and chatter was nothing more than static white noise in the background.
"I did what I had to do to keep you safe, my love."
Gentle, expressive blue eyes held hers as he tenderly shifted a stray lock of golden curl aside. He was still holding her in his carriage, a finger caressing the side of her porcelain face before he cradled her cheeks with both palms and earnestly uttered the next three words.
I still want you to stay.
But it feels like us so.
Hold me now, I'm fallin', I'm fallin' for you.
"Forever and always."
The celebrations were still in full swing in the main ballroom, and just behind the closed doors of her private chambers, the fireworks had just begun. Lips collided eagerly; long, drawn-out moans echoing off the walls in a chorus of unfulfilled desires. Restless hands grappled blindly, shoving clothes and shedding layers in search of naked skin, and a whimper escaped her throat as Nik began trailing butterfly kisses down the slender slope of her neck to nibble on the spot he knew all too well.
Fallin' for you fast.
Somethin' like a dream.
I want you so bad it's hard to even breathe.
Caroline released a sigh up to the heavens, her French tips digging into the muscles of his biceps, toes curling in the lush carpet while she begged for him to never stop. Forging a path across her collarbone to her sternum, he laved a pattern in the tantalizing dip between her supple breasts. She trembled, relishing in the dexterous way he was meticulously stripping her of her sanity; arched her back as he captured a rosy nipple in the warm cavern of his mouth and all but submitted to his ministrations.
"Nik…shit, Nik…don't stop…"
His darkened eyes darted up to meet hers, smoldering, cerulean orbs blazing and pupils blown, twinkling with playful deviousness before he sensually released the cresting peak, only to take its twin and tease it with his teeth. The twinge of pain mixed with the headiness of pleasure had her keening, but just when Caroline thought she was about to implode simply from his tongue alone, the man abruptly pulled away, smugness oozing out of his every pore.
She knew exactly what he was doing; he wanted to hear her plead and beg, but two could play the game, and she simply loathed losing. His smirk grew as if he could read her thoughts, silently daring the blonde to do her worst with a seductive lick of his lower lip.
So hold me now.
I'm fallin', I'm fallin'.
Just lay me down and steal my heart tonight.
Narrowing her gaze, Caroline unexpectedly dropped to her knees. His cotton-encased bulge grazed the tip of her nose and brought about a salacious grin when he responded with a strained groan. She grabbed onto the waistband of his boxer briefs and gave it a sharp tug. His erection sprang free, full and proud and more than ready. With a delighted hum, she enclosed his rigid length in her fist, reveling in the hiss that it elicited as she began stroking.
There's fire in your eyes.
There's magic in your touch.
"Love…" Nik grated out, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed in an attempt to exercise some semblance of control. It was fast slipping, and it was exactly how she liked it. She sped up on her movements, and the King's Royal Guard or not, she was solely determined to break his well-honed restraints. "Love, you need to…fucking hell, Caroline, I don't think…I'm not going to—shit!"
She engulfed him whole just for that reaction alone. The tip of his shaft hit the back of her throat as she hollowed her cheeks out the way she was aware drove him crazy, and then languidly withdrew before dropping a chaste, triumphant peck to his swollen head.
"I think I'm claiming this as a win, Nik," she declared.
"Not a chance, sweetheart."
In a flash, she was lifted off the floor and hoisted up into his arms. Like clockwork, her legs circled around his tapered hips, unintentionally pressing his twitching member into her aching center. His velvety smooth hardness brushed against her arousal-slicked folds—so close yet not enough—and she desperately ground into him, keening when he cupped the round globes of her derriere and forced her movements to still. He growled and seized her lips, intoxicating her with his searing kisses, short-circuiting her higher brain functions enough that she didn't realize he had travelled until her back collided with the soft mattress and cool Egyptian cotton sheets.
I still want you to stay.
But it feels like us so.
Hold me now, I'm fallin', I'm fallin' for you.
"You were saying, Your Highness?" he taunted against the underside of her jaw.
"Huh?"
He preened, shamelessly pleased with himself, and inched lower down her torso, teasing her clavicle for a moment before shifting southwards to blow into the dip of her navel. She giggled and squirmed as it tickled, but then he hovered between her legs and his stubble scratched against the inside of her thighs, and she could only writhe in anticipation for the unmistakable onslaught of what was to come. His first taste of her essence had them both moaning in unison, and then he went for seconds and thirds, sampling her in frenzied motions, as though he was a man dying of thirst and she was a lone oasis in the middle of the desert. Caroline clutched at the tufts of his hair, needing something to hold onto lest she flew off the mattress in his quest to shatter her into a million pieces.
"Nik…Nik, please…"
He didn't let up on her blissful torture. "Please what, love?"
Fuck it, she was done with the teasing.
With a potent wrench to his curls, she commanded his eyes back onto hers. "I swear to God, Niklaus, if you don't stick your knob inside of me and start shagging my brains out this very instant, I'm going to finish this off on my own and leave you high and dry without even batting an eyelash, capiche?"
He gaped at her, clearly turned on beyond reason; tension coiled tight in his muscles, his pectorals quaking, and Caroline knew the second he snapped because all she saw was the blur of pale flesh before he rose above her and in one swift thrust drove himself deeply inside the heart of her femininity.
Fallin' for you
I'm fallin'
"Nik!" she cried out, her walls clenching around his pulsing manhood as he grunted into the slope of her neck.
"Fuck, Caroline," he coarsely rasped out, pulling out only to enter once again. "Fuck, you're so tight…it feels so bloody brilliant—"
There was no stopping either of them after that; his pelvis slammed into hers, pounding mercilessly with a wild abandon that stemmed from months of abstinence that could only be satiated with their impending release. Each stroke pushed her closer to the brink of oblivion, teetering precariously until finally it tipped over with a flicker of his thumb across her pearly nub. Fuck those pretentious people mingling downstairs; she would scream his name out for the entire universe to hear, her inner walls fluttering and contracting around him. He stiffened, eyes squeezed shut, and all it took were two punctuated pumps before he came completely undone with her name on his lips, and spilled inside of her.
A pointed knock on the door jolted them out of basking in their post-coital glow.
"Your Highness." Caroline squeaked, recognizing Elijah's curt tone, clearly exasperated and unimpressed. "Apologies for the rude interruption, however, if you and Niklaus are quite finished with your…activities, would you be so kind as to return to the ballroom? The King and Queen are asking for you."
She hid her face in her hands in utter mortification, wondering if the older Mikaelson had been listening in—or at least respectfully attempting not to—and decided she was going to let Nik deal with his brother instead.
"Will do, Elijah, thanks," he replied with a chuckle.
The retreating click of footsteps that followed was just as judgmental—if not more so than his words—and Caroline hastily tugged the duvet over her nude form, all the while glaring at the man now lounging carelessly on her bed with another one of his trademark smirks etched on his handsome face, full of arrogance, and not even bothering to cover himself up.
"What are you doing?" she demanded. "Get dressed, quick."
"I don't believe that I'm the one who's being summoned, love."
A sly grin stretched slowly and she leaned in. "Oh yes, you are too, because you will have to explain to the King and Queen what your intentions are with their beloved daughter."
He paled considerably, the cockiness draining from his demeanor as he gulped. A trained guard with countless military experience and an ability to kill a person with his bare hands, but he cowered like a scared little puppy during a thunderstorm at the mere prospect of meeting her parents.
"Is that completely necessary, sweetheart?" he asked. "Because I'm sure dallying with the Princess is a punishable offense that might or might not result in a decapitation and an exile."
She sighed, throwing her arms in the air; he could be so overdramatic sometimes. "Fine, if you go talk to them, I promise I'll ensure no decapitation or exile of any kind."
He was still wary, but the adorable pout and sparkling blue eyes were secret weapons he knew she couldn't resist. "You promise?"
Fingers crossed.
"I promise."
Fallin' for you
A/N: The End!
Song used: "Falling For You" by Lady Antebellum