They drove for several hours, only stopping for fuel when needed. Elena slept the majority of the way, finally waking up as they drove down the long drive towards the house.
"Where are we?" Elena asked as she opened her eyes, looking out the windows of the car at the wooded area around them.
"Home, at least for now." Kol responded as they pulled around in front of the large house.
"And where would that be?" Elena asked, smiling as he flashed over to her door and opened it, letting in the cool crisp air. "That's a bit more chilly then I was expecting."
"Welcome to Denver, love." Kol said as he pulled his discarded jacket from out of the car and slid it over her shoulders.
"Interesting…" Elena mentioned as she looked around.
"Don't worry, darling, the world is ahead. I brought you here so that I can teach you, train you, show you the best parts of this new life without distraction." Kol said as he walked towards the large wrought iron double front doors. He pulled out a key from his pocket and unlocked the doors, holding them open for Elena to walk inside.
"Welcome home." He said, walking in behind her, just watching as she appraised the house with awe. It wasn't anything special, but it was more on the high-end side of comfortable.
"This is your house?" Elena asked, turning around to look at Kol, her eyes wide.
"No, darling, this is our house, seeing as you will be living here as well. Surprised?" He asked, watching her in amusement.
"I just didn't expect it to be so homey, and so… not full of cobwebs." Elena said laughing as she walked into the living room and threw herself on the couch.
"Well come on, I'll take you on a tour." Kol said grabbing Elena's hand, pulling her off the couch.
He lead her into the kitchen first, then showed her the rest of the mid level floor (just bathrooms, dining room, and day room) then pulled her upstairs.
"There are three bedrooms with adjoining baths in each, and an office at the end of the hall. You can choose any of the bedrooms that you please." Kol said, leaning against the wall as he watched her peer into each bedroom.
"I think I like this one." Elena said, walking into a large sky blue room with a king sized bed.
"I thought you would. It's yours. Mine is just across the hall; I'm going to get a shower and lay down for a bit. I did promise you I'd get some sleep after we arrived." Kol told her before turning to leave the room. "Make yourself at home."
He walked into his room, which had a darker, more earth-toned feel. Stepping into his bathroom, he pulled off his shirt and let out a deep breath before turning on the hot water.
About a half an hour later, Kol had finished his shower and lay on his bed in nothing but his boxers, finally feeling the long hours that he had been awake.
It had felt like seconds that he had been asleep before he heard a knock on his door. "Kol?" He heard Elena say quietly from the other side. In less than a second, he was at the door, opening it to see Elena, standing there in nothing but a towel, her hair dripping wet on her tanned skin.
"Yes?" He cleared his throat as he acted like it wasn't affecting him.
"I- I didn't really think it through before I took a shower. I didn't realize that I don't have any clothes with me. I threw away the ones I was wearing before and I don't want to put the dress back on." Elena said, nervous. The way she was biting her bottom lip was putting Kol even more on edge. He hadn't felt any emotions in a millennia, and the one he was feeling at the moment was quickly becoming overwhelming.
"Come in, I'll get you some of mine for now, and we can go out later to get you some clothes." Kol struggled to say with a calm voice, watching the water drip onto her face.
He motioned for her to come in, and he quickly pulled a shirt and some boxers out of his drawer, handing them to her.
Elena was trying to contain herself as well. All of the new overwhelming emotions, and to see him in only his boxers, disheveled from sleep. She had heard that vampires were hypersexual beings, but hadn't quite understood exactly how her body would react.
She took the clothes that Kol handed her, and watched as he gulped, scanning over her glistening body like she was a delicious treat.
"Did I wake you?" She asked, trying to break some of the tension.
"I'm a light sleeper, darling, it's quite alright." Kol said, walking back to his bed and sitting on the edge, looking down at the floor.
"Are my emotions still super heightened, or is this how it will be from now on?" Elena asked curiously, wondering if he could feel the same thing.
"They should have calmed down to normal by now, well, normal for us." Kol replied.
He didn't even have a chance to blink before she had flashed over to him, pushing him onto the bed and kissing him without a thought. A moment later, she pulled away, looking at him shyly.
"I'm so sorry, I- I don't know what came over me. It was inappropriate; you probably don't see me like-" Elena began rambling, before he cut her off, pressing his lips back to hers again.
"Don't apologize for something that we clearly both want, love. I've honestly been waiting to see what that felt like since I felt you wake as a vampire." Kol told her as he pulled away, pushing a piece of her wet hair behind her ear.
"You mean, you are okay with this?" Elena asked, running her finger down his sculpted jaw.
"Remember what Estelle said about our auras?"Kol asked her pulling her closer into him. Elena nodded, motioning for him to continue. "When she said that, I knew exactly what she meant, I could feel it. When two people have similar auras, it usually means that they are like two pieces of a puzzle, they just fit." Kol explained to her.
"I thought that's what it meant, I was honestly just too afraid to ask." Elena told him. He looked at her as she tried to look away.
"Why don't we just take things as they go? Don't try to overthink anything while you have so much on your mind, darling. You forget, we have forever now." Kol said to her before kissing her one more time. "Now go put the clothes on and come back."
Elena kissed him back one more time before climbing out of the bed slowly, still holding her towel around herself, and walking away to put on the clothes. She walked back into his room after getting dressed and he tiredly waved her over to his bed.
"Come lay down, you don't have to sleep, I have loads of books around the room, I just don't feel quite as anxious when you are closer, and that will help me get some rest." He said, his voice betraying how vulnerable he sounded at the moment.
Elena climbed into the bed next to him, amazed at how comfortable it was, and picked up a book off his nightstand. "Get some sleep, Kol. I'll still be here when you wake up." Elena told him, seeing how tired he looked. He nodded and closed his eyes, falling asleep soon after.
Elena read the book for a while before getting drowsy herself, not even realizing that she had, too, fallen asleep, curled into Kol's side. He woke first, feeling the foreign pressure lying on his side, looking down to see Elena sleeping as well.
"Darling, it's time to wake up." Kol said to her, not really wanting to wake her, but needing to so that they could get started training.
"Guess I fell asleep too, huh?" Elena said, stretching as she sat up in bed next to Kol.
"I might have to have you stay in here more often. I slept like a thousand year old baby." Kol said, laughing.
"Maybe I'll just have to take you up on that offer…" Elena said before leaning in and kissing him softly. She quickly pulled away at the scent of his blood calling to her. She felt the veins grow under her eyes and her fangs slid out. She tried to hide her face the best she could, but Kol moved her hands.
"Why are you hiding from me, Elena. I am just like you." Kol told her, allowing his own face to change. "You have nothing to hide from." He motioned for her to come closer, and he pulled her into himself, her face sitting millimeters from his carotid artery. "Go on, darling."
She tasted his neck before sinking her fangs into his artery, drinking his life force. She could feel his face changing again, knowing that her motions were making him hungry as well. The feeling she got when she tasted his blood was like no other.
Kol was fighting himself. Her feeding from him, drinking directly from his neck was igniting a fire in him, one that he needed to explore. Unable to contain himself any more, he quickly flipped Elena over and got her permission before biting into her neck and tasting her blood- which was still mixed with his own- it was intoxicating.
Kol had drunk from countless numbers of people in his years and never had this reaction before. It was strange to him, even stranger when it took no effort to pull away, immediately recognizing it as a built in fail safe- he didn't want to hurt her.
He pulled away and just looked at her for a moment. She looked beautiful, her hair messed around her face, a drop of his own blood running from the corner of her mouth that she quickly wiped off with her finger and licked it, savoring the flavor.
"Well that was interesting." Kol said as he stood up, looking in his closet for clothes to wear. "Would you like to go shopping for some clothes, love?"
At the sound of shopping Elena immediately jumped up and flashed into her room, arriving back in Kol's room within the minute, dressed in her dress from the night before.
"Let's go!" She said excitedly.
I'm sorry it's been so long since I've updated anything, I've just had terrible writers block and been busy with a full time job and two kids... :( I promise I will try to update more of my stories soon.