Here is the first flashback. I hope you all enjoy it! Thank you to garglyswoof and chica-cherry-lola for your fabulous beta skills and to Melissa for the inspiration for this scene (which became the basis for the whole fic).
FFnet is being weird about alerts, so I hope you guys get the emails for this lol
Six years ago...
Caroline sipped her drink slowly as she half-listened to Elena and Bonnie's conversation, her eyes scanning the room to make sure that Vicki and Katherine weren't getting into any trouble. Drinking and gambling were never a good combination, but it was Vicki's bachelorette party and she'd asked Caroline to organize a trip to Vegas for some good old-fashioned poor decision-making.
They hadn't ended up going to Vegas since there were less tacky and much closer gambling dens in New York, but details.
She'd asked around to find one that didn't seem too seedy, and Steven, her dad's poker-enthusiast partner, suggested this one. It was a little small and had been described by him as a family-owned place with a large group of regulars. He'd told her that it would be perfect and she hadn't been disappointed when she and her friends arrived. It was clean and brightly lit, the workers professional and the alcohol top-notch. Sure, she had to keep an eye on the twins to make sure they didn't drink enough vodka to gamble away their trust funds (or in Vicki's case, her future husband's), but that's what the designated Mom Friend was for. It's not like she could drink anyway. She had a nine o'clock class on Monday and had been hoping to get some studying in during the few spare moments they had. Vicki had managed to plan her wedding so that the bachelorette party fell right before a big test in Caroline's Public Policy class. If Katherine hadn't pried her notes out of her hands she'd be studying at the bar with half an eye on her friends.
"Caroline, come play! I want to watch you kick ass!" Katherine shouted, and Caroline grimaced.
Card counting had been how Steven had attempted to 'bond' with her when her dad had first introduced them. She had been fascinated by the subtlety of it, and it was so ingrained now that it was almost impossible for her to remember not to do it. Plus, even if she could stop herself, she liked winning. A lot.
Maybe they wouldn't notice her card counting if it was only a few rounds?
She grabbed her purse and told Elena and Bonnie she was going to the blackjack table, the girls waving her off with a smile. She slid into the seat next to Katherine and watched carefully as the dealer shuffled before flipping the cards in front of them. She couldn't stop herself from adding the points every round, and she tried to be subtle...
Half an hour later she was smirking as she stacked her growing pile of chips by her elbow. Katherine and Vicki had wandered off to the Texas Hold 'Em game a few yards away, and she was weighing whether to push her luck or cash out while she had the chance. She was pulled from her dilemma by a soft, accented voice behind her.
"Hello, love."
Caroline looked up to see a blonde with a stubbled smirk leaning back against the table next to her. He had a small glass of what looked like whiskey, his eyes sharp despite his relaxed stance, and she wondered momentarily if she was in trouble.
His lean form didn't exactly scream "security" though, and she inwardly facepalmed as his eyes dragged up and down her body. She was being silly. Probably just some guy looking for a tipsy girl to go home with.
"Hi," she said slowly. Would Vicki kill her for ditching the bachelorette party or ask for all the dirty details?
Honestly it was probably a 50/50 shot.
He grinned as though he knew what she was thinking.
"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Klaus. Klaus Mikaelson."
From the expectant way he was looking at her it was clearly supposed to mean something to her, but the name wasn't ringing a bell.
"I'm Candice," she said with a smile, defaulting to her 'I'll sleep with you but let's not be Facebook friends' name, and he grinned.
"Now Caroline, let's not lie, hmm?"
"How do you know my name?" she asked, her hands going for her trenchcoat to check that her phone and wallet were still in place, and his eyes tracked the movement of her hand to her pocket before he relaxed and met her eyes again.
"My barman saw your ID when you got a drink, love."
His barman? She froze, her eyes widening. She'd definitely been busted and she knew it, and his smile was all teeth as he took in her reaction.
"Okay, you got me," she said with a winning smile putting her hands up in surrender. "So you own this place, huh?"
"Yes, and I have a proposition for you," he said.
"Not even a terrible pick-up line? Seriously?" she joked, hoping to defuse the tension.
"I was actually referring to you counting cards in my casino, though I must admit you are quite lovely."
"Counting cards?" she asked with her best innocent frown, letting her teeth worry her lower lip for a moment before continuing. "Why would I do that? Isn't it, like, heavily frowned upon or whatever?"
"Well, and now we're back to my proposition," he said lightly. "As I do with everyone who thinks they're clever enough not to get caught counting cards, I'll give you a choice. Come to the back room with me and we'll play cards. Win and you can turn in your chips for your payment. Lose... Well, let's just say you won't be visiting any casino on the eastern seaboard for the rest of your life."
She bristled. Clever enough not to get caught? Seriously?!
To be fair, she had gotten caught, but still. What an ass.
"That's harsh."
He shrugged, still looking at her expectantly.
"And if I don't want to play?"
"Well, I'd consider that a forfeit, I suppose. In other words: a loss. And you don't strike me as the type who likes to lose."
God, was her complete inability to turn down a challenge that obvious?
"What game?" she ground out.
"Guest's choice. From a few options, of course. Not including blackjack."
She knew how to play poker, but she wasn't nearly as good at it as blackjack. You could predict probability, sure, but poker was more a science of observation and reading people accurately. While she could handle that part, she was terrible at keeping a straight face. She'd also never played with someone who wasn't one of her friends or family, let alone some stranger who owned their own casino. He probably had tons of experience.
It was more than a little daunting, but Caroline was never one to back down from a challenge, and mathematically "it would take a miracle to win" was still a better chance than not trying at all.
"Texas Hold 'Em?"
"As the lady wishes. I'll have someone gather your chips and bring them to the back, shall I?"
"Okay," she said. "Let me just tell my friend."
He nodded and she could feel his eyes on her as she poked Elena on the shoulder and told her that she was going in the back room with the owner, pointing Klaus out.
"Get caught?" Elena whispered, shooting her a sympathetic look when she nodded. "We'll wait."
Going into the back room alone with a guy who supposedly owned the establishment and was looking at her like wanted to eat her screamed 'bad idea'. She wasn't sure whether it was brave or stupid, but she could never back down from a challenge. He'd thrown down the gauntlet, and she was ready to take him on.
She let him lead her to the back room with his palm pressed against the small of her back, the movement much too intimate for strangers but somehow oddly natural.
It was warm in the back room, and she shed her trenchcoat, wrapping it around the back of a chair and sitting down. She could be calm about this. Focused.
He was staring at her, his gaze piercing and uncomfortably raw, and she met his eyes, the undefinable charge between them making her skin prickle. His eyes greedily watched every movement she made as though he were cataloguing them, looking for any slip or change of expression. She watched as one of the bouncers in a suit brought over a small tub containing her chips, setting them down on the table and counting them out for her before bringing Klaus the same number.
"Deal," he ordered the bouncer, not even taking his eyes off of her face as he spoke. She held his gaze determinedly, staring him down, refusing to blink. She could hear the sound of the cards shuffling beside her but refused to look down as she saw their hands being dealt out of the corner of her eye. The casino owner seemed to be as determined to win the staring contest as she was. It got more uncomfortable as they continued, his eyes growing heated, and she knew a flush was creeping into her cheeks.
Her eyes were prickling with the effort, and she couldn't help but wonder how he was making it look so easy.
She blinked. He smirked.
Throwing her hair over her shoulder in what she hoped seemed like a natural movement, she picked up her cards, trying to look like she wasn't flustered, and only just managed to keep her face straight when she saw her hand. Two of spades and six of diamonds. In other words, not a great start.
There were two strategies here: actually play and consider her betting choices (and probably lose) or make him underestimate her and hope for good luck near the end, so she could goad him into shoving all his chips in the middle and cross her fingers.
The second seemed like a better option, honestly. She knew that it would be difficult to win the normal way, so she just had to spend the first few hands being easy to read.
"Any chance we could do a few practice rounds?" she asked with a flirty smile, batting her eyelashes in a way that made her feel a bit silly.
"No," he said quietly, his face blank. "I'll bet two."
The hands were slow to start out with, Caroline betting amounts that directly correlated to how good her hand was and not bluffing once. Their eyes kept meeting as they stole glances, and though she knew they were sizing each other up, she couldn't help but admire the hint of dimple that flashed when he caught her eye, the curve of his lips...
She stayed in by strategically folding, their piles of chips staying relatively unchanged by the careful bets, and it was clear that Klaus was getting impatient.
"You look annoyed," she said casually when she won a round, counting the tiny pile of chips and sliding them towards her.
"Bored," he said simply. "You're being rather conservative with your betting and its getting old."
"I don't want to lose," she said with a shrug.
"Where's the fun without a little risk?"
She eyed him, resisting the urge to point out that this wasn't supposed to be fun. She was literally gambling for the ability to walk into any other casino again. "It'll be fun when I win."
"Oh?" he asked, an eyebrow raised. "You think you'll win?"
"Yes," she said, trying to portray complete confidence.
Hopefully he'd take it as overconfidence. They kept playing, Caroline biting her lower lip whenever she saw his eyes wander, trying her best to distract him from the task at hand. "Does this happen often?"
"Does what happen, love?"
"Catching people counting cards in your casino."
"My regulars know better, so generally my staff only watch out for people we've never seen before," he said absently, glancing down at the board before sliding in four chips. She matched it, watching his face carefully, trying to find any kind of hint of what he might be up to. She was also searching for something to talk about. She didn't like silence and the tension between them was starting to get to her.
"Do you offer them the same deal?"
"In some form. It depends on how they react, honestly. I don't tolerate rudeness in my casino, you see."
"Right," she said slowly.
"And I admit I am swayed a bit more easily by pretty things with sharp tongues."
She bristled. "I'm not a thing."
"My apologies," he said, his eyes sparkling, and she kind of wanted to punch him. He was clearly toying with her, had probably decided that she counted cards as a cool party trick and was otherwise unremarkable, and it was deeply annoying.
Still, it could work to her advantage. If she could just convince him that he had a chance (he was a creep, so no matter how attractive he was he had a snowball's chance in hell), he might fall into her trap. Get overconfident and make dumb mistakes.
"Do you get new people in a lot then?"
"It's mostly regulars and their occasional guest. Sometimes people find us online, but we generally do our best to remain a secret gem for those 'in the know'," he said, smiling as though he'd made a joke he didn't think she understood.
"Okay," she muttered, nodding to the dealer, who obligingly began to shuffle.
"I'm more curious about you, I think," Klaus said. "Tell me about you."
"Why do you want to know?"
"Would you believe me if I said I was interested?"
She snorted. "Interested in getting into my pants, maybe."
"Perhaps another time."
"Another time?" she asked raising an eyebrow. "What makes you think I'd want to come back here? You haven't exactly been welcoming."
They both picked up their hands and Caroline bit her lip. "I'll bet eight," she said.
"That's a change, love."
"Maybe I want to take a risk."
His eyes darkened at the words, and god this was almost too easy. "A risk?" he asked as he slid in his chips, matching her bet.
"Maybe..."
They played the round and he won, but he didn't reach to draw in the chips. "Are you going to answer my question?"
"What question?"
"Tell me about yourself."
"That's not a question."
"A request, then."
She eyed him, trying to decide how to respond, and as they were dealt another hand, she nodded slowly, wary of the hungry look in Klaus's eyes. "Fine. What do you want to know?"
It ended up being surprisingly easy to carry on a conversation with him, the banter flowing naturally. She liked his laugh, the way his cheeks dimpled when she surprised a genuine smile out of him. He always seemed to have all of his attention fixed on her when she was talking, asked questions that made it clear he was really listening.
Her mother had always said there was nothing more attractive than a man who listened, and she found herself reluctantly agreeing.
She lost count of the hands they played as her pile of chips grew steadily larger. She hadn't realized how natural it felt to just be with this complete stranger until she found herself doing a tiny happy dance in her seat and reaching for the substantial pot in the middle. "I win."
"Indeed you did. For now."
"This is more fun than I thought it would be," she said brightly, and the dealer shuffled again.
"Wait," Klaus said as she reached for her new cards, and she hesitated.
"Yeah?"
"Perhaps it's time to make another little wager, hmm? Make it a bit more interesting?"
"What did you have in mind?"
"I've changed my mind about the nature of my game proposition, though to be clear, I will take a no on this particular offer much more gracefully. I do like the companions who share my bed to be willing, after all."
She scoffed. "I'm not having sex with you in exchange for not getting banned from every casino on the east coast."
His lips twitched. "Ah, you misunderstand. My intent was to offer a good old-fashioned game of... I believe it's referred to as 'strip poker', though that's a bit too crude a label for my tastes."
"Terms?" she asked before she could filter, feeling the flush creep into her cheeks at the shit-eating grin on his face at her slip.
"No bets under ten. Each round is best of five. If you win the round you can choose to take the pot or a clothing item of the loser's choice. Do we have a deal, love?"
She considered it, knowing that her original plan would be a lot easier to pull off with less clothing, but she needed a few limits.
"My bra and panties stay on. So do...whatever you're wearing."
His lips twitched. "Boxer briefs."
"Yeah. Those. Also, this isn't me saying I'll have sex with you at the end. Stripping only."
"Subject to change?" he asked, flashing her a dimpled grin.
"If you're good at convincing me," she said with a quick up-and-down glance, her tone loaded with innuendo.
"I will."
"Someone's confident."
"I want you," he said, the words plain but loaded with meaning, a reluctant heat unfurling in her lower belly, breath catching in her throat.
He'd been playful so far, but there was something that made her pause when he watched her reach for her hand. "Maddox, leave us," he said, his tone quiet, dangerous in a way that shouldn't have made her nipples pebble against her bra, her cheeks heating.
"Yes, sir," the dealer muttered, glancing at Caroline with something like...dread?
She was distracted by Klaus picking up the cards, shuffling them expertly before observing her with heated, wanting eyes.
"Five Card Draw, then?"
She nodded, oddly fascinated by the way his fingers moved when he dealt. It quickly became clear that Klaus was not fucking around anymore, his betting strategy changing enough to throw her off, and she soon found herself standing up and walking to him, turning around and lifting her hair out of the way.
"Unzip me?"
His fingertips brushed lightly against the back of her neck in a way she'd never realized could be sexy, and his knuckle dragged down the line of her spine as he pulled the zipper down. She turned to face him as she wriggled out of the tight fabric, fighting down a smug grin at the way he was looking at her, and sank back down in her chair, bending forward a bit to gather her cards. "My deal."
She would probably be eternally confused by the attraction men had to breasts, but she couldn't deny that it was helpful at the moment. And okay, maybe she liked the attention, had warmed up to the creepy casino owner just a little, but her plan remained unchanged.
She would kick his ass.
It wasn't exactly a hardship to play up her attraction to him, and by hand five of the round he didn't seem to be paying much attention to the cards anymore. His eyes were dark as he drank her in, barely glancing at his hand before he pushed a few chips into the center, and she followed his lead.
She glanced down at her hand, purposefully furrowing her brow despite having an eight, nine, ten, and jack of diamonds.
She glanced up to see Klaus watching her carefully, and she quickly blanked her face. He smiled slightly. "Ready, love?"
She nodded. "Actually, I think I might be done after this round," she said, tilting her head to the side and giving him a heated stare.
Hopefully luck was on her side.
"Fair enough. It's rather late, isn't it?"
"I'm not that tired."
He grinned, sliding two cards over to trade in, and she dealt them to him before replacing her four of spades with the top card of the deck.
She fought down a smile at the queen of diamonds staring back at her.
She bit her lip when she looked up, trying not to laugh when she noticed his eyes focus on the movement, and she wasn't sure if he was conscious of the lascivious way he licked his lips as he stared.
"All in," she said, her voice dropping in tone as she bent forward and pushed all of her chips into the center of the table. She knew he thought she was just trying to finish up the game and fuck on the bar table, and in any other situation she'd be tempted (okay, she was tempted), but she kind of wanted to see his face when she laid down her cards and walked out with her winnings.
Though she expected him to take the opportunity to admire her cleavage, his eyes were fixed on her face.
"Alright, sweetheart," he said slowly, pushing most of his money in, not bothering to count the exact amount to match her bet. He looked faintly surprised at the smirk she shot him, but his face blanked again.
"Show me," she said, nodding at his cards but keeping eye contact.
He turned over his hand. "Full house," he said with a smirk, his eyes glittering as he watched her. "And what do you have, love?"
"Straight flush," she said with her own grin, laying down her cards with what was probably a little too much drama than was appropriate, but a small smile twisted on Klaus's face despite his loss.
"Good game, love," he murmured, his hand already reaching for the hem of his shirt, and she watched the slow movement, tempted to let him tug it off, to see the skin underneath. She wondered if he was as deliciously lean and muscled as she'd been imagining. What would his skin taste like? Did he have tattoos? He looked like he would like nothing better than for her to find out, watching her with dark eyes as his fingers curled around the hem of his shirt. His eyebrow raised, head tilted to the side, and he'd just begun to raise his arms to peel the henley off when she spoke.
"Actually, I think I'll walk," she said, raking the chips over to her side of the table.
Klaus's eyebrow raised slowly as he stared at her with what looked like a cross between amusement and incredulity. "Beg pardon, love?"
"I said I'll take the money."
His eyes didn't stray from her face as he seemed to process what she'd just said. She saw a flash of anger before his head tilted to the side, eyes glittering. He almost looked impressed. Abruptly he grinned, dimples cutting into his cheeks, and he dropped the hem of his shirt. "I suppose that was our deal."
"It was."
He counted out the chips and got up to pull bills from the lockbox in the corner. She swallowed when she saw the obvious bulge in his jeans that he wasn't even attempting to hide, her mouth going dry. She cleared her throat, looking away as he walked back to the table and counted out the money for her before looking up, not sliding the bills over. "I'm afraid I can't allow you to keep your things, however. You did lose your pretty dress fair and square."
There was a challenge in his eyes, a sparkle of triumph as though he thought she'd just give in, and she grinned. "Not a problem. I'll just take my money and my jacket then."
She felt his eyes on her as she grabbed her trenchcoat from the back of the chair and put it on over her bra and boyshorts, tying the belt tightly. He was smiling when she reached out her hand, wriggling her fingers until he handed her the money before making a show of holding one up to the light to check that it was real before counting them again and putting them in her purse.
"Good game."
"Yes, it was," he agreed, his voice soft as he stared at her. An odd sense of foreboding filled her, the anticipation of doing something adrenaline-inducing and probably stupid.
Still, she tore herself away, waved and walked out with purpose, her heels clicking on the floor, hips swinging maybe a bit more than necessary, and the room fell silent when she emerged. She glanced around in confusion as a few men looked from her to the backdoor. "What?" she asked to no one in particular, and the bartender shrugged, looking a bit tense.
"We told your friends to go home. People don't usually come out from the back room after they go in."
"Takes a lot of girls back there, does he?" Caroline asked dryly, readjusting her purse on her shoulder.
The bartender looked a little shaken, but before Caroline could ask what was wrong, Klaus's voice spoke behind her as he leaned against the doorframe of the back room. "Have a safe walk home, Caroline. Do come again."
The way her name rolled off of his tongue sent an excited shiver down her spine. She couldn't tear her eyes away from him, enticed by the way danger radiated off of him in waves, from how he was standing to the way he looked at her, like he wanted to drag her to the back room again and taste every inch of her skin. She knew that seeing him again would be a bad idea, was pretty sure that the gambling den was a lot more dangerous a place than Steven had made it sound, but there was something about him that drew her, something quietly insidious beneath the pretty package. He was dark, but it was somehow alluring.
Despite every logical part of her insisting that coming back had 'POOR LIFE CHOICE' written on it with neon lights and accompanying sound effects, she found herself tempted.
"Maybe," she allowed with a nod, a small smile edging its way onto her face.
What did you think? Did you feel like their connection was believable? Did you like the banter? Was the tension okay?
There will be smut in this eventually, I promise lol
