Author's Note: This is a one-shot written for the Damon & Elena holiday (author2author) exchange 2016 (on LiveJournal) based on supposedlymel's prompt. It's a bit different from what I usually write. Hope you'll enjoy : -)

Disclaimer: This short story is based on characters created by L.J. Smith as portrayed in the TV show created by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec. All rights belong to their respective owners.

MAID FOR YOU

Damon Salvatore stood in front of his full-length mirror and straightened his tie. The investors were meeting in an hour and he needed to look the part if they were going to take him serious. His father didn't think he had the stones to take over as head of Salvatore Enterprises, and this was his chance to prove himself. He was going to take the company in a new direction, and he needed the investors to do it. His father had made it clear from the start that he wasn't going to fund Damon's venture. So be it. He didn't need his father's support. Damon Salvatore didn't need anyone. Except investors.

He heard them before he entered the library, and his step faltered as he approached. His father had hijacked his meeting with the investors. Damon gritted his teeth and pushed open the door. Five pairs of eyes looked back at him.

"Ah, Damon, how nice of you to join us," his father drawled and Damon held back a snide remark on how he was the one who'd called the meeting and it wasn't supposed to start for another ten minutes. His hands fisted at his sides before he forced himself to relax.

"Gentlemen," he greeted the investors, ignoring his father. "Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules. I hope I haven't kept you waiting."

The men shook his hand but didn't look pleased to see him. Damn his father. He'd purposely sabotaged this meeting.

Just as Damon took a seat in one of the leather chairs, his father picked up a bell from a side table and swung it from side to side. Damon glared at him, but moments later, the maid appeared.

"Elena," Giuseppe Salvatore said, not even sparing the maid a look, "you may bring in the refreshments now."

"Yes, Mr. Salvatore," the petite brunette said, her eyes fixed on the floor as she curtseyed. Then she disappeared as quietly as she'd appeared.

"Pretty little thing, that," one of the investors commented and Damon bit his tongue.

"I bet she has a long list of duties, right, Giuseppe?" a bald man with a bulging waistline chuckled, tipping his tumbler of Scotch in Damon's father's direction.

Giuseppe Salvatore simply drank from his own glass, offering no comment. Damon was well aware his father had plenty of mistresses, but as far as he knew, he'd kept his grubby paws off Elena. It better stay that way, or Damon would cut his father's private parts off. Elena wasn't up for grabs.

Damon cleared his throat, taking control of the meeting. "So, as I said in my email-"

Elena Gilbert rubbed her feet at the end of another long day at the Salvatore boarding house. Aside from the meeting that had been held in the library, Rebekah had held a ladies' luncheon in the parlor, and Stefan demanded to have all his shirts ironed before he decided what to wear to dinner. By the time all the dishes were done and the house was silent, Elena was as good as dead.

She'd kept her much-needed shower short as Rebekah hated having her 'beauty sleep' interrupted by the sound of water rushing through the pipes. The Salvatore boarding house, for all its splendor, was an old structure and with that came the lack of noise reduction. Every creaking footstep could be heard, every conversation traveled through the ventilation shaft if you happened to be near one.

Her room was the smallest in the boarding house. She knew because she'd had the pleasure of cleaning each and every room in the house for the arrival of the extended Salvatore family over the holidays. She didn't know if the Salvatores planned to bring in extra help for the duration, but if not, she'd be working around the clock to make sure everyone was fed and their rooms were clean. It was more than one person could handle, but she couldn't exactly complain. Or quit. The job paid well, and it was the only way she would be able to afford Jeremy's tuition and keep up the mortgage payments on their childhood home.

The knock on her door startled her, and she barely had time to put her feet down on the floor before the door opened. She sucked in a breath when she saw Damon Salvatore filling her doorway as he leaned against the doorpost.

"I need turndown service," he said languorously. She'd dressed down to her pajamas and from the way his eyes roamed her body, she felt exposed.

"Of course, Mr. Salvatore," she said and reached for her maid uniform. "I'll be with you in a moment."

"Cute PJs," she heard him say, but when she turned back, he was gone.

Her heart was beating a mile a minute as she dressed in her uniform, leaving her camisole on underneath instead of bothering with a bra. She wasn't exactly busty, so she could probably get away with it.

As she quickly padded over to the wing where Damon's room was, she admitted to herself that he was a part of why she stayed, too. There was something magnetic about him, and her body seemed to tingle every time he got close. He was the least demanding of the Salvatores, and that made her like him better than the others. However, there was no doubt in her mind that he was the most dangerous of them all.

His door was open when she reached the room and he was in the ensuite bathroom, brushing his teeth. Elena kept her eyes averted and scurried over to the four-poster bed to pull back the bedspread and fold the bedlinens into a triangle before fluffing the pillows. Before she could finish, she felt Damon behind her. He smelled of soap and mint and his hand was warm as he touched her back. She stiffened and waited for him to say something. Do something.

"Thank you, Elena," he said smoothly and removed his hand.

She straightened and turned, finding him crowding her personal space. She quickly dropped her gaze, only to notice that he wasn't wearing anything other than a towel wrapped around his hips.

"Um… I…" Her mouth suddenly felt dry while her head was swimming. "Will that be all, Mr. Salvatore?"

He touched two fingers to her chin, tilting it upwards so that she had no option but to make eye contact with his mesmerizing blue eyes. Only they were darker than she remembered. Probably because his pupils had widened.

"You can call me Damon, Elena. And your eyes are far too beautiful to be wasted on the floor."

Elena's heart was racing. He thought her eyes were beautiful? Did that mean he thought she was beautiful, too?

"I… thank you, Mr…. Damon."

"Tell me, Elena, do you like working here?"

The question was soft-spoken, not challenging, but she still felt a ripple of unease go through her. Was he going to threaten her job if she didn't do what he said? A part of her got a wicked thrill out of the setup. The kind of stuff found in some alpha romance novels. But the most part of her, her sense of independence and self-respect, riled against it. If he was suggesting-

"It's not a trick question," he said with a soft chuckle. "I'm curious, that's all."

"Your family has been very generous," she said diplomatically.

"Pfft," Damon scoffed and stepped back from her, letting his hand drop. "That's a non-answer. I expect better from you."

"I'm sorry. It's the only answer I can give you."

Damon walked over to the door and closed it. "No one else lives in this wing of the house. You won't be overheard. Tell me the truth. Do you like working here?"

"You're my employer, Damon. You must know I'm well compensated. This job is important to me."

"I'm not your employer, Elena. My father is. As for your wages, I don't handle the household finances. My father won't even trust me with that. When you think about it, it's crazy to think he'd ever let me handle his company."

Elena swallowed. He was upset. She could tell by the way his voice had grown distant even as he was standing right in front of her.

"Your meeting today," she started, and braced herself as his eyes met hers, "it didn't go as expected?"

"You could say that," he muttered.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's not your fault my father is a jerk, or that he sits idly by while-"

"While what?" Elena asked as Damon clipped his sentence short.

"Nothing. Forget it."

"All right," Elena said and bowed her head. "I should go-"

She was almost at the door when his voice stopped her. "I punched one of the investors." She spun around, staring at him in horror.

"Why?" she asked, her question coming out like a whisper.

"They insulted you. After you'd served the refreshments. One of them was particularly crude and I… I couldn't stand it."

"So you punched a man?" Elena stepped closer to him, unable to comprehend the extent of what he was saying. "For me?"

"It was nothing."

"But Damon… it cost you."

"Then so be it. I don't want those kinds of men doing business with me anyway. I'll find new investors. People who respect women."

Elena's heart skipped a beat. Her hand was trembling as she reached up to touch his cheek. He looked as stunned as she was nervous at the tentative touch, but he didn't back away. "You're one of the good ones."

"I'm afraid you give me too much credit," Damon said, leaning into her touch. "I was planning to seduce you tonight."

Elena sucked in a breath and felt a bolt of heat shoot straight down to her core. She removed her hand from his cheek and placed it over his heart instead. She could feel it thundering in tune with her own. "What changed?"

"You tensed up when I touched you, and I realized that any move I'd make would put you in an awkward position. I meant it when I said I'm not your employer, Elena, but I should have made something else clear. You're the only one who has any right to your body. No job should ever be more important than that right."

"Thank you."

"You're not moving away," he noted, and Elena looked down at her hand.

"I guess not."

"Elena…"

Their lips met in a passionate embrace, their tongues dueling for dominance. Elena was happy to let Damon lead the battle, but she had a few moves of her own. One that had her hand sliding down his chest and onto the towel wrapped around his hips. She easily untucked the corner he'd used to secure it and wrapped her hand around his length.

Damon bit her lip as she ghosted the tip of him with her thumb, spreading the wetness there across his head and down towards the root, making her hand glide more smoothly across his skin.

After a couple of firm strokes, Damon was biting her shoulder as his chest expanded at increasing speed. "Elena. Stop."

She stilled her hand and pulled away, worried that he'd changed his mind. That he didn't want her after all. But when she looked into his eyes, that's not what she saw.

"I'm not going to last much longer if you keep that up," he said hoarsely and she felt her cheeks heat with embarrassment. She'd gotten a bit carried away.

"Sorry."

"Don't you dare," he said and kissed her hard. "Don't ever think you have to apologize for turning me on."

"Okay," she said, a little dazed from his kiss.

Damon looked down at himself and back up at Elena. "You are seriously overdressed. I think we need to do something about that, don't you?"

Elena nodded and stood still as she watched Damon undo the buttons on her uniform.

"Well, look at that… you kept your PJs on."

Elena blushed. There wasn't anything sexy about her camisole and her short pajama shorts, but the way Damon looked at her made her feel like she was on the runway at a Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

He hooked his thumbs in the waistband of her shorts and slowly slid them down her legs. On his way back up, he hovered just above the juncture of her thighs, his hot breath stoking the fire already burning there. For a moment, she thought he would stay there, but then he rose to his full length, taking the hem of her camisole with him. She lifted her arms to allow him to pull it over her head, and when he threw it aside, she felt the coolness of the room tightening her nipples. Or maybe it was the anticipation of his hands on her.

"Why, Miss Gilbert, you're beautiful," he whispered reverently as his hands moved to cup her breasts.

She bit her lip as his thumbs ghosted across the peaks. When he sucked one into his mouth, she gasped and clutched his head, holding him to her breast. His tongue stroked the sensitive skin relentlessly and when his teeth grazed her nipple, her knees buckled. She only remained standing thanks to the hold Damon had on her, his hands gripping her ass and holding her close. She could feel his hardness press against her soft core and she couldn't stop herself from rubbing up against him. This made him groan and release her nipple. She expected him to move on to her other breast, but instead, he picked her up and deposited her on the bed.

She reached for him as he hovered above her, his arms caging her in, but he just gave her a naughty grin and crawled down to the foot of the bed, positioning himself between her legs. He pressed a kiss to her mound through her panties, and she could feel how damp the fabric was already. She lifted her hips in encouragement, and Damon's chuckle reverberated through her body as he slid her panties off.

He placed one hand on her lower belly, keeping her grounded. With the other, he urged her to let her thighs fall open, creating a triangle for him. Once he had her where he wanted, he slid both hands under her ass and lifted her to meet his lips.

Elena closed her eyes as Damon worked his tongue inside of her, fisting the sheets as he sucked on her clit, inching her towards the edge. Any second now, she was going to fall over. Any sec-

Elena opened her eyes as the heat of Damon's mouth left her and stared at him in confusion. She'd been so close. Why did he stop when-

She got her answer as Damon rolled on protection before covering her with the entire length of his body, her hips cradling his as if he'd always been there. His hand disappeared between their bodies as he aligned himself with her opening, and then his hands were back to cupping her breasts, plucking at them and making her squirm.

As her hips raised towards him, she could feel the tip of his at her entrance, and she rocked in encouragement. Damon grinned before he kissed her, his tongue thrusting into her mouth at the same time as he entered her in one long stroke.

Elena gasped at the sudden intrusion, even though she'd been yearning for it. Her legs hooked behind Damon's back, her heels digging into his butt cheeks and spurring him to go deeper, to fill her completely until there was nothing to separate them. Not even air.

As his thrusts became more frantic, he laced her fingers with his, pinning her arms to the mattress above her head. Elena bowed off the bed as she came, and as her inner walls milked him, Damon shuddered out his own release.

Elena felt boneless as she lay in Damon's bed, his arm draped over her waist and his breath tickling the back of her neck. Being with Damon had been like she'd fantasized it would be. Only better. And the fact that he wouldn't let her go back to her room after their lovemaking made her heart swell. She felt safe in his arms. Safe and happy.

"What are you thinking?" Damon murmured in her ear and Elena smiled, leisurely stroking his arm with her fingertips.

"That I will be exhausted for tomorrow's dinner party."

"What dinner party?"

"It's Christmas Eve tomorrow, Damon. Your family is coming to stay over the holidays."

"Mm…no. I forbid it."

Elena laughed and rolled over to face him. "I don't think you get a say."

"So… if tomorrow is Christmas Eve," he mused, tracing the contours of her hardened peaks with his index finger, "was this my early Christmas present?"

"I think it was mine," Elena said with a smile.

"Nah. You get another. What will it be? Anything you want. Name it."

"A sleep-in. And an extra set of hands for the holidays."

"I think I could swing that."

"I was kidding, Damon. It's my job."

"You shouldn't have to do everything, though. That isn't right. I'll tell you what. I'll get breakfast done tomorrow morning and you can get a couple of extra minutes of sleep. Then when the others get here, I'll give you a hand with whatever needs to be done."

"Damon… that's sweet, but I can't ask you to do that."

"It's my house, too, Elena. And we're not the royal family. I'm alone to cook my own meals if I damn well please, aren't I?"

"Of course, but-"

"And you won't have to worry about making my bed from now on."

"Why's that?"

"Because I'd rather have you in it."

Elena laughed and swiped at his chest. "So that's how it's going to be, huh?"

"Any objections?"

Elena pretended to consider it for a moment, and then she rolled him over her, spreading her legs wide to accommodate him. "Nope."

Author's Note: There you have it, the last one-shot from me for the 2016 holiday exchange. I didn't plan on ever writing fanfiction again, but here I am. It's been fun, and I've enjoyed reading all your comments. Now it's back to editing my novels and writing new ones. I hope you all have a great 2017.