Helene watched the man take Adrian away. She realized that it wouldn't be a good idea to run after him, but she had to do something. Once the man's car was out of sight, Helene ran back into the house. She found the phone and dialed her home number. When her mother answered, she muttered, "Come over to Adrian's house right away, Mommy. You and Daddy both. We have a problem."

Selina rolled off Klaus and took a deep breath. "You know, we should be ashamed of ourselves," she said. "If you counted the hours we spend in our bedroom, the number would be substantial."

"And the problem with that is?" Klaus asked. He got on his knees and positioned himself so that her legs were between them, then put a hand under her chin, bringing her eyes up to meet his. "Never be ashamed of yourself, my lovely," he said.

She shrugged. "I just think that there could be other more productive ways to spend our time. Although based on what Adrian said about your mother, we're being plenty productive right now." She rolled her eyes.

"Exactly," Klaus nodded. "Now where were we? Oh, yes, I remember..." He leaned forward and kissed her. When he pulled back, she sighed. "All right," she said. "But this is absolutely the last time for now. Who knows what we missed out on while we've been in here?"

He grinned. "You always say that."

She put her arms around his neck and they kissed deeply. He slowly pushed into her, making her gasp. She ran her hands over his ab muscles and then he pulled out of the kiss and began nipping at her neck. She giggled. "Bite me," she whispered. He pulled away from her for a moment. He had a devilsh glint in his eye. In what seemed like the same instant, he thrust into her and bit her at the same time. She screamed and clung to him. When he finally let her go, they were both panting heavily. "I can't move," she said at last. "That was just...it's going to be awhile before we do it again."

He kissed her. "Oh, come on, you know you liked it." He began licking the blood off her neck. "I didn't say I didn't like it," she said. "I just think that it takes the most out of me, so we should do it sparingly."

"Okay," he took her in his arms and held her while she got her breath back. She kissed his shoulder. And his lips. He moved her so she was underneath him. "I thought you didn't want to do this anymore," he said.

"I meant the strenuous stuff," she said. "Feel free to keep touching all you want."

He ran experienced hands over her body. She moaned with pleasure. She seemed to lose herself, and was pulled out of it rather abruptly by a knock on the bedroom door. "Let us in," a sharp voice ordered. "You better be dressed, too."

Selina blinked. "Did you just hear Alistair?" She asked Klaus.

"Yes," he nodded, putting pants and a shirt on and went to answer the door. "What is it?" He asked. "We're busy."

Alistair rolled his eyes. "Of course you are. You always are. That explains why you have absolutely no idea your son was just captured."

"What?" Selina asked. "Captured by whom?"

"Adrian knew him," Helene piped up. "He said you two didn't like the man."

"Oh, god," Selina ran her fingers through her hair. "Aleksandr. Aleksandr must have taken Adrian. This is all my fault."

"Oh, stop," Klaus said immediately. "Crying and going 'Oh, it's all my fault. Whatever shall we do?' isn't going to solve anything."

Selina frowned. "I know that. It's called catharsis. It's a good thing."

"I'm going to go deal with this," Klaus said. He gave Selina a look. "You are going to stay here."

"No," Selina shook her head. "I'm not just going to sit here while my son is in trouble. I'm coming with you."

Klaus shook his head. "No you aren't."

Selina nodded. "Oh, yes I am. In fact, I think I should go alone; because if we ponder the many possible reasons why your brother would want to kidnap Adrian, most of them would have something to do with me. Having you around would only aggrevate the situation."

"What are you talking about?" Klaus said through his teeth.

"Well," Selina said reasonably, "ever since he showed up here, your brother has made no secret about wanting my attention. Correct? So far, I've rebuffed every attempt. Now I bet he's gotten so desperate for me that he's decided the only way I'll be with him is if he jeopardizes Adrian's safety."

"So you're going to give him what he wants?" Astrid asked. "I wouldn't have expected that from you."

"No," Selina shook her head. "I'm not going to give him what he wants. Or at least that's not my intention at the moment. But if worse comes to worse, if me being with Aleksandr is the only way to keep Adrian safe, then that's how it'll have to be."

"No-" Klaus said, but Selina cut him off.

"Besides," she said, "What do the two of you really need me for, anyway? Tell me honestly," she said, looking at Klaus. "If both Adrian and myself were in trouble, who would you save?"

"Well," Klaus said, "since we already know for a fact that Adrian is difficult to kill, he wouldn't need saving. I'd save you because unlike him, you're vulnerable."

Selina scoffed. "I hate that word, vulnerable. I'm going to go now. Goodbye everyone."

She strode out the door before anyone could stop her. They all stood in silence for a moment before someone finally spoke.

"Did you understand a word of that?" Alistair asked.

Klaus nodded. "I understood it of course, but I don't understand it. How could she possibly think that I care about Adrian more than her?"

"Maybe because past experience has led her to believe that you place a lot of importance on male bonding," Astrid said. "Maybe she feels that you value Adrian as a continuation of your legacy more than you do her companionship."

He growled. "Out of my way." He left the room and caught Selina by the door. "Why are you doing this?" He asked.

"Because somebody needs to save our son," Selina replied, looking at him like he was an idiot.

"Is that all?" Klaus asked. "Why won't you let me come with you?"

"Because," Selina said, "it would be the easiest way to handle things. Besides, you won't miss me when I'm gone. Yeah, we have sex sure, but anyone can give you that. You can always find somebody else."

She strode up to the doorknob and was about to put her hand on it and open the door when all of a sudden, there was a sharp rapping on the other side. Selina opened the door and gasped. "What are you doing here?" She asked. "We weren't expecting you."

"I know," Elissavetta asked. "But I've noticed that if you know I'm coming ahead of time, you tend not to let me in, so I figure it's best to catch you unawares when I want to visit."

"What brings you here, Mother?" Klaus asked.

"I've come to a decision," Elissavetta said, clearing her throat. "I mentioned it to Adrian and I told him to mention it to you. I've decided that the two of you are going to have another child. Adrian's grown up enough now that you should have recovered from his childhood."

"But now's not really a good time for that," Selina said. "Adrian's gone and we need to..."

"Adrian's gone?" Elissavetta's eyes lit up. "It would seem to me that now would be a perfect time. You two go to your room and don't come out."

"But..." Selina trailed off again as Klaus put a hand in the center of her back and pushed. "You heard her dear," he said. "Let's go to our room."

Feeling helpless, Selina let Klaus march her to their bedroom and shut the door behind them.

"I can't believe we're doing this," Selina said. "It's horrible. I'm not going to be able to concentrate with terrible visions of Adrian being tortured going through my head."

"He's not being tortured," Klaus said. "What if they just want to meet him and get to know him better?"

"I doubt that," Selina said. "Why would Aleksandr throw Adrian into the back of his car and drive off if all he wanted with him was to get to know him better?"

"You were married to him for ten years," Klaus said. "You know him better than I do."

Selina sighed. "I feel so trapped." She strode over to the door and hit it twice. "Hey," she said, "let us out."

Elissavetta opened the door a crack. "Not until you've done something productive," she said.

"Well you're crazy to force us to have more children," Selina said. "What makes you think that stuff is going to happen just because you're there and you want it?"

Elissavetta came into the room. "Listen dear," she said to Selina, "in the French royal court, as well as royal courts around the world, when an heir to the throne was married, courtiers always sat in on the consummation. That was the law."

"Oh, my god," Selina said. "That's just sick."

"You seem very tightly wound, dear," Elissavetta said. "Perhaps you need this more than you think." She closed the door behind her before Selina could say another word.

"You know," Klaus said as he sat on the floor shuffling a deck of cards, "maybe she's right." He shuffled them one last time and then held them up. "Strip poker?"

"No," Selina said. "I don't think so."

"Come on," Klaus said. "You know you want to."

Selina shook her head. "No I don't. What I want to do is rescue Adrian."

"And you can do that," Klaus said. "But wouldn't it be better for the rescue effort if you were relaxed when you went instead of being so anxious? In the state you're in, you'll probably say something you'll regret later. Plus it would have the added bonus of making Mother happy."

"For the love of god," Selina put her hand on her forehead. "Fine," she said. "One game, but that's it."

"And," Klaus said, dealing the cards out, "if we happen to have sex afterwards, which we most likely will because it's us, then so be it."

"I don't know why we even do this," Selina said. "I mean, after all you always cheat."

"I don't always cheat," Klaus said. "We both cheat. Which reminds me, whose turn is it this time?"

Selina shrugged and crossed her legs. "I don't know."

"All right," Klaus nodded. "Well let's just say it's your turn then."

Selina rolled her eyes. "Of course."

They played their hands but as usual, when Selina was down to her bra and panties, Klaus put his cards down and said he didn't want to play anymore. "I mean," he recanted, "I still want to play, but I don't think we need the cards anymore."

He crawled over to her and, getting on his knees, kissed her. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him back, then he picked her up and carried her to the bed, laying her down so she was looking up at him. "What now?" She asked as she reached up and began unbuttoning his shirt. She pulled it off and then sucked in her breath as she ran her hands over his ab muscles. "You know," she breathed, "I really don't feel bad about this. You're right when you say that Adrian can handle himself. He's already killed before. I completely trust him."

Klaus kissed her. "Stop talking," he said and began undoing his pants.

"Okay," she said when they pulled apart. He removed her bra and ordered her onto her stomach. He began massaging her neck and back, her pleasured moans making him very much aroused. Finally, when she was limp, quiet and nearly asleep, he turned her over.

"You're not tired yet, are you?" he asked.

She shook her head and grinned. "Never," she said. Her voice was soft and breathy. Slowly she pushed herself up on her elbows, bringing her lips to meet his. She put her arms around his neck and then began giggling as he kissed her throat and shoulders. The giggles turned to cries as he thrust into her and she felt release. This happened several times and once it was all over, she fell asleep as her head hit the pillow one last time.

The next morning, she woke up feeling strangely disoriented. "Hey," she said, tapping Klaus beside her. "Do you think your mother would let me go now? Surely she heard what we did last night, so she knows we're not in here doing nothing."

Klaus opened one eye. "I don't know, go and see." Selina did so and was pleased to find that the door opened. She put on a robe and cleared her throat. "I have to go rescue Adrian today," she said.

He nodded. "I realize that. I still don't understand why I can't come with you."

"Because he's with Aleksandr and if Aleksandr or anyone else from that side sees you, they aren't going to tell us anything or give Adrian up," Selina said shortly.

"Fine," Klaus said, "but if you aren't back by tonight, I'm coming for both of you. Do I make myself clear?"

"Oh, I suppose," Selina said. "But you don't have to worry. I'll just get him and come back."

"Just a minute," Klaus said. Selina turned just in time to watch him slash his wrist. "Take some of this," he said, holding it out.

"No," Selina shook her head. "I don't think so. You know what it does to me. It makes me crazy."

"Better that then have you be caught off guard," Klaus said. Selina stared at his wrist for a moment before taking a healthy swig and a deep breath. "Now go," he said. "Before I change my mind and tie you to the bed."

She dressed quickly and then made her way to the front of the house.

"And just where are you going?" Elissavetta asked.

"I have to leave," Selina said. "I've got things I need to do. Aleksandr kidnapped Adrian yesterday and I'm concerned about what he plans to do with him."

"What?" Elissavetta seemed dumbstruck for a moment. "What do you mean Aleksandr has Adrian?"

"That's what I was trying to tell you yesterday when I said Adrian wasn't here. Now I'm going to go rescue him, so if you don't mind-"

"Wait," Elissavetta said. "Let me come with you."

"What?" Selina turned away from the door. "What did you say?"

"I would like to come with you," Elissavetta said matter-of-factly. "Because let's face it: you alone won't last a day against my husband and the others."

"Which is why," Selina said carefully, "Klaus says he's going to come tomorrow if I don't come back by tonight. I'm not going to be alone."

"Fine," Elissavetta rolled her eyes. "But what you're doing is foolish and you'll regret it."

It took awhile, but Selina finally found the house where Aleksandr's car sat. She parked hers in the street and then went to knock on the front door. "Open up!" She called. "I know you're in there. I see your car!"

Aleksandr opened the door a second later, dressed in an olive button down shirt and tan slacks. He'd dyed his hair blond again. "Hello," he said. "Glad to see you finally made it. We were expecting you last night."

"I know that," Selina said. "But I got waylaid by your mother. She's really keen to have another grandchild. So what do you want me for? No, don't answer that. I think I know. You took Adrian as leverage so I would come and be with you, didn't you? Well I'm here now, so let him go. And I swear if you've done anything hurt him-"

"Then what?" Aleksandr asked, grinning at her and running his fingers through her hair. "What will you do against me? What can you do?"

"I'll think of something," Selina said.

Aleksandr led her to the living room and gestured at a chair, inviting her to sit. "Have you eaten yet today?" He asked. "Can I get you anything?"

"No," Selina sat perched on the edge of the chair. "Just answer my question: did you take Adrian as a way to make me be with you?"

Aleksandr burst out laughing. "My, my don't we have a high opinion of ourselves? It might surprise you, but my original purpose for taking Adrian had absolutely nothing to do with you. It was Father's orders. But now that you're here..." he ran a hand over her thigh and knee and she stiffened. "Don't touch me," she said through her teeth. I know what you're implying and I won't stand for it. I won't be any man's toy."

"Oh, really?" Aleksandr said, cocking an eyebrow. "It seems like that arrangement has been working well for you and Niklaus for quite some time."

"It's not like that at all," Selina said, her voice starting to shake. "What the hell do you know?"

Aleksandr smirked and snapped his fingers. A second later, four burly werewolves surrounded her. Two grabbed her arms, two grabbed her legs, and they hauled her kicking and screaming to the basement, striping her and chaining her to a table. "You like this place?" Aleksandr said, looking around and smiling in satisfaction. "It's where I keep all my toys. Including you."

"Well look who's here?" When she heard the voice, Selina froze. "Vanessa," she said quietly.

"Yes," Vanessa came to stand over her. "It's me." She gave Aleksandr a look. "It's really not polite to to restrain your guests like this," she said. She began muttering words over Selina. "Now untie her," Vanessa said when she was done. Selina was untied, but found to her horror that she couldn't sit up, could barely move at all.

"It's to keep you from running away," Vanessa said.

Selina began screaming. "Adrian! Adrian!"

Then she heard footsteps on the stairs. "What's all the noise?" Adrian asked. "Who's calling me?"

"She is," Aleksandr said, leading him to the table.

"Why?" Adrian asked. "I don't know who she is."