Caroline looked at the party surrounding her. It was her best one yet. They had found the contemporary loft in the trendiest neighborhood in Paris, and the dark, classical looking paintings looked gorgeous against the contrast of the sleek, modern loft.
The champagne was flowing, the food was moving, and people were laughing. There were a few high ranking politicians and even a few movie stars in the crowd. Most of the paintings now had red tags next to them marked 'SOLD' and there was still at least an hour left.
"You're the one in charge?" Someone asked her.
She spun around wearing her best hostess smile and nearly dropped her champagne glass. It was impossible to not know who he was. He was on the cover of Rolling Stone that month and he was on stage at the Grammys only a week before that, holding six of the golden awards.
"Um, yeah, Caroline Forbes." She introduced herself.
"I'm-"
"Oh, I know who you are." She smiled.
"These paintings are crazy, My friend told me about him, I had to see it for myself."
"Yeah. He's very talented. We're thankful for all the recognition he's been getting recently."
"So can I talk to him?" He asked.
"Oh, were you interested in buying one? Because I'm handling that."
"Actually I wanted to ask him about the chance for a collaboration. I was thinking something like what he does would be perfect for my next album cover, and with the tour coming up, I'm looking for some unique stuff for the sets, and I was thinking he might be able to design something?"
"Wow, that sounds like it would be a lot of work."
"I promise you, he would be well compensation for his time."
She tried to snap out of it, still a little star struck from having a conversation with the man who was so famous he needed only be referred to by his first name.
"Right, I'll go get him and introduce you."
Nik was hiding in the shadows at his own party. Caroline had insisted it would be rude for him not to attend, otherwise he would have stayed home. All these crowds of people made him uneasy. He didn't worry about his other identity as a killer being discovered, there was no way to trace the two sides of him to each other, but at the same time, he wasn't about to start going out of his way to give interviews and get his photo taken for the papers.
"Someone wants to talk to you." Caroline said, greeting him with a kiss. "A very interesting business proposal."
"Why can't they talk to you?"
"They did. This one you'll need to actually talk to yourself. How do you feel about album covers?"
"Most of them are dreadful and stupid."
"Great. So someone like you could easily make the best one ever."
"Is that who I think it is?" He motioned towards Mr. six grammys.
"Yes."
"Good, they'll take his photo instead of mine."
"He's the one who wants to talk to you."
"Oh, bloody hell."
"Just talk to him, Nik."
"Oh, fine." He grumbled, taking a swig of his drink.
She leaned against the wall, watching him hesitantly approach the man to start a conversation. It was kind of cute, actually. Her badass hit-man boyfriend was nervous about making small talk. Usually Nik stayed reserved in polite conversation, looking to Caroline to help him fill in the gaps, but he surprised her by seeming at ease with this man. Within a minute they were laughing and gesturing wildly. They went over to the bar and discussed their plans while Nik scribbled sketches on napkins, and the man nodded in agreement.
When the arrived back at their flat, he was in a good mood, something that he usually wasn't after spending hours around other people. He never was much for the company of strangers.
He scooped her up and carried her across the threshold, sitting her on the kitchen counter. He kissed her passionately and pulled her close. She thanked the slit in her dress for letting her maneuver her legs so she could wrap them around his waist.
"You were incredible! Every painting sold! And how did you get them to go above asking price?"
"It was your work, Nik, I just get people to buy it."
"And you did an amazing job! I could never do this without you."
"And how did your conversation with You-Know-Who go?"
"I want to do it. I think, I can do the designs for the set pieces, and find a team to assemble them. Most of the work I would do would involve a combination of paintings and digital art that would be projected during the concerts. That and the album cover, of course. He's interested in the stuff like I did last spring, the really dark paintings."
"That's right before you met me."
"That's why they're so dark."
"I loved those ones." Caroline said.
"You say that about all of them."
"It's true about all of them. But I love you the most."
"And I love you."
"So you're ok with this? It'll be a big project. You'll have to stay around for a while. No jetting off to the middle of nowhere for weeks at a time to go kill people when there's an impatient celebrity trying to get ahold of you."
"I thought about that, actually. It's something I've been thinking for a while."
"What's that?"
"Because of you, because of all you've done with the art shows, I can stop working today, and we'll be able to live comfortably for the rest of our lives. I don't have to work for Emily ever again. This new offer, and I can give you a life of riches without ever going on another kill."
"Nik, you know I don't care. As long as we're together, it doesn't matter if we have money. But what are you saying? You love your job. It's who you are."
"Yes, but I won't be young enough to keep up with it forever. Eventually I'll have to let it go. And I do love it. It's like nothing else. That's why I was thinking..."
"What?"
"I was considering talking to Emily. Taking only one or two jobs with her a year from now on. Then spending the rest of my time with you, working on the paintings. You are selling them faster than I can make them at this point."
"So I still get to have an amazingly badass hit-man boyfriend, but he'll be home a lot more often?"
"Precisely."
"Then I say this sounds like a wonderful plan."
A few days later Caroline sat at their kitchen table making phone calls with the buyers. She had to make sure she got all their information correct and confirm the shipping arrangements, thank people for their purchases.
He was upstairs, already working on the new project. She could hear the music from the room coming faintly down the stairs along with the sounds of his feet tapping impatiently and brushes swirling though glasses, clinking on the edges as he rinsed them off.
She went over the shipping procedures with the client on the line as he walked down the stairs covered in paint.
He glanced at the notes in front of her, mostly figures and addresses, kissing her forehead as he came into the room to grab a drink from the refrigerator. She hung up the phone and stood next to him where he leaned against the counter.
"That's the last of them." She said. "Everything gets shipped out this afternoon, the checks will start clearing tomorrow or the next day"
She moved to lean against him.
"Careful" He warned her. "I'm covered in paint."
"I'm wearing the same dress I had on last time you got me all covered in paint." She said, motioning to the streaks of red all over her white dress. It would have looked like an intentional design to anyone who saw her wearing it, but it was their private joke. She had been wearing it the last time they attempted to have him paint and her model. Those types of sessions never seemed to last long before they both got distracted.
She breathed in, leaning against him and wrapping her arms around his waist. He smelled like turpentine and oil paints. The streaks of black and sepia brown across his arms would end up adding to smudgy design of the dress.
"Want to see it?" He offered.
"You finished?" She asked, surprised. "You've only had a few days to work on it."
"Just the center piece. The rest all snakes out from the big painting."
"Did you show him yet?" She asked.
"You're the first." He smiled. "He and I came up with the concept together, so he's seen the sketches, but I wanted you to see the finished product first."
He pulled her up the stairs, a little nervous and excited about her seeing the project. She had been asking about the new collaboration with the musician, and he had been a bit cagey with his responses, wanting to wait until they had a clear picture of it to tell her.
She made it into the room and saw the massive canvas propped up in the center of the room.
"Wow." She breathed out, stunned by what she saw.
It did remind her of his darker works for the previous spring, mostly black and dark browns in the corners of the painting, fading in to more reds towards the center. A river of blood cracked through the darkness, seeping into browns with disturbing realism. Then there was her. Right in the middle of the canvas was a perfect portrait of her. She was kneeling on the ground in a white dress, a pool of blood surrounding her, it seeping up the fabric. Her fingertips were red as well, it looked like she was tracing them through the blood. There were huge feathery white wings protruding from her back, creating a golden glow around her. It was all darkness and a burst of light. It was his world before her and it was her, unexpected, a contrast to everything around her, turning it all upside down.
"That's me." She whispered.
"My angel in the blood and darkness."
"I'm the center piece?" She said, a bit stunned.
"You don't like it."
"No! I love it! I'm just a bit confused. I thought this was the project for the album cover and the tour."
"It is. He wanted darkness and hellish imagery, with a sharply contrasting angelic image. A beautiful woman. I picked the woman."
"This is going to be an album cover?" She said, looking at her own likeness.
"And the backdrop for the stage during the tour, and they're going to use this as a starting point for the costumes for the dancers."
"Wow."
"What do you think?" He asked hesitantly.
"I think it's perfect."
He kissed the top of her head.
"I'm going to show you some real art tonight." He said.
"Nik, we've been to the Louvre three times already."
"Which means it's time you see something different. You, me, the Carnavalet, tonight."
She looked at him. "Won't it be closing soon?"
"Who said anything about making it there before closing?"
Elijah took the elevator up to the 73rd floor. His would be in the office today, handling mundane paperwork that needed to be caught up on. It was a grand, ornate corner office that screamed status and wealth, but he preferred to be down in the labs as much as possible.
Four days out of the week he was down in the basement labs, working with the teams of scientists he led, building the robotics or leaning over tables with a group of eager minds, scribbling down ideas and formulas.
Today was his bad day of the week, Wednesdays were for meetings and paperwork and dealing with the heads of departments and CEOs who always had questions and demands. Life was back to normal. Kat and he had parted ways once the boat docked. He hadn't had any contact with her for months. It was for the best. It never would have worked.
He reached the right floor and stepped out. At least up here they had decent food in the break room. He stopped for a pastry and cup of tea and made idle chit chat with the men in suits who didn't understand why he chose to spend so much time down with the basement geeks. They were always amused or impressed with Elijah's creations, but they didn't understand his passion for being in the center of the creative process, being part of the actual putting together, fitting the parts together and watching something work for the first time.
"What's new this week, Mikaelson?" Someone asked.
"A robotic arm that can perform vein surgery with twelve times the precision of the human hand."
"Uh, cool. Hey, was that your sister down with the lab ge- the uh, the scientists last week?"
"Yes." Elijah beamed. "Becca's been visiting on days her class schedule allows the trip out here. She's still planning on going into the medical field in some capacity, so the surgical robotics were of particular interest to her."
"You must be proud."
"Oh, I am."
"And that boyfriend of hers? He still in the picture?"
"It seems as much." Elijah grumbled.
"Not a fan?" The man asked.
"Stefan's alright, I suppose. I just want Becca to have her mind on her studies. It's best if she's not distracted."
"You're one to talk." One of the other men in the break room laughed.
"Pardon?" Elijah said. He was visibly annoyed. He had never let his personal life affect his work in a negative way.
"What's your first meeting today, hmmm?" The man asked, grinning obnoxiously.
"I have the head of finance at 10. Something about a new investor." Elijah said.
"Well unless the head of finance likes to show up an hour early and has suddenly morphed from the crypt keeper to a supermodel, I'm guessing that something very distracting is waiting for you in your office."
Elijah set his plate down and slowly walked out of the room. He was a bit confused. All of the executives he dealt with were men. Becca was the only woman who has ever set foot in his office.
He opened the door and someone was sitting on his desk.
"Katerina." He said, looking at her with shock.
"Elijah." She smiled back.
He took a moment to collect himself. She was distracting, that much was true. Kat was wearing an impossibly small red dress and sky high heels. Dark curls cascaded over one shoulder.
"What are you doing here?" He stammered out.
"Oh, am I early? I guess it's not quite ten yet, but I was a little anxious."
"I don't understand. We talked. Decided it was best to leave things alone."
"No, you decided it was best to leave things alone." She corrected. "I tried, but I'm not really liking how that's worked out so far."
"You can't just come in here and..."
"And what?"
The ancient head of the finance department walked by the office, did a double take at the woman sitting on the desk, then entered the room.
"Oh good, you two met. I was going to introduce you at the meeting."
"What?" Elijah asked.
"Thank you, Mr. Banks." Katherine smiled. "I'm so excited to be a part of this project."
Elijah looked confused.
"Ms. Gilbert has agreed to back your robotics lab, Mikaelson. She's the reason you have the funding to build these vein robots."
"You what?" Elijah asked her.
"I told you I was changing careers." She smiled.
"Ms. Gilbert, I hope your stay at the hilton has been pleasant so far?" Mr. Banks politely asked.
"It has been, but I won't be staying there much longer." She smiled. "Mr. Mikaelson has been so kind, offering me a place to stay in his home. It turns out that his sister recently moved into her boyfriend's apartment and he has a spare room. I couldn't possibly turn down such a kind offer."
"Smart move, Mikaelson." the executive mumbled, not loud enough for Katherine to hear. "It's about time you had some fun."
The executive looked at his watch and excused himself, leaving the two of them to finish their meeting alone.
"Are you crazy?" Elijah demanded. "This isn't a game, this is my work."
"My work too." Katherine smiled.
A delivery man arrived with several large boxes, and poked his head in to ask for a signature. Katherine greeted him and pointed to the empty wall along the side of Elijah's office.
"Kat, what's going on?"
"Oh, didn't you hear? Part of my contract as an investor stipulated that I had access to you at all times, you know, to make sure my money was in good hands. They agreed to let me share your office for the duration of the project."
"Kat, how much did you spend? This project costs millions."
"All of it."
"What?"
"Every last penny I've ever made is now yours. You and your team of scientists. That's why I'm hoping you really will offer to let me stay in your house. You see, I can't exactly afford to stay in the hilton after tomorrow, what with the empty accounts and all."
He looked at her. It was impossible to say no to that face.
"Of course. But why? You spent years accumulating your fortune, you were saving for your future."
"Elijah, the only future I want is with you. I know you think I'm obsessed with money, and that I'l go to any lengths to swindle it out of people, so this is my way of showing you that you mean more to me. I'd rather be broke if it means you would even consider giving me another chance."
In that moment everything was clear to him. It didn't matter how things started or what their shared past involved. All that mattered was who she was in this moment. She had always impressed him with her daring, her ability to take risks. She had just taken the biggest risk of her life on him.
His decision was already made. He was done for the moment she showed up.
He moved across the room and pulled her close, his lips colliding with hers.
She instantly wrapped her arms around him and kissed back, crashing into him, pulling him tighter, never wanting to let go.
They finally pulled apart to catch their breath, and to her surprise, he kept his arms around her, holding her against him as if he was afraid of her slipping away.
"Don't run away again, Kat."
"Never."
They arrived shortly after midnight. He had slipped a few bills to the guard, who patted him on the back and whispered something about talking business. The place was dark, so he brought a flashlight. She followed him through the creaky doors into what looked like a gorgeous mansion that just happened to be filled with the most beautiful furniture, paintings and sculptures. Even the building itself was art, every room ornate and sculpted, and so very Parisian.
Caroline let him lead the way through the Carnavalet, pulling her through the sculpture exhibits, whispering facts about each pice of art to her as they passed it. He had been here enough times to know his way through the halls, but it was her first time here.
"And this part." He whispered "Is actually the Hotel Le Peletier de Saint Fargeau."
"Mmm, say that again, but slower." She joked.
"The French Revolution era paintings I wanted to show you are over here."
They went through the galleries, cutting through he darkness with the flashlight,
The paintings over here were bloody, vengeful and hopeful, sometimes formal yet sometimes very raw. She understood how this suited his tastes. It was very him.
He had paused to look at one of the painting when she slipped away.
He turned and she was gone. The flashlight cut through the darkness but it revealed only empty halls.
He followed the muffled footsteps and soft giggles that reverberate around the walls. there was a flash at the foot of a grand staircase and he darted through the rooms, finding the back staircase, knowing his way though all the shortcuts, to meet her face to face at the top of the stairs.
He jumped out to surprise her and she yelped, then swatted him playfully.
"You found me." She giggled, out of breath.
He tranced his thumb across her shoulder, lost in thoughts of how she looked in that moment, glowing under the dim emergency lights, standing at the top of the massive staircase, in one of the most beautiful foyers in all of Paris, but the entire museum was nothing compared to her.
"One day, I'll have a painting here." He said, looking around the halls.
"For now, I was thinking about you having something else here." She said.
He raised an eyebrow.
She grabbed the flashlight from him and took off down the hall, towards the furniture galleries.
He followed the flashlight, taunting him to stalk after her as she weaved through the rooms. She found one of the chambers that was set up to look like an ornate bedroom, the velvet ropes blocking a perfect recreation of something that had once been in the palace.
"Caroline" he warned as she swung a leg over the ropes and went out on the other side. "Be careful, love, these are antiques."
"Who do you think owned all these things?" She said, gesturing to the gold plated furniture around her.
He stepped over the ropes.
"Probably a series of men named Louis."
"Kings?" She smiled.
He nodded.
"Are you feeling royal, being in here?"
"Not yet." He mused, looking around.
"Do you think the kings sat in this chair?" She motioned to a delicate looking chair off to the side of the room.
"I'm not sitting in that chair, Caroline, It looks like it would snap if a fly sat on it."
"Something a little more sturdy?" She suggested, wandering around the room, touching everything.
She found an armoire and carefully opened one of the drawers. He cringed a bit as it creaked, hoping she wouldn't break anything.
"Do you think kings put their clothes in here?" She asked innocently.
"Probably."
She walked over to him and unbuttoned the dress shirt he had on, slid it off, carefully folded it, put it in the drawer and closed it.
"There. Feeling like a king yet?"
"Caroline, if we get caught in here..."
"Shush, I know you paid off the guards. Everything will be back in it's place when we leave."
She grabbed him by the t-shirt he had worn under the dress shirt and pulled him across the room.
She ran her hand along the massive four poster bed in the middle of the room. It was made of a sturdy dark wood, and the sheets and blankets had strands of gold woven in them. She hesitated, pushing on it with her hands to make sure it was sturdy before climbing up.
He eyed her carefully as she climbed up, careful at first, but then having a bit of fun bouncing up and down.
"Don't worry, this is sturdy enough." She said.
He looked around at the dark halls around them, half expecting one of the guards to pop up. Of course they wouldn't. He had paid them handsomely to leave them alone.
"Nik?" She asked innocently, tilting her head. "What do you think the kings did here?"
He smirked at her and walked over, about to jump in with her when she put a hand out to stop him.
"Wait. This bed is for kings. Are you a king?"
"Check the armoire, love. I believe you'll find my shirt in there."
"Well that settles it." She smiled and pulled him up.
She kissed him and slid her hands under his t-shirt, making quick work of undressing him. Her lips moved down his collarbone, his chest, always kissing the scars that were now faded to almost nothing. There were memories etched all over him.
He pulled her dress over her head and flung it to the side, laughing a bit as it landed on a fancy chair across the room. She went for his pants and threw them as well, making them land on a desk along the wall.
Not to be outdone, he removed her bra and got it to catch on a floor length mirror. She went for his underwear and flung them on a dresser. He pulled hers off slowly and threw them onto a table lamp.
She hooked a leg around his side and kissed him again, this time slowly, softly. He ran his tongue along her lip, finding his way into her mouth, tracing little patterns with the tip of his tongue along hers. He moved down to kiss her neck, slowly applying more pressure as she hummed out content noises.
She felt his hands sliding down her body, grazing over her breast with a feather light touch, moving down her side, caressing the side of her thigh, them moving inward. She let out a gasp as his fingers found her center, tracing along delicate skin as she whimpered and arched her back.
He moved down her chest as he slid a finger into her and took her nipple into his mouth at the same time. She cried out at the sensation, and slid her hands up and down his back.
She reached for his length and moved her palm against it before wrapping her hand around it and pumping.
He growled against her skin and she moved faster.
She couldn't take it much longer, so she positioned herself over him and moved their hands away. His found her hips as she slid down, taking all of him in.
They both sucked in a breath as their bodies joined and soon she felt his mouth on hers again, kissing her over and over as they moved in unison.
He turned them over so he was on top and shifted to find just the right movement. She let out a loud cry and pulled on him to do it again.
"Shh, love, the guards will hear you."
She felt helpless to stop, so she pushed her face against his skin and let that muffle her cries as she felt herself getting closer.
From his ragged breathing she knew he was close too.
She lifter her hips to meet his, matching each movement he made, running her nails down his back just how she knew he liked it.
Then she felt the warmth building inside her wash all over and just as she caught her breath he came too.
They spent a few moments relaxing in the King's bed before finding the energy to get up and collect the clothing they had thrown around the room. She double checked the sheets and pillows, making sure everything was just right.
He walked her through the galleries they hadn't seen on the way in, and led her out from the gardens. Judging from the looks the guards gave her on the way out, they had a pretty clear idea about what went on.
They had an hour before sunrise, so he suggested they find some warm drinks and sit by the river to watch it come up.
As the sun broke through the horizon and panted the sky orange, she leaned against him on the bench they were on and watched the night turn into day.
The air had a chill to it, so she snuggled closer to him, and he wrapped his arm around her. She absently traced patterns on the skin of his forearm while she watched the sunrise.
Suddenly, something clicked and she squeezed his arm, a panic flooding her face.
"Nik! Your shirt! We left it folded in that armoire."
"I know." He smiled.
"You left it there on purpose?"
"No one can see it, only we'll know it's there."
"But why?"
"As long as it's there, I'm the king."
She laughed. "I guess those are the rules. You're still the king."
A few weeks later they visited the museum again during the day. They stopped to look at the ornate bedroom from the other side of the velvet ropes along with the rest of the crowds.
They were standing next to a family of tourists when one of the children asked their parents who lived in that room.
"Oh, it's my room." Nik said, smiling at the kid.
"Yours, really?"
"Yes, nice to meet you, I'm the King. This pretty lady is the Queen." He motioned to Caroline. "Marie, won't you say hello to the young lad?"
"What's that Louis?" She joined in. "Oh, hello, nice to meet you."
The kid laughed and joked with them for a minute before scurrying after his parents to see the exhibit in the next room.
Caroline and Nik just stayed there for a while, looking out at the room, eyes darting back and forth from the bed to the armoire, sharing in their private joke.
A/N So sad that there's only one chapter left to wrap everything up. Thank you everyone who has been reading and reviewing. I love love love seeing the reviews! Who do you think the musician from the first scenes was? I have an idea in my head but I'm curious who you thought he was. Now time to write the very last chapter of the story. What is everyone hoping to see in the final chapter?
Look out for chapter two of my new klaroline story 'Prowl' tomorrow, and an update on T.A.N.W.T.S. sometime this week as well.