He heard her in the shower as she sang "Feelin´ good" at the top of her lungs. So the rumors were true, she did have an amazing singing voice. He smiled at how domestic the situation was, her singing in the shower, him waiting for her in bed. Too bad he had been forced to compel her. Had she been giving him the chance he had asked for, he would not have to cripple her emotions so that she might never have a moment like this again. He had let his guard down around her and it had nearly cost him his family, he could not be weak like that ever again. Whatever power this girl held over him, he´d take it from her. And he´d enjoy himself while doing it.

She came out of the bath room, wrapped in nothing but a huge white towel that clung tightly to her body. "Hey, bath room is free now."

"Thanks, and by the way, you´re quite the singer." he smiled as he approached her, mesmerized by how incredibly sexy she looked.

"Oh... I forgot to tell you. I am one of those shower singer people. Sorry. "

"No need to apologize, love." He caressed her cheek with his thumb. "Did anyone ever tell you that this a good look for you?" His hands found the knot of her towel as he gently pushed her against the bathroom door while kissing her neck. She giggled, but quickly placed her hands above the knot. "Okay, don´t take this the wrong way, but I´d rather not go this far with you right now." He couldn´t help but let his hand trail a tiny bit up her thigh at that. "Why?" He looked up to find her eyes going blank, which told him that whatever answer she would give him right now she probably would have held back from him, had he not compelled her to be herself but also completely open and honest with him. "Because I don´t want to be that girl anymore."

"What girl?"

"Before I was turned I was that girl that would take the next step too quickly, too soon and it always ended up biting me in the end. Literally sometimes. So I´d rather take things slow with guys." Just like that her eyes went back to their normal light and her smile returned. "Hey, don´t forget about that shower you were going to take." He had compelled her to do whatever he told her to do, he mused. All it would take for him was a very insistent please from his lips and the towel would be gone. But that would be going ahead of schedule. And it would go against the rules of his game. So he removed his hand from her thigh and placed a sweet kiss onto her forehead, opting to take a cold shower instead.

When he returned, she was already dressed in a yellow dress, with a black bolero jacket on her shoulders. "C´mon. Hurry. New York is waiting." she said, her smile radiating. "One more thing before we head off, love."

"What is it?" she asked innocently.

"Go to that desk over there and write down every single hope and dream you ever had for your future. Take your time and don´t stop until every single wish, even the smallest, is on the list." Immediately her eyes went back to being blank, as she moved towards the desk. In the four hours it took her to finish the long list, mostly because she was compelled to ensure that she forgot nothing, he went outside to check up on Rebekah, several of his hybrids and a few witches he had been talking to about this blood-linkage spell Esther had bestowed upon him. When he returned, she handed him the list. The second he held it in his hands, her eyes lit up again. "Come on Nik, we´re running late." She laughed, dragging him out of the room, like nothing had happened. Her enthusiasm was contagious, so he put the three pages of pager into his jacket pocket and let her lead him outside.

Their first stop was the Empire State Building, and Caroline grew giddier and giddier during the elevator ride, squeezing his hand tightly. Oddly enough, he found it endearing. The second the elevator door opened though, she dropped his hand and ran out onto the platform, taking in the view. "This is breath-taking." was all she let out. It is, the thought as he saw the glow in her face. He placed his arms around her waist, pulling her into his chest, taking in the smell of her hair, listening ot her heartbeat. Feeling her joy in his own veins. They stood like that for over an hour.

They had spent the entire day walking around the city, her hand never leaving his after the Empire State Building. They had taken a long walk through Central Park, and Caroline got knocked down by a dog. The elderly couple owning the Labrador apologized profusely, which more or less resulted in Caroline playing with him for a good hour while Klaus sat on a bench watching her and sketching her. He had taken her out later that evening for a fancy dinner, during which he couldn´t help but gaze at her beauty. For the most part, he had made her talk about her past. About her childhood, about her friendship with Elena and about her mom. He could have pressed her for deeper details but for now had chosen to stick with easy talk. The predator in him new that a good chase was all about the built-up. He found himself however quite suprised that she would ask him back, evidently he had not prepared for that. He had considered compelling her to stop asking questions, but figured it was part of the "be yourself " compulsion he had placed upon her, so he avoided the questions mostly.

When they finally returned to the hotel and entered the room she took something out of her coat pocket. "Here." she beamed at him. He opened her palm, to find a small, plain "I love New York" fridge magnet in it, causing him to give her a confused look. "Well, you were sketching while we were in Central Park... and I ... " she mumbled. So she had noticed, he thought. She had seemed so lost in her game with the dog, he thought that had escaped her notice. "What is it you thought love?" "Well, maybe you can pick your favorite sketch afterwards and place it onto your fridge so you´ll always remember... Gee, I am sorry, I suck at picking out presents. I know it´s lame. I just... wanted to thank you for this marvelous day and... I saw this magnet and thought it would look good on a fridge with a sketch of the skyline or a postcard and..." So she rants, when she´s nervous. Adorable. Something about her thoughtful gesture got to him. He quickly placed a finger onto her lips. "Love. Thank you. I like it." He pulled her close and kissed her, softly and slowly. Not like he did when he had compelled her, but so gently it was almost like a caress. They did not let go off each other´s lips until they were on the bad. "So... when can I see those sketches.?"

He looked at her. If she ever saw what he´d been drawing... "Maybe later. For now, I´d rather enjoy being horny kids on vacation." With that he went on to kissing her again, moving from her lips, down her jaw, down her neck, feeling her hands massaging his neck in the process. It would be yet another moment that would last hours between them.

When she had finally fallen asleep, he got up from bed as quietly as he could, and took out her list. Looking for the right items. Some of them he had to discard due to logistic reasons. He only had 8 more days with her, so a trip to the Taj Mahal or going surfing in some really exotic location in Asia were not doable. He loved how infinitely long her list was, he had always known that she craved life, now he had the proof. And it really accommodated his plans for her. He found some of the items to be easily includable like "Watching a Broadway musical" or "driving in a limousine". But he needed on that was important. One that was good enough to punish her with. One that mattered more than the others. After a some careful thinking, he finally found it. Have a moment without any insecurities. It was perfect. Putting the list back into his pocket, he returned to bed, pulling his prey closer to his chest. Indeed, everything was perfect.