A/N I'm back with the highly requested sequel to Chapter 13: Niklaustiltskins. New content begins now! If it's been a while since you read the original, here's a brief recap: Caroline was trapped in a cave, set to be executed in Old Scandinavia for the crime of punching the Lord Tyler Lockwood in the face after a not-so-generous offer to use her as a brood mare with a wedding ring. Enter Klaus, God of Evil, with a proposition: a favor now for a favor later. What could go wrong?

Your Eyes Invade My Soul

I feel your fingers, cold on my shoulder; your chilling touch as it runs down my spine. Watching your eyes as they invade my soul - forbidden pleasures I'm afraid to make mine.

The God of Evil knew kissing that devil was a mistake. That beautiful, blonde, angelic demon spawn just beyond his powerful reach.

Hätäeiluelakia. In his native tongue, the Finnish proverb he'd burned into her brain the last year he'd been stalking her dreams meant, "Emergency does not read the law."

Desperate times called for desperate measures. Being trapped in a cave to await execution had been his gift of desperation from the young girl giving him the evil eye as he smiled at her with his charming dimples in person for the first time since he'd rescued her on the promise of a future favor.

Favors were the bread and butter of Tuonela, the Finnish underworld Klaus ruled with an iron fist. The gloomy realm was where Caroline now found herself. She looked around with disdain as aromatic decay reviled her senses. Part of her was relieved when he'd finally shown himself to her in the forest. Part of her was filled with dread. He'd left her with a branding on the back of her hand. More times a day than she cared to count, she found herself subconsciously rubbing the jagged lines of two inverted triangles, one side crossed with an X, the other with a single dash. It delighted him how little she knew of his mark. Every time she touched it and thought of him, he heard her siren's call. By day, he watched her under an invisibility charm; but at night… at night, he came to her.

Since the night he'd saved her, Caroline had dreamed of him. He'd haunted her fantasies with his charming smile and false promises of security. He'd drawn her in with his possessive touch. Taunted her with dreams of what it would feel like to be back in his strong arms. Made her think and feel things no maiden ever should. It was so wrong, but it felt so right. He was a confounding creature.

More than anything, Klaus enchanted her. She found herself daydreaming of what her life would be like at his side. She remembered vividly what it felt like to have his tongue gently lick the seam of her strawberry lips and part them to caress her mouth with his own in a deathly kiss that left her as excited as she was breathless. He had been the first man to taste her, and he intended to be her last.

Kissing her hadn't been strictly necessary. Undressing her certainly hadn't, but she didn't know that. It had been simple. He wanted to taste her, so he did. He wanted her naked, so he made her so. She was beautiful, strong, full of light. All that he wanted and all that he was not. He was darkness given flesh, thought of by many as the devil himself. He was, in a way. He was the lord and master of his domain. It should have impressed her, or at least intimidated her a little bit. It didn't.

Caroline's nose curled in revulsion when he held open the door to his lair and her eyes fell on a pair of gorgeous redheads with bright smiles and vacant eyes. The lights were on... but no one was home. They must have gone back on their deal. The peasant girl had spent her time on the run learning all she could about the Finnish fiend. It was said he collected souls to serve him for all time. He lured them in with sweet words and waited patiently until they doomed themselves. She wouldn't fall into his trap.

His latest victim held her head high and stared him down, refusing to show him fear. Even though she was terrified. The women were barely dressed, clad only in chiffon ribbons that scarcely covered their breasts and dipped just below their waists. They simpered when he walked in and fawned over him, purring happily when he pecked them on their cheeks and told them what good little souls they were. Caroline's sapphire eyes narrowed at the way they hung all over him.

"Who are they?" she asked a bit defensively, crossing her arms over her chest.

"They're my palvelijattaresi," he replied with a shrug, as though that much was obvious.

"Of course, you have maid servants," his recent addition scoffed, rolling her eyes. "So, what, is Klaus just a nickname or does everyone here call you Tuoni?" she asked smartly.

"Tuoni was my mother's husband," he informed her without emotion. "He's not here anymore." His icy tone held no remorse and she asked no more of the previous rulers of hell. Without a glance in their direction, he quickly dismissed his minions. They simpered at him on their way out the door. His smirk returned when he saw how she noticeably relaxed once the girls were gone. He'd been right about her.

"Tuonela is my home, as now it is yours. You owe me a life debt, Caroline," he reminded her, trailing a razor-sharp nail down her cheek, reveling in the way she fought back a flinch, gulping slightly.

"What do you want with me?" Her voice was small as anxiety consumed her, but she held her head high and refused to let it show. She looked at the pillows where the brainless scantily clad women had knelt for their king and felt a mixture of fear and something she couldn't, wouldn't, name.

As much as he was enjoying her reaction to his touch, he smirked at her and took a step back. He sat down on his throne, tossing one leg over the armrest as he leaned back and eyed her up and down. The Lord of Demons took his time before answering her, drawing out her anticipation, for that's what it was. She wasn't afraid of him. She was fire and ice and melted the darkest parts of him. He'd spent a year figuring out how best to claim her as his own. She could stand there fidgeting adorably as he watched her with interest all day long, but it wouldn't expedite his explanation. Klaus played by his own rules. His hand would not be forced by her, nor anyone else.

"I'm in need of a new tuonen piika," he finally answered her. She looked at him curiously, more than a bit relieved that he wasn't planning on wrapping her in chiffon. She bit back the part of her that wasn't relieved at all and waited for him to continue lest her words betray her. She had no idea of the meaning of his words, but she was certain he would eventually explain. All she had to do was wait him out. "You will ferry the departed over the river each day and return to me each night," he continued as if on cue.

The young blonde couldn't help but let her shoulders slump a bit, relief washing over her. That didn't sound as frightening as she'd expected. "Come. Kneel. We must go over some specifics of your servitude. After that, I'll show you to your chambers," Klaus commanded, pointing at one of the plush pillows the redheads had recently vacated beside his throne.

"Are you saatanan* kidding me?!" Her tone was incredulous as she gaped at him, her hands falling to her curvaceous hips.

The God of Evil was in front of her in an instant, his eyes glowing bright green as he firmly gripped her chin to make her face him when she petulantly looked away. "When I give you an order, you will obey me, Caroline. If I tell you to kneel, you will do so without the attitude. Do I make myself clear?"

The fire in his eyes gave her momentary pause, but she quickly recovered and pulled away, her skin singing where he'd touched her. "I'll bring you the dead, but don't expect me to run around like a brainless moron wrapped in freaking ribbons!"

Men and women had lost their tongues for less, but the jealously behind her sapphire orbs placated him enough that he simply stepped forward, his tone icy. "Oh, they aren't brainless, love." The Finnish fiend invaded her airspace, his essence thickening the charged air between them as he delivered a stern warning. "They're soulless." He waited a moment for his words to sink in, drawing pleasure from the way the defiance fell off her visage and was replaced with something akin to dread.

"They made the same deal as did you. A favor for a favor. They broke their word, went back on their deals. Their souls belong to me. They do as I say because they know nothing of the world beyond that which I allow. They know me as their Master; they do my bidding, and that is all they do. The only purpose they serve." He pressed her up against the stone wall of the enormous cavern that served as a throne room to the king of the underworld. She could feel his stubble graze her cheek when he leaned down to whisper in her ear. "But you'll be smarter than they were, won't you, sweetheart?"

Klaus placed one palm flat against the rock on either side of her golden curls as he stared at her expectantly, his face devoid of humor. "I am the Lord of Demons, Caroline, and you bear my mark. That makes you mine. I am now in control of every aspect of your life. You will obey your new Master. Do as I say. You should consider yourself lucky that I will allow you to leave my presence each day. You will work hard and return to me each night. Fulfill your end of the bargain?" He'd phrased it as a question, but they both knew it wasn't as he hovered over her.

He was close. Too close. There was something magnetic about the man merely a few centimeters from her face. Part of her hated him, but another part wanted desperately for him to do more than put her to work on the river. She'd been terrified when she'd seen the nearly nude women, but now that she knew she wasn't to be among them, part of her was disappointed. The soulless seemed so happy.

Caroline was a brilliant girl for a peasant. For anyone, really. She could both read and write and had managed to evade Lord Tyler's henchmen alone for over a year. She was cunning and resourceful and a survivor. And none of it mattered a damn bit as her heart raced because Klaus was both too close and too far. Despite her intelligence, she found that she had no idea what to do except minutely nod her head, though she did her best to keep the fire in her eyes.

The older man's dimples suddenly emerged as he smiled at her in a way that was unfairly attractive for a man who'd just declared he was now her lord and master. Before she could process what was happening, he leaned down and pecked her lightly on the lips. "There's a good little palvelijattaresi." He'd said it lightly, but the ache deep in her lower belly was anything but. Her mouth was dry and her skin unexpectedly hot as she flushed.

There. Her momentary hesitation was the chink in her armor Klaus needed to exploit her weaknesses. She didn't want to do as she was told. Didn't want to lose herself. He could work with that. Smiling at her a bit more softly, he held out his hand, his fingers curling around hers when he led her back to his seat. She obediently followed him, heart racing, and knelt at his feet, unnamed emotions filling her when he arrogantly peered down at her from his throne.

Indentured servitude was confusing.

*Saatanan is Finnish for fucking.

A/N Well, what did you think? A lot of people asked for this, so I hope I didn't disappoint! Let me know in a review!