Elena slumped back into the plush red velvet armchair. She remained silent, her eyes focused on her father. She was angry with him. Angry for keeping her in the castle. Angry because she had not slept in days. Angry because these midnight lessons meant she had barely seen Damon for over a week. She tried to remain civil, but her whole body betrayed her emotions and her anger steamed off of her, wafting towards the king.

"Elena, I know you are tired. But I do not have time for you during the day. Now, go grab the book I showed you yesterday." He barely made eye contact with his daughter, ignoring her frustration.

"Here." She dropped the large book on his desk with a loud thud.

She sat back in the chair. Instantly her father was there with both his hands on the chair's arms, his face merely inches from her own. "Elena, remember who I am. I may be your father, but I am also your king. Behave yourself." He snarled at her, his fangs elongated with blue veins snaking down his face.

"Yes, father." She curled up to protect herself and whimpered.

The king put his hand to his forehead and walked away from her. "I am sorry. Just please do not provoke me. Not when I am this hungry." He inhaled deeply and his face returned to normal. "I know this is hard for you. But you must be prepared for when you take the throne." He stressed the importance of her role.

"I know. But you often forget that I am human." She stood up and walked towards her father. "I don't have endless amounts of energy, like you." She put her hand on his harm to show him she forgave him for scaring her.

"I know. Just one more evening and then I will give you a break." He began flipping through the pages of the large volume Elena placed on his desk.

Elena sighed. "What shall it be tonight? Astronomy? Latin? Mythology?"

"Some mythology. Some history. Tonight we're going to see if we can separate the two for you. About this war, specifically and the history between the two clans." He sat down and folded his hands. "Now, explain to me what it is you know."

"Before the war, we lived here peacefully. There was plenty of food, for both human and vampire. But then the drought came, and animals, crops, and people died. The other clan needed food, but instead of negotiating, the took to raiding our storehouses and towns. We had to fight to hold them back. The next season things were better. But their king decided he wanted your land for himself so we're still fighting, trying to keep our land from the others." Elena told the story she'd heard a thousand times.

"Good. But remember that I told you it's all about politics. Do not forget that." He paused briefly. "Before the war, I entered into negotiations for your marriage."

"What? Why was I not informed?" She yelled out, the fear in her head projecting itself through her voice.

"You were young, Elena." He sighed. "Let me continue. Now, as you know, the king has two sons, both vampires. I discovered that he was also initiating negotiations with a clan in France. If that succeeded, he would have become extremely powerful, and I could not allow that. So I backed out of the negotiations. He was irate. The clan in France got scared; if I ended things then they thought they should too. So he lost two powerful political alliances."

"We are allies with the clan in France." Elena interjected.

"Yes, that is true, though I have not yet asked for their aid. But to continue, the loss of political power is the reason for the war. The famine was just an excuse. What he really wants is our kingdom and your death." He saw his daughter's eyes widen. "He wants revenge. This is why Damon guards you day and night. If anything were to happen to you, our line would be finished. The barons would begin to bicker amongst themselves for power and it would tear this kingdom apart. It is you and I who must hold them together."

"I understand." She covered a yawn with her hand.

"Go to bed, daughter. I will spare you for the next few days. I must eat." He opened the hidden door behind him and left, leaving Elena to walk out on her own.

Damon met her as usual outside of the door. He wrapped his arm around her waist. "Do you want me to carry you?"

She yawned again. "Now, it is alright. Do you need to go hunting with my father?"

"No. I took care of it earlier. Come on, let's get you to bed." He picked her up and held her in his arms.

"Damon! Put me down!" She struggled against him but his arms did not move.

"Stop moving. No one will know it is you if you stay quiet." He held her against him firmly.

"Alright. Alright. Can you please run there? I just want to get into my bed." She placed her head on his chest and grabbed onto his cloak for support. In seconds they were in her room.

He placed her on her bed gently and kissed her forehead. "Sleep well." He began to get up but she grabbed his tunic and pulled him towards her.

"Who said anything about sleep?" She kissed him, feeling his smirk against her lips until he began returning her kisses. "I have missed you so much."

"I have missed you as well. You have no idea how blood thirsty I get when you are not around." A guilty expression flickered across his features as he thought of how many people he had drained in an attempt to keep his mind off of her.

"Do you remember that you used to threaten me when I was a child? You would growl at me and tell me that if I did not behave, you would eat me for breakfast." She frowned at him.

"And now, here you are. Begging for me to … eat you." He smiled at her, the familiar expression of self-satisfaction and annoying arrogance.

"What can I say? I just fell for your rugged good looks and princely charm." She rolled her eyes.

He kissed her. "I know. I am just irresistible." He kissed her again and she wrapped her arms around him. He groaned. "You have no idea how much self-restraint it takes not to rip your clothes off every time I see you."

She giggled. "I don't know what's stopping you now."

He flipped her over so she was on her stomach. She gasped in surprise. In seconds her dress was off and on the floor. Slowly, he began to loosen the laces on her corset, kissing her back as he did so. She moaned slightly as he slid it down her body, freeing her from its cage. He turned her back over and she looked at him with lust in her eyes, anticipating the pleasure that would soon rack her body. "Damon…" She whispered his name as he slid his tongue over her breasts. He kissed both of them and looked up at her as he slowly slid his teeth into her breast. She moaned again and brought his hand up to her mouth. She turned it over carefully and plunged her teeth into his wrist, using as much force as she could.

His body flinched in pleasure as she drank from him, as they both tasted each other through blood. Elena could feel his anger as she drank from him, but she could also feel the vampire within him begging her for more. She bit him harder and he groaned, drinking more of her blood, filling the empty spaces in his veins with her. He could taste that she was close. She drank in his enjoyment, intensifying every feeling until she could no longer contain her screams. His wrist muffled the sound and she stopped drinking from him as she began to come down from her high. His drinking slowed and he teased her with his fangs by scraping them carefully across her chest. Her entire torso was covered in blood and he greedily licked her clean before staring at her with blackened eyes. "I told you not to drink from me."

"I know. But I have days before I see my father again." She brushed his hair out of his eyes.

"You are so damn frustrating, woman." He ripped off her last remaining undergarment and threw it to the floor so it joined her corset. Before she could respond, he entered her forcefully.

She cried out and put her hands on his shoulders. She pushed her body into his as he thrusted into her, deepening the penetration. He let out a slow growl as she pushed him over to be on top of him, never breaking their connection. He put his hands on her hips and pulled her onto him, quickening their pace. She leaned down to kiss him and he grinded into her so he could hit her small bundle of nerves. He helped her ride him even faster and Elena could tell he was almost finished by his small, barely audible, grunts. She moved to kiss his neck but bit into him instead. He roared as he came, her small bite just enough to carry him into orgasm, and the caged vampire escaped. He quickly bit her neck and Elena cried out as it brought her over the edge. She collapsed on top of him, both of them spent.

He wiped his blood from her mouth and kissed her. "You were quite determined today."

"You're a vampire. I knew you wanted it." She kissed him back, settling into his arms. Her heart raced and his blood made her surprisingly alert.

"Just promise me something." He put his thumb under her chin and stared into her eyes.

"Of course." She agreed, knowing the request he was about to make.

"Do not do that again." He frowned as he though of the danger she put them in.

"I'm sorry you didn't like it." She pursed her lips, wondering if she did not properly take his blood.

"Oh, God, Elena." He sighed. "Here." He used his index finger and sliced into his pectoral.

She slanted her eyes at him, but bent over and began to suck the blood from the wound before it closed. He spread her legs with his hand and moved his finger to rub her clitoris. She moaned as she continued to lap the blood from him.

"Elena, give me your wrist." He strained to say the words, his voice deeper than normal.

She handed it to him wordlessly, but cried out when he bit into her flesh. "Oh, fuck, Damon."

Her swearing surprised him but he kept rubbing her. She brought the hand that was not holding her weight to Damon and began stroking his shaft, their hands brushing against each other's. Damon's hips bucked and Elena bit him to deepen the wound. They rubbed each other faster until they both came together. Their bloody mouths met, absorbing their pants and moans. Elena rolled off of him and tried to slow her jagged, heaving breaths. When her heartbeat returned to its normal pace, she turned her eyes towards him. "I like drinking your blood. I get to feel everything you're feeling as well as my own emotions."

He kissed her, tasting his blood mingling with hers. "I like it too. We'll just have to wait a while until the next time." He pulled her to him. "I also did not know you were capable of saying such foul things." She blushed deeply and he laughed. "You are so easy to tease."

"I am too tired and satisfied to bicker with you." She sighed and buried her face into his neck. "I want you to stay here and sleep with me."

"I would love that. But you know I cannot. Someone has to keep watch over you." He smiled at her and began getting up from her bed.

She caught his wrist. "Don't leave yet…"

He looked at the beautiful woman begging him to stay in bed with her and groaned. "You are getting greedy, Elena. Three times is not enough for you?"

"I know you can do better than that. We have an entire week to make up for." She stretched.

Before she could blink, he was on top of her. "Yes, I can. Someday I am going to keep you in bed for hours and show you things you cannot even imagine." She shuddered under him. "But as for now, I have to protect you from the possibility that some one is stupid enough to cross Damon Salvatore." He kissed her and sped out of her room, leaving her to clean up their mess.

Her wounds healed from his blood and she settled into a deep sleep, too tired to change the bedding. She awoke to Caroline and Bonnie pulling back the blankets. "You guys, I am trying to sleep."

"Oh my God, Elena! There is blood all over your sheets!" Caroline yelled in panic.

"Caroline, calm down. I'm sure I just started my period." She frowned when she faintly heard Damon laugh from outside her door. "Shut up, Damon." She whispered, knowing he could hear her.

Bonnie grabbed her hand to help her out of bed. Once their two hands connected, Bonnie tightened her grip and stopped moving. Her eyes lost focus until Elena protested. "Ow, Bonnie, you're hurting me."

"Sorry." She muttered, confused as to why Damon's face appeared when she touched Elena's hand. She saw Elena covered in blood and somehow she knew it was Damon's. She could sense him flowing through her veins and her mouth opened as she realized what that meant. Damon had given Elena his blood? She closed her mouth, then opened it again as she processed the information.

"Bonnie? What is wrong with you?" She looked at her in exasperation.

"Nothing. Nothing at all. Caroline told me you had a question for me?" She shook her head to get rid of the images of Damon with Elena.

"Bonnie, I need protection." She took the witch's hands in her own.

Bonnie winced, the images of Damon and Elena together quickly returned with the contact. "From?"

"Death. I have heard rumors that witches can make immortality rings." She looked at Bonnie so she could judge her reaction by her facial expression.

She raised her brow at the statement. "It is rare, but possible. And difficult."

"Could you make me one?" She stared into Bonnie's eyes.

"I would have to look to see what all is needed for the spell. But if I am able, then yes. What does your father think of this?" She shivered thinking of the king. He terrified her.

Elena did her best to use her princess authority. "This is a decision I am making on my own. And Bonnie, I am swearing you to secrecy. You cannot tell another soul, living or undead, about this. Do I have your word on that?"

"Yes, of course. Let me go get my things." She returned minutes later with the familiar bag of supplies and her grimoire. "Elena, I need you to choose a ring. This ring will save you from an unnatural death. From a vampire for example. But it will not save you from illness or a battle wound, or childbirth. If you want to turn into a vampire, you will have to remove the ring. Remember that in the future."

Elena handed her a gold ring with a small sapphire. "I know I will have to wear this for years, so I picked something simple."

"Perfect. Now take my hand" Bonnie reached her hand towards Elena and waited for the princess to take it. "Now, concentrate on feelings of security while I begin the chant."

She began the incantation, speaking a strange tongue foreign to Elena's ears. The candles flickered in the room and Bonnie's voice grew louder. As the candles roared to life, Bonnie's voice stopped. "Here. It is finished."

Elena slipped the ring onto her finger and threw her arms around the witch. "Thank you, Bonnie. You have no idea what a relief this is."


Author's Note: I am so sorry that this update took longer than I expected and kept you guys waiting! I needed more inspiration for this chapter. Hopefully you guys like it. The next chapter is going to be more action packed and less lemony, just so you know. So I thought I'd give you enough lemons in this chapter to tide you over. Please tell me what you think.

I got a few less reviews less chapter. Hopefully that doesn't mean waning interest! Reviews are amazing. They are a big part of what inspires me to keep writing. Please please review! They help me so much!

See you guys next chapter!