Klaus didn't scold me like I expected him to. He took me to his house and I think he said something to my parents because no one came looking for me. He got me food – real substancial food, I mean here – and he bought me clothes. He was being rather sweet if you don't consider the fact he didn't say a word to me.
I tried to make him talk, but my brain was still buzzing. Although it was clear enough he was not in the mood for conversation. So I shut my mouth and did everything as quietly as I could. Then I went to bed and I didn't wake up until he called me. Again he gave me food and told me to 'wash myself' like I was some kind of pup he had found on the side of the road.
"Stop telling me what to do."
He raised an eyebrow. "Fine. I didn't think you enjoyed being covered in blood, love, that's all."
I rolled my eyes at the accusation as if I didn't care at all what he thought of me. But in a moment I was up heading to the bathroom. He followed me and showed me where the towels were. When he turned around I was already naked and ready to get my back scrubbed.
He blinked a few times and I had to content my excitement. Apparently, men were all the same. Dead or alive.
"Now, what are you doing?"
I shrugged. "I thought you were planning to wash me."
"I wasn't."
"Are you considering it?"
He looked me up and down and suddenly I felt really bad. And I mean 'about to cry bad'. What the hell was I doing? I turned my back at him and waited for him to leave hoping he hadn't see me blushing.
He must've sensed it though because he left without another word.
After a good warm bath, my head was clearer and I decided to thank Klaus and also apologize for my crazy behavior. I found him in a circular room with wide open windows. He stood right in the middle painting a beautiful autumn landscape. Everything looked so normal for a moment I forgot the supernatural world we lived in. Vampires didn't exist. There was only this handsome man, the sun light in his face, his blue eyes gleaming as his hands moved swiftly through the canvas.
"Do you have something to say or are you just going to stand there?" See, the most unnerving thing about Klaus was not his physical perfection. It was his feral combination of strength, agility, and keen intelligence that was palpable across the room. He looked like a lion that could strike at any moment but was in no rush to do so.
"I thought you were in favor of hospitality today."
He grinned. "I've been known to change my mind on a whim."
"How did you find me?" I blurted out.
Klaus took his time to answer. He put down his brush and turned to me. "Elijah asked me to keep an eye on you."
Oh. My mouth was suddenly very dry.
"Aren't you going to ask?"
"Ask about what?"
"About him," he said curly.
"No."
I felt the tension in my shoulders and the familiar twitch in my left eye.
"Is your heart too broken to speak of him?" he asked not unkindly.
I avoided the question. "Why did he... he ask you to..."
"I'm the only one who can protect you," he said and the statement seemed to make him happy.
"That's not true." I had a family of vampires. I had friends who were wolves.
His eyes turned kind. "Oh, love. You really have no idea what's going on, do you?" He shook his head. "Regardless, I would like for you to remain with me for the time being."
"Am I your prisoner, now?"
"Would you like to be?" he teased. "No. You're free to go or stay."
I crossed my arms, that feeling returning to me. You know, the 'I want sex and blood' feeling. Maybe staying wasn't such a bad idea. Maybe the Vampire King was supposed to protect me but others. Keep me away from fifteen year old virgins.
"I can be persuaded to stay," I told him. Damn it. Was I flirting again? Well, should that make me feel bad? I couldn't really help myself when I had that beautiful vampire staring at me like that. It was overwhelming.
He inhaled very deeply. I could see in his face that he was inhaling... well, me. That was enough to make me shiver. Before I could do something I was most likely going to regret, I turned my back and walked away from the room.
However, he caught up with me. He grabbed me so suddenly I gasped, my heart racing. Then his mouth was on mine and he pressed me against the corridor wall and the next minute was a blur of desire and moaning.
A mild shock made me back away quickly, but not quickly enough. The tingling traveled up my arms, lifting my skin into tiny goose pimples, then spread across my shoulders, tensing the muscles in my back and neck. These sensations quickly receded, but they left behind a hollow feeling of unmet desire. Shaken by my response, I stepped away from him. Then he stepped back and glared at me with the weirdest expression. "Very broken, it would seem," he muttered.
I felt myself straightening up. "Is this a test?" I asked dumbly.
"No," he said dismissively. "I just wanted to do that again."
"Why? To make me feel guilty?" I was starting to get angry. I was embarrassed, horrified, and absolutely ready to jump him. "Or... Or because you want to get back at him? For Tatia? She chose him, too, didn't she?"
Klaus stared at me and there was no kindness left in him. He kept quiet, but there was no need for him to speak. He had kissed me because he wanted to. And that was enough for me.
"It's because you're hurt, isn't it? That part of you that is still human."
That made him step back.
"Don't deny it. I've seen it. It made me forgive everything you've done. I know that you're in love with me," I accused feeling very sure. "And anyone capable of love can be saved."
"You think I'm the one who needs to be saved?" he snarled. "I do not believe in love."
"Then what do you live for?"
"I don't live. We are death," he told me.
I shook my head, baffled, outsmarted, helpless. I felt the anger in my veins, as sure as the passion. But he made me speechless, made my overwhelming instinct seem petty, confused. I could feel myself dying inside, weakening, and I blamed and hated him for that.
"Death waits for you everywhere," he sighed now as if he were suddenly frustrated. "We do not feel and do not care, love."
"But you did once." And then it was my turn to kiss him. There were no words to express how much he wanted me. I could only match him feelings with mine. All I had at that moment was a hot vampire who needed reassurance just as much as I did.
"What did you do that?" he demanded.
"I just wanted to do that again," I said.
While I stood paralyzed by conflicting waves of emotion, he shook his head and grabbed my shoulders. "If you want this, you have to be honest. Say it, Nessie," he urged me.
But how could I?
"You want this for the same reason I do," he said. "To punish him. Say it. You want to punish him."
I looked into his blue eyes and I knew, for the first time in months, exactly what I wanted.
"I want to punish him," I repeated obediently.
Klaus smiled. A beautiful, genuine smile. "If it were up to me, Elijah would've never hurt you. Neither of you. I wouldn't have let him."
"Then help me, Klaus," I begged. "Help me heal."
And boy, help he did.
Once we found a bed, his fingers and mouth were busy learning my topography. I was so on fire for him I was surprised that flames didn't flicker out of my fingertips.
I may have made lots of noise (I was sure of it) but I was floating on the most powerful wave of pleasure I'd ever felt.