YOU'RE NOT BEING VERY NICE.
[ 2.09 ]
THE FEELING FADED ALL TOO SOON. One moment, lips were caressing her neck with kisses so light that she could giggle, and the next, she was being pulled from such a perfect dream. Lottie kept her eyes closed for a moment longer, sinking deeper into the pink pillows while trying to remember the feeling of strong hands on her skin that she'd never actually felt.
It was only a dream.
She could only ever dream about more with them, a fact that always saddened Lottie each morning when she woke. But at least when she opened her eyes, she could almost always count on one or both of them being there to raise her spirits with their presence alone.
Lottie's tired eyes fell on Finn, who was sitting on her windowsill and staring out at the view of the large forest that she could paint from memory at this point. And she could paint Finn as well, just as he was with the morning sun casting a golden glow on his tan skin and a content look on his face.
Sometimes she wondered what he'd look like with a more modern look — shorter hair like Kol that was styled off his forehead and dressed in something to match. But then again, she'd never want it too short that she wouldn't finally get to learn how it feels to run her fingers through.
"I see a prince has climbed into my tower," Lottie spoke up with a sleepy smile. She'd called him a prince ever since meeting him in his ancient outfit when she was fourteen.
Finn looked at her with a smile only ever reserved for her while getting off the windowsill. "I hope the princess slept well and only had good dreams."
"The best — ones of you," she told him, looking up as he stood above her. "You were warm."
The back of Finn's knuckles grazed right through Lottie's cheek in as much of a gesture as he could manage.
"You will be warm," Lottie said, a soft sort of determination in her eyes that made him adore her all the more. Then she took the time to sit up, letting her floral quit fall to her lap. "Now, I see my prince, but where is my—"
"Nuisance, fool, court jester, scoundrel—"
Lottie giggled at Finn's taunting nicknames for Kol while shaking her head. "Let's settle for my troublemaker," she said, shaking her head. "Is Kol out stalking the locals again?"
"He's stalking our brother," Finn informed her. "Elijah is in town with two witches. It doesn't seem that our other brother is with him as of yet, but it's better to keep an eye on things. And you know Kol—"
"Any time witches are involved, he's involved," she said knowingly. Even if Bonnie Bennett didn't know it, Kol had monitored a lot of her magical training process. Even the smallest of spells kept him entertained since losing his magic once becoming a vampire. "Finn, if you'd like to go watch Elijah, please don't feel you need to stay with me all day. He's your brother, and you know I've got a lot of boring things to sort through with the Historical Society's tea party coming up, plus I have to go by the post office and drop off a letter for Lenzo."
"Trust me, my dear, I would much rather be looking at your face all day than Elijah's," Finn said with a smirk — Kol's mannerisms had been rubbing off on him over the years.
This Finn was different than the one that was daggered — even than the one that appeared in Lottie's bedroom five years ago. He was free and light and easy-going. And Kol, who regretfully always thought of Finn as dull, was glad he was privileged enough to watch him grow into himself without their parents' influence. And the two brothers, who used to hardly speak to each other were now closer because of it.
They didn't need the Always and Forever that Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah had excluded them from unintentionally — they had their own bonds now.
☽︎
"I think it's lovely you still write letters with your friend," Finn commented as Lottie dropped off a letter at the post office.
Okay, so, Finn and Kol definitely thought Lorenzo was Lottie's camp pen pal like everyone else did. Truthfully, she was surprised that Kol never read any of her letters over her shoulder given how easily bored he got without the ability to interact with his surroundings. But they didn't know she filled Enzo, the vampire, in often about all the supernatural drama in Mystic Falls — she, of course, left out seeing mystical projections of her mates. And he always wrote back, both offering advice and worrying about her safety. Though Enzo was plenty adjusted to modern times now that he was out of captivity, he still enjoyed simple things like writing letters, so Lottie indulged him.
But boy, had he sure picked up the telephone fast the first time she name-dropped Damon Salvatore.
The two vampires had a past, evidently. Damon, like Enzo, was captured by the same society run by Elena Gilbert's father a long time ago. But Damon managed to escape and instead of helping to save Enzo, he left him to burn in the facility.
But Enzo didn't burn, and a handful of years later, he was found by a very confused little girl in the basement of the place where she got her flu shot every September.
How Lottie convinced Enzo to not come to Mystic Falls and obliterate Damon, she didn't know. Actually, she did know. Enzo adored his 'Little Lottie' and couldn't tell her no when she so rarely asked something of him — and she asked that he not needlessly kill another person in her life after so many other bodies started dropping in town.
To make up for any guilt, any time Damon was even slightly injured or inconvenienced, she would describe it in detail in her letters to Enzo to make him feel better. A part of her was sure he kept those particular letters framed.
This newest letter — which affectionately began, 'Dear End Zone,' a nickname he claimed to hate but Lottie knew he adored — explained a brief explanation of how Damon's evil ex-girlfriend was continuing to torment him and somehow managed to defeat their plans for the masquerade ball. Enzo wouldn't be pleased about Lottie being kidnapped for a bit, but no doubt, he'd chuckle while thinking about how annoyed Damon must be with all this doppelgänger nonsense.
"I like letters," Lottie said to Finn once they were back in her car — a canary yellow Jeep that Finn secretly thought was ugly and Kol not-so-secretly thought was also ugly. But who were they to judge cars, as they hadn't really been around for their invention? "We can save them and look back on them. I'll leave you and Kol notes every chance I get."
"And I shall save each one," Finn told her sweetly.
Lottie smiled back before plugging her phone in to play some music as they drove. But she paused seeing a text message from Damon. "I'm requested at the Salvatore house. Bit early for a meeting. Do you think they know? About your brother not really being dead?"
"Perhaps they wish to regroup after yesterday's events," Finn said. He was fairly sure Elijah would let more time pass before revealing that he was alive. "A lot's happened since the masquerade."
It didn't take too long for Lottie to reach the Salvatore Boarding House, and she could see Elena's vehicle parked outside already, meaning she wasn't the only invited. Lottie let herself into the home, knowing she was always welcome. There was an easy smile on her face but it dropped as soon as she stepped into the living room and saw the surprising face that occupied the room with Elena and the vampire brothers.
"Rose," Lottie said warily. She took a step back — a step toward Finn.
"She's here to help," Stefan said quickly, spotting the slight fear on Lottie's face. Though they hadn't seen Trevor's bite wound, Elena spared no gory details on the drive home.
"Supposedly," Damon muttered while fixing a glass of bourbon. "Figured you weren't busy and might like to hear, what with you being yesterday's collateral and all."
After a moment, Lottie nodded to Rose and took a seat next to Elena. Really, this had nothing to do with Lottie that they knew of. They didn't know how she was tied to the Originals, so she was actually thankful to be here for, well, whatever it was.
Rose looked quite nervous as she began to speak. "Okay, you have to understand I only know what I've picked up over the years and I don't know what's true and what's not true. It's the problem with all this vampire crap but Klaus, I know he's real."
Lottie noticed how Finn tensed at the mention of his most ruthless sibling, who she now knew the name of. Elena leaned forward. "Who is he?"
"He's one of the Originals," Damon said, rolling his eyes. "He's a legend."
"From the first generation of vampires," Elena added.
"Like Elijah?" Lottie asked, knowing she had to play clueless.
"No. Elijah was the Easter Bunny compared to Klaus. He's a foot soldier. Klaus is the real deal," Rose said.
From the side, Finn snorted. He couldn't wait to tell Kol about someone comparing Elijah to the Easter Bunny — he learned about the fluffy creature when Lottie was fifteen and still teaching him of the world.
"Klaus is known to be the oldest," Stefan stated.
"I'm right here," Finn said, crossing his arms and puffing his chest up. Lottie had to bite her lip hard to stop from smiling at the pouty look on Finn's face. He didn't like being forgotten — and even if the world had forgotten about him, Elijah was older than Klaus as well.
"Okay, so you're saying that the oldest vampire in the history of time is coming after me?" Elena asked skeptically. It sounded insane to her.
"Yes."
"No."
As Rose and Stefan spoke at the same time, Damon sighed. "What they're saying is, I mean if what she's saying is true—"
"Which it is," Rose interrupted.
"And you're not saying it so I don't kill you—"
"Which I'm not."
"Then we're looking at a solid maybe," Damon said, shrugging.
"It sounds... plausible," Lottie said slowly, looking at Elena.
"Look, Elijah's dead, right?" Stefan asked, none noticing how Lottie bit her lip. But she couldn't tell them. "So no one else even knows that you exist."
"Not that you know of," Rose interjected.
Damon cut his eyes to her, clearly annoyed. "That's not helping."
"Look, I've never even met anyone who's laid eyes on him. I mean, we're talking centuries of truth mixed with fiction. We don't know if he's real. For all we know he could just be some sort of stupid bedtime story," Stefan said, still in denial.
"He's real and he doesn't give up," Rose snapped. "If he wants something, he gets it. If you're not afraid of Klaus, then you're an idiot."
"Alright, we're shaking. You made your point," Damon said sarcastically.
As the discussion came to a rather pointless end, Elena got up. Stefan eyed his girlfriend — ex-girlfriend? Something had happened recently — with a frown. "Where are you going?"
"School. I'm late," she said, shrugging. She wouldn't meet his eye.
"Let me grab my stuff, I'll go with you," he offered.
Elena shook her head tensely. "It's okay, I know where it is."
Damon sipped his bourbon and looked back at Rose. "She's in denial."
"Shut up, Damon," Stefan snapped at him.
"Education is very important. She doesn't need to skip school," Lottie said with a teasing smile. "Maybe Klaus will at least wait until the end of the term to attack — like Voldemort."
☽︎
It was a touch awkward as the sound of Rose's crying hit Lottie's ears. She bit her lip and glanced up from the book she'd found on the coffee table to see Rose facing the corner and trying to wipe her eyes. Clearly, she had begun to think about her friend Trevor while they sat in silence.
"I, um, I'm sorry about Trevor," Lottie said quietly.
Rose cut her tear-filled eyes to the girl and shook her head. "No, you're not."
"Maybe," she admitted quietly. "But he still didn't deserve a death like that."
"Yes, he did," Finn muttered. He was over by the bookshelf and reading the various titles. In his opinion, Elijah was much too lenient with the vampire that harmed their mate. Elijah should've taken a page out of Klaus or Kol's book and tortured the man for hours.
"I just don't understand," Rose mumbled, eying Lottie carefully. "How could someone like Elijah heal a useless human and then turn around and do something so horrific to someone trying to right a wrong? When I made the deal for the doppelgänger, I specifically mentioned both my freedom and Trevor's."
Lottie didn't have an answer, so she looked back down at her books. And Finn didn't tell her, knowing that Lottie might feel responsible for Trevor's death even more so if she knew that Elijah was willing to break his word in order to defend his mate.
"All right, Rosebud. I need some answers," Damon spoke up, wandering back into the room. But he rolled his eyes when he saw Rose wiping her tears furiously. Crying in front of a quiet human as opposed to an annoying vampire were two different things. "Oh please don't tell me you're crying 'cause your buddy Trevor lost his head."
It made her scoff. "You've always been this sensitive?"
"His whole life," Lottie joked, smiling down at her book.
"Full vampire switch for this very reason. Takes the emotion out of it," Damon said casually.
"Yeah, you switch yours, I'll switch mine," she said, rolling her eyes.
Damon raised an eyebrow. "Is that a dig?"
"It's an observation," she noted. "Being in love with your brother's girlfriend must be difficult." Lottie bit her tongue, not at all surprised how quickly Rose picked up on that.
"I'm not in love with anyone," he said defensively.
"You want to try that again?" Rose asked with a smirk.
"Don't get on my bad side."
"Then show me your good side."
Having enough with the banter, Damon got back on track. "How do I find Klaus?"
"You don't find Klaus, he finds you," Rose stated.
"Come on," he groaned. "Somebody's got to know somebody who knows where he is, right?"
"Add another two hundred somebodies to that and you're still not even close."
"Well, how'd you get in touch with Elijah?" Lottie asked, setting her book to the side. No, she wasn't going to just call Klaus up and ask for his brothers, but she needed to start thinking of ideas.
"Through a very low somebody on the totem pole. A guy named Slater in Richmond," Rose explained to them.
Damon smirked at her. "Perfect. I'll drive."
"No. You forget not all of us can do sun," Rose said quickly.
"Then you drive," he shot back. "Come on. You too, Charlie."
"But I have—"
"You don't have anything. Cheer competitions are over for the semester, so you don't have to coach practice," Damon said, pushing her off the couch. "We gotta get you out of the house more."
"Last time I left the house, I was made into a juice box," she grumbled while grabbing her coat.
"And he was delightfully beheaded, so, all's well that ends well, or whatever."
☽︎
It was probably for the best that Kol wasn't in the back of the SUV with Lottie and Finn. He had a habit of trying to make the girl laugh at the more inconvenient times, knowing people would think she was odd. Just because the youngest Original wasn't within sight didn't mean he wasn't near, though.
Kol was quite surprised to see Lottie follow Damon and Rose into a coffee shop in Richmond with special windows so that vampires couldn't burn. The very coffee shop that Elijah was standing outside of.
"Careful how you play this, brother," Kol said, eying Elijah. "Our girl's in there."
Kol was as diabolical as any other Mikaelson and he knew Elijah would likely do something dramatic, especially to keep the Slayer fellow that they were meeting from spilling anything too important. But he didn't want Lottie to see anything too traumatizing — he may have hated those in Mystic Falls, but they did a good job of keeping Lottie untraumatized thus far.
He watched how his brother watched Lottie, careful to listen in to the conversation while also studying her every move. Elijah took in how Lottie let Damon pull out a chair for her that faced the window, how she pushed her hair off her shoulder and tucked the skirt of her blue sundress underneath her thighs. Kol knew what Elijah was feeling as he looked at the human girl that was so right and unexplainably his.
At least for the time being. Kol couldn't wait to burst his bubble and let him know that she was theirs. Or if Finn's hunch was correct, their other brother would swoop in and ruin Elijah's high of seeing his mate for the first time fairly soon.
"And you're sure Elijah's dead?" Slater was asking the group once they were seated at a table.
"Beyond dead," Damon assured him. Lottie innocently sipped on the cup of tea that Damon bought her.
Slater, who Lottie found very pleasant upon introductions, sighed sadly. "Trevor was a good man; he helped me with my dissertation on sexual deviance in the Baroque period. I was schooling for my Psych Ph.D."
"Slater's been in college since '74," Rose told them with a smile.
"No, way," Lottie said in disbelief. She was looking forward to going to college after her gap year but she couldn't imagine staying for so long.
Slater nodded to her. "When I was turned. I have eighteen degrees, three master's, and four Ph.Ds."
"The point?" Damon asked impatiently. This had nothing to do with Klaus.
"Exactly, I mean, what is the point?" Slater asked. "What should I be doing with my eternity? If you have an answer, please enlighten me."
"We need your help," Rose spoke up. "If someone wanted to get in touch with Klaus, how would you hook him up?"
"Craigslist."
Damon and Lottie shared a disbelieving look. "Really?" he asked.
"Seriously. I respond to a personal ad to get sent to somebody who knows somebody who knows Elijah, who's dead and that's where my connection ends," he explained.
Back outside, Elijah knelt by a man playing a guitar on the side of the street. He pulled out a one hundred dollar bill and dropped it inside before taking out a handful of coins from the instrument's case.
"Oh, don't even think about it, Elijah," Kol said protectively. He wanted to floor his brother for thinking of such a stunt. "If she even gets a scratch on her!"
"Here's what I don't get," Damon said. "Elijah moved around during the day, which means the Originals knew the secret of the day ring. Now, why would Klaus want to lift the curse of the sun and the moon?"
"To keep the werewolves from lifting it. If a vampire breaks the sun curse then the werewolves are stuck with the curse of the moon forever and vice versa," Slater explained, shrugging.
"But werewolves are extinct," Rose said.
"True. I've never seen one but rumor has it—"
"Not such a rumor," Damon said, drawing his lips together.
"Though Damon's not exactly helping the population," Lottie mumbled under her breath, still sore about losing Mason Lockwood. And they also had Tyler to worry about now, as well.
Slater looked between the two in disbelief. "Mystic Falls? God, I've got to visit this place. It sounds awesome."
"Awesome doesn't even begin to describe it," Damon said sarcastically. "And based off the fact that Mr. Suits could tell with one look that Lottie can't be compelled for whatever reason, I'm sure he also knew about the werewolves."
"You can't be compelled?" Slater asked, looking at Lottie with interest. He scanned her form for any kind of vervain-laced jewelry and didn't see any. He also assumed she wasn't ingesting it. "But then—"
"Look, can we stop the curse from being broken at all?" Damon asked impatiently. Any other day, when Elena wasn't in danger, he'd take the time to try and find out what was up with Lottie.
"What do you mean?" Slater asked, focusing back on the other vampire.
"Well, if we make the moonstone useless, would it stop the curse from being broken?" he asked.
It made Lottie frown, knowing what the curse really was. And though she'd never met Klaus and he'd probably try to kill her upon meeting her, she thought he deserved to break the curse. She couldn't imagine what it was like to have a part of yourself locked away by your hateful mother.
But Slater was clueless to this as he shrugged. "Well, yeah, probably, but why would you want to do that?"
Damon leaned forward. "Tell me how."
"You think I'm gonna help you figure out how to do something that will piss off an Original?" Slater scoffed. "And keeping them from walking in the sun?"
"You want to walk in the sun? I can make that happen if you help us," he wagered, knowing Bonnie could do it. And that greatly interested Slater.
"I'll... I'll look into it," he said after a moment. But then his wide eyes fell back on Lottie, who really didn't want his attention at the moment. "I'm sorry, but I've just gotta come back to you. Lottie, right?"
"Yes," she said, nodding shyly.
"You don't drink vervain? Or wear it?"
"No." She knew where this was going. A vampire's mate couldn't be compelled, but there was still no way for Elijah to know that she was the mate of Finn and Kol. Unless there was some kind of Original secret where they knew how to sense the others, she supposed.
"And Elijah just knew with one look that you couldn't be compelled?"
"It's what it seemed like," Rose spoke up. Though she hadn't been too focused on the conversation given that Trevor just lost his head.
"That's insane," Slater whispered to himself. "I mean, it's just a legend, but the only way that's possible and for him to instantly know — barring you being some kind of other supernatural being — is for—"
It all happened rather quickly.
Kol appeared in the coffee shop, startling both Lottie and Finn. He gave quick instruction for Lottie to duck under the table. Half a second later, just as she got her hands over her eyes, the large glass window of the coffee shop shattered.
People and vampires began to scream as skin started to burn. Slater booked it, and Damon threw his coat over Rose to try and save her. Aside from a few small cuts on her arms, Lottie was unharmed thanks to Kol's warning. She stood and looked out the broken windows with wide eyes, trying to find out what happened. But Elijah was nowhere in sight.
"Charlie!" Damon shouted while rushing Rose out of the coffee shop. Lottie quickly followed all the other customers out the back door and into the parking garage that kept the sun away.
Damon carried a screaming Rose to the back of the car, whose face was slowly healing over. "You're gonna be okay."
"I know," she breathed out, trying to get past the pain.
"Who's behind that?" Damon asked, looking back at the door. He hadn't seen the culprit either.
"I don't know. Where is Slater?"
"Iowa by now. Who the hell knows?"
Rose shook her head and cried. "He's not behind this, he's a good guy, he wouldn't betray me."
"Who did it?"
"It's Klaus, don't you understand?" she asked fearfully. "You don't know this man. We're dead, we're all dead!"
"It wasn't Niklaus," Kol said, crossing his arms as he leaned against the car. Finn glanced at him, noticing his glare. "He's not here yet. This was Elijah."
Lottie was too busy letting Damon check the cuts on her arms.
"While she was in there?" Finn hissed angrily. "How dare he put Lottie in even an ounce of danger! He knows what she is. Elijah should've gotten her out first."
"This feels like more than trying to break Klaus' curse," Kol muttered. "Whatever he and his witches are planning is big — too big to just take his mate and leave for her safety. I don't like not being able to interfere."
"We have to trust that Elijah is doing what he thinks is best," Finn said, rubbing his forehead. He too was mad at Elijah for being responsible for Lottie's injuries, but they didn't know what state the rest of their family was in. There was no telling what happened between Elijah, Klaus, and Rebekah since Kol was daggered. "Even if his best makes me want to rip out his spine."
"I'm starting to wish Niklaus would've shown up first," Kol grumbled. "The bastard may be a paranoid wanker, but that paranoia would keep anything from harming her."
"Don't ever tell him that. It'll go to his head."
☽︎
"Kol, please. I'm trying to focus," Lottie said in a stern tone. She was sitting in her kitchen and decorating some cookies to bring to dinner with the Lockwoods the following day. And Kol was running around the kitchen and being as distracting as possible while it was Finn's turn to watch Elijah. "You're not being nice."
"Funny," Kol said with a smirk, coming up behind her. "You seemed to be singing quite a different tune just an hour ago in that bathtub."
Lottie's cheeks heated up at the fresh memory of how she let her hands wander while he watched with dark eyes, telling her just what to do.
"Kol, please," Lottie had said with a choked whimper, her head thrown back against the side of the tub. Her body was burning, but he'd asked her to cease her movements, and so she did.
"Go slower, Darling."
"But I need—"
"Oh, I know what you need. But I want you to go slower."
"You weren't very nice then, either," Lottie muttered, looking at the plate of cookies shyly. God knows why she was being shy after he'd seen so much of her.
"You could've kept going if you really wanted to," Kol said lowly by her ear, a delighted smirk on his lips. "What could I have done to stop you?"
No, he couldn't have stopped her. But Lottie did anything that Kol told her to, wanting to please him as much as she could. He and Finn couldn't touch her, so she did it for them — in any room, at any pace, and as many times so long as she could stand it. And of the two brothers, Kol had the most fun — Lottie wouldn't call it fun — with the fact that she'd do exactly as told.
It'd been that way since the very first time it happened.
It was only a few months ago when things took a turn in the already odd relationship between Lottie and the brothers. She knew she was their mate and had no qualms about how they treated her now that she wasn't tied to any stupid human suitors.
Though there hadn't been much time to think about feelings anyway, with Damon Salvatore following his brother to town and wreaking havoc. That was where Finn and Kol had been off for a few days — following the vampire to make sure his business with Katherine wouldn't put Lottie in any danger. They came back late at night after Damon escaped the cellar he was trapped in and killed his human descendant, Zach.
"Perhaps we can convince her to convince her parents to move," Kol said under his breath as they moved toward Lottie's room on the second floor.
"I don't like this — more vampires coming to town," Finn grumbled. "And not even her parents are taking the precautionary measures for her."
It was true. The Lancasters were hardly ever home, especially now that the town vampire council was more active than ever. They left Lottie home alone, just like tonight, while Damon and who knows how many other vampires ran around.
"At least she has us to tell her who to stay away from," Kol noted. On her own, Lottie was far too innocent and trusting. But if the brothers told her to keep away from someone, she would.
"We'll tell her in the morning about Damon escaping," Finn said at the door to her bedroom. There were many photos taped to the surface of her high school friends. "I don't want to wake and worry her."
"Perhaps we should keep following Da—"
Kol cut himself off when a sound hit their ears, something like a whimper. Then it was followed by his brother's name.
"Finn."
"Is she having a nightmare?" Finn asked with a frown. Deep down, he was still convinced that he was a monster and that Lottie was scared of them on some level.
"Kol, please."
"We'll wake her," Kol said, concerned about what could be haunting her mind so horribly that she wished for both of them to protect her.
Except when the brothers phased through the wall and entered the bedroom, they didn't find Lottie tossing and turning in fear from a nightmare. They found her with a pillow between her legs, eyes clamped shut as other kinds of less-than-innocent images ran through her head.
"Well, brother, it seems we were right to worry about leaving her alone, but not because of the growing vampire population."
As soon as Lottie heard Kol's voice, she gasped and ceased all her movements. Her cheeks burned impossibly red as her eyes fell on Finn and Kol who were standing at the edge of her bed, clearly having witnessed far more than she meant for them to.
Given that none of her previous partners quite made her feel enough to even attempt something like this before, Lottie wasn't expecting an audience. And now she couldn't meet either man's burning gaze as she looked down, taking note of how her shirt rode up and exposed her thighs.
"Oh, she can't even look at us now," Kol said with a teasing smirk. "You were begging just a moment ago, Darling. What were you begging for?"
Lottie opened her mouth but nothing came out as she shut her eyes in embarrassment. But her eyes flew open when Finn finally spoke.
"Keep going."
"W - what?" she asked with a quiet gasp.
"You heard me," Finn said in a stern tone. His eyes fell down her body only clothed in a large T-shirt that hid away underwear still pressed to the pillow. She felt she couldn't breathe when his eyes fell back on hers. "Keep - going."
Lottie's thighs moved together without even meaning to — both brothers' eyes followed the movement. And so she did keep going, rocking her hips against the bunched-up pillow slowly until she could find the right rhythm that had her whimpering only a minute before.
Kol leaned against the wall and drank in the sight. "Tell me, do you do this every time we step out?"
Lottie shook her head, back to being unable to meet their eyes. "N - no. But I woke up from a dream. Thought this might make it feel better."
"Hm, what kind of dream?" Finn asked, already having a good idea. Lottie shook her head, not wanting to say such things out loud.
"Don't worry, Darling. You'll feel better," Kol told her, tilting his head as he continued to watch her. Then he pushed off the wall he'd been leaning against and stood at the end of the bed again, standing over her. His fingers grazed the end of Lottie's shirt, eyes glued to slowly-hardening nipples pressing against the thin blue material. He raised an eyebrow almost innocently. "Do you want to take this off for us?"
Delicate hands shook as she slowly lifted the shirt over her head, leaving Lottie bare except for a pink pair of underwear with a small white bow at the top of the band. Kol's head fell back as he groaned from the view, taking in the sight of her chest that he was sure his mouth was made to touch.
"So shy and pretty," Kol said, a hungry glint in his eyes. "And all for us."
"Lay down, Lottie," Finn instructed, coming near again. "All the way back to your headboard."
A new type of excitement was running through Lottie's veins as she did so, never having expected something like this. And though no one had ever seen her in her underwear, much less like this, she knew she'd only ever want the two in front of her to see her like this.
"Touch yourself for me, ástin mín," Finn whispered.
Kol noticed her hesitation and couldn't help but smirk once more. "Or do you know how?" he had to ask, relishing in how her chest moved as she took in a deep breath.
Kol hovered his hand over her belly button. "Start here," he said, telling her where to place her right hand. "Now lower and lower."
They all watched as Lottie's hand brushed her stomach before reaching her underwear. Kol had her lightly trace along the fabric that was already damp from moving against the pillow, loving how she squirmed. He couldn't wait to find out how responsive she was when it was his touch on her.
That night had gone on a long time, and Kol was mean in the most euphoric way. After Lottie's first orgasm hit her, the brothers coaxed many more out of her until she was babbling with an inability to stand on her own. And for days after, all she could hear were all the things they whispered in her ear.
How would you ever be able to take me when you can't even manage another finger, ástin?
Lick it off yourself, Darling. Just like that until the day I can do it for you.
Lottie wasn't to do such things without one of them present — not that she'd ever want to without them anyway.
It was to be expected that Kol would want to have such fun after the past two days. Lottie had been in danger twice, and there was nothing he could do about it, which wound him up. He might not could properly take care of Lottie but he could have her do it for him.
"Kol," Lottie said, feeling flustered once again under his gaze. "I really need to finish icing these. You're just not making it easy."
"I'm literally doing nothing," he said, pleased with himself. "I can't do anything."
"You're very distracting," she murmured. "Just... do these look okay?"
Kol took one glance at the cookies and snorted. "A bit on the nose, don't you think? Even if his mother has no idea."
"I think they're cute," Lottie said, smiling at the cookies with little paw prints on them. "And it's my subtle way of making sure Tyler knows I support him. Our families have always been close, and I don't want him to think something like this will come between us."
"As long as you steer clear from that boy around the full moons," Kol said, his playful look vanishing. Though it had been a thousand years, he wasn't looking to relive the horrid memory of his youngest sibling being torn apart by werewolves.
"I'll be perfectly safe, Kol," she assured him. "You worry too much. The first thing we're doing once you and your brother are free is going on a vacation. I can already picture Finn on a beach with a goofy sunglasses tan."
The mental picture made Kol snort. "He's never seen a beach, but I'm almost positive he'd hate the sand—"
Kol was cut off by a swift knock on the door that Lottie almost didn't hear. Considering that she was the only one that could get the door, she went to answer. However, when she opened it, there was no one waiting on the other side.
Lottie looked out at the driveway with a frown — there wasn't even a car driving away. But upon looking down, she saw a bundle of flowers on the welcome mat.
"Lilies of the valley," she notified with a smile.
As she admired the large bouquet, she didn't notice Kol rolling his eyes from behind her. He was standing in the doorway and knew for a fact that Elijah was hiding in the nearby trees, watching Lottie's reaction to the gift. He also knew from his studies of plants for witchcraft that the particular flower was often meant as an apology flower.
Still standing in the doorway, Lottie pulled out the small card tied to the bouquet. The note was short and written in flawless penmanship.
My deepest apologies for this afternoon. It brings me no comfort to have another's blood run through your veins.
The note, which wasn't signed, made Lottie frown. Was it from Elijah? Kol informed her later how he was the one to shatter the windows. If so, why was he making contact with Lottie? And why did it matter if Damon fed her a drop of his blood to heal the cuts? It bothered Finn and Kol, but she knew that was just a territorial mate thing.
As she thought it over, Lottie brought the flowers up to her nose to smell. They would look beautiful next to the lace curtains in her bedroom, even if they were from Finn and Kol's somewhat scary middle brother.
"Get back inside, Lottie," Kol told her softly. A part of him worried that Elijah would snatch her away if she stepped too far out of the house. "You need to be getting to sleep soon."
Lottie smiled as she returned to the house, making sure to lock the door behind her. "I have a perfect vase of these — a nice orange one."
"Only you would think to put ominous flowers in a pretty vase."