"Do you love him?" Katherine asked from her place on the bed, her eyes watching Caroline closely.
"Yes," she answered plainly, shock covering her friend's face.
"I'm sorry. Did you just admit it?"
Caroline smiled sadly. "Yes, but nothing will come of it. In five days, I'll board my train and be back in Mystic Falls…ready to marry Tyler."
"Has he written again?"
Caroline turned from her seat at the vanity. "Yes, he seems impatient and worried."
Katherine's eyebrows rose to her hairline. "Well, I guess he has a right to be. You and Klaus seem pretty keen on each other."
She turned back around, straightening the makeup and perfume in front of her. "It doesn't matter. He's a criminal and I don't belong in a world like that."
"Are you trying to convince me or yourself?"
She hesitated before speaking. "I don't want to be in a world like that. I want a family and you can't raise a family in that situation. It's too dangerous."
"So, you'll go back to your safe and monotonous life in Mystic Falls?"
She swiveled back around. "Are you trying to convince me of something? I thought you hated Klaus."
"He's grown on me lately and Elijah says since you've been around, Klaus has changed a little. He's not as rough around the edges."
"Even if he has changed, it's temporary. A tiger can't change its stripes. Plus, he's an eligible bachelor in a big city. Women are probably clamoring to get to him and if we were together, I'm sure he would stray because he'd get bored of me. And-"
"Enough," Katherine exclaimed in exasperation. "He loves you!"
Her eyes grew as big as saucers. "What?"
Katherine's shoulders slumped, as if a great weight had been taken off them. "He loves you."
"You heard him say that?"
"Well, no, but-"
She shook her head. "Then it's not true."
"Elijah told me earlier." Katherine rolled her eyes. "The man can never keep a secret."
Caroline stayed silent, staring distantly at her friend. He couldn't love her. He barely knew her. You love him, her traitorous inner voice piped up. He was worldly though and he'd get bored of how she marveled at the smallest things. She'd annoy him with her incessant worries and he'd eventually leave her. She'd go back home to live with her parents and live out her days as a spinster. No, she had to take a safe route. Tyler was safe and a little dull, but he was sweet and could give her a good life. Sure, they didn't have passion, but they had friendship and maybe that friendship would one day turn into passion.
Her thoughts strayed to Klaus and her heart squeezed. The more time she spent with him, the more she fell deeper in love with him. It could just be lust, she thought, but her inner voice scoffed rudely. She couldn't stay with him even though he made her heart thrum like tiny hummingbirds inside her chest. She couldn't ask him to change everything about himself, it was unfair. It was decided then, she'd spend the rest of her trip cherishing the moments she had with him. She'd make sure she remembered every bit about their time together, so maybe on the lonely nights at home she could think back. A tear escaped her eye, but she dashed it away.
"What should we do tonight?" she asked, turning back to the tabletop and ignoring Katherine's exasperated sigh.
ooOoo
Caroline couldn't help but admire Klaus as they danced at the Soda Shop later that night. She was drinking every bit of him in, from the rumble of his voice to the light smell of the Ivory soap he used. He'd told her about the different places he'd been, but she was barely listening, too busy watching the way his lips puckered when he spoke or the faint lines and dimples on his cheeks when he smiled. She moved closer into his embrace and he stopped talking, holding her gaze as they swayed gently to the music. His eyes clouded with a little bit of sadness and she knew he could tell what she was doing and he was resigning to do the same, remembering every part of her for when she was gone.
He leaned down to whisper, "I would really like to kiss you," he admitted. "But this isn't the place for it I think."
She should have been scandalized at his admission, but instead she answered, "Take me somewhere then."
As soon as the words left her mouth, he was pulling her across the dance floor and through a door. The large cement block room housed barrels of liquor, all meticulously organized. The air around them was thick with the smell of alcohol and she briefly wondered if she could get drunk just from standing in the room. The heavy wood door shut behind her with a light click, the music and rowdy laughter being drowned out. In the silence of the room, it took less than a second before they rushed each other. The kiss was one hundred percent passion and neither of them held back from pouring what they felt into it. His hands wandered up her back and into her hair as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him flush with her body. Her lipstick was surely smudged and when he pulled away to kiss down her throat, she let out a small laugh.
"That's a nice color on you," she joked and he wiped at his bottom lip with his thumb.
"It's a badge of honor to wear your lipstick, Love."
She didn't have time to laugh as his lips descended again, demanding her full attention. His hand finally wandered to her chest, his warm hand cupping her breast and lightly petting her nipple. She pushed her chest fully into his hand, giving him permission to continue his striations.
"The things you do to me," he whispered, switching his lips back to her neck.
All she could do in response was pant as his scruff tickled her throat and he switched breasts, making her head swim in delight.
"Klaus," she murmured in the darkness of the room. She could see his eyes and the hunger that was reflected in her own. She didn't think, only acted on how she felt and how she wanted to be closer to him than she already was. Her fingers shakily reached to his belt buckle and his hand connected with hers.
"Caroline…"
She kissed him to stop him from saying anything further. She didn't want to hear a 'but' or any kind of rejection that may have been about to leave his lips, so she devoured him instead. His tongue thrust into her mouth as his fingers gripped her loose curls and his breath hitched when her hand met his warm flesh.
"Oh, Love," he panted as her fingers traced up and down his hard shaft. His palms tentatively started at the side of her leg and traveled up her thigh, briefly playing with the fringe of her dress before lifting it. A stray thought came to her mind to stop him, but she pushed the thought away, concentrating on their mingled breaths and the feel of his nimble fingers as he unsnapped her garters. She pushed his pants down his thighs as he lifted her dress to her waist and hitched her leg to wrap around his hip. She barely noticed the cold cement at her back as he poised himself at her entrance.
"Tell me," he demanded breathlessly.
She swallowed the knot in her throat before speaking. "I want you."
His eyes closed as if he couldn't take the pleasure of her admission. "Focus on me." He kissed her passionately before breaking away. "Focus on my touch."
He started to push and she almost halted him, but she did what he said. She focused on him and their breathing and his swollen red lips. She took power from knowing that she was the reason his lips were so red and well used. Her lips clashed with his as her entrance gave way to his length. It took the breath from her once they were fully connected, but she kissed him more, his moan reverberating down to her toes. She'd never gotten a talk from her mother about sex, something that was only expected for a wedding day, but somehow, she knew what to do. Her brain didn't know, but her body most certainly did as her hips thrust forward, meeting his short gentle strokes.
"Love, Love," he kept repeating, his strokes getting quicker and harder as he spoke.
"Klaus," she breathed, the pain fading and taking on bits of pleasure. Her voice must have been his undoing because a moment later she felt him swell even larger before he grunted, his breath halting with every spasm that took over his body. One last shiver shook him as he rested his forehead against her shoulder, giving her a light kiss. "How do you feel?" she asked.
A breath of a laugh puffed against her shoulder before his eyes met hers and he slowly put her leg down. "I should be the one asking you that."
The silence of the room became deafening as she came back into awareness and the haze of desire melted away. A light blush spread across her cheeks as she moved to push her dress back down, but he caught her hands. "You're amazing, Caroline, breathtaking and…" He let out a sigh. "You have just simply enchanted me." A smile pulled at her lips and she leaned forward to kiss him again.
"I've enchanted you?" she asked, not knowing where this bravado came from.
His fingers ran up the inside of her thigh, touching the wetness from their activity. She could tell he took pleasure from knowing she wore him on her body, just as much as she did. "Just by breathing my name I forget myself. By looking into your eyes," he continued, two digits making their way inside her slick heat and making her gasp as he moved them rhythmically. "By tasting your skin." He kissed her bare shoulder. "How I love tasting you. I would get on my knees and pray to you, worship you." Her face screwed up in confusion as his lips left her and he kneeled on the floor, as if he were kneeling before a queen. He began to nuzzle the inside of her thigh as his fingers sped up tempo. Her breath came out in a rush as she felt the tiniest touch of his tongue against her flesh. Her hips shot forward, demanding his tongue continue its exploration. With her fingers threaded through his curls she could barely take it any longer, the something that had been building from before crashed over her like a wave, loosening her limbs and making them tingle. Her ears clogged with the sound of her pants and she closed her eyes, trying to remember and enjoy every pulse that zinged through her body. Her head rested against the wall as she caught her breath, lazily opening her eyes to watch him stand before her, licking his lips.
"That was…" She didn't have the words as he moved closer to stare into her eyes.
"You're amazing, Caroline."
"Thank you," she answered hesitantly and he smiled, glancing at her mouth before gently pressing his lips to hers.
"Am I not amazing?" he teased and she laughed.
"Do you need me to stroke your ego?"
His smile became rakish. "I'd rather you stroke something else…later."
A smile lit her face as she shook her head. "Incorrigible."
His laugh cracked against the walls of the room. "Let's get you cleaned up."