She needed a date but the idea of being escorted by someone who she had little in common with was as off-putting as the event itself. Apparently, her presence in New Orleans had been enough to have one of the biggest and baddest-from what Sophie had mentioned-vampire in town want to bring her out in the open and make her known to what was left of the original New Orleans. The thought of such an event would have had the old Bonnie cringe but she liked to that she had changed in her five mouths of isolation...

She caught a glimpse of herself in the entrance hall of Sophie's family home and held her breath. What looked back at her was not only a reflection but a confident and luminous one. It made her stand taller, the mischievous glint that had been missing for months simmering in the emerald embers of her irises. She smiled for what seemed like the first time and the gold flecks of the body shimmer she had used radiated off of her, outlining her in a magnetic orb of pure light. Her dark tresses had been swept up and away from her face, intricate plaits and braids twisting themselves and cascading down to the nape of her neck. What drew the eye however was the red velvet that sloped her body. The sweetheart neck that plunged into a narrow vee down the front of her dress was framed and highlighted by heavy gold embroidered leaf motifs bedecked with freshwater pearls of a creamy hue. The velvet itself hugged her and accentuated the small of her waist and the deep, wider curves of her hips, traveling past her legs and cascading down her calves into a waterfall of a heavily embroidered train. The back followed a shoe-lace pattern with carefully constructed ropes of pearls that shone against the bronze of her skin. The dress was what dreams were made of and looking at herself again, she knew that her pillar of strength was more than enough in a crowd of unfamiliar faces.

Just then Sophie bounded down the stairs, skidding to a stop to admire Bonnie. She was draped in a lilac lace extravaganza that parted in two thigh-high slits that fanned the girls long legs. It was the type of dress a huntress used to entice and ensnare her prey. Swallowing, Bonnie felt sorry for the lost soul that had done Sophie wrong, knowing that there was fire and brimstone on the agenda. The feeling for mischief returned and lacing her arm in Sophie's, both girls smiled conspiratorially and headed out the door...

This was absurd.

He had not seen the minx since his departure from Mystic Falls.

That had been over five months ago and yet his throat went dry at the mere thought of seeing her again.

He was getting too damned old for this.

Downing his drink, Klaus surveyed the room and wondered for the tenth time that day just what he had gotten himself into. Marcel had went out of his way to impress him with the extravagant and purposefully elaborate masquerade and although he was soundly pleased, he stayed on edge. Patience had never been a virtue he had wanted to learn and scolding himself for acting like a lad fresh out of leading straps, returned to his drink. New Orleans' air had been good for him but his nights had not been the same. They were always cold and empty, lacking the comfort of a warm body and cat eyes that promised excitement and playful torment. Raking his hand through his shorter cropped hair, he felt the hairs on the nape of his neck stand on end and every bone in his body began to sing. A warm haze settled over him and the familiar pull at his heart had him reeling, this particular high as addictive as the cause of it.

He turned and there at the top of the white marble staircase stood the vixen of his wildest, most sincere passions. His heart pounded as she descended and without thought he walked towards her, drawn hopelessly to the aura that surrounded her.

Their eyes met and she froze on the last step, recognition causing her cheeks to turn the loveliest shade of crimson. Her hand took his and he gathered her possessively into his arms, the tension in her limbs telling him that she had not forgotten his departure and the way things had ended between them. He intended to right all his wrongs that very evening and gently squeezing the small of her waist like he was fond of doing, he heard the hiss escape her slightly parted lips and knew that it would take more than the evening...

Somehow, to her utter amazement, Bonnie had been lured away from the crowd out into the gardens of the manor, fairy lights and lanterns the perfect back drop to a beautiful evening. He was there...with her and although she felt her anger slowly losing it's heat, she remained cautious. She had grown a lot in his absence and she had no intention of falling prey to his alluring charm and boyish smile. Klaus Mickaelson had hurt her damn-it and he was going to regret it. There it was, that familiar anger she had clung too when he had left and clinging to it again, she stepped away from him.

His hands traced itself lightly across the ropes of pearls that kept her dress together and simultaneously exposed most if not all of her back to him. His skin began to sing again and he found it extremely difficult to breathe. There was nothing more that he wanted in that moment than to bury his face into the crook of her neck, smell the tangerine nectar of her home-made perfume and kiss her senseless. After all, he knew how.

Kissing Bonnie Bennett was like that unexpected droplet of water before the rains or the first crackle of thunder before a storm. The sheer impact of it had to take her by surprise, so much so, that she was clinging to him for dear life, her own two feet not enough support. The whole body had to be involved as it was the greatest way to invoke the sounds that drove him crazy. It had become his favorite sport. Catching the green-eyed witch off guard and pulling her flush against him had been the focus of his thoughts for a very long time and the memory of the last time he had done just that stayed with him...haunted him out of his dreamless sleeps and kept him up for days in a row. He had wondered if she had charmed someone else and had taught them about her kisses, the way that she loved his fingers caressing her cheek or burying them in her hair to angle her lips under his. Her kiss alone had been enough to warn him of the investment that she was. Bonnie Bennett wasn't the type of girl that kept casual relationships. She had been the woman that a man wanted to get down on both knees for. She was the marrying type that always kept him on his toes, the good girl that kept him up at night and drove him senile with her open laughter and warm eyes. She had forced him to be the best that he could be and he had gotten scared...

Family was family. They were easy to push away but they always came back. He didn't worry about his siblings because there had always been Elijah...

For most of their lives, he had been the danger to them all but Elijah had always been there to shield them. With Bonnie however, there was no safety net and he had been scared. He was afraid of the angry man tearing away at his insides and she had made him see that being good was possible. He was capable of becoming his own Elijah...safer...calmer...at peace...

Rage and disgust were the easier emotions to latch onto, after all he had lived with them for more that a century. They were familiar and lacked any expectation whatsoever. He was no good. She deserved better. The thought of his unworthiness had clung to him for days, suffocating him and he had done the easiest thing he could...make her hate him.

Five months however had been a long time. He had had to face himself almost every single hour of each day and the thought that someone else who was "better" or more "deserving" of her had sickened him to the core. He was tired of running. He wanted to be with her. He wanted to be better for her...for himself...The reflection he had seen of himself in her eyes had been so desperately beautiful and real that he had felt the creeping of dread sneak its way into his mind. What if he failed? What if that man that he had seen reflected back to him had been a mere illusion...a conjured visage of her innocent mind?

He was getting too old for this. It was time to put down pretenses and stop running from himself. He wanted this...he needed it...

Bonnie Bennett had become the dream that he had never thought to want and by God he wanted it now...more than anything...

He had been quiet for a very long time, trailing behind her as they traveled through the lantern-lit maze. The silence made her skin prickle to life and she desperately sought out a way to bring him back to her. She reminded herself again that she was supposed to be mad at him but five months had forced her to replay the end. They had both been live, exposed nerve endings playing a dangerous gamble. Someone had finally understood that she suffered from the fear of abandonment...of being alone. He had dragged her out of her isolated state and engaged her in a battle of wits...an adventure...life...

In his absence, she had gained a strength that told her she had survived again and the surge of independence that had washed over her had told her she would be okay. New Orleans had taught her however that being just "okay" was no way to live and the realization that she had given her heart to a man that matched her in ways that transcended intelligence and mischief had enabled her to conclude that it was time. She had grown and she had hoped that he had too...for the better...for their future...

He had let his guard down and she had studied him. Carefully. Slowly. The human man that was trapped beneath his self scorn and stubbornness had been profound...endearing...lovable...He was scared, she had noticed that the first time they had made love and the second time and the third. She knew the feeling of worrying for another person. She understood now what it must have been for him to realize that he cared for someone that held no particular relation to him. The instincts of a survivor was to never get attached to something that one could evidently lose. It was difficult letting someone in, opening up and showing them just what laid underneath. Patience. She had practiced it to a tee and she was willing to wait. It had been a grueling task to let him go, having almost broken her heart in the process. Almost. She knew now that it was the right thing...the best thing to do because they were playing with forever and she intended to keep him.

Looking back from over her shoulder, Bonnie's eyes lit up at the man walking to her. His face was up turned, allowing the wind to caress the soften edges of his features. He had discarded his jacket and walked with his hands in his pockets, the sleeves of his starched shirt cuffed asymmetrically, revealing those muscular arms that had often trapped her against him. He looked peaceful...worried but at peace with himself...finally...

His eyes turned to meet hers and she knew she was in deep when they glowed pewter gold. The sheer intensity that radiated off of him made her lose her breath and footing and as he caught her to him, bringing her into full contact with the hard plains of his body, Bonnie knew how the night would end. She swallowed, trying to diffuse the sudden flush she felt against her skin. Her heart pounded and the coils of familiar desire constricted in the pit of her stomach as she watched the light breeze play with his honey locks. Her eyes felt heavy and she tried focusing but her eyes settled on his lips and she lost all train of thought.

Be mad damn it. She wanted to pull away, away from the body that had taught and awakened her desire but as if reading her thoughts, he held her more firmly, his arms crushing her to him. He had been her first and last and she supposed that the intoxicated response that she felt would always remain. His hand traveled down the slopes of her side and cupping the round mound of her ass in his searingly warm grip, he grinned as her lips parted and she gripped onto his shirt.

Minx.

Lowering his head, he allowed his lips to graze the smooth line of her jaw and he kissed the shell of her ear.

"Come home with me love" he whispered and smirked as she shook her head readily.

"Yes" she breathed and groaned in protest as he shifted away from her. Chuckling, Klaus shushed her with an intoxicating kiss and picking her up, carried her through the maze and towards the stone pathway. It was the shortest way to his manor and he hissed as she nuzzled his neck, laughing when he shot her a warning look.

"Had you wanted me to make love to you here, all you had to do was ask pet!" Her eyes widened but that didn't stop her from trailing feather light kisses upon his face, her hands burying themselves in his hair.

"I'm just returning the favor" she murmured and he groaned.

"Never a favor...always a pleasure."

Bonnie couldn't tell where velvet ended and satin began, her discarded dress just a pool of fabric around her feet. She didn't have time to breath much less grasp a view of her surroundings which in the aftermath would take her breath away. His hands held her entranced and unable to keep her eyes open she arched her back and offered him her mouth. He pressed a kiss to her temple and frowning, she turned only to have him bury his face into the cushion of her neck. Smiling, she dragged her hand through his hair and went on her tip-toes when he pulled her flush against him. His fingers played with the delicate fabric of her lace panties, teasing the sensitive flesh below her navel. He felt the tremor and smiling, hefted her up. In response Bonnie wounded her legs around his waist and hooking her finger under his chin, lifted it just so that his lips were at her mercy.

Pressing her into the soft and inviting sheets of jade, her cheeks flushed and she instinctively went to cover her breast only to have him stop her, like always...

His eyes were the warmest shades of blue and as he looked down at her they turned the darkest shade before melting into the gold that matched his desire. He kissed her then as if she were an oasis in a land without shelter. Her hands curled around his neck and she returned the leisure torment, shaking as his hands snuck around her waist and pressed her into the heat of his body. They rocked against each other, taking the time lovers did when there was no place better than where they were currently.

"Touch me" she breathed and when he moved his hands over the span of her belly she chuckled.

"No..." At the furrow of his brows she laughed harder knowing very well that he was feigning confusion and nipped at his lips.

"With these..." There was nothing wickeder than the curl of his sly lips and flattening his palms against her shoulder blades, he pinned her gently and sunk his teeth into her collarbone. Her skin pebbled as his body shifted and a cool breeze drifted over her and reaching out to him she gripped his arms as he suckled and nipped his way to her breast.

"Sensitive still love?" At the nod of her head he carefully engulfed the pebbled nipple into the warmth of his mouth and at the arch of her back, pressed her into the mattress with his hips.

"Easy love." He sucked and continued his ministrations until her breathing were ragged and as he softly pinched on the other she cried out, her body shaking underneath him.

Her legs instinctively wounded themselves around his hips as he held her and kissed her temples and feeling him at her entrance made her skin prickle to life again. He entered her slowly, giving her time to adjust to his size and gripping the backs of her thighs, angled her hips just so to hit that sweet spot of hers. Their bodies rocked together and as they settled into that old rhythmic pattern that they had long ago established. A thin veil of sweat settled over their bodies and gripping her under the arms, he settled back onto his heels and groaned as she straddled him, taking all of him.

They saw the raining of stars together, all at once in a hot flash of things and it felt like her spirit reached up molded itself with his, fusing them together as one. They settled on a cloud and drifted together in a sea of endlessness and she forgot where the Earth stood as the axis of her world continued to tip over into oblivion and found him in a place where they were only defined by their love.

In the aftermath with their limbs tangled and entwined they slept.

Bonnie woke before him and looking over at his sleeping form, her heart curled in that delectable way and reluctantly slipping away, she drew his button down that laid rumpled at her feet over her naked body and covered him in the sheet they had professed their love on. Padding across the naked floors, she drifted about the room, admiring the way the dark mahogany floors contrasted with the cerulean walls with white painted fern motifs. There were framed pictures on the wall across from the bed and moving to them, her blood hummed as she realized some were of her.

Klaus found her on the balcony and in the dusty hues of dawn he made her his all over again...

As their bodies settled back onto the cushions he had brought with him, he toyed with her hands, slipping the onyx gem encased in gold into her finger, trapping her heart string as his...

The cold of the heavy ring caused her to open her heavy lids and looking at her the onyx that represented her family line, she lifted her teary gaze onto his.

"Klaus?..." He hushed her back into her arms and she knew as the sun peeked over the rim of the balcony, marking it a new day, that their future was just beginning...