Happy Birthday livingdeadblondequeen . I'm a little bit over a week late, but I hope it was awesome and that you enjoy this little story. It got a little out of hand on me, but I think we're all used to that at this point?

Thank you to justanotherfiveminutes and arustykiss for beta-reading. Plus those dear, dear people who listen to me fret over scenes. :)

Caroline woke in tangled sheets, sweat beaded between her breasts and her underwear uncomfortably damp. Panting heavily into the moonlit silence of her room, she shoved the blanket away from her body and shuddered as it brushed against nerves that still burned. If she let her mind drift just a little, she could feel the burn of stubble against her thighs. That soft, slick tongue.

Shivering, arousal singing hot and heady, she took very careful breaths. She'd never dreamed so vividly - until she ached. The last two nights had been the same; gasping awake on the brink of orgasm, body bowed or twisted as she struggled for release. She'd feel way less guilty if she was dreaming about her boyfriend, or even Stefan. Stefan she could understand. But the wild curls and wicked tongue that were playing such a prominent role in her dreams belonged to neither of those men.

She hoped to God this was related to drinking his blood. Easily explainable, easy to push aside as part of her vampire nature she'd barely begun to explore. If it was the case, lesson learned. Blood sharing was dangerous.

Shifting to find a little more air, she shuddered as the autumn breeze from her windows rushed over her heated skin. Eyes glancing towards her firmly shut door, she caught her lip tightly between her teeth. Two nights had proven a cold shower did little to aid her sleep; masturbation didn't bother her, but the idea of coming to the image of Klaus between her thighs, tongue hot and perfect left her feeling guilty.

Was that better or worse than dreaming of him?

Okay, Klaus was ridiculously hot. She'd never seen someone physically define magnetic attraction before. There was just something about the way he could look at you, dimpled with that curling smile, that promised all sorts of sin. The unspoken promise of a screaming death didn't blunt the physical attraction the way it should've.

Just thinking of his mouth dragged her back to that smile against her skin, the carnal promise as he licked down the quivering muscles of her abdomen. That clever, clever tongue that a thousand years had left gifted. Shivering, heat a low throb between her thighs, Caroline spread her legs and closed her eyes.

Toes curling into her sheets, Caroline palmed her breasts and tasted blood as she tweaked a nipple that she half-expected to be wet; the memory of mouth and tongue, hot flecks and sucking kisses. The rasp of her cotton tank top was too much, and she tugged until the straps gave, fabric bunching. Dragging her hands across bare, sweat-slick flesh she let out a low whimper as she slipped practiced fingers inside her underwear. She was so tightly wound, she'd thought she'd fall right over the precipice. But it wasn't until she reached for her dream - the drag of scruff, hot breath against her skin, that first swipe of tongue - that she came with a muffled moan.

Chest heaving, she laid there for long moments, trying to balance herself. She was sticky with sweat, her room smelled of arousal and the salt of her exertion. Tomorrow, she'd have to do laundry, because she'd run out of clean sheets. Heaving onto her side, body no longer a painful throb, she stared at the cracks in her curtains and tried to sleep.

Why was she dreaming of Klaus?

She'd been avoiding sleep.

Stefan had made that serious eyebrow face at her when she'd swung by to raid their stash of blood bags. But there was no way in hell she was mentioning that the reason she was mainlining blood like Mountain Dew was to push her vampire capabilities. She needed a break from her erotic subconscious, and she refused to eat rabbits.

Plus, the extra blood hopefully had the added benefit of flushing whatever hybrid, blood-sharing side effects were causing these wet dreams out of her system. She was weeks ahead on her homework, she'd finished two college applications and her study plans for the SATs were way ahead of schedule.

She'd even started working on her prom folder.

If only the rest of her life was as easy to organize. They'd been invaded by a sudden slew of more originals, as if stuffy Elijah and homicidal Klaus weren't enough. Kol freaked her out on a hind-brain level she couldn't articulate and Rebekah was just such a bitch. She'd overheard Damon muttering about their mom being around and someone named Finn. The entire situation was confusing, no one was talking to her and her mom was giving her suspicious eyes again.

Honestly, she'd welcome the oblivion of sleep if it weren't for her hybrid track record. She'd seen him a few times, picking up Rebekah. The intensity of him rattled her. Sometimes, she thought he was trying to dig down to her bones with that gaze; there was a pit behind his eyes and it was hungry.

Caroline just didn't know for what.

She wished it was terrifying. Mostly, it was. But the part of her - the part with teeth, that thirsted for blood - was intrigued. Intrigued was bad. Intrigued could only lead to dreams she wanted no part of and she truly hoped a week was enough time to de-hybrid her blood stream.

She'd avoid sleep just a little more, to be sure.

She didn't remember falling asleep. Which was why Caroline was confused when she became aware of lips dragging oh so slowly down her bare spine. She made a low noise of complaint, pressing her face back into her laundry scented sheets. A hot exhale that felt like a laugh, she squirmed at a soft bite against her skin. Drowsy shifted into a low thrum of arousal, and she inhaled sharply at the slow drag of a tongue.

"Such a grumpy baby vampire," dream-Klaus murmured against her skin. He feathered kisses in lazy patterns and she started to burn, even as she stubbornly kept her face in the sheets.

A hot, sucking kiss against her shoulder blade, and his fingertips traced the lines of her muscles. The bare expanse of her back was alive with sensation, and then he cupped the curve of her ass; fingers digging in while he licked across the base of her spine.

"On your knees, love."

She reached behind her and swatted. This was her dream, and like hell was she taking orders. She missed, which she sort of expected. Klaus made a noise that was a mix of amusement and indulgence. Caroline languidly turned that thought over, as she'd never have thought Klaus indulgent of anything, but his own whims. Obviously, fantasy-Klaus was a figment of her imagination; still, here he was painting her skin with fingertips and tongue, soothing even as he inflamed.

As if she was an indulgence.

Caroline felt him shift behind her, stubble a rasp against her skin. His lips feathered lower and she shivered. God, if she wasn't so embarrassed by her subconscious she'd take notes for Tyler on foreplay.

Klaus bit the curve of her ass with human teeth.

Caroline yelped, pushing to her knees and elbows. The bed shifted and she spread her legs for balance, turning her head to glare at the smirking face of the man behind her. She got a glimpse of dimples before he gripped her thighs and lifted so that her weight was on her elbows. Caroline curled her fingers into the blanket with a growl, and everything she'd meant to say died at the first unexpected brush of his tongue.

She choked on a heaving breath as his tongue curled through her damp folds; the position was unexpected and she moaned, sinking back onto the mattress as he teased her slit with his mouth. Klaus coaxed her legs into the position he wanted, and she let him; her knees took her weight, thighs spread wide to accommodate him. He rewarded her when one long fingered hand reached forward and toyed with one nipple.

Caroline started to pant.

"Such a pretty little vampire," Klaus murmured as his head pulled away from her. She managed to swallow her whine, but barely. His fingers stayed on her breast, cupping her with a possessive hand as he tilted her hips just little higher. "Have your teenage lovers taken you this way, sweetheart? Eaten you out, with you completely submissive to each stroke of tongue?"

Why, why was her subconscious letting him speak? It was unfair, that he could curl that accent around words she might have otherwise found ridiculous into something that left her unbelievably wet. Submission wasn't her thing, the idea of it leaving her uncomfortable, but the sin he promised with his voice left her oh so curious. How good could this fantasy of hers get, if she let it wash her along? And this was a fantasy, because Klaus sounded as if he wanted her; wanted to delve his tongue and lips against her until she came.

Impossible.

But hot.

Her thoughts were interrupted by another stinging bite and her hips jerked against his hold. Hissing, she tossed her hair and tried to push up to glare. "Seriously? Hybrid teeth in my ass would be a turn off. Been there, done that, thinking about getting a t-shirt and oh my god."

Her spine arched as he sucked her clit into his greedy mouth, tongue so fucking soft and slow; his scruff brushing against her folds with each movement they made. Her forehead pressed into her mattress and she whined his name, nails digging sharply into bedding. For a single moment, she didn't care that she was going to come on the tongue of her enemy, that her subconscious was betraying her.

Klaus hummed, the noise vibrating against her in a way that was so fucking good and she woke abruptly, body vibrating through those first curling waves that promised she was close. She ignored the phone buzzing on her nightstand and shoved her hands under her clothes in pure desperation. Her fingers sunk easily inside her slick folds, palm grinding against her clit; her other hand fumbled with her breast until she pinched one aching nipple. There was no attempt to be quiet, no coordinated movement - just slick sounds as she strained for the release her body needed so badly. A thrust of fingers, a roll of her hips and she came with a short scream, body locking tightly as she rode out her orgasm.

After, she laid there for a long time, trying to understand her disappointment at waking.

The ball had been a disaster.

Caroline stripped, but she did so carefully. Shoes. Gloves. For a moment she let herself regret throwing back the bracelet. It was beautiful, but she'd never appreciated bribes and she couldn't imagine it being anything else.

Rome.

Paris.

Tokyo.

Did he think she was a complete idiot?

Shucking her dress, she debated leaving it in a crumpled mess but finally hung it up. She was petty and stubborn, but not careless. Flopping onto her bed in her strapless bra and her seamless panties, she scowled at the wall. Klaus the Hybrid Overlord and his Great Superiority. She should've wanted to claw his eyes out. But that melting smile, the endless swallowing void behind his eyes had left her breathless. Breathless. She'd covered it as best she could with acerbic retorts, venom lacing sharp words.

And he'd laughed at her with those pretty eyes and charming dimples. Had offered her the world. Like it was real. As if he'd meant it.

The monster under her skin had pushed. The greedy bits of her heart, the covetous fingers that wanted everything he'd offered and then more. But she knew down to her bones the trap behind his lovely words. And she was smart, okay? You didn't make an offer like that without wanting something in return.

She just didn't understand.

Shuddering, Caroline tried not to think of the slide of his hands, the cadence of his words as he spoke. The subtle bite of his cologne mixed with the scent of hybrid. Tyler carried that scent now, but on Klaus it left her mouth bone dry.

Hence the champagne.

Those were things she didn't need. Little details she was terrified would fill out dreams that were already too intense. It just wasn't fair, that satan was so beautiful. She could've sworn her teeth hurt, the need to bite those perfect lips was so strong.

Sighing, she rolled onto her side and let herself relax, determined to wait up for her mom. Whatever this bloody mental fascination was she was willing to roll the dice on dreaming tonight. Assault on her senses Klaus had been, but his eyes as she turned to leave - rage and warning, a calculation that chilled her.

Even her libido took a hit on that.

She drifted slowly, eased into dreams that caught her with their color. Lips curling at the sound of horse, she spun and her mood shifted into irritation. Klaus stalked across the green grass, gaze predatory. Spine straightening, furious with herself and him, she parted her lips to tell him to get out.

Enough.

He caught her words with his mouth.

Lips slanting firm and soft against hers, he threaded his hands in her hair and took. She rocked onto her heels but he followed, and her back hit a flat surface she didn't remember seeing. It didn't matter, as his hands angled her chin and he sank her into mouth like a starving man.

Her head swam.

For a moment, she let him tease with flicks and parries, let the heat of him wash over her. But Caroline didn't know how to be passive and she'd thought of this all night. Wrecking that smug superiority with her lips and tongue. So she wrapped one arm around his neck, the other buried to her knuckles in his hair and she pressed up against the hard line of his body.

Then she kissed him.

Caroline took what she wanted. That perfect upper lip. That lying tongue. She kissed until he shuddered, a noise in his throat that went straight to her clit. Until she felt that lean body melt, just a little. Then she bit with fangs until he bled and lapped at the wound until he yanked her head back and dragged his open mouth down her throat; strong human teeth both pleasure and bite against her skin.

She panicked.

Shoving with all her strength, she scrambled away from those teeth with a gasping breath and landed on the floor of her bedroom. Her hand flew to her throat and she felt unbroken skin; she felt like an idiot. Picking herself slowly off the floor, she headed into her bathroom to shower the day off her skin.

To erase the burn on her lips and tongue.

She swallowed, fingers tapping against the bed in nervous patterns. Staring up at her ceiling from her mattress, she cursed the day Damon decided she was Klaus-bait. Today hadn't been worth getting out of bed. Steamy dreams aside, she'd have hidden under her blankets if she'd known how wonderfully that meeting would go.

Klaus bait. God dammit. Caroline rolled onto her stomach and pulled her pillow over her head. The ball had been bad enough, where she'd smelled the scent of him, had listened to the temptation of his blood and could nearly taste him on her tongue. She tried really hard not to think of that dream kiss. That tiny, tiny curl of smug satisfaction that she - little Caroline Forbes, second best - had affected the big bad hybrid. Even if he was just a fantasy version and not the real thing.

Still, Damon wanted her to fake date. Distract. Like knowing what his gaze felt like dragging over the curves they expected her to flaunt would help with her necessary and desperate plan to stop dreaming.

Oh, that'd go over so well.

'Thanks Damon, but I'm going to have to say no, to the bait thing. Why? Because I've been having erotic dreams about Klaus. And if I do this faux-date thing, I'm afraid I'll throw my panties at him, and even a bajillion year old ass like him will know what that means.'

She was totally fucked.

Here's what she'd learned about vampires blessed with eternal teenage hormones. They were horny. All the time. There was just no other explanation for the way the monster underneath her skin had latched onto this idea of Klaus. God, she and Tyler had gotten into such a fight; then they'd fucked.

It'd been okay.

Caroline slapped her hand down in pure frustration. Tyler had been enthusiastic, but there had been… something missing. He licked when she wanted teeth, had softened when she craved bruises. She was pretty certain their chemistry hadn't changed, but when they were done, he'd looked at her with such serious eyes.

Asked for a break.

A fucking break. He needed space, to figure shit out. It was obvious that she needed one too. Well, it wasn't obvious to her! Tossing to her side, she hugged her pillow and blinked back tears. Second best, again.

God, she just wanted to sleep.

No porn-tastic dreams, no unfulfilled lust. Just a fucking good night's sleep. Just one. Eyes squeezed shut, she willed herself into oblivion. Ignored that one, tiny kernel of frustration.

She opened her eyes and met Klaus' devouring gaze. Caroline froze as she reoriented herself. Naked - she was balanced on the hard lines of a taut abdomen. She swallowed as she took in the way her knees bracketed his ribs, and her hands pressed against warm skin for balance. She tried not to stare at the lean lines of him, the splash of color against his skin. Long fingered hands settled on her waist, thumbs brushing enticingly against her hip bones. Slowly, she peeked at the curling, dimpled smile Klaus was wearing as he looked up at her.

"Hello, sweetheart."

"This is getting ridiculous," Caroline rasped, shifting her weight. His grip tightened, and she glared down at him. "Seriously?"

He grinned, dimples deepening as he smoothed one hand up her stomach, to trace patterns across her breast; circled her nipple. "I don't mind."

"Mind?" Caroline repeated, eyes narrowing even as she shivered as he tweaked her nipple. "I'm freaking naked on Klaus Mikaelson's chest. Maybe I mind."

He arched his back, pulled himself up suddenly with an impressive flex of abs; replaced his hand with his mouth, tongue hot and slick against her breast. Her hands scrambled for purchase, one hand fisting in his hair, the other digging into his shoulder. She panted, arched to press closer to his mouth. He kissed a wet path across her breastbone and sucked her neglected nipple into his mouth, pulling lewdly until her hips rolled against the curve of his pelvis.

Glancing up at her through his lashes as he released her breast, Klaus smiled at her. "You're delicious."

"Cheesy," she nearly stuttered, trying to pretend there wasn't a flush working up at her throat as she shifted. Oh god, she was so fucking wet that she could hear herself against his skin. It didn't seem to bother him, in fact his hands kept her close as he leaned back.

"Why the pink cheeks?" His smile was slow and wicked. "Your delectable scent claiming me, all this pretty skin against my fingertips? I want to mark you with bruising kisses."

"That's awfully teenage-boy of you," she countered, trying to slow her frantic pulse. She should know, Tyler having tried to mark her a mere hour earlier. Fantasy or not, some things needed to be nipped in the bud. "I'm not your possession, to be branded. You'd think you'd have figured that out in a thousand years."

"I am what I am, little vampire."

"Yeah, a pain in my ass," Caroline grumped down at him.

"Not yet," Klaus said blithely. "But I'm certainly willing, although pain would be entirely your choice love. There are many ways to make that particular position good for you, sweetheart."

She went scarlet and he ran patterns along her ribs, across her sweat-damp abdomen. "I like this color on your skin. Are you fond of rubies, love? I think I'd like to fuck you with them wrapped around your throat, listen to them bounce against your skin as you scream for me. Diamonds for the day and rubies for night."

Caroline gaped at him a little, trying to figure out how her dream had shifted so far out of her control. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been so mortified. Even as a human, she'd managed to avoid the standard naked nightmare. Clearly, karma was a tricky bitch and she was being punished.

"Now you're just being ridiculous," Caroline said in a voice that was almost steady. She'd thrown those jewels he'd given back. Clearly she was going to punish herself a little for that going forward.

"I want to listen to you come, Caroline," Klaus said as his hands trailed up and down her ribs. "I want to taste you on my tongue. Do you understand?"

"You can't just order," Caroline started, as he braced her thighs on his forearms, hands gripping her ass. He didn't let her finish, pulling her up over his chest. Her hands clung to the headboard as she landed on his face.

"Oh god, oh god," she gasped out as he sucked and licked, unconcerned as she ground down on the length of his tongue. Head tossing as she clung to her bed frame, she heard wood snap as he lifted her off his mouth by her shaking thighs.

"Yes or no, Caroline?"

"What?" She panted, brain scrambled. He nipped her thigh, gusted breath against her wet skin.

"An orgasm, love. Would you like one?"

"Oh god, yes," Caroline breathed. She bit her lip at the soft, lingering kiss against her inner thigh.

"Good."

She swore her eyes crossed when he lowered her back down, hybrid strength taking her weight easily. There was teasing - flicks of his tongue, lingering strokes everywhere but where she wanted him; until her hips ground in uncoordinated circles. Caroline felt near delirious with need, pleasures ragged spikes in her veins. She registered her profanity, the way she gasped out Klaus' name; the pitch of her voice rising with each deliberate lick.

Then his tongue was hot and broad on her clit.

She came was a scream. Her orgasm was brutal, and she slipped down the headboard boneless. Klaus draped her over his chest with a flex of muscle, and as she shivered back into her skin all she could think was that this dream orgasm was so much better than the one her boyfriend had given her an hour ago.

When her eyes fluttered back open, she was twisted in her sheets; for the first time in weeks her body was pleasurably exhausted. Caroline didn't bother to adjust the bedding, just sank into her mattress with a pleased moan and drifted in the afterglow.

Caroline dropped her towel and crawled onto her bed. The blinds were shut tight, the house locked down until her mom came home, and she ached with phantom pains. Her hair was still damp, she was completely naked, and cold down to her bones.

Rolling into her blankets until she was cocooned, she squeezed her eyes shut. She knew she'd be fine. This post-torture routine was one she was getting the hang of. Shower. Hide under her covers until she could breathe. Later, she'd make pancakes.

Alaric was desiccated. She'd gotten the text as she sucked down her second blood bag, poised to flee out the back door. Ready to just run.

That'd help. The same way knowing the wolves were dead had helped; her goodbye with her dad. But God, this week has gone so wrong. Alaric had been her friend. Another casualty to this war the Originals raged against everyone around them.

You're safe. It's me, you're safe.

How was it that she'd believed him?

The last week has been filled with faux-dates, deliberate distractions and half-lies. Klaus' eyes had laughed at her, proving he knew what she was doing. Yet, he'd gone along. Burned her skin with his gaze, invaded her personal space and beguiled with charming words and sincere smiles. It'd taken strength she didn't know she had not to take those silent invitations - see if she could lick the charm from his smile. To avoid blushing at the knowledge of her in Klaus' gaze.

Okay, she'd been dreaming of him naked, of doing the most amazingly sinful things to her with his mouth, but he didn't know that. She could at least pass off her need to touch, her burning curiosity as a horrible side-effect of dreaming. She didn't know why he was playing with her.

All it had taken was the heat of him at her back, the familiar scent, his low voice at her ear and she'd relaxed. Adrenaline and terror hadn't mattered once she knew who held her. Stupid. Stupid, stupid. How stupid could she be?

Klaus wasn't safe.

Klaus wasn't safe for her.

Hadn't Alaric entertained her with his little stories, his taunts as he tortured her? How little she knew about being a vampire? Caroline knew the Originals were dangerous, but sometimes she seemed to be the only one.

Tomorrow she'd deal with the consequences of tonight. Damon had made it clear she was expected at the boardinghouse in the morning. Settling a little more firmly into her covers, for a moment, she nearly wished for a sex dream. Anything would be better than the nightmare she knew was waiting for her behind her lashes.

Somehow in-between the confusion of her erotic subconscious and her faux-dates, Klaus had become less terrifying than being tortured. She wished fervently she knew how.

Instead of the horror of that classroom, Caroline was tucked against a hot male body. She jerked, vampire strength unrestrained as she tried to thrash. But it was Klaus's voice at her ear, his hands in her hair and rubbing her back. She went limp, face pressed against the crook of his neck and shoulder, and very deliberately avoided thinking about how safe it felt.

She wouldn't cry. Regardless of the tears burning behind her eyes, she just breathed steadily against his skin, let the tone of his words work to calm her. Finally, she lifted up and this time he met her gaze. She wasn't expecting what she found behind his eyes.

Concern. A hint of tenderness. And rage. Such rage. Her lips parted, breath hitching in her lungs as he reached up to stroke her cheek with possessive fingertips.

"You're safe, Caroline."

She laughed without mirth. His gaze narrowed and he followed her into a sitting position. She found her thighs bracketing his ribs, but there was little that was sexual about the position. His expression was hunting, one she'd learned he wore when he wanted something. She cursed her brain for making these encounters so realistic.

"Alaric is hardly the real threat," Caroline muttered, trying to climb off his lap, to get away from those eyes. This was her dream, surely she could will him away?

Klaus caught her chin, held her still as he leaned in to study her face. "Alaric won't touch you."

Something uneasy crawled down her spine. There was a finality to his tone that dream-Klaus shouldn't have in his voice. Dream-Klaus should be going for her lips, not rubbing soothing circles at her pajama clad hip, his other hand softening at her jaw. Her breathing went ragged, muscles locking up in panic.

Something feral crawled through Klaus' gaze, lips curling at the edges. "Hello, sweetheart."

She woke with a scream in her throat, tumbling with the blankets around her legs as she fell off her bed. Staggering to her feet, she raced to her drawers and yanked on the first t-shirt and sweat combination she could find. Stefan. She needed to find Stefan.

Oh God, oh God - she ignored socks and shoes, scrambled for her phone. Impossible. That had to be impossible. Okay, someone mentioned Klaus had possessed Alaric. But no one had once mentioned sharing dreams.

That was something you mentioned. Vampires drink blood to survive, Care. You're strong, you're fast and vervain burns. Oh, and one day, you might walk in someone's dreams.

She yanked open her front door and froze.

"Caroline."

She slammed the door, staggered back. Hand going to her mouth, she stared at him through the blinds. Klaus arched a brow, head tilting to the side as he smiled at her all slow and intent.

"Come now love, is that any way to say hello after I've been so nice?"

Temper threaded through her shock and her eyes narrowed as her hand fell away. "Nice?"

His dimples deepened, eyes scanning down what he could see through the door. "Of course. You seemed distressed."

"I was tortured," Caroline snapped, jabbing at him with a finger. "Thanks for making today so much better, you unbelievable ass!"

His gaze flared yellow, veins crawling into his eyes and her breath caught. "He hasn't begun to suffer, love. I promise you that."

Her mouth ran dry at the palpable fury that rolled off him. She swallowed hard. "You cannot say things like that."

Klaus' head canted, hands sliding into his pockets. There was nothing complacent about his eyes, the threads of yellow kicking her heartbeat into her throat. "You didn't seem to complain when I licked you through an orgasm."

"I didn't realize it was you you." Caroline hissed, face flushing scarlet. The door didn't feel like enough of a barrier, not when he was stripping her with his eyes.

"Ah, so you'd have preferred the last few weeks to be your imagination?" Klaus questioned. "How did you explain the dreams to yourself? The way I slowly wound you each encounter, until we were both slick with sweat?"

Arousal tugged at her gut; turned her blood sluggish. She shook her head, lips compressing.

Klaus took a step closer to her door, gave her his most charming smile. "Open the door."

"Like hell."

"Now, Caroline," his chided with a shake of his head. His eyes glittered, the pit wide and devouring behind pupils. Her breathing went ragged. "Shall we continue this conversation here, then? Where anyone can overhear as I describe the taste of you on my tongue? How arousing I find your moans, the way you scream my name? How you beg? How I've spent weeks with an aching cock, as you deprived us both?"

She felt too hot. Her skin was too tight, and her fingers curled tightly into her palms as she tried not to react to his words. The way he caressed each sentence, reminding her of all the things she was trying to ignore. Worse, the way her monster crawled under her skin, craved the unspoken promise between them.

"Open the door."

She shook her head.

Klaus shrugged, and smiled; dimples bracketed by sin. "Unfortunately love, I'm not much of a gentleman."

She threw a lamp at his head as he stepped through the doorway. He caught it and arched a brow; Caroline moved to put the couch between them, nerves jumping in alarm. Klaus set the lamp back on the table and locked the door, never taking his eyes from her.

"Such a grumpy lover."

"Don't call me that," Caroline snapped. "I'm not helping you get anything from Elena."

Klaus laughed, yellow eyes vibrant in the low light. "This stopped being about Elena some time ago. Oh no, sweetheart. This is all about you. You and your defiance, your stubbornness, that misplaced loyalty."

She circled the couch, muscles too tight as he prowled after her. He seemed amused, but she knew how quickly that could change. "None of that is an acceptable reason for stalking."

"You've been playing bait for your so-called friends," Klaus countered. "A delicious distraction, but hardly fair play, Caroline.

"That is not the same thing!"

"I'd have been more than willing to indulge you in any of your needs, Caroline," Klaus murmured. "But you were quite determined to keep space between us. Not surprising, considering your aptitude for pulling yourself free of our dreams."

She hesitated, and he paused with her. Licking dry lips, she kept her weight on the balls of her feet. He seemed to enjoy prowling after her, because she knew she couldn't outrun him. "What do you mean I pulled myself free?"

Klaus leaned against the back of the couch and looked at her with such amused possession she nearly rocked back onto her heels. "You can hardly believe I'd have ended the dreams in such, let's call it, inconsiderate places, love."

She backed away when he moved around the couch, shaking her head. His eyes narrowed and between one blink and the next, she found herself pressed against a wall, Klaus nearly pinning her in place with his body. It wasn't terror that threaded through her blood, the stiffness in her shoulders and back threatening to melt as he dragged his fingers down her throat.

"I've tempted you, oh how I've tempted. I've offered the world, I've seduced. And each dream, you lingered a little longer; let me stroke just a bit more. So grumpy, as you unfurl in my arms. And then that kiss."

She shook her head, but he shushed her, smoothing his fingers along her lips. "Oh no love, there is no denying the way you claimed me. Finally took what you wanted, didn't you? If I hadn't spooked you, how much would you have taken? It haunts me, not knowing."

Caroline swallowed hard. Looked stubbornly at anything that wasn't him. Because she was terrified of the answer.

"Caroline."

She slowly looked up at him, met the temptation behind his eyes with her own. The iron in his gaze was tangled with lust and a need that shook her. He leaned in, until their breaths mingled, his hand smoothing up and down her arm.

"You want me," Klaus murmured, pitching his voice low. His other hand moved to cup the back of her neck, fingers threading through her curls. "Don't you, sweetheart?"

Her lips parted, but her denial died as his gaze lowered to trace her mouth.

"Even if I couldn't smell your arousal," he continued, seemingly unconcerned by her lack of verbal response. "Even if I didn't intimately know all your body's little tells; you've shown me in a hundred little ways. The way you refused to play on my obvious affections, the grumpy snarls as you realized my presence in each dream; the way you kissed me."

"You're reading too far into things," she tried, her voice shaky. Klaus made an amused noise and the hand on her arm was suddenly crawling underneath her t-shirt to cup her breast. She breathed sharply through her nose, struggled not to arch into his hand. He smiled, hotly possessive, and thumbed her nipple.

"Am I?" He leaned forward and kissed her chin. "You believed me when I told you that you were safe, Caroline."

She gripped his shirt, head supported heavily by his hand. Klaus kept up his caresses, the motions perfected in her dreams, and she moaned lowly as he tugged her nipple between two fingers. His mouth slid along her jaw, until he lingered against her ear.

"Lie to me, Caroline." She could feel his smile as his hand left her breast, slid down the length of her abdomen in a slow, lingering caress that set her nerves on fire. "Tell me that you aren't wet for me, that you aren't dying to know how good my cock will feel inside you. Deny that you woke desperate for my touch, that when you slid your hands beneath your clothes and released all that heady tension that it wasn't my face you pictured, my tongue you missed. Go on, little love. Lie to me."

The words wouldn't come. She tried to find them, to let them fall from her tongue. Everything under her skin craved what he was promising with his hands, what he continued to offer her with his words and body. The terror she felt in her lungs wasn't for Elena or how badly her friends would take this, but how she craved him. How much she wanted to slant her mouth against his and take and take until she was drowning.

Klaus pulled back, gaze triumphant and feral. Leaning until their mouths were nearly touching, he licked at her parted lips. "Kiss me, Caroline."

Her gazed lowered to his mouth, the perfection of his lips. She knew, somewhere in the back of her mind, that if she started this there was no walking away if she kissed him. Klaus wouldn't let her go; he'd expect her loyalty - expect her.

"Sweetheart," Klaus murmured, voice low and rich with temptation. "Kiss me."

She took his mouth as if he was air and she was drowning. Her hands slid up his chest, tangled in his wild curls with a white-knuckled grip. Licked at the velvet sin of his tongue, bit and parried until her head spun. Until lungs that didn't need air burned, and she pulled back with a heave of air. Klaus' eyes had slid shut, and now they slowly opened. His lashes parted to show the burning heat of him, the feral possession and devotion that shook her down to his bones. His lips curled, and the smile he wore as he pressed her into the wall was exhilarating.

He didn't speak, just leaned in to slant his lips against hers. This time, she was the one who melted. Klaus seduced her with his mouth while the hand at her waist stroked down to grip her by the thigh, lifting her easily. She curled her legs around his hips, moaning as he immediately ground against her. Caroline's head tipped back as he released her lips, and this time when he kissed down her throat she shuddered, nails digging into his scalp and neck as he searched for all the places that left her gasping.

"I'm going to take you against this wall," he warned as he licked at her collarbone. "Then we'll move to your room."

She tried to concentrate enough to respond. "A little eager, aren't we?"

Her pants disappeared, panties fluttering around her ankles and he drove two fingers inside her wet passage. Her throat arched, eyes going blank as he rubbed his thumb against her clit. Caroline shuddered, riding his hand blindly. She complained when he pulled his hand free, chin lowering to watch as he sucked his fingers into his mouth. Pulling them free with a lewd noise, he licked his lips.

"Oh, sweetheart. I won't be the only one."

He didn't give her a chance to reply; his head dipped and his mouth closed over one t-shirt clad breast. She tightened her grip on his hips; rubbing uncaringly against his pants at each rough pull of his mouth. The hand in her hair squeezed her nape firmly once, and then dragged over her shoulder, down her ribs before he fumbled with his pants. He switched breasts, and she barely heard his pants slither down his thighs as she whined before his hands gripped her ass. His teeth dragged along her breast and then his cock was pushing through her slick entrance. A flex of his hips, and Caroline struggled for air as he seated himself firmly inside her.

"Feeling eager yet, Caroline?"

She dragged her nails sharply down his scalp, gasping when he ground against her in retaliation. "Move."

To her surprise, Klaus did as she demanded; hips moving in a rhythm that felt so damn good. Digging her heels into the back of his thighs, she ground down on each thrust. Caroline clung to his shoulders, nails digging through cotton until she drew blood. Hot, sucking kisses along her collarbones and throat layered sensation, until she teetered on orgasm, body trembling. Klaus ground something out between clenched teeth, and then his hand was insinuated between their slick bodies, rubbing firmly against her clit.

She came with a scream, head dropping against the wall as the world wavered. Klaus' forehead pressed against her chest as he shuddered through his own orgasm, body leaning heavily against hers as they tried to recover. Caroline stared up at her ceiling, blinking slowly as she struggled to orientate herself. Before she could manage, she was hoisted back against Klaus' chest and he was striding unerringly towards her room.

"What?" Caroline gasped as he dropped her onto her messy bedding. Klaus laughed, pulling his shirt over his head.

"Oh, Caroline, you can't believe having you once this evening would satisfy me."

"This evening?" She repeated, eyes widening. Klaus laughed softly, joined her on the bed. He bent and pressed his lips to her ankle, hand skimming up the curve of her calf. Slowly, he nipped and licked his way to her knee before repeating each caress on her other leg.

"Used to teenage boys who are so easily satisfied," he murmured, glancing up from beneath the blonde tips of his lashes. "I won't be content until I've taken everything, Caroline. I want all of you."

Her lips parted, as she stared down at him as he confirmed her earlier concern. Caroline's breath caught in her throat, and she tried to process the truth of him watching her from the cavern behind his eyes. Everything went hot, her body reacting to what it knew he was capable of giving her. Her mind though, it was spinning in circles, trying to rationalize how she was going to handle this. His eyes glittered at her as he bit the outside of her knee, pulling her attention back to him as he moved up her leg.

"Don't worry, little love," Klaus purred, licking up a thigh as she started to pant for air. "I'll take good care of you."

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