Chapter 30

Jealousy is the grave of affection

She was smiling at him. He was touching her. That was all Kol could think about. He was full of dark rage. She belonged to him. Why didn't she smile at him like that? Did she like Elijah better? How dared Elijah to touch his woman? A very small part of him understood that this was ridiculous but he couldn't control himself. Elijah stood up and looked at him calmly.

"Kol…"

"Leave", Kol interrupted him. "Now before I'll throw you out of the window."

Elijah looked surprised.

"Right… Very well then, I will go downstairs waiting for you to calm down."

Kol waited that he left before walking slowly to his bedroom. Selene was standing there looking at him cautiously. She backed away when he took a step towards her. Her heart was beating fast. Apparently she was afraid. Kol looked at her emotionlessly.

"Who do you belong to?" he asked demandingly.

"You", she said quietly.

"That's right. Now show me. Clothes off."

She looked shocked.

"No", she said with a shaky voice.

"What?" Kol asked furiously. "You want me to get Elijah here, is that it?"

She shook her head.

"I'm not going to have sex with you just because I'm afraid what you will do to me if I decline."

"In that case you are a very stupid girl. Now don't make me repeat myself…"

"Just listen to yourself", Selene said trying to prevent her voice from shaking. "You want to have sex with me to prove that you own me. Can't you see how degrading that is? Why don't you just brand me while you're at it?"

Kol moved in front of her with his vampire speed and grabbed her arm roughly.

"That can be arranged", he said menacingly. "You will obey me!"

"I didn't do anything wrong!" she shouted. Tears were rolling down her cheeks. "I was just talking with your brother…"

"If you want to talk, you will talk to me", Kol said angrily. "Not to my brother or anyone else for that matter."

"You can't ask me to…"

Kol grabbed her chin and looked into her eyes.

"I'm not asking. For now on, you won't be able to speak to anyone except me. Not one word."

She looked at him horrified.

"No, no, you can't do this…"

"I just did. Next time you might want to think twice before saying no to me."

He turned around and walked to the door.

"Thank you", Selene said icily.

Kol stopped and looked at her. She dried her eyes and scowled him.

"For a very short moment I actually thought that I could feel something towards you, something other than contempt. You certainly helped me to come to my senses so thank you for that."

Somehow those words cut him.

"You better learn to watch your tongue sweetheart", he said coldly. "Or I'll do it for you and believe me, you don't want that. Now get ready for dinner, we'll leave as soon as I come back."

She didn't say anything. Kol walked to the door. It was best to go and see what his brother wanted. Hopefully he would be able to control himself. He still had an urge to stab his brother. Kol couldn't understand why he was feeling like this. Wait, not feeling, he didn't feel, so it had to be something else. He didn't like people touching what was his. That was all it was. Why would he care if she had smiled at his brother? She never looked at him like that… But who cared, she was his. In time she would learn to accept that. Kol went to the hotel bar looking for Elijah. He was sitting on a corner table having a drink.

"What was that?" Elijah asked calmly when Kol had sat down.

"What was what?" Kol asked annoyed.

Elijah raised an eyebrow.

"That little jealousy thing of yours?"

"Don't be ridiculous, I'm not jealous!"

Elijah looked at him closely.

"Hmm, right. So who is that girl?"

"She's no one, just my toy. You know I don't like people touching my toys."

"Sure. Is she still alive?"

Kol looked at him coldly.

"What I do with my toys is none of your business, brother. What are you doing here anyway?"

"Oh, I just wanted to see how you are doing."

"And you couldn't call?"

Elijah smiled.

"Yes, I suppose that would have been a good idea considering what happened…"

"What do you mean?" Kol asked sharply.

"I'm afraid I managed to scare your… toy when I came looking for you."

"She didn't look so scared when I saw you."

Elijah looked at him curiously.

"She needed to talk so I listened. What's the problem?"

Kol didn't know what to say.

"The problem is that you were touching her", he snapped.

Elijah looked amused.

"Yes, I touched her shoulder. You know little brother, if I wouldn't know better I would still say that you are jealous."

"I'm not jealous! How could I be?"

"Yes, I'm sure I'm wrong. But a little advice about women, they don't usually appreciate being treated as property."

"Why would I care? And what do you know about women?"

Elijah smiled.

"I have learned a thing or two over the years. As far as I can tell, women are very complicated creatures. Compassion and understanding are usually what they want. Not that you care, of course."

"No, I don't care."

"Of course not. Well, I should probably be going, it was nice to see you little brother."

"Hmm", Kol murmured.

Elijah stood up.

"Oh, and I must say that I don't blame you for wanting to keep that girl. Judging by what I saw, she has very nice…personality."

"What?" Kol asked furiously.

Elijah smiled innocently and left without saying anything else. Damn brother. Damn woman. Why did everything have to be so difficult? He didn't like any of this. He had always been in control and he sure as hell wasn't going to give that up. Not for anyone.