A/N: Before u guys say anything let me just say I KNOW... I know I'm the worst leaving u hanging for more than a week without posting. Believe me, I tried, but between life and a major case of the old Writer's Block it was just beyond me. Still, I deserve the egg throwing :( Here's Chapter 7, hope u like it...
CHAPTER VII. Allure of Light
It was pure animal desire clouding his senses. His breathing quickened and somewhere in the back of his mind he felt the tip of his fangs grazing over his tongue. Caroline thought she saw a bright yellow glimpse in the eyes of the hybrid, but she didn't have time to think much about it because, next thing she knew, Klaus was inches away from her face.
She gasped and tried to put some distance between them, losing her balance on the wet edge of the pool. She grabbed Klaus by the arms instinctively but it was too late. She fell back, gripping his arms tighter and dragging him with her into the pool.
They went in with a loud splash and sunk heavily to the bottom. The water was filling her lungs, and she let go of Klaus to push herself up to the surface. She hadn't gone very far up when she felt Klaus' strong arm fasten around her waist propelling her upward. Her head broke out of the water and she coughed, struggling to bring the air back in. Klaus pinned her against the edge and Caroline winced as her shoulders hit the tiled wall.
"What the…" Her breath was caught mid-sentence. Klaus' eyes were a sinister yellow. Wolf eyes. Dark veins were crawling around them.
He was getting closer to her, his fingers digging into her hips. She placed a hand defensively in his chest nudging him back but he wouldn't budge. It was like he was in a trance.
All Klaus could see were Caroline's blue eyes and thin mouth pulling him in. It was simple: He wanted her, so he would take her. Klaus was so close she could feel his breath on her chin. Her hand was still on his chest and it was getting trapped between their bodies. He was aiming for her mouth and she had no room to move. His eyes were vivid yellow flames burning into her.
She got desperate and gathered all the water she could with her free arm, splashing it hard against his face. "Snap out of it, Klaus!"
Klaus turned away and let go of her to run a hand over his face, pulling his damp hair back. When he looked at her again, his eyes were the usual blue gems.
He swirled to the side and launched a wave of water at Caroline. She squealed trying to cover her face with her hands and turned back to yell at Klaus, only to find him grinning. A full-on dimpled grin.
"You freak!" She shoved some water at him and he chuckled. Caroline tried to keep a straight angry face but it was pointless. His smile was contagious and she started chuckling too. Klaus came close her again, placing his hands back on her hips below the water, and the chuckles became softer until they stopped. She stared into his eyes. Kiss me… The thought formed in her mind without warning. Kiss me Klaus, do it…
"Up you go, love," he said, prompting Caroline up to the ledge. She sat there disappointed while Klaus got himself out to sit beside her, their feet dangling in the water. Joke's on you Caroline, she thought. The vampire composed herself putting her walls back up.
"What was that about?" she asked, hiding her moment of weakness.
He stared off into the water, the stars waving on the surface. "I guess there's a part of me that knows what I want better than I do," he said.
Tell me about it, Caroline thought. There was a part of her currently screaming to go back into the pool and get that kiss!
"Never mind about that, love. Come on, let's get you dry," he said, getting up and offering Caroline a hand. She took it and stood up with his help. Klaus disappeared and was back in a second handing a towel to Caroline. He pulled his shirt over his head throwing it on the floor and kicked his shoes off. He went over by the sliding doors to push a small screen on the wall.
"Samuels," he said calling a member of his staff through the intercom.
"Yes, sir." Samuels' voice resounded in the crystal room.
"Get me a change of clothes to the pool…" Klaus looked back at Caroline, who was wrapping the towel around her hips. "And some hot chocolate, too."
The guy came in shortly after that carrying a tray with two steaming mugs and a bag of Klaus' things. He picked up the wet shirt and shoes from the floor and left the crystal room sliding the doors closed. He planned on telling everyone to stay clear of that area until the two lovebirds left.
Klaus gestured Caroline to come sit in one of the lounge chairs and offered her a mug from the tray. The chocolate smelled delicious and when she took a sip she confirmed it also tasted great. Actually, it was just the way she liked it, not too thick or too watery.
"Thank you," she said holding the mug with both hands to get warm.
"Hmm… I'm sorry, Caroline. I didn't mean to scare you like that."
She hummed in response. She hadn't been so much afraid as she was confused by her own reaction. Klaus unceremoniously took off his socks… and his jeans, stripping down to dark gray boxers. Caroline breathed in sharply, careful not to let Klaus see what he was doing to her. She eyed him cautiously sipping the hot chocolate, not nearly as hot as her face was. Damn you Cameron!
The hybrid pulled up a pair of dry jeans, buttoning and zipping them up..
"Klaus, what happened to you?"
Klaus took an olive green Henley from the bag and went to sit in the lounger next to hers, bringing the shirt with him in his hand.
"What do you mean?"
"Your eyes… You were turning."
"I am a werewolf, Caroline. I have instincts… And you flare them up, especially when you look like that."
Caroline smiled behind the mug. Maybe it was all that talk about Klaus being more than meets the day, or maybe it was just her own permanent attraction for him, perhaps both, but Caroline felt very persuaded to give in to her desires. Still, she was not about to become Klaus' girl toy after all this time pushing him away. If she was going to do this then it had to be real, she had to see if there was really something in Klaus worth loving.
"What is it that you want from me Klaus? And don't give me the whole 'I fancy you' speech because that's getting old."
Klaus' mouth curved into a sexy smile and he looked down at his hands.
"I want to know that someone so full of light, so beautiful like you can find it in her heart to see me for more than what I've become."
Caroline took his words in, savoring them.
"You could prove that theory on anyone. Why me?"
He looked up at her. "I can't get you out of my mind, Caroline. Your words, your voice, your eyes! They've haunted me all these years and I can't do anything about it."
She suddenly remembered something. "Those are my eyes, aren't they? In the sketchpad, in the painting upstairs… You've been drawing me."
Klaus smiled a little. He'd already started putting his cards on the table, so he might as well deal the whole hand. "You saw that."
She drank some more chocolate looking at him and thought about a small piece of parchment rolled up inside an old music box next to her bed. She put the mug aside and started pressing her hair delicately with the towel.
"Do you remember that drawing you gave me?" Klaus frowned. "The one with the horse in it. You sent it to me after that ball Esther threw."
Klaus let out a humourless chuckle. "'Thank you for your honesty'", he quoted. "Of course I remember, Caroline."
"I still have it… in my room." Klaus' eyebrows rose. "I don't think I ever told you this…" She knew she hadn't. "…but you're very talented Klaus."
She said that as casually as she could, but Klaus still relished in her confessions. I should thank Stefan for this, he thought, knowing that he wouldn't do it.
Caroline got up gathering all her hair up and twisting it into a ballerina bun. Klaus jumped up and grabbed her wrist to stop her.
"What?" she looked at him worried.
"Don't do that," he brought his hand and Caroline's back down so her hair cascaded down her back and over her shoulder. "I've wanted to see it like this since the first day you came to the house in Paris, so don't pull it up just yet."
"My hair?" She let out a chuckle. "Klaus, you scared me! I thought it was something serious."
"I am serious, Caroline." He let go of her wrist to take a thin wet curl between his fingers. "Do you know you always smell like strawberries, love?"
She looked at him surprised.
Klaus moved an inch closer and locked his gaze with hers. "I notice everything about you, Caroline. I notice how different you are now and how you light up around Bonnie and Stefan. I notice how much you care about them. I notice how cold you are with me and every single sneer you throw my way. And I also notice the way you are looking at me right now, Caroline…"
She was locked in his gaze, without saying a word. He dropped the strand of Caroline's hair and placed his hand in the back of her head, pulling her forward to meet his lips. He kissed her softly, first pressing his mouth against hers, then pulling back just a little, teasing her lips with his, waiting for her response. Caroline felt her stomach twist and turn inside her as soon as Klaus' lips touched hers. When she couldn't feel him anymore she leaned in without thinking to meet the heat of his mouth again.
Klaus brought his other hand up to hold her face, kissing her harder, savoring each of her lips in turn. Caroline placed her hands lightly on his bare chest, feeling his skin beneath her fingers. She tilted her head in sync with Klaus' motion and her hands slid slowly up until her arms rested on his shoulders, crossing her wrists behind his neck. The taste of his mouth was heaven. His hands went down her back, grazing over the strings of her top, and ended up resting at the small of her back. She felt him pull back so she opened her eyes and found him staring into her. She loved his eyes, she just didn't know it yet.
"I love you, Caroline… always and forever."
She stared at him, speechless. He leaned in to kiss her again. Caroline brought her hands back down to his chest and blocked him.
"Wait", she said.
Klaus let out a sigh and slid his hands from her back to the side of her hips. She shivered a little as his fingers brushed her skin along the way. "Fine, have it your way for now, love. But know that once you're mine I will never take no for an answer."
Caroline scoffed, trying to ignore his hands pressing on her hips. Klaus drew soft circles with his thumbs on her skin. She wouldn't take it much longer…
"Ok, hands off now!" She pushed herself off his chest, keeping her arms stretched out between them as a safety measure.
Klaus grinned wider and he chuckled at her serious face. He raised both hands innocently. "Whatever you say, my lady."
She eyed him suspiciously and slowly brought her arms down.
"You're lovely when you're angry love." Caroline blinked and he was gone. Then she felt his breath behind her ear. "But you're even lovelier when you laugh." She frowned before his hands found the sides of her stomach and started tickling her without mercy.
Caroline squealed. She bent over, trying to escape Klaus' strong arms wrapped around her. "Klaus, stop! Please," she said between giggles.
She managed to break free from his grip and turn around but he was already on the other side of the pool with a huge smile on his face.
"Oh, really? That's what we're doing now."
He raised his eyebrows in a childish pout, holding his hands behind his back.
"Forget it, I'm getting dressed." She started walking over to the dressing rooms and Klaus let out a sigh.
"Caroline," he called after her in a pleading tone. "Come on, love, don't be like this." He caught up to her and grabbed her wrist.
Caroline turned and used the side of her body to pin him against the nearest non-glass wall. She looked at him with a smirk.
"That's cheating, Caroline." Klaus got loose easily and grabbed both of Caroline's wrists, spinning her around and trapping her between him and the wall. They looked at each other, panting.
"I knew you could still laugh," he said, catching his breath.
Caroline rolled her eyes. "I really should get dressed, Klaus, it's late." He didn't move. "Stefan and Rebekah will be back soon, do you really want to explain this to them?"
"Hmm..." Klaus stepped back and let go of her wrists. "Go, I'll walk you to your room."
They went up the stairs in silence. Klaus had offered her his arm and this time she'd taken it, so they walked like that until they reached her door. Caroline untangled her arm from his and put a hand on the doorknob.
"Good night, Caroline." He leaned over and planted a kiss on her cheek.
"Night, Klaus," she said giving the hybrid a side glance.
She turned the knob and went in. Klaus looked down at his feet and sighed. He set off to his room feeling satisfied; the werewolf and the human side of him were both pretty content. Now he just needed to find some warm blood to make his vampire-self happy.
Caroline had a lot of trouble falling asleep. Even after she changed into her nightgown and crawled into bed, all she could do was stare at the night sky. She could still feel him on her lips, feel the ghost of his hands trailing down her back. Klaus was crafty, and he had wicked skills, but he was also tender. He was a walking contradiction, a vampire and a werewolf, soft lips and strong hands.
She had always thought that giving in to Klaus would make her feel guilty and tainted. Instead she felt relieved and at peace with herself. Now all she had to do was figure out where to take this.
Klaus said he loved her… But I don't love him, I can´t! Klaus was a thousand-year-old ruthless murderer who did the occasional act of mercy for her but was otherwise temperamental and unpredictable. She knew he had a strong sense of family but even that was odd. He'd kept most of his siblings in a coffin for centuries and he'd killed his mother! Loving Klaus Mikaelson was complicated, to say the least.
Maybe I should just call Cameron, see what she thinks. But Caroline already knew was she was going to say… "Why are you sleeping alone, silly?" Yes, real helpful. She was beyond having meaningless sex with Klaus at this point. If the way she felt when he kissed her was any indication, she knew sleeping with him would be anything but meaningless. Her mind eventually got tired of thinking and she drifted off.
Caroline woke up to a room flooded by sunlight. It was like waking up in the middle of a field, birds singing on a tree outside her window and everything. There was a knock on the door and she sat up, just in time to see a yellow note slide across the floor. She went to pick it up and recognized the familiar handwriting.
Come meet us for breakfast. I have a surprise for you. -K-
She smiled and walked over to the nightstand, sticking the note on a lamp. She took a quick shower and got dressed, warm tights and a loose knitted sweater with thick-heeled booties. Standing in front of the mirror, she decided to let her hair down in loose curls that reached her waist.
Klaus and the others were already seated when she walked into the room. He gestured her to take the seat next to him, across from Stefan and Rebekah. The younger Salvatore caught the looked they exchanged and smirked.
Rebekah took a bun from a basket on the table. "Did you prune in the pool after we left, Caroline?"
"No... I only took one more dip before going to bed."
Klaus smiled down at his plate.
"Want to hit it again later today?" she asked, trying to act like she didn't care about the answer.
"I'm taking Caroline out today, Rebekah," Klaus warned.
Caroline's head snapped at him and they shared an entire conversation with their eyes.
"But why?" Rebekah whined. "You can have her when you go back to Paris, Nik, I'm bored!"
"Stefan..." Klaus turned to his mate for help.
Stefan shook his head. "Don't look at me, this is your problem."
"Actually, it is my problem." Caroline stepped in. "Klaus and I have to look at some things in town before we go back." She tried to ignore Klaus' 'I won' face.
Rebekah's chin went up. "Fine, what do I care?" She got up from the table and looked back at Stefan when he didn't follow. "Stefan!"
He let out a sigh. "Excuse me," he said with a smirk, and went out after Rebekah, leaving Klaus and Caroline alone at the table.
The air thickened instantly, and Caroline distracted herself with her food, taking delicate bites and sips.
"So we have things to look at."
"Wipe that smug off your face Klaus, I just don't feel like spending time with Rebekah." That was mostly a lie.
"Well, her loss is my gain. I have something to show you."
"So I read." She finished her meal and pressed a napkin on her mouth.
Klaus grinned. "Let's go." He got up, waiting for Caroline to do the same, and followed after her. He stopped her under the threshold placing his hands on her waist from behind, he got close to her ear and felt Caroline's sharp intake of breath. "Thank you for thinking of me," he said.
Caroline frowned and turned her face towards him. He brought one hand up and ran his fingers down between her curls.
"It's a lovely morning present, seeing you like this." He kissed her cheek softly and walked pass her towards the front door. Caroline stood there feeling her knees weak. She cleared her throat before following after him.
Klaus had pulled the car up in the middle of downtown New Orleans, and now they were walking arm in arm through a boulevard filled with painters and street performers. Caroline took it all in, listening to Klaus' comments on the history of the town and the names of the streets and buildings. If this was the town he'd built, then it was a reflection of who he was and Caroline liked the city, she liked it very much.
They stopped in front of a bar and Klaus led Caroline in. It was a nice little place with a platform for karaoke nights and a glistening black piano on it. The girl who showed them to their table greeted Klaus with reverence and eyed Caroline up and down.
"So what are we doing here, Klaus?" asked Caroline, rocking the ice cubes in her glass.
"This bar belongs to some witches who owe me a favor. And there…" Klaus pointed at the piano behind her, "… is your surprise."
"What?"
"I asked them to keep the bar empty for us so I could take you up on your offer of playing for me."
She looked around and confirmed the bar was in fact empty except for them, the girl behind the bar and a few waitresses. "I never said I'd play for you, I said 'maybe... one day'."
"Well, today is one day, love," Caroline looked hesitant. "You wouldn't make me beg, would you?"
She went over it a few seconds. "Fine, ok, I'll play. One piece, Klaus, and that's it."
"One piece," he granted and brought her to seat in front of the piano.
She brushed her hands over the keys trying them out and looking for a song to play for Klaus. She finally decided on Infancia, one of the first pieces she ever mastered and the one that stuck closest to her heart. It was composed by Gerry Weil, an Austrian-Venezuelan performer, and its notes flowed up and down evoking a time of innocence and simpler things for Caroline. She started playing and Klaus leaned on the piano, watching her close her eyes and drift into the music. Her fingers moved smoothly over the black and white. She played beautifully, more so than Klaus expected. When she stroked the final chords, she looked up at him and mirrored his smile. He sat down next to her on the piano bench.
"You are magnificent, Caroline."
She puffed to take the edge off his words and looked at him from behind her lashes. "Well, thank you Klaus." She smiled.
He laced his fingers in her hair and leaned in to kiss her. Caroline let him, feeling his expert lips pressing against hers. She even moved with him, tasting the inside of his upper lip with the tip of her tongue. He groaned.
"See, you tell me to wait but then you go and do that and make it hard for me, love."
Caroline smirked gazing into his eyes. "Then maybe we're moving forward."
"Hmm… Maybe we are," and he went back to her lips, bringing Caroline one step closer to complete and utter surrender.
"So how did you do it? Running away and hiding for all those years. I can't imagine a life like that."
Caroline and Klaus were pacing up the sidewalk side by side. They'd been walking around like that all day, talking and laughing, Caroline occasionally giving him a hard look over some egotistic comment he made. They stopped for a bite of actual food at some point, and then Caroline watched him feed off some tourist in an alley. She didn't approve completely, but Klaus hated blood bags and he did try to be gentle and let the girl go afterwards. Now they were on the topic of the Mikael years.
"It was challenging," Klaus answered. His words hung heavily on him. "We had to look constantly over our shoulders. Rebekah and the others… they didn't see the seriousness of the matter sometimes, but that was just because they never experienced Mikael hatred like I did. I had to dagger them to keep them safe. I figured we'd have time to be a family once I dealt with Mikael… Unfortunately… that didn't turn out as I expected."
Caroline knew the part she'd played in that. She and her friends had robbed Klaus of half his siblings. He started it by going into their lives uninvited, but he hadn't left the battle unharmed.
"What about your mother?" she asked, "why carry her around?"
Darkness set over his features. "Esther was a reminder of what was wrong with me, what Mikael always accused me of... I was impulsive… a werewolf. That got my brother Henrik killed and it made me rip my mother's heart out in a fit of rage… I had to break the curse and get that side of me back… to prove that I could control it, that being a hybrid would be my strength and not my weakness like they thought."
Caroline remembered a pair of yellow eyes devouring her and the sting of his fangs on her neck a long time ago. "I'd say you still let your impulses control you sometimes."
"Sometimes you have to be a little drastic to get what you want out of life."
"And did you… get what you wanted?"
"Not nearly enough of it, Caroline."
The doors to his heart were open, and they didn't close for what remained of the day. He told her about the places he'd seen, his childhood. He even told her about Katia, the original Petrova, and Caroline learned that Klaus had loved and lost with equal passion. They went from topic to topic and eventually landed on the near extinction of his precious hybrids, which led to one thing: Tyler.
"I did see him. Once, a few years ago," Caroline said. "He'd been doing a great job hiding from you so it was hard for me to find him too. Eventually I did… and he was with Hayley. Turns out they'd been together almost the whole time. They even had a couple of werewolf babies to complete the picture." She scoffed. "And then it hit me… He didn't leave me because of you, he just… left me." Caroline gaze was lost ahead while Klaus watched her expression. "He could have had that life with me, and instead he chose to be with Hayley, as simple as that."
Klaus smirked. "Ah yes, the lovely Hayley... She was here for a while back when we moved," he added to answer Caroline's look. She tried and failed to hide the level of annoyance that caused her.
"Is that jealousy I see in your eyes, love?"
Caroline rolled her eyes at him, ignoring his cocky eyebrows rising. "Don't flatter yourself, Klaus."
She took to steps and found the rock hard surface of his chest, his eyes burning into her. "You know you're the only one I would let this close to me, Caroline." She shivered in his gaze and her lips parted, tingling for his touch.
"Buy a gift for the lady…"
Klaus and Caroline turned to look at the craftswoman who approached them wearing dream-catcher earrings and a smile.
"How about this necklace?" she said, "…it would bring out your girlfriend's eyes." The woman lifted the piece up close to Caroline's face. It was an intricate silver chain with an eight-shaped knot at the end encircling a blue topaz stone. "It's an infinity sign… means your hearts will be eternally bound together."
Caroline didn't bother protesting about the 'girlfriend' confusion. Instead she watched the small blue pendant catch the sunlight and reflect it back to her. She didn't see her eyes in it, she saw his. Klaus took the necklace and paid the woman.
"Duo corda, unum ánimam," she said and then turned to another couple passing by.
A smile tugged the corner of the hybrid's mouth and Caroline frowned confused. "What did she say?"
"It was Latin… 'Two hearts, one soul'," Klaus explained.
"That's deep for a street vendor," she said, glancing back at the hippie woman.
"That woman was a witch, love. Maybe she cast a spell on us."
"I'm sure she did, Klaus," said Caroline, mimicking his ominous tone.
"May I?" He lifted the silver necklace.
Caroline gathered her blonde curls up to one side exposing her neck, and Klaus placed the necklace delicately on her chest and went behind her to secure it.
"Infinity…" he said. "Seems appropriate, don't you think?"
Caroline didn't want to think. She linked her arm through the one he offered and kept on walking, feeling she was closer and closer to the edge, each time more convinced that when she fell, he'd be right there to catch her.
