I'm going to do my best to get on a writing schedule so we can get a chapter every other Monday at least.

Explicit Content Warning. Dom/Sub situation. This turned into a smut chapter. It wasn't supposed to be 80 percent sex but here we are.

-31-

Isolde

After several minutes of arguing and arranging, Isolde managed to convince her siblings that naps, showers, and a meal were all in order before they got down to business. None of them had slept in at least twenty-four hours and she was bone tired. Emeric was as well, even if was obstinate about it and insisting otherwise.

Marcus had mimed zipping his lips in the wake of her declaration. He was on board with napping. As though that was a big shock, the man was pretty drunk by the time they got to the hotel.

Regardless, Marcus would give Emeric and Theo no information until Isolde gave the okay.

Missy and Paul had yet to arrive, and Isolde hopped on that opportunity to insist that they take the rooms meant for her in the suite her brothers would occupy.

Instead, with a little help of the compulsion variety, Isolde was able to snag the other large suite, just below her brothers. When Mark tried to weasel his way into her suite, she insisted he stay with Emeric, Theon, Rebekah, and Freya. If only to catch up with the boys after having the duties of ruling the Shade for decades.

Isolde had figured her bonds could use a little time to wind down away from her brother's scrutinization and judgment. And Mark joining them would've put a strain on that. All four of her bonds were on edge and she hated that Emeric, and Theo to a lesser degree, was the cause of it. The confrontation on the jet was inevitable, and Isolde didn't think they'd all gotten a chance to say exactly what they wanted to.

Whatever happened, Isolde could only hope for the best and anticipate the worst. Getting so many strong personalities together is not usually a good thing. The Mikaelsons weren't the type to bow. Emeric wasn't the type to let any perceived disrespect stand. Theo had things he'd not gotten off his chest, either.

So another confrontation was likely on the horizon. Isolde was bracing for that and hoping that this time working together in Louisiana would serve as enough shared experience for a bond between the Alexander and Mikaelson men to form.

Isolde groaned and rubbed both hands over her face, flipping over in the bed. She'd drawn the curtains as dawn broke but the faint glow of the sun still shone above the top and the room was much too bright.

She hated being in the south. The closer to the equator, the stronger the sun. The stronger the sun, the worse Isolde felt. Once outside, she'd start to feel the symptoms of heat stroke within an hour unless she remained in the shadows. If all went well they should retrieve Vera and be back home within the next couple days and she wouldn't have to deal with Ra's anger for long.

And all that information about her mental condition and what happened in Egypt– how she was when she returned from being entoumbed– that her brother's dumped on her mates without her consent was stressing her the fuck out.

She had been working up to it. Isolde's plan had been to tell them about everything before Italy so they could make informed choices with their lives. She'd wanted more time to get to know them. To gauge the best way to approach them with her issues, because they were overwhelming for her, even after all this time, and she knew they wouldn't take any of it well.

Klaus' saying she was ruined had hurt her. Mostly because it had taken a very long time for Isolde to convince herself that she wasn't. But she'd heard it in his tone, and she understood; Klaus thought he was ruined because of his parents actions. He was projecting. It hurt her to think that he believed that way about himself, almost more than it hurt to think of herself that way.

She'd spoken true. Neither of them were ruined. A little broken, but not ruined. She would make him see that. Teach him. Or try to, at least.

In contrast, the way Kol had disapproved of the phrase 'incomplete goddess' had warmed her heart and when she left the cockpit after waking Gaius up she'd wanted to hug him for it.

But that would've given her away and she wasn't ready for that just yet. Gaius had by now informed Emeric that she'd knocked him out, of course, but on the plane it would've caused a fight. Not the safest place and the safety of the Mikaelsons was paramount.

She might not act like it, but she was beyond infuriated. Emeric was intentionally unkind to them all.

Klaus most of all but he seemed to really dig in at Elijah and Kol, and then had the audacity to say nothing to Rebekah because he didn't want to piss off Theon. Isolde tossed again and punched her pillow. Emeric was begging to get his ass kicked. He can point at all the flaws in the Mikaelson's but he rarely took a long look in the mirror.

If he didn't calm down and cut it out she was going to give him a character assessment.

Isolde smirked against her pillow. Her brother would hate that.

All the things that she had about three weeks to get done started marching through her mind and she sighed heavily, beginning to think sleeping wasn't in the cards despite how tired she was.

The door to her room opened quietly and shut with a light click.

Fingers brushed against her cheek and she smiled, opening her eyes to see Elijah crouched before her in a t-shirt and some pajama pants. The most dressed down she'd ever seen him and it seemed intimate, to see him outside of a suit. His face wore a small smile and cupped her cheek, thumb brushing over her lips and Isolde's breath hitched as he dragged her lower lip down and released it.

"You're exhausted, and yet I heard you flipping around restlessly. What can I do to help you sleep?"

Isolde slid backward onto the cold side of the bed to create space for Elijah and patted the empty spot. Elijah's eyes widened a fraction, bouncing between hers for a moment before he stood and climbed into the bed. She waited for him to get situated before she moved closer, his arm wrapping around her shoulder as Isolde nestled herself into his side, her free hand on his abdomen.

Elijah's fingers played with her hair and she sighed, lightly rubbing her cheek against the soft fabric of his expensive shirt.

"There's much to do. I'm trying to categorize it all by importance and keep everyone's needs in mind. Needless to say I'm a little overwhelmed but I'll adjust." She rubbed her hand over his stomach lightly, knowing Elijah of all the brothers was prone to worrying and attempting to soothe him. "You don't have to worry."

Elijah's hand grasped hers and raised it to his mouth, placing an open mouth kiss on her wrist. Her breathing hitched as he paused and took a deep breath. Concerned, she looked up at him just in time to see him control himself, the dark veins of his vampire face receding.

"Hungry?"

"I apologize, it's been several days since I last fed. I planned to go out in a few hours." He released her hand as if he'd burned it, a sad look flashed over his face before it was gone.

Isolde didn't let her arm fall, leveling it directly in front of his mouth. "Go ahead," she offered with a genuine smile, "then you don't have to go out."

Elijah's eyes dance over her face. He must have seen what he was looking for because his hand came up to grasp hers once again, keeping her arm steady. His eyes never left hers as his face changed and fangs elongated. Isolde felt his teeth puncture her wrist and had braced for the slight pain.

But it wasn't pain she felt.

It was euphoria, electric in a way that sent jolts of pleasure through her body and straight to her clit. She moaned wantonly and pressed herself closer to Elijah, as close as she could get. He groaned and the hand in her hair tugged and she felt her desire grow for him to the point that she was writhing against his side.

Elijah released her wrist after a couple long pulls that sent the rest of Isolde's blood down between her legs and she lifted up, throwing a leg over his waist and straddling him. She needed more, and Elijah was deliciously hard and he gasped as she rolled her hips over his length to relieve some of the pressure that was building.

Elijah's hand hadn't left her hair and he used the leverage to drag her down until their bodies met. Instead of kissing her mouth like she thought, he lowered her and then yanked her to the side where enough to give him access to her throat and his teeth pierced her again.

Isolde's orgasm was instant and she cried out, circling her hips and getting the friction she needed against her clit. Elijah's hips bucked to give her what she desired while she gave him the sustenance he needed. When Elijah pulled back with a gasp and groan, his face was back to normal but his eyes were like melted chocolate and the hand he'd been using to pull her hair aside lowered and ripped her shirt off her body, flinging it somewhere else in the room.

She raised up and Elijah took the opportunity to latch onto her breast, tongue circling first one nipple then switching to the next and back again. One hand snaked down to her sleep shorts, fingers sliding under the waistband until they were just inches from where she desperately needed them. His other arm wrapped around her back, hand splayed between her shoulders as he ripped her remaining garments off her body. She raised up so he could discard them and in nearly the same move he removed his own shirt.

He used his hips and the arm on her back to flip their positions and Isolde found herself suddenly on her back underneath Elijah. The hand on her back slid around to her throat. Firm but gentle and Isolde let her body relax instantly underneath her mate's domination.

Elijah felt her body relax and a knowing gleam filled his eyes. He understood that she'd just submitted to him.

It had been a long time since Isolde had been with a dominant male and the thrill, the intimacy, was intensified by the way Elijah's dark eyes roved over her body like she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. The fact that this was her bond; that this was Elijah, made her heart beat faster and her pussy clench in raw need.

He lowered, hand still on her throat, and kissed her collar. Nipping with his teeth but not puncturing the skin. He moved on and did the same up the column of her neck, jaw, and then her ear lobe. His nose brushed over the tip of her ear and she shivered.

"Everything about you is like a siren call," Elijah's voice was soft and low, he kept his hand on her throat as he moved his attention from one ear to her other, "you have enchanted me."

He shoved his still clothed knee between her legs and applied pressure. Isolde gasped and the hand that had been holding his torso up moved now that his leg could hold him up. His fingers brushed down her side and she squirmed against the tickle and the jolt of pleasure the pressure of his knee was giving her. Her own hand raised to touch him, somewhere, anywhere and his hand snapped out to grip her wrist.

Elijah's teeth bit down on her ear just enough to sting. Isolde didn't mind. She'd endured far worse pains, and this one was connected to pleasure. "I didn't give you permission to move, my dear." He lifted her arm above her head and pinned it there, removing his hand from her throat. "What is your safe word?"

"Lawsuit."

Elijah looked down at her in surprise, like he couldn't stop the laugh from escaping as it burst from him. His smile was wide and Isolde felt her heart soar at having put it there. The hand that had left her throat smacked her thigh, his knee pushing forward with a punishing force and Isolde's head fell back, panting, her breasts brushing Elijah's chest as she arched.

He leaned down and captured her lips with teeth and tongue until she was panting. He pulled back with one last quick kiss that just wasn't enough and she had to stop herself from chasing his lips. "Hard limits? We'll establish rules later."

"Degradation."

Elijah's hand drifted sensually up and down from her side and all the way to her knee and back again. "Is that all you wish to tell me?" His voice was still soft and his eyes were still molten. The desire in them had her wanting to tell him to move it along already but instead she just nodded and his hand whacked her thigh again.

"Use your words." Elijah demanded, brows snapping together and a look of warning crossing his features. "I want to hear you."

"Yes. But know that I scratch and bite." Isolde warned with a mischievous glint to her eye.

"Noted," Elijah dragged the word like a purr, removing his hand from her wrist and gripping her hair tightly until she hissed, he lowered his lips back to her ear and that fire in her chest reignited with a fervor she couldn't have predicted when he said in a near whisper; "but my dear, you'll crawl and beg too."

Isolde was hit with a wave of desire so strong that she felt the breath leave her.

And then he pulled back dragging her with him by the hair, using just enough pressure to tell her to move without forcing it. He kept going until she was standing with him to the side of the bed and he released her, stepping away. Elijah's eyes roved over her body slowly, from head to toe and back again.

"Isolde," His eyes were soft and he stepped closer, fingers brushing the scarred remnants of her trauma at the hands of Apophis, "so strong," he circled around and the skin of his torso just barely brushed her naked back and she tried not to melt back against him, "so beautiful," his left hand wrapped suddenly around her neck and he pressed fully against her, nose in her hair, "so tightly wound."

His right hand brushed the side of her breast and pinched her nipple until she moaned. "I want you, more than I can bear, can you feel it? You've had me like this since the day you gave me that saucy wave from the top of the stairs at the manor." He swirled his hips, his impressive hard on rubbing seductively against her lower back.

So tall, she thought, so hot. Elijah was turning her brain to mush and every thought that had been circulating in her head and wreaking havoc on her nerves was gone. Everything was Elijah. His hands, his body, his cock pressed against her. She could stay like this with him forever and she wanted him just as badly as he was showing her he wanted her.

Elijah's hand slid away from her breasts and dropped to stroke her clit, his breath hot against her ear as she writhed.

"Elijah," his name escaped at the end of a moan and he inhaled sharply when she begged, "please."

Without warning, Elijah removed his hand and spun her around. He shucked his pants past his hips and wound an arm around her back. "Only because you begged so prettily," he breathed, the desire written on his face plain as day and Isolde went with no resistance when he sat on the edge of the bed and dragged her to straddle him.

He lined up at her entrance and she thought he was going to tease her. Instead, Elijah snapped upward and Isolde's head fell back and she clawed Elijah's back with a gasp and her eyes rolled as he entered her fully– by the gods she didn't get a chance to see it but he felt huge. Bigger than any she'd ever had by far.

Elijah's hand snapped up to grip her jaw and dragged her face back down, meeting her eyes. "These eyes are mine when I'm inside you."

His other hand landed on her hip and easily navigated her at the pace he wanted. Forward and down. Up and back. Each movement is fluid and rhythmic. So very delicious and it ignited her like nothing ever had before. Pleasure trilled through her body and she trembled at its intensity.

"I'm going to need you to hold on and not let go, my love," his voice was strained and Isolde noticed how badly he wanted to let go of everything right before the confirmation came from his mouth, "because I'm about to fuck you like you've never been fucked."

She scrambled to gain a good grip on his shoulders just as he seemed to snap that cord of control he'd been keeping tightly wound. His hips snapped up and slapped wantonly against her. His cock hitting against just he perfect spot inside of her and she couldn't control the way she called his name, over and over as she struggled to find the best place to leave her hands. She gripped his hair, his shoulders, his torso.

Elijah was the one to break eye contact, emotions flickering over his face and his forehead dipped into her neck like he just couldn't sort through them all. His pace was so quick and so punishing that Isolde couldn't even attempt to match it– all she could do was ride it out. Even as she felt her pelvis break and nit back together and then brake again.

Her second orgasm racked through her, the pain and the pleasure mixed in a way that made her cry out– calling for more from him, for him to be harder.

Elijah was groaning and growling words of encouragement and adoration even as he spun them and pushed her into the mattress, thrusting in and out of her so hard that more bones broke and then she heard the wooden slats under the bed break and the whole thing caved in. Broken wood jutted through the mattress just narrowly missing Elijah's arm.

Unbothered, Elijah bit Isolde's neck once again and her third orgasm crashed into her with such intensity she thought she was going to pass out.

Elijah followed two, three, four thrusts later and he came with a groan that Isolde felt in her toes and he crashed down on top of her. His arms weaved back around her torso and he pulled her to him, peppering every part of her he could reach with feather soft kisses and whispered words, promises, intentions.

Isolde didn't even notice that she was sobbing until he drew them both up so he could cradle her in his lap and rock her like a small, precious thing that he needed to keep safe and protected.

"It's okay. I know. I know." He was saying, over and over as he trembled and buried her face in his chest. He was kissing her head and running a hand down her hair. "Let it go. Give it to me. Release the burden. You're safe. I give you my word; you're safe with me."

"We destroyed the bed," broke through Isolde's sobs, a thinly veiled attempt to change the subject and Elijah wasn't having it.

"I'll replace it," His hand left the back of her head to brush tear-damp hair away from her face and cupped her cheek, wiping tears away with his thumb as she hiccuped a few times while the tears slowed, his eyes were intense and there was a new quality there that Isolde hadn't seen before, "how do you feel?"

"I'm okay," she nodded, he fixed her with a scrutinizing look and she nodded again with a reassuring smile, her hand raising to touch his on her face, "I am. I promise."

His eyes softened agan and he nodded back at her. His hand swept her hair behind her ear and he leaned forward for a chaste kiss. He pulled back with a serious look on his face.

"You didn't slow down yesterday until I made you. You admitted to being overwhelmed just now, too. I want you to stop holding everything in. Share the burden with me– don't keep it in until you're so overwhelmed you can't sleep. That's rule number one."

Isolde pulled back just a little bit and wiped the rest of her tears away, she took a shuddering breath. The kind that tells you when you're done crying. "I'm not used to sharing like that."

He fixed her with a look. "You will get used to it. After a few punishments."

Isolde wanted to ask what punishments he was thinking of, exactly, when a knock sounded on the door. Elijah huffed and rolled his eyes, dragging her head back down to his shoulder and standing. He walked them to the door, her legs wrapped around him, uncaring about who was on the other side because she didn't want to let go of Elijah.

Elijah opened the door. "What?"

"She needs to sleep," Isolde heard Finn say, his voice laced with accusation, "and you've broken her bed."

There was shuffling and Isolde looked up as Elijah moved them both away from the door. Finn was in the room, pulling the broken mattress and bed apart in a few fluid movements. Kol was in and out, removing the parts his elder brother ripped up. Once everything was gone, Klaus waltzed in with one of the mattresses from the other room and dropped it down before he swept out of the room without looking at her. Kol followed the hybrid out and it was all very awkward.

Until Finn stepped up beside Elijah and Isolde. He put a hand on her face and leaned forward to kiss her forehead. His eyes were kind when he pulled away. "Sleep, kærasta. There is nothing to worry about with all of us nearby."

And Isolde felt the tears well up again when he walked past them and gently closed the door.

She couldn't help but feel so much gratitude toward them all. Even Klaus and Kol had helped without saying anything, even though they looked very uncomfortable.

Elijah walked them both to the mattress and laid her down. It was just a mattress now, so they were a mere half foot from the floor. He pulled the blankets up from where Finn had deposited them at the bottom of the bed and got in beside her, pulling the covers over them both. When he was comfortable he reached out for her and dragged her to him, arms wrapped tightly around her. She went willingly and encircled him too, forehead on his chest.

"Are your broken bones healed?" His tone was airy, the one he adopted when he was pretending he wasn't upset about something.

"They heal immediately, if it was too much I would've said Lawsuit," she assured him, planting a couple soft kisses on his exposed chest and he hummed with contentment, "I'll work on complying with rule one."

He kissed her head. "We'll talk about it later. I came in to see if I could get you anything to help you sleep, I didn't expect…your blood is…"

"Divine?" Isolde grinned and rubbed her forehead against him. He chuckled. "If Theon's experiments are to be trusted, then until my blood works out of your system you'll experience stronger resistance to damage, more mental clarity, and you'll be in a better mood than usual. That wooden slat that broke, if it had hit you, it wouldn't have punctured your skin. Not with my blood in your system."

Elijah's fingers brushed kneaded into her shoulder where he'd found a tightness earlier. "Your blood is an enhancement, then?"

"According to Theo," she exhaled as his fingers worked magic again, this time much differently, "I've never tested it. I was going to bring it up before we head into battle and make sure you all had some."

The sound of a fist hitting the door of the room startled them both. "Sleep, Isolde. Bloody hell, woman, don't make me come in there myself." Kol threatened through the door.

Isolde and Elijah looked at each other and they both busted out a laugh. "Oh honey, don't make promises if you don't intend to keep them." Isolde called out, winking at Elijah who barely smothered his smile.

The door was pushed open and shut so fast that she didn't have a moment to register it before Kol was dropping into the bed behind her and pulling her from Elijah with a glare.

"You two are going to stop talking," he pulled the blanket over himself and snuggled up to his mate, looking at Elijah with a challenge in his gaze that the older brother ignored, Kol nodded slightly before dropping a kiss to Isolde's head and tucking the blanket over her dramatically, causing her to giggle, "and we're all going to sleep for three hours." Kol lifted three fingers with a mock scowl and booped her nose with them. "Understood?"

Isolde laughed and wormed down into the covers, feeling happier than she had in longer than she could remember. "Understood. As long as you both stay."

"You're not getting rid of me, love."

"We will never leave you."

Imagine Klaus, Kol, and Finn in the next room during all this. Omfg.