Even when Caroline was marrying another man, Klaus Mikaelson wouldn't stop staring at her with that look in his eyes. Every glance he'd spared her since they'd met on her eighteenth birthday had been an invitation into his bed. Even now, as her father walked her down the aisle towards Tyler Lockwood, Klaus was looking at her like he wanted to eat her.
You'd think after almost four years he would have given up on her.
Almost four years of rebuffs and scorn and scathing remarks, and still he was staring at her.
Caroline shuddered as her father deposited her hand in Tyler's. As far as possible marriages arranged by her father, this one was better than she'd anticipated. Caroline had long feared that her father would try to curry favor with the Salvatore famiglia by trying to marry her off to one of the sons. She wasn't sure which was worse between the sociopath elder brother Damon and the unstable younger brother Stefan.
Tyler was…okay. He had a bit of a temper problem, but he wasn't likely to hit her either. He wasn't exactly smart, but that was all the better for Caroline's planned manipulations. His mother was an overbearing bitch, but that was hardly Tyler's fault. At least he was handsome.
For a moment, she considered glancing back at Klaus, where he was no doubt hiding in the shadows as he watched her wedding. There was no way he would have missed this, even if he hadn't been invited. Caroline had picked this dress with Klaus in mind. She knew the church well, and knew Klaus Mikaelson even better. She knew he was settled in one of the small alcoves of the church where devout parishioners could offer their prayers. The dress gave him—and the other attendees, she supposed—the view of her back that he so loved. Every chance he had, at every social event in Chicago, Klaus had his hand on the small of her back, his thumb rubbing circles through thin layers of fabric. That back Klaus was so fond of touching was barely covered in a thin layer of fine lace, with tiny buttons all down the back.
When picking it out, she'd tried to imagine her husband-to-be slowly unbuttoning the dress one by one, kissing and caressing her skin as he went. Though the image of Tyler doing so was quickly replaced with Klaus, his short blond curls and that stupid smirk completely crowding out any fantasy of Tyler she could possibly muster.
She glanced down at her engagement ring rather than turn and meet Klaus' gaze. It wasn't an ugly ring, but it wasn't particularly pretty or elegant either. The diamond was an expression of the Lockwood wealth, and it made Caroline feel like a whore to have a diamond that big.
But that's what she was to her father—a whore to sell to the most advantageous bidder. Of course, it was to Bill Forbes' detriment that Caroline was a lot smarter than her gave her credit for. She was a lot smarter than most people gave her credit for. Klaus Mikaelson was the only one to see past her blonde curls and beauty pageant smile. He'd seen her and guessed at most of her plots and schemes mere hours after they'd unfolded.
Well…when Caroline was done, everyone would see her. Not just Klaus Mikaelson and his no good, devilish smirk.
Dancing with another man at her wedding reception was probably frowned upon, especially when said man hadn't even been invited to the wedding. But…what Klaus Mikaelson wanted he usually got. Besides, no one really wanted to get into a firefight. And it would be especially hard to shoot Klaus while Caroline was carefully putting herself in the way of most fatal shots.
"I thought I made my intentions clear, Caroline," Klaus murmured in a low whisper as they spun around the dance floor.
"I thought I made myself clear," she countered with a smirk. "I told you to prove that you were worthy of me, and you failed to follow through." He shot her a look and opened his mouth to protest, but Caroline cut him off. "Threatening my father to cancel the wedding with the Lockwoods does not count. If anything, you made this happen sooner than it would have."
"I'm curious, sweetheart. How does marrying into the Lockwoods play into your plans?"
"It's advantageous for now," she said. "Besides, I expected it to happen later. I had been hoping to have a different offer before walking down the aisle."
"I thought I made my intentions clear, Caroline," he repeated.
She scoffed. "Threatening to kill my other suitors does not make you a suitor, Klaus. I expect the two of us to be partners. Either be upfront with me, or stop wasting my time. I won't waste time second guessing your meaning or doubting my interpretation of your actions. You don't win a woman by making yourself her only choice."
Her grip on her waist tightened, and his thumb rubbed her back through the lace of her dress just as Caroline had imagined. "That's where you're wrong, sweetheart. I fully intend to ruin you so wholly for any other man that there will be no choice for you other than me."
"Again, that's different than just killing anyone you think may gain my favor. I won't play your games, not for something as important as this." The song was coming to a close, and Caroline dreaded having to return to her husband.
"Don't go home with Tyler tonight."
"He's my husband, I have to."
Klaus squeezed her hand. "I may not be Catholic, but I've done my research. If the marriage is never consummated, then that's grounds for annulment."
"What's in it for me?"
"Me. I'll give you everything I have. I'll be your partner in everything. Together, Caroline, we can reign over Chicago like no one has before."
"You can take over Chicago just fine without me."
"Perhaps. But it would be only half as fun, and worth next to nothing without you by my side to share in it." He pulled her even more closely against him. "Please, Caroline. I know you picked that dress with me in mind. I can appreciate it and you far better than Lockwood ever could."
She stared at him for a long moment. His blue eyes were more earnest than she'd ever seen before. There was nothing calculated in this move, nothing cold or manipulative. This was the warm Klaus she'd always wanted, the one who revealed himself in dark corners of high society gatherings. The one who teased her even as they argued and battled. "We'd better leave now, before the poison kicks in."
"Poison?"
She wrinkled her nose. "You didn't really think I'd let Tyler Lockwood take me to his bed, did you? My plan was to fake the wedding suite like it'd been consummated and then blame his death on the maid, who was obviously working for the Salvatore famiglia. They're put-out that Father didn't marry me off to one of the sons, you know."
"My clever, clever bride." Klaus spun them towards the edge of the dancefloor just as the song ended. They hesitated on the dancefloor until the next song started, and made sure to get lost among the couples. Or…as well as a bride could get lost in a sea of non-white dresses. "Just promise you won't poison me on our wedding night."
She winked. "Depends. Do you plan on keeping your promises?"
"All of them, sweetheart."
"Then I think you'll be safe."
Caroline and Klaus slipped out of her wedding reception with only her gaudy engagement and wedding rings as evidence she had ever been there. Tyler Lockwood gorged himself on alcohol which had been sent from the Salvatore famiglia as a present to the newlyweds. It was only when he collapsed that anyone noticed Caroline had even been missing.
And by then, it was already too late.