he couldn't remember the last time he'd fed. trapped there in the cave, stefan grew weaker, still weaker.
where was elena? where was damon? it had been days since he'd seen either, long, empty days spent craving the taste, the rush, the power of blood. how many days, he wasn't even sure. probably far fewer than it seemed when time passed so damn slowly. in the confines of the cave, he felt himself weakening, even as his mind raced.
he needed to get out. he needed to get away. he needed to smell fresh, crisp air.
he needed blood.
he refused to believe damon and elena were above ground, oblivious to the torture that came with every breath. he refused to believe they'd forgotten him. that they would leave him there to rot.
to rot, with her.
"i'm not the worst company in the world, you know," katherine said. she leaned against the cool rock of the cave wall, looking at him from beneath long, sweeping lashes. even now, trapped, cut off from the world, cut off from the blood, her beauty was staggering.
of course, so was elena's. they were, after all, mirror images. but while elena projected an air of innocence, of goodness, katherine laughed at both concepts. she preferred fun to good, whatever the cost. and innocence? well that was just boring.
he could feel her eyes on him even as he pointedly avoided looking into that face. the face that had dazzled him a century and a half before - the face that continued to do so to that very day.
elena's face, he thought fiercely. not katherine's.
elena. not katherine.
"oh, come onnn stefan. really, what's the big deal? she's only me, after all. so what's the difference?"
"it has something to do with good versus evil," he said, finally giving in and responding to the husky voice that had been penetrating his thoughts ruthlessly for hours. she just wouldn't leave him be. wouldn't let him block her out.
no, katherine couldn't stand being ignored, would never settle for being less than the object of every man's desire. generally, accomplishing that took little - if any - effort. stefan, however, presented a challenge.
and oh, she still remembered that hard body, that firm mouth, those big, broad, bruising hands touching every inch of her.
"we used to have such fun together," she said in a voice that promised everything and more. "remember, stefan? don't you remember the first time? you were so sweet, so unsure... i had to help you unlace my corset."
"you laughed," he said before he could stop himself.
"i laughed," she acknowledged. "it was sweet, the way you fumbled. you said i was breathtaking. you said you were scared to touch me, to hurt me.
"but i helped you along, didn't i, stefan? and you've always been such a quick study. it hardly took you any time at all to stop thinking of me as some delicate china doll. to use those big hard hands of yours, to possess all of me. the things you did, stefan. we had such fun..."
he remembered. he remembered the sight of her, back arched as she moved like lightning over him, breasts thrust forward, dark eyes clouded with desire.
"i loved you," he said abruptly, turning away.
"and i loved fucking you," she answered easily.
suddenly she was beside him, long, devious fingers running up the length of his arm, squeezing his bicep before sliding to his chest, moving down, lower, lower.
he grabbed her wrist, reversed their positions so that he had her back to the wall.
"don't push me, katherine."
"don't you want to know what it'd be like, stefan? after all these years?" she pressed her body to his even as his grip on her upper arms loosened, his eyes dark with a mixture of lust and fury.
then her mouth was at his neck, her tongue soft and silky and painfully hot against his flushed skin. beneath her lips she felt his pulse quicken, heard the involuntary gasp of breath.
"i want to feel you again, stefan," she murmured into his ear, her breath sending shivers down his spine. "and you want to feel me, don't you?" she pressed closer, her body molded to his. she could feel the effect she was having on him even as she wrapped her arms around his neck, boosted herself up to trap his hips in the vise-like grip of her thighs.
she moved against him, felt the physical response as his hormones betrayed him.
"come on, stefan," she whispered, her tongue playing with his earlobe, her body moving to some inner, pulsing beat.
every cell in his body throbbed. every cell in his body wanted.
"for old times sake," she told him, and he heard the smile in her voice.
"is that what you want, katherine?"
she tilted her head back, looked at him through those dark and wicked eyes. she didn't have to answer.
and then he had a fist in her hair, yanking her head back so that it slammed against the rock, had stars of pain and pleasure bursting in her head. his hands were everywhere, gripping her hips, fitting her curves to the hard lines of his body.
"don't say you didn't ask for it," he snarled, then feasted on every bit of exposed flesh.
triumph gleamed in katherine's eyes as she ripped his shirt clean down the middle.
"don't say you weren't begging for this," he said roughly, hands firm and possessive.
"shut up stefan. shut up and fucking fuck me."
he bit the softness of her earlobe, drew blood.
"ask nicely," he demanded, hands visiting places that had her heart thundering in her chest.
"fuck you," she whispered.
his grip hardened. "ask. nicely."
"no."
his hand, still fisted in her hair, tugged ruthlessly.
"you're hurting me," she told him, relishing the heat, the pain.
"you want it."
"yes," she gasped. "i want it."
"ask nicely," he repeated, eyes fierce.
"i want it stefan," she said in a voice choked with desire.
"say please." he gave her hair another brutal tug, used his teeth on her tender flesh. "say it."
"damn it, please stefan, for fuck's sake, please just fuck me."
he shoved her away in one easy motion. her legs, weak with longing, all but melted as she dropped limply to the floor.
"no thanks," he said.
walking deeper into the shadows of the cave, stefan heard her vicious stream of obscenities, heard her cursing him to hell.
the rage in her voice gave him more pleasure than she ever could.