Anonymous said: For day 6 of Klaroweek, Klaus as a king and Caroline as the lady engaged to his rival please ?vv

I know you asked for the AU day, but pretty much I've been writing an AU week. Also, I'm just going to apologize for the dragons. Sort of apologize for the dragons. lynyrdwrites here you go.

Part One

Ambassador Caroline Forbes was fifteen feet from her carriage when the world rumbled. Her carriage shook on its wheels, and she hesitated. Glancing about the wide courtyard, she nearly stumbled at what had been the open gate.

There was a dragon blocking her exit.

She stared at it, the rich ebony scales gleaming in the early morning light. The dragon turned its head and one giant, golden eye larger than her body watched her from a narrow pupil. The scent of ash and heat filled the air as the dragon yawned. Large, gleaming teeth the color of bone were on full display.

The courtyard was frozen.

Beyond that serpentine head was a body that could reach sixty feet, depending on age. Impressive. Beautiful. Dangerous.

"Kol likes to show off."

The low, accented voice cut into the silence and it was only years of diplomatic training that kept her shoulders from tightening. Kept her from bolting for the carriage that clearly wouldn't be leaving regardless.

"He's beautiful," Caroline said without turning her head. "Is there a particular reason he's blocking my departure?"

Klaus stepped into her line of vision, watched her from eyes gone dragon - the human blue buried under a shade of old gold. His cheekbones were sharp, angled over a tightly clenched jaw covered in scruff. Her mouth ran dry, a band wrapping tightly over her lungs, but she refused to flinch.

The skin under her wristband burned.

Niklaus, The Great Hoarder, King of the Dragons. Klaus, the scourge of her people, who ruled the great mountains to the North and East. His magic ran under her skin, had dug into bone and bled like ink over the pulse point of her left wrist. It burned like betrayal, like hope.

She could embrace neither.

"I don't believe we've been introduced."

Caroline finally looked away from the nightmare creature that she wanted to touch, and faced the one she couldn't. Clasping her hands together, she gave Klaus the Dragon her most polite smile.

"That's because my betrothed's lands are at war with yours," Caroline said simply.

Klaus tilted his head, the move oddly graceful and he stepped closer. She held her ground, arched a single brow as he dragged his eyes down her; the heat of his gaze nearly a touch, lingering at the pulse point in her throat. "Betrothed."

"Surely, you know of the ceremony in two months' time, since both our lands border yours," Caroline said serenely, ignoring the burning in her blood.

The dragon at the gate yawned.

"I'm afraid that will have to be cancelled."

Lashes narrowing, Caroline let her smile become less polite. "Are you abducting me?"

Klaus snorted, stepping close enough to touch. "It's not abducting when you're already mine."

"Well, I beg to differ," Caroline responded tightly. "I am not yours."

He bent close, skin carrying the lingering scent of fire, body warm enough that she could feel him even inches from her. His eyes had paled to wheat, threads of darker bronze the only true color. "You carry dragon gold on your skin. I can smell it."

"What you smell is the obnoxious breath of your brother," Caroline said through her smile. "Surely you'd have noticed if you'd marked someone."

"We can set the courtyard on fire," Klaus drawled, not quiet touching her. Dragon magic offered immunity to fire, and with what blazed under her skin, had cut through her magical defenses and sank into her blood she doubted dragon fire would singe an eyelash.

"Then you'd better hope you're wrong and I die," Caroline said coolly. "Because if I live and a single hair is harmed on anyone's head because of this nonsense, I'll hunt you, gut you and mount your over-sized reptilian head on my future castle's gate."

His smile widened, teeth gleaming - those unnecessary dimples tempting her. "A declaration of war, little love?"

"Ask your brother to move."

"No."

"And why is that?"

"Because somewhere among the cream of your skin my magic has marked you. It's crawling through your veins, glimmering in soft flecks and it calls to me. Fate and magic have marked you as mine, and no betrothal, no human contract can contest that. Even your Lockwood must bend to the old magics, sweetheart."

"First, I am not your sweetheart." Caroline said firmly. "Second… what are you doing?"

His fingers were warm around her wrist. The texture of his skin was slightly abrasive against hers but the long, hot stroke of Klaus' tongue had her breath hitching in her throat. Staring at him as he breathed against her skin, she clenched her free hand.

"What are you doing?" Her question ground out a second time.

"Hunting."

"Go hunt somewhere else."

"Gladly."

He licked up the line of her arm, lingered at the crook of her elbow. Caroline could feel his magic stirring in her blood, and she struggled to keep it from glimmering on her skin. She'd known the moment she felt him in her blood that forcing him out was impossible - dragon magic was stubborn and it did not release lightly what it had taken. What she needed was space, some distance between them to cleanse herself.

So she'd trapped his power in muscle and tendon, created a barrier with her magic that would pass a surface test; immediately made plans to leave. It hurt, knowing that she was abandoning this - this creature who was beautiful and terrible, for the mundane life her father had chosen. But the contracts were important to her people and a dragon with a wicked tongue wouldn't change that.

"You've licked up my arm, in public," Caroline finally managed, voice strained. "Now that you've thoroughly wrecked my reputation, let go."

"Do you know what Dragon Gold is Ambassador Forbes?" Klaus murmured, eyes lifting from her bicep, gaze feral, his strange pupils wide with want.

"Physical manifestations of a binding between a dragon and its mate." She gave him a cool, unimpressed look. "Magic, for want of better word."

His cheeks creased. "Very good."

"But since I am betrothed, and there seems to be a very distinctive lack of gold on the arm you just mauled, let go." She forced herself to stare coldly at him. Five years ago she would've hauled his mouth to hers, tangled her fingers in those wild curls and kissed him until he melted.

But this was now.

Her final stint as Ambassador Forbes was done, the mantle of Princess heavy. She wouldn't have even still been here if it hadn't been for the uncertainty of the passes. Attending the formal dinner last night had been courtesy only, a wish to avoid insulting her hosts. She'd have plead a headache had she known that the dragons would be attending; if she'd only known that this one was prowling with his magic wide open, hunting. Tyler would never forgive this, could rain war down on her people.

She couldn't allow that.

"Really sweetheart, mauled?"

"I will not ask you to release me a third time."

He kissed her palm, licked the pad of her thumb and laughed. "Or what? We both know you've got all your precious human magic caught up in binding what courses through your veins. That was cleverly done. You nearly slipped my grasp - but that would have been only a momentary fix, little love."

"You do not want me as your enemy."

"I want you naked in my bed, golden light turning your skin luminescent. I want your hair across my pillow, the heavy silk of it around my fingers." Klaus canted his head. "But I digress. I did not expect to find you here - a thousand years have I flown alone, Caroline. You are an unexpected gift."

Her soul hurt. She could feel the truth of his words and the steel, the iron she'd need to repudiate him did not sit on her tongue. Swallowing heavily, she tried to speak - to deny him, but his hot fingertips pressed against her lips.

"I will lick along every inch of you, taste the salt of your skin, until I find the crack in your defenses." Klaus murmured, fingers stroking along her throat. "I've been told an orgasm works best - watch the cream of your skin flush gold; the soft, delicate swirls of claiming run beneath your skin."

"Now you're being inappropriate on purpose," Caroline said lowly. Her expression didn't alter but the rest of her heated, the flush of arousal would hopefully be confused for her growing temper. But the sinful, lazy smile as he breathed deep told her Klaus, at least, knew the effect he was having.

"I smelled you first, the lushness of your skin, that tantalizing mix of honey and woman," Klaus told her, fingers gentle as he pushed a loose curl behind her ear, stroked her pink cheek. "But I could not find you among the guests - you must have slipped out the moment my magic breached your defenses, mingled along the lines of your soul. Did you sleep last night, little love? I've been told the magic binding can be painful. If you'd come to me, I'd have eased the heat of it, stroked the lines of you until you purred."

Caroline refused to acknowledge his words, the burning low in her stomach. Lack of sleep had little to do with the edge of her temper - an evening spent trying to slow his magic from sinking into her marrow. She still didn't know how he'd gotten through her defenses in the first place.

"I've no interest in your fantasies," Caroline said primly, even as her body told a different story. Lie. Lie. Lie. Every part of her hummed at the thought of him stroking her with hands and tongue, struggled not to imagine how warm his skin burned; his dragon-fire contained by human flesh and bone.

"My guard and I have been delayed long enough."

"Where are your guards?" Klaus asked, gaze scanning the courtyard with narrowed eyes.

"There is a dragon in the gateway. I prefer them to use their common sense and watched from a safe distance." Caroline told him, exasperated.

Klaus stilled. "You mean that."

"Of course I mean that," Caroline said. "There is no use in them dying because you want to prove some misplaced point."

"You're lucky this will not be an issue going forward." Klaus said firmly, stepping into her space. "Caroline - do you think for a moment that I could not change shape, take you with me by wing and claw?"

"If you think for a single moment that I'm going anywhere with you…"

His mouth was so hot, branding hers; those long fingered hands cradling her jaw as the rough stroke of his tongue against the seam of her lips almost broke her. She felt his magic push hard against hers and Caroline shoved him away; staggered out of his arms with a heaving chest, magic holding by tenterhooks. She bared her teeth when he tried to reach for her.

"You will stop this madness at once."

"You're mine." Klaus said determinedly, tongue snaking across his lips.

"I belong to me," Caroline growled, straightening her dress. "But I choose to serve my people, and I have willingly chosen to enter into marriage with my betrothed. This insanity of yours ends now."

She couldn't let him touch her again. Her magic was paper thin now, and she struggled not to reach for him. To stroke along the rough velvet of his tongue with hers, to challenge him until he followed through that threat. What did he look like as a dragon? Was he as dark as his brother with the faintest touch of blue to his scales?

Klaus' cheekbones were stark, the force of his temper shimmered visibly in the air between them. "No."

"Yes."

"And what? You return to your people? My magic runs in your veins."

"Allegedly," Caroline replied icily.

"You will not age." Klaus ground out. "Your life is now tied to mine. Time no longer pulls at your bones. I should let you leave, return to this useless human who does not guard the treasure he has been given - but I will not. Dragon magic is as territorial as I am, little love. It will let no other touch you, will let no other magic claim you. How long until your suitor casts you aside, when the fire running through your veins no longer lets you near him?"

Caroline took a step back, face pale. He stalked forward, the fury behind his gaze turning the courtyard blistering. She forced herself to hold her ground, even as she started to sweat.

"Release the bindings, Caroline."

She said nothing, even as he stood close enough for their clothing to touch. He hissed out a sound - steam against rock - and curled his hands into fists. But she would not bend. This wasn't about her - her life had never been that forgiving.

"And if I offered you a bargain?"

Caroline eyed him warily. "What kind of bargain."

"I will call off the feud your betrothed instigated, by hunting my family and the attempted murder of my brother." Klaus said tightly. "For you."

Caroline froze.

"I'll provide your people with the mages they will lose should the Lockwood family break contract due to your refusal to marry," he lifted a hand, smoothed her hair with careful fingertips. "Which I would have done regardless, Caroline."

Caroline licked her lips. "Why?"

"Release your magic, sweetheart, and see."

Caroline stared at the alien eyes watching her, the predator who knew he'd found a chink in her armor. Who was waiting her out - he wasn't forcing, for all his gritted threats. Klaus wanted her to come to him.

A thousand years he said. A thousand years to fly alone. Caroline caught her lower lip between her teeth, wondered at the loneliness - at the faith he must have wrestled with for magic to pair him with someone. His self-control at her continued denials.

So, did she trust the magic that ran beneath their skin? Did she believe in fate? More importantly, did she trust this dragon when he promised to defend her people?

"I know about the hoarding." Caroline said softly, voice rough.

Klaus leaned into her personal space, dimples bracketing a smile made of sin. "Nothing I've found is more precious than you."

Caroline scowled, lowered her lashes to glare. "If you're correct, I won't be hoarded."

"All the time," Klaus corrected, thumb lifting to stroke across her wet bottom lip. "I will hoard you - your laugh, your scent, you smiles; the lushness of your skin sprawled across silk sheets. But I can be coaxed into sharing, with the right incentive. Drop your magic, Caroline."

"So sure," Caroline said quietly.

"Yes."

Caroline dropped her magic. Released the barrier that was so thin. The pressure behind her eyes disappeared, and the feel of his magic moving through her left her flushed. Klaus closed his eyes, chest moving as he breathed her in. She watched in surprise as he shuddered, eyes opening slowly to run over her again.

He said nothing as his gaze stilled on her left wrist. Steady fingers removed the heavy cuff, and then his fingertips smoothed across skin stained gold in a delicate pattern. She bit her lip at the unexpected sensation, the way she could feel his magic shift across her skin. Something incandescent flashed across his eyes; her stomach flipped as he brought her wrist to his mouth, tongue licking across the mark.

Her blood started to burn for reasons that had nothing to do with magic. Klaus licked again, a rough stroke of his tongue and Caroline shivered.

"Every inch of you," Klaus reminded her, voice hardly more than a growl. "Until every part of you is golden."

She knew she was blushing, cheeks hot. She opened her mouth to growl a response when she realized the shimmering heat around them had shifted to true flame - sparks dancing around them like fireflies. They drifted into her pinned curls, brushed against skin, and all she felt was a lingering warmth.

"I told you - you're mine."

Caroline scoffed. "And I told you, you don't want me for an enemy."

Klaus laughed and Kol lifted his magnificent head, wings lifting to spread wide. Warm, possessive lips brushed her ear as Klaus leaned close.

"Welcome to my family, Caroline Forbes." He pressed against her hair and laughed again, the sound… happy.

"You're not scared of heights, are you, love?"

Part Two

Caroline woke tucked comfortably into a bed she had no recollection of being put into. For all that Klaus had glowered, fingers curled through her own, it had taken time to put everything together to leave. She was packed, but there were letters to be written; a hasty note to her mother and the more formal missive to her father. By the time they had finished all the little necessary arrangements, she'd started to flag.

She been trying to issue her last set of instructions when Klaus had swept her off her feet. She stared at his throat for a long second as he'd determinedly marched away from the scribes and ministers behind them.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"I've decided abduction was the better option after all," Klaus murmured, ignoring the clamoring. "Did you sleep at all last night, Caroline?"

She ignored his question, since she was fairly sure they both knew the answer. Even if her bones hadn't ached with the sudden infusion of foreign magic, keeping that magic contained required her to be constantly aware. "Is this what I have to look forward to? Being carted around like a sack of potatoes?"

His chin lowered and one brow arched. "Apparently I have an eternity to enjoy your unnecessary stubbornness, love. I look forward to being able to deposit you in the hot springs or the bed, but I'll settle for getting you into the carriage."

She'd been unable to push back the entirety of her blush. Klaus' tone had made it abundantly clear what he meant, and she scowled at the implication that she was so easily removed from her duties. Caroline opened her mouth to make it bitingly clear what he would not be doing, and paused. She actually wasn't sure what her new role would be, but it was clear that he intended for her to help manage something if he'd have to bodily remove her from them.

"I think you'll find that more difficult than you believe," Caroline said instead.

Klaus' lips quirked. "Of that I have no doubt."

Being settled into the carriage was not what she expected. Caroline was surprised into silence when he sprawled longways across what was clearly a sleeping carriage, arranging her neatly so that she was using him as a pillow. She had a moment to worry about crushing her skirts and the undignified way she was sprawled when his hands smoothed on the back of her neck; tangled in her hair.

"Now, let's see if we can settle the magic enough that you can rest."

It'd been instinct to fight that first coil of magic, the sudden rush of dragon fire beneath her skin. Instinct to flinch away from those oddly rough fingertips brushing slowly up and down the back of her neck.

"So stubborn," Klaus murmured into her hair. "I've got you if you'll let me catch you, Caroline."

Caroline had never surrendered to anything in her life. But his magic was gold against her skin, the strength of him solid and she'd hunted for this her entire life. She'd settled for the duty of helping Tyler, because it was was what had been expected of her.

She didn't fear Klaus or his foreign magic, but the aching need for him that had bloomed the moment he breached her defenses. That he'd settle her wandering heart and realize it was a mistake. But those were a girl's fears and she'd stopped letting them haunt her. Slowly, deliberately she unlocked each muscle and let her exhausted magic release her automatic defenses.

Klaus said nothing, just washed the heat of his dragon across her senses, and he continued to drag his fingertips distractingly across her skin. His heartbeat was steady beneath her ear, and her lashes fluttered closed as the worst of the bone-ache eased. She only opened her eyes as the carriage rocked into motion, but that soon faded into the background as well.

She had no idea when she'd fallen asleep.

There was a warm, almost hot body pressed against her spine. Blinking the last of sleep from her eyes, she stayed relaxed and took stock of her situation. The room was open and airy, with an understated opulence that was oddly charming. Dusk had passed, the last glimmers of sunset barely visible through the wide windows that should have been impossible. Biting her lip in surprised delight, she carefully turned to face the dragon next to her.

He wasn't asleep.

His eyes were hooded by his gold tipped lashes, irises nearly colorless again except for those burning threads of copper and bronze. Heat washed through her at the expression behind his gaze, the want and need that tangled emotions in her chest. Licking her lips, she arched a brow at his silence.

"What, no snarky comment about finally having me in your bed?"

His mouth curled, the faintest hint of teeth visible behind his lips. "I think it's fairly obvious where you are, little love. Stating the obvious has gotten me nowhere with you yet. Did you rest well?"

Caroline studied him, the stunning good looks, the faintest hint of dimples. It would be so easy to keep her guard up, to cautiously explore what was burning between them. She might have accepted the claim his magic had made of her but that wasn't the exact same as accepting him.

She didn't want caution.

Reaching up, Caroline brushed her fingers along the hard line of his jaw. She let herself trace the curve of his cheekbone, the scruff of his beard. Finally, glancing at him from beneath her lashes, she brushed ever so lightly across his lips.

"I rested fine," Caroline murmured, voice low between them. "Thank you for that."

A flicker of his lashes, and Klaus made a low rumbling noise that Caroline found absolutely fascinating as her hand trailed down his' throat. She lowered her gaze, and repeated the lingering caress. She was rewarded with another of those rumbling sounds.

"Caroline," Klaus said roughly. She shivered at the tone, the way he all but growled her name. "Are you certain you wish to do that?"

"Why?" She asked, shifting so she was closer, mischief curling along her lips. Flicking her gaze back to his lightening filled gaze, she made a little disapproving noise. "You don't actually think I'm a virgin, do you?"

She waited for her words to hit, watched him blink before leaning in to taste the path her fingers had followed along his throat. Tongue flickering out, she hummed at the unexpected heat of his skin. She barely managed to playfully bite before she was rolled onto her back, a nearly subvocal growl vibrating between them.

His eyes burned a path down the sheer shift she usually wore under her dresses, the pink of her nipples nearly visible. She let him scorch her with his eyes, shivered when he rested his palm directly beneath her breasts.

"To be clear, I'm only concerned with who you will share you bed with going forward, Caroline. You're past lovers are of little consequence if you are no longer with them," Klaus said in firm tones. "Unless we need to discuss something in particular about those experiences, I'm only interested in your likes and dislikes."

"Thank you," she murmured. She tilted her head and considered him. "That's a surprising attitude. I believe it was still custom to offer the occasional virgin sacrifice to ward off your brethren a few hundred years ago."

Klaus bent and kissed below her collarbones, nipped lightly with his teeth. "A screaming, terrified woman in my bed has never held much appeal."

Caroline pursed her lips and hummed her agreement, threading her fingers through his hair. She gave a sigh of pleasure, dragging her nails lightly. "If I ever find such a situation, the mounting of your head on the gate is a promise I'll keep."

His eyes lifted, the same jealously that dug into her gut clear in his gaze. "I'm not much for sharing, sweetheart. The only woman languid and aroused I want in my bed is you. I fully intend to hoard you, until your skin glows with dragon gold, until the the marrow of your bones, the secret corners of your soul belong completely to me."

"Our magic may have decided we're compatible and I may have accepted your claim," Caroline warned him lowly. "But what you are demanding magic cannot give, Klaus."

"What fun would that be," Klaus chided as he moved his hand to cup her breast, tongue a hot stroke against her throat. Caroline moaned at the echoing flare of magic in her blood, the way she could feel the lingering heat of him against her skin after each stroke. "Oh no, little love. I will beguile and charm, coax and hoard all your secrets. Shall we start now? I'm most curious at what you're body will teach me."

Caroline knew she was flushed, arousal hot in her veins. Underneath her shift, she was already wet; the heat of him braced so temptingly between her thighs. She knew he was perfectly aware of the affect he had on her. His sense of smell, the magic running through her veins allowed her to hide nothing. Yet he waited, strange pupils wide, eyes nearly glowing.

"You do have a few promises to keep," Caroline challenged, even as something softened in her chest for this dragon. He wanted so badly, yet even here he did not take. Just as he waited for her surrender to his magic, he waited for her permission.

"So I do."

His kiss was slow, an almost delicate exploration of her lips and mouth. He kissed her until she gasped beneath him, until her eyes turned hazy and she moaned against the Pugh glide of his tongue. Her lips burned as he moved lower, painting her skin with little bites and the soothing stroke of his tongue, inflaming nerves before soothing them.

The soft sound of her shift tearing had her blinking down at his. "Really?"

"Fair warning," Klaus said roughly, eyes roving the newly bared skin; fingertips gliding as carefully across her abdomen as her breasts. "I'm less find of clothing in bed."

"I liked that shift."

"I like you naked."

"You can't destroy all my nightgowns," Caroline warned, tapping his chin as he ducked his head. Klaus smiled, dimples cutting deep.

"Why not? You have no need for modesty in my bed, and warmth isn't an issue either." Klaus licked her nipples, first one, then the other. "I want to feel the press of you while you sleep, your skin against mine."

She arched her back, shivered at the heat of his mouth and didn't try to stifle her moan as he made another of those subvocal sounds. She wanted that noise against her clit. "I might be persuaded."

He moved down her body slowly, every inch of skin touched by his mouth or fingertips. She was panting when he reached the crease of her hip, his hands spreading her thighs. He glanced up with his odd eyes, smile predatory in a way that made her stomach jump.

"How persuasive do you need?"

Was she supposed to be able to think when he was watching her like that? With her arousal a near painful ache, the nerves he'd stroked with tongue and magic still humming? Shivering as tongue swept along his bottom lip, she valiantly gathered her wits.

"Very."

Klaus dipped his head and licked. Eyes squeezing shut at the over-warm caress, she cried out as he did it again. He licked and sucked, chasing every little flinch, each jerk of a thigh muscle until she was incoherent. Tongue flicking back up to circle her clit, he rumbled against her and she came with a scream.

He dragged out her orgasm with long strokes of his tongue until she was tugging at his hair, air sobbing in her throat. He let her pull him up, her lips desperate against his. Klaus exchanged kisses until her pulse slowed, and then he bit down lightly, the sudden brush if his cock the only warning she had before he unexpectedly sheathed himself. Caroline gasped, clenching down and he groaned, the sound near inhuman.

"Pretty Caroline," Klaus rasped, skimming her cheeks, her closed kids with kisses. "All golden in my bed."

She curled her legs around his hips, dug her nails into the muscle of Klaus' back. "Move."

A sharp bite against her shoulder was a stunning counterpoint to his thrust. Air wasn't quite managing to fill her desperate lungs with each gasp; the unexpected difference of his skin's texture apparent with each slow movement of his hips. She clawed at his back, the slow pulse of magic in her veins matching his rhythm and she heard herself whine.

Caroline fleetingly embarrassed by how needy she sounded. But then he was rumbling against her, and she arched her breasts into chest to rub her nipples against that vibration. His hand slipped between them to rub against her clit and her orgasm hit her as the magic bloomed, washing her in fire and sensation as Klaus groaned out his own release.

She had no idea how long they laid there before she managed a soft, pleased noise. "That was fairly persuasive."

A hot exhale against her skin, what might have been a near soundless laugh. Klaus lifted his head, eyes slowly darkening to human blue. "Only fairly?"

She smiled, ran her greedy fingers through his hair. "You can try again later."

"I'd be delighted," Klaus all but rumbled, the faintest of yellow in his eyes. He traced her mouth, studied her. "The magic is settled, love."

"I noticed," Caroline shrugged. "It was going to be a pain to cleanse from my system anyway."

"Is this what I have to look forward to," Klaus teased, eyes filled with affection. "A lifetime of your sass?"

"Aren't you lucky?"

He brought her left wrist to his mouth, licked the dark gold of his mark and smiled. "I think we should see how well your sass hold out in the hot springs."

She blinked as he hauled her against him and started laughing. Kept laughing, until he dunked them both. Tomorrow, word might come if war, but she decided with her hands full of wet curls and Klaus' mouth against hers that she'd fight for this.

She was a terrible enemy to have, after all.

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(I stole this title from the book by Illona Andrews. It doesn't involve dragons, but its amazing.)