"Well, look who finally decided to come home," Gregory grinned when he saw Katherine stomp into the living room. "What kept you away? Did you miss me horribly? Nice haircut, who did it for you? A five year old?"

Katherine ignored him and looked around the room. Every surface was covered with garbage or dishes that weren't done. "I see you've made yourself at home," she remarked, her nose wrinkling. "When were you planning on cleaning all of this up?"

"I wasn't actually going to," he remarked. "Now that you're here, you can."

Katherine scoffed. "Of course I won't. It's your mess, not mine. Don't you know how to clean up after yourself?"

Gregory scoffed. "Of course I do," he said, grinning at her. "But why should I when you're here to do it for me?"

Katherine narrowed her eyes. "You disgust me," she told him. "Lie amongst your own filth if you want to, but I'm not cleaning it up for you."

"I'll tell you what," he said smoothly, coming to stand next to her. "If you clean up for me, I'll let you see me naked. And I know you like that."

Katherine scoffed. "No, I don't," she said. "Get over yourself." She started to walk away and he pulled her to him and kissed her hard. Snippets from the dream she'd had of them having sex in the pool flashed before her eyes. When he finally let her go, he was grinning. "You liked that," he said. "Admit it."

She slapped him hard and as his head snapped to the side, she added, "I admit nothing," and stomped off to her room, slamming the door behind her. Why had she come back here? Why hadn't she just stayed with Stefan. Even with the crazy girl around, it still would have been less annoying than coming back here. She sighed and hit the pillow, falling onto the bed, lying there until Gregory came into the room.

"How nice," he said, undressing. "We won't have to waste time."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Katherine asked. "You used to be so nice and now you're so bad even your own father threw you out."

Gregory smirked. "Thank yourself," he replied. "You're the reason why I'm like this. It's all for you."

"Excuse me?" Katherine replied. "I don't think I ever asked you to turn into the biggest asshole in the world. Why are you blaming your problems on me?"

"Well, let's think about this," Gregory replied, sitting down beside her. "My whole childhood was spent trying to get your attention. I told you you were pretty, I got you flowers, I did every nice thing I could to get your attention and how did you respond? By not giving a shit! You looked at me as if I were something disgusting you couldn't wait to get rid of. You put my heartfelt, sincere feelings aside in favor of what? One night stands that would mean nothing in the morning, and then you'd just go and do the same thing all over again. All I've ever wanted was your attention and to get that, I had no choice but to turn out like this. You made the monster, Katerina. Now deal with the consequences."

She'd felt a little flash of warmth inside when he'd said her name. It sounded so much like the way Elijah said it that she felt herself being drawn toward him. "You were a boy!" She told him. "How could you expect me to fall in love with a boy?"

"I didn't," he said. "That's why I've changed. And you like the change in me. Don't deny it. You like me now that I'm all grown up." He lay her back on the bed and they locked eyes for a long moment before she felt his hand slip under her skirt and her panties slide down her leg. Then, he held them in his fist for a moment or two, stroking the silky fabric before throwing them away.

Her breathing quickened. He loomed over her, a smug smirk on his face. He slid her skirt off, his hand running up the inside of her thigh and then rubbing her until she gasped out loud. Then, there was a pause while he got off the bed and rifled around in one of the dresser drawers. "What are you doing?" She asked breathlessly. "Why did you stop?"

His back was to her for a few more seconds, then he turned to grin at her, holding something long and silky in his fist. It was the scarf she'd given him earlier.

"This is why I stopped," he told her. He got back on the bed and tied her wrists to the bedposts before capturing her mouth in his and pushing into her until she no longer had breath to either laugh or scream. When he pulled out of her the last time, she felt drained.

"Tired, Katerina?" He asked, that smug smirk of his back again as he balanced on one arm and gazed at her.

She found the strength to laugh. "Oh, please," she said with more bravado than she felt. "If you want to wear me out, you're going to have to do better than that!"


"Did you have more fun at Colin's game this week since you didn't have to waste time worrying about stains on your clothes?" Selina asked Elijah the next week.

Elijah just gave her a look. "You're going to make me admit it, aren't you?"

"Yes!" Selina nodded. "What is so hard about admitting for once in your life that I was right about something and you were wrong? It's not like it happens a heck of a lot."

"I was more comfortable," Elijah admitted. "And it was nice to be in clothes that can just be washed. But I still feel...uncouth dressing so casually in public."

"Why?" Selina asked. "Everyone else was dressed like you were. No one was gonna mock you or anything."

"You're going to think I'm incredibly foolish, but...I don't like the idea of being just like everyone else," Elijah told her. "The thought of relating to the common man has no appeal to me. And not just because I'm a vampire. When one has lived for as long as I have, one should have something to show for that by being worldly and sophisticated. Being able to relate to the proletariat proves nothing. I know you think nothing of throwing off your former life of wealth and privilege, but I have a reputation to maintain."

Selina put her arms around him. "I know you do," she said. "And I'm not suggesting that you throw all your suits away and wear jeans full time, although that would be incredibly enjoyable for me. I just suggested you wear jeans to Colin's game so we wouldn't have to send another one of your suits to the cleaners. You only wearing your jeans in this room is all right with me." She kissed him and got his shirt off. "Actually," she continued, grabbing the waistband of his jeans and pulling him toward the bed,"actually, I prefer it that way." She pushed him backward onto the mattress and climbed on top of him. Grinning, he reached up and put his hands on her breasts, pushing her back a little. "Wait just a minute," he instructed.

"What?" Selina asked. "Why?"

"This position is so awkward," Elijah replied. "Get off a minute."

"Wow," Selina replied as she climbed off him. "You know, no one's ever said that to me before."

Elijah smirked. "I'm not rejecting you and you know that," he told her. "I'm just trying to find a comfortable position." He lay normally on the bed and Selina climbed on top of him again, unzipping and stroking him. "I'm about to put you in a very comfortable position," she said and kissed him.

He moaned and held onto her, his fingers threading through her dark hair. When he came, it was with such a jolt that she fell off the bed and landed on the floor.

"Darling?" he asked, panting and looking off the side of the bed. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," Selina replied, sitting up and gently rubbing a bump on her head. "I'll be fine."

"Sorry," he said to her. He hopped off the bed and came around to pick her up and put her on the mattress again. "If you're hurting, I could kiss it and make it better."

He kissed her lips and then she grinned. "In that case," she told him, "I hurt all over. You're going to have to do an awful lot of kissing."

"That's all right," he said with a grin. "I don't mind." Then, he slipped his tongue inside her, watching her face as he moved it around. She clutched the mattress tightly so she wouldn't fall off again. Then, he slowly eased out of her, kissed her, and entered her. She let out a squeal and then whispered in his ear, "I know you don't like baseball that much, but you just scored a home run."


Lenora groaned as she tossed and turned in her and James' bed a few weeks later. She felt terrible. Of course it was one of the side effects of being pregnant, but that didn't make it any more tolerable. Finally, she found the strength to sit up. "Max!" She called. "Would you come in here a minute?"

Max came and poked his head through the door. "Yes?" He asked. "Can I get you something?"

She nodded. "A few crackers, please," she requested.

He came with the crackers and sat next to her as she ate them. "When are you going to tell James you're expecting again? Do you think he suspects already?"

"I don't think so," Lenora shook her head. "I've managed not to throw up while he's around so all he knows is that I'm really tired. But I'm gonna force myself to get out of bed and tell him tonight. Where did he go again? And did he tell you when he'd be back?"

"He should be back any time," Max told her. "He had to go talk to your grandmother because she called and said she had a special assignment for him from the council."

"Well, that sounds intriguing," Lenora replied. "I wonder what they want from him."

Just then, they heard the front door open and James called out, "Max! Lenora! I'm back! Anyone home?"

"We're in your room," Max called.

James came in and looked at Lenora with concern. "Are you all right?" He asked. "Are you feeling any more awake than you were this morning?"

"A little bit," Lenora told him. "Not a whole lot, though. I have something I have to tell you."

"And I have something exciting to tell you too!" James replied eagerly. "May I go first?"

He looked so happy that Lenora didn't have the heart to object. "Sure," she nodded. "Go ahead. What's your news?"

"Well," He cleared his throat. "As Max probably told you, the reason why I was gone today is because your grandmother wanted to give me a special assignment from the council. Well, I went to see what it was, and she told me that a group of miscreants have been hiding out in various dimensions to avoid capture and she wants me to go and retrieve them! It could be the biggest capture in history and it would all be due to me!"

"But you can't just go around catching people!" Lenora protested. "That's not your job!"

James grinned. "It is if I got promoted, which I did. Your grandmother liked the idea of me focusing my capturing and killing energies in a more positive way. So if you'll just pack your things, we can leave tomorrow." He saw her face fall and he sat beside her. "What's the matter?" He asked. "Do you not want to come with Henry and me? I thought you'd be more excited."

"Oh, I am excited," Lenora replied. "I'm so proud that you got promoted and that you get to go on all these adventures, and it's not that I don't want to go with you and Henry. It's that I can't. Not right now, anyway."

"Why?" James asked.

"I'm pregnant," Lenora told him. "Grandma doesn't know yet, and I just took the test a few days ago, but she told me when I was pregnant with Henry that it wasn't a good idea to do a lot of interdimensional travel when you're expecting. I was okay coming here because it's not so far from earth, but if I do too much traveling and it won't end well. You and Henry can go without me and send me a postcard every so often. I really don't mind."

"Come on, beauty," James told her. "Do you really think that I'd go anywhere for such a long time as this will be without you? If I left you here like you're suggesting I do, by the time I get back, I will have missed out on your entire pregnancy and the baby being born. I'm gonna need to be gone at least that long, if not longer."

Lenora sniffled. "I know some men who would consider the opportunity to get away from a situation like this a blessing."

James took her in his arms and kissed her forehead. "I am not one of those men," he assured her. "I'm going to stay here until you've had our child and they're old enough to travel too."

"But that'll take more than a year!" Lenora protested. "You're talking nine months until I have the kid, and then adding another six months until they show their powers. That's the earliest any magical person can start traveling between dimensions. You're being very sweet to want to look after me like this, but I think you should tell my grandmother you want to leave now."

"No," James said firmly. "I'm going to tell your grandmother about your condition and say that I am not going anywhere until it reaches it's conclusion, and if she doesn't like it, that's her problem, not mine."

"You're insane, you know that?" Lenora told him, even though she was smiling. "Thank you."

He kissed her hand. "You're welcome, my beauty," he replied.