Caroline considered her new apartment, and took a slow breath. Eyes closing, she let herself relax. Seattle wasn't ideal, but it was a welcome break from New Orleans. She knew her old phone was probably collecting text messages, most of them from Rebekah, but she'd lost it somewhere between Phoenix and L.A.

If only she could stop dreaming.

She stared down at her silver bracket, wrapped in protection spells. It was a bit of a gag gift from Bonnie Bennett, and one she knew worked. So she didn't understand how he kept finding her. She hoped it was just her subconscious replaying the sex - showing her a few fantasies - but when running from an Incubus, you couldn't take chances that hot wet dreams were just that.

She just needed a little time, to re-guard her heart, slap those mental and emotional barriers in place. Because, God, he'd wrecked her. It didn't particularly matter that that first time had been to save their lives.

"Wait, what do you mean they took Klaus?" Caroline questioned, brows furrowed. Rebekah scowled at her, the monster sharpening the lines of her face.

"Davina is looking into it," the Original Vampire said icily. "It looks like there might be a loophole or two in the protections around him."

Caroline had picked up a few bits and pieces since she found herself in New Orleans fifty years before, a brand new vampire and completely lost. What she knew was that when Esther had tried to change her family, she hadn't awoken the werewolf in her son as presumed, but something even more dangerous.

Incubus might've meant that he could drop the panties of whomever he pleased at five hundred paces, but Klaus was a weapon. Anyone who looked at those dimples and didn't accept that died. He used that charm, the blatant sexuality and false consideration to rule, all of it backed by his vampire siblings, the strength his demon blood leant him. Her first week in New Orleans, she'd watched him cheerfully seduce a young man with his eyes and smile, before pulling his intestines free from the gaping hole in his abdomen.

Stunned at the display of violence, she'd frozen when those terrible eyes had caught hers. Caroline felt the impact of his gaze down her spine like honey, but sex and stupidity had changed her into a monster. She wasn't going to be stupid enough to let a second monster crawl inside her chest and rip away parts she couldn't get back a second time.

Two days later, she'd found herself a little dumbfounded and employed by Rebekah Mikaelson.

"I have two rules. Don't fuck up and don't fuck my brother. You do either of those, and I'll leave bits of you along Bourbon Street like confetti."

"Define what you consider fucking up," Caroline replied, tongue loose from the shock of that morning.

Cool, blue eyes met hers, a razors edge behind the startling age of her. "Would you like a list?"

"Yes, actually."

Rebekah paused, canted her head to the side and shrugged. Spinning on perfect heels, she headed to the door. "You might live through the week, then. I expect you and your things at the house tomorrow."

She'd shown up and carved a life for herself. For the first decade or so, her dealings had mostly been with Rebekah but as she gained some age - a few skills - Klaus started appearing in the peripherals of her work. Caroline kept her dealings with him short, refusing to forget what lurked beneath the charm of him. The key to dealing with an Incubus she learned was just to accept the way she reacted to him. That unexpected flush, the heat that always lingered after a conversation. Accept it, refuse to be embarrassed by it, and get the job done.

She'd actually learned to like him, a little.

Klaus had an amazingly dry sense of humor, behind that devil's smile. Once or twice, she thought he might have flirted with her, but she brushed that off as habit. So what if she felt his eyes on her, thought she could almost feel the brush of power along the back of her neck?

But in her fifty years, she'd never seen so much worry in Rebekah's eyes. As a demon, part something else, there were certain set of rules. She knew he'd been summoned a few times by covens and that the slaughter had been excessive, even by vampire standards. Most learned not to try it, and the loopholes had been carefully closed by covens who if not loyal, were at least fearful of the Originals.

"It's been three days," Caroline said slowly.

"Davina and the Bennett witch will be here in an hour. Be prepared to help them with whatever they need."

She'd called Enzo. Caroline might've somehow become the liaison for the majority of North America, but Europe was Enzo's territory. She didn't begrudge the laid back vampire the power, he mostly dealt with Elijah. Rebekah might have been a ruthless brat, but that old world stuffiness left her off kilter. Thankfully, Rebekah and Klaus traveled to Europe far more than Elijah came stateside.

"Thanks for the heads up, doll." Enzo said quietly into the phone. "I imagine Bekah is on the phone with Elijah now."

"What happens if we don't find him?" Caroline asked, taking a moment to pause from the number of things that needed to be done.

"War."

"How bad?"

"The last time someone messed with our founding family, it re-shaped the supernatural world. There's a reason most of the supernatural behaves itself."

Caroline wrinkled her nose. "Define behave?"

"Kol hasn't been around your parts since before you were turned. If you ever see him, Bekah and Klaus together, it means trouble. Elijah usually keeps an eye on things from a distance, but you remember what happened when that little traveler cult tried to abduct the vexing Katerina?"

"I'll see what I can do to hurry Davina and Bonnie along."

"I'll touch base with Marcel," Enzo offered. "Incubus magic is odd, so those closest to Klaus - or those he considers his - might have a shot at helping track him. Marcel is both."

"How so?"

"Devil's bargain love. Ever noticed how his skin shimmers, when you're looking at him out of the corner of your eye? That's power. Don't know the details - don't want to - but Marcel is bound to Klaus as assuredly as the rest of the family. Demons are possessive bastards."

"Thanks, I appreciate the help."

"Later, doll."

She'd spent the next twenty-four hours doing what she did best. Organizing, bullying and pointing Rebekah's particular brand of crazy in the direction it needed to go. The fact that everything had gone to shit - the spell warped by betrayal inside Davina's coven - should have just been a blimp. A starting point for Plan F.

Except she'd been dragged into the magical vortex, yanked through whatever summoning ritual had been corrupted. The only thing that had saved her had been the malady in her veins. The cold and the shock would have killed a human, but Caroline was a monster.

Who woke trapped in cell with starving Incubus.

"Ssssh," Klaus murmured as she slowly came too. Lashes fluttering open, she glanced around the emptiness of thief prison. Her lashes moved for an entirely different reason when she realized his thigh was cushioning her cheek, long fingers tangled in her hair. "You've been unconscious for a few hours."

"Klaus?"

"Who else?"

"At least you're not dead," Caroline breathed. She gave herself a moment to mentally brace herself. Then she gingerly sat up and looked at the demon next to her.

Klaus was pale, cheekbones sharp against his face. He looked fevered, skin flushed against the pale and she frowned. "What did they do to you?"

"Starvation," Klaus shrugged, iron behind his eyes. "They've been very careful, to take my power in small bites. In another day or two, they'll bring in a little virgin, try to trap my power."

"How does that work, exactly?"

"Blood isn't always enough," Klaus said simply.

Caroline shot him an exasperated look. "I'm perfectly aware of your feeding habits. Are we at the point where blood is enough to get you back to full strength or are we talking full on orgy here?"

Klaus snorted, but a ghost of a smile curved his lips. "Hardly an orgy love, although those can be a delightful banquet."

"Don't call me that - why a virgin?"

"Kol's idea of a practical joke," Klaus drawled, his expression turning annoyed. "As if any monster would choose a virgin if given a choice. He once convinced an entire village to give me their pure daughters, I was drowning in hysterics."

Caroline smiled despite herself, biting her lip hard to stifle the laugh in her throat. She froze as Klaus' eyes went nearly black at the motion, bright glimpses of gold hot in his pupils. The sudden surge of his hunger a tangible heat between them.

"How much trouble am I in?" Caroline breathed, clearing her throat to steady her voice. "How long until your captors return?"

"I won't touch you." Klaus said tightly, even as his tongue dragged along his lip. Caroline was perfectly aware that Klaus didn't need to touch her to stroke her arousal, knew how he could play power and words against senses that had nothing to do with touch. Under the right seduction, she'd no doubt he could talk her into touching herself for his greedy eyes.

Still, that was the difference between a full meal and a snack. Caroline gave him a flat look. "We both know you're the best chance of getting us out of here. But I'm also really aware of your feeding habits, as I've dealt with your left overs."

Those heavy lidded eyes caught hers, and her stomach fluttered with awareness as he watched her. "It's not always like that, but I'm afraid that I'm lacking my usual finesse. I'll need you to orgasm, Caroline. More than once. And once I've exhausted you, I'll take my own pleasure. Are you sure you want to do this?"

The small hairs on the back of her neck lifted. There was nothing seductive about him, none of careful facades that he wore to charm and beguile. This was stark, his hunger laid bare, but it was the glitter burning behind his gaze that left her pulse rapid.

"Do I want to have sex in a dank, little cell that smells awful? No. But I'm also pretty sure I don't want to end up dead - I hear it's pretty boring. My teenage self had sex for worse reasons."

"Take off your shirt."

Caroline scrunched her nose, but reached for the buttons of her blouse. "I'm not really fond of orders."

Klaus reached for her, eyes lingering on her face even as her shirt landed softly on the floor. "No?"

"Let's call it a quirk."

He laughed, the noise low and touched her chin with careful fingertips. "This is not how I imagined things."

Caroline glanced around. "Yeah, rescue in the form of orgasms. That's new for me too."

"Not what I meant. Caroline, this will go easiest if you drink my blood."

"Why?" Caroline questioned as she found herself tugged onto his lap. She stilled a little at the hard line of his erection, the heat of his body warming her cool skin. She'd never been this close to Klaus, never sat cradled by his hands; the temptation of his face so near hers.

"Sweet little Caroline," Klaus murmured, chest moving under her hands as he drew in a deep breath. "We don't have the time you deserve for foreplay. My blood is potent."

"Vampire high," Caroline muttered. She reached up, cupped his face and ignored the heady rush of touching him. He smelled like the cell, but underneath that was Klaus. Klaus who always left her uncomfortably aroused and who watched her with burning eyes. "You will tell Rebekah that this was life or death."

Then she kissed him. Opened her mouth against his, bit lightly at his lips. Klaus made a low, rumbling noise in his chest; Caroline hummed in pleasure as he parted his lips, but instead of delving into his mouth, she sank her fangs into his lower lip until she tasted blood.

It hit her in a rush, a lush high. Hands fisting in his curls, she rolled her hips against the line of his cock until they both moaned. She pulled back once her head started to spin. Lashes fluttering, Caroline whimpered when he palmed her breast.

"Oh, God."

A rusty laugh against her cheek. "I warned you, love."

Then he gave her no time to think, hand sliding under her skirt to glide along the slickness of her; two fingers pushing into the clamp of her muscles. He groaned even as his thumb worked her clit roughly. Caroline clutched his shoulders, aroused by the taste of him lingering on her tongue, the feel of him under her hands.

"Look at you," Klaus murmured into her ear as she rocked against him. "If we'd the time, I'd have peeled your clothes off slowly - traced your skin with my tongue. Watched your beautiful face as you melted into my sheets."

Caroline shuddered, moaning into his shoulder. "I don't trust your sheets."

He smiled against her and curled his fingers. Her orgasm caught her by surprise, and he made a pleased, hungry noise as she came down. When she lifted her head, some of the edge had left his face and his eyes were locked onto her lips.

"One."

To be honest, Caroline lost track after that. They were restricted by the room, but by the time he slid her to hands and knees, pushed the fullness of his cock inside her she was nearly senseless. He murmured words she didn't know against her skin, each moan and whimper tightening his hold on her waist, her breast. She dug her nail into the hard floor and could only take the pleasure singing through her veins. He came shortly after her, his arm somehow keeping her from collapsing.

"My pretty Caroline," Klaus breathed as he helped her settle in a more dignified position against the wall. She watched him as he carefully tucked her back into her shirt. "Next time I'm going to have to insist we use a bed."

Caroline grunted a response and he laughed. She opened her eyes as she heard someone approach, parted her lashes to catch the wicked smile that curled his lips.

"Let's get you a meal," he murmured before standing. She watched as his demeanor changed, breathed in the scent and feel of him that crawled along her skin. The guard (witch?) who approached had no chance, face stunned before going lax at the sheer draw Klaus was exuding. Caroline watched as he reeled the youth in with his dimples and voice; watched as Klaus stroked a line down his throat, brushed his hand down a shoulder. Coaxing, smile hot he waited patiently for the door to open.

"You make an excellent honey-trap," Caromine drawled as he dropped the dead, still warm body next to her.

"Does it bother you?" Klaus questioned, head tilting as Caroline rolled to her knees; fisting a hand in his hair she bit down deep into his throat and drank her fill. Lifting her head, she kept her monster face as she stood.

"The first time I saw you, you were showing someone their guts. After that, needing sex to feed was a lot less traumatic."

She looked at him when he was silent, something unreadable on his face. She'd have called it want, but it was too dark for that and ridiculous. They'd just had sex - pretty good sex for someone starving and the conditions of the room. There was no way he wanted her again.

"Now what?" Caroline prompted, watched him catch himself. Klaus smiled at her, eyes bleeding gold, incisors sharp behind his lips.

"Now we gorge."

They had. By the time they'd staggered out of that dank, ruined home the walls and floors were stained black. The scent of death almost covered the lingering remains of sex on their skin. Outside, it was clear they were just outside of New Orleans city limits.

They were home within an hour.

She could have handled the knowing smirks directed at her from the others. ("Look, Care, we don't know why the spell grabbed you - it should have grabbed Rebekah. How well do you know him exactly?") Admitting her new, biblical knowledge of Klaus was one thing. Even Rebekah's narrow- eyed irritation was nothing new.

But it was the after.

It was waking with Klaus' hot tongue between her legs, his mouth everything he'd promised in that filthy cell. It was the long, lazy way he drew his power along her skin and made her beg. The absolute indulgence of his body against her sheets, the way he feasted on each moan, each of her body's and tongue's demands. Until she was drowning in him, until her bones melted, body completely sated.

It was waking a second time alone, reaching for skin and finding only cool sheets. It wasn't that she thought Rebekah would actually turn her into confetti (not anymore), but the cold realization that what she'd always pushed aside as lust, wasn't. You didn't grumble into naked skin, tease with both words and fingertips, linger against someone's lips for lust.

She'd thrown a bag together and slipped outside in under fifteen minutes. It wasn't until she hit the freeway that she called Enzo.

"I hear you saved the day and got laid. Not my type, sweetness, but good job."

"I'm leaving New Orleans."

"Caroline," the teasing dropped from his tone. "What are you doing?"

"I have everything you need in the shared drive, okay? Nothing major, just a couple of weeks but you should be able to handle it."

"Caroline - this isn't a smart idea."

She hung up and floored it.

She picked Seattle because it gave her space and the vampire population was small. She'd planned to take a month or so for some breathing space, put together her dignity and then call Rebekah. She knew she'd have to grovel, but she'd hoped a few weeks to get perspective would blunt some of the fall out.

Then the dreams had started.

Innocent enough, they started as what was easily brushed off as memories. Little snatches of the hot, bone-melting sex in her bedroom. Since she'd absolutely refused to think about Klaus, her and Klaus, or any combination of that she hadn't been surprised that she was dreaming.

Then she'd woken with her spine arched, throbbing through an orgasm. She could almost taste Klaus on her tongue, feel the imprints of him lingering on her skin. She'd showered, stripped her bed and decided that a few days of no sleep wouldn't hurt her.

That was three days ago. She figured she had another before she'd really need a nap. Rubbing her face, she froze when her front door opened and Klaus walked through, key held tightly between his white knuckled hand.

They stared at each other, the silence deafening. He looked good, under the edge of his temper - blue eyes blazing, curls a riotous mess. The way he was watching as he shut the door, fingers sliding the lock made her stomach jump.

"You look tired, love. Been avoiding me?" His voice was a low rumbled, edged in something she couldn't read.

"I suppose it could be worse," Caroline said with a sigh. "Rebekah could have tracked me down instead."

Klaus bared his teeth. "Oh, I imagine my darling sister is hunting both of us as we speak. But I have no intention of being found until you explain why you ran."

Caroline arched both brows and lifted her chin. "I'm not sure that's any of your business."

"Sweetheart," he drawled, pacing closer. "If I'd known you'd planned on running, I would've fucked you into unconsciousness. As it was, you escaped me by minutes."

"There are so many things wrong with that sentence," she snapped. "You don't get to determine when I leave."

"You ran from me."

"I had a traumatic day," Caroline retorted. "I made arrangements for the work to be handled, and while I haven't talked to Rebekah yet…"

He was suddenly close enough to touch and she almost flinched.

"You ran from me," Klaus repeated, words low. "Do you think I'm unaware of your arousal after each conversation? That I don't catch when you tuck those amused smiles away? You care about Rebekah, you rule your minions with an iron fist and I've spent the last fifty years being stonewalled."

"What?" Caroline said, startled. "But…"

"You've managed to ignore my advances for fifty years, and I assure you love, my family has complete faith in your ability to do it for another five hundred." Klaus informed her, fingertips sliding down her throat. "Did you never expect why none of the many admirers have approached you? You carry my scent on your skin, if nothing else. I've made it perfectly clear the pieces I will carve anyone who touches you."

"That.. that doesn't make any sense," She sputtered, backing away. "I'm not - you haven't…"

"I would imprint myself along your bones," Klaus gritted out. "I would bind you with blood and sex, drown you in the pleasures of flesh only I can give you, until you long for me. Until you can think only of me."

Caroline shook her head, pulse hammering in her throat. "Klaus - I know what you are. But I can't… I don't share. And I'm pretty sure monogamy isn't in the cards. I would never ask you to be less."

She knew what it was not to be enough. And regardless of the stunning realization that she wanted this nightmare creature - in a way that had nothing to do with sex - she also knew this wouldn't work. How could this ever work? One vampire couldn't be enough for him.

Klaus closed the distance between them in three strides and cupped her face with his calloused hands. His lips were hot against her forehead, the heat and smell of him temptation. "I need you to very clear right now. You want me."

"Yes," Caroline admitted, eyes glancing away.

His lips were curled, eyes bleeding gold. "And you're unwilling to have me if you have to share?"

Caroline frowned. "Are you laughing me me?"

"Laughing? When the vampire I've tempted for five decades is finally admitting she wants me? That she's possessive enough to demand that I take no other lovers?" Dimples bracketed his smile, the sheer heat of him sliding down her spine. "Oh no, little love. Laughter is the last thing I'm thinking of."

She opened her mouth to respond, but his hands were suddenly on her hips, and she was backed into a wall. He slid his hand to cup her ass, digging in possessive fingers as she shivered.

"Klaus…"

"You're a vampire, love." Klaus murmured in a voice that left her biting her lip. "I can take what I need from you in small, decadent bites. Lick up your pleasure in slow, heated mornings or long nights. So easy to drain a human, to pull the marrow from their bones. But you little love, you're all I need."

Caroline heaved out shaky breath. "You're still a predator."

"As are you," Klaus said with a shrug, eyes lowered to her hammering pulse. "And I will hunt and tear, but I will save the pleasure for you. Tell me, Caroline, have you wondered what my bite would feel like? I know you've heard the rumors, the endless innuendo regarding what I can pump into your veins."

"Now you're just playing dirty," she muttered, fingers tangling in his shirt. "I think every vampire has thought about it."

He kissed her cheek, her chin. "I want you addicted."

"That's hardly healthy," Caroline replied, breath hitching as he pressed his hips against hers, fingers sliding along her waist.

"I don't care," Klaus growled before his head dipped, fangs sharp against her shoulder. She gasped at the pain, the lightning than sang through her veins. Spine arching, Caroline shuddered as he fed, hips rolling desperately against his as she unexpectedly came.

She offered no resistance as he lifted her, carrying her to the bed. Laying her against cotton sheets, he braced his arms on either side of her body, smiled his devil's smile.

"I accept your bargain, Caroline."

That pushed through the lingering pleasure and she pushed up to her elbows. "I didn't make a bargain with you!"

His smile widened, dimples deep. "You carry my blood in your veins, and I carry yours; you've fallen apart in my arms, clamped tight around my cock while I emptied inside you. You demanded loyalty and monogamy, which I have agreed to. In return, I will feast on you. Your pleasure, those arousing noises, the strength of your orgasms. You are mine, Caroline."

She stared at him, face stunned. He shifted his weight, reached for her buttons. Eyes dark as he bared skin, the flush of her breasts, he made a low noise of pleasure.

"And sweetheart, I do so look forward to drawing it along your skin."

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