B E T T E R M A N | KLAUS MIKAELSON

TWENTY-THREE

The very first thing that Rhine noticed when she awoke, was an empty void of any sort of emotion. All of that pain she had been forced to go through, that she had needed to withstand so that she didn't have to find out if werewolf venom would be her killer, it was gone. Instead, there was a peaceful tranquillity in its place, a heavy reminder of what life had been like before.

What she noticed next, had her furrowing her brows.

A quiet, but still present, buzzing. It was high-pitched, nearly unnoticeable to an untrained ear, but Rhine knew, she could tell. It was there. And she didn't want to deal with it.

Over the months that she had been privy to her new life, she had learnt a few things. Other than the obvious heightened senses, and use of flaming fires to heal and become stronger, there were more subtle things that she had learnt to become accustomed to.

Like the gentle buzzing of a bee turned sour whenever a demon wanted to get on her good side.

Living her life as she did, as an ordinary teenager, whilst having literal demons taking up camp within her headspace, was something that Rhine could honestly say she was quite proud of. Of course, it had been hard at first, there were more instances in which she had to isolate herself away from people in fear of hurting them. They were strong, and whilst some of them were happy enough to grant her their strength to use simply because they wanted her to be grateful towards them, others were less than happy.

Others would only give her their strength if it meant that they had control, that they steered the car, that they had the reigns. And sometimes, Rhine had to learn to be content with that, to try and trust that they wouldn't take advantage of her naivety.

And sometimes that completely backfired and she found herself scorched and stained a bitter black from having to fight herself.

But over time, she had become more in control, had shown them that she was the primary controller of her body, and that only in times of need would she even think about letting them near her. Not all of them had taken to that too well. But it had been thanks to their stubbornness and greed for power, that she had learnt exactly when a demon wanted to talk to her.

Even if talk was a far too broad term for the persuading seduction of these demons.

Along with this helpful insight, Rhine had also learnt how to ignore it altogether, because if she hadn't, the buzzing that was pretty much on a looping track inside of her brain would be the death of her.

So, even if it was the last thing she wanted to think about, the hellhound forced herself to go over the events of the previous night.

Still being wrapped within those same silky sheets was enough to have her reliving every single passing moment of her time with Klaus. Though she knew she would never admit it to him, she could remember everything. Every word spoken, every fleeting glance, every smoothing touch of skin.

Even now, she could still feel the soft stubble of his cheek pressed against every ridge of her mellow hands. Consciously, she knew that the blood he had fed her mixed with the venom floating through her veins had caused her abnormal descent into a hallucinogen-like state. It had caused her to be much more sensitive, to be more freeing and more affectionate. It was easy to blame her weakened moment on it.

Deep down, she knew it had been a desire of her heart, of their, weak but still present, bond.

The pulses of crackled current electrified the tips of her fingers, they shot through from the pads of thumb down to the pumping organ centred inside of her chest. She had been in complete and utter euphoria at their proximity, and by the adoration surfing through those calming waves, she knew that he had felt it too.