When You Least Expect It

by a-little-blonde-epiclove

A series of Klaroline drabbles written by a-little-blonde-distraction and klarolineepiclove (Cover by Leah, approvesomuch)

4. Meeting Mr July

When You Least Expect It:

Meeting Mr. July

Homicide detective Caroline Forbes suddenly realizes, upon hearing fellow detective and ex-boyfriend Tyler Lockwood brag about his date with NY's Most Eligible Bachelorette #2, that she has not had any prospects in way too long. She goes to her friend, ME Stefan Salvatore, who has a penchant for setting her up with dates, and begs him to set her up with a great catch, and lucky for her, Stefan is practically "the adoptive brother" of an NYC firefighter that just happened to be "Mr. July." And everyone knows they save the hottest firefighters for the summer months...

(Written by: a-little-blonde-distraction)

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"I have no life..." Caroline said as she marched through the doors of the morgue.

Stefan glanced up from his medical chart and made a face at his beautiful and neurotic best friend as the double doors swung closed behind her.

"No, Mr. Three Drunken Disorderlys and a Genital Piercing here, he had no life," he said, gesturing at the corpse on the slab between them with his pen, the slightest hint of judgement in his voice. "You," he said matter of factly, "on the other hand, have a job. It's just that coincidentally, that job is your life."

"That's not much better than having no life," the blonde groaned, glancing down at the corpse and giving the deceased thirty something a sympathetic look.

"Enough with the pity party, Caroline. What's on your mind?" Stefan said, looking back to his chart and continuing with his paperwork. Although his tone and body language were dismissive, Caroline knew her friend better and she sighed before launching into the problems that were plaguing her.

"I just realized that all I do is work: I come in, I solve murders, I catch bad guys, then I go home to a clean, empty and quiet apartment..." Caroline said as she pulled up a chair and sat in it backwards, resting her arms, clad in a brown leather jacket, on the back of the chair as she spoke. "I don't want quiet, I want...fun."

"So obviously, you come to the most fun place in the city," Stefan replied, gesturing around at the morgue, sarcasm dripping from his voice as he smiled wryly, before making more notes and glancing at the subsequent papers on his clipboard.

"Well, I come to the person who's been trying his hardest to make me have fun by setting me up with random guys..."

"Okay first of all," Stefan finally stopped and put his pen in between the metal clip and the clipboard and raised his eyebrows, looking seriously at the blonde bearing a sheepish expression, "they're not 'random guys,' they're my friends, coworkers, and acquaintances. And two, you made me swear that I wouldn't try to set you up again with anyone else."

"Yeah well, now I'm making you swear that you won't let me be a miserable old spinster while you know plenty of primo men for me to date..."

"This might be a dumb question, but this doesn't have anything to do with Tyler snagging a date with The Ledger's Second Most Eligible NY Bachelorette, Hayden, and waltzing around the squad room bragging till he was blue in the face, does it?"

"It's Hayley," Caroline corrected, her correction coming out more as a spat than a friendly adjustment, "and she wasn't Number Two, she was Number Three."

"Right. And you have no problem with your ex going out with a city-sanctioned hottie?"

"Not at all...just as long as I have a hotter date..." Caroline said with a nod of her head. Stefan shook his head and snorted, setting his clipboard down on the counter and leaning against it and crossing his arms.

"Wow... You can take the girl out of high school, but you can't take the high school out of the girl," Stefan murmured amusedly as he shook his head at Caroline.

"I hate when you say things like that," she groaned, shooting him a dirty look which Stefan just laughed off.

"You hate it because I know you better than probably anyone else, except for maybe Bonnie," the brunette laughed with a tilt of his head and a slight eye roll. Caroline hated to admit it, but he was more than right.

She and Stefan both started working for the NYPD around the same time and they had faced their demons together. But she knew that one of the things she and Stefan shared was a low tolerance for the particular brand of bullshit that Tyler Lockwood was infamous for doling out.

"Oh don't pretend like he wasn't being the most obnoxious, pompous ass that deserves to be one upped and fast. Even you heard about his date when you're all the way down here for Christ's sake..."

"Yeah well that's because I got the tox report back and had him come pick it up. You know he asked me if I had any plans tonight just so he could tell me about his date with Bachelorette #3. He could've been a little less obvious about it and let me finish my sentence before sharing the breaking news with me..."

"Jackass..." Caroline scoffed, rolling her eyes. "And see that's exactly what I don't want: some young, hot guy that knows just how hot he is and uses it to his advantage then leaves you high and dry before jumping on the next piece of ass with big brown eyes and...big, fat puffy whore lips that walks past..."

"You're not giving me much to go off here, Care," Stefan said, a smile playing on the corners of his lips as he watched a million and one thoughts fly through his best friend's brain.

"I want worldliness and intelligence, romance and laughter, but I want...maturity. In buckets. And dimples. Oh, you know how I have a weakness for dimples..."

"That I do," Stefan smirked and he had a gleam in his eye as he reached into his back pocket to retrieve his cell phone.

"But hot... Worldly, intelligent, romantic, funny, and mature, but hot... like Ewan McGregor meets Jonathan Rhys Meyers hot..."

"Is 'accented' another quality he must possess? Because Ewan and Jonathan are both from motherland..." Stefan asked curiously as he scrolled through his phone, glancing up at her occasionally.

"Dude, I'm a red-blooded, American girl. When am I going to say 'No' to a hot guy with an accent?"

"Point taken," Stefan said before he stopped at one contact on his screen. "Okay, I'll think you'll like this one... He's an old friend of mine, older, mature, worldly and with an accent. He's practically my adoptive brother."

"Hm, well that sounds promising considering your other real brother is such a winner."

"Hey, cheap shot, that wasn't cool..."

"Sorry," she said, glancing away, "force of habit."

"Well if you're done bad mouthing Damon," Stefan said, giving Caroline a scolding look, but failing to hide his smile, "I think I've got the perfect candidate for you."

"Great! What's his name?"

"Klaus Mikaelson, he's-"

"Klaus? What kind of a name is that?! Ugh, I've never met a hot 'Klaus' in my life...it's like finding a hot 'Igor' or 'Vladimir'..."

"Woman, would you please let me finish?!"

"Sorry. Go on."

"I was going to say that Klaus is a firefighter. I tried to hook you up with him before but you were 'too busy' and then that inevitably lead to me swearing never to set you up with anyone ever again..."

"Hmm, a firefighter?" Caroline said, her interest piqued. "Is he cute?"

"Cute enough I guess to be July in the NYC Firemen calendar."

"July huh?" Caroline considered, and Stefan nodded, reading her approval as clear as a billboard on the highway. "Hm. They always save the hottest ones for the summer months..."

"Yeah, I wouldn't know, but that's what Lexi and Bonnie tell me," Stefan said as he jotted Klaus's number on a piece of paper. He clicked his pen and folded the paper in half and held it out to Caroline, who was chewing on her bottom lip. "So do you want his number or not?"

Caroline stared at the paper for a minute before she snatched it out of Stefan's outstretched hand and scanned the name and number he'd written on it.

"Is April still a city health inspector?"

"Last time I heard, she was..."

"I know it's kinda late but maybe she can pull some strings."

"Probably. Now I've got you a date, if you want help picking out an outfit, sorry but you'll have to ask one of your female friends for help with that. I think I've done my share." Stefan picked up the clipboard he'd set down and crossed towards the walk in with his paperwork as Caroline flipped through her contacts. Her face lit up and soon brought her phone up to her ear.

"Thanks Stef! I owe you!"

"Yeah you do!" he called over his shoulder. Caroline listened to the dialtone for a while before she heard the click of the person answering the call.

"Hello?"

"April? Hey, it's Caroline..."

"Hi, Caroline. What's up?"

"I was hoping that you might be able to pull some strings for me. Does that chef at that restaurant on 65th Street still owe you that favor?"

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Klaus tipped the cabbie and strode towards the doors to the restaurant, and once he had the maitre'd in his sights, strode up to him confidently.

"Good evening sir, do you have a reservation?"

"Yes, actually my date made the reservation, 'Caroline Forbes'?"

"Excellent," the bespeckled man murmured, gazing at the reservation list and running his finger down the list of names. "We have not seated that table yet, sir, but would you like us to seat you now?"

"I'll wait, thank you," Klaus said, stepping back and turning away from the podium. Just as he was about to tuck his hands into his pockets, he glanced towards the doors both leading into and out of the restaurant and froze completely stunned.

A gorgeous blonde with mile long legs and bright blue eyes strode through the doors confidently in strappy stiletto heels, glancing around as she held onto her clutch purse. Klaus was gobsmacked as he let his gaze trail along the dazzling beauty. Her artfully curled blonde locks were pinned up into an elegant updo with a few tendrils loose and gracefully brushing the smooth skin of her shoulders, one of which was slightly obscured by her sexy black one shouldered dress.

The black fabric cascaded over the curves of her body enticingly, hinting at the perfection that was her body beneath the dress, but was still elegant and appropriate enough to wear into such an upscale establishment with it hitting about two inches above her knee. His gaze continued down her toned and lusciously long legs to her feet which were encased with the strappy heels with gold lattice detail that made her already sexy calves look even sexier. He thought he spotted what looked like a small tattoo on her right foot, and his interest was piqued even more, even though it had already skyrocketed in astronomical proportions after she made her entrance.

She was glancing around as if she were looking for someone, and when her gaze met his, he swore he saw her breath hitch just as his did. Even with her slight surprise, there was a fire in her eyes that drew him in, and he couldn't help but smirk excitedly as he slowly strode towards her. She took a deep breath and crossed to him and they met halfway and Klaus nearly crumbled as the warm, melodious alto of her voice filled his ears.

"Klaus Mikaelson?"

"The one and only," he smiled, his blue green eyes searching her bright blue ones. "And that would make you Caroline Forbes."

"The one and only," she echoed and he chuckled as he took her hand and brought it up to his lips.

"It's a pleasure, Miss Forbes," he murmured, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. Even though she blushed a lovely shade of pink, Caroline chuckled and rolled her eyes at Klaus, much to his dismay.

"Well aren't you a smooth operator. I've never seen someone pull such an antiquated gesture in real life..." Even though she'd rolled her eyes, her smile remained on her face and the playful look in her eyes was equivalent to the teasing tone in her voice. Klaus couldn't help but chuckle as his calculated move was not only pointed out, but laughed at.

"Can't blame a guy for trying to match elegance with elegance. When Stefan texted me and said that you were NYPD, I must admit I was expecting a little rougher around the edges."

"Don't worry, I've got my badge and gun on me if you try any funny business," she said, the corners of her lips twitching upwards.

"I promise to be on my best behavior," Klaus chuckled, gesturing towards the maitre d' and lightly placing his hand on the small of her back as they walked, "although if you'd brought handcuffs, I wouldn't be able to make any promises."

"Don't worry, I have those two. And don't let the dress fool you; even in heels, I can still take down a man twice my size," Caroline replied, quirking an eyebrow.

"Oh I'm sure your strength is just as formidable as your beauty," Klaus said, nodding to the maitre d', who nodded back and led them into the dining room to their table. He heard Caroline scoff again, but Klaus did his best to recover as he pulled out her chair. "After all, NYPD doesn't allow just anyone to become a detective, especially homicide. I know I for one could never work homicide."

"You rush into burning buildings, I'm sure you could handle a few stiffs," Caroline said giving him a small smile and sizing him up as she sat and Klaus pushed in her chair for her.

"No, I could, I've seen my share of dead bodies. While it is difficult to deal with the dead, it's more the live ones that I meant," he said as he crossed to sit at the seat adjacent to her at their four top. "We do our best to make sure everyone makes it out, but sometimes we're not that lucky and being the bearer of bad news never gets any easier. You, on the other hand, are constantly telling next of kin what is perhaps the worst thing they will ever hear in their entire lives, and I can't imagine doing that all the time. It takes a pretty strong person to do that everyday."

She gazed back at him appreciatively and what he'd venture a guess to be intrigue, a small smile playing on her lips. Even though he knew he'd impressed her and more than likely won her over with his answer, he still had this sense of sadness about her and he resisted the urge to touch her hand. He didn't want to come on too strong too fast and he really liked her and wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he blew it with her for good.

"Thank you," she breathed, smiling at him. "And you're right, being the bearer of bad news never gets any easier. But someone has to do it, it comes with the job, and I'll do whatever it takes to help the family cope and get closure."

"Well said," Klaus murmured and when Caroline smiled back at him, he raised his empty wine glass. "To the uneasy jobs." Caroline glanced at his glass then back at him and raised her own and clinked it to his.

"Now how about we fill these glasses with something?" He smiled and Caroline heaved a sigh of relief.

"Good, because after the day I've had, I need a drink!"

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"I'd say that I can't believe you were a beauty queen, love, but after seeing how you walk in heels, I'm a believer..."

"I swear to you, I did the whole shebang: the hair, the makeup, the ridiculous dresses that I nearly tripped on and tumbled down the stairs, the dances-ugh!" Caroline said half laughing, resting her elbows on the table and letting her face fall into her hands.

"What's wrong with period dances?" Klaus said defensively, picking up the bottle of Vouvray and refilling Caroline's glass.

"They're just so... stiff and formal. I mean I'm not saying twerking is appropriate for a formal city tradition, but it wasn't like I didn't have enough to worry about with the shoes and the dress and not tripping and making a fool of myself. Then they expect me to gracefully and effortlessly dance an 18th century waltz?!"

"I know what you mean," Klaus said, refilling his own glass, "when we were younger, my siblings and I were forced to take dance lessons at our mother's behest. I think it was an attempt 'to civilize her hedonistic and barbaric offspring'..."

"Are those your mother's words?"

"No, my older brother Elijah's, and after years of therapy, he's probably right."

They both laughed, taking bites of their desserts and Caroline sighed.

"I'd love to be able to say, 'When would I ever need to know about 18th century period dances again?' but I actually had a case last year where an art history professor at NYU was murdered by her TA, who was helping her forge 18th century pieces. We caught the break in the case because I caught the TA's comment about pointe shoes the figure in the portrait was wearing. The piece was supposedly painted around 1726, but the first documented uses of pointe shoes came out of England in France between 1815 and 1820..."

"So there's no way that the artist would've depicted the figure in the painting wearing pointe shoes nearly 100 years before their first usage."

"Exactly," Caroline said triumphantly, taking a sip of her sparkling wine.

"Brilliant," Klaus murmured, gazing at Caroline appreciatively. "So you like art?"

"I like it enough," Caroline shrugged, setting her glass down. "I just don't know that much about it. I studied journalism in college, but switched to criminal justice after my dad was killed."

"I'm so sorry," Klaus said, reaching over and taking Caroline's hand. She smiled gratefully but waved his concern away with her free hand.

"It was a long time ago. It just made me realize that no one is better off without their parents. They never caught the guy who did it, so I know how much it sucks to get bad news and never get any good news..."

"It's the worst feeling in the world," Klaus murmured in agreement. After twirling his wine glass around on the table for a second, he looked back up and gazed back into Caroline's bright blue eyes and added, "We're the same, Caroline." Caroline felt her breath catch in her throat at the intense honesty in Klaus's eyes, and in a fleeting moment, she saw more than just morose sympathy flash across his face; she saw compassion and complete empathy.

But before she could ask him to explain what he meant, a familiar raucous laugh snapped her out of the moment and she tore her gaze away from Klaus's to search the restaurant for the owner of the laugh.

She finally found him in the corner, half a dozen tables between them, with Hayley laughing over emphatically at whatever lame joke Tyler must have told, and for some reason, Caroline felt herself sink down in her chair and cover her face with her hand.

"Oh fucker," she muttered pathetically.

"What's wrong, love?" Klaus murmured curiously and worriedly.

"Nothing, it's just..." Caroline glanced up at him and her bullshit excuse for her weird behavior flew from her mind as she saw Klaus's expression. She took a deep breath and admitted, "Okay, you see that guy over there? Dark hair and eyes, with the brunette?"

Klaus snuck a furtive glance over in Tyler and Hayley's direction before asking, "The one in the bad suit with the puffy lipped girl?" with a disdainful quirk of his eyebrow. Caroline snorted and grinned, loving that even without meeting them, he held the same contempt for them as she did.

"Yeah, he's my ex...and he's a detective too and we both work for the same precinct..."

"...So you have to see him everyday," Klaus supplied for her and when Caroline cringed and nodded sheepishly. Klaus glanced back in their direction and studied them before murmuring, "She looks familiar for some reason..."

"I'm sure she would. She's one of The Ledger's Most Eligible NY Bachelorettes," Caroline scoffed, lowering her hand and taking a large swig from her wine glass.

"Number three," Klaus murmured with a nod, and Caroline's hand gripped the glass tighter. She studied Klaus's face, which was still turned towards Tyler and his date, and her inability to read his placid expression, coupled with the fact that he knew exactly what Hayley's ranking was, made Caroline nervous. But just as she started to chew on her lip, Klaus made a sound that was somewhere between a low chuckle and a snort and turned back to Caroline.

"That bronze medal was generous. I'm surprised she even made top ten..." He took a sip from his wine glass as his eyes flitted back towards the other couple amusedly. She gazed at him in surprise for a while before chuckling.

"Yeah, that's what I thought..."

"Well what's the problem then, love?" he asked, turning back towards her, gazing at her seriously. Caroline glanced at the other couple and back at him and her brow furrowed.

"I don't understand."

"So your ex is here with some random girl, who is frankly lacking and of inferior beauty, whereas you are a brilliant and beautiful woman with an amazing career and a beautiful future ahead of you, whether that includes a young, dashing firefighter or not..."

Caroline laughed brightly at Klaus's declaration, but when her laughter simmered down to a murmur, she saw even with a smile plastered on his face, he looked fiercely convicted to what he'd just said. Her eyes danced around his face before she chuckled and tilted her head to the side.

"Just to be clear, Mr. Smooth Talker: I'm too smart to be seduced by you."

"Well that's why I like you," he murmured in reply, and Caroline couldn't help but smirk at his answer, which she hated to admit was a very good one in her book. Over the years of interrogations and interviews with witnesses and suspects, she'd gained a knack for reading people, and she got better vibes from this guy than she'd ever had from any other guy, including Tyler.

Thinking of the jackass in question, Caroline glanced over in Tyler's direction to see him staring back at her, a mixture of surprise and anger on his face. Caroline smirked and looked back at Klaus, who gave her no reason to think he'd taken his gaze off of her face the entire time.

"A certain ex is watching us and looking pretty green if you ask me," Caroline murmured with a smile.

"Good. He deserves to see you happy without him," Klaus replied, taking her hand and bringing it up towards his lips. Caroline expected him to kiss her knuckles as he had when they met before being seated, but at the last second he turned her hand and exposed her wrist. "While I'm thinking about it, would you care to explain this swallow tattoo, and possibly the one that I believe is on the top of your right foot?"

Caroline laughed and blushed, flipping her hair embarrassedly.

"I have a feeling that this curiosity is due to some ink that you possess yourself, am I right?"

"Very good detective..."

"I also have a hunch that you have more than two small tattoos like mine," she added, a coy, playful smile on her lips.

"Interesting hunch, Miss Forbes."

"That's Detective Forbes to you..."

"My apologies, Detective Forbes," Klaus added with a smirk. "But that is a very interesting hunch you have. Would you be willing to bet that I have more than two tattoos?"

"I'm an officer of the courts. What would that say about my character if I were to engage in such an illegal endeavor?" Caroline feigned horror and indignation.

"That you play by the rules when the rules apply, and you take risks when necessary," he challenged. Caroline's eyes narrowed and her lips pursed as she considered his statement, scanning his body and sharp suit, and then resisted the urge to laugh and roll her eyes when Klaus smirked triumphantly at her.

"Well then I guess then it would depend on what we're betting on, wouldn't it?" Caroline replied, quirking her eyebrow and smirking. "Then I can determine if the risk is worth the reward."

"Well said," Klaus nodded, then tapped his finger on his chin pretending to think before looking back at her. "Okay: if you're right, I give you a kiss." Caroline tried to subtly take a breath to calm her racing heart as Klaus gazed at her with both playfulness and intense passion.

"And if you're right?"

"You give me a kiss." Now Caroline couldn't hold back her scoff and eye rolling and Klaus chuckled along with her.

"Sounds like we're getting towards the same end result there, Mr. Mikaelson."

"Okay, how about we up the ante then?" he murmured. "If you're right, I give you a kiss and take you to where I work, and if I'm right, you give me a kiss and take me to where you work."

"Hmm," Caroline mimicked his motion and tapped her finger on her chin, pretending to think, then looked at him. "I think you have a bet, sir."

Klaus smiled wolfishly at her before he added, "Alright, what's your bet then, love?"

Caroline gazed at him for a while, then slowly let her eyes trail over his form, clad in a perfectly fitted suit, and tried to imagine what lie beneath it. After a minute of tracing his body with her eyes, she studied his face for a moment, giving his poker face credit, before she smirked confidently.

"You have three tattoos."

Klaus quirked an eyebrow, a smile playing on the corners of his lips as she stared him down confidently.

"You sound pretty sure of that, Detective. You know the bet was only either two tattoos or more than two. You're only making it more difficult for yourself by being so specific."

"Or winning the bet, as I'm sure I have." Klaus chuckled loving her unwavering confidence and he glanced down at the tablecloth before glancing back up at her. She was still looking at him resolutely, a satisfied smile on her face. "So, Mr. Mikaelson? Fess up; how many tattoos?"

"...I have three tattoos." He laughed when Caroline celebrated, cheering for herself, but her laughter faded when she saw the heated look in his eyes. "And I owe you a kiss."

Caroline felt her heart skip a beat and Klaus slowly moved towards her. His face drew nearer and nearer, and with his lips inches from hers, Caroline let her eyelids slide closed and she awaited the feeling of his lips on hers.

Instead, at the last moment, she felt him raise her wrist back up and press a kiss to the swallow on her wrist. Her eyelids fluttered open and she saw the same heated gaze focused on her eyes even with his lips pressed to her skin. Caroline shivered as goosebumps covered her arms. She could only imagine the face she was making as Klaus's lips slowly pulled away from her wrist and spread into a dimpled smile.

"So? A swallow and a star?" he said, gazing at her as if she were the most fascinating mystery that he'd love nothing better than to solve slowly and continuously. Caroline chuckled nervously, flipping her hair over her shoulder and staring at her other hand in her lap.

"Yeah, a star for my rebellious streak trying to impress a bad boy ex-boyfriend; he got Latin and I got what I thought was less trite than a butterfly..."

Klaus chuckled and gently rubbed his thumb over the ink on her wrist and she glanced up at the tattoo and his hand that was giving it attention.

"And the swallow matches the one on my friend's wrist. Teri and I got them after she was diagnosed with Lyme Disease..."

"I'm sorry," Klaus murmured. Caroline smiled at him gratefully and she was sad as she felt his hand slip hers back into her lap and pull away. "Is she alright?"

"She manages," Caroline said quietly. "Even with antibiotics, she still has some symptoms...but I'm just glad it's not worse."

"Me too," he murmured and they gazed softly at each other before Klaus cleared his throat. "Well if you've had your fill of desserts, I'd love to show you the firehouse."

"Sounds good to me," she smiled, and Klaus helped her stand and they walked arm and arm towards the exit, neither noticing or caring about the dark haired man staring at them angrily or jealously as they left.

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"You'll have to thank your friend on my behalf for getting us into that restaurant, what was her name? June?"

Caroline chuckled as she wrapped her arm more tightly around Klaus's muscular one as they strode down Amsterdam Avenue. They'd taken a cab from the restaurant, but after sitting in traffic so close to Firehouse Engine 80 & Ladder 23, Caroline suggested they walk the last block and a half.

"April," she corrected with a smile. "And yeah, it was pretty good wasn't it?"

"Very," Klaus murmured, smiling as he felt Caroline's grip on his arm. "Although I don't know how many more courses I could've handled, honestly. I was one plate away from unbuttoning the top button of my pants!" Caroline laughed brightly, squeezing his arm as Klaus joined her in laughter.

"I know what you mean; this dress doesn't really have enough room to accommodate a fine dining feast."

At the mention of the dress, Klaus couldn't help but glance over and admire her form in the little black number. He had no idea what she was talking about or why she was being so self-deprecating over her body image when all the dress did was highlight her already glorious and enticing features. He cleared his throat though, doing his best to push his less honorable thoughts to the side and maintain his teasing but gentlemanly decorum.

"Doesn't seem like that dress has room to accommodate much of anything," he teased. Picking up on his sarcasm, Caroline batted her eyelashes coquettishly at him, and feigned shock and hurt.

"Are you saying you don't like my dress?!"

"I never said anything about not liking it, love," Klaus corrected her quickly, smiling at her knowingly. "I actually like it far too much on you, I'm afraid..."

"Good," Caroline smiled, "I'm glad. That was the exact reaction I wanted."

"Well you accomplished it famously, sweetheart," he grinned at her and Caroline returned his dimpled smile. "Ah, here we are: welcome to Engine 80 & Ladder 23, Caroline."

Caroline turned and smiled, taking in the large firehouse to their left, surprised that they were there already. She'd been so wrapped up in their conversation she didn't realize how fast they were walking, or perhaps how close they already were to the firehouse.

"Wow," she breathed, stepping into the enormous space and she released Klaus's arm and began trailing a hand along one of the fire trucks. "I have to admit, the siren on a cop car is fun and all, but nothing makes an entrance like a firetruck."

"Yeah, well it's all fun until you're stuck in traffic in one of these big things..." Klaus said, tapping the side of the same truck with his hand. "People tend to be a little more considerate of police cars than they do firetrucks and ambulances."

"God I know! It's my biggest pet peeve!" Caroline turning and looking at him with big eyes. "It's like, you'd be pretty pissed if you were dying and they said the ambulance was stuck in traffic because some asshole wouldn't get out of the way for it to rush to you!"

"Or if your building was burning down and the fire spread because the firetruck had to take the long way around to avoid traffic."

"Exactly! Ugh," Caroline shook her head. Her fingers traced along the axe that was attached to the side of the rescue vehicle and glanced at Klaus. "So how'd you become a fireman here? Did the U.K. have a surplus on the fire brigade?" She smiled when Klaus blushed and showed his dimples that she was becoming more and more infatuated with by the second.

"Well, my family moved here when I was 7, so I have dual citizenship both here and in the U.K. and well, I guess my accent stuck after growing up around my parents and older siblings. I actually studied art in school but I worked as an EMT to help pay for school."

"Stefan was an EMT too, wasn't he?"

"Yes, that's actually how we met. I...actually am partly to blame for Stefan's addiction."

"What?" Caroline's brow furrowed and Klaus took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair.

"Well see, I did some drugs recreationally back then, but nothing too hardcore, mostly just pot but, unfortunately, some of my art school friends got Stefan into the worse stuff and convinced him to smuggle stuff out of ERs, but by the time I realized how bad he was, it was nearly too late."

"Were you the one that checked him into rehab?"

"Damon was," Klaus clarified, "but I got the dealers and my ex-mates off his back and made sure he stayed clean. Stefan was worth more than all of those blokes combined, and I nearly lost him thanks to my foolish and oblivious behavior."

"But you were still there for him in his hour of need," Caroline said, crossing back to Klaus and taking his hand. "That's what friends do, Klaus." He merely gave her a sad smile, but Caroline kept his hand in hers and took a deep breath. "I'm glad you could be there for him, especially considering I was not in the right place to help him then..."

He glanced up at her curiously but didn't press her to elaborate, and that in and of itself made Caroline want to explain herself to him. "I, uh, got the call from my partner Bonnie when I was chasing down a lead on my dad's murder. My mom was totally against me becoming a cop for that very reason; she knew I'd never sleep if I had police resources at my disposal to catch my father's killer and bring him to justice. I was so consumed that I had to be told that one of my best friends nearly OD'd and was checked into rehab." Caroline looked down guiltily at the floor, but she suddenly felt her chin being lifted and as she brought her eyes up, she saw Klaus gazing at her intently as his gentle grip on her chin brought her eyes back to his.

"In all the years that Stefan and I have been friends, I've only heard the best things about you. How good a friend you are, how you're always there for him, how considerate and kind you are, how much fun he has when he's with you; you're a good friend, Caroline. And we all forget to see our friends sometimes."

Caroline blinked back tears that threatened to tumble down her face as Klaus gently rubbed her chin with his thumb. She took a deep breath and bit her lip and smiled appreciatively at him and Klaus's dimples appeared and made her smile even more. But his brow furrowed gently when her gaze moved past him and her face changed and he watched her light up like the Fourth of July.

"Oh my god...CAN I TRY THAT?!"

Klaus turned confusedly and chuckled when he looked at the fireman's pole just past him. He turned back to her with an impish expression and a quirked eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, I was under the impression that you were 27, not 7. I do apologize."

"Oh don't be such a killjoy, Mr. I Can Slide Down a Firehouse Pole Whenever I Want Firefighter," Caroline smirked and made a face at him. "I seriously debated becoming a firefighter just so I could use one of these all the time..."

"Really?"

"Yeah...well, when I was like 10. But then I saw a Christiane Amanpour special and wanted to be a big famous journalist, traveling the world," Caroline smiled as she spun around, holding the pole with one hand and letting her head fall back like a small child on a swing set.

"There's still time," he murmured, his eyes dancing around her face, memorizing her blissful smiling face.

"Oh how I wish," she murmured, her face losing a bit of it's light and becoming more pensive. Klaus found himself stepping towards her, drawn to the light that was fast fading and he spoke quickly to see it revived.

"I'll take you." Caroline snorted in response but kept spinning around and Klaus quickly added, "Wherever you want. Paris, Rome...Tokyo?" He threw out the names of major cities of the world in an attempt to get a reaction out of her and she didn't disappoint him and soon she was laughing, with a big beautiful smile on her face.

"Madrid? Beijing? Moscow? Amsterdam?" she glanced over at him as she kept spinning. "I've always wanted to see the tulips and windmills."

"Don't forget the little Dutch girls with wooden shoes," Klaus teased and Caroline laughed brightly. She sighed but smiled as she paused and gazed up to see that the fireman's pole reached as far as the roof of the building.

"Yeah. If I had a dollar for every dream I've had, I'd be a billionaire," she breathed, gazing wistfully up and a soft smile on her face, then slowly she began spinning around the slender piece of metal.

Klaus smiled seeing her so blithe and carefree and he realized couldn't deny her this one little bit of joy even if he wanted to, and he surely didn't.

"Come on," he suddenly said, taking her free hand and gently pulling her towards the staircase. Caroline followed behind him unquestioningly until they reached the second floor and he turned to see her face once again as bright and shining as the sun.

"Wait. Seriously? You're seriously going to let me do this?!"

"Consider it a dollar towards the jar of completed dreams, love," he replied, tugging her towards the pole that created a cutout in both the ceiling and floor.

"Oh my god..." Caroline murmured, her eyes wide and trained on the fireman's pole as she and Klaus approached it. Klaus stopped to give Caroline the room to walk past him to slide down, but when she didn't, he glanced over at her and saw her face frozen on the fireman's pole.

"Go on, love."

"Okay."

"...You're not moving."

"I'm aware of that."

"Would you like some help with that?"

"No thanks."

"Caroline-"

"I don't know what I'm more terrified of," she cut him off, her gaze never straying from the pole, "the prospect of actually doing something I've wanted to do my whole life or the prospect of falling and breaking every bone in my body, possibly even falling to my death."

Klaus chuckled but then he squeezed her hand when she didn't chuckle with him.

"You know my sister has a saying..."

"Really, what does your sister say?"

"First rule of truly living: do the thing you're most afraid of."

Caroline finally tore her eyes away from the pole and looked at Klaus to see a sweet and supportive smile on both his lips and in his eyes. However, she remained still and Klaus knew that she'd need a little more encouragement.

"Here, I'll show you." Klaus slowly stripped off his suit jacket and tossed it back down back to the ground floor. He reached out and grabbed a hold of the pole and jumped the short distance and wrapped his legs around the metal. "See? I'm not going anywhere because I'm holding myself in place with my feet and with my hands, although, this would be much easier without dress shoes, I must say." He grinned when he heard her finally chuckle and crack a smile. "Then, just loosen your grip a bit, love. The looser your grip, the faster you'll fall, but as long as your limbs are wrapped around, you won't fall to your death."

"You promise?" Caroline said, leaning over to gaze down as Klaus slowly slid down and eventually planted two feet on the ground.

"I promise," he called lightly up to her, smiling at her encouraging. "And I'd sooner catch you and break an arm than let you fall and hurt yourself."

"Awww," Caroline said, holding onto the pole and gazing down at Klaus. "I'd say that's sweet, but I also think it was a veiled reference to my fatness." Klaus chuckled and ran a hand down his face.

"Okay, maybe not a break, but with gravity speeding up your descent, I'd at least sprain a wrist, don't you think?"

"That's better," Caroline murmured contentedly. She took a deep breath in through her nose and out through her mouth before glancing down at her feet and chuckling. "Well, I bet if it's difficult in dress shoes, it's probably difficult in Louboutins."

"That's probably a safe bet," Klaus replied as she leaned down and unbuckled the thin black ankle straps. She carefully tossed each shoe down to Klaus, who placed them on the ground near the firetruck, along with her clutch which she also threw down.

"Okay, I'm going to do it," Caroline announced, standing back up and grabbing the pole. She leaned nearly on her tiptoes with both feet still planted on the solid floor. Her nervous gaze down to Klaus suddenly shifted into a serious one. "You better not look up my skirt."

"No, wouldn't dream of it, love," Klaus quickly replied with a devilish smile. Caroline shot him an agitated look before looking back up at the metal pole.

"Alright, here goes nothing." She took a deep breath and then quickly jumped and clung tightly to the pole as if her life depended on it, her eyes squeezed shut just as tightly.

"Brilliant, love!" Klaus called up to her with a big smile, and Caroline slowly slid one eye open, then the next and looked around before carefully leaning over and looking down at him. "Now just loosen your grip a tiny bit and you'll be sliding down in no time!"

Hearing Klaus's voice gave her the confidence she needed and soon she felt herself slowly sliding down as her grip loosened little by little. Before she knew it, she felt her bare feet on the ground. She looked at Klaus, who was wearing the widest, most shit-eating grin she'd ever seen, and she squealed and let go of the metal pole to fling her arms around his neck.

"I DID IT! I DID IT!"

"Detective Caroline Forbes, you have officially slid down the fireman's pole in a firehouse."

Caroline squealed and before Klaus could even laugh, she was yanking him towards the stairs.

"LET'S GO AGAIN!" she squealed like a child, dragging a laughing Klaus behind her.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

After nearly ten trips up the stairs, down the fireman's pole and back again, Caroline and Klaus rested by the firetruck. They both laughed but did their best to catch their breath since Caroline refused to have her fun without him and continually dragged him upstairs with her each and every time.

"Oh my god, my calves are killing me," Caroline gasped but she smiled like a child on Christmas morning. "But that was so worth it!"

"Yes, I can't say that I'm accustomed to using that more than once in such a short amount of time. But I guess thanks for the cardio?" The two laughed and Klaus slowly made his way over to a small fridge close to the door that lead to the station inside, retrieving two bottles of beer, and returned to where Caroline sat, leaning back against the fire truck.

She leaned up as he moved to sit down though and took one of the bottles from his hand and pressed the top against the edge of the step at the bottom of the truck. She hit the bottle top with her hand and popped the bottle cap off, handing it to Klaus, and motioning for the other still closed bottle.

Klaus handed it to her and sat down and took a swig of his as she popped open the other and followed suit. She sighed contentedly before glancing down at their legs, both outstretched in front of each of them, and nudging her barefoot against his dress sock covered foot.

"Thanks for this. I had an inkling, but I really didn't know how badly I needed this until just now."

"Needed what?"

Caroline gazed at him for a moment before smiling simply and replying, "To have fun." Klaus grinned a dimpled smile back at her.

"My pleasure." He held up his bottle and added, "To less work and more play," as he clinked his bottle against hers. She smiled and sipped from hers and they settled into comfortable silence before Caroline felt the question bubbling forth and tumbling from her lips.

"So why did you become a firefighter?" She watched the bottle freeze midway to Klaus's lips and immediately worried she was pushing him too fast too soon. "I mean, it's only the first date, you don't have to tell me anything. I was just wondering since I told you about my dad and you said that we're the same. But I mean I don't normally bring up that kind of heavy information on a first date; I just wanted you to hear it from me first in case you went home and Googled me..." Caroline took a deep breath and paused in her babbling as Klaus took her hand in his and brought it to rest on his leg and squeezed it.

"Thank you for your honesty, Caroline. You don't know how much I appreciate having someone that I can be is as open and candid with as you are with me."

Caroline smiled and squeezed his hand supportively and waited for him to tell her his story in his own time. Klaus ran his free hand through his hair and sighed before dragging it down his face.

"When I was in uni studying art, I sometimes let my kid brother Henrik hang out with me while I was working. He idolized me and, feeling insecure about myself due to our father's lovely upbringing, I just soaked it up like sponge. And one weekend, Henrik was staying with me at my flat with me and a couple of my mates and... I fell asleep with a cigarette in my hand in a flat filled with highly flammable paints and paintings. Suffice it to say, Henrik didn't make it out."

"Oh no," Caroline murmured, and Klaus sadly rolled up his sleeve further to show Caroline burn scars starting mid forearm and no doubt reaching his shoulder.

"I made it out, but not completely unscathed. They're a painful reminder of the damage I caused and the life I took, and like you, the moment where my life changed and I had a new career on the horizon..."

Klaus moved to roll his sleeve back down, but Caroline halted his hands and gently began tracing his burn scars lightly with her fingertips. She could hear Klaus's emotional and labored breathing, so she kept her gaze on his arm, knowing he probably wanted to get a handle on his emotions before he suddenly added, his voice wryly despondent.

"And the cherry on top of causing the fire that took my brother's life? At the hospital, while I was in the ICU, I learned that I'm O+ blood type..."

"Is that...bad?" Caroline asked, confused at what Klaus was trying to get at.

"It is when your psychotic and violent 'father' is a B-..." Klaus said, gazing at Caroline, knowing full well that after serving on the force for as long as she had and dealing with crime scenes and dead bodies, she'd know what he meant.

"So you're father isn't really your biological father."

"No, my biological father is some bloke with O type blood, just like my mother, whose O blood type was recessive to Mikael's B- blood. The blood that all of his biological children inherited; unlike me, the bastard child, the constant reminder of his wife's affair. At least it finally made sense as to why Mikael inexplicably hated me without reason or provocation the majority of my life," Klaus said, finishing off his beer.

Caroline gazed at him, both in empathy and amazement, and she couldn't believe that she had ever told Stefan not to introduce her to this sensitive and honorable man. He had a dark past, no darker than her own, and just like her, he was constantly battling his demons and trying to make good come from a horrible tragedy. Her fingers continued to dance lightly along his skin as she murmured her pensive thoughts aloud.

"We all have our scars, Klaus..." She finally brought her gaze up to his, and he was gazing at her with an intrigued and compassionate expression. She took a deep breath before releasing his arm and reaching up to take a hold of the single shoulder on her dress on the right side of her body. She held the fabric gently and moved it aside to reveal a healed scar in the shape of a small circle on her right shoulder.

"I got this after I started digging into my father's case for the millionth time after putting it aside. A sniper tried to take me out, but I moved just after he'd been spotted, and it was a lodged in between my shoulder bone, my clavicle and my ribcage."

"Ouch," Klaus murmured, his fingers tracing lightly over her scar and Caroline had to bite back the trembling moan that threatened to escape her lips at the feeling of Klaus's gentle but rough, warm hands on her skin. He grinned and suddenly sat up and began unbuttoning his white dress shirt.

"You wanna see a scar?" he said as he pulled the shirt off his shoulders and tossed it to the side, sitting beside her in his white tank top and black dress pants, and a tattoo of what seemed to be a feather and birds on his left arm and spreading across his pec.

Before she could answer or comment on the tattoo, he was lifting up his tank top, and turning to the side to reveal nasty scars on the sides of his lower abdomen. "2006: Falling through a collapsing floor in a office structure."

Caroline did her best to ignore the beautiful, perfectly sculpted and toned perfection that was Klaus's abdomen, even with it's scars, but she found herself failing rapidly. But seeing the impish and challenging grin on his face, she decided to distract herself by trying to one up his scars. She hiked up the skirt of her dress just a bit to reveal fully healed slashes on her thigh.

"2008: Wrestling with a Colombian drug lord's hitman wielding a machete."

"2010: Saving a kitten from a burning basement," Klaus said, indicating a burn in the side of his right hand.

"2010: Retrieving a friend's spayed kitten from the vet's office," Caroline added, indicating the faint white lines of old scratch marks on the top of her right hand. Klaus stood while Caroline talked and rolled up his pant leg.

"2011: Metal shard lodged in my leg during a gas explosion." He said, indignantly pointing to the crescent shaped scar on his calf muscle. Caroline followed suit, standing and thrusting her unscratched hand with another circular scar in his face.

"2009: Pencil lodged in my hand during a hostage negotiation," She challenged, quirking her eyebrow at him.

"Bar fight with my younger brother," Klaus said, pointing to the scar on his eyebrow that Kol's beer bottle to the head caused.

"Bar fight with my best friend's younger brother," Caroline said, indicating the scarring on her knuckles from when she punched Jeremy Gilbert's face after his attempts at drunkenly hitting on her had finally pushed her too far.

Klaus chuckled at the proud smile on Caroline's face. It didn't surprise him that she was someone who stood up for herself even to people she knew and cared about, like her best friend's brother. He took her hand to inspect the scars before kissing them tenderly, his heated gaze boring into hers and he thought he felt her tremble as he held her hand.

"Well it seems that I've met my match," he murmured and smirked knowingly. He gazed at Caroline and he opened his mouth to add some other seductive witticism to his previous statement, but suddenly her lips were on his and he was completely floored. She held her lips to his for a moment and when she pulled back, she looked just as surprised as he felt.

"Oh boy, now you've done it, Caroline,"She thought to herself, staring back at Klaus's shocked and slack-jawed expression. "This is what you do, this is why you're a lonely, pathetic, single workaholic at almost 30: you misread the signs and mistake innocent friendliness for flirting and attraction and you throw yourself at him and make a fucking fool of yourself..."

"I'm sorry, that was really stupid of me," she immediately apologized, crouching down to scoop up her shoes and clutch purse off the floor and planning her quick escape. But just as she stood up and turned to give another quick apology and dash off and hail a cab and get the hell out of dodge, suddenly Klaus's lips were back on hers; but this time, it wasn't Caroline making the move.

Caroline swallowed her gasp as Klaus's strong hands gripped her arms and pulled her closer to his body and she felt herself melt into his arms. She was powerless to stop how her body was reacting and soon her shoes and purse fell to the ground, forgotten again, as she brought her hands up to press them against Klaus's muscular chest.

At the feeling of Caroline's small, smooth hands gently resting against the fabric of his tank top, her fingertips barely brushing against his skin exposed on his neck, Klaus moved his hands down to her waist, holding her tight and pulling her even closer. Caroline instinctually wrapped her arms around his neck, immediately deepening the kiss, and soon his tongue was languidly and painstakingly showing her what she could expect from him in other physical areas. Caroline would've fallen to the floor, her knees giving out, had she not had her arms wrapped around Klaus and had his grip on her waist kept her firmly where she stood.

Klaus savored the feeling and sensations of Caroline's lips and tongue, biting back a groan as best as he could as thoughts of her skilled tongue on other parts of his body. However, he found himself unable to bite a growl back when suddenly felt Caroline's fingers bury themselves in his curls and tug slightly. It exemplified one of the many things that he loved about Caroline that drove him completely mad: she had the sweetest smile on the most angelically beautiful face, but she had edge and dark side that was completely unique and completely insatiable and completely Caroline.

Klaus couldn't control his hands, that seemed to have minds of their own, and soon found them running themselves over Caroline's luscious, and perfectly full bottom. He didn't know why he expected her to pull away and slap him hard across the face; but for whatever reason, it was the same one that made him surprised when she suddenly pressed herself flush against his body. Another growl ripped out of his throat as he felt her pressing their lower bodies together, feeling himself harden at their lower extremities nearness.

He almost began to question if Caroline was as infatuated with him as he was with her when her arms released his neck, but soon he felt her hands gathering up his tank top hem and he knew what she was doing and more importantly, what she wanted. He pulled his lips from hers for just a moment for them to pull the shirt up and over his head and he smiled as Caroline tossed it aside before grabbing his face and pulling him in for a kiss again. He gripped the fabric of her dress as her hands glided down across his chest before trailing enticingly and maddeningly across his abdominals towards the waist of his pants.

He felt the overwhelming urge to touch her skin in turn, and he ran his hands over her dress, trying his damnedest to figure out how to get the fabric out of his way. He pushed the dress up but found it gathering and stopping around Caroline's hips and he had no luck feeling a zipper or buttons anywhere. Before he could agonize over the Rubik's Cube of a dress she was in, Caroline chuckled as if reading his mind and she stepped back for a moment in order to unbuckle the clasp on her shoulder, the dress falling from her body swiftly and she stepped out of it to promptly to continue kissing him.

He gladly kissed her back, but soon he pulled away again and he saw confusion ghost over Caroline's face before he caught her grinning when his gaze lowered to take in her undressed state. Caroline smiled, glad to know that even though her lingerie hadn't been chosen with the forethought of it being seen, it was nonetheless pleasing to the man that was currently scanning her body with his lascivious gaze.

Her black Calvin Klein strapless bra pushed her girls up and together, giving her cleavage to be proud of, and her matching panties made her feel both curvy and leggy. The look of lustful and erotic admiration on Klaus's face told her that he was pleased with the ensemble.

His heated gaze returned to hers, the predatory and unbridled look of passion in his eyes both terrifying her and exciting her. He slowly moved back to her, his body moving as lithely as a panther or tiger, and his seeking hands reached out and caressed her curves lightly but purposefully. Caroline sighed and murmured, reaching for his hands and guiding them to her breasts, where she wanted to feel his touch the most. As he tantalizingly and teasingly caressed them, she reached behind herself and unhooked the bra, the garment falling to the ground, forgotten and discarded next to her dress.

Her lips found his quickly as his hands palmed her breasts, tenderly rolling his thumbs over her hardened nipples. She gasped as his mouth tore away from her mouth to trail hot, open mouthed kisses down her jaw and neck, drawing closer and closer to what his hands were amorously and eagerly stimulating, and frantically began to make work of the belt wrapped around his waist and barring her from touching him just as intimately.

Caroline impatiently unbuckled Klaus's belt and would've yanked it clean out of his pant loops had she not been busy unbuttoning and unzipping his fly to bury her hand into his pants. Klaus's lips had found hers again, but as her hand wrapped around his burgeoning erection, he broke his mouth away from hers and something between a growl and a grunt slipped past his lips as he pressed his forehead to hers.

Just as he was about to gasp her name, Caroline unexpectedly grabbed his pants and boxer briefs with both hands and yanked them down to his ankles and just as quickly, glancing down at his manhood, stiff and erect for her, and back up at him with wicked and excited smile.

"Do you have a...?" she murmured breathlessly.

"Yes," Klaus gasped, glancing around before quickly reaching for his suit jacket and retrieving his wallet from the inside pocket.

Caroline watched him with a smile as she slid her panties down her legs, stepping out of them quick as a flash, as Klaus unwrapped the condom and slipped it on. She wrapped a hand around his neck and reached up to kiss him again and his hands held her waist again.

As soon as Klaus felt Caroline rising up onto her tiptoes, he wrapped his hands around her rear and pulled her up and he nearly died when she wrapped her legs around, astounded by both the instinctual way they and their bodies responded to one another and by the feeling of her glorious warm wetness so close to his member.

As if she were reading his mind, Caroline loosened her legs' grip around his waist and began grinding herself against him, her velvety lips gliding along his length, making him groan and dig his fingers into the soft flesh of her hips. She held onto his neck and shoulders tightly and lifted her hips, trying her best to nudge his tip into her. Taking her cue, Klaus steadied her against him quickly yet gently pulled her down onto himself, both of them exhaling in relief.

Hearing his relieved breath, Caroline grabbed a hold of his face, kissing him intently before grinding on him, sighing and murmuring contentedly as his hardness titillated all the right nerves and pleasure points inside her. He quickly placed a kiss to her forehead before wrapping his arms underneath her thighs and lower region and hoisting her up until he was barely in her at the tip.

But soon, Klaus's arm workout began as he flexed his thick, brawny firefighter muscles to hoist Caroline up and down. She'd held onto his neck and shoulders for support, but Klaus had muscles to spare he was so perfectly and more than adequately ripped as Caroline had noticed and, as of now, experienced.

Caroline broke her lips away from Klaus's to throw her head back in ecstasy as he thrusted into her as swift and sure as anything. He didn't stop after her first orgasm, which happened easily and quickly as Caroline reveled in the glorious feeling of Klaus inside her. She also reveled in his physique as she watched the muscles in his arms, which were more akin to sizeable tree trunks than appendages, ripple as he held her up and moved her up and down his sizeable length.

As she ran her hands over his gloriously ripped body, she began feeling a second orgasm tugging at her. She then became aware of the strain Klaus was going through holding her up, but he did his best not to show it. Caroline eyed the firetruck just past where they were positioned before kissing Klaus again.

"Turn around," She commanded, and Klaus looked pleasantly shocked at her giving him an order, and he obligingly turned for her, facing away from the truck. She suddenly surprised him though by releasing her feet from around his waist and settling them on either side of Klaus's legs and he soon realized, with a barely even noticeable bend in his legs, Caroline was able to rest her feet against the bottom rung on the back of the truck. It gave her the ability to take part and take the strain off of Klaus, but also to control the levels and varying rhythms of their thrusts.

Once the thrusts commenced again, both realized that Caroline had made the right move; she took hold of Klaus's face with one hand and a piece of truck apparatus in the other and pushed herself more forcefully upon him. Her lusty gasps were met by his approving groans, and soon the sound of skin slapping was added into their erotic and carnal score.

Holding onto the truck and resting her feet on it freed Klaus up to lavish her body with kisses and caresses he would not have been able to administer had he been the only one holding her up as he had before, and Caroline was more than happy to let her head fall back. Her motion gave him greater access to her neck and breasts, her pert nipples begging him to lick them, and he quickly began devouring one rosy nipple while his other hand stimulated the other, varying between gently palming and squeezing her breast and pinching and tweaking her nipple.

The sensations sent a shockwave throughout Caroline's body and she began to feel her release building and ready to crash over her at any moment. Her thighs closed and clenched around his muscular torso tightly and, as she felt herself dangling over the precipice of losing herself again, she buried her face into Klaus's shoulder, kissing and licking the feather and birds scattered across his skin which had begun to collect a thin sheen of salty sweat during their tawdry escapade.

Feeling Caroline's lips and tongue on his skin was enough to drive Klaus up the wall, but knowing that they were tracing the ink on his skin and remembering she herself knew how it felt to have memories and emotions permanently embedded into her skin sent him off the edge. He growled and held Caroline's rear tightly with both hands, pulling her at an angle onto him and triggering her climax. Her muscles clenched around his manhood, Klaus threw his head back as a roar bubbled up from deep in his chest and ripped out of his throat, Caroline's tightness coaxing his own release out of him.

They both remained where they were panting for who knows how long-neither of them certainly knew-but soon Caroline's grasp weakly fell from the firetruck apparatus to Klaus's shoulder. Klaus grinned as he felt her hand slowly make its way up to his hair, burying her long, pale digits in his soft but sweaty curls. His grin fell though as he felt her lips making their way up from his tattoo across his shoulder to his neck before ascending to his jaw and finally stopping at his earlobe, which she took in her mouth with a lightly teasing bite.

"Love, I'd make a comment about the dangers of playing with fire..." he started, becoming aroused all over again with him still buried deep within her, but he heard Caroline chuckle before she cut him off and added.

"...But seeing as how we're in a firehouse, there's no better place to play with fire," she crooned, smiling at him and taking hold of his face with both hands and kissing him fiercely.

Klaus growled with a smile as she attacked him again, the hand that wasn't holding her to his body, insuring that he didn't leave her tight warmth, snaking up to bury itself in her blonde mane. Their tongues battled for a few moments before Klaus reluctantly tore his mouth from hers, gasping as she continued to devour his skin with hot open mouthed kisses.

"Sweetheart, as much as I'd love to ravish you again, we might not be lucky enough to keep another tryst quite as private considering the boys might have to respond to an emergency."

It was only then that Caroline truly realized that she was buck naked, in an open fire house, with a hunky firefighter still buried inside her.

"Oh god, yes, I'm sorry!" Caroline immediately dismounted him and she hurriedly reached for her panties and bra, her brow furrowing as she clenched her eyes together in embarrassment. Klaus's chuckling didn't help to alleviate her embarrassment, and when he turned to retrieve his own underwear and pants, she took the opportunity to smack her palm to her forehead.

"Uh... Just so you know, I uh, don't do this all the time," Caroline began as she fastened her bra and reached for her dress. "I don't do random hook ups and I don't have sex on the first date typically, so I don't want you to think I'm that kind of girl," she added, stepping into her dress and pulling it over her hips.

"I don't-" Klaus started as he pulled his pants on, but Caroline talked over top of him, seemingly unaware that he'd even begun to speak.

"It's just that it's been a really long time, I broke up with Tyler almost six months ago, but I was faithful to him and that was pretty much the last time I've had sex...which now makes me sound pathetic, so I can't tell which is worse: me being an easy skank on the first date or me being a needy horndog on the first date," Caroline babbled, fastening her dress as Klaus pulled his tank top over his head.

He quickly took her face in his hands to silence her and smiled as his gesture accomplished exactly what he wanted and Caroline fell completely silent.

"Caroline, I think that you're just as brilliant and amazing and sexy and wonderful as I did at the restaurant and I would still think you're brilliant, sexy and wonderful had this not happened. I'm genuinely wondering how I've gone on this long without someone like you in my life...but not even someone like you, but you." He gently brushed the hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear as he gazed at her in appreciative wonder. "I've never had such a natural or instant connection with anyone in my entire existence."

Caroline smiled at him, wrapping her hands around his wrists and sighing.

"Neither have I...it's fucking terrifying."

Klaus laughed, pecking her lips before turning and picking up the dress shirt he'd abandoned early on and shaking it out.

"What are you so afraid of, love?"

"You! I'm afraid of...you!" Caroline emotionally and haughtily replied, gesturing up and down his torso with her outstretched hands. He chuckled before slipping his arms into his dress shirt and beginning on its front buttons. He looked back up at her and sniggered at the indignant expression on her face.

"It is not funny," she said, but she still reached forward to help him with his buttons and he smirked.

"It's a little bit funny," Klaus murmured, taking Caroline's assistance as the opportunity to glance over her, enjoying her lovely flushed skin and the wild and untamed quality her curls had taken on due to their delightful and impromptu romp. "Something tells me that you long to have those perfect feathers ruffled..."

Caroline looked back up to see Klaus gazing down at her intensely, and she wondered how she could be so influenced by simply this man's gaze. But she took comfort in knowing that just as easily as he seemed to read and understand her, she did him. He gazed down at her and she saw unadulterated passion and more than that, true interest. The look in Klaus's eyes told her that he'd be enraptured and enchanted with her in this way twenty years from this very moment; that he'd look at her with the same fresh and discerning eyes each and every day. And that made her smile.

Maybe he was right; she might be a cop, but even good guys like a bad boy every now and again. Had to be the allure of darkness, she supposed.

Her grin made him smirk at her, and she caught the devilish and insatiable look in his eye, and she turned her head before he had the opportunity to devour her lips with his again. They instead met her cheek, but Klaus still lavished her cheek and jaw with his lips and tongue and Caroline laughed and shoved him away.

"Yeah well," she laughed, pointing to his left shoulder, "you'd know about ruffling feathers, now wouldn't you?" she added as her fingertip resting against the fabric that was obscuring the incriminating tattoo. Klaus chuckled as he slipped on his jacket and reached for his tie, shoving it into his pocket while Caroline grabbed her clutch and slipped her Louboutins back on her feet.

"I might, and that's just one of the things you'll have to learn about me," he murmured, waiting for her to be finished buckling the straps of her shoes before pulling her up for a quick kiss. Caroline hummed contentedly as Klaus gently and sweetly kissed her and she soon broke away and took his hand, striding towards the open bay doors to the street.

"As in the many things you'll have to learn about me," she said confidently, turning back to him and biting her lip with a smile.

"I do enjoy a good challenge, love," he grinned and Caroline's sparkling laughter was music to his ears.

"Be careful what you wish for," she said brightly as she brought her fingers to her mouth and whistled for a cab. Klaus laughed and as soon as she paused at the curb, he pulled her in close, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Might I ask where we're going, love?" he chuckled as she waved at the cab before turning back to him.

"My place," she said simply as if it were obvious. "As much as I know you'd love to see me parading around in one of your huge NYFD shirts, I'd much prefer my own pajamas and sheets, no offense."

"None taken," Klaus chuckled. He pecked her lips again then adding, "So much for the sleeping together on the first date worry, then eh?" as the cab slowed to a stop in front of them.

"Are you kidding?" Caroline said, her voice teasingly and mockingly shocked. "How often does a sweet, kind, intelligent, smoking hot firefighter waltz into my life. Not to mention the best sex I've probably ever had...ever!" She grinned devilishly at him, returning his kiss before opening the yellow car door. "Besides, I have some 1,000 count thread sheets that my dad's boyfriend sent me that you might want to take a closer look at."

She pecked his nose before quickly stepping into the cab, leaving Klaus gaping at the curb. His shock soon wore off and the naughtiest expression quickly spread across his face.

"Now that you mention it, I also vaguely remember something about a willingness to use handcuffs earlier in the evening?" he added as he climbed in after her and soon the cab was slowly pulling away and driving off into the night, the streetlights casting dim light on the streets that people claimed never slept. It didn't seem that there would be much sleep for a NYC police officer and a NYFD firefighter tonight either.