Hey. A year ago, I gave up on this story due to writer's block. But I feel like completing the remaining chapters. What do you think about this story?


Chapter 3

CAROLINE COULDN'T say what had roused her from her sleep, but when she opened her eyes, it was to see a pair of legs standing near her right shoulder. Trying to see who else was in the room went was a mistake, however, that brought a wince and a sharp gasp of pain. She had forgotten her position, tied tight to the bed at her back, with thick rope laced with vervain wrapped round and round her waist, chest, and throat to make sure she would still be sitting there, and so she was. She remembered trying to keep her head straight, but it must have rolled to the side once she slept, and now her neck muscles were screaming in complaint. Her hands were secured, numb tried to pull loose of it, and had scraped her skin raw in the attempt.

And she twisted her head around slowly, working out the kinks until she could turn it without wincing. That, at least, she could manage, and finally tilted her head back far enough to look up at the silent man next to her. He hadn't moved once from his wide-legged stance. Arms were crossed over his chest. Deepest blue eyes were looking down at her, and not without expression. She was not sure what emotion rode his features, but whatever it was, it was close to violence.

"My, aren't we ready to explode. What's wrong, Klaus? Something upset you or should I say someone?" she taunted, smirking proudly and trying hard not to wince every time she moved. "I didn't expect to wake up tied up. If you had wanted to be kinky, Klaus, you should have said so earlier. I would have co-operated with you."

His brows came together, his frown had grown so dark. "That is enough, love." And then he was smiling, an absolutely beautiful smile that made her catch her breath. "I'm sorry for tying you up, but during your failed attempt at escape, you made quite a mess," he added in a pleasant tone.

She glared at him. "It wasn't a failed attempt. You knocked me out before I could escape."

Klaus clapped his hands enthusiastically. "The good thing is that you're going to be tied up, so you wouldn't escape again. But rest assure, love, the moment you get your humanity back, you'd be free."

He meant to keep her like this. He was letting her know so she could think about it, dread it, so the fear would eat away at her sanity. She closed her eyes, fighting the urge to bite his head off. Damn him! Damn him to hell!

Klaus watched her, pleased by her reaction. She was smiling now, but the anger was in her eyes again, deeply smoldering. He hadn't wanted to do that to her, but she had made him do that. She would have escaped if he hadn't found her. He had been furious. She had thrashed the entire room and he had felt bad for snapping her neck. If there was an option, he would have done it. He hadn't enjoyed any of that. Caroline was stubborn. She would have fought him every step of the way.

"You won't get away with this, Klaus. I will get out of here and when I'm done, you'd hate me more than I hate you right now," She cut in with a full measure of the contempt she felt for him, which was not even a quarter of what she had felt before.

Klaus smiled, his dimples showing. Moving closer, he brushed her cheek with his fingers, feeling the anger radiating off of her. "Are you hungry, sweetheart?"

Glaring at him, she tried to move her head away from his touch. "I don't want anything from you," she spat out.

"So stubborn." He chuckled, drawing his hand away from her face. "You know, you're just as stubborn as I am." He smiled, loving the way her eyes lit up with fire, her cheeks burning and her teeth gritting.

"So you said, but I'm not anything like you," she replied. "Now, if you'd kindly untie me so that I could take a bath. I have been here for a day." Her voice was cold, not meant to be argued with.

"I'd let you take a bath, Caroline, on one condition. I'm going to be there with you in case you decide to play some tricks."

Her chin shifted upward."That's not going to happen. I'm not going to take a shower with you in the same room," she hissed, angry enough to show him all that she was feeling in the look she gave him.

"It's not something I haven't seen before," he straight out stated. The smugness in his tone grated on Carolin's already distraught nerves, but she refused to say another word. Stating her preference only got her the exact opposite. Obviously, he had decided to toy with her some more. He untied her and Caroline thought of whooshing out of there, but she knew he would get to her so quickly. Holding her by the arm, he dragged her to the bathroom. She stared at the bath that steam rose from it. It looked deliriously inviting.

She hadn't moved from her position by the door, except to rub her limbs when the ropes had come off. She still couldn't bring herself to move. She had said she would bathe here. The alternative was unthinkable. Yet she couldn't gather the nerve required to actually do it, now that the time was at hand. She was not reckless enough to do it. Klaus used that moment to cough, waiting. And what he waited for was to experience her humiliation. If she had not hated him before, she did now.

"Do you want help?"

"Go to hell."

Those blue eyes rested on her with smugness. This was part of his revenge, a minor part to him, but not so minor to her. Yet he would have it with or without her cooperation, and the indifference in his tone said he really didn't care which way it was to be. He wasn't going to leave. She could scream, yell and throw a tantrum, and she knew he still wouldn't leave. All she managed was to keep her back to him as she began to take her clothes off. Caroline buried herself as deep in the tub as she could.

"Don't forget to wash your hair. There's dry blood there."

The dry blood that he helped put there. She was so rattled by the entire situation, she wouldn't have thought to do that. But she hated being told to. Ordered was more like it. What would happen if she refused? He would do it himself. Caroline did exactly as he asked, rubbing her itching scalp under the water before she came up to cover it with the soft soap.

"This is a nice place to bond." Klaus had a smirk plastered on his face. Caroline glanced at him, her mouth itching to retort but she didn't want to give him the satisfaction. "Don't you think, sweetheart? Oh, come on, don't look so sour. I'm simply trying to keep you safe in this room."

"By keeping me here?"

Klaus stride into the bathroom, his hand behind his back as he stared around. "New Orleans is a vicious place. There are lots of deaths everywhere, and setting a girl with no humanity on would be an invitation to her death. So you see, Caroline, why I can't let you go. I happen to quite like how happy I am right now."

She wondered if giving her these ridiculous excuses was part of his game. Was she supposed to argue with him, remind him that she was some weak baby vampire who could easily get herself killed? His excuses begged for argument. She could at least deny him that. Ignoring him, she looked away.

"Shy? Have you forgotten our glorious encounter? You're shy, aren't you? Because you're naked and I'm not?"

Shy? He thought she was shy? Caroline stood up, carefully keeping her back to him. She was actually feeling somewhat triumphant. She had thwarted him. She wasn't sure what his true goal had been, probably no more than a further demonstration of his power over her. But she had defeated his purpose. He laughed softly, which unnerved her, told her he didn't really care about her temporary triumph, that he had other things to reach the same goal available to him.

She knew his game now, and his ultimate goal. Humiliation at every opportunity, and utter devastation of her pride. If there was one thing Caroline Forbes ever valued was her pride. Crushing it will be one of his priorities. She should have remembered his promise. He wanted to humiliate her? How could he, when she had wanted this bath more than he wanted her to have it, when she had it within her power to make him regret toying with her this time? He wanted to watch? She would give him something to watch.

She turned around to face him. She reached for the soap and spread it on her hands. Slowly, with challenge in the sky-blue eyes she locked to his, she rubbed her hands over her breasts, smoothed them over her stomach and hips, down the side of her legs to her knees, then, even slower, up the inside of her thighs. He followed those hands with his own bright blue eyes, and she knew the very second that he forgot himself.

"Do you like what you see, Klaus? Do you remember my touch?"

"Caroline," he hissed.

She wanted to laugh, but didn't. She had never imagined she could salvage her pride this way.
And then, somehow, he turned the tables on her. It was the way his expression suddenly became sensual. The way his lips softened and curved just so. The way his eyes gleamed more as they caressed the intimate parts of her. He was a man who knew how to make love with his eyes, and he was giving her a demonstration of that skill.
Uncertainty returned with a vengeance, making Caroline distinctly uncomfortable again. It had been unbelievably stupid of her to provoke this reaction in him. After all, the conclusions she had drawn were not writ in blood. Lust could destroy the strongest resolve. He still wasn't capable of doing anything about it just now, but that and only that kept her from running, screaming, from the room.

She looked away from him instead, and finished her bath with all speed. But she knew he hadn't closed his own eyes. He watched, and she trembled. She also began to feel something else, something unexpected and not unpleasant that hummed in her core. Was lust contagious?
He said no other words to her, and she didn't look his way again. But she had learned a lesson. She was no good at his game. But she will learn.

"Do you want some fresh clothes? While you were busy taking a bath, I got someone to stock the closet with clothes." The offer was so unexpected, and so generous, Caroline distrusted it, coming from him. That she had been trying to work the tangles from her hair with her fingers was beside the point. Klaus wouldn't give her something she might be grateful for. He might have when her humanity had been on, but not this Caroline. So why had he?

She changed into a black leather pants and shirt with black leather jacket. She knew black looked good on her. Moving over to the mirror, she simply couldn't resist using, but staring into it brought bemusement. She didn't look as awful as she had expected. In fact, she showed not a sign of someone who had been kidnapped and locked in a dungeon on her face. Her sky-blue eyes were once bright, now dull and missing the light Klaus was drawn to. What didn't surprise her was the determination in her eyes; a girl who wouldn't back down without a fight, a girl who wouldn't switch her humanity on no matter what cost.

"You like what you see," he interrupted. There was distinct laughter in his tone. She tilted her head, but not turning around to acknowdlege him. "Give me time, sweetheart. To show you what I'm capable of."

She couldn't hold back a snort.

"Bastard," she hissed beneath her breath. Then she felt him approach her. Her back stiffened, waiting for something to happen, but nothing did. Suddenly, she felt him brush his lips on her shoulders and before she could turn around to bark at him for touching her, he was gone.

To say she was bored out of her mind was an understatement. There was nothing to do in the room, except laying on the bed and looking at the ceiling. She could really use a book...or a phone. A phone to call her so-called friends. Caroline thought about what she was going to say to them, the threats and promises she intended to keep. Stefan, God help the youngest Salvatore if he ever crossed her path. Groaning, she hurled a pillow at the door, and as if an answer to a prayer, the door opened and a head poked in.

"Klaus?"

It wasn't who she thought would be. A girl, a blonde girl walked inside the room and Caroline rose from the bed, frowning as she titled her head to study the new occupant in the room. The blonde girl's eyes widened in shock before she recovered and raised an eyebrow.

"Who are you?" The blonde girl demanded, as she crossed her arms and took an arrogant stance.

"I'm Caroline," Caroline answered, her lips tightening into a thin line. She didn't like the way the girl thought she could badge in her and show her an attitude. A human, no less. When she opened her mouth to say something, Caroline beat her to it. "And you're obviously a cheap version of me."

"Excuse me?!"

Caroline strides forward, stopping a few inches from the blonde girl. "Curls? Blonde hair, really? Did Klaus compelled you to dye your hair blonde? Look at you, you're practically me. But of course, you could never be like me. He couldn't have me, so he resorted to having another version of me. A pity."

"Look here, lady," The blonde started, looking very much offended and annoyed at being practically insulted. "I don't know who you are, why you're here but you better not insult me again. You think you being a vampire is going to scare me? Think again. I have been in the company of the most cruel vampire ever and yet, I'm still standing."

Caroline raised an eyebrow, but the girl wasn't done yet.

"I'm not a cheap version of you, or any version of you for that matter," she spat out. "I don't care what you think about me or what you have going on with Klaus, but keep me out of it."

"Camille." The girls both turned around to stare at Klaus who had an annoyed look on his face. He walked over to the blonde and grabbed on her arm, pulling her back a little. "What are you doing here?" he asked, but his eyes were on Caroline, analysing her. But why? Did he think she was going to be jealous of a cheaper version of her? She mentally snort.

"I came to look for you," Camille replied, her tone softening. "But instead, I found her." She threw an annoyed look at Caroline who shrugged her shoulders at him.

"Caroline. Her name is Caroline and she's an old friend."

"Oh? Then what she is she doing here?"

Caroline grinned at him. "Yes, Klaus, I'd like to know what I'm doing here. Tell your little girlfriend why you have me here. Or better yet," He could have saw the evil glint in her eyes and his gave her a warning. She smirked in response before flashing in front of Camille to grab the girl and threaten to rip her heart out. She knew Klaus cared about the little human, and he would do anything to protect her, even letting Caroline go.

But before she could do that, he was in front of Camille. "Not her," he spoke in a deadly soft tone. Caroline stumbled back, shocked at seeing the display of emotions in his eyes. He caught her off guard there, and she had to deal with the biggest emotion; jealousy. Her heart roared with it. It shocked her to the very core, because she shouldnt be feeling it, not when her humanity was off. She wasn't familiar with him protecting anyone that wasn't his family, and then herself. But Camille seemed to have gotten inside his head. And he was slowly making her feel things once again. 'No!' she barked at herself. 'I would not let him get through me.'

"You've got to be kidding me. You two are fucking each other? Is that it?"

"We don't have to answer to you," Camille replied with a glare.

"So you're a we now? Great." She took a couple of more steps back. Klaus tried to reach his hand out to touch her, but what he saw in her eyes stopped him and he heaved a sigh. "I think I'd like it if you leave my room now, thanks."

"Your room—"

"Let's go, Camille." Klaus ushered Camille out of the room, sharing an intense look with Caroline before she glared and turned her back on him.

An hour later, Klaus returned and unfortunately, so did Camille. Something was off with both of them. She felt like they both had a secret shared between them, one that didn't include her. Klaus and Camille didn't return empty handed, they brought food and blood bags. As much as Caroline wanted to tell them to shove their food up their ass, her hunger won over her. She grabbed the blood bags, her hand shaking and she moaned when she felt the taste of blood on her tongue. But she would have enjoyed the meal better if she didn't have to listen and watch the love-play going on across the room.

Camille did more touching and caressing of Klaus than feeding herself, and spent a full hour at it. Shameless slut, and he enjoyed every moment of it, exuding more charm and sexual appeal than Caroline had ever been witness to. It was obvious they were well "acquainted," and just as obvious they would be again as soon as they left the room. She was a bit glad when Camille excused herself, and Caroline had wanted to hurl something at her retereating form.

Most times through the hour, when she had glanced his way, he had been looking elsewhere, deep in his thoughts. Not since she had begun ignoring him. And his eyes were still on her, without expression, telling her nothing of what was running through his mind. His steady gaze was making her edgy. She wanted him gone. Why couldn't he leave her be? It wasn't as if she was going to leave the room. He had made sure she couldn't escape.

A short while later she had started to doze off, despite not liking it, when she heard the chains rattle. She opened her eyes and turned to see a dark haired guy coming across the room toward her. Alarm struck her first, and she sat up, then realized he must be there to tie her. Her eyes flew to his hands and widened. He held chains, all right, replete with shackles, a great many of them.

Klaus spoke before to the man. "Are they to my specifications, Josh?" The man Josh nodded. "Did you test them?"

"Yes, Klaus," Josh replied. "The links held firm, despite their thinness. Davina made sure that she wouldn't be able to break them. She would be too weak to move."

"Good. Then bring it here."

The chains were tossed on the bed beside Klaus, where Caroline was able to get a closer look at them, and in fact jumped at the chance to look elsewhere than at the man. She had understood from Josh's words that they were not normal chains, were made special to Klaus' specifications, but she was surprised now to see how unusual they were.

He studied her for a moment before he asked curiously, "Why do you look scared, love?"

"I hope to god that isn't for me, Klaus. You'd have to drug me with vervain before I will ever let you chain me again."

He smiled, that smile she hated. "I will be right back." She watched him rose from bed and walked out of the room with Josh in tow. Her heart finally stopped beating and she felt like the biggest idiot for freaking out like that, and Klaus for making her believe the chains were for her.


CAROLINE AWOKE to raised voices. The voices she recognized with little difficulty—Elijah's and Rebekah's. She had had more difficulty, though, recognizing the same sort of shouting with the addition of loud thuds when it had awakened her sometime in the middle of the night.

"What's going on?"

She had not expected an answer, but got one, for Klaus was in the room, sitting by the chair and watching her. "It's just Rebekah having a little spat with Elijah. Your friends haven't come to save you, if that's what you were hoping."

"Nik!" Rebekah barged into the room, looking like she could tear anyone apart with one look. "I cannot believe Elijah would do this to me! And for what? She's not going anywhere!"

"That is a certainty now!" he replied just as loud.

"You know how I feel about having her here, Nik."

"What I know is that anytime you are angry at Elijah, you come to take it out on me," he complained. "Maybe you could spare me this time, sister."

"You go and tell Elijah that I refuse to babysit Caroline Forbes, while everyone is out risking their lives. I should be beside my family, not here babysitting her!" She pointed a finger at Caroline. "I would end up murdering her!"

"Which you surely wouldn't, Rebekah," Klaus said coldly. "You're the only one who could keep an eye out for her when I'm not here. You would do your job perfectly. I do not intend to lose her because of your prejudice. You keep that in mind, sister."

"If you're so worried about running away, then let her go—"

"She stays."

"Nik!"

"Give it up," he said adamantly. "My mind cannot be changed on this."

She let out an explosive, frustrated breath. "I wish I could hit you!"

Without heat now, seriously, he replied, "I wish you could, too."

Rebekah gritted her teeth. "Fine. I'd babysit Caroline Forbes and hope I don't kill her in the process."

"Wow." Their attention went to Caroline who lowered her hands after clapping. "You guys are so dramatic, and here I thoughht my friends have that job. It's always so nice to see you, Rebekah." She beamed at the blonde Original.

"Can't say the feeling's mutual, Caroline," Rebekah retorted. "When I heard nice and sweet Caroline Forbes had turned off her humanity and went on a killing spree, I was shocked."

"I bet you were."

"Let's be honest, Caroline, no one apart from Nik is happy to have you here."

"You don't see me jumping with joy to be here. It's safe to say your home is the last place I'd ever want to be in. If you don't want me here, tell your brother to let me go, or you let me go."

"And face my brother's wrath?" Rebekah asked. "No, thank you. As much as we don't like each other, we're going to be stuck together."

"Oh, yay," Caroline sarcastically exclaimed, then rolled her eyes at the woman.

Rebekah turned to Klaus and said, "I'm going to go and take Hope from Freya. She wants to work on a few spells."

The door closed a moment later. Caroline did not turn around. She hoped he wouldn't say anything to her. She hoped he would not continue to stay here, because it was unnecessary. Most of all, she hoped they would simply ignore each other today. They were good at ignoring one another—when they weren't giving each other their undivided attention. But she wanted to ask him who Freya was, and why he trusted her enough with his daughter.

"Ask away, Caroline."

So much for ignoring each other.

"I don't remember telling you I wanted to ask a question."

He decided to ignore her little comment. "Freya is my long lost sister. She's been with my aunt Dahlia for a decade."

"Another sister?" she asked, her face turning upside down. "Is she like all of you?"

"If you're asking if she's a cruel vampire, then no. Freya's more different than us and she is a witch."

"When can I meet her? To offer my condolences for being a part of your insane family."

"Yet disappointed you will be, love, for you will not meet my sister, or get her to set you free." Klaus smirked at her, crushing all her hopes and dreams of being able to convince his sister to let her go. "Freya knows not to cross me."

"Because your deluded mind thinks you will keep me here forever?" she asked.

""Even should you have your freedom back, you will leave my home and New Orleans with your humanity back on."

"I will leave here without my humanity on," she told him, and he was startled by the sincerity in her tone. She really did believe he wasn't going to succeed in turning her humanity back on.

There was a shrug in his voice as he answered, "You will have no choice but to surrender, sweetheart."

She was up on her feet and in his space, glaring up at him. "I will not..you can not— I refused!"

There was a sudden change in his expression, from playful to menacing. "Caroline, I won't give up on you. I'm going to get you back." Each word came out precisely, coated in ice.

His breath was hitting on her face. Every instinct demanded she argue that. Self-preservation cautioned a retreat—halfway. 'No," she whispered, harshly.

"For how long would we keep this going on? You know me, and you know I always keep my word." Klaus smiled to himself when she swung around to give him her back again. She was too easy to defeat. "I will have my Caroline back."

That got him a reaction out of her when she whipped around, she gritted her teeth and her eyes blazing, she snapped, "I was never yours!"

"You are mine," Klaus said sharply, walking closer to her. He lifted his hand and brushed it over her cheek. "Every part of you is mine. Do well to remember that, love."

Her blue eyes clashed with his, making his body all tingle. God, she was beautiful. She had stirred his blood a purpose. But even knowing that, he had burned with a need to have her that was stronger than any lust he could remember. Had she been herself, he would have acted on that need, and it infuriated him to know that. He had told himself and her that he would never touch her in that way until she had gotten her humanity back. But bloody hell, all he wanted to do right now was grab her neck and pull her in for a kiss.


DAYS PASSED, ROLLING one into another without incident. Caroline's anger and Klaus' constant presence made the time pass swiftly, at least for her. A routine quickly developed. He would come each morning and again each night to check on her, despite her telling him to fuck off. Elijah seemed to hate the idea of her being locked up in her room every day. Twice more he came to argue with Klaus about it, but he could not be budged.

She stays here.

Camille had also made comment on it, showing her displeasure about it, much to Caroline's surprise, not with Elijah's passion, merely with curiosity. Klaus had told her the same thing. She stays here.

Even the relief Caroline had felt at being released from the room during the day did not last long, for as freedom went, she still had none. Rebekah or Josh would come by throughout the day to take her out to eat lunch, but that was the only time she was ever allowed out of that room—and away from Klaus' presence. She was grateful for it, because she realised that she would go out of her mind if they kept her in there longer. She had finally met Freya, and the first thing that had been on Caroline's mind was, 'I think I prefer Rebekah'. Freya seemed to think every movement or word she made was part of some plan. The woman deluded herself into thinking Caroline was working with their aunt Dahlia, and she wasn't to be trusted even though Rebekah had told her several times that it wasn't true. Maybe, just maybe Caroline liked to make the oldest Mikaelson think like that.

And then there was little Hope.

The sight of the child of Hayley and Klaus could have easily gotten a reaction out of her, but it didn't. Maybe it was because she had long accepted that Hayley and Klaus fucked each other, and in turn made Hope. The child was beautiful, she was more Klaus than she could ever be her mother. She didn't hold Hope. She could have, but she didn't want to. Besides, Freya didn't approve of it, fearing that Caroline was going to threaten to hurt the baby if they didn't let her go. She had rolled her eyes at that one. As if she would do that to a baby.

One time when Josh had brought her food, she had grabbed him by the neck and hurled him across the room. But before she could so much as step a foot outside the room, he was back on his feet and threw her against the wall. He put up a fight before Caroline managed to snap his neck and walked over him. But then she found herself slammed over the wall, and Rebekah snarling at her. Klaus had no been pleased. That was the last time Josh ever came to her room.

Conversing with Klaus was not an idea of fun. She usually ended up angry, or more murderous. So she never started conversations with him. But at times he spoke to her out of sheer boredom, and a few of those times, he showed her that other side of him, the side any woman—even Caroline who adored him knew quite well. The man could indeed be charming. He could make a woman feel special. And he could catch Caroline off guard with a certain tone or look that made her heart beat faster.

Fantasies are what a man like him inspired, and when she caught herself having one about him, she almost slapped herself, but not before she imagined what it would feel like again to have such powerful arms holding her with infinite care, to know the taste of that sensual mouth, to have those blue eyes tender and filled with desire for her and her alone. Fortunately, he didn't show her enough of that other side of him to make her forget his promises and the cruel side he seemed to reserve just for her. When she had asked him once why he wouldn't just leave her alone, and that she would rather have anyone watched over her than him.

"Get used to it," was all he had said to her questioning look the first time he had done it.

"To what?" He hadn't answered, even when she had asked again.

But the day she wasn't going to forget was when he slept, late in the night, with no one there to hear his nightmare begin but her. The pain-filled moan brought her eyes wide open. She had heard nothing like it before. Caroline thought Klaus never had nightmares before when he was a nightmare himself. It now caused a certain alarm that brought her to the bed before she realized what she was doing. When it did occur to her, she turned on her heel to head back to her bed. Whatever dream he was having could eat him away for all she cared. She would not lift a single finger to…

The low mumble halted her and brought her back to the bed. It took her but a second to see that he was not speaking to her, was sleeping and in the throes of an unpleasant dream that turned his head from side to side in some kind of denial. She started when his fist slammed against the chair. He would be thrashing about next. She bent her head over the bed to shake his shoulder. But closer to him, she could make out the mumbling.

"...hurt her. No…. Safe...Caroline..don't hurt her...please.."

Caroline stiffened with the realization that he was dreaming about her. Her urge now was to let him dream on. Served him right. She didn't care at all. She wanted him to suffer like she was suffering for being locked up. His eyes opened, unfocused. His hand lifted to the back of her head. And before she could even gasp, she was being drawn to him and kissed. His lips brushed back and forth across hers, nudging, pulling, pressing, then opening a pathway for his tongue to enter.
Moist heat, silken-smooth, and a new swirl of sensations. She forgot about bracing herself and caved in against his chest. That was probably what brought him to full wakefulness, because suddenly he was thrusting her away from him, and rolling back, she rolled right off the bed.

He sat up to glare down at her where she sat stunned on the floor. "What the bloody hell do you think you are doing?"

Angrily, she got up. "Me?!" she shouted. "You were the one who was manhandling me. It's not my fault that you were dreaming about me!"

"I don't recall dreaming about you."

"Yeah, right. And the next time you force a kiss on me, you'd regret it," she snapped.

"The next time I kiss you, love, you'd be the first one to iniate it and you will love it," he replied smugly.

Her hands went to her hips. Her chin jutted forward. "I don't see that happening in the future, Klaus."

Klaus smirked. "We shall see then."

"Get out of my room."

"I'm so glad you are getting used to my home, calling this room your room." He grinned at her and she answered him with a yell.

"What's occurring here?" She and Klaus both turned to find his brother standing in the open doorway. He looked none too pleased.

Klaus lay back against the chair again. "A small difference of opinion, brother," he said with a smirk.

"Small?" Elijah snorted. "More like loud. But I am glad to see you are finding amusement in a time like this, Nikalus."

"I know what am doing, Elijah."

"I suppose." He did not sound too pleased about that either. "Best get on with it, right?"

Klaus grinned. "What has you so worked up, Eliajh?"

Elijah glanced at Caroline before moving his eyes to his brother. "We shall discuss this tomorrow, Nikalus, when you are alone. Good night, Ms. Forbes." His look was skeptical, but he left just the same.

Caroline clucked her tongue. "I love how everyone just keeps barging inside the room like it's nothing."

"Really?" he shot back, and he was still grinning, their own argument forgotten.

She shot him an annoyed look. "I could be naked or doing something appropriate. Would you like it if Elijah saw me all naked, hmm?"

It was Klaus' turn to frown. "I will speak to them."

"Fine. And get out."