A/N: I've literally been caught up in the day job project from hell the last few weeks so please forgive the delay. Thank you for all the positive comments, the nudges and thanks even to a couple of you who got pissed at me. I just want to say, I appreciate all of you for taking the time to read this story and it's been my honor to write it. I don't write down to anyone or think anyone can't think things through for themselves. That being said, in fiction sometimes you have to have a little trust. No, I didn't start smoking crack and forget all the rules. I promise I won't go all catywampus with the rules... This chapter is a catch up for our hero and heroine - and for me. We still have some major problems ahead so enjoy...
It was a couple of hours later before I was able to slow down and think about what happened that day. And it was a lot.
Klaus slept next to me, one arm flung over his head on the pillow. The fine sheets were pulled across his lower body, not covering much of him. And it was certainly a view to enjoy. When he was sleeping, Klaus looked so young, devastatingly handsome. My heart tightened in my chest as I wondered what he'd been like when he was human, maybe when he was my age.
I knew he'd had a terrible childhood mostly because of his abusive father, Mikael. But I liked to think that I saw his human side when we were alone, had a small window into who he really was beneath the hybrid and the scars he'd carried for centuries. In the time we'd been together, he'd trusted me with flashes of the boy who'd wanted to be an artist. A boy who'd just wanted to be loved and accepted. And he'd deserved that. His heritage, the fact that Mikael had not been his biological father? That wasn't his fault. And my heart ached for him. I wondered if he'd ever believe that I really cared about him when he'd spent centuries suffering through rejection and betrayal.
With a sigh, I snuggled up closer to him, naked as he was, tracing the dark beads of his necklace with my finger. My body was sore in all the right places from earlier and I smiled. I had to admit, it wouldn't be a hardship spending eternity trying to show him he was loved. If we got eternity. Things were such a mess right now…
"Can't sleep, love?" he murmured, his beautiful eyes slitting open to look at me.
"Well, it wasn't for lack of trying on your part," I teased him.
Grinning, he flashed those dimples at me. "Well, if at first you don't succeed…"
I had to laugh as he rolled me under him, pinning my lower body down with his own. His necklace just touched the skin of my chest. The heated length of him burned me through the sheets. He was definitely ready for another round it seemed. His lips were a gentle press on mine and his kiss was patient, slow.
After a moment, he pulled back, staring down at me. His expression slowly grew concerned.
"Have a lot on your mind then?" he asked.
I couldn't hide anything from him, it seemed. Probably another reason why he'd chased me so intently, why he was still interested in me at all. I was pretty transparent. He'd been able to see how I felt about him even when I worked hard at denying it. And now that I was with him? He could always read me like a book. It had good points and bad.
Rolling onto his back, he pulled me with him until my head was resting on his chest.
"Well, let's have it," he urged.
"You just took off," I started, remembering the first thing that had happened today with Davina coughing up dirt. "You didn't tell me what you were up to."
"Time was of the essence," he explained. "I knew you and my brothers and my witches would be all about saving our young magical guest and thought my time, and that of Rebekah and Stefan, would be better served elsewhere."
"Your witches, huh? Kol might take issue with that."
"He can certainly try." Klaus smirked.
I laughed at that. Some things didn't change.
"So you guys went out to find a boy she likes and a gay vampire dude who she's friends with?"
"You're surprised," he stated, his fingers sifting through my hair. "Is it so hard to believe that I wanted to help?"
Tipping my head up, I quirked a brow at him. "Yes, unless there is something in it for you."
It was a moment, and a long moment because Klaus could still be unpredictable in his reactions at times, before he chuckled, his chest rumbling beneath my cheek.
"You wound me, love. But it is true, I suppose."
"So?"
"I knew that once my household managed to save Davina that my first course of action would be to remove her from New Orleans," he explained. "As long as she remained here, she could be taken and she could be used against me. Us."
"But Clarice was able to handle her," I pointed out.
"Yesterday she was," Klaus countered. "But Clarice appears to have been weakened in her efforts to save the girl. It will take time for her to regain her strength after using her magic so vigorously for the last couple of days."
I frowned at him but I knew he was right. I knew from Bonnie just how much the use of magic could take out of a witch. Apparently even one as powerful for Clarice. I hoped with everything that she recovered quickly and well.
"So that boy Davina likes had no family?" I pressed.
He didn't answer that right away.
"He certainly does have a family. They are very happy that he's helping keep a dear friend safe," Klaus said carefully.
I play-punched him in the side and he obliged me by grunting. "You said you didn't use compulsion, Klaus."
"I said I didn't compel him," he answered. "Said nothing about his parents, love."
I shook my head. He was trying to do the right thing, I had to give him credit for that. But it was still in his controlling, misguided way.
"They'll return as soon as this crisis has passed," he told me. "The faster we resolved things, the faster they can return."
"Did you really throw him off a balcony?" I had to ask, remembering Rebekah's words.
The way he cut his gorgeous eyes at me answered that question. Oh yes. He had.
"What about Josh?" I asked about the male vampire.
Klaus shrugged. "Family or human attachments haven't been a problem for him to this point. Never considered it honestly."
"So you know him?" I asked, wondered what he'd done to Josh.
Klaus just nodded. I decided that we had so much going on at the moment, that now wasn't the time to dig into this subject. I tabled it for later.
"Did they know where they were going?" Everything had been decided so quickly and everyone had been off to Mystic Falls in such a rush that I had to stop and wonder…
"Stefan had decided, as you had, that Mystic Falls would be the best destination for them. I believe he told Josh where they'd likely be heading and to whom."
"To whom," I mused.
Rolling onto his side and sliding me off, Klaus propped his head with a hand and glanced down at me curiously.
"I wouldn't worry, Caroline," he said, his elegant fingers toying at the sheet that started at my chest. "While Damon's name was invoked, so was Alaric's. Hopefully he and Elena will be first to greet them when they arrive."
I could only hope.
"Anything else?" Klaus prompted.
I blew out an exhale and considered my words first.
"Marcel was here. We talked this morning before he and Thierry left with Elijah to try and find Hayley."
A smirk played about Klaus' sensual lips but his stillness told me he was listening to every word carefully.
"He said that Tyler was out to destroy you," I said slowly.
"That's no secret."
"It's just. It really made no sense…"
With a finger at my chin, he tipped my face up so I was forced to look at him.
"It's just that… He said Tyler has created a lot of hybrids. He said that since they had once been werewolves that they had no interest in doing anything but picking off Marcel's vampires. He said that Tyler was in with the witches now too. He said…"
His gaze captured mine. I swallowed hard.
"Well, he said Tyler had a weapon that could kill an original. That could kill you."
His brow furrowed. "Caroline, that really doesn't make any sense. Should Tyler Lockwood ever succeed in killing me, he will be also killing himself and anyone tied to my bloodline, including you."
I nodded. I understood that. "Does Marcel know about that? That if an original dies, his bloodline dies with him?"
"I honestly don't know," Klaus said quietly. "It's not the sort of information I would personally want to make common knowledge for obvious reasons. But then many may, in fact, be aware of this because, after all, how many died when Finn and Kol were lost? Surely someone sought an explanation?"
I hadn't paused to consider that.
"Marcel either really believes that Tyler can pull off killing you without killing himself or he doesn't know killing an original will kill their entire line and he somehow misunderstood," I decided.
"You don't sound convinced."
I wasn't. "It's just… I know that if an original is killed, so is their line. We found that out with Finn… But having met Clarice. I mean, up until this point she's been so powerful. I just worry."
"Worry?"
"What if the witches have found a way where he could k—hurt you without harming himself?" I sighed now that I'd gotten the words out.
Elijah or Kol might have laughed at my question. It sounded silly to my own ears once I'd voiced it. But not Klaus. He wouldn't totally disregard the possibility, not after running for so many centuries and seeing all manner of seemingly impossible things in all that time.
After a long moment, the concern clouding his eyes faded and he began to tug at my sheet.
"I don't think we should be too concerned at this point, love," he said to me with a grin. "We'll help restore Clarice to her normal strength and she'll be able to deal with anything the witches here in the city can concoct. Let me worry about the mongrel and his hybrids."
"So you don't think they can really hurt you?" I asked, looking for reassurance.
"Oh, they can hurt me. But not in the way you're concerned about," Klaus said, his gaze darting to the necklace I still wore. "Remember your promise to me."
I nodded. I remembered and I'd do my best to keep that promise.
As I watched, his grin widened.
"What?" I wanted to know.
"You're seriously concerned for my welfare?" Klaus wanted confirmation.
"Yes," I admitted, watching the delight evolve on his handsome face. "Are you making fun of me?"
Laughing, he rolled me under him once again. "You should consider your words more carefully, Caroline. I might start thinking that you actually have feelings for me."
I scoffed, tried to shove him off. He wasn't letting me budge him an inch. When I continued to play fight him, he captured both of my hands and secured them on either side of my head with his own. He grinned down at me with mischief in his eyes. His necklace dangled against my own.
"You doubt me now? Finally find a girl who really loves you and this is how you treat her?" I challenged him.
"Ah, so my girl feels that I don't treat her well." Lowering his head, he claimed my mouth with a kiss that quickly set my body on fire, leaving me gasping when he pulled away. "I'll have to find a way to remedy that."
His words had my insides clenching in anticipation even though my muscles already ached from our lovemaking earlier. Klaus was insatiable, his age and strength allowing him to torture me in the most pleasurable ways for hours. He was completely understanding that I struggled physically to keep up him, the man in him enjoying that power. He was tender and nurturing in his loving moods. Mischief colored his darker ones, but never mockery. He never left me wanting, never hurt me. Always he brought me to heights of pleasure that I still struggled to believe were possible.
His mouth scorched a path across my cheek to the hollow below my ear, down to my shoulder which he'd discovered early on was a huge erogenous zone for me. Klaus teased me until I was squirming beneath him, struggling in vain against his iron hold.
Finally, he pulled back to gaze into my eyes and his expression was all sincerity.
"I do love you, Caroline Forbes," he whispered, releasing one of my hands so his fingers could skim across my cheek, my lips. "I'm going to spend the rest of the night, the rest of our existences making sure you never doubt it."
When his lips claimed mine once again, a kiss of such devastating gentleness I felt moved to tears, I knew in my heart he meant every word.
I planned to spend eternity making sure he knew he always had someone who loved him no matter what, who would never leave or betray him. As he ripped the sheets, the only barrier left between us, I decided to push away all of my fears for the moment, they'd still be there tomorrow, and surrender to him.