AN: So I made a few changes in the last chapter, mainly concerning Sage, who I 100% forgot existed. There weren't many changes, so if you don't want to go back, the TLDR is that the Mikaelsons took Sage from the battlefield to dispose of later.

TW: Sexy times in Miriam's last section. I should just stop writing them, because they take me forever, omg.


FINN

The air was chilly as Finn and Niklaus made their way across the deadened ground. The creatures that lived in the surrounding forest were deep in their hibernation. None wanted to leave their cozy homes for the frigid cold. Finn was of a similar mind. He would much rather have been at the Hearth, with his mate and his family. Christmas was later that week, and the dozens of movies Miriam had convinced him to watch told him that Christmas time was a time for family.

"We won't be here long. You are sure the jet is ready to leave?" Finn confirmed once again with his brother as they exited the car and walked up the driveway to a desolate cabin.

Niklaus rolled his eyes. "Yes, like I told you the last three times. Do you not trust me?"

"I want to be sure," Finn was unrepentant in the face of Niklaus's attempts to guilt him. One did not survive having five younger siblings without becoming immune to guilt tactics.

"I wouldn't lie to you," Niklaus insisted, as if he hadn't kept Finn daggered longer than the rest of their siblings put together.

Finn just hummed in response and quickened his steps towards the log cabin.

It was a small, square building that had seen better days. The porch sagged, a few window panes were broken, the front door was off its hinges, the stone fireplace was one harsh winter away from crumbling, and parts of the roof had already given way. By all accounts, it was an unremarkable building. It sat on a decent sized piece of property outside of Birmingham, Alabama. The nearest neighbor sat outside of the human range for noise, or, as Niklaus had tactlessly put it: "No one will hear her screams".

Finn walked up the stairs and into the cabin. The wooden slats beneath his feet creaked, alerting their prisoner to their arrival.

"Finn!" Sage gasped.

She was bound to a rickety chair with enchanted chains. She was dressed in dark, modern clothing, and her hair had been cut short from the long red tresses he was familiar with.

She was just as beautiful as he remembered her.

After their heinous father had almost caught them, Finn and his siblings traveled through the various kingdoms in Europe, hiding. While their foray in the south of France had resulted in much heartache with Aurora, Lucien, and Tristan, they had learned about compulsion and of their ability to create more creatures like them. Elijah and Niklaus had immediately put the knowledge to use; Elijah had compelled their way into the good graces of the local nobility, while Niklaus compelled the locals to act as a warning system in case Mikael figured out where they were. They had roughly eighty years of freedom from Mikael before Finn met Sage.

She had been the daughter of a merchant when he met her. Her father dealt in foreign trade, mostly textiles. Her brothers would often accompany their father on his long trips, while Sage remained home with her mother and sisters. Widowed young and childless, Sage had been in her mid-twenties when Finn had met her.

Never one to be content with monotony, Sage had been desperate for any distraction from domestic life. She would sneak into parties that the nobility threw, clad in the expensive fabric her father brought home. Finn had noticed her when she danced one night. The way she moved, with freedom and inhibition, had enthralled him. They began to meet up in the town, where it was glaringly obvious she was of lower birth than she had said. Finn hadn't minded, but Niklaus and Rebekah had teased him for courting a 'peasant girl'. Elijah had cautioned him, saying that a 'nobleman' couldn't be caught with someone like Sage.

Finn hadn't cared. He and Sage had been inseparable. She was the oldest of her siblings, and widowed like him, and their similar experiences bonded them. She had a lust for life that Finn had coveted.

He had loved her.

Turning her had been easy. Why wouldn't he share the rest of immortality with a woman who reveled in every breath she took? They spent two blissful decades together.

And then he was daggered.

And left in a coffin.

For nine. Hundred. Years.

During that time Sage had been free to walk the earth. She had turned countless people into vampires. She had relationships with other people and had traveled the world.

Somewhere along the way she had lost the youthful lust for life that he had fallen in love with. She had become sadistic and jaded, and a corrupting influence on the young vampires around her. The love of his life was now someone he could hardly stand to look at.

"Sage," he said neutrally.

"I tried to free you!" she swore vehemently. "Your siblings chased me off, but I followed to the best of my abilities. I tried, numerous times, to get you out of that coffin, but he-" she spat in Niklaus's direction "- kept me from you."

"I am surprised you did not kill her," Finn noted mildly to his brother.

"I thought about it," Niklaus admitted, "but she stayed in the shadows and tried to pull her strings, like a child playing with puppets."

"If anyone plays with puppets, it's you," Sage growled. "Finn! He lied to Elijah for decades by saying that he dumped you and the others into the ocean. I knew the truth, but he compelled me to stay away from Elijah. We could have gotten you out. The two of us could have been free of your psychotic family!"

"Her singular focus on you after all these centuries has been impressive," Niklaus said, unbothered by the venomous words aimed his way. "I believe she is sired to you. That, or she truly is desperate."

His idea had merit. Sage's devotion was fanatical. Only familial and soul bonds were stronger than a sire bond. His family had done extensive research on the topic, since they were the originators of their species. It was interesting to Finn, for he had been daggered before the notion of sire bonds had been discovered.

"Finn, untie me," Sage begged.

Finn ignored her. "You were working with Lucien and Tristan."

"Yes. They said they would help me find you. They planned to kill your siblings and their human mate. Then we could be free to do anything we want. We could be together forever!"

Finn knelt in front of her so that they were eye-to-eye. "You conspired with my family's enemies to kill my brothers and sister, and you believe that I would thank you for that?"

She reeled back in shock. "They kept you locked up for almost a thousand years, and you want to protect them?!"

"My family's issues are our own. You do not get to decide how I feel about them," Finn said firmly.

She gaped. "You can't be serious. Their crimes against you are astronomical!"

"And yet yours are the ones I find unforgivable," Finn finally allowed his frustration bleed into his voice. "You would kill my family and my mate without a second thought. Where did the woman I fell in love with go?"

"Wait… mate? I'm your mate," Sage insisted, her eyes burning bright and angry.

"No, darling, you're just some random chit that was lucky enough to have my brother's attention for even a little while," Niklaus taunted. "His real mate happens to be my mate, as well as Elijah and Kol's."

"You were going to kill her," Finn said softly, dangerously. "She, the reason I am free from my prison. She who brought our family together. She is my light, my song, the very air in my lungs. And you were going to kill her."

Sage flinched back into her seat as much as she could to get away from his vampiric face.

Is this anger? Finn wondered as something ugly grew in his chest. He was not familiar with the feeling. He knew depression, self-hatred, fear, and love. They were his old friends. Depression had been his longest companion, followed closely by self-hatred. Fear had been with him during his childhood, and then when his father stalked him and his siblings for the crime of simply existing. Love he had seen in different forms throughout his life. There was familial love for his siblings, and even for his parents. There was romantic love, first for his wife, then for Sage, and finally for Miriam. But true anger was foreign to him.

He had been angry at Niklaus for keeping him daggered for so long. But that was a different kind of anger. The anger that filled him currently whispered in his ears to kill, kill, kill the threat to Miriam. It was tinged with hatred for the woman in front of him, and the only thing keeping him from tearing her throat out was his plan.

Finn rose to his feet and took a step back to clear his head and calm the vicious voice in his head that howled for blood. "My brothers want me to kill you."

"I can kill her if you cannot," Niklaus offered. He smiled sharply at Sage. "I killed Katerina for Elijah. I can kill Sage for you."

It was a kind offer… in a Niklaus sort of way.

"You are not going to die by my hands, or by the hands of any of my bloodthirsty relations," Finn assured Sage.

"Finn, please-"

He surged forward and grabbed her chin harshly. "Be quiet."

The compulsion settled over her easily. Niklaus had compelled her decades ago to not take vervain, and his forethought was paying off.

"You will travel to every supernatural community you know of. You will tell them what happened to Lucien Castle and Tristen de Martel, that they thought they could outsmart us and failed. You will warn them away from our family. You will not tarry in any place. You will take care to only consume enough blood to keep you alive, without killing your victims. And when your task is complete, you will go to a secluded place during midday and take off your daylight ring."

Niklaus chuckled darkly.

Finn layered on several more compulsions in her mind. He wanted to make sure that she couldn't find a single loop-hole to escape her fate. When he was done he released her from her chains. She was dazed from the compulsion, so he helped her to her feet.

A wave of nostalgic affection hit him then, and he kissed her forehead gently.

"Go," he said softly. "I wish you a quick death."

She walked out of the cabin and his life at a human pace.

"I did not expect you to actually do it," Niklaus said as they walked towards their car.

Finn did not answer until Niklaus had directed the vehicle towards the main roads and away from the decrepit cabin.

"Sage is a threat to Miriam, and no matter what affection I held for her in the past, I will not allow her to hurt my future."

Niklaus made a thoughtful noise. "I have never thought highly of you-"

Finn rolled his eyes. Even in his vulnerable moments Niklaus couldn't help but insult him.

"-You were gone for most of my childhood, and my memories of you during that time were not fond. Once we were turned, you were so lost in your own depression that you couldn't see that the rest of us needed you. Rebekah and Kol needed an authority figure, and Elijah and I needed someone to walk through our grief with."

Finn looked away from his brother. Shame churned in his stomach.

"You are so different now that I don't know what to do with you sometimes," Niklaus said ruefully.

"You say that as if you aren't a different man from the one that put me in that coffin," Finn pointed out.

"I am not as different a man as you and Elijah would like to believe," Niklaus shook his head.

"Nor I, in all honesty," Finn said. "My depression hovers at the back of my mind, as I assume your rage and paranoia does. My demons are kept at bay by Miriam's love, as well as our family's renewed connection. I assume yours are kept back by your connection with your wolf?"

"Yes, as well as the knowledge that my family- my pack- hasn't abandoned me."

The two of them fell into pensive silence once again.

Finn didn't mind it. He had never been one to need to fill the silence with words. Out of the two of them, it was Niklaus who couldn't let the silence continue.

Luckily, he waited until they were on the jet before speaking again.

"I have a proposition for you. Before I tell you what it is, just know that I am offering it to you first. I am willing to share with Elijah, but if you turn this down, I will not share with Kol."

Exasperated with Niklaus and Kol's inability to make anything easy, but very intrigued, Finn leaned forward.

"I'm listening."


MIRIAM

"Miri!"

Miriam looked up from her knitting to see Kol, Finn, and Caroline charging towards her. Each was holding a plate of cookies.

"I don't know if I want to get in the middle of… whatever you three are doing," Miriam said warily.

"Don't you dare run!" ordered Caroline. "We need you to judge these."

"I'd rather train with Klaus and the hybrids outside," Miriam declared.

Winter had settled over Roanoke like a blanket. The temperature dropped, the number of festivities rose, and Miriam adored every minute of it. Hanukkah was celebrated at the beginning of December that year, as was the Islamic new year. Now it was Christmastime.

The Hearth was adorned with red, green, and gold. Nearly every room had a Christmas tree. Some were works of art that should have been in a magazine. Others were a hodge-podge of home-made, themed, and character ornaments. The Hearth was practically bursting at the seams with people during the holiday season. Everyone had family visiting. Only a few of Miriam's friends had left Roanoke for family obligations. The ones that stayed filled the space with laughter, love, and an abundance of Christmas cookies.

"Love, you will take a bite of each of our cookies, and then we will leave you alone," Kol promised.

Miriam didn't believe him; his eyes held mischief. She jumped to her feet and immediately began to pack away her knitting.

"No no no, you don't get to run away from this extremely important competition!" Kol scolded as he wrapped his free arm around her.

"I have no desire to be in the middle of this," Miriam argued before calling out: "Kids! Kol made you some cookies."

The pack's children came running into the room and swarmed Kol, giving Miriam a chance to escape.

"Finn would have won anyway!" she called over her shoulder as she hurried from the room. Kol and Caroline's twin shouts of anger follow her out.

Miriam made her way through the house. People were in every room she walked in. Even though the Christmas Eve party was technically in a few hours, nearly everyone had already arrived. Everyone was mingling happily, eating and drinking to contentment. The sight made Miriam feel warm and fluffy inside.

The door to Elijah's study was open when she arrived. He was inside with Freya and Klaus. The three of them were talking in their native language, but stopped when she walked up. They looked unnaturally serious for a happy day.

"Should I go?" she asked, hovering in the doorway. Klaus and Elijah sat on opposite couches while Freya paced in front of the fireplace.

"No, vorgyðja," Elijah said with a slight smile. "Come in."

He motioned for her to sit next to him. She shook her head. Klaus was coiled up tight, a snake poised to strike if anyone got too close. So Miriam set her basket down next to the door and laid down over Klaus with her head in his lap.

His body went tense in shock.

Miriam just tilted her head, exposing her throat. For a moment all Miriam could hear was the crackling sound of the fireplace and the murmur of conversation outside of the study. Then Klaus's hand wrapped around her throat. Not tight, but the pressure was there. A test, Miriam assumed, to make sure that she wasn't acting at being accepting of his moodiness. So she just hummed and began to trace nonsensical patterns into his knee.

Klaus deflated like a balloon. His hand left her neck and instead started to comb through her curls. Miriam hummed again, this time in pleasure as he played with her hair. Elijah was the one with the hair kink (he loved to tug at her curls and bury his hands in her hair), but the others didn't mind playing with her hair.

The siblings resumed their conversation. Miriam understood the gist of what they were talking about. The name 'Mikael' was used a lot, as well as the words 'dagger' and 'dead'. Her language lessons were unconventional; she had learned the verb 'to kill' before she learned the verb 'to dance'. So she understood that the siblings were planning on how to tackle the Mikael problem.

The three of them were stressed, but not angry. Despite her love for the father she remembered, Freya had acknowledged that the father her siblings feared was not the same man. Reluctantly, she had agreed that Mikael needed to be killed. Finn's fear of their father had done much to convince her. Now the question of how and when hung heavy in the air.

They would figure it out. The six siblings were under the same roof, for the first time ever. Rebekah had decided to stay for the rest of the year so she could get to know Freya better, and having all his siblings together had soothed something in Klaus. Yes, the six of them still bickered and disagreed on some things. But Miriam was confident that they could take on whatever the world threw at them.

"In a half hour, all serious talk will stop and we are all going to go mingle," Miriam murmured as she closed her eyes and relaxed further into Klaus's heat.

"Yes, love," the Hybrid tugged at her curls one last time before tracing the contours of her face.

"Of course, vorgyðja," Elijah promised.

Freya just chuckled at her brothers' easy answers.


The Christmas Eve party had been a success. The food had been delicious and plentiful, and company had been entertaining, and the Mikaelson family drama had been kept to a minimum. After an admittedly stressful Thanksgiving, it was a relief to have no drama. Miriam couldn't have asked for a more perfect night.

Christmas day was reserved for immediate family. Miriam, the Mikaelsons, Caroline, Jenna, Jeremy, Baahir and Philip were the only ones in the Hearth. August and June had taken the month of December off. The Martins were celebrating with family out of state, and wouldn't return until after the new year. Keelin and her family would be coming over after lunch, but until then it was just Miriam and her family.

Family. Miriam blinked back tears. The last few years had been lonely. Even before that, Miriam's holidays hadn't been grand. Her family had always been small. Their celebrations had always been subdued. But now her life was chaotic and colorful.

None of the vampires in the room acknowledged her tears, but Finn did claim the spot next to her on the couch.

"Okay!" Caroline clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. "We are going to do this based on age, as in date of birth, not how many years a person has walked on the earth."

"That isn't fair," Kol argued. "I have been alive longer than Freya. She's only lived for thirty years."

"Twenty six this spring," Freya piped up. "Dahlia put me under sleeping spells for years as punishment for disobeying her. I was less than sixteen when you all were turned."

"That," Caroline said, "is a total bummer, and more of a reason why you should go first. The order is: Freya, Finn, Elijah, Klaus, Kol, Rebekah, Baahir, Philip, Jenna, Miriam, me, then Jeremy. Remember to only take one present each round. Freya, go ahead."

"Is this the norm for families?" Finn whispered to Miriam as Caroline and Jeremy emptied the presents from underneath the Christmas tree and placed them with the correct person.

"No," she replied as Jeremy dumped an impressive amount of presents at Rebekah's feet. "My family opened up presents on Christmas Eve. My best friend's family would open one present the night before then the rest in the morning. Some families open their presents all at once. Others, like Caroline's, like to open theirs one at a time. There's no right way to do it."

"Each family has their own wacky traditions," Jenna said from Miriam's other side. "My parents let Miranda and I open all our presents from them all at once on Christmas day, but we had to wait and open the presents from our grandparents in front of them, like some kind of display. It was awful. We had to act grateful that we were getting yet another pair of itchy wool socks."

"Traditions are weird," Jeremy muttered as Caroline directed him around.

"Hey!" she scolded. "By doing it this way, we can all see and appreciate what we give each other. It's special."

"Yes, it is," Finn soothed. He had a soft spot for Caroline that Miriam found sweet.

"As long as all the presents get opened, I don't really care," Baahir said from his spot next to his mate. Philip smacked him in response.

After the teenagers distributed the presents to the correct persons, the main event began. Gifts were opened with much enthusiasm. Finn was given a state-of-the-art bread mixer, Freya was gifted her own iPod shuffle, and Caroline received a new car, to name just a few of the many presents. Not all the presents were big or expensive: Klaus had given Kol a pair of hand-painted pots for his garden, Jenna had given Jeremy a couple of fantasy books, and Caroline had given Elijah a planner with a gold embossed 'E' on the front of it.

Many of the gifts were meaningful. Freya gave everyone handcrafted, personalized protection charms. Miriam had given Elijah a sleet gray sweater that she had spent months knitting. But Elijah had topped everyone else in the meaningful department.

After all the gifts had been opened, he had led everyone out of the house to an area a little further away on the property. The land had been cleared and flattened. In place of trees and bushes there were over two dozen headstones of various sizes and shapes.

"Oh my god," Miriam whispered. She drifted away from Elijah and deeper into the clearing. She saw several headstones with a combination of old Norse and English on them. Henrik. Finn's family. Elijah's wife and daughter. Klaus's wife. And past them were headstones for Miriam's parents and grandparents.

Miriam tried to swallow the lump in her throat. She hadn't seen those names in years. Besides the scant few items she had been lucky enough to have with her when she had arrived in this world, she had no way of remembering her family. To see her family memorialized- with the correct names and dates!- was something she never thought she would see.

"I know you miss them," Elijah said as he joined her. "And I know the pain of losing someone and not having a place to mourn them. So I decided to make you one… and us, as well. This is a place for all of us to find peace." He nodded towards Jenna and Jeremy.

The two of them had family represented in the graveyard. Miranda and Grayson shared a headstone, John was next to them, and Elena was on their other side. The doppelganger wasn't dead, but Jenna and Jeremy were never going to see her again. Elijah had provided them a way to get closure.

"You are a sweet man," Miriam said wetly. She wiped her face with her sleeve and hugged Elijah fiercely. "Thank you, so, so much."

He kissed the top of her head. "You are very welcome, vorgyðja."

The rest of Christmas Day had gone well. Keelin and her family had come over, and having little kids run around showing the adults their new presents had infused the day with a sense of joy. No one had gotten dressed up- except for Elijah, who had donned the sweater Miriam had created for him. Everyone was relaxed. All the humans were a little drunk and all the kids were hopped up on Christmas cookies.

It had been a great day, and Miriam was planning on making it a great night.


That evening found Miriam pacing her bathroom. Everyone had either left or congregated in the theater room to watch yet another Christmas movie. Miriam had begged off. She had something much more fun planned for that night.

There was a soft knock at her bedroom door.

"Come in! I'll be out in a minute!" she called, despite knowing that both of them could hear her just fine at a normal human volume. She heard her door open then close, and assumed they must have done what she said. She didn't want them to think that she didn't want this, so she gathered her courage and exited the bathroom.

Klaus and Finn were waiting for her. Both were dressed comfortably and plainly; clothes weren't really the goal of the night. Finn was perusing her bookshelves that had more yarn and witch trinkets than actual books, and Klaus was standing in the middle of the room, tense and awkward. He spotted her first. The tension leaked from his body, and he let out a noise that alerted Finn to her presence.

"You look… ravishing, love," Klaus praised.

"Beautiful," Finn breathed.

Miriam flushed. She wore a floral embroidered lingerie set that hid little and highlighted a lot. She had bought it months ago on a whim, but hadn't been brave enough to wear it. There also hadn't been a reason to wear it. Up until now, all of her intimate moments with her mates had been relaxed, spur-of-the-moment types of things. Yeah, there had been times when she had been hoping something fun would happen, but that night was the first time they had actually sat down and planned the night.

"You are still… consenting?" Klaus asked, his voice tight and his eyes sharp.

In response Miriam crossed the room and pulled him into a quick but passionate kiss. "Enthusiastically," she grinned.

He kissed her again. One arm wrapped around her body to pull her closer, and the other gripped the back of her head. She draped her arms around his neck and lost herself in the sensations.

The earthy, slightly sweet scent of sage reached her nose and made her pull away. Finn had closed her bedroom door and had lit one of Freya's special sage candles that kept the rest of the house from hearing what was going on in Miriam's bedroom. Miriam was relieved that Finn had lit the candle; she wasn't into exhibitionism.

"I would rather Kol not hear us; he might attempt to 'teach' me about sex again," Finn said dryly.

Miriam made a confused noise.

Klaus chuckled. "Last week Kol tried to give Finn the sex talk."

"Oh my god!" Miriam laughed.

"He seems to purposefully forget that I had a wife, and the two of us managed to produce four children," Finn rolled his eyes.

"Kol's rebuttal to that statement was, quote: 'I have had more sexual partners than you, so I know more'," Klaus was also enjoying teasing Finn.

"I know enough," Finn groused.

"Oh? C'mere and show me," Miriam tried to do the 'come hither' motion, but her bright smile nullified her attempt at sultriness.

Finn let out a low chuckle, but approached her anyway. She was still in Klaus's arms, so she twisted her shoulders to face Finn. He kissed her sweetly. It was a contradiction to Klaus, who bit her neck. The burst of pain meant that he had drawn blood.

"I will be," Miriam said after she ended the kiss with Finn, "beyond pissed if you get blood on this outfit."

"I won't get blood on your pretty clothes, love," Klaus promised.

Miriam went back to kissing Finn, but she could have sworn Klaus paid extra attention to cleaning her shoulder.

"You are gorgeous," Finn punctuated each word with a kiss to Miriam's mouth before he traveled to her neck. In a move that felt like something a teenager would do, Finn sucked on her neck- hard.

"D-Did you just give me a hickey?" Miriam asked breathlessly.

"I do not know that word," Finn murmured as he sucked another bruise into her skin.

Miriam would have believed him, if he hadn't given her a mischievous smile.

Klaus distracted her by kissing his way down her belly. Finn's nimble fingers unclasped her bra and threw the piece of fabric off to the side. He lifted her up when Klaus tugged on her shorts. They joined her bra on the ground.

She was gently pushed down onto her unmade bed. There was a moment of self-consciousness in the couple of seconds that neither of her mates were touching her. But then Finn was on the bed beside her and Klaus had his hands on her legs.

They were touching her everywhere. Finn had focused his attention on her breasts; one hand was pinching and pulling on one dusty nipple while he sucked the other into his warm, wet mouth. Klaus was kissing his way up one of her thighs. She felt his breath on her before he licked into her.

The two of them worked together to bring her to her peak. Klaus had to place an unyielding hand on her stomach to keep her from bucking him off her. When she had calmed down slightly they switched places. Klaus quickly shed his clothes before kissing her deeply and guiding her hand down to where he was already hard. She was distracted by the feel of him and flinched at the touch on her knee.

"I'm fine; I just wasn't paying attention to what you were doing," Miriam said before Finn could even voice his obvious concern.

"Do you hear that, brother? Our mate wasn't paying attention to what you were doing," Klaus said with false incredulity. "You must not be doing enough."

Miriam smacked him. "Don't be an asshole!"

"No, I believe Niklaus is correct," Finn said. He spread her legs and pulled one onto his shoulder, opening her up for his eager gaze. "I need to do more."

He trailed his fingers up her legs and gave her a heated look when her breath hitched. He opened her up slowly but surely. She took one finger easily; he only gave her a second one once she begged for it. The third finger was added after she had practically become putty in his hands. She was dripping on the bed, and so close.

"Please, Finn!" Miriam keened. He was steadily pumping his fingers into her, and wouldn't change the pace no matter how much she pleaded. He was also avoiding her clit, purposefully driving her crazy.

"Should I let her come, brother?" Finn asked.

"I'm not sure," Klaus mused. Miriam's hand on him had gone lax, so he wrapped his hand around hers to control her movements.

"Please, please!"

"Such pretty cries," Finn murmured. Finally, after much too long, he pinched her clit and she erupted in a haze of pleasure.

Miriam was allowed to enjoy her afterglow as her mates moved around. She was vaguely aware of Finn removing his fingers from inside her. He crawled off the bed to take his clothes off. At one point Klaus moved her from the edge of the bed to the top, so she could rest her head on the pillows. She only came back to the moment when Finn stroked her cheek.

"Are you ready to continue?"

She grinned up at him. "Oh, yeah."

Klaus took his place between her legs. He was slick with lube, which was a kind but unnecessary gesture; she was embarrassingly wet between her thighs. He was gentle as he encouraged her to wrap her legs around his waist. He used one hand to notch the head of his cock against her entrance. After one last confirmation from Miriam, he pushed in.

Miriam gasped as he slid in on one stroke, burying himself to the root.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he stroked the baby hairs off her forehead.

"Mmm, yeah," she answered. She shifted her hips, relishing in the feeling of fullness. "You feel amazing."

"So do you, love. Mind if I continue?"

In reply, she pulled his face down for a kiss.

The pace Klaus set was steady and slow, but oh so deliciously good. Miriam threw her head back and moaned. Klaus reverently pressed kisses into her exposed throat.

"You truly are the goddess that Elijah named you," Klaus murmured into her skin.

"Charmer," she teased. She bucked up to get him to move faster, but he ignored her. He kept their pace slow, pulling out before plunging in deep. And repeating the motion again, and again, and again.

Finn wasn't just a bystander. He stroked her arm and kissed and bit whenever he felt like it. He was distracting in the best of ways. Between his ministrations and Klaus's thorough attention, Miriam was pushed higher and higher towards her peak.

Keeping the same steady pace, Klaus lowered his head to take one of her nipples into his mouth. He bit at the tight bud with blunt human teeth, making Miriam shout out and clench around him. He shifted his weight slightly so that he could snake a hand between their bodies. Even though she expected it to happen, Miriam still jolted when he touched her clit.

"God, Klaus!" she exclaimed as he rubbed slow circles into her.

She could feel his smirk against the skin of her throat.

"I-I'm not going to last long," she stuttered as her pleasure hit an all-time high.

"Don't hold back," Klaus encouraged.

She didn't- she couldn't- hold back. She came hard and with a shout. Klaus continued to fuck her through it. His thrusts became harder as he finally began to lose control. Miriam writhed beneath him, the sensations almost too much.

After a handful of powerful thrusts, Klaus pressed in deep and came. Miriam shivered at the feeling and he pulled her close in response.

They stayed like that for a little while, just basking in mutual affection and adoration for each other.

Finally, after several minutes, Klaus gently pulled out. Finn handed him a warm, damp hand towel that he used to tenderly clean her up. When he was finished, he tossed the towel in the direction of her bathroom. She dimly heard it land on the tile floor, but she was distracted by Klaus pulling her into his arms.

"How are you feeling?"

"Great, honestly. That was very, very good," she praised. He preened under her attention and cuddled her close. He had her drink some of his blood, which dimmed the soreness that she was feeling between her thighs.

Finn handed her a bottle of water and a granola bar. "Drink. And eat this, please."

Miriam accepted, and ate the whole granola bar before downing the entire contents of the bottle. When she was done Finn took the trash from her and disposed of it. He returned to the bed, his eyes smoldering.

"You've been very patient," Miriam complemented. She went to move out of Klaus's arms, but he didn't let her go.

Miriam and Finn both froze. Klaus's possessiveness and paranoia had been something they had all been worrying about in regards to sharing Miriam with his brothers. Miriam bit her lip as she realized that they were seconds from disaster. Miriam was sure that Klaus was either going to attack his brother or jump out the window with her. She didn't want to spend another night in a cave- naked, no less!- so she started to kiss every inch of skin she could reach. There was a tense moment when his arms tightened, but then he let her go.

She kissed his jaw, then his lips, in thanks.

The bed moved as Finn climbed up to join them.

Miriam turned to look at him. "How do you want me?"

His eyes darkened. "On your belly."

Thrilled by the thought, Miriam rolled over onto her stomach. Finn barely waited for her to get into position before he was behind her. He grabbed her hips and held her in place as he thrust all the way in.

Miriam moaned and arched her back. Finn didn't give her any time to get used to the sensation of being filled before he was fucking her hard and deep. Miriam threw out a hand in Klaus's direction, and it only took a second for him to grasp it in his own hand. His eyes were soft and at odds with the intensity that Finn was displaying.

Her sweet Finn. He was draped over her back, hissing out words between clenched teeth- kind words like beautiful, lovely; and filthy words like wet, tight, and perfect little cunt. He gripped her tight, knowing that any bruises that he left would be washed away the next time one of them fed her their blood. He wasn't afraid to chase his pleasure, because he knew that Miriam would speak up if he did something she didn't like.

Klaus's eyes were narrowed at Finn's ferocity. Miriam pulled the hand she was holding up to her mouth and bit. Hard. Klaus let out a low, shocked noise- more out of surprise than pain- and turned his attention to her.

"I'm not fragile," she promised him.

"No, you are not," Finn agreed. He forced her legs wider, and she gasped as she took him deeper. "You are strong. You take me so well, flower."

Miriam whined as he hit a sensitive spot deep within her. Klaus distracted her by slithering the hand that she wasn't holding between her body and the mattress. He palmed one of her breasts before traveling down her stomach. She hissed as he made contact with her aching clit, the pleasure almost too much. But he had taken her words to heart, and continued. He covered his fingers with the slick that was steadily leaking out of her and began to circle and tug at her clit.

"Klaus," Miriam breathed.

"Does he feel good?" Finn asked. She didn't know if she wanted to push back against Finn or arch into Klaus's touch. She tried to do both, but Finn dug his fingers into the plush flesh of her hips and controlled her movements.

"Yes, he does. God! I'm getting close," she panted into the pillow.

"Don't let up, Finn," Klaus murmured. "I can feel her twitching."

Finn didn't answer, but his thrusts became punishing and precise. Miriam could only take so much. After an embarrassingly short time she cried out as she came and bit Klaus's hand again. He removed the hand that had been between her legs and licked her essence off of his fingers.

Finn kept fucking her. His rhythm began to falter as he neared his own end. He plastered himself to her sweaty back and growled filthy things into her ear in Old Norse. It took only one, two, three hard thrusts for Finn to come. He moaned in her ear and slumped against her.

For a couple of minutes the three of them stayed still. Finn and Miriam were in a sweaty, tired pile. Klaus pressed gentle kisses to her hand and face. And though she could only hear a low murmur, Miriam saw his lips moving and knew he was teasing his brother.

After a little while Miriam whined at Finn's weight on her, causing him to disengage from her. He rolled over onto his back, and Miriam mirrored his position. Klaus carelessly tossed Finn a rag before turning his focus to attentively cleaning Miriam off. She rolled her eyes at the brotherly display.

When they were all finally clean and dry, the three of them shifted around in the bed. Unsurprisingly, Miriam found herself between the two brothers. There was a bit of grumbling from both men as they tried to find a position that allowed them as close to Miriam as possible. When they were finally settled, Finn fed her some of his blood. She didn't feed for long, and soon she was curled up between her two mates.

There was a while of amicable silence, of just basking in the feeling of each other. Finn was humming the tune of a lullaby that had been forgotten by time. Klaus was drawing nonsensical patterns into her exposed stomach. Miriam was dozing. She was in that perfect state between awake and asleep, content to be with her mates.

Klaus's doodling became a poke.

"Are you up for another round?"

"Niklaus!" scolded Finn half-heartedly.

Miriam opened her eyes and smiled. She rolled over until she was straddling Klaus. She looked down at him, and she knew without even having to look in a mirror that they were both wearing matching mischievous grins.

"Let's go."


AN: Sage was dealt with, and Miriam finally had sex with two of her mates! Klaus managed not to kill Finn in the process, which is a minor miracle. It made me chuckle to envision those two snarking at each other during the deed, but low enough that Miriam couldn't scold them for it.

The year of 2010 has come to a close for these characters; the next chapter will take place in 2011. We finished tackling all the minor villains; now it's onto the big ones, like Mikael, Esther, and Dahlia. We've also got Marcel and the New Orleans issues to look forward to.

So sorry I made you guys wait so long for this chapter. You all are so patient with me and the long periods of time between updates. Thanks for remaining loyal!

Let me know what you think! I love reading all of the comments :)