A/N:***WARNING, SOME GRAPHIC SEXUAL CONTENT IN THIS CHAPTER*** IF YOU FIND THIS TYPE OF CONTENT OFFENSIVE, PLEASE DO NOT READ ON.
Plenty of Kelena and Elejah in this chapter. Hope you guys enjoy it. Things get more complex in this intricate love triangle…
Klaus lifts his hand and points at Elena's chest.
"I can see your cleavage sweetheart, it's distracting me."
Chapter 26~ Like a Thief in the Night
[Music inspired: John Powell-Assassin's Tango]
"Checkmate." A huge Cheshire smile takes form on Klaus's face as he moves his hand and knocks Elena's king off the chess board with his black knight.
She exhales in frustration and folds her arms against her chest. "I'm tired of playing."
"Aw come now luv, don't be a sore loser. I didn't take you for one. But I like your competitive spirit. It's quite attractive." Klaus grins and carefully fixes his black chess pieces once more on the board. "One more game."
Elena wasn't able to sleep that night, so Klaus thought it was a good idea to drink some wine and play some chess to tire her out.
"Why so glum sweetheart?" He asks her, moving his pawn up 2 spaces.
"Are you seriously asking me that?" Elena replies bitterly.
"Well I can make a few educated guesses."
"You and your educated guesses…" She quietly mutters to herself and moves her white pawn and looks at Klaus, quirking her eyebrow at him.
"But I'm assuming you don't want to talk about it." He moves his knight, cornering in on Elena's bad move.
"You assume right." She moves her pawn up another space and avoids capture.
"I was sure you didn't see that coming." Klaus chuckles.
"After seven losses, I was observant enough to pick up your strategy." Elena smirks at him and leans back against the plush brown arm chair. She turns her head and looks out the large wall length window they were sitting next to. The city looked so beautiful in the night time, and Elena couldn't help but think of Elijah every time she stared out into the city, all the memories they shared together in the summer.
Soft music played in the background while the hybrid and doppelganger sat across each other; Elena dressed in a silk red robe and Klaus wearing nothing but black pajama bottoms and slippers.
"Your move." Klaus says, leaning back against his armchair, waiting patiently for Elena to fall into his trap.
Elena's glowing brown eyes scan the chess board carefully, formulating potential strategic moves in her mind. She takes a moment to assess which tactic is best, and then moves her knight, leaving one of her pawns vulnerable, but giving her the advantage to take out Klaus's second knight.
"Hmm bad move luv." He quickly towers in on the pawn and wipes it off the chess board.
Elena smiles inside herself and knocks his 2nd knight off the chessboard.
"I don't think so." She whispers with attitude, savouring the moment, knowing that she outwitted his strategy.
Klaus laughs and shakes his head. "Well, you're cheating…"
Elena frowns, her face serious; "Cheating? How can you cheat at chess?"
Klaus lifts his hand and points at Elena's chest.
"I can see your cleavage sweetheart, it's distracting me."
Elena gasps, wide eyed and swiftly fixes her robe so that no cleavage or skin below her neck is exposed. Her cheeks are red from embarrassment and she hates that Klaus can notice it.
He laughs silently at her. "You discovered my Achilles heel Elena. Why not use it to your advantage?"
"Because I'd rather beat you fair and square, without distractions, even though that was a lame excuse you used and strictly a wardrobe malfunction on my part, I captured your knight through strategy, not distraction."
Klaus moves his bishop and takes out Elena's knight. "Fair enough." He smiles darkly and revels in her defeated reaction.
"You really need to stop doing that."
"Doing what? It's fair game, stop ignoring your blind spots." Klaus replies, attempting to offer some gameplay advice.
Elena sighs and rolls her eyes, contemplating her next move to trap Klaus in a checkmate.
"You know, this game is so interesting. The queen is the most powerful chess piece in the game." She adds, changing the subject.
"Are you hinting at symbolism? Or some bollocks feminist theory?" He responds.
"Women are very powerful; men shouldn't underestimate our strength."
"Are we talking physical strength or mental?" Klaus asks.
Elena glares at him. "Both. This isn't the 18th century Klaus." She knocks away and captures one of his pawns.
"Trust me luv, I was always an advocate for female equality…just not in everything."
"That's so prejudice and discriminating." Elena replies with conviction.
"You should be glad to know, that I wiped out the entire Canadian cabinet of legislative diplomats who were claiming that women were not considered to be persons under constitutional law. My family and I were living in Canada for a while during the early 1900s. Rebekah had her heart set on female liberation so I wiped out some cabinet members and compelled the entire senate of magistrates to amend the charter. Emily Murphy got recognized for being Canada's greatest female activists, honored, and commemorated. Little do historians know that if it weren't for my aid in the matter, it would probably take another century to move ahead with female liberation." He moves his rook and captures Elena's bishop.
She can hardly believe this confession from Klaus. Yes he killed some innocent people, but it was for a good cause. Elena is suddenly confronted with her own belief system of what's right and wrong.
"Wow...I'm…speechless."
"Well it's not exactly something I've gone public with." Klaus chuckles and moves his queen, forcing Elena into a checkmate.
"Check and mate." He smiles and stares at Elena with a seductive, penetrating gaze.
Elena scowls and looks down at the chessboard, puzzled and wondering how she ignored his approaching attack on her King. She sighs and runs her fingers through her hair.
"You put up a good fight this time, the more we play, the more you'll improve Elena." Klaus consoles her wounded competitive spirit. He begins to clear his chess pieces one by one until there's only Elena's queen left on the board and his king. He reaches for the regal white chess piece and moves the queen down next to his dark king.
Elena watches in curiosity and slowly sits up, wondering what Klaus is doing.
"Every man needs a woman when his life is a mess, because the queen protects the king, just like in a game of chess." Klaus smiles charismatically at Elena, who seems taken back by his comment.
She never expected the hybrid to admit needing a woman. Maybe it was false charisma.
"Nice quote. Who does it belong to?" She asks, keeping her expression indifferent.
"Does it matter?" Klaus tilts his head to the side, and smiles darkly.
"Well I know you're not genuine about it, that's why I ask."
"How do you know I'm not genuine about what I say?" He challenges her, taking some sweet gratification out of it. Flustering Elena seems to be a strong suit in Klaus.
"It doesn't matter. I'm tired. Guess all that gameplay did the trick." Elena gets up and is about to walk past Klaus when he grabs her arm and stops her from walking further.
"Not so fast sweetheart." His voice is deep and almost whispery.
Elena's pulse begins to race out of fear, wondering what he's going to do to her now.
"Sit down." He commands her.
Every muscle in Elena's body refuses to obey him, but she knows the consequences if she refuses.
"I'm tired Klaus, I want to sleep."
"I'm sure your health won't deteriorate from five more minutes awake."
With much reluctance, Elena shifts her body in position to obey him and sit, when suddenly the front door of the penthouse gently swings open, revealing the dashing and devastatingly handsome Original she's in love with; Elijah.
An air of awkwardness wafts between all three of them as Elijah stands still for a moment, feeling rage and jealousy all at the same time, but keeping a lid on his emotions with mastered control.
"Forgive me I…I had forgotten my spare keys to the loft. I believe I left them in the guest bedroom when I had another set of keys made yesterday. Vera is going to be locked out tomorrow if I do not retrieve them and give them to her.
"The old bag lost her keys again?" Klaus asks; half annoyed that his intimate encounter with Elena was disrupted.
"Yes, I'm afraid so." Elijah replies, stealing a quick glance at Elena.
Elena's heart clenches inside her chest. She wants nothing more than to run into the safety of Elijah's welcoming embrace and have him take her away from the luxurious dungeon she's trapped in, alongside a beast.
"Well, have a look around, we're off to bed."
"I shall be in and out. Good night brother, good night Elena."
Elijah had prepared himself for this moment. He knew that there might not be an opportunity to speak to Elena.
As soon as Klaus had his back turned, Elijah flashed a small folded piece of paper in his hand for Elena to see.
He looks at her, exchanging a silent understanding of one another, in which Elena nods, preparing herself.
Elijah moves at vampire speed right past Elena and slips the note into her hand to which she stealthily slides it into the pocket of her robe, forcing herself to pull her eyes away from Elijah and to follow closely behind Klaus instead.
When she reaches Klaus's bedroom, she takes a moment to hide out in the bathroom and read Elijah's note. Just as Elena's about to shut the door, Klaus pushes back on it to keep it from shutting, and stares intimidatingly at Elena.
"No locking the doors luv. I can respect your privacy just fine, but I won't take the chance in you slitting your wrists like your previous attempt at my mansion. Don't take me for a fool Elena. I know exactly what happened that evening when my brother caught you just in time. I have no problem pulverizing the door down, but I hate to destroy expensive things. I hope you understand sweetheart." He smiles wickedly and releases his palm from the door when she nods.
"Don't do anything stupid." Klaus warns her again.
"I won't, I promise."
Elena waits for him to back off before gently shutting the door and turning on the tap. She quickly pulls out Elijah's note and unfolds it, her hands almost shaking out of fear that Klaus could hear the sound of the paper and walk in. But luckily the running water drowned out the crumpling noise of the paper.
Elena quickly skims over Elijah's hand writing;
Elena, please distract Klaus for me. I must acquire something of his, and I need you to buy me some time and attract his attentions to you so that he will not hear me going through his study. I will explain it all later to you at our next opportunity to be alone with one another. I love you Elena, I promise I will get you out of this fiasco with my brother. Please whatever you do, make it believable. Klaus is very good at detecting lies.
Elena's heart drops to her stomach from fear and worry. She knows she can take care of Klaus, but what about the hybrids that Klaus usually stations around the penthouse? A rush of relief calms her nervous system soon enough, because Elena had forgotten that Klaus had sent his hybrids away for the night.
She crumples up the note as quietly as possible and flushes it down the toilet tearing up with mixed emotions. The man that she loves so much is so close yet so far from her, always within hands reach and yet she can never touch him because if she does, both she and Elijah would get discovered and who knows what Klaus would do next.
Taking a deep breath, Elena wipes her tears away and removes her robe in front of the mirror, revealing the skimpy barely anything black lingerie underneath. She knows what she needs to do now.
The bathroom door slowly opens as if it were a huge red velvet curtain that rises during a grand theatrical performance, showcasing a beautiful actress, so believable that every audience member falls for the guise and fantasy of the entire performance. Slipping away from reality, Elena forces herself to become something she's not, just like the actress she characterized in her mind.
Klaus was already in bed, leaving the lamp on his night stand turned on, so that Elena had enough light to see and slip into bed beside him.
There's got to be another way to distract him, this has to be the last resort for me. She repeats in her mind.
"Can we listen to some music and play a game of Gin Rummy?"
Klaus leans up on his elbow and arches an eyebrow inquisitively at Elena.
"You're kidding right? It's almost two in the morning and you said you were tired not too long ago. Are you afraid I'll bite? I already fed luv." He smiles, teasing her.
"No I know, I just…I'm so tired that I can't sleep." Elena tries again to persuade the hybrid.
"You haven't even tried to sleep Elena" Klaus answers, sitting upright, while the blankets fall away from his chiselled torso.
"Please?"
"No, I hate card games. I only play if there's money involved. Come to bed."
Oh God, please, please just say yes to SOMETHING. Elena screams in her head.
"Chess? Again?"
"What's going on in that pretty little head of yours hmm?"
Elena shrugs and turns around, walking towards Klaus's expensive high end iPod dock. She scrolls down to a song and presses play.
[MUSIC PLAYING- KINGS OF LEON- CLOSER]
She cranks up the volume and turns around jumping and startled to find Klaus standing right in front of her.
"What are you doing Elena? Why are you avoiding sleep?"
Whatever you do, make it believable, Elena remembers Elijah's words and steels herself.
Music blasts around the room and Elena is almost locked between the table and Klaus's body. She stares into his gray, blue eyes and runs her hands down his chest in a very intimate and seductive way before admitting;
"I'm avoiding sleep because every time I lay next to you, I want to do this…"
She leans in and kisses Klaus's chest, right in the center of his heart.
He shivers as chills run down his entire body, liquefying the ice around the beating organ in his chest.
Elena pulls back and gazes into the hybrid's eyes again. "And I hate it." She says, almost in a whisper.
Klaus is in sheer disbelief, completely effected by her touch, her scent, the hot contact from her lips pressed against his skin. The muscles in his stomach tighten and so does the strongest muscle constraining beneath his pelvic bones.
Still he controls himself and refuses to give into Elena's powerful seduction.
"Are you playing games with me luv?" Klaus narrows his eyes and steps closer, taking hold of Elena's wrists. His eyes pierce through Elena's, penetrating and intimidating her with just one glance.
She shakes her head slowly and stares back into his eyes as confidently as possible.
Klaus can feel Elena's heart rate picking up, thudding hard against her chest, her breath quivering, her legs shaking.
Believable, it's got to be believable, it's not real… I need to do this. Elena consistently repeats this in her head before she finally wraps her arms around Klaus's neck, closing the tiny crack of space between them. Her eyes never leave his face as she gently kisses his jaw so sensually that Klaus softly groans from pleasure.
His self-control quickly abandons him and soon Klaus gives into the impulses of his body, hoisting Elena up with effortless strength and she responds by wrapping her legs around his waist and kissing him full on the mouth, passion igniting between them as soft moans escape from both their lips.
Klaus moves back to the bed keeping his lips locked with Elena's, tugging and pulling on her sweet sensuous lips as she bites and pulls his bottom lip back, making him crazier, running her fingers through the back of his hair. He carefully sits down on the edge of the bed, supporting Elena's weight and she pulls back from their kiss to catch her breath then pushes Klaus back on the sheets. He gazes up at her beautiful face and wraps his arms around Elena's slender, curvy waist, before slipping his tongue into her mouth and caressing it against hers as they both kiss and make out for the longest minute before Klaus flips Elena on her back using hybrid speed and strength.
He moves himself in between her legs so that Elena can feel his raging hard on against her sex.
"I want you Elena." Klaus growls between lustful, sexual kisses. He holds Elena's palms back above her head, entwining his fingers with hers as he kisses her neck wild, hungry and thirsty at the same time…thirsty for her.
Elena holds Klaus's face and kisses him deep and passionate, breathing out against his lips.
He removes his right hand and clasps Elena's wrists together above her head with his left hand so that she's immobile and trapped beneath him.
Fear and panic begin to pump adrenaline into Elena's blood as she realizes what's happening. She can't let it get this far, that wasn't part of the plan.
Klaus begins to tug at Elena's panties. She grabs his hand and prevents him from pulling them down.
"Not tonight…" She whispers in between his needful hot kisses.
"Please Elena, I need to be inside you." Klaus urges and tugs at her panties once more almost pulling them down.
She grabs his hand again and breaks the kiss full on. "Klaus no! Stop!" Elena begins to tear up and cry. The hybrid vampire is suddenly frozen in place, paralyzed, staring down at his very fragile and vulnerable doppelganger.
He quickly moves his hand away and reaches up to caress Elena's face. "Hey, hey don't cry luv…"
Elena is lost in a fog of confusion, overwhelming feelings wash over her full force like a tidal wave. Kissing Klaus from her own free will made her feel extremely conflicted inside because during their entire intimidate encounter she completely surrendered her will to him if only half. To top it all off, she was now faced with the guilt of kissing and getting into bed with her enemy so intimately, her lover's brother no less, and things almost got too far. What if he didn't stop?
Klaus reaches for his stereo remote and turns down the volume.
"I'm sorry, I…I don't know why I'm crying." Elena turns her face away from the hybrids piercing eyes and tries to seal a lid on her emotions.
For the first time in a long time, something was changing inside of Klaus. He wanted to comfort her. Sensing the fear and emotion in Elena's eyes quickly put a halt to his selfish desires.
Elena was startled once more from the sudden gentle affection Klaus was showering upon her, wiping her tears with the back of his hand and softly kissing her neck. But this only made Elena cry more.
"Elena…" Klaus softens his tone and brushes back her silky brown hair, gently tilting her face so that he can stare into Elena's teary eyes again.
"I wasn't expecting this…" He confesses to her.
"I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. I think I drank too much wine. Can we please sleep now? I'm feeling the exhaustion now…"
Klaus is more than happy to oblige because throughout the entire time that he was kissing Elena, touching her, wanting her, something awoke inside of him. Something he was sure had died away when Cassandra was killed. His humanity wasn't dead; it only slept, dormant inside of him. His intimate encounter with Elena, her confession of wanting him, touched him in ways he thought were never possible to reach ever again.
Was he falling in love with his doppelganger? No, Klaus never fell in love. He didn't do love. He fed, devoured and destroyed. Klaus only loved one woman in his entire existence and she took his heart with him.
"Yeah I think that's a good idea. You're right. You must be tipsy from the wine you drank earlier. I told you it'll knock you out eventually." He stands up and turns off his iPod before returning to bed and turning out the light.
An awkward silence falls between Elena and Klaus as they both turn away from each other and sleep on their sides.
Elena shuts her eyes while tears streak down her cheeks, desperately hoping that Elijah obtained what he wanted and left, otherwise everything she did would have been for nothing. She remains silent and tries not to sniffle too much, the last thing she needs is comfort from Klaus, she is much too guilt stricken to handle his newfound affections.
Klaus lays in silence, trying his best not to think about everything that happened between him and Elena. He hears her silent sobs, but makes no effort to turn to her side and hold her, because he's just as freaked out by the empathy and affection he showed his doppelganger. When only weeks ago he was happy to rob her of her virtue.
After the wedding, after the wedding she's mine, that's the only reason why I stopped. I don't break my promises. It's only my morals interfering, no emotional attachments. None. Klaus repeats this mantra in his head before finally fading to sleep.
~oOo~
Elijah had successfully slipped out of the penthouse, evading getting caught red handed while rummaging through Klaus's things. His brother didn't know that Elijah had discovered his secret hiding place where kept all his sentimental valuable stuff. Sure enough Cassandra's lock of hair was inside one of Klaus's diaries. He stole the lock of hair and left the apartment. He didn't even want to think about what went on between Elena and Klaus inside the bedroom. Elijah had to stay focused; there was no room for allowing his jealousy and emotional torture to interfere with his ultimate goal. He was always a disciplined, dignified and poised individual.
Making his way to the elevator, Elijah presses the lobby button and heads down to the main floor before departing the building and walking onto the street. His driver had been waiting for him. Already packed and ready to hop back onto the next flight to Mystic Falls, Elijah enters the vehicle and texts Jade.
"LaGuardia Airport sir?"
"Yes Frederick thank you."
Text From Elijah Via Iphone:
On my way back. Mission successful.
Text from Jade Via Blackberry:
I knew u wouldnt disappoint. C u soon :)
A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Drop me a review and let me know your thoughts :) Sorry for any grammar errors guys, I try my best to edit as best I can. Xx ~Mina