Loving you Forever

Chapter 5

Caroline awoke the next morning feeling better than she had in years and she knew it had to with her meeting with Nik in the garden yesterday. Or, she thought, maybe it something to do with the dream I had a few nights ago, that was on repeat last night and will hopefully remain on repeat.

She thought of the dream with a smile on her face as she took a morning bath…

"May I have this dance my lady?" A husky voice whispered in her ear.

"Always my lord." She whispered back and allowed him to spin her around. His hands found her waist and her's wrapped around his neck.

Caroline noticed that she was wearing the gown from Rebekah's party and he was wearing the same outfit as well, "I wish this could last forever."

"As much as I love this feeling sweetheart, if a moment was going to last forever, I have a few others I would like to try." He whispered back seductively and his hands brought her body flush to his.

"Such a wicked mind you possess my lord." She teased and curled her fingers into his hair, bringing their faces closer together, "Should we see if my mind can match yours?"

The look of shock on his face intrigued her more and she nipped at his bottom lip, careful not to kiss him fully.

"Yes, I do believe we should." He said, his voice deep and laced with lust and he swept her off her feet.

She kissed him fully as he carried her and was surprised by the feeling as he lowered her onto to something soft, the most glorious bed she had ever experienced. "Where did this come from?" Caroline giggled as he kissed down her neck.

"Does it matter?" He asked before finding her lips again, she shook her head against his lips.

Nik' hands roamed her sides, slowly traveling up and down her waist, he pulled away slightly, "We need to get you out of this dress love."

"Then why are your fingers not working on it?" She whispered, and started to roll over so he could get to the strings that laced up her back.

Nik stalled her, keeping her back to the bed, "I have a faster way sweetheart." She looked at him confused but then felt his hand cup the top of her dress above her breasts and watched as he ripped the dress in half, exposing her completely. He then gripped her around the waist, making sure to be in contact with her bare skin and threw the now ruined dress into the void that surrounded them.

Caroline moaned in pleasure as his hands and lips explored her naked body. Her hands tugged at his clothes, and realized the unfairness of this situation, "I think it is time to get you out your clothes sir."

"As you wish love." He smirked and his clothes were gone in what seemed like a blink of the eye.

Caroline bit her bottom lip in lust as she looked at his naked body, her heart rate increasing at the thoughts of what his body could do to her own.

"Like what you see?" He asked, his voice and fingers teasing her.

"Very, but I would much rather feel you, than see you." She teased in return and hooked her arm around his neck, pressing their bodies together, "It is rude to keep a lady waiting."

"That it is and I would hate to be rude." He replied and slowing pressed himself into her, watching her face as she moaned in pleasure.

All words left her mind as their bodies continued to move with each other, the tempo slowly increasing and their breathing becoming rougher. Caroline felt her fingers digging deeper into his back as her insides began to clench and she could feel herself approaching the edge, "Faster, faster." She urged and dug her nails even deeper, not caring if she left marks.

She was surprised to feel the nip of his teeth at her neck, and the sharpness of them, but she did not care, all she could think of was the feeling he was wringing from her body. She felt Nik pick up the pace even more than he had at her words and could tell he was reaching his own release. Caroline moaned his name and felt his teeth break her skin as she clenched all around him and fell of the edge of her passion. He followed her soon after and her nails kept making new marks along his back as he thrust into her a few more times before slowly stopping.

"I do not think I have never enjoyed myself so much." He whispered into her hair as he rolled onto his back and pulled her to his side.

"Neither have I." She sighed, trying to get her ragged breathing under control and went to place her head on…

The door to the bathing room opened and in walked a sour-faced, brunette maid, carrying her clothes for the day, "Pardon the interruption m'lady, but you have a guest."

"Who is it Anne?" Caroline asked, slowly getting out of the still warm water and reaching for her robe.

"Lady Plantagenet, she insists it is urgent." Anne said, laying the dress on a bench, her voice indicating her disapproval at the guest.

"Send her up then." Caroline said, drying off as she spoke.

"But you are not dressed?" The maid said in shock, holding the undergarments in her hands.

"The Lady Rebekah will not care at my state of undress, now do as you are told." Caroline was not usually so snappy at her servants but she did not trust the maid her stepmother had provided for her. She grabbed the clothes Anne held, and waited until she had left before she began to dress in the underclothes.

Caroline slowly brushed out her curls at the vanity while she waited for Rebekah to travel the length from the foyer to her room. The door opened behind her and she heard Rebekah sigh as it closed behind her again, "I dislike this new maid of yours, can you get the old one back?"

"She is in service to my husband's family, so she must remain with them." Caroline said, her voice resigned to her loss, "But I am sure my maid was not the reason you came here so early and claiming of urgency."

"Of course not." Rebekah said and sat down nervously in a chair Caroline had set up near her vanity.

"And, your visit is because of what?" Caroline insisted again, she had never seen her friend behave like this.

"My brother." She answered and looked Caroline squarely in her eyes, watching for any variation in her features.

"Which one? You have many." Caroline teased, trying to calm her wayward heartbeat, thankful that the younger girl could not hear it.

"You know which one." She replied, her voice firm, "For your safety Caroline, you should stay far away from my brother. We….he….you do not know what our life truly is and I do not want you to have to live with it. I care for you too greatly."

"Bekah, I do not know what you think is going on between Nikolas and I, but I can assure you…." Caroline started to say, not sure that she wanted to lie to her closest friend, but also not sure she knew what Nik would want said.

"Do not lie to me Caroline. I have not seen my brother behave like this in a long time and I know he came to see you yesterday afternoon." She interrupted, her tone strict, and sighed before adding, "How do you feel about my brother?"

"I have not known your brother long enough to…."

"How does he make you feel?" Rebekah asked instead, cutting off Caroline again.

Caroline looked down at the brush in her hand, turning it over and over before looking at Rebekah and saying, "He makes me feel like I am the only woman in the world in his eyes. He treats me with a respect that Andrew never did. He is also interested in what I have to say not only what I can do for him. I do not deny that am also….physically attracted to him and I am sure he is to me as well. I told him everything Rebekah and he did not run away. How many men are there in the world that would want anything to do with a 23 year old widow, with three dead children, and no desire to have anymore?" Caroline asked her friend before returning to turning the brush in her hand.

"He truly does all of that for you?" Rebekah questioned, her voice awed and skeptical at the same time.

"Yes." Caroline replied simply, not looking back up.

"Caroline, are you sure you never want more children? That you do not want to get remarried and have a child with that man?" Rebekah asked, her voice quietly serious.

"Yes. You have never had children Rebekah, you do not know what it feels like to carry a child, go through the pain of bringing it into the world, and then losing it because of some act of God. Even if I do find another man to marry, no matter the situation, I will never have another child. I could not survive the loss again or even the idea of that loss." Caroline answered, her voice never getting louder than a whisper, then raising her voice, she asked, "Is that the answer you wanted?"

"I just needed to be sure." Rebekah replied cryptically, and then decided to change the subject, "Has your father brought up the option of having you remarry?"

"Not yet, but Andrew has not even been dead a week. Give it a month, then I am sure he will parading offers in front of me, none of which I will accept." She answered, her voice firm.

"You do not wish to remarry?" Rebekah had not even thought of that as an option for a woman of Caroline's status, especially not after their conversation the day of Andrew's wake.

"If I marry again, it will be because I want to be with him for the rest of our days, not because my father thinks it is a good social match. I have already been stuck in one loveless marriage and I will not be forced into it again." Caroline explained and finally stood from her vanity, walking to the window overlooking the back courtyard. She smiled as she spied the bench in which she talked with Nik yesterday.

"Not many women would dare utter those words aloud." Rebekah commented, joining her at the window, "If my brother offered you marriage, would you agree?"

"I do not know your brother well enough to accept such an offer." Caroline replied, her voice as regal as she could make it, "Were you not listening to what I just said?

"Would you like to get to know him better?" Rebekah inquired, watching her friend's face carefully.

"Yes, but what a scandal I would cause." Caroline replied with a smirk and a small laugh, "Think how it would seem. I recent widow spending time with one of the Plantagenet bachelors. It would be the talk of every social gathering."

"I have an idea of how you could get around that." Rebekah said, a devious smirk of her own resting on her features.

"Do tell dear friend, what do you have in mind?" Caroline giggled as she walked to where her black dress awaited her, she sighed as she looked at it, wishing she could express her true mood and wear a bright color.

"Marry my brother." Rebekah said, her voice serious, and full of conviction, but upon seeing Caroline's face added, "Before you reject it, think. Marry my brother, it will allow you to get to know him, to maybe even fall in love with him. At the same time it will allow all of your interactions with him to be appropriate and above ideal gossip. Your father will also not be able to pressure you into another marriage and would not disapprove of the match either, my family is very powerful. And, Nikolas will not force you to do anything you do not wish and I can make sure of that as well."

Caroline did not know how to respond, Rebekah made plenty of excellent points and it intrigued Caroline immensely.

"Before you say yes or no, use this month of mourning to think on it." Rebekah insisted, sitting back in her previous chair.

"What if your brother does not approve of your plan?" Caroline asked, slipping behind her dressing wall and slowly putting on the black gown.

"Oh, he will love the idea." Rebekah assured her, a large laugh escaping her, "In fact, I might get a new ball for thinking of such a wonderful plan."

Caroline tied the laces up to her mid back, as far as she could reach, and then a thought came to her, "Does your brother want no children?"

Caroline could not see Rebekah when she asked the question, but as she walked around the wall, she was not expecting to see a sad looking girl, "Rebekah, are you all right?"

Her voice seemed to snap the girl out of her saddened thoughts, "Yes, sorry, but…. My siblings and I…..we cannot have children."

"Why not?" Caroline asked, kneeling in front of her friend, taking her hands in her own.

"It is just not possible, can we please not talk of it?" Rebekah asked and Caroline had never heard her voice so dejected.

"Of course, I will never bring it up again." Caroline confirmed, squeezing her pale hands before standing back up, "Should we retire to the garden for morning tea or do you have to be getting back?"

"Let me finish up your strings and then I think tea would be lovely." Rebekah said, allowing a small smile to her lips and Caroline responded in kind.

Rebekah walked into her brother's sitting room with purpose, she knew she had to word everything she said perfectly. She had no intention of getting on her brother's bad side today, as he was needed to make her plan a success. Rebekah had never really considered turning Caroline before, she had always assumed that eventually Caroline would either grow tired of her or Rebekah would need to run away. But now, she could see how unhappy Caroline was with her life, and Rebekah did have the perfect solution.

"What can I help you with sister?" Nik asked, looking up from the sketchpad in his hand. He and Edward had come up with a plan to make sure that the entire supernatural world was looking for the doppelganger, and he was getting a head start on it.

"In a way, it will help you too." She started, coming over and sitting in the chair next to his, "I was talking to Caroline today," She paused to gage his reaction and saw his interest spike, "Her father is going to force her to remarry, and have more children, both of which she doesn't want."

"What are you getting at?" Nik asked, putting the sketchpad on the table next to him, and looking at his sister directly.

"You want Caroline, she wants you, and I want her too." Rebekah knew that her wants were different than her brother's, but she found that insignificant at the moment, "So, I think that you should court her, and marry her."

"Marry her?" Nik repeated, slowly, as if the words were brand new to him.

Rebekah rolled her eyes, and explained the situation a little fuller, "You need to if you want to be with her. She will not just jump into your bed on a whim, she is not that kind of woman. Marrying her will allow you all the access to her that you could desire, while making sure that there is no scandal. Our family is respected, an offer of marriage from you could not be swept under the rug, especially when it comes to a woman in Caroline's position."

Nik slowly thought over his sister's words, he had already done a great many things to get into Caroline's bed, but this seemed to be taking it a bit far. There was something about Caroline though, something that made him believe she could be better for something more than just a good time for a night, that just maybe she could be his match. He raised his eyes and looked at Rebekah, "What would you have me do?"

The smile that lit up Rebekah's face was something Nik had seen since they were human, "Write to her. You need to make her fall in love with you without actually being able to talk to you in person. I will be your personal messenger to ensure everything remains hidden."

"Why are you going through all of this trouble Bekah?" He asked suddenly, he knew that his sister liked Caroline, but he was starting to think it was more than that.

"I feel like Caroline could be good for us Nik. The last months I have had her in my life are the most accepted I have felt in a long time. It is almost like I am getting that elder sister I never had, and no offense, but always wished I did." Rebekah explained, getting to her feet and smiling at her brother, "I promise you won't regret this."

Nik smirked at her, "I will hold you to that little sister."

Rebekah gave him a smile and walked out of the room, nearly running into Edward on the way out. Edward followed his sister with his eyes before looking over at a still smirking and chuckling Nik, "What was that about?"

Nik looked up at his elder brother, "Rebekah has decided that I need a wife, and has come up with a plan to get me one." The look on Edward's face was enough to send Nik into another bout of laughter that took him minutes to get under control before he explained everything to him.