Once again, thanks for all the reviews, alerts and favs. I can't believe this story has over 200 followers :)

The next two weeks are going to be tough at work, so the next update might take a bit longer than usual but I'll try my best to post it as quickly as possible.

Chapter 5: If you want blood…

It's criminal

There ought to be a law

Criminal

There ought to be a whole lot more

You get a nothin' for nothin'

Tell me who can you trust

We got what ya want

And you got the lust

If you want blood

You got it

"So, how bad was it yesterday? I would have asked last night but I was otherwise occupied," Caroline says as she enters the kitchen to find Elijah reading the paper and Rebekah painting her nails pink.

How domestic.

Elijah slides a cup of coffee towards her and she takes a sip as she sits down next to him, noting without surprise that it's black with just a hint of sugar, the way she likes it now. Somebody's done their homework.

"He killed about a dozen people. Tore them apart would be a more accurate way to describe it. I'm not even sure I managed to hide all the… parts."

"Is this going to be a problem?"

"I don't think so."

"Really?"

"The full moon was last night. That's probably why he turned in the first place. Though he doesn't have to, I'm sure he feels the pull. It means that there were other werewolves running free throughout the night, and even though Klaus turned during the day, given the state of the bodies, their time of death will be hard to determine, provided they are even found. Marcel will just think that one of the packs in the bayou went a little crazy."

Caroline nods, deep in contemplation. Before she can ask any more questions, Rebekah brings a hand close to her mouth to blow cool air on her nails and idly notes, "I'm surprised you can even walk today."

Given his expression, Caroline is pretty sure that Elijah is feeling the strong urge to facepalm at his sister's brashness. Wouldn't that be a sight to behold?

Smirking into her cup, Caroline confesses, "It's a recent development."

It really is. She woke up about three hours ago, groaned and went back to sleep. When she opened her eyes the second time, the smell of coffee was the only thing that convinced her to move.

"Nik is still in his room. I'd say you gave as good as you got."

"That I did." Downing the rest of her coffee in one long gulp, she stands up. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go out. Though your brother's blood is definitely fulfilling," as expected, this brings identical winces to their faces, "I still need human blood and I haven't had any in a while."

Before she can leave the kitchen, Elijah motions towards the fridge.

"There are blood bags in there."

She scrunches up her nose in disgust. Noticing this, Rebekah gives her what could easily be mistaken as a sympathetic look.

"We've brought enough attention to ourselves lately. We need to lay low for a while. You're going to have to go back to a Caroline Forbes approved diet."

"Yeah… I don't think so."

"It's either that or compulsion."

Sighing, Caroline shakes her head, but resigns herself to her fate. Though Elijah doesn't seem to approve of his sister's methods, she knows he agrees with her on the principle of the matter, and it's not like she can outrun two originals intent on getting her to behave. Blood bags it is. For now. With a little luck, once Klaus wakes up, he'll be in the mood to go out and she'll be able to follow him. She knows his siblings can't stop him, they would have done so ages ago if they could, and she intends to take full advantage of it.

As she sips from the bag, barely containing her disgusted coughs, she focuses her hearing on the hybrid's room. She's pretty sure his even breaths and total lack of movements mean that he is still sleeping, but she has to be sure.

"Is your brother still asleep?" Both Rebekah and Elijah concentrate for about three seconds before they nod. "Okay, good. Because we need to discuss strategy. I would gladly just keep trying to fuck emotions back into him, but I don't think that's the way to go."

While Elijah's mouth twitches downwards at her crudeness, Rebekah lifts an inquisitive eyebrow.

"What did you have in mind?"

"Elijah." At the sound of his name, he motions for her to continue. "I'm gonna need you to hit on me."

"I beg your pardon?" he asks, clearly scandalized, as Rebekah snickers next to him.

Yep, pretty much the reactions she was expecting.

"At first I was gonna use Marcel, but I don't think that's an option now that I know all this stuff about him. You're my next best choice. Doesn't that make you feel special?"

"You want to make Nik jealous," Rebekah infers.

"More or less."

"No offense, but he'd have to actually care about you for that to work."

Caroline sticks her tongue out at her before replying.

"I know that. Hence the 'more or less'. It's not really jealousy I want to trigger, it's his possessiveness."

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"Not exactly," Elijah says, finally seeing where she is going with this. "Jealousy is born from emotions. Possessiveness is ingrained in a werewolf's genes. It's instinctual."

"So, how does that help us if it's not really an emotion?"

"It's as close as we're gonna get for now. And it could lead to anger, which is as good a place to start from as any," Caroline explains.

Before Rebekah can object, Elijah holds up a hand.

"She's right. You heard him last night. He might not see her as his mate, but he did admit to claiming her, if only in a sexual way. It may have been for one night, nothing more, but it could still work in our favor."

"Are you guys ever not going to listen in on me and your brother while we're having sex?"

"Well, to be fair, you make not listening quite the challenge. I thought the walls were going to crumble. And by the way, I am burning that couch."

Caroline rolls her eyes at the other blonde, but before this can turn into an argument, Elijah steers the conversation back to the matter at hand.

"Why do you think I should court you? Why don't you 'hit on' me?" he asks, making his disdain for the expression clear.

"Too obvious. Klaus told me to stop trying to get him to feel again. I don't want him to know I put you up to this, I have a feeling I'd regret it. If you're the one doing the 'courting'," she rolls her eyes at him, "it could work. Even if he figures out that you're only trying to get in my pants in order to piss him off, he won't do anything to you. Or, you know, just a little daggering. Nothing you can't survive. And if it does get to that point, we'll know he is feeling something. I'd say it's worth the risk."

"Of course you would," Rebekah sneers before Elijah rests a soothing hand on her forearm, their eyes meeting in understanding.

Watching the silent exchange, Caroline lifts an eyebrow. It's clear that Elijah is prepared to do whatever it takes, but Rebekah doesn't seem nearly as willing as he is. Dealing with this family is more complicated than Caroline thought. So much history she doesn't know about.

"What am I missing?"

Sighing, Elijah shakes his head.

"Shortly after our arrival in New Orleans, Niklaus daggered me and handed me over to Marcel as a sign of good faith. I'm afraid Rebekah still hasn't forgiven him."

"And you have?"

All she gets in answer is a casual shrug, and that's enough. He's spent a thousand years standing by his brother's side despite everything that came between them. This can't be the first time that people have told him it's not worth it. He must be tired of having to justify his faith in him. Loyalty. Now that's something Caroline Forbes, even in her emotionless state, can understand. Not support, no, it's foolish, useless and dangerous. But she gets it.

"So, I'm guessing you're in?" she asks Elijah.

"Yes. But we will need to be careful. Subtle. If we want this to work, Niklaus will have to believe that I am genuinely interested in you."

"You're not?" she asks with mock offense and he shakes his head at her in exasperation. Well, as much exasperation as Elijah Mikaelson is capable of showing, which isn't that much. "Alright, so how do you want to do this?"

She has barely asked the question when both Elijah and Rebekah's heads snap up, and Caroline instantly understands what it means. 'He's awake?' she mouths just to be sure, but she doesn't have to wait for their answer as her own ears pick up on the sounds of Klaus moving about in his room. Oh well, guess they'll have to improvise. Throwing a look at Elijah, she lowers her top down a few inches, exposing more cleavage than would be deemed decent in most circles, and Rebekah rolls her eyes at her even as she gives her a thumbs-up.

They all stay silent even as the water starts running upstairs, indicating that Klaus is in the shower and probably wouldn't be able to hear them anyway. If there's one thing she's learned from dealing with him both as an enemy and as an ally, it's that you can never be too careful and that underestimating him never leads to good things.

When she hears Klaus' footsteps descending the stairs, she goes to the fridge, making sure to bend over low as she takes another blood bag out. When she turns around, Klaus is in the kitchen next to his sister, who is barely containing the urge to laugh out loud at both men's obvious ogling. Giving occasions like this to Elijah is going to be rather fun until he decides he can realistically make a move, she thinks as she brings the blood bag to her lips and starts drinking, letting her vampire features emerge and never taking her eyes off of Klaus. He raises his eyebrows at her.

"Blood bag?"

She shrugs and finishes her meal before answering.

"Your brother and sister have me under house arrest."

"They do?"

"They seem to think I would stir up trouble if I went out."

"How prejudiced of them."

"I know, right?"

Klaus turns to Elijah.

"And this wouldn't have anything to do with our conversation about Marcel last night, would it?"

Caroline watches with interest as the older original's smile turns slightly forced and the pieces fall into place. Oh. They're not just keeping her here to keep her under control. They're protecting her. Of course they heard her tell Klaus that she thinks Marcel is having her followed. Throwing the now empty blood bag down on the table, she crosses her arms in front of her as she waits for Elijah to answer his brother's accusation. When he gives a single, reluctant nod, Caroline huffs.

"Okay, I was prepared to stay here if this had anything to do with keeping the peace, but I don't need your protection. I can handle Marcel."

"Can you?" Elijah asks softly. "You don't know what he's capable of."

"And he has no idea what I'm capable of. Don't worry about me, I've taken care of it."

While Rebekah rolls her eyes at that, clearly thinking she's just being arrogant, Elijah looks intrigued and Klaus looks like he believes her, no questions asked. Interesting. Either his trust in her scheming abilities is way stronger than she thought, or he knows something she'd rather he didn't. Is it possible that he's figured it out? Oh well. It only matters if he intends on interfering, and she doesn't think that's the case.

Before any of them has a chance to question her further, Caroline states, "I'll be going out now. Fun, non-buzzkill people are allowed to come. Uptight, boring people are welcome to stay here and iron their suits or whatever it is they do when they're not busy reading the business section of the paper."

With that, she walks away, unsurprised when she hears both Klaus and Rebekah's footsteps behind her.

"I think you just broke my brother's heart, love," Klaus notes just as Rebekah beams at her with a "That was bloody brilliant."

Only she can understand the full extent of Rebekah's praise and she gives her a curt nod, letting her know that yes, provoking Elijah was part of the plan they talked about while Klaus was sleeping. He might be the classiest vampire in history, but he's still a guy, and playing hard-to-get never fails. It will make his interest in her more believable in his brother's eyes. She doesn't have to wonder if the dark-haired original is smart enough to have picked up on that and to go along with it the next time they see each other, she knows he is. Though being excluded from a thousand years of family history doesn't make her mission easy, working with people as perceptive as they are makes up for it.

"So, where are we going?" Rebekah asks once they're outside.

"I don't know, but I want to dance," Caroline says, knowing it's the next best thing to hunting, since apparently she's not allowed to do that.

It's 11 in the morning, but this is New Orleans after all. Does the party ever end?

"I know just the place."

"A karaoke bar, really?" Caroline asks skeptically as she walks through the door Klaus is holding for her and his sister.

The décor is rather dark, but the place is packed even that early in the day, the three barmen clearly swamped as they try to keep up with dozens of orders. After a quick look around, Caroline turns back to her two companions and notices Rebekah's sour mood. Weird. The original sister was clearly enthused at the prospect of having a bit of fun before Klaus led them here.

"One of Marcel's favorite places," the blonde explains as Klaus compels his way to the bar and comes back with three shots, handing one to each of them.

Caroline lifts an eyebrow at Rebekah, silently asking her to confirm the information she just gave her, and the original nods. The young vampire watches Klaus as he downs his shot in one quick swallow, an 'I dare you' look on his face.

"Are you testing me, Mikaelson?"

It's the only reason why he would have brought her here, where they have every chance of running into the very man she just assured them she can handle.

"No," he denies. "I'm testing him. Don't you want to know why he hasn't killed you yet?"

"That would be because someone so beautiful deserves a chance to make amends," Marcel says from behind her, and Caroline sees Rebekah shoot Klaus a dirty look.

Clearly, he knew that his former friend was right here. Turning around, Caroline appraises him slowly. Dark clothes, check. Winning smile, check. Aura of danger, check. She has no trouble believing everything Rebekah and Elijah have told her about him. He radiates power. Though he's not as subtle about it as the originals, who only look that intimidating when they see fit, which can only mean that he is not nearly as powerful as they are. You don't put that much effort into looking threatening if you're as sure of yourself as he's pretending to be. Still, she's not going to underestimate him.

"I have nothing to make amends for," Caroline replies calmly. "And I came here to dance, not to look for trouble, so why don't you go up there and give us something move-worthy? I hear you're quite the singer."

His indecision lasts less than a heartbeat, but it's enough for Caroline, Rebekah and Klaus to see it. However, it's not like he can do anything against her with two originals watching his every move, especially since he doesn't know that Klaus doesn't give a damn what happens to her. His smile widens.

"As the lady wishes."

He jumps on the stage, pushing the guy that was singing a very off-key version of Bon Jovi's You give love a bad name – Stefan would have snapped his neck for this abomination – out of the way, and he motions for the tech guy to play another song. Rebekah chuckles as the first notes of Mustang Sally can be heard over the whistles and cheers from the crowd and she looks at Caroline.

"Clichéd, but definitely move-worthy."

The younger vampire nods as her body starts to follow the beat, smirking when Klaus' hands automatically find her hips and pull her closer from behind, but not quite close enough to touch. She lets him lead as he moves them in time with the music, throwing a look at Rebekah who just smiles at her before a guy in his late twenties steps in between them and offers her his hand. The original sister takes it and lets him wrap his arm around her, and Caroline brings her attention back to her dance with Klaus. She feels him lean down, warm breath tickling her neck as he brings his lips close to her ear.

"Want to find a human to try that aphrodisiac theory with?"

"Tempting. But I can't kill anyone. Your siblings would compel me."

"Who says we'd have to kill her?"

"Her?" she teases, and he pulls her closer so that they're now moving as one, her breath catching in her throat at the contact.

"It can be a he," he concedes. "But I have to admit the idea of watching you feed on a beautiful woman is much more appealing to me."

"Appealing, is it?" she asks as she boldly pushes back against him to feel exactly how appealing the prospect is to him.

"Yes," he hisses against her neck before sucking her earlobe into his mouth, making her moan in delight. When he knows he has her attention, he stops and waits for her to look at him and follow his gaze to the pretty brunette he's now watching. "What about her?"

Instead of answering, Caroline grabs his hand and pulls him after her as she walks over to the dancing woman, stopping once she's in front of her. She catches her gaze, letting the compulsion take over as Klaus sneaks up behind their victim.

"Don't scream. Don't struggle."

The brunette nods mindlessly and Klaus brings a hand up to brush her hair out of the way on one side of her neck, motioning for Caroline to go ahead.

"Ladies first."

Without further ado, Caroline lets her fangs drop and sinks them into the girl's flesh, wrapping one arm around her waist to keep her in place and feeling Klaus' arm rest against hers and his hand sneak under her top where it meets her jean. He presses himself against the girl's back and Caroline's fingers practically tremble with the urge to touch him as he comes into contact with the back of her hand that's resting against the brunette lower's back. Giving her a quick, feral smile, he bites the girl on the other side of her neck, and Caroline feels a surge of energy at the woman's small whimper of pain. Klaus' fingers tighten on her hip as they both drink slowly, savoring the moment until they can hear her heartbeat getting weaker. With regret, Caroline tears herself away, her eyes transfixed on Klaus as he takes one last sip before following her lead. He quickly compels the woman to forget about this, and then he turns to Caroline, his fangs retracting, his eyes turning back to their usual blue.

They just stand there for a few seconds, staring at each other, processing the nearly unbearable desire, before they abruptly lunge at each other, tongues lapping at remaining drops of blood around mouths and chins, hands sneaking under clothing and clawing at each other's back, hips pushing into each other, growls mixing with labored breathing.

"Alright, you two, that's enough, take it outside."

Marcel's voice doesn't break through their frenzied embrace, but his hand on Caroline's shoulder does. Swirling around to snarl at him, she's ready to jump and attack him for interrupting them and daring to touch her, but before she has a chance to, Rebekah is in front of her and Caroline has to stop, knowing that there's nothing she can do against the original vampire. Turning back towards Klaus, who hasn't stopped kissing her neck throughout this ordeal, she harshly pushes him back so that he's near the door. Getting her intention, he opens it. Once they're both outside, she slams him against the nearest wall and rips his shirt open, her mouth instantly finding his skin once he's half naked. She licks and nibbles and sucks and kisses while her hands work on his belt and buttons. When her fingers brush against him over the denim, he inhales sharply and she smirks up at him as she yanks his pants down along with his underwear. She would love to tease him, but since she's just as desperate as she is, she decides not to. Making quick work of her own pants and panties, she hooks one leg around his waist and guides him as he bends his knees to adjust to the height difference. They both pause once he's fully inside of her, assessing each other's mood in a single look. Correctly reading hers, he sets a slow pace as her hands explore his smooth stomach and chest, nails raking against his skin. He hisses and steals a heated kiss before pulling away, his thrusts still slow and deep.

"You do know we're out in the open, right?"

"Don't care."

"Good girl."

"A good girl would care," she counters.

"True."

They stay quiet after that, just enjoying the natural sounds of their bodies, the faint wet noise every time he slides out of her, the loud breaths and uncontrollable moans, the scratching of her nails, the steady, strong heartbeats, the fresh blood rushing through their veins.

When a startled gasp distracts them, Klaus smirks at her before pausing his movements, letting his hybrid features take over before growling at the intruder, a thirty-something insignificant human who hurriedly turns away and starts running for his life. Klaus rolls his eyes after him and brings his attention back to Caroline.

"Like I don't have anything better to do right now than go after him. Idiot."

"You better not," she warns as she purposely clenches around him, urging him to resume his thrusts.

He obliges, not before muttering a "Wouldn't dream of it" and bringing a hand up to grab a handful of her hair at the base of her neck to forcefully tilt her head back. "I'll heal you," he promises before burying his face in the curve of her neck and piercing the flesh with his fangs.

She has no choice but to believe him, and the jolt of adrenaline that courses throughout her body at the thought that he could be lying only adds to her arousal, making her jerk her hips harder against him. All it takes is the combined feeling of his lips sucking on her skin and his fingers brushing a taut nipple through the fabric of her shirt and bra and she comes hard, clinging to him as he keeps drinking and moving inside of her.

Only when she feels her orgasm dying down does he pull away, cocking his head to the side to allow her access to his neck. She ignores it, pulling him down for a kiss instead and biting down hard on his bottom lip. She sucks the small wound into her mouth, drinking avidly as his blood sips agonizingly slow out of him, drop after drop after drop. All too quickly, the cut knits itself back together and she breaks the kiss, locking her eyes with his as she licks her lip in a deliberately sensual motion, letting a low moan express her wordless appreciation.

"Bloody hell," he murmurs somewhat incoherently as he loses himself in her, his release coming quick and hard as she holds his gaze.

He keeps her against him until he's completely spent. Knowing what is going to happen if they stay in this position any longer, she ends up pulling away from him, taking a step back and putting her clothes back on while he gives up on trying to cover his upper body with his ruined Henley and pulls his pants back up.

"Well, that was interesting."

"Have you always had that penchant for understatement?" he asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Wouldn't want to inflate your ego."

"I won't inflate yours, then," he replies with a smirk before he walks away from her, leaving her to wonder what he would have said if she had kept her mouth shut.

Shaking her head, she lets him wander off and she heads back to the bar to find Rebekah. She hasn't danced nearly enough yet and Marcel really is a good singer.

TBC…