A/N: This story is rated M for a reason. Please review, your feedback is wanted!

Chapter 7

Klaus was staring at her. Caroline had just killed a man. Her chest was still heaving, her heart was pounding in her ears, dead bodies surrounded them, and Klaus was staring at her.

His eyes moved down her body, they darkened when they saw the rip in her shirt stained with blood from where the knife had gone in. Her side was already healing so he moved on to see her hand that still had blood dripping from it. She watched as he took inventory of her injuries. Something behind her caught his eye and she turned around and saw Hayley beginning to stand. Caroline asked her, "Are you okay?" Hayley just nodded, swallowed her apparent fear and said, "I'm going to see if Elijah is okay."

"Ah, yes I was wondering where my dear brother was," Klaus mentioned, "So what did they do to him?"

"They snapped his neck, he should be alright by now, right?"

"If he isn't he will be soon, Little Wolf," Klaus reassured her. This time he saw Caroline flinch at her nickname.

Hayley left the room, leaving the two something's alone together. They were silent for a long time standing in the wreckage. Eventually Caroline said, "I don't know."

And Klaus looked at her in confusion.

"I don't know why I am here. I don't know why I didn't just call. I don't know. I just—I know that I am supposed to be here. And I don't know what that means. I guess it just means that I am staying, if you'll have me."

She was looking down, fiddling with the rip in her shirt as she made her declaration; answering the question he had asked her before the wolves attacked. He did not want her to be looking down. Klaus walked to Caroline, stepping over a dead body or two on his way. He lifter her chins so that she was looking at him, her eyes were full of doubt. "You are welcome here for as long as you like."

Where there was doubt in her eyes quickly faded to determination as Caroline's eyes moved down to his lips. She leaned her whole body into Klaus, grabbed him by the neck and pulled his mouth to hers.

Shocked for a moment by her actions, Klaus quickly recovered and returned the kiss with fervor.

It wasn't the first time that they had kissed. They had kissed in the woods, over and over again. But that kiss was the first and the last. A moment stolen in time. This kiss was different. This was a first kiss: a beginning. It was a kiss that terrified her.

Klaus' hand ran slowly down to Caroline's backside, and he pulled her legs around his waist. She squeezed his torso with her thighs, urging him to keep moving, to keep kissing her, and when he pulled her closer to him she slid her body slowly down his stopping when the apex of her thighs met the front of his jeans. Klaus broke their kiss a smile crossing his lips, "Eager, love?" he teased.

"You have no idea," Caroline smiled and leaned into his lips again, kissing the top of his mouth, catching the scruff on his face. She found that she like the feeling so much that she moved her lips over every inch of his mouth, scratching her skin on his five o'clock shadow. She began to move down to his neck kissing and nipping at his skin as she went.

Klaus began sensing the coming activities might not be suitable for his foyer, at least not suitable with the dead bodies strewn across the floor, so he smartly moved himself and the girl wrapped around him into different quarters.

Once they were safely behind the doors of Klaus' bedroom, he began to divest the creature before him of her clothing. He started with her jacket, she wouldn't be needing that for a while, it is hot in New Orleans and he isn't prepared to let her leave for Mystic Falls anytime soon. He ran his fingers up her arms, behind her to unclasp her bra, she let out a little sigh of relief as her breasts were released from constriction. He smiled at her initial release; there would be more to come for both of them tonight.

He was moving slowly this time. In the woods they were rushed, desperately clinging to each other, but this time he would take his time. So he pushed her hair to one side then his hands slowly lifted her shirt from her body.

She waited patiently, enjoying the beauty of anticipation. She allowed him to lead for now, to be undressed without protest. He started moving towards her invading her personal space predatorily. It made her nervous and she took steps backwards as he walked towards her. She jumped a little when the back of her knees hit his bed and she sat down abruptly. She smiled up at him and reached towards the front of his jeans, unbuttoned them quickly before his hand grabbed her wrist and propelled her backwards.

She giggled as her head hit the pillows and Klaus removed her bra and his head dipped down to catch her nipple between his lips. She gasped as he suckled her softly. As he moved to her other breast, rubbing his scruff against her sensitive skin, he also moved his hand to her jeans. He quickly unfastened her jeans and slid his hand underneath the thick denim. Her breathing stopped, her heart rate quickened as he slipped his hand beneath cotton to stroke her wet slit. His hand hinted at activities to come, the slight pressure he was giving her was not enough and she squirmed beneath him. His lips moved down her torso kissing and nipping skin as he went. He quickly removed his hand from her and gripped both sides of her jeans, removing them and her underwear in one fell swoop. He took a moment to gaze over her alabaster skin then allowed his mouth to fall where his hand had previously been.

Caroline's hands flew to Klaus' head pulling him closer to her. He smiled against her and sucked her clit in between his teeth. It took only a moment more and the entrance of his fingers into her core before she came completely undone.

Satisfied with his performance Klaus undressed himself and entered her swiftly. He continued to move Caroline through the ebb and flow of her orgasms; they didn't stop for hours.

-CKCKCKCKCKCKCKCCKCKCKCK-

She let a giggle escape her lips; her smile scrunched her nose, as she rolled onto his chest. She kissed him softly. Her tongue teased his lips. They lay in bed, sleepy from the day's excursions, neither wanting to actually fall asleep. Klaus feared if he fell asleep she would be gone when he awoke. Caroline, that when she woke up, he would go back to being the Original, the man she feared. So they stayed awake, stroking one another, lying kisses here and there, neither one breaking the spell.

They didn't have this the last time. Time to lie together, to enjoy the quiet spaces. And they needed to be still in the world before they dealt with the wolves, and Hayley, and everything else threatening to ruin them. Klaus began to say something to her but she shushed him. She didn't want it to end.

Caroline never seemed to get what she wanted because it ended when a man she had never seen before came barreling through the door yelling "Klaus, we need to talk." He was angry, but his eyes widened in shock when he saw Caroline attempting to cover her naked body with the sheet from Klaus' bed.

Klaus looked at the man with rage in his eyes, "You need to leave, mate."

The man smiled a little then looked from his friend to the girl in his bed. His gaze made her feel violated, analyzed. He was about to say something but Klaus interrupted him, "Marcel if you do not remove your eyes from the woman next to me I will rip them from your skull."

Marcel considered the offer, his eyes running over the exposed skin of her arm one last time before turning his attention to Klaus. "You came storming in here mate. Tell me what you've come to say or leave."

Marcel conceded to Klaus' demands, "We can talk later, don't let me interrupt you."

"You already interrupted," Caroline muttered under her breath. She released her breath when Marcel closed the door behind him. Turning her head to Klaus, she smiled when he rubbed her arm.

"I am sorry about that, love".

"Who was that?" Caroline asked, turning her whole body to him, folding her legs beneath her as she went.

Klaus visibly sighed. "That was Marcel. He's a vampire in charge here in the Quarter. You need to be careful around him, he's very powerful." He stroked her cheek and she rolled her eyes.

"Why is it that everyone is so sure that I will cause problems with the vampires in New Orleans? I AM a vampire. I shouldn't have to be nervous around other vampires."

Klaus moved behind her and began gently massaging her shoulders. She moaned out loud and Klaus smirked, "You are a vampire, but you are also connected to me and I don't want anyone to use you to get to me."

She visibly decompressed by his manipulation of her muscles. Then looked slightly defeated, "So you think I am a weakness."

"Of course not. Caroline," he didn't often say her name when talking, and when he did it often felt like a caress. This time it did not. He said 'Caroline' with a certain weight accompanied to it. She wondered if he was asking her to trust him, or to drop the question. She concluded it was probably a little of both.

The silence hung between them, this time it wasn't filled with kisses and caresses. Klaus stopped massaging her shoulders. The air was filled with things needed to be said, questions to be answered. Unable to take it any more, Caroline broke the silence, "I guess we need to talk about some things."

"Yes, I guess we do." He conceded.

"Can we talk with food?" after their hours of physical activity she was hungry.

"Of course, love." Klaus leaned to kiss her on the forehead, put boxers on, and went to get food. He came back a few minutes later and found Caroline slightly more dressed then he would like; meaning she was wearing underwear and one of his t-shirts. She looked comfortable in his clothing. He had brought up a box of pizza and bag full of blood.

"Evidently Hayley ordered pizza, so I stole one of her boxes." Klaus said.

"Thanks, this is great." Caroline replied before taking a big bite of cheesy goodness. "I am actually surprised your blood comes from a bag." She smiled at him.

"We have some on hand for emergencies. I thought you would prefer it," he sat next to her on the bed.

"I would, thank you."

"So love, what do you want to talk about?" he asked her.

"I think we just need to talk about what's happening here. Or talk about something. We never talk, Klaus" she replied, clearly nervous about her choice of words. "Like, why don't you tell me what you've been doing here since you left Mystic Falls?"

And for the first time since he had asked her to, all those months ago, Caroline got to know him. He told her about learning of Hayley's pregnancy, Elijah convincing him to move to New Orleans, the witches, Marcel, he told her everything. What he didn't tell her was his feelings for her, and in his retelling of the past few months he left out their time in the woods.

She proved to be a fantastic listener. Her shock showed in all of the right places, she considered everything he said and asked the right questions. She didn't press him for his feelings, appreciating the candor he was willing to give at the moment.

When he finished, she didn't speak, for lack of knowing what to say. He broke her silence by asking what had been happening in her life since he last saw her. Caroline would never say that she disliked talking about herself and their conversation happily switched to Mystic Falls. She talked about college, getting Bonnie back, the experiments at Whitmore. Klaus listened intently, his eyes darkened when she discussed moments of her life that had hurt her, or when she mentioned Tyler, but she knew that there was very little that she could do to quell his anger, so she allowed it.

As they talked they shared pizza and blood from the bag, and when she finished her story, they knew each other better. She knew his motives for moving to New Orleans and he knew that she had been growing discontent with her life in Mystic Falls. Caught up on life, they still had so much to say to one another. Caroline was the first to bring up an elephant that was still in the room.

"So," she started, "Should we talk about Hayley or the wolves coming to kill Hayley, or whatever—this," she gestured to the space between them, "is?"

He smiled at her wording, "Let me ask you a question, love" she nodded in consent, "Will you know what 'this' is without knowing about Hayley's status in my life?"

"No. Probably not." She admitted, slightly ashamed. "What is she to you?"

"She is the woman who is carrying my child," he started, "our child is the product of a one-night stand, and though there is no love between the two of us, she still is important because of her immediate proximity to my heir."

Caroline nodded at that, "And how do you feel about being a father?"

Klaus seemed surprised by her question, like it was something that had never been posed to him before, "I am coming around to the idea of the life that is in front of me. I am more concerned about protecting Hayley long enough bring the baby into this world. I haven't considered how my life will change after that."

Caroline hadn't expected that answer. How could he not consider what his life would be like? But then again it is men who are always off on the battlefield while women worry about the children. It is even more typical when Caroline considers that he lived for nearly one thousand years with gender roles that conformed to those ideals. His baby is something he wants, but he hasn't considered what that really means yet.

"Okay" she said eventually.

He looked at her, "okay?"

"Okay" she said again. Then moved the pizza to the floor. She dusted her fingers off over the box to avoid crumbs on the bed. "So what are we going to do about the people coming to kill your baby?"

"We?" he asked. "You're staying?"

"I think I am. For a while at least." She needed a change of pace, and while this was still a dramatic situation, it felt more important than the crazy that continually plagued her and her friends in Mystic Falls. "I think I can stop Tyler from attacking Hayley again."

Klaus looked visibly surprised, "What?" she said. "You don't think I can help?"

"I didn't think you would want to assist me in making Tyler pay for his actions."

"I didn't say anything about making him pay," she replied quickly, "I said stopping him. We can stop him and make him go away for good without destroying what is left of his life."

"You really have no experience in making people 'go away for good'" he intimidated, "it takes more than just empty threats. You have to follow through, love."

She frowned at him, then became sullen, "I think he compelled the wolves who attacked us today to try to get to Hayley." She admitted.

"What makes you think that, love?" he asked as he rubbed her arm in small circles trying to comfort her.

"It just seemed like the plan my mom overheard; wolves fighting in the daylight, without the benefit of the full moon. It makes no sense, which is why they were compelled. They didn't choose to do this. They didn't want to attack."

"You killed him because you had to Caroline," Klaus told her, understanding her melancholy. "If you hadn't then he would have killed you and Hayley." She nodded silently.

"I just can't believe that Tyler would do that. I guess I never considered how maniacal he could be. I think that this was a dry run, and since they failed, we may have a few more days before the real attack comes."

She was obsessing; focusing on the foreboding terror in order to avoid the final conversation they needed to have. Sensing her unease, Klaus changed the subject by pressing their lips together.

She pushed him back and looked into his eyes. Before she could say anything Klaus took control, "I know we have another conversation to have, and we need to continue to plan how to keep the baby safe from Tyler, but that can wait until tomorrow. Let's spend tonight together and we can talk again when the sun rises."

Rolling her eyes, she smiled at him, "That is such a guy thing to say," she countered, "lets have sex now and talk later." She frowned and considered the offer, "But maybe that's a good idea. I can worry more tomorrow."

"My thoughts exactly, love" he smiled, and then brought his mouth to hers.