This chapter takes place during Season 2, Episode 14.

Warning: violence and some sexual content


Chapter Six: Secret's Out

That night, Kiara dreamt of Niklaus. Not the angry hybrid who threatened to make her suffer, but the sweet human boy who wanted only her name and looked at her like she was a gift from the gods. It was silly really. Kiara knew that that person died a long time ago, that much was obvious as he was choking her, but memory is a funny thing. Because she could remember his gentle hands skimming her stomach and his soft lips hesitantly moving against hers. And suddenly, he was there with her. He was looking at her with those dreamy eyes and holding her against the wall of her bedroom, whispering sweetly in her ear as he trailed kisses down her neck.

It was just the two of them. She wasn't a succubus. He wasn't a vampire. No soul-sucking or blood draining. No questions about what was real or how they felt. Only a beautiful moment between two lonely souls.

"I need more, love," Niklaus muttered against her skin. "I need you."

"You have me," she sighed, gripping his bareback like he might disappear any second.

She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall allowing him to run his mouth whenever he pleased. The thin dress she wore gave him easy access to nearly everything.

"Well, well, isn't this quite the picture?"

Kiara's eyes snapped open. She looked over Niklaus's shoulder to see… Klaus? Only his hair was short and he was wearing jeans. He was smirking at her with a dramatically raised eyebrow and his hands held behind his back. She blinked in confusion. Slowly, she was lowered to the ground.

"Klaus?" she asked, taking a step toward him.

"In the flesh, so to speak," he glanced at the version of him she'd created and then back at her. "You have me at a bit of a loss here, sweetheart. I didn't expect to find this, of all things, when I ventured into your head. But don't let me stop you, go on, enjoy yourself."

"This isn't real." Kiara closed her eyes and backed up to slide down the wall until she was sitting on the floor. "It's just a dream, a terrible nightmare that I'll wake up from any second now..."

"Terrible nightmare?" Klaus laughed mockingly. "Come on, love. You have me shirtless and begging for you here. What more could you possibly want?"

When she opened her eyes again, he was still standing there grinning down at her. He looked around the room with curious eyes and her cheeks burned. She'd never had a man in her bedroom before. He jumped back onto the bed and bounced a little. "Is this your bedroom?" he asked. "It's a bit plainer than I expected, I must admit."

She frowned at him.

His eyes looked from the simple grey walls and white dresser to her. It seemed like he wanted to ask her something, but he simply plastered that smirk back on his face and said, "Tell me, what is it about me that generated this filthy dream of yours? Hm? My handsome good looks? My body? Was it the accent? It was, wasn't it? It's always the accent…"

Kiara glared at him annoyed by his cocky behavior. This was nothing like the human boy she met in his mind. Could there really be nothing left of him in there?

She leaned her head back against the wall and looked at her dream version of the hybrid who was still looking at her with those kind eyes. "You really want to know?"

"You have me at the edge of my seat, love."

"It was your eyes," she said, looking at him and his smile faded. "Not that it matters anyway. He's not you, not anymore anyway. And I'm…" she looked down at her hands. "I'm not me either. I haven't been this girl for a while now and I guess meeting him made me miss her."

"I don't understand," said Klaus. "What is that supposed to mean exactly?"

"Before, in your dream, I met a memory of you, didn't I?" she asked, but he didn't answer. "You were human and sweet. And you looked at me like… I don't know like you could see past all of it."

"All of what?" he asked.

"It doesn't matter," Kiara said, shaking her head and Niklaus faded away. "I never really met him anyway. It was all just a dream."

Again Klaus just stared at her.

"Didn't you come here to torment me or something? When you said you'd make me suffer, I was picturing blood and gore, not mind games."

"You started it, sweetheart," he smirked and then shook his head. "Suffering comes in all shapes and sizes. If its blood and chains you prefer, I'm happy to accommodate."

"You have a smart mouth," she said.

"Why thank you."

"It wasn't a compliment."

"Agree to disagree."

She rubbed her eyes in frustration and said, "You're insufferable. I'm ignoring you now," she told him. "I have to wake up some time so I guess we'll just sit here in silence until I do."

"Oh, love, you couldn't ignore me if you tried."

Kiara rolled her eyes before shutting them again. She could feel his eyes on her. Then there was the sound of shuffling movement as a hand circled her throat. His touch was warm and almost comforting. He pulled her up to stand on her feet and when she opened her eyes, she was face-to-face with him. His fingers twitched, but couldn't tighten any further. "What is this?"

"We're in my dream, Klaus, and I'm in full control this time," she told him, slapping his hand away from her. "You can't hurt me here."

It seemed to click in his head then that she wasn't what she seemed. "Just what are you, love?"

He still hadn't figured out that she was a succubus, which made sense. He had other things to worry about at the moment and it was probably for the best. Elijah predicted that if Klaus ever did find out what she was, he would want to keep her with him as a trophy. She couldn't let that happen to her.

"A nosey witch with a talent for seduction?" he guessed.

Kiara bit her lip, trying not to look relieved. "You got me."

He studied her as if hoping to find proof that she was lying. "Just what exactly were you hoping to accomplish going into my head, hm?"

"Maybe I was just hoping I could meet the big bad hybrid," she said, stepping towards him and running a hand down his chest. "So I could get his attention and wiggle my way into his heart."

"Well, I'm flattered, love," he said, cupping her face and warmth spread across her face. "But are you sure it wasn't at the request of my brother Elijah?" he asked. His eyes reading her face.

She tried not to react, but it was like Jonas said, she was an open book.

"Ah, just as I thought," Klaus nodded, dropping his hand. "This had Elijah written all over it, but I must admit he is a clever one. You are one of the prettiest adversaries I've faced. No wonder it took me so long to realize what you were up to."

Adversary? Is that how he saw her? She did what she did to help Elijah, but she never intended to make an enemy of Klaus in the process.

"Is that what we are, enemies? I know you're angry, but you don't think that's being a bit dramatic?" she asked him.

"What else should I call a woman who's working against me with my own brother? Lying witch? Manipulative shrew?"

"I preferred it when you called me, the most beautiful woman you've ever seen." She crossed her arms in front of her. He looked almost embarrassed for a moment, unable to meet her eyes, and Kiara sighed. "Look, I was doing your brother a favor and for a while there... you seemed to be enjoying it."

He scoffed and stepped back. "Don't mistake one successful manipulation on your part for weakness on mine. You caught me by surprise. That won't happen again and while I may not be able to hurt you here, rest assured I will make you pay for whatever mischief you have cooked up with my brother."

"I get it," Kiara said. "I hurt your feelings and I'm sorry—"

Klaus's arm shot out and grabbed her by the neck again. "You didn't hurt me. You'd have to matter to hurt me and you don't. In fact, you mean nothing to me. Do you understand? Absolutely nothing!"


Kiara jolted out of bed and pressed her hand to her chest. She was sweaty and shaking and out of breath. What the hell just happened? Did she just piss off Elijah's brother even more? The bad guy. The one who said he would throw his daggered siblings into the ocean. The one wanting to sacrifice three people for his own selfish needs. She pressed her fingers against her throat and sighed. What was she thinking?

A few days of allowing the supernatural into her life and things were already spiraling out of control.

As a succubus, it was hard to know what was really a dream or not. She knew it was terrible to have dreamed of Klaus either way. Especially after what she just did with his brother the night before. If she was going to dream about anyone it should have been him. So why didn't she? She told herself that it was just a dream, a bizarre dream, and Klaus hadn't really been there for it. Then she tried to scrub off the memory of his hands on her in the shower. But it didn't work.

"Good morning, Kiki," Holly said from the kitchen as Kiara made her way down the stairs. "I was just about to get you. We have a visitor."

John Gilbert was sitting at their kitchen counter drinking some coffee. "Hello Kiara," he said, looking smug.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me. I am so not in the mood to deal with you right now. Get out."

"Kiki! What is wrong with you?" Holly said.

"This guy is a total creep who grabbed me in town and threatened me," Kiara told her. "I want nothing to do with him."

"Let me explain," he said, getting to his feet.

"Why should I?"

"Because I need your help."

Kiara deflated. She walked around him to the fridge and poured herself from juice. "Well in that case, how can I help you? Man I just met yesterday."

"It's about Elena. I know you've been spending time with Elijah. Has he told you what Klaus plans to do to her?" he asked.

Kiara glanced at Holly and then looked down at the tile floor. "Yes."

"So you know she'll be dead soon?"

"Yes, but I don't know what you think I can do about that."

"You're a succubus."

"I'm aware."

He pulled out a small journal from his jacket pocket and placed it on the counter in front of him. "Then you'll find this interesting."

Kiara rolled her eyes and gulped down some of her drink to keep from biting his head off. "What is it?"

"It's Isobel's research on everything succubus," he told her.

"That's great. And Isobel is?"

"Elena's biological mother."

"Of course, she is," Kiara sighed.

"She happens to be an expert researcher in supernatural lore," he said, gritting his teeth a little in frustration. "And she said, out of all the supernatural creatures, the hardest thing to find anything on is the succubus. She spent years collecting this information. You won't find anything else like it."

"Fine, I'm interested," Kiara told him. "What do you want for it?"

He hesitated for a moment. "It says that succubi has resuscitation abilities. Is that true?"

"I don't know. It kind of requires someone dying right in front of me for me to try it and, believe it or not, that hasn't happened to me yet," she said.

"But it's possible," he gave her a pointed look.

Kiara shrugged. "Sure. I guess."

"Do you think you could revive my daughter?"

"After the sacrifice, you mean?" she asked, raising her eyebrows at the suggestion.

He nodded.

Suddenly, he didn't seem as creepy. He was just a father trying to save his daughter. She couldn't fault him for that. He may not have gone about asking for her help the right way, but he had good intentions. That meant something to her.

"I, I don't know even how."

"It's worth a try," he said with a shrug. "I actually hope we don't have to involve you at all, but I like having a few back-up plans in mind just in case. You'd be our last shot at saving her should all else fail."

"I can't guarantee that it can be done," Kiara told him. "But I guess I would be willing to give it a try."

"Thank you. After this is all over, I'll hand this journal over to you, regardless if you need to get involved or not," he smiled and put the book back in his pocket. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a tea party to go to."

"Better you than I," she said with a forced smile and walked him to the door.


"Well, that was interesting," Holly said, stirring a new cup of tea at the kitchen table.

"Yeah, you didn't have much to say to him about it, what's up with that?" Kiara asked her as she started to make herself a sandwich.

Holly shrugged. "I was just… listening. Do you really think it's possible for you to bring someone back from the dead?"

Kiara snorted. "Honestly? If anything about the lore is fake news, my money's on that little rumor, but who knows. I've been wrong before."

"It seems wrong, doesn't it?" Holly said, not meeting her eyes. "Bringing back the dead. It defies nature."

"Not any more so than a vampire does," Kiara shrugged.

"Yes, but vampires are still technically dead when they turn, it's magic keeping them alive. That's why they need to keep drinking human blood."

"Are you suggesting if I revive Elena, I might be turning her into a succubus?" Kiara asked, a chill running down her body. "Is that even possible?"

"Might be."

"But I wasn't turned…" Kiara turned to her. "I just… woke up like this somehow."

"Or you were born like that."

"What?"

"You said that Klaus was born a werewolf and when he killed for the first time as a vampire, it triggered his werewolf curse, right?"

"Yes."

"Maybe you were born a succubus."

"But that's impossible," Kiara shook her head. "Because that would mean one of my parents was one and there's no way that's true. I would have known."

"Don't be so sure about that."

Kiara went to ask her why, but her phone started ringing. She looked down at it buzzing on the counter and Elijah's name flashed on the screen. Her heart jumped at the sight. Should she tell Elijah about the dream she had? No, because then she would have to tell him that she had been dreaming of kissing his brother and there was no way she could do that.

"Hello?" she answered, sounding too much like she had been holding her breath before answering.

"Hello, Kiara. Are you alright? Have I caught you at a bad time?"

"Oh, no, I'm just nervous, I guess," she said, cringing and bumping herself on the head.

Elijah chuckled a little. "Well I was calling to ask you to lay low for today if that's possible, I know you don't have school today since it's Good Friday and I have a meeting at the historical society that begins in a few minutes and I don't want you getting into any trouble while I'm preoccupied."

"Why do you always assume I'm going to get into trouble?" she asked, trying to sound more offended than she actually was.

"Oh. No particular reason," he smiled.

"Hey, I was living trouble-free until I ran into you."

"Somehow I doubt that."

Kiara laughed, plated her food, and walked back up to her room. "You know, you're being awfully rude to the person responsible for your quote 'incredible' experience last night."

"My apologies, do punish me however you see fit," he murmured into the phone.

"Hm, be careful what you ask for, Elijah," she said, laying back on her bed. "You may not like what you get."

"Oh, I sincerely doubt that, Miss. James," he said, knowing how it affected her when he did. "I'll call you later this evening."

"Okay, and Elijah, fair warning, Johnathan Gilbert will be there. Please behave yourself."

"I make no promises," he said and hung up.


Kiara spent most of the day catching up on her studies. She hasn't been able to concentrate much on school work for the last week or so and it was beginning to show. Mr. Saltzman even told her as much. When Holly went to work, Kiara realized she was feeling a little claustrophobic after spending the whole day inside. So, she slipped on her sneakers and headed out for a walk.

The cool night air felt nice on her face. She looked up at the stars as she passed house after house. She wondered where Klaus was at the moment and if he really did plan on coming after her for what she did. It seemed like a small thing compared to the other things he was dealing with. At first, Kiara thought he was just pissed off at the time and wanted to scare her. But after last night, she worried he may be pettier then she anticipated.

Still, Kiara didn't tell Holly about it just yet because she knew how she'd react. They'd be out of town first thing in the morning. The woman wasn't one for taking chances and Kiara couldn't blame her, Klaus was pretty scary. As much as Kiara hated the idea, she was beginning to wonder if maybe that was what they should do. And maybe she was putting Holly in danger by not telling her.

She didn't realize how far she had walked until she passed the Salvatore's Boarding House and saw that the door was wide open.

"That's weird," she mumbled to herself. Then she saw a woman in the doorway holding a gun over her shoulder and Mr. Saltzman on the floor with a knife sticking out of his abdomen. "Oh my God!" she gasped and raced toward him. Without even thinking. It was just a reaction. Someone was hurt and she wanted to help them, it was as simple as that.

Kiara didn't realize her mistake until she was already in the house and facing five strangers. "Who the hell are you guys?" she asked with scrunched eyebrows. Then she looked at Damon who was laying on the floor with a syringe next to him. "Friends of yours?"

He gave her an exasperated look.

"No?" she shook her head. "Didn't think so." She turned to the closest guy and touched his forehead, "Sleep," she said and he collapsed.

"What the hell? Get her!" A guy yelled.

Kiara jumped and took off into the house. She didn't realize how fast she could run until she had a bunch of strangers chasing her. Turns out Succubi were pretty damn fast. Unfortunately, she was outnumbered and didn't know the house's layout. One of the guys went around another way and slammed her into the wall. Everything went black.


When she woke up, her head was aching and she was lying on a couch with her hands and ankles tied together. Damon was chained to a chair to the left of her with some weird collar around his neck and a man wearing a beanie stood holding the other end of the chains. Mr. Saltzman was on the floor in front of her. Dead. Tears formed in her eyes and she moved to sit upright.

"Mr. Saltzman?" she whispered, hoping against hope that he would move.

The stranger turned and looked at her. "Oh, hey gorgeous. Have a nice nap?"

She glared at him but didn't answer.

Unbothered, he put the chains down and sat down next to her on the couch with his arm over her shoulders. "Aren't you a pretty mystery?" he said. "How's your head? You hit it really hard and should probably be dead right about now, but here you are. And here's the kicker, you don't smell like a vampire and you're definitely not a wolf so it got me thinking, just what the hell are you?"

Kiara ignored him.

"You know," he moved closer to her, making her try to scoot away. "You're going to have to warm up to me eventually."

Suddenly Damon started to wake up.

"Oh, excuse me," the guy smiled and skipped back to where Damon was.

The vampire blinked and looked around until his eyes settled on the guy holding onto the chains.

"Morning, Sunshine." the man said. Damon let his head fall back onto the chair and looked over at her with questioning eyes. "I saw this movie once," the guy went on. "Some torture porn flick. Anyway, they had this collar device that was really cool, so I just modified it with some wooden nails and when I pull… " He yanked at the chains and the collar tightened around Damon's neck, pressing the wooden nails into his skin.

Kiara looked away as blood ran down Damon's neck and he groaned in pain. She didn't even notice when the others came back into the room until the woman started talking.

"So I hear you have the moonstone," she said and paused as if waiting for a response.

Damon watched them step further into the room and just laughed. "Oh, if you only knew the irony of this moment right now," he said. "Let me tell you how this is gonna go. You're gonna torture me, I don't talk. Someone loses a heart. Last time, it was your boy, Mason."

The guy with the chains stepped forward and wrapped the chains tighter around his wrist.

"This time," the woman said. "It will be you." She nodded at the guy and he pulled at the chains making Damon groan in pain again.

"What about this one?" A man touched Kiara's shoulder and she pulled away from him.

Everyone turned their attention to her and she argued with herself internally. They didn't know what she was. The fewer people that knew about her the better. Plus she really didn't like the idea of hurting anyone if she could help it. The last thing she needed was to make more enemies for herself. Maybe it would be better to just play along for now. Someone would have to come along to help. Stefan lived here, right? He would have to come home eventually.

"I don't know. Let's see," the woman said, looking down at her. "Hi, my name's Jules. What's your name?"

Kiara glanced at the man pulling at the chains. He seemed to be enjoying himself, which could only mean that he really didn't like Damon. Not that he was entirely alone there. But that, plus their speed and strength and the fact that they were looking for a moonstone led her to believe she was dealing with werewolves.

"Yeah, I couldn't get her to talk to me either," The boy torturing Damon said.

Jules stared at her.

"Maybe she just needs some proper motivation?" One of the guys suggested.

"Just give me five minutes alone with her."

"Stevie," Jules sighed. "Just… stay on task, okay?" she looked back at Kiara. "Look we don't want to hurt you, we're just looking for—"

"The moonstone," Kiara said. "I heard you."

Jules raised her eyebrow. "Well do you know where it is?"

"Call me crazy," Kiara said. "but I have a feeling you won't believe anything I say."

"Look, if you don't answer my questions, your friend is going to get hurt."

Kiara couldn't help but laugh at the assumption. Damon Salvatore was most definitely not her friend. One of the guys stepped forward and backhanded her. Pain exploded across her face and her head snapped to the side. Blood rushed into her mouth and trickled from her lip, but she licked it away.

"Laugh at that bitch," the man said.

Kiara's eyes flashed green at the insult and the man stepped away from her in shock. "Word of advice, you should learn who you're dealing with before you make an enemy of someone."

"Noted," Jules said, crouching in front of her.

"You should know the only reason I'm here is because of that man," Kiara glanced down at Alaric's body. "He just so happens to be my favorite teacher and since you killed him, you kind of pissed me off. So, if I did know where the moonstone was, I wouldn't be telling you."

"Please just five minutes," Stevie said with his eyes on her.

Kiara smirked at him despite the nausea building in the pit of her stomach. "We both know you wouldn't last five minutes with me."

"This is a waste of time," Jules said before Stevie could respond, turning back to Damon with her gun pointed at him. "You know what the great thing about buckshot is? It scatters through the body. Maximum damage."

Damon just lifted his eyebrows at her.

Jules readied herself to shoot him. "Where's the moonstone?"

"Get over it, honey," Damon smiled. "You're never gonna get it."

"You looking for this?" Elijah's voice flowed through the room.

Everyone turned to look at him. Kiara wanted to as well, but she knew he was going to be upset with her. She had promised she would lay low and now here she was tied up and bleeding. Not that it mattered, she felt him look at her.

"Kiara, you're bleeding, are you alright?" he asked.

She closed her eyes, cursing the vampire's sense of smell. "I'm fine."

The answer seemed to satisfy him for the moment. He stepped down the stairs and placed the moonstone down on the table in front of him. "Go ahead," he said. "Take it."

It was obviously a challenge. The werewolf who smacked her ran towards the rock first and Elijah easily ripped his heart out and placed him on the couch next to her. Then the other two guys rushed forward at the same time and Elijah ripped their hearts out as well. Damon looked impressed. Jules lowered her eyes and rushed out of the room leaving Stevie alone with them. Stevie crouched down and lifted his jacket collar as if to hide under it.

Elijah calmly walked toward him. "What about you, sweetheart, hmmm?" he asked. "You want to take a shot?"

Stevie wouldn't even look at him.

"No? Yes? No?" Elijah asked and then looked at Damon. "Where's the girl?"

Damon opened his hands as if to shrug. "I don't know."

Elijah looked from Stevie to Damon and said, "It doesn't really matter." Then punched the young werewolf so hard it broke his neck.

Once all the threats were dealt with, Elijah turned to her. He cupped her face and examined her with concerned eyes.

"I'm fine, really. It's already healing," she told him with a small smile.

He only nodded. Then gently untied her hands, rubbing her wrists comfortingly, before turning to the ties around her ankles.

"It's okay, I got it," Kiara said, leaning forward to untie herself.

Elijah turned to Damon and ripped the chains off him. He took a step back and said, "So you realize this is the third time I've saved your life now?"

Damon just stared at him.

Kiara knelt down in front of her teacher and placed her hands on his chest. She was hoping she would know what to do at the moment. Surely there would be some kind of instinctual reaction around the dead if she could revive them, but nothing was coming to her. Seeing him just lying there with his eyes open was enough to bring tears to her eyes again.

"He's fine," Damon said. "He should wake up any minute now. He's got a magic ring. It's a whole thing."

"Really?" Kiara smiled.

Damon only nodded looking at her with a strange mix of confusion and wonder.

"Good, I'm glad," she told him and stood up.

"Come Kiara, let's get you home," Elijah turned, pocked the moonstone, and walked out of the house.

Kiara could sense he was upset with her, but she offered Damon an awkward wave and followed after him anyway.

"Hey wait," Damon said as she left the room. "What are you?"


When she stepped outside, he was still walking and pretty quickly too. She tried to catch up.

"Elijah, please talk to me," she called out to him.

He turned to her and said, "I asked you to do one simple thing today. Stay out of trouble."

"I know," she looked down, tears building in her eyes again. "And I tried."

Elijah took a breath and turned away like he couldn't even look at her at that moment. Then he started walking away from her again.

Kiara didn't move. The last couple of hours were finally catching up to her. She just watched a vampire be tortured and four werewolves die. Three of which had their hearts ripped from their chest. Not to mention, Mr. Saltzman's body was just lying there the whole time, while the people that killed him debated on doing who knows what to her just to get a hold of some rock. When did this become her life?

"Kiara?" Elijah stopped.

She slowly lowered herself to the sidewalk and sat down hugging her knees. Another wave of nausea came over her as the memories of the past few hours flashed in her mind. Elijah was beyond pissed at her and she had no idea how to make it right. She never did well with confrontation. She put up a good front, but deep down she wanted to run away the whole time she was in that house with those wolves. She was just too stubborn to give them the satisfaction of seeing that she was afraid. Now that it was just her and Elijah, she shut down.

Elijah's footsteps made their way towards her.

"Go away," she whispered, placing her forehead against her legs.

He froze in front of her. He could tell by the sound of her voice that she was crying. "I won't leave you here."

"I'm not your responsibility," she sniffed and looked up at him. "Just leave me alone."

"Is that really what you want?"

A tear streamed down her face and she looked away from him, brushing her face against her shoulder.

Elijah sighed and scooped her up into his arms. When she didn't protest, he started walking down the street again. "Do you have any idea how worried I was?" he murmured into her hair. "I couldn't get a hold of you and you weren't at your house, so I had Jonas do a locator spell to find you. Only to find you at the Salvatore house surrounded by wolves. Whatever were you doing there of all places?"

"It doesn't matter," she mumbled. "You won't listen to me anyway."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have treated you that way," Elijah said. "You just… snuck up on me. I wasn't prepared to care for you as much as I do and trouble seems to follow you wherever you go, I'm afraid I don't know what to do about it."

They reached her house and he stepped inside. Without needing any direction, he found his way to her bedroom. He turned on the lights and placed her down on her bed.

"Can you ever forgive me?" he asked and placed his hands in his pants pockets. His eyes peered down at her.

"I'm not mad at you, Elijah," Kiara said.

Elijah frowned. "But you are upset..."

Kiara shook her head and laughed. "Vampires…" she said. "This may be surprising to you, but I've never actually seen anyone die before."

"I see," Elijah sat down on her bed.

An image of Klaus sitting in the same place in her dream flashed in her mind and she felt a rush of guilt hit her.

"In retrospect, I probably should have shown more restraint," he said.

"You think?"

"However, all I could smell was your blood and that wolf's scent on you," Elijah said, folding his hands in front of him. "I could only conclude that they had caused you harm, did I jump to the wrong conclusion?"

"It wasn't a big deal, Elijah," Kiara looked at her lap.

Elijah placed a finger under her chin and made her look up at him. "You may not think so," he traced his thumb over her lower lip. "But I do not allow anyone to hurt those I care for. There is only one suitable punishment for it, in my opinion. So while I'm sorry that you were there to witness it, I will not apologize for killing those men."

"Okay," she said, reaching up under her shirt to slip off her bra before standing up to wiggle out of her pants.

Elijah kept his eyes trained on her face. "What are you doing?"

"I can't sleep with my pants on," she told him.

He nodded and stood up as well. "Well, I suppose I should be going—"

"Wait!" Kiara reached out for his arm and pulled it towards her. "Can you stay until I fall asleep?"

He studied her for a moment, unable to keep his eyes from sliding down to her bare legs.

"Or are you unable to control yourself, Mr. Mikaelson?" she raised a playful eyebrow.

"You're asking me to stay in your bedroom, unable to touch you, whilst you lay on your bed half-naked?" he asked, his eyes studying hers. "Is this my punishment for earlier?"

"I could always make it worse," she offered, pulling her covers back and sitting down.

"Oh?" He raised his eyebrows. "And how would you do that?"

"I could demand you strip and lay down next to me."

He smirked, pulling off his jacket as he walked around the bed to sit down next to her.

"Or I could," she swung her leg over him and sat down on his lap. "Tease you and not allow you to move an inch while I have my fun."

He forced his hands to remain at his sides, but his pupils were dilated as he looked up at her now. "You're positively evil, Miss. James."

"No. I just think watching you struggle to control yourself is really hot," she said, playing with his tie. "But not as much as I like the idea of teasing you until you break."

Elijah gulped, his eyes on her lips as she spoke. He knew she would do whatever she wanted to him and he would let her. But she showed him mercy. She smiled at him and kissed him sweetly on the lips before settling back down next to him. She hugged his arm to her chest and closed her eyes.

"Thank you for saving me, Elijah," was the last thing she said before she fell asleep.

He considered leaving right then, already uncomfortable in his suit after her verbal teasing, but he decided to stay a little longer. Despite his attraction to her, he found her presence soothing and knowing that she was safe was the only way he would be able to get any sleep himself. So he stayed, dozing next to her until the sun began to rise, then quietly made his leave without her knowing.


Hope you liked it. Thanks for reading.