AN: AU where Klaus broke his curse with Katherine in 1492 and then managed to kill his father. And then, in 19th century England, he meets Caroline...
Written for day 4 of Klaroline AU Week (Time Shift).
NSFW.
[England, circa 1820s]
Lady Salvatore's summer party was the highlight of the season. The fortnight long event with only the creme of the ton attending was one of the most sought out invitations among the London elite.
As a childhood friend of Elena and due to her status as the Duchess of Farington, lady Caroline Saltzman had been among the fortunate ones to be invited. Usually, it meant that she would be condemned to mindless chitchat about fashion and latest gossip. Or, even worse, watching Lady Salvatore maneuver her affections between her husband and his brother, lord Stefan. All while Caroline's husband was busy drinking, hunting with other gentleman or frolicking with his latest mistress.
Luckily, those times were long gone.
This summer, she arrived at the Salvatore estate as the young, wealthy widow that had just come out of mourning.
And Caroline had intended to take full advantage of that.
Truth be told, she had been taking advantage of her newfound freedom for the last several days. And the gentleman peering at her from across the crowded sitting room was, very eagerly so, helping her with her indulgence.
Mostly, she had been indulging in him.
Looking back at him from the cover of her fan, Caroline had to declare he was one the most handsome men in the room. His shapely, raspberry lips curved in a smile that promised her waves after waves of bliss. Then, there were his blonde curls, ruffled in an effortless, yet elegant manner, bringing back the images of his disheveled hair after many of their secret rendezvous'. The tight fit of his breeches and waistcoat accentuated the strong lean muscles of his body.
Body that she was fairly familiar with by now and quite fond of, if Caroline were to be honest with herself.
She had met Lord Mikaelson at the same affair over a year ago, a couple of weeks prior to her husband's, how unfortunate, death. Along with his family, the gentleman seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, mysterious, unmarried and obscenely wealthy, a combination that guaranteed him the highest rank among the ton.
He had fascinated her from the very beginning, as Caroline could see that there was a very lethal man brewing underneath all that mystery. She could feel his vigilant eyes following her every move, the heat of his gaze boring into her back. He was a devil with the words, mercilessly attempting to seduce her. But that summer, Caroline still had a husband and affair was out of question, too much of a risk to her plans. She could see respect flash in his eyes whenever she would resist him, or better yet, defy him. It warmed the heart that had grown cold and guarded so long ago, once her father had traded the well-being of his only daughter for the opulence of the duke.
While spending a year mourning the loss of the husband that had actually been the blessing, the thoughts of Niklaus did cross her mind on occasion. Memories of the seduction game they would play were burning through the sleek sheets she lay on at night, her imagination running wild. Making her wild. Recalling the whispers of his sinful words, that were spreading goosebumps along her creamy skin, prompted her hands to move, to rub, to roam.
In a way, she had never been alone during that year. Not when he haunted her thoughts. And the devil that he surely was, Lord Mikaelson never allowed her to forget him, to banish him from her memory. A few weeks after her husband's death, the first gift had arrived. It was a beautifully made globe, the unknown lands and continents shining like a beacon leading her on the path of her new life.
There had been some other presents over the time, flowers here and then, books or forbidden erotic poetry that made Caroline bite her nails in a very unladylike manner or blush like an innocent debutante.
One of the last tokens Niklaus sent, made her breath catch in her throat. The portrait of her, and it must have been painted both with such passion and control. The way the emotions rolled off it; yet, at the same time, it spoke of the precision with which its creator mastered the lines of her body.
Fiercely. Ruthlessly. With abandon.
Even then, Caroline knew, it would be exactly like this between them. Deep down, she longed for it.
It might have been very unladylike indeed, but when she saw her not-so-silent admirer at Elena's party over a week ago, it did not take her long to fall into his bed. By now, it seemed as if that dance of theirs had lasted months and Caroline felt, that after the shackles of her marriage, she was due for some well-earned gratification.
And truly, she deemed herself positively gratified by Lord Mikaelson. In fact, it certainly wouldn't hurt to seize some of the glorious experience right about now.
Their eyes locking, Caroline smirked when he cocked his brow and motioned subtly towards balcony door that lead to the garden. According to the routine they had perfected over the week, she waited a few minutes after Klaus had left the room and then excused herself to follow after him.
Her pulse raced as she maneuvered her way across the labyrinth of hedgerows and flowers. It didn't take her long to get to the gazebo in the back, the path very much familiar by now.
The moment she stepped over the threshold, Caroline felt strong arms encasing her from behind. A shower of light feather-like kisses descended upon her neck, Klaus' hot skillful mouth devouring her ivory skin as if he was starving. For her.
"I have been waiting for this all evening, love. This wretched woman should know when to leave her guests so they could entertain themselves," he whispered in her ear, his hand cupping her breast through her corset.
"This is my friend you are speaking of, my lord," Caroline let out breathlessly, arching into Klaus and grinding her lower body against his quickly hardening cock. She huffed in annoyance at how her undergarments were constraining her movements, skin crawling with anticipation.
His dark chuckle resounded in her ear as he swept her hair over one shoulder. "And indeed, my love, you need better friends," he stated wryly while his hands were busy untying the laces of her gown. "This was such an insolence, forcing us to listen to those mindless chits and their mundane music talents when all I could focus on was imagining how I take you on the nearest table."
Her gown fell down, with her chemise and corset following soon after. "How positively scandalous, my lord," Caroline gasped half-sentence when his fingers wandered under her drawers, which were already drenched with her arousal.
"No lords. My name, Caroline. Say my name." His husky voice caressed her skin as the tension coiled in her belly, her center throbbing with unrelenting want.
"Niklaus. Please, I need you now," she whimpered, angling her head to capture his mouth in a hot demanding kiss.
Their lips moved together in hard hungry touches, tongues swirling against each other, to taste, to devour.
To sate.
She mewled into his mouth when he ran his fingers along her folds, so deliciously slick and hot. The sound rang like the sweetest song in his ears, maddening, euphoric, pulsing in his veins.
He wanted to make her mad with desire, just like she made him. He craved to see her bite those full pink lips in attempt to muffle her screams, his name escaping them nonetheless.
In the hundreds years of his life, Klaus was fiercely persistent to avoid it but he could not help it with Caroline. He needed.
Hands gripping onto the delicate skin of her hips, he motioned her backwards, till her knees hit the bench inside the gazebo. She fell onto the velvet cushioning, sprawled before him and at his mercy, to his utmost satisfaction.
Her eyes darkened with lust and her breath hitched when he fell to his knees and covered her thighs with his hands. Her stare openly wanton, she lifted her hips a bit while he moved to tuck her drawers down slowly, his fingers not neglecting to touch every inch of her trembling limbs that they could reach.
Once the remnants of her lingerie were off, Klaus shifted closer, his hands firmly cupping her knees. Looking straight into her eyes, he parted her legs, in the move that was torturously slow, until she was opened wide to him.
Caroline gasped when his gaze fell to her exposed heat and then back at her, the heavy charge of energy pulsing between them. Then, his head dipped forward and she could hear him take a long deep breath. She gulped, feeling so utterly bare before him and yet, it was the most amazing feeling. It was as if he could not get enough, examining all of her. Taking her all in.
The sight. The scent.
The taste.
The first brushes of his tongue were teasing, agonizingly so, and Caroline squirmed under his attentions, her fingers digging into the soft material of cushions in frustration.
"Klaus." A low guttural sound he tore from her cut through the night. She felt restless with need, the need that had been gradually building since the first time she had met him and now it had grown to a monster that was always starving. No matter how many times she had already fed it this week.
It was always hungry. She was always hungry for more of him.
"What is it that you want, my lady?" The raspy tone of his voice vibrated against her sensitive skin, shivers spreading all over her.
Her muscles tensed, awaiting the pleasure she knew perfectly well he could deliver. "You." Caroline's eyes darted to his as she spread her legs even wider and added shamelessly, "I want all of you, my lord."
He shuddered at her words, satisfaction filling the darkest corners of his mind . No one else would ever make her feel like this. He would imprint himself on her every bone.
Leaning back a little, he parted her glistening folds with his fingers. "Look, Caroline," Klaus demanded, his voice laced with steel. When her eyes, heavy-lidded and hazed, focused on her pussy, he continued, "See how flushed and swollen you are. All pink and ready. Just for me." Teasing her with light touches of his fingertip around her entrance, he stared in fascination with how her muscles contracted in response.
"Yes," she let out ruggedly. "Just for you. Please…Niklaus…" He drove her to the edge of insanity, having barely touched her. She needed more.
"If the lady so kindly insists," he smirked and then launched forward.
Subtlety long forgotten, Klaus lapped at her juices, revelling in her sour-sweet taste. Caroline's thighs clenched around him as he grazed with his teeth and then licked, his thumb rubbing on her throbbing clit with just the right amount of pressure.
She was getting lost in the sensations, heat pooling in her belly at the lavish moves of his extremely talented tongue. Her hand dived to his head, fingers sinking into the soft curls as she bucked her hips in rhythm to his caresses, desperate for release. Just when she thought she couldn't take anymore, he focused on her folds, sucking in the swollen flesh. Her back arched as she mewled sweetly, her nails scraping his scalp. He preened under her ministrations, the scent of Caroline's arousal and her untamed passion sending a jolt of pleasure through his body, down to his cock.
Lowering his head, he licked the soft skin of her inner thigh, then neared her groin, the blood that was rushing in her veins just underneath calling to him.
"Do it. Bite me. I know you want to." Her voice was strained as she fought to calm her breathing.
They had never done it before, even though Caroline had figured out what he was long ago (well, the vampire part). She was a smart little thing and Klaus had been surprised, for the first time in forever, when she admitted her knowledge of the secret he and his family had kept for so long. Her words had stunned him and his first impulse was to eliminate the threat, no matter how precious that threat had grown to be to him.
But when it came to acting on his instinct, Klaus found himself unable to go through with it. Perhaps it was the honesty gleaming in her eyes, the earnest look that told him that once he earned her loyalty, Caroline would not betray him. Still, the years of paranoia should have been enough to push him in the right direction and the fact that they did not…It was mind-boggling.
Just like the fact that he refused to feed from her was puzzling to both of them. It wasn't from the lack of desire on hybrid's part. The scent of her blood, rich and intoxicating, was always teasing him, keeping him on the edge.
Any time they were close like this, the need to taste her overwhelming. And yet, he didn't want Caroline to think he viewed her as a mere feeding source. This level of consideration for his partner's feelings was something that had never occurred before and it was at least perplexing, if not unsettling.
"Are you sure?" he asked, putting these disturbing thoughts away for the moment.
"Yes. Taste me, Niklaus. I want you to," she stressed the last words, her fingers tugging at his hair.
His fangs emerged and carefully, he pierced the ivory skin, her blood flooding his mouth and the heavenly flavour invading his taste buds. The unusual sweetness of it overpowered the metallic essence, making Klaus purr in delight. It was mind-blowing and the undeniable intimacy of the act was overwhelming. His senses were even more heightened, sensitive to all things Caroline.
The rushing beat of her heart. Low muffled sighs of bliss escaping her lips. The gentle creases of her skin as she moved, body straining under the glorious torture of his teeth and mouth.
Caroline gasped when she felt the sting of his bite, pain and pleasure blending together in one wave of sensations that made her toes curl. She could feel all of him, and it was mesmerizing, the way they were connected in that exact moment. She was in the most bizarre kind of haze, weakened by blood loss but reeling in adrenaline that was pumping in her veins. Falling and sinking and emerging all at the same time, throbbing and pulsing and quivering.
Teetering on the edge.
Then Klaus' finger found her clit again and squeezed it hard, the sudden stab of pleasure triggering her release. His name fell on her lips and she pulled his hair roughly as the ecstasy rippled through her body, and the world blurred before her eyes when her climax had her nearly passing out.
Cradling her pliant form in his arms, Klaus retracted his fangs and bit his wrist. He rushed to feed her with his blood and Caroline scrunched her nose a bit at the metallic taste but drank obediently upon his insistent but worried glare.
Next thing she knew, his mouth clashed with hers and the taste of his and her blood mixed together, along with the remains of her arousal on his lips. It all blended in one tantalizing flavour that was them and Caroline let herself get carried away by this tide they brought on together.
[Later that night]
The sweat glistening on their skin was cooled down by the summer breeze coming through the open windows, as they lay entangled together on her bed. He sneaked into her bedroom mere hours after they had separated from their outdoor rendezvous. Now, satiated and peaceful, the hybrid relished the feel of Caroline's body curled so closely around his. Her leg was flipped over his hips, her fingertips drawing patterns on the planes of his chest and down to his abdomen.
All these ministrations of her nimble fingers were really just taunting him for the next round of lovemaking and Klaus was ready to pull his insatiable lady under him and ravish her properly (or not so properly) all over again.
"When are you going to turn me, Niklaus?" Her quiet question echoed against his skin before he could do it.
The lazy atmosphere fell apart at her words, leaving him rattled. The truth was, he had thought about it, more than a few times. Had meant to approach the subject since he had known Caroline was very much aware of his supernatural status.
And yet, there she was, once again catching him off guard, something she seemed to have a particular penchant for.
"Are you sure, Caroline?" he whispered in her ear, tugging back loose curls from her face.
Propping herself up on his chest, she glared at him, clearly offended by the question. "Don't be condescending, Klaus, I beg you. I know what I want," she opposed to his doubt.
"Oh? And what is that, sweetheart?" He quirked his brow, intrigued.
"Freedom," she stated with no hesitation, and when he looked at her incredulously, carried on, "I realize that as a wealthy widow I have retained more freedom than most of the women in the society. I'm allowed to attend soirees without a chaperon. I might even enjoy an affair occasionally. Providing it is with a gentleman deemed appropriate by the ton, of course. This is not enough. I want more. I deserve more."
Her eyes flickered with fire and she looked very much like the aristocrat she was, majestic and fierce. All that even despite her nudity and disheveled appearance, Klaus noted, hiding his amusement. Stating it loud would certainly earn him a kick in the groin or a smack on the head from his duchess and he needed to focus on the matter at hand.
"Caroline…"
"Think nothing of it. It does not equal an eternal commitment towards me if that is what you fear. I am aware that, given your immortality, I can only hold your interest for so long. We will part our ways and that will be the end of it." Her tone was resigned and yet, she met his eyes with determined gaze.
He did not like what he heard at all, flickers of anger tickling at his skin. "Tread carefully, love. You are mine." In one swift move, he caged her under his body, gripping her hands in one of his and holding them over her head.
She was his.
The first time he had met the duchess, Klaus had been stunned by her beauty. But, in his 800 years, he had met and eaten many pretty young things, feeling no remorse afterwards. What set Caroline apart though, was the ferocity of her spirit, the determined glint in her eyes any time she would defy the society rules, rebelling against the bounds imposed on her as a woman, with the tenacity he had not seen among the bravest of men.
With the cards she had been dealt with, Lady Saltzman played the best game she could. He could not imagine the horror of a teenage girl sold to the aging duke for wealth and prestige. It was highly fortunate for her that her husband had only lived for mere two years after their marriage, leaving all his fortune to her with no other living relatives.
Klaus had never asked her about the circumstances of duke's death, deciding he would let Caroline keep her secrets for now. He could be extremely patient when there was a need for it and he had a strong suspicion that peeling away all her layers would prove to be the eternal pleasure of his.
It seemed they had been on the path to this exact moment from the time he had decided not to kill her. And now, it was inevitable.
She would be his forever.
Defiance glimmered in those ocean blue eyes. "If I am yours, then you are mine. My lord." She probably meant to disconcert him but truly, her words were like honey to his ears.
"Very well, then, my duchess," he drawled and then released her arms from his hold. Biting into his wrist, he said, "I will grant you your wish."
Taking his hand in hers, she closed her lips around the wound and sucked. His blood flowed into her mouth, the taste making her gag in disgust.
Klaus appeared amused by it and not at all offended when he spoke, "Just wait, my love. Soon, you will revel in the flavour. What a pretty ferocious vampire you will make." Then his features turned somber as he cupped her cheeks, thumb caressing the light blush on her skin.
"Just make it quick. Please," she swallowed, apprehension crossing her face for the first time.
"Worry not, my love. I will take good care of you." His lips loomed over hers, bracing himself to do what she had asked. To cause her harm in any way was torture but since they both wanted eternity, this was what needed to be done.
"I know," she uttered into his mouth.
Her trust, the treasure in itself, was what gave him strength to proceed. Taking her lips in a slow sensual kiss, Klaus sank his fingers in her hair. Caroline's body turned lax as she engaged in the smooth dance of his tongue against hers. She didn't notice his other hand resting on the other side of her head until it was over.
Then, there was only darkness.
And his whisper, echoing in her mind.
Forever.
What do you think about this one? Was the smut hot? Did you like the overall idea? Please comment, I always love to read your thoughts :)
If you haven't, maybe you want to go back one chapter and check out the X-Men AU I've written for fusion day? I'm really curious if you have any insight about this one (and if you're interested in part 2 bc I may have something planned).
Thank you for reading and all the reviews and favs and follows, they always brighten up my day!
