Chapter 28
The j-word
Seraphine had always loved sleeping. It was her only way to escape the reality. When she was asleep, she was in piece, in a place where nothing bad could touch her. In that place the world seemed like a tolerable place. There was no fear or pain. Unfortunately she always had to wake up eventually. She sighed when she reached the state between asleep and awake. When she turned on her side, she felt something next to her. No, not something, someone. The realization made her to immediately open her eyes. She saw a man's muscular upper body. He wasn't wearing a shirt. She almost panicked and tried to get away from him but he grabbed her arm in order to keep her in place.
"Where are you going, sweetheart?" Klaus' voice asked. His eyes were still closed.
"Let go of me", she replied tensely.
He smiled and opened his eye.
"Did you have pleasant dreams?"
"No. Please let me go."
"Oh, I think you did have some pleasant dreams", he said ignoring her request. "You talked in your sleep."
She froze and looked at him.
"What?"
"Yes, it sounded very nice. You kept saying my name over and over again."
Seraphine was too shocked to say anything; she could only pray that he was lying. She couldn't remember dreaming about him, why would she?
"I…I had a nightmare", she muttered.
He grinned.
"Really? It didn't sound like a nightmare to me. You were saying something like…let see if I remember this correctly…´oh, Klaus, I need you, please take me now´"
She stared at him with her mouth open until he started to chuckle. Her face was turning red.
"You…you're a jerk."
That only made him to chuckle louder. She really wanted to wipe that smirk off of his face so she grabbed a pillow and slammed him with it.
"Oh, you like to play dirty, do you?" he asked teasingly. "I don't have a problem with that."
"Hey!" she protested when he grabbed her wrists and trapped her under him. "Get off me!"
He looked amused when she tried to fight him as hard as she could. She wasn't really scared, just angry. He had no right… She never managed to finish her thought when she suddenly felt the effects of her squirming. In that moment she was painfully aware of the fact that he was just wearing his boxers. She was too embarrassed to look at him, her face turning even redder. This was certainly awkward. Even with her limited experience about intimacy, his intention was very clear. She flinched when he leaned closer, his thumb caressing her lips.
"Please…" she whispered.
"It's ok, I'm not going to hurt you", he said running his fingertips along the line of her hair. "Let me be good to you."
She moved restlessly under him when he started to kiss her neck.
"No…I can't do this", she muttered.
He didn't seem to hear her or didn't want to hear her. She jumped like he would have burn her with a hot blade when his hand wandered under her nightgown, touching her thigh.
"Someone is sensitive", he purred while he continued to taste her neck. "That's good."
"No, you don't understand. I…I've never done this…"
His hand stopped moving. She was breathing rapidly when he raised his head, a note of disbelief clear on his face.
"What? How is that possible?"
Seraphine's confused mind tried to think of something to say.
"It's my personal choice", she muttered avoiding looking at him. "I don't…"
She could practically feel his gaze.
"So you and Kol never…"
She shook her head. Even though she couldn't see his face, she could have sworn that he was grinning.
"Well, this is certainly a nice surprise."
She swallowed and forced herself to look at him.
"Please let me go, I don't want this. Not with him or with you. Not ever."
Something told her that she shouldn't have said those words. When his lips curved into a sinister smile, she understood, she had just issued him a challenge. Oh no.
"Klaus, please…"
"Excuse me", an ice cold voice said from the door. "Get the hell off of her."
Seraphine's whole body tensed, fearing what Klaus' response would be. At first she saw a glimpse of annoyance on his face but it was quickly replaced by his trademark smirk.
"Well, good morning, brother", he said while lazily rolling on his back next to Seraphine.
She didn't think that she had ever seen Kol so angry, the look in his eyes sent shivers down her spine. Klaus didn't seem startled at all, on the contrary. Apparently the brothers were engaging each other in some kind of creepy staring match. That certainly wasn't something she wanted be a part of, so it was probably best to escape. Thankfully neither of them tried to stop her when she almost ran into the bathroom. Her heart was pounding fast when she sat down on the floor and curled her legs up against her chest wrapping her arms around them. What had just happened?
...
How could a night be so long? All Kol was able to think about was Seraphine. Why the hell had he agreed to this? She was alone with his brother, completely defenseless. What would stop Klaus from taking advantage of her? Wait a minute, what the hell was he doing? So what if she was in his brother's room, she probably disliked Klaus as much as she disliked him. Kol happened to know from an experience what kind of ice queen she was. Probably she had some intimacy issues or something, not like he cared.
There was no way she would let Klaus to touch her. What if he wouldn't care about what she wanted… No, Klaus might have his faults, plenty and plenty of them, but that he wouldn't do. Kol walked back and forth in his room, running his fingers through his hair. This was just intolerable. She should be here with him, she belonged to him. He simply wanted his property back, that was all. Somebody is jealous… Shut up! The j-word? Really? That was just ridiculous! He wasn't jealous, dammit!
There was a difference between jealousy and loathing the idea of someone using his property. That was all what she was to him, a tool, a useful little pet. Pretty little pet… For some reason the memory of their first encounter crossed his mind. When he had entered that bookstore, he hadn't known anything about the portal, except that she was a young woman. The witch who had found her was an acquaintance of Dorian's, nasty old hag who apparently was specialized of finding rare merchandise. Seraphine certainly hadn't been anything like his last portal.
Kol had been able to find one just before his brother had daggered him. All that hard work for nothing… True portals were extremely rare. For years it had been his obsession to find one, ever since he had learned that such things existed. Then after years and years, there she was, a pretty girl with purple tinted eyes. She had been wearing a pink sweater and a dip dyed skirt. She had been perfect, feisty from the start. He hadn't wanted to break her spirit, not really, but he had wanted to teach her who was in charge. All those times when he had punished her, locked her into a trunk or something, he had almost felt bad.
Thankfully he knew now why, it was all because of the binding. Her fear affected him, whether he liked it or not. What if he would have killed her… That was an unpleasant thought. It would have been…well, a suicide was probably the best word for it. However there was one person who he would certainly kill, that lousy old witch. Right after the bond would be broken. He huffed and sat onto an armchair. Could this stupid night be over already? What time was it? He stood up and started to walk back and forth again. When he passed the window, he noticed a car driving through the gate. Elijah. Finally. Kol headed immediately to Klaus' room. He was just reaching for the doorknob when he heard Seraphine's voice.
"Please let me go, I don't want this. Not with him or with you. Not ever."
No more than a second later he had yanked the door open. His worthless brother was on top of Seraphine.
"Klaus, please…" she pleaded.
"Excuse me", Kol heard himself saying. "Get the hell off of her."
Klaus said something before rolling on his back but Kol was way too apoplectic to hear him. This was the last straw. He barely noticed Seraphine getting up and running into the bathroom. His brother would sure as hell regret for ever laying his hands on her.
