SWEET KISSES FROM RUSSIA
Fan Fiction – Alternate Universe
Caroline & Klaus
Elijah & Katherine
From: Lovely Vero
Disclaimer: This story is, and will always be, a fiction story, that is coming from the imagination of the author. It is not a bibliography of the author or any of the readers, neither a story that is exploring your own experience in life. It is not meant to be informative or to represent the perception or opinion of the author about the subject at hands in her own private life; it is not an encyclopedia, or a medical reference. It is only a fiction, the characters are fictional, and the story should be taken as such and not be mistaken with the private life of the readers or any of their personal experiences. Thank you.
Writer's note: Due to the delicate subject, in some parts of this chapter that could seem abusive to some, please read with warning. Thank you.
Previously on Sweet Kisses from Russia…
A few light flakes started their descent from the night sky, while covering the streets of London of a thin white coat of snow. Carolina was standing in front of Klaus's bedroom window, while lowering her sight on the front gate of the Manor.
The motorcycle suddenly stopped in front of the gate; with the noise of the engine suddenly dying and leaving the silence only to fill the obscurity of the night. Klaus turned his sight toward the Manor, before raising a rapid glance toward his bedroom. "She" was standing in front of the window, with her sight fixated on him. He swallowed a nervous lump in his throat, before restarting the engine of the motorcycle, opening the brass doors of the gate, and finally leaving the premises.
Carolina let one single tear running down her left cheek, before closing her eyes, and raising her shaking right hand to wipe it away.
Klaus Mikaelson, her husband, had left her … And probably for good …
ooOoo
Russia - City of Moscow - Abandoned factory.
The sound of shoes hitting the concrete pavement filled the emptiness and quietness of the abandoned factory. Mikael Mikaelson wrapped himself in his winter coat, while raising his scarf over his neck. Even as an Original vampire, he was still able to feel the crisp, icy, cold weather of Russia.
He finally stopped in front of two hybrids guards, placed in their human forms in front of a steel door, with weapons in hands. They nodded their heads to him, while keeping their murderous sights fixated on the vampire.
"Я здесь, чтобы увидеть Petrov. Он ждет меня." I'm here to see Petrov. He is waiting for me. He informed the guards in Russian, while nodding his head in respect to them.
The two guards remained silent, but one of them opened the steel door placed behind their backs, while leading their walking steps inside.
The Original passed the threshold, before following the tall man into numerous corridors, while being brought in front of an additional steel door a few minutes later.
"Petrov is waiting for you inside." The Russian guard informed the vampire in perfect English.
Mikael Mikaelson pushed the door before entering a dark room where a single light illuminated its darkness, with a lamp placed on a folding table.
"Mikael" He heard the greeting of a hoarse male voice, with a tick Russian accent.
"Ludvig" Mikael replied, while slowly getting rid of his leather gloves, before reaching the man position.
"It's been a long time, my friend." The said Ludvig replied.
"It has." Mikael confirmed, while smiling deviously.
"Yes, a thousand of years, I believe the last time we'd met, it was when the blade of my sword met yours." Ludvig added, sarcastically. "These are vivid memories."
"Mm… Indeed." Mikael replied to him, smirking, before holding his walking pace in front of the table, both hands crossed over his chest.
Ludvig Petrov was sitting on a chair, in front of Mikael's sight, with two gorilla men by his sides.
"But not as intense as the memory of you and my wife becoming lovers, with your bastard son, Klaus, left in her womb." Mikael added, slyly.
Chapter 11
"The return"
Russia - City of Moscow - Abandoned factory.
One of the guards stepped forward threatening Mikael, soon restrain in his walking motion by Ludvig's hand placed on the man left forearm.
"Stop… There's no need for such uncivil behaviors, this gentleman is one of my oldest friend, aren't you Mikael?" Ludvig reassured his guard, with a discreet nod.
"You have an unorthodox definition of "friendship" Ludvig?" Mikael smirked. "I'm probably one of your oldest and eldest enemies."
"I'm an unorthodox man, Mikael; most of my friends are enemies, most of my enemies are my friends." Ludvig replied, while shrugging his shoulders and straightening his left arm to grab a bottle of Vodka left on the table. "Can I offer you a glass of our best Russian vodka?"
"Are you offering me one of your special "vervain" concoctions, perhaps, Ludvig?" Mikael raised an eyebrow. "You should know better, I'm immune to it since a few centuries now."
"I know better, my "friend", that is why it's only "vodka"." Ludvig replied, smiling, before pushing the filled class toward Mikael's sitting position, near the table.
"So, the one and only Valdemar, now called "Ludvig Petrov", it took me quite a long time to find you under this new attributed name." Mikael titled his head, before raising his glass to his lips.
"Please, my friend, can't it be worse than "Mikaelson"?" Ludvig laughed, while crossing his hands over his chest.
"Touche!" Mikael replied, smirking. "I guess our previous Vikings' names wouldn't fit well this modern civilisation."
"It's this modern society that is not fitting "our grace", Mikael, not the other way around." Ludvig nodded. "Let just say that I came into contact one day with a beautiful woman named Petrova, and from there I attributed to myself a slightly similar one. It was almost a love at first sight, as family name goes, of course."
Mikael raised his narrowed sight on his enemy.
"Very peculiar, I came across the same family name recently." Mikael admitted, while lowering his empty glass on the table.
"Maybe we met the same woman?" Ludvig twisted his lips into a rictus, while shrugging. "The world is such a small place, Mikael."
"Cut to the chase, Ludvig." Mikael advised in a colder tone of voice. 'What are your game, what do you want?"
"I want my legitimate son to know me, and now that I've located him, it's only a matter of "time" before we'll finally come face to face." Ludvig informed. "You won't keep him away from me much longer, Mikael."
"You were obviously not looking very hard the last centuries; it was actually pretty easy to find him." Mikael replied, while crossing his arms in front of his chest.
"I've been busy, my friend … Busy at building a new army." Ludvig informed, grinning.
"So, you were the investigator of this marital setup which included Katerina and Carolina Petrova?" Mikael demanded.
"Investigator, no, it simply came into my knowledge by my sources. They informed me of the upcoming weddings of our sons." Ludvig confirmed. "Quite a pair of beauties they have on their hands, would you say?"
"Debatable … I have a higher standard in mind as for my daughter-in-law." Mikael responded.
"You never had good taste in women to begin with, except for one. Where's Ingrid?" Ludvig frowned, while losing his smile and closing his fists in anger.
"You mean the "whore" who gave you this bastard son named Niklaus?" Mikael smirked, pleasurably. "The woman known as "Ingrid" is dead."
"Watch you dirty mouth Yngve!" Ludvig yelled, while rising on his legs, before violently hitting his closed fists on the table. "And you're lying!"
"Actually… I'm not lying." Mikael replied. "Niklaus's mother is none existent. I guess a family reunion is out of the question now?"
"You're enjoying this, aren't you? But, you'll give me respect under my roof and while you're standing on my land!" Ludvig busted at the patriarch of the Originals.
"I'll do better than that, Valdemar, I'll leave." Mikael replied, while slowly sliding his hands in his leather gloves, before standing up. "I had obtained the information for what I came for after all." He smirked, before pushing the chair and taking a few walking steps to reach the exit door.
"Mikael!" Ludvig called him, urgently.
Mikael Mikaelson held his pace, but without facing his enemy.
"The time has come. The war is nearer than you think, between our two species." Ludvig warned him. "Believe me when I say that I'll find a way to take my revenge on you and your family on day, sooner than later, Yngve!"
Mikael stood immobile for a few seconds, before grabbing the door handle and leaving the premises of this old factory.
London, two months later of Klaus's departure…
Elijah felt a presence watching over him in his study room. He raised his head and sight before catching a glimpse of his wife who stood on the threshold of the opened door.
He grabbed his leather briefcase on the floor before raising it on his desktop to fill its inside of a few files. He wondered within himself, how Katerina could be so beautiful in the early hours of the morning. She was standing under the arch door, her curly hair falling freely on her back, her long legs dressed of designer jeans, with a large white sweater denuding her bare shoulders, a pair of high heels red pumps were completing the perfect assemble.
The attraction and sexual desire for his wife had reached their higher peak, to the point of forbidding himself, the past few months, to even be present in the same room than her. Otherwise, he could probably throw his wife on his desktop before making passionate love to her, but, he was standing firm in his revised decision to keep his distance from the time being, or at least until his brother return
"I'm here only for a short moment to take a few files with me, before heading toward my office." He informed her, while closing his briefcase. "I'll be back late tonight."
"Of course you will. The exact repetitive words of what you have said to me yesterday, and probably what you will say to me, tomorrow." Katerina responded, while crossing her arms in front of her chest as a protective mechanism. "And I'll smile and wish you a good day, because that is what I've been asked to do, paid to do, isn't it the truth, Elijah?"
Elijah kept his sight in the one of his wife for a few minutes. They stared at each other in an awkward and uncomfortable silence, but it's him who finally lowered his head away from her insistent gaze while sighing loudly.
"I'm sure you'll find something to occupy yourself in the meantime, Katerina." He replied, while grabbing his briefcase with his right hand. "Maybe you could do a bit of shopping to fill your free time?" He suggested.
"Please have the decency to not lower me at the poor level of the stupid woman that you have bought for yourself, who can't do anything else but smile, say yes to every of your demands or go shopping to pass the time!" She lashed out at him.
"And yet, you were certainly happy to use my credit card the past few months." Elijah replied, tit for tat, while feeling a range of remorse hitting him like a ton of bricks, after his say to her.
Katerina lost all her colors, while displaying to her husband sight the whitest complexion and tearful eyes.
'Why did you marry me, Elijah?" She mumbled, angrily, between her teeth, while shaking her head. "You could easily have any woman agreeing to be married to you, without this marriage contract?"
"I thought we had discussed our marriage agreement many times already?" He shrugged, while walking to reach her standing position. "I needed a wife to stand by my side, with my professional position, it is custom to have one."
"It's kind of funny, because since I've been married to you, you never invited me to join you in any of your business dinners or cocktails." She busted to his face. "Is it because you're ashamed of me, I'm not pretty enough?"
"Don't say stupid things like that, Katerina." Elijah mumbled, angrily, between his teeth. "It enrages me when you do, you're gorgeous and you know it."
"And yet, you're not even able to understand that I don't care about all of these designer clothes or shoes. I'm buying them because … Because I want for you to be proud of the woman who's standing by your side in front of your business partners."
"I'm …" He started, before lowering his head, and closing his fists in anger. Anger directed at himself for leading her into believing that he did not care. "I'm busy with my work these days; it's the role of my wife to understand that simple fact."
"Why don't you spell it, Elijah: You did not marry me for "me", instead you had bought yourself a deluxe escort who needs to look good for her husband if and when he'll need her for services, am I right?" She lashed out, while pointing a finger at his chest, with a single tear rolling on her left cheek, before turning on her heels and storming out of his office.
"Katerina … Katerina…" He called several times into the empty corridors, without being answered.
The young woman had run away from him…
"Damn it!" He busted, angrily, at himself, before hitting the arch door with his closed fist.
Katerina stood on the threshold of the laundry room, her hands buried in the back pockets of her designer jeans, perched on her new high heels red shoes.
Maria raised her head from the clothes basket where her hands were buried in search of a missing black sock.
"Are these new shoes, Mrs. Katerina?" Maria smiled, while winking at the young woman.
"Aren't they precious?" Katerina responded, while twirling her right ankle, with a timid smile blessing her lips.
"They are very nice, "Louboutin"?" Maria arched an eyebrow in interrogation.
"Chanel." Katerina spread her smile from ear to ear.
"Well, your feet look very pretty in them." Maria smiled.
"It's the only thing that I am allowed to do these days: shop!" Katerina sighed, while leaning her upper body on the arch door, before crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"I got it!" Maria exclaimed joyfully while reaching for a black sock that was hiding underneath a set of white body towels. "I've been trying to find your husband missing sock since a couple of days now."
"I think… I'll ask Elijah, my husband, for an annulment or a divorce whatever will be easier for him to give me." Katerina said in one breath, while swallowing a nervous lump into her throat.
Maria raised her head in surprise at the young woman that was standing by her side, before shaking her head and talking a few steps to reach her.
"Come." The governess proposed to her, while grabbing Katerina's right hand, before inviting her to take a siting place on a wooden bench placed near the appliances. "Why would you do that, my child? Is it because of your sister's situation?"
Katerina buried her face into her hands while sighing loudly.
"He hasn't touched me, yet … I mean, not one single time, except for a kiss or two." The young Russian admitted while shrugging her shoulders and avoiding Maria's sight. "I thought we had reached a place where we could stepped over the threshold, but now he's … He's only polite and respectful, but he's avoiding me. I know that I've accepted these conditions from the start … But …"
"He hasn't? What do you …Oh, right, I see!" Maria exclaimed, while blushing and lowering her head.
"I'm sorry, Maria, this is awkward for you, obviously, I … I put you in the middle of something that doesn't concern you." Katerina stammered the apology.
"My dear, the minute I've stepped into this house with the title of governess, believe me when I say that I was placed into awkwardness from the start." Maria mocked. "It all came with the job description." She added, while squeezing Katerina's hands in hers.
"How did you … I mean how did you obtain this position?" Katerina asked the governess.
"Oh…Well, I have been diagnosed with a rare medical condition and Mr. Mikaelson was kind enough to offer me this job regardless of my problem." Maria explained, evasively.
"I'm sorry … I had no idea." Katerine stammered the words.
"No need, it's a part of me and I made peace with it now." Maria replied, smiling. "Now, as for your husband, Mister Mikaelson…" She sighed. "The poor man is unfortunately in the middle of a delicate situation." She tried her best to explain.
"Not able to express to his wife that he's not attracted to her?" Katerina mumbled, angrily, between her teeth.
"No, I don't believe this for a second. Because we both know, my child, that this is bogus." Maria shook her head. "It's just that your husband has no way of knowing the outcome of his brother and your sister relationship, therefore, he don't want to hurt you, or lead you into false promises."
"You know how … I mean how both of our marriages happened, do you, Maria?" Katerina asked, while rubbing he hands nervously.
"Yes, I know the essential part of it." Maria nodded.
"If … If "his" brother doesn't come back, then my sister will be free of her engagement to this man." She mumbled the words, while standing up, before pacing back and forth in front of the governess. "What is making me so angry is that her marriage was consummated under …" Katerina sighed in anger, before closing her eyes and making a pause to calm her down. "It was consummated, and she couldn't get an annulment when in reverse I can!"
"You're talking about two different situations, Mrs. Katerina." Maria tried to reason with her.
"He left Maria! He took his backpack and left my sister hanging after what he had done to her." Katerina shouted to the governess.
"Well, yes … But …" Maria tried to cut Katerina in the middle of her sentence.
"There is no but! He abused my sister… And yet, she was willing to forgive him. I don't know from where within herself she could even find the strength to do that." She exclaimed more.
"They probably have a special bound between them Mrs. Katerina that they can't begin to explain themselves." Maria tempted a new approach. "I've seen their exchanges; they could barely keep their eyes away from each other."
"They have a what? No, she couldn't have a bound with that kind of man. She is just afraid and lost, and don't know how to react." Katerina listed the reasons.
"Mm…" Maria let out the sound.
"What, Maria?" Katerina asked, while shrugging her shoulders.
"And you have lost yours, haven't you?" Maria asked. "You have lost your "bound" with your sister?"
Katerina hold her pace, before taking a few deep breaths into her lungs, through the blurry vision of her teary eyes.
"She's avoiding me since Klaus left… because…" She half confessed to Maria, before taking her sitting position back at governess's side.
"Mrs. Carolina is avoiding you because you're against her decision to wait for "her" husband to give him a second chance." Maria finished her thought. "At the same time, you're torn because you would like to give a chance to your own marriage, but you can't contemplate this option as long as you don't know if your sister will not bail out of the initial deal?"
Katerina nodded her head discreetly, while keeping her sight on her lap.
"Would you like for your sister to put her nose in your relationship with Mister Mikaelson?" Maria asked, with a raised eyebrow.
"It's not the same, Maria." Katerina sighed, before passing a hand through her tangled hair.
"Perhaps it's not the same conditions, but it's "her" husband as much as it is "yours", Mrs. Katerina." Maria encouraged her. "You couldn't begin to understand her marriage dynamic, she couldn't understand yours. If her relationship with Mister Klaus is doomed, and meant to fail, let her figure that part for herself, but if it meant to flourish into some kind of new beginning for them, you'll have to accept this outcome as well, my child. Give yourself the gift of "time", because only time will heal the wounds."
Katerina raised on her legs, before leading her walk toward the exit, while leaning her body on the arch door and taking a last glimpse at Maria.
"You think he'll come back?" She asked, worried.
"Yes, I think Mister Klaus will come back, when he'll be ready to make the move." Maria nodded. "He simply gave the opportunity to your sister to bail herself out, but she have chosen to wait for him."
"Ok." Katerina nodded, while taking her first steps into the corridor.
"Mrs. Katerina?" Maria called.
"Yes?" She replied, while passing her head back under the arch.
"Your husband is a good, loyal, sincere and trustworthy man; give it a bit of more time." Maria suggested, with a smile.
"And if he stays stoic as he is now?" Katerina asked, while blushing.
"We'll launch the operation "commando" to wake him up!" Maria replied, mocker, while standing up and pointing a finger at the young woman, who busted into laughter.
Two months later…
"Thanks… I mean for accompany me." Carolina thanked Stefan Salvatore, while lowering her blushed cheeks.
An early spring had pushed the grey sky of the winter into its luminous rays of sunshine and blue sky. They were strolling the streets of London while window shopping.
"You mean forcing you into getting out of the house, aren't you?" Stefan winked at her, while twisting the corners of his lips into a smile.
"It's a way of phrasing it." She smiled back at him. "Do you feel obligated? I hope… I mean with my husband's departure, I hope it's not the case?" She asked, in a worried state of mind.
"My dear, I'm not the kind of man that feels obligated of doing things that he doesn't want to do. Relax; it's a pleasure to accompany you." He replied to her. "I was in London for a couple of days for business. I thought of mixing work with pleasure, and that it would be courteous to visit you."
"I'm sure he… My husband would appreciate your kind consideration toward me." She nodded, respectfully.
"You're kidding, right? Because If only he knew that I'm standing as of now, in a so close proximity of you, he would hate it with a passion. He's not one to share his most precious possession" Stefan smirked. "He would be chasing after me through the streets of London with a dagger in hands."
Carolina stopped her walking pace, while standing motionless with a haggard look splattered on her face.
"I'm joking, Carolina!" Stefan exclaimed, while waving both hands in front of her sight, to snap her out of her frozen state. "Well, half joking really, he would still be chasing after me, but probably not with a dagger in hands." He added, smirking.
"If he wanted no one to accompany me in my walk, he should have stayed in London." She responded, while shrugging her shoulders, and reprising her walk.
"Touché…Is this helping the rage you're containing inside of yourself?" Stefan asked mocker.
"A bit…" Carolina responded, smiling herself.
"You know I was not joking when I've mentioned that you became Klaus's most precious possession." Stefan added, with raised eyebrows.
"I'm a woman not an object." She mumbled, angrily, between her teeth.
"Klaus is a complex and unique man; he sees things differently than the majority of us, poor souls." Stefan explained, while offering Carolina his left upper arm to help her cross the street. "But, he cares about "you", Carolina; he left probably for the only reason of feeling the steady ground moving under his feet, he got scared…Only a strong, unique, and beautiful woman as yourself could have managed to create this behavior in him."
"How … How did you become friends?" Carolina asked, before releasing her grip on his arm. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." He replied, smiling. "Well, we've been friends since centuries actually."
Carolina raised her head to glance at him in surprise.
"I mean it feels like centuries." Stefan rephrased it, while frowning over his stupid error. Focus Salvatore; focus … "We met in Chicago actually, many years ago."
"How was "he", back in those days?" Carolina asked, while blushing and shrugging her shoulders.
"Pretty much the same, pretentious, pain in the ass, jerk! You needed to bless the ground that he was walking on … An "asshole" in all his glory." Stefan mocked.
"Then why are you still his friend?" Carolina asked, while glancing at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Because he's also loyal, faithful, and he would lay his own safety on the line to protect his love ones." He replied truthfully. "He's been searching for this unconditional "love" all his life. He wasn't appreciated by his step-father and it kind of made him what he is now."
"He's lucky." She replied, while swallowing a nervous lump in her throat.
"And why is that?" Stefan replied.
"He's lucky simply because he has found you for a friend." Carolina replied.
"And you for a wife." Stefan replied, tit for tat. "Now if only he was here to realize it? If only he would know that you've been waiting for his return for months now?"
Carolina raised her head before noticing the "chic" hairdresser establishment in front of her sight.
"Stefan, do you mind if we part ways in here? I suddenly think that I'm due for a change." She asked him.
"Not at all…Do you have money on you for a cab?" Stefan replied.
"Yes, thank you for you kindness. I'll take one or I'll walk back to the mansion." She answered him, politely.
"Don't go "redhead" on us; you're too gorgeous as a blonde." He suggested, before blessing her left cheek of a kiss, and leaving her standing in front of the hairdresser window.
The recent past still weighed on her frail shoulders … But, the future was her to hold.
"Maria?" The governess heard her name being called, before turning on herself to take a quick glimpse.
"Mrs. Carolina? I did not hear you stand outside the kitchen my child, what can I do for you?" Maria asked, while grabbing a hand towel to dry her hands.
"I was wondering if you find the key of the room upstairs. You know the art shop room?" Carolina asked, while entering the kitchen, barefooted, with a torn t-shirt and a torn pair of jeans as clothes.
"Yes, I actually did, Mrs. Carolina, though this room has been closed for several years, now." She responded, while opening a drawer to reach for an old brass key. "I'll go with you to open the door. The room must be filled with dust by now." She added, while turning on herself to face the young Russian. "Oh, dear Jesus, what have you done to your hair?" She exclaimed, while raising her right hand over her chest.
"You… You don't like, Maria?" Carolina asked, with flushed cheeks, while raising her right hand on her neck to touch the short locks.
"What? No, no, my bad to make you believe the contrary, actually, you look adorable with short hair; this simply took me by surprise." Maria said truthfully, while smiling. "Shall we go?" She invited Carolina to follow her into the corridors.
"You're sure it won't be a problem for me to enter my husband art shop?" Carolina asked, nervously.
"I don't see why it would be, Mrs. Carolina? This art shop had been condemned for years now." Maria explained, while climbing the stairs. "Did you approach Mister Elijah with your wish to start art classes?"
"No, I did not approach him yet." Carolina shook her head, while rubbing her hands nervously.
Maria held her walking pace in front of the locked door, before slowly sliding the key into the lock.
"You know, I believe that Mr. Elijah will probably be very surprised and content by your sudden ambition to further new personal path in your life." Maria replied, while pushing the door open, and opening the light.
"I suppose…" Carolina responded, while shrugging her shoulders. "I need to occupy my time while "he's" away." She added, while passing by Maria's side to enter the art shop.
"The hair, my child…You cut it to remove a heavy weight on your shoulders, if only just as a sign, could I be right?" Maria asked, while tilting her head, and joining her hands.
Carolina turned her head to take a glance at Maria, while discreetly nodding her head.
"Yes." She confessed, in a low murmur.
"Did it help?" Maria asked, in concerns.
"Somehow, and in a weird way, yes, it did, Maria." Carolina explained.
"Then, it was a good decision." Maria replied, smiling, before advancing into the art shop before removing sheets over a few furniture and white canvas.
"It's big and bright." Caroline confessed, while twirling on herself. "Look at all this high windows." She exclaimed, amazed of discovering this hiding room in the manor.
"It is, isn't it?" Maria responded, while scattering the room. "You should be able to use the space after a good cleaning."
"It's a shame that this room was condemned." Caroline thought out loud.
"Your husband used to come every day a few years ago, and then … He simply stopped." Maria informed her.
"You know why?" Carolina asked, curious.
"No, he just condemned the door. You were lucky that I was able to find it." Maria smiled.
"What is under this big sheet?" Carolina asked, while pointing the wall.
"Mm… It's probably one of his paintings?" Maria guessed, before reaching the sheet and pulling on it, while making her cough and creating a cloud of dusts at the same time.
They both stood speechless and in admiration in front of the masterpiece.
"He's talented, but his work is so dark." Carolina expressed herself, while approaching the canvas and touching with the tips of her fingers, the dark paint used on this masterpiece.
"Your husband is a tormented and lonely man….Until the day he met you, I saw a change in him." Maria replied, with her arms crossed in front of her chest, while tilting her head. "Of course I say that with all respect to my employer." She added, while blushing.
"Your secret thoughts on my husband art are safe with me, Maria." Carolina smirked, while winking at the governess.
"Well, that is certainly a relief." Maria replied, sarcastically. "I let you be, Mrs. Carolina."
"Oh Maria … You're not obligated to leave." Carolina tried to retain the governess.
"I have work that is awaiting me in the kitchen." Maria replied, before adding. "Plus, I believe that this private time, in your husband art shop, will make your learn a bit more about him through his paintings." She added to the young woman.
Carolina nodded her head to Maria, before turning back her sight on the dark expression of the painting.
His husband was still a mystery to her, but with time passing by, she was discovering more and more about him and all his complexity.
A discreet knock on the office door startled Elijah.
"Come in?" He invited the intruder, while raising his head from his desktop.
"Hi." Carolina greeted, while closing the study room door behind her back.
"Carolina, it's nice to see you, how have you been?" Elijah asked, a smile blessing his lips, while inviting her, with a hand gesture, to take a sitting place in front of him. "You cut your hair?" He smiled, while tilting his head.
"Yes." She blushed, while touching her short locks.
"It suits you well." He replied, sincerely. "What can I do for you?" He added as a question, while leaning his upper body on the back of his office leather chair.
"I've been waiting for a long time now…" She tried to explain, while stammering the words.
"You want out of the deal?" Elijah asked, while swallowing a nervous lump in his throat. Carolina wanting out of her marriage with his brother could only mean that he would lose his chance to make his real.
"No, no … I'm still waiting for my husband return." She confirmed to him, under his sigh of pure relief. "I'm…You see, while I'm waiting, I was wondering if it would be alright with you if I started a few art classes?" She asked. "I know that in the past you told me that if I needed anything … So…"
Elijah raised an eyebrow, mostly surprised, before crossing his arms over his chest.
"Done" He accepted, while nodding his head.
"Like that." She said, joyfully.
"Like that." He replied, smiling.
"Oh thank you, thank you so much!" She thanked him, warmly, while standing up and walking excitedly toward the door.
"Let me know the term for the payments, would you?" He asked of her.
"Sure." She replied, happily, before turning the door handle.
"Carolina?" He called her.
"Yes?" She replied, while turning her head toward him.
"Did you reopen the art shop?" He asked, questioning.
"Yes, but if it is a problem…" She tried to apologize.
"No, not at all, don't worry about that, it's just … It's just that you seem to have more in common with my brother than I firstly thought." He nodded.
"I … I saw a couple of his painting. Your brother is very talented." She replied, while lowering her sight.
"Yes, he was." Elijah replied to her, his sight lost in the emptiness of the room.
"Thank you." She added, before opening the door.
"Carolina?" He called a second time.
"Yes, Elijah?" She replied.
"My brother would certainly be proud of seeing you take these art classes." Elijah added. "He would want you to be in his art shop, I'm certain of that."
Carolina nodded her head discreetly, before leaving the study room.
Germany, Munich city
Klaus entered the deserted bar, late at night, while slowly accommodating his sight to the penumbra of the place, his senses in alert, with the only sound of his footsteps reasoning on the wooden floor. Some sources has informed him that "she" could be present inside these walls, but nothing had been confirmed as of now, the narrowed sights of a few vampires men glued on him could be the predicament of a few unfortunate deaths to come if they would not behave accordingly to his needs… Though, the idea was not without charm to the hybrid. Killing a few of these poor souls would probably put him to sleep tonight.
He reached the bar, before lowering his helmet on the counter.
"Whisky" He ordered the bartender.
The bartender raised his sight on him, before reaching for a bottle of Whisky on a shelf behind his back. He poured the amber liquid into a glass, before sliding it in front of Klaus.
"Danke" He thanked the bartender in German.
"Klaus Mikaelson." He heard a voice calling him, before smirking with his nose buried in the glass. "I have to see it to believe it." The voice added. "If I was not showing myself, in the flesh, you would have killed all my vampires, am I right?"
Klaus turned his sight toward the middle age woman that was standing at the far end of the bar counter with her arms crossed in front of her chest.
"Liz!" He exclaimed, while lowering his empty glass on the bar counter, before strolling toward her. "I was considering it actually, boredom and all." He added, while smirking.
"What do you want jerk?" The vampire woman asked, while raising her chin at him.
"I want a hug from you whore, perhaps?" He asked, with his most adorable puppy face.
"Come here, rascal!" She greeted him with a friendly slap on his bearded face.
"You're still the same tomboy, woman!" He replied, while raising her in his arms. "How are you, Liz?" He asked, before dropping her back on her feet.
"Bah, you know, the vampires species has seen better centuries." She replied, shrugging, before snapping his fingers at the bartender. "Bringen uns eine Flasche Whisky."
The bartender nodded his head at her request to bring them a bottle of Whisky.
"Sit" She ordered Klaus, while taking her own sitting position at a table in front of him.
The bartender walked to the table, before sliding two empty glasses in front of their sights, and leaving them with a full bottle of Whisky.
Liz grabbed the bottle, before pouring the alcohol in the glasses.
"Gesundheit!" She greeted, before gulping the glass content.
"Gesundheit!" Klaus greeted, in return, while gulping his own. "Good stuff, sweetheart!" Klaus confirmed, while passing the back of his hand to wipe his mouth.
"You know my love for alcohol?" The women replied, grinning, while raising her army boots on the table.
"I've heard about it." Klaus replied, smirking, while raising his own legs.
"What brings you in Germany, jerk?" Liz asked the hybrid.
"I've been touring Europe since a couple of months." He replied, while lowering his head and sight on the table. "I've heard you were in Germany, I thought I would come and salute you." He shrugged.
"I see." Liz replied, while filling their glasses for the second time. "When you say touring Europe, and by your general look: torn jeans, leather jacket, beard, longer hair … I presume you've helped the over population of this planet by going on a killing spree?" She asked, with raised eyebrows.
"You always knew how I get my thrill, Liz." He replied, with a sadistic smile plastered on his lips, before gulping his second glass.
"The hybrid in action… Yes, I remember." She nodded her head. "But, tell me, what happened to the revamp version of yourself, the rich "Duke" Klaus Mikaelson?"
"He got bored." He mumbled, angrily, between his teeth, before reaching for the bottle and filling his glass one more time.
"And son of a bitch… He also got married?" Liz exclaimed in shock, while grabbing Klaus's left hand in her. "Care to explain this?" The vampire asked him, while showing his wedding ring.
"There's nothing to explain." He replied, slyly. "I must have been drunk and made a huge mistake."
"I'll be damn." Liz replied, while crossing her arms in front of her chest. "You actually have feelings for that girl."
"I could easily kill you, in the time space of three seconds if I take my time, Liz, don't push it." Klaus mumbled, angrily, between his teeth, as a warning.
"I'm shitting in my panties, Mikaelson." She replied, laughing. "So, is she a pretty, brunette?"
"She's blonde." He replied, while hoping that she would leave the subject alone.
"You hate blondes." She said, amazed.
"I know!" He shrugged.
"She must be a hell of a vampire to put the mighty Klaus Mikaelson in this bad mood?" She concluded.
Klaus kept silent, while lowering his sight on the amber liquid placed in his hands.
"She's not a vampire? She's human?" Liz exclaimed, dumbfounded. "I'll be damn! I want to meet this woman."
"Not going to happen." Klaus replied, while gulping his third glass of Whisky.
"Scattering Europe will not make your forget about her, Klaus. If you did not forget her already, it's unlikely that you'll ever will. Especially while keeping your wedding band as a concrete sign of your attachment for her."
"I'm aiming for her to forget me, Liz." He replied, while swallowing a nervous lump in his throat. "I… I screw up, badly."
"I see." She replied. "Love is the greatest weakness for a vampire, Liz… Wasn't it your own sentence?" She asked, with raised eyebrows.
"Can we talk about something else?" Klaus asked, nervously, while pushing his empty glass on the table.
Liz scattered the empty room, before lowering her legs on the floor, and leaning her upper body on the table.
"There's a rumor." She murmured to the hybrid. "I don't want my vampires to hear it, because it's not sure that it's founded."
"What kind of rumor?" Klaus asked, while frowning in interest.
"There's a Russian mafia, a group of werewolves with as their leader a hybrid, just like you." She informed him. "I just know that his first name is: Ludvig."
Klaus narrowed his sight on her, while giving her his full attention.
"And, what…What are they aiming for: power, money, and the thrill of a kill?" He asked Liz.
"Neither. The said hybrid has built an army of werewolves. The rumor says that he wants to abolish the present vampire's species, to build a new one, a stronger and indestructible one."
"He wants to create a new hybrids species, and abolish the old vampire one." Klaus replied, while crossing his arms over his chest. "What else do you know?" He asked.
"To this point, I don't know much, unfortunately." She shook her head. "What do you think?" She asked.
"We'll wait… Maybe this Ludvig is simply delusional at thinking that he can rule the supernatural world?" Klaus replied to his vampire friend. "Especially, darling, that it's been me who has run it for such a long time." He smirked, before gulping another glass of Whisky.
Six months later of Klaus's departure …
Carolina entered the old century building, before strolling for several minutes into the different corridors placed in front of her sight. She buried her right hand in her backpack while pulling a registration paper from its inside.
"Registration, ground floor, corridor Z-2" She read out loud.
"You're heading toward the Registration?" A dark blonde, young man asked her, while carrying a cardboard box.
"Yes, I am." Carolina replied, with a timid smile.
"Follow me I'm heading that way." He replied, smiling.
"Oh … Ok, sure." She replied, while walking on the young man heels.
"I'm Matt by the way." The young English man presented himself.
"Carolina… I mean Caroline." She responded, blushing.
"Well, nice to meet you Carolina-Caroline." Matt greeted her, while winking. "What are you registering for?"
"Drawing and painting, level 1 and the succeeding levels afterward." She replied, while reading the course title on the form.
"You're kind of ambitious." Matt admitted.
"You think it's too much?" She stammered the words, nervously.
"No, I'm joking." Matt replied, with a small laugh. "I actually been in all of those courses, you'll love them."
"I'm excited to start." Carolina nodded her head.
"Bonnie!" Matt exclaimed, while carrying the box inside the registration office. "There is someone for you at the counter!"
"Why are you shouting, I'm not deaf?" The said called woman rolled her eyes, before passing her tongue at the English man, who laugh even more after her reply. "Hi! You're here for registration?" She greeted Carolina, while chewing loudly, with a smile from ear to ear.
"Yes, actually I've been pre-registered, I'm here to bring the money for the fee and obtain the list of supplies that I need to start on Monday." Carolina replied, while leaning her upper body on the counter.
"What is your name?" Bonnie asked, while facing his computer screen.
"I'm Carolina Petrova." She replied instinctively, before shaking her head. "I'm sorry, I made a mistake, and my name is actually Caroline Forbes Mikaelson."
Bonnie raised a surprised sight at the young woman who was standing in front of her.
"I was married just a few months ago, and I always forget my new name." Carolina tried to explain, while blushing.
"Damn! I won't be able to ask you out then?" Matt said, mocker, while leaning his upper body near Bonnie's, on the other side of the counter.
"Don't listen to him; he thinks that he is God's gift to the female population of London." Bonnie rolled her eyes to the ceiling.
"Well, don't forget that you slept with me, sweetheart." Matt replied, tit for tat.
"Yes, and what an error it was." Bonnie replied, while sighing loudly.
"True, we did not connect at all." Matt replied, while shaking his head to an uncomfortable Carolina.
"Could you just shut up, you're making Caroline uncomfortable." Bonnie replied, while reaching the printer to pull out a few papers.
"Where are you from, Caroline, I can distinctly hear an accent?" Matt asked her. "Petrova… It's Russian, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is." Carolina replied, proudly, while nodding. "You have an accent too, American, isn't it?" She asked Bonnie.
"You'll have to be deaf to not hear her American accent." Matt mocked, laughing.
"Well, at least, I'm not talking like I have a hot potato in my mouth." She replied, while passing her tongue at her friend.
"That's because she's too busy eating all the French fries and hamburgers she can find." Matt addressed himself to Carolina, who let out a small laugh.
"Don't listen to him." Bonnie warned her. "I'm Bonnie by the way." She added, while handing her hand to the young Russian.
"It's nice to meet you, Bonnie." Carolina replied, while shaking her hand. "Are you working in the school as of now… I mean since you've arrived in London?"
"I'm giving a hand to replace someone who's sick at the moment. I arrived in London couple of months ago to take a few art courses and see if I would integrate this Royal Kingdom afterward, if I can find a permanent job that is?" Bonnie replied, while shrugging her shoulders. "Then I met this asshole of English man, and we became friends."
"Watch your mouth, Bennett the American." Matt replied, while pushing her.
"Ok, so … You're been registered for: drawing and painting, level 1. I just need you to put your signature on this line." Bonnie asked of her, while pointing a finger on the said line on the registering form. "We'll be in the same class." She added, smiling.
"You're serious?" Carolina replied, while raising her head, before handing the signed form to Bonnie.
"Yap, one of the many reasons I wanted to come in London to take these art classes was actually because of the professor who will give these courses: Alaric Saltzman is well known in the art community." Bonnie replied, before handing another form to her. "This paper is for you. You have the list of all the supplies needed for the art class, what is highlighted you'll have to buy the right expensive brand of brushes, unfortunately, but for most of the remaining products you can go with a generic brand."
"Thank you." Carolina replied, with a smile from ear to ear, before sliding the forms in her backpack. "I see you in class on Monday then, goodbye!"
"Goodbye Caroline!" Both, Matt and Bonnie replied, simultaneously.
She walked toward the exit of the building with a smile plastered on her lips, her shoulders straightened, her head up high … She stepped outside while taking a deep breath of fresh air into her lungs.
For the first time, she felt hopeful of the future…
Elijah kept his sight on his opened file, placed on his desktop, while comparing different charts of statistics on the hospital project in hands. He had decided to work at home, while taking a time off from his London office.
He had tried his very best to stay away from his wife, Katerina, the past few months, while converting his mind and initial idea to a 360 degrees turn. He couldn't openly ask her to invest herself in their marital contract before knowing the faith of Klaus's and Carolina's marriage.
He closed his eyes, before stroking both of his temples with the tips of his fingers, while being annoyed beyond belief, by the noise Maria was making with her duster in hands. How could a duster made of feathers make so much noise?
He sighed loudly, while raising his narrowed sight on his governess.
Maria glanced rapidly in his direction, while raising her duster on the library shelves.
"Everything is alright, Mister Mikaelson?" Maria asked him, while pushing a vase on the wood panel, in the most annoying shrill noise.
"Yes, Maria, everything is fine." He mumbled, between his teeth. "Will you be almost done with this … This dusting of yours?" He asked, with a hand gesture.
"Mm … Did you say something?" She asked him, while biting her bottom lip to retain her laughter.
"It's ok, never mind, Maria." He said, while lowering his head back on his opened file.
She pushed an armchair on the wooden floor, while creating another acute noise.
"Ok, I give up." Elijah exclaimed, while throwing his golden pen on his desktop, before lowering his upper body on the back of his leather chair, and crossing his arms in front of his chest. "I'm listening." He added.
"I'm sorry? You were saying?" Maria replied, while straightening her body in a standing position.
"Obviously, you have something on your mind that you want to share with me, Maria, so, I'm listening." He suggested to her.
"Well, I was actually saying in silence to myself…" She started.
"In silence, I doubt that, my dear." He mumbled, in a murmur, between his teeth, while rolling his eyes to the ceiling.
"That it was a magnificent spring day, today, and that you could certainly bring Mrs. Katherine to a night out in the town?" Maria proposed, while turning her back at him, and biting her bottom lip in expectation of his answer.
"I'm busy tonight; Maria, I have a board meeting followed by a business dinner." Elijah replied, while taking his pen back in his right hand. "My Armani shirt has been ironed and pressed?"
"Mm… I understand, Sir, like you've been busy the last few months." Maria replied, while dusting rigorously another tablet. "And yes, the said shirt has been pressed."
"Is there a subliminal message that I'm supposed to understand between the lines, Maria?" Elijah asked, with a raised eyebrow.
"What? No, Mr. Mikaelson, I wouldn't allow myself to put my nose in your personal life. It would be so disrespectful, especially in my working hours of the day." She replied, falsely outraged, before lowering her duster on a side table, while raising her uniform sleeve to take a glimpse at her watch.
"Well, it's highly appreciated, Maria, I have enough to deal with as it is." He sighed, before raising his sight back at his governess. "What are you doing now?"
"I'm counting the last remaining five seconds of my work shift." She explained. "Five, four, three, two, one, I believe that I've entered my personal time now."
"Are you feeling ok, Maria?" Elijah asked his governess, with a raised eyebrow.
"Of course, Mister Mikaelson, but now that I am in my free time, if you would allow me to give you a well-deserved advice?" Maria warned him, while titling her head and crossing her hands in front of her chest.
"I should have known that it would not be so easy." He rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "I'm listening." He added, before crossing both of his hands behind his head.
"You're acting like a pretentious, snobbish man who's not able to grab his own happiness with both of his hands, and who's treating his own wife like she's a merchandise that he has purchased on the shopping channel" She busted at his face.
"I …" Elijah tried to cut Maria in her sentence, while blushing under the attack.
"I'm not finished." She raised her right hand in front of his sight to stop his say. "You have a beautiful, intelligent wife by your side that was gracious enough to wait for your childishness to take its course. She is obviously crazy about you, or why would she had been so patient with your tantrum?"
"I…" Elijah tried a second approach.
"Ta, ta, ta …" She cut him once again. "If you are not putting yourself together very rapidly, you'll lose her for good, and you'll have only yourself, sir, to blame for, and the excuse of your brother's wedding won't stand this time!"
"Are you finished now, Maria?" Elijah asked, completely dumbfounded.
"Yes, and I wish you a very nice evening." She concluded, before turning on her heels, and leaving the study room under a loud slamming of the door, while leaving Elijah completely speechless.
Katerina flipped through the pages of a fashion magazine, while comfortably sitting in a leather chair in the parlor room. She sighed loudly, while throwing the magazine on a table, before crossing her arms in front of her chest in boredom.
"Mrs. Katerina?" She heard her name being yelled by Maria.
"Maria is there something wrong?" Katerina stammered the words, surprised, while turning her sight and body toward the governess that was storming inside the room.
"I believe we'll launch the operation "commando" tonight, Mrs. Katerina." The governess exclaimed at her, before grabbing Katherina's right hand in hers, to pull her away from her comfortable sitting position.
"What? What are you saying, Maria?" Katerina asked, dumbfounded, while being pulled behind Maria's heels. "And why are you carrying this man shirt with you?"
"As of now, this man shirt will be your weapon of seduction, use it as you will, but please, wake up this stubborn husband of yours, once in for all!" Maria lashed out, while rolling her eyes. "Or, I'll find a way to kill him with my bare hands myself!"
"Maria!" Elijah yelled, angrily, while opening his bedroom-suite door and barging into the corridor.
"Mr. Mikaelson." She greeted, while nodding discreetly, before sliding her hands into a pair of silk gloves, and directing her steps down the stairs.
"My Armani shirt, the lilac one, where is it? I have an important business dinner in less than an hour?" Elijah required, before following his governess' hells down the stairs.
"Like I've mentioned to you, Mr. Mikaelson, your shirt has been ironed, steamed and placed in your walk-in closet, now if you misplaced it, I certainly can't be held responsible for it?" She responded, before reaching the entrance lobby.
"I couldn't have misplaced it because I never saw it!" Elijah mumbled, between his teeth.
"Well, maybe someone else misplaced it, your wife, Mrs. Katherine perhaps?" She shrugged, uninterested by his present tantrum.
"I know perfectly what my wife is called, Maria, no need to remind me." He replied, slyly.
"Well, with those words, I wish you a pleasant evening, Sir; I hope you'll find your shirt very soon." She nodded her head, before grabbing the door handle.
"You're going to leave me like this?" Elijah asked, dumbfounded, with both of his hands firmly placed on each side of his waist.
"Yes! I believe this is my evening off, and I have a date with Pavarotti at the Royal Opera House, "Le Nozze de Figaro." is waiting for me." She informed him, before storming out of the manor on a loud slamming of the front door.
"You got to be kidding me!" Elijah exclaimed to himself, before passing a nervous hand through his hair. "It's the second time she's slamming the door at my face, today." He added, before turning on his heels, and leading his walking steps toward the corridor. "Katerina?" He yelled, in hope of finding his wife, and perhaps his missing shirt.
Elijah stormed inside his study office room while opening the door, before grabbing his blackberry from his pants' pocket and signaling the saved number of his office.
He suddenly stood speechless and motionless in the entrance of the room, his sight narrowed on his "wife", that was at the present moment lying on his desktop, half naked. He scattered very quickly the ambiance of the room: as lights goes, several candles had been sporadically placed on furniture, a bottle of wine was also placed on the edge of the desktop, with by its side, a filled glass of red wine obviously intended for him.
"Mikaelson enterprise, Milanda Stenfford on the line, may I direct your call?" He heard his receptionist voice replied, not even able to articulate an answer to Miranda at the moment.
Katerina was lying on his desktop; over a few of his files, while wearing as only clothes his missing Armani shirt, with the buttons opened on her deep neckline, and the black lace of her bra peaking erotically underneath the shirt fabric. Both of her sexy bare legs were equally exposed to his sigh, with her feet dressed with the high heels, feathers, slippers that drove him crazy. He swallowed a nervous lump in his throat, drops of sweat rolling slowly on each side of his temples, an obvious discomfort visibly noticeable in the crotch area of his trousers. Devil woman that she was!
"I was waiting for you." Katerina murmured to him, while sliding one of her finger in her glass of wine, slowly wrapping her finger of the red fruit nectar, raising it back to her parted red lips, before sucking hard on it. "I poured you a glass; maybe we could share a nightcap before you live for your business dinner?" She added, with a raised eyebrow, while purposely biting her pulpous and lustrous bottom lip, before lowering her right hand and seductively playing with the last button that was keeping the shirt closed on her naked body.
Fuck, fuck, fuck … Elijah thought secretly, while rubbing his face with his right hand, not being able to formulate a coherent thought in his mind at the moment, his sight narrowed on the delicious curves of his wife breasts.
"Mister Mikaelson, is this you? Can I help you?" He heard the worried voice of his secretary calling.
"Yes." He managed to whisper into the phone.
"I did not put any panties underneath the shirt." Katerina whispered some more. "I hope you won't be disgusted by the idea of me lying almost naked on your desktop and all these files?" She added, naughty.
Disgusted? Far from it! He had never been more sexually aroused in all his long vampire life, than this present moment, unable to react accordingly to the situation, to form a coherent thought, to take a step forward, while acting like a young teenager in front of his wife.
"Are you ok, Mister Mikaelson? I'm worrying about you?" He heard Melinda asking.
"I'm fine." He replied, while lowering his sight from the "object" of his arousal. "Could you call the associates and tell them that I'm cancelling tonight's dinner."
"But, Mister Mikaelson, some of them came from New York?" Miranda tried to object.
"Could you do as I say, and don't ask anymore question, Miranda?" He ordered her, before closing the call, and throwing the blackberry on an armchair.
Katerina swallowed a nervous lump in her throat, while rubbing her sweaty palms together. For the past minutes of this elaborated set up of seduction, she had been in perfect control of the situation, but now, with the hunter sight of her husband narrowed on his prey, she could feel the beats of her heart raising her level of fear.
Elijah reached his wife sitting position on his desk, before grabbing the glass of wine and drinking its content in a single gulp, while keeping his fiery sight in hers.
"You …" She started nervously, stammering the words. "You cancelled the meeting?"
"Yes, I did." He replied, while taking slow, calculated steps to reach the right side of the desk, before grabbing her left ankle and raising her leg on his muscular chest, with Katerina's foot resting on his right shoulder, his hand slowly sliding on the length of her skin, with his lips kissing the tender part of her ankle. "You know how aroused I get when you put these slippers, aren't you, Katerina?" He asked her, while lowering his wife trembling leg back on the hard wood of the desktop.
"Yes" She responded, while strengthening her upper body in a sitting position, before raising both of her hands on his muscular chest, feeling his muscles tensed under her touch over the fabric of his long sleeve t-shirt.
"You've been a naughty girl, what do you expect me to do now?" He whispered, while leaning his head near hers, softly nibbling on her left earlobe, before slowly raising his hands between her inner thighs, higher on her burning core, under her cry of surprise and excitement.
"I want … I want you to be as naughty as I am." She managed to murmured, while grabbing two hands full of his tick hair, at the base of his neck.
Elijah growled loudly, while touching her arousal underneath the tip of his fingers. If ever there had been doubts about her attraction to him, they were surely vanishing by the window at the moment.
"It's true; you're not wearing any panties." He moaned the sound of these words, while letting his fingers discovering every inch of her private self, under her loud panting sounds. "Not sure you're ready for me, ready for this, Katerina? At the moment, I could give a fuck about romantic preliminaries, I want to rip my shirt open, and push myself deeper than any other man have ever been inside of you until you'll beg me for mercy."
Katerina opened her eyes in shock, while catching her breath under his say, with redness coloring her cheeks, before locking her sight with the one of her husband.
"Then what are you waiting for?" She suggested, before lowering her head and nibbling on the corners of his lips.
"Erotic sorceress…" He murmured the words, before crashing his demanding mouth on hers, his hands buried in her lustrous curls, his tongue sliding between her parted lips, before tasting the heavenly taste of the wine on her own tongue.
He frantically reached to grab the two panels of the shirt, before ripping the fabric opened, and pushing Katerina's trembling body back in a lying position on the hard surface of the desk. In no time, he got rid of his man clothes, while lowering his pants and boxer to his knees. There was not time to make a fashion statement; his dirty, naughty, aroused mind was set on one goal and one goal only!
She let out a loud cry at the exact time that his hard member entered the narrowest of her core's walls in a profound push that left her breathless.
Elijah immobilized himself in her depth, while lowering his head on her trembling chest, under his own sounds of pleasure and arousal. He pushed the delicate lace fabric of her bra, before sucking and biting softly the aroused tip of her right breast. Katerina bent her back, while encircling his pelvic bones of her legs, before sinking her nails into the manly skin of his muscular back.
He responded to her sensual motions by reprising his deep thrusts inside of her, each one faster and deeper than the previous one, leading both of them, and faster than anticipated, toward their mutual climax.
The vibrant ringer of Elijah's blackberry reasoned in the silence of the bedroom. The Original vampire strengthened his right arm toward the nightstand under his growls of anger. Who would have the pretention of waking "them" up so early in the morning? That person could already recite a prayer for his/her life.
"Yes!" He shouted in the phone.
"Mister Mikaelson, I'm so sorry to disturb you, once again, this is Miranda." His secretary stammered the words, nervously.
"And, why are you calling me this time?" He asked, in a blurry state of mind, while grabbing the alarm clock to take a glimpse at the present time.
"Well, it's near ten o'clock, Mister Mikaelson, and you were scheduled to meet with the Japanese congregation, at ten thirty, you remember?" She asked.
"Vaguely…." He responded, while stroking his eyelids. "Well, postpone the meeting, Miranda."
"But, but … Sir, what am I supposed to tell them?" Miranda asked, dumbfounded.
"Tell them that I intend to pass the day in bed while making passionate love to my wife." He responded, smirking, before closing the line on her.
He got back under the blankets while sliding his strong hands around Katerina's waist.
"I'm very surprised, Mister Mikaelson." She smiled heavenly, while keeping her eyes closed, her back turned, with her head resting on the pillow.
"Why is that, Mrs. Mikaelson?" He asked, smirking, his hands sliding on her hips, his lips nibbling on the right side of her neck.
"You choose me over your work." She confessed, while opening her eyes, before turning her head and drowning her sight in his. "Thank you." She murmured, truthfully, while caressing the virile line of his jaw.
"That's because my beautiful wife has put a strong and powerful spell on me, forbidding me to leave this room and her side." Elijah replied, while winking at her. "Are you up to it; are you up to stay in bed all day with me, Katerina?" He asked, mocker, while sliding a strand of hair behind her ear.
Katerina smiled to her husband, before kissing him softly on his lips.
"I'm up to it." She responded, with a blissful smile from ear to ear, before feeling Elijah's muscular body climbing on hers, and his demanding mouth crashing on her trembling lips.
"Maria is there any chocolate cupcakes left?" Carolina asked the governess, while leaning her upper body on the kitchen arch door.
Maria turned on herself, while grinning and rolling her eyes to the ceiling, before taking a few walking steps to reach the fridge.
"I know you too well; therefore, I've saved two for you, Mrs. Carolina." Maria replied, smiling, while handing a plate to the young Russian.
"Oh, you're an angel!" Carolina smiled from ear to ear, before grabbing the plate from Maria's hands. "спасибо" She thanked her in Russian. "It means "thank you" in my natal language."
"I figured that much." Maria said. "And you are mostly welcome." She added, while taking a good look at the young woman. "I love the scarf around your head, it's very bohemian." She added, smiling. "And as bohemian goes, you already had the bare feet." She winked.
"You think so?" Carolina blushed, while raising her hands to touch the fabric.
"The new artist has found her calling." Maria added. "It gives you a beautiful style of your own."
"I'm far from being an artist. I'm just learning." Carolina nodded her head, humbly at Maria. "The fee for the second level needs to be paid, and I was wondering if you knew where my sister's husband was?" She questioned the governess.
Maria coughed discreetly, while lowering her head.
"Well, your sister and Mr. Mikaelson are in bed." She replied, blushing, but with a smile plastered on her lips.
"They are in bed?" Carolina repeated, while taking a quick glimpse at her watch. "But it's five in the afternoon."
"Mm, Mm…" Maria mumbled the sound, while raising an eyebrow.
"Oh! They are "in bed"!" Carolina exclaimed, while smirking. "I understand. I'm happy for them." She added, truthfully, while grabbing the plate and heading toward the exit.
"Miss Carolina?" Maria called.
"Yes?" She replied, while turning her head toward the governess.
"You'll be happy one day soon." She added, with a smile.
Carolina nodded her head discreetly, before leaving the kitchen.
The last two months at the art school had given Carolina an energy boost. She was happy to wake up in the morning, full of energy, enthusiastic, while being hopeful that her day would be filled with new amazing technics to learn. Alaric Saltzman was a brilliant art teacher, and she was learning a lot with him as theory goes, but the practice was much harder for her.
It had been a joy to have met Bonnie also. She was hip, outgoing and totally honest, the kind of persona and friend that Carolina needed in her new life in London.
She was sitting on a wooden stool in front of her trestle, late day, with the rays of sunshine entering the windows of the art shop. She raised her sight on the canvas, majorly unhappy with the result at the moment. She had been asked to paint a set of unanimated objects, but she was not able to achieve the right technic yet.
She sighed in frustration, while lowering her sight on the two cupcakes, before regaining her smile and grabbing one, her front teeth attacking the frosting a second later. She closed her eyes while moaning with pleasure… Heaven on earth… And then …
Her heart skipped a beat. She lowered the cupcake back on the plate, while raising her right hand over her raising chest, higher near her throat, without being able to let air into her lungs.
Calm down Carolina, calm down … She murmured to herself to lower the effects of her panic attack, while gently rubbing her throat to help her breathe. She finally managed to take deep breaths into her lung, her chest rising higher under the pressure.
This particular noise sound of boots hitting the marble floor of the nearby corridor, she remembered …. She remembered that particular sound way too well, because she had heard it before … Six months ago, when her husband had left her side … When Klaus Mikaelson had left the mansion and his married life behind him.
She crossed her hands on her lap to keep them for trembling, before closing her eyes… He was standing on the threshold of the art shop. She did not need to turn around to assure herself of that fact … She could feel his presence near her.
Klaus stood motionless for a few minutes, while scattering the art shop that had been condemned by him many years ago. He dropped his helmet and backpack on a nearby table, before taking a few walking steps in the clean room, while pulling his motorcycle gloves off his hands.
"Why is the art shop reopened?" She heard his deep English voice asked her.
Carolina reopened her eyes, under her breathing spasms. She tried to articulate a sound, but her lips were frozen under a trembling compulsion. She closed her eyes while taking another deep breath into her lungs.
"I…" She let out the sound, before straightening her upper body on the stool and continuing. "I've started art classes and Maria thought that it would not bother you if I borrowed the space to practice." She managed to articulate the sentence without stuttering.
He finally turned his head toward her, his empty sight sliding from Carolina's head to her toes.
Carolina held her breath while feeling her heartbeats rising drastically in her chest. She kept her sight in his, while study his all allure of the moment: A beard was covering his facial features, and as for his hair, longer locks were falling freely on his shoulders. His clothes were dirty and ripped.
"I thought you would have left by now?" He asked.
"Well you thought wrong." She responded, while breathing loudly. "I'm a married woman."
"And a stubborn one, I gave you six months to bail out." He added, while lowering his sight away from hers.
"And in return I gave the same courtesy of waiting for my husband the same amount of time." She replied, slyly, tit for tat.
He frowned while swallowing a nervous lump in his throat, before taking slow calculated steps to reach her sitting position.
Caroline saw a couple of black post in front of her eyes. It was certainly not the time to pass out in front of him; she needed to keep her calm and assurance by all cost.
He reached her position in front of the trestle, before slowly raising his trembling hand near the scarf wrapped around her head.
She closed her eyes, unable to watch, unable to deal with the mixed, contradictory feelings that this man created in her heart, mind and soul.
He pulled on the extremity of the scarf, before removing the fabric around Carolina's head. She kept her eyes closed while hearing the pounding sound of her heart echoing in her ears.
"You cut your hair." He softly whispered with his breath touching her face.
She stood motionless, while feeling a range of goosepumbs hitting her entire body all at once, but without knowing if they were out of fear of excitement?
Klaus slowly raised his right hand near her short locks, before enrolling one around his finger. He took an extra step, while standing in a close proximity of her sitting position, before lowering his head, closing his eyes and smelling the perfume of her hair.
Breathe Carolina, breathe … She repeated to herself, in her mind, while closing her eyes and shaking like a leaf, which he rapidly noticed.
"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" He stammered the words, while detaching himself of his wife, like he had been burned by a raging fire.
"It's ok." She managed the respond, while reopening her eyes.
He turned his sight toward the canvas, while studying her work, before grabbing the other cupcake and biting into it.
"Don't, please … Really it's only a draft… I'm finishing level 1 at the art school and obviously, I still know nothing about drawing and painting." She mumbled the words, while rubbing her opened palms nervously on her lap.
"It's not that bad." Klaus responded, while studying her technic. "Did Elijah pay for the courses?" He suddenly asked, while finishing the cake in one last bite, and taking her off guard at the same time.
"Eh … What… Well, yes, he paid for the fees and the material." She replied, while blushing.
"I left you with credit cards and money." He responded, with a neutral tone, while still observing her work. "Why did you ask my brother?"
"Because you were not present for me to ask you, and I … I refused to use either of them while you were gone." She explained.
"When you make the outlines of your inanimate objects, you hold your brushes too strongly, which create a line that is too straight." He informed her, while changing radically the subject, before grabbing a brush in one of the color pot. "Give me your right hand, Carolina." He gently asked her, while creating a shiver in her spine at the sound of her name.
She raised her shaking right arm to him. He made her hold the brush with her right hand, while closing his fingers on hers, before placing himself behind the stool, his chest glued to her back.
"Let me direct your hand." He whispered the words near her right ear, the warm of his breath caressing her cheek.
Don't freak out, Carolina, don't freak out … She said silently to herself, while closing her eyes for a few seconds.
He directed her hands near the canvas before stroking the paint softly on the outlines.
"You see, if you paint in small touches instead of a straight line the effect is lighter, rounder, and more precise." He explained to her.
"Yes, I do see it." Carolina watched carefully the canvas in front of her sight, with a timid smile plastered on her lips. "I feel the difference with each stroke when you are directing me." She added, enthusiastically.
"With that technic you'll be able to give a three dimensional effect to your painting." He added to her.
She turned her head to the right, while being suddenly placed at a near inch of distance from his.
"Thank you." She mumbled the words, while holding her breath, her sight fixated on his lips.
He nodded his head, before suddenly releasing her hand from his own grip, and taking a few steps away from his wife.
"I'll take one of the guest suites. I'm tired, we'll talk tomorrow." He informed her, while grabbing his backpack and helmet on the table, before storming out of the art shop without another word.
Carolina buried her head in her shaking hands to help her regain her composure.
Klaus Mikaelson, "her" husband has finally returned home …
Thank you for reading "The return" guys, I'm beyond happy to be back in this story and I truly hope that you enjoyed this longer than usual chapter?
I would like to thank all of you, also, for your patience and kindness.
Until the next update,
Much love to all,
Lovely Vero
Thank you for all the anonymous reviews received, guys!
My answers are below.
Terry: Happy that the previous chapter had given you the chance to put your problem on the side for a short time of you reading it. I am sorry that you thought it was sad, though. This said I hope that after all this time, you're feeling better.
Guest: I could never forget this story, never. There are so many twists and surprises to come, don't ever worry about that.
Hey (Guest): Hahaha,That's what I did, and I came back with full energy to finally continue this story.
Justine: Ma chérie, merci encore mille fois pour ta présence. Klaus a fait ce geste car dans sa tête à lui, il lui semble que c'est la chose honorable à faire. Pour son frère, pas tant que cela … Mais Klaus se dit qu'il doit la laisser reprendre sa vie en main sans lui. Et bravo à toi d'avoir compris qu'il prend aussi du recul face à sa famille. En fait, et maintenant que tu as lu le présent chapitre, tu comprendras mieux pourquoi j'ai pris cette route. (LOL) Je ressens toujours ta grande passion pour Mikael, quand je l'écris, je t'ai en tête et je souris grandement. Alors, tu vas être surprise du comment elles sauront sur le vampirisme … En faits, tu risques d'être muette sur beaucoup de choses. Mais étant une de mes lectrices tu sais que j'ai toujours plus d'un tour dans mon sac! (Je te fais un clin d'œil).
Ilovetvd: He left her because in his head it is the honorable thing to do. Giving her the chance to sort all things out, and furthermore, knowing what she really wants. Sure! In the future I'll try to make some more bounding with Kol and Rebekah, if it suits the chapter. Don't mix TVD serie with this fiction. This one is an alternate universe, meaning no relation with the serie at all, if not only for the characters. This said it gives me the chance to write the characters as I wish, and to bring back characters that are normally dead in the serie.
Sissi: Thank you for the encouragement; I'm bringing all of me in this fiction.
Ines: Yes, the time off has recharged my batteries, thank you, very much, for your encouragement, it's highly appreciated.
Krystal Steel: It's so nice to know that your sisters are appreciating this storie, as much as you do, thank you, for letting me know. As for the characters, it's important for me to at least try my hardest for them to be the nearest of their true colors and soul.
VD: In my honest opinion, Kol is an under rated character in TVD/TO, and it is so sad that the producer/writers are not able to see that this character should be explored way more than what they did in the serie. Be confident (I'm winking at you), the separation of Klaus and Carolina was what will bring them together now. I've read your part about your view on the life of a writer on this site, and I applaud and appreciate so much that you've realized that it is not always an easy path.
Linda: You English is fine, sweetie, you can only learn it by practicing, never be ashamed of the effort you are making. I, myself, started at the bottom to grow each day. And as you can see I only took a bit more than a month to recharge my batteries. Thanks for the support.
Tammingoftheshre: As you can see, I came back (smile)! I am a person of integrity, when I say that I will come back, I keep my words. Now, don't be too harsh in your thinking over other writers who decided to quit a story or leave the site. To each their own road of discovery in life, the reason is maybe more deep that you could ever imagine. I know by experience that writing is a huge process of seeing the world with new eyes, sometimes it's nice, and sometimes it's hard. Yes! As you can see Klaroline will take a new direction as of now, be confident. Love you too!
Emmy: Nice to meet you! That is one of the things that I am always trying to achieve the most, is keeping the "aura"/persona of the characters intact in my stories. I've read your entire message, and I took it so much to heart, bless you!
AccolaMorgan: Thanks for starting to read this fiction and for the reviews that you had left, sweetie. You read it in one go, and I am always amazed and so thankful for the time that a reader gave to read my fiction, it's highly appreciated.
Taming of the sh: You're very kind to thank me and all the writers for our time, sweetie, it's highly appreciated. To tell you the truth, I lost interests in both series too, but I still love the Originals characters so much, I just imagine them being written differently. It's a joy to write Klaroline, Kalijha and Kennett, they have this amazing chemistry both visually and on paper, and if we can't have the fist, we'll have the second option!
Guest wrote: Constructive criticism isn't hate or personal attack. You are making your stories public so YOU are asking for people to review your work. Hate is unacceptable but it seems that you believe that when something is not praising your work then it equals hate. If this is taking such a toll on you then maybe you shouldn't be publishing your stories. I believe that you should keep writing and publishing but try to accept that people have their opinions and those opinions even if it is not what you want to hear can make you better. Just food for thought.
My response: You know I wanted to write a detailed response to your thoughts (review), but then I stopped myself, and realized: Why should I take precious time of my life to answer to someone who obviously has an "already made" / so low opinion of the writer and person that I am? Therefore, thanks for your input; but I'm sorry to say that I don't share your reasoning, because I value myself as a better person than your own vision of me. Nevertheless, and contrary to what you believe as being true, everything was duly noted. I wish you a good continuation of your own writing on this site, because something is telling me that under your anonymous presence, you must be a writer, if not, maybe you should experience before judging? Best continuation and good luck to you.
If I have forgotten someone in the responses to the anonymous reviews, it was not intentional, and I thank you for it!