[~Heartbreak Explosions~]

Suds were cascading down Caroline's body. Steam had filled the room.

Klaus was true to his word. He touched and caressed every part of her body slowly. He washed her, his hands soaping her skin smoothly and softly. Hot water lashed down on both of their bodies and Caroline had surrendered completely to Klaus' care. Now that she had stopped fighting he was being gentle and the whole experience felt like a ritual.

They used to take showers together all the time when they dated and they always ended in hot make-out sessions and sex but this time was different. Klaus was getting reacquainted with her body. His hands were gliding over every contour and curve. As if she was a map of an unknown territory he was exploring. It was erotic but at the same time it wasn't overtly sexual and Caroline relaxed or at least gave in and let the shame and the defeat wash away along with the foam that dribbled down the drain.

Klaus lathered her body with her favorite scented body wash. He had kept that too and it smelled like vanilla and peaches.

His hands massaged her damp shoulders and kneaded the back of her neck. He did it so expertly that she moaned in pleasure.

"I can't live like this," she muttered feeling tears glazing at the corner of her closed eyelids. Tears that couldn't be seen with the hot water drowning them as it turned her skin raw and sensitive.

Klaus' hands stilled against her flesh and he gave her a warning squeeze.

"I couldn't live without you but you made me live in hell for the last four years," he told her, his tone so cold that made her tremble, "I have half a mind to repay the favor."

She slowly turned around and faced him. Water pelted down the muscles of his broad chest. His wet curls were pushed back. His body glistened under the water.

"This is you getting even then?"

His eyes flashed at her bitter defiance but there was also something else in the way he looked at her. It was a challenge. He was there to battle with her. To battle with her will to shut him out.

He stepped forward, she stepped back and almost slipped. Klaus' hand wrapped around her waist pulling her closer. As he had done all those years ago when they had first met; when she had almost tripped down a staircase and he was there to catch her.

"This is me erasing your biggest mistake when it came to us," he spoke sternly, no mercy in his voice, "You are back where you belong and I won't allow you to pretend otherwise. Not after all this time, you forced us to be apart."

At the rage that emanated from Klaus' tone, a tremor passed through Caroline. His nails dug into her slippery skin and she flinched.

"So much wasted time Caroline!" he cursed and for the first time Caroline didn't only see his anger but also his pain, "How could you do that?"

He shook her and she bit her lip.

"I doubt you cared that I was gone," she uttered averting her eyes from his accusing gaze.

"I did," Klaus admitted angrily, "More than you will ever know."

Caroline said nothing but Klaus wasn't done. His hand tangled with her matted hair and he pushed her head back forcibly making her exhale a pained sound.

"So, piece of advice Caroline just so you will be prepared for what comes next," he warned her, a pool of darkness in the blue of his eyes that seemed almost black now, "You can't hurt a monster and expect it to not make you pay."

She shivered and Klaus let her go and turned up the temperature of the water higher before he pushed her under the shower spray again.

He shampooed her hair and was careful to push her head back and cover her eyes to not let the bubbles sting her eyes. The pain from his punishing grip on her hair dissipated and Klaus' fingers kept working on her hair until more soapsuds rolled down and licked her body.

Her toes curled and she rested her trembling hands on his chest needing to hold on from something.

"I am sorry."

The regret in Klaus' voice was palpable that Caroline's eyes opened and she peered at him.

She blinked when she saw how his eyes were fixated on her body. In a specific part of her body.

He didn't just sound ashamed. He looked heartbroken and when she looked down following his gaze she saw that Klaus was caressing an ugly bruise on her upper arm.

She frowned. She hadn't realized that she had hurt herself and then she remembered that it was him that had hurt her.

Yesterday in her old apartment in Arlington. After he had dipped his tongue between her legs making her come. She faintly remembered that after that Klaus had dragged her from the bed with so much force that had caused her fiery pain. She had been so disoriented back then and so lost in the moment, she had felt so used and ashamed and she was in such despair that Klaus' bruising grip had barely registered. After that everything had happened so fast and she was uprooted from her life she had chosen for the last years and forced back into Klaus' world that she hadn't even noticed the mark of Klaus' manhandling. The pain was there Caroline realized. The throbbing. The stinging sensation. But between leaving Virginia and been thrown back into New York like this she had felt as if everything hurt and the bruise on her arm hadn't registered as physical pain…until now.

Klaus had never been physically abusive with her before.

Now that he caressed her wet arm focusing on the bruise Caroline realized there was hot pain there. And the blue and purple evidence of Klaus' fingerprints marked on her skin.

Klaus had visibly paled now that he stared at the ugly bruise which was funny for her because that man murdered, tortured and maimed people for fun and here he was acting as if he hadn't meant to hurt her. Which was ridiculous given how he treated her the last hours. How he was treating her right now.

Unless he believed that emotional abuse was excused while this was not acceptable. Or just maybe he wanted her pretty Caroline thought bitterly.

She pushed her arm away from his touch and Klaus' hand lingered in midair, water dribbling on it before he let it fall without forcing his unwanted touch on her anymore.

They stood naked under the water facing each other.

"Forgive me," he apologized making Caroline's mouth drop open in surprise. She had never heard those words from Klaus' mouth. Never before, "When I came for you…I lost control," he admitted, "I didn't want our first reconciliation after all this time to be like that."

Caroline's brow furrowed before she understood that he didn't only mean the bruise.

He was apologizing to her for what he did to her on her old bed. When he made her spread her legs for him so to save Tyler's life. Using her like that.

"The idea of you being with another man," Klaus' lips twisted in a grimace and his hands turned to fists. His face turned to a mask of fury.

Caroline flinched at that reaction of his and Klaus eased up looking ashamed, "It's not something I can control. It clouds my judgment," Klaus grumbled and then exhaled a couple of times trying to control his anger that seemed to Caroline as if it was something explosive that he couldn't fully control, "I don't want you to be terrified of me. Not when it comes to this."

This time his fingers caressed the place they hurt her.

"I will try to forget your transgression, Caroline. I promise I will."

Caroline forgot all the reasons as to why she should be scared of him. She forgot that Klaus was a criminal with a murder track record and she forgot how he held Tyler's and her father's lives in his hand. She saw red and slapped his hand away.

"My transgression?" she yelled at his audacity as the pain she hadn't managed to get over for so many years came rushing back, "Are you kidding me right now?"

"I never…NEVER been with another woman," Klaus yelled back at her and Caroline let out a bitter laugh. She no longer cared for her nudity or the fact that she was trapped into the shower stall with the man that had turned her into his prisoner, abused and humiliated her as no other had only in the span of fewer than twenty-four hours.

"Oh please," she spat indignantly and tried to walk out of the shower only for Klaus to block her body with his.

"Never Caroline," he insisted and this time his expression turned pleading, "You misunderstood what you saw-"

"Whatever," Caroline dismissed him cutting off his apology and lies not being able to hear his stupid excuses. There was nothing he could say to convince her that he hadn't been screwing Aurora when they were together!

For crying out loud she had caught them together on the act! That bitch had straddled him. Her blouse was gone! Aurora was on to him unclasping her bra while his shirt was open! There on the couch of his office! The freaking office Caroline had decorated with him, on the couch they had made love just the previous day!

Her world had crashed and burned that day. It didn't matter that Klaus ran after her. It didn't matter that he swore that Aurora had hit on him and he hadn't had the time to react! As if! Klaus had cheated on her and then he had barged in Stephen's house and brought her back into his house kicking and screaming going over and over again how he hadn't done anything and that he could explain!

"NEVER Caroline!" Klaus yelled at her again and she shook her head pushing him back as she felt once more that her old wounds opened again. She pushed her hands on her ears trying to block Klaus out. She was fucking bleeding for him again! Those wounds had never closed and he threw fucking salt on them over and over again! Why couldn't he just let her be! Why did he have to take all her pride away! All her dignity!

"You have though! You fucked another!" Klaus accused her pushing her hands down. Caroline yanked her hands away from his and glowered at him as he screamed at her for screwing another man. His voice was a roar that this time made her roll her eyes at him.

Served him right! She should have done it sooner! She should have run away further and she shouldn't have waited that long! She should have fucked everything that moved but she had more pride than that! She wouldn't let Klaus Mikaelson's philandering ways change her core. She wasn't a slut like him! God, she hated him! And now she was stuck with him again in this cycle that would destroy her.

"You were with another man and I should kill him for it! He is lucky he is drawing breath!" Klaus hissed and Caroline's eyes sparkled with fury and this time she let all her disgust out.

"This is how it's going to be now?" she asked him with an acidic voice, "You will keep threatening me like this every time you want something? If this is how you want a woman?" she flared up.

Klaus let out a bitter smile.

"A woman love?" he chuckled as if she had said something absurd, "No. The only one I ever wanted was you," he confessed and Caroline shook her head again.

Her back collided on the wet glass wall of the shower. His body trapped her. He cupped her face, his eyes urging her to believe him, "The only one I still want is you!" he declared and if she didn't know any better she would have believed him but she did know better. What he did with Aurora was only the tip of the iceberg. What he did to her afterward was far worse and he didn't even know that she knew. He didn't know she had heard and seen him.

Caroline watched him unemotionally and Klaus rested his forehead against hers and he closed his eyes in pain when she didn't react. She remained cold as a statue against him.

"No I don't want you like this," he whispered surprising her with his honesty but when he looked at her his eyes were filled with dark determination. "But I want you," he intoned, her mouth going dry at the desire that pooled in Klaus' gaze.

She was facing the devil now. The same devil that was ready to blackmail, hurt and manipulate her into bargaining her soul to him. "Any way I can have you. I. want. You!" he stressed out and Caroline panted feeling as if there was not enough air, "More than anything else. I have never wanted anything as much as I want you."

His lips touched her mouth and she slanted her head to the side to avoid his kiss.

"Stop lying," she mumbled desperately.

"I am not lying."

"You didn't want me," she cried out and then her shoulders fell. She hated being so weak in front of him, "You don't want me now either."

She couldn't hide her insecurity and she felt lost.

Klaus growled and pushed his body against her more making her bite down a moan.

"All evidence to the contrary."

Caroline refused to pay attention to the physical evidence of his need for her despite how it poked against her thigh. Hot and hard.

"I just hurt your ego by running away," she said instead.

"Believe what you will. It makes no difference," Klaus mumbled against her skin. "There is no place you can hide from me. There is nowhere you can run."

It was an unholy vow and Klaus didn't stop there. He didn't mind committing any sin and right now he was set on seducing her. He was ready to use every cheap trick against her and he chose to use her body's weakness against him.

His lips found the place between her neck and ear. That sensitive place that always overloaded her senses making her weak.

He didn't play fair and she let out a whine feeling as if her limbs turned to jelly.

"I want you here with me," Klaus enticed her, his lips sucking on the throbbing vein on her neck that beat like a drum. He was going to leave another kind of bruise there to mark her. One of pleasure this time. The pain was sweet now. "And I want you happy. I want you to be happy with me," Klaus tempted her and she felt the ice around her traitorous heart thawing.

Why did her body have to react to him like that?

Her nipples pebbled against his chest and her head rolled back. She felt as if she was becoming boneless. All the reasons as to why she should feel hate and disgust still whispered in the back of her mind but lust was clouding her judgment.

"Give me a chance to prove to you I mean this," Klaus pleaded, his body supporting hers. Water was still spraying all over their bodies. She could just let go.

"I can't," she choked out and Klaus let out a frustrated sigh.

"You will," he promised her and the darkness that lingered in his words made her eyes open. Klaus was a blurry image through the drops of water that had stuck on her lashes. But the image cleared and with it so did his determination. His possessiveness. The metal core of all that made him who he was. Unrelenting. Undefeated. "I won't stop trying until you do."

Caroline felt the lines blur. All the reasons as to why she should push him away. All the need she had to keep him close. If this wasn't Stockholm syndrome she didn't know what it was.

He had abused her. He still did and here she was a victim lured in his deadly trap.

"Let me show you," he beguiled her, "let me show you how I want you. How much I want you," he coaxed and kissed her until she was out of breath, "how it can be," he mumbled on her lips, his hand sliding between her legs.

"What if I don't let you? What then?" she managed to ask in a frail voice, "what will you do? Rape me? Force me? Blackmail me again?"

She had wanted to keep her voice steady and strong but she couldn't hide the undercurrents of fear that surged forth.

She didn't trust him. She never would. He was good with words but he was still Klaus Mikaelson. He was still bad right down to the bone. He was still no good for her.

"I am not a good man," Klaus admitted his words echoing her doubts and she felt hollow, "I am ready to do anything to have you, to keep you," he accepted darkly, "So yes. Maybe I am capable of all these things…But for now, I'd rather seduce."

For now, he said.

Caroline closed her eyes letting out an agonized moan of protest.

His fingers parted her folds and met the wetness that had gathered there. Her nails dug into his shoulders as she tried to find support using his body as the pillar of strength she was missing.

His lips attacked her, his tongue savaged the crevice of her mouth.

God save her she kissed him back.

"I've missed you," Klaus grunted in her mouth and she whined when his fingers played with her sex, "So damn much," he groaned when her muscles sucked his fingers in her tight opening.

Caroline cried against his mouth and when his fingers curled inside her, his thumb pressing against her clit she saw stars.

The water created steam around them. So much that their bodies hid between fog, mist and the fall of the hot water.

Klaus detached his lips from hers rested his forehead against hers letting his eyes savor her reaction to the pleasure he was giving her.

"You can lie to me as much as you want but you missed me too," he taunted her but he was breathless too. His body tight and on edge as he held her close as if she was a treasure, as if she would vanish from his hands, "Your body responds to me Caroline," he gloated, pointing out the obvious.

He almost withdrew his fingers making her whimper frustrated at the sudden loss earning from him a satisfied exclaim of triumph before he resumed rubbing her folds again.

Caroline refused to open her eyes. She wanted to stop the rush but she couldn't as Klaus was pushing her over the edge and she braced herself as his fingers thrust inside her again.

"It's just a physical reaction," she denied while riding on that physical reaction unable to reject the sensations that bloomed in her body.

"It's a start," Klaus persisted set on forcing himself in her life again even if it was through addicting her into this kind of pleasure. Until he would bring her to the breaking point of where she wouldn't be able to afford to leave him.

Caroline clenched her lips annoyed. Why couldn't he stop speaking? Why couldn't he just let her enjoy this? It didn't mean anything. It couldn't mean anything. It would just be an orgasm that would mean nothing and yet her body felt as if this nothing was everything it craved. Everything it needed to function, to exist, to be, to fucking live.

"It's nothing!" she cried as her body was becoming undone ascending to a place that nothing else existed but white-hot pleasure.

"So stubborn," Klaus sighed and his mouth found one of her rock hard nipples and bit down. Punishment for her defiance and along with one more flick of his thumb on her clit she came hard letting out incoherent sounds until she became numb.

She collapsed into his hands and Klaus was there to catch her.

That was the problem she guessed. He would always be there to catch her no matter where she would run. He would always catch her.

As she came down from her high she realized how deep into this twisted mess she had found herself in. It wasn't just what Klaus did to her. It was what she felt. What she did and what she couldn't do. She couldn't set herself free. She couldn't fight both him and what she felt no matter how wrong it was. And it was wrong. It was toxic. It was ugly. And there was no shower that could make it clean.

The first sob was followed by another and another and Caroline couldn't stop crying. She snuggled closer to Klaus that held her close, caressing her wet hair, mumbling sweet nothings, comforting the pain he had caused and kept causing.

The water from the shower kept raining down at them and with it so did Caroline's tears.