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 …
Maria entered the parlor room, while humming a melody and directing her walking steps toward the bar, before grabbing a few dirty glasses to gather them on a silver tray.
She suddenly froze all her movements, her hand still holding a wet cloth, while instinctively feeling an intrusive presence in the room.
She turned on herself, before facing the man who was slowly stepping aside from the dark shadow of his standing position.
"Are you cleaning the Manor in the dark now, my dear?" Mikael Mikaelson asked, mockingly, while placing himself in front of the maid.
"Mister … Mister Mikaelson, I was not aware of your presence or unannounced visit?" She managed to let the polite greeting out of her mouth, while keeping her calm, before slowly raising her sight in the one of her husband.
"I wasn't aware that I needed a formal invitation to visit my son?" He arched an eyebrow, before gulping the alcohol and stretching his right arm to drop his empty glass on the platter, while brushing the skin of her arm in an almost unperceivable caress. "It's nice to see again, Maria." He whispered near her left ear, before drowning his sight in hers.
Chapter 16
"Game of chess"
Part 2
"I'm sure it was a mispronunciation from your part, and you actually meant "sons" in plural, mister Mikaelson?" Maria responded, tit for tat, while raising her chin and drowning her sight in the one of the arrogant man. "I believe you have two of them in this house?"
"Mm…" Mikael grinned, while slowly raising his right hand to slide a loose strand of Maria's hair behind her left ear. "You're always acting so maternal toward your employers, Maria, why is that? Did you ever wonder?" He asked, perniciously, while suddenly lowering his hand.
"It's in my personality to care about this mansion, and its occupants, Mister Mikaelson." She replied, dryly. "Consideration, empathy, and respect are integral part of the person that I am, I'm sorry if those qualities seem to be a problem for you."
"On the contrary, my dear, it's actually refreshing to see these said qualities in a "simple" maid." He replied, shrugging, while burying his hands in his trousers' pockets. "After all, you could simply do your cleaning and dusting tasks without adding your maternal inclination into the mix."
"I'm not inclined into becoming an egotistical individual; you'll have to excuse me." She replied, slyly, while nodding her head.
"Why do I have the distinct impression that we are not talking about you anymore?" Mikael questioned, while drowning his sight in his amnesic wife.
"I'm not quite sure what you're implying, Sir?" Maria replied, while swallowing a lump in her throat. "Now if you'll excuse-me, I'll go inform of your presence." She nodded her head in respect, while turning on her heels, before being held on her track, with a firm grip of Mikael' right hand on her left upper arm.
"Just for your personal knowledge, my dear, though I personally believe that you are already aware of my family history." Mikael mumbled, angrily, between his teeth. "Klaus is my ex-wife bastard's child; I will never consider him as one of my children. A whore who betrayed her husband deserves to have her child considered as such, would you say?"
Maria slowly raised her sight in the one of the patriarch, tears filling up her eyes.
"Maria, could you leave me and my father, in a private meeting?" They both heard the loud order coming from the entrance of the room, before turning their sights, simultaneously, toward Elijah, who stood over the threshold with his arms crossed over his chest, and his sight narrowed on them.
"Certainly, Sir, I'll leave you and your father, now." Maria replied, politely, while freeing herself from Mikael's grip.
The maid turned on her heels, before walking toward the exit of the room, while taking a last quick glimpse at her son, who nodded his head discreetly as reassurance gesture.
"You're very protective of your "maid" as I can see, Elijah?" Mikael mocked, while smirking, before taking a few walking steps in direction of the bar. "Can I offer you a Scotch, or is it too early in the morning for your etiquette standard, son?"
"It's a bit early in the day to drown your sins into alcohol, would you say, father?" Elijah replied, while closing the door behind him, before advancing into the room toward Mikael's standing position. "Or is it that you want to forget that you're entirely responsible for our mother's amnesia?" He added, dryly.
Mikael winced under the accusation, while raising the glass to his lips, before gulping its entire content.
"I think your mother is finding her new conditions of life pleasurable. When I put that spell on Esther to make her forget her past, and indiscretion, I actually did her a favor." He responded, with a vicious smile plastered on his lips. "A little bit of dusting, a little bit of cleaning. If it was not for her insufferable way of mothering all of you, even under her amnesia, she could actually be good at what she's doing." He shrugged, while pouring more Scotch into his glass.
"You raise your filthy hands once more on her, and I swear I'll find a way to burry you six feet under the ground, father!" Elijah mumbled, angrily, near Mikael's right ear.
"You always had a soft spot for her, Elijah; I wonder why to be honest? Except for the fact that she gave birth to you, she dishonored our family's name in the worst vicious way." Mikael responded, while tightening his right hand on his glass.
"She's our mother for God sake! You viciously took her free will away from her; you've destroyed the woman that she was for your own sick revenge!" Elijah busted into his father's face. "You've erased all the memory she had of all of us. What more could you want from her?"
"Look at you, the mighty Elijah Mikaelson acting all moralistic on his father!" Mikael exclaimed, while gesturing with his hands, before pacing back and forth, glass at hands. "But it shouldn't surprise me; should it? You apparently followed your mother's steps; a whore is sharing your bed after all."
"Don't you dare mention my wife … What have you become father?" Elijah exclaimed, in disdain, while nervously passing a hand through his tangled hair. "A wacked, sick man who's only purpose in life is to make his own family miserable!"
"Not our family!" Mikael yelled, while reaching Elijah's standing position before drowning his sight in his biological son. "The bastard your mother imposed on us!"
"You've met Ludvig, haven't you, father?" Elijah questioned, angrily, between his teeth. "And now you're enjoying a game of chess with that man, am I right?"
"Perhaps, who could say?" Mikael responded, a sadistic smile twisting the corners of his lips.
"Are you out of your mind?" Elijah complained. "Do you even realize that your little war with him could annihilate all vampires? Or are you so locked up in your game of power and revenge that this thought never even cross your mind?"
"You over-dramatized everything, Elijah." Mikael rolled his eyes. "Give Ludvig what he wants more in this world and he'll lower his defenses, and who knows, he'll even forget that he wants to conquer the supernatural world in the first place. You could even make a profitable deal with him. And what does he want more than anything? Niklaus and your mother, lucky for us, we have both!" Mikael replied, smirking.
"So, you want me to hand my brother and my mother to that man?" Elijah lashed out, while closing his fists in anger. "Never, father … We'll fight against him."
"You're a fool Elijah if you believe for one second that Niklaus will not side with his biological father at some point. Then, I hope you're ready for the lethal repercussions of your choice." Mikael replied, dryly, while directing his walking steps toward the room exit, before slamming the door behind his back.
Maria ran into the corridor, while leading her race toward the kitchen, a hand raised over her mouth, with tears as only companion of her turmoil.
"Maria?" Katerina called the maid's name, while pushing the swinging door, before entering the kitchen.
"Yes, Mrs. Katerina" Maria responded, while quickly recovering her calm, before passing the back of her right hand on her teary eyelids.
"What is it? What happened? Why are you crying?" Katerina asked those questions, while approaching the maid standing position, in front of the window. "I saw you run in the corridor, and I got worried?"
"What? Oh no, Mrs. Katerina, it's simply dust in my eyes, it's really nothing for you to worry about." Maria shook her head, while strengthening her shoulders and putting a fake smile on her lips. "What can I do for you, my dear?" She added, while courageously turning on herself to face the young woman, before drowning her sight in Katerina's.
"Maria, please, I want to help you?" The young woman begged, while grabbing both of the maid's hands. "I can see that something is bothering you, you're sad and upset… Could you tell me what is it?"
"It's more someone." Maria replied, while taking a deep breath into her lungs. "He's … He's here." Maria whispered, while lowering her head and sight.
"Who's here? Oh…. You mean, Mikael Mikaelson, their father… I mean your husband?" Katerina guessed, uncomfortable.
"He knows… I could swear that he knows something about the reason of my amnesia." Maria explained, before turning on her heels to face the exterior view through the window, while raising her hand over her chest. "I believe that … He could actually be the person responsible for the loss of my memory. He was so mean toward me, like he wanted to hurt the deepness of my soul.""
"I think it's a given that your husband must know what happened to you, if … If your sons and daughter protected you for so many years, while creating this false identity for yourself, and by keeping you by their sides, it's kind of obvious that they wanted to protect you from someone or something." Katerina analyzed, thoroughly. "And the fact that "he" is not standing by your side, is giving him away."
"Oh please, don't mention this "man" as "my husband", the simple thought of it gives me nausea." Maria rolled her eyes, a hand kept over her throat. "His arrogance is enough to make me throw up!"
"Well, he gives me nausea too, if it's any consolation." Katerina mentioned, while sliding her hands in the back pockets of her jeans, before addressing a timid smile to the maid. "You should talk to your sons; you should try to understand what happened to you, you should ask them the reason of your amnesia?"
"I can't, my dear. Not now that is … I need to figure things out by myself before even thinking of admitting to them that I know my true identity." Maria replied. "You're a sweet young woman; my son Elijah is the luckiest man to have you in his life. Both of my sons are… Your sister is a real angel too." She added, while raising her right hand to caress Katerina's left cheek.
"You should go lay down, Maria; I'll take care of the Manor for you." Katerina proposed. "You've been stressed out enough by this encounter with … With that man."
"It's out of the question, Mrs. Katerina, I need to … I mean, I have plenty of tasks to take care today." Maria responded, while nodding her head, while nervously passing her hands on her apron.
"As one of the ladies of this house, I'm telling you that it's an order, Maria, and I won't take no for an answer." Katerina replied, firmly.
"Well, my dear, if you use this bossy tone of voice, I suppose I can't refuse." Maria replied, before sweet kissing the young woman forehead. "I'll go lay down for a short moment."
"Just take the day off, Maria, would you?" Katerina suggested, before seeing the door close on the maid's back.
Maria was considered a mother to Katerina, and if necessary, she would fight closed fists and nails against anyone or anything that would hurt this woman…
Elijah entered the kitchen, his sight rapidly attracted by the sunlight reflecting on his wife hair.
"What are you doing here Красивый (beautiful), while standing alone in the kitchen, in front of the window?" Elijah asked Katerina, while reaching her standing position, before sliding his hands around her waist, his head tucked in the hollow of her left shoulder, his own sight lost in the blue sky, in tandem with hers.
"Nothing … Just thinking…" She answered him, before raising the back of her left hand to caress the roughness of his cheek. "You forgot to shave this morning, Mister Mikaelson." She mocked, gently.
"It's my new wife' fault, she kept me in bed all morning, she's kind of insatiable that one." He replied, scoffer, while nibbling on her earlobe. "But I can't complaint, because she is pleasuring me in more ways than one."
"Then you can consider yourself a lucky man." She lowered her flushed cheeks, a smile spreading on her lips.
"I know…" He whispered, before kissing the top of her head. "I'm the luckiest man alive."
"Your father, he ... I mean it's not my business…He was here and … Oh, forget it!" She stammered through her sentence, before closing her eyes and swallowing a lump in her throat.
"What is it?" Elijah asked, while grabbing his wife's chin and turning her head toward him, before drowning his sight in hers.
"He made Maria cry." She confessed. "I mean…. It's "Maria", how can someone make her cry?"
Elijah sighed loudly, while detaching himself and taking a few walking steps toward the kitchen island, before crossing his arms in front of his chest.
"I know, I witnessed it. My father is a troubled and lonely man, Katerina. He lives under his own set of rules. He has a lot of rancor and resentment inside of him, mostly caused by my brother Niklaus." Elijah confessed to his wife.
"You don't have to … I mean if you don't want to share…Or talk about it … I'll understand." She suggested.
"You're my wife; you deserve to be a part of this family. Just be aware that it could get ugly at any time in the future." He replied, while stroking his eyelids and leaning his back on the counter. "You know… Niklaus is my half-brother, he's the result of a love affair that our mother had in the past with another man."
"And your father never forgot your mother for her indiscretion, I suppose?" Katerina presumed.
"No, not lightly… He's even still resentful after all this time." Elijah replied, while passing a hand thought his hair. "And unfortunately, that makes him an arrogant man toward women in general."
"But isn't it also a proof that he had never stopped loving her, if he is still resentful of her sin after so many years, he's obviously in denial of his deep residual feelings toward your mother?" Katerina wondered. "Not that I am, by any means, excusing or forgiving your father for his bad behaviour, I'm sorry to say but I can't stand the man." She added, honestly, while lowering her flushed cheeks.
Elijah raised his sight in the one of his wife, a surprised expression plastered on his face.
"None insult taken, I kind of feel the same way toward him, and he's my father! I've never thought of him having any kind of residual feelings toward my mother, not in that romantic way, actually." He finally responded, while shrugging. "Is suppose the reason he is the most resentful would be this child that my mother had with another man, the ultimate betrayal as for his own say."
"If he was treating her badly, maybe she simply found comfort in another man's arms? And in result she bore Klaus in her womb?" Katerina added. "That doesn't mean she necessary had deep feelings for the other man, but she must have felt the same love for Klaus, that she felt for her other children, because it was still hers. How come your father never understood that part?"
"Because, Klaus wasn't "his", it's the oversized ego of a man, it's as simple as that…. My father is very set on the blood line." Elijah replied, nodding his head, while reaching his wife's position, before cupping her face and softly kissing her forehead.
"Where's your mother now, Elijah? Did she pass away? Is she still alive?" She asked, while closing her eyes and holding her breath. She could actually feel the beats of her racing heart hitting her chest. What could have possessed her to ask such specific question?
Elijah took a step back, before lowering his sight in Katerina's.
"She … I mean… The woman that we knew as my mother is not in this world anymore." Elijah finally admitted, distantly, while pushing himself away from his wife. "I have to go to my downtown office; you'll be alright by yourself today?"
Katerina nodded her head, discreetly, while watching her husband reach the door.
"Elijah?" She called his name.
"Mm…" He mumbled the sound, before turning on his heels and drowning his sight in his wife's.
"I'll be waiting for you." She said, a timid smile blessing her lips.
"It's actually something nice to hear, beautiful Katerina." He replied, smiling, before leaving the kitchen.
Bonnie finally reached the floor through the staircase, before walking toward her art class, while raising her sight on Kol. He was standing; his back turned to her sight, in front of a window, while burying his own on the parking lots.
"Hey?" She yelled several times, while being ignored by his silence, before bringing her two fingers between her lips to whistle.
Kol finally turned his head toward Bonnie's standing position.
"Your class is that way!" She informed him, while rolling her eyes and pointing toward the opposite direction into the corridor. "You do remember the one class you've asked me to sign you for?" She asked, while wondering why she cared so much about this man's whereabouts.
"Mm… Yes, whatever… Did you see Carolina yet?" He inquired, while scattering both sides of the corridor.
More than a thousand years on this earth, minus a few unnecessary daggering times, had made him a master of sniffing the danger in advance.
"What is your deal anyway?" Bonnie asked, while reaching his standing position. "Ok, granted that you are related to Caroline, somehow … Whom, by the way, if I may repeat, is an awesome girl, and I figure that I need to stay polite to you, but … If you had no intention of following an art class, why did you enrol into one?"
"Did you ever stop talking?" Kol asked, while narrowing his sight on a man, who was standing in front of the opened class door. Something about his all allure seemed "off" to him, if only for two factors: He seemed to have Scandinavian or Russian blood in his veins, and the fact that he was not able to hear the man's heartbeat was more than suspect to the Original.
"If I ever stop talking… Are you serious?" Bonnie exclaimed, in shock. "Oh, this is priceless! You, of all people, are asking "me" if I ever stop talking?!" She added with her closed fists placed on each side of her hips. "Are you kidding me? You've been stalking me none stop in the stairs. And now, you seemed indifferent for whatever reasons… Like why do I really care, I don't know, it's beyond me!?" She added, while rolling her eyes. "So, I'll make it easy for you and I'll leave you to your psychopathic attitude, have a nice life!"
"Shh…" Kol signed Bonnie to stay quiet, while placing a finger on his lips and one on hers.
"Did you just shush me?" She asked, indignant, while pushing his finger away. "No one can shush me, you, least of all people!"
"Yes, I obviously had to find a way to shut your big mouth, which is not working apparently!" Kol responded, annoyingly, while turning his sight back to the parking. "Finally, brother, it took you long enough!" Kol mumbled, angrily between his teeth, while staring at Klaus and Carolina through the window. "At least I know she's safe." He added to himself, while passing a hand through his tangled hair.
Bonnie approached the window, before taking a quick glimpse at the below street view.
"Is this Caroline's husband on the motorcycle?" Bonnie asked, while arching an eyebrow.
"Yes, it's my brother!" Kol replied, evasively, before noticing the insistent gaze of the brunette.
"Lord should have mercy on her soul! He's a hunk!" Bonnie exclaimed, her tongue hanging out of her mouth. "You go Caroline!"
"You're drooling!" Kol noticed, jealously.
"Well, yes, did you take a good look at your brother?" The brunette asked, with an arched eyebrow.
"Most of the time, I don't look at my brother, instead, I take a good look at my own beautiful reflection in the mirror." Kol replied, dryly. "Did you ever take a good look at what I had to offer?"
"Vaguely…" Bonnie responded, while lying through her teeth.
The strange man suddenly turned his steely gaze toward Kol, while drowning his dark eyes in his, it seemed neither one were giving their trust to the other.
"It's not like I'm interested in you anyway." The pretty liar shrugged.
"Shh…" Kol asked her to silence herself, once again.
"Did you shush me again, what's your problem anyway?" Bonnie asked, furiously, while waving a forbidden finger in front of his nose.
A female student approached the strange man, while addressing herself to him.
"Damn it, there's really no other way to silence you, is there?!" Kol mumbled, angrily, between his teeth, while grabbing Bonnie by the waist to pull her into his arms, before crashing his mouth on hers, under the young woman opened wide eyes and loud cry of protestation.
"Hi! Are you Alaric Saltzman?" The student asked the imposing man, politely.
"No." He replied, while shaking his head and avoiding her sight. "I'm a replacement for the day, how do you say it in English?"
"You mean an interim teacher?" The woman suggested.
"Yes." The man nodded. "That's what I am."
"Oh, I'm sorry … I hope everything is ok with Mister Saltzman?" The young woman insisted.
"I couldn't say." The man replied, evasively.
"You have an odd accent, where are you from?" The student questioned more, under the obvious eagerness of the interlocutor to get rid of this annoyance.
"It's Russian, I'm from Russia." The man replied, dryly, while pushing the young woman into the class room.
"I knew it!" Kol exclaimed, while detaching his lips from Bonnie's.
"What was that?" Bonnie asked, while grabbing his right forearm to keep her equilibrium, before raising her trembling right hand over her lips and lowering her flushed cheeks. "You … You can't kiss me like that… I did not ask for it…. It's … It's …" She stammered through her sentence.
"I hate what I'm about to do to you, especially after that kiss, but I have no other choices." He mumbled, angrily, to himself, before sighing loudly and grabbing both of Bonnie's shoulders, while drowning his sight into hers. "You'll go downstairs; you'll forget everything about the event prior to now, you'll remember me, but you won't mentioned our conversations to anyone, you'll find Carolina and you'll inform her that the course has been cancelled, do you hear me?" He compelled the young woman.
"Yes, I hear you." She responded, while obediently nodding her head, grabbing her books that she had left on the edge of the window, before turning on her heels and leaving his sigh.
"Damn!" He growled, before raising his sight toward one of Ludvig Petrov's man. I guess his expertise in bloody assassination was needed at the moment … Lucky for the students present in this class; they would get a day off without their interim teacher!
Klaus stopped the engine while parking the motorcycle on the left side of the street, in front of the London Art School.
"Still hanging tightly behind my back, Love?" Klaus teased, while undoing the attached of his helmet, before pulling it away from his head.
"You… You …" She stammered incoherently, while keeping her eyes shut, with her arms firmly wrapped around his waist.
"Yes? Are you in need of assistance, perhaps, Carolina?" He mocked more.
"You, you're a сумасшедший (mad man)!" She managed to let out the angry words out of her mouth, in her natal language, while trying to catch her breath and calm herself down. She finally reopened her eyes, while staring at Klaus's back. "I almost had a heart attack when you … When you raced that truck. Never do that to me again, do you hear me?" Carolina warned, under Klaus's laughter, while hitting her closed fists on his back. "And it's not funny!"
"Yes, wife, I shall obey." He agreed, while lowering his head, to hide his overgrown amusement. "But, may I say that you are the one who asked me to go faster, sweetheart?" He pushed the humorous note further.
"I've said: Could you go a little bit faster, I did not ask to risk my life on your motorcycle!" She mumbled, while jumping away from her sitting position on the two wheels vehicle, before raising her trembling hands to try to undo the strap of her helmet. "And…Argh…. I can't even undo this!" She stamped her feet on the sidewalk, while battling a way out of this imprisonment.
"Come here!" He ordered, while smirking and gently undoing the strap before removing her helmet under Carolina's sigh of relief. "You were safe with me; Love, I would never put you in any kind of danger on a motorcycle. I've been driving and racing one for years now. And, actually you kind of ask for it…" He contradicted her say, while suddenly imitating her tone of voice. "Oh, Klaus…. Faster, faster, it's exhilarating; I love every minute of it!"
Carolina narrowed her fiery sight on him, her arms firmly crossed over her chest, before lowering her flushed cheeks at his implied, under the spell of her over-wild erotic imagination, while being in his presence.
"I'm sorry; I meant it as … Just that you wanted to experience a faster ride on the motorcycle." Klaus rectified, while wincing and biting the inside of his cheek. Great Mikaelson, you made her uncomfortable once more… You and your big dirty mouth!
She raised her head, with a smile spreading from ear to ear, while biting her bottom lip, and sliding the tip of her tongue on its length, in a naughty, seductive way.
"Ok… I'll admit it … I liked it a lot, when you went faster." She confessed in a whisper, with adrenaline sparks coming out of her eyes. "If we would have been on a country road, and not in the center of London, I would have probably asked you to go much…Much…Much… faster." She winked at him.
Did she have any idea how erotic she sounded just now?
"Well, well, Mrs. Mikaelson, aren't you a little sexy thing full of surprise." Klaus mocked, while raising his right hand to place a strand of her short curls away from her face, by sliding it behind her left ear. "It's the helmet… I mean … It tangled your hair." He explained, shyly, while lowering his hand on his lap, before coughing discreetly. This young human woman was reaching parts of his soul that he couldn't even start to explain to himself… "Shyness" had even never been a word in his vocabulary!
Carolina suddenly felt the stares of several female students narrowed on Klaus, while also noticing that a few of them were waving their hands at him on their way to school, while others were smiling seductively at her husband … "hers"! How dare they? If those women wanted to find themselves a boyfriend they'll have to find it elsewhere!
"What is it?" Klaus asked the young Russian, while noticing her frowning. "Is there something wrong, did I do something to upset you?" He inquired, agitated, while grabbing her left hand in his.
"Nothing, I assure you." She replied, defenceless, while shaking her right hand in a dismissal gesture.
"Carolina, talk to me, Love?" He suggested, gently, while grabbing her chin and raising her head, before drowning his sight in hers.
"They're looking at you." She shrugged, mostly annoyed. "I don't like it a bit!"
"Eh… Could you be more specific, I don't quite follow, sweetheart?" He wondered, dumbfounded.
"Like you don't see them?" She sighed, angrily, while pouting and crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Они глупы !" She busted in Russian.
"They are stupid?" Klaus repeated in English. "Who are you talking about? Oh!" He finally noticed, while lowering his head to hide his laughter.
"Don't you dare laugh at me again?" She pointed a finger at him. "I feel uncomfortable; they look at you like you're a piece of meat!" She added.
"They're not looking at me, Love; they're looking at my motorcycle. It's the "bad boy" effect syndrome." He shrugged. "Furthermore, Love; none of them was the lucky "girl" who had the privilege to paint my glorious naked-self last night." He added, mocker.
"Shh…" Carolina shushed her husband, while lowering her flushed cheeks. "Lower your voice, it's nobody' business but ours!"
"I couldn't agree more and I couldn't care less about all of them." He smiled.
"But, you could, if you wanted to …" She shrugged. "They certainly seem interested in much more than your motorcycle." She noticed, uncomfortable.
"No, I couldn't, I wouldn't, and I'm not remotely interested in any of those girls! You know why?" He asked her.
She shook her head, while staring into his deep blue eyes.
"It's simple…really, because I only have eyes for this blonde bombshell who's "my wife"." He replied, truthful, while surprisingly grabbing both of her wrists. He pulled her in his arms, while sitting Carolina's on his lap, with his right hand firmly placed at the base of her neck, before crashing his mouth on hers.
She startled at the touch of his hard lips on her trembling ones, before slowly raising her hands on his chest, higher at the best of his neck, while burying her fingers in Klaus's hair.
He groaned with pleasure at her enthusiastic response, while nibbling on her bottom lip, before intensifying their sensual exchange by sliding his wandering tongue inside her heavenly mouth, under her loud moan of pleasure.
"There…" He mouthed the words on Carolina's trembling lips, before detaching slowly himself from their embrace, while still keeping his hands around her waist. "Now they know to whom I belong." He added, while murmuring the words seductively near her left ear.
She detached herself from her husband's embrace, before slowly raising her trembling eyelashes, while standing on the sidewalk with her eyes buried in his.
"And one day, I'll go faster…Much … Much…Faster… on my motorcycle, just for you." He smirked, while replacing his helmet on his head. "You'll be ok at school today, Love?"
"Yes." She nodded, with a smile blessing her lips. "Will … Will I see you at the art shop tonight? I mean, at home? I mean … I … I need to finish the assignment." She stammered, nervously, through her sentence.
"My wife wants to see me naked? Where else would I be!" He responded, while winking at Carolina, before starting the engine and leaving her sight on a grinding tire.
After Elijah's departure, Katerina had found herself busy while giving a helping hand to Maria by taking care of her daily tasks and putting away the breakfast dirty dishes in the dishwasher. The sort of luxury that she had never been accustom to owning in her natal country. Hers and Carolina's life had certainly changed the past few months … Nothing was as it used to be for them. And sometimes, the bare thought of it was shaking the young woman at the roots of her soul.
She suddenly remembered that she had not picked up the few remaining dirty dishes and glasses scattered in a few of the manor's downstairs rooms. She grabbed a small set of headphones, before sliding them into her ears, while listening to pop Russian music and strolling through the few corridors to pick up the few unclean dishes and glasses she could find.
If this "alone time" at taking care of those tasks could put Katerina's present worries at ease, she would be grateful. She had no idea how she felt in regard of the reconciliation of her sister with Klaus, but as respect for her own husband and siblings, she needed to let go of her resentment and just detached herself of Carolina's marital problem. Plus, as much as she hated to admit it, she was starting to understand a little bit more the dynamic of Elijah's dysfunctional family, and the outsider's part, Klaus had to play in all of this. It was still no excuse for his attitude, but she was more willing to understand his background as the black sheep of the family, and to give him a chance for redemption. Unfortunately, the same regard couldn't be given to their father, Mikael Mikaelson. Katerina disliked the man with all that she got inside of her, and her suspicion that he could have been responsible of Maria's amnesia wasn't helping her aversion for the man.
Oddly enough Elijah's office door was half opened when she quickly passed in front of the room, before retracing her steps and standing over the threshold, while biting her fingers' nails. What was she supposed to do? She had promised to not enter her husband study room in his absence? But a few empty dirty glasses and a cup was sporadically placed on several furniture.
She shrugged her shoulders while taking a glimpse into both sides of the corridor. Who would know after all? She entered the office, before grabbing the few glasses, while placing them on a platter. She finally reached his desktop and strengthened her right arm to grab the empty cup, before lowering her sight on the object.
She suddenly blenched, while remaining motionless, before hearing her heartbeats rose dangerously in her chest. She raised her shaking left hand into the cup, before wiping its inside and raising her finger to her lips to taste it, and assure herself that it wasn't her mind playing trick on her.
The next thing that was heard in the silence of the room was the shrill sound of the cup breaking in pieces on the wooden floor…
Russia, Moscow, a few months earlier…
Katherine had been pushed inside a limousine, before being blinded and drove toward the final destination of this secret meeting set by the agency. And now, under her fear she was realizing that she should have said no to this "invitation" to escort a wealthy man to a masquerade ball. Her entire and most discretion had been required from her part as to never divulge the name of this mystery man. How many of escort girls had been killed this way in Moscow the past few weeks? It was all over the newspapers. They were found on the side of the route, while being drained out of their blood. Several individuals would even go as far as bringing vampires urban legend as to explain their deaths… Though, Karolina knew better as naming the "vampires" an urban legend … Without knowing the specifics of their existence, she knew they were real as it get, she had known for a long time, but had kept quiet under the secrecy of her work.
Unfortunately for her, she had been acting irrationally lately, while only thinking of the generous amount of money attached to the contract, and pushing aside her own safety. But now she was probably been driven to her own death … What would happened to her sister Carolina if something would happen to her? But, perhaps she would never have to ask that question again… The marital agency had contacted her… She would finally find a husband for her sister, if only she could make it through the night?!
The limousine finally reached its destination. She was pulled out of the vehicle; by a firm grip on her right upper arm, before, for what she could feel by her other senses, being escorted inside a large home, into several corridors, and finally being unblended and pushed inside a warm, cozy, luxurious room, with as only noises the rattle of the logs in the fireplace and the door being slam in her back.
She held her breath under the raising beats of her heart, while grabbing the top of an armchair to held her equilibrium.
"You'll have to excuse the bad manners of my guard молодая женщина (young woman). He obviously needs to learn how to act gentlemanly in front of a lady." An imposing Russian man addressed himself to Katerina, while pushing himself away from the penumbra of the room, where he was hiding himself.
"You… You speak English?" She stammered, in surprise, while sliding her sight on her client.
"да (yes)! So do you?" The man replied, smiling, while directing his steps toward a console bar. "Can I offer you a drink my dear?" He offered, politely.
"I don't know if… I mean yes. Are you Ludvig Petrov?" Katerina asked the mysterious man. "I just want to be certain."
"Obviously, I am." He responded, while pouring Katerina a Brandy, before pouring a much ticker, much reddish substance in his own.
Katerina let out a small cry, before raising her right shaking hand in front of her mouth to silence her exclamation of surprise.
Ludvig Petrov turned his sight toward the young woman, while arching an eyebrow and advancing toward Katerina's standing position, before handing the glass to the Russian.
"They assured me that you knew about our vampires' specie?" Ludvig inquired, while taking a sitting position in a leather sofa.
"Yes, I know about vampires… I mean, I've escorted one man once … I mean, one man like your kind in the past." She stammered her answer, while nervously swallowing a lump in her throat. "I can assure you that I've always kept my silence about … About your existence."
"Let me reassure you: I won't harm you in any way, I give you my words. Now, please, take a seat?" He suggested to her, while pointing toward the armchair.
Katerina sat on the armchair, while holding her glass of Brandy with both hands to give her reassurance.
"What do you know about "us"?" Ludivg asked, while slowly gulping the blood from his glass.
"Not much, I can assure you." Katerina replied, truthfully, while shaking her head.
"You know what this is?" Ludivg asked the young woman, while raising his glass.
She nodded discreetly, while lowering her flushed cheek away from his insistent gaze.
"We need to drink blood to keep us alive now, it's the only way." He explained. "Have you ever been scared of blood?"
"Not particularly … But, it's not in my daily diet for say." She shrugged, mostly disgusted.
Ludvig Petroc titled his head toward the back, before bursting out laughing.
"Oh my dear, aren't you a breath of fresh air in this mad world?" He exclaimed, while striking his teary eyelids.
"Listen, I just … I don't want to die, I have a sister … And this was supposed to be one of my last contracts, I want to get out of the escorts business … So, I can accompany you to the ball, or whatever you want to do, but … Please, let me go afterward, my sister needs me…I beg you!" She pledged him to keep her alive, while keeping her sight lock with the Russian man's.
"I gave you my words that I wouldn't hurt a single hair on your head. I'm a man of honor." Ludvig responded, while nodding his head. "What is your name?"
"Sylvia." Katerina responded, while keeping her real identity a secret.
"I want your real name, my dear?" Ludvig insisted.
"We can't … I mean we are asked to never give away our real names." She responded, truthfully.
"What if I would tell you that Ludvig Petrov is not my real name? It's one that I've appropriated to myself. Would this help? My real name is actually: Valdemar." He presented himself, solemnly, for the second time in less than ten minutes.
"Viking related?" She exclaimed, surprised.
"You're not only beautiful; you're extremely intelligent as well." Ludvig noticed, proudly.
"I'm Katerina," She responded, shyly, while smiling timidly. "Do we need to lead ourselves toward the masquerade ball? Or was it a discreet lie to describe consenting sexual intercourse between an escort and her client?" Katerina asked, point blank.
"Well, it's nice to meet you beautiful and "direct to the point", Katerina." Ludivg nodded, smirking. "Now, you don't need to worry, I have no intention to get intimate with you, now or later in the evening."
Katerina let out a sigh of relief, while closing her eyes…God was with her!
"Or making me drank blood, or killing me at the end of the evening?" She asked, with suspicion.
"Or to make you drank blood, or to kill you at the end of the evening!" Ludvig responded, with laughter. "No my dear, there's actually a real masquerade ball, mostly attended by vampires and a few humans who are aware of our existence, that's why I needed an escort like yourself." He reassured her, once more, before rising on his legs and calling his guard in Russian. "Bring this young woman to her quarter." He ordered the man, when he entered the room, before turning his sight toward Katerina. "He'll escort you to your bedroom, where you'll be able to change into your masquerade ball gown."
"Thank you." Katerina smiled, shyly, while following the Russian guard.
"No, it's me who's thanking you, beautiful Katerina." Ludivg nodded his head, while watching her leave the room.
Checkmate! He thought while smiling heavenly …
The eldest of the Originals' siblings was sitting in front of his office desk, his brother Klaus placed on his left side, with his back leaning on the panoramic window, and his arms crossed over his chest. The youngest of his brother, Kol, was sitting on an armchair in front of his sight, when the two others accomplices made their entrances.
"Elijah don't you send this lunatic after me, as my watch dog, ever again!" Rebekah exclaimed, angrily, while entering the perimeter of his downtown office, with Stefan Salvatore on her heels.
"Oh don't you worry, taming of the shrew, I prefer having both of my hands emerged in an aquarium filled with piranhas, than ever being asked to watch over Princess Cruella Deville ever again!" Stefan mumbled, angrily, between his teeth.
"Ouch! That was mean of him, sister!" Kol mocked. "You should, perhaps, turn Salvatore into food for werewolves?!"
"Oh shut up, Mikaelson!" Salvatore warned the youngest of the Originals, before taking his sitting position in front of Elijah's desk.
"I was actually thinking about it. What's up brother?" Rebekah addressed a smile at Kol. "Kiss, kiss!" She blew a few in his direction.
"I kiss- kiss you back, darling!" Kol replied, scoffer.
"Oh dear God, if this is even possible!" Salvatore complained, while stroking his eyelids.
"You know it's not because you're miserable and have the worst hair cut in the entire world… No, wait… Make it the entire galaxy that you have to be jealous of the strong love uniting my family." Kol raised his feet on Elijah's desktop.
"Kol put your feet away from my desktop!" Elijah warned his youngest brother.
"Hahaha… Is this a joke, Kol? You have the most dysfunctional family in the universe!" Stefan grinned.
"He's simply jealous." Rebekah responded, before pulling a lime polish from her handbag and starting to file her nails. "No wonder he's still hung up on me." She shrugged.
"Now, Rebekah, please… Give me a little more credit than that … You think that I am on crack or something, and would want to even touch you with a ten feet pole of distance!" Stefan titled his head toward the back before bursting into laughter.
"Enough!" Klaus yelled, before covering his eyes with his right hand. "You're acting like children in a day care center!"
"See I always knew that Stefan should wear a diaper and a pacifier!" Kol giggled.
"Kol! You're feet!" Elijah repeated, while pushing his brother's boots away from his desktop.
"You know it's almost comical coming from you, my dear Klaus." Rebekah rolled her eyes. "So, why did you send "Tarzan" Salvatore after me?" Rebekah asked her two eldest brothers.
"We need to discuss with you, a common enemy, Rebekah." Elijah started explaining.
Rebekah lowered her head, before bursting into laughter.
"Oh, the holiness, Elijah Mikaelson is including me in this "macho" meeting. I should be touched and forever be grateful? Let me grab a handkerchief to shed a tear." She gestured, while pulling one from her handbag, as a theatrical gesture.
"Rebekah, I don't have time for your display of immaturity!" Elijah warned her.
"My immaturity is telling you very politely to screw yourself, Elijah!" She replied, with an arch eyebrow, under the speechless expression of the eldest. "Let me indulge all of your testosterones, with a "bit" of my knowledge." She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "A man named Ludvig Petrov is presently building an army of hybrids in Russia, and northern Europe, putting in danger the line of vampires that we have created firsthand. Do you have something to add?"
"Impressive, sister!" Klaus mentioned, with a smile twisting the corners of his lips. "Did you inform her forehand of this, Salvatore?"
"Nope…" Stefan swore, truthfully.
"I've told you that my delightful sister was not the idiot that you thought she was." Kol smirked, while being proud of his own deduction.
"What? They said I was an idiot?" Rebekah exclaimed in shock, while wincing.
"Well, not in this unflattering word, of course, darling!" Kol mocked more.
"Then you know why we need to stay in close proximity from each other." Elijah added, while rising on his legs from his siting position behind the desk, with his hands now buried in his trousers' front pockets.
"I figured that much when you have send "Indiana Jones" after me." She took a glimpse at Stefan.
"Can I at least be respected for saving your pathetic life at the airport?" Stefan asked the Original.
"Oh please, you were a simple diversion and nothing more; I could have so easily escaped from that "want-to-be" hybrid in the ladies restrooms." She rolled her eyes.
"You were attacked?" Klaus asked, suspiciously.
"She was attacked by this mutant gene of hybrid that your father is creating." Stefan replied, while nodding his head.
"His Father… What does Salvatore mean by that?" Rebekah asked Elijah, with a speechless expression plastered on her face.
"Ludvig Petrov is what we believe to be: Klaus's biological father, Rebekah." Elijah informed his sister.
"Oh shit!" Rebekah exclaimed, while raising her hand over her mouth. "This complicates a few things, is it?!"
"Well, I had to get rid of one of those mutants, myself, this morning." Kol nodded his head, proudly.
"What do you mean this morning, at the art school?" Klaus questioned, nervously, while reaching Kol's sitting position.
"Well, I believe it occurred when you were playing cowboys and Indians on your motorcycle with your wife." Kol explained, smirking.
"I've said to bring her flowers, did you even listen?" Elijah mocked Klaus, with a smile twisting the corners of his lips.
"I brought her flowers, but she wanted a ride on my motorcycle." Klaus shrugged, while lowering his flushed cheeks.
"So, I was saying, while you were playing Don Juan to your wife, I was trying to save her ass. But, don't worry, I send Carolina back home, after taking care of this "Kojac" hybrid of a man." Kol rolled his eyes. "And I had to compel Bonnie, one of your wife's friends, to forget about a kiss that we've shared, which was really disturbing considering my skill in that area of expertise."
"Oh just shut up, Kol, I'm going to throw up!" Stefan complained, while burying his head in his hands.
"Shut up yourself, Salvatore!" Kol busted at the vampire.
"What was that man doing in the art school?" Klaus questioned, furthermore.
"Apparently, he was filling the shoes of their teacher for the art class." Kol shrugged. "The moment I've perceived a lack of heartbeats, and a Russian accent, there was no need to be a genius to figure the rest."
"So …" Elijah exclaimed, while rubbing his chin and pacing back and forth in front of his visitors. "Klau's biological father is already on our tails, and ours knew about that fact."
"Mikael came to the house?" Klaus blenched, while asking and swallowing a lump in his throat.
"Yes, he came this morning and he, somehow, disturbed Maria at the same time." Elijah responded, evasively.
"Mother… Is she ok?" Rebekah asked, mostly concerned.
"She's fine, nothing unusual to worry about." Elijah dismissed the subject with a hand gesture.
"What our delightful patriarch wanted this time?" Kol asked, suspiciously.
"Well, for him the easy solution is to hand Klaus and our mother to Ludvig." Elijah responded.
"He makes his spring cleaning as I can see?" Stefan mocked. "People that have no more purpose in his life can be thrown into the enemy gob!"
"I'll hand my mother over my ashes, Elijah!" Klaus mumbled, angrily, between his teeth.
"It's pretty much the same idea I gave to him with my answer, brother." Elijah reassured him. "No need to worry."
"What do we do now?" Kol asked.
"We regroup and we keep our eyes and ears opened, while keeping Maria and our wives safe. Ludvig Petrov is meant to make a move sooner than later, in the next days or weeks." Elijah responded, while reaching the window, before burying his sight in the large panorama of London.
The "Big-Bang" clock in the parlor room had ringed its seven strokes on what seemed to predict a quiet evening in the manor.
Carolina let a smile spread on her lips while hearing the door of the art shop being closed on its arch. She was sitting on a wooden stool placed in front of the canvas of her unfinished headless nude model assignment. She had changed her clothes for a pink pair of sweat-pants and a large white t-shirt that denuded the roundness of her shoulders, with several ring toes place on her bare feet as only accessories.
"We won't take any chances this time, Love; I've locked the door in case Maria would snoop in here." Klaus mocked, while walking in direction of Carolina's sitting position, before handing a wrapped gift to her.
"What is it?" She asked, surprised, while grabbing the present in from his hands.
"It's a gift from me … To you." Klaus replied, a timid smile raising the corners of his lips.
"I … I don't need anything, Klaus; I'm content with what I have and as I am now." She shook her head, while handing it back to him.
"I know you are… But…" He replied, while pushing the gift back in her hands. "If I can't spoil you with expensive jewelleries, diamonds or Designers' clothes… At least let me spoil you this way." He arched an eyebrow, hopeful.
She un-wrapped the gift of his silk paper, because grabbing the paint brush engraved on the handle with her initials "C.P.M." – Carolina Petrova Mikaelson.
"This… This specific brush cost a fortune." She exclaimed, in shock, with a smile from ear to ear, while caressing the bristles in excitement.
"Sometimes if you want to become the best, you need the best tools." Klaus replied. "Please, accept it?"
Carolina raised her sight in the one of her husband, while excitedly stepping away from the stool, before rising on her toes to leave a sweet kiss on his parted lips. "Thank you, I love it." She whispered, before lowering her flushed cheeks and taking a step back from this unexpected embrace.
"You're welcome, Love." Klaus replied to her, smiling, while turning on his heels and raising his Henley long sleeves t-shirt above his head, before throwing it on a hook placed on the wall. "Do you want the same position as yesterday?" He inquired.
"Please." She confirmed, while passing the tip of tongue on her bottom lip, with her fiery sight sliding on his muscular chest and back.
"How was your day at school?" The hybrid inquired with his back turned to his wife, while undoing his leather waist bell.
"Well, my husband brought me on his motorcycle, with a crowd of groupies who was waiting on the sidewalk for his arrival, then he kissed me goodbye, while marking his territory." She teased, while taking her sitting position back.
"I meant afterward." He let a laughter sound out of his mouth, while dropping his pair of jeans on the floor. "Still hung up on the groupies' part, aren't you?"
"I don't like to share what is mine … I mean … Not that I think that I owe you in any way, shape or form…" She stammered, with heated cheeks. "Oh God, please forget what I've just said." She begged, while raising her right hand on her chest, over her racing heartbeats.
"I don't like to share either…Especially not "my" wife!" He raised his head to take a glimpse a Carolina, while pushing his boxer on his feet. "So, how was your day, Love?"
She raised her sight over the tripod and the canvas, while slowly sliding her eyes on Klaus's naked body. God have mercy on her pour soul … But mostly on her poor heated body! She could feel emerging in her womb; a fire that she wasn't sure could be extinguished so easily this time.
"Nothing actually, the course was annulled, apparently, the interim teacher was nowhere to be find?" She shrugged. "My friend Bonnie informed me and we just took a quick breakfast together at a near coffee shop."
"That's kind of peculiar? I hope nothing happened to him? Well; at least it gave you the day off I suppose." Klaus replied, while lowering his devious smile. "I'm happy you're making friends." He added, truthfully, while taking his previous pose as the designated model.
"Bonnie is American actually, she's here to study art, like myself." She informed him, while concentrating in her painting task at hands. "She's a nice girl."
"Invite her to the Manor if you wish." Klaus shrugged.
"Can I? I mean … It's "your" home, and…" She couldn't do without asking his permission.
"Do you have to ask?" Klaus arched an eyebrow, before narrowing his sigh on his wife, while crossing his arms over his chest. No words where necessary to unscrambled his message of disapproval toward her way of thinking.
Yes, hubby, it's my home too and I'll invite her! She thought while shaking her head to him, obediently, before biting her bottom lip to forbid her to burst into laughter.
"I'm done!" She exclaimed, proudly, while stretching both of her arms above her head.
Klaus grabbed his pair of jeans, while sliding them on his legs, commando style, before walking toward her sitting position.
"Not bad!" He exclaimed, smirking, while taking a look at her technic and lines.
"Only: Not bad?" She lost her smile, while pouting and crossing her arms in front of her chest. Granted, she had a lot of work in front of her to reach the status of real artist.
"Are you bribing the teacher for a higher grade, Mrs. Mikaelson?" He whispered, teasingly, while placing himself behind the stool, with his naked chest glued on her back and his hands slowly encircling her waist.
The heat that his too close proximity was creating in her entire body was almost unbearable to endure at this present moment.
"Maybe…" She responded, breathless, while closing her eyes. "But you're not my teacher, you're my model." She pointed out.
"And what would you offer to obtain a better grade?" He inquired, playfully, while softly nibbling on left earlobe. "What if I'll become your teacher, could you handle it?" He asked more, while lowering his manly lips on the left side of her neck, down on the hollow of her bare shoulder, while raising his hands underneath her t-shirt to caress her skin. "I could teach you a lot of different things, Love."
Carolina let out a cry of surprise, while being left under this burning and intense desire to give her entire self to her husband.
"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to scare you… Damn it!" He mumbled, angrily, between his teeth, while pushing himself away from their embrace, before nervously passing a hand through his tangled hair.
"Klaus, it is ok….Please, look at me?" He heard the soft whisper of Carolina's voice calling his name, before slowly raising his sight on his wife.
She stood on her feet, while passing her t-shirt above her head, dropping the cotton fabric on the concrete floor, before standing chest naked in front of his fiery sight.
"It's… It's too soon, sweetheart… It's my fault, I'm sending you mix signals all the time…" He stammered the words of his sentence, while shaking his head. "Please, dress yourself?"
He needed to protect Carolina from himself…He needed to go slow; while considering her needs and not his own selfishness … He needed to slowly gain her trust back… He could only try to convince himself, while sliding his sight on her silky white skin, on her perfect breasts, her slim waist …
"Please, let me be the judge of that?" She begged, while taking a few steps to reach her husband's standing position, with her sight still drowned in his.
She slowly grabbed both of his hands in hers, before softly kissing the inside of his wrists, sliding her sensual lips on their palms, while creating a range of delightful shivers in his spine.
"Do you know what you're doing to me, Carolina? You're a temptress of my naughtiest desire… I want you so much!" He closed his eyes, while trying to gain strength in himself.
"And I want my husband's hands on my body." She confessed, with her vision blurred by her own wild desire of him, before placing Klaus's opened palms on her naked breasts.
The hybrid let a deep bestial growl out of his throat, before cupping the forbidding fruits offered to his eyes, while stroking their hard nipples with the tips of his thumbs under Carolina's loud cry of pleasure.
He closed his eyes, left under a range of intense turmoil, within himself, before lowering his chin on her head and slowly sliding both of his hands on her naked back, lower on her behind, before raising the young woman in his arms, with her legs firmly wrapped around his waist. He carried her to the work table, before sitting Carolina on its wood.
"I'm not deserving of you, of this …" He tried to convince his wife, but mostly himself.
He lowered his manly lips on the deep valley between her swollen breasts, her hips and pelvic kept on an erotic motion with a firm grip of his hands, before soaking one nipple in the warmth of his mouth, while stroking his hard tip with his tongue. He, then, grabbed two hands full of the roundness of her buttock, while sliding his wandering fingers underneath the elastic of her lace panties, by creating an unbearable friction of her burning and wet core on his hard erection.
"Klaus…" She cried his name, before burying her fingers in the thickness of his hair, while grabbing and softly caressing his locks.
"No, no … I can't!" He mumbled, angrily, between his teeth. "I don't want to hurt you… You're everything to me, Love." He confessed, before pushing himself away from her.
"You won't hurt me! We are passed that …Klaus look at me?" She tried to encourage him, while crossing her arms in front of her naked chest.
"I can't, Carolina … I'm… I'm afraid for you, and I hate feeling this way!" He stammered, while turning his back to his wife. "Just go, please?"
Carolina rose on her shaking legs, before bending her upper body forward, while grabbing her t-shirt left on the floor to dress herself. She, then, courageously, walked toward the art shop door, before grabbing the door handle, while lowering her head on the wood panel, closing her eyes and taking deep breaths into her lungs.
"I'll wait for you in the bedroom; if we can't passed this, we're doomed to ever be together. It's hard for me too, so hard … But, I'm willing to try, because I want you. At the end…It will be your decision to surpass your own demons or to let them kill you, Klaus." She admitted, before turning the handle and slamming the door on its arch and on her husband speechless facial expression.
Elijah entered the penumbra of his bedroom suite, before noticing Katerina standing position in front of the bay window, with her arms firmly crossed in front of her chest, and her sight drown into the darkness of the night.
"I'm sorry, beautiful; I've been retained at the office for an urgent matter. How's Maria, is she better?" He informed and questioned the brunette at the same time, while getting rid of his jacket, dropping it on an armchair and pulling on his tie, before suddenly holding his pace while noticing her silence. "Katerina?" He called, suspiciously, while frowning and approaching the young woman, before noticing the pieces of a broken cup on a side table.
"What happened?" He asked, incredulous. "What is this? Did you hurt yourself?"
She slowly turned on herself, while drowning her icy glance in his.
"It's a broken cup that used to be filled with blood." She responded, dryly, under the speechless expression of her husband. "How long were you planning to keep the secret of your vampirism from me? How long would I have been kept in the dark, Elijah?"
Thank you for reading the "Game of chess – Part 2" chapter!
One major cliff-hanger for you, my readers, I hope this will satisfy you until the next update ;)
Heading toward the saga of "The Port of Love" now …Until the next update,
Much love to all of you guys!
Lovely Vero
Thank you for all the anonymous reviews received, guys!
My answers are below.
Taming of the sh: Hi sweetie! I'll have to, respectfully, disagree with your say in the last review. And that is quite alright, what is the point to a healthy exchange if not to disagree from time to time ;) The relevance of the past chapter in relation of Klaus and Caroline ambivalent relationship was probably the most difficult, pertinent, important part that had been written in this story since the first chapter of "Sweet Kisses from Russia". To take your own words, the "human" that I am, gave 200% of herself in that particular chapter, and it was probably the "hardest" psychological part that I had to write since the beginning. I even discussed that subject with a few of my close writer's friends. I can honestly assure you that I was not "sleeping" or "taking it easy" while writing the past chapter. Unfortunately, if it was not to the standard or pace of actions that you usually need to enjoy a story, maybe this fiction is not suitable for you? I'm sorry, but I can't give more than what I gave before, give now, and will be giving in the future. With the time that I pass writing three different fictions (which are oftentimes, long chapters), with the same characters (which is not always easy!), while, contrary to what you're thinking, always giving 200% of myself, which I hope is showing in the quality of the fictions I give to the readers, and taking the time in top of everything to "always" answer all of my reviewers, in the middle of my personal life (which is quite hectic at the moment), it's the term "super woman" that you should have used (lol) and not the term "only human".
Mocha: Sweetie, if only you knew how much I love coffee and cakes, you'll know how adorable I find your guest name ;) – Thanks for appreciating the past chapter so much, it's always so nice to hear it from the readers.
IloveTvd: Sweetie, I'm not sure if I understood your question the right way, but I'll try to answer it. Why is Caroline pushing Klaus away after they had put their cards on the table? Well, you know, the mental and the body are two different things. She feels safer in his proximity, but she still needs to cross the picket fence to give him another chance. It's not easy for her, because her body is still resentful of his actions, when her mind wants to cross the invisible line. And she finally did with this present chapter. As for Maria/Esther, I'm sure this chapter gave you some answers. Ingrid is her birth name, her "Viking" name, if I can express myself this way, in lack of better term. Later on, she took the name of Esther, as a more modern twist, that is why Ludvig is calling her Ingrid, because it's the name she used to have one thousand years ago (in the past).
Celine: First off, thanks, sweetie, for your appreciation of this story and your wonderful enthusiasm about it, it's highly appreciated. As for your concerns about the German, I've send all your complaints to "Google Translate"… LOL … No, I am not German by any means, though I'm European by birth (Belgium is actually my country). If, sometimes, I put a bit of an additional flavor into one of my chapters, it is absolutely there without any pretention of my part, and I can only use the tools in my disposition to give a bit of a folklore note. So don't take too much notice about it, I would never in a million years write a fiction in German without knowing a good base of the language. If this was the case, I would call you for the entire translation of the story ;) So, bad, bad, bad… "Google Translate"! lol ;)
Special mention to Marie who left me a review on the "Seven Dates" fiction: Hey sweetie, usually I don't respond to reviews left on my other completed fictions, but yours was so thoughtful and sweet, and furthermore, was including all my stories, that I wanted to take time to thank you for your kind words and support.
If I have forgotten someone in the responses to the anonymous reviews, it was not intentional, and I thank you for it!