Part 3
1903
"How is she?" Kol asked.
"She's sleeping," Mabel replied. "She has slept most of the time you have been gone."
"Hmm. Is that normal?"
Mabel seemed amused.
"Well, I wouldn't exactly call that girl normal in the first place, but I suppose after everything she has been through…"
"Yes. I think I'll have a word with her."
"Sure, good luck with that."
Kol left the witch in the living room and headed to Flora's bedroom. The house he had arranged for her was nice enough without drawing anyone's attention. Kol didn't want anyone, especially his siblings, to know about the girl. It had been almost three weeks since he had freed her from the asylum, but she wasn't nearly recovered.
He hadn't had time to visit her very often, but the witches had kept her company. Hopefully she would be better soon; she wasn't useful to him in her current state. He knocked briefly before opening the door to her room. As Mabel had said, she was sleeping. Her room was cozy; Kol had wanted her to be comfortable. There were white roses in the vase on the nightstand, she hadn't asked anything else.
"Flora?" Kol called while slowly walking over to the queen-size canopy bed. She was buried under the covers; all he saw was her recently washed hair. According to Mable, bathing was one of the two things Flora did when she wasn't sleeping. The other one was eating, although she didn't eat enough.
"Flora?"
"She's not here," a sleepy voice murmured from under the covers. "Come back later."
"No, I don't think so," Kol huffed. "I would like a word with you."
"I don't have any words."
He rolled his eyes and pulled the covers aside. She was lying on her side in a fetal position, wearing a creamy nightgown. She looked soft and warm like a kitten and his first thought was that he wanted to pick her up and bury his face in her chestnut curls. No, he needed to stop this. Sure she was a very beautiful woman, but she wasn't here to warm his bed.
"You're naughty," she hummed without opening her eyes.
"Yes, I am. How are you feeling, darling? Any better?"
Slowly she rolled on her back and blinked her sleepy eyes few times before looking at him.
"I had a beautiful dream," she hummed.
"Really? What was it about?"
"I don't know."
"How do you know that it was beautiful then?"
She stretched her arms and smiled.
"I feel light. Like I would be lying on a cloud."
"Hmm, how nice. I'm not here to talk about your dreams though."
"I know. You want your payment."
"Yes, I do. How much more time do you think you need?"
"I'm tired."
Kol sighed and crossed his arms.
"Look, darling, I understand you need time to recover, but I think I have been more than generous to you…"
"You can do it," she cut in.
He raised an eyebrow.
"Excuse me?"
She looked at him calmly.
"Pick me up and smell my hair. That's what you want, isn't it?"
He tensed.
"I thought I warned you about that."
She smiled innocently.
"I was good. You were not."
That was the last straw. No more than a second later Kol was on top of her, pinning her petite frame tightly against the mattress.
"Now you will listen to me very carefully," he snarled. "I got you out of that place and I can take you back there, just like that. Is that what you want?"
She shook her head.
"You won't take me back there."
"Really?" he snorted. "And why is that?"
He was stunned when she raised her head and touched his lips with hers. The kiss was brief and light, but it affected him like a thunderbolt. She smiled as she rested her head back on the pillow. It took a moment before he managed to speak.
"You should be more careful," he stated. "Some men might take that as an invitation."
"You don't scare me," she replied.
He smirked and leaned closer.
"Then you are a very foolish girl."
Kol wrapped his arms around Flora's waist from behind and leaned his cheek on the top of her head. She smelled sweet, just like always.
"What are we looking at?" he hummed.
"The sky," she replied.
He was glad to hear her voice, she didn't usually speak much to anyone else than him.
"I missed you," he murmured. He had only been away for few hours, but it had felt like much longer. All the years he had spent in a coffin, apart from Flora… He hadn't forgiven Nik for that and he wasn't sure if he ever could.
"How is your family?" she asked.
"You're my family, darling," he replied and tightened his embrace. "You know I'm doing all of this for you."
She was quiet for a while before speaking.
"I want you to be safe. I can't lose you again."
Gently he turned her around and cupped her face.
"Hey, listen to me, I'm not going anywhere."
She smiled, but there was sadness in her eyes. She looked exhausted.
"Darling, when was the last time you slept?" he asked as calmly as he could.
She didn't reply, but he could see what she wasn't telling him. The damn nightmares were haunting her again.
"Alright," he said and lifted her up into his arms. "I'm taking you to bed."
"You're bossy," she giggled. "Are we playing maiden and the barbarian?"
Kol bit his bottom lip.
"Well, as much as I would love that, no. You need to sleep."
"No, I don't want…"
"I know, I know. I'll be right here with you the whole time. I won't let anything bad happen to you."
"Do you promise?"
His heart ached as he looked into her pleading eyes. He couldn't bear to see her like this.
"Yes, darling, I promise."