Caroline froze wide-eyed with her hands cradling his face. She repeated just to make sure that she hadn't misheard, "a rut?"
"You should go." His tone was laced with a sadness which made her heart hurt.
"A rut. Like… a deer?"
Klaus' gaze turned hard then and she knew she'd made a mistake. Still, despite the steel in his expression, he leaned into her touch until his nose brushed against her wrist. At first it was tender, the way his lips trailed over her skin as his eyes flickered shut. She was fascinated by the flare of his nostrils and the firmness of his grip when he reached up to hold her in place. Then came her confusion at the soft growls rumbling in his chest.
"I don't understand," she muttered.
Yet Klaus didn't move, enthralled by the scent of her from the thin skin on her wrist. Already he wanted to bite. He was sure that her blood would taste like ambrosia, that feeding from her would be otherworldly, and that when he was done and pulled away, he'd watch as her skin didn't try to heal. He could hardly wait to see it mark. The thought was enchanting.
"What's happening, Klaus?" Caroline asked, though she didn't try to pull away. No, instead his delightful mate shifted closer, pressing her spare hand into the short hairs at the back of his neck.
Then Caroline gasped as another vicious cramp twinged in her gut. Klaus grit his teeth, eyes squeezed shut.
"Oh god," she breathed as it faded just as quickly as it had arrived.
It took Klaus just a second longer. Pushing her wrist back, he turned the away to try and clear his mind of her scent. "Get out, Caroline. The hybrids will keep you safe."
Even as the words came out of his mouth, Klaus questioned his own intentions. He was a fool to push her away - both logic and the wolf in his chest were happy to confirm it - but he needed to.
"No," she said instantly. The idea of being around a stranger - any stranger - at that moment was too much. After the event in the clearing there was little she wanted to do less than be away from him again.
"It will not be pleasant."
"It'll hurt me too."
Klaus didn't meet her eye, straightening his back against the wall and looking up at the ceiling. Despite the impassive expression he had painted on, Caroline could feel the sparks of anxiety inside. She didn't reach for him again, though she wanted to calm the storm brewing behind the mask. "Why are you afraid? It's going to be fine, Klaus. Isn't it?!"
He sighed. Long and deep, as though the breath pained him. "Leave now or you won't have a chance."
"Why?!"
Klaus opened his mouth to speak twice but couldn't seem to form the words. Caroline wondered if he'd caught any sleep at all since the attack. The circles under his eyes seemed darkened and pronounced, the heaviness of his shoulders seemed to weigh him down.
"I won't be able to control it. The wolf. So you need to go."
She'd never seen him fatigued, despite their early morning or late night meetups. There was little that frightened Caroline more than his nervousness. Though she was confused and irked by his evasion, if Klaus was nervous it was fair cause for panic. "But it's not going to hurt me," she asked, laying a hand on his arm to try and coax his eyes back to hers, "if I'm its mate?"
Yet instead of rebutting her, Klaus sniggered. "The wolf won't hurt you."
And Caroline found herself even more confused by his reaction. Her brow furrowed as she tried to piece together exactly why his fear was so potent in the face of yet another weird and wonderful supernatural phenomenon. A rut. Like, what did that even mean?! Was he about to start humping the couch?!
"You're making it worse." He muttered, eyes narrowing on where her hand lay.
Klaus struggled with it. How could he possibly explain a rut to her, the incessant need or the ravenous want? How could he explain the slow, torturous decent into madness without a partner? How could he explain what lay ahead, when painful hunger bled into agonising starvation?
He couldn't. Unwilling to admit to himself and his mate what would happen if she did the very thing he asked of her. He wanted her, so badly. Not insatiable and demanding yet, but with every minute since the pain had started he could feel it forming in his chest, strengthening the wolf's resolve.
"It wants you, Caroline."
"Can we stop it?"
He shook his head.
"Okay." Caroline sighed, trying to mentally prepare herself for the onset of more cramps. Nothing she hadn't dealt with before. Taking her hand away once more, she turned and shimmied until her back was pressed against the wall. Her shoulder brushed against his just briefly, and she noted the faint scent of new cologne at his neck. "So help me understand. Talk to me. Let me help you."
When she looked up, she was met with wild eyes. Klaus was staring at her as though she'd just grown a second head.
"What is it, Klaus?!"
"It wants you, Caroline."
"Oh," she gasped, "oh." Well shit. Caroline felt the heat rising in her cheeks. With anyone else she'd giggle, but his seriousness tainted the mood. "A rut. So that would mean..."
Klaus was silent, but dipped his head just a fraction.
Sex. Right.
"God you werewolves have a lot of stuff to deal with, huh?"
A tiny smirk played on his lips at her attempt at humour. Still Caroline couldn't work out what scared him so much. Sex was just sex, right? "So what, you're… horny? You're not about to tell me you're a virgin, are you?!"
He really did smile at that. "Not quite," he muttered quietly.
"Married? Engaged? Gay? Tell me!"
That drew a full on chuckle and Caroline grinned, pleased that she'd cracked his exterior.
Klaus swithered on how honest to be - whether to lay out her options plainly. On one hand, she could leave. His rut would be painful for her no doubt, but she'd survive. And she wasn't even a wolf, so probably wouldn't have the same agonising experience. Probably. On the other hand, she could stay. Stay, when his wolf would undoubtedly mark her and tie her to him for eternity.
And Klaus wanted that. God, he wanted that so badly. Yet he found himself unwilling to divulge her options, because Caroline was a good person. If given the choice to save him the pain, he was quite sure that she'd do it even at a high price. It was one of the many things he admired about her. And while he selfishly wanted her to stay, it had to be her choice. For as long as the wolf in him was at bay, it would be her choice.
When Klaus spoke it was measured and quiet, just for the two of them. "I just... I've never been in a rut before."
She pulled her knees into her chest. How odd, to be so old and have done so much, yet be faced with something new. She couldn't help but hum at his predicament. "You know what happens, right?"
"Yes, I understand it."
"Wanna tell me about it?"
"No," he murmured, turning his head to watch her.
"Klaus," Caroline whined, "If I'm going to be here, I'd like to be fully prepared for whatever weird sex thing you're about to throw down."
Once again, Klaus was caught speechless. He snorted. It wasn't that he was prude by any means, but after 600 years of taboo, the overt sexuality of young women in the 21st century was a shock to the system. And his mate, so bold and open. He liked that and the wolf sitting in his chest did too. It stirred, biding its time until he couldn't control the raging fever spreading over his skin. Her scent wasn't helping either, fresh, feminine and bloody fantastic.
Just as he imagined burying his face in her neck, right down by the trapezius where it'd be the strongest, he realised that she'd be expecting a reply. "I've heard it's rather... irrepressible."
Caroline nodded twice, taking in the handsome lines of his face. He was so good at hiding it, the heavy fear which echoed through her. But still, she didn't know why. How long is a rut? How do you end it? Does it happen to all werewolves? Why now? There were so many things she wanted to ask, but his apparent reluctance to communicate had her being more selective. "Will it be harder if I stay?"
For a second neither acknowledged it, then Caroline realised exactly what she'd said and her eyes grew wide. Then they were laughing. Loudly, joyously, somewhat manically, Klaus with the back of his head pressed against the wall and Caroline with her reddening face hidden in her hands.
"Easier! Will it be easier if I stay?!" She chuckled.
With a bright but fading smirk, he replied, "yes. To both, I suppose."
Caroline held up a finger. "And just to be clear, you'd… it'd… have sex. With me."
"Repeatedly."
She considered it, but not for terribly long. Sex with him. The thought had crossed her mind more than once in the last few weeks. It was hard not to with his pretty face, her vampiric libido and the lingering memory of their time in the woods.
"Do you want me to stay? Because I will."
Klaus narrowed his eyes then. His heart beat loud enough for both of them to hear and the hope which bloomed in his chest was almost too much to take. "You'd do that for me?"
"Yes."
For a second the bright joy sparkled behind his eyes, but then they turned stormy once more. Klaus, for all the wrong he'd done in his life, found that he couldn't do any more to her. He wouldn't keep the seriousness of a rut from her any longer. He turned away, fingers running through his own curls. "I won't be able to control the wolf, I can't stop it-"
"-Klaus, do you want me here?" she interrupted.
"Yes." His tone tinged in desperation.
"Then I'll stay."
"And when it marks you?"
Caroline faltered, only just realising the magnitude of what was about to happen. "I'll stay."
"Caroline," he admonished, just as another sharp sting pinched.
She flinched, holding her breath until it passed but not before noting the longer length of it. "What?"
"Be sure that this is what you want, love."
She looked up from where her hands held her stomach and saw that he had curled even further into himself, head resting against his knees. It struck her just how soft his tone was, how even through his pain, he was gentle with her.
Without thinking, she reached out to stroke along the tight muscles of his back and was relieved by way they softened. He was hot, burning up in fact, the heat of him radiated through his shirt. "What can I do to help?" she breathed.
The fear was still there, that she'd leave and he'd have suffer a rut alone. But Klaus couldn't help the flaring optimism that maybe, just maybe, she'd stay. "Nothing, it hasn't hit yet."
"Then let's get off the floor. Go to bed, I'll bring you something to drink in a second."
He nodded once and stood quickly. The want in him was quite overwhelming. His wolf made its intentions as loud and clear as the night he'd drawn Klaus to save Caroline on her birthday.
She stood too, but was gone before his rut-riddled mind could register the movement.
In his bedroom, he changed quickly though he knew the fabric wouldn't last long with the heat of the fever. The thought of a cold shower crossed his mind, but he was too tired and anxious to do much more than curl up on top of the covers.
It wasn't until Caroline came back, blood bag in hand and shut the door tightly that he started to feel any kind of relief. Her scent helped, soothing over the spiking discomfort. She slid onto his bed and sat with her back against the headboard. Both he and the wolf were delighted at how right it felt to have her close.
Without a word, she shimmied over and pulled his head into her lap, offering the blood bag to his lips before running fingers through his hair. He drained it in record time and she placed the plastic on the bedside table. When she returned her hand to comb through his hair, he reached up and caught it, kissing at her palm in a way that felt a lot like a 'thank you.'
While he longed to crawl up her body and drink from her neck, Klaus felt as close to content as one could be hours before the rut hit. The fever was fierce, the pain in his groin sporadic and the wolf underneath his skin was as close to freedom as it had ever been. Despite all of that, despite the restlessness stirring in his chest and the lingering fear of a rut spent alone, when Klaus turned his head to her thighs and drank in the scent of her, he found that sleep came easily.
Caroline ran her fingers through his hair for far longer than she needed to. While he was asleep the cramping diminished greatly and she had plenty of time to admire the room around them. It was different from his mansion bedroom but still so distinctively his.
The four poster bed was ornate and far larger than any bed should be. The muted green of the walls was brighter than the darks he usually clung to, but was pristine in its finish. The oversized artwork on the walls was suitably unsettling. In the hours which followed, she traced every inch of the room with her eyes. Nothing was out of place. There wasn't so much as a crack in the ceiling or a stain on a floorboard - it was as if no one had ever lived there, and yet very little dust lingered in the air.
Some time later when her hand had stopped caressing his head, she started to feel hot. His body curled against hers was like a space heater, pleasant at first and then far too much. The scent which rolled off him was strong too, the same delicious cologne from earlier but strengthened. The moment she realised that it must be a rut thing, her mouth went dry.
She had a lot of time to think it over and for that she was grateful. While it hardly needed a pro/con list, the decision to stay with him was still a decision. The sex was one thing - something that she couldn't think of too much or risk moving and wakening him. The marking was another. She tried to imagine having his mark on her skin, tried to decide where she'd want it, wondered what it'd feel like when he drank from her. As she thought back to the night of her birthday, she couldn't remember much, memories fogged by the fever and doom of it all.
What would it mean to have his mark? Would it be safe? Caroline found the guilt over the stake fiasco creeping back in. I should have told him this morning she thought, looking down at her lap where he lay. Yet she hadn't, and the moment had passed. Besides, did she even want to be truly immortal? In honesty, yes. She could find no negative to it. Not one.
And Klaus? Caroline struggled to pinpoint exactly how she felt about him. A few things were clear in her mind. One, she didn't think about Tyler when he was around. Two, she felt the safest when she was with him. Three, bar her mom, she really didn't have anyone else to trust anymore.
She was pulled out of her thoughts by another wave of heat. It was just too much. She considered stripping down, but given that she didn't have any underwear with her and was wearing only his clothes, it wasn't an option. The AC unit was well out of reach on the opposite wall, as if to tease her.
Caroline was careful as she shifted out from under him, shoving a pillow under his skull to preserve his sleep. The relief of being in the open air was instantaneous, a coolness settling her skin even without breeze. She'd just finished turning the AC to the max when the loudest growl she'd ever heard startled her straight.
Before she could turn, the feeling hit her like a bus. Right in her gut, a hollowed, vicious need made her knees weak. The arousal was instantaneous, tingling from between her legs and emanating through every limb. It made her gasp.
Then a hot body pressed up against her back. Klaus hands wrapped around her waist and pulled her flush against his front. She felt the way he nuzzled into her neck, the shuddering of his breath against her skin, the tightening of his grip as he breathed in her scent.
His own scent did nothing to help her arousal. In fact, the way it permeated through the air around them made her want to bury her nose in his skin too. Tuberose, leather, resin, pine with all the warmth of amber, it was opulent and powerful. It was so rich, her vampiric senses went into overdrive.
"My sweet mate," came a grumbled murmur against her neck.
His accent too. The relentless heat of him, even with the AC starting to fan cool air at her shins. I'm not going to survive this. Caroline thought.
She tried to turn, but tight hands and a warning growl against her skin made her still.
"Be good," he breathed. As his hands began a slow exploration of her body, she was inclined to conform.
They trailed down to her hips first, running over the curve of her ass and across prominent bones before catching her hands. Up her arms, across her chest. One pulled her curls back, giving him unobstructed access to her neck. The other skipped over her breasts, stopping at her lower stomach. It was slow. He took his time mapping out the slim lines of her body over the clothes she wore.
Caroline, for all her positive attributes, had never been a particularly patient person. "Kiss me," she whined.
The feel of his smirk on her skin was enough to make her smile too, but it quickly faded at his response. "Patience," he reprimanded, pressing his lips against her neck in compromise.
The amusement in his tone was infuriating, the heat of him overwhelming, the hard body enticing. His hardness was pressed just above the curve of her ass and she delighted in the growl he gave as she arched to grind against it.
"No, kiss me now."
The tension was high, and Caroline's heart beat double time. Instinct told her to keep her movements slow and steady. For the first time in a long time, she felt like prey.
Klaus chuckled and reached up to stroke a stray curl behind her ear. His breath tickled against her skin. "Not many people take that tone with me."
There was something about his tone which made her startle. Everywhere he touched set her skin on fire and she burned for more. His hands were soft on her hips and she went easily when he turned her.
"Klaus?" she gasped as bright gold eyes stared back at her. There was nothing vampiric about him - no dark veins or fangs - just the otherworldly glow of his irides. To her surprise, that didn't help her arousal either. If anything, it made it worse.
Instead of answering, his hand wove through her hair, cradling her head just as her back hit the wall. He tilted her head up and his gaze seemed to linger on every feature of her face as though he was seeing it for the first time.
"You're the wolf," she breathed stupidly, face only inches from his as he crowded her.
The twitch of his lips, the tiny sliver of pride he showed confirmed it before his words did. "Hello, my love," he muttered.
Caroline stroked her hands across his jaw and stood on her tiptoes to meet him. He kissed her, lips crashing against her own with a ferocity that had them both groaning.
It wasn't like the woods. He wasn't gentle or exploratory, instead he took. With a possessive hand cradling her jaw, he licked into her mouth and kissed her as though he'd never have the chance again.
As he did, the desperation hit. Caroline stroked over every bit of exposed skin she could find, mind foggy from the want which overpowered all else. She was so aware of the need, the wetness between her legs, the sensitivity of her breasts as she arched to push up against his chest, the single stroke of clarity in her brain said that only he could cool the burn.
And he knew, because he felt it too. Klaus wasted no more time, reaching down to grab at her ass. The way she moaned into his mouth was delicious and he longed to hear it again and again. His own arousal was painful. As he slipped hands under her thighs and lifted her around his waist, the immediate grind of her hips against his hardness only exacerbated the problem.
"Too much," she whined against his mouth.
Klaus pulled back just a second, lips still wet and parted as he watched her. Caroline rolled her hips again, fingertips brushing back his wild curls as her breath hitched.
He moved with her in his arms and lowered her onto the middle of his bed.
Caroline thought the arousal couldn't get any more intense, but then she was hit with the rich scent of his sheets coupled with the filthy thought of what was about to happen. She squirmed impatiently, but Klaus unwravelled her legs from his waist and stood back.
"Can you feel it, sweetheart?" he purred, stripping the shirt from his body. "How much I want you?"
The stuttering of her whimper didn't go unnoticed, but Klaus was entranced by the sight of her spread out in his clothes. He'd known what to expect from a rut, but nothing could have prepared him for the single-mindedness of it. How the only thing on his mind was her. The ferocious urge to claim and mark and take clashing with the weight of an age old tradition, the visceral need to be something she craved.
It was quiet in the house and Caroline was hyper aware of everything - the rumple of crinkled sheets underneath her, the chattering of birds far off in the distance, her heartbeat, his heartbeat, the clink of metal as he undid his belt.
She reached for the shirt she wore but his growl made her pause. She was tempted to reprimand him, but his dominance only made her hotter.
"Come here?" she suggested, lying back against the pillows.
Klaus' movements were smooth and prowling, the shift of lean muscle so pronounced as he crawled his way up her body. She spread her legs to accomodate him, but he paused when he reached her hips.
Slowly he bent down to push up the hem of the t-shirt she wore. Inch by inch pale skin was exposed and Klaus ducked his head to kiss along her stomach.
She could feel the throbbing heat between her legs and rocked up to brush against him. Her fingers tousled his hair, coaxing him to do more or faster or harder. Instead of any of those things, he pinned her hips down with both hands and a scathing look, "be good."
"Klaus, please," she groaned, but he just sat back on his heels between her legs.
Reaching over, he pushed the shirt up until it sat well above her breasts. His groan had her squirming again, tangling her fists in the sheets so as not to touch.
"I've imagined this, Caroline—" he rasped, reaching a hand down and into his jeans, "—hundreds of times, maybe. How you'd look spread out and wet for me. How hard you'd have to fight to be good. You're a vision."
The tiny movements where his hand was hidden drove her crazy because she could feel it. Even though she was untouched, she could feel the sparks of pleasure curling inside.
"And you like it, don't you? Having to wait for my cock. Being so desperate for it that you'll start to beg soon. I wonder, has anyone made you beg before?"
Caroline shook her head. They hadn't spoken to her either, beyond asking her to get on top or rollover.
"Take it off, sweetheart."
In a flash, she threw the shirt across the room. Klaus eyed her bare skin hungrily, golden eyes burning hot across her chest. While all this wordplay was new and exciting and definitely, definitely hot, Caroline needed something more physical.
"Come here," she breathed, making grabby hands at him, "I'll do that for you."
Klaus' cocky smirk faded in record time and he leaned forward again.
She felt over his shoulders first, admiring the thick muscles between bones. Then she slid her hands down, enjoying the shudder he gave when her fingernails scratched across his stomach. His muscles were wound so tight, Caroline realised that the echoing arousal she felt was paltry compared to his rut. Using her ankles, she pushed his jeans down past his thighs, eyes widening at the outline of his sizable asset.
In a merciful act, she let him watch as she licked her hand wet before sliding it into his underwear. The way his head fell to her shoulder when she gripped him was a fantasy. And then she stroked, but Caroline was the one to whimper. It was an out of body experience, feeling the ripples of pleasure in her stomach in time with the movements of her hand on his cock.
"Caroline," Klaus breathed like a prayer. His hand stroked over her ribcage to frame her breast. A thumb brushed over the hard tip of her nipple, gold eyes lingering on the part of her lips. "I want to hear you. All those times you came on your fingers thinking of me, was this what you imagined? To be spread out in my bed? Or did I have you on your hands and knees on the forest floor? Tell me."
But Caroline faltered, flush creeping across her cheeks. There was no way to escape from the intensity, nor did she particularly want to. Instead she pulled him down, licking into his mouth and rejoicing in the shiver of his muscles when her fingers tightened around his cock.
"Maybe it was in front of all of your friends, hmm? I could compel them to be still and watch, you know. Wouldn't you like to fall apart on my cock in front of them?" he growled, hips rocking into her hand. "What did you think of, sweetheart? I want to know everything."
"I-" she gasped as his fingers pinched at her nipples sharply, tiny shocks of painful pleasure only making her wetter.
"Faster, love. Make me come."
So she did, quick fingers working up and down his cock until he stilled, head dropping to her neck. Then, a delicious groan as he shot into her hand. And Caroline felt it, not quite an orgasm, but the shivers of echoing pleaure burning hot beneath her skin. She didn't still her hand, stoking through until he twitched in oversensitivity and pulled out of her reach.
The edge of the relentless need was soothed, but it was still there.
Klaus stripped quickly, pulling off his boxers and wiping at the stray drops of come on his stomach while Caroline lapped it off her fingers.
"You're filthy," he purred.
Caroline hummed back. She was so turned on, slick between her thighs, nipples hard in the cool rush of air he'd left, and still she was burning up. It was strange to be so exposed beneath his wolfish gaze, and feel nothing but arousal. Empowering too, to see him naked and still hard for her.
"I'm going to make you come, Caroline. Over and over again," Klaus promised as he slipped fingers in the waistband of the sweats she wore and slid them down, eyes drinking in the stretch of long legs.
When she moved to sit up, he pushed her back and opened her legs wide. The lick of his lips was unfairly attractive. "You're quite wet, sweetheart," he smirked, hands pressing her thighs wider still.
The first touch to her clit had Caroline's back arching. The breath caught in her throat and she had to look away. His fingers were so light in their touch but precise in their target. And she was wound so tightly, the curls of an orgasm lingering in her gut. The gentle ghost of his fingers wouldn't get her there, though.
"Klaus," she whimpered, rocking her hips against his fingers.
Once again, he stilled her with a firm hand on her front. "Yes, my love?"
Caroline groaned and his chuckle had her grinding his teeth. Did he not feel how much she needed it? Could he not feel the want, the primal need to be inside? "Please," she breathed, cheeks turned pink.
"Is that an attempt at begging? I'd like to save that for later. Now I want to hear your fantasies. Tell me just one of the things you imagined and I'll let you come."
Let her.
Caroline debated the merits of trying to use her own fingers, but he could overpower her so easily. She didn't need this to go on for any longer than it had to. In fact, she needed it to be over quickly. "Later. I'll tell you later. Please, Klaus."
"So shy, my little mate. Would you like me to tell you one of mine?"
"No. I want—" she trailed off.
"Say it."
"I want to come."
"Good girl," he breathed, fingers pressing just a fraction more on her clit, "was that so hard?"
"Yes."
Klaus smirked, dipping his head to tongue over her nipple. Caroline clung to his back desperately, and Klaus rewarded her with a harsh bite from human teeth nipping at the peak.
"Here's one of mine. That night at the Grill I wanted to take you down in the alleyway. I'd have bent you over against the wall, have the brick scraping up against these nipples while I had you. Then when you came, I'd have picked you up, wrapped these perfect legs around my waist and fucked you even harder, hmm? A hand over your mouth to muffle the pretty noises you'd make when you'd cry for me."
Golden eyes caught hers just before the coil snapped. Caroline came with a desperate moan. She shuddered, writhing on his sheets, pressing against his fingers, undone beneath his gaze. It was short, bursting and electric, and as she came back down Klaus kissed her jaw sweetly.
The need to take her then was overwhelming. He didn't consider himself a sentimental man, but he needed this to be better than a primal fuck. It wasn't easy, though. Groaning aloud, he fisted his cock and let his forehead press to hers, trying to think of anything, anything but how badly he wanted to be inside her.
Caroline panted, closing her eyes as the aftershocks ran their course. She wandered her hands up to stroke at his jaw, scratching at the soft hairs at the back of his neck.
But then it got too much for Klaus, having her so relaxed, exposing her neck carelessly beneath him. He crawled his was back down her body and Caroline enjoyed the feeling of his lips kissing along her inner thighs. Under normal circumstances she wouldn't have let someone have her so pliant, wet and spread, but Klaus was hardly a normal man.
With a sigh, she reached down and ran gentle fingers thorough his hair. As her aftershocks dissipated, they were replaced with the growing need once more. She uttered the words before she'd had time to think about them, "bite me."
Klaus stilled, and for a second all she could hear was their rapid heartbeats. Then, as though he hadn't heard her at all, he pushed her thigh up close to her body and licked a flat stripe from her tailbone to her clit.
Caroline flinched, both in shock and oversensitivity.
"I will, sweetheart. And then I'll have you in every way, on every surface in this house. And when you finally decide to tell me all of your filthy fantasies, I'll deliver each and every one of them. You'll have everything. Just be patient."
"This is torture," she whined, but then Klaus lapped at her wet centre again.
"My definition usually involves less orgasms."
The frustrated groan she began was swiftly cut short when he pressed his fingers inside. He didn't play this time, but fucked her with the sole purpose of feeling her come again. Quick fingers slipped in and out, pressing hard on her spot while his tongue ran over her clit.
He didn't flinch when her hand fisted in his curls, nor when her hips squirmed when it felt like too much and not enough in equal measures. He didn't stop, even when the pleasure was on the verge of painful. Instead, he met her gaze with sparking golden eyes and growled at the taste of her.
It didn't take long for her to come again, this time with his name on her lips.
When she started to twitch in sensitivity, he pulled away to lay gentle kisses on her thighs.
The sound of both their panting breaths filled the room. When he crawled back up her body and kissed her deeply, Caroline felt plenty sated. But then, just as before, the heat crept back. Deep curls of arousal twinging in her centre and she knew she'd do just about anything to satisfy them again. It really was torture, and she wanted more.
She was boneless by the time he stopped kissing her. With her arms slung over his neck and her legs around his waist, Caroline clung to him. It wasn't until she felt the pressure of his cock against her opening that she broke away, gasping at the stretch. Yes.
He stilled though, wide-eyed and frowning.
Caroline had had just about enough of his weird wolf antics. Without warning, she pushed him onto his back and straddled his waist.
Just as she went to connect their bodies, Klaus sat up and pulled her torso tight against his with a warning growl.
"Klaus, please," she whined.
Still, his grip on her only tightened. The bright gold eyes looked up at her and Caroline was struck by how deep they were. His lips parted and his breath fanned over her collarbones. She rolled her hips once more, but again he just growled.
The need was so much, she felt as though she was going mad with it. It was deliciously arousing but painfully hollow and Caroline was desperate with the sensation. Thinking fast, she said the first words that came to her.
"Stop it," she breathed down, stroking along his face, "I pictured this, when I thought of you. This is what I want. And you said you'd give me what I want, so hurry up."
His eyes didn't leave hers but Klaus loosened his grip on her waist a fraction. Slowly he nodded, and then Caroline's breath hitched when she felt him align his shaft with her centre.
The stretch itself was euphoric. With her arms wrapped around his shoulders, Caroline clung to him. Klaus was still, but for pressing his forehead to hers. When she was seated, finally, finally Caroline felt the hollow need fading. She smiled playfully, pecking his lips before lifting herself off his cock only to sit back down.
Klaus groaned lowly, watching her take pleasure in riding him. It was good, so good to have her like this. To have her whimpering and wet, fucking herself on his cock. To see her head thrown back in pleasure, offering her neck to him.
He could feel the prickle in his mouth of fangs dropping at the thought. He wanted that, so badly. To sink his teeth in and mark her forever. Not yet. Distracting himself, Klaus ducked down to lap at her breasts, pinching at her nipples until she cried and cussed.
And it was good to ride him. She didn't feel the burn of exertion in her thighs anymore, or the self consciousness she was once bound to. She only felt him, the thickness of his cock stretching her pussy, their shared arousal, and then something more. Something restrained. "Stop holding back—" she stuttered against the seam of his lips, "—fuck me."
Her hips slowed as Klaus' smirk pulled wide. Caroline briefly thought that she wanted to lick his dimples, but then the idea was forced from her mind. In a flash he had lifted her like she weighed nothing at all, turned her to her hands and knees and sheathed himself once more.
The savage pace he set forced the air from her lungs and Caroline could do little but bury her face in the bedsheets.
His fingers dug into her hips, unrelenting and inescapable as he took exactly what the rut demanded. Wild, brutal, primal. The sound of his skin slapping against her ass as he pushed deeper and deeper, until she swore she could feel him in her throat.
Little high-pitched noises fell from her lips as he hit her spot over and over again. Her breasts bounced, even pushed up against the bedsheets as she arched her back and silently asked for more.
Even pounding into her, he rambled.
"Is this what you wanted?" he growled, and the sound made her shiver all over. It was so much, so hot, so fast. "You are perfect, my mate. You feel so good on my cock—"
She couldn't see him but could feel his eyes on her. The way he thrust into her with unrelenting fervency would have had anyone coming in record time, but Caroline had just had two orgasms at his hand. And yet, despite the sting of sensitivity, she could feel the third pulling tight in her gut. It was a higher climb than the last two, with her hands pinned underneath her body and only his cock to get her there, but there was no doubt that he'd do it.
"—I'm going to ruin you for anyone else, Caroline. Give you my knot and feel you come on it over and over. Then when it goes down I'll have you ride my cock again. I want to see your face when it stretches you out—"
And Caroline didn't even know what he way saying anymore, couldn't register anything other than the rhythmic pounding of his cock, the tight grip on her hips prohibiting any instinct she had to pull away. Instead she cried into the bedsheets, nails tearing them into tatters before she reached up to cover his hand with her own.
"—You've got me in such a rut, my love, can you feel how much I need you? You were made for this, made to take my cock, and you do it so well. Are you going to come for me before I knot you?"
Caroline couldn't speak if she wanted to, she was right there, right on the edge and the thought of crashing over was so intense that it scared her. Then her hand slipped, brushing up against where her mark lay on his wrist and there was nothing she could do.
Caroline came silently at first as the electricity shot through every nerve in her body in sharp waves. Then she screamed, the noise leaving her mouth neither controlled not conscious, just an animalistic cry as she rode the high of ecstasy, clamping down on his cock.
Klaus didn't stop though, didn't even slow down when she trembled beneath him, quaking and shivering so beautifully. No, Klaus was too busy watching where he fucked her with parted lips and curiosity.
When Caroline came down, the incessant pounding was too much. Not painful, but more pleasure than one person was supposed to bear. When she went to reach for him, she felt the stretch. It was far bigger than his cock, and everytime he thrust it pressed in just a little more. The tiny growls from his chest had arousal shooting straight to her cunt once more. She wanted to scream, but it was so much that she could hardly breath.
Then his bruising grip tightened on her hips, and Klaus forced his knot deep inside with a loud groan. It took a second for the shot of pain to even register, but when it did Caroline let out a sharp cry. It hurt, but then just as suddenly came the relief. The incessant need faded, the arousal dissipated and finally she could feel the cool breeze of the buzzing AC.
Klaus could feel it too, allowing himself the solace of the first knot of his rut buried deep in his mate. He could feel the hot ropes of come spurting from his cock as he shivered through his orgasm, could feel the way her pussy clenched and tightened around him.
He panted, leaning down to kiss at her spine, still arched and presenting to him. Then he wrapped gentle arms underneath her and sat back against the headboard, arranging her naked body in his lap with only a few winces when she tugged on his knot. His arms slithered around her waist and her head fell back on his shoulder with a sigh.
It took a few quiet minutes for Caroline to catch her breath. She turned her head and caught a glimpse of his burning golden eyes before he kissed her hair.
"What just happened?" She shivered as his cock throbbed in her cunt.
"You just took my knot."
Caroline had so many questions, but none as pressing as her next. "Aren't you going to bite me?"
She felt his smile before she heard it in his voice.
"Yes. I'm going to bite you. You're mine, Caroline. You've always been mine, whether you have a pretty mark to show or not."
She nuzzled into his neck, breathing in the scent of his sweat. But then his hands wandered down to her thighs again. She didn't stop him initially, curious to see what he wanted, but then his fingers brushed over her oversensitive clit again and Caroline flinched.
"No?" he asked, smugness audible in his tone, "but I want to feel you come again."
Caroline tried to resist for a second, but then his fingers pinched at her nipples and she gasped at the way the sting set her alight all over again. It was gentle at first, the slide of his fingers circling her soaked clit, the exploration when he reached further to feel where she was stretched wide around him. Klaus was slow and calm though Caroline was jumpy, tensing around his knot and delighting in the deep groans he gave when she did.
It was quiet too, the AC buzzing in the corner, the muted chirp of the birds outside, the gentle sighs as he touched her. She couldn't remember ever feeling this before, true intimacy. The kind where words weren't necessary. Even when Klaus made her fall apart again with slick fingers between her legs, Caroline's favourite part was the kiss he pressed to her shoulder while she trembled in his arms.
"Rest, my love. This rut isn't over. I'll want you again soon enough."
And so she did, dozing into his neck and feeling the safest that she ever had.
It was a while later that Klaus shifted, slipping his knot from underneath her tenderly.
Caroline was tired, and while sleep would come easily, she had one more thing on her mind.
Rolling to her stomach, she opened her eyes to find his golden gaze locked on hers. The slow smirk made her smile, and he whispered to her, "I'm going to mark you, Caroline."
The butterflies stirred in her stomach at the thought, but she was quite content to watch as he sat up and looked down her naked body.
If he could feel her nerves, he didn't say anything. Instead Klaus started with her left hand. His gentle touch picked it up and examined the skin of her palm, and then her wrist. He turned it, looking at it carefully. Then he pressed a kiss there, before dropping it back to the bed.
Caroline tried not to ogle at his body when he moved over her - she really did want to sleep, but it was made difficult when he began to eye every inch of her bare skin, pressing kisses along the way. Her shoulder, the back of her neck, the base of her spine, her ankles. His gaze was so thoughtful when she watched him over her shoulder.
"Where's it going to be then?" she breathed a little impatiently.
A flash of dimples was all the warning she got before there was a sharp pain in her right buttcheek.
"You didn't," she hissed.
"No, I didn't," he chuckled, kissing her spine once more. "Turn, let me see you."
So she did, flipping onto her back to look up at his burning gaze with a raised eyebrow. Once again, he took his time kissing at her ankles. Her thighs, over her hips, her stomach, her breasts, her neck, all were lavished with gentle, sweet kisses under his inspection.
Caroline didn't really understand, but the attention was pleasant and she didn't want to rush him, not when he seemed as calm and content as she'd ever seen.
When he paused at her neck, she held her breath and thought he was going to bite. But then he pressed soft lips to her jugular before shuffling back down and stopping at her hips.
Again, a quiet kiss was pressed over the bone on the right hand side. Caroline ran her fingers through his curls. Klaus turned his head to kiss at her palm, before looking at her with hungry eyes. The fanged smile which spread over his face made her smile too. Then Klaus looked back down, and licked over her hip. When he bit, the world went white.
The days bled into one another in a haze of sleep, sex and the occasional shower when she could convince him before the next wave of rut hit. True to his word, he'd had her on just about every surface in the house. Just about every floor too. Each time he left her boneless, Caroline could feel the depth of need becoming shallower. Every time he knotted, his eyes became a little less gold. With every orgasm, the fever dropped a little.
When she woke up, for the first time in days Caroline felt the chill of the AC. It wasn't punishing by any means, especially not with a hot body pressed to her back and a sheet covering her skin, but the light hairs on her arm were standing up.
She could feel him awake. Under the covers his gentle fingers traced his mark on her for the millionth time. The tingling didn't fade. A shiver swept through her body and she turned in his embrace, pressing her face into his neck.
Strong arms encircled her and the familiar feeling of lips pressing to her hair should have lulled her back to sleep.
"Good morning, sweetheart," he muttered.
No, Caroline thought, it's far too early for you to be talking.
"I know you're awake. Come out and speak to me."
"No."
But then her pillow was chuckling and shifting underneath her and Caroline was abandoned to the cold with a whine.
She burrowed deeper beneath the covers, wriggling into the warm patch he'd left. For a second, Klaus watched her from the doorway with fondness, forgoing clothes in favour of returning to bed that much sooner.
When he returned shortly after, her eyes immediately opened and locked on the blood bag he carried. Without a word of complaint she sat up and took it with a muttered "thank you" before she drank. Klaus opened the windows wide before sliding back into bed with her.
Caroline noticed the way he pulled the sheet lower until the pearly white of scar tissue was visible, but didn't fight him even if it left her exposed to the chill. The way he was pressed up against her body would keep her warm anyway. Who'd have thought the almighty hybrid would be such an avid cuddler?
She liked watching him anyway. The trace of his fingers, the intensity of his face, the tremors it sent up her spine. But it was more this time, because the wolf wasn't in his gaze anymore. This time it was all wide blue eyes and unmasked wonder.
Finishing her blood bag, Caroline lay the plastic next to his from a few days before. She briefly thought about how the entire room would need disinfected. The entire house, in fact. But then he was pulling her back into his arms.
"You okay?" she sighed, stretching out to lie over his torso.
Klaus smiled. "Yes. And you?"
"I'm good."
In the morning, post-rut clarity they fell into a comfortable silence. Caroline wished that she could read his mind. She could hardly read her own. She didn't feel any different from a few days ago, still had the same worries, the same hopes and the same dreams. But something had changed.
While his blood was still the most delightful taste she'd ever encountered, she felt quite satisfied with the O+ she'd just drank. His scent didn't burn her throat, nor did it send her into a flurry of arousal. She still felt his contentedness, but rather than being a foreign echoing in her chest, it was just there. Almost tangible, as much a part of her as her own feelings.
The sex… well, the sex had been exceptional. While she wasn't about to be swept off her feet by a good lay, she didn't like the idea of sleeping with anyone else. The thought of Klaus sleeping with someone else made her undeniably jealous. He felt like hers, and she wasn't opposed to being his. Not until he gave her good reason to be.
As though he could read her mind, Klaus whispered, "do you wish I were someone else?" the doubt lacing his words.
It made Caroline's heart heavy. "No," she breathed back immediately.
"And as your mate, do you wish I were someone else?"
She peered up from where she lay on his chest and watched him staring out the window. "No, I don't think so. I feel safe with you."
"You are safe with me."
"You're kind to me. Protective, successful, headstrong. I don't know all of you yet, but right now no. I don't wish you were someone else."
Klaus seemed soothed by that answer, trailing light fingertips along the smooth skin of her back.
"Do you wish I was someone else?" Caroline asked curiously.
"No."
"Not even a little? Come on, surely at your age you've had models and Nobel Prize winners and-" she squealed as he pinched at her side with a smirk.
"Not even a little," he paused, then sat up and rolled her onto her back, "for many years I thought that I'd want a mate who'd be good at taking orders, but that's clearly not the reality."
"Hey!"
"I enjoy you, Caroline. Stubbornness and all."
"So what happens now?"
"Now? Well now—" he purred, leaning down to lay hot kisses along her neck "—I want you again. After that, brunch?"
While she wasn't entirely opposed to the idea, she stopped him with a hand on his chest. "Klaus… I mean, after."
"Brunch?" he teased.
"Yes, after brunch," she snarked, "I have a life, and I know you're going to be in it but… I want to go to college, live in an apartment, pay rent. Normal things."
Klaus sat up a fraction, stroking across her face. "I remember."
"And what, you're going to take the bottom bunk?"
"No, I'll be staying in the most expensive penthouse I can find. You'll be more than welcome for sleepovers though."
"I'm serious, Klaus!"
"As am I. Believe me when I say that I will keep you safe. Have I given you any reason to doubt that I would go anywhere for you?"
He said it with such sincerity that Caroline's rebuttal died in her throat. She looked anywhere but at the intensity in his gaze. "I want that too. To go places."
"I'll take you. Relax, my love. We have time."
Leaning into his touch, she nodded softly. He spoke about it so easily, as though it'd be a walk in the park to just go.
"But we have to go back," Caroline sighed. They'd been in such a bubble the last few days, so wrapped up in one another that she'd only had time to text her mom that she was okay twice from his phone before getting lost in the rut again.
With a quiet nod, he agreed. The streams of yellow sunlight breaking through the window made him look younger. Boyish, with kind eyes and lighrer blonde hair. His hand didn't leave her face, and his eyes never left hers.
Just as Caroline opened her mouth to query what was wrong, he asked, "will you be honest with me?"
"Depends," she tried to tease back, but his frown didn't falter.
"Compulsion is painful for you," he stated.
Caroline's instinct was to lie, but he'd already spotted the panic behind her eye and the way her shoulders tensed.
"You flinch when it's mentioned. You don't drink from humans. You didn't know that it could take away pain, because no one ever did that for you, did they?"
She sat up then, pushing him away to give her just a little room to breathe. The words were caught in her mouth. She would deny it, but was there any point when he'd be able to feel the slivers of dread curling in her gut?
Gentle lips pressed against her bare shoulder. "It was Damon, yes?"
It wasn't that Klaus wanted to cause her pain. In fact the anxiety brewing in her irritated him to no end, but his curiosity had peaked. As she looked over her shoulder, her eyes narrowed questioningly.
"You haven't asked about him once. You told me to spare him only in a passing moment of outrage. You look at him with the same disdain that you did me on your birthday. And, I know you went together when you were a human."
His observancy was remarkable, but Caroline couldn't bring herself to admire it. "Is he dead?"
"Would that upset you?"
"No."
"Then yes, he will be dead," Klaus growled the promise against her skin. He tried to dampen the rage which bubbled up in his chest by pulling her back down. While he longed to know the details and not be left to his vivid imagination, her avoidance made it clear that he wouldn't hear them. Not from her, at least.
In truth, he didn't know if Damon was alive or not. He'd left a considerable amount of his blood in the mansion in case of a Caroline-related emergency, but would Kol have thought to save the Salvatore? He hoped so. A hybrid bite was far too quick a death for someone who had abused his mate. Klaus hoped that Kol was having a great deal of fun with him in the dungeons.
"And Stefan?"
"Alive for now."
"Can that be more permanent?"
Klaus hooked his chin on her shoulder, marveling at how she relaxed back into him. "No one who harms you will be alive for very long, sweetheart."
"He's a good man."
"Maybe."
Caroline would have argued, but it wasn't a battle she wanted to fight naked in his bed. "Bonnie and Elena?"
"Safe. Probably delighting in my brother's company."
"Death would be preferable," she joked though neither of them laughed. The echoing hurt of their betrayal lingered in the air and Caroline wasn't immune to the sting. "What if Tyler told someone? Or if he tries something?" she sighed.
"I won't let anything happen to you."
"You won't always be there."
"I'll find that stake, Caroline. I promise you, I will level this continent if I have to," Klaus whispered.
Caroline tensed up in his arms and cursed herself for it as she felt him shift. After all that had happened, from losing her friends to wearing his mark on her skin, Caroline knew without any doubt that he wouldn't hurt her. With a bold decision made in her mind she turned in his arms.
His eyes lingered on her body as she straddled his waist, but there was nothing sexual in the way she spoke. "You're not going to find the real white oak stake."
"I will," he rebutted immediately, though his hands stroked along her thighs in a gesture meant to be soothing. Then he took in the part of her lips and wide eyes. Immediately, Klaus' mind jumped to a solution - the last white oak stake had been destroyed. "Why do you say that?" he asked with a slither of fear in his tone.
"Because-I-have-it," she blurted. Klaus' eyes narrowed, so she continued speaking at a mile a minute. "I knew what they were going to do and they asked me to distract you and I didn't want to because you were being nice and letting me drink and so I went to Alaric's house and broke in - which was actually really easy, which is funny right because he is a vampire hunter - but anyway I took the real stake and then had to drive halfway to Atlanta to find a wood-carver who could make one kinda look the same and then I had to compel him because it was like 3am but anyway then I had to sneak in again and Alaric was home but it was fine and then I went home and you were there and I had the stake in my bag and you-"
Then he was kissing her. Deeply, passionately, in a way that made her struggle to breathe let alone think. His hands raveled in her hair as he flipped them, pinning her body beneath his.
Klaus poured everything into his kiss. The pride in her plot, the gratitude for who she had saved, the relief that she hadn't been with someone else. His kiss ravished her, but it was his wandering hands which turned her on.
Just as he'd stroked up her thighs, she turned her head to the side and groaned. Klaus lay fierce kisses along her jaw, down her neck, biting with blunt human teeth at her jugular to draw out her sharp gasp.
"Jesus, you've just had me for three days," she panted.
"Like I said, I want you in my bed for a week. Maybe two." Klaus kissed down to her breasts, teasing at her nipples with quick fingers. "My brilliant, conniving, loyal little mate. Where is it?"
Caroline looked down as his tongue traced over her nipple. The relief in his reaction made her heart burst. Shivering under his attention, she broke out a lazy smile. "What's it worth?" she hummed playfully.
Klaus paused and took in the twinkle in her eye. "Name your price."
"Well, while we're on the topic of things we want, how about we make some changes to your hybrid recruitment efforts? Maybe adding in consent and banning the use of force, for a start?"
Klaus laughed, joyous and uncaring, and Caroline didn't think she'd ever get tired of causing that sound. He leaned back down and bit her lip softly while his fingers pinched at her nipples. "But think how useful they've been as of late, sweetheart. What about your darling bodyguard for instance?"
While Caroline was quickly becoming distracted at the urge to buck her hips against him, she hummed as if she was genuinely considering his response. "You know, they'd be even more useful if they were loyal to you by choice. Maybe they'd even smile at you."
"I didn't realise that her happiness was such a concern, but it's my pleasure to inform you that she's been well-rewarded for her service," Klaus muttered, slipping his fingers into the wetness between her legs.
Caroline moaned against his lips as he played with her clit. Gentle fingers stroked along his sides and traced the muscles in his back as her hips rolled, just barely pressing against his hardness.
"So it's a fair deal? The stake for hybrid reform."
"No—" Klaus grunted as her hand reached down to stroke him, "—but I look forward to negotiating with you more in the future."
Caroline giggled, though it swiftly turned into a squeak as his finger slipped inside.
"In all seriousness, my love, we can do the spell tomorrow if you like. I want you safe."
"Not yet," she hummed, "there are some poor hybrids who need to be liberated first."
"Oh they're just going to love you. Strong, intelligent, sexy," he growled, "finally they'll have a queen to worship."
Caroline grinned wide, pushing his hand away from her centre and lining his cock up instead, "and I suppose that makes you the king?"
Instead of replying, Klaus pressed his hips forward and muffled her cry against his lips.