See I kept my promise (or not). You won't believe it but I wrote this chapter in less than 4 hours because I only have Sunday to rest and write. That's a record xo. I loved everything about this chapter and I'm sure you'll enjoy it to the max.

Previously

"Are you going too?" Rebekah turned around and smiled at the melancholic brunette. "Well I thought you needed personal space to spy on my brother without my unnerving presence" Katherine's eyes widened before she grabbed the magazine and threw at the sly blonde with all her might, too bad it landed on the wall. "Go to hell" she shouted. "No thank you, I spent enough time with you" Rebekah popped her head around the wall then draw it back quickly before she received another object onto the face.

"tell me you're not going to miss our anniversary?" Katherine rolled onto her stomach on the bed while tapping with her long finger against the back of her cellphone.

"I'll try my best. You know that I'm working so hard to keep you alive" Elijah replied with a solacing tone.

"I want you beside me, only then will I be alive"

"So am I Kathy. But I have a lot of things to sort out. You know if Klaus gets his share, we will be left with nothing. He will practically own the company."

"Isn't this what we agreed on last year. He gives us a baby and we offer him in return 50% of the company, which is an outstanding share"

"And you really think that he will agree to work with me Kathy, I thought you had a brain in there" she pouted at his sarcastic remark.

"Why not? you're a great partner and a trustworthy sibling. Klaus knows what is best for him and his business"

"Klaus doesn't give a damn about the business, at least not anymore. He will sell his share to the first competitor out of spite. That's why I have to work so hard so that a day like that won't happen"

"Excuse me but why would he do something like this? he gave his all for that company, I can't picture him walking away from it after all these years"

"Trust me, a bitter man like Klaus would do anything to get back at his family, especially me" he sighed before he added "I don't want you to worry about this. Tell yourself that everything is under control"

Katherine's head sunk into the pillow at the warmth of her husband's words "I know. I love you Elijah"

"I love you too"

How many times had she mistaken the dull sound of the rain for his footsteps? It had started her so many times from her half state of drowsiness that she renounced any desire to nap. Contrary to what she'd expected, her body didn't seem to function properly without rest. She thought she could deny her body of sleep for as much time as she wanted but it didn't seem to sit well with her brain that threatened blackout. The handmaid's dread of slumber hit so high a peak that she went to the extent of deliberately not turning off the tap properly at night so that the unbearable thudding sound of the dropping droplets would keep her awake, for once asleep she knew a nightmarish journey she wasn't looking forward to awaited her. She couldn't trust her subconscious when awake, let alone asleep.

The door creaked open, letting in a gust of frigid air that brought her back to the real world. That must be him.

She quickly pushed herself into a seating position, her hands reached down to her lap and she rested her palms on each thigh.

Klaus strode into the room barely loud enough to announce his presence. He rushed sideways, not bothering looking at her. Hayley's eyes had immediately caught the golden Chanel sign adorned on the red bag he was carrying. He deposited it on the small table beneath the window before he looked shrewdly at it for a brief moment, and she could tell by the stiffness of his posture that he was on the brink of making an announcement.

Let me guess. A racy nightgown to fuel his kinkiest fantasy. Or perhaps a slutty nurse costume to play doc and sick with his perverted ass.

She'd rather hung herself from her lashes than dress up for him.

Klaus could feel her inquisitive eyes surveying the bag and he decided to quench her curiosity by turning it upside down so as to disclose its content. Another fancy black bag with a long silver stripe crossing its edge in a twisted line was revealed, her eyes managed to capture the crimson red tie clinging onto the bag handle as well. He turned around and her gaze fell back on her lap, feigning complete nonchalance. The least thing she wanted was to be caught staring.

Klaus cast a cursory glance at the handmaid's face as he strode towards. She looked so pale, nearly as pale as the time she received her punishment. He could wager she wasn't properly fed.

It wouldn't harm a soul to ask her how she was doing. He was her master and it wasn't outside his duty to check on her welfare.

Klaus opened his mouth, but immediately clump it shut, not seeing a point in making conversation with a woman who would flinch at the mere sight of his face. He dumped the bag beside her, causing her brows to arch and her gaze finally met his. He leaned on to pull out the fancy red dress that caught Hayley's attention by the moment. She didn't shy away from staring at the exquisite garment that lied upon her bed, her eyes missed looking at pretty things, and that dress was absolutely a feast to the eyes. In a perfect world, it would make a smashing outfit for her cousin's wedding.

Speaking of family, she wondered whether her cousin was still a hairdresser or had ended up a handmaid like herself in one of these big mansions of the neighborhood. But before her mind could wander through her post-war memories and lose its path back to reality, she broke the deafening silence in the room with an innocent question "do you want me to fix it?" She wouldn't embarrass herself by asking if it was for her, it was too risky.

Klaus ran his fingers through the soft fabric before he replied lethargically "you will wear it. Tonight we're leaving this gloomy room for somewhere.. brighter" and she could swear she saw a hint of a smile crossing his lips.

They each looked at the opposite side of the room. He didn't expect silence as a reply from the feisty maid and she frankly didn't expect him to reply her in the first place. Klaus began to wrap the lavish tie around his neck while letting his knee sink on the edge of the bed for support. Hayley, lost in her own thoughts, didn't even mind the proximity of his body to hers.

Where was he taking her?

The one billion dollar question.

Maybe he was planning to have her in his room just for a change. But why would she need a red carpet dress to move from one room to another? He could have offered her the dress there.

"Stop asking yourself so many questions, it will exhaust you and tonight I want you to be heedful and alive" his fingers brushed a strand of hair away from her face, Hayley's heart skipped a beat from the fleeting skin contact.

"Now you can finally rid your body of this hideous uniform and slip into something lavish" he displayed the alluring dress in front of her. It was a backless scarlet maxi dress with a perfect V line which could have been a modest outfit without the outrageous sky high slit that climbed up to the upper hip. A sophisticated mix of classic elegance and bold intensity. Hayley's once bedazzled eyes broke into a puzzled regard at the garment flaunting before her. He sure wouldn't give her such a risqué dress to go upstairs.

"Where are we going?" she couldn't hold the question anymore.

"No thanks? This dress is worth ten time your pay in that dance school" his words reeked of shade. Of course he knew she was a dancer before becoming what she became.

"Thank you" she thanked him bitterly.

"You were a pole dancer right?"

"Contemporary dancer" she corrected him dryly, her eyes blazing with contempt.

He looked down at her, judgmental and smug "Both are art, aren't they?"

She didn't know what to say. Acknowledging that pole dancing is an art in Gaya was tantamount to high treason. She wouldn't dare disclosing her personal convictions to someone she didn't trust, as conversing with a lord had proved accident-prone so far.

"Maybe" she muttered.

Is he trying to make conversation?

He opened his mouth to say something when his phone began to vibrate in his pocket. He quickly picked up as if he was expecting a call "You'd better change now. I don't want to be late" he instructed hastily before rushing into the bathroom.

It was Aurora. He'd been waiting for her call for more than an hour.

"What took you so long?" he was going to lock the door but realized there wasn't a lock.

"Why are you whispering?"

"She's in the room next door, you said you were going to arrange a meeting and it's already quarter past nine"

"And I did, don't hiss at me!" Klaus spoke again, this time in a dramatically softer tone "I'm not hissing love. I thought you got caught or something"

"I sent you a message twenty minutes ago, you were the one who wasn't paying attention. Now I don't want to divulge everything on the phone. See you later Nick" and she hang up.

Klaus checked his message box and found Aurora's long-awaited text as expected. It was a three-letter message with the word "bar" in bold.

Seriously? Are they going to meet at the bar? In front of everyone? Klaus ran a hand through his blond curly hair in a flustered motion then dashed back to the room.

Hayley had just finished folding her uniform when her master barged in. She deliberately turned around so her naked back was now facing him, undeniably frustrated by her useless long hair whose length failed to cover her bare back entirely. Klaus stopped dead in his tracks, well-nigh staggered by the beautiful view his eyes had just fell on. The dress clung on her body like a second skin, bringing out her hourglass figure marvelously. Her brownish hair flowed loosely behind, covering a great part of her glorious back but it thankfully spared her Venus dimples. He still hadn't seen her from the frontal view, yet his body and mind were stupefied beyond words by the spectacle that took place. She sure would make a perfect arm candy for tonight.

Hayley could sense his raiding eyes travelling up and down her body. The room wasn't dark enough to help hide the fact she was wearing no pants underneath and she could tell from the way he took his time staring at her lower back that he had already noticed it. She took the folded peace of clothes and put in her closet, trying to alleviate the awkward silence by making an unnecessary noise while closing the door. Klaus's eyes followed her like a predator, drinking in her exposed thigh and cursing himself at the same time for picking up that racy dress in the first place. He should focus on the chancy mission of tonight instead of getting hot and bothered for a maid.

"There's something missing" he walked towards her.

"In order to complete this look, you need this" he pulled out a red lipstick from his pocket. Hayley looked at her bare feet before taking the lipstick "As for the shoes" he added "a nice pair of Louboutines will be waiting for you in the car. We don't want to wake everybody on our way out"

Was she being delusional or did he sound in high spirits.

His eyes didn't leave her face, itching for skin to skin contact now that he was standing inches away from her. As he looked at her, he recongnized that all the beauty of the universe couldn't compare to hers and he had almost giggled at the ridiculousness of the analogy, he was being an arrant fool.

Hayley parted her mouth slowly and his chest felt so light, his brows twisted in awe as she began to apply the red lipstick on her full-lips carefully. The lack of mirror didn't make the result any less perfect, he would give her an A+. Hayley wasn't blind to notice his craving look that made his lust for her completely bare.

She gave him back the lipstick that he quickly slid into his pocket and stood in her spot, her gaze is low, waiting for him to say something, like where the hell they were heading to. Klaus figured it was a crime not to say something nice in the company of a brunette bombshell like the one he stood beside but he chose silence over flattery at the risk of sounding rude.

"Where are we going?"

That question again.

He rolled his eyes and she swallowed hard, regretting her question instantly.

"To have fun, we're going to a party where you cannot dance with anyone, talk to anyone and drink with anyone but me. But since I don't like dancing and there is big a chance you can't hold your liquor, we will only talk"

Hayley was gaping at him, trying to process what she had just heard. Did he just said "fun"? but where's the fun part in all that he said.

Can I breathe? she wanted to ask him this one so badly.

"But don't worry love. I won't forget my duty towards this family. The ceremony will just take place right after the party"

And here she thought he had completely forgotten about it. Hayley realized that this event would either be her sole chance to escape the Mikaelsons or to be stuck with them forever. At the party, she would probably bump into familiar faces and make new acquaintances, if she were lucky, that might come handy in her plan to break away. She just needed to be very careful and to suck it up. The lord wasn't too dumb to offer her a chance to run away in a silver platter. Ergo sweet-talking him into giving her more freedom wouldn't be effective if she needed to play her cards right. Because if he noticed any remarkable change in her behavior, he might suspect something and everything would fall to pieces.

"And don't think of it" Hayley's eyes widened as his words reached her ears "If you think of running away, I won't be able to save you from the eyes like the last time"

He couldn't have heard me?

Hayley forced a poker face as she rubbed her arm nervously "I'm not that stupid" then walked past him to the door. His eyes didn't leave her, trying to see through her stoic features. She could feel the hand she was hugging herself with pinching into her skin. She didn't want to be caught biting her lips so she began chewing on the inside of her mouth.

"Well I know you are not stupid. That's why you won't leave my side and when I ask you to do something, you will comply. Do you understand Lily?"

"Who is Lily?" she questioned, genuinely clueless.

"Your pseudo name. You will be addressed there by this name because I intend to introduce you to the world as my date, not as my handmaid during non-working time."

If he was going to hide her identity, it meant that the place she was venturing into does not welcome common people. A part of her was thrilled by this little adventure. Sneaking out in the middle of the night to only God knows where was the life-changing shot she shouldn't miss.

"Did I make myself understood?"

"Yes, master" she nodded with a hum of excitement. He responded with a smile that didn't reach his eyes "Good girl"

She watched him amble to the closet and take one of her many black coats "It's freezing cold outside and you're not wearing much" he darted his look to her flimsy and thin dress, nothing short of a see through night gown. He could see literally everything, her nipples that poked against the silky fabric, the hollow spot of her belly button, the bulging of her thigh muscles. Her cheeks flushed pink when his gaze landed on her breasts and he knew that his piercing look caught her off guard. He handed her the coat "Put on your shoes, we're leaving" as he pointed to her discarded moccasins wedged in the room.

She put them hurriedly at the same time then she paced to the door behind him. The corridor was so dark it was impossible to make out the end of it. They walked stealthily out of the room. Klaus grabbed the handmaid's wrist to make sure she followed his steps because he was going to escort her to the secret door that led directly to the backyard and there's chance they might encounter a few rats and roaches on their way out.

"If you feel something walking on your feet, don't scream. Think of a harmless furry rodent that got scared of your intrusion" Hayley's eyes comically widened at the piece of news, her fear of mice wasn't something to joke about, she had always dreaded those creatures.

They walked through what it looked like a basement, it stunk old shoes and burnt plastic. Hayley was going to barf because of the nasty smell that invaded her nostrils but Klaus' strong cologne saved the day as it brought her back to life every time she thought she was going to pass out. It took them a few minutes to finally reach the back door. Scarcely had they arrived when the maid took a deep breath, filling her aching lungs with oxygen. Indeed, it was freezing cold outside and her coat wasn't doing a great job at keeping her warm. The crisp wind made a mess of her hair and it fell frontward on her face, giving her a Samara Morgan Look. Klaus watched her striving to push it back for a moment, secretly amused by her unbalanced moves, but he decided to end her struggle at the end. She felt two warm hands running through her locks and guiding them backwards in a one swift move, the wind was playing with his hair too but it didn't look as messy as hers. Hayley could feel his warm breath against her cheek when he leaned forwards to tuck another wayward strand behind her ear , causing to send a tiny thrill down her spine. He stared at her with his ridiculously blue eyes that she found uncommonly breathtaking and it sickened her to the pit of her stomach. If he was planning to kiss her, she might give in, for the sake of the plan of course. She would do anything to distract him.

Klaus's head moved closer to her face until his forehead rested against hers, her body stood frozen, from both fear and cold. He couldn't fight against the thoughts that were building inside of him, he wanted to feel her heart beating against his chest and taste every ounce of her body. She splayed her hands against his chest, intending to push him away, but instead she clasped the collar of his coat for support. Klaus took it as an invitation and he let his lips venture into her neck, she felt them kissing up the thin skin of her collarbone lustfully. No words were spoken as she let him devour her neck, working his way up to her soft lips. The cold breeze felt like a splash of boiling water over his skin, he was on fire, so ready for more. She bit her lips nervously and he finally pulled her into a fiery kiss. He could feel her whimpering between his lips. His hands rested behind her ears, the small space between them was closed and their bodies became one. It wasn't a sloppy kiss like the last time, he was being careful and undeniably soft.

Her back arched and the only thing holding her from falling back was his hands. The kiss grew tenser and his hands began to work down her thighs ravenously, her lips parted slightly, accidentally allowing his tongue to delve inside her mouth and she stifled a surprised gasp. The hardest part was to pretend to enjoy this but for a moment Hayley didn't know if she had to pretend anymore because his lips felt pleasantly warm against hers. Her eyes fluttered open, dead shocked by her own reasoning, she suddenly felt a strong need for space and she pulled back, breaking the kiss promptly. Breathless, he looked down at her, his lips smeared with her lipstick and saw worry in her eyes.

"What if someone sees us" she asked, struggling to even her breathing. Her lipstick was slightly smudged and he felt the need to fix it with his finger. She wasn't wrong, if someone caught them red handed, he would need a hell of a lie to get himself out of trouble. "You're right. let's get out of here" he darted forwards and she followed suit.

The kiss made her so dizzy that she staggered all the way to the car. He didn't say a word and so did she. When they got inside the car, she managed to catch a glimpse at his face and he looked nothing like the guy who kissed her a few seconds ago. A massive frown was scrawled across his face and she could tell he was upset.

She behaved well tonight and he should be proud of her cooperation. But in Klaus's mind, there was a different outlook. He could have credited her for her compliance if she hadn't known about the outgoing beforehand. The handmaid would make a fuss every time he would attempt to touch her but this time she didn't. Why? Sure not because she began to like him. In fact, it was because he was taking her out that she faked compliance.

A clever girl indeed. Klaus reasoned.

Her submission was a façade and any woman with half a brain would resort to seduction in order to reach her goal.

You'd be a fool to actually believe that she enjoyed the kiss.

Klaus resolved never to trust the maid until she dropped all pretense at obedience and acted herself again.

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