Author's note: This was written for Klaroline AU Week - Day Four: Enemies…to Lovers. This story is a sequel to Chapter 83: Part 10 - Klarosummer Bingo prompt: Temple ruins of Wat Phou, found in my Klaroline series, A Beautiful Symmetry. Caroline just needed to pay off Enzo's gambling debts. Who knew that moonstone would be such a big deal to a certain dimpled immortal?
Warning: Sexy times!
"Fortune sides with him who dares."
― Virgil
The constant whirring of the slot machines was throwing off her concentration and she was going to smack that sloppily hand-rolled cigarette out of Enzo's mouth if he kept blowing smoke rings in her face. "There's a smoking ban on restaurants and most hotels around here," she hissed, "quit drawing attention to us."
"Gorgeous, there's a cloud of black weed smoke behind you. I seriously doubt this place cares about a cigarette when everyone else is smoking opium-laced weed."
Caroline rolled her eyes, tossing down a colorful stack of baht on the table while she waited on the dealer to shake the ornate box holding the dice. "Yeah, and I'm not getting thrown in a Laotian jail. Again."
Enzo gamely nodded, reminding her, "The first time was your fault. The second time was really on both of us, and if it happens a third time, let's blame it on your new boyfriend, Klaus."
Caroline's amused smile quickly turned into baring her teeth at her friend's teasing. The only reason they were in this mess was because she'd paid off Enzo's gambling debts with a moonstone that accidentally turned out to be some magical ritual-breaking object that Klaus, this snarky immortal, coveted. So, now she and Enzo were playing distraction while Klaus stole back the moonstone from one of the biggest crime lords in the Golden Triangle. Who also was a demon.
The dealer opened the chest to reveal the dice to the players, and Caroline caught movement out of the corner of her eye. There. She watched the fearsome demon pass by, diminutive in appearance, but emanating a sinister aura that even the most clueless of tourists could recognize. Yellowed nails curled at the tips; sharp talons not unlike a vulture's were his only acknowledgement of his otherness. From across the noisy room, she caught Klaus' steel gaze, black veins briefly appearing underneath his eyes. Showtime.
Caroline's secret shame was her addiction to all of the Real Housewives shows, so she channeled every deliciously tacky catfight she'd ever watched as she hurled her Lao Lao at Enzo, the sticky rice whiskey dripping down his face as she screamed, "You bastard!"
"Come on, gorgeous, she didn't mean anything," Enzo whined in an American accent so terrible, Caroline visibly winced. She caught a brief flash that indicated Klaus had slipped into the backroom where the moonstone was being kept.
An audience had gathered to watch their fight, and she shrieked, "She was your twin sister — clearly, she means way more than I could've imagined!"
The visible gasp from the crowd had them both biting their lips to keep from giggling, and Enzo started to talk about catching Caroline with her father and several sock puppets, but Caroline noted the feral gleam in the crime lord's eyes and she knew they'd been caught. The demon reached out with his dangerous talons, and fear flooded Caroline's system. A single touch of those claws would bring a wasting illness that would kill them. Very slowly.
They'd barely made it out the door when Klaus appeared, grabbing them firmly by the forearms and flashing them away, his supernatural speed seemingly splitting the atoms around them until she became lightheaded. When they stopped on the large veranda of the house in which they'd been staying, Caroline pushed away from Klaus, leaning over slightly as she hoarsely said, "If I vomit, I'm aiming for your boots, asshat."
"No need to be dramatic, love. We made an excellent team." Klaus' penetrating gaze dismissively swept over them, wryly observing, "You and your tiresome friend provided an amusing distraction while I liberated my property."
The flash of anger that went through her seemed to fix the momentary queasiness and she glared as he playfully tossed the moonstone back and forth between his palms. "You came to me, Klaus. You needed me and Enzo to distract that gross demon while you stole from him." She poked his chest, ignoring the sensual thrill she felt at the smooth, hard muscle. "Stop acting like you're better than us. You're just a common thief too."
He tucked away the moonstone in his pocket, scoffing, "I'm an Original — as far from common as you can get."
Enzo snorted. "But you've got a bunch of siblings running around too. Kind of the opposite of 'original', if you ask me, mate."
"No one asked for your opinion, mate," Klaus sneered, lips curling back from his fangs as he took a threatening step forward.
Enzo glared, foolishly refusing to back down from the powerful immortal. "Such a shame you won't be going with me and gorgeous tomorrow. We're an adventurous duo, you know. No room for an insecure third wheel."
For fuck's sake. Caroline stepped in between the men, a hard edge to her voice as she commanded, "Enough. Enzo, if you're still hell-bent on scuba diving in Lake Toplitz before lunch, we've got an obscenely early flight. Go get some sleep." She was touched by her friend's concerned expression, along with the pointed way he kept glaring at Klaus. "I'll be fine. I'll join you in a minute."
Enzo's reluctant departure seemed to charge the air between them with something fierce. Hungry. "What's at Lake Toplitz," Klaus muttered, leaning against one of the heavy columns decorated with carvings of kinnari nestled within jungle foliage.
"Nazi gold. Enzo knows a guy who knows a guy who heard a rumor at his uncle's bar about an SS officer dumping a bunch of gold there while fleeing allied forces during World War II," she explained with a shrug. "We're always up for an adventure."
A muscle twitched along his voice as he practically growled, "Yes, you and Enzo. Quite the pair, aren't you? What's that floppy-haired wastrel done to earn such devotion, hmm?"
She furrowed her brow in confusion. "I was a scared little kid living on the streets when Enzo took me in. I owe him a life debt. Not that it's any of your business."
Blue eyes narrowed, she felt a flare of anger once more at the close call earlier. "That demon almost marked us because you couldn't do a simple lift! With your Original superpowers you're always bragging about, you should've snatched back that stupid moonstone way earlier. Do you have any idea the kind of painful, slow deaths Enzo and I would've faced if he'd gotten his claws on us?!"
"Not to worry, sweetheart. I wouldn't have let anything untoward befall you or your lover," Klaus scoffed.
"Lover? Seriously?!" Caroline wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Enzo's like my screw-up big brother. He fucks up; I bail him out of trouble. I fuck up; he's usually hogtied right next to me and then we figure out a way to escape." She noticed the faint flush creeping up Klaus' neck and the awkward way he shuffled his boots along the wooden planks of the veranda. "All those times you were a complete asshat...it was because you thought Enzo and I were together and you were jealous? Seriously?!"
"It wasn't completely out of the realm of possibility," he muttered, staring intently at his boots. "You stole the moonstone from the Phaya Naga's hoard to repay your friend's debt. And then you set the bloody dragon on me so you could escape."
"In my defense, you looked like you could take care of yourself. I figured at most it might eat some of your toes or maybe a hand."
Suddenly, he flashed in front of her, black veins appearing as he growled, "Impertinent child."
"Whiny immortal asshat," she spat, unable to drag her gaze away from his lips. They were right there. Light pink and seductively poised to curl around the syllables of her name in that damn accent of his.
Caroline wasn't sure who finally closed the tiny gap between them, but suddenly his lips were on hers and then everywhere else and she barely registered the faint sound of fabric ripping before her red sundress was in ragged strips around her feet.
She palmed his bulge, nimble fingers tugging down the zipper as he grunted against her neck. The first brush of her fingers against his slick tip had him panting, a curious whine at the back of his throat that made her smug. But then he wrapped her legs around his waist, clenching her thighs and grinding against her until she was crazy with need.
When he pushed her against the thin bamboo wall, Caroline clutched at a crumbling shade, ripping it down as she whimpered, "I want you."
Her confession sparked something within Klaus and he stopped toying with her dripping folds to slide two fingers inside, hoarsely whispering, "Here? In this delectable, wet heat?" His fingers were replaced with his tip, pulsing at her opening. "Is this what you need?"
"Yes," she cried out, clenching around him as soon as he surged forward, both of them moaning at the delicious feel of their connecting bodies.
"Fuck me, you feel amazing," he rasped, rutting his hips into her again and again, making her gasp and writhe. She pushed up his white henley, tearing into his flexing back muscles with her nails until the copper scent of blood soured the night air. From the snarling way Klaus clacked his teeth with hers, he was nearing his release, and Caroline chased her own high with a swirl of their entwined fingers.
They stayed in that golden moment of exquisite pleasure, panting and clutching at each other. As Caroline became lost in his gaze, she was taken aback by the uncertainty she saw there. He didn't want her to leave. She bit her lip, unsure of what to say. But the pull of her wanderlust was too strong and she couldn't stay.
Before either of them could speak, Enzo suddenly let out a long-suffering groan from the open window over the veranda. "If I promise that Klaus can go with us, can you two finish banging it out in your room? Some of us need our beauty sleep."
Klaus' answering grin was surprisingly shy as he whispered against her lips, "I'm always up for an adventure."
