Chapter 11

Primal instinct

Klaus was lost in his thoughts when he returned to the mansion. His plan was going well, but there were still plenty of things to do. Marcel had many loyal followers, so Klaus needed to be cunning if he wanted to overthrown him. Not to mention Marcel had a very powerful weapon against the witches. It had taken Klaus a lot of work to find out how Marcel was controlling the witches, but of course he had succeeded.

Apparently Marcel had interrupted one of their most important rituals and taken the bodies of four young women. Those women had been sacrificed for the ancestors, but the ritual hadn't been completed. The magic of the witches was dependent on that ritual, so as long as Marcel had the bodies, he could control the witches.

Despite of the situation, Klaus couldn't deny that he was proud of Marcel. He had taught his foster son well. Hopefully not too well. But at least he wasn't alone anymore. The rumors were already spreading and the local vampires were getting nervous. There was no doubt that Marcel would soon hear those rumors. The whole Original family was in New Orleans. Klaus was very pleased as he headed to Flynn's bedroom, wanting to check on her. She was probably asleep, so he didn't knock. The lights were on and she wasn't in her bed.

"Flynn?" he called.

He heard something from the bathroom and called her again. There was no answer.

"Flynn? Is everything alright, love?"

There was still no answer. He yanked the bathroom door open, fearing that something had happened to her. She was in the bathtub. Naked. Her eyes were closed and she had headphones on. He didn't even notice that, all he could do was staring at her. There were no bubbles, only water. He could see everything. She was so beautiful… Suddenly she opened her eyes and gasped. He was perfectly aware that he should look away, but for some reason he couldn't do that. Her mouth floundered open and closed, it took a moment before she was able to react.

"What…what the hell?" she snapped. "What are you… Get out!"

"I'm sorry," he murmured, but he still didn't look away. It felt like he would have been in some kind of trance.

She grabbed a towel and stood up so quickly that she slipped and lost her balance. He was next to her in a fraction of a second and caught her before she fell. The next thing he realized was that he was standing in the bathtub, his arms wrapped tightly around her wet naked body. They looked at each other for a moment until he snapped out of it enough to hear her heart pounding. She looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Flynn…" he murmured. "I…I'm so sorry, I didn't mean…"

He cleared his throat and quickly removed his jacket.

"Here…"

She didn't say anything when he wrapped his jacket around her.

"Alright… I'll just…"

He got out of the bathtub and looked at her callous face. He really hoped that she would say something.

"Flynn…"

"Leave, please."

Her voice held no emotion, but it wasn't difficult to tell that she meant it. He certainly wasn't going to argue with her.

"I'm sorry," he muttered before walking out.

What the hell had just happened? He gritted his teeth while marching towards his room. He needed to get changed. Thankfully he didn't run into anyone, he certainly didn't want to hear any questions. How had he managed to make such a mess? He had seen countless of naked women for heaven's sake, why hadn't he been able to control himself?

Perhaps it had been some kind of primal instinct, as ridiculous as that sounded. A wolf instinct. She was after all carrying his offspring. Not that it mattered, he needed to fix this and fast. Things had gone well while Elijah had been away and Klaus wasn't going to let this ruin everything. He wasn't going to let Flynn to seek comfort from Elijah. Quickly he changed his clothes and headed back to Flynn's room. Hopefully she would agree to listen to him.

"Flynn?" he called while knocking on her door. "May I come in?"

He didn't get any reply and he waited for a moment before carefully opening the door. At least she hadn't locked it.

"Flynn?"

She was standing in front of the window, her back turned to the door. She was wearing a t-shirt, pajamas pants and a sweater.

"Listen, I…" he started.

"Let's make something clear right now," she cut in coolly and turned to look at him with her arms crossed. "I'm aware of what you think of me, but I'm not a prostitute or some kind of cheap tramp. You have no right to touch me or invade my privacy."

"I know," he muttered. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean… I called for you, but you didn't answer and I thought… I only wanted to make sure that everything was alright with you and the baby."

"Right," she snorted. "You certainly took your time with that."

He wasn't sure how to reply to that, he didn't really have any explanation for his behavior.

"Well, to be fair, there wasn't anything in that bathtub I wouldn't have seen before…"

Judging by her look, he had chosen his words badly.

"If you think that you have some kind of right to peek at me…"

"No, no, I didn't mean that."

She glared at him for a moment before huffing.

"Whatever. Let's just forget the whole thing. Just don't come to my room again without my permission."

She turned her back on him again, clearly expecting him to leave. He didn't, instead he walked over to her.

"I don't want you to think that I wouldn't respect you," he stated calmly.

"Yeah, sure you respect me," she snorted. "You respected me so much that you offered to pay for my 'services'."

He bit his bottom lip.

"I apologize for that. The truth is that I was very drunk that night."

She shrugged.

"Yeah, so was I. I certainly wasn't acting like a lady, so I suppose I'm in no position to judge you."

Klaus was quiet for a moment before continuing.

"I have to ask… Was it really your first time?"

"Yeah. Classy, huh?"

"Why did you… I mean…"

"Why did I sleep with a stranger? Well, you could say that alcohol doesn't really suit me. I don't usually drink, but that night I just wanted to forget."

"Forget what?"

"My mom had just died."

"Oh… I'm sorry."

She shrugged.

"It wasn't really a surprise, but still…"

Klaus wasn't sure what to say, he was certainly out of his comfort zone.

"I hope you don't feel that I took advantage of you."

"We were both drunk," she replied. "I didn't stop you, did I?"

He couldn't help but to feel somewhat guilty. The truth was that he hadn't realized how drunk she had been and he hadn't even noticed that he had taken her virginity. He hadn't been gentle or cared how she had felt. There was no doubt that he had caused her pain.

"You would have deserved something better," he stated after a moment of silence.

She glanced at him, clearly surprised.

"It could have been worse. I think."

He smiled.

"Just what every man wants to hear."

She shrugged.

"Yeah, life can be rough sometimes. I think I would like to go to sleep now."

"Of course," Klaus replied. "Good night."

"Good night. And Klaus…" she continued when he headed to the door. "Despite of…everything, I don't regret what happened."

His eyes widened.

"You don't?"

She shook her head and touched her stomach.

"Without that night, I wouldn't have my baby. He's everything to me and I'll do anything to keep him safe."

Klaus smiled, this girl really was quite something.

"Me too, love. You can count on that."