Author's note: This is the sequel to Chapter 49 in this series; thanks for sticking with my story! And thank you for all of the reviews; you inspired me to keep going!
Caroline may have gotten rid of one irritating vampire, but it seems there's still an Original vampire that's far too nosy for his own good.
Warning: Some smutty goodness!
And you O my soul where you stand,
Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space,
Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them,
Till the bridge you will need be form'd, till the ductile anchor hold,
Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul.
— A Noiseless Patient Spider by Walt Whitman
Caroline had just finished rearranging her pantry when she heard the heavy footsteps scrape along the narrow rock ledge of the cave. She whirled around, letting out an aggravated groan when Klaus crossed the threshold. "Seriously?! We're 200 feet in the air and the cliff facing is perfectly smooth — are you part mountain goat?"
With an amused smirk, Klaus said, "Not to throw stones, love, but it appears I'm not the only one with an unusual bloodline." He glanced at the tall cave ceiling, taking in the various human-sized cocoons that Caroline had anchored there to snack on at her leisure. "Care to explain?"
"What? This is completely normal teenage girl behavior," she teased, gesturing from the impressive collection of cocoons to the elaborate, delicately spun spider web that spanned an entire wall. At his unimpressed expression, she rolled her blue eyes and sighed. "Fine, so I may have fibbed a bit about who I am."
Allowing a fine silk thread to shoot from her fingertip, she playfully wound it around one of her wrists, asking him, "What do you know about the story of Arachne?"
Intrigued, he answered, "Ovid wrote that Arachne was a mortal renowned for her weaving ability. However, she was boastful, and swore that she even outmatched the goddess Athena's skill. Enraged, Athena challenged Arachne to a contest and when the mortal woman's work outshone hers, she turned her into a small spider."
Letting out a snort of derision, Caroline said, "Well, that's just ridiculous — a human body could never be altered to squeeze inside the body of a tiny spider — I don't care how arrogant the goddess was." Allowing her fangs to descend, she carelessly waved toward the human-sized cocoons overhead and her massive spider web, explaining, "Athena transformed Arachne — that part of the myth is true — but what actually happened is that she cursed the mortal with certain attributes of a spider. The Forbes line (originally Forbopoulos) contains descendants from Arachne, and many of us share her fate."
Klaus flashed before her, seemingly unable to resist brushing aside an errant blonde strand from her cheek. His voice was uncharacteristically soft as he observed, "You feel you were cursed by your lineage then, that your own blood betrayed you. We have that in common, sweetheart."
She was quick to disagree with him. "While there are some in my family that have seen what we are as a curse, I embrace it as a strength." Blue eyes flashing, she added, "I've been able to take care of myself since I was 10. And a good thing too — considering the pervy vampire infestation in our town and everyone turning a blind eye to those creeps who view the varsity cheerleading squad as a jailbait-y buffet."
"Your strength is the first thing I noticed about you, love. It radiates from you more powerfully than any sunbeam." Klaus ducked his head, somewhat embarrassed. "It had been centuries since a human held my interest and I desired to learn more about you." Flashing his dimples impishly, he said, "And then I started to notice how fluid your movements were and the way they hinted at a powerful energy for one so young, not to mention the predatory gleam in those lovely blue eyes of yours. I knew you were something more than what you appeared, but I never would have guessed all of this."
"Yeah, when I was little, I couldn't wait to grow into my powers; especially back when I thought that spidey sense was a real thing. But there were some drawbacks they don't really prepare you for. Like how once puberty hit, my spinnerets would sometimes randomly shoot out silk until I got them under control. Or, how occasionally on boozy girls' nights, I sometimes accidentally leave pheromonal trails."
At Klaus' outburst of laughter, she found herself giggling, telling him, "It's completely ridiculous — these random dudebros would drunkenly follow my trails, not realizing their bodies' primal instincts had taken over and they were presenting themselves as potential mates."
"And did you eat all of them after sex, sweetheart," he cheekily asked.
Caroline answered with a wry grin, "Only if they couldn't find my g-spot. And even then, it usually was just their heads — dudebros' misogyny tend to give me indigestion."
Squinting at the large cocoons overhead, he asked casually, "And did Damon give you indigestion?"
"Nope," she answered firmly, raising an eyebrow as she dared him to protest the sleazy vampire's fate.
Raising his hands to mocking surrender, Klaus replied, "Far be it from me to get between you and your midnight snack, love. I just wanted to verify whether you had your eye on any of my other chess pieces."
Caroline rolled her eyes. "I don't hunt where I live — I only ignore that rule when threatened. It's critical to my kind's survival that we stay hidden."
"That sounds like a lonely existence, love. To be forced to hide your true self from those around you," he slowly began, a surprising sadness in his tone. "I've spent centuries with the weight of my own curse; no one understanding how it feels to have a piece of yourself cruelly locked away."
Caroline was surprised by his revelation. "There's more to you than I thought, Klaus. You're this ancient, powerful creature whose existence seemed more myth than fact, and you certainly had those in the know in this sleepy little town terrified — you're the last one I would've imagined as lonely."
Klaus asked her carefully, "And do I frighten you, sweetheart?"
The way his gaze bored into her made her feel the weight of his question. The air was electric and she realized they were on the brink of something larger; that everything was about to change. "Never," she swore, a little breathless as she caught him staring at her lips.
Her admission seemed to snap his rigid control and he grabbed her face with both hands as he pulled her in for a punishing kiss. She moaned at the way he ran his tongue along her fangs, worshipping them even as he unsheathed his own. The delicious scrape of bone sent a pleasurable thrill through her body, and she wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him closer.
As Caroline rubbed against him, he growled, snapping the narrow straps of her tangerine romper. As soon as her breasts were exposed, he latched onto a hardened nipple, his fangs tracing patterns that straddled the line of sweet and sharp until they blurred together sinfully. "You want to taste me," she gasped, tugging on his disheveled curls until he looked up at her, his vampire's visage on display.
"Naughty minx," Klaus murmured, sliding his tongue along her jawline, "I've thought of nothing else from the first time I saw you, arguing with your minions over their substandard draping of streamers." Heat flared in his gaze as he continued, "You were magnificent, all fiery passion as you ordered them about the gym and they scurried to please you." He dipped his head, his fangs pricking the gentle curve of her breasts as her blood began to flow.
The coppery aroma fueled their passion, and she allowed him to take leisurely sips of her blood until she sought his lips once more, smearing them both with her warm blood. With a snarl, she ripped apart his gray henley, anxious to explore his muscular frame. His skin twitched delightfully underneath her touch, and she took her time mapping his chest with her fingertips, placing delicate kisses every few inches as he sighed in contentment.
When she paused to run her hands through his dirty blonde curls, he ground his prominent bulge against her, gripping her thighs tightly as they rocked against each other. Driven wild with desire, he tore away the rest of her garment, exposing her ivory skin to his greedy gaze.
Caroline hurriedly reached between them, unzipping his dark jeans and running her hands appreciatively along his ass. The way he jumped at her touch made her lips curve into a wicked smile and she purred in his ear, "Inside. Now."
He answered with a devilish smirk, pressing his thick cock right where she craved it, the hard line of his flesh causing her to cry out at the marvelous feeling. She bucked against that delicious slide of his slick flesh against hers, their twin groans echoing through the cave.
"Fuck," Klaus hissed, digging his fingers into her ass as he angled his hips just right. His every movement seemed designed to wring the pleasure from her, and she writhed against him in ecstasy.
She could feel her desire building, that wonderful golden sensation, and she moaned incoherently, "Deeper, harder...need it...there!" She lost control as her orgasm crashed over her, digging her fangs into the side of his neck as he found his own sweet release.
Once she'd taken her fill of his thick, rich blood, he turned his head to look at her, a silly grin on his face. Shit. She quickly came back to herself and examined his pupils to see how badly her venom had affected him. She'd never chowed down on a vampire older than a few centuries, so she wasn't sure how an Original would react to her poison. From his dilated pupils, it appeared that Klaus' reaction to her venom would be a bit...odd.
"Hello there, lovely," he slurred, "did you...that...did you know when I was in the bloom of my youth...I fancied myself a truly sublime goat herder. I desired to be...to be called brusi reisiligr, the magnificent goat herder." He scrunched his face adorably, adding, "Wait...no, no...that's actually magnificent he-goat. Fuck me, the mother tongue is a vicious harpy."
Caroline had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. As she bent her head to draw back out the venom, Klaus sighed happily, murmuring, "And you, my ravishing girl, are sólskin í korni, my little sunshine squirrel."
"Yeah, that's...something," she snorted, removing her poison from his veins before he decided to reveal more of his bizarre woodland critter fetish. As she took the final bit of venom from his veins, she watched his eyes slowly returned to normal, wryly asking, "Feel better now?"
Shaking his head as though to clear it, he answered, "I suspect I'm in for a bit of a hangover, sweetheart, something I haven't had in centuries." Cocking his curly head, he added, "Perhaps I'll return the favor once I've been made a hybrid. Innumerable experiments between us — just imagine the possibilities, love," he rumbled, swooping in for another kiss.
Feeling her heart flutter, Caroline broke their kiss, lightly tapping the end of his nose with her finger as she told him, "Just so you know, I've decided not to eat you after all."
Klaus answered with his seductive smirk, "Pity."
