Flattery Gets You Everywhere by giraffelove92
"Elena."
Elena jumped at the sound of her name. Rebekah had been silent for a while now, leaving Elena almost more terrified than before. When the Original had been talking to her, albeit with a strong sense of loathing, Elena had at least known where the blonde was and what she was up to. When Rebekah went silent, Elena had grown worried.
"Elena."
It didn't quite register that Elijah was standing in front of her until he said her name again, softly. Almost a caress. She blinked, jolted out of her reverie. She had no idea how long she had been underground, trapped in the vampire-safe chamber that held the Mikaelson family coffins.
She stood, brushing off her jeans. Clearing her throat nervously, she spoke. "So?" She willed her voice to be strong, but heard it tremble anyway. She couldn't even manage a one-syllable word without turning into a quivering mess. What was it about the eldest remaining Original that got her so worked up?
He was too damned calm, standing there across the threshold. They both knew he couldn't cross it if he tried, but his stance would make anyone believe that he was exactly where he wanted to be. She wondered how he pulled that off with such grace. His handsome, chiseled face was unreadable. Even though she knew he was upset with her, he neglected to show it. His eyes though – those liquid brown orbs held such emotion. She thought, for a moment, that she could see sorrow and disappointment among the spectrum, and shame welled up in her heart and tore through her conscience. She had to look away, focusing instead on a muscle in his cheek that trembled with tension.
He looked almost…tired, the thin sliver of moonlight that crept through the small crack in the ceiling casting the shadows of his face into stark relief, the hard plains of his jaw looking especially harsh; and yet the contrast did nothing to take away from his beauty. Years of experience weighed heavily on his broad and undeniably solid shoulders. She had drooled over those shoulders from their first meeting, however unpleasant it had been, and now was no exception. She had never met a man who looked just as good from the back as he did from the front; the way his impeccably tailored suit jacket stretched across his shoulder blades was unrivaled by any man on the planet, she was sure.
"So." He waited a beat. "You were going to let us all be killed." His hands were in his pockets, his body seemingly relaxed, but his eyes smoldered. His voice was deathly calm, and almost low enough to be a whisper. "Tell me, Elena – were you positively gleeful when I drank from my poisoned glass, or were you merely indifferent to the thought of my impending perish at the hands of my mother?"
She sucked in a lungful of air and nearly choked. "Elijah, please," she blurted, "Please, try to understand. Our backs were up against the wall – "
She cowered when his arm came up abruptly and his hand came crashing down onto the wall of the cave tunnel. Rubble rained down from the ceiling at the force of the impact. He stood motionless, in the same position as before, only his hands were out of his pockets and clenched into fists at his sides. A muscle in his jaw strained and ticked. Once. Tic. Twice. Tic. Three times.
All of a sudden he was directly in front of her; suddenly and shamefully, her lips itched to kiss the Adam's apple only inches from her face. She flushed. He was much bigger up close than he looked when she saw him at arms' length. How could someone who seemed so cold make her feel so hot? How could someone whose heart didn't beat make her own thump so violently inside of her chest?
"The barrier seems to have been removed." The breath was knocked out of her as she was rushed against the wall of the cave. Elena could feel the chill of the stone through her clothes. One of his hands went to the wall next to her head, while the other came up to press gently but firmly against her throat. She gasped as her windpipe slowly closed. Primal fear mingled with thrilling anticipation, surprising and embarrassing her. "If you thought your back was against the wall before," Elijah growled, "welcome to reality."
