Chapter208 Starting Over

Chapter208 Starting Over
Third Person POV
The memorial was over. The internal reckoning inside the Golden Moon Pack had reached a temporary stopping point.
Klaus handed every urgent matter at headquarters to Steven.
He took no guards with him. He boarded a private plane alone and flew directly to Redstone City.
He didn't warn Emma he was coming.
Emma had spent the past several days moving back and forth between the university lab and her dormitory. She worked with Alistair on the project data during the day and rarely left the building before late at night.
That evening, Emma walked out of the research building and headed back toward her dormitory along the quiet street.
She reached the entrance and stopped.
Klaus was standing outside the dormitory door. He had on a black coat, leaning against the wall. The long flight had left him pale, and he was holding himself slightly angled to the right. The gunshot wound in his chest clearly hadn't finished healing, and he was keeping the pressure off that side.
Emma stood still and looked at him. It took her a few seconds before she said anything.
"What are you doing here?"
Klaus straightened and met her eyes.
"I missed you."
Three words, and everything the two of them had been quietly carrying without saying out loud was suddenly just there between them.
Emma walked over, took out her key, and unlocked the door. She went inside, set her bag on the desk, and turned around, pointing at the sofa beside her.
"Sit down." She looked at the way he was holding himself under his coat. "Let me check your wound. You've been overdoing it again, haven't you?"
Klaus didn't move toward the sofa. He crossed the room to her and reached out, closing his hand around her wrist. The grip was firm enough to stop her from reaching for the first aid kit.
He hadn't come to Redstone City to have his wound looked at.
Klaus looked her in the eyes and started talking. He laid out every mistake, one by one, with nothing softened or left out.
"I was wrong about all of it." His voice was low and each word came out clearly. "I kept Grayson and Nancy close. I handed them the power to hurt you. I let you down again and again, and every time I pushed you out into the most dangerous position alone. When you lost the baby, when you lost your home, when you lost your dignity, I wasn't there to protect you. I was the one who hurt you the most."
He didn't look for any excuse. He didn't use the amnesia as a way out.
He held her gaze, and his fingers tightened slightly around her wrist.
"I know sorry isn't enough," he said. "But I had to tell you in person. I'm sorry. I mean it."
Emma stood there and listened.
Her eyes started to sting. Her vision blurred. The old wounds were still there, and hearing this made them ache in a way that was very real. It wasn't something that disappeared just because she wanted it to.
But she looked at his face, still too pale. She looked at the outline of the bandaging visible under his coat.
She couldn't push him away the way she once had. She didn't have it in her anymore.
The mate bond between them was active now. This conversation was nothing like the ones they'd had before. With the connection restored, this close to each other, everything passed between them through skin and blood without any filter.
Emma tried to hold herself steady, but Klaus was holding her wrist, and she could feel his remorse clearly. She could feel how tightly he was controlling his own breathing. She could feel the pressure of wanting to come closer but holding back, afraid of pushing her too hard.
And Klaus felt her just as clearly. He felt the hurt she was still carrying. He felt how tangled her emotions were. And beneath all of it, he felt the place where her walls had quietly started to give.
It was too direct for language to get in the way.
Emma shifted her arm and tried to take her hand back.
Klaus didn't let go. He lowered his head and pressed his forehead against the back of her hand. His breath came warm against her skin.
"Emma." His voice was very quiet. "Can we start over?"
That question went straight through every last defense she had.
Emma looked at his lowered head, and her breath came apart.
She didn't answer right away. But she stopped pulling. She left her hand where it was.
Klaus lifted his head and looked at her. Something deep and steady had settled in his eyes, alongside something that was unmistakably possessive.
Before Emma could say anything, Klaus leaned in.
He tilted his head and brought his mouth to hers. Light, careful, a question more than a kiss. He was waiting for her to tell him what came next.
If she had pulled back, he would have stopped.
Emma didn't pull back.
Klaus kissed her properly. His mouth opened over hers, and the kiss deepened quickly. All the longing that had been pressed down for months, all the grief and the distance and the pull of the mate bond finally coming back together, all of it poured into that moment.
Both of them were breathing hard.
Klaus wrapped his arm around her waist and walked her backward. Her back met the edge of the sofa. She reached up and grabbed a fistful of his shirt.
He kissed her mouth and her jaw, her name coming out of his throat in a rough, low sound. His arm tightened and held her completely against him.
Emma felt the tension in the muscles across his chest and remembered the unhealed wound beneath the bandaging.
"Your injury..." She pulled back just enough to catch her breath, trying to remind him.
Klaus didn't slow down. He brought his mouth to her ear.
"Don't push me away this time," he said quietly.
Emma closed her eyes. She loosened her grip on his shirt and lifted both arms around his neck.
That was her answer.
Klaus shifted his weight, slid one arm behind her knees, and lifted her. He carried her into the bedroom and set her down on the bed.
He shrugged off his coat, worked the buttons of his shirt, and let both fall somewhere on the floor.
He leaned over her and reached for the buttons of her top, sliding the fabric back from her shoulders.
Klaus lowered his head. His mouth moved against her skin. The Alpha instinct that had been held in check for too long drove him forward without hesitation.
He opened his mouth against her collarbone and bit down, leaving a clear mark.
Emma's breath caught short. Her arms wrapped around his back, fingers tracing down along his spine.
His hand followed the line of her waist downward and removed what remained of her clothing.
His fingers found the most sensitive part of her.
Emma's back arched sharply, her legs parting on instinct.
Klaus undid his belt and stepped out of his pants.
He settled between her thighs and looked at her. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes half-lidded and soft.
He held her gaze and pushed inside her.
The moment they joined, the mate bond reached its peak.